Pinocchio

by "C. Collodi" (Carlo Lorenzini)

Characters:

Pinocchio, the wooden puppet.
Geppetto, the poor Italian beggar.
Harlequin and Punchinello, other puppets.
The Fox and The Cat, swindlers.

The Story:

Italian beggar Geppetto made a wooden puppet which he named Pinocchio, so he could put up puppet shows. The long-faced puppet became a living thing, ran out of Geppetto’s house and met many adventures outside. Hungry, Pinocchio wandered about; water was poured on him by angry homeowners; his feet got burned when he slept with a brazier full of burning embers for a footstool.

He crawled home, Geppetto forgave him and built him new feet. The beggar even sold his coat to buy Pinocchio a spelling book so he could study. But the thoughtless puppet sold his books he could buy tickets to a puppet show. At the theater he met Harlequin and Punchinello who welcomed Pinocchio. The theater almost used Pinocchio for firewood to roast his mutton, only the puppet pleaded hard so he was not thrown into the fire.

Later, the theater owner gave Pinocchio five gold pieces upon learning that Geppetto, the beggar, was a very poor man. On his way home, Pinocchio met the sly Fox and the cunning Cat and the two induced the puppet to bury his money in he Field of Miracles so it would become 2,000 gold pieces. His money disappeared, and so did the two sly animals. After many more adventures he returned home to Geppetto, and went to sleep after dinner.

The next morning he discovered himself no longer a puppet but a real boy.

Comment:

Pinocchio, as a novel, carries many moral lessons; to obey the advice of elders; not to listen to get-rich-quick schemes; never to go with bad company; and to be kind and helpful to others. Pinocchio’s many good deeds resulted in his being transformed from a puppet into a real boy.