The Adventures of PinocchioAge-adapted version

Once upon a time there was a piece of wood. Not a fine piece of wood, not mahogany or oak, but an ordinary log that could have ended up in a stove and become warmth on a cold winter day. One day it came to the workshop of an old carpenter named Antonio. Everyone called him Master Cherry, because the tip of his nose was always round, shiny, and red like a ripe cherry.

Master Cherry rubbed his hands. "This is just right," he said. "I'll make a table leg out of it." He lifted the axe, but just as he was about to strike, he heard something. A thin, little voice.

"Don't hit so hard!"

The old carpenter froze. He looked under the bench. Nothing. Into the cupboard. Empty. In the sawdust. Just dust. He looked out the door. No one there.

"I imagined it," he muttered, and then he struck.

"Ouch! That hurts!" cried the voice.

Master Cherry was so frightened that his wig nearly lifted off his head. Still, he tried to continue working. He took the plane and began to smooth the wood.

"Stop!" laughed the voice. "That tickles!"

Then the carpenter fell backwards onto the floor and sat there.

At that very moment, there was a knock at the door. In came his friend, Geppetto. He was a little old man with a yellow wig. The barefoot children in the neighborhood teased him. They called him Polenta, because his hair looked like yellow cornmeal mush. Geppetto got furious every time he heard that name.

"What are you doing on the floor?" asked Geppetto.

"I'm teaching ants to count," replied Master Cherry.

Geppetto had come to ask a favor. He had an idea. A big idea. He wanted to make a wonderful wooden puppet that could dance, fence, and do somersaults. With it, he would travel around the world and earn enough for bread and a little wine.

"Good, Polenta!" shouted the invisible voice.

Geppetto's face turned beet red. He thought Master Cherry had said it. The two old friends began to argue. They grabbed each other's wigs. They scratched and pushed. Finally, they got tired. They felt ashamed, gave the wigs back to each other, and became friends again.

When Geppetto asked for a piece of wood, Master Cherry hurried to give away the strange log. He was relieved to get rid of it. But as he handed it over, the piece of wood jumped out of his hands and hit Geppetto right on the shins.

"Is this how you give gifts?" shouted Geppetto.

"It wasn't me!"

They were about to fight again. But Geppetto took the wood under his arm and limped home.

His house was small and poor. It had a chair, a worn-out table, and a bed. On the wall was painted a fireplace with flames and a pot that seemed to be boiling. But both the fire and the pot were just paint. Geppetto immediately sat down to carve the wood.

"What shall I call you?" he asked. "Pinocchio. That's a lucky name."

He carved hair. He carved a forehead. He carved eyes. When the eyes were finished, they began to move. They stared at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Geppetto.

Then he carved a nose. But the nose grew. And grew. And grew. The more Geppetto cut off, the longer it became.

He made a mouth. But before it was finished, it started laughing at him. When he told it to stop, it stuck out its tongue. He made arms and hands. As soon as the hands were finished, the little puppet snatched the yellow wig off his head and put it on its own head.

Geppetto became sad. "Pinocchio," he said, "you are not even finished yet, and already you are mean to your father." A tear rolled down his cheek.

When the legs and feet were finished, Pinocchio kicked him on the tip of his nose. Geppetto put the puppet on the floor and taught him to walk. At first the wooden legs were stiff and strange. But soon Pinocchio ran around the room. Then he ran straight out the door and down the street.

"Stop him!" shouted Geppetto, running after him.

People laughed when they saw a wooden puppet hopping like a hare. A policeman stood in the middle of the street. Pinocchio tried to slip between his legs. But the policeman grabbed him by his long nose and handed him back to Geppetto.

Geppetto wanted to drag him home. But Pinocchio threw himself on the ground. He pretended to be mistreated. People gathered around.

"Poor puppet!" they said. "The old man will surely beat him!"

No one listened to Geppetto. The policeman set Pinocchio free and led the desperate old man to prison. Geppetto cried as he was led away. "Unhappy boy," he sobbed. "I should have thought twice before making you."

