The Adventures of Pinocchio (1904)/Chapter 21
Pinocchio, you may well believe, began to cry and scream; but it was useless because there was not a house near him and no one passed along the road. In the meantime night came on. The trap hurt him so much, and he was so afraid of the dark, that he nearly fainted with pain and fright. Suddenly he saw a firefly, and he called out to it, “O Firefly, will you help me to get away from here?”
“Poor boy!” replied the Firefly, stopping to look at Pinocchio; “how did you ever get your legs caught in that trap?”
“I came into the field in order to get a bunch of grapes and—”
“But are the grapes yours?”
“No.”
“Then who has taught you to steal other people’s things?”
“I was hungry.”
“Hunger, my boy, is not a good reason for stealing anybody’s things.”
“That is true! that is true!” cried Pinocchio, weeping; “and another time I will not do it.”
Just here the conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps that came nearer and nearer. The owner of the field had come on tiptoe to see if one of the polecats that ate his chickens at night had been caught. He was greatly surprised when, taking out a dark lantern, he saw, instead of a polecat, a boy.
“Ah, you little thief!” said the angry farmer. “Then you are the one that carries away my chickens!”
“I? No,” cried Pinocchio, sobbing. “I went into the field for a bunch of grapes.”
“He who steals grapes is also capable of stealing chickens. Leave it to me; I will give you a lesson that you will remember for some time.”
He opened the trap, took the marionette by the back of the neck like a kitten, and carried him to his house. When he reached his door he said to Pinocchio: “Now it is late and I want to go to bed. We will settle our affairs to-morrow. Meanwhile, as my dog died to-day, I will put you into his house. I will make you my watchdog.”
No sooner said than done. He took a dog collar and put it on Pinocchio’s neck. Attached to this collar was a chain that was fastened to the wall.
“If it begins to rain to-night,” said the farmer, “there is some straw inside that has served as a bed for the dog for four years. You may go in and rest there. And if robbers come into the yard, remember to watch them carefully and to bark.”
After this last warning the farmer entered his house, closing the door noisily; and the poor marionette was left squatting in the barnyard more dead than alive from cold, hunger, and fear. From time to time he placed his hands between his collar and his neck because the collar hurt him, saying to himself as he did so: “I deserve it all. I wanted to run away. I wanted to listen to the advice of bad companions, and that is the reason why I am so unhappy. If I had been a good boy as so many boys are, if I had wished to study and to work, if I had remained at home with my papa, I should not find myself here now, sleeping in a dog house and watching a chicken coop! Oh, if only I could begin all over again! But now it is too late.”
Having thought all this, he entered the dog house and fell asleep.