to his dear father and his beloved Fatina. But the beast, after
sniffing at him once or twice from head to foot, burst into aloud,
howling laugh and walked away. He had no appetite for wooden boys.

"May you never return! said Pinocchio, raising his head a little and
straining his eyes to pierce the darkness about him. "Oh, if there were
only a tree, or a wall, or anything to climb up on!"The marionette was
right in wishing for something to keep him far above the ground. During
the whole night these visitors were coming and going. They came around
him howling, sniffing, laughing, mocking. As each one ran off,
Pinocchio would say, "May you never return!" He lay there shivering in
the agony of his terror. If the night had continued much longer, the
poor fellow would have died of fright. But the dawn came at last. All
these strange night visitors disappeared. Pinocchio tried to get up. He
could not move. His legs and arms were stiff. A terrible weakness had
seized him, and the world swam around him. Hunger overpowered him. The
poor marionette felt that he should surely die. "How terrible," he
though, "to die of hunger! What would I not eat! Dry beans and cherry
stems would be delicious." He looked eagerly around, but there was not
even a cricket or a snail in sight. There was nothing, nothing but
rocks.

Suddenly, however, a faint cry came from his parched throat. Was it
possible? A few feet from him there was something between the rocks
which looked like food. The marionette did not know what it was. He
dragged himself along on hands and knees, and commenced to eat it. His
nose wished to have nothing to do with it, and would even have drawn
back, but the marionette said; "It is necessary to accustom yourself to
all things, my friends. One must have patience. Don't be afraid; if I
find any roses, I promise to gather them for you."