The Adventures of Pinocchio — Chapter 22 in Italian
By Carlo Collodi
Dormiva profondamente da circa due ore quando, verso la mezzanotte, fu svegliato da un sussurrio di voci strane che sembravano venire dalla corte. He had been sleeping heavily for about two hours when, towards midnight, he was roused by a whispering of strange voices that seemed to come from the courtyard. Messa fuori la punta del naso dalla buca del casotto, vide riunite a consiglio quattro bestiuole di pelame scuro, che parevano gatti. Putting the point of his nose out of the kennel he saw four little beasts with dark fur, that looked like cats, standing consulting together. Ma non erano gatti: erano faine, animaletti carnivori, ghiottosissimi d'uova e di pollastrine giovani. But they were not cats; they were polecats—carnivorous little animals, especially greedy for eggs and young chickens. Una di queste faine, staccandosi dalle sue compagne, andò alla buca del casotto e disse sottovoce: One of the polecats, leaving his companions, came to the opening of the kennel and said in a low voice:
— Buona sera, Melampo. 'Good evening, Melampo.'
— Io non mi chiamo Melampo — rispose il burattino. 'My name is not Melampo,' answered the puppet.