Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet

by Carlo Collodi

  And Pinocchio began to cry and sob, and to strike his head with hisfists, and to call poor Eugene by his name. Suddenly he heard the soundof approaching footsteps.

  He turned and saw two soldiers.

  "What are you doing there, lying on the ground?" they asked Pinocchio.

  "I am helping my school-fellow."

  "Has he been hurt?"

  "So it seems."

  "Hurt indeed!" said one of them, stooping down and examining Eugeneclosely.

  "This boy has been wounded in the temple. Who wounded him?"

  "Not I," stammered the puppet breathlessly.

  "If it was not you, who then did it?"

  "Not I," repeated Pinocchio.

  "And with what was he wounded?"

  "With this book." And the puppet picked up from the ground the Treatiseon Arithmetic, bound in cardboard and parchment, and showed it to thesoldier.

  "And to whom does this belong?"

  "To me."

  "That is enough, nothing more is wanted. Get up and come with us atonce."

  "But I--"

  "Come along with us!"

  "But I am innocent."

  "Come along with us!"

  Before they left, the soldiers called some fishermen who were passing atthat moment near the shore in their boat, and said to them:

  "We give this boy who has been wounded in the head in your charge. Carryhim to your house and nurse him. Tomorrow we will come and see him."

  They then turned to Pinocchio and, having placed him between them, theysaid to him in a commanding voice:

  "Forward! and walk quickly, or it will be the worse for you."

  Without requiring it to be repeated, the puppet set out along the roadleading to the village. But the poor little devil hardly knew where hewas. He thought he must be dreaming, and what a dreadful dream! He wasbeside himself. He saw double; his legs shook; his tongue clung to theroof of his mouth, and he could not utter a word. And yet, in the midstof his stupefaction and apathy, his heart was pierced by a cruelthorn--the thought that he would pass under the windows of the goodFairy's house between the soldiers. He would rather have died.

  They had already reached the village when a gust of wind blewPinocchio's cap off his head and carried it ten yards off.

  "Will you permit me," said the puppet to the soldiers, "to go and getmy cap?"

  "Go, then; but be quick about it."

  The puppet went and picked up his cap, but instead of putting it on hishead he took it between his teeth and began to run as hard as he couldtowards the seashore.

  The soldiers, thinking it would be difficult to overtake him, sent afterhim a large mastiff who had won the first prizes at all the dog races.Pinocchio ran, but the dog ran faster. The people came to their windowsand crowded into the street in their anxiety to see the end of thedesperate race.

  CHAPTER XXVIII

  PINOCCHIO ESCAPES BEING FRIED LIKE A FISH

  There came a moment in this desperate race--a terrible moment--whenPinocchio thought himself lost: for Alidoro, the mastiff, had run soswiftly that he had nearly come up with him.

  The puppet could hear the panting of the dreadful beast close behindhim; there was not a hand's breadth between them, he could even feel thedog's hot breath.

  Fortunately the shore was close and the sea but a few steps off.

  As soon as he reached the sands the puppet made a wonderful leap--a frogcould have done no better--and plunged into the water.

  Alidoro, on the contrary, wished to stop himself, but, carried away bythe impetus of the race, he also went into the sea. The unfortunate dogcould not swim, but he made great efforts to keep himself afloat withhis paws; but the more he struggled the farther he sank head downwardsunder the water.

  When he rose to the surface again his eyes were rolling with terror, andhe barked out:

  "I am drowning! I am drowning!"

  "Drown!" shouted Pinocchio from a distance, seeing himself safe from alldanger.

  "Help me, dear Pinocchio! Save me from death!"

  At that agonizing cry the puppet, who had in reality an excellent heart,was moved with compassion, and, turning to the dog, he said:

  "But if I save your life, will you promise to give me no furtherannoyance, and not to run after me?"

  "I promise! I promise! Be quick, for pity's sake, for if you delayanother half-minute I shall be dead."

  Pinocchio hesitated; but, remembering that his father had often told himthat a good action is never lost, he swam to Alidoro, and, taking holdof his tail with both hands, brought him safe and sound on to the drysand of the beach.

  The poor dog could not stand. He had drunk so much salt water that hewas like a balloon. The puppet, however, not wishing to trust him toofar, thought it more prudent to jump again into the water. When he hadswum some distance from the shore he called out to the friend he hadrescued:

  "Good-bye, Alidoro; a good journey to you, and take my compliments toall at home."

  "Good-bye, Pinocchio," answered the dog; "a thousand thanks for havingsaved my life. You have done me a great service, and in this world whatis given is returned. If an occasion offers I shall not forget it."

  Pinocchio swam on, keeping always near the land. At last he thought thathe had reached a safe place. Giving a look along the shore, he sawamongst the rocks a kind of cave from which a cloud of smoke wasascending.

  "In that cave," he said to himself, "there must be a fire. So much thebetter. I will go and dry and warm myself, and then? and then we shallsee."

