CHAPTER 31

[After five months of play, Pinocchio wakes up one fine morning and finds a great surprise awaiting him] [Após cinco meses de jogo, Pinóquio acorda numa bela manhã e encontra uma grande surpresa esperando por ele]

Finally the wagon arrived. It made no noise, for its wheels were bound with straw and rags. Não fazia barulho, pois suas rodas estavam amarradas com palha e trapos.

It was drawn by twelve pair of donkeys, all of the same size, but all of different color. Some were gray, others white, and still others a mixture of brown and black. Alguns eram cinza, outros brancos e outros ainda uma mistura de marrom e preto. Here and there were a few with large yellow and blue stripes. Aqui e ali havia alguns com grandes listras amarelas e azuis.

The strangest thing of all was that those twenty-four donkeys, instead of being iron-shod like any other beast of burden, had on their feet laced shoes made of leather, just like the ones boys wear. O mais estranho de tudo é que aqueles vinte e quatro burros, em vez de terem ferraduras de ferro como qualquer outro animal de carga, tinham nos pés sapatos de couro amarrados, como os dos meninos.

And the driver of the wagon? E o condutor da carroça?

Imagine to yourselves a little, fat man, much wider than he was long, round and shiny as a ball of butter, with a face beaming like an apple, a little mouth that always smiled, and a voice small and wheedling like that of a cat begging for food. Imaginem um homenzinho gordo, muito mais largo do que comprido, redondo e brilhante como uma bola de manteiga, com um rosto radiante como uma maçã, uma boquinha que sempre sorria e uma voz pequena e bajuladora como a de um gato implorando por comida.

No sooner did any boy see him than he fell in love with him, and nothing satisfied him but to be allowed to ride in his wagon to that lovely place called the Land of Toys. Assim que um menino o via, ele se apaixonava por ele, e nada o satisfazia a não ser poder ir em sua carroça até aquele lugar adorável chamado Terra dos Brinquedos.

In fact the wagon was so closely packed with boys of all ages that it looked like a box of sardines. Na verdade, o vagão estava tão lotado de meninos de todas as idades que parecia uma caixa de sardinhas. They were uncomfortable, they were piled one on top of the other, they could hardly breathe; yet not one word of complaint was heard. Eram desconfortáveis, empilhados uns sobre os outros, mal conseguiam respirar; no entanto, nenhuma palavra de reclamação foi ouvida. The thought that in a few hours they would reach a country where there were no schools, no books, no teachers, made these boys so happy that they felt neither hunger, nor thirst, nor sleep, nor discomfort. A ideia de que em poucas horas chegariam a um país onde não havia escolas, nem livros, nem professores, deixava esses meninos tão felizes que não sentiam fome, nem sede, nem sono, nem desconforto.

No sooner had the wagon stopped than the little fat man turned to Lamp-Wick. With bows and smiles, he asked in a wheedling tone: Com reverências e sorrisos, perguntou em tom bajulador:

"Tell me, my fine boy, do you also want to come to my wonderful country?" "Indeed I do." "But I warn you, my little dear, there's no more room in the wagon. It is full." "Never mind," answered Lamp-Wick. "If there's no room inside, I can sit on the top of the coach." And with one leap, he perched himself there.

"What about you, my love?" asked the Little Man, turning politely to Pinocchio. "What are you going to do? Will you come with us, or do you stay here?" "I stay here," answered Pinocchio. "I want to return home, as I prefer to study and to succeed in life." "May that bring you luck!" "Pinocchio!" Lamp-Wick called out. "Listen to me. Come with us and we'll always be happy." "No, no, no!" "Come with us and we'll always be happy," cried four other voices from the wagon. "Come with us and we'll always be happy," shouted the one hundred and more boys in the wagon, all together. "And if I go with you, what will my good Fairy say?" asked the Marionette, who was beginning to waver and weaken in his good resolutions.

