M 
 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNDERGRADUATE LIBRARY 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 Cornell University Library 
 PZ 8.L86P6 1904 
 
 Pinocchio :the adventures of a marionett 
 
 3 1924 014 390 037 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
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 Copyright, 1904 
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 PRIETORS . BOSTON ■ U.S.A. 
 
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PREFACE 
 
 Under the assumed name of C. Collodi, Carlo 
 Lorenzini is well known to the reading world of 
 Italy. His most successful book, Pinocchio, was 
 written for children, and has already become a 
 classic. Of all the fairy stories of Italian litera- 
 ture this is the best known and the best loved.' 
 The name of the marionette hero is familiar in 
 every household of northern and central Italy. In 
 its whimsical extravagance, its quaint humor, and 
 its narrative style the story appeals strongly to 
 both old and young. 
 
 American children, who have long delighted in 
 French and German fairy tales, and among whom 
 Hans Christian Andersen is universally beloved, 
 should not remain in ignorance of this Italian clas- 
 sic. The Florentines call it a literary jewel, and as 
 such it should be known to all young readers. In 
 order to preserve the unique flavor of the story 
 
2 PREFACE 
 
 as much as possible the translator has followed the 
 original rather closely. Pinocchio's waywardness 
 and love of mischief are fully set forth, and the 
 moral, though sufficiently obvious, is not allowed to 
 detract from the enjoyment of his adventures. 
 
 The story is one that readily lends itself to the 
 fertile fancy and skillful pencil of an able illustrator. 
 In the present volume, as in the original, the pic- 
 tures play an important part which is not likely to 
 be overlooked by the readers for whom the book 
 is designed. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 Once upon a time there was — 
 
 " A king ? " my little readers will immediately 
 say. 
 
 No, children, you are mistaken. Once upon a 
 time there was a piece of wood. It was not fine 
 wood, but a simple piece of wood from the wood 
 yard, — the kind we put in the stoves and fireplaces 
 so as to make a fire and heat the rooms. 
 
 I do not know how it happened, but one beau- 
 tiful day a certain old woodcutter found a piece of 
 this kind of wood in his shop. The name of the 
 old man was Antonio, but everybody called him 
 Master Cherry on account of the point of his nose, 
 which was always shiny and purplish, just like a 
 ripe cherry. 
 
 3 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 As soon as Master Cherry saw that piece of 
 wood he was overjoyed ; and rubbing his hands 
 contentedly, he mumbled to himself, "This has 
 come in very good time. I will make it into a 
 table leg." 
 
 - No sooner said than done. He quickly took a 
 sharpened ax to raise the bark and shape the 
 wood ; but when he was on the point of striking 
 it he stopped with his arm in the air, because he 
 heard a tiny, thin little voice say, " Do not strike 
 so hard ! " 
 
 Just imagine how surprised good old Master 
 Cherry was ! He turned his bewildered eyes 
 around the room in order to see whence that little 
 voice came; but he saw no one. He looked under 
 the bench, and no one was there ; he looked in a 
 sideboard which was always closed ; he looked in 
 the basket of chips and shavings ; he opened the 
 door in order to glance around his house ; still he 
 could see no one. What then .'' 
 
 "I understand," he said, laughing and scratch- 
 ing his wig ; " I imagined I heard that little voice. 
 I will begin to work again." 
 
 He took up the ax and gave the piece, of wood 
 another hard blow. 
 
 " Oh ! you have hurt me ! " cried the little voice, 
 as if in pain. 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 5 
 
 This time Master Cherry was dumb. His eyes 
 were nearly popping out of his head ; his mouth 
 was opened wide, and his tongue hung down on his 
 chin, Uke that of a gorgon head on a fountain, j 
 
 As soon as he could speak he said, trembling 
 and stammering from fright, " But where does 
 that little voice come from that says ' Oh ' ? There 
 is nothing alive in this room. Can it be that this 
 piece of wood has learned to cry and scream like 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 a baby ? I cannot believe it. This is an ordinary 
 piece of wood for the fireplace, like all other pieces 
 with which we boil a pot of beans. What next .■• 
 What if there is some one hidden inside .' If 
 there is, so much the worse for him. I will settle 
 him." And saying this, he seized with both hands 
 the poor piece of wood and knocked it against 
 the wall. 
 
 Then he stopped to listen, so as to hear if any 
 voice complained. He waited two minutes, and 
 heard nothing; five minutes, and nothing; ten min- 
 utes, and nothing. 
 
 " I understand," he said, forcing a laugh and 
 rubbing his wig ; " I imagined that I heard a voice 
 cry ' Oh ! ' I will begin to work again." And 
 because he was somewhat frightened, he tried to 
 hum an air so as to make himself courageous. 
 
 At the same time he stopped working with the 
 ax and took up a plane to make the wood even and 
 clean ; but while he planed he heard again the little 
 voice, this time in a laughing tone, " Stop ! you are 
 taking the skin off my body." 
 
 This time poor Master Cherry fell down as if 
 shot. When he opened his eyes he found himself 
 sitting on the ground. His face expressed utter 
 amazement, and the end of his nose, which was 
 always purple, became blue from great fear. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 At this moment there was a knock at the door. 
 
 "Come in," said the woodcutter, without having 
 strength enough to arise. 
 
 Then a lively old man called Geppetto entered 
 the room. 
 
 "Good morning, Master Antonio," said Gep- 
 petto. " What are you doing on the ground .' " 
 
 " I am teaching the ants their A B C's. What 
 has brought you here, brother Geppetto.'" 
 
 " I have come to ask a favor of you, Master 
 Antonio." 
 
 " Here I am, prompt to serve you ! " replied the 
 woodcutter, raising himself on his knees. 
 
 "This morning I had an idea." 
 
 " Let me hear it." 
 
 " I thought that I would make a pretty wooden 
 marionette ; I mean a wonderful marionette, one 
 
 7 
 
8 PINOCCHIO 
 
 that can dance, walk, and jump. With this mario- 
 nette I wish to travel through tlje world and earn 
 for myself a httle bread." 
 
 "What then, brother Geppetto, can I do for 
 you.?" 
 
 " I should like a piece of wood to make a mario- 
 nette. Will you give it to me ? " 
 
 Master Antonio gladly took up the piece of wood 
 that had frightened him so. But when he was 
 about to hand it to Geppetto the piece of wood 
 gave a spring, and, slipping violently from his 
 hands, fell and struck the shins of poor Geppetto. 
 
 " Ah ! you are very polite when you give pres- 
 ents ! Truly, Master Antonio, you have nearly 
 lamed me." 
 
 " I swear to you that I did not do it." 
 
 " Surely it was you who threw the piece of wood 
 at my legs." 
 
 " I did not throw it. The fault is all in this 
 wood." 
 
 "Truly.?" 
 
 "Truly!" 
 
 Upon that Geppetto took the piece of wood in 
 his arms and, thanking Master Antonio, went home, 
 limping all the way. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 Geppetto's home consisted of one room on the 
 ground floor. It received light from a window 
 under a staircase. The furniture could not have 
 been more simple, — a broken chair, a hard bed, 
 and a dilapidated table. On one side of the room 
 there was a fireplace with wood burning ; but the 
 fire was painted, and above it there was also painted 
 a boiling pot with clouds of steam all around it 
 that made it quite real. 
 
 As soon as he entered Geppetto began to 
 make a marionette. " What name shall I give 
 
 9 
 
lO PINOCCHIO 
 
 him?" he said to himself. "I think I will call 
 him Pinocchio. That name will bring with it gbod 
 fortune. I have known a whole family called 
 Pinocchio. Pinocchio was the father, Pinocchio 
 was the mother, and the children were called little 
 Pinocchios, and everybody lived well. It was a 
 happy family." 
 
 When he had found the name for the mario- 
 nette he began to work with a will. He quickly 
 made the forehead, then the hair, and then the 
 eyes. After he had made the eyes, just imagine 
 how surprised he was to see them look around, 
 and finally gaze at him fixedly ! Geppetto, seeing 
 himself looked at by two eyes of wood, said to 
 the head, "Why do you look at me so, eyes of 
 wood .'' " 
 
 No response. 
 
 After he had made the eyes he made the nose ; 
 but the nose began to grow, and it grew, grew, grew, 
 until it became a great big nose, and Geppetto 
 thought it would never stop. He tried hard to 
 stop it, but the more he cut at it the longer that 
 impertinent nose became. 
 
 After the nose he made the mouth. The mouth 
 was hardly finished when it commenced to sing and 
 laugh. "Stop laughing," said Geppetto, vexed; 
 but it was like talking to the wall. " Stop laughing, 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 II 
 
 I tell you," he said again in a loud tone. Then the 
 features began to make grimaces. 
 
 Geppetto feigned not to see this impertinence 
 and continued to work. After the mouth he made 
 the chin, then the neck, then the shoulders, then 
 the body, then the arms and hands. 
 
 Hardly had he finished the hands when Geppetto 
 felt his wig pulled off. He turned quickly, and what 
 
 do you think he saw .? — his yellow wig in the 
 hands of the marionette ! " Pinocchio ! give me 
 back my wig immediately," said the old man. But 
 Pinocchio, instead of giving back the wig, put it on 
 his own head, making himself look half smothered. 
 At this disobedience Geppetto looked very sad, 
 a thing he had never done before in all his life. 
 
12 PINOCCHIO 
 
 Turning to Pinocchio, he said : " Bad little boy ! You 
 are not yet finished and already lack respect to 
 your father. Bad, bad boy ! " And he dried a tear. 
 
 There were now only the legs and feet to make. 
 Scarcely were they finished when they began to 
 kick poor Geppetto. " It is my fault," he said to 
 himself ; " I ought to have thought of this at first! 
 Now it is too late ! " Then he took the mario- 
 nette in his arms and placed him on the ground to 
 make him walk. Pinocchio behaved at first as if 
 his legs were asleep and he could not move them. 
 Geppetto led him around the room for some time, 
 showing him how to put one foot in front of the 
 other. When his legs were stretched Pinocchio 
 began to walk and then to run around the room. 
 When he saw the door open he jumped into the 
 street and ran away. 
 
 Poor Geppetto ran as fast as he could, but he 
 was not able to catch him ; Pinocchio jumped like 
 a rabbit. He made a noise with his wooden 
 feet on the hard road like twenty pair of little 
 wooden shoes. 
 
 "Stop him! stop him!" cried Geppetto; but 
 the people in the street, seeing the wooden mario- 
 nette running as fast as a rabbit, stopped to look at 
 it, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed, so that 
 it is really hard to describe how they enjoyed it all. 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 13 
 
 Finally, through good fortune, a soldier appeared, 
 who, hearing all the noise, thought that some colt 
 had escaped from its master. He planted himself 
 in the middle of the road and with a fixed look 
 determined to catch the runaway. Pinocchio, when 
 he saw the soldier in the road, tried to pass between 
 his legs, but he could not do it. The soldier, 
 scarcely moving his body, seized the marionette 
 by the nose (which was a very ridiculous one, just 
 the size to be seized by a soldier) and consigned 
 him to the hands of Geppetto, who tried to correct 
 him by pulling his ears. But just imagine^ when 
 he searched for the ears he could not find them ! 
 Do you know why ? Because, in the haste of 
 making Pinocchio, he did not finish carving t^pm. 
 
14 PINOCCHIO 
 
 Taking him by the neck, Geppetto led him back, 
 saying as he did so, "When we get home I must 
 punish you." 
 
 Pinocchio, at this threat, threw himself on the 
 ground and refused to walk farther. Meanwhile 
 the curious people and the loungers began to stop 
 and surround them. First one said something, then 
 another. " Poor marionette ! " said one of them, 
 " he is right not to want to go back to his home. 
 Who knows how hard Geppetto beats him ? " And 
 others added maliciously : " That Geppetto appears 
 to be a kind man, but he is a tyrant with boys. 
 If he gets that poor marionette in his hands, he will 
 break him in pieces." 
 
 Altogether they made so much noise that the 
 soldier gave Pinocchio back his liberty and took to 
 prison instead the poor old man, who, not finding 
 words at^first with which to defend himself, wept 
 bitterly, and on approaching the prison stammered 
 out : " Wicked son ! and to think I tried so hard to 
 make a good marionette ! I ought to have thought 
 of all this at first." 
 
 What happened afterward is a story so strange 
 that you will hardly believe it. However, I will 
 tell it to you iji the following chapters. 
 

 ^ X /i 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 I will tell you then, children, that while poor old 
 Geppetto was led to prison without having done any 
 wrong, that rogue Pinocchio, being free, took to 
 his heels and ran toward the fields in order more 
 easily to reach his house. In his haste he jumped 
 high mounds of earth, hedges of thorns, and ditches 
 of water, just as rabbits and deer do when chased 
 by hunters. 
 
 When he arrived before the house he found the 
 door to the street half shut. He pushed it open, 
 entered the room, and bolted the door. Then he 
 threw himself down on the floor and heaved a great 
 big sigh of happiness. 
 
 But his happiness did not last very long for soon 
 he heard some one crying in the room — "Cri-cri- 
 cri ! " 
 
 IS 
 
l6 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "Who is speaking to me?" said Pinocchio 
 frightened. 
 
 "It is I." 
 
 Pinocchio turned around and saw a large cricke 
 that walked slowly up on the wall. 
 
 " Tell me, Cricket, who are you ? " 
 
 " I am the Talking Cricket, and I have lived ii 
 this room for more than a hundred years." 
 
 "To-day, however, this room is mine," said th( 
 marionette, " and if you wish to do me a favor, g( 
 away immediately, without even turning yoursel 
 around once." 
 
 " I will not go away from here," said the Cricket 
 " without telling you a great truth." 
 
 " Tell it to me and be gone." 
 
 "Woe to boys who rebel against their parents 
 and who foolishly run away from their homes 
 They will never get along well in the world, anc 
 sooner or later will bitterly repent of thei 
 actions." 
 
 " Sing on, little Cricket, if it pleases you ; but '. 
 know that to-morrow, at the dawn of day, I shal 
 go away, because if I remain here, what happen 
 to all other boys will happen to me. I shall hav( 
 to go to school and be made to study ; and I wil 
 tell you in confidence that I have no wish t( 
 study at all, and I propose to play and run afte 
 
PINOCCHIO 17 
 
 butterflies and climb trees and take the little birds 
 out of their nests." 
 
 "Poor little stupid thing! Do you not know 
 that in doing so you will become a donkey, and 
 that everybody will make fun of you ? " 
 
 "Be quiet, you dismal little Cricket!" cried 
 Pinocchio. 
 
 But the Cricket, who was a patient philosopher, 
 instead of becoming angry at this impertinence, 
 continued in the same tone of voice : " And if it 
 does not please you to go to school, why not at 
 least learn a trade, so as to be able to earn honestly 
 a piece of bread ? " 
 
 " Do you wish me to tell you ? " replied Pinocchio, 
 who began to lose patience ; " because among the 
 trades of the world there is only one that suits my 
 genius." 
 
 "And what trade may that be ? " 
 
 " That of eating, drinking, sleeping, and amusing 
 myself, and of living, from morning to night, an 
 easy life." 
 
 "Those who live that way," said the Talking 
 Cricket with his usual calmness, "always end in 
 the hospital or in prison." 
 
 " Take care. Cricket, take care ! If you make 
 me angry I pity you." 
 
 " Poor Pinocchio ! you make me pity you.'' 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Why do I make you pity me ? " 
 
 " Because you are a marionette ; and, what is 
 worse, you have a wooden head." 
 
 At these words Pinocchio jumped up enraged, 
 and taking a hammer from a bench flung it at the 
 Talking Cricket. 
 
 Perhaps he did not intend to do such a thing; 
 but unfortunately the hammer struck the poor little 
 Cricket in the head and killed him. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 Meanwhile the night came on, and Pinocchio, 
 remembering that he had eaten nothing, felt a 
 gnawing in his stomach that strongly resembled 
 an appetite. Now the appetite of boys increases 
 very quickly, and so after a few minutes the appe- 
 tite became hunger, and the hunger finally became 
 like that of a wolf. 
 
 Poor Pinocchio ran suddenly to the fireplace, 
 where there was a pot of boiling water into which 
 he tried to look ; but he found that it was only a 
 painting. , Imagine his surprise ! His nose, which 
 was already long, began to grow longer, nearly 
 equal to four fingers. Then he ran around the 
 room and rummaged through all the drawers and | 
 boxes and all the hiding places in search of a piece 
 of bread, — only a little piece of dried bread, a crust, 
 a bone for a dog, a little mush, a fish bone, a ker- 
 nel of a cherry, in fact anything at all to eat ; but 
 he found absolutely nothing. 
 
 Meanwhile his hunger constantly increased. Poor 
 Pinocchio had no other relief than that of yawning, 
 
 19 
 
20 PINOCCHIO 
 
 and he gaped with so much energy that the comers 
 of his mouth touched his ears. Then he began to 
 feel faint and dizzy. Weeping and despairing, he 
 said: "The Talking Cricket was right. I have 
 behaved badly in turning my back on my papa and 
 running away. If my papa were only here now, 
 I should not find myself dying of hunger. Oh ! 
 what a horrible feeling it is ! " 
 
 Suddenly it appeared to him that he saw some- 
 thing on the top of a rubbish heap that very much 
 resembled a hen's egg. It required but a second 
 to jump to the spot and there he really saw a nice 
 big egg. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the joy of the mario- 
 nette. It is necessary to be a marionette in order 
 to understand it. Fearing that it might be a dream, 
 he turned the egg around in his hands and touched 
 it and kissed it, and kissing it said : " And now, 
 how ought I to cook it ? Shall I make an ome- 
 let .' No, it is better to poach it ; or would it not 
 be more savory to scramble it ? Or instead of 
 cooking it, I might drink it raw. No, the nicest 
 way is to cook it in a saucepan." 
 
 No sooner said than done. He placed a sauce- 
 pan above a heap of burning shavings. In the 
 saucepan, instead of oil or butter, he put a little 
 water. When the water began to smoke — iac ! 
 
PINOCCHIO 21 
 
 he broke the shell of the egg and held it over the 
 steaming saucepan. He was in the act of pour- 
 ing out the egg, when instead of the yolk there 
 appeared a little chicken, very lively and polite. 
 It made a beautiful bow and said : " Many thanks, 
 Mr. Pinocchio, for saving me the trouble of break- 
 ing my shell. Good-by ! Be good and give my 
 respects to the family." 
 
 Saying this, the little chick spread its wings and 
 flew out of the open window and away so quickly 
 that it was soon out of sight. 
 
 The poor marionette remained there stupefied, 
 with his eyes fixed, with his mouth open, and with 
 the eggshell in his hands. He soon came to him- 
 self, however, and began to weep, to scream, and 
 to stamp his feet on the ground in desperation, 
 and while weeping he said : " Oh, yes ! the Talking 
 Cricket was right. If I had not run away, and if 
 my papa were only here, I should not find myself 
 dying of hunger. Ah! what a horrible sickness 
 hunger is ! " 
 
 And because he was more uncomfortable than 
 ever, and because he did not know what else to do, 
 he thought that he would go out and run to the little 
 neighboring- town, in the hope of finding some 
 charitable person who would help him and give 
 him a piece of bread. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 It was a horrible night. It thundered very heav- 
 ily and it lightened as if the heavens would take 
 fire, while an ugly wind whistled savagely and raised 
 an immense cloud of dust. 
 
 Pinocchio was afraid of thunder and lightning, 
 but his hunger was greater than his fear. In a few 
 hundred jumps he arrived at the edge of the town, 
 quite out of breath. He was faint and weak with 
 hunger and fright. But he found the town all 
 dark and deserted. The stores were closed ; the 
 doors of the houses were shut and the windows 
 were bolted ; there was not even a dog in the 
 streets; it seemed as if the town were dead. 
 
 Then Pinocchio despairingly pulled a doorbell of 
 one of the houses and rang it with all his might, 
 saying to himself, "Some one will come." 
 
 Soon a cross old man with a nightcap on his 
 head looked out. of a window and cried, " What 
 do you want at this hour .'' " 
 
 22 
 
PINOCCHIO 23 
 
 " Will you please give me a little bread ? " 
 " Go away," replied the old man, believing that 
 he had to deal with some of the bad boys who go 
 around at night disturbing people by ringing their 
 bells. 
 
 Poor Pinocchio returned home, weak from hun- 
 ger and tired out ; and because he had npt enough 
 strength to stand upright, he dropped into a chair. 
 Resting his feet on the stove that was filled with 
 burning shavings, he fell asleep. But while he 
 slept, his feet, which were of wood, took fire and 
 slowly became cinders. Pinocchio, however, snored 
 away just as if his feet belonged to some one else. 
 
 He was awakened the next morning by some 
 one knocking at the door. 
 
 " Who is there ? " he asked, yawning and rubbing 
 his eyes. 
 
 "It is I," replied a voice. 
 
 The voice was the voice of Geppetto. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Poor Pinocchio, who was not quite awake, did 
 not notice that his feet had been burned off. He 
 gave a start and jumped down from his chair so as 
 to run and open the door. Instead, after stagger- 
 ing two or three times, he fell flat on the floor ; and 
 m falling he made the same noise that a sack of 
 wood would make in falling from the fifth story of 
 a house. 
 
 " Open the door," cried Geppetto, from the street. 
 
 "I cannot, Father," responded the marionette, 
 weeping and turning over and over on the floor. 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 24 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 25 
 
 "Because some one has eaten my feet." 
 
 " And who has eaten them ? " 
 
 "The cat," said Pinocchio, seeing the cat playing 
 with a bit of wood. 
 
 " Open the door, I say," repeated Geppetto; "if 
 not, when I come into the house I shall whip you." 
 
 " I cannot stand up, believe me. Oh ! poor, 
 poor me ! I shall be obliged to walk on my knees 
 all my life." 
 
 Geppetto, believing that all the weeping was 
 simply a trick to deceive him, thought he would 
 make an end of it. So he climbed up the side of 
 the house and entered through the window. 
 
26 PINOCCHIO 
 
 r. 
 
 At first he was very angry, but when he saw 
 Pinocchio really stretched out on the floor without 
 any feet, he felt sorry, and he took him gently 
 by the neck and began to caress him. Swallowing 
 a big sob, he said, " You dear little Pinocchio ! 
 How is it that you have burned off your feet ? " 
 
 I do not know. Papa ; but, believe me, the night 
 has been a horrible one, and I shall remember it 
 always. It thundered and lightened and I was so 
 very hungry ! And the Talking Cricket said to 
 me : ' It serves you right ; you have been wicked 
 and you deserve it all.' I said to him, 'Take care. 
 Cricket ' ; and he said to me, ' You are a marionette 
 and have a wooden head.' I then took a hammer 
 and threw it at him and it killed him. Then I 
 placed a saucepan on some burning shavings to 
 cook an egg, but when I broke the egg a little 
 chicken flew out of the shell and said, 'Good-by, 
 little one.' Meanwhile I grew more hungry and ran 
 to a house and rang the doorbell for help. An old 
 man with his nightcap on came to the window and 
 told me to go away. Was that a nice way to 
 treat a boy ? I came home at once and dropped 
 into that chair and placed my feet on the stove. 
 Now you have come back and found me with my 
 feet all gone, and I am still very hungry. Ih ! ih ! 
 ih! ih! 
 
PINOCCHIO 27 
 
 And poor Pinocchio began to cry so loudly that 
 he could be heard for miles. 
 
 Geppetto, who, through all the sad story, thought 
 of only one thing, and that was that the marionette 
 was dying of hunger, suddenly pulled put of/*his 
 pocket three pears and handing them to th^xroario- 
 nette said : " These three pears were toTiave been 
 my breakfast, but I give them to yoU willingly. 
 Eat them, and may they do you good." 
 
 " If you want me to eat them, be so kind as to 
 peel them." 
 
 " Peel them ? ^ replied Geppetto, greatly sur- 
 prised. " I would never have believed that you 
 could be so hard to please. Bad boy ! In this 
 world little boys must eat what is given them." 
 
 " That is all right," said Pinocchio, " but I never 
 eat fruit unless it is peeled. I cannot eat the 
 skins." j 
 
 And thai good man Geppetto took out of his 
 pocket a small knife and with much patience peeled 
 the three pears and placed all the skins on the 
 corner of the table. 
 
 After Pinocchio had eaten the first pear in two 
 mouthfuls, he was in the act of throwing away the 
 core, when Geppetto took him by the arms and 
 said to him : " Do not throw the core away. Every- 
 thing in this world has its use," 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 " But I never eat the core," cried the marionette, 
 wriggling Hke a snake. 
 
 " All right ! " said Geppetto, without getting 
 angry. 
 
 The result was that the three cores, instead of 
 being thrown away, were placed on the corner of 
 the table with the skins. 
 
 Having eaten, of, to describe it more truly, hay- 
 ing devoured, the three pears, Pinocchio gave a long 
 yawn and said, " I am still hungry." 
 
 " But, my boy, I have nothing more to give you." 
 
 " Nothing more, truly ? " 
 
 "Nothing, except those skins and cores." 
 
 "Oh, well," said Pinocchio, "if there is nothing 
 more, I will eat the skins." 
 