  Having taken the resolution he approached the rocks, but, as he wasgoing to climb up, he felt something under the water that rose higherand higher and carried him into the air. He tried to escape, but it wastoo late, for, to his extreme surprise, he found himself enclosed in agreat net, together with a swarm of fish of every size and shape, whowere flapping and struggling like so many despairing souls.

  At the same moment a fisherman came out of the cave; he was so ugly, sohorribly ugly, that he looked like a sea monster. Instead of hair hishead was covered with a thick bush of green grass, his skin was green,his eyes were green, his long beard that came down to the ground wasalso green. He had the appearance of an immense lizard standing on itshind-paws.

  When the fisherman had drawn his net out of the sea, he exclaimed withgreat satisfaction:

  "Thank Heaven! Again today I shall have a splendid feast of fish!"

  "What a mercy that I am not a fish!" said Pinocchio to himself,regaining a little courage.

  The netful of fish was carried into the cave, which was dark and smoky.In the middle of the cave a large frying-pan full of oil was frying andsending out a smell of mushrooms that was suffocating.

  "Now we will see what fish we have taken!" said the green fisherman,and, putting into the net an enormous hand, so out of all proportionthat it looked like a baker's shovel, he pulled out a handful of fish.

  "These fish are good!" he said, looking at them and smelling themcomplacently. And after he had smelled them he threw them into a panwithout water.

  He repeated the same operation many times, and as he drew out the fishhis mouth watered and he said, chuckling to himself:

  "What good whiting!"

  "What exquisite sardines!"

  "These soles are delicious!"

  "And these crabs excellent!"

  "What dear little anchovies!"

  The last to remain in the net was Pinocchio.

  No sooner had the fisherman taken him out than he opened his big greeneyes with astonishment and cried, half frightened:

  "What species of fish is this? Fish of this kind I never remember tohave eaten."

  And he looked at him again attentively and, having examined him well allover, he ended by saying:

  "I know: he must be a craw-fish."

  Pinocchio, mortified at being mistaken for a craw-fish, said in an angryvoice:

  "A craw-fish indeed! Do you take me for a craw-fish? what treatment! Letme tell you that I am a puppet."


  "A puppet?" replied the fisherman. "To tell the truth, a puppet isquite a new fish for me. All the better! I shall eat you with greaterpleasure."

  "Eat me! but will you understand that I am not a fish? Do you hear thatI talk and reason as you do?"

  "That is quite true," said the fisherman; "and as I see that you are afish possessed of the talent of talking and reasoning as I do, I willtreat you with all the attention that is your due."

  "And this attention?"

  "In token of my friendship and particular regard, I will leave you thechoice of how you would like to be cooked. Would you like to be fried inthe frying-pan, or would you prefer to be stewed with tomato sauce?"

  "To tell the truth," answered Pinocchio, "if I am to choose, I shouldprefer to be set at liberty and to return home."

  "You are joking! Do you imagine that I would lose the opportunity oftasting such a rare fish? It is not every day, I assure you, that apuppet fish is caught in these waters. Leave it to me. I will fry you inthe frying-pan with the other fish, and you will be quite satisfied. Itis always consolation to be fried in company."

  At this speech the unhappy Pinocchio began to cry and scream and toimplore for mercy, and he said, sobbing: "How much better it would havebeen if I had gone to school! I would listen to my companions and now Iam paying for it."

  And he wriggled like an eel and made indescribable efforts to slip outof the clutches of the green fisherman. But it was useless: thefisherman took a long strip of rush and, having bound his hands and feetas if he had been a sausage, he threw him into the pan with the otherfish.

  He then fetched a wooden bowl full of flour and began to flour themeach in turn, and as soon as they were ready he threw them into thefrying-pan.

  The first to dance in the boiling oil were the poor whitings; the crabsfollowed, then the sardines, then the soles, then the anchovies, and atlast it was Pinocchio's turn. Seeing himself so near death, and such ahorrible death, he was so frightened, and trembled so violently, that hehad neither voice nor breath left for further entreaties.

  But the poor boy implored with his eyes! The green fisherman, however,without caring in the least, plunged him five or six times in the flour,until he was white from head to foot and looked like a puppet made ofplaster.

  CHAPTER XXIX

  HE RETURNS TO THE FAIRY'S HOUSE

  Just as the fisherman was on the point of throwing Pinocchio into thefrying-pan a large dog entered the cave, enticed there by the strong andsavory odor of fried fish.

  "Get out!" shouted the fisherman, threateningly, holding the flouredpuppet in his hand.

  But the poor dog, who was as hungry as a wolf, whined and wagged histail as much as to say:

  "Give me a mouthful of fish and I will leave you in peace."

  "Get out, I tell you!" repeated the fisherman and he stretched out hisleg to give him a kick.

  But the dog, who, when he was really hungry, would not stand trifling,turned upon him, growling and showing his terrible tusks.

  At that moment a little feeble voice was heard in the cave, sayingentreatingly:

  "Save me, Alidoro! If you do not save me I shall be fried!"

  The dog recognized Pinocchio's voice and, to his extreme surprise,perceived that it proceeded from the floured bundle that the fishermanheld in his hand.

