“How good you are, my Fairy,” said Pinocchio, “and how much I love you!”
“I love you, too,” answered the Fairy, “and if you wish to stay with me, you may be my little brother and I’ll be your good little sister.”
“I want to stay-but what about my poor father?”
“Before night your father will be here.”
“Really?” cried Pinocchio joyfully. “Then, my good Fairy, I’ll go to meet him. I cannot wait to kiss the dear old man.”
“Surely; go ahead, but be careful! Take the wood path and you’ll surely meet him.”
Pinocchio went out. As soon as he found himself in the wood, he ran like a hare. When he reached the giant oak tree he stopped. He heard a rustle in the brush. He was right. There stood the Fox and the Cat.
“Here comes our dear Pinocchio!” cried the Fox. “How did you happen here?”
“How did you happen here?” repeated the Cat.
“It is a long story,” said the Marionette. “Let me tell it to you. When you left me alone at the Inn, I met the Robbers on the road-”
“The Robbers? Oh, my poor friend! And what did they want?”
“They wanted my gold pieces.”
“Rascals!” said the Fox.
“Yes, rascals!” added the Cat.
“But I began to run,” continued the Marionette, “and they caught me and hanged me to the limb of that oak.”
Pinocchio pointed to the giant oak.
“What an awful world!” said the Fox. “Where shall we find a safe place for gentlemen like ourselves?”
Pinocchio noticed that the Cat carried his right paw in a sling.
“What happened to your paw?” he asked.
The Cat tried to answer, but the Fox helped him,
“My friend is too modest to answer. I’ll answer for him. About an hour ago, we met an old wolf on the road. He was hungry and begged for help. What do you think my friend did kindly? With his teeth, he bit off the paw of his front foot and threw it at that poor beast. So the wolf ate that.”
The Fox wiped off a tear. Pinocchio was almost in tears himself.
“And what do you do here?” the Fox asked the Marionette.
“I want to meet my father, who will be here soon.”
“And your gold pieces?”
“I still have them in my pocket, except one which I spent at the Inn of the Red Lobster.”
“Think that those four gold pieces may become two thousand tomorrow. Why don’t you listen to me? Why don’t you sow them in the Field of Wonders?”
“Today it is impossible. I’ll go with you some other time.”
“Another day will be too late,” said the Fox.
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