Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet

by Carlo Collodi

  "And your gold pieces?"

  "I have got them in my pocket, all but one that I spent at the inn ofThe Red Craw-Fish."

  "And to think that, instead of four pieces, by tomorrow they mightbecome one or two thousand! Why do you not listen to my advice? Why willyou not go and bury them in the Field of Miracles?"

  "Today it is impossible; I will go another day."

  "Another day it will be too late!" said the Fox.

  "Why?"

  "Because the field has been bought by a gentleman and after tomorrow noone will be allowed to bury money there."

  "How far off is the Field of Miracles?"

  "Not two miles. Will you come with us? In half an hour you will bethere. You can bury your money at once, and in a few minutes you willcollect two thousand, and this evening you will return with your pocketsfull. Will you come with us?"

  Pinocchio thought of the good Fairy, old Geppetto, and the warnings ofthe Talking-Cricket, and he hesitated a little before answering. Heended, however, by doing as all boys do who have not a grain of senseand who have no heart--he ended by giving his head a little shake andsaying to the Fox and the Cat:

  "Let us go: I will come with you."

  And they went.

  After having walked half the day they reached a town that was called"Trap for Blockheads." As soon as Pinocchio entered this town he sawthat the streets were crowded with dogs who were yawning from hunger,shorn sheep trembling with cold, cocks without combs begging for a grainof Indian corn, large butterflies that could no longer fly because theyhad sold their beautiful colored wings, peacocks which had no tails andwere ashamed to be seen, and pheasants that went scratching about in asubdued fashion, mourning for their brilliant gold and silver feathersgone forever.

  In the midst of this crowd of beggars and shamefaced creatures somelordly carriage passed from time to time containing a Fox, or a thievingMagpie, or some other ravenous bird of prey.

  "And where is the Field of Miracles?" asked Pinocchio.

  "It is here, not two steps from us."

  They crossed the town and, having gone beyond the walls, they came to asolitary field.

  "Here we are," said the Fox to the puppet. "Now stoop down and dig withyour hands a little hole in the ground and put your gold pieces intoit."

  Pinocchio obeyed. He dug a hole, put into it the four gold pieces thathe had left, and then filled up the hole with a little earth.

  "Now, then," said the Fox, "go to that canal close to us, fetch a can ofwater, and water the ground where you have sowed them."

  Pinocchio went to the canal, and, as he had no can, he took off one ofhis old shoes and filling it with water he watered the ground over thehole.

  He then asked:

  "Is there anything else to be done?"

  "Nothing else," answered the Fox. "We can now go away. You can return inabout twenty minutes and you will find a shrub already pushing throughthe ground, with its branches quite loaded with money."

  The poor puppet, beside himself with joy, thanked the Fox and the Cat athousand times, and promised them a beautiful present.

  "We wish for no presents," answered the two rascals. "It is enough forus to have taught you the way to enrich yourself without undergoing hardwork, and we are as happy as people out for a holiday."

  Thus saying, they took leave of Pinocchio, and, wishing him a goodharvest, went about their business.

  CHAPTER XIX

  PINOCCHIO IS ROBBED OF HIS MONEY

  The puppet returned to the town and began to count the minutes one byone, and when he thought that it must be time he took the road leadingto the Field of Miracles.

  And as he walked along with hurried steps his heart beat fast--tic, tac,tic, tac--like a drawing-room clock when it is really going well.Meanwhile he was thinking to himself:

  "And if, instead of a thousand gold pieces, I were to find on thebranches of the tree two thousand? And instead of two thousand,supposing I found five thousand? and instead of five thousand, that Ifound a hundred thousand? Oh! what a fine gentleman I should thenbecome! I would have a beautiful palace, a thousand little wooden horsesand a thousand stables to amuse myself with, a cellar full of currantwine and sweet syrups, and a library quite full of candies, tarts,plum-cakes, macaroons, and biscuits with cream."

