Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet

  In every square, canvas theaters had been erected and they were crowdedwith boys from morning till evening. On the walls of the houses therewere inscriptions written in charcoal: "Long live playthings, we willhave no more schools; down with arithmetic," and similar other finesentiments, all in bad spelling.

  Pinocchio, Candlewick and the other boys who had made the journey withthe little man, had scarcely set foot in the town before they were inthe thick of the tumult, and I need not tell you that in a few minutesthey had made acquaintance with everybody. Where could happier or morecontented boys be found?

  In the midst of continual games and every variety of amusement, thehours, the days and the weeks passed like lightning.

  "Oh, what a delightful life!" said Pinocchio, whenever by chance he metCandlewick.

  "See, then, if I was not right?" replied the other. "And to think thatyou did not want to come! To think that you had taken it into your headto return home to your Fairy, and to lose your time in studying! If youare this moment free from the bother of books and school, you mustacknowledge that you owe it to me, to my advice, and to my persuasions.It is only friends who know how to render such great services."

  "It is true, Candlewick! If I am now a really happy boy, it is all yourdoing. But do you know what the master used to say when he talked to meof you? He always said to me: 'Do not associate with that rascalCandlewick, for he is a bad companion, and will only lead you intomischief!'"

  "Poor master!" replied the other, shaking his head. "I know only toowell that he disliked me, and amused himself by calumniating me; but Iam generous and I forgive him!"

  "Noble soul!" said Pinocchio, embracing his friend affectionately andkissing him between the eyes.

  This delightful life had gone on for five months. The days had beenentirely spent in play and amusement, without a thought of books orschool, when one morning Pinocchio awoke to a most disagreeable surprisethat put him into a very bad humor.

  CHAPTER XXXII

  PINOCCHIO TURNS INTO A DONKEY

  The surprise was that Pinocchio, when he awoke, scratched his head, andin scratching his head he discovered, to his great astonishment, thathis ears had grown more than a hand.

  You know that the puppet from his birth had always had very smallears--so small that they were not visible to the naked eye. You canimagine then what he felt when he found that during the night his earshad become so long that they seemed like two brooms.

  He went at once in search of a glass that he might look at himself, but,not being able to find one, he filled the basin of his washing-standwith water, and he saw reflected what he certainly would never havewished to see. He saw his head embellished with a magnificent pair ofdonkey's ears!

  Only think of poor Pinocchio's sorrow, shame and despair!

  He began to cry and roar, and he beat his head against the wall, but themore he cried the longer his ears grew; they grew, and grew, and becamehairy towards the points.

  At the sound of his loud outcries a beautiful little Marmot that livedon the first floor came into the room. Seeing the puppet in such griefshe asked earnestly:

  "What has happened to you, my dear fellow-lodger?"

  "I am ill, my dear little Marmot, very ill, and my illness frightens me.Do you understand counting a pulse?"

  "A little."

  "Then feel and see if by chance I have got fever."

  The little Marmot raised her right fore-paw, and, after having feltPinocchio's pulse, she said to him, sighing:

  "My friend, I am grieved to be obliged to give you bad news!"

  "What is it?"

  "You have got a very bad fever!"

  "What fever is it?"

  "It is donkey fever."

  "That is a fever that I do not understand," said the puppet, but heunderstood it only too well.

  "Then I will explain it to you," said the Marmot. "You must know that intwo or three hours you will be no longer a puppet, or a boy."

  "Then what shall I be?"

  "In two or three hours you will become really and truly a little donkey,like those that draw carts and carry cabbages and salad to market."

  "Oh, unfortunate that I am! unfortunate that I am!" cried Pinocchio,seizing his two ears with his hands and pulling them and tearing themfuriously as if they had been some one else's ears.

  "My dear boy," said the Marmot, by way of consoling him, "you can donothing. It is destiny. It is written in the decrees of wisdom that allboys who are lazy, and who take a dislike to books, to schools, and tomasters, and who pass their time in amusement, games, and diversions,must end sooner or later by becoming transformed into so many littledonkeys."

  "But is it really so?" asked the puppet, sobbing.

  "It is indeed only too true! And tears are now useless. You should havethought of it sooner!"

  "But it was not my fault; believe me, little Marmot, the fault was allCandlewick's!"

  "And who is this Candlewick?"

  "One of my school-fellows. I wanted to return home; I wanted to beobedient. I wished to study, but Candlewick said to me: 'Why should youbother yourself by studying? Why should you go to school? Come with usinstead to the "Land of Boobies"; there we shall none of us have tolearn; there we shall amuse ourselves from morning to night, and weshall always be merry'."

  "And why did you follow the advice of that false friend? of that badcompanion?"

