A Living Puppet
Long ago in Italy there lived an old clock-maker named Gep.
Tick, went all the clocks in his shop.
When he worked, Gep felt happy, but when he rested, a sad feeling came over him.
He would think, all my life and no child to call my own.
One day Gep carved a puppet from wood in the shape of a boy.
The arms and legs could move, he cut and sewed a nice outfit for the puppet, as if it were a real boy. I will call you Pinocchio. that night, Gep lay the wooden puppet down onto the bed. From out of the window, a big star twinkled bright. Gep lookd out the window to the twinkling star, bright star, if I could make one wish, it would be that I could have a real boy of my own.
But of course, he knew that was not possible, from out the window, a big star twinkled bright. that night, the same big star swooshed right into Gep's room, it changed into a blue fairy.The blue fairy flew over to the bed.
Little wood puppet, said the blud fairy, in the morning, you will be able to walk and talk like a real boy. she tapped the puppet one time with her wand. and if you can prove that you are brave and true, someday you will be a real boy.
Pino's eyes opened. one more thing, said the blud fairy, suddenly, a cricket appeared,he was dressed mighty fine and could talk, meet the cricket, said the blud fairy, he will stay with you to help you make wise choices. and with that, the blud fairy was gone.out of the window and up into the night sky. when Gep woke up the next morning, he said, I will go take my puppet out of bed, but the bed was empty. here I am, father, said Pino from the other said of the room. Gep swung around, what, you can talk?
Here I am, father. your boy. how can this be? said Gep in shock. then he said, but who cares?
he rushed over and swept the wooden puppet into his arms,my son, he said in great happiness.
On the Way to School
One day Pino said, I want to go to school, like other boys.
Of course, said Gep, but he did not have the money to buy schoolbooks.
Later that day, Gep came back home with schoolbooks, now you can go to school, he said.But father, said Pino, where is your warm coat?
With a wave of his hand Gep said, no need to worry about that, what matters is that you will go to school tomorrow. He did not want Pino to know he had traded his warm coat to buy the schoolbooks. the next morning, Pino said goodbye to Gep, he skipped along the path to school, humming as he went.
The cricket rode on his shoulder, happy, too.
Coming up to them on the path was a Fox and a Cat. and where are you going on this fine day? said the fox. I am going to school said Pino. on such a fine day as this? said the fox, it is too nice to be stuck inside school, you should come with us, to the fair. I am going to school. listen to me, said the fox, he put his arm around Pino's shoulder, anything you need to know, you can learn at the fair.
really? take it from me. he doew not know what he is talking about. the fox covered the cricket with his hat, on one could hear the little fellow as the cricket tried to call out, do not listen to him. let's go to the fair, and off they went.
What a fair it was. by the gate was a man dressed in white, he called out, come in. right this way, get your tickets here. with a sad look Pinl said to the fox and the cat, I do not have any tickets.
A man was selling old things as a table near the gate, he called, hey, you. sell me those new schoolbooks of yours, that is how you can get money for tickets. the fair was so bright and colorful and exciting, that the next thing Pino knew he had sold his schoobooks for tickets. no, stop. called the cricket, who finally got out from under the fox's hat.
But Pino, the fox and the at did not hear him, they were already inside the fair.
The Changing Nose
On stage was a puppet show.
I am a puppet, too. said Pino, I can dance like that.
He jumped right onto the stage and satrted to dance with the puppets. look at that new puppet, someone called, it has no strings. no strings? said another, amazing. everyone laughed and laughed, they threw coins on the stage.
Well, now, he said, rubbing his chin, this puppet with no strings will make me rich. the next thing Pino knew, he was picked up and thrown in a birdcage. hey, get me out, called Pino, but the person who had thrown him in just left the room, only the cricket heard Pino's calls. the cricket ran back and forth, in and out of the birdcage, trying to find a way to free the lock, but he could not unlock it. I am stuck, cried Pino, how did this happen to me?
All of a sudden, poof, there was the blue fairy. please, said Pino, can you help me?
Tell me something first, said the blue fairy, how did you get inside that cage? tell her what happened, said the cricket. well, could he really tell the blue fairy what had happened? what would she think of him? tell me something first, said the blue fairy, hoe did you get inside that cage?
I was robbed, is that right? said the blud fairy with a frown, Pino's nose began to grow. yes, robbed, said Pino, by two mean men, no, four. the nose grew more. they took my books, they made me came here, and they threw me into this cage. his nose grew longer and longer, until Pino could see nothing in front of his face but one big giant nose. why is my nose so big? Pino cried out.
said the blud fairy in a stern voice, you must know what the truth really is. I guess so, I wanted to come to the fair. the nose grew shorter, I had to sell my books to get some tickets. Had to? I mean, I decided to sell my books to get tickets. the nose got shorter still. then someone put me in this cage,the nose was back to normal. good job, said the cricket. well done, now I will get you out of here. with a wave of her wand, Pino was out of the cage. here are your books, and Pino was holding the same new schoolbooks in his hands again. know this, said the blue fairy, you are on your own from now on, make sure you do the right thing next time, and she was gone.
