The Adventures of Pinocchio (adapted)

Carlo Collodi

Category: Novels

Genres: Fairytale,Adventure

Level 2.51:15 h35.0 mb

What happens when a wooden puppet wants to become a real boy? Join Pinocchio on an unforgettable adventure full of talking animals, strange places, exciting escapes, and important choices! This is an adapted version of the story, shortened and simplified to A1-A2 level.

The Adventures of Pinocchio

Name: The Adventures of Pinocchio (adapted)
Author: Carlo Collodi

[adapted]

by
Carlo Collodi

Chapter 1

Once upon a time there was a piece of wood. It was only a common log for the fire. One day it came to the shop of an old carpenter called Mastro Antonio. Everyone called him Mastro Cherry because his round red nose looked like a ripe cherry.

When Mastro Cherry saw the log, he was happy. He decided to use it to make a table leg. He picked up his hatchet and got ready to cut the wood.

Just before the first blow, he heard a very small voice.
“Please be careful! Do not hit me so hard!”

Mastro Cherry looked all around the shop. He looked under the bench, inside the cupboard, among the wood pieces, and outside the door. He found no one. He laughed and thought he had imagined the voice. Then he hit the log.

“Oh! You hurt me!” cried the little voice again.

The carpenter was full of fear. He could not understand where the voice came from. He looked at the log and said, “Can a piece of wood cry like a child? I cannot believe it. Maybe someone is hiding inside.”

He picked up the log and knocked it against the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. Then he listened. Everything was quiet.

After a while he told himself that he had imagined the voice again. To feel brave, he began to sing. He put down the hatchet and took a plane to make the wood smooth.

As soon as he started to work, the little voice laughed.
“Stop! Stop! Ha, ha! You are tickling my stomach!”

Mastro Cherry was so frightened that he fell to the floor. When he opened his eyes, he was still sitting there. Even his bright red nose had turned dark purple with fear.

Chapter 2

At that moment someone knocked on the door.
“Come in,” said Mastro Cherry.

An old man named Geppetto came inside. The boys in the neighborhood called him Polendina because of his yellow wig. Geppetto hated that name and became very angry when anyone used it.

Geppetto greeted his friend and said he wanted a favor. He had an idea. He wanted to make a wooden puppet that could dance, fence, and do somersaults. Then he could travel and earn enough money for food and wine.

Just then the same little voice said, “Bravo, Polendina!”

Geppetto thought Mastro Cherry had called him that name. They argued, and soon they were hitting, scratching, and biting each other. When the fight ended, Mastro Cherry was holding Geppetto’s wig, and Geppetto had Mastro Cherry’s wig. They gave the wigs back, shook hands, and became friends again.

Mastro Cherry agreed to give Geppetto a piece of wood. He picked up the strange log, but it suddenly jumped from his hands and hit Geppetto on the legs. Geppetto was angry and thought Mastro Cherry had thrown it at him. They argued again. Mastro Cherry called him Polendina, and they started another fight. After they had hit each other enough, they shook hands once more and became friends again. At last Mastro Cherry gave Geppetto the piece of wood. Geppetto thanked him and carried it home.

Chapter 3

Geppetto lived in a small, simple house. When he got home, he took his tools and began to make a wooden puppet.
“I will call him Pinocchio,” he said. “It is a lucky name.”

He first made the hair, the forehead, and the eyes. As soon as the eyes were ready, they began to move and look at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Geppetto asked.
The eyes said nothing.

Then he made the nose. At once it began to grow. Geppetto cut it again and again, but it only became longer. At last he gave up. Next he made the mouth. As soon as it was ready, it laughed at him and stuck out its tongue. Geppetto stayed quiet and finished the rest of the body.

When he made the hands, Pinocchio pulled off his yellow wig and put it on his own head.
“Pinocchio, you are already a naughty boy,” Geppetto said sadly. “You are not even finished, and you are unkind to your poor father.” A tear came into his eyes.

Then he made the legs and feet. As soon as they were ready, Pinocchio kicked him on the nose.
“I should have expected this,” Geppetto said.

