"
"A present to us?" cried the Fox with indignation, and appearing much
offended. "What are you dreaming of?"
"What are you dreaming of?" repeated the Cat.
"We do not work," said the Fox, "for dirty interest, we work solely to
enrich others."
"Others!" repeated the Cat.
"What good people!" thought Pinocchio to himself; and forgetting there
and then his papa, the new coat, the spelling-book, and all his good
resolutions, he said to the Fox and the Cat:
"Let us be off at once. I will go with you."
VII
THE INN OF THE RED-CRAWFISH
They walked, and walked, and walked, until at last, towards evening,
they arrived dead tired at the Inn of The Red-Crawfish.
"Let us stop here, a little," said the Fox, "that we may have
something to eat and rest ourselves for an hour or two. We will start
again at midnight, so as to arrive at the Field of Miracles by dawn
to-morrow morning."
Having gone into the inn they all three sat down to table, but none of
them had any appetite.
The Cat, who was suffering from indigestion and feeling seriously
indisposed, could only eat thirty-five mullet with tomato sauce, and
four portions of tripe with Parmesan cheese; and because she thought
the tripe was not seasoned enough, she asked three times for the
butter and grated cheese!
The Fox would also willingly have picked a little, but as his doctor
had ordered him a strict diet, he was forced to content himself simply
with a hare dressed with a sweet and sour sauce, and garnished lightly
with fat chickens and early pullets.
Pages:
525
526
527
528
529
530
531
532
533
534
535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549