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The ringmaster sharply prodded Pinocchio with the hard handle of his whip, and the donkey jumped a couple of inches off the ground. If he tried to extend his legs while in the air, it wasn't noticeable from the seats.
“And Pinocchio can perform tricks! Pinocchio! Show us how you can jump through the hoop!”
Pinocchio tried twice to jump through a hoop that was held by a female assistant, but each time he came near it, he found it easier to run around it than to jump through it. The third time he started far back to give himself time to gain momentum. As he raced toward the hoop, all the boys and girls held their breath expectantly. But the attempt proved anticlimactic when at the last second he veered to the right and ran around it.
Immediately after this last abortive effort, the ringmaster tightened his grip on the whip and gave Pinocchio a menacing look that seemed to say: “If you circumvent the hoop one more time you'll get a lashing you'll never forget!” On his next try, the defeated donkey, with a dispirited and resigned expression on his face, forced himself to leap through it. But as he did so his hind legs got caught. He fell clumsily to the hard floor with a resounding thump.
The ringmaster, ignoring the fallen donkey, suddenly announced to the audience, “In his subsequent performances, Pinocchio will perform more amazing tricks for your pleasure! So be sure to come back tomorrow night—and bring your friends!”
When he got up, the little donkey was hurt and could hardly limp as far as the stable.
“Pinocchio! We want Pinocchio! We want the little donkey!” cried the children.
But no one saw him again that evening. He spent the night in lonely seclusion in the locked stable with nothing to keep him company but
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