Pinocchio

Chapter 12 Pinocchio Goes to "Playing Country"

After saying goodbye to Aro, Pinocchio dared not go home immediately, for he was afraid that others would see him and say he was a little villain.He was also afraid that the police would come and arrest him, saying that he had beaten "Nughide Tang" to death.So Pinocchio ran into the woods by the sea, and waited for it to be dark before returning home secretly.

When he reached the door of the house, Pinocchio found that it was locked tightly.It was dark inside the house, and there were no lights on at all.Pinocchio called softly: "Mother! Mother Fairy!" But no one answered.Pinocchio became a little angry, and he began to bang on the door with his fists and kicked it several times.However, no one agreed.

"Is the Fairy Mother angry? Does she not want me?" thought Pinocchio sadly, and he sat down against the doorframe and slowly fell asleep.

"Hey, Pinocchio, what are you doing here?" In his sleep, Pinocchio heard someone greet him.He opened his eyes to find a snail sitting on his lap talking to him.

"I... I am shut out," said Pinocchio.

"How can you be shut out?" the snail asked.

"I don't know, the Fairy Mother is gone," said Pinocchio sadly.

"I see, you must not listen to your mother, that's why you were shut out." The snail said.

Pinocchio sat there without saying a word.

Seeing that Pinocchio was silent, the Snail said, "Let's talk about something else. What did you do during the day?"

"During the day... during the day I study at school!" lied Pinocchio.

"You lied, you didn't go to school at all today, you went to the beach." The snail said.

"How do you know?" Pinocchio wondered.

The snail said with a smile: "Because your nose has become longer. If you don't believe me, you can touch it with your hand."

Pinocchio quickly touched his nose with his hand, and it really became longer.Anyone can see that Pinocchio's nose grows when he tells a lie.

Pinocchio said embarrassingly: "It's not that I want to go to the beach, but those of my classmates said that I would go."

"Not only did you go to the beach, but you also got into a fight with your classmates, didn't you?" the snail asked again.

"Yes, but they provoked me first," explained Pinocchio.

"Whether they provoke you or you provoke them, it's always wrong to fight. Besides, you still skip class, which is even more wrong."

Pinocchio said: "I will never skip class again, 'Nughide' is dead, but this matter has nothing to do with me, another classmate did it."

"Don't worry, 'Craft Sugar' is not dead at all." The snail said slowly.

"Really? 'Nougat' is really not dead?" Pinocchio could hardly believe his ears.

"'Craft Sugar' just fainted, and then the doctor rescued him." Snail said.

"Excellent! Excellent! I will see him tomorrow." Pinocchio jumped up for joy.

"Then do you still want to be a good child?" asked the snail.

Pinocchio looked at the snail and said earnestly: "Of course. I will go and apologize to the teacher and the fairy mother tomorrow, but I wonder if the fairy mother will forgive me."

"Of course mother will forgive you, as long as you are an obedient and good boy in the future."

After finishing speaking, the snail disappeared, and the door behind Pinocchio opened, and the fairy mother was standing in the door, looking at him kindly.

"Mom!" Pinocchio threw himself into his mother's arms.At this moment, Pinocchio felt that he was the happiest child in the world.

In the following days, Pinocchio studied very hard, and often helped his mother with housework, and got along well with his classmates.At the end of the semester, he also took the No.1 exam in the class.

One day, the Fairy Mother said to Pinocchio: "Child, it seems that you have really changed for the better. Mother is very happy. From tomorrow onwards, you will no longer be a Marionette, but will become a real man."

Pinocchio was so happy that he put his arms around the fairy mother and sang and danced.

The fairy mother continued: "Son, there is another good news to tell you. To congratulate you on becoming a real child, we will hold a party at our house tomorrow. Go and invite your teachers and classmates over."

Pinocchio was on the verge of jumping, and he looked forward to tomorrow, for what a happy and wonderful day it would be!
Early the next morning, Pinocchio got dressed and was ready to invite his friends.Before leaving, the fairy mother reminded her repeatedly: "Pinocchio, you have to go early and return early. You must return home before dark."

"No problem!" said Pinocchio, patting his chest, "I'll be right back."

"You have to keep your word. If you don't come back before dark, you can't become a real child."

"I promise to come back before dark. I used to be disobedient and always made you angry. Now that I have grown up, I know what to do. Don't worry." After finishing speaking, Pinocchio jumped out out of the house.

When Pinocchio's friends heard that Pinocchio invited them to the party, they were very happy, because they knew that at such a party, there would be not only candy, but also chocolate and ice cream, and they could eat as much as they wanted.Moreover, they can also hide in the cabinet to hide and seek, and adults will not care about them at all.

Now Pinocchio is going to invite his last companion, his best friend, whose name is Lampwick.Little Wick is small and doesn't like reading very much, and always dozes off during class.However, when it comes to playing, he is full of energy, and he can always play a lot of tricks.

"Hey, little Lampwick, come to the party at my house tonight!" cried Pinocchio.

"Party? What kind of party?" asked Little Wick.