Pinocchio ran home and pushed the door shut. He was happy to be alone. But soon he heard a small sound.

“Cri-cri-cri.”

On the wall sat a large cricket.

“Who are you?” asked Pinocchio.

“I am the Talking Cricket. I have lived here for more than a hundred years.”

“This is my house now. Get out!”

“First I will tell you something,” said the Cricket. “Whoever runs away from his father and refuses to learn or work often ends up regretting it.”

Pinocchio laughed mockingly. He said he did not want to go to school. He would rather run after butterflies. Climb trees. Take baby birds from nests. He said his dream job was to eat, sleep, play and wander around all day.

"Then you'll be a fool," replied the Cricket calmly. "Maybe you'll end up in jail. Or in the hospital."

"Shut up, you miserable cricket!" screamed Pinocchio.

The Cricket sighed. "You are made of wood. And the worst part is that your head is also made of wood."

Then Pinocchio grabbed a hammer and threw it. It hit the Cricket. The little voice only said a faint "cri-cri." Then it was silent.

In the evening, Pinocchio became hungry. At first it was just an empty feeling in his stomach. But it quickly grew into a hunger that felt like wolves biting him from the inside. He ran to the painted fireplace and tried to lift the lid of the painted pot. Then he realized there was nothing there. His nose grew even a little longer from disappointment.

He searched everywhere. Not a crust of bread. Not a piece of cheese. Not a bone. Not even a cherry pit. Finally he found an egg in the trash. He kissed it and decided to fry it.

He cracked the egg over a small pan of hot water. But out came not yolk and white. Out came a live little chicken.

"Thank you so much for letting me out of the shell!" it chirped, bowed, and flew out the window.

Pinocchio stood there holding the eggshell. He began to cry. "The cricket was right," he said. "If Father were here, I wouldn't be starving."

A storm was raging outside. But hunger was stronger than fear. He ran to the village and knocked on a door.

An old man opened the window. "What do you want?"

"A little bread, please."

"Wait there," replied the man.

Pinocchio stood under the window. Instead of bread, he got a whole bucket of ice-cold water over his head. Soaked and exhausted, he went home. He placed his feet near a brazier with embers to dry them. Then he fell asleep.

While he slept, the wooden feet caught fire. In the morning, his feet had turned to ash.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" shouted Pinocchio.

"It's me," replied a familiar voice.

It was Geppetto.

Pinocchio tried to run over to open it. But without feet, he fell with a thud to the floor.

"Father! I can't open! The cat has eaten my feet!"

Geppetto climbed in through the window. When he saw Pinocchio lying without feet, he forgot all his anger. He picked him up, kissed him, and cried.

Pinocchio told everything. It came out in a long, confused stream. The cricket. The egg. The chicken. The man with the water bucket. The hunger. The fire. Geppetto understood most of all that the boy was hungry. He took out three pears. They were actually his own breakfast.

"Eat these."

"Will you peel them?" asked Pinocchio.

Geppetto shook his head. But he peeled them anyway. Pinocchio ate the flesh. He wanted to throw away the peels and cores. Geppetto put them on the table.

"Everything can be useful one day," he said.

Still hungry, Pinocchio eventually had to eat both the peel and the core. They didn't taste too bad when he really needed them.

Afterward he asked for new feet. Geppetto made him wait a while. He feared that Pinocchio would run away again right away. But Pinocchio promised he would be good. He would go to school. Learn a trade. Take care of his old father.

Geppetto didn't answer. He took out his tools. He carved two strong, light feet. When Pinocchio closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, Geppetto glued them on. Pinocchio jumped up and danced with joy.

Geppetto made him clothes from flowered paper. Shoes from bark. A hat from breadcrumbs. Pinocchio saw his reflection in a bowl of water. "I look like a fine gentleman!" he said proudly.

"It's not fine clothes that make a person proper," replied Geppetto. "It's clean clothes and a good heart."

Pinocchio said he was missing the most important thing for going to school: a reading book. Geppetto didn't have a single coin. He put on his patched jacket. Then he went out into the snow.