 And he commenced to eat them. At first he 
 puckered his mouth> but one after another the 
 skins disappeared. After the skins he ate the 
 cores also. When he had eaten everything he 
 clapped his hands contentedly on his little stomach 
 and said, " Now I feel better." 
 
 "You see now," said Geppetto, "that I was 
 right when I told you that you must accustom 
 yourself to what is given you and not be too dainty. 
 My dear boy, no one ever knows what may happen 
 in- this world, so always be prepared for the worst." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The marionette had scarcely appeased his hun- 
 ger when he began to grumble and cry because 
 he wished a new pair of feet. Geppetto, in order 
 to punish him for his bad actions, let him cry for 
 half a day. Then he said : " And why should I 
 make you a new pair of feet .' Perhaps you would 
 run away again." 
 
 " I promise you," said the marionette, sobbing, 
 " that hereafter I will be a good boy." 
 
 "All boys," said Geppetto, "when they wish to 
 obtain something, say that." 
 
 " I promise you that I will go to school. I will 
 study and I will be an honor — " 
 
 " All boys, when they wish to obtain something, 
 
 tell the same story." 
 
 29 
 
30 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "But I am not like other boys. I am better 
 than all the rest and I always speak the truth. I 
 promise you, Papa, that I will learn a trade, and 
 that I will be your consolation and your support in 
 your old age." 
 
 Geppetto, although he had the face of a tyrant, 
 began to shed tears, and his heart was full of com- 
 passion when he saw poor little Pinocchio in such 
 a state. He took his tools and two pieces of wood 
 and began to work very diligently. 
 
 In less than an hour the new feet were finished. 
 They were two nimble and nervous feet, and were 
 made so beautifully that they looked as if they 
 might have been carved by a great artist. Then 
 Geppetto said to the marionette, " Close your eyes 
 and go to sleep." 
 
 Pinocchio closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. 
 Meantime Geppetto stuck on the two feet with a 
 little glue ; and he did it so well that one could 
 hardly see the places where they were joined. As 
 soon as the marionette saw that his feet were on, 
 he jumped down and began to dance around as if 
 he were mad with joy. 
 
 "In order to pay you back for your kindness," 
 said Pinocchio to his papa, " I wish to go to school 
 immediately." 
 
 "Good boy!" 
 
32 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "But in order to go to school I need some 
 clothes." 
 
 Geppetto, who was so poor that he had not a cent 
 in his pocket, made a beautiful suit of clothes out of 
 some cardboard painted all over with flowers. He 
 made a pair of shoes out of the bark of a tree, and a 
 cap out of stale bread crumbs all molded together. 
 
 Pinocchio ran immediately to look at himself in 
 a tub filled with water, and he was so delighted 
 with his appearance that he said proudly, "Truly, 
 I look like a gentleman ! " 
 
 " Yes, indeed," replied Geppetto, " because, bear 
 in mind, it is not fine clothes so much as clean 
 ones that make a gentleman." 
 
 "By the by," added the marionette, "now in 
 order to go to school I lack something else." 
 
 " What is that ? " 
 
 " Why, I lack an A B C card." 
 
 " You are right ; but how can I get one ? " 
 
 "That is easy. Go to the store and buy it." 
 
 "And the money ? " 
 
 "I have none." 
 
 "Neither have I," added the good old man, 
 looking sad. 
 
 Pinocchio, although he was a happy boy, looked 
 sad too, because real trouble is understood by 
 everybody, even by boys. 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 33 
 
 " Have patience ! " cried Geppetto, suddenly 
 getting up. Taking off his coat all covered with 
 patches, he ran out of the house. 
 
 After a little while he returned with an A B C 
 card in his hand, but his coat was gone. The poor 
 man was in his shirt sleeves and it was snowing 
 outside too. 
 
 " And the coat, Papa ? " 
 
 " I have sold it." 
 
 "Why did you sell it .? " 
 
 "Because it made me too warm." 
 
 Pinocchio understood the reply at once, and not 
 being able to restrain his feelings, he jumped up on 
 Geppetto, threw his arms around his neck, and 
 kissed his face all over. 
 
 ■L!'liliM{\ 
 

 CHAPTER IX 
 
 The snow having stopped, Pinocchio, with his 
 nice new ABC card under his arm, went to school. 
 As he walked along he imagined many things and 
 built a thousand castles in the air, each new one 
 more beautiful than the others. And, talking to 
 himself, he said : " To-day at school I wish to learn 
 immediately to read ; to-morrow I will learn to 
 write, and then the day after to-morrow I will 
 learn to make numbers. Then with my learning I 
 will earn many pennies, and with the pennies that 
 will fill my pocket I will order my papa a nice new 
 suit of cloth. But why did I say of cloth ? I will 
 have one of gold and line it with silver and have 
 34 
 
PINOCCHIO 35 
 
 buttons of brilliants. My poor papa deserves it 
 truly, because in order to buy me an A B C card so 
 that I could learn, he is now in his shirt sleeves, in 
 the cold weather too ! There are not many papas 
 who would sacrifice so much." 
 
 While he was talking thus he seemed to hear 
 some music of a fife and strokes of a drum — pi- 
 pi-pi, pi-pi-pi, zum, zum, zum, zum. He stopped 
 to listen. These sounds came from the end of a 
 long street that led to a small square near the sea. 
 " What is that beautiful music .-' It is too bad that 
 I have to go to school. If — " And he remained 
 there perplexed. He must decide either to go to 
 school or to hear the fife and drum. " To-day I will 
 go and hear the fife and drum, and to-morrow I will 
 go to school. There is always time to go there," 
 said the little scoundrel, shrugging his shoulders. 
 
 No sooner said than done. He turned down the 
 street and ran as hard as he could. The more he 
 ran, the more distinct became the sound of the fife 
 and drum — pi-pi-pi, pi-pi-pi, pi-pi-pi, zum, zum, zum, 
 zum. He soon found himself in the middle of a 
 square, which was filled with people. They all stood 
 around a little wooden building with a sign painted 
 in many colors. 
 
 " What is that house ? " asked Pinocchio, turning 
 to a boy standing near. 
 
36 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Read the sign and you will know." 
 
 " I should be glad to read it, but somehow to-day 
 ( I do not know how.'' 
 
 " Stupid one ! then I will read it for you. Know, 
 then, that on that sign with letters like fire there 
 is written, ' Grand Theater of Marionettes.' " 
 
 " How soon does it begin ? " 
 
 " It begins now." 
 
 " And how much is the admission ? " 
 
 •• Four pennies." 
 
 Pinocchio was wild with curiosity, and forgetting 
 all his good resolutions, shamelessly turned to the 
 boy with whom he was talking and said, " Would 
 you give me four pennies until to-morrow .■' " 
 
 " I would give you the pennies willingly, but to- 
 day I have none to spare." 
 
 " For four pennies I will sell you my jacket," 
 said the marionette. 
 
 "What good woukl a paper cardboard jacket do 
 me > If it rains on it, it will fall apart." 
 
 " I will sell my shoes." 
 
 "They are good only for a fire." 
 
 " How much will you give me for my cap ? " 
 
 "Nice bargain, truly! a cap of bread! Why, 
 the rats would eat it all in a night." 
 
 Pinocchio was full of trouble. He stood there 
 not knowing what to do. He had not the courage 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 37 
 
 to offer the last thing he had. He hesitated, but 
 finally he said, " Will you give me four pennies 
 for this ABC card ? " 
 
 " I am a boy and I do not buy from boys," 
 replied the little fellow, who had more good sense 
 than the marionette. 
 
 "For four pennies I will take the ABC card," 
 said a seller of old clothes, who heard the conver- 
 sation. So the card was sold at once. And to 
 think that the poor man, Geppetto, remained at 
 home trembling in his shirt sleeves in the cold, 
 just to buy that ABC card for his son ! 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 When Pinocchio entered the theater of the mar- 
 ionettes something happened that almost caused a 
 revolution. 
 
 "^ The reader must know that the curtain was up 
 and the comedy had begun. On the stage Harle- 
 quin and Pulcinello were quarreling, and, as usual 
 in stage performances of marionettes, there were 
 many blows given with a stick. The audience were 
 listening intently. They laughed out loud on hear- 
 ing the quarrel of the two marionettes, who gesticu- 
 lated and acted their threats as naturally as if they 
 had been two real people. 
 
 Suddenly Harlequin stopped reciting. Turning 
 toward the audience and pointing to some one in 
 the rear, he began to shout in a dramatic tone : 
 
 38 
 
PINOCCHIO 39 
 
 " What do my eyes behold ? do I dream or am I 
 awake ? Nevertheless that boy there is Pinocchio." 
 
 " It is Pinocchio, truly ! " said Pulcinello. 
 
 " It is indeed he ! " screamed Rosa, who peeped 
 from behind the scenes. 
 
 " It is Pinocchio ! It is Pinocchio ! " cried in a 
 chorus all the marionettes, coming out and jump- 
 ing on the stage. 
 
 " Pinocchio, come up here to me," cried Harle- 
 quin. " Come and throw your arms around your 
 wooden brothers." 
 
 At this affecting invitation Pinocchio made a 
 jump, and from the back part of the theater he 
 went to the reserved portion ; then with another 
 jump from the reserved seats he mounted on the 
 head of the orchestra leader, and from there he 
 jumped upon the stage. 
 
 It is impossible to imagine the kisses, the em- 
 braces, the words of endearment, the wooden- 
 headed sayings of true and sincere brotherhood 
 that Pinocchio received in the midst of the actors 
 and actresses of that dramatic company. It was 
 a touching sight ; but the public, seeing that the 
 comedy was stopped, grew impatient and began to 
 cry, "We want the play." 
 
 It was all breath thrown away, for the mario- 
 nettes, instead of continuing the dialogue, redoubled 
 
40 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 their cries ; and taking Pinocchio on their shoulders, 
 they carried him in triumph behind the wings on 
 the stage. 
 
 Then came out the manager, a big man, who 
 made people tremble just by looking at them. He 
 had a beard, black as ink, which reached to his feet 
 and tripped him when he walked. His mouth was 
 as large as a furnace, his eyes looked like two lan- 
 terns of red glass, and in his hands he cracked a 
 large whip made of serpents and tails of wolves 
 tied together. 
 
 At the unexpected sight of the manager all the 
 marionettes became mute. No one breathed. Why, 
 you could have heard a fly walk ! The poor mari- 
 onettes, both actors and actresses, trembled like 
 so many leaves. 
 
 " Why have you come here and made all this 
 disorder in my theater .' " he asked, looking at 
 Pinocchio. His voice sounded like that of an ogre 
 with a cold in his head. 
 
 " Believe me, most illustrious man, the fault is 
 not mine ! " 
 
 " Do not answer me ! to-night we will settle our 
 affairs." 
 
 The marionettes went on with the comedy and 
 the manager went to the kitchen where he was 
 preparing for supper a sheep that was cooking on 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 41 
 
 1 spit. As he needed more wood to finish cooking 
 it, he called Harlequin and Pulcinello, who had fin- 
 ished their performance, and said to them : " Bring 
 me now the marionette that you will find tied to a 
 aail. He appears to be made of good dry wood, 
 and I am sure he will make a beautiful flame for 
 a roast." 
 
 Harlequin and Pulcinello at first hesitated, but 
 a glance from their master's eye scared them and 
 they obeyed. Soon they returned to the kitchen 
 carrying Pinocchio in their arms. Struggling like 
 an eel out of water, he cried despairingly : " Oh, 
 Papa, dear Papa, save me ! I do not wish to die ! 
 No, I do not wish to die ! " 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 The proprietor, Fire Eater (for that was his name), 
 looked fearful with his black beard covering his 
 chest and legs like an apron ; but he really was not 
 a bad man. When he saw Pinocchio carried before 
 him and crying, " I do not want to die ! I do not 
 want to die ! " he began to pity him. He resisted 
 the feeling for a little while, but when he could do 
 so no longer he gave a terrible sneeze. 
 
 At that sound Harlequin, who until then had 
 been afflicted and doubled up like a weeping wil- 
 low, began to look more lively, and leaning toward 
 Pinocchio, whispered to him softly, "Good news, 
 brother ! Our master has sneezed. That is a sign 
 that he pities you, and now you are saved." 
 
 For you must know that while many men and 
 women cry when they feel moved to pity, Fire 
 42 
 
PINOCCHIO . 43 
 
 Eater, instead, had the habit of sneezing. It was 
 his way of letting others know the tenderness of 
 his heart. 
 
 After having sneezed, the manager, still looking 
 cross, cried to Pinocchio : " Stop crying ! Your 
 sobs distress me very much. I feel a spasm that 
 nearly — etchi-etchi — " and he sneezed twice 
 more. 
 
 " God bless you!" said Pinocchio. 
 
 " Thanks. And your papa and mamma are still 
 living.-"' asked Fire Eater. 
 
 "My papa, yes; but I have never seen my 
 mother." 
 
 "Oh, what a terrible thing it would have been 
 for your papa if I had thrown you on the fire ! 
 Poor old man! I pity him — etchi-etchi-etchi — " 
 and he sneezed three times more. 
 
 " God bless you ! " said Pinocchio. 
 
 " Thanks. But some one must also pity me, be- 
 cause you see I have no more wood with which I 
 can cook my meat ; and you would have made a 
 fine fire. But now that I am moved to pity for you, 
 I must have patience. Instead of you I shall have 
 to burn some one of my company. Ho I guards, 
 come here ! " 
 
 At this command two guards of wood appeared 
 with soldier caps on their heads and swords by their 
 
44 PINOCCHIO 
 
 sides. Then the manager said to them in a wheez- 
 ing tone : " Bring me Harlequin, bound tightly, 
 and then throw him on the fire. I want that roast 
 cooked well." 
 
 Just imagine how poor Harlequin must have felt ! 
 He was so scared that his legs refused to support 
 him, and he fell face downward on the floor. Pi- 
 nocchio, at this most pitiful sight, threw himself at 
 the feet of the manager, and, crying so hard that he 
 wet the long, black beard of Fire Eater, said in a 
 supplicating voice, " Pity, Mr. Fire Eater ! " 
 
 " There are no Misters here," replied the manager 
 in a dry tone. 
 
 "Pity, Mr. Cavalier!" 
 
 " There are no cavaliers here." 
 
 " Pity, Mr. Commander ! " 
 
 " There are no commanders here." 
 
 " Pity, Your Excellency ! " 
 
 At hearing himself called "Excellency" the 
 manager immediately pursed up his lips and became 
 more humane and tractable. He said to Pinocchio, 
 " Well, what do you wish ? " 
 
 " I ask pity for poor Harlequin." 
 
 " I have saved you, but I must put seme one on 
 the fire, so that my meat shall be well cooked." 
 
 " In that case," cried Pinocchio, proudly, straight- 
 ening himself and throwing aside his cap of bread 
 
PINOCCHIO 45 
 
 crumbs, — " in that case I know what my duty 
 should be. Come, guards, bind me and throw me 
 into the flames. No, it is not just that poor Har- 
 lequin, my true friend, should die for me ! " 
 
 These words, pronounced in a loud tone and with 
 heroic accents, made all the marionettes that were 
 present at this scene cry. The guards, although 
 made of wood, wept like two baby lambs. 
 
 Fire Eater at first remained hard and cold as a 
 piece of ice ; but afterward he slowly began to 
 show symptoms of being moved and of sneezing. 
 After having sneezed four or five times, he held out 
 his arms to Pinocchio and said : " You are a brave 
 boy. Come here and give me a kiss." 
 
 Pinocchio ran quickly, and, climbing like a squirrel 
 up the beard of the manager, gave him a most 
 beautiful kiss right on the point of his nose. 
 
 " Then I am free .-' " asked Harlequin, with a thin 
 voice that could scarcely be heard. 
 
 " Yes, you are free," replied Fire Eater. Then 
 he added, sighing and shaking his head : " To-night 
 I will eat my supper half-cooked ; but another 
 time, woe to him who changes my plans ! " 
 
 When the marionettes heard that Harlequin was 
 free they ran to the stage, lit all the lights, just 
 as if it were a grand holiday, and began to dance 
 and jump. And they danced all night long. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 The next morning Fire Eater called Pinocchio 
 aside and said to him, " What is your papa's name ? " 
 
 " Geppetto." 
 
 "What is his business ? " 
 
 " He is poor." 
 
 " Does he earn much ?" 
 
 " He earns so much that he never has a cent in 
 his pockets. Just imagine, in order to buy me an 
 ABC card he had to sell his coat ! It was covered 
 with patches, but they gave him enough so that he 
 could buy me that." 
 
 " Poor man ! I pity him very much. Here are 
 five pieces of gold. ■ Go quickly and carry them to 
 him, and remember me kindly to him." 
 46 
 
PINOCCHIO 47 
 
 Pinocchio, as it is easy to imagine, thanked the 
 manager many times. He embraced the mario- 
 nettes one after another, and, now nearly crazy with 
 joy, started to go home. But he had not gone 
 half a mile when he met a Fox lame in one paw, 
 and a Cat blind in both eyes. The Fox, who 
 limped, leaned on the Cat ; and the Cat, who was 
 blind, was guided by the Fox. 
 
 " Good morning, Pinocchio," said the Fox, salut- 
 ing him politely. 
 
 " How do you know my name .-' " asked the 
 marionette. 
 
 " I know your papa very well." 
 
 " When did you see him ? " 
 
 " I saw him yesterday at the door of his house." 
 
 "What was he doing.?" 
 
 " He was in his shirt sleeves and he trembled 
 with the cold." 
 
 "Poor Papa! but he will tremble no more after 
 to-day." 
 
 "Why.?" 
 
 " Because I have become a great, rich man." 
 
 " You a great, rich man ! " said the Fox, and he 
 laughed aloud. The Cat also laughed, but in order 
 not to be seen laughing he stroked his mustache 
 with his two front paws. 
 
 " What are you laughing about ? " said Pinocchio, 
 
48 PINOCCHIO 
 
 taken aback. " I hate to make your mouths water, 
 but I have here, as you shall see, five beautiful 
 pieces of gold." 
 
 And he pulled out of his pocket the money that 
 Fire Eater had given him. At the sound of the 
 money the Fox involuntarily stretched his leg that 
 was paralyzed and the Cat opened wide his eyes 
 that looked like two green lamps ; but it was all 
 done so quickly that Pinocchio did not see anything. 
 
 " And now," said the Fox, "what do you intend 
 to do with all that money .■' " 
 
 "First of all," replied the marionette, "I shall 
 buy a coat for my papa, all covered with gold and 
 silver and with buttons of brilliants. Then I shall 
 buy a new ABC card for myself." 
 
 "For yourself.'" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, because I wish to go to school and 
 begin to study." 
 
 "Look at me! "said the Fox; "because of my 
 passion for studying I have lost a leg." 
 
 " Look at me ! " cried the Cat ; " because of my 
 love for studying I have lost both eyes." 
 
 In the meantime a Blackbird flew near them and 
 said: " Pinocchio, do not Hsten to the counsel of bad 
 companions. If you do, you will be sorry." 
 
 Just as soon as the Blackbird had said that, the 
 Cat gave a spring and caught him by the back. 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 49 
 
 Before the Blackbird had time to say " Oh ! " the 
 Cat ate him up, feathers and all. Then the Cat 
 cleaned his mouth and closed his eyes and became 
 as blind as he was at first. 
 
 " Poor Blackbird ! " said Pinocchio. " Why did 
 you treat him so badly .' " 
 
 " I did it to teach him a lesson. Another time 
 he will know that he ought not to meddle with 
 other people's business." 
 
 They walked along a short distance when the 
 Fox, stopping suddenly, said to the marionette, 
 " Should you like to double your money .' " 
 
so PINOCCHIO 
 
 "What do you mean ? " 
 
 "Should you like to make of those miserable 
 five pieces, ten ? a hundred ? a thousand ? " 
 
 " Why, of course ! And how can you do it ? " 
 
 " It is very easy. Instead of going home, come 
 with us." 
 
 " And where do you want to take me .' " 
 
 "To the Country of the Owl." 
 
 Pinocchio thought a little and then said reso- 
 lutely : " No, I will not go. My father expects me. 
 Who knows but that the poor old man, when I 
 did not return yesterday, was worried and wept 
 for me .■• I have been a bad boy, and the Talking 
 Cricket was right when he said, ' Disobedient boys 
 never get along well in this world.' I have had one 
 experience because I was bad. Only last night, at 
 the house of Fire Eater, I was in great danger. Brrr! 
 It makes me tremble to think of it." 
 
 " Then," said the Fox, " you want to go home .■• 
 All right ! Go home, but it will be the worse for 
 you." 
 
 " Yes, it will be the worse for you," said the Cat. 
 
 "Think well, Pinocchio, for you have thrown 
 away a fortune." 
 
 "A fortune," said the Cat. 
 
 "Your five pieces might be two thousand by 
 to-morrow." 
 
PINOCCHIO 51 
 
 "Two thousand," repeated the Cat. 
 
 "But how is it possible that they can become so 
 many ? " asked Pinocchio, whose mouth was wide 
 open with astonishment. — \ 
 
 "I will explain to you," said the Fox. "Youj 
 must know that in the Country of the Owl there 
 is a magic field called 'The Field of Wonders.' 
 You make a little hole in the ground and you put 
 inside, for example, one piece of gold. Then you 
 cover over the hole with a little earth, water it 
 with a few drops of water from a fountain, put on 
 a little salt, and go to bed and sleep quietly. In 
 the meantim e, during the night, the gold piece 
 begins to grow and blossom ; and the next morn- 
 ing, returning to the field, guess what you find.' 
 Why, you find a tree loaded with gold pieces ! " 
 
 "If I bury five pieces," said Pinocchio, all ex- 
 cited, " how many shall I find next morning ? " 
 
 " It is easy to count," replied the Fox. " You 
 can do it on your fingers. Every gold piece will 
 make five hundred ; and therefore, multiplying 
 each by five, you will have two thousand five \ 
 hundred." 
 
 " Oh, how beautiful ! " cried Pinocchio, dancing 
 with joy. "When I have all those gold pieces I 
 will give you five hundred of them and I will take 
 the other two thousand to my papa.'' 
 
52 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "A present to us ! " cried the Fox, disdainfully, 
 as if he were offended. " No, indeed ! " 
 
 " No, indeed ! " said the Cat. 
 
 "We," said the Fox, "work only to enrich 
 others." 
 
 " Only others," said the Cat. 
 
 " What good, people ! " thought Pinocchio ; and 
 forgetting all about his papa, the new coat, and 
 the A B C card, he said to the Fox and the Cat, 
 " Come on, then ; I will go with you." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 They walked and walked and walked until they 
 arrived at the Red Lobster Inn, tired to death. 
 
 "Let us stop here a little," said the Fox, "just 
 long enough to get something to eat and rest 
 ourselves. At midnight we can start again and 
 to-morrow morning we shall arrive at the Field 
 of Wonders." 
 
 They entered the inn and seated themselves at 
 the table, but none of them was hungry. The 
 poor Cat felt very much indisposed and could eat 
 only thirty-five mullets with tomato sauce and four 
 portions of tripe ; and because the tripe did not 
 taste just right he called three times for butter 
 and cheese to put on it. 
 
 S3 
 
54 PINOCCHIO 
 
 The Fox would willingly have ordered some- 
 thing, but as the doctor had told him to diet, he 
 had to be contented with a nice fresh rabbit dressed 
 with the giblets of chicken. After the rabbit he 
 ordered, as a finish to his meal, some partridges, 
 some pheasants, some frogs, some lizards, and some 
 bird of paradise eggs; and then he did not wish 
 any more. He had such a distaste for food, he 
 said, that he could not eat another mouthful. 
 
 Pinocchio ate the least of all. He asked for a 
 piece of meat and some bread, but he left every- 
 thing on his plate. He could think of nothing but 
 the Field of Wonders. 
 
 When they had supped the Fox said to the host : 
 " Give me two good rooms, one for Mr. Pinocchio 
 and another for me and my companion. Before 
 we go we will ring the bell. Remember, however, 
 to wake us at midnight so that we can go on with 
 our journey." 
 
 "All right, sir," replied the host; and he winked 
 his eye at the Fox and the Cat, as if to say, "We 
 understand each other." 
 
 Pinocchio had scarcely jumped into bed when 
 he fell asleep and began to dream. He seemed to 
 be in a field full of arbors, and each arbor was over- 
 grown with vines covered with large bunches of 
 grapes. Instead of grapes, however, they were all 
 
56 PINOCCHIO 
 
 gold pieces, that made a noise when the wind blew 
 — zin-zin-zin-zin. It was just as if they said, 
 " Here we are ! Let who will come and take us." 
 When Pinocchio was on the point of reaching for 
 them he heard a loud knocking at the door of his 
 room. It was the landlord who came to tell him 
 that the clock had struck midnight. 
 
 "And are my companions ready.'" asked the 
 marionette. 
 
 " Better than that ! They left two hours ago." 
 
 " Why were they in such a hurry .' " 
 
 " Because the Cat received word that his father 
 was very sick with frosted feet and that he was in 
 danger of losing his life." 
 
