Pinocchio

Chapter 3 Pinocchio plays hooky
Before he knew it, it was already dawn, and there was a knock on the door outside, and Pinocchio woke up from his dream.

"Who is it?" Pinocchio asked, yawning.

"It's me, boy." Geppetto's voice sounded outside the door.

"Oh, Papa! You are back!" said Pinocchio, as soon as he heard his father's voice, he hurried to open the door.But his body shook twice, and then fell to the ground with a "bang".

"Father, I can't open the door because my foot is gone." Pinocchio rolled and cried on the ground.

"Where are your feet?" Geppetto wondered.

"I don't know, oh, I'm so poor, what shall I do from now on? I'll have to walk on my knees for the rest of my life." Pinocchio cried more and more.

Geppetto thought that Pinocchio was playing tricks again, and wanted to teach him a lesson, so he climbed in through the window.

When he pulled Pinocchio up from the floor and was about to beat him hard, he found that Pinocchio's feet were really gone, and his heart softened all of a sudden.He hugged Pinocchio tightly in his arms, crying and asking:
"Son, how did your feet get burned? Tell Dad quickly."

So, crying, Pinocchio told Geppetto all that happened last night.However, he spoke so intermittently that Geppetto did not understand what was going on.He only heard one thing clearly, and that was that Pinocchio was hungry.

Then Geppetto took three pears out of his pocket and handed them to Pinocchio, saying, "I gave these three pears for breakfast, but now I give them to you."

"Oh, very good, but peel the skin for me," said Pinocchio.

"Peeling?" Geppetto was astonished, his eyes widened. "Son, I can't believe that you have to peel a pear. You know our family is poor. You have to learn to eat everything. Others eat pears." You can eat whatever is given to you, and you can't be too picky. Because you don't know what difficulties you will encounter in your later life, and anything can happen..."

But Pinocchio would not listen at all, and cried out: "I don't care what happens in the future. I will not eat fruit that is not peeled, and I would rather starve to death than eat it."

Geppetto was very kind, and when he saw Pinocchio being so stubborn, he said nothing more.So, he took out a small knife, peeled the pear very carefully, and put the pear skin on the table.

Pinocchio was so hungry that he ate up the first pear in two mouthfuls. When he was about to throw away the pear, Geppetto stopped him and said, "Don't throw it away, maybe the pear will be gone." It's still useful."

"What's the use of pear pits? I don't want to eat them..." Pinocchio reluctantly put the pear pits on the table.Then I started to eat the second and third.

After eating three pears, Pinocchio felt less hungry, but after a while, he began to cry and scream again: "I'm hungry again!"

"But we have nothing to eat at home," said Geppetto.

"Is there really none?" Pinocchio asked unwillingly.

"Just a little bit of pear skin and pear core."

"Oh, I can't help it, then I'd better eat some pear peels," said Pinocchio.

At first Pinocchio ate bit by bit with his mouth crooked, but then he ate big chunks, and in a short while he ate up all the pear skin, and of course there was no pear core left.

At this time, Pinocchio happily patted his stomach and said, "I'm not hungry now."

"Son, what I just said is right, you can't be too picky about what you eat, because in this world we never know what will happen in the future..."

Pinocchio was no longer hungry, but at once he begged Geppetto to make him a new pair of feet.

But Geppetto ignored him at all, because he wanted Pinocchio to have a good review.However, Pinocchio kept crying and making noises. Finally, Geppetto couldn't help it, so he said to Pinocchio: "I can make you a new pair of feet, but you must agree to two conditions." .”

"Okay, don't say two conditions, I will agree to a hundred conditions." In order to have a new pair of feet, Pinocchio agreed wholeheartedly.

"First, no more running around, wandering here and there," said Geppetto.

"No problem, I promise you, I will always listen to you and be a good boy in the future."

"Second, after you have feet, you have to go to school and learn some real skills." Geppetto continued.

"Okay, I promise you, I must study hard and study hard. Also, I also want to learn a craft. When you are old, I can earn money to support you."

Although Geppetto still looks serious on the surface, he has already forgiven Pinocchio in his heart.He believed that Pinocchio would become a good boy, so he found two pieces of wood, picked up the tools, and made feet for Pinocchio seriously.

It didn't take long for the two feet to be ready.These two feet are light and flexible, and fit Pinocchio's legs very well.When Pinocchio saw that he had his feet again, he jumped and jumped for joy on the ground, and did somersaults hundreds of times.

"I will repay you well, Papa!" said Pinocchio, jumping up and down. "I will go to school right away."

"Oh, that's great, kid." Geppetto was on the verge of tears.

"But I must have clothes to wear."

Yes, children have to have clothes to wear when they go to school.However, Geppetto was so poor that he didn't even have money to eat, so where would he have money to buy clothes for Pinocchio?Thanks to his ingenuity, he made a suit of clothes for Pinocchio out of floral paper, a pair of shoes out of tree bark, and a little hat out of bread crumbs.

Pinocchio immediately ran to the basin of water to take a look. He was very satisfied with his attire, but he always felt that something was missing.

"By the way, I still lack one of the most important things."

"What?" Geppetto asked hastily.

"Textbooks, how are you going to school without them?" said Pinocchio.

Geppetto scratched his wig and said, "Yes, there is a shortage of textbooks, but where can I find them?"

"That's not easy, it's everywhere in the bookstore."

"Oh, but we don't have any money, I have to find a way." Geppetto said sadly.Suddenly, he slapped his thigh and said, "There is a way." He grabbed the old coat and ran out.

After a while, Geppetto came back from the outside, with a textbook in his hand, but his coat was gone.It was snowing outside, but he was only wearing a shirt, and his teeth were chattering with the cold.

"Where's the coat? Dad."

"sold."

"why?"

"Because I feel too hot."

Pinocchio understood what was going on at once. He threw himself on Geppetto, kissed him hard on the cheek, and said, "Papa, I will definitely repay you."

The next day, Pinocchio went to school with his brand new textbook.As he walked, he imagined the beautiful life in the future: "Today I will learn to read, tomorrow I will learn to write, and the day after tomorrow I will learn to do arithmetic. Then I can earn a lot of money, and with this money I can buy my father a beautiful dress." Warm jacket. The best one is made of gold silk and the buttons are made of diamonds. Because my father has paid so much for me. He sold his jacket to buy me textbooks... I am afraid that only a father in the world will make such a sacrifice!"

The more Pinocchio thought about it, the more excited he became, wishing he could earn money to buy a coat for his father now.However, at this moment, the sound of "咚咚咚... 咚咚咚..." came from a distance.This sound was used by the circus to attract the audience before the performance. They beat gongs and drums, played the harp and flute, and made people feel itchy.

Pinocchio didn't know whether to go to school or to the circus first: "My father loves me so much, I should go to school. But, I really want to see the circus. Besides, the school days are long, but the circus is not." Not every day, maybe they will go to another place tomorrow, what a pity not to see..."

Thinking of this, Pinocchio ran recklessly to the place where the circus was performing, forgetting all the things he had just thought about at the beginning.

After a while, Pinocchio came to a big square. In the center of the big square was a big shed made of wood and colorful flowered cloth, surrounded by people.Pinocchio squeezed his way inside with all his strength, and found that people were looking at some posters.

"Hey, what are you playing today?" Pinocchio asked a child beside him.

"You can't read it yourself?" said the child.

"I want to read it myself, but I just can't read it today."

"Okay, then listen, today is the 'Puppet Show'."

"Oh, how much is the ticket?"

"Four dollars."

Pinocchio wanted to see the performance very much, but he had no money with him, so he had the cheek to ask the boy just now: "Can you lend me four dollars? I will pay you back tomorrow."

"Can you still afford it?" the kid sarcastically said.

"I can sell you this coat." Pinocchio thought his coat was very beautiful, so he gritted his teeth and decided to sell it first.

"What's the use of a paper coat? It'll tear when it rains."

"And what do you think of my shoes?" asked Pinocchio.

"Hmph, it's almost as good as firewood."

"What about the hat?" Pinocchio was still not discouraged.

"Hehe, it's really strange. There are still hats made of bread crumbs in the world. But, I'm afraid that after I wear them on my head, the mice will come and bite me." The child sarcastically said.

Now the only thing Pinocchio can sell is the textbook.But he hesitated. After all, it was Dad who traded his coat for it.However, he really wanted to see the puppet show, so he said:
"Will you pay me four dollars for this textbook? It's brand new. I've never used it."

"I don't want it." The child said firmly.

At this time, a man who was selling old clothes standing next to him said, "I want this book. Here, I'll give you four dollars."

In this way, Pinocchio sold the book, bought a ticket for four yuan, and then got into the circus tent.

(End of this chapter)