PINOCCHIO BECOMES A BOY AT LAST

Well, my dear little readers, this is the last
chapter of my story. Pinocchio became a very
good puppet. He began to make little baskets and
sell them to people: he wanted to buy a new coat
for his father.

Once he met the Snail on the road. The Snail
lived with the Fairy. Pinocchio was very glad to
see her.

“Tell me quickly, my dear little Snail,” said
Pinocchio. “Where is my Mamma, where is my
good Fairy? Is she far from here? Can I go to see
her?”
“My dear Pinocchio, the poor Fairy is ill.”
“Is she in hospital?”

“Yes, she is in hospital! And she has no money
to buy a piece of bread.”

“Is that so?” cried Pinocchio. “Oh, poor Fairy!
Poor Fairy! I have only one gold piece. Here it is.
Take it, Snail, and carry it at once to my good
Fairy!”

The Snail took the gold piece and went to the
Fairy with it as quickly as she could.

That night when Pinocchio was asleep he saw
the Fairy. She kissed him and said:

“Very good, Pinocchio! You are a good boy,
and I’ll give you a present. You’ll know tomorrow
what that present is. Good night, dear boy! Try to
be good and you’ll be happy!”

At that moment Pinocchio opened his eyes. It
was morning. When he sat up, he saw that he was
not a wooden puppet now, but a boy like all other
boys. He jumped out of bed and found a new shirt,
new trousers, a new cap and new shoes ready for
him. He put on his new clothes. Then he put his
hands in his pockets and pulled out a little purse.
On the purse were these words: “The Fairy with
the Blue Hair gives his money back to her dear Pinocchio. She thanks him very much.” He opened
the purse and found ... one gold piece? No, children, he found a hundred gold pieces there.

Then he looked in the mirror. He didn’t see a
wooden puppet. He saw a boy with black hair,
blue eyes and a nice mouth.

How happy Geppetto was when he saw him!
“Father, where is the old wooden puppet?”
asked Pinocchio.

“Here it is,” answered Geppetto and looked at
a big puppet on a chair. Pinocchio looked at it and
then said:

“How bad I was when I was a puppet, and
how glad I am to be a boy!”