Pinocchio, Part 2: The Spelling Book

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The night was long and cold, and Pinocchio was starving. He searched the whole house but found nothing to eat, not even a crust of bread. At last, he put his feet on a little stove full of hot coals to keep them warm, and he fell asleep.

In the morning, somebody knocked at the door. It was Geppetto, who had just come home from prison. "Open the door, Pinocchio!" he called. Pinocchio jumped up, but he fell flat on the floor. During the night, his wooden feet had burned, and now there was nothing left of them but ashes.

Geppetto listened to the whole story, and instead of shouting, he sighed. "I'm hungry," cried Pinocchio. The old man had only three pears, which were his own breakfast. "Could you peel them for me?" said Pinocchio. "I can't eat the skin." Geppetto peeled them patiently. Pinocchio ate the first pear in two bites, and then he asked for the cores as well. "You must never be fussy," said Geppetto. "You never know what life will bring."

All day, Geppetto worked on a new pair of feet, and while he worked, his eyes were wet. "Now you can walk again," he said. "And I want you to go to school." Pinocchio promised. "I'll study hard, and one day I'll be a real boy!" But a spelling book cost money, and Geppetto had none. So he took off his only coat, although it was the middle of winter, and he sold it. "Why is it gone?" asked Pinocchio. "It was too warm for me," said Geppetto, with a smile that wasn't quite true.

The next morning, Pinocchio walked to school with the spelling book under his arm. "Today I'll learn to read," he thought. "Tomorrow I'll learn to write, and the day after, I'll learn to count. Then I'll earn a lot of money and buy Father a coat of gold and silver." Then he heard a drum, a trumpet, and a crowd. A puppet theater had opened at the end of the street, and a sign said: "Come and see the Great Puppet Show."

Pinocchio stopped. School could wait one day, he decided. He sold his spelling book for a ticket and ran inside. The puppets on the stage stopped the show at once. "It's Pinocchio! It's our brother!" they shouted. The puppeteer, a huge man called Fire-Eater, with a black beard down to his knees, was furious. "Who is stopping my show? I'll use this one as firewood for my dinner!"

Pinocchio begged. He told him about Geppetto, the coat, and the hungry days. Just then, Fire-Eater sneezed, which he always did when he felt pity. "Go home," he said gruffly, "and take these for your poor father." He pardoned both of them and gave Pinocchio five gold coins.

Pinocchio ran out, with the coins ringing in his pocket, and he sang all the way home. He did not notice two pairs of eyes following him from behind a hedge.