  Whilst he was building these castles in the air he had arrived in theneighborhood of the field, and he stopped to look about for a tree withits branches laden with money, but he saw nothing. He advanced anotherhundred steps--nothing; he entered the field and went right up to thelittle hole where he had buried his sovereigns--and nothing. He thenbecame very thoughtful and, forgetting the rules of society and goodmanners, he took his hands out of his pocket and gave his head a longscratch.

  At that moment he heard an explosion of laughter close to him and,looking up, he saw a large Parrot perched on a tree, who was pruning thefew feathers he had left.

  "Why are you laughing?" asked Pinocchio in an angry voice.

  "I am laughing because in pruning my feathers I tickled myself under mywings."

  The puppet did not answer, but went to the canal and, filling the sameold shoe full of water, he proceeded to water the earth afresh thatcovered his gold pieces.

  While he was thus occupied another laugh, still more impertinent thanthe first, rang out in the silence of that solitary place.

  "Once for all," shouted Pinocchio in a rage, "may I know, youill-educated Parrot, what you are laughing at?"

  "I am laughing at those simpletons who believe in all the foolish thingsthat are told them, and who allow themselves to be entrapped by thosewho are more cunning than they are."

  "Are you perhaps speaking of me?"

  "Yes, I am speaking of you, poor Pinocchio--of you who are simpleenough to believe that money can be sown and gathered in fields in thesame way as beans and gourds. I also believed it once and today I amsuffering for it. Today--but it is too late--I have at last learned thatto put a few pennies honestly together it is necessary to know how toearn them, either by the work of our own hands or by the cleverness ofour own brains."

  "I don't understand you," said the puppet, who was already tremblingwith fear.

  "Have patience! I will explain myself better," rejoined the Parrot. "Youmust know, then, that while you were in the town the Fox and the Catreturned to the field; they took the buried money and then fled like thewind. And now he that catches them will be clever."

  Pinocchio remained with his mouth open and, not choosing to believe theParrot's words, he began with his hands and nails to dig up the earththat he had watered. And he dug, and dug, and dug, and made such a deephole that a rick of straw might have stood upright in it, but the moneywas no longer there.

  He rushed back to the town in a state of desperation and went at once tothe Courts of Justice to denounce the two knaves who had robbed him tothe judge.

  The judge was a big ape of the gorilla tribe, an old ape respectable forhis age, his white beard, but especially for his gold spectacles withoutglasses that he was always obliged to wear, on account of aninflammation of the eyes that had tormented him for many years.

  Pinocchio related in the presence of the judge all the particulars ofthe infamous fraud of which he had been the victim. He gave the names,the surnames, and other details, of the two rascals, and ended bydemanding justice.

  The judge listened with great benignity; took a lively interest in thestory; was much touched and moved; and when the puppet had nothingfurther to say he stretched out his hand and rang a bell.

  At this summons two mastiffs immediately appeared dressed as gendarmes.The judge then, pointing to Pinocchio, said to them:

  "That poor devil has been robbed of four gold pieces; take him away andput him immediately into prison."

  The puppet was petrified on hearing this unexpected sentence and triedto protest; but the gendarmes, to avoid losing time, stopped his mouthand carried him off to the lockup.

  And there he remained for four months--four long
months--and he wouldhave remained longer still if a fortunate chance had not released him.The young Emperor who reigned over the town of "Trap for Blockheads,"having won a splendid victory over his enemies, ordered great publicrejoicings. There were illuminations, fireworks, horse races andvelocipede races, and as a further sign of triumph he commanded that theprisons should be opened and all the prisoners freed.

  "If the others are to be let out of prison, I will go also," saidPinocchio to the jailor.

  "No, not you," said the jailor, "because you do not belong to thefortunate class."

  "I beg your pardon," replied Pinocchio, "I am also a criminal."

  "In that case you are perfectly right," said the jailor, and, taking offhis hat and bowing to him respectfully, he opened the prison doors andlet him escape.