"Don't worry so much. "Não se preocupe tanto. Only think that we are going to a land where we shall be allowed to make all the racket we like from morning till night." Pinocchio did not answer, but sighed deeply once-- twice--a third time. Finally, he said:

"Make room for me. I want to go, too!" "The seats are all filled," answered the Little Man, "but to show you how much I think of you, take my place as coachman." "Os assentos estão todos ocupados", respondeu o homenzinho, "mas para mostrar o quanto penso em você, tome meu lugar como cocheiro." "And you?" "I'll walk." "No, indeed. I could not permit such a thing. Eu não poderia permitir tal coisa. I much prefer riding one of these donkeys," cried Pinocchio. Prefiro muito mais montar em um desses burros", exclamou Pinóquio. No sooner said than done. He approached the first donkey and tried to mount it. Aproximou-se do primeiro burro e tentou montá-lo. But the little animal turned suddenly and gave him such a terrible kick in the stomach that Pinocchio was thrown to the ground and fell with his legs in the air.

At this unlooked-for entertainment, the whole company of runaways laughed uproariously. Diante desse entretenimento inesperado, toda a companhia de fugitivos riu ruidosamente.

The little fat man did not laugh. He went up to the rebellious animal, and, still smiling, bent over him lovingly and bit off half of his right ear. Aproximou-se do animal rebelde e, ainda sorrindo, curvou-se amorosamente sobre ele e mordeu-lhe metade da orelha direita.

In the meantime, Pinocchio lifted himself up from the ground, and with one leap landed on the donkey's back. Nesse ínterim, Pinóquio levantou-se do chão e com um salto pousou nas costas do burro. The leap was so well taken that all the boys shouted,

"Hurrah for Pinocchio!" and clapped their hands in hearty applause. e bateram palmas em calorosos aplausos.

Suddenly the little donkey gave a kick with his two hind feet and, at this unexpected move, the poor Marionette found himself once again sprawling right in the middle of the road. De repente, o burrinho deu um pontapé com as duas patas traseiras e, a este movimento inesperado, a pobre marionete viu-se de novo esparramada no meio da estrada.

Again the boys shouted with laughter. But the Little Man, instead of laughing, became so loving toward the little animal that, with another kiss, he bit off half of his left ear.

"You can mount now, my boy," he then said to Pinocchio. "Have no fear. That donkey was worried about something, but I have spoken to him and now he seems quiet and reasonable." Pinocchio mounted and the wagon started on its way. Pinóquio montou e a carroça partiu. While the donkeys galloped along the stony road, the Marionette fancied he heard a very quiet voice whispering to him: Enquanto os burros galopavam pelo caminho pedregoso, o Marionete julgou ouvir uma voz muito calma sussurrando-lhe:

"Poor silly! You have done as you wished. But you are going to be a sorry boy before very long." Pinocchio, greatly frightened, looked about him to see whence the words had come, but he saw no one. Pinóquio, muito assustado, olhou em volta para ver de onde vinham as palavras, mas não viu ninguém. The donkeys galloped, the wagon rolled on smoothly, the boys slept (Lamp-Wick snored like a dormouse) and the little, fat driver sang sleepily between his teeth. Os burros galopavam, a carroça avançava suavemente, os meninos dormiam (Lamp-Wick roncava como um arganaz) e o pequeno e gordo cocheiro cantava sonolento entre os dentes.

After a mile or so, Pinocchio again heard the same faint voice whispering: "Remember, little simpleton! Boys who stop studying and turn their backs upon books and schools and teachers in order to give all their time to nonsense and pleasure, sooner or later come to grief. Os meninos que param de estudar e dão as costas aos livros, às escolas e aos professores para dedicar todo o seu tempo ao absurdo e ao prazer, mais cedo ou mais tarde sofrem. Oh, how well I know this! How well I can prove it to you! Quão bem posso provar isso a você! A day will come when you will weep bitterly, even as I am weeping now--but it will be too late!" At these whispered words, the Marionette grew more and more frightened. He jumped to the ground, ran up to the donkey on whose back he had been riding, and taking his nose in his hands, looked at him. Think how great was his surprise when he saw that the donkey was weeping--weeping just like a boy!

"Hey, Mr. Driver!" cried the Marionette. "Do you know what strange thing is happening here! This donkey weeps." "Let him weep. When he gets married, he will have time to laugh." Quando ele se casar, terá tempo para rir." "Have you perhaps taught him to speak?" "No, he learned to mumble a few words when he lived for three years with a band of trained dogs." "Não, ele aprendeu a murmurar algumas palavras quando viveu por três anos com um bando de cães treinados." "Poor beast!" "Come, come," said the Little Man, "do not lose time over a donkey that can weep. Mount quickly and let us go. The night is cool and the road is long." Pinocchio obeyed without another word. The wagon started again. Toward dawn the next morning they finally reached that much-longed-for country, the Land of Toys. Perto do amanhecer da manhã seguinte, eles finalmente chegaram ao tão desejado país, a Terra dos Brinquedos.