  "Why? Because, my dear little Marmot, I am a puppet with no sense, andwith no heart. Ah! if I had had the least heart I should never have leftthat good Fairy who loved me like a mamma, and who had done so much forme! And I would be no longer a puppet, for I would by this time havebecome a little boy like so many others: But if I meet Candlewick, woeto him! He shall hear what I think of him!"

  And he turned to go out. But when he reached the door he remembered hisdonkey's ears, and, feeling ashamed to show them in public, what do youthink he did? He took a big cotton cap and, putting it on his head, hepulled it well down over the point of his nose.

  He then set out and went everywhere in search of Candlewick. He lookedfor him in the streets, in the squares, in the little theaters, in everypossible place, but he could not find him. He inquired for him ofeverybody he met, but no one had seen him.

  He then went to seek him at his house and, having reached the door, heknocked.

  "Who is there?" asked Candlewick from within.

  "It is I!" answered the puppet.

  "Wait a moment and I will let you in."

  After half an hour the door was opened and imagine Pinocchio's feelingswhen, upon going into the room, he saw his friend Candlewick with a bigcotton cap on his head which came down over his nose.

  At the sight of the cap Pinocchio felt almost consoled and thought tohimself:

  "Has my friend got the same illness that I have? Is he also sufferingfrom donkey fever?"

  And, pretending to have observed nothing, he asked him, smiling:

  "How are you, my dear Candlewick?"

  "Very well; as well as a mouse in a Parmesan cheese."

  "Are you saying that seriously?"

  "Why should I tell you a lie?"

  "Excuse me; but why, then, do you keep that cotton cap on your headwhich covers up your ears?"

  "The doctor ordered me to wear it because I have hurt this knee. Andyou, dear puppet, why have you got on that cotton cap pulled down overyour nose?"

  "The doctor prescribed it because I have grazed my foot."

  "Oh, poor Pinocchio!"

  "Oh, poor Candlewick!"

  After these words a long silence followed, during which the two friendsdid nothing but look mockingly at each other.

  At last the puppet said in a soft voice to his companion:

  "Satisfy my curiosity, my dear Candlewick: have you ever suffered fromdisease of the ears?"

  "Never! And you?"

  "Never. Only since this morning one of my ears aches."

  "Mine is also paining me."

  "You also? And which of your ears hurts
you?"

  "Both of them. And you?"

  "Both of them. Can we have got the same illness?"

  "I fear so."

  "Will you do me a kindness, Candlewick?"

  "Willingly! With all my heart."

  "Will you let me see your ears?"

  "Why not? But first, my dear Pinocchio, I should like to see yours."

  "No: you must be first."

  "No, dear. First you and then I!"

  "Well," said the puppet, "let us come to an agreement like goodfriends."

  "Let us hear it."

  "We will both take off our caps at the same moment. Do you agree?"

  "I agree."

  "Then, attention!"

  And Pinocchio began to count in a loud voice:

  "One, two, three!"

  At the word "Three!" the two boys took off their caps and threw theminto the air.

  And then a scene followed that would seem incredible if it were nottrue. That is, that when Pinocchio and Candlewick discovered that theywere both struck with the same misfortune, instead of feeling full ofmortification and grief, they began to prick their ungainly ears and tomake a thousand antics, and they ended by going into bursts of laughter.

  And they laughed, and laughed, and laughed, until they had to holdthemselves together. But in the midst of their merriment Candlewicksuddenly stopped, staggered, and, changing color, said to his friend:

  "Help, help, Pinocchio!"

  "What is the matter with you?"

  "Alas, I cannot any longer stand upright."

  "Neither can I," exclaimed Pinocchio, tottering and beginning to cry.

  And whilst they were talking, they both doubled up and began to runround the room on their hands and feet. And as they ran, their handsbecame hoofs, their faces lengthened into muzzles, and their backsbecame covered with a light gray hairy coat sprinkled with black.

  But do you know what was the worst moment for these two wretched boys?The worst and the most humiliating moment was when their tails grew.Vanquished by shame and sorrow, they wept and lamented their fate.

  Oh, if they had but been wiser! But instead of sighs and lamentationsthey could only bray like asses; and they brayed loudly and said inchorus: "Hee-haw!"

  Whilst this was going on some one knocked at the door and a voice on theoutside said:

  "Open the door! I am the little man, I am the coachman who brought youto this country. Open at once, or it will be the worse for you!"

  CHAPTER XXXIII

  PINOCCHIO IS TRAINED FOR THE CIRCUS

  Finding that the door remained shut the little man burst it open with aviolent kick and, coming into the room, he said to Pinocchio andCandlewick with his usual little laugh:

  "Well done, boys! You brayed well, and I recognized you by your voices.That is why I am here."

  At these words the two little donkeys were quite stupefied and stoodwith their heads down, their ears lowered, and their tails between theirlegs.

  At first the little man stroked and caressed them; then, taking out acurrycomb, he currycombed them well. And when by this process he hadpolished them till they shone like two mirrors, he put a halter roundtheir necks and led them to the market-place, in hopes of selling themand making a good profit.

