Page:Collodi - The Story of a Puppet, translation Murray, 1892.djvu/89

 Pinocchio looked at the tumbler, made a wry face, and then asked in a plaintive voice:

'Is it sweet or bitter?'

'It is bitter, but it will do you good.'

'If it is bitter, I will not take it.'

'Listen to me: drink it.'

'I don't like anything bitter.'

'Drink it, and when you have drunk it I will give you a lump of sugar to take away the taste.'

'Where is the lump of sugar?'

'Here it is,' said the Fairy, taking a piece from a gold sugar-basin.

'Give me first the lump of sugar, and then I will drink that bad bitter water. . . .'

'Do you promise me?'

'Yes. . . .'

The Fairy gave him the sugar, and Pinocchio, having crunched it up and swallowed it in a second, said, licking his lips:

'It would be a fine thing if sugar was medicine! . . . I would take it every day.'

'Now keep your promise and drink these few drops of water, which will restore you to health.'

Pinocchio took the tumbler unwillingly in his hand and put the point of his nose to it: he then approached it to his lips: he then again put his nose to it, and at last said: