287 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
287 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
PPINOCCHIO
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Once upon a time... a carpenter, picked up a strange lump of wood one day
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while mending a table. When he began to chip it, the wood started to moan.
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This frightened the carpenter and he decided to get rid of it at once, so he
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gave it to a friend called Geppetto, who wanted to make a puppet. Geppetto, a
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cobbler, took his lump of wood home, thinking about the name he would give his
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puppet.
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"I'll call him Pinocchio," he told himself. "It's a lucky name." Back in
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his humble basement home and workshop, Geppetto started to carve the wood.
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Suddenly a voice squealed:
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"Ooh! That hurt!" Geppeto was astonished to find that the wood was alive.
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Excitedly he carved a head, hair and eyes, which immediately stared right at
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the cobbler. But the second Geppetto carved out the nose, it grew longer and
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longer, and no matter how often the cobbler cut it down to size, it just
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stayed a long nose. The newly cut mouth began to chuckle and when Geppetto
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angrily complained, the puppet stuck out his tongue at him. That was nothing,
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however! When the cobbler shaped the hands, they snatched the good man's wig,
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and the newly carved legs gave him a hearty kick. His eyes brimming with
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tears, Geppetto scolded the puppet.
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"You naughty boy! I haven't even finished making you, yet you've no respect
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for your father!" Then he picked up the puppet and, a step at a time, taught
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him to walk. But the minute Pinocchio stood upright, he started to run about
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the room, with Geppetto after him, then he opened the door and dashed into the
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street. Now, Pinocchio ran faster than Geppetto and though the poor cobbler
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shouted "Stop him! Stop him!" none of the onlookers, watching in amusement,
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moved a finger. Luckily, a policeman heard the cobbler's shouts and strode
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quickly down the street. Grabbing the runaway, he handed him over to his
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father.
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"I'll box your ears," gasped Geppetto, still out of breath. Then he
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realised that was impossible, for in his haste to carve the puppet, he had
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forgotten to make his ears. Pinocchio had got a fright at being in the
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clutches of the police, so he apologised and Geppetto forgave his son.
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Indeed, the minute they reached home, the cobbler made Pinocchio a suit
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out of flowered paper, a pair of bark shoes and a soft bread hat. The puppet
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hugged his father.
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"I'd like to go to school," he said, "to become clever and help you when
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you're old!" Geppetto was touched by this kind thought.
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"I'm very grateful," he replied, "but we haven't enough money even to buy
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you the first reading book!" Pinocchio looked downcast, then Geppetto
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suddenly rose to his feet, put on his old tweed coat and went out of the
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house. Not long after he returned carrying a first reader, but minus his
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coat. It was snowing outside.
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"Where's your coat, father?"
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"I sold it."
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"Why did you sell it?"
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"It kept me too warm!"
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Pinocchio threw his arms round Geppetto's neck and kissed the kindly old
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man.
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It had stopped snowing and Pinocchio set out for school with his first
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reading book under his arm. He was full of good intentions. "Today I want to
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learn to read. Tomorrow I'll learn to write and the day after to count. Then
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I'll earn some money and buy Geppetto a fine new coat. He deserves it,
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for . . ." The sudden sound of a brass band broke into the puppet's daydream
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and he soon forgot all about school. He ended up in a crowded square where
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people were clustering round a brightly coloured booth.
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"What's that?" he asked a boy.
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"Can't you read? It's the Great Puppet Show!"
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"How much do you pay to go inside?"
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"Fourpence.'
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"Who'll give me fourpence for this brand new book?" Pinocchio cried. A
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nearby junk seller bought the reading book and Pinocchio hurried into the
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booth. Poor Geppetto. His sacrifice had been quite in vain. Hardly had
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Pinocchio got inside, when he was seen by one of the puppets on the stage
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who cried out:
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"There's Pinocchio! There's Pinocchio!"
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"Come, along. Come up here with us. Hurrah for brother Pinocchio!" cried
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the puppets. Pinocchio weent onstage with his new friends, while the
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spectators below began to mutter about uproar. Then out strode Giovanni, the
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puppet-master, a frightful looking man with fierce bloodshot eyes.
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"What's going on here? Stop that noise! Get in line, or you'll hear about
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it later!"
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That evening, Giovanni sat down to his meal, but when he found that more
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wood was needed to finish cooking his nice chunk of meat, he remembered the
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intruder who had upset his show.
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"Come here, Pinocchio! You'll make good firewood!" The poor puppet started
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to weep and plead.
