"Have pity, Excellence!"

Upon hearing himself called Excellence the showman began to smile and
became at once kinder and more tractable. Turning to Pinocchio, he
asked:

"Well, what do you want from me?"

"I implore you to pardon poor Harlequin."

"For him there can be no pardon. As I have spared you he must be put on
the fire, for I am determined that my mutton shall be well roasted."

"In that case," cried Pinocchio proudly, rising and throwing away his
cap of bread crumb--"in that case I know my duty. Come on, gendarmes!
Bind me and throw me amongst the flames. No, it is not just that poor
Harlequin, my true friend, should die for me!"

These words, pronounced in a loud, heroic voice, made all the puppets
who were present cry. Even the gendarmes, although they were made of
wood, wept like two newly born lambs.

Fire-Eater at first remained as hard and unmoved as ice, but little by
little he began to melt and to sneeze. And, having sneezed four or five
times, he opened his arms affectionately and said to Pinocchio:

"You are a good, brave boy! Come here and give me a kiss."

Pinocchio ran at once and, climbing like a squirrel up the showman's
beard, he deposited a hearty kiss on the point of his nose.