When he came back, he was in his shirtsleeves. But he had a new book under his arm.

"Where is your jacket?" asked Pinocchio.

"I sold it. It was too warm."

Pinocchio understood. He threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.

The next morning, Pinocchio walked toward school with the new book under his arm. He dreamed of learning to read, write, and do arithmetic. He would earn money. He would buy Geppetto a jacket of gold and silver.

But then he heard something. Flutes and drums.

In a large, colorful booth stood a sign: The Great Puppet Theater. Pinocchio could not read the sign. But a boy told him what it said. The ticket cost four small coins.

Pinocchio had no money. He tried to sell his paper jacket. His bark shoes. His bread cap. Nobody wanted them. Finally, he sold his reading book. That book that Geppetto had sold his jacket to buy.

Inside the theater, Harlequin and Punch were in the middle of a funny argument on the stage. But when Harlequin caught sight of Pinocchio in the audience, he stopped.

"Is it really Pinocchio?" he cried.

All the puppets came running out. "Our wooden brother!" they cried. They lifted Pinocchio onto the stage. Embraced him. Danced around him. The audience got annoyed because the show had stopped.

Then the puppet master came. His name was Fire-Eater. He was huge. His black beard hung all the way down to his feet. His eyes were red. His voice was terrible. All the puppets trembled.

"Why are you causing chaos in my theater?" he roared.

Pinocchio tried to explain. But Fire-Eater just said, "Tonight we'll settle this."

After the performance, Pinocchio saw that the puppeteer had a lamb on a spit over the fire. He lacked firewood.

"Fetch that dry wooden puppet," he commanded. "It will burn well."

Harlequin and Punch carried Pinocchio toward the kitchen. Pinocchio writhed and called for Geppetto. But the Fire-Eater saw his face. He was moved. He could not show it with tears. Whenever he grew soft-hearted, he sneezed violently.

"Ah-choo!" it boomed.

Harlequin whispered: "He has compassion. You are saved."

The Fire-Eater sneezed several times. He tried to look stern. "I'll spare you. But I need wood. Fetch Harlequin instead."

When the guards took Harlequin, Pinocchio threw himself at the Fire-Eater's feet.

"Don't burn him! He is my friend. If someone must be burned, use me."

All the puppets began to cry. Even the wooden guards cried. The Fire Eater sneezed so hard that his beard fluttered.

"You are a brave boy," he said. "Give me a kiss."

Pinocchio climbed up his beard and kissed him on the nose. Harlequin was spared. The next morning the Fire Eater gave Pinocchio five gold coins.

"Take them to your father," he said. "I heard he sold his coat for you."

Pinocchio promised to go straight home. But on the way he met a lame fox and a cat that pretended to be blind. The fox greeted him politely. It said it had seen Geppetto freezing in his shirtsleeves.

Pinocchio proudly took out the gold coins. "I will buy my father a fine coat. And a new book for myself. I will study."

The fox laughed. "Look at me. I lost a leg because I studied. Look at the cat. It lost its eyesight from the same."

A white blackbird on a hedge shouted: "Don't listen to them, Pinocchio! Bad friends give bad advice."

The cat sprang up. It swallowed the bird in one gulp. Then it closed its eyes and pretended to be blind again.

The fox whispered about the Field of Miracles. A place where gold coins could be planted. If Pinocchio buried five coins, watered them, and sprinkled salt on the ground, a tree full of gold would grow by the next morning.

First Pinocchio said no. He thought of Geppetto. He thought of all the misfortunes that had happened to him because he didn’t listen. But the Fox and the Cat talked about thousands of coins. About wealth without work. In the end, he let himself be persuaded.

They stopped at the Red Crayfish Inn. The Cat, who claimed to be sick, ordered fish, innards, and more food than anyone could eat. The Fox, who said the doctor had put it on a strict diet, ate hare, chickens, birds, and desserts. Pinocchio ate almost nothing. He was already dreaming of gold trees.

At midnight, the innkeeper woke him. The Fox and the Cat had left two hours earlier. The Cat had been told that a relative was sick. They had, of course, not paid the bill. Pinocchio used one gold coin on the meal and set off alone into the darkness.

