"Come now! Less nonsense and out with the money!" cried the two
brigands threateningly.
And the puppet made a gesture with his hands to signify "I have got
none."
"Deliver up your money or you are dead," said the tallest of the
brigands.
"Dead!" repeated the other.
"And after we have killed you, we will also kill your father!"
"Also your father!"
"No, no, no, not my poor papa!" cried Pinocchio in a despairing tone;
and as he said it, the gold pieces clinked in his mouth.
"Ah! You rascal! Then you have hidden your money under your tongue!
Spit it out at once!"
But Pinocchio was obdurate.
And one of them seized the puppet by the end of his nose, and the
other took him by the chin, and began to pull them brutally, the one
up, and the other down, to constrain him to open his mouth, but it was
all to no purpose. Pinocchio's mouth seemed to be nailed and riveted
together.
Then the shortest assassin drew out an ugly knife and tried to force
it between his lips like a lever or chisel. But Pinocchio as quick
as lightning caught his hand with his teeth, and with one bite bit it
clean off and spat it out. Imagine his astonishment when instead of a
hand he perceived that he had spat a cat's paw on to the ground.
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