<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html> <head> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000"> Veterinary--that is, the animal doctor--declared that he would be lame for the rest of his life. "What do I want with a lame donkey?" said the Manager to the stableboy. "Take him to the market and sell him." When they reached the square, a buyer was soon found. "How much do you ask for that little lame Donkey?" he asked. "Four dollars." "I'll give you four cents. Don't think I'm buying him for work. I want only his skin. It looks very tough and I can use it to make myself a drumhead. I belong to a musical band in my village and I need a drum." I leave it to you, my dear children, to picture to yourself the gr <img src="cid:QVU05h"> eat pleasure with which Pinocchio heard that he was to become a drumhead! As soon as the buyer had paid the four cents, the Donkey changed hands. His new owner took him to a high cliff overlooking the sea, put a stone around his neck, tied a rope to one of his hind feet, gave him a push, and threw him into the water. Pinocchio sank immediately. And his new master sat on the cliff waiting for him to drown, so as to skin him and make himself a drumhead. CHAPTER 34 Pinocchio is thrown into the sea, eaten by fishes, and becomes a Marionette once more. As he swims to land, he is swallowed by the Terrible Shark. Down into the sea, deeper and deeper, sank Pinocchio, and finally, after fifty minutes of waiting, the man on the cliff said to himself: "By this time my poor little lame Donkey must be drowned. Up with him and then I can get to work on my beautiful drum." He pulled the rope which he had tied to Pinocchio's leg--pulled and pulled and pulled and, at last, he saw appear on the surface of the water--Can you guess what? Instead of a dead donkey, he saw </body> </html>