  So what do you think he did? He made a spring, seized the bundle in hismouth, and, holding it gently between his teeth, he rushed out of thecave and was gone like a flash of lightning.

  The fisherman, furious at seeing a fish he was so anxious to eatsnatched from him, ran after the dog, but he had not gone many stepswhen he was taken with a fit of coughing and had to give it up.

  Alidoro, when he had reached the path that led to the village, stoppedand put his friend Pinocchio gently on the ground.

  "How much I have to thank you for!" said the puppet.

  "There is no necessity," replied the dog. "You saved me and I have nowreturned it. You know that we must all help each other in this world."

  "But how came you to come to the cave?"

  "I was lying on the shore more dead than alive when the wind brought tome the smell of fried fish. The smell excited my appetite and I followedit up. If I had arrived a second later--"

  "Do not mention it!" groaned Pinocchio, who was still trembling withfright. "Do not mention it! If you had arrived a second later I shouldby this time have been fried, eaten and digested. Brrr! It makes meshudder only to think of it!"

  Alidoro, laughing, extended his right paw to the puppet, who shook itheartily in token of great friendship, and they then separated.

  The dog took the road home, and Pinocchio, left alone, went to a cottagenot far off and said to a little old man who was warming himself in thesun:

  "Tell me, good man, do you know anything of a poor boy called Eugene whowas wounded in the head?"

  "The boy was brought by some fishermen to this cottage, and now--"

  "And now he is dead!" interrupted Pinocchio with great sorrow.

  "No, he is alive and has returned to his home."

  "Not really? not really?" cried the puppet, dancing with delight. "Thenthe wound was not serious?"

  "It might have been very serious and even fatal," answered the littleold man, "for they threw a thick book bound in cardboard at his head."

  "And who threw it at him?"

  "One of his school-fellows, a certain Pinocchio."

  "And who is this Pinocchio?" asked the puppet, pretending ignorance.

  "They say that he is a bad boy, a vagabond, a regular good-for-nothing."

  "Calumnies! all calumnies!"

  "Do you know this Pinocchio?"

  "By sight!" answered the puppet.

  "And what is your opinion of him?" asked the little man.

  "He seems to me to be a very good boy, anxious to learn, and obedientand affectionate to his father and family."

  Whilst the puppet was firing off all these lies, he touched his nose andperceived that it had lengthened more than a hand. Very much alarmed hebegan to cry out:

  "Don't believe, good man, what I have been telling you. I know Pinocchiovery well and I can assure you that he is a very bad boy, disobedientand idle, who, instead of going to school, runs off with his companionsto amuse himself."

  He had hardly finished speaking when his nose became shorter andreturned to the same size that it was before.

  "And why are you all covered with white?" asked the old man suddenly.

  "I will tell you. Without observing it I rubbed myself against a wallwhich had been freshly whitewashed," answered the puppet, ashamed toconfess that he had been floured like a fish prepared for thefrying-pan.

  "And what have you done with your jacket, your trousers, and your cap?"

  "I met with robbers, who took them from me. Tell me, good old man, couldyou perhaps give me some clothes to return home in?"

  "My boy, as to clothes, I have nothing but a little sack in which I keepbeans. If you wish for it, take it; there it is."

  Pinocchio did not wait to be told twice. He took the sack at once andwith a pair of scissors he cut a hole at the end and at each side, andput it on like a shirt. And with this slight clothing he set off for thevillage.

  But as he went he did not feel at all comfortable--so little so, indeed,that for a step forward he took another backwards, and he said, talkingto himself:

  "How shall I ever present myself to my good little Fairy? What will shesay when she sees me? Will she forgive me this second escapade? Oh, I amsure that she will not forgive me! And it serves me right, for I am arascal. I am always promising to correct myself and I never keep myword!"

  When he reached the village it was night and very dark. A storm had comeon and as the rain was coming down in torrents he went straight to theFairy's house, resolved to knock at the door.

  But when he was there his courage failed him and instead of knocking heran away some twenty paces. He returned to the door a second time andlaid hold of the kn
ocker, and, trembling, gave a little knock.

  He waited and waited. At last, after half an hour had passed, a windowon the top floor was opened--the house was four stories high--andPinocchio saw a big Snail with a lighted candle on her head looking out.She called to him:

  "Who is there at this hour?"

  "Is the Fairy at home?" asked the puppet.

  "The Fairy is asleep and must not be awakened; but who are you?"

  "It is I."

  "Who is I?"

  "Pinocchio."

  "And who is Pinocchio?"

  "The puppet who lives in the Fairy's house."

  "Ah, I understand!" said the Snail. "Wait for me there. I will come downand open the door directly."

  "Be quick, for pity's sake, for I am dying of cold."

  "My boy, I am a snail, and snails are never in a hurry."

  An hour passed, and then two, and the door was not opened. Pinocchio,who was wet through and through, and trembling from cold and fear, atlast took courage and knocked again, and this time he knocked louder.

  At this second knock a window on the lower story opened and the sameSnail appeared at it.