he broke the shell of the egg and held it over the steaming saucepan. He was as in the act of pouring out the egg, when instead of the yolk there appeared a little chicken, very lively and polite. It made a beautiful bow and said: “Many thanks, Mr. Pinocchio, for saving me the trouble of breaking my shell. Good-by! Be good and give my respects to the family.”
Saying this, the little chick spread its wings and flew out of the open window and away so quickly that it was soon out of sight.
The poor marionette remained there stupefied, with his eyes fixed, with his mouth open, and with the eggshell in his hands. He soon came to himself, however, and began to weep, to scream, and to stamp his feet on the ground in desperation, and while weeping he said: “Oh, yes! the Talking Cricket was right. If I had not run away, and if my papa were only here, I should not find myself dying of hunger. Ah! what a horrible sickness hunger is!”
And because his stomach still grumbled more than ever, and because he did not know what else to do, he thought he would go out and run to the little neighboring town, in the hope of finding some charitable person who would help him and give him a piece of bread.