 "And they paid for the supper .' " 
 
 " What do you think those people are .' They 
 are too highly educated to insult a gentleman as 
 good as you are." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! That affront would have displeased 
 me very much," said Pinocchio, hastily. Then he 
 asked the landlord, " Did they say where I should 
 meet them } " 
 
 "At the Field of Wonders, to-morrow morning 
 at daybreak." 
 
 Pinocchio paid a gold piece for his supper and that 
 of his companions, and then departed. He groped his 
 way along, because outside the inn it was so dark 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 57 
 
 that he could not see anything. It was very quiet 
 and not even a leaf stirred. Some birds flying along 
 the road struck Pinocchio on the nose with their 
 wings. He jumped back and cried out with fear, 
 "Who goes there.?" The echo of the surround- 
 ing hills took up his words and repeated, "Who 
 
 goes there.'" "Who goes there.'" "Who goes 
 there.?" 
 
 As he walked on, he saw on the trunk of a tree 
 a little creature that shone with a pale opaque light, 
 just like a candle behind a globe of transparent 
 porcelain. 
 
 " Who are you ? " asked Pinocchio. 
 
 " I am the Spirit of the Talking Cricket," it 
 replied, with a little voice that seemed to come 
 from another world. 
 
58 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " What do you want with me ? " 
 
 " I wish to warn you. Go back, with your four 
 gold pieces that you have left, to your papa, who 
 cries and thinks he shall never see you again." 
 
 " To-morrow my papa will be a very rich man, be- 
 cause these four pieces will become two thousand." 
 
 " Do not trust those who promise to make you 
 rich in one night, my boy. Usually they are mad 
 or deceitful. Listen to me and go back." 
 
 "I want ^o go on." 
 
 "The hour is late." 
 
 " I want to go on." 
 
 " The night is dark." 
 
 " I want to go on." 
 
 " The road is dangerous." 
 
 " I want to go on." 
 
 " Remember that boys who always do what they 
 want to will sooner or later repent." 
 
 " The same old story ! Good night. Cricket." 
 
 "Good night, and may you escape from the 
 assassins ! " 
 
 The Talking Cricket had hardly said these words 
 when he suddenly disappeared, just as if some one 
 had blown the light out, and the road was darker 
 than ever. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 " Truly," said the marionette to himself, starting I 
 again on his way, " how unfortunate we poor boys 
 are I Everybody scolds us, everybody warns us, 
 and everybody gives us advice. Why, everybody 
 takes it upon himself to be our papa and master, — 
 even the Talking Cricket. Here am I ; and because 
 I would not pay attention to that tiresome Talking 
 Cricket, he said that many things would happen 
 to me ! I should also meet assassins ! I have 
 never believed in assassins. I think that assassins 
 have been invented by papas on purpose to make 
 their boys afraid to go out at night. And then, 
 if I should meet them on the road, they would 
 
 S9 
 
6o PINOCCHIO 
 
 probably tell me my way. Why, I am not afraid. 
 I would go to them and say, right to their faces, 
 ' Mr. Assassins, what do you want of me? Do 
 not think that you can fool with me. Go away 
 then about your own business, quick ! ' At such 
 talk the poor assassins — I can see them now — 
 would run away like the wind. In case they might 
 be clever enough not to run away, why then I would 
 1 — and thus the thing would end — " 
 
 But Pinocchio was not able to finish his reason- 
 ing, because at that moment he thought he heard 
 a rustling in the leaves behind him. He turned 
 to look and saw in the dark two coal sacks cover- 
 ing two figures which ran toward him on the tips 
 of their toes like ghosts. 
 
 "Here they are, truly! " said Pinocchio to him- 
 self. Not knowing what to do with the four gold 
 pieces, he put them into his mouth and under his 
 tongue. Then he tried to run away. But he had 
 hardly started when his arms were seized and he 
 heard two hollow voices say to him, " Your money 
 or your life ! " 
 
 Not being able to reply on account of the money 
 in his mouth, Pinocchio made many bows and ges- 
 tures in order to make his captors understand that 
 he was a poor marionette and that he did not 
 have a cent in his pockets. "Come on and stop 
 
PINOCCHIO 6l 
 
 fooling! Out with it! " the brigands cried. And 
 the marionette made signs with his hands and head, 
 which meant, " I have none 1 " 
 
 " Bring out the money or you will die ! " said the 
 taller assassin. 
 
 " You will die," repeated the smaller one. 
 
 " And after you are dead we will kill your papa." 
 
 " We will kill your papa," repeated the other. 
 
 " No, no, no ! Not my poor papa ! " cried Pinoc- 
 chio, despairingly ; but in saying this the gold pieces 
 made a noise in his mouth. 
 
 " Oh, you story-teller ! you have hidden the 
 money in your mouth ! Out with it ! " 
 
 Poor Pinocchio remained quiet. 
 
 " Ah ! do you make believe you are deaf ? 
 Wait a little and we will show you how we shall 
 make you give up the gold." 
 
 Then they began to handle the marionette very 
 roughly, but Pinocchio managed to liberate him- 
 self from their hands. Jumping a hedge that 
 bordered the road, he began to run across the 
 fields with the assassins after him, like two dogs 
 after a rabbit. 
 
 After a run of fifteen miles Pinocchio could go 
 no farther. Fearing that he was lost, he climbed 
 to the top of a large pine tree and sat on one of 
 the branches. The assassins also tried to climb; 
 
62 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 but when they got halfway up they slipped and fell 
 to the ground, rubbing the skin off their legs and 
 hands as they dropped. 
 
 However, they did not consider themselves con- 
 quered. On the contrary, they collected a bundle 
 of sticks, and placing them around the tree, set fire 
 
 to them. In less time than it takes to tell it, the 
 pine tree took fire and blazed like a candle blown 
 by the wind. Pinocchio, seeing that the flames 
 mounted higher and higher, and not wishing to be 
 roasted, jumped down from the top of the tree. 
 Away he ran, just as before, with the assassins 
 always behind and never getting tired. 
 
PINOCCHIO 63 
 
 Meanwhile the day dawned and they found them- 
 selves on the edge of a large trench filled with dirty • 
 water, just the color of coffee and cream. What 
 could they do ? " One, two, three," said Pinocchio ; 
 and bending down and making a great spring, he 
 landed safely on the other side. The assassins 
 jumped also, but they did not take the right meas- 
 ure ; and splash ! they both fell into the trench. 
 Pinocchio, who heard the plunge and the splash, 
 cried out, " I hope you had a nice bath, Mr. Assas- 
 sins ! " and then began to run again. He thought 
 that they were drowned ; but looking back, he saw 
 them running as before, the water dripping from 
 their wet clothes as they followed him. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 Then the marionette, losing his courage, was on 
 the point of throwing himself on the ground and 
 giving himself up as conquered, when, looking 
 around, he saw in the middle of a dark forest, 
 shining afar, a little house as white as snow. " If 
 I have enough breath to reach that house, perhaps 
 I shall be saved," he said to himself. And without 
 delaying a minute, he began to run through the 
 forest as fast as he could. The assassins still 
 followed him. 
 
 Finally, after a desperate run of two hours, he 
 
 arrived, out of breath, at the door of the house 
 
 and knocked. No one replied. He knocked again 
 
 with great force because he heard approaching 
 
 64 
 
PINOCCHIO 65 
 
 the steps and heavy breathing of his pursuers. 
 The same silence. 
 
 Seeing that the knocking did not have any effect, 
 he began to kick and beat the door in desperation. 
 Then there appeared at the door a beautiful Fairy 
 with blue hair. Her hands were crossed on her 
 breast. When she saw Pinocchio she said, " In 
 this house there is no one ; they have all gone 
 away." 
 
 "Open the door at least for me, won't you.-"' 
 cried Pinocchio, weeping. 
 
 "I am also waiting to go away." 
 
 Scarcely had she said this when the Fairy disap- 
 peared and the window closed without making any 
 noise. 
 
 " Oh, beautiful Fairy with the Blue Hair," cried 
 Pinocchio, "open the door, for goodness' sake! 
 Have compassion on a poor boy followed by 
 assass — " But he could not finish the word be- 
 cause he felt himself seized by the neck. Then 
 he heard the voices of his captors scolding him 
 and crying, " Now you cannot run away from us 
 again." 
 
 The marionette, seeing death staring him in 
 the face, trembled so that all his joints made 
 a great noise and the four gold pieces jingled in 
 his mouth. 
 
66 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 1 "Now," said the assassins, "will you open your 
 mouth ? Yes or no ? Ah, you do not reply ? All 
 right ! This time we will open it ! " And they 
 took two knives, sharp as razors, and — zaff-zaff 
 — they gave him two strokes in the middle of 
 the back. 
 
 Fortunately the marionette was made of good 
 hard wood. The blades of the knives broke into 
 several pieces and the assassins were left looking 
 at each other, with only the handles of the knives 
 in their hands. 
 
 "I understand," said one of them. "We must 
 hang him. Let us hang him, then." 
 
 " Let us hang him," said the other. 
 
 No sooner said than done. They bound his 
 hands and hanged him to a branch of a tree 
 
PINOCCHIO 6^ 
 
 called the Grand Oak. Then they sat down on 
 the ground to wait until the marionette should 
 die. After three hours, however, the marionette's 
 eyes were still open and his mouth was closed, and 
 he kicked harder than ever.__^ 
 
 Finally, annoyed by this long delay, they turned 
 to Pinocchio and said to him, laughing aloud : 
 " Good-by until to-morrow morning ! When we 
 return here we hope that you will be polite enough 
 to die and have your mouth opened wide." And 
 they went away. 
 
 Meanwhile a great wind began to blow Pinoc- 
 chio backward and forward, just like a large bell. 
 Although he felt death approaching, yet he hoped 
 every moment that some one would come and save 
 him. But when he found that no one would help 
 him he remembered his poor papa and stammered, 
 " Oh, my Papa, if you were only here now ! " But 
 he had no breath to say any more. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 While poor Pinocchio hung from the branch of the 
 Grand Oak and appeared more dead than alive, the 
 beautiful Fairy with the Blue Hair came to the win- 
 dow. Pitying the poor unfortunate who was swing- 
 ing backward and forward, she clapped her hands 
 three times. At this signal the beating of wings 
 was heard and a great Falcon came and placed him- 
 self on the window sill. 
 
 "What do you command, my gracious Fairy?" 
 said the Falcon, lowering his beak in a bow of 
 reverence. For you must know that the Fairy with 
 
 68 
 
PINOCCHIO 69 
 
 the Blue Hair was none other than a beautiful 
 enchantress, who for more than a thousand years 
 had lived in the neighborhood of this forest. 
 
 " Do you see that marionette hanging on yonder 
 Grand Oak?" 
 
 " I see him." 
 
 " Fly quickly there and untie with your strong 
 beak the knot that holds him suspended and lay him 
 gently on the ground." 
 
 The Falcon flew away and after two minutes 
 returned, saying, "That which you have com- 
 manded is done." 
 
 " How did you find him — alive or dead ? " 
 
 " He appeared to be dead, but he cannot really 
 be so. Scarcely had I untied the knot and laid 
 him gently on the ground when he gave a sigh and 
 said, 'Now I feel better.' " 
 
 Then the Fairy clapped her hands twice and a 
 Bearded Dog appeared, walking on his hind legs, 
 just like a man. The Bearded Dog was dressed in 
 livery. He had a cap trimmed with gold lace and 
 a white curly wig that came down to his neck. He 
 wore a dress coat of chocolate color, with buttons 
 of brilliants and two big pockets to hold bones. 
 He had a pair of short boots of crimson velvet and 
 he carried behind him a sort of umbrella cover in 
 which he put his tail when it rained. 
 
•JO PINOCCHIO 
 
 " My brave Fido," said the Fairy to the Bearded 
 Dog, " go quickly, hitch up the most beautiful car- 
 riage in my stables and take the road to the forest. 
 When you arrive under the Grand Oak you will find 
 stretched out on the ground a poor marionette, half 
 dead. Take him up carefully and bring hitn here. 
 Do you understand .■' " 
 
 The Bearded Dog, in order to show that he under- 
 stood, shook the cover to his tail three or four times 
 and departed in a flash. A little while afterward 
 a beautiful transparent carriage, all trimmed with 
 canary-bird, feathers and lined inside with cream- 
 colored cloth, was seen to come from the stables. 
 It was drawn by one hundred pairs of white mice 
 and the Bearded Dog sat on the box and cracked 
 his whip from right to left as a coachman always 
 does when he fears he shall be late. 
 / A quarter of an hour had hardly passed when the 
 carriage returned. The Fairy, who waited at the 
 door, took the marionette in her arms and carried 
 him to a little bed of mother-of-pearl, which she 
 had prepared for him. Then she sent immediately 
 for three doctors. They soon arrived, one after the 
 other. They were a Crow, an Owl, and a Talking 
 Cricket. 
 
 " I should like to know from you, gentlemen," 
 said the Fairy, turning to the three doctors who 
 
72 PINOCCHIO 
 
 surrounded the bed of Pinocchio, — "I should like 
 to know if this unhappy marionette is dead or alive." 
 At this invitation the Crow stepped forward, 
 tested the pulse of Pinocchio, tested his nose, and 
 then his little toe. When he had tested him thor- 
 oughly he pronounced these words : " It is my 
 
 belief that the marionette is quite dead ; but if 
 through some awkwardness he should not be dead, 
 then it would be a sure sign that he is alive." 
 
 "It pains me," said the Owl, "to have to contra- 
 dict the Crow, my illustrious friend and colleague. 
 To me, however, the marionette is quite alive ; but 
 if through some awkwardness he should not be 
 alive, then it would be a sure sign that he is dead." 
 
PINOCCHIO 73 
 
 " And have you nothing to say ? " said the Fairy 
 to the Talking Cricket. 
 
 " I say that a prudent doctor should be quiet 
 when he does not know what to say. Besides, 
 that marionette has a familiar face. I know him 
 a little." 
 
 Pinocchio, who until then had been as immovable 
 as a piece of wood, began to tremble so violently 
 that he shook the bed. 
 
 "That marionette," continued the Talking Cricket, 
 " is a good for nothing." 
 
 Pinocchio opened his eyes and then closed them 
 suddenly. 
 
 " He is a scamp, a rogue, a vagabond." 
 
 Pinocchio hid his face under the covers. 
 
 " That marionette is a disobedient child who is 
 killing his poor papa." 
 
 At this point crying and sobbing were heard in 
 the room. Imagine how surprised everybody was 
 when the covers were pulled down and the crying 
 and sobbing were found to come from Pinocchio ! 
 
 " When the dead cry," said the Crow, " it is a 
 sign that they are on the road to recovery." 
 
 " It grieves me to contradict my illustrious friend 
 and colleague," added the Owl, " but to my mind, 
 when the dead cry it is a sign that they do not 
 want to die." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Scarcely had the three doctors left the room 
 when the Fairy approached Pinocchio, and after 
 touching his forehead perceived that he had taken 
 a fever of not saying anything. 
 
 Then she put a little bit of white powder in a 
 glass of water and, handing it to the marionette, 
 said to him sweetly, " Drink, and in a few days 
 you will be cured." Pinocchio looked at the glass, 
 made a mouth, then with a voice full of sobs said, 
 " Is it sweet or bitter ? " 
 
 " It is bitter, but it will do you good." 
 
 " If it is bitter, I do not want it." 
 
 " Listen to me ; drink it." 
 
 " I do not like bitter things." 
 
 " Drink it ; and when you have drunk it I will 
 give you a little ball of sugar to take the taste out 
 of your mouth." 
 
 " Where is the ball of sugar .' " 
 74 
 
PINOCCHIO 75 
 
 "Here it is," said the Fairy, taking out a ball of 
 sugar. . 
 
 " First I want the ball of sugar ; then I will 
 drink the bitter water." 
 
 " You promise me ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 The Fairy gave him the sugar, and Pinocchio, 
 after having crushed it to atoms, said, licking his 
 lips, " How nice ! If sugar could only be medicine, 
 I would take it all day long." 
 
 "Now keep your promise and drink these few 
 bitter drops. They will cure you." 
 
 Pinocchio unwillingly took the glass in his hand 
 and put it under his nose ; then he put it to his 
 lips ; then he put it under his nose again. Finally 
 he said : " It is too bitter ! It is too bitter ! I 
 cannot drink it." 
 
 " How can you say that when you have not 
 tasted it?" 
 
 "I know. I smell it. I want another ball of 
 sugar first ; then I will drink it." 
 
 So the Fairy, with the patience of an indulgent 
 mamma, placed in his mouth another ball of sugar 
 and then gave him the glass again. " I cannot drink 
 it," said the marionette, making numerous grimaces. 
 
 "Why.?" 
 
 " Because that pillow on my feet annoys me." 
 
76 PINOCCHIO 
 
 The Fairy took the pillow away. 
 
 " It is useless, I cannot drink it even now." 
 
 " What troubles you now ? " 
 
 "That door is half open." 
 
 The Fairy went and closed the door. 
 
 "Really," cried Pinocchio, breaking forth into 
 tears, " I cannot drink that bitterwater ! No, no, no ! " 
 
 "My child, you will be sorry." 
 
 " I do not care." 
 
 " Your fever is bad." 
 
 "I do not care." 
 
 "The fever will carry you in a few hours to 
 another world." 
 
 " I do not care." 
 
 " Have you no fear of death ? " 
 
 " No. I have no fear. I would rather die than 
 take that bad medicine." 
 
 Just at that moment the door of the room opened 
 and four Rabbits, black as ink, entered, carrying on 
 their shoulders a cofl&n. "What do you want with 
 
PINOCCHIO -JJ 
 
 me ? " cried Pinocchio, straightening himself up in 
 his bed. 
 
 " We have come to take you away," replied the 
 largest Rabbit. 
 
 " To take me away } But I am not dead ! " 
 
 " Not now, no ; but you have only a few more 
 moments of life, having refused to drink the medi- 
 cine that would cure your fever." 
 
 " Oh, my Fairy ! oh, my Fairy ! " screamed the 
 marionette ; " give me the glass quickly. Send 
 them away ; for I do not wish to die." And he 
 took the glass in both hands and swallowed the 
 medicine at one gulp. 
 
 " Oh, pshaw ! " said the Rabbits ; " we have made 
 this trip for nothing." And placing the cofiSn on 
 their shoulders again, the Rabbits went out of the 
 room grumbling and muttering between their teeth. 
 
 The fact was that a few moments later Pinocchio 
 jumped down from the bed well and strong ; for 
 you must know that wooden marionettes have the 
 advantage of rarely being sick, and when they are 
 they get well quickly. The Fairy, seeing him run 
 through the room as lively and bright as a little 
 chicken just out of its shell, said to him, " Then my 
 medicine has cured you ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed ! It has brought me back to this 
 world" 
 
78 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "Then why was it that you begged me not to 
 make you drink it ? " 
 
 "Boys always behave so. We have more fear 
 of the medicine than of the sickness." 
 
 " Shame on you ! Boys ought to know that a 
 good medicine taken in time may save them from 
 serious trouble and perhaps from death." 
 
 " Oh ! another time I will not behave so badly. 
 I will remember the black Rabbits with the coffin 
 on their shoulders and then I will take the medi- 
 cine quickly." 
 
 " Now come here and tell me how it happened 
 that you fell into the hands of assassins." 
 
 "Well, it happened in this way. The manager 
 of the marionettes, Fire Eater, gave me five pieces 
 of gold and said to me, ' Take these to your poor 
 papa.' I met on the road a Fox and a Cat, two very 
 nice persons, who said to me : ' Do jou wish those 
 pieces to become two thousand ? Come with us 
 and we will take you to the Field of Wonders.' I 
 said, ' Let us go ' ; and they said, ' Let us stop at 
 the Red Lobster Inn, and after midnight we will 
 continue our journey.' When I awoke I found that 
 they had gone. I then began to walk alone in the 
 dark and I met two coal sacks with assassins inside 
 who said to me, ' Give us your money.' I said, ' I 
 have none'; I hid the gold pieces in my mouth. 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 79 
 
 One of the assassins tried to make me open my 
 mouth, but I ran away as fast as I could across 
 the fields. I climbed a tree, but they set fire to 
 it and forced me to take to my heels again. The 
 assassins ran after me until they caught me. They 
 hanged me to a tree, and said, ' To-morrow we will 
 come back, and then you will be dead and we can 
 open your mouth. Then we shall be able to get 
 the gold that is hidden under your 
 tongue.' " 
 
 "And where have you 
 put the four pieces of gold 
 now ? " asked the Fairy. 
 
 " ^_ have lost them," 
 replied Pinocchio. But 
 he told a lie ; for he had 
 them in his pocket. 
 
 Scarcely had he told 
 this^Jie when his nose, 
 which was already long, 
 grew two fingers^ loriger. 
 
 " And where did you lose them ? 
 
 "I n the fores t." 
 t this se cond lie hi s nose grew still longer. 
 
 " If~you have lost them In tne forest, we wtll 
 look for them and find them, because all that is 
 lost in my forest is always found again." 
 
8o PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Oh, now I remember well," replied Pinocchio ; 
 ( "the four pieces of money were swallowed when I 
 \ took that medicine." 
 
 At— this- thinLJie the nosegrew so long that 
 poor Pinocchio could not turn himselt roundin 
 the_rQom. If he turned^ to one side, it struck the 
 bed or the glass in the window ; if he turned to' 
 the other side, it struck the walls or the door of 
 the room ; if he raised his head, he ran the risk 
 of putting out one of the Fairy's eyes. 
 
 And-tbe-Fairjciooked and laug hed. 
 
 "Why do you laugh.?" asked the marionette, 
 quite confused and surprised because his nose had 
 grown so long. 
 
 " I laugh at the foolish lies you have told." 
 
 " How do you know that I have told lies .'' " 
 
 i!-IJes,-_JBy__bo3', are recognized immediately, 
 because there are two kinds : there are lies that 
 have short legs and lies that have long noses. 
 Yours"' seem to /have long noses'." 
 
 Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide himself, 
 for shame, tried to get out of the room, but he 
 did not succeed. His nose had grown so large 
 that he could not go through the door. 
 
What do you think ? The Fairy let 
 the marionette cry and weep for a good 
 half hour because he could not go 
 through the door on account of the 
 ^J^ length of his nose. She did this be- 
 cause she wished to teach him a lesson and show 
 him how naughty he had been. But when she saw 
 him so disfi gured, his eyes nearly out of his head 
 with desperatiQn,_.sbe was moved to pity and struck 
 hCT hands together. At that signal about a thou- 
 sand bir3i~cane3 Woodpeckers^flew into the room 
 and, placing themselves on Pinocchio's nose, picked 
 at it so hard that in a few minutes it was reduced 
 to its usual size. 
 
 " How good you are, my Fairy ! " said the mario- 
 nette, drying his eyes, " and how I like you ! " 
 
 "I like you too," replied the Fairy, "and if you 
 will remain with me, you shall be my little brother 
 and I will be your little sister." 
 
 " I will stay willingly — but my poor papa ! " 
 
82 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " I have thought of everything ; your father has 
 been told already and before night he will be here." 
 
 " Truly ? " cried Pinocchio, jumping with joy. 
 " Then, my Fairy, if you are willing, I should like 
 to go to meet him. I cannot wait to kiss that good 
 old man, who has suffered so much for me." 
 
 " Go, but do not lose your way. Take the road 
 to the forest and I am sure you will find him." 
 
 Pinocchio departed. As soon as he entered the 
 forest he began to run like a deer. But when he 
 arrived at a certain point, nearly in front of the 
 Grand Oak, he stopped because he thought he 
 heard some one. Indeed, he saw on the road — 
 whom, do you suppose ? — the Fox and the Cat, that 
 
PINOCCHIO 83 
 
 is, the two companions with whom he supped at the 
 inn called the Red Lobster. 
 
 " Here is our dear friend Pinocchio ! " cried the 
 Fox, hugging and kissing him. " How did you ever 
 get here?" 
 
 "How did you ever get here?" repeated the 
 Cat. 
 
 "It is a long story," said the marionette, "and 
 I will tell you when I have time. You know the 
 night when you left me alone at the inn I met 
 some assassins on the road." 
 
 " Assassins ? Oh, my poor friend ! and what did 
 they want ? " 
 
 "They wished to rob me of my money." 
 
 " Infamous ! " said the Fox. 
 
 " Most infamous ! " said the Cat. 
 
 "But I started to run," continued the mario- 
 nette, "and they ran after me until they caught 
 me and hanged me to a branch of that large oak." 
 And Pinocchio pointed to the Grand Oak that was 
 not far away. 
 
 "One could not imagine anything worse," said 
 the Fox. " In what a world are we condemned to 
 live ! And now what are you doing here ? " 
 
 " I am waiting for my papa, who may arrive at 
 any moment." 
 
 " And your money, where is that ? " 
 
84 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " I have it all, less the piece I spent at the inn 
 called the Red Lobster." 
 
 " And to think that instead of four pieces they 
 might become two thousand by to-morrow ! Why 
 did you not follow my advice ? Why do you not 
 sow them in the Field of Wonders ? " 
 
 " To-day it is impossible. I will go another time." 
 
 "Another time will be too late," said the Fox. 
 
 "Why.?" 
 
