Pinocchio Read Online Free PDF

received amid this mayhem from the actors and actresses of that plant-kingdom troupe.
    It was a heartwarming spectacle, no doubt. But the audience, seeing that the play had ground to a halt, grew impatient and began to shout, “We want the play, we want the play!”
    They were wasting their breath, because the puppets, instead of going on with the show, redoubled their rumpus and fuss, hoisting Pinocchio onto their shoulders and carrying him triumphantly into the footlights.
    It was then that the puppet master came out, an enormous man, and so ugly that the mere sight of him was frightening. His foul beard was black as an inkblot and so long that it dragged on the ground. Let’s just say he stepped on it when he walked. His mouth was as wide as an oven, his eyes were like lanterns whose flames shined through panes of red glass, and his hands were cracking a big whip, made of snakes and foxtails braided together.
    At the unexpected appearance of the puppet master, the crowd fell silent, holding its breath. You could have heard a pin drop. Those poor puppets, male and female alike, trembled like so many leaves.
    â€œWhy are you causing such a commotion in my theater?” the puppet master asked Pinocchio, booming like an ogre with a bad cold.
    â€œBelieve me, kind sir, it wasn’t my fault!”
    â€œThat’s enough out of you! We’ll settle this business tonight.”
    Indeed, as soon as the play was finished, the puppet master went into the kitchen, where he was fixing himself a nice big ram for dinner; it turned slowly on a spit over the fire. But since he didn’t have enough wood to finish browning it, he called in Harlequin and Punchinello and said, “Fetch me that puppet—you’ll find him hanging on a nail. I think he’s made of good, dry wood, and I’m sure that if I toss him on the fire, it will flare up nicely and finish the roasting.”
    At first, Harlequin and Punchinello hesitated. But then, afraid of incurring their owner’s wrath, they obeyed. They soon returned to the kitchen, carrying poor Pinocchio, who was wriggling like an eel out of water and screaming helplessly: “Oh save me, Daddy! I don’t want to die! No, I don’t want to die!”

11
    I WON’T deny it: Fire-Eater (this was the puppet master’s name) did indeed look scary, with that foul black beard of his that covered his chest and legs like an apron. But deep down he really wasn’t a bad man. In fact, when he saw poor Pinocchio brought before him, struggling every which way and howling, “I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!” he was immediately moved to pity. He resisted the feeling for quite some time, but finally he could no longer help himself: he let out a resounding sneeze.
    Before that sneeze, Harlequin had looked hopelessly sad and was hunched over like a weeping willow. But after it, his face lit up and, leaning toward Pinocchio, he whispered, “Good news, brother! The puppet master sneezed, and that means he feels sorry for you, so you’ll be okay now.”
    It’s important to know that while most people cry when they feel sorry for someone, or at least make a show of wiping their eyes, Fire-Eater was in the habit, when deeply moved, of sneezing. It was as good a way as any to show other people what he felt in his heart.
    After sneezing, the puppet master, still grumpy, yelled at Pinocchio: “Stop that crying! Your wailing is giving me such a bellyache, causing me such cramps, it’s almost— ah-choo! ah-choo! ”
    â€œBless you!” said Pinocchio.
    â€œThank you,” said Fire-Eater. “And your father and mother, are they still alive?”
    â€œMy daddy is. I never knew my mother.”
    â€œI can only imagine what a blow it would be for your old father if I had you thrown onto those burning coals! That poor old man! I feel sorry— ah-choo! ah-choo! ah-choo! ”
    â€œBless