THE ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO

by C. Collodi

[Pen name of Carlo Lorenzini]

Translated from the Italian by Carol Della Chiesa

CHAPTER 1

How Mastro Cherry, a carpenter, found a piece of wood that cried and laughed like a child.

Long ago there lived—

"A king!" you might say right away.

No, that's not right. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood. It wasn't fancy or expensive. It was just a plain block of firewood, the kind people burn in winter to make cold rooms warm.

I don't know exactly how it happened, but one day this piece of wood ended up in the shop of an old carpenter. His real name was Mastro Antonio, but everyone called him Mastro Cherry instead, because the tip of his nose was round, red, and shiny like a ripe cherry.

The moment he saw the piece of wood, Mastro Cherry felt happy. He rubbed his hands together and said to himself, "This log came at just the right time. I'll use it to make a table leg."

He grabbed his hatchet (a small axe) to peel off the bark and shape the wood. But just as he raised his arm to strike, he froze. A tiny voice had said, "Please be careful! Don't hit me so hard!"

Mastro Cherry's face filled with surprise. His already funny face looked even funnier.

He looked all around the room to find where the little voice came from, but he saw no one. He checked under the workbench—no one. He looked in the closet—no one. He searched through the wood shavings—no one. He opened the door and looked up and down the street—still no one!

"Oh, I understand now," he said, laughing and scratching his wig. "I only imagined I heard a tiny voice! Well, back to work."

He struck the wood hard with his hatchet.

"Ow! That hurt!" cried the same little voice.

Mastro Cherry froze. His eyes went wide, his mouth dropped open, and his tongue hung down to his chin.

When he finally could speak again, he stuttered from fear, "Where did that voice come from? No one is here! Could this piece of wood somehow cry and talk like a child? I can hardly believe it. It's just an ordinary piece of firewood, good only for burning in a stove, just like any other. But... could someone be hiding inside it? If so, he'll be sorry!"

With that, he grabbed the log with both hands and knocked it around without mercy. He threw it on the floor, against the walls, and even up toward the ceiling.

He listened for the tiny voice to cry out again. He waited two minutes—nothing. Five minutes—nothing. Ten minutes—nothing.

"Oh, I see," he said, trying to laugh bravely and smoothing his wig. "I only imagined that tiny voice! Well, back to work!"

The poor man was still scared, so he tried singing a cheerful song to feel braver.

He put down the hatchet and picked up his plane (a tool for smoothing wood). But as he pushed it back and forth across the wood, he heard the same tiny voice again. This time it was giggling.

"Stop it! Oh, stop it! Ha, ha, ha! That tickles my stomach!"

This time poor Mastro Cherry fell down as if he'd been shot. When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on the floor.

His face had changed completely. Fear had turned even the tip of his nose from red to deep purple.

CHAPTER 2

Mastro Cherry gives the piece of wood to his friend Geppetto, who plans to carve a puppet that can dance, fence, and do somersaults.

Just then, someone knocked loudly on the door.

"Come in," said the carpenter, too weak with fear to stand up.

The door opened, and a neat little old man walked in. His name was Geppetto, but the neighborhood boys called him "Polendina" (which means cornmeal mush) because of his yellow wig, which was the color of corn.

Geppetto had quite a temper. Anyone who called him Polendina made him furious, and nothing could calm him down once he got angry.

"Good day, Mastro Antonio," said Geppetto. "What are you doing down on the floor?"

"I'm teaching the ants their ABCs."

"Well, good luck with that!"

"What brings you here, friend Geppetto?"

"My legs brought me here. And I've actually come to ask you for a favor."

"I'm at your service," said the carpenter, getting up onto his knees.

"This morning I had a wonderful idea."

"Let's hear it."

"I want to carve myself a wooden puppet—a really special one that can dance, fence, and do somersaults! I'll use it to travel the world and earn my bread and a bit of wine. What do you think?"

"Bravo, Polendina!" called out the same strange little voice from before.

Hearing himself called "Polendina," Geppetto turned red as a pepper. He spun around to face the carpenter angrily.

"Why are you insulting me?"

"Who's insulting you?"

"You called me Polendina!"

"I did not!"

"So you think I said it? Well, I know it was you!"

"No, it wasn't!"

"Yes, it was!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

They kept arguing, getting angrier by the second, until they started shoving each other, then scratching, biting, and slapping.

When the fight ended, Mastro Antonio was holding Geppetto's yellow wig, and Geppetto had the carpenter's curly wig in his mouth.

"Give me back my wig!" shouted Mastro Antonio.

"You give me mine back, and we'll call it even."

The two little old men put their own wigs back on, shook hands, and promised to stay friends for life.

"Well then, Mastro Geppetto," said the carpenter, wanting to show there were no hard feelings, "what did you need?"

