Chapter 36

TheAssassins chase Pinocchio, catch him, and hang him to the branch of a giant oaktree. As he ran, the Marionette felt more and more certain that he would haveto give himself up into the hands of his pursuers. Suddenly he saw a littlecottage gleaming white as the snow among the trees of the forest.

　　"If I have enough breath left with which to reach thatlittlehouse, I may be saved," he said to himself.

　　Not waiting another moment, he darted swiftly throughthe woods, theAssassins still after him.

　　After a hard race of almost an hour, tired and out ofbreath,Pinocchio finally reached the door of the cottageand knocked. No one answered.

　　He knocked again, harder than before, for behind himhe heard thesteps and the labored breathing of his persecutors. The same silence followed.

　　As knocking was of no use, Pinocchio, in despair,began to kick andbang against the door, as if he wantedto break it. At the noise, a windowopened and a lovelymaiden looked out. She had azure hair and a face whiteaswax. Her eyes were closed and her hands crossed onher breast. With a voice soweak that it hardly could beheard, she whispered:

　　"No one lives in this house. Everyone is dead.""Won'tyou, at least, open the door for me?"cried Pinocchio in a beseechingvoice.

"Ialso am dead." "Dead? What are you doing at the window, then?" "Iam waiting for the coffin to take me away." After these words, the littlegirl disappeared and the window closed without a sound.

　　这时木偶已经完全泄气，到了要扑倒在地向两个强盗告饶的地步，可一下子看见深绿的树林子里，远远有一座雪白的小房子在耀眼。
　　“我要是有口气跑到那房子，就有救了，”他心里说。
　　他一分钟也不耽搁，重新一个劲跑起来，穿过林子。两个杀入强盗依然在后面追。
　　他拼命跑了近两个钟头，终于上气不接下气地跑到那座小房子门口，连忙嘭嘭嘭敲门。
　　可没人答应。
　　他使劲把门敲得震天价响，因为他听见追来的脚步声、又响又急的呼吸声越来越近了。
　　可还是静悄悄的。
　　他看见敲门毫无用处，就开始在门上用脚拼命地踢，用头拼命地撞。这时窗口探出个头来，这是个美丽的小女孩，天蓝色的头发，脸白得跟蜡像似的，眼睛闭着，双手交叉在胸前。她说话时嘴唇也不动，声音很轻很轻，像是从另一个改界来的：
　　“这座房子里没人，所有的人都死了。”
　　“至少你给我开开门！”皮诺乔哭叫着求她，
　　“我也死了。”
　　“死了，那你现在在窗口干吗？”
　　“我在等棺材，它要来把我给装走。”
　　小女孩子一说完这句话，就不见了。窗子也悄没声儿地重新关上了。