2 The Prankster Puppet Is Born

CHAPTER 2 The Prankster Puppet Is Born Geppetto lived in a small, simple house. The only thing rich about him was his imagination. Instead of a real fireplace, he had painted one on the wall. Over the fake fire, instead of a real pot full of real food was a painted pot. It was bubbling over so beautifully that you could almost smell the delicious stew painted inside. Geppetto couldn't wait to get started carving and painting his puppet. He even had the perfect name picked out: Pinocchio. Upon placing the finishing touches on Pinocchio's eyes, Geppetto was surprised to

see the eyes blinking and staring back at him. "What are you staring at?" Geppetto asked, but there was no response. Next, Geppetto painted the puppet's perfect little nub of a nose. To his surprise, the still-wet nose immediately began to grow. Geppetto kept trimming it and trimming it, but he couldn't keep up. Soon the little nub looked more like a long narrow needle. Ducking away from the still-growing nose, Geppetto gave up and started painting the puppet's mouth. As soon as the mouth was finished, however, it began to laugh and make fun of its maker. "Stop it!" Geppetto said angrily. And how did the mouth respond? It stuck out one very long tongue. Geppetto decided he would ignore this bad behavior. After all, he had a great deal more work to do.

As he was finishing the puppet's delicate fingertips, Geppetto felt a cool breeze on his bald head. Why, the puppet had used his brand-new hands to pull off his maker's wig! Pinocchio put the hair on his own head, which was so much smaller than Geppetto's head that half of the puppet was promptly hidden. Geppetto was getting slightly nervous. He wasn't even done making his wooden doll, and already the creature was misbehaving. Geppetto probably should have considered such risks before he'd started, but it was too late now. Retrieving his stolen wig and placing it back on his own head, Geppetto bent down to paint and polish Pinocchio's legs and feet. And wouldn't you know it? As soon as those feet were finished, one of them flew up and kicked Geppetto right in the nose.

"I must be patient," Geppetto told himself, "just as one is with a little baby." Taking the puppet under his arm, Geppetto put him on the floor and showed him how to walk. He learned just like a human child—bit by bit, one foot after the other. Unlike a human child, however, Pinocchio got the hang of that walking business in no time at all and quickly graduated to running around the room. In fact, he ran right out the open door and down the street. Geppetto tried to catch him, but it was no use. That puppet ran like the wind. Instead of stopping him, as Geppetto begged, the townspeople just stepped aside and stared and laughed. Pinocchio ran and ran. In fact, he ran right into the legs of a policeman, who did not take too kindly to runaway puppets. Grabbing Pinocchio by the nose, which made

a perfect handle, he held him still until Geppetto reached the scene. Geppetto thanked the officer. To Pinocchio, he said, "Young man, you and I are going to settle this when we get home!" Pinocchio threw himself on the ground and refused to move. "Help!" he cried. "Don't let this mean man take me!" A concerned crowd gathered around. "Shame on you, Geppetto!" they cried. "Of course he doesn't want to go home, if you are

only going to hit him!" "Who said anything about hitting?" Geppetto asked. But Pinocchio was quite an actor. "Yes," he cried. "My father beats me terribly!" The policeman, who took even less kindly to poor parents than to runaway puppets, now came and grabbed Geppetto. "Ungrateful boy!" Geppetto cried as he was dragged away to jail. "To think that I tried so hard to make the perfect puppet!" With his father in prison, Pinocchio was free to do as he liked. Running through fields like a wild and happy billy goat, he raced home, locked the door behind him, and threw himself on the couch. "This is the life!" he sighed. Just then, he heard someone saying, Cri-