"A party for me, what? You don't know? Tomorrow I'm going to be a real person, so Mother Fairy wants to celebrate for me."

"Oh, that's great!" Little Lampwick picked up Pinocchio and turned around until Pinocchio's head was dizzy.

"But I can't attend your party," said Little Lampwick suddenly.

"Why?" asked Pinocchio.

"Because I'm going to a far, far country tonight, and I'm never coming back."

"What? Where are you going? Don't we have a good time here?"

"I've never had a good time. I hate reading! I hate my father, my mother, and my teachers. They just tell me to read, read. I'm sick of it. Now I'm going to a place called 'Playing Country' There are no schools, no teachers, and children's playgrounds everywhere. And there is no Monday or Tuesday, every day is Sunday."

"So you don't have to go to school anymore?" Pinocchio asked curiously.

"Of course! The most important thing there every day is to play. We can start at six o'clock in the morning and continue to play until six o'clock the next morning. As long as we are happy, we can continue to play."

"Oh! Is there really such a wonderful place? I would have liked to go and see it with you...but... no, I promised the Fairy Mother that I would be back right away," said Pinocchio.

"It's okay, you can go there to have a look first, and you can come back when you miss your mother."

"No, no, if I do this, the Fairy Mother will be very sad. But, Little Lampwick, how will you go alone?"

"Alone? I won't go alone! There are many children going with me."

"Oh, that's interesting! Are you all walking?"

"We can't walk. We have a big, big car."

"Hey, it would be great if I could see what kind of car you are traveling in!"

"It's okay, just wait a little longer, the car will be here in another hour."

It was going to be dark soon, and Pinocchio thought about it, but he still wanted to see what kind of car it was, and how many children went with Little Wick.

After a while, the sound of Ding Ding Dang Dang came from a distance.Little Lampwick jumped up all of a sudden: "Oh! Here we come! The car to pick me up is here!"

"Little Lampwick, doesn't that 'playing country' really don't need to study?" Pinocchio couldn't help asking.

"Of course you don't need to study! If you don't believe me, go with me."

While Lampwick was talking to Pinocchio, the mysterious car arrived.

Pulling the cart are 24 little donkeys, all wearing white leather boots, like 24 children who have not grown up.The man who drove the car was smiling, which made people feel very amiable.

Looking at the car again, it was already full of children, and it would be impossible to take half a person on it.All the children are in high spirits, as if celebrating the New Year.

The man driving the car smiled and asked Little Lampwick: "Son, do you want to go to 'Wan'er Country'?"

"Yes, yes." Little Lampwick answered repeatedly.

"There is no place in the car, if you want to go, you can only sit on the shaft."

"It doesn't matter, as long as you can go to 'Wan'er Country'." Little Lantern said, and jumped onto the shaft of the car.

"What about you? Are you going too?" the driver asked Pinocchio.

"I... I just want to see your car, I won't go, I want to go home..."

"Pinocchio, come with me!" cried Little Lampwick.

"No, I really can't go, the fairy mother is still waiting for me at home."

"Come on, Pinocchio, play with us!" cried all the children in the carriage.

"But what if I go to my mother?"

"Don't think so much, if you don't go this time, you won't have a chance in the future!"

Pinocchio hesitated for a while, then sighed and said: "Well, then I will go."

"Oh!" The children in the car were very happy because they had another partner.

However, there was no room left in the car.So Pinocchio climbed onto the back of a donkey, but the donkey kicked him so hard that he threw him on all fours.All the children laughed, only the driver didn't laugh. He walked up to the donkey, raised his whip and lashed at it, causing the donkey to howl in pain.Then, turning to Pinocchio, he said:

"Now you can go up, it doesn't dare to throw you down."

So Pinocchio sat on the donkey's back.The car jingled again and ran to the "play country".The children were very happy at the thought that they would never have to read again, and they could not help singing when they were happy, just as they could not help crying when they were sad.

The car kept running forward.Gradually, the children were sleepy, and they fell asleep lying in the car in a mess.However, Pinocchio dared not go to sleep, for he was afraid that if he fell asleep, the donkey would throw him off again.

At this moment Pinocchio heard a very small voice, which said:
"Pinocchio, you are disobedient again. You are always so playful. One day you will regret it."

Pinocchio looked behind him, but there were only Lampwick and the driver behind him, and no one spoke to him at all.Pinocchio thought he had heard wrong, but after a while, the voice sounded again:

"Pinocchio, if a child doesn't like to read, one day he will be unlucky. If one day you become like me, it will be too late."

Now Pinocchio was really frightened, for it seemed to him that the sound came from the Donkey's mouth.He quickly jumped off the donkey and ran to the donkey.This look surprised him even more. He saw the donkey weeping!Pinocchio has never seen a donkey cry.

"Hey, come and see, the Donkey is crying!" called Pinocchio to the driver.

"It's nothing strange, I hit it, of course it's going to cry."

"But, it can still talk!"

"Oh! It has been in the circus before, so it can say a few words, you better get in the car." The driver was a little impatient.

So Pinocchio climbed onto the donkey again, and the cart continued to go to the "playing country".

(End of this chapter)