The Cat wished to reply but became confused. Then the Fox said quickly: “My friend is too modest, and that is why he does not respond. I will reply for him. Know, then, that an hour ago we met on the road an old Wolf, nearly fainting with hunger, who asked for a little help. Not having any money with us, not even the scale of a fish, what do you think my friend did? He has the heart of a Cæsar. He bit off his paw and threw it to the poor beast, so that he might have something to eat.” And the Fox in saying this dried a tear.
Pinocchio, also moved, approached the Cat and whispered in his ear, “If all the cats were like you, the mice would be happy.”
“And now what are you doing in this place?” asked the Fox.
“I am waiting for my papa, who may arrive at any moment.”
“And your money, where is that?”
“I have it all, less the piece I spent at the inn called the Red Lobster.”
“And to think that instead of four pieces they might become two thousand by to-morrow! Why did you not follow my advice? Why do you not sow them in the Field of Miracles?”
“To-day it is impossible. I will go another time.”
