opened his eyes and replied in the same language, “I am Lamp Wick;” then he closed his eyes again.
“Oh, my poor Lamp Wick,” said Pinocchio in an undertone; and then he took a little hay and gave it to him.
“Why do you take so much interest in a donkey that is not worth a cent?” asked the farmer.
“I will tell you. He was a friend of mine.”
“Your friend?”
“Yes; a school companion.”
“How is that?” asked the farmer, bursting into laughter. “You had donkeys for school companions?”
The marionette felt so mortified at these words that he took the glass of milk and returned to his papa.
From that day, for five months afterward, Pinocchio continued to get up in the morning at daybreak to draw water for the farmer; and he gained only a little milk for his trouble. He was not contented with simply doing that; he learned to make straw mats and sold them to buy food for his daily wants. Among other things, he made a little cart so that he could take his papa out and give him a little fresh air.
In the evenings he practiced reading and writing. In fact, he behaved so nicely that his papa was
