They laughed and laughed, and laughed again--laughed till they
ached--laughed till they cried.
But all of a sudden Lamp-Wick stopped laughing. He tottered and almost
fell. Pale as a ghost, he turned to Pinocchio and said:
"Help, help, Pinocchio!"
"What is the matter?"
"Oh, help me! I can no longer stand up."
"I can't either," cried Pinocchio; and his laughter turned to tears as
he stumbled about helplessly.
They had hardly finished speaking, when both of them fell on all fours
and began running and jumping around the room. As they ran, their arms
turned into legs, their faces lengthened into snouts and their backs
became covered with long gray hairs.
This was humiliation enough, but the most horrible moment was the one
in which the two poor creatures felt their tails appear. Overcome with
shame and grief, they tried to cry and bemoan their fate.
But what is done can't be undone! Instead of moans and cries, they burst
forth into loud donkey brays, which sounded very much like, "Haw! Haw!
Haw!"
At that moment, a loud knocking was heard at the door and a voice called
to them:
"Open! I am the Little Man, the driver of the wagon which brought you
here.
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