price.

In fact, he did not have to wait very long for an offer. Lamp-Wick was
bought by a farmer whose donkey had died the day before. Pinocchio went
to the owner of a circus, who wanted to teach him to do tricks for his
audiences.

And now do you understand what the Little Man's profession was? This
horrid little being, whose face shone with kindness, went about the
world looking for boys. Lazy boys, boys who hated books, boys who wanted
to run away from home, boys who were tired of school--all these were his
joy and his fortune. He took them with him to the Land of Toys and let
them enjoy themselves to their heart's content. When, after months of
all play and no work, they became little donkeys, he sold them on the
market place. In a few years, he had become a millionaire.

What happened to Lamp-Wick? My dear children, I do not know. Pinocchio,
I can tell you, met with great hardships even from the first day.

After putting him in a stable, his new master filled his manger with
straw, but Pinocchio, after tasting a mouthful, spat it out.

Then the man filled the manger with hay. But Pinocchio did not like that
any better.

"Ah, you don't like hay either?" he cried angrily. "Wait, my pretty
Donkey, I'll teach you not to be so particular."

Without more ado, he took a whip and gave the Donkey a hearty blow
across the legs.

Pinocchio screamed with pain and as he screamed he brayed:

"Haw! Haw! Haw! I can't digest straw!"

"Then eat the hay!" answered his master, who understood the Donkey
perfectly.

"Haw! Haw! Haw! Hay gives me a headache!"

"Do you pretend, by any chance, that I should feed you duck or chicken?"
asked the man again, and, angrier than ever, he gave poor Pinocchio
another lashing.

At that second beating, Pinocchio became very quiet and said no more.

After that, the door of the stable was closed and he was left alone. It
was many hours since he had eaten anything and he started to yawn from
hunger. As he yawned, he opened a mouth as big as an oven.

Finally, not finding anything else in the manger, he tasted the hay.
After tasting it, he chewed it well, closed his eyes, and swallowed it.

"This hay is not bad," he said to himself. "But how much happier I
should be if I had studied! Just now, instead of hay, I should be eating
some good bread and butter. Patience!"

Next morning, when he awoke, Pinocchio looked in the manger for more
hay, but it was all gone. He had eaten it all dur