The Adventures of Pinocchio

Carlo Collodi

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The story begins in Tuscany. A carpenter Master Antonio, but who everyone calls Master Cherry for his bright shiny red nose, has found a block of pinewood which he plans to carve into a leg for his table. When he begins, however, the log shouts out, “Don’t strike me too hard!” Frightened by the talking log, Master Cherry does not know what to do until his neighbor Geppetto, known for disliking children who call him “Polendina”, drops by looking for a piece of wood to build a marionette; seeing a perfect opportunity, Antonio gives the block to Geppetto.
As Geppetto carves the puppet, the nose begins to grow.
Geppetto is extremely poor and plans to make a living as a puppeteer in hopes of earning “a crust of bread and a glass of wine”. He carves the block into a boy and names him “Pinocchio”. As soon as Pinocchio’s nose has been carved, it begins to grow with his congenital impudence. Before he is even built, Pinocchio already has a mischievous attitude; no sooner than Geppetto is finished carving Pinocchio’s feet does the puppet proceed to kick him.
Once the puppet has been finished and Geppetto teaches him to walk, Pinocchio runs out the door and away into the town. He is caught by a Carabiniere (at that time Italy’s sole police force), but when people say that Geppetto dislikes children, the carabineer assumes that Pinocchio has been treated poorly and imprisons Geppetto.
Left alone, Pinocchio heads back to Geppetto’s house to get something to eat. Once he arrives at home, The Talking Cricket who has lived in the house for over a century tells him that boys who do not obey their parents grow up to be donkeys. In retaliation, Pinocchio throws a hammer at the cricket, more accurately than he intended to, and accidentally kills it.
Unable to find food in the house, Pinocchio ventures to a neighbor’s house to beg for food. The neighbor is annoyed by Pinocchio’s pleas because it is late at night and he tells him to “come underneath and hold out your cap”. He then proceeds to pour an enormous basin of water on him. Pinocchio returns home freezing and tries to warm himself by placing his feet upon the stove. The next morning he wakes to find that his feet have burnt off. His father, who has been released from jail and has with him three pears for a meal, makes his son a new pair of feet. Since Pinocchio says he is starving, Geppetto gives him the pears and teaches Pinocchio to waste nothing. In gratitude, Pinocchio promises to go to school. Since Geppetto has no money to buy school books, he sells his only coat.(wiki)

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