He put Pinocchio on the floor and taught him to walk. At first the puppet could hardly move. Soon he learned, ran around the room, and jumped out through the open door into the street. Geppetto ran after him, but Pinocchio was too fast. People stopped to watch the strange wooden puppet. They laughed as he ran.

A Carabineer stood in the street and caught Pinocchio by his long nose. He gave him back to Geppetto. Geppetto wanted to pull Pinocchio’s ears, but then he remembered that he had forgotten to make them. He took Pinocchio by the neck and started to carry him home.

Pinocchio threw himself on the ground and refused to move. The people around them thought Geppetto was a cruel old man. They felt sorry for the puppet. In the end, the Carabineer let Pinocchio go and took Geppetto to prison instead.

The poor old man cried as they led him away.
“What an ungrateful boy! I wanted him to be good. This is my own fault.”

Chapter 4

Geppetto was in prison, and Pinocchio ran home as fast as he could. He went inside, locked the door, and was happy that he had escaped. Then he heard a voice.
“Cri-cri-cri!”
“Who is there?” Pinocchio asked.
“I am the Talking Cricket.”

Pinocchio looked around and saw a large cricket on the wall.
“This is my house now,” Pinocchio said. “Go away.”
“I will not leave until I tell you something important,” said the Cricket.
“Then speak quickly.”

The Cricket said, “Boys who do not obey their parents and run away from home will not be happy. One day they will be sorry.”

Pinocchio laughed.
“Tomorrow I am leaving. I do not want to stay here and go to school. I hate studying. I would rather chase butterflies, climb trees, and take birds’ nests.”

“You are making a big mistake,” said the Cricket. “If you live like that, people will laugh at you.”
“Be quiet!” Pinocchio shouted.
The Cricket stayed calm.
“If you do not want to study, then learn a trade. You can earn an honest living.”

“I only want one job,” Pinocchio answered.
“What job is that?”
“I want to eat, drink, sleep, play, and have fun all day.”

“People who live like that often end up in prison or in the hospital,” said the Cricket.
“You are making me angry!” Pinocchio cried.
“I feel sorry for you,” the Cricket said. “You are a puppet, and you have a wooden head.”

Pinocchio became furious. He picked up a hammer and threw it at the Cricket. He did not think it would hit him. But the hammer struck the Talking Cricket on the head. With one last weak “cri-cri-cri,” the Cricket fell from the wall and died.

Chapter 5

The death of the Talking Cricket did not stay in Pinocchio’s mind for long. Soon he became very hungry. The hunger grew stronger every minute. He ran to the fireplace and reached for the pot that seemed to be boiling. But the fire and the pot were only painted on the wall. There was nothing to eat.

He searched everywhere. He looked in every box and drawer, under the bed, and in every corner. He hoped to find a piece of bread, a bone, or anything at all. But he found nothing. At last he began to cry.
“The Talking Cricket was right. I should not have run away from Father. If he were here, I would not be so hungry.”

Then he saw something white in a corner. It was an egg. Pinocchio was full of joy. He decided to cook it in a pan. As soon as he broke the shell, a little yellow chick jumped out.

“Thank you for helping me out of my shell,” said the chick. “Goodbye, and good luck!” It spread its wings, flew out of the open window, and disappeared.

Pinocchio stood without moving, still holding the empty eggshell. Then he began to cry again.
“The Talking Cricket was right. If Father were here, I would not be dying of hunger.”

His stomach was still empty, so he left the house and went to the nearby village, hoping that someone would give him a little bread.

Chapter 6

Pinocchio was afraid of the dark night, the wind, and the storm. But he was even more afraid of being hungry. So he hurried to the village. Everything was dark. The streets were empty, and all the shops and houses were closed. He rang the bell at one house.

An old man opened the window.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Please give me a little bread. I am hungry.”
“Wait there,” said the old man.

Pinocchio stood under the window. Instead of bread, the old man poured a bucket of cold water over him. Wet, cold, and hungry, Pinocchio went home. He sat down and put his wooden feet on the foot warmer to dry them. Soon he fell asleep. While he slept, his wooden feet slowly burned until they turned to ashes.

The next morning someone knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Pinocchio called.
“It is I,” answered a voice. It was Geppetto.