freed from prison, pinocchio sets out to return to the fairy;but on the way he meets a serpent and later is caught in a trapfancy the happiness of pinocchio on finding himself free!
without saying yes or no, he fled from the city and setout on the road that was to take him back to the house ofthe lovely fairy.
it had rained for many days, and the road was so muddythat, at times, pinocchio sank down almost to his knees.
but he kept on bravely.
tormented by the wish to see his father and his fairy sister with azure hair, he raced like a greyhound. as heran, he was splashed with mud even up to his cap.
"how unhappy i have been," he said to himself. "andyet i deserve everything, for i am certainly very stubbornand stupid! i will always have my own way. i won'tlisten to those who love me and who have more brainsthan i. but from now on, i'll be different and i'll try tobecome a most obedient boy. i have found out, beyondany doubt whatever, that disobedient boys are certainlyfar from happy, and that, in the long run, they alwayslose out. i wonder if father is waiting for me. will ifind him at the fairy's house? it is so long, poor man,since i have seen him, and i do so want his love and hiskisses. and will the fairy ever forgive me for all i havedone? she who has been so good to me and to whom iowe my life! can there be a worse or more heartlessboy than i am anywhere?"as he spoke, he stopped suddenly, frozen with terror.
what was the matter? an immense serpent lay stretchedacross the road--a serpent with a bright green skin,fiery eyes which glowed and burned, and a pointed tailthat smoked like a chimney.
how frightened was poor pinocchio! he ran backwildly for half a mile, and at last settled himself atop aheap of stones to wait for the serpent to go on his wayand leave the road clear for him.
he waited an hour; two hours; three hours; but theserpent was always there, and even from afar one could see the flash of his red eyes and the column of smokewhich rose from his long, pointed tail.
pinocchio, trying to feel very brave, walked straight upto him and said in a sweet, soothing voice:
"i beg your pardon, mr. serpent, would you be sokind as to step aside to let me pass?"he might as well have talked to a wall. the serpentnever moved.
once more, in the same sweet voice, he spoke:
"you must know, mr. serpent, that i am going homewhere my father is waiting for me. it is so long since ihave seen him! would you mind very much if i passed?"he waited for some sign of an answer to his questions,but the answer did not come. on the contrary, the greenserpent, who had seemed, until then, wide awake and fullof life, became suddenly very quiet and still. his eyesclosed and his tail stopped smoking.
"is he dead, i wonder?" said pinocchio, rubbing hishands together happily. without a moment's hesitation,he started to step over him, but he had just raised one legwhen the serpent shot up like a spring and the marionettefell head over heels backward. he fell so awkwardlythat his head stuck in the mud, and there he stood withhis legs straight up in the air.
at the sight of the marionette kicking and squirminglike a young whirlwind, the serpent laughed so heartily and so long that at last he burst an artery and died on the spot.
pinocchio freed himself from his awkward position andonce more began to run in order to reach the fairy'shouse before dark. as he went, the pangs of hunger grewso strong that, unable to withstand them, he jumped intoa field to pick a few grapes that tempted him. woe to him!
no sooner had he reached the grapevine than--crack!
went his legs.
the poor marionette was caught in a trap set there bya farmer for some weasels which came every night tosteal his chickens.
皮诺乔听说释放，他那份高兴劲儿就可想而知了。他二话没说，马上出城，取道上仙女那座小房子去。
这是下雨天，整条路像个泥潭，走起来半条腿都没到烂泥里。可木偶一点不在乎。他急着要重新看到他的爸爸，看到他天蓝色头发的姐姐。他蹦啊跳地跑得像条猎犬，泥浆溅到帽子上，他一面跑一面自言自语说：
“我遭多少殃啊……这是活该，因为我是个犟头倔脑的木头人……我任意妄为，对于爱我和比我聪明千倍的人说的话，我一点都不听！……可从今往后，我决心改邪归正，做一个老实听话的孩子……如今我看清楚了，不听话的孩子要倒大霉，一事无成。我的爸爸在等我吗？……我在仙女家会看到他吗，可怜的爸爸，我多久没见到他了，我现在只想没完没了地抚摸他，拼命地亲吻他！仙女会原谅我的不好行为吗？……只要想一想，我得到她的百般关心和亲切治疗……只要想一想，我今天还能活着，全亏的是她！……还有孩子比我更忘恩负义，更没心肝的吗？……”
他正这么自言自语，一下子大吃一惊，停了下来，还倒退了四步。
他看见什么啦？……
他看见了一条大蛇，直挺挺地横躺在路上。这条蛇绿皮火眼，尾巴很尖，像是烟囱在冒烟。
木偶害怕得无法形容。他离开它，跑了有半公里多，坐在一堆石头上，只等这条蛇爬开，把路让出来。
他等了一个钟头，两个钟头，三个钟头，可蛇还在那儿。虽然离得老远，还能看见它那双火眼红红的，尾巴尖冒出一股一股烟柱。
最后皮诺乔鼓足了勇气，走近那蛇，离开它几步，用很甜很细的声音讨好地对它说：
“对不起，蛇先生，请帮个忙，挪出点地方让我过去，好吗？”
可他这番话完全是白说。蛇一动也不动。
木偶又用那很甜很细的声音说：
“您得知道，蛇先生，我要回到那房子去，我爸爸在那儿等着我，我已经很久很久没见到他了！……您肯让我继续走我的路吗？”
他等着蛇作出个表示来回答他这个请求，可蛇没有动静。相反，它一直好像很生猛，这时倒变得僵直不动了。它的眼睛闭上，尾巴停止冒烟。
“它真的死了吗？……”皮诺乔说着，高兴得搓了搓手。他一点不耽搁，就要打它身上跳过去，跳到路的那一边。可他脚还没举起，蛇忽然像迸起来的弹簧似地跳了起来。木偶大吃一惊，赶紧往后退，绊了一下，跌倒在地上。
跌得也真不巧，他的脑袋插在路上的泥浆里，只剩两条腿倒竖着。
蛇看见木偶头朝下，两脚用难以想象的速度踢来踢去，就扭啊扭地狂笑起来，笑啊，笑啊，笑啊，最后笑得太厉害，肚子上一根静脉竟断掉了：这回它真的死啦。
于是皮诺乔重新跑起来，要在天黑之前赶到仙女的家。可路很长，肚子饿得慌。他再也忍耐不住，就跳进一块葡萄地，想采两串麝香葡萄吃。唉，真不该跳进去的！
他一到葡萄藤底下，卡嗒……只觉得两脚给两块很锋利的铁片一下夹住，痛得他眼冒金星。
可怜的木偶是给一个捕兽夹夹住了。这种捕兽夹是农民装在那里捕捉大鸡貂的。要知道，鸡貂是附近所有鸡埘的大灾星。