As soon as Pinocchio went into the stable, he spied a little Donkey lying on a bed of straw in the corner of the stable. He was worn out from hunger and too much work. After looking at him a long time, he said to himself: “I know that Donkey! I have seen him before.”
And bending low over him, he asked: “Who are you?”
At this question, the Donkey opened weary, dying eyes and answered in the same tongue: “I am Lamp-Wick.”
Then he closed his eyes and died.
“Oh, my poor Lamp-Wick,” said Pinocchio in a faint voice, as he wiped his eyes with some straw he had picked up from the ground.
“Do you feel so sorry for a little donkey that has cost you nothing?” said the Farmer. “What should I do—I, who have paid my good money for him?”
“But, you see, he was my friend.”
“Your friend?”
“A classmate of mine.”
“What,” shouted Farmer John, bursting out laughing. “What! You had donkeys in your school? How you must have studied!”