The Adventures of Pinocchio
answered, calm as ever:
“My dear Pinocchio, the Fairy is lying ill in a hospital.”
“In a hospital?”
“Yes, indeed. She has been stricken with trouble and illness, and she
hasn’t a penny left with which to buy a bite of bread.”
“Really? Oh, how sorry I am! My poor, dear little Fairy! If I had a
million I should run to her with it! But I have only fifty pennies. Here
they are. I was just going to buy some clothes. Here, take them, little
Snail, and give them to my good Fairy.”
“What about the new clothes?”
“What does that matter? I should like to sell these rags I have on to
help her more. Go, and hurry. Come back here within a couple of days
and I hope to have more money for you! Until today I have worked for my
father. Now I shall have to work for my mother also. Good-by, and I hope
to see you soon.”
The Snail, much against her usual habit, began to run like a lizard
under a summer sun.
When Pinocchio returned home, his father asked him:
“And where is the new suit?”
“I couldn’t find one to fit me. I shall have to look again some other
day.”
That night, Pinocchio, instead of going to bed at ten o’clock waited
until midnight, and instead of making eight baskets, he made sixteen.
After that he went to bed and fell asleep. As he slept, he dreamed of
his Fairy, beautiful, smiling, and happy, who kissed him and said to
him, “Bravo, Pinocchio! In reward for your kind heart, I forgive you for
all your old mischief. Boys who love and take good care of their parents
when they are old and sick, deserve praise even though they may not be
held up as models of obedience and good behavior. Keep on doing so well,
and you will be happy.”
At that very moment, Pinocchio awoke and opened wide his eyes.
What was his surprise and his joy when, on looking himself over, he saw
that he was no longer a Marionette, but that he had become a real live
boy! He looked all about him and instead of the usual walls of straw, he
found himself in a beautifully furnished little room, the prettiest he
had ever seen. In a twinkling, he jumped down from his bed to look on
the chair standing near. There, he found a new suit, a new hat, and a
pair of shoes.
As soon as he was dressed, he put his hands in his pockets and pulled
out a little leather purse on which were written the following words:
The Fairy with Azure Hair returns
fifty pennies to her dear Pinocchio
with many thanks for his kind heart.
The Marionette opened the purse to find the money, and behold--there
were fifty gold coins!
Pinocchio ran to the mirror. He hardly recognized himself. The bright
face of a tall boy looked at him with wide-awake blue eyes, dark brown
hair and happy, smiling lips.
Surrounded by so much splendor, the Marionette hardly knew what he was
doing. He rubbed his eyes two or three times, wondering if he were still
asleep or awake and decided he must be awake.
“And where is Father?” he cried suddenly. He ran into the next room, and
there stood Geppetto, grown years younger overnight, spick and span
in his new clothes and gay as a lark in the morning. He was once more
Mastro Geppetto, the wood carver, hard at work on a lovely picture
frame, decorating it with flowers and leaves, and heads of animals.
“Father, Father, what has happened? Tell me if you can,” cried
Pinocchio, as he ran and jumped on his Father’s neck.
“This sudden change in our house is all your doing, my dear Pinocchio,”
answered Geppetto.
“What have I to do with it?”
“Just this. When bad boys become good and kind, they have the power of
making their homes gay and new with happiness.”
“I wonder where the old Pinocchio of wood has hidden himself?”
“There he is,” answered Geppetto. And he pointed to a large Marionette
leaning against a chair, head turned to one side, arms hanging limp, and
legs twisted under him.
After a long, long look, Pinocchio said to himself with great content:
“How ridiculous I was as a Marionette! And how happy I am, now that I
have become a real boy!”