 "Because that field has been bought by a rich 
 man, and after to-morrow no one will be permitted 
 to sow there any more." 
 
 " How far is the Field of Wonders from here } " 
 
 " Hardly two miles. Will you come with us ? 
 In half an hour we shall be there. You can sow the 
 money quickly, and after a few moments you can 
 return home with your pockets full. Will you come 
 with us .? " 
 
 Pinocchio hesitated a little because he thought 
 of the good Fairy, of old Geppetto, and of the ad- 
 vice of the Talking Cricket ; but, after the fashion 
 of foolish, heartless boys, he finally yielded. With 
 a shake of his head he said to the Fox and the Cat, 
 " Come on, I will go with you." And they started. 
 
 After having walked half a day they arrived at 
 a city called Stupid-catchers. As soon as they 
 entered the city Pinocchio saw all the streets full 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 85 
 
 of sick dogs that gaped for food ; clipped sheep 
 that shook from the cold ; featherless chickens that 
 begged for alms ; big butterflies that could not fly 
 
 any more because they had sold their beautiful 
 wings for a few pennies and were ashamed to be 
 seen ; and pheasants that limped, bewailing their 
 brilliant gold and silver feathers now lost to them 
 forever. 
 
86 PINOCCHIO 
 
 In the midst of the crowd of beggars and un- 
 fortunates they passed from time to time several 
 fine carriages filled with people, each of whom 
 turned out to be a Fox or a thieving Magpie or a 
 Bird of Prey. 
 
 " Where is the Field of Wonders ? " asked 
 Pinocchio. 
 
 " Only a few steps farther." 
 
 And so it proved. They walked through the 
 city, and outside the walls they stopped in a field 
 which looked much like other fields. No one was 
 in sight. 
 
 " Here we are at last," said the Fox. " Now 
 you must stoop down and dig a hole and put the 
 money inside." 
 
 Pinocchio obeyed, dug a hole, put in the money, 
 and then covered it over with earth. 
 
 " Now then," said the Fox, " go to that well and 
 take a little water and sprinkle the ground where 
 you have sown." 
 
 Pinocchio went to the well. Because he had 
 nothing in which to carry water, he took his shoe 
 and, filling it, came back and sprinkled the spot 
 where he had sown the money. Then he asked, 
 " Is there anything else .' " 
 
 " Nothing else," replied the Fox. " Now we shall 
 go away. You may return here in about twenty 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 87 
 
 minutes and you will iind a large vine with its 
 branches covered with money." 
 
 The poor marionette, nearly crazy with joy, 
 thanked the Fox and the Cat a thousand times 
 and promised them a beautiful present. 
 
 " We wish nothing," they replied. " To us it is 
 enough to have taught others the way to get rich 
 without doing anything ; and we are as contented 
 as we can be." 
 
 Thus saying, they bowed to Pinocchio and, wish- 
 ing him a good harvest, went away. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 The marionette, returning to the city, began to 
 count the minutes one by one. When he thought 
 it was time to go back he took the road that led to 
 the Field of Wonders. And while he walked along 
 his heart beat in his bosom like a big hall clock — 
 tic-tac-tic-tac. Meanwhile he was thinking to him- 
 self : "And if, instead of two thousand, I should find 
 five thousand t Oh, what a rich man I should be ! 
 I would have a palace and a thousand wooden horses 
 and carriages to amuse me ; I would have a cellar 
 filled with good things, a library filled with candy, 
 Dutch cake, almond cake, and cinnamon stick." 
 
 Thus imagining, he arrived at the field. He 
 stopped to look for the large vine with many 
 branches, but he saw nothing. He took a few 
 steps more. Nothing. He entered the field and 
 went right to the hole where he had planted his 
 money. There was nothing there. Then he be- 
 came thoughtful and began to wonder what he 
 should do next. 
 
PINOCCHIO 89 
 
 Just then he heard a whistling in his ears as if 
 some one were laughing. Looking up, he saw on 
 a tree a big Parrot who was preening his feathers. 
 
 "Why do you laugh.'" asked Pinocchio in an 
 angry voice. 
 
 " I laugh because in cleaning my feathers I 
 tickled myself under my wings." 
 
 The marionette did not reply. He went to the 
 well and sprinkled again the place where he had 
 buried his money. When he had done this he heard 
 a laugh more impertinent than the first one. It 
 sounded very loud in the solitude of the field. - 
 
 " Well," said Pinocchio, wrathfully, " tell me, if 
 you can, ignorant Parrot, why you laugh now." 
 
 " I laugh at those silly heads who believe every- 
 thing that is told them." 
 
 " Do you refer to me ? " 
 
 "Yes, I speak of you, poor Pinocchio. You are 
 foolish enough to think that money, if sowed prop- 
 erly, will grow like grain and plants. I thought so 
 once, and in consequence I have to-day very few 
 feathers. Now that it is too late to mend matters, 
 I have made up my mind that in order to get to- 
 gether a few pennies it is necessary to work with 
 your hands or invent something with your head." 
 
 "I do not understand," said the marionette, who 
 already began to tremble with fear. 
 
90 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " I will explain better," said the Parrot. "Know, 
 then, that while you were in the city the Fox and 
 the Cat returned here. Tliey took the money and 
 then fled like the wind. And now they cannot be 
 caught." 
 
 ■"^ Pinocchio remained with his mouth wide open. 
 Unwilling to believe the words of the Parrot, he 
 began with his hands and hails to dig out the dirt 
 where he had planted his money. And he dug 
 and dug and dug until he had made a hole large 
 enough for a haystack ; but the money was not 
 there. 
 
 In desperation he returned to the town. There 
 he went before the tribunal and denounced the 
 highwaymen who had stolen his money. 
 
 The judge was a Monkey of the race of Gorilla. 
 He was old and looked respectable on account of 
 his white beard, and especially so on account of his 
 gold eyeglasses with no glass in them. These he 
 wore all the time because of a weakness of the 
 eyes, which had troubled him for many years. 
 
 Pinocchio told the judge everything ; gave the 
 names and addresses of the highwaymen, and fin- 
 ished by asking for justice. 
 
 The judge listened with much dignity. He took 
 a lively interest in the story and seemed quite 
 moved. When the marionette had no more to say. 
 
93 PINOCCHIO 
 
 the judge stretched out his hand and rang the bell. 
 At that sound two large mastiff dogs entered, 
 dressed like soldiers. Then the judge, pointing to 
 Pinocchio, said to them : " This poor idiot has had 
 his money stolen. Take him and put him in prison." 
 
 The marionette, hearing this sentence, began to 
 protest ; but the mastiffs, not wishing to waste 
 time, covered his mouth and led him to a cell. 
 
 And there he remained four months and would 
 have been there much longer if something fortunate 
 had not happened. You must know, little readers, 
 that the young emperor of the city called Stupid- 
 catchers had just won a brilliant victory over his 
 enemies. So he ordered a grand festival, fireworks 
 and all sorts of parades, and to further celebrate 
 his victory he opened all the prisons and liberated 
 the convicts. 
 
 " If the other prisoners go out, I must go out 
 too," said Pinocchio to the guard. 
 
 "You.?" replied the guard; "no, because you 
 are not a convict." 
 
 " Excuse me," replied Pinocchio, " I am as bad 
 as any of them." 
 
 "In that case you are right," said the guard; 
 and raising his hat respectfully and saluting him, 
 he opened the door of his cell and allowed him to 
 escape. 
 
/!iv:y%^' 
 
 w.**' 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 Just imagine how happy Pinocchio was when he 
 felt himself free ! It is impossible to tell it. He 
 quickly left the city and took the road that led to 
 the house of the Fairy. 
 
 The roads were all soft because it had rained, 
 and at every step he went up to his knees in mud. 
 But he did not let that stop him. Wild with long- 
 ing to see again his papa and his dear little sister 
 with the blue hair, he ran and jumped on the dry 
 places like a hare, and in running he splashed the 
 mud all over his clothes and hat. 
 
 While he went along he thought : " How unfor- 
 tunate I have been ! But I deserve it all, because 
 
 93 
 
94 PINOCCHIO 
 
 I am a headstrong and touchy marionette. I always 
 wish to do things my way, without paying any 
 attention to those who love me and who are a thou- 
 sand times wiser than I. But from now on I will 
 change my life and become a good, obedient boy. 
 I have found out that boys who are disobedient 
 always lose in the long run. And my poor papa 
 has waited for me so long! I shall find him at 
 the house of the Fairy. It is so long since I have 
 seen him that I will give him a thousand hugs and 
 kisses. And the Fairy will pardon my naughtiness 
 in going away. To think that I have received 
 from her so much goodness and kindness ! And 
 to think also that I owe my life to her ! But no 
 one can be more thankful than I am." 
 
 He had scarcely said this last word when he 
 stopped suddenly, very much frightened, and took 
 four steps backward. What do you think he saw ? 
 — a big Serpent stretched out on the road ! It had 
 a green skin, eyes of fire, and a tail that smoked at 
 the end just like a chimney! 
 
 It is impossible to imagine the fear of the mario- 
 nette, who, going some distance away, sat down 
 on a heap of stones and waited for the Serpent to 
 go away so that the road would be left free. He 
 waited one hour, two hours, three hours ; but the 
 Serpent did not move. Pinocchio could see nothing 
 
PINOCCHIO 95 
 
 but the eyes of fire and the smoking tail. Then, 
 screwing up his courage, the marionette approached 
 within a few paces of the Serpent and said in a 
 kind, sweet voice : " Excuse me, Mr. Serpent ; would 
 you oblige me by moving to one side so that I can 
 pass ? " It was as if he talked to a wall. There 
 was no response. 
 
 Then Pinocchio said in the same kind tone : 
 "You must know, Mr. Serpent, that I am going 
 home, where my papa is waiting for me. Are you 
 willing that I should pass and go on my way ? " 
 
 He waited for some sign of response, but the 
 reply did not come. On the contrary, the Serpent, 
 which until then had been quite lively, became 
 quiet and nearly benumbed. His eyes closed and 
 his tail stopped smoking. 
 
 "He is dead, truly," thought Pinocchio, rubbing 
 his hands with satisfaction. Without waiting any 
 longer, he started to jump over him so as to pass 
 to the other side. But he had hardly lifted his leg 
 when the Serpent rose suddenly, like a spring let 
 loose. The marionette, trying to jump back, tripped 
 and fell to the ground with such force that he landed 
 with his head half stuck in the mud and his feet in 
 the air. 
 
 At the sight of the marionette kicking his legs 
 with incredible velocity the Serpent was seized with 
 
96 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 convulsions of laughter. He laughed and laughed 
 and laughed with such force that he broke a blood 
 vessel and died. 
 
 Then Pinocchio started again to run along the 
 road, hoping to reach the house of the Fairy before 
 dark. Along the way, however, he was overcome 
 
 pA^ -) 
 
 by hunger. So he jumped into a field to see if he 
 could find a bunch of grapes. Here, too, he was 
 unfortunate. 
 
 As soon as he arrived under the vine — crac — 
 he felt his legs caught by two pieces of iron that 
 made him see several new stars in the heavens. 
 The poor marionette found himself fast in a trap 
 which had been placed there by a farmer in order 
 to catch a thieving Weasel of the neighborhood. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 Pinocchio, you may well believe, began to cry and 
 scream ; but it was useless because there was not 
 a house near him and no one passed along the road. 
 In the meantime night came on. The trap hurt 
 him so much, and he was so afraid of the dark, 
 that he nearly fainted with pain and fright. Sud- 
 denly he saw a firefly, and he called out to it, " O 
 Firefly, will you help me to get away from here ? " 
 
 " Poor boy ! " replied the Firefly, stopping to look 
 at Pinocchio ; " how did you ever get your legs 
 caught in that trap ? " 
 
 " I came into the field in order to get a bunch 
 of grapes and — " 
 
 " But are the grapes yours } " 
 
 "No." 
 
 97 
 
98 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Then who has taught you to steal other people's 
 things?" 
 
 " I was hungry." 
 
 " Hunger, my boy, is not a good reason for steal- 
 ing anybody's things." 
 
 "That is true! that is true!" cried Pinocchio, 
 weeping ; " and another time I will not do it." 
 
 Just here the conversation was interrupted by 
 the sound of footsteps that came nearer and nearer. 
 The owner of the field had come on tiptoe to see 
 if one of the Weasels that ate his chickens at 
 night had been caught. He was greatly surprised 
 when, taking out a dark lantern, he saw, instead 
 of a Weasel, a boy. 
 
 "Ah, you little thief!" said the angry farmer. 
 "Then you are the one that carries away my 
 chickens ! " 
 
 "I? No," cried Pinocchio, sobbing. "I went 
 into the field for a bunch of grapes." 
 
 "He who steals grapes is also capable of stealing 
 chickens. Leave it to me ; I will give you a lesson 
 that you will remember for some time." 
 
 He opened the trap, took the marionette by the 
 back of the neck like a kitten, and carried him 
 to his house. When he reached his door he said to 
 Pinocchio : " Now it is late and I want to go to 
 bed. We will settle our affairs to-morrow. Mean- 
 
 I ! 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 99 
 
 while, as my dog died to-day, I will put you into 
 his house. I will make you my watchdog." 
 
 No sooner said than done. He took a dog collar 
 and put it on Pinocchio's neck. Attached to this 
 collar was a chain that was fastened to the wall. 
 
 " If it begins to rain to-night," said the farmer, 
 "there is some straw inside that has served as a 
 bed for the dog for four years. You may go in and 
 rest there. And if robbers come into the yard, 
 remember to watch them carefully and to bark." 
 
 After this last warning the farmer entered his 
 house, closing the door noisily ; and the poor mario- 
 nette was left squatting in the barnyard more dead 
 than alive from cold, hunger, and fear. From 
 time to time he placed his hands between his collar 
 and his neck because the collar hurt him, saying to 
 himself as he did so : " I deserve it all. I wanted 
 to run away. I wanted to listen to the advice of 
 bad companions, and that is the reason why I am so 
 unhappy. If I had been a good boy as so many 
 boys are, if I had wished to study and to work, if 
 I had remained at home with my papa, I should not 
 find myself here now, sleeping in a dog house and 
 watching a chicken coop ! Oh, if only I could 
 begin all over again ! But now it is too late." 
 
 Having thought all this, he entered the dog house 
 and fell asleep. 
 
^■# 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 After he had slept two hours he was awakened 
 at midnight by a whispering which sounded like 
 pist ! pist ! It appeared to come from the barn- 
 yard. He put his nose out of the hole in the dog 
 house and saw four little beasts that looked some- 
 what like cats. But they were not cats ; they 
 were Weasels, — carnivorous animals who eat young 
 chickens. One of the Weasels, leaving his com- 
 panions, went to the hole in the dog house and 
 said in a low voice, " Good evening, Bruno." 
 
 " I am not called Bruno." 
 
 " Oh, then, who are you .' " 
 
 "I am Pinocchio." 
 
 "What are you doing here .' " 
 
 " I am playing watchdog." 
 
 " Oh, where is Bruno .? Where is the old dog 
 that lived in this house .' " 
 
 "He died this morning." 
 
 lOO 
 
PINOCCHIO loi 
 
 " Dead ? Poor beast ! He was so good ! But 
 judging from your face you are also a nice dog." 
 
 " Excuse me, I am not a dog." 
 
 " What are you .? " 
 
 " I am a marionette." 
 
 " And you play watchdog } " 
 
 " Yes, it is true ; I do so for a punishment." 
 
 "Well, I propose to you the same agreement 
 that I had with the dead Bruno. Are you willing.? " 
 
 " What are the conditions ? " 
 
 "We will come here once a week, as we have 
 done in the past, to pay a nocturnal visit to this 
 chicken house ; and we will carry away eight chick- 
 ens. Of these we will eat seven and give you one, 
 on condition — understand well — that you will 
 pretend to sleep and not come out and bark and 
 thus awaken the farmer." 
 
 " And Bruno did that ? " asked Pinocchio. 
 
 " Oh, yes, and we got along very nicely. You sleep 
 quietly and you may be sure that before we go away 
 we will leave a nice fat chicken for your breakfast to- 
 morrow morning. Do you understand ? " 
 
 "Very well," replied Pinocchio. But he shook 
 his head as if he would have said, " In a little while 
 we will talk about this again." 
 
 When the four Weasels felt that they were free 
 from harm they walked toward the chicken coop, 
 
I02 PINOCCHIO 
 
 which was very near the dog house. They opened 
 the door with their teeth and nails and filed in one 
 by one. But they were hardly inside when they 
 heard the door close with a bang. 
 
 Who was it that had closed the door .■' Why, it 
 was Pinocchio, who, not contented with the latch 
 that held the door, placed a big stone there besides. 
 And then he began to bark, and he barked just 
 like a watchdog — bu! bu! bu! bu! 
 
 At that sound the farmer jumped out of bed, 
 took his gun, and, coming to the window, said, 
 "What is the matter?" 
 
 "The robbers are here," cried Pinocchio. 
 
 "Where are they.'" 
 
 " In the chicken coop. " 
 , "I will come down right away." 
 
 Before any one could say " Boo ! " the farmer 
 came down. After he had caught the four Weasels 
 and put them into a sack, he looked at the sack 
 with genuine satisfaction and said : "You, then, are 
 the ones who have been stealing my chickens ! 
 I ought to punish you, but you are beneath my 
 notice. I will content myself instead with carry- 
 ing you to the town near by, where they will take 
 you off my hands. It is an honor you do not 
 deserve, but generous men do not mind taking 
 this little trouble." 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 103 
 
 Then, approaching Pinocchio, he caressed him, 
 and among other things asked him : " How did you 
 ever catch these four robbers ? And to think that 
 Bruno, my good and faithful Bruno, could not do 
 it!" 
 
 The marionette then would have told all he knew 
 about the shameful contract between the dog and 
 the Weasels ; but remembering that the dog was 
 dead, he said to himself : " Why should I accuse the 
 dead? The dead are dead and the-best-t-hing: to 
 do is to leave Aemjn peace." -_ 
 
 " Were you asleep when the Weasels came into 
 the yard ? " asked the farmer. .1 
 
 "I was asleep," replied Pinocchio, "but they 
 awoke me with their chattering, and one came to 
 my house and said : ' If you promise not to bark 
 and not to wake up the farmer, we will give you a 
 nice fat chicken for a present.' You understand.? 
 How could they have the face to say that to me? 
 I am only a marionette and have all the faults of 
 marionettes, but I never enter into a contract with 
 thieves." 
 
 " Brave boy ! " cried the farmer, patting him on 
 the shoulder. "These sentiments do you honor, 
 and to prove to you my great satisfaction I leave 
 you free to return to your house." 
 
 And he took off the dog's collar. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 As soon as Pinocchio was relieved from the 
 weight of the hard and humiliating collar he started 
 to run across the fields ; and he did not stop one 
 minute until he had reached the road that led to 
 the house of the Fairy. 
 
 When he reached the road he looked down on 
 the forest where he had unfortunately met the Fox 
 and the Cat, and there in the middle he saw the 
 great oak to which they had hanged him. He 
 looked in the direction of the little white house 
 where the Fairy with the Blue Hair lived, but he 
 could not find it at all. 
 
 Then a feeling of sadness came over him. 
 Nevertheless he ran as fast as his legs would take 
 him and in a few minutes he reached the field 
 where the little white house had stood. But the 
 white house was there no more. There was instead 
 104 
 
PINOCCHIO 105 
 
 a little marble slab on which were cut the follow- 
 ing words : 
 
 Here lies 
 
 The Fairy with the Blue Hair 
 
 Dead with Grief 
 
 For having been abandoned by her 
 
 Little Brother Pinocchio. 
 
 As he could not read he did not know what to 
 do. The Talking Cricket happened to be near 
 and read it for him. I leave you to imagine how 
 the marionette felt when he understood the mean- 
 ing of those words. He fell to the ground and, 
 covering the marble slab with kisses, cried as if his 
 heart would break. He cried all night and all the 
 next morning, until he had no more tears left, ffis 
 cries and^sobs wereso loud that all the hills round, 
 about repeated them. 
 
 " Oh, my littie~^Fairy, why are you dead } " he 
 cried. " Why, instead of you, am I not dead ? 
 Oh, my dear little Fairy, tell me where I can find 
 my papa. I wish to be with him and never leave 
 him any more. Oh, tell me that it is not true that 
 you are dead. If you truly love me, if you like 
 your little brother, come back ! return to life ! 
 Does it not make you unhappy to see me left all 
 alone by everybody.' If the assassins come and 
 hang me to a tree again, I shall die this time for 
 
I06 PINOCCHIO 
 
 sure. What can I do alone in this world, now 
 that I have lost my papa and you ? Who will give 
 me anything to eat ? Where shall I sleep at night ? 
 Who will make my clothes ? Oh, it would be 
 better, a hundred times better, that I should die ! 
 Yes, I wish to die ! Ih ! ih ! ih ! " 
 
 While he despaired in this manner he wished to 
 pull out his hair ; but his hair being of wood he 
 was not able to raise even a lock. 
 
 A large Dove who was flying around, seeing the 
 Uttle marionette leaning on the marble slab, stopped, 
 and, hovering in the air, said, " Tell me, my little 
 boy, what are you doing down there .-' " 
 
 " Do you not see that I am crying .' " said Pinoc- 
 chio, raising his head toward the voice and drying 
 his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. 
 
 "Tell me," added the Dove, "do you not know 
 among your companions a marionette who is called 
 Pinocchio .' " 
 
 " Pinocchio } Did you say Pinocchio .' " cried the 
 marionette, jumping to his feet ; " I am Pinocchio." 
 
 When the Dove heard this he flew down to the 
 ground. He was as large as a turkey cock. 
 
 " Do you also know Geppetto } " asked the Dove. 
 
 " Do I know him ? He is my poor papa. Has 
 he asked you about me ? Can you take me to 
 him ? Is he alive .? Tell me, is he alive ? " 
 
PINOCCHIO 107 
 
 " I left him three days ago on the seashore." 
 
 " What was he doing ? " 
 
 " He was making a little boat in order to cross 
 the ocean. For four months the poor man has 
 been looking for you, and not being able to find 
 you he began to build a boat and now he is going 
 to look for you in another country." 
 
 "How far is it to the shore.? " asked Pinocchio. 
 
 " A thousand miles." 
 
 " A thousand miles ! Oh, Dove ! Oh, if only I 
 had a pair of wings ! " 
 
 " If you wish to go, I will carry you." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 " On my back". Are you heavy .' " 
 
 " No, indeed. I am as light as a feather." 
 
 And then without saying anything further, Pinoc- 
 chio jumped on the back of the Dove and put a 
 leg back of each wing just like a man on horseback. 
 He then cried to the Dove, "All ready, go ! " The 
 Dove spread his wings and in a few moments they 
 almost touched the clouds. Arriving at that ex- 
 traordinary height, the marionette had the curiosity 
 to turn around and look down. He was so scared 
 when he took a view of the country below that he 
 was obliged to put his arms around the Dove's neck. 
 
 They flew all day long. Toward evening the 
 Dove said, "I am very thirsty." 
 
"vir 
 
 •■Jl I ■»' -CM-* 
 
PINOCCHIO 109 
 
 " I am very hungry," added Pinocchio. 
 
 " Let us stop at this dove house a few minutes, 
 and afterward we will start on our way again, so 
 as to be at the shore to-morrow morning." 
 
 They entered a dove house which they found 
 deserted except that there was a little basin of 
 water and also a small basket of chick peas placed 
 near the door. 
 
 In all his life the marionette had never been able 
 to eat chick peas ; to hear the name always made 
 him sick. But that night he ate them ravenously, 
 and when he had nearly finished he turned to the 
 Dove and said, "I would never have beUeved that 
 chick peas could taste so good." 
 
 " It is well to know, my boy," replied the Dove, 
 " that when you are truly hungry even the chick 
 pea seems delicious. Hunger has no whims or 
 fancies." 
 
 Having eaten their lunch quickly, they started 
 on their journey. The next morning they arrived 
 on the seashore. 
 
 The Dove placed Pinocchio on the ground, 
 and, not wishing the annoyance of hearing him- 
 self thanked for his good action, flew suddenly 
 away and disappeared. 
 
 The shore was crowded with people who were 
 crying and gesticulating, looking toward the sea. 
 
no 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "What has happened?" asked Pinocchio of an 
 old woman. 
 
 " There is an old man, who, having lost his little 
 boy, ventured to go to sea to-day in search of him, 
 and the water is so rough that we are afraid he will 
 sink." 
 
 "Where is the boat.?" 
 
 "There it is; follow my finger," said the old 
 lady, pointing to a little boat that from where they 
 stood looked like a walnut shell with a very small 
 man inside. 
 
 " It is my papa ! It is my papa ! " 
 
 Meanwhile the little boat, tossed around by the 
 waves, now disappeared between the billows, now 
 floated on top. Pinocchio, standing on a point of 
 a high reef, called his papa by name and made 
 many signals with his arms and finally with the 
 
PINOCCHIO III 
 
 cap on his head. It appeared that Geppetto, 
 although very far away from the shore, recognized 
 him, because he also raised his cap and made it 
 clearly understood that he would come to shore 
 were it not that he was prevented by the heavy 
 seas. 
 