On the road, he saw a faint light on a tree trunk. It was the shadow of the Talking Cricket.

"Go home," said the Cricket. "Take the four coins to your father. Those who promise you can become rich overnight are usually swindlers."

"I'm going on," said Pinocchio.

"The night is dark."

"I'm going on."

"The road is dangerous."

"I'm going on."

The Cricket sighed. "May heaven protect you from dew and robbers." Then the light went out.

Shortly after, Pinocchio heard a rustling behind him. Two black figures in coal sacks ran after him. He hid the four gold coins under his tongue.

"Your money or your life!" they said.

Pinocchio shook his head. The robbers grabbed him by the nose and chin to force his mouth open. One of them stuck a hand between his lips. Pinocchio bit so hard that the hand fell off. But it wasn't a hand. It was a cat's paw.

He realized the robbers were the fox and the cat. He broke free and ran. They chased him across fields. Over ditches. Into the woods. He climbed a tall pine tree. They lit a fire under it. He had to jump down and keep going.

At last he saw a white house in the dark. He knocked desperately. At a window appeared a little girl with blue hair and a face white as wax.

"Open!" cried Pinocchio. "Robbers are chasing me!"

"Everyone here is dead," replied the girl in a strange, distant voice. "I am just waiting for my coffin."

The window closed. The robbers grabbed Pinocchio. They tried to stab him with knives. But the blades broke against the hard wood. So they tied a noose around his neck and hanged him from a large oak.

"Tomorrow we'll come back," they said. "Then you'll be dead. Then your mouth will open. Then we'll take the gold."

They walked. The wind made Pinocchio swing back and forth. The noose tightened. He thought of Geppetto.

"Oh, Father," he whispered. "If only you were here."

The blue-haired girl was not dead. She was a good fairy who had lived by the woods for a long time. When she saw Pinocchio hanging from the oak tree, she sent a falcon to cut the rope. Then she had the dog Medoro drive a carriage pulled by white mice to fetch him.

In her house she laid him in a bed and called in three doctors. A crow. An owl. And the Talking Cricket, who mysteriously lived again.

The Crow said: "He is completely dead. But if he is not dead, it is a sure sign that he is alive."

The Owl said: "I disagree. He is alive. But if he is not alive, he is certainly dead."

The Cricket said: "A wise doctor remains silent when he knows nothing." Then he looked at Pinocchio. "I know this puppet. He is lazy. Disobedient. He will make his father sick with grief."

Under the blanket, Pinocchio began to sob.

"When a dead person cries, he is on the way to recovery," said the Crow.

The Fairy discovered that he had a fever. She gave him bitter medicine. But Pinocchio would not drink it. She promised sugar first. He got the sugar. But he found a new excuse. The pillow was in the wrong place. The door was ajar. The medicine smelled awful. Finally, the door opened. Four black rabbits came in carrying a small coffin.

"We have come to fetch you," said the largest one.

Pinocchio grabbed the glass and downed it in one gulp. The rabbits left disappointed with the coffin. Shortly after, he was well.

Then the Fairy asked where the gold coins were.

"I lost them," lied Pinocchio. But they were in his pocket.

His nose grew.

"Where did you lose them?"

"In the forest."

His nose grew more.

"No, I accidentally swallowed them along with the medicine."

Then his nose became so long that it hit the bed. Against the walls. Against the window. The Fairy laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked, ashamed.

"Because you are lying. There are lies with short legs and lies with long noses. Yours have long noses."

When Pinocchio was truly sorry, the Fairy sent woodpeckers. They pecked his nose back to its normal size. She said he could live with her as her little brother. And that Geppetto would come soon.

Pinocchio ran into the forest to meet his father. There he met the Fox and the Cat again. They acted deeply shocked by the robbers who had hanged him. The Cat was now truly missing a paw. But the Fox explained that the brave Cat had bitten off his own paw to give it to a hungry wolf.