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"Save me, father! I don't want to die . . . I don't want to die!" When
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Giovanni heard Pinocchio's cries, he was surprised.
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"Are your parents still alive?" he asked.
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"My father is, but I've never known my mother," said the puppet in a low
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voice. The big man's heart melted.
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"It would be beastly for your father if I did throw you into the fire . . .
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but I must finish roasting the mutton. I'll just have to burn another puppet.
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Men! Bring me Harlequin, trussed!" When Pinocchio saw that another puppet was
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going to be burned in his place, he wept harder than ever.
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"Please don't, sir! Oh, sir, please don't! Don't burn Harlequin!"
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"That's enough!" boomed Giovanni in a rage. "I want my meat well cooked!"
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"In that case," cried Pinocchio defiantly, rising to his feet, "burn me!
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It's not right that Harlequin should be burnt instead of me!"
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Giovanni was taken aback. "Well, well!" he said. "I've never met a puppet
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hero before!" Then he went on in a milder tone. "You really are a good lad. I
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might indeed . . ." Hope flooded Pinocchio's heart as the puppet-master stared
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at him, then at last the man said: "All right! I'll eat half-raw mutton
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tonight, but next time, somebody will find himself in a pickle." All the
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puppets were delighted at being saved. Giovanni asked Pinocchio to tell him
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the whole tale, and feeling sorry for kindhearted Geppetto, he gave the puppet
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five gold pieces.
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"Take these to your father," he said. "Tell him to buy himself a new coat,
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and give him my regards."
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Pinocchio cheerfully left the puppet booth after thanking Giovanni for
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being so generous. He was hurrying homewards when he met a half-blind cat and
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a lame fox. He couldn't help but tell them all about his good fortune, and when
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the pair set eyes on the gold coins, they hatched a plot, saying to Pinocchio:
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"If you would really like to please your father, you ought to take him a
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lot more coins. Now, we know of a magic meadow where you can sow these five
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coins. The next day, you will find they have become ten times as many!"
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"How can that happen?" asked Pinocchio in amazement.
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"I'll tell you how!" exclaimed the fox. "In the land of Owls lies a meadow
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known as Miracle Meadow. If you plant one gold coin in a little hole, next day
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you will find a whole tree dripping with gold coins!" Pinocchio drank in every
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word his two "friends" uttered and off they all went to the Red Shrimp Inn to
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drink to their meeting and future wealth.
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After food and a short rest, they made plans to leave at midnight for
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Miracle Meadow. However, when Pinocchio was wakened by the innkeeper at the
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time arranged, he found that the fox and the cat had already left. All the
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puppet could do then was pay for the dinner, using one of his gold coins, and
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set off alone along the path through the woods to the magic meadow.
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Suddenly... "Your money or your life!" snarled two hooded bandits. Now,
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Pinocchio had hidden the coins under his tongue, so he could not say a word,
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and nothing the bandits could do would make Pinocchio tell where the coins
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were hidden. Still mute, even when the wicked pair tied a noose round the poor
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puppet's neck and pulled it tighter and tighter, Pinocchio's last thought was
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"Father, help me!"
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Of course, the hooded bandits were the fox and the cat. "You'll hang
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there," they said, "till you decide to talk. We'll be back soon to see if you
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have changed your mind!" And away they went.
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However, a fairy who lived nearby had overheard everything . . . From the
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castle window, the Turquoise Fairy saw a kicking puppet dangling from an oak
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tree in the wood. Taking pity on him, she clapped her hands three times and
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suddenly a hawk and a dog appeared.
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"Quickly!" said the fairy to the hawk. "Fly to that oak tree and with your
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beak snip away the rope round the poor lad's neck!"
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To the dog she said: "Fetch the carriage and gently bring him to me!"
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In no time at all, Pinocchio, looking quite dead, was lying in a cosy bed
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in the castle, while the fairy called three famous doctors, crow, owl and
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cricket. A very bitter medicine, prescribed by these three doctors quickly
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cured the puppet, then as she caressed him, the fairy said: "Tell me what
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happened!"
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Pinocchio told her his story, leaving out the bit about selling his first
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reading book, but when the fairy asked him where the gold coins were, the
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puppet replied that he had lost them. In fact, they were hidden in one of his
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pockets. All at once, Pinocchio's nose began to stretch, while the fairy
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laughed.
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"You've just told a lie! I know you have, because your nose is growing
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longer!" Blushing with shame, Pinocchio had no idea what to do with such an
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ungainly nose and he began to weep. However, again feeling sorry for him, the
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fairy clapped her hands and a flock of woodpeckers appeared to peck his nose
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back to its proper length.