Pleasure Island
Pino was back on the road to school, a Coachman drove up, hey kid, how about a ride? no, thank you, said Pino, I am going to school. you will ride faster with me. said the man. he said to himself, he will ride faster all right , but not to where he thinks he is going. alright, I want to get to school right away.
When Pino was inside the coach, the man said, say kid, why do you think boys like you go to school? to learn new things, said Pino, and to grow up, I guess, so we can do what we want. well, said the man, what if I told you that you could do what you wanted, right now?
right now?
Think of it, skip the books, skip the school, right now, how would you like to have all the candy you can eat. all the candy. Ice cream, too. of every flavour. ever want to smoke a cigar or play pool? all this and more, at plesausre island. best place in the world for boys like you. don't listen to him, shouted the cricket. why wait? said the man, I know just where pleasure island is, this is your lucky day, kid. so what do you say?
let's go there, said Pino, I am going to pleasure island. oh, said the cricket, waving his arms in the air. good move, said the man, he sped off. after a while, the coach stopped, you got a boy with you in that coach? said a dark stranger to the man. yep, the man grabbed Pino and threw him down onto the ground, he's all yours, now pay up. the man reached out of something from the dark stranger, then the man drove off. what could it all mean? but as Pino looked around, he no longer cared. foreverything the man had told him was true. heaps of candy all about, tubs of ice cream in every flavour, boys like him could eat and eat, and play all day.
none of them had to work or clean up, there were even cigars if you wanted one, and pool tables to play.
Boys Became Donkeys
But after a few days, something was odd, where did all the boys go? asked the cricket. all I see now are donkeys, said Pino. I must say, there used to be more boys around here, said the cricket. just then, one of Pino's ears popped into a donkey ear. then his other ear popped into a donkey ear,too. oh, cried the cricket, what is happening to you? they saw a line of donkeys led by a dark stranger onto a truck.
oh, no. said the cricket,now I get it, Boys get turned into donkeys here, then the donkeys are sold. we have to get you out of here, fast, while we still can.
Let's go, his two feet had popped into four. run, quick, said the cricket, one good thing about Pin's new four legs he could run very fast.
Quickly they ran out of pleasure island, soon they were at a dock by the ocean. please sir, Pino called out to a man by the dock. I am looking for an old man named Gep, do you know him? sounds like you are getting a bad cold,said the man. Gep, that's the old man whose son left one morning and did not come back. he went out on a boat to look for him, no one has seen the poor fellow since. oh no, this is all my fault, said Pino, I must look for my father. Pino jumped off the dock into the ocean, the cricket jumped in too, close behind. most of Pino was still made of wood, so he could float in the ocean. father, he called out, paddling the water with his arms, father, but there was no answer. all Pino could see around him was blue water, everywhere.
until, what was that, far away, something was rushing towards him, something big, and very fast. in a moment, a giant whale was upon them, it opened its giant jaws and with one gulp, swallowed Pino. rushing inside with all the sea water tumbled Pino and cricket.
A Real Boy
When they came to a stop, they saw that they were in the dark belly of the whale. are you okay? said Pino to the cricket.
I am fine, said a voice of an old man. wait a minute, said Pino, father, is that you. it was Gep. father, it is me. my son, said Gep, I thought I was dreaming.
they hugged in joy. look, said Gep as three fish swam by, there goes our dinner. father, I have an idea, let's make a fire. grilled fish tonight. no, I mean for us to get out. they gathered driftwood and got a flame gling. this is how we can make the whale sneeze, he said. Pino waved his arms over the flame to make a lot of smoke. soon, clouds of black smoke were rising up. the whale coughed. Hang on, said Pino, and then. in one big sneeze, they flew out of the whale's mouth. Polling over and over in the sea water,at last they rolled up onto the shore. Gep rose to his feet. the Cricket was there beside him, but where was Pino. and then they found him. Pino was face down, his head in a puddle. they were too late, Gep and the Cricket wept over Pino, they boy puppet, who lay still in the water. then in a flash, who was there but the blue fairy. she said, you saved your father, you proved that you are both brave and true. she tapped his head with her wand, and now you will be a real boy. Pino woke up. he looked at his soft arms and soft legs. father, he cried out, look, I am a real boy. that you are, cried Gep. the blue fairy turned to the cricket, come. she said, in a flash, the two of them were gone. And Pino and Gep lived many long and happy years together.
网友评论