"Well, what do you want from me now, Marionette?""I beg for mercy for my poor friend, Harlequin, whohas never done the least harm in his life.""There is no mercy here, Pinocchio. I have sparedyou. Harlequin must burn in your place. I am hungryand my dinner must be cooked.""In that case," said Pinocchio proudly, as he stoodup and flung away his cap of dough, "in that case, myduty is clear. Come, officers! Tie me up and throw meon those flames. No, it is not fair for poor Harlequin,the best friend that I have in the world, to die in my place!"These brave words, said in a piercing voice, made allthe other Marionettes cry. Even the officers, who weremade of wood also, cried like two babies.

　　Fire Eater at first remained hard and cold as a pieceof ice; but then, little by little, he softened and began tosneeze. And after four or five sneezes, he opened widehis arms and said to Pinocchio:

　　"You are a brave boy! Come to my arms and kiss me!"Pinocchio ran to him and scurrying like a squirrel up thelong black beard, he gave Fire Eater a loving kiss on thetip of his nose.

　　"Has pardon been granted to me?" asked poorHarlequin with a voice that was hardly a breath.

"Pardon is yours!" answered Fire Eater; and sighingand wagging his head, he added: "Well, tonight I shallhave to eat my lamb only half cooked, but beware thenext time, Marionettes."At the news that pardon had been given, theMarionettes ran to the stage and, turning on all the lights,they danced and sang till dawn.

　　“你到底求我什么事？”
　　“我求您开开恩，放了可怜的花衣小丑！”
　　“这可开不得恩。我不烧你就得烧他，因为我要把我这只羊烤得香香的。”
　　“那么，”皮诺乔大叫一声，站了起来，扔掉头上的面包心帽子，“那么，我知道我该怎么做了。来吧，守卫先生们！把我捆起来扔到火里去，不行，让可怜的花衣小丑，我的真正朋友，替我去死是不公道的！……”
　　这番话说得丁当响亮，声调豪迈激昂，在场的木偶听了没有不哭的，连两个守卫，虽然是木头做的，也哭得像吃奶的羊羔。
　　吃火人起先一点不动心，冷得像块冰，可后来慢慢地、慢慢地也开始感动了，又打喷嚏了。他一口气打了四五个喷嚏，于是疼爱地张开怀抱，对皮诺乔说：
　　“你是个好小子！过来，给我一个吻。”
　　皮诺乔马上跑过去，像只松鼠似地顺着木偶戏班班主的大胡子往上爬，爬到上面，在他鼻尖上给了他一个最甜最甜的吻。
　　“那么，您开恩啦？”可怜的花衣小丑问道，声音细得好不容易才听见。
　　“开恩了！”吃火人回答说。接着他叹口气，摇摇头，“没法子！今儿晚上我只能吃半生不熟的羊肉了。可下一回，谁要是打动我的心，他就活该倒霉！……”
　　一听说开了恩，所有的木偶都跑到戏台上，像开盛大晚会那样，点亮了所有的灯和烛台，开始又跳又舞。他们就这样一直跳啊舞的直到大天亮。