  And indeed buyers were not wanting. Candlewick was bought by a peasantwhose donkey had died the previous day. Pinocchio was sold to thedirector of a company of buffoons and tight-rope dancers, who bought himthat he might teach him to leap and to dance with the other animalsbelonging to the company.

  And now, my little readers, you will have understood the fine trade thatlittle man pursued. The wicked little monster, who had a face all milkand honey, made frequent journeys round the world with his coach. As hewent along he collected, with promises and flattery, all the idle boyswho had taken a dislike to books and school. As soon as his coach wasfull he conducted them to the "Land of Boobies," that they might passtheir time in games, in uproar, and in amusement. When these poor,deluded boys, from continual play and no study, had become so manylittle donkeys, he took possession of them with great delight andsatisfaction, and carried them off to the fairs and markets to be sold.And in this way he had in a few years made heaps of money and had becomea millionaire.

  What became of Candlewick I do not know, but I do know that Pinocchiofrom the very first day had to endure a very hard, laborious life.

  When he was put into his stall his master filled the manger with straw;but Pinocchio, having tried a mouthful, spat it out again.

  Then his master, grumbling, filled the manger with hay; but neither didthe hay please him.

  "Ah!" exclaimed his master in a passion. "Does not hay please youeither? Leave it to me, my fine donkey; if you are so full of caprices Iwill find a way to cure you!"

  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 asininedialect.

  "Hee-haw! hay gives me a pain in my stomach."

  "Do you mean to pretend that a little donkey like you must be kept onbreasts of chickens, and capons in jelly?" asked his master, gettingmore and more angry, and whipping him again.

  At this second whipping Pinocchio prudently held his tongue and saidnothing more.

  The stable was then shut and Pinocchio was left alone. He had not eatenfor many hours and he began to yawn from hunger. And when he yawned heopened a mouth that seemed as wide as an oven.

  At last, finding nothing else in the manger, he resigned himself andchewed a little hay; and after he had chewed it well, he shut his eyesand swallowed it.

  "This hay is not bad," he said to himself; "but how much better it wouldhave been if I had gone on with my studies! Instead of hay I might nowbe eating a hunch of new bread and a fine slice of sausage. But I musthave patience!"

  The next morning when he woke he looked in the manger for a little morehay; but he found none, for he had eaten it all during the night.

  Then he took a mouthful of chopped straw, but whilst he was chewing ithe had to acknowledge that the taste of chopped straw did not in theleast resemble a savory dish of macaroni or pie.

  "But I must have patience!" he repeated as he went on chewing. "May myexample serve at least as a warning to all disobedient boys who do notwant to study. Patience!"

  "Patience indeed!" shouted his master, coming at that moment into thestable. "Do you think, my little donkey, that I bought you only to giveyou food and drink? I bought you to make you work, and that you mightearn money for me. Up, then, at once! you must come with me into thecircus, and there I will teach you to jump through hoops, to go throughframes of paper head foremost, to dance waltzes and polkas, and to standupright on your hind legs."

  Poor Pinocchio, either by love or by force, had to learn all these finethings. But it took him three months before he had learned them, and hegot many a whipping that nearly took off his skin.

  At last a day came when his master was able to announce that he wouldgive a really extraordinary representation. The many colored placardsstuck on the street corners were thus worded:

  GREAT FULL DRESS REPRESENTATION

  TONIGHT WILL TAKE PLACE THE USUAL FEATS AND SURPRISING PERFORMANCES EXECUTED BY ALL THE ARTISTS AND BY ALL THE HORSES OF THE COMPANY AND MOREOVER THE FAMOUS LITTLE DONKEY PINOCCHIO CALLED THE STAR OF THE DANCE WILL MAKE HIS FIRST APPEARANCE

  THE THEATER WILL BE BRILLIANTLY ILLUMINATED

  In Less Than an Hour All His Friends Were Invited]

  On that evening, as you may imagine, an hour before the play was tobegin the theater was crammed.

  There was not a place to be had either in the pit or the stalls, or inthe boxes even, by paying its wei
ght in gold.

  The benches round the circus were crowded with children and with boys ofall ages, who were in a fever of impatience to see the famous littledonkey Pinocchio dance.

  When the first part of the performance was over, the director of thecompany, dressed in a black coat, white breeches, and big leather bootsthat came above his knees, presented himself to the public, and, aftermaking a profound bow, he began with much solemnity the followingridiculous speech:

  "Respectable public, ladies and gentlemen! The humble undersigned beinga passer-by in this illustrious city, I have wished to procure formyself the honor, not to say the pleasure, of presenting to thisintelligent and distinguished audience a celebrated little donkey, whohas already had the honor of dancing in the presence of His Majesty theEmperor of all the principal courts of Europe.