This great land was entirely different from any other place in the world. Its population, large though it was, was composed wholly of boys. The oldest were about fourteen years of age, the youngest, eight. Os mais velhos tinham cerca de quatorze anos, os mais novos, oito. In the street, there was such a racket, such shouting, such blowing of trumpets, that it was deafening. Na rua, havia tanto barulho, tanto grito, tanto toque de trombetas, que era ensurdecedor. Everywhere groups of boys were gathered together. Em todos os lugares, grupos de meninos estavam reunidos. Some played at marbles, at hopscotch, at ball. Alguns jogavam bola de gude, amarelinha, bola. Others rode on bicycles or on wooden horses. Outros andavam de bicicleta ou em cavalos de madeira. Some played at blindman's buff, others at tag. Alguns jogaram no blindman's buff, outros no tag. Here a group played circus, there another sang and recited. Aqui um grupo tocava circo, ali outro cantava e recitava. A few turned somersaults, others walked on their hands with their feet in the air. Generals in full uniform leading regiments of cardboard soldiers passed by. Generais em uniforme completo liderando regimentos de soldados de papelão passaram. Laughter, shrieks, howls, catcalls, hand-clapping followed this parade. Risos, gritos, uivos, assobios, palmas seguiram este desfile. One boy made a noise like a hen, another like a rooster, and a third imitated a lion in his den. Um menino fez barulho como uma galinha, outro como um galo e um terceiro imitou um leão em sua toca. All together they created such a pandemonium that it would have been necessary for you to put cotton in your ears. Todos juntos criaram tal pandemônio que seria necessário colocar algodão nas orelhas. The squares were filled with small wooden theaters, overflowing with boys from morning till night, and on the walls of the houses, written with charcoal, were words like these: HURRAH FOR THE LAND OF TOYS! As praças estavam cheias de pequenos teatros de madeira, lotados de meninos de manhã à noite, e nas paredes das casas, escritas a carvão, palavras como estas: HURA PELA TERRA DOS BRINQUEDOS! DOWN WITH ARITHMETIC! NO MORE SCHOOL!

As soon as they had set foot in that land, Pinocchio, Lamp-Wick, and all the other boys who had traveled with them started out on a tour of investigation. Assim que pisaram naquela terra, Pinóquio, Lamparina e todos os outros meninos que viajaram com eles começaram uma viagem de investigação. They wandered everywhere, they looked into every nook and corner, house and theater. Eles vagaram por toda parte, eles olharam em cada canto e esquina, casa e teatro. They became everybody's friend. Who could be happier than they?

What with entertainments and parties, the hours, the days, the weeks passed like lightning. Com diversões e festas, as horas, os dias, as semanas passavam como um raio.

"Oh, what a beautiful life this is!" said Pinocchio each time that, by chance, he met his friend Lamp-Wick.

"Was I right or wrong?" answered Lamp-Wick. "And to think you did not want to come! To think that even yesterday the idea came into your head to return home to see your Fairy and to start studying again! If today you are free from pencils and books and school, you owe it to me, to my advice, to my care. Do you admit it? Only true friends count, after all." "It's true, Lamp-Wick, it's true. If today I am a really happy boy, it is all because of you. And to think that the teacher, when speaking of you, used to say, `Do not go with that Lamp-Wick! He is a bad companion and some day he will lead you astray.'" Ele é um mau companheiro e algum dia ele vai te enganar.'" "Poor teacher!" answered the other, nodding his head. "Indeed I know how much he disliked me and how he enjoyed speaking ill of me. "Na verdade, sei o quanto ele não gostava de mim e como gostava de falar mal de mim. But I am of a generous nature, and I gladly forgive him." "Great soul!" said Pinocchio, fondly embracing his friend. disse Pinóquio, abraçando carinhosamente o amigo.

Five months passed and the boys continued playing and enjoying themselves from morn till night, without ever seeing a book, or a desk, or a school. But, my children, there came a morning when Pinocchio awoke and found a great surprise awaiting him, a surprise which made him feel very unhappy, as you shall see.