PINOCCHIO SAVES HIS FRIEND HARLEQUIN

The showman with the black beard was not a
bad man. When he heard poor Pinocchio’s cries:
“I don’t want to burn, I don’t want to burn!” he
was very sorry for him.

“Don’t cry!” he said to Pinocchio. “Where are
your papa and your mamma?”

“Papa is at home; but I have no Mamma,” said
Pinocchio.

“You poor little thing, you poor little thing!”
said the showman. “But I have no wood, I can’t
make my dinner. What shall I do? I’ll burn one of
the puppets of my theatre. Come here, soldiers.”

The door opened and two wooden soldiers
came in.

The showman said to them:

“Take Harlequin and throw him on the fire.”
Oh, that poor Harlequin! He was so frightened.
He fell with his face to the ground. Pinocchio saw
this and began to cry. The showman looked at Pinocchio and said:

“Stop crying! What do you want now?”

“Don’t burn poor Harlequin, dear sir!”

“But I want to make my dinner.”

“Then,” cried Pinocchio, “throw me on the
fire!”

All the puppets heard Pinocchio’s words and
began to cry. The wooden soldiers cried, too.

At first the showman said nothing. Then suddenly he said to Pinocchio:

“You are a good boy! Come here and kiss me!”

Pinocchio ran up to him and kissed him on the
nose.

“Thank you, thank you very much!” said Pinocchio.

Harlequin jumped up from the floor and began
to dance. When the puppets saw this, they all began to dance. And they danced and danced all
night.