Pinocchio was touched. Even though the story was silly. The Fox reminded him of the four gold coins. It said the Field of Miracles was about to close forever. He hesitated. He thought of the Fairy. Of Geppetto. Of the Cricket. But greed won.

They went to a town called Catchfools. There Pinocchio saw hungry dogs. Freezing sheep. Birds that had sold their beautiful feathers. Other poor animals. Yet he did not understand the warning in what he saw.

In the field, he buried the coins. Watered the ground with his shoe. Waited. The fox and the cat disappeared.

When he came back, there was no gold tree. A parrot sat in a tree and laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Pinocchio.

"Because you thought money grows like beans. The fox and the cat dug them up and fled. To obtain money honestly, one must work or use one's head."

Pinocchio dug like crazy. He found nothing. He ran to the judge to report the thieves. The judge was an old gorilla with gold-rimmed glasses without lenses. He listened seriously. Then he rang for two mastiffs in police uniform.

"This poor fellow has been robbed," he said. "Put him in jail at once."

Pinocchio protested. But he was taken away. He sat there for four months. When the emperor of Foolcatchers celebrated a victory, he let all criminals go free. Pinocchio said that he too was a criminal. Thus he was allowed to leave.

He ran towards the Fairy's house. He promised himself that he would finally be sensible. On the way, he met a large green snake with glowing eyes and a smoking tail. Pinocchio politely tried to ask it to move. The snake lay completely still. When Pinocchio tried to jump over it, he tripped. He fell headfirst into the mud with his legs straight up. The sight was so comical that the snake laughed until a blood vessel burst. This time it really died.

Driven by hunger, Pinocchio entered a vineyard to steal some grapes. Immediately his legs were caught in an iron trap. A farmer came with a lantern. He thought he had caught a marten that was stealing his hens.

"I only took grapes," cried Pinocchio.

"He who steals grapes can steal hens," answered the farmer. He took Pinocchio home. He put a spiked dog collar around his neck. He chained him to a doghouse. "My old watchdog died today. Now you'll guard the henhouse."

Pinocchio sat in the cold, ashamed. At night, four weasels came. They thought he was the old dog Melampo. They offered him a deal. They would steal eight hens each week. Eat seven. Give him one. If he pretended to sleep.

Pinocchio pretended to agree. When the weasels were inside the henhouse, he slammed the door shut. He put a stone in front of it. Then he barked as loud as he could. The farmer came running. He caught the thieves. He was surprised that Pinocchio had been honest.

"Melampo never knew about this," he said. "You are better than I thought." He took off the collar and let Pinocchio go free.

Pinocchio ran towards the Fairy's white house. But the house was gone. In its place stood a tombstone. On it was written that the blue-haired girl had died of grief because her little brother Pinocchio had left her.

He fell to the ground and cried all night. "Where is my father now?" he shouted. "Who will take care of me? Who will take care of me?"

Then a large dove flew by. It knew Geppetto. The old man had been looking for Pinocchio for months. Finally, he had built a small boat to cross the sea and search in distant lands.

The dove let Pinocchio sit on its back. They flew all day. At night they rested in an empty dovecote. There Pinocchio only got chickpeas to eat. But he was so hungry that they tasted good.

The next morning they reached the beach. People stood staring out at a stormy sea. Far out, a small boat fought against the waves. Pinocchio recognized Geppetto.

"Father!" he shouted, waving his arms.

Geppetto saw him and waved back. But he could not row to shore. A huge wave crashed over the boat. It disappeared.

Pinocchio threw himself into the sea to save him. Because he was made of wood, he floated easily. He swam for a long time through the darkness. Finally, a wave washed him up on an island.

A dolphin told him that a terrible sea monster had come to the ocean. A shark as big as a house. Perhaps it had swallowed Geppetto.

Pinocchio came to a city called the Island of the Busy Bees. Everyone worked. No one wandered aimlessly around. Pinocchio grew hungry and asked people for money. But everyone offered him work instead. A charcoal carrier asked him to help with the cart. A bricklayer asked him to carry lime. Pinocchio refused. It was too heavy.

