Chapter 37

　　"Oh, Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair," criedPinocchio,"open, I beg of you. Take pity on a poor boy whois being chased by twoAssass--"He did not finish, for two powerful hands grasped himby the neckand the same two horrible voices growled threateningly: "Now we haveyou!"The Marionette, seeing death dancing before him,trembled so hard thatthe joints of his legs rattled andthe coins tinkled under his tongue.

　　"Well," the Assassins asked, "will you open your mouthnow or not? Ah! You do not answer? Very well, this time you shall openit." Taking out two long, sharp knives, they struck two heavy blows on theMarionette's back.

　　Happily for him, Pinocchio was made of very hardwood and the knivesbroke into a thousand pieces. The Assassins looked at each other in dismay,holding the handles of the knives in their hands.

　　"I understand," said one of them to the other, "thereis nothing left to do now but to hang him." "To hang him,"repeated the other.

　　They tied Pinocchio's hands behind his shoulders and slipped thenoose around his neck. Throwing the rope the poor Marionette hung far up inspace.

　　Satisfied with their work, they sat on the grass waiting forPinocchio to give his last gasp. But after three hours the Marionette's eyeswere still open, his mouth still shut and his legs kicked harder than ever.

　　“噢，天蓝色头发的美丽小姑娘，”皮诺乔大叫，“帮帮忙，给我开开门吧！请你同情一个可怜的孩子，他后面追着杀人的……”
　　他这句话没能说完，因为他觉得脖子给掐住了，还听到那两个声音在咆哮着威胁说：
　　“现在你再逃不掉啦！”。
　　木偶看到死在眼前，不由得一阵哆嗦，哆嗦得两条木头腿的关节卡嗒卡嗒响，藏在舌头底下的四个金币也丁丁当当响起来了。
　　“怎么样，”两个杀人强盗问他说。“你开口吗，开还是不开，怎么！不回答？……那我们就动手了，这一回定要把你的嘴弄开！……”
　　他们说着，拔出两把很长很长的刀子，锋利得像剃刀，嚓嚓！……给他背上来了两下。
　　幸亏木偶是用很硬很硬的木头做的，因此他没受伤，刀倒断成了好多片。两个杀人强盗手里光剩下刀柄，你看着我，我看着你。
　　“我明白了，”其中一个说，“咱们得吊死他！吊死他吧！”
　　“吊死他吧！”另一个跟着又说了一退。
　　说干就干，他们把他双手反绑，用活结套住他的喉咙，把他吊在一棵大橡树的树枝上。
　　然后他们坐在树下，就等着木偶蹬最后一次腿。可木偶过了三个钟头依然张开两只眼睛，闭着嘴巴，两腿越蹬越有劲。