Pinocchio discovers the thieves and,as a reward for faithfulness,he regains his liberty.
Even though a boy may be very unhappy,he very seldom loses sleep over his worries.The Marionette,being no exception to this rule,slept on peacefully for a few hours till well along toward midnight,when he was awakened by strange whisperings and stealthy sounds coming from the yard.He stuck his nose out of the doghouse and saw four slender,hairy animals.They were Weasels,small animals very fond of both eggs and chickens.One of them left her companions and,going to the door of the doghouse,said in a sweet voice:
“Good evening,Melampo.”
“My name is not Melampo,” answered Pinocchio.
“Who are you,then?”
“I am Pinocchio.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I'm the watchdog.”
“But where is Melampo?Where is the old dog who used to live in this house?”
“He died this morning.”
“Died?Poor beast!He was so good!Still,judging by your face,I think you,too,are a good-natured dog.”
“I beg your pardon,I am not a dog!”
“What are you,then?”
“I am a Marionette.”
“Are you taking the place of the watchdog?”
“I'm sorry to say that I am.I'm being punished.”
“Well,I shall make the same terms with you that we had with the dead Melampo.I am sure you will be glad to hear them.”
“And what are the terms?”
“This is our plan:We'll come once in a while,as in the past,to pay a visit to this henhouse,and we'll take away eight chickens.Of these,seven are for us,and one for you,provided,of course,that you will make believe you are sleeping and will not bark for the Farmer.”
“Did Melampo really do that?” asked Pinocchio.
“Indeed he did,and because of that we were the best of friends.Sleep away peacefully,and remember that before we go we shall leave you a nice fat chicken all ready for your breakfast in the morning.Is that understood?”
“Even too well,” answered Pinocchio.And shaking his head in a threatening manner,he seemed to say,“We'll talk this over in a few minutes,my friends.”
As soon as the four Weasels had talked things over,they went straight to the chicken coop which stood close to the doghouse.Digging busily with teeth and claws,they opened the little door and slipped in.But they were no sooner in than they heard the door close with a sharp bang.
The one who had done the trick was Pinocchio,who,not satisfied with that,dragged a heavy stone in front of it.That done,he started to bark.And he barked as if he were a real watchdog:“Bow,wow,wow!Bow,wow!”
The Farmer heard the loud barks and jumped out of bed.Taking his gun,he leaped to the window and shouted:“What's the matter?”
“The thieves are here,” answered Pinocchio.
“Where are they?”
“In the chicken coop.”
“I'll come down in a second.”
And,in fact,he was down in the yard in a twinkling and running toward the chicken coop.
He opened the door,pulled out the Weasels one by one,and,after tying them in a bag,said to them in a happy voice:“You're in my hands at last!I could punish you now,but I'll wait!In the morning you may come with me to the inn and there you'll make a fine dinner for some hungry mortal.It is really too great an honor for you,one you do not deserve;but,as you see,I am really a very kind and generous man and I am going to do this for you!”
Then he went up to Pinocchio and began to pet and caress him.
“How did you ever find them out so quickly?And to think that Melampo,my faithful Melampo,never saw them in all these years!”
The Marionette could have told,then and there,all he knew about the shameful contract between the dog and the Weasels,but thinking of the dead dog,he said to himself:“Melampo is dead.What is the use of accusing him?The dead are gone and they cannot defend themselves.The best thing to do is to leave them in peace!”
“Were you awake or asleep when they came?” continued the Farmer.
“I was asleep,” answered Pinocchio,“but they awakened me with their whisperings.One of them even came to the door of the doghouse and said to me,‘If you promise not to bark,we will make you a present of one of the chickens for your breakfast.’ Did you hear that?They had the audacity to make such a proposition as that to me!For you must know that,though I am a very wicked Marionette full of faults,still I never have been,nor ever shall be,bribed.”
“Fine boy!” cried the Farmer,slapping him on the shoulder in a friendly way.“You ought to be proud of yourself.And to show you what I think of you,you are free from this instant!”
And he slipped the dog collar from his neck.
匹諾曹發(fā)現(xiàn)了強(qiáng)盜;作為對(duì)他的忠誠(chéng)的一種獎(jiǎng)賞,他又獲得了自由。
即使男孩子可能會(huì)不開(kāi)心,他們也很少會(huì)為自己的煩惱輾轉(zhuǎn)反側(cè)。木偶也不例外。平靜地睡了幾個(gè)小時(shí)后,直到半夜時(shí)分,他被院子里傳來(lái)的莫名其妙的低語(yǔ)和鬼鬼祟祟的聲音驚醒了。他把鼻子伸到狗窩外面,看到四只細(xì)長(zhǎng)多毛、像貓一樣的動(dòng)物。它們是黃鼠狼,是一種非常喜歡吃雞蛋和小雞的小動(dòng)物。一只黃鼠狼離開(kāi)同伴,走到狗窩門(mén)邊,聲音甜美地說(shuō)道:“晚上好,梅蘭珀。”
“我不叫梅蘭珀?!蹦九蓟卮鹫f(shuō)。
“那你是誰(shuí)?”
