"It is too bitter, much too bitter! I can't drink it."
"How do you know, when you haven't even tasted it?"

"I can imagine it. I smell it. I want another lump of
sugar, then I'll drink it."

The Fairy, with all the patience of a good mother, gave
him more sugar and again handed him the glass.

"I can't drink it like that," the Marionette said, making
more wry faces.

"Why?"
"Because that feather pillow on my feet bothers me."

The Fairy took away the pillow.
"It's no use. I can't drink it even now."

"What's the matter now?"
"I don't like the way that door looks. It's half open."

The Fairy closed the door.
"I won't drink it," cried Pinocchio, bursting out crying.

"I won't drink this awful water. I won't. I won't!
No, no, no, no!"

"My boy, you'll be sorry."
"I don't care."

"You are very sick."
"I don't care."

"In a few hours the fever will take you far away to another world."
"I don't care."

"Aren't you afraid of death?"
"Not a bit. I'd rather die than drink that awful medicine."

At that moment, the door of the room flew open and in
came four Rabbits as black as ink, carrying a small black

coffin on their shoulders.
"What do you want from me?" asked Pinocchio.

"We have come for you," said the largest Rabbit.
"For me? But I'm not dead yet!"

"No, not dead yet; but you will be in a few moments
since you have refused to take the medicine which would

have made you well."
"Oh, Fairy, my Fairy," the Marionette cried out, "give me

that glass! Quick, please! I don't want to die!
No, no, not yet--not yet!"

And holding the glass with his two hands, he swallowed
the medicine at one gulp.

"Well," said the four Rabbits, "this time we have made
the trip for nothing."

And turning on their heels, they marched solemnly out
of the room, carrying their little black coffin and muttering

and grumbling between their teeth.
In a twinkling, Pinocchio felt fine. With one leap he

was out of bed and into his clothes.
The Fairy, seeing him run and jump around the room

gay as a bird on wing, said to him:
"My medicine was good for you, after all, wasn't it?"

"Good indeed! It has given me new life."
"Why, then, did I have to beg you so hard to make

you drink it?"
"I'm a boy, you see, and all boys hate medicine more

than they do sickness."
"What a shame! Boys ought to know, after all, that

medicine, taken in time, can save them from much pain
and even from death."

"Next time I won't have to be begged so hard. I'll
remember those black Rabbits with the black coffin on

their shoulders and I'll take the glass and pouf!--down it
will go!"

"Come here now and tell me how it came about that
you found yourself in the hands of the Assassins."

"It happened that Fire Eater gave me five gold pieces
to give to my Father, but on the way, I met a Fox and a

Cat, who asked me, `Do you want the five pieces to become
two thousand?' And I said, `Yes.' And they said,

`Come with us to the Field of Wonders.' And I said,
`Let's go.' Then they said, `Let us stop at the Inn of the

Red Lobster for dinner and after midnight we'll set out
again.' We ate and went to sleep. When I awoke they

were gone and I started out in the darkness all alone. On
the road I met two Assassins dressed in black coal sacks,

who said to me, `Your money or your life!' and I said,
`I haven't any money'; for, you see, I had put the money

under my tongue. One of them tried to put his hand in
my mouth and I bit it off and spat it out; but it wasn't a

hand, it was a cat's paw. And they ran after me and I
ran and ran, till at last they caught me and tied my neck

with a rope and hanged me to a tree, saying, `Tomorrow
we'll come back for you and you'll be dead and your

mouth will be open, and then we'll take the gold pieces
that you have hidden under your tongue.'"

"Where are the gold pieces now?" the Fairy asked.
"I lost them," answered Pinocchio, but he told a lie,

for he had them in his pocket.
As he spoke, his nose, long though it was, became at

least two inches longer.
"And where did you lose them?"

"In the wood near by."
At this second lie, his nose grew a few more inches.

"If you lost them in the near-by wood," said the Fairy,
"we'll look for them and find them, for everything that is

lost there is always found."
"Ah, now I remember," replied the Marionette,

becoming more and more confused. "I did not lose the gold
pieces, but I swallowed them when I drank the medicine."

At this third lie, his nose became longer than ever,
so long that he could not even turn around. If he turned

to the right, he knocked it against the bed or into the
windowpanes; if he turned to the left, he struck the walls

or the door; if he raised it a bit, he almost put the Fairy's
eyes out.

The Fairy sat looking at him and laughing.
"Why do you laugh?" the Marionette asked her,

worried now at the sight of his growing nose.
"I am laughing at your lies."

"How do you know I am lying?"
"Lies, my boy, are known in a moment. There are two

kinds of lies, lies with short legs and lies with long noses.
Yours, just now, happen to have long noses."

Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide his shame, tried
to escape from the room, but his nose had become so long

that he could not get it out of the door.
CHAPTER 18

Pinocchio finds the Fox and the Cat again, and goes with them
to sow the gold pieces in the Field of Wonders

Crying as if his heart would break, the Marionette
mourned for hours over the length of his nose. No matter

how he tried, it would not go through the door. The
Fairy showed no pity toward him, as she was trying to

teach him a good lesson, so that he would stop telling lies,
the worst habit any boy may acquire. But when she saw

him, pale with fright and with his eyes half out of his
head from terror, she began to feel sorry for him and

clapped her hands together. A thousand woodpeckers
flew in through the window and settled themselves on

Pinocchio's nose. They pecked and pecked so hard at
that enormous nose that in a few moments, it was the

same size as before.
"How good you are, my Fairy," said Pinocchio, drying

his eyes, "and how much I love you!"
"I love you, too," answered the Fairy, "and if you wish

to stay with me, you may be my little brother and I'll be
your good little sister."

"I should like to stay--but what about my poor father?"
"I have thought of everything. Your father has been

sent for and before night he will be here."
"Really?" cried Pinocchio joyfully. "Then, my good

Fairy, if you are willing, I should like to go to meet him.
I cannot wait to kiss that dear old man, who has suffered

so much for my sake."
"Surely; go ahead, but be careful not to lose your way.

Take the wood path and you'll surely meet him."
Pinocchio set out, and as soon as he found himself in the

wood, he ran like a hare. When he reached the giant oak
tree he stopped, for he thought he heard a rustle in the

brush. He was right. There stood the Fox and the Cat,
the two traveling companions with whom he had eaten at

the Inn of the Red Lobster.
"Here comes our dear Pinocchio!" cried the Fox,

hugging and kissing him. "How did you happen here?"
"How did you happen here?" repeated the Cat.

"It is a long story," said the Marionette. "Let me tell
it to you. The other night, when you left me alone at the

Inn, I met the Assassins on the road--"
"The Assassins? Oh, my poor friend! And what did they want?"

"They wanted my gold pieces."
"Rascals!" said the Fox.

"The worst sort of rascals!" added the Cat.
"But I began to run," continued the Marionette, "and

they after me, until they overtook me and hanged me to
the limb of that oak."

Pinocchio pointed to the giant oak near by.
"Could anything be worse?" said the Fox.

"What an awful world to live in! Where shall we
find a safe place for gentlemen like ourselves?"

As the Fox talked thus, Pinocchio noticed that the Cat
carried his right paw in a sling.

"What happened to your paw?" he asked.
The Cat tried to answer, but he became so terribly

twisted in his speech that the Fox had to help him out.
"My friend is too modest to answer. I'll answer for

him. About an hour ago, we met an old wolf on the road.
He was half starved and begged for help. Having nothing

to give him, what do you think my friend did out of the
kindness of his heart? With his teeth, he bit off the paw

of his front foot and threw it at that poor beast, so that
he might have something to eat."

As he spoke, the Fox wiped off a tear.
Pinocchio, almost in tears himself, whispered in the Cat's ear:

"If all the cats were like you, how lucky the mice would be!"
"And what are you doing here?" the Fox asked the Marionette.

"I am waiting for my father, who will be here at any moment now."
"And your gold pieces?"

"I still have them in my pocket, except one which I
spent at the Inn of the Red Lobster."

"To think that those four gold pieces might become
two thousand tomorrow. Why don't you listen to me?

Why don't you sow them in the Field of Wonders?"
"Today it is impossible. I'll go with you some other time."

"Another day will be too late," said the Fox.
"Why?"

"Because that field has been bought by a very rich man,
and today is the last day that it will be open to the public."

"How far is this Field of Wonders?"
"Only two miles away. Will you come with us? We'll

be there in half an hour. You can sow the money, and,
after a few minutes, you will gather your two thousand

coins and return home rich. Are you coming?"

• patience [´peiʃəns] n.忍耐(力)；耐心；坚韧 (初中英语单词)
• feather [´feðə] n.羽毛 (初中英语单词)
• midnight [´midnait] n.午夜；漆黑 (初中英语单词)
• hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)
• acquire [ə´kwaiə] vt.求得，获得，学得 (初中英语单词)
• fright [frait] n.惊吓；恐怖；怪人 (初中英语单词)
• terror [´terə] n.恐怖；惊骇 (初中英语单词)
• enormous [i´nɔ:məs] a.巨大地，很，极 (初中英语单词)
• willing [´wiliŋ] a.情愿的，乐意的 (初中英语单词)
• rustle [´rʌsl] v.&n.(使)沙沙作响 (初中英语单词)
• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
• modest [´mɔdist] a.谦虚的；朴素的 (初中英语单词)
• waiting [´weitiŋ] n.等候；伺候 (初中英语单词)
• solemnly [´sɔləmli] ad.严肃地，庄严地 (高中英语单词)
• coffin [´kɔfin] n.棺材，柩 (高中英语单词)
• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• near-by [´niə-bai] a.附近的 ad.在附近 (高中英语单词)
• repeated [ri´pi:tid] a.反复的；重复的 (高中英语单词)
• lobster [´lɔbstə] n.龙虾(肉) (英语四级单词)
• trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
• joyfully [´dʒɔifuli] ad.高兴地，快乐地 (英语四级单词)
• overtook [,əuvə´tuk] overtake的过去式 (英语四级单词)
• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)