Finally he met a woman with two water jugs. She gave him a sip of water. She said he could have bread, cauliflower, and a treat if he carried one jug home. Pinocchio put the heavy jug on his head and did the work.

When he sat at her table and saw her face, he recognized the blue eyes and the blue hair.

“The Fairy!” he cried and threw himself at her knees.

She had grown into a woman. But she was the same Fairy. She said she could be like a mother to him. Pinocchio said he was tired of being a wooden puppet. He wished to become a real boy.

"You can become one," said the Fairy, "if you learn to be honest, obedient, diligent, and good."

He promised to go to school and work. He actually went to school. The other students laughed at the wooden puppet. But when Pinocchio defended himself with hard wooden legs and elbows, they left him alone. He became clever. Attentive. Liked by the teacher.

Still, he had a weakness. He kept bad company. One day they said the terrible shark had been seen at the beach. Pinocchio first wanted to go to school. But they said the shark might swim away any moment. He went along.

At the beach there was no shark. The boys had tricked him just to make him skip school. They teased him for reading and working.

"You make us look bad to the teacher," they said. "You must stop being good."

Pinocchio refused. Soon they started fighting. They threw books at him. Pinocchio ducked. But a heavy arithmetic book hit one of the other boys, Eugene, in the head. He fell unconscious on the sand.

All the others fled. Pinocchio stayed. He cried and tried to help Eugenio with a wet handkerchief. Two policemen came. They saw the arithmetic book. They heard it belonged to Pinocchio. They arrested him without listening properly.

On the way to the city, the wind blew off his hat. He was allowed to retrieve it. But when he had it in his mouth, he ran towards the sea. A large mastiff named Alidoro chased him. Pinocchio threw himself into the water. The dog, who could not swim, fell in after him and began to drown.

"Help me!" barked Alidoro.

Pinocchio was angry. But he heard Geppetto's words that a good deed is never wasted. He swam back. He grabbed the dog by the tail. He pulled him up onto the beach.

"One day I'll repay you," said Alidoro.

Pinocchio swam on. He saw a cave with smoke. He thought he could dry himself there. But he got caught in a fishing net. A green fisherman with green hair and green beard pulled the net into the cave. He wanted to fry the fish.

When he found Pinocchio, he first thought it was a strange crab. Pinocchio explained that he was a puppet.

"Even better," said the fisherman. "A talking fish puppet is rare. Do you want to be fried or boiled?"

"I'd rather be set free."

The fisherman laughed. He tied him up like a sausage. He rolled him in flour. He was about to drop him into the boiling oil. Then Alidoro entered the cave. The dog had followed the smell of fried fish.

"Help me, Alidoro!" shouted Pinocchio.

The dog recognized the voice. He jumped forward. He gently grabbed the wrapped Pinocchio with his teeth. He ran out. The fisherman tried to chase him. But he had a coughing fit.

"You saved me, and now I saved you," said the dog as he set Pinocchio on the ground. "That's how it should be."

Pinocchio heard that Eugenio had survived the injury. The relief was so great that he almost cried. He went home to the Fairy. He was wearing only an empty lupin sack with holes for his head and arms. He dreaded knocking on the door.

A snail, who was the Fairy's servant, opened a window high up. "Wait," said the snail. "I'm coming down."

"Hurry up! I'm freezing!"

"I am a snail," it replied. "Snails are never in a hurry."

Pinocchio waited for hours in the rain. When the door finally opened, he had kicked it so hard in rage that his foot got stuck in the wood. The snail later brought breakfast from the Fairy. Bread of plaster. A chicken of cardboard. Fruit of stone. Pinocchio fainted from despair.

When he woke up, the Fairy was sitting next to him. “I forgive you this time,” she said. “But you must show that your words mean something.”

This time, Pinocchio worked hard. He went to school all year. He read. He wrote. He behaved well. The Fairy promised that the next day he would finally become a real boy. She planned breakfast with warm milk and buttered rolls for all his friends.

Pinocchio was allowed to invite them. He found everyone. Except for his dear friend Candlewick. A thin, lazy boy who was the worst of all in the class. He finally found him under a farm gate.