“我是匹諾曹?!?/p>
“你在這兒干什么?”
“我是看門(mén)狗?!?/p>
“可是,梅蘭珀在哪兒?過(guò)去住在這屋子里的那條老狗在哪兒?”
“它今天早上死了?!?/p>
“死了?可憐的畜生!它非常好!不過(guò),看你的臉,我覺(jué)得你也是一條和善的狗?!?/p>
“對(duì)不起,我不是狗!”
“那你是什么?”
“我是一個(gè)木偶?!?/p>
“你是要當(dāng)看門(mén)狗嗎?”
“我遺憾地說(shuō)就是,我是在受懲罰?!?/p>
“好,我要和你達(dá)成跟死去的梅蘭珀達(dá)成過(guò)的同樣的協(xié)議,我相信你聽(tīng)到會(huì)非常高興。”
“是什么協(xié)議?”
“我們的計(jì)劃是這樣的:我們像過(guò)去一樣偶爾來(lái)拜訪這個(gè)雞舍,然后帶走八只小雞。其中,七只是給我們的,一只是給你的,當(dāng)然,條件是你要假裝睡覺(jué),不要叫醒那個(gè)農(nóng)夫。”
“梅蘭珀真是這樣干的嗎?”匹諾曹問(wèn)。
“它真是這樣干的。正因?yàn)檫@樣,我們才成了最好的朋友。安安靜靜地睡覺(jué)去吧,記住,我們走前,會(huì)給你留下一只漂亮的肥雞,為你明天的早飯做好準(zhǔn)備。你明白了嗎?”
“再明白不過(guò)了?!逼ブZ曹答道,然后以威脅的方式搖了搖頭,好像是說(shuō):“我們走著瞧吧,我的朋友們?!?/p>
四只黃鼠狼一討論完,就直接走到狗窩旁邊的雞舍,用尖齒和利爪扒開(kāi)小門(mén),溜了進(jìn)去。但是,它們剛進(jìn)去,就聽(tīng)見(jiàn)門(mén)咣當(dāng)一聲猛地關(guān)上了。
把門(mén)關(guān)上的是匹諾曹。他關(guān)上門(mén)還不算,又拖了一塊大石頭放在門(mén)前。接著,開(kāi)始叫了起來(lái),叫得就像一條真正的看門(mén)狗:“汪,汪,汪!汪,汪!”
聽(tīng)到響亮的汪汪聲,農(nóng)夫跳下床,拿起槍?zhuān)S上窗戶,大聲問(wèn)道:“怎么了?”
“小偷來(lái)了!”匹諾曹答道。
“它們?cè)谀膬???/p>
“在雞舍里?!?/p>
“我馬上下來(lái)?!?/p>
真的,農(nóng)夫轉(zhuǎn)眼就來(lái)到了院子里,向雞舍跑去。他打開(kāi)門(mén),把黃鼠狼一只只拽出來(lái),綁起來(lái)塞進(jìn)袋子后,高興地對(duì)它們說(shuō):“你們終于落到了我的手里!我本來(lái)可以現(xiàn)在就懲罰你們,但我要等一下!明天上午你們說(shuō)不定要跟我去小飯店,在那兒你們會(huì)成為某個(gè)饑餓人的美餐。這對(duì)你們來(lái)說(shuō)的確是極大的榮光,你們本來(lái)不應(yīng)該得到這份榮光,但你們明白,我的確是一個(gè)非常善良、寬宏大量的人,我要做給你們看!”
隨后,他走到匹諾曹身邊,開(kāi)始擁抱愛(ài)撫他。
“你是怎么這么快就發(fā)現(xiàn)它們的?試想一下,梅蘭珀,我忠實(shí)的梅蘭珀,這些年從來(lái)沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)它們!”
木偶本來(lái)可以當(dāng)場(chǎng)把他知道的狗和黃鼠狼之間的可恥協(xié)議說(shuō)出來(lái),但想到狗已經(jīng)死了,就自言自語(yǔ)道:“梅蘭珀已經(jīng)死了,譴責(zé)它有什么用呢?死者已去,無(wú)法為自己辯護(hù)了。我們要做的最好的事兒就是讓它安寧!”
“黃鼠狼來(lái)時(shí),你是醒著還是睡了?”農(nóng)夫接著問(wèn)道。
“我睡了,”匹諾曹回答說(shuō),“可是,它們的低語(yǔ)聲吵醒了我。其中一只甚至走到狗窩邊,對(duì)我說(shuō)道:‘要是你答應(yīng)不叫,我們就送給你一只雞作為你的早飯?!懵?tīng)到了嗎?它們居然厚顏無(wú)恥地對(duì)我提出這種建議!因?yàn)槟阋欢ㄖ溃M管我是一個(gè)一無(wú)是處、非常淘氣的木偶,但我從來(lái)沒(méi)有,也絕不會(huì)貪污受賄。”
“好孩子!”農(nóng)夫友好地拍著他的肩膀,大聲說(shuō)道:“你應(yīng)該為自己感到自豪。為了表明我對(duì)你的看法,你從此刻起就自由了!”
說(shuō)著,農(nóng)夫給他解下了狗脖套。
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