Pinocchio

“ 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 marionette arrived at the stomach of the Dogfish with such force that he was stunned for a quarter of an hour. ”

“ Suddenly the boredom is broken, every one jumps up and runs out to a certain point and crowds around an automobile that has just arrived. Pinocchio wakes up with a start, finds his mouth full of grit, his nose dirty, and hears all the noise about him—has a terrible fright, lets out a yell, and rushes out of the tent. But he is scarcely outside before he feels himself caught up by his legs and whirled around on the ground. He gets up again and is face to face with Bersaglierino, who has not left his post and who laughs loudly at Pinocchio's plight. ”

“ Pinocchio opened his eyes, but shut them again immediately.
"He is a ragamuffin, a do-nothing, a vagabond."
Pinocchio hid his face beneath the clothes.
"That puppet there is a disobedient son who will make his poor father die of a broken heart!"
At that instant a suffocated sound of sobs and crying was heard in the room. Imagine everybody's astonishment when, having raised the sheets a little, it was discovered that the sounds came from Pinocchio.
"When a dead person cries, it is a sign that he is on the road to get well," said the Crow solemnly. ”

“ It is impossible to imagine the kisses, the embraces, 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 marionettes, instead of continuing the dialogue, redoubled their cries; and taking Pinocchio on their shoulders, they carried him in triumph behind the wings on the stage. ”

“ 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, out of breath, with his tongue hanging out on his chin, just like a hunting dog. 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 appeared 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.” ”

“ As knocking was of no use, Pinocchio, in despair, began to kick and bang against the door, as if he wanted to break it. At the noise, a window opened and a lovely maiden looked out. She had azure hair and a face white as wax. Her eyes were closed and her hands crossed on her breast. With a voice so weak that it hardly could be heard, she whispered:
“No one lives in this house. Everyone is dead.” ”

“ Pinocchio, as was natural, asked the Fairy's permission to go round the town to give out the invitations, and the Fairy said to him:
"Go, if you like, and invite your companions for the breakfast tomorrow, but remember to return home before dark. Have you understood?"
"I promise to be back in an hour," answered the puppet.
"Take care, Pinocchio! Boys are always very ready to promise, but generally they are little given to keep their word."
"But I am not like other boys. When I say a thing, I do it."
"We shall see. If you are disobedient, so much the worse for you." ”

“ Why, you find a tree loaded with gold pieces!”
“If I bury five pieces,” said Pinocchio, all excited, “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.”
“A present to us!” cried the Fox, disdainfully, as if he were offended. ”

“ But Pinocchio, thinking his father was frightened, tried to comfort him by saying:
“Courage, Father! In a few moments we shall be safe on land.”
“But where is that blessed shore?” asked the little old man, more and more worried as he tried to pierce the faraway shadows. “Here I am searching on all sides and I see nothing but sea and sky.”
“I see the shore,” said the Marionette. “Remember, Father, that I am like a cat. I see better at night than by day.” ”

“ What had Pinocchio planned?
One day, while strolling through the woods near the capital, he called the boy to him and taking his arm, said to him in a gentle voice, “Do you love your emperor?”
“Is it necessary to ask, your majesty?” replied the boy, moved to tears at such an honor.
“And should you like to do your emperor a favor?”
“Your majesty, to do you a service I would go at once, with only my feather duster to protect me, and pinch a boa constrictor’s tongue!”
“Good!” replied Pinocchio. “You are a fine lad, and you will become a great man. ”

“ Here the director made another profound bow; and then turning to Pinocchio he said:
'Courage, Pinocchio! before you begin your feats make your bow to this distinguished audience—ladies, gentlemen, and children.'
Pinocchio obeyed and bent both his knees till they touched the ground, and remained kneeling until the director, cracking his whip, shouted to him:
'At a foot's pace!'
Then the little donkey raised himself on his four legs and began to walk round the theatre, keeping at a foot's pace. ”

“ 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, 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.” ”

“ I will leave you to imagine the grief, the shame, the desperation of Pinocchio. He cried and screamed and beat his head against the wall; but his ears grew and grew and grew until hair began to show on the tops.
At the sound of his heartrending cries a Dormouse, 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 sickness that alarms me. Do you understand the pulse?” ”

“ The master warned him every day, and even the good Fairy never failed to tell him and to repeat constantly:
"Take care, Pinocchio! Those bad school-fellows of yours will end sooner or later by making you lose all love of study, and perhaps they may even bring upon you some great misfortune."
"There is no fear of that!" answered the puppet, shrugging his shoulders and touching his forehead as much as to say: "There is so much sense here!" ”

