Pinocchio

in his shirt-sleeves and out of doors it was snowing.
“And the coat, papa?”
“I have sold it.”
“Why did you sell it?”
“Because I found it too hot.”
Pinocchio understood this answer in an instant, and unable to restrain the impulse of his good heart he sprang up and, throwing his arms around Geppetto`s neck, he began kissing him again and again.
CHAPTER IX
PINOCCHIO GOES TO SEE A PUPPET-SHOW
As soon as it stopped snowing Pinocchio set out for school with his fine spelling-book under his arm. As he went along he began to imagine a thousand things in his little brain and to build a thousand castles in the air, one more beautiful than the other.
And, talking to himself, he said:
“Today at school I will learn to read at once; then tomorrow I will begin to write, and the day after tomorrow to figure. Then, with my acquirements, I will earn a great deal of money, and with the first money I have in my pocket I will immediately buy for my papa a beautiful new cloth coat. But what am I saying? Cloth, indeed! It shall be all made of gold and silver, and it shall have diamond buttons. That poor man really deserves it, for to buy me books and have me taught he has remained in his shirt-sleeves. And in this cold! It is only fathers who are capable of such sacrifices!”
Whilst he was saying this with great emotion, he thought that he heard music in the distance that sounded like fifes and the beating of a big drum: Fi-fie-fi, fi-fi-fi; zum, zum, zum.
He stopped and listened. The sounds came from the end of a cross street that led to a little village on the seashore.
“What can that music be? What a pity that I have to go to school, or else-“
And he remained irresolute. It was, however, necessary to come to a decision. Should he go to school? or should he go after the fifes?
“Today I will go and hear the fifes, and tomorrow I will go to school,” finally decided the young scapegrace, shrugging his shoulders.
The more he ran the nearer came the sounds of the fifes and the beating of the big drum: Fi-fi-fi; zum, zum, zum, zum.
At last he found himself in the middle of a square quite full of people, who were all crowded round a building made of wood and canvas, and painted a thousand colors.
“What is that building?” asked Pinocchio, turning to a little boy who belonged to the place.
“Read the placard-it is all written-and then you will know.”
“I would read it willingly, but it so happens that today I don`t know how to read.”
“Bravo, blockhead! Then I will read it to you. The writing on that placard in those letters red as fire is:
“The Great Puppet Theater.”
“Has the play begun long?”
“It is beginning now.”
“How much does it cost to go in?”
“A dime.”
Pinocchio, who was in a fever of curiosity, lost all control of himself, and without any shame he said to the little boy to whom he was talking:
“Would you lend me a dime until tomorrow?”
“I would lend it to you willingly,” said the other, “but it so happens that today I cannot give it to you.”
“I will sell you my jacket for a dime,” the puppet then said to him.
“What do you think that I could do with a jacket of flowered paper? If there were rain and it got wet, it would be impossible to get it off my back.”
“Will you buy my shoes?”
“They would only be of use to light the fire.”
“How much will you give me for my cap?”
“That would be a wonderful acquisition indeed! A cap of bread crumb! There would be a risk of the mice coming to eat it whilst it was on my head.”
Pinocchio was on thorns. He was on the point of making another offer, but he had not the courage. He hesitated, felt irresolute and remorseful. At last he said:
“Will you give me a dime for this new spelling-book?”
“I am a boy and I don`t buy from boys,” replied his little interlocutor, who had much more sense than he had.
“I will buy the spelling-book for a dime,” called out a hawker of old clothes, who had been listening to the conversation.
And the book was sold there and then. And to think that poor Geppetto had remained at home trembling with cold in his shirt-sleeves in order that his son should have a spelling-book.
CHAPTER X
THE PUPPETS RECOGNIZE THEIR BROTHER PINOCCHIO
When Pinocchio came into the little puppet theater, an incident occurred that almost produced a revolution.
The curtain had gone up and the play had already begun.
On the stage Harlequin and Punch were as usual quarrelling with each other and threatening every moment to come to blows.
All at once Harlequin stopped short and, turning to the public, he pointed with his hand to some one far down in the pit and exclaimed in a dramatic tone:
“Gods of the firmament! Do I dream or am I awake? But surely that is Pinocchio!”
“It is indeed Pinocchio!” cried Punch.
“It is indeed himself!” screamed Miss Rose, peeping from behind the scenes.
“It is Pinocchio! it is Pinocchio!” shouted all the puppets in chorus, leaping from all sides on to the stage. “It is Pinocchio! It is our brother Pinocchio! Long live Pinocchio!”
