The Adventures of Pinocchio — Chapter 19 in Italian
By Carlo Collodi
Il burattino tornò in città e cominciò a contare i minuti uno per uno; e quando gli parve che fosse venuta l'ora, prese la strada che conduceva al Campo dei miracoli. The puppet returned to the town and began to count the minutes one by one; and when he thought that it must be time he took the road leading to the Field of miracles.
E mentre camminava a passi affrettati, il suo cuore batteva forte tic, tac, tic, tac, come un orologio da salotto quando funziona davvero bene. And as he walked along with hurried steps his heart beat fast tic, tac, tic, tac, like a drawing-room clock when it is really going well. E intanto pensava dentro di sè: Meanwhile he was thinking to himself:
— E se invece di mille monete, ne trovassi su i rami dell'albero duemila?... 'And if instead of a thousand gold pieces, I was to find on the branches of the tree two thousand? E se invece di duemila, ne trovassi cinquemila? And instead of two thousand supposing I found five thousand? e invece di cinquemila ne trovassi centomila? and instead of five thousand that I found a hundred thousand? O che bel signore, allora, che diventerei!... what a fine gentleman I should then become! Vorrei avere un bel palazzo, mille cavallini di legno e mille scuderie, per potermi baloccare, una cantina di rosolii e di alchermes, e una libreria tutta piena di canditi, di torte, di panettoni, di mandorlati e di cialdoni colla panna. I would have a beautiful palace, a thousand little wooden horses and a thousand stables to amuse myself with, a cellar full of currant-wine and sweet syrups, and a library quite full of candies, tarts, plum-cakes, macaroons, and biscuits with cream.'
— Così fantasticando, giunse in vicinanza del campo, e lì si fermò a guardare se per caso avesse potuto scorgere qualche albero coi rami carichi di Whilst he was building these castles in the air he had arrived in the neighbourhood of the field, and he stopped to look if by chance he could perceive a tree with its branches laden with money: but he saw nothing. Fece altri cento passi in avanti, e nulla; entrò sul campo.… andò proprio su quella piccola buca, dove aveva sotterrato i suoi zecchini, e nulla. He advanced another hundred steps—nothing: he entered the field . he went right up to the little hole where he had buried his sovereigns—and nothing. Allora diventò pensieroso, e, dimenticando le regole del Galateo e della buona creanza, tirò fuori una mano di tasca e si dette una lunghissima grattatina di capo. He then became very thoughtful, and forgetting the rules of society and good manners he took his hands out of his pocket and gave his head a long scratch.