“ This word affected Pinocchio so that suddenly he felt his heart beating loudly—that strange tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock which had startled him earlier that morning.
Dead? "Oh! where are they going?" he asked a sprightly old man who was standing near by, shouting, "Hurrah for Italy!" as if he were a boy.
"They are going to the war."
"Are they really off to war? Will they fire only powder from their guns, or real, lead bullets, too?" ”

“ There would have to be something out of the ordinary. He therefore added to the fare some dried fish and a delicious morsel of orange peel. “He will even have fruit,” the good man had said to himself, smiling at the joy his dear Pinocchio would feel on seeing himself treated like a man of the world.
The marionette ate his supper with relish, and having finished his meal, went over to his sleeping father and kissed him as a reward for the fish and the orange peel. Pinocchio, to say the least, had a good heart, and would have done anything for his father except study and work. ”

“ But Pinocchio, as quick as lightning, caught his hand with his teeth, and with one bite bit it clear off and spat it out. Imagine his astonishment when instead of a hand he perceived that a cat's paw lay on the ground.
Encouraged by this first victory he used his nails to such purpose that he succeeded in liberating himself from his assailants, and, jumping the hedge by the roadside, he began to fly across the country. The assassins ran after him like two dogs chasing a hare, and the one who had lost a paw ran on one leg, and no one ever knew how he managed it. ”

“ Men, women, and children were lounging about, gossiping, buying, and selling. When they saw the marionette they gathered around him, and many began to shout: “It is Pinocchio! Look, here is Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Pinocchio!”
“Well, this is strange!” said the marionette to himself. “I am known even in Africa. Surely I am a great person.”
Like most great men, Pinocchio was annoyed at his noisy reception. In some anger he made his way through the crowd, pushing people right and left with his elbows. ”

“ And by way of correcting him he struck his legs with his whip.
Pinocchio began to cry and to bray with pain, and he said, braying:
"Hee-haw! I cannot digest straw!"
"Then eat hay!" said his master, who understood perfectly the asinine dialect.
"Hee-haw! hay gives me a pain in my stomach."
"Do you mean to pretend that a little donkey like you must be kept on breasts of chickens, and capons in jelly?" asked his master, getting more and more angry, and whipping him again.
At this second whipping Pinocchio prudently held his tongue and said nothing more. ”

“ 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 opportunity we will pay you up.”
“You make me laugh,” said the marionette, shaking his head.
“Take care, Pinocchio!” said the largest boy, going 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.”
“Seven, like the mortal sins,” said Pinocchio, with a burst of laughter. ”

“ Pinocchio, urged by desperation and hunger, took hold of the bell of a house and began to ring it with all his might, saying to himself:
"That will bring somebody."
And so it did. A little old man appeared at a window with a night-cap on his head and called to him angrily:
"What do you want at such an hour?"
"Would you be kind enough to give me a little bread?"
"Wait there, I will be back directly," said the little old man, thinking it was one of those rascally boys who amuse themselves at night by ringing the house-bells to rouse respectable people who are sleeping quietly. ”

“ Pinocchio ate the least of all. He asked for a piece of meat and some bread, but he left everything on his plate. He could think of nothing but the Field of Miracles.
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 sells his Spelling-book that he may go and see a puppet-show.
As soon as it had done snowing Pinocchio set out for school with his fine Spelling-book under his arm. As he went along he began to imagine a thousand things in his little brain, and to build a thousand castles in the air, one more beautiful than the other. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ When the marionette had told that story he touched his nose and found that it had grown much larger. 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.” ”

“ From time to time a hare would run between Pinocchio’s feet, and after a few bounds would turn sharply around to stare at him with curious eyes, as much as to say that a marionette was a comical sight. Young monkeys peeped through the leaves, laughed at him, and then scampered away. ”

“ He returned home like a wet chicken, quite exhausted with fatigue and hunger; and, having no longer strength to stand, he sat down and rested his damp and muddy feet on a brazier full of burning embers.
And then he fell asleep, and whilst he slept his feet, which were wooden, took fire, and little by little they burnt away and became cinders.
Pinocchio continued to sleep and to snore as if his feet belonged to some one else. At last about daybreak he awoke because some one was knocking at the door.
"Who is there?" he asked, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
"It is I!" answered a voice. ”