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PINOCCHIO
a great noise and the four gold pieces jingled in his mouth.
“Then,” said the assassins, “will you open your mouth? Yes or no? Ah, you do not reply? All right! This time we will open it!” And they took two knives, sharp as razors, and—zaff-zaff—they gave him two strokes in the middle of the back.
Fortunately the marionette was made of good hard wood. The blades of the knives broke into several pieces and the assassins were left looking at each other, with only the handles in their hands.
“I understand,” said one of them. “We must hang him. Let us hang him, then.”
“Let us hang him,” said the other.
