Page:Collodi - The Story of a Puppet, translation Murray, 1892.djvu/66

 the Owls there is a sacred field called by everybody the Field of miracles. In this field you must dig a little hole, and you put into it, we will say, one gold sovereign. You then cover up the hole with a little earth: you must water it with two pails of water from the fountain, then sprinkle it with two pinches of salt, and when night comes you can go quietly to bed. In the meanwhile, during the night, the gold piece will grow and flower, and in the morning when you get up and return to the field, what do you find? You find a beautiful tree laden with as many gold sovereigns as a fine ear of corn has grains in the month of June.'

'So that,' said Pinocchio, more and more bewildered, 'supposing I buried my five sovereigns in that field, how many should I find there the following morning?'

'That is an exceedingly easy calculation,' replied the Fox, 'a calculation that you can make on the ends of your fingers. Put that every sovereign gives you an increase of five hundred: multiply five hundred by five, and the following morning will find you with two thousand five hundred shining gold pieces in your pocket.'

'Oh! how delightful!' cried Pinocchio, dancing for joy. 'As soon as ever I have obtained those sovereigns, I will keep two thousand for myself, and the other five