“Why are you hiding?” asked Pinocchio.

"I'm waiting for the carriage that will take me to Toyland," replied Candlewick. "There are no schools. No teachers. No books. Every week has six Thursdays and one Sunday. You play all day."

Pinocchio said no. He had promised the Fairy to be home before dark. But Candlewick kept tempting him. Soon a silent carriage arrived, pulled by many donkeys. It was driven by a small, round man with a sweet smile and gentle words.

The carriage was full of boys cheering about skipping school. Pinocchio said again that he wanted to go home. But when they shouted about a place with no homework, no teachers, no rules, he weakened.

"Just this once," he thought.

He sat on a donkey. The carriage drove off into the night. One of the donkeys cried softly and whispered: "Poor fool. You'll regret it."

Playland was full of noise. The boys rode bikes. Threw balls. Did somersaults. Shouted. Ate candy. Played from morning to night. No one told them to clean up. No one told them to read. No one told them to think about tomorrow. Pinocchio and Candlewick were happy for five months.

One morning Pinocchio woke up and scratched his head. His fingers felt two long, hairy ears. He looked in a water bowl. He screamed. He had donkey ears.

A marmot doctor explained that he had donkey fever. "Those who only play and refuse to learn or work, sooner or later become donkeys."

Pinocchio ran to find Candlewick. His friend also had a large hat pulled down over his ears. At first they pretended nothing was wrong. Then they took off their hats at the same time. When they saw each other's donkey ears, they laughed desperately.

But the laughter turned to tears. Their arms became front legs. Their faces became long snouts. Their backs grew gray fur. Tails grew out. They tried to shout. But they could only bray.

The little coachman came in. He said happily, "Fine donkeys! I recognized you by your voices."

He sold Candlewick to a farmer. He sold Pinocchio to a circus director. Pinocchio got hay to eat. He got lashes when he complained. He was taught to jump through rings. Dance on his hind legs. Pretend he was shot.

One evening, he performed in front of a large crowd. He was adorned with ribbons and flowers. When he saw a woman in a box wearing a necklace with a picture of him hanging from it, he recognized the Fairy.

"Mama!" he tried to call out.

But only a loud donkey bray came out. The audience laughed. He was hit on the nose with the whip handle. When he looked up again, the Fairy was gone.

During a jump, his hind legs got stuck in a ring. He fell and hurt himself. The director said that a lame donkey was worthless. He sold Pinocchio to a man who wanted to use the hard donkey skin to make a drum.

The man tied a stone around his neck. He threw him into the sea to drown him before skinning him. But the Fairy sent hundreds of fish. They ate the false donkey skin. The fur. The tail. Everything that made him a donkey. When they reached the wood, they swam away. Pinocchio was left as a wooden puppet.

The man pulled up the rope. He was furious when he saw a living wooden puppet instead of a dead donkey. Pinocchio told him what had happened. The man threatened to sell him as firewood. When the man loosened the rope to hear the rest, Pinocchio jumped into the water and swam away.

On a white cliff he saw a little goat with sparkling blue wool. The goat called to him. Pinocchio knew it must be the Fairy. He swam as hard as he could toward the cliff.

But the giant shark came up from the depths. Its mouth was as big as a cave. With several rows of teeth. The goat shouted, "Faster, Pinocchio!" He was almost there. But the shark sucked him in and swallowed him.

Inside the shark it was dark as an inkwell. Pinocchio heard a voice. It was an old tuna that had also been swallowed.

"We must wait to be digested," said the tuna sadly.

"I don't want to be digested," replied Pinocchio. He saw a faint light far away. He walked toward it through the wet, stinking darkness.

The light came from a piece of candle on a table. At the table sat an old man with white hair eating small fish that were still jumping. It was Geppetto.

Pinocchio threw his arms around his neck. "Father! I have found you!"

Geppetto cried and held him tightly. He said that the shark had swallowed him after his boat capsized. Later it had swallowed a ship full of food. Wine. Cheese. Biscuits. Candles. Matches. That was why he had survived for two years. But now the food was gone. The light was the last he had.