 All of a sudden there came a terrible wave and 
 the boat disappeared. They waited on shore to 
 see it rise but it was never seen again. 
 
 " Poor man ! " said the fishermen ; but they could 
 not help him so they turned away. 
 
 Then they heard a cry. Looking around, they 
 saw a little boy on the top of a reef throw himself 
 into the water. 
 
 " I want to save my papa," he said. 
 
 Pinocchio, being made of wood, floated easily, 
 and he could swim like a fish. Now he was seen 
 to disappear under the water, carried by the cur- 
 rent ; now he appeared again, striking out against 
 the waves. The fishermen watched him until he 
 was so far from shore that they could not see him 
 any longer. 
 
 " Poor boy ! " they said ; and, as they could do 
 nothing for him, they went home. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 Animated by the hope of arriving in time to 
 save his father, Pinocchio swam all night. And 
 what a horrible swim that was ! It rained, hailed, 
 thundered, and lightened so hard that the night 
 appeared like day. 
 
 In the morning he saw a shore line. It was an 
 island in the middle of the sea. He tried to reach 
 that sand bank, but it was useless. The waves 
 tossed him about like a straw. At last, by good 
 fortune, there came a tremendous wave that hurled 
 
 112 
 
PINOCCHIO 113 
 
 him right upon the shore. The force with which 
 he struck the grbund was so great that it neai-ly 
 broke his bones ; but he said, " I have been very 
 lucky to escape this time." 
 
 In the meantime the weather cleared. The sun 
 appeared in all its splendor and the sea became as 
 Smooth as oil. Then the niarionette laid his clothes 
 out oh the sand and sat in the sun to dry himself. 
 He looked all around, but he saw nothing of the 
 little boat that contained his papa: 
 
 " I should like to know the name of this island," 
 he said to himself. " I should like to know, at 
 least, if it is inhabited by kind people who d6 hot 
 hang boys to trees ; but whom can I ask if thei-e 
 is no one here.'" 
 
 The idea of finding himself alone on an island in 
 the Sea made him very sad and he began to cry; 
 Suddenly he saw, passing by not very far from 
 shore, a large Fish, who went about his business 
 quietly with his head above the water. The mario- 
 nette called in a loud voice, so as to make himself 
 heard, "Hello, Mr. Fish ! Will you allow nie one 
 wot-d?" 
 
 "TWo," replied the Fish, who was so polite a dol- 
 phin that it would be hard to find his equal in the sea; 
 
 " Will you please tell me if in this island I can 
 fi-hd sothethihg to eat without being eaten ? " '- ' 
 
114 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " I am sure of it," replied the Dolphin. " You 
 will find some people not far from here." 
 
 " And what street must I take .' " 
 
 "Take that little road to the left and follow 
 your nose. You cannot mistake it." 
 
 "Tell me, please, another thing. You travel 
 so much in the sea, both by day and by night, that 
 perhaps you have seen a little boat with my 
 papa in it." 
 
 " And who is your papa ? " 
 
 " He is the best in the world, and I am the 
 worst son that can possibly be." 
 
 " With the terrible storm that we had last night 
 the boat must have sunk." 
 
 "And my papa .■• " 
 
 " By this time he must have been swallowed by 
 the Dogfish who for several days has been play- 
 ing havoc in these waters." 
 
 " Is the Dogfish very large > " asked Pinocchio, 
 who already trembled with fear. 
 
 " Large ?" replied the Dolphin. " Why, you can 
 get an idea of him when I tell you that he is as 
 large as a five-story house and his mouth is so big 
 that he can swallow, at one gulp, a train of cars 
 with the engine" attached ! " 
 
 "Oh, dear me I" cried the marionette, very 
 much scared. Turning to the Dolphin, he said 
 
PINOCCHIO IIS 
 
 hurriedly, " Good-by, Mr. Fish ; excuse me, and 
 a thousand thanks for your kindness." 
 
 Having said this, Pinocchio took the little road 
 and ran as quickly as he could. At every slight 
 noise he heard he looked around, for fear he might 
 be followed by the terrible Dogfish as big as a five- 
 story house, and with a mouth large enough to 
 swallow a train of cars with the engine attached. 
 
 After having run for half an hour, he arrived at 
 a little country called " The Country of the Busy 
 Bees." The streets were filled with those who 
 ran here and there attending to their little duties, 
 everybody having something to do. 
 
 " I understand!" exclaimed that good-for-nothing 
 Pinocchio. "This country is not for me. I was 
 not born to work." 
 
 Meanwhile he was very hungry because he had 
 eaten nothing for twenty-four hours, — not even a 
 chick pea. What could he do .? There were only 
 two ways to get food, — either to beg or to work for 
 it. To ask for alms he was ashamed, because his 
 papa had told him that the only ones who had a 
 right to beg were the truly poor, sick, or blind. 
 The poor deserve help as do those also who are too 
 old to work. All the others must do something, 
 and if they suffer from hunger it is the worse for 
 them. 
 
Ii6 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 Just then there passed a ma.n, all perspiring, who 
 was pulling two wagons filled with coal. Pinocchio, 
 judging from his face that he was a good man, 
 lowered his eyes for shame, and said in an under-. 
 
 tone, " Will you please give me a penny ? I am, 
 dying of hunger." 
 
 " Not a cent," replied the coal man ; " but I will; 
 give you five if you will help me pull this wagon, 
 up the hill." 
 
 , 'f. I am surprised," repHed the marionette, almost 
 offpnded, " I was, not made a mule ; I hav§ never 
 pulled a wagon in all my life." 
 
PINOCCHIO 117 
 
 " The worse for you ! " replied the coal man. 
 " Then, my boy, if you are dying with hunger, eat 
 a couple of slices of your pride and take care that 
 it does not give you indigestion." 
 
 After a few moments a bricklayer passed along, 
 carrying on his shoulder a basket of lime. 
 
 " Good gentleman, will you be kind enough to 
 give a penny to a poor boy who is dying with 
 hunger ? " 
 
 " Come with me, and I will give you five if you 
 will carry a basket of lime for me." 
 
 " But the lime is heavy," replied Pinocchio, " and 
 I do not want to get tired." 
 
 " If you do not want to get tired, my boy, go 
 hungry. Good-by." 
 
 In less than half an hour twenty other people 
 walked by and they all said to Pinocchio : " Shame 
 on you ! Instead of finding a little work and earn- 
 ing some money, you stand there and beg like a 
 vagabond." 
 
 Finally along came a good woman who carried 
 two pitchers of water. 
 
 "Will you be so good as to give me a sip of 
 water ? " asked Pinocchio, who was burning with 
 thirst. 
 
 "Certainly, my boy," said the good woman, 
 placing the two pitchers on the ground. 
 
Il8 PINOCCHIO 
 
 When Pinocchio had drunk like a sponge he 
 muttered, drying his mouth, " If I could only eat 
 as much as I drank ! " 
 
 The good woman, hearing these words, replied 
 quickly, " If you will help me carry one of these 
 pitchers of water up the hill, I will give you a nice 
 piece of bread." 
 
 Pinocchio looked at the pitchers of water and did 
 not say Yes or No. 
 
 " And with the piece of bread I will give you a 
 piece of cauliflower dipped in oil and vinegar." 
 
 Pinocchio gave another glance at the pitcher and 
 did not say Yes or No. 
 
 " And after the cauliflower I will give you a piece 
 of cake." 
 
 At this Pinocchio could resist no longer. He 
 said, " Pshaw ! I will carry the pitcher to your 
 home." The pitcher was very heavy, and not being 
 able to carry it with his hands he put it on his 
 head. After they arrived at the house the good 
 woman prepared the table and gave the marionette 
 all that she had promised. Pinocchio did not eat ; 
 he gorged. He was so hungry that one would 
 think he had not eaten for a week. 
 
 At length, having satisfied his hunger, he raised his 
 head in order to thank his benefactress. Hardly had 
 he looked at her when he uttered a long "Oh-h-h-h!" 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 119 
 
 of surprise. He remained seated as if transfixed, 
 with his eyes opened wide, his fork in the air, and 
 his mouth full of bread and cauliflower. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " the good woman asked, 
 laughing. 
 
 " What ! " replied Pinocchio, stuttering. "What ! 
 — how you resemble — yes ! yes ! yes ! — with the 
 blue hair, too, just like her ! Oh, my little Fairy, tell 
 me that it is you ! Do not let me cry any more ! 
 If you only knew how much I have cried ! — how 
 much I have suffered ! " 
 
 And saying this, Pinocchio wept a flood of tears 
 and, throwing himself on his knees, clung to the 
 mysterious woman. 
 
At first the good little woman pre- 
 tended that she was not the Fairy with 
 the Blue Hair ; but afterward, seeing that she was 
 discovered and not wishing to prolong the comedy, 
 she made herself known and said to Pinocchio : 
 " You little rascal ! Why did you ever think that 
 it was I ? " 
 
 "Because I like you so much. That is what 
 told me." 
 
 "You remember me.-' Yet you have forgotten 
 all I told you. And now I am old enough to be 
 your mamma." 
 
 "And I should like very much to call you so. 
 I should like to have a mamma like all the other 
 boys. But how did you grow up so quickly .■' " 
 
 "It is a secret." 
 
PINOCCHIO 121 
 
 " Teach me how to do it. I should like to grow 
 also. Do you not see .'' I am always the samei 
 height." 
 
 " But you cannot grow." 
 
 "Why.?" 
 
 "Because marionettes never grow. They are 
 born marionettes, they live marionettes, and they 
 die marionettes." 
 
 " Oh, I am tired of being always a marionette," 
 cried Pinocchio, hitting himself on the head. " I 
 want to become a man." 
 
 "And you will become one if you deserve to." 
 
 " Truly ? And what can I do to deserve it .■' " 
 
 "That is easy. Accustom yourself to be a good 
 boy." 
 
 " Oh, that is what I am now ! " 
 
 " Not at all. Boys that are good are obedient, 
 and you instead — " 
 
 "And I never obey." 
 
 " Good boys like to study and work, and you — " 
 
 " I like to play and run around." 
 
 " Good boys always tell the truth — " 
 
 "And I always tell lies." 
 
 "Good boys go to school willingly — " , 
 
 "And to me school is a horrible thing._|But 
 from to-day I will change my life." 
 
 " You promise me ? " 
 
122 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " I promise you. I. want to become a good little 
 boy and a comfort to my papa. Where is he at 
 this time ? " 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 " Shall I ever have the good fortune to see him 
 again ? " 
 
 " I believe so. Indeed, I am sure of it." 
 
 At this reply Pinocchio was so happy that he was 
 nearly crazy with joy. Then, raising his face and 
 looking at the Fairy lovingly, he said to her, " Tell 
 me. Mamma ; is it true you are not dead ? " 
 
 " It appears not," repUed the Fairy. 
 
 " If you only knew with what grief I heard you 
 were buried under that stone — " 
 
 " I do know it ; and that is why I forgive you. 
 The sincerity of your grief proves that you have a 
 good heart. There is always hope for boys with 
 good hearts. Even if they sometimes act like 
 scamps, there is always hope that they will finally 
 get on the right road. That is why I have come 
 here. I will be your mamma." 
 
 " Oh, how nice ! " said Pinocchio, jumping with 
 joy. 
 
 " Will you obey me and always do what I tell you ? " 
 
 " Willingly, willingly, willingly ! " 
 
 "Then to-morrow," said the Fairy, "you will 
 begin by going to school." 
 
PINOCCHIO 123 
 
 Pinocchio became suddenly a little less lively. 
 
 "After that you can choose a trade or some 
 business." 
 
 Pinocchio became serious. 
 
 " What are you mumbling through your teeth .' " 
 asked the Fairy. 
 
 "I said that now it is a little late to go to 
 school." 
 
 " No, sir. Remember that it is never too late to 
 learn." 
 
 " But I do not wish to learn a trade." 
 
 " Why .? " 
 
 " Because to work makes me tired." 
 
 " My boy, those who say that always end either 
 in prison or in the almshouse. Every man, whether 
 rich or poor, ought to work at something. Woe 
 to the one that leaves himself to idleness ! Idleness 
 is a very bad disease and should be cured quickly 
 or else when you are old you will never get over it." 
 
 These words touched the soul of Pinocchio. 
 Quickly raising his head, he said to the Fairy : " I 
 will study, I will work, I will do all you wish, 
 because the life of a marionette is tiresome and I 
 want to become a boy through and through. You 
 have promised me that, have n't you ? " 
 
 " I promise you ; and now it depends upon how 
 you behave." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 The next day Pinocchio went to the public school. 
 Just imagine how the little scholars behaved when 
 they saw a marionette in their school! They 
 laughed out loud. Several played jokes on him. 
 Oiie took off his cap ; another pulled his coat tails ; 
 another tried to make a mustache under his nose 
 with ink ; and aiiother tied strings to his arms and 
 legs in order to niake him dance. 
 
 For a little while Pinocchio did not pay much 
 attention to them, but finally, losing patience, he 
 said : " Take care ! I have not coriie here to be 
 your buffoon. I respect others and I wish to be 
 respected." ' '"'V 
 
 124 
 
PINOCCHIO 125 
 
 "Hurrah for the jester! He speaks like a 
 book," shouted the little scamps, bursting forth into 
 laughter. One of them, more impertinent than 
 the others, stretched out his arm and tried to seize 
 Pinocchio by the nose. But he did not have time 
 because Pinocchio thrust his leg suddenly under 
 the desk. 
 
 "Oh, what hard feet he has ! " cried the boy< 
 rubbing the lumps that the marionette had made. 
 
 " And what hard elbows ! " said another, who for 
 another trick had received a punch in the ribs. 
 The fact is, that after several kicks and elbowings 
 Pinocchio had the good will of all the boys in the 
 school and they began to like him very much. 
 
 The school-teacher, too, praised him because he 
 was so attentive, studious, and intelligent, — always 
 the first to enter the school, always the last to get 
 up when it was over. The only mistake he made 
 was that of going with too many companions, 
 among whom were a few who did not care to study. 
 The teacher warned him daily, and the good Fairy, 
 too, added her words of advice, saying, " Take care, 
 Pinocchio! your companions will sooner or later 
 make you lose your love for study and perhaps 
 will bring misfortune upon you." 
 
 " There is no danger of that," replied the mario- 
 nette, shrugging his shoulders and touching his 
 
126 PINOCCHIO 
 
 forehead with his first finger as if he said, " There 
 is much wisdom inside." 
 
 Now it happened, one beautiful day as he was 
 going to school, that he met some of his companions 
 who said to him, " Have you heard the news ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Not far from here a big dogfish as large as a 
 mountain has floated on the beach." 
 
 " Truly ? Why, it may be the same one that 
 swallowed my papa." 
 
 "We are going to look at it. Will you come 
 along .? " 
 
 " No. I want to go to school." 
 
 " Oh, pshaw ! What do you care for school .' 
 We can go there to-morrow. One lesson more or 
 less does not matter at all." 
 
 " And what will the teacher say ? " 
 
 " Oh, he will have something more to talk about 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " And my mamma .? " 
 
 " Your mamma will never know," said the 
 wicked boys. 
 
 " Do you know what I will do ? " said Pinocchio. 
 " I want to see the dogfish very much, so I will go 
 after school." 
 
 " Poor stupid thing ! " they said. " Do you think 
 that a dogfish of that size will wait for your slow 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 127 
 
 actions ? Why, he will go away, and then you 
 will be sorry you did not go." 
 
 " How much time will it take to go there ? " 
 asked the marionette. 
 
 " In an hour we shall be back." 
 
 " Well, then, I will go. Come on ! The first one 
 there is the best," cried Pinocchio. 
 
 With that signal to start they all began to run. 
 Pinocchio was always the first in a race ; he ran as 
 if he had wings on his feet. From time to time he 
 turned to look at his companions, who were some 
 distance behind. Seeing them puffing and blowing 
 and covered with dust, he laughed out loud. The 
 poor boy did not know what misfortune was in 
 store for him. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 Arriving at the shore, Pinocchio quickly looked 
 up and down the coast, but there was no dogfish. 
 The sea was as still and as shiny as a looking-glass. 
 
 " Where is the dogfish .' " he asked, turning to 
 his companions. 
 
 " It has gone to breakfast," replied one of them, 
 laughing. 
 
 " It may be that, being tired, he has gone to take 
 a little nap," said another, laughing still louder. 
 
 From these replies Pinocchio understood that 
 the boys had played a trick on him, making him 
 believe a thing that was not true. He turned to 
 them and said angrily, "And now, why did you tell 
 me this nonsense about the dogfish ? " 
 
 " Because we wanted to," they replied in a chorus. 
 
 " But why ? " 
 
 " Because we wanted you to lose a day at school. 
 Are n't you ashamed to go to school every day so 
 128 
 
PINOCCHIO 129 
 
 Steadily ? And then you are too studious. Why 
 do you do it ? " 
 
 " If I study, what business is that of yours ? " 
 
 "Why, it means a great deal to us because it 
 makes us look like bad boys before the teacher." 
 
 " Why .? " 
 
 "Because the scholars who study are always 
 compared with those who do not ; and we do not 
 like it. That is all." 
 
 " And what should I do in order to make you 
 satisfied with me .? " 
 
 "You ought to hate school. Both the lessons 
 and the teacher are boys' greatest enemies." 
 
 "And if I wish to study, what will you do .'' " 
 
 " We will watch for you, and at the first oppor- 
 tunity we will pay you up." 
 
 " You make me laugh," said the marionette, 
 shaking his head. 
 
 "Take care, Pinocchio!" said the largest boy, go- 
 ing up to him and shaking his fist under his nose. 
 " Do not make fun. of us. Do not be so proud here 
 because you have no fear of us. We have no fear of 
 you. Remember you are alone. We are seven." 
 
 " Now, Pinocchio, I will teach you a lesson ! " 
 cried another boy. And saying that, he struck 
 Pinocchio on the head with his fist. But it was an 
 exchange of blows, for the lively marionette ducked 
 
I30 PINOCCHIO 
 
 his head and replied suddenly with another blow, 
 and then the fight became general. Pinocchio, 
 although he was alone, was able to defend himself. 
 His hard wooden feet worked so well that they kept 
 all the boys at a reasonable distance. Where the 
 feet struck they always left a black and blue spot. 
 
 Then the boys, provoked at not being able to 
 get near the marionette, looked around for stones ; 
 but there was nothing but sand. They finally took 
 their spelling books, geographies, histories, and 
 arithmetics and began hurling them at him. But 
 the marionette was very quick and dodged every 
 one, so that the books went over him and fell into 
 the sea. 
 
 What do you think the fishes did .' Thinking 
 that the books might be something to eat, they 
 swam to the edge of the sea and looked at the 
 pictures ; but after swallowing several pages and 
 frontispieces, they spat them out and made wry 
 faces, as if to say : " This is no food for us. We 
 are accustomed to eat much better stuff." 
 
 Meanwhile the combat grew fiercer until a big 
 old Crab came out of the water and, slowly walk- 
 ing up the beach, cried with the voice of a trom- 
 bone that has caught a cold, "Stop it! stop it! 
 These battles between boys always end badly. 
 Some misfortune is sure to happen." 
 
132 PINOCCHIO 
 
 Poor Crab ! It was as if he had spoken to the 
 wind. That naughty Pinocchio, turning around, 
 said to him very rudely : " Oh, hush, ugly Crab ! 
 You would do better to eat some seaweed and 
 cure that cold of yours. Go home to bed and take 
 a good nap." 
 
 In the meantime the boys, who had used up all 
 their own books, looked around and spied Pinoc- 
 chio' s, which they seized in less time than it takes 
 to tell it. Among his books there was a volume 
 bound in thick cardboard. It was a treatise on 
 arithmetic. I will leave you to imagine how heavy 
 it must have been. One of the boys seized the 
 arithmetic and, taking aim, threw it at Pinocchio. 
 Instead of hitting the marionette it struck the 
 head of one of his companions. The boy became 
 as white as a sheet and fell to the ground, where 
 he lay motionless. 
 
 At the sight of the little fellow apparently dying 
 the boys were frightened and ran away as fast as 
 they could. In a few minutes there was no one 
 left but Pinocchio. 
 
 Although he was more dead than alive through 
 grief and fright, he ran to soak his handkerchief in 
 the sea and began to bathe the temples of his poor 
 schoolmate. Meanwhile he cried despairingly : 
 " Eugene ! My poor Eugene, open your eyes and 
 
PINOCCHIO 133 
 
 look at me ! Why do you not answer me ? It was 
 not I who hurt you. Believe me, it was not I. If 
 you keep your eyes shut, you will make me die 
 too. How shall I be able to go home now .■" What 
 can I say to my good mamma ? What will she say 
 to me ? Where shall I go .'' Where can I hide 
 myself .'' Oh, how much better, a thousand times 
 better, would it have been if I had gone to school ! 
 Why did I listen to them this morning.-' And to 
 think that the teacher and also my mamma warned 
 me, ' Beware of bad companions ! ' But I am head- 
 strong. I am a bad, obstinate boy. I let them tell 
 me what to do and then I do what I please. Why 
 was I ever made .i" I have never had a quiet day 
 in my life. Oh, dear ! What will become of me ? 
 What will become of me .■■ " 
 
 And Pinocchio continued to cry and weep and 
 punch his head and call poor Eugene by name. 
 Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps. He 
 turned and there were two policemen. "What 
 are you doing there ? " they asked. 
 
 " I am helping my schoolmate." 
 
 " Is he hurt ? " 
 
 " It appears so." 
 
 "Worse than that," said one of them, bending 
 down and looking at Eugene closely ; " the boy 
 is wounded in the temple. Who did it.?" 
 
134 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "It was not I," said the marionette, who had 
 hardly any breath left in his body. 
 
 " If you did not do it, who was it then ? " 
 
 "Not I," repeated Pinocchio. 
 
 " With what was he struck ? " 
 
 "With this book." And the marionette took 
 from the ground the treatise on arithmetic, bound 
 in thick cardboard, and handed it to the policeman. 
 
 "Whose book is this.?" 
 
 " It is mine." 
 
 "That is enough. You must have done it. 
 Stand up and come with us immediately." 
 
 "But I — " 
 
 " Come with us." 
 
 "But I am innocent." 
 
 " Come with us." 
 
 Before going away the policemen called some 
 fishermen who at that moment were passing by in 
 a rowboat near the shore, and said to them : " We 
 trust this wounded boy to you. Take him to your 
 house and help him. To-morrow we will come back 
 and see how he is." 
 
 Then they turned to Pinocchio and, placing him 
 between them, said: "Forward! Walk quickly! 
 If you do not, so much the worse for you." 
 
 Without saying anything the marionette began 
 to walk along the road that led to his home. But 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 135 
 
 the poor little boy did not know whether he was in 
 
 this world or not. It appeared to him that he was 
 
 dreaming, and what a horrible dream it was ! He 
 
 was nearly crazy. His eyes saw double. His 
 
 legs trembled. His 
 
 tongue stuck to the roof 
 
 of his mouth and he could 
 
 not say a word. And 
 
 yet in the midst of that 
 
 species of stupidity he 
 
 felt a thorn in his heart 
 
 at the thought of passing 
 
 under the window of the 
 
 good Fairy. He would 
 
 have preferred to die. 
 
 They had already 
 reached the city and 
 were just on the point of 
 entering when a gust of 
 wind blew off Pinocchio's 
 hat and carried it along the road back of them. 
 
 " Will you allow me to get my hat ? " asked 
 Pinocchio. 
 
 " Yes, but do it quickly." 
 
 The marionette ran after it, but he did not put 
 it on his head. He placed it between his teeth 
 and then began to run toward the sea. He flew 
 like a musket ball. 
 
136 PINOCCHIO 
 
 The policemen, judging that they could not 
 catch him, loosened a bloodhound that had gained 
 the first premiums at all the dog shows. Pinocchio 
 ran and the dog ran after him. All the people, 
 hearing the noise, ran to the front doors and win- 
 dows and wondered who would win the race. But 
 the dog and Pinocchio made such a dust as they 
 ran that they were soon hidden and were seen 
 no more. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 During that desperate run there was a terrible 
 moment in which Pinocchio believed himself lost, 
 for Aladdin, the dog, ran so very fast that he 
 nearly caught him. The marionette felt behind 
 him the warm breath of the ugly beast as he 
 panted heavily. By good luck the beach was near 
 and he saw the sea not far away. 
 
 As soon as he reached the water's edge the 
 marionette gave a good spring, just like a frog, and 
 fell into the water. Aladdin wished to stop but, 
 carried by the impetus of his speed, he also entered 
 the water. The unfortunate Dog did not know how 
 to swim, so he began to gesticulate with his paws 
 in order to right himself ; but the more he gesticu- 
 lated the more his head went under water. When 
 he finally succeeded in getting his head out of water 
 his eyes were full of tears, and, barking, he said, 
 " I smother ! I drown ! " 
 
 137 
 
138 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Die ! " replied Pinocchio, who, seeing himself 
 far away, felt that he was out of danger. 
 
