Chapter 108

"But the fault is not mine. Believe me, little Dormouse,the fault isall Lamp-Wick's.""And who is this Lamp-Wick?""A classmateof mine. I wanted to return home. I wantedto be obedient. I wanted to study andto succeedin school, but Lamp-Wick said to me, `Why do you wantto waste yourtime studying? Why do you want to goto school? Come with me to the Land ofToys.

　　Therewe'll never study again. There we can enjoyourselves and be happy from morntill night.'""And why did you follow the advice of that falsefriend?""Why? Because, my dear little Dormouse, I am aheedlessMarionette--heedless and heartless. Oh! If I had onlyhad a bit ofheart, I should never have abandonedthat good Fairy, who loved me so well andwho has beenso kind to me! And by this time, I should no longer be aMarionette.I should have become a real boy, like all thesefriends of mine! Oh, if I meetLamp-Wick I am goingto tell him what I think of him--and more, too!"Afterthis long speech, Pinocchio walked to the doorof the room. But when he reachedit, remembering hisdonkey ears, he felt ashamed to show them to the publicandturned back. He took a large cotton bag from a shelf,put it on his head, andpulled it far down to his very nose.

　　Thusadorned, he went out. He looked for Lamp-Wick everywhere,along the streets, inthe squares, inside the theatres,everywhere; but he was not to be found. Heasked everyonewhom he met about him, but no one had seen him. In desperation,hereturned home and knocked at the door.

　　"Whois it?" asked Lamp-Wick from within.

　　"Itis I!" answered the Marionette.

　　"Waita minute."After a full half hour the door opened. Another surpriseawaitedPinocchio! There in the room stood his friend,with a large cotton bag on hishead, pulled far down to his very nose.

　　“可错的不是我。小土拨鼠，请你相信我，错的全是小灯芯！……”
　　“这个小灯芯是谁？”
　　“是我的一个同学。我想回家，我想听话，我想继续学习，我想有出息……可小灯芯对我说：‘你干吗要学习，自讨苦吃呢？你干吗想上学呢？还是跟我走吧，上“玩儿国”去。到了那里，咱们就再不用学习了，可以从早玩到晚，老是快快活活的。’”
　　“那你为什么听这个假朋友的话，听这个坏同学的话呢？”
　　“为什么……我的小土拨鼠，因为我是个木偶，没头脑……没心肝。噢，我有一点儿心肝就好了，我就不会抛弃好仙女了。她像妈妈一样爱我，为我做了那么多的事！……而且我这会儿也不再是个木偶了……我已经是个真正的孩子，跟所有的孩子一样！噢……我要是碰到小灯芯，我要叫他倒霉！我要骂他一通，骂他个狗血喷头！……”
　　他说着就要出去。可他一到门口，就想起那对驴耳朵，真不好意思让人看到。他发明了一个什么办法呢？他拿起一顶棉的大尖帽戴在头上，一直拉到鼻尖那儿。
　　他这才出去，到处找小灯芯。他在街上找，在广场上找，在小戏棚里找。到处都找遍了，就是找不到小灯芯。他在街上见人就问，可谁也不知道。
　　于是他上小灯芯家去找，到了他家就敲门。
　　“谁呀，”小灯芯在里面问。
　　“是我！”木偶回答说。
　　“等一等，我这就给你开门。”
　　过了半个钟头门才打开。诸位想象一下皮诺乔有多么奇怪，因为他走进屋子，看见他的朋友小灯芯也戴着一顶棉的大尖帽，也一直拉到鼻子底下。