Chapter 47

　　"Herecomes our dear Pinocchio!" cried the Fox,hugging and kissing him."How did you happen here?""How did you happen here?"repeated the Cat.

　　"Itis a long story," said the Marionette. "Let me tellit to you. Theother night, when you left me alone at theInn, I met the Assassins on theroad--""The Assassins? Oh, my poor friend! And what did theywant?""They wanted my gold pieces.""Rascals!" said theFox.

　　"Theworst sort of rascals!" added the Cat.

　　"ButI began to run," continued the Marionette, "andthey after me, untilthey overtook me and hanged me tothe limb of that oak."Pinocchio pointedto the giant oak near by.

　　"Couldanything be worse?" said the Fox.

　　"Whatan awful world to live in! Where shall wefind a safe place for gentlemen likeourselves?"As the Fox talked thus, Pinocchio noticed that the Catcarriedhis right paw in a sling.

　　"Whathappened to your paw?" he asked.

　　TheCat tried to answer, but he became so terriblytwisted in his speech that theFox had to help him out.

　　"Myfriend is too modest to answer. I'll answer forhim. About an hour ago, we metan old wolf on the road.

　　Hewas half starved and begged for help. Having nothingto give him, what do youthink my friend did out of thekindness of his heart? With his teeth, he bit offthe pawof his front foot and threw it at that poor beast, so thathe might havesomething to eat."As he spoke, the Fox wiped off a tear.

　　“是我们的好朋友皮诺乔！”狐狸叫着，把他又抱又亲，“你怎么在这儿？”
　　“你怎么在这儿？”猫跟着又说了一遍。
　　“说来话长了，”木偶说，“我趁便跟你们讲讲。可记得那个夜里，你们丢下我一个人在旅馆里吗？我走出来，在路上遇见了两个杀人强盗……”
　　“两个杀人强盗？……噢，可怜的朋友！他们想要什么。”
　　“他们想抢我的金币。”
　　“真该死！……”狐狸说。
　　“该死极了！……”猫跟着又说了一遍。
　　“可我撒腿就逃，”木偶往下说，“他们跟着就追。最后他们追上了我，把我吊在这棵橡树的树枝上面……”
　　皮诺乔说道，指指离开两步远的大橡树。
　　“还有比这更悲惨的事吗？”狐狸说，“我们是活在怎么一个世界上啊，我们这些正派人，在什么地方可以找到安全可靠的地方呢？”
　　皮诺乔正这么说着，忽然发现猫的右前腿受了伤，连爪子带指甲都没有了，就问它说：
　　“你的爪子怎么啦？”
　　猫想回答，可窘住了。狐狸马上说：
　　“我的朋友太谦虚了，因此不愿回答，我来替他回答吧。要知道，一个钟头以前，我们在路上碰到一只老狼，都快饿死了，它求我们施舍点什么给它。可我们没有什么好给它的，连一根鱼骨头也没有。我这朋友真正慷慨大方，它做出什么事情来啦？……它竟从自己前腿上咬下一只爪子，扔给这只可怜的野兽吃。”
　　狐狸一面说着一面擦眼泪。