 " Help me, Pinocchio ! Save me from death ! " 
 
 At that pitiful cry the marionette, who had 
 really a good heart, was moved with compassion 
 and, turning to the Dog, said to him, "But if I 
 save you, will you promise that you will not run 
 after me ? " 
 
 "Yes, I promise you. Come quickly, for in a 
 few minutes I shall be dead." 
 
 Pinocchio hesitated a little. Then remembering 
 that his papa had told him that a good action is 
 never forgotten, he swam toward Aladdin and, tak- 
 ing him by the tail, pulled him out and landed him 
 safe and sound on the sand. 
 
 The poor Dog could not stand on his feet. He 
 had unintentionally swallowed so much salt water 
 that he was swollen like a balloon. Not wishing to 
 trust the Dog too much, the marionette thought it 
 prudent to throw himself again into the sea. 
 Swimming away, he cried : " Good-by, Aladdin ! 
 Remember me to all your friends." 
 
 "Good-by, Pinocchio!" barked the Dog. "A 
 thousand thanks for having saved my life. You 
 have done me a great service and I shall never 
 forget you. I hope I shall be able to repay you 
 some day." 
 
PINOCCHIO 139 
 
 Pinocchio continued to swim, keeping always 
 near the shore. Finally he thought he had arrived 
 at a good safe place to land. Looking up and 
 down, he saw on the reefs a sort of grotto out of 
 which came a long thread of smoke. 
 
 " In that grotto," he said to himself, " there must 
 be some fire. So much the better ; I will go and dry 
 myself. Then whatever will happen will happen." 
 
 Having taken this resolution he approached the 
 reef ; but when he was about to land he felt some- 
 thing in the water that drew him along. He tried 
 to escape but it was too late. He found himself 
 in a great fish net full of fishes of every kind. 
 And then he saw coming out of the grotto a 
 fisherman so ugly that he appeared to be a sea 
 monster. Instead of hair he had bunches of sea- ) i^ 
 weed on his head. His skin also was green ; so 
 were his eyes and his long beard. He looked like 
 a great big lizard with arms and legs. 
 
 When the fisherman had pulled out the net he 
 gave a great cry of satisfaction : " Thank goodness ! 
 To-day I shall have a nice big meal." 
 
 " It is a good thing I am not a fish," said Pinoc- 
 chio to himself, becoming more hopeful. 
 
 The net of fishes was carried into the grotto, which 
 was dark and smoky. In the center was a fire, and 
 over it a frying pan full of oil was spitting. 
 
140 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Now let us see what kind of fish I have 
 caught to-day," said the green fisherman. Putting 
 his hand inside he drew out a number of mullets. 
 
 "These are beautiful mullets," he said, looking 
 at them with pleasure. And after examining them 
 he threw them into a washtub. 
 
 He repeated this operation many times, filling 
 many tubs with other fish, his mouth watering all 
 the time so that he could hardly wait until the fish 
 were cooked. 
 
 " What good whitefish ! " 
 
 " What exquisite bass ! " 
 
 " What delicious soles ! " 
 
 " What choice crabs ! " 
 
 " What glorious anchovy ! " 
 
 The last that remained in the net was Pinocchio. 
 As the fisherman drew him out he looked scared 
 and exclaimed: "What species of fish is this.' 
 I do not remember ever having 
 seen one like it before." 
 He looked him all over 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 141 
 
 again and then said : " I understand. He belongs 
 to the crawfish family." 
 
 Pinocchio, mortified at being called a crawfish, 
 indignantly cried out : "I am not a crawfish ! 
 Look at me ; I am a marionette." 
 
 " A marionette ! " replied the fisherman. " Well, 
 well ! A marionette fish is a new kind to me. All 
 the better ; I shall eat you with more relish." 
 
 " Eat me .' But you do not understand ! I am 
 not a fish. Don't you see that I reason and talk 
 as you do ? " 
 
 "It is true," replied the fisherman. "As I see 
 that you live in the water and must be a fish, 
 and as you know how to reason and talk, I will 
 respect your wisdom and will therefore let you 
 decide." 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, on account of my esteem and friendship 
 for one who knows how to reason and talk, I will 
 let you choose the way in which you are to be 
 cooked. Should you like to be boiled, or fried 
 in a pan with tomato sauce ? " 
 
 "To tell you the truth," replied Pinocchio, "if 
 I must choose, I should prefer to be set free and 
 to go home." 
 
 "You are joking. Do you think I would lose 
 'the chance of eating so rare a fish ? What I will 
 
142 PINOCCHIO 
 
 do is to fry you with all the others. Being fried 
 with companions is always a consolation." 
 
 At this allusion the unhappy Pinocchio began to 
 weep. He exclaimed : " How much better would it 
 have been if I had gone to school ! I listened to 
 the bad advice of my school friends and now I am 
 paying for it. Ih ! ih ! ih ! " 
 
 Because Pinocchio twisted and turned like an 
 eel the fisherman took a piece of cord and bound 
 him tightly and threw him in with the others. 
 Then he pulled out a box of flour and, having 
 buttered the fish all over, began to dip them into 
 it so as to make them taste nice. The first to 
 be put into the pan were the mullets, then the 
 soles, then the bass, and finally it came Pinocchio's 
 turn. The marionette, seeing himself so close to 
 death — and such a mean death ! — trembled all 
 over with fright and had no breath left to say 
 anything. 
 
 The poor boy looked sadly at the fisherman ; but 
 the green man, without paying any attention, 
 buttered and floured him all over from head to foot, 
 so that he looked like a marionette of chalk. 
 
 Then he took him by the neck and — 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 Just as the fisherman was on the point of putting 
 Pinocchio into the frying pan a big Dog entered 
 the grotto, having been attracted by the savory 
 odor of the fried fish. "Go away!" cried the 
 fisherman, waving in his hand the marionette all 
 covered with flour. But the poor Dog had a hun- 
 ger that demanded to be appeased. So, whining 
 and wagging his tail, he appeared to say, " Give me 
 a mouthful of fish and I will leave." 
 143 
 
144 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Go away ! " repeated the fisherman, raising his 
 foot to kick him. Then the Dog, who was truly 
 hungry, showed his terrible teeth. 
 
 At that instant there was heard in the grotto a 
 small voice crying, " Save me, Aladdin ! If you do 
 not, I shall be fried." 
 
 The Dog recognized the voice of Pinocchio and 
 was surprised to find that it came from the white 
 bundle that the fisherman held in his hand. Then 
 what did he do .? He jumped up high, caught that 
 white bundle and, holding it lightly between his 
 teeth, ran out of the grotto like a shot. 
 
 The fisherman was greatly enraged and tried to 
 catch him, but it was wasted time and he had to 
 content himself with the fish that were left. 
 
 In the meantime Aladdin, finding the road that 
 led back to the town, stopped and carefully placed 
 Pinocchio on the ground. 
 
 " How can I thank you ? " said the marionette. 
 
 " It is" not necessary," said the Dog. " You have 
 saved me and now I save you. In this world all 
 ought to help one another." 
 
 " But how did you find the grotto ? " 
 
 " After you left me I was lying on the shore when 
 the wind carried to me the odor of fried fish. That 
 odor gave me an appetite and I went to the place 
 from which it came. If I had been a minute later — " 
 
PINOCCHIO 145 
 
 " Don't speak about it ! " cried Pinocchio, trem- 
 bling with fear. " Don't speak about it ! If you 
 had arrived a minute later, I should have been fried, 
 eaten, and digested. Brrr ! It makes me shake 
 only to think of it ! " 
 
 Aladdin, laughing, held out his paw, which Pinoc- 
 chio took. After shaking hands like two good 
 friends, they separated. The Dog went home and 
 Pinocchio went to a little town not far away. There 
 he asked ajuold-man-who was sitting in the doorway 
 basking in the sun, " Tell me, do you know anything 
 about a little boy who was wounded and who is 
 called Eugene?" 
 
 " The boy has been carried into this town by 
 some fishermen and he is now — " 
 
 " Not dead } " interrupted Pinocchio in great grief. 
 
 " No ; he is alive and has gone home." 
 
 "Truly.' truly?" cried the marionette, jumping 
 up and down with great joy. " Then the wound 
 was not serious ? " 
 
 " No ; but it might have been, for he was struck 
 by a large book." 
 
 " And who threw it ? " 
 
 " One of his companions ; a certain Pinocchio." 
 
 " Who is this Pinocchio ? " 
 
 " They say that he is a bad boy, a vagabond and 
 a true scoundrel." 
 
146 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "That is not true." 
 
 "Do you know him then ? " 
 
 " By sight," replied the marionette. 
 
 " What do you think of him ? " 
 
 " He appears to me to be a good boy, a boy that 
 wants to go to school, to study, and to obey his 
 parents." 
 
 When the marionette had told^ that_ story he 
 touched Jiis nose and found that it had grown 
 muchJLaiger. Frightened by this, he cried : " Do 
 not believe, good man, all that I have said ! I 
 know this Pinocchio very well and I assure you 
 that he is a bad boy, a vagabond and a scoundrel ; 
 and instead of going to school he goes with bad 
 companions." He had hardly said' these words 
 when his nose returned to its nafural size. 
 
 "And why are you covered with white?" said 
 the old man. 
 
 "I will tell you, if you choose, but it is a long 
 story," replied the marionette, who was ashamed 
 to tell the reason. 
 
 "Well, my boy, you cannot go about like that. 
 I have only a little sack that will fit you, but I will 
 give you that with pleasure." 
 
 Without being urged further Pinocchio took the 
 little sack and, cutting a hole in the bottom and 
 two holes on the side with a pair of scissors, put 
 
PINOCCHIO 147 
 
 it over his head like a shirt. Clothed thus lightly 
 he took 'the road to his home and said to him- 
 self as he walked along : " How shall I present 
 myself to my good Fairy ? What will she say 
 when she sees me ? Will she pardon me the sec- 
 ond time ? Oh, no ; she will not pardon me, I am 
 sure, because I have been a scamp and have not 
 kept my promise." 
 
 When he arrived at the town it was quite dark ; 
 and because it rained very hard, he went directly 
 to the house of the Fairy and decided to knock at 
 the door. But when he reached the house his 
 courage failed, so instead of knocking he walked 
 beyond. He returned a second time to the door, 
 but did not knock ; then he approached it another 
 time, but did nothing. The fourth time he trem- 
 bled as he took hold of the knocker and let it fall 
 without much noise. 
 
 He waited and waited. In about half an hour a 
 window opened on the top floor (for there were four 
 stories to the house) and Pinocchio saw a large Snail 
 look out. The Snail called, "Who is it at this 
 hour?" 
 
 " Is the Fairy at home .? " asked the marionette. 
 
 "The Fairy is sleeping and does not wish to be 
 awakened ; but who are you ? " 
 
 "It is I." 
 
148 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "Who is I?" 
 " Pinocchio." 
 "Who is Pinocchio?" 
 
 "The marionette who lives here with the Fairy." 
 " Ah, I understand," said the Snail. " Wait there 
 and I will come down immediately." 
 
 "Hurry, please, for I am dying of cold." 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 149 
 
 " My boy, I am a snail ; and snails never hurry." 
 
 In the meantime an hour passed by, then two ; 
 and the door was not opened. Pinocchio, trem- 
 bling with the cold, knocked again. At the second 
 knock the window on the third story opened and 
 the Snail looked out. 
 
 "Beautiful Snail," cried Pinocchio from the 
 street, " I have waited two hours ; and two hours 
 in this weather seem like two years. Please 
 hurry, won't you ? " 
 
 " My boy," replied the Snail, " I am a snail ; 
 and snails never hurry." 
 
 Some time afterward it struck midnight ; then 
 one ; then two ; but the door remained always 
 closed. Then Pinocchio, losing patience, took hold 
 of the knocker and was about to strike with all his 
 might when the knocker became an eel and, 
 slipping through his hands, dropped into a stream 
 of water that ran in the street. 
 
 "Ho! ho!" cried Pinocchio, more enraged than 
 ever. "If the knocker disappears I will use my 
 foot." He then kicked the door so hard that his 
 foot went through the wood and stuck there. He 
 tried to pull it out but he could not. Just imagine 
 how he felt ! He was obliged to wait with one 
 foot on the ground and the other in the door until 
 morning came. 
 
I50 PINOCCHIO 
 
 In the morning the door was opened. The good 
 Snail had taken nine hours in descending the stairs, 
 and, as might have been expected, was covered 
 with perspiration. 
 
 " What are you doing with your foot in the door? " 
 he asked, laughing. 
 
 " I have been unfortunate. Just look, kind Snail, 
 and help me." 
 
 " My boy, you need a carpenter, and I have never 
 learned that trade." 
 
 " Ask the Fairy to help me." 
 
 "The Fairy is asleep and does not wish to be 
 awakened." 
 
 " But what can I do all day with my foot fastened 
 to the door ? " 
 
 "You can amuse yourself by counting the ants 
 that pass by." 
 
 " Bring me something to eat, won't you > I am 
 very hungry." 
 
 " Immediately," said the Snail. 
 
 After three hours Pinocchio saw him coming with 
 a silver vase on his head. The vase contained some 
 bread, a piece of chicken, and four ripe apricots. 
 
 "Here is your breakfast sent to you by the 
 Fairy." 
 
 At the sight of such food Pinocchio felt consoled. 
 But he was deceived; for when he took the bread 
 
PINOCCHIO 151 
 
 he found that it was chalk, that the chicken was 
 made of cardboard, and that the four apricots were 
 of glass. 
 
 He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he 
 wanted to throw the silver vase into the house ; 
 but he was so weak that he fell down and fainted. 
 When he came to he found himself on a sofa and 
 the Fairy was near him. 
 
 " I will pardon you this time ; but woe to you if 
 you ever do it again ! " said the Fairy. 
 
 Pinocchio promised that in future he would be 
 good. He kept his promise the rest of the year. 
 In fact, at the examinations he took the first honors, 
 and the Fairy was so happy that she said to him, 
 "To-morrow you shall have your wish." 
 
 "And that is .? " 
 
 "To-morrow you shall stop being a marionette 
 and become a real boy." 
 
 One who never saw Pinocchio cannot imagine 
 how happy he was at this announcement. All his 
 friends and schoolmates were invited to a great col- 
 lation. The Fairy had prepared two hundred cups 
 and saucers and four hundred little sandwiches 
 buttered inside and out. That day promised to be 
 a great event but — 
 
 Unfortunately in the life of a marionette there is 
 always a but that spoils everything. 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 Pinocchio suddenly asked the Fairy's permission 
 to go and invite his friends. The Fairy said : "Go 
 and invite them, but remember to come back 
 before night. Do you understand .-' " 
 
 " I promise to be back in an hour," he replied. 
 
 " Take care, Pinocchio ! Boys make promises 
 easily, but sometimes they do not keep them." 
 
 "I am not like other boys. And I shall cer- 
 tainly keep this promise." 
 
 "We shall see. In case you disobey it will be 
 the worse for you." 
 
 " Why .? " 
 
 " Because boys who do not pay attention to the 
 advice of their parents always meet with mis- 
 fortune." 
 
 152 
 
PINOCCHIO 153 
 
 "I have had experience," said Pinocchio ; "now 
 you will see that I obey." 
 
 " We shall see if you speak the truth." 
 
 In a little more than an hour all his friends 
 were invited. Some accepted at once ; others 
 hesitated until they heard of the good things to 
 eat. Then they said, " We will surely come." 
 
 Now you must know that among his companions 
 there was one that he liked best of all. His name 
 was Romeo ; but he was nicknamed Lamp Wick, 
 because he was as dry as a new lamp wick that 
 people use to light their houses. 
 
 Lamp Wick was the most careless and mis- 
 chievous boy in all the school, but Pinocchio liked 
 him very much. He went to look for him so as to 
 give him an invitation to the party next day ; but he 
 sought in vain. Where could he he? He looked 
 here and there and finally found him under a shed 
 of a country house. 
 
 "What are you doing here .■• " asked Pinocchio. 
 
 " I am waiting until it is midnight, so that I can 
 go away." 
 
 " Where are you going .' " 
 
 " Far away, far away, far away." 
 
 " I have looked for you everywhere." 
 
 " What do you want with me .■" " 
 
 " Have you not heard .' " 
 
154 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 " To-morrow I shall no longer be a -marionette ; 
 I shall become a boy like all the rest." 
 
 " Good luck to you ! " 
 
 " But I want you to be there." 
 
 " I have told you that I am going away to-night." 
 
 "At what time?" 
 
 "Shortly." 
 
 " Where do you go .' " 
 
 " I am going to live in a new country that is 
 the most beautiful place in all the world. It is a 
 true land of plenty." 
 
 " What do they call it .? " 
 
 " They call it ' The Country of Playthings.' Why 
 won't you come ? " 
 
 "I.? No, indeed." 
 
 " You are wrong, Pinocchio. Believe me, if you 
 do not go away, you will be sorry. Where can 
 you find a better place for boys.'' There are no 
 schools ; there are no teachers ; there are no books. 
 In that pleasant country they never study. On 
 Saturdays you do not go to school here, and there 
 every day is a Saturday except one, which is Sun- 
 day. Just think, the vacation begins the first day 
 of January and ends the last day of December ! 
 That is the country for me. That is what I think 
 all countries should be like." 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 155 
 
 " But how do you pass the days in the Country 
 of Playthings ? " 
 
 "Why, you play from morning till night. At 
 night you go to bed, and the next morning it is 
 the same thing all over again. How should you 
 like it ? " 
 
 " Uhm ! " said Pinocchio, and he shook his head 
 lightly as if to say, "It is a country that would 
 please me very much." 
 
 "Then will you go with me ? Yes or no." 
 
 " No, no, no ! I have promised my kind Fairy 
 to become a good boy and I wish to keep my 
 word. The sun is going down and I must hurry. 
 Good-by and a pleasant journey." 
 
 " Don't go away so soon. Why do you hurry .' " 
 
 " Because I told the good Fairy that I would be 
 at home before dark." 
 
 "Wait two minutes." 
 
 " No ; it will be too late." 
 
 "Only two minutes." 
 
 " The Fairy will scold me." 
 
 " Let her scold. When she has scolded enough 
 she will stop," said the little scoundrel Lamp Wick. 
 
 " And what are you going to do ? Do you go 
 alone or with company ? " 
 
 "Alone ? Why, there will be a hundred boys." 
 
 " Do you go on foot ? " 
 
156 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Oh, no ! A little carriage will come soon and 
 take me." 
 
 " How much I would give to see the carriage 
 pass by now! " 
 
 "Why ? " 
 
 " I should like to see you all start." 
 
 " If you will stay here a little while you will see 
 them." 
 
 " No, no ! I wish to go home." 
 
 " Oh, wait another two minutes." 
 
 " No ; I have waited too long now. The Fairy 
 will worry about me." 
 
 " Poor Fairy ! Does she think that you will be 
 eaten by bats .' " 
 
 "But tell me," urged Pinocchio, "you are sure 
 that in that country there is no school ? " 
 
 "Not even the shadow of one." 
 
 " And no teachers ? " 
 
 "Not one." 
 
 " And you are never obliged to study ? " 
 
 " Never, never, never ! " 
 
 " What a beautiful country ! " said Pinocchio, 
 his mouth beginning to water. " I have never 
 been there, but I can imagine all about it." 
 
 " Why don't you come along ? " 
 
 " It is useless to tempt me. I have promised to 
 be a good boy and I wish to keep my word." 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 157 
 
 " Well, then, good-by ; remember me to all the 
 scholars." 
 
 " Good-by, Lamp Wick. I wish you a good trip 
 and I hope you will meet some nice new friends." 
 
 Having said this, the marionette took two steps 
 toward home; then he stopped and asked, "But 
 are you sure that there are six Saturdays in the 
 week and only one Sunday .-• " 
 
 " I am positive." 
 
 " And can you say for certain that the vacation 
 begins on the first of January and ends the last 
 day of December ? " 
 
 " I am positive." 
 
 "What a beautiful country!" said Pinocchio. 
 Presently he made another start and said, "Then 
 good-by truly this time, and I wish you a safe 
 journey." 
 
 "Good-by." 
 
 " How soon do you start .' " 
 
 "Shortly now." 
 
 " Too bad ! I think I will wait and see you go." 
 
 "And the Fairy.?" 
 
 " It is late now, and an hour later will not make 
 much difference." 
 
 " Poor Pinocchio ! and if the Fairy should scold 1 " 
 
 " Well, let her scold. When she has scolded 
 enough she will stop." 
 
158 PINOCCHIO 
 
 In the meantime it became quite dark. Sud- 
 denly as they talked they saw moving along the 
 road a little light and heard the tooting of little 
 trumpets so small and fine that they sounded like 
 the buzzing of a mosquito. 
 
 " Here they are ! " said Lamp Wick, standing up. 
 
 " Who is it .' " asked Pinocchio, in a low voice. 
 
 " It is the carriage that is coming for me. Now 
 will you go? Yes or no." 
 
 "But are you sure," asked the marionette, "that 
 in that country the boys are not obliged to study.? " 
 
 " Never, never, never ! " 
 
 " What a beautiful country it must be ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 Finally the carriage arrived without making the 
 least noise, because the wheels were bound with 
 tow and rags. Twelve little donkeys pulled it ; 
 they were of the same size but of different colors. 
 Some were brown, others speckled like pepper and 
 salt, and others were striped with bands of yellow 
 and blue. But the most singular thing about them 
 was this : these twelve pair of donkeys, that is, 
 the twenty-four donkeys, instead of having shoes 
 made of iron, had on their feet white kid boots 
 shaped like a man's. 
 
 And the driver ? Just imagine a man very fat and 
 round, like a big ball of butter, with an oily smile, 
 IS9 
 
l6o PINOCCHIO 
 
 a face like an apple, and a thin, caressing voice 
 like that of a cat. trying to win the affection of 
 its mistress ! 
 
 As soon as they saw him boys were tempted 
 to jump into the carriage and start away for the 
 place unknown on the geographical maps, — the 
 Country of Playthings. 
 
 The carriage was filled with boys between eight 
 and ten years of age, packed like sardines in a 
 box. They were so closely huddled together that 
 they could hardly breathe. But no one said " Oh! " 
 No one complained. The consolation of knowing 
 that in a few hours they would arrive in a country 
 where there were no books, or schools, or teachers 
 made them happy and resigned, so that they did not 
 feel hurt, or uncomfortable, or hungry, or thirsty. 
 
 As soon as the carriage stopped, the fat driver 
 turned to Lamp Wick and with a thousand airs and 
 grimaces said to him, smiling, " Tell me, my pretty 
 lad, do you wish to come with us to the most for- 
 tunate country ?" 
 
 " Indeed I do." 
 
 " But I warn you that there is no place inside. 
 As you see, it is full." 
 
 "Oh, well," replied Lamp Wick, "if there is no 
 place inside, I will sit on top of the carriage," and 
 he jumped up and sat beside the driver. 
 
PINOCCHIO l6i 
 
 "And what about your friend?" said the driver, 
 turning most politely toward Pinocchio. "What 
 will he do ? Are you coming with us also ? " 
 
 "I remain here," replied Pinocchio. "I wish to 
 return home. I prefer to study and to be a good 
 boy." 
 
 " What good will that do you ? " 
 
 "Listen to me, Pinocchio," said Lamp Wick; 
 "come with us and always be happy." 
 
 "No, no, no!" 
 
 " Come with us and always be happy," said four 
 others. 
 
 "Come with us and always be happy," said all 
 the rest. 
 
 " And if I go with you, what will the good Fairy 
 say .' " asked Pinocchio, who began to feel as if he 
 were being pulled by his sleeve. 
 
 " Do not think of that. Think of the country 
 we shall be in. We shall be our own masters and 
 make a fine noise all day long." 
 
 Pinocchio did not reply, but gave a sigh ; then he 
 gave another sigh ; then a third sigh ; finally he 
 said: " Give me a place. I will go with you." 
 
 "All the places are full," replied the driver; 
 "but if you wish, take my place." 
 
 " What will you do .? " 
 
 " I will walk." 
 
l62 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " No ; I cannot allow that. I prefer to ride on 
 one of the donkeys," said Pinocchio. 
 
 No sooner said than done. He approached the 
 nearest donkey and tried to mount it ; but the 
 donkey suddenly raised his hind feet and threw 
 Pinocchio off. Just imagine the impertinent 
 laughter of all those boys who saw it ! 
 
 Pinocchio, who was very angry, made another 
 jump on the donkey's back. The jump was such 
 a beautiful one that the boys began to laugh and 
 shout, " Long live Pinocchio !" and clap their hands 
 for joy. 
 
 When they were ready to start the donkey again 
 raised his hind feet and gave such a strong kick 
 that the marionette was thrown on top of a heap 
 of gravel. The boys again laughed out loud ; but 
 the driver, instead of laughing, went to the donkey 
 and seemed to whisper something in his left ear. 
 Then he said to the marionette: "Remount and 
 have no fear. That donkey had a whim in his 
 head, but I have spoken to him and he will be 
 more reasonable." 
 
