Pinocchio

Chapter 4 Pinocchio and the Fire Eater

Today is a special puppet show, and all the performances are farcical.Those puppets and clowns were noisy, fighting back and forth on the stage, doing all kinds of funny moves, and saying some things that made people laugh out loud.The audience in the audience laughed up and down, and Pinocchio was also happy.At this moment, he threw everything out of his mind. He forgot that he had told his father to study hard, and he also forgot that his father was only wearing a shirt and was shivering from the cold.

Suddenly, a clown in flowered clothes stopped performing. He pointed at Pinocchio and shouted: "Brothers and sisters! Come and see, isn't that Pinocchio?"

"My God! It's really him! Our brother Pinocchio!" All the puppets and clowns on the stage cried out, and the puppets who didn't perform on the stage poked their heads out from behind the curtain and shouted in unison: "Yes! Pinocchio! It's our brother Pinocchio! Great Pinocchio!"

"Pinocchio, what are you doing sitting down there? Come up and come to me," cried the clown in the floral dress.The other puppets also called him to the stage.

Under everyone's warm invitation, Pinocchio jumped onto the stage in three steps.

"Long live Pinocchio!" The puppets lifted Pinocchio over his head and threw him into the air.Everyone hugged each other warmly to celebrate Pinocchio's arrival, and they all forgot about the performance.

But the audience in the audience quit. Each of them paid four dollars to come in to see the show, not to see the reunion of Pinocchio and the puppets.So the audience stomped their feet and shouted:
"We want to see a play, we want to see a play!"

However, the puppets didn't pay any attention to them at all. They were all overjoyed to meet Pinocchio unexpectedly in the theater.

Suddenly, there was only a "crack", and a whip shadow flashed above the puppets' heads. Suddenly, the puppets were so frightened that they didn't even dare to breathe, and they trembled one by one.

I saw a fierce big man walking towards Pinocchio, holding a thick and long leather whip in his hand.This man was the master of the puppet troupe. He had a big black beard, thick and long, hanging down to his toes, and looked like a big pool of ink.He stared like a big light bulb and panted like a bull.In short, he is like a living Hades, no wonder people call him "Fire Eater", which means that he can even eat fire.

"Are you making trouble here, little boy?" asked the Fire-eater, pointing his whip at Pinocchio.

"No, it's not my fault, sir, you have misunderstood..." said Pinocchio tremblingly.

Before Pinocchio had finished speaking, Fire-eater waved his whip and said:
"Tie up this puppet for me, lock it in the kitchen, and ask him to settle the score after the performance."

So Pinocchio was tied up and put in Fire-eater's kitchen.

After the show, Fire Eater came to the kitchen.Today's box office is not bad, so he wants to roast a lamb for himself to celebrate.

"Bring that guy who messed up on the stage!" Fire-eater ordered.

After a while, the clown in flowered clothes brought Pinocchio over. The fire-eater squeezed Pinocchio's arm and said with satisfaction:
"Yes, the wood is quite dry enough to roast a lamb," he said, and he was about to throw Pinocchio into the fire for kindling.

Pinocchio twisted and struggled desperately:

"Father, come and save me! I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

Although Fire Eater, the leader of the puppet troupe, looks fierce on the outside, his heart is not so bad.When he saw Pinocchio crying and shouting "I don't want to die, I don't want to die", his heart softened.Suddenly, he felt his nose itching very much. After holding back for a while, he couldn't help it anymore and sneezed hard.

Just now when the fire-eater was going to roast his sheep with Pinocchio, the puppets next to him were all frightened, and no one dared to speak.Now that the fire-eater sneezed, they were happy again.The Clown in the Pied Dress whispered to Pinocchio:

"Brother, if the class leader sneezes, it means that he is touched by you. Now you are saved."

Most people cry to express their sympathy for others, but Fire Eater is very special. When he sympathizes with others, he will sneeze, which is also a way of expressing his soft heart.

However, Fire-eater still pretended to be very fierce and shouted to Pinocchio:

"Don't cry! I feel bad when you cry...Ah...Ah..." The fire-eater sneezed two more times.

"Okay, okay, little guy, how is your father? If his old man knows that you are being burned as firewood, he will definitely be very sad." The fire-eater began to look amiable.

Pinocchio said quickly: "Master, you are really a kind person, and God will bless you!"

After hearing this, Fire Eater sneezed twice again: "Tell me, what does your father do?"

"My father was a carver, and he was very poor," replied Pinocchio.

"Then I can't bully children from poor families." Fire Eater said very seriously, "How old is your father?"

"I don't know how old he is, but his beard is already white, and he is a very kind old man," said Pinocchio.

"Oh……"

Suddenly, the fire-eater came back to his senses, and he said, "God knows how I would be kind enough to let you go, but what about my sheep? It seems that I have to find another puppet in my troupe to replace it." is you……"

At this time, the fire-eater's eyes lit up, and he shouted loudly: "Tie up the clown in flowered clothes, and throw me into the fire to roast the fat sheep!"

The poor pied clown fainted from fright on the spot.Pinocchio immediately knelt at the Fire-eater's feet, weeping and begging:

"Hello, sir, please let the clown in the floral dress go."

Tears flowed from Pinocchio's eyes and wet the Fire-eater's beard.

"I can't let him go this time. How about I get something to roast my sheep? Go away!" The fire-eater kicked Pinocchio away.

"I beg you, please be merciful, my kind, kind, and great class leader! Please let the pied clown go, we will help you chop firewood, light the fire, and roast the mutton deliciously..." Pi Nuo Cao kept begging for mercy.

When the fire-eater heard Pinocchio call him "the great master of the class", he was very proud, because it was the first time he had heard anyone call him that.

"What on earth are you asking me for? Little guy." asked the Fire Eater.

"I beg you to release the Pied Clown."

"Oh, that's not acceptable. If I don't burn you, you have to burn him. How about I roast the fat sheep with something?"

"Then I know what to do!" cried Pinocchio, standing up. "Come, tie me up and throw me into the fire, for I cannot let my friend die for me..."

Pinocchio spoke impassionedly, and all the clowns present were crying. At this time, Fire-eater felt his nose start to itch again.

"Ah... Ah Choo... Ah Choo..."

The fire-eater sneezed four or five times in one breath, and then said, "Young man, that's a good job. It's amazing to sacrifice your life to save a friend! Well, I'll let him go!"

When the puppets heard this, they quickly untied the clown in floral dress.However, the fire-eater was a little angry when he thought that he would not be able to eat roast lamb at night.

"Listen to me, everyone, next time someone touches me, hum! I'll be rude to him! What are you still doing here? Get out of here!"

The puppets hurried out of the kitchen, ran to the stage, lit all the lights, and began to sing and dance until dawn.

The next day Fire-eater called Pinocchio aside, gave him five ducats, and said to him:
"Good boy, help me bring this little money to your father. He is a poor man, and I sympathize with him. From now on, you must treat him well. Finally, please send my regards to the old man."

Pinocchio didn't know how to thank the fire eater.In short, he thanked Fire-eater a thousand times, and then, saying goodbye to his brothers and sisters in the puppet troupe, he went home happily.

(End of this chapter)