PINOCCHIO S NOSE GROWS

“Now come here to me,” said the Child, “and
tell me your story.”

And Pinocchio told her everything.

“And the four pieces of gold—where are
they?” asked the Child.

“I lost them yesterday!” said Pinocchio, but
that was a lie: he had them in his pocket.

Suddenly his long nose began to grow longer.

“And where did you lose them?”

“In the forest near your house.”

At this second lie his nose again grew longer.

“If you lost them near my house,” said the
Child, “we'll look for them. We’ll find them. We
always find what we lose in that forest.”

“Oh!” said the puppet. “I didn’t lose the four
gold pieces. I swallowed them with your medicine.”

At this third lie his nose again grew longer.
It was so long now that the Child looked at him
and laughed.

“What’s the matter?” asked the puppet. “Why
did you laugh?”

“I laughed at the lie that you told me a minute
ago.”

“But how do you know that I told a lie?”

“My dear boy, I am a fairy and we fairies
know lies at once. There are lies which have short
legs, and there are lies which have long noses.
Your lies have long noses.”

Pinocchio tried to run out of the room, but he
couldn’t. His nose was so long, that it couldn’t go
through the door.