 Pinocchio mounted and the carriage started. 
 While the donkeys galloped along the marionette 
 fancied that he heard a strange voice saying: 
 " Poor simpleton ! You wish to do as you please. 
 You will be sorry." 
 
l64 PINOCCHIO 
 
 The frightened Pinocchio looked first on one 
 side of the road and then on the other to see 
 whence these words came ; but he saw no one. 
 The donkeys galloped, the carriage rolled along, 
 the boys inside slept, Lamp Wick snored like a 
 dormouse, and the driver sang between his teeth : 
 
 All the night they sleep, 
 And I never . . . 
 
 They made another mile. Again Pinocchio heard 
 the voice. This time it said : " Bear in mind, simple- 
 ton, that boys who stop studying and throw away 
 their books and do nothing but play and amuse 
 themselves will always come to a bad end. I know 
 it, for I have tried it, but I cannot say any more. 
 You will cry some day as I do now, but then it will 
 be too late." 
 
 At these whispered words the marionette was 
 more frightened than ever. He jumped down to 
 the ground and put his ear to the donkey's nose. 
 Imagine how surprised he was when he perceived 
 that the donkey wept just like a little boy ! ''Mr. 
 Driver," cried Pinocchio, "do you know that this 
 donkey can cry ? " 
 
 '' Let him cry. He will laugh when he has some 
 hay." 
 
 " But who taught him to speak ? " 
 
PINOCCHIO 165 
 
 " He learned to say a few words in a country 
 where he lived for a little while." 
 
 " Poor beast ! " 
 
 " Do not waste your time pitying a donkey when 
 he cries. Jump on his back and let us go. The 
 night is fresh and the road is long." 
 
 Pinocchio obeyed in silence. The carriage moved 
 bn, and when the sun came up they arrived at the 
 Country of Playthings. 
 
 This country did not resemble any other in the 
 world. The population was composed entirely of 
 boys. The oldest was thirteen years and the 
 youngest not under eight. In the streets there was 
 a noise, a running around, and a blowing of trum- 
 pets that would make your head ache. Everywhere 
 groups of boys played at marbles, at shinny, at ball ; 
 some rode on velocipedes and wooden horses ; some 
 played hide and seek ; others played tag ; some sang; 
 others jumped over benches ; some walked on their 
 hands with their feet in the air; others tried to kick 
 over their heads ; some laughed ; some called ; some 
 whistled ; some made a noise like a hen that has 
 just laid an egg. In fact, there was such a pande- 
 monium that you would have had to put cotton in 
 your ears. 
 
 As soon as Pinocchio, Lamp Wick, and all the 
 other newcomers in this country had arrived, they 
 
l66 PINOCCHIO 
 
 ran around with the others and began to play. Who 
 could have been happier or more contented than 
 they ? " Oh, what a beautiful life; this is ! " said 
 Pinocchio, running after Lamp Wick. 
 
 " See ; was I not right .' " said the latter. " You 
 did not wish to come. To think that you should 
 want to return to the. Fairy's house and study! If 
 to-day you are free from all the annoyances of 
 school and its troubles, you should thank me. True 
 friends are the only ones who know how to reri- 
 der favors to one another." 
 
 " It is true. Lamp Wick. If to-day I am a free 
 and happy boy, I owe it all to you. Yet the teacher 
 used to say to me, 'Do not go with Lamp, Wick 
 because he is a bad companion.' " 
 
 "Poor Teacher!" replied the other, shakingthis 
 head. 
 
 So they played in the country for five months. 
 They never saw a book ; never studied a minute. 
 They played from morning till night. ■ One morning 
 when Pinocchio awoke he was surprised to find what 
 had happened, and it made him very unhappy. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 What was the surprise ? I will tell you, my dear 
 little reader. The surprise was that when Pinoc- 
 chio awoke one morning and happened to scratch 
 his head, he perceived — just imagine what he per- 
 ceived ! You know that when the marionette was 
 horn he had very little ears, so little that you could 
 scarcely see them. Fancy, then, how surprised he 
 was, when he put his hand to his head, to find that 
 his ears had grown long! He went quickly in 
 search of a mirror, but not finding any he emptied 
 some water into a basin. Then, looking at his 
 reflection, he saw something that he certainly did 
 not expect to see, — two beautiful, long, donkey 
 ears. 
 " 167 
 
l68 riNOCCHIO 
 
 JLj«dlL_leaye_ you to imagine the grigf^ thf. 
 shame,„the desgeration of Pinocchig. He cried 
 and screamed and beat his head against the wall ; 
 but his ears grew and, grew and grew until hair 
 beganto sho.w. on. tb£. tops. 
 
 At the sound of his heartrending cries a Dor- 
 mouse, who lived on the first floor, entered the room. 
 Seeing the marionette in great anguish, he asked 
 eagerly, " What is the matter, my dear little lodger ? " 
 
 " I am sick, Dormouse ; very sick, and with a sick- 
 ness that alarms me. Do you understand the pulse ? " 
 
 " A little." 
 
 " See, then, if I have a fever." 
 
 The Dormouse took Pinocchio's wrist in his paw 
 and, after having tested his pulse, said, "My friend, 
 it grieves me to tell you bad news." 
 
 "What is it.?" 
 
 " You have a bad fever." 
 
 "What kind.?" 
 
 " The donkey fever." 
 
 " I do not understand that disease," replied 
 Pinocchio, who really understood very well. 
 
 " I will explain it to you. Know, then, that in 
 two or three hours you will be a donkey, a real 
 donkey, like those that pulled the carriage which 
 brought you here." 
 
 " Oh, what shall I do .? what shall I do .? " cried 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 169 
 
 Pinocchio, pulling his ears so hard that it must 
 have hurt him. 
 
 "My dear," said the Dormouse, "what are you 
 trying to do ? You must know that it is a written 
 decree that those boys who do not wish- to study, 
 who hate books and teachers, and who spend the 
 whole day enjoying themselves, end by becoming 
 little donkeys." 
 
 " Is that really true ? " asked the marionette. 
 
 " Of course it is. And now it is of no use to 
 cry. You should always think first." 
 
 "But the fault is not mine. The fault, believe 
 me, is all Lamp Wick's." 
 
 " Who is Lamp Wick .? " 
 
 "A friend of mine. I wished to go back to 
 school and be an honor to the good Fairy; but 
 
I/O PINOCCHIO 
 
 Lamp Wick said to me, ' In the Country of Play- 
 things no one studies, and we can play from morn- 
 ing till night.' " 
 
 "Why did you follow the advice of a bad 
 friend ? " 
 
 " Why ? Because, Dormouse, I am a foolish, 
 heartless marionette. Oh, if I had had a little bit of 
 heart, I should never have left my good Fairy, who 
 loved me like a mamma and did much for me. And 
 by this time I should have been a little boy like all 
 the rest instead of a marionette. Oh, if I had not 
 met Lamp Wick ! " 
 
 And he walked toward the door. But when he 
 had gone outside he remembered his donkey ears ; 
 and, being ashamed of himself, what do you think 
 he invented ? He made a dunce cap and, putting 
 it on his head, pulled it down over his ears. Then 
 he went out and looked for Lamp Wick. He looked 
 in the streets, in the square, in the theater, in fact, 
 everywhere ; but he could not find him. He asked 
 if any one had seen him, but no one knew where he 
 was. He then went to his house and knocked at 
 the door. 
 
 "Who is there.?" asked Lamp Wick from the 
 inside. 
 
 " It is I," replied Pinocchio. 
 
 " Wait a little and I will open the door." 
 
PINOCCHIO 171 
 
 After half an hour the door opened and Pinocchio 
 saw his friend, also in a dunce cap which covered 
 his ears. 
 
 At the sight of that cap Pinocchio felt somewhat 
 consoled, and he thought to himself, " He has the 
 same trouble and also suffers from donkey fever." 
 
 Feigning not to see anything, he asked gayly, 
 " How are you, my dear Lamp Wick ? " 
 
 " Like a rat in a cake of cheese." 
 
 " Are you telling me the truth ? " 
 
 " Why should I tell a story ? " 
 
 "Excuse me; but why do you wear that cap 
 then ? " 
 
 "A doctor ordered it because my knees hurt. 
 And you, Pinocchio, why do you wear one ? " 
 
172 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "The doctor ordered it because I had corns on 
 my feet." 
 
 " Oh, poor Pinocchio ! " 
 
 « Oh, poor Lamp Wick ! " 
 
 After these words there was a long silence dur- 
 ing which time the two friends looked at each other. 
 Finally the marionette said in a kind voice, " Raise 
 your cap just a httle, will you ? " 
 
 " Never ! And you 1 " 
 
 " Never ! You see I have an ear that is very 
 painful." 
 
 "So have I." 
 
 " You, too ? And which ear hurts ? " 
 
 "Both. And you.?" 
 
 " Both. Can it be the same malady ? " 
 
 " I fear so." 
 
 " Do you wish to please me. Lamp Wick ? " 
 
 "With all my heart." 
 
 "Let me see your ears." 
 
 "Oh, no! First let me see yours." 
 
 "No ; you ought to do it first." 
 
 "No ; after you always." 
 
 "Then," said the marionette, "let us make a 
 contract." 
 
 "All right." 
 
 "Let us take off our caps together." 
 
 "All right." 
 
PINOCCHIO 173 
 
 " Look out then." And Pinocchio began to 
 count : " One, two, three ! " 
 
 At the word "three," the boys took off their 
 caps and threw them into the air. And then they 
 laughed and laughed and laughed until they were 
 compelled to hold their sides. Suddenly Lamp 
 Wick stopped and, changing color, said to his 
 friend, " Help ! oh, help me, Pinocchio !" 
 
 " What is the matter .' " 
 
 " Oh, dear me ! I cannot stand up any longer." 
 
 " I cannot, either," cried Pinocchio. 
 
 Even while they were speaking they fell on their 
 hands and began to run around the room on all 
 fours. And while they ran their arms became 
 legs, their faces changed, and their bodies were 
 covered with long hair. But the moment that was 
 most horrible for each unfortunate was when he 
 felt a tail swishing behind him. Overcome by 
 shame and grief, they tried to talk. But they could 
 not do it. Instead of sobs and lamentations there 
 came the bray of a donkey and it sounded like 
 " Y-a, y-a." 
 
 In the meantime there was a knock on the door 
 and they heard a voice outside saying : " Open the 
 door ! I am the driver of the carriage that brought 
 you here. Open quickly, or woe be unto you ! " 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 Seeing that the door did not open, the driver 
 gave it a violent kick. It fell and he entered the 
 room saying in his usual oily way, " Good boys ! 
 You bray very well. I recognize your voices and 
 here I am to take you away." 
 
 At these words the two little donkeys became 
 quiet. They lowered their heads and ears and put 
 their tails between their legs. 
 
 At first the driver patted them and smoothed their 
 
 hair. After that he pulled out some leather straps 
 
 and bridled them both. When he had curried 
 
 them so that they looked like two looking-glasses, 
 
 174 
 
PINOCCHIO 175 
 
 he took them to the square in the hope of selling 
 them and making a good trade. 
 
 The purchasers soon made their appearance. 
 Lamp Wick was bought by a farmer whose donkey 
 had died the day before from overwork. Pinocchio 
 was bought by the director of a company of clowns 
 and circus men, so that he could be taught to do 
 tricks and capers. 
 
 And now, my little readers, do you understand 
 what the trade of the driver was .-' That monster, 
 who had a face of milk and honey, went from time 
 to time through the world with a carriage and col- 
 lected, by promises, all the naughty boys that were 
 tired of books and school. After he had filled 
 his carriage he took them to the Country of Play- 
 things, where they passed all the time in playing 
 and having fun. When these poor deluded boys 
 had played for a certain time they turned into 
 donkeys, which he led away and sold in the town. 
 By this means he had become very rich, — in fact 
 a millionaire. 
 
 What happened finally to Lamp Wick I do not 
 know. I know, however, that Pinocchio led a 
 very hard and weary life. When he was taken 
 to a stall his new master emptied some straw 
 into the manger ; but Pinocchio, after he had 
 eaten a mouthful, spat it out. Then the master, 
 
176 PINOCCHIO 
 
 scolding, gave him some hay ; but that did not 
 please him. 
 
 " Ah ! You do not like hay ? " cried the master, 
 in anger. " I will teach you better manners." 
 
 He then took a whip and gave the donkey a 
 crack on the legs. Pinocchio, in great pain, gave 
 a long bray, as if to say, " Y-a, y-a, I cannot 
 digest straw." 
 
 " Then eat hay," replied the master, who under- 
 stood the donkey dialect very well. 
 
 " Y-a, y-a. Hay gives me a headache." 
 
 " You mean that a donkey like you wants to eat 
 chicken and capon.'" added the master; and he 
 gave him another lash with the whip. 
 
 At the second rebuke Pinocchio, for prudence' 
 sake, kept quiet and said nothing. Meanwhile the 
 stall was closed and Pinocchio remained alone ; 
 and because he had not eaten anything for hours 
 he grew very hungry. He opened his mouth and 
 >vas surprised to find that it was so large. 
 
 He finally looked around, and not finding any- 
 thing in the manger but hay, took a little. After 
 having chewed it well he winked his eye and said : 
 " This hay is not bad at all. But how much better 
 off I should have been if I had not run away ! 
 Now I should be eating something nice instead of 
 this dry stuff. Oh me ! oh me ! oh me ! " 
 
PINOCCHIO 177 
 
 When he awoke the next morning he looked into 
 his manger, but he had eaten all the hay. Then 
 he took a mouthful of straw and tried that. It did 
 not taste so good as rice alia Milanese or mac- 
 aroni alia Napolitana ; but he managed to eat it. 
 
 "Oh me!" he said while he ate; "oh, if I 
 could only warn other boys of my misfortune, how 
 happy I should be ! Oh me ! oh me ! " 
 
 " Oh me ! " repeated the master, entering the 
 stall at that moment. " Do you think, donkey, 
 that I have bought you just to watch you eat and 
 drink .' Oh no ! I bought you so that you could 
 earn some money for me. Come with me and I 
 will teach you how to jump and bow ; and then 
 you must dance the waltz and the polka and stand 
 up on your hind legs." 
 
 Poor Pinocchio ! He had a hard struggle. It 
 took him three months to learn these things and 
 he received many a blow from his teacher. 
 
178 PINOCCHIO 
 
 The day finally came when the master could 
 
 announce to the public a most extraordinary 
 
 spectacle. Posters of all colors were pasted 
 everywhere and they read thus : 
 
 GRAND ENTERTAINMENT 
 
 WILL TAKE PLACE TO-NIGHT 
 
 There will be the usual wonderful jumps and most surprising exercises 
 
 Executed by all the Arthts 
 
 And by all the horses in this remarkable Company 
 
 And more ! ! 
 
 There will be presented for the iirst time The Famous Donkey 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 Called 
 The Dancing Star 
 
 The Theater will be as bright as day 
 
 That night, as you can easily imagine, there was 
 not a seat to be had in the house, and all the stand- 
 ing room was taken an hour before the show began. 
 The whole theater swarmed with little children and 
 babies of all ages, who were wild to see the famous 
 donkey Pinocchio dance. 
 
 When the first part of the performance was over 
 the master, in an evening coat, with white trousers 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 179 
 
 and little black boots, presented himself to the 
 public and, after making a profound bow, shouted : 
 
 Respected public, ladies and gentlemen, — The humble 
 manager of this performance, passing through this great 
 metropolis, has told me to say that it is his wish to present 
 to this intelligent and honorable audience a celebrated donkey 
 that has already had the honor of dancing before His Majesty 
 the Emperdr at all the principal courts of Europe. 
 
 This discourse was received with much laughter 
 and applause ; but the applause redoubled and 
 became a species of hurricane at the sight of the 
 donkey Pinocchio on the stage. He was dressed 
 up beautifully. He had a new bridle of shining 
 leather with buckles of polished brass ; two white 
 camellias tied to his ears ; his mane divided in many 
 curls tied with red silk ; a large band of gold and 
 silver tied around his waist ; and his tail interlaced 
 with beautiful ribbons of all colors. In fact, he 
 was the most gorgeous donkey that ever was seen. 
 
 The master then presented him to the public 
 with these words : 
 
 My respected auditors, — I will not take up much of 
 your time, but I wish to tell you of the great difficulties I 
 encountered in taming and teaching this animal. Observe, 
 I pray you, how savagely violent are his eyes. It seemed 
 almost impossible that I should be able to train him to 
 behave like other domestic animals. All ray gentleness was 
 received with scorn and I was obliged to talk to him in 
 
l8o PINOCCHIO 
 
 the dialect of the whip. However, I noticed on his head 
 this little lump. It is hard to see, but it can be felt very 
 easily. According to the medical faculty of Paris this 
 would indicate a passion for dancing, and I therefore began 
 to teach him the art of using his feet. And now you may 
 judge for yourselves whether or not I have succeeded. 
 
 Here the ma.ster made another profound bow 
 and, turning to Pinocchio, said, " Before going 
 through your exercises salute this respected and 
 intelligent audience." 
 
 Pinocchio, obeying, fell on his knees and stayed 
 there until the master cracked his whip and cried, 
 "Now walk." Then the donkey stood up on his 
 four feet and began to walk around in a circle. 
 
 " Now trot." And Pinocchio began to trot. 
 
 " Gallop." And Pinocchio began to gallop. 
 
 "Now full speed." And Pinocchio ran as hard 
 as he could. While he was running the master, 
 raising a pistol, fired twice. 
 
 At that sound the donkey, pretending to be hit, 
 fell flat on the floor as if he were dead. 
 
 Raising himself in the midst of a shower of 
 applause which could be heard for miles, Pinocchio 
 looked at the audience. As he looked he saw a 
 beautiful lady wearing around her neck a large 
 gold chain from which hung a medallion. On the 
 medallion was engraved the picture of a marionette. 
 
PINOCCHIO l8l 
 
 " That is my picture ! That lady is the Fairy ! " 
 said Pinocchio to himself, recognizing her instantly. 
 He tried to cry, " Oh, my Fairy ! oh, my Fairy ! " 
 But instead of these words there came from his 
 throat such a braying that everybody laughed, 
 especially the boys. 
 
 Then the master, in order to teach him better 
 manners than to bray at the audience, gave him a 
 blow on the nose with the handle of the whip. 
 The poor donkey licked his nose at least a dozen 
 times because it pained him so. But what was his 
 desperation when, turning around a second time 
 and looking toward the Fairy, he found that she 
 had disappeared. 
 
 He thought he should die. His eyes filled with 
 tears and he began to cry. No one, however, saw 
 it, not even the master, who, crackmg his whip, cried, 
 "Now show the people how well you can dance." 
 
 Pinocchio tried two or three times ; but every 
 time he came before the audience his feet slipped 
 from under him. Finally, in a great effort, his 
 hind foot slipped so badly that he fell to the 
 floor in a heap. When he got up he was so lame 
 that he could hardly walk and had to be taken to 
 his stall. 
 
 " Bring out Pinocchio ! We want the donkey ! 
 Bring him out ! " cried the boys in the theater. 
 
PINOCCHIO 183 
 
 who had seen the pitiful sight. But the donkey 
 could not be seen any more that night. The next 
 morning the veterinary, that is, the doctor of beasts, 
 when he saw the poor donkey, declared that he 
 would be lame all through life. Then the master 
 said to the stable boy : " What can we do with a 
 lame donkey ? To keep him would be feeding one 
 more mouth for nothing. Take him to the square 
 and sell him." 
 
 When they arrived at the square they immediately 
 found a buyer who asked the price. 
 
 " Four dollars," replied the stable boy. 
 
 " I will give you twenty-five cents for him. Do 
 not think that I buy him for hauUng. Oh, no; I 
 want him to skin. I see that his skin is very hard, 
 — just the thing for a drum or a tambourine." 
 
 Just imagine how Pinocchio felt when he heard 
 that he was worth only twenty-five cents ! Then, 
 too, to be used as a drum to be beaten upon all 
 the time! 
 
 The buyer had hardly paid for him when he 
 led him to the top of a chff on the shore of the 
 sea, and, tying a heavy stone around his necl? 
 and binding his feet together with cords, threw 
 him over the edge. 
 
 The donkey, with this heavy weight around his 
 neck, sank to the bottom immediately. The buyer, 
 
i84 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 who had one end of the rope in his hands, sat down 
 and waited awhile, so that the donkey would have 
 time to drown. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 When the donkey had been under water about 
 an hour, the buyer, talking to himself, said : " Now 
 my nice-looking lame donkey ought to be dead by 
 this time. I will pull him up and then set to work 
 to make a drum." And he began to pull the rope 
 with which he had bound the donkey. He pulled 
 and pulled and pulled, until he saw coming out of 
 the water — what do you think ? Instead of a 
 dead donkey he saw a marionette, ahve and kick- 
 ing, struggling and twisting like an eel. 
 
 Seeing the wooden marionette, the buyer thought 
 that he was dreaming ; and he stood there astonished, 
 
l86 PINOCCHIO 
 
 with his mouth open and his eyes nearly out of his 
 head. When he found words he said, "Where is 
 the little donkey that I threw overboard ? " 
 
 " I am that httle donkey," replied the marionette, 
 laughing. 
 
 " You ? " 
 
 "I." 
 
 " Ah ! You cheat ! Do you think that you can 
 make fun of me ? " 
 
 " Make fun of you ? On the contrary, I speak 
 to you seriously." 
 
 " But how is it that a little while ago you were 
 a donkey and now, after you have been in the 
 water for an hour, you are a wooden marionette ? " 
 
 " It is the effect of the sea water. The sea 
 never tells its secrets, and this is one of its little 
 tricks." 
 
 " Take care, marionette, fake care ! Do not 
 think that you can pull wool over my eyes. Woe 
 to you if I lose my patience ! " 
 
 "Very well. Do you wish to know the true 
 story ? Untie my legs and I will tell you." 
 
 The buyer, curious to know the true story, 
 untied the knots that bound the marionette ; and 
 then Pinocchio, finding himself as free as a bird 
 in the air, said : " Know, then, that I was at first 
 a wooden marionette as I am to-day. But I was 
 
PINOCCHIO 187 
 
 on the point of becoming a boy, just like other 
 boys, when I listened to the advice of a bad com- 
 panion, and one morning I awoke and found 
 myself turned into a donkey with big ears and a 
 beautiful tail. What shame I felt when I saw that 
 I had a tail ! I was then led to a square where a 
 master bought me and taught me to do tricks and 
 dance. One night, when I was performing, I fell 
 and sprained my leg so badly that I could hardly 
 stajid on it. Then the master, who did not know 
 what to do with a lame donkey, sold me to you." 
 
 " Yes ; I paid twenty-five cents for you. But 
 who will give me my money back .■' " 
 
 " Yes ; you bought me and planned to beat me 
 by placing my skin over a drum." 
 
 " Where shall I find another skin ? " 
 
 "That is not for me to say." 
 
 " Tell me, then, if you please, is your story 
 finished .■' " 
 
 "No," replied the marionette; "there are a 
 few more words, and then I shall be through. 
 After you bought me you led me here to kill me ; 
 but then, being a humane man, you decided to 
 drown me. This delicate attention on your part 
 is most honorable and I shall always remember 
 your goodness. You would have succeeded if it 
 had not been for the good Fairy." 
 
i88 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "Who is the Fairy?" 
 
 " She is my mamma, who is like all other mammas 
 in this world. She liked me and tried to make me 
 a good and studious boy. As soon as the good 
 Fairy saw me in danger of drowning she sent a 
 school of fishes, which, believing that I was really 
 dead, began to eat me. And what mouthfuls they 
 took ! Some ate my ears ; some my neck and 
 mane ; some the skin on my legs ; some the hair 
 on my back ; and among them there was one big 
 fish that ate my tail at one bite. When the fish 
 had eaten everything they finally came to the 
 bones, — or rather, they came to the wood. Find- 
 ing that too hard for their teeth, they went away 
 and did not even look back to say good-by." 
 
 "I do not believe your silly story," said the 
 buyer, now very angry. " I know I have spent 
 twenty-five cents and I want my money again. Do 
 you know what I will do ? I will carry you back 
 to the square and sell you for a piece of kindling 
 wood." 
 
 "All right!" said Pinocchio. Thus saying, he 
 jumped into the water and, swimming lightly, drew 
 away from the coast, calling to the poor buyer : 
 " Good-by, dear sir ! If you want a drumhead, 
 don't forget me." And then he laughed and kept 
 on swimming. 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 After a little time he turned around and shouted 
 " Good-by, dear sir ! If you want a piece of kinc 
 ling wood, don't forget me." 
 
 Almost in the twinkling of an eye he was so fa 
 away that he could hardly be seen ; that is, on 
 could see only a little black point on the watei 
 splashing around just like a jolly dolphin. 
 
 Meanwhile, as Pinocchio swam around, he sai 
 not very far away a rock which looked like whit 
 marble. On the top of the rock there was a beai 
 tiful Goat that bleated and made a sign to him t 
 come nearer. The most singular thing about thi 
 goat was the color of its wool. It was not whit 
 or black or any color that other goats have. It wa 
 blue, just like the hair of the beautiful Fairy. 
 
 I will leave you to imagine how the heart c 
 Pinocchio began to beat. He redoubled his effort 
 to reach the rock. Already he was halfway ther 
 when he saw coming out of the water the horribl 
 head of a sea monster, with mouth opened wide lik 
 an abyss and three rows of teeth that would f rightei 
 you, even to see them painted in a picture book. 
 