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"Now, don't tell any more lies," the fairy warned him," or your nose will
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grow again! Go home and take these coins to your father."
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Pinocchio gratefully hugged the fairy and ran off homewards. But near the
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oak tree in the forest, he bumped into the cat and the fox. Breaking his
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promise, he foolishly let himself be talked into burying the coins in the
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magic meadow. Full of hope, he returned next day, but the coins had gone.
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Pinocchio sadly trudged home without the coins Giovanni had given him for his
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father.
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After scolding the puppet for his long absence, Geppetto forgave him and
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off he went to school. Pinocchio seemed to have calmed down a bit. But someone
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else was about to cross his path and lead him astray. This time, it was Carlo,
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the lazy bones of the class.
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"Why don't you come to Toyland with me?" he said. "Nobody ever studies
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there and you can play all day long!"
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"Does such a place really exist?" asked Pinocchio in amazement.
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"The wagon comes by this evening to take me there," said Carlo. "Would you
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like to come?"
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Forgetting all his promises to his father and the fairy, Pinocchio was
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again heading for trouble. Midnight struck, and the wagon arrived to pick up
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the two friends, along with some other lads who could hardly wait to reach a
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place where schoolbooks and teachers had never been heard of. Twelve pairs of
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donkeys pulled the wagon, and they were all shod with white leather boots. The
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boys clambered into the wagon. Pinocchio, the most excited of them all, jumped
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on to a donkey. Toyland, here we come!
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Now Toyland was just as Carlo had described it: the boys all had great fun
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and there were no lessons. You weren't even allowed to whisper the word
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"school", and Pinocchio could hardly believe he was able to play all the time.
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"This is the life!" he said each time he met Carlo.
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"I was right, wasn't I?" exclaimed his friend, pleased with himself.
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"Oh, yes Carlo! Thanks to you I'm enjoying myself. And just think: teacher
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told me to keep well away from you."
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One day, however, Pinocchio awoke to a nasty surprise. When he raised a
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hand to his head, he found he had sprouted a long pair of hairy ears, in place
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of the sketchy ears that Geppetto had never got round to finishing. And that
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wasn't all! The next day, they had grown longer than ever. Pinocchio
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shamefully pulled on a large cotton cap and went off to search for Carlo. He
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too was wearing a hat, pulled right down to his nose. With the same thought in
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their heads, the boys stared at each other, then snatching off their hats,
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they began to laugh at the funny sight of long hairy ears. But as they
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screamed with laughter, Carlo suddenly went pale and began to stagger.
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"Pinocchio, help! Help!" But Pinocchio himself was stumbling about and he
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burst into tears. For their faces were growing into the shape of a donkey's
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head and they felt themselves go down on all foursf. Pinocchio and Carlo were
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turning into a pair of donkeys. And when they tried to groan with fear, they
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brayed loudly instead. When the Toyland wagon driver heard the braying of his
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new donkeys, he rubbed his hands in glee.
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"There are two fine new donkeys to take to market. I'll get at least four
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gold pieces for them!" For such was the awful fate that awaited naughty little
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boys that played truant from school to spend all their time playing games.
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Carlo was sold to a farmer, and a circus man bought Pinocchio to teach him
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to do tricks like his other performing animals. It was a hard life for a
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donkey! Nothing to eat but hay, and when that was gone, nothing but straw. And
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the beatings! Pinocchio was beaten every day till he had mastered the
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difficult circus tricks. One day, as he was jumping through the hoop, he
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stumbled and went lame. The circus man called the stable boy.
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"A lame donkey is no use to me," he said. "Take it to market and get rid of
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it at any price!" But nobody wanted to buy a useless donkey. Then along came a
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little man who said: "I'll take it for the skin. It will make a good drum for
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the village band!"
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And so, for a few pennies, Pinocchio changed hands and he brayed
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sorrowfully when he heard what his awful fate was to be. The puppet's new
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owner led him to the edge of the sea, tied a large stone to his neck, and a
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long rope round Pinocchio's legs and pushed hlm into the water. Clutching the
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end of the rope, the man sat down to wait for Pinocchio to drown. Then he
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would flay off the donkey's skin.
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Pinocchio struggled for breath at the bottom of the sea, and in a flash,
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remembered all the bother he had given Geppetto, his broken promises too, and
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he called on the fairy.