  CHAPTER XX

  PINOCCHIO STARTS BACK TO THE FAIRY'S HOUSE

  You can imagine Pinocchio's joy when he found himself free. Withoutstopping to take breath he immediately left the town and took the roadthat led to the Fairy's house.

  On account of the rainy weather the road had become a marsh into whichhe sank knee-deep. But the puppet would not give in. Tormented by thedesire of seeing his father and his little sister with blue hair again,he ran on like a greyhound, and as he ran he was splashed with mud fromhead to foot. And he said to himself as he went along: "How manymisfortunes have happened to me. But I deserved them, for I am anobstinate, passionate puppet. I am always bent upon having my own way,without listening to those who wish me well, and who have a thousandtimes more sense than I have! But from this time forth I am determinedto change and to become orderly and obedient. For at last I have seenthat disobedient boys come to no good and gain nothing. And has my papawaited for me? Shall I find him at the Fairy's house? Poor man, it is solong since I last saw him: I am dying to embrace him and to cover himwith kisses! And will the Fairy forgive me my bad conduct to her? Tothink of all the kindness and loving care I received from her, to thinkthat if I am now alive I owe it to her! Would it be possible to find amore ungrateful boy, or one with less heart than I have?"

  Whilst he was saying this he stopped suddenly, frightened to death, andmade four steps backwards.

  What had he seen?

  He had seen an immense Serpent stretched across the road. Its skin wasgreen, it had red eyes, and a pointed tail that was smoking like achimney.

  It would be impossible to imagine the puppet's terror. He walked away toa safe distance and, sitting down on a heap of stones, waited until theSerpent should have gone about its business and left the road clear.

  He waited an hour; two hours; three hours; but the Serpent was alwaysthere, and even from a distance he could see the red light of his fieryeyes and the column of smoke that ascended from the end of his tail.

  At last Pinocchio, trying to feel courageous, approached to within a fewsteps, and said to the Serpent in a little soft, insinuating voice:

  "Excuse me. Sir Serpent, but would you be so good as to move a little toone side--just enough to allow me to pass?"

  He might as well have spoken to the wall. Nobody moved.

  He began again in the same soft voice:

  "You must know. Sir Serpent, that I am on my way home, where my fatheris waiting for me, and it is such a long time since I saw him last! Willyou, therefore, allow me to continue my road?"

  He waited for a sign in answer to this request, but there was none; infact, the Serpent, who up to that moment had been sprightly and full oflife, became motionless and almost rigid. He shut his eyes and his tailceased smoking.

  "Can he really be dead?" said Pinocchio, rubbing his hands with delight.He determined to jump over him and reach the other side of the road.But, just as he was going to leap, the Serpent raised himself suddenlyon end, like a spring set in motion; and the puppet, drawing back, inhis terror caught his feet and fell to the ground.

  And he fell so awkwardly that his head stuck in the mud and his legswent into the air.

  At the sight of the puppet kicking violently with his head in the mud,the Serpent went into convulsions of laughter, and laughed, and laughed,until he broke a blood-vessel in his chest and died. And that time hewas really dead.

  Pinocchio then set off running, in hopes that he should reach theFairy's house before dark. But before long he began to suffer sodreadfully from hunger that he could not bear it, and he jumped into afield by the wayside, intending to pick some bunches of Muscatel grapes.Oh, that he had never done it!

  He had scarcely reached the vines when crack--his legs were caughtbetween two cutting iron bars and he became so giddy with pain thatstars of every color danced before his eyes.

  The poor puppet had been taken in a trap put there to capture some bigpolecats which were the scourge of the poultry-yards in theneighborhood.

  CHAPTER XXI

  PINOCCHIO ACTS AS WATCH-DOG

  Pinocchio began to cry and scream, but his tears and groans wereuseless, for there was not a house to be seen, and not a living soulpassed down the road.

  At last night came on.