"We must escape now," said Pinocchio.

Geppetto shook his head. "I cannot swim."

"Then I will carry you."

They walked up through the shark's body. The shark was old and sick. It slept with its mouth open. They could see the moonlight outside. Pinocchio said they had to walk quietly over the big tongue and jump into the sea.

But just then the shark sneezed so violently that they were thrown back into the stomach. The light went out.

Pinocchio did not give up. He took Geppetto's hand. He found the way back in the dark. He said, "Climb on my back. Hold on tight."

Geppetto sat on his shoulders. Pinocchio walked over the tongue. Past the enormous teeth. He jumped out. He swam through the calm water with his father on his back.

After a while he became weak. "Father," he gasped, "I can't go on."

Then they heard the tuna fish. It had also escaped the shark by following Pinocchio's example.

"Get on my back," it said. "I'll take you to land."

The tuna fish was big and strong. It brought them safely to the beach. Pinocchio kissed it in gratitude. The tuna fish dove away before anyone could see its tears.

Pinocchio supported Geppetto as they walked on. They met the fox and the cat. Now they were old and poor. Truly hurt. The fox had lost its tail. The cat was blind. They asked for a coin.

"You tricked me once," said Pinocchio. "Now I won't let you trick me again." He walked on with Geppetto.

They found a small hut. The Talking Cricket lived there now. Pinocchio asked forgiveness for the hammer he had thrown so long ago.

"I remember it," said the Cricket. "But he who has learned to repent can learn much else as well."

Geppetto was weak and sick. The Cricket told Pinocchio that a vegetable gardener nearby could give him milk if he worked. Pinocchio went there. The gardener asked him to draw up a hundred buckets of water from a well.

This time Pinocchio did not refuse. He worked until he was dripping with sweat. As payment he got a glass of milk for Geppetto.

In the stable he saw an exhausted donkey lying on the straw. Pinocchio asked in donkey language who it was.

"Lucignolo..." answered the donkey weakly.

Pinocchio cried for his old friend. Candlewick had been sold to a farmer. He had worked himself sick. Shortly after, he died.

From that day on, Pinocchio got up before sunrise. Every morning he fetched water to get milk for Geppetto. Later he learned to weave baskets. He sold them and bought food, firewood, and what they needed. In the evening he taught himself to read and write. He had hardly any ink. So he used juice from berries and cherries.

After months he had saved forty small coins. He wanted to buy himself a new jacket, hat, and shoes. On the way to the market he met the snail. The Fairy's old servant.

"How is the Fairy?" he asked quickly.

The snail answered slowly: "She is sick. She is in the hospital. She doesn't even have money for bread."

Pinocchio took out all forty coins. "Take them to her. I don't need new clothes. I can work more. Before I worked for Father. Now I will work for her too."

The snail, who usually never hurried, began to rush.

That night Pinocchio worked twice as long. He made many baskets. Went to bed late. Fell asleep exhausted. In a dream the Fairy came to him. Healthy and smiling.

"Good, Pinocchio," she said and kissed him. "A good heart, honest work, and care for others have changed you. I forgive you everything."

When he woke up, the room was bright and beautiful. The straw hut was gone. He was lying in a small, nice bed. Next to it were new clothes. New shoes. A hat. In the pocket was a small purse with forty gold coins and a greeting from the Fairy.

Pinocchio looked in the mirror. He no longer saw a wooden puppet. He saw a living boy with brown hair, blue eyes and a warm, awake face.

He ran to Geppetto. The old man was healthy and strong. He was carving a beautiful wooden frame.

"How did all this happen?" asked Pinocchio, embracing him.

"It is your doing," replied Geppetto. "When someone goes from being selfish to becoming good, even their home can change."

Then he pointed toward a chair. There sat the old wooden puppet. With dangling arms. Crooked legs. Head tilted.

Pinocchio looked at it for a long time. Then he smiled.

“How strange I was when I was a puppet,” he said. “And how happy I am to be a real boy.”