Then he ended by doing what all boys do, when they have no heart and little brain. He shrugged his shoulders and said to the Fox and the Cat:
“Let us go!
I am with you.”
And they went.
They walked and walked for a half a day at least and at last they came to the town called the City of Simple Simons.
As soon as they entered the town, Pinocchio noticed that all the streets were filled with hairless dogs, yawning from hunger; with sheared sheep, trembling with cold; with combless chickens, begging for a grain of wheat; with large butterflies, unable to use their wings because they had sold all their lovely colors; with tailless peacocks, ashamed to show themselves; and with bedraggled pheasants, scuttling away hurriedly, grieving for their bright feathers of gold and silver, lost to them forever.
Through this crowd of paupers and beggars, a beautiful coach passed now and again. Within it sat either a Fox, a Hawk, or a Vulture.
“Where is the Field of Wonders?” asked Pinocchio, growing tired of waiting.
“Be patient. It is only a few more steps away.”
They passed through the city and, just outside the walls, they stepped into a lonely field, which looked more or less like any other field.
“Here we are,” said the Fox to the Marionette.
“Dig a hole here and put the gold pieces into it.”
The Marionette obeyed. He dug the hole, put the four gold pieces into it, and covered them up very carefully.
“Now,” said the Fox, “go to that near-by brook, bring back a pail full of water, and sprinkle it over the spot.”
Pinocchio followed the directions closely, but, as he had no pail, he pulled off his shoe, filled it with water, and sprinkled the earth which covered the gold.
Then he asked:
“Anything else?”
“Nothing else,” answered the Fox. “Now we can go.
Return here within twenty minutes and you will find the vine grown and the branches filled with gold pieces.”
Pinocchio, beside himself with joy, thanked the Fox and the Cat many times and promised them each a beautiful gift.
“We don’t want any of your gifts,” answered the two rogues.
“It is enough for us that we have helped you to become rich with little or no trouble. For this we are as happy as kings.”
They said good-by to Pinocchio and, wishing him good luck, went on their way.
CHAPTER 19 Pinocchio is robbed of his gold pieces and, in punishment, is sentenced to four months in prison.
If the Marionette had been told to wait a day instead of twenty minutes, the time could not have seemed longer to him. He walked impatiently to and fro and finally turned his nose toward the Field of Wonders.
And as he walked with hurried steps, his heart beat with an excited tic, tac, tic, tac, just as if it were a wall clock, and his busy brain kept thinking:
“What if, instead of a thousand, I should find two thousand?
Or if, instead of two thousand, I should find five thousand—or one hundred thousand?
I’ll build myself a beautiful palace, with a thousand stables filled with a thousand wooden horses to play with, a cellar overflowing with lemonade and ice cream soda, and a library of candies and fruits, cakes and cookies.”
Thus amusing himself with fancies, he came to the field.
There he stopped to see if, by any chance, a vine filled with gold coins was in sight. But he saw nothing!
He took a few steps forward, and still nothing!
He stepped into the field.
He went up to the place where he had dug the hole and buried the gold pieces.
Again nothing!
Pinocchio became very thoughtful and, forgetting his good manners altogether, he pulled a hand out of his pocket and gave his head a thorough scratching.
As he did so, he heard a hearty burst of laughter close to his head. He turned sharply, and there, just above him on the branch of a tree, sat a large Parrot, busily preening his feathers.
“What are you laughing at?” Pinocchio asked peevishly.
“I am laughing because, in preening my feathers, I tickled myself under the wings.”
The Marionette did not answer. He walked to the brook, filled his shoe with water, and once more sprinkled the ground which covered the gold pieces.
Another burst of laughter, even more impertinent than the first, was heard in the quiet field.
“Well,” cried the Marionette, angrily this time, “may I know, Mr. Parrot, what amuses you so?”
“I am laughing at those simpletons who believe everything they hear and who allow themselves to be caught so easily in the traps set for them.”
“Do you, perhaps, mean me?”
“I certainly do mean you, poor Pinocchio—you who are such a little silly as to believe that gold can be sown in a field just like beans or squash.
I, too, believed that once and today I am very sorry for it.
Today (but too late!) I have reached the conclusion that, in order to come by money honestly, one must work and know how to earn it with hand or brain.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” said the Marionette, who was beginning to tremble with fear.
“Too bad! I’ll explain myself better,” said the Parrot.
“While you were away in the city the Fox and the Cat returned here in a great hurry. They took the four gold pieces which you have buried and ran away as fast as the wind.