while, as my dog died to-day, I will put you into his house. I will make you my watchdog.”
No sooner said than done. He took a dog collar and put it on Pinocchio’s neck. Attached to this collar was a chain that was fastened to the wall.
“If it begins to rain to-night,” said the farmer, “there is some straw inside that has served as a bed for the dog for four years. You may go in and rest there. And if robbers come into the yard, remember to watch them carefully and to bark.”
After this last warning the farmer entered his house, closing the door noisily; and the poor marionette was left squatting in the barnyard more dead than alive from cold, hunger, and fear. From time to time he placed his hands between his collar and his neck because the collar hurt him, saying to himself as he did so: “I deserve it all. I wanted to run away. I wanted to listen to the advice of bad companions, and that is the reason why I am so unhappy. If I had been a good boy as so many boys are, if I had wished to study and to work, if I had remained at home with my papa, I should not find myself here now, sleeping in a dog house and watching a chicken coop! Oh, if only I could begin all over again! But now it is too late.”
Having thought all this, he entered the dog house and fell asleep.