"I need a piece of wood to make my puppet. Will you give me one?"

Happily, Mastro Antonio went to his workbench to get the very piece of wood that had frightened him so badly. But just as he handed it to his friend, the wood jerked suddenly and hit poor Geppetto right in the legs.

"Is this really how you give gifts, Mastro Antonio? You've nearly crippled me!"

"I swear I didn't do that!"

"So I did it myself, is that it?"

"It's this piece of wood's fault!"

"You're right—but you're the one who threw it at my legs."

"I did not throw it!"

"Liar!"

"Geppetto, don't insult me, or I'll call you Polendina."

"You idiot!"

"Polendina!"

"You donkey!"

"Polendina!"

"You ugly monkey!"

"Polendina!"

Hearing "Polendina" for the third time, Geppetto lost his temper completely and lunged at the carpenter. The two of them wrestled and fought all over again.

When it was over, Mastro Antonio had two new scratches on his nose, and Geppetto was missing two buttons from his coat. Having settled things, they shook hands once more and promised again to be friends forever.

Then Geppetto took the fine piece of wood, thanked Mastro Antonio, and limped home.

CHAPTER 3

Geppetto carves the puppet as soon as he gets home and names him Pinocchio. The puppet's first tricks.

Geppetto's house was small, but neat and cozy. It was just one room on the ground floor, with a tiny window tucked under the stairs. The furniture was very simple: an old chair, a wobbly bed, and a worn-out table. On one wall was a painting of a fireplace with burning logs, and above it, a painting of a pot that seemed to bubble happily, with painted steam rising from it.

As soon as Geppetto got home, he grabbed his tools and began carving the wood into a puppet.

"What should I name him?" he wondered aloud. "I'll call him PINOCCHIO. That name will bring him luck. I once knew a whole family named Pinocchio—the father, the mother, and all their children—and they were lucky people. Even the richest one among them had to beg for food!"

After choosing the name, Geppetto got to work carving the hair, the forehead, and the eyes. He was shocked when the eyes suddenly moved and stared right at him! Feeling insulted, he said, "Rude wooden eyes, why are you staring at me like that?"

No answer came.

Next, he carved the nose. But as soon as he finished it, the nose began to grow. It stretched and stretched until it seemed like it would never stop.

Poor Geppetto kept trimming it shorter, but the more he cut, the longer that stubborn nose grew! Finally, he gave up and left it alone.

Then he made the mouth. The moment it was finished, it started laughing at him.

"Stop laughing!" Geppetto said angrily. But talking to the mouth was like talking to a wall.

"I said stop laughing!" he shouted.

The mouth stopped laughing—but then it stuck out a long tongue instead.

Not wanting to argue anymore, Geppetto pretended not to notice and kept working. After the mouth, he made the chin, the neck, the shoulders, the stomach, the arms, and the hands.

Just as he finished the fingers, Geppetto felt his wig get yanked off his head. He looked up—Pinocchio was holding his yellow wig! "Pinocchio, give me back my wig!"

But instead of returning it, Pinocchio put it on his own head, where it swallowed him up to his ears.

Geppetto felt sadder than he had ever felt before. "Pinocchio, you naughty boy!" he cried. "You're not even finished yet, and you're already being rude to your poor father! That's very bad, my son, very bad indeed!"

He wiped away a tear.

He still needed to make the legs and feet. As soon as they were done, Geppetto felt a sharp kick right on the tip of his nose.

"I probably deserve that," he said to himself. "I should have thought about this before I made him. Now it's too late!"

He picked the puppet up under the arms and set him on the floor to teach him how to walk.

Pinocchio's legs were so stiff he couldn't move them at first, so Geppetto held his hand and showed him how to step, one foot after the other.

Once his legs loosened up, Pinocchio started walking on his own—and then ran all around the room! He dashed through the open door and leaped out into the street. Away he flew!

Poor Geppetto chased after him but couldn't catch up, because Pinocchio bounded along so fast that his wooden feet clattered on the stones like twenty people stomping around in wooden shoes.

"Catch him! Catch him!" Geppetto shouted. But the people in the street just stopped and stared at the wooden puppet running like the wind—then burst out laughing until they cried.

Luckily, a Carabineer (a kind of police officer) happened to be nearby. Hearing all the noise, he thought a runaway horse must be loose. He planted himself in the middle of the street with his legs spread wide, ready to stop whatever was coming.

Pinocchio spotted the Carabineer from far away and tried to dash between his legs to escape—but it didn't work.

The Carabineer grabbed him by the nose (which was so long it seemed made just for grabbing) and handed him back to Geppetto.

The old man wanted to pull Pinocchio's ears as punishment. But when he reached for them, he realized he'd forgotten to carve any ears at all!

So instead, he grabbed Pinocchio by the back of the neck and led him home. As he did, he...