Candlewick was the laziest and the naughtiest boy in the school, but Pinocchio was devoted to him. He had indeed gone at once to his house to invite him to the breakfast, but he had not found him. He returned a second time, but Candlewick was not there. He went a third time, but it was in vain. Where could he search for him? He looked here, there, and everywhere, and at last he saw him hiding on the porch of a peasant's cottage.
"What are you doing there?" asked Pinocchio, coming up to him.
"I am waiting for midnight, to start away."
"And where are you going?"
"I am going to live in a country—the most delightful country in the world: a real land of sweetmeats!"
"And what is it called?"
"It is called the 'Land of Boobies.' Why do you not come, too?"
"I? No, never!"
"You are wrong, Pinocchio. If you do not come you will repent it. Where could you find a better country for us boys? There are no schools there; there are no masters; there are no books. In that delightful land nobody ever studies. On Saturday there is never school, and every week consists of six Saturdays and one Sunday. Only think, the autumn holidays begin on the first of January and finish on the last day of December. That is the country for me! That is what all civilized countries should be like!"
"But how are the days spent in the 'Land of Boobies'?"