Arriving at the shore, Pinocchio quickly looked up and down the coast, but there was no dogfish. The sea was as still and as shiny as a looking-glass.
“Where is the dogfish?” he asked, turning to his companions.
“It has gone to breakfast,” replied one of them, laughing.
“It may be that, being tired, he has gone to take a little nap,” said another, laughing still louder.
From these replies Pinocchio understood that the boys had played a trick on him, making him believe a thing that was not true. He turned to them and said angrily, “And now, why did you tell me this nonsense about the dogfish?”
“Because we wanted to,” they replied in a chorus.
“But why?”
“Because we wanted you to lose a day at school. Aren’t you ashamed to go to school every day so
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