"And the four pieces--where have you put them?" asked the Fairy. "I have lost them!" said Pinocchio, but he was telling a lie, for he had them in his pocket. He had scarcely told the lie when his nose, which was already long, grew at once two inches longer. "And where did you lose them?" "In the wood near here." At this second lie his nose went on growing. "If you have lost them in the wood near here," said the Fairy, "we will look for them and we shall find them: because everything that is lost in that wood is always found." "Ah! now I remember all about it," replied the puppet, getting quite confused; "I didn't lose the four gold pieces, I swallowed them whilst I was drinking your medicine." At this lie his nose grew to such an extraordinary length that poor Pinocchio could not move in any direction. If he turned to one side he struck his nose against the bed or the window-panes, if he turned to the other he struck it against the walls or the door, if he raised his head a little he ran the risk of sticking it into one of the Fairy's eyes. And the Fairy looked at him and laughed. "What are you laughing at?" asked the puppet, very confused and anxious at finding his nose growing so prodigiously. "I am laughing at the lie you have told." "And how can you possibly know that I have told a lie?" "Lies, my dear boy, are found out immediately, because they are of two sorts. There are lies that have short legs, and lies that have long noses. Your lie, as it happens, is one of those that have a long nose." Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide himself for shame, tried to run out of the room; but he did not succeed, for his nose had increased so much that it could no longer pass through the door. [Illustration: SPLASH! SPLASH! THEY FELL INTO THE VERY MIDDLE OF THE DITCH] [Illustration] CHAPTER XVIII PINOCCHIO AGAIN MEETS THE FOX AND THE CAT The Fairy allowed the puppet to cry for a good half-hour over his nose, which could no longer pass through the door of the room. This she did to give him a severe lesson, and to correct him of the disgraceful fault of telling lies--the most disgraceful fault that a boy can have. But when she saw him quite disfigured and his eyes swollen out of his head from weeping, she felt full of compassion for him. She therefore beat her hands together and at that signal a thousand large birds called Woodpeckers flew in at the window. They immediately perched on Pinocchio's nose and began to peck at it with such zeal that in a few minutes his enormous and ridiculous nose was reduced to its usual dimensions. "What a good Fairy you are," said the puppet, drying his eyes, "and how much I love you!" "I love you also," answered the Fairy; "and if you will remain with me you shall be my little brother and I will be your good little sister." "I would remain willingly if it were not for my poor papa." "I have thought of everything. I have already let your father know, and he will be here tonight."