  Partly from the pain of the trap, that cut his legs, and a little fromfear at finding himself alone in the dark in the midst of the fields,the puppet was on the point of fainting. Just at that moment he saw aFirefly flitting over his head. He called to it and said:

  "Oh, little Firefly, will you have pity on me and liberate me from thistorture?"

  "Poor boy!" said the Firefly, stopping and looking at him withcompassion; "but how could your legs have been caught by those sharpirons?"

  "I came into the field to pick two bunches of these Muscatel grapes,and--"

  "But were the grapes yours?"

  "No."

  "Then who taught you to carry off other people's property?"

  "I was so hungry."

  "Hunger, my boy, is not a good reason for appropriating what does notbelong to us."

  "That is true, that is true!" said Pinocchio, crying. "I will never doit again."

  At this moment their conversation was interrupted by a slight sound ofapproaching footsteps. It was the owner of the field coming on tiptoe tosee if one of the polecats that ate his chickens during the night hadbeen caught in his trap.

  His astonishment was great when, having brought out his lantern fromunder his coat, he perceived that instead of a polecat a boy had beentaken.

  "Ah, little thief," said the angry peasant, "then it is you who carriesoff my chickens?"

  "No, it is not I; indeed it is not!" cried Pinocchio, sobbing. "I onlycame into the field to take two bunches of grapes!"

  "He who steals grapes is quite capable of stealing chickens. Leave it tome, I will give you a lesson that you will not forget in a hurry."

  Opening the trap, he seized the puppet by the collar and carried him tohis house as if he had been a young lamb.

  When he reached the yard in front of the house he threw him roughly onthe ground and, putting his foot on his neck, he said to him:

  "It is late and I want to go to bed; we will settle our accountstomorrow. In the meanwhile, as the dog who kept guard at night diedtoday, you shall take his place at once. You shall be my watch-dog."

  And, taking a great collar covered with brass knobs, he strapped it sotightly round his throat that he was not able to draw his head out ofit. A heavy chain attached to the collar was fastened to the wall.

  "If it should rain tonight," he then said to him, "you can go and liedown in the kennel; the straw that has served as a bed for my poor dogfor the last four years is still there. If unfortunately robbers shouldcome, remember to keep your ears pricked and to bark."

  After giving him this last injunction the man went into the house, shutthe door, and put up the chain.

  Poor Pinocchio remained lying on the ground more dead than alive fromthe effects of cold, hunger and fear. From time to time he put his handsangrily to the collar that tightened his throat and said, crying:

  "It serves me right! Decidedly, it serves me right! I was determined tobe a vagab
ond and a good-for-nothing. I would listen to bad companions,and that is why I always meet with misfortunes. If I had been a goodlittle boy, as so many are; if I had remained at home with my poor papa,I should not now be in the midst of the fields and obliged to be thewatch-dog to a peasant's house. Oh, if I could be born again! But now itis too late and I must have patience!"

  Relieved by this little outburst, which came straight from his heart, hewent into the dog-kennel and fell asleep.

  CHAPTER XXII

  PINOCCHIO DISCOVERS THE ROBBERS

  He had been sleeping heavily for about two hours when, towards midnight, hewas aroused by a whispering of strange voices that seemed to come from thecourtyard. Putting the point of his nose out of the kennel, he saw fourlittle beasts with dark fur, that looked like cats, standing consultingtogether. But they were not cats; they were polecats--carnivorous littleanimals, especially greedy for eggs and young chickens. One of thepolecats, leaving his companions, came to the opening of the kennel andsaid in a low voice:

  "Good evening, Melampo."

  "My name is not Melampo," answered the puppet.

  "Oh! then who are you?"

  "I am Pinocchio."

  "And what are you doing here?"

  "I am acting as watch-dog."

  "Then where is Melampo? Where is the old dog who lived in this kennel?"

  "He died this morning."

  "Is he dead? Poor beast! He was so good. But, judging you by your face,I should say that you were also a good dog."