“Pinocchio, come up here to me,” cried Harlequin, “and throw yourself into the arms of your wooden brothers!”
At this affectionate invitation Pinocchio made a leap from the end of the pit into the reserved seats; another leap landed him on the head of the leader of the orchestra, and he then sprang upon the stage.
The embraces, the friendly pinches, and the demonstrations of warm brotherly affection that Pinocchio received from the excited crowd of actors and actresses of the puppet dramatic company are beyond description.
The sight was doubtless a moving one, but the public in the pit, finding that the play was stopped, became impatient and began to shout: “We will have the play-go on with the play!”
It was all breath thrown away. The puppets, instead of continuing the recital, redoubled their noise and outcries, and, putting Pinocchio on their shoulders, they carried him in triumph before the footlights.
At that moment out came the showman. He was very big, and so ugly that the sight of him was enough to frighten anyone. His beard was as black as ink, and so long that it reached from his chin to the ground. I need only say that he trod upon it when he walked. His mouth was as big as an oven, and his eyes were like two lanterns of red glass with lights burning inside them. He carried a large whip made of snakes and foxes` tails twisted together, which he cracked constantly.
At his unexpected appearance there was a profound silence: no one dared to breathe. A fly might have been heard in the stillness. The poor puppets of both sexes trembled like so many leaves.
“Why have you come to raise a disturbance in my theater?” asked the showman of Pinocchio, in the gruff voice of a hobgoblin suffering from a severe cold in the head.
“Believe me, honored sir, it was not my fault!”
“That is enough! Tonight we will settle our accounts.”
As soon as the play was over the showman went into the kitchen, where a fine sheep, preparing for his supper, was turning slowly on the spit in front of the fire. As there was not enough wood to finish roasting and browning it, he called Harlequin and Punch, and said to them:
“Bring that puppet here: you will find him hanging on a nail. It seems to me that he is made of very dry wood and I am sure that if he were thrown on the fire he would make a beautiful blaze for the roast.”
At first Harlequin and Punch hesitated; but, appalled by a severe glance from their master, they obeyed. In a short time they returned to the kitchen carrying poor Pinocchio, who was wriggling like an eel taken out of water and screaming desperately: “Papa! papa! save me! I will not die, I will not die!”
CHAPTER XI
FIRE-EATER SNEEZES AND PARDONS PINOCCHIO
The showman, Fire-Eater-for that was his name-looked like a wicked man, especially with his black beard that covered his chest and legs like an apron. On the whole, however, he had not a bad heart. In proof of this, when he saw poor Pinocchio brought before him, struggling and screaming “I will not die, I will not die!” he was quite moved and felt very sorry for him. He tried to hold out, but after a little he could stand it no longer and he sneezed violently. When he heard the sneeze, Harlequin, who up to that moment had been in the deepest affliction and bowed down like a weeping willow, became quite cheerful and, leaning towards Pinocchio, he whispered to him softly:
“Good news, brother. The showman has sneezed and that is a sign that he pities you, and consequently you are saved.”
Most men, when they feel compassion for somebody, either weep or at least pretend to dry their eyes. Fire-Eater, on the contrary, whenever he was really overcome, had the habit of sneezing.
After he had sneezed, the showman, still acting the ruffian, shouted to Pinocchio:
“Have done crying! Your lamentations have given me a pain in my stomach. I feel a spasm that almost-Etchoo! etchoo!” and he sneezed again twice.
“Bless you!” said Pinocchio.
“Thank you! And your papa and your mamma, are they still alive?” asked Fire-Eater.
“Papa, yes; my mamma I have never known.”
“Who can say what a sorrow it would be for your poor old father if I were to have you thrown amongst those burning coals! Poor old man! I pity him! Etchoo! etchoo! etchoo!” and he sneezed again three times.
“Bless you” said Pinocchio.
“Thank you! All the same, some compassion is due to me, for as you see I have no more wood with which to finish roasting my mutton, and, to tell you the truth, under the circumstances you would have been of great use to me! However, I have had pity on you, so I must have patience. Instead of you I will burn under the spit one of the puppets belonging to my company. Ho there, gendarmes!”
At this call two wooden gendarmes immediately appeared. They were very long and very thin, and had on cocked hats, and held unsheathed swords in their hands.
The showman said to them in a hoarse voice:
“Take Harlequin, bind him securely, and then throw him on the fire to bu…