 Can you guess who that monster was .'' It wa 
 no other than the huge Dogfish described severa 
 times in this story. On account of his destructiv 
 and bloodthirsty nature he was called " The Attil 
 of fishes and fishermen." 
 
igo PINOCCHIO 
 
 Imagine the fright of poor Pinocchio at the sight 
 of the monster ! He sought to avoid him, — to 
 change his road. He tried to escape ; but that 
 immense open mouth came always toward him 
 with the velocity of an arrow. 
 
 "Hurry, Pinocchio!" cried the Goat, bleating 
 loudly. And Pinocchio swam desperately with his 
 arms, with his chest, with his legs, and with his feet. 
 
 " Hurry, Pinocchio, for the monster approaches 
 you!" And Pinocchio, gathering his force, re- 
 doubled his strokes. 
 
 "Take care ! take care ! He is gaining ! Hurry ! 
 Oh, hurry, or you are lost ! " Pinocchio swam 
 faster than ever, and away they both raced, going 
 as fast as bullet balls. As they approached the 
 rock the Goat held out its two front paws to aid 
 Pinocchio to land. But — 
 
 It was too late ! The monster had been too 
 quick. Drawing in a quantity of water, he drank 
 Pinocchio just as if he were sucking an egg. He 
 swallowed him with such violence that the mario- 
 nette arrived in the stomach of the Dogfish with 
 such force that he was stunned for a quarter of 
 an hour. 
 
 When he regained consciousness after being 
 swallowed he did not know where he was. All 
 around him was darkness so intense that he 
 
PINOCCHIO 191 
 
 thought he had put his head into the top of an 
 ink bottle. He Hstened but he heard nothing. 
 From time to time he felt a great gust of wind 
 striking his face. At first he did not know whence 
 the wind came, but afterward he thought it was 
 from the lungs of the monster ; for you must know, 
 my little readers, that the Dogfish was a great suf- 
 ferer from asthma, and when he breathed it sounded 
 like the north wind. 
 
 At first Pinocchio tried to be brave ; but when 
 he had tried and then tried again to find an exit 
 and found himself still inclosed in the body of the 
 monster, he began to cry and to scream : " Help ! 
 help ! Oh, dear me ! Is there no one who can save 
 me .? " 
 
 " Who wishes to be saved ? " asked a voice that 
 sounded in the darkness like a guitar out of 
 tune. 
 
 "Who is it that speaks like that .? " asked Pinoc- 
 chio, feeling himself nearly frozen with fear. 
 
 " It is I. I am a poor Tunny fish, who was 
 swallowed at the same time you were. What kind 
 of fish are you ?" 
 
 " I have nothing to do with fishes. I am a mario- 
 nette." 
 
 "Then, if you are not a fish, why were you 
 swallowed by the monster ? " 
 
192 
 
 PINOCCHIO 
 
 "It is all your fault. If you had not been 
 there, I surely should have escaped. And now 
 what can we do in this dark place .-" " 
 
 " We must resign ourselves to our fate, and wait 
 until we are digested." 
 
 " But I do not wish to be digested," said Pinoc- 
 chio, beginning to cry. 
 
PINOCCHIO 
 
 193 
 
 "Neither do I wish to be digested," added the 
 Tunny ; " but I am philosopher enough to console 
 myself by thinking that it is more dignified to die 
 under water than to be soaking in vinegar and oil." 
 
 " Nonsense ! " cried Pinocchio. 
 
 "It is my opinion," replied the Tunny; "and 
 the opinion of fishes should be respected." 
 
 "As for me," said Pinocchio, "I wish to go 
 away from here ; I want to escape." 
 
 " Escape if you can." 
 
 " Is the Dogfish very large ? " asked the mario- 
 nette. 
 
 " Why, his body is a mile long without counting 
 his tail." 
 
 In the meantime Pinocchio thought he saw in 
 the distance a little glimmer of light. 
 
 "What can that be ? " he asked. 
 
 " Some poor unfortunate that is probably being 
 digested." 
 
 " Well, I am going to see. It may be some old 
 fish that can tell me the way to walk around here." 
 
 " I wish you good luck, my poor marionette." 
 
 "Good-by, Tunny." 
 
 " Good-by, marionette, and good fortune go with 
 you." 
 
 " When shall we meet again ? " 
 
 " Who knows .? It is better not to think of that." 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 As soon as Pinocchio had said 
 good-by to his friend the Tunny, he moved around, 
 groping in the darkness. Walking inside the Dog- 
 fish, he advanced toward the little light that shone 
 so far away. 
 
 As he groped along he felt his feet wading in a 
 puddle of greasy, slippery water. The water had 
 such a pungent odor of fried fish that he thought 
 it must be Lent. 
 
 The more he walked, the clearer and more dis- 
 tinct became the light, until finally he arrived at 
 the end of the passage. What did he find .■' I will 
 let you guess a thousand times. He found a little 
 table all nicely set, and lighted by a candle stuck 
 into a green bottle. Seated behind the table he 
 saw an old man with snow-white beard and hair, 
 who was slowly eating some little live fish. 
 
 At the sight of the poor old man Pinocchio 
 became so overjoyed that he nearly lost his senses. 
 He wished to laugh ; he wished to cry. He did not 
 194 
 
PINOCCHIO 195 
 
 know what to do. He finally murmured some joy- 
 ous sounds, for words stuck in his throat. Giving 
 a cry of pleasure, he rushed to the old man, threw 
 his arms around his neck, and cried : " Oh, my dear 
 father ! At last I have found you ! Now I will 
 never leave you again, never, never, never ! " 
 
 "Do my eyes tell me truly?" asked the old 
 man, rubbing them. "Do I really see my dear 
 Pinocchio ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes ; it is I, truly, Pinocchio ! And you 
 have already forgiven me, have you not.? Oh, my 
 papa ! How good you are ! And to think that I — 
 Oh, but if you only knew how many things have 
 happened to me, — how many troubles and trials ! 
 Just imagine, the day you sold your coat for my 
 ABC card I ran away from school and met some 
 marionettes, and the manager wished to put me on 
 the fire so that I could cook some mutton that he 
 wanted to eat. He gave me some pieces of gold 
 for you; but when I went toward home I met a 
 Fox and a Cat, who led me to an inn called the 
 Red Lobster, where they ate like wolves. I left 
 the inn at night and met assassins who began to 
 run after me and finally caught me and hanged 
 me to a large oak. Then a beautiful Fairy with 
 Blue Hair sent a carriage to take me to her house, 
 where there were doctors who said if I was not dead 
 
196 PINOCCHIO 
 
 it was a sign that I was alive. Then I told a lie 
 and my nose commenced to grow so that I could 
 not pass through the door of the room. After that 
 I met the Fox and the Cat, who advised me to put 
 the money in the ground and watch it grow. I 
 lost it all, for I believed their story. When I told 
 the judge of the town he put me in prison for being 
 so foolish. After I was set free I walked along a 
 road and, feeling hungry, I looked for a bunch of 
 grapes ; but I was caught in a trap and a farmer 
 took me to his house and made me play dog. After 
 I had caught the thieves that robbed his hencoop, 
 he set me free ; and I met a Serpent with a smoking 
 tail, and it laughed so hard that it died. Then I 
 hurried to the house of the beautiful Fairy, but she 
 was gone. Oh, how unhappy I was ! Then a 
 Dove, seeing me cry, said to me, ' I have seen your 
 papa making a ship to go and look for you ' ; and I 
 said, ' Oh ! if I had wings I would fly to him ! ' 
 And the Dove said, ' Get on my back ' ; and away 
 we flew all night. The next day, when we arrived 
 at the shore, the fishermen, looking toward the sea, 
 said to me, ' There in that boat is a poor old man 
 who will sink ' ; for the water was so rough. And 
 I ran to a rock and recognized you, because my 
 heart told me that you were there ; and I made a 
 sign for you to come back to the shore — " 
 
PINOCCHIO 197 
 
 "I recognized you also," said Geppetto, "and 
 I would willingly have come back ; but how could 
 I ? — the sea was so rough and my boat was so 
 frail. Then a horrible , Dogfish that was near me 
 put out its tongue and swallowed me like a pill." 
 
 " And how long have you been shut up here .■" " 
 asked Pinocchio. 
 
 "Two years, Pinocchio, that seemed like two 
 centuries." 
 
 " And how have you lived ? And where did you 
 find the candle and the matches to light it ? " 
 
 " I will tell you all. Fortunately, when the Dog- 
 fish swallowed me he swallowed also the provisions 
 I had on board the ship — " 
 
 " What } He swallowed all in a mouthful ? " 
 asked Pinocchio, surprised. 
 
 " All in a mouthful. But he did not like the mast 
 of the boat ; for that stuck in his teeth hke a tooth- 
 pick and he spat that out. As the boat was loaded 
 with preserved meat, figs, biscuits, wine, raisins, cof- 
 fee, sugar, candles, and matches, I was well supplied. 
 To-day, however, I am burning my last candle — " 
 
 "And after that.?" 
 
 " Why, my dear boy, we shall both be left in the 
 dark." 
 
 "Then, Papa," said Pinocchio, "there is no time 
 to lose. We must hurry and escape." 
 
198 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " How ? " 
 
 "Why, we must escape from the mouth of the 
 Dogfish and throw ourselves into the sea." 
 
 "But I do not know how to swim." 
 
 " That does not matter. You can get on my 
 back and I will take you to the shore." 
 
 " You are dreaming, my boy," said Geppetto, 
 shaking his head. 
 
 "Try it and see. Anyway, we shall have the 
 consolation of dying together." 
 
 And without saying any more Pinocchio took 
 the candle and started to walk toward the mouth 
 of the Dogfish. " Come along, and do not be afraid, 
 Papa," said Pinocchio. 
 
 And thus they walked along for a little while, 
 traversing the whole length of the Dogfish's 
 stomach. When they arrived at the end they 
 stopped so as to look carefully before trying to 
 escape. 
 
 Now, my little readers, you must know that the 
 Dogfish, being very old and suffering from asthma 
 and palpitation of the heart, was obliged to sleep 
 with his mouth open. Pinocchio, therefore, looking 
 up through the throat, saw the starry heavens and 
 the light of the moon. 
 
 " This is truly the time to escape," whispered 
 Pinocchio ; " the Dogfish sleeps and the sea is very 
 
PINOCCHIO 199 
 
 smooth. Come, then, Papa. Follow me and we 
 shall soon be outside." 
 
 No sooner said than done. They mounted the 
 throat of the huge sea monster and, arriving in 
 the immense mouth, began to walk on the tips of 
 their toes along the tongue. Suddenly the Dog- 
 fish sneezed. The candle was blown out, and both 
 Geppetto and Pinocchio were given a violent shake 
 and found themselves back once more in the Dog- 
 fish's stomach. 
 
 " Now we are truly lost," said Geppetto. 
 
 " Give me your hand, and be careful not to slip." 
 
 " Where are you leading me ? " 
 
 " Come along and do not be afraid." 
 
 Thus saying, Pinocchio took his papa's hand and 
 again they mounted the throat of the monster, 
 always going on tiptoe. Then passing along the 
 tongue and the three rows of teeth, they found 
 themselves out in the air. 
 
 " Get on my back," said Pinocchio, "and hold on 
 tight." 
 
 Scarcely had Geppetto placed his arms around 
 Pinocchio's neck when the brave marionette began 
 to swim. The sea was as smooth as oil, the 
 moon was resplendent, and the Dogfish continued 
 to sleep so soundly that not even a cannon shot 
 would have awakened him. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 While Pinocchio swam fast so as to reach the 
 beach quickly, he perceived that his papa, who sat 
 on his back, trembled just as if he had a high 
 fever. Did he tremble from cold or fear ? Who 
 knows ? Perhaps a little of both. But Pinocchio, 
 believing that he trembled from fear, said to him 
 in a comforting tone : " Courage, Papa ! In a little 
 while we shall arrive on the shore safe and sound." 
 
 " But where is the shore ? " asked the old man, 
 becoming more and more uneasy and straining his 
 eyes to see it, just as tailors do when they thread 
 a needle. " Here we are, swimming all night ; and 
 I see only sky and sea." 
 
 "But I see the shore," said the marionette. 
 "Through your skill in making me, I can see in 
 the night as well as a cat." 
 
 Poor Pinocchio pretended to be in good humor ; 
 but he was really beginning to lose heart. His 
 strength was giving out and his breath growing 
 
202 PINOCCHIO 
 
 shorter. In fact, he could not swim much longer 
 and the shore could not be seen. 
 
 He swam until he had no more breath. Then 
 he turned his head toward Geppetto and said in 
 broken tones, " Help me. Papa, or I shall die." 
 
 The father and the boy were nearly drowned 
 when they heard a voice, like a guitar out of tune, 
 saying, " Who is going to die .■" " 
 
 "My papa and I." 
 
 " I recognize that voice. You are Pinocchio." 
 
 " Exactly ; and who are you ? " 
 
 " I am Tunny, your companion in the Dogfish's 
 stomach." 
 
 " How did you escape ? " 
 
 " I followed your example. You taught me the 
 way ; and after I saw you go, I went also." 
 
 " Oh, my friend, you have come just in time ! 
 I pray you, for the love you bear your little tunny 
 fishes, to help us, or we are lost." 
 
 " With all my heart ! Get on my back and in 
 a few minutes we shall reach land." 
 
 As you may easily imagine, Geppetto and Pinoc- 
 chio quickly accepted the invitation. 
 
 "Are we too heavy.? " asked Pinocchio. 
 
 "Heavy.? Why, you are like two shadows. It 
 seems to me that I have two small shells on my 
 back." 
 
PINOCCHIO 203 
 
 When they arrived at the shore Pinocchio was 
 the first to jump down, and he helped his papa. 
 Then he turned to the Tunny and, with a voice 
 that trembled with emotion, said : " My friend, you 
 have saved my papa and me. I do not know how 
 to thank you. Permit me to kiss you as a sign of 
 eternal friendship." 
 
 The Tunny put his nose out of the water, and 
 Pinocchio, kneeling on the ground, gave the fish an 
 affectionate kiss. At this sign of tenderness the 
 poor Tunny, who was not accustomed to such 
 kindness, felt himself so moved that he began to 
 cry like a baby, and quickly sank into the water 
 to hide his tears. 
 
 In the meantime the sun arose. Then Pinocchio, 
 offering his arm to his papa, who was very weak, 
 said : " Lean on my arm, dear Papa, and let us go. 
 We will walk just as slowly as ants, and when we 
 are tired we will rest ourselves." 
 
 "And where shall we go ? " asked Geppetto. 
 
 " In search of a house where we can get a bit to 
 eat and some straw to lie upon." 
 
 But they had not gone a hundred steps when 
 they saw two ugly faces asking for money. They 
 were the faces of the Fox and the Cat ; but one 
 would not have recognized them. Just think ! the 
 Cat who feigned to be blind had really become 
 
204 PINOCCHIO 
 
 SO, and the Fox's hair was all shaggy and he had 
 lost his tail. 
 
 "Oh, Pinocchio," cried the Fox, "give a little 
 charity to two old people." 
 
 "Two old people," repeated the Cat. 
 
 "Good-by, masqueraders," replied Pinocchio; 
 "you deceived me once and now you are paying 
 for it." 
 
 " Believe us, Pinocchio, we are to-day truly poor 
 and starving." 
 
 " Truly," repeated the Cat. 
 
 " If you are poor, you deserve it. Remember the 
 proverb that says, ' Stolen money will never bear 
 fruit.' Good-by, deceivers ! " 
 
 " Have compassion on us." 
 
 "On us," said the Cat. 
 
 "Good-by. Remember the proverb that says, 
 ' Stolen wheat always makes poor bread.' " 
 
PINOCCHIO 205 
 
 "Do not abandon us." 
 
 " No, no ! " said the Cat. 
 
 " Good-by. Remember the proverb, ' Whoever 
 steals the cloak of his neighbor usually dies without 
 a shirt.' " 
 
 Geppetto and Pinocchio continued their walk until 
 they saw a small farmhouse with a straw roof. 
 
 "That house is inhabited by some one," said 
 Pinocchio. " Let us go and knock at the door." 
 
 "Who is there } " said a voice inside, when they 
 had reached the house. 
 
 " We are a poor papa and his son, without bread 
 or a home," replied the marionette. 
 
 " Turn the key and the door will open," said the 
 same voice. 
 
 Pinocchio turned the key and the door opened. 
 As soon as they entered the house they looked 
 around, but saw no one. " Where is the master of 
 this house .? " asked Pinocchio, greatly surprised. 
 
 " Here I am, up here." 
 
 Papa and son turned quickly and saw on a rafter 
 the Talking Cricket. 
 
 " Oh, my dear Cricket ! " said Pinocchio, saluting 
 him politely. 
 
 "Now you call me your dear Cricket, do you 
 not ? Do you remember the time when you struck 
 me with a hammer ? " 
 
206 PINOCCHIO 
 
 " Yes, you were right, Cricket. Take a hammer 
 and hit me, but spare my poor papa." 
 
 " I will have pity on you both ; but I wished to 
 remind you of your ugly manners." 
 
 " Yes, Cricket, you were right to tell me what 
 you did. You were right, and I will bear in mind 
 the lessons you have taught me. But tell me, how 
 did you build such a nice large house ? " 
 
 " This little house was given me yesterday by a 
 beautiful Goat that had blue wool." 
 
 " And where has the Goat gone .? " asked Pinoc- 
 chio, with lively curiosity. 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 " And when will it return ? " 
 
 " Never. Yesterday it went away bleating. I 
 thought I heard it say, ' Poor Pinocchio ! I shall 
 never see him again. The Dogfish has swallowed 
 him.' " 
 
 " It said that .' Then it was she. It was the 
 beautiful Fairy," said Pinocchio, and he began to cry. 
 
 When he had cried a long time he dried his eyes 
 and prepared a nice bed of straw for his papa. Then 
 he said to the Talking Cricket, " Tell me, Cricket, 
 where I can find a glass of milk for my poor papa." 
 
 " Three fields from here you will see a farmer 
 who has cows. Go to him and you will find the 
 milk you seek " 
 
PINOCCHIO 207 
 
 Pinocchio ran toward the farmer and said to 
 him, " Will you please give me some milk ? " 
 
 " How much do you want ? " 
 
 " I want a glassful." 
 
 " A glass of milk costs one cent. Where is the 
 money ? " 
 
 " I have nothing," cried Pinocchio, mortified. 
 
 " If you have no money, I have no milk." 
 
 " I am so sorry ! " said Pinocchio. 
 
 "Wait a minute," said the farmer; "I think we 
 can arrange it. Do you know how to draw water 
 from a well .■" " 
 
 " I can try." 
 
 "Well, draw me one hundred bucketfuls and I 
 will give you a glass of milk." 
 
 "All right!" 
 
 Pinocchio worked so hard that when he had 
 finished he was wet with perspiration from head to 
 foot. He had never felt so tired in all his life. 
 
 " I have a little donkey that draws water for me; 
 but to-day he is sick, poor thing ! " 
 
 " May I see him ? " asked Pinocchio. 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 As soon as Pinocchio saw the donkey he recog- 
 nized him. " I think I know that donkey," said he. 
 Speaking to it in the donkey language, he asked, 
 "Who are you.'" At the question the donkey 
 
2o8 PINOCCHIO 
 
 opened his eyes and replied in the same language, 
 " I am Lamp Wick ; " then he closed his eyes again. 
 
 "Oh, my poor Lamp Wick," said Pinocchio in 
 an undertone; and then he took a little hay and 
 gave it to him. 
 
 " Why do you take so much interest in a donkey 
 that is not worth a cent ? " asked the farmer. 
 
 " I will tell you. He was a friend of mine." 
 
 "Your friend.?" 
 
 "Yes; a school companion." 
 
 "How is that.?" asked the farmer, bursting 
 into laughter. "You had donkeys for school 
 companions .■■ " 
 
 The marionette felt so mortified at these words 
 that he took the glass of milk and returned to his 
 papa. 
 
 From that day, for five months afterward, Pinoc- 
 chio continued to get up in the morning at day- 
 break to draw water for the farmer ; and he gained 
 only a little milk for his trouble. He was not 
 contented with simply doing that ; he learned to 
 make straw mats and sold them to buy food for 
 his daily wants. Among other things, he made a 
 little cart so that he could take his papa out and 
 give him a little fresh air. 
 
 In the evenings he practiced reading and writing. 
 In fact, he behaved so nicely that his papa was 
 
PINOCCHIO 209 
 
 overjoyed. One morning he said to Geppetto : " I 
 am going to market to buy a jacket, a cap, and a 
 pair of shoes. When I come back I shall be 
 dressed like a real gentleman." 
 
 Outside the house he began to run, because he 
 was so happy. Suddenly he heard himself called 
 by name, and, turning, he saw a beautiful Snail. 
 
 " Do you not know me ? " asked the Snail. 
 
 " It seems to me — It seems to me — " 
 
 " Don't you remember the Snail that lived with 
 the beautiful Fairy with the Blue Hair ? " 
 
 " I remember all," cried Pinocchio. " Tell me 
 quickly, where is the beautiful Fairy now.? " 
 
 At these words the Snail replied with his usual 
 slowness, "The beautiful Fairy lies ill in a hospital." 
 
 " In a hospital ? " 
 
2IO PINOCCHIO 
 
 "Yes. Wounded by so many misfortunes, she 
 is very sick and so poor that she eats only a 
 mouthful of bread each day." 
 
 " Truly ? Oh, what a blow you have given me ! 
 Oh, my poor Fairy, my poor Fairy ! If I had a 
 million, I would give it all to you, but I have only 
 forty cents, which I was going to use to buy some 
 clothes. Take my money. Snail, and carry it quickly 
 to the good Fairy." 
 
 " And what about your clothes ? " 
 
 " What does that matter .' I would sell these 
 rags in order to help her. Go, Snail, and in two 
 days come back, and I will have some more money 
 for her." 
 
 The Snail began to get excited and ran as if a 
 bird were after him. 
 
 When Pinocchio returned home his papa asked 
 him, " Where are your new clothes ? " 
 
 " I heard from the Snail that my good Fairy was 
 ill in the hospital and so poor that she had no food, 
 so I sent her the forty cents." 
 
 That night, instead of going to bed, Pinocchio 
 worked until midnight. Afterward he went to 
 bed and slept. And while he slept he thought he 
 saw the good Fairy, all beautiful and happy and 
 smiling, who, after giving him a kiss, said : "Good 
 Pinocchio ! For your good heart I pardon all your 
 
PINOCCHIO 211 
 
 misdeeds. Boys that help their parents lovingly in 
 their troubles always deserve praise and affection." 
 Just here Pinocchio's dream ended and he awoke 
 with his eyes opened wide. 
 
 Now imagine, little readers, the great surprise of 
 Pinocchio, upon waking, to find that he was no longer 
 a wooden marionette, but that he had become a 
 boy like all the others ! He gave a glance around 
 
 him and, inctg^d nf a hpr\ ni gtraw^ hp caw g rOOm 
 
 beautifully furnished. Jumping down from his bed, 
 he found prepared for him a nice new suit, a new 
 cap, and a pair of new shoes. 
 
 He had scarcely dressed himself when, like all 
 boys who have a new suit, he put his hands into 
 his pockets ; and just imagine his surprise when he 
 pulled out a small pocketbook of mother-of-pearl, 
 on which were written these words : " The Fairy 
 with the Blue Hair returns the forty cents to her 
 dear Pinocchio and thanks him with all her heart." 
 Opening the pocketbook, he found, instead of forty 
 pennies, forty pieces of gold. 
 
 Afterward he went to look in the looking-glass 
 and he did not know himself. Hesaw no longer the 
 reflecti on of a wooden marionette, but the image 
 of ^ajarig ht and intelligent b oy with chestnut hair 
 and larg e_bri£ht eyes. Pinocchio was greatly sur- 
 prised. In the midst of these marvels that happened 
 
212 PINOCCHIO 
 
 one after another he did not know whether it was 
 all real or whether it was a dream. 
 
 " Where is my papa ? " he cried suddenly. Then, 
 entering the next room, he found Geppetto well and 
 as young as when he first began his profession of 
 carving. 
 
 " What does it all mean, dear Papa ? " asked 
 Pinocchio. 
 
 " It means that you must try to deserve all this 
 beautiful house," said Geppetto. 
 
 "I win try," said Pinocchio. "And why is it 
 that you look so well and young.'" 
 
 "Because when bad boys become good, they 
 cause everything to change for the better and make 
 the whole family happy." 
 
 "And the old wooden Pinocchio — where is it 
 hidden.?" 
 
 "There it is," replied Geppetto, pointing to a 
 wooden marionette leaning on a chair with its head 
 limp, its arms hanging down, and its legs crossed, 
 so that it was a wonder that it could stand at all. 
 
 Pinocchio turned to look at his old self ; and 
 after he had regarded it a little while, he said with 
 great satisfaction : " How naughty I was when I 
 was a marionette ! and how happy I am now that 
 I have become a real live boy ! " 
 

 
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