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The fairy heard Pinocchio's call and when she saw he was about to drown,
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she sent a shoal of big fish. They ate away all the donkey flesh, leaving the
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wooden Pinocchio. Just then, as the fish stopped nibbling, Pinocchio felt
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himself hauled out of the water. And the man gaped in astonishment at the
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living puppet, twisting and turning like an eel, which appeared in place of
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the dead donkey. When he recovered his wits, he babbled, almost in tears:
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"Where's the donkey I threw into the sea?"
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"I'm that donkey", giggled Pinocchio.
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"You!" gasped the man. "Don't try pulling my leg. If I get angry . . ."
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However, Pinocchio told the man the whole story . . . "and that's how you
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come to have a live puppet on the end of the rope instead of a dead donkey!"
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"I don't give a whit for your story," shouted the man in a rage. "All I
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know is that I paid twenty coins for you and I want my money back! Since
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there's no donkey, I'll take you to market and sell you as firewood!"
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By then free of the rope, Pinocchio made a face at the man and dived into
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the sea. Thankful to be a wooden puppet again, Pinocchio swam happily out to
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sea and was soon just a dot on the horizon. But his adventures were far from
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over. Out of the water behind him loomed a terrible giant shark! A horrified
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Pinocchio sawits wide open jaws and tried to swim away as fast as he could,
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but the monster only glided closer. Then the puppet tried to escape by going
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in the other direction, but in vain. He could never escape the shark, for as
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the water rushed into its cavern-like mouth, he was sucked in with it. And in
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an instant Pinocchio had been swallowed along with shoals of fish unlucky
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enough to be in the fierce creature's path. Down he went, tossed in the
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torrent of water as it poured down the shark's throat, till he felt dizy. When
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Pinocchio came to his senses, he was in darkness. Over his head, he could hear
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the loud heave of the shark's gills. On his hands and knees, the puppet crept
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down what felt like a sloping path, crying as he went:
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"Help! Help! Won't anybody save me?"
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Suddenly, he noticed a pale light and, as he crept towards it, he saw it
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was a flame in the distance. On he went, till: "Father! It can't be you! . . ."
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"Pinocchio! Son! It really is you . . ."
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Weeping for joy, they hugged each other and, between sobs, told their
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adventures. Geppetto stroked the puppet's head and told him how he came to be
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in the shark's stomach.
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"I was looking for you everywhere. When I couldn't find you on dry land, I
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made a boat to search for you on the sea. But the boat capsized in a storm,
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then the shark gulped me down. Lucklly, it also swallowed bits of ships
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wrecked in the tempest, so I've managed to survive by gettlng what I could
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from these!"
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"Well, we're still alive!" remarked Pinocchio, when they had finished
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recounting their adventures. "We must get out of here!" Taking Geppetto's hand,
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the pair started to climb up the shark's stomach, using a candle to light their
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way. When they got as far as its jaws, they took fright, but as so happened,
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this shark slept with its mouth open, for it suffered from asthma.
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As luck would have it, the shark had been basking in shallow waters since
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the day before, and Pinocchio soon reached the beach. Dawn was just breaking,
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and Geppetto, soaked to the skin, was half dead with cold and fright.
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"Lean on me, father." said Pinocchio. "I don't know where we are, but we'll
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soon find our way home!"
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Beside the sands stood an old hut made of branches, and there they took
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shelter. Geppetto was running a temperature, but Pinocchio went out, saying,
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"I'm going to get you some milk." The bleating of goats led the puppet in the
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right direction, and he soon came upon a farmer. Of course, he had no money to
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pay for the milk.
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"My donkey's dead," said the farmer. "If you work the treadmill from dawn
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to noon, then you can have some milk." And so, for days on end, Pinocchio rose
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early each morning to earn Geppetto's food.
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At long last, Pinocchio and Geppetto reached home. The puppet worked late
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into the night weaving reed baskets to make money for his father and himself.
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One day, he heard that the fairy after a wave of bad luck, was ill in
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hospital. So instead of buying himself a new suit of clothes, Pinocchio sent
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the fairy the money to pay for her treatment.
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One night, in a wonderful dream, the fairy appeared to reward Pinocchio for
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his kindness. When the puppet looked in the mirror next morning, he found he
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had turned into somebody else. For there in the mirror, was a handsome young
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lad with blue eyes and brown hair. Geppetto hugged him happily.
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"Where's the old wooden Pinocchio?" the young lad asked in astonishment.
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"There!" exclaimed Geppetto, pointing at him. "When bad boys become good,
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their looks change along with their lives!"
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