A deafening roar, louder than thunder, arose from the people: “Down with Compulsory Education! Down with the school!”
This speech was followed by a review of the troops, which lasted till night.
Emperor Pinocchio, tired but satisfied, then returned in state to the royal palace.
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE EMPEROR BECOMES AS BLACK AS A CROW
It was no easy matter to be an emperor. There was a great deal of work to be done, and work was always tiresome to Pinocchio. Each day he must get out of bed at a fixed hour, and allow himself to be washed and oiled. Then came breakfast, and after that the ministers with the affairs of state.
True, his work did not seem hard. He had only to say “Yes” or “No.” But in the task of deciding whether it should be “Yes” or “No” lay the real difficulty.
Sometimes he would be left with only a few servants, among them some boys to entertain him or to drive away the flies with big feather dusters, which tickled his nose and made him sneeze. These were pleasant moments in his life, but he was often bored, and being a cunning rogue he thought out a plan by which once in a while he could be freed from care.