"I will explain it to you at once," said the Fox. "You must know that
in the Land of the Owls there is a sacred field called by everybody
the Field of Miracles. In this field you must dig a little hole, and
you put into it, we will say one gold piece. Then you cover up the
hole with a little earth; you water it with two pails of water from
the fountain, then sprinkle it with two pinches of salt, and when
night comes you can go quietly to bed. In the meanwhile, during the
night, the gold piece will grow and flower, and in the morning when
you return to the field, what do you find? You find a beautiful tree
laden with as many gold pieces as an ear of corn has grains in the
month of June."
"So that," said Pinocchio, more and more bewildered, "supposing I
buried my five gold pieces in that field, how many should I find there
the following morning?"
"That is exceedingly easy calculation," replied the Fox, "a
calculation that you can make on the ends of your fingers. Suppose
that every gold piece gives you an increase of five hundred; multiply
five hundred by five, and the following morning will find you with two
thousand five hundred shining gold pieces in your pocket."
"Oh! how delightful!" cried Pinocchio, dancing for joy, "As soon as
ever I have obtained those gold pieces, I will keep two thousand for
myself, and the other five hundred I will make a present of to you
two.
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