pinocchio, instead of becoming a boy, runs awayto the land of toys with his friend, lamp-wickcoming at last out of the surprise into which the fairy'swords had thrown him, pinocchio asked for permission togive out the invitations.

"indeed, you may invite your friends to tomorrow's party.

only remember to return home before dark. do you understand?""i'll be back in one hour without fail," answered the marionette.

"take care, pinocchio! boys give promises very easily,but they as easily forget them.""but i am not like those others. when i give my word i keep it.""we shall see. in case you do disobey, you will be the oneto suffer, not anyone else.""why?""because boys who do not listen to their elders always come to grief.""i certainly have," said pinocchio, "but from now on, i obey.""we shall see if you are telling the truth."without adding another word, the marionette bade the goodfairy good-by, and singing and dancing, he left the house.

in a little more than an hour, all his friends wereinvited. some accepted quickly and gladly. others had tobe coaxed, but when they heard that the toast was to bebuttered on both sides, they all ended by acceptingthe invitation with the words, "we'll come to please you."now it must be known that, among all his friends,pinocchio had one whom he loved most of all.

the boy's real name was romeo, but everyone called himlamp-wick, for he was long and thin and had a woebegonelook about him.

lamp-wick was the laziest boy in the school and thebiggest mischief-maker, but pinocchio loved him dearly.

that day, he went straight to his friend's house to invite himto the party, but lamp-wick was not at home. he went a second time,and again a third, but still without success.

where could he be? pinocchio searched here and there and everywhere,and finally discovered him hiding near a farmer's wagon.

"what are you doing there?" asked pinocchio, running up to him.

"i am waiting for midnight to strike to go--""where?""far, far away!""and i have gone to your house three times to look for you!""what did you want from me?""haven't you heard the news? don't you know what good luck is mine?""what is it?""tomorrow i end my days as a marionette and become a boy,like you and all my other friends.""may it bring you luck!""shall i see you at my party tomorrow?""but i'm telling you that i go tonight.""at what time?""at midnight.""and where are you going?""to a real country--the best in the world--a wonderful place!""what is it called?""it is called the land of toys. why don't you come, too?""i? oh, no!""you are making a big mistake, pinocchio. believe me,if you don't come, you'll be sorry. where can you finda place that will agree better with you and me? no schools,no teachers, no books! in that blessed place there is nosuch thing as study. here, it is only on saturdays thatwe have no school. in the land of toys, every day, exceptsunday, is a saturday. vacation begins on the firstof january and ends on the last day of december. thatis the place for me! all countries should be like it!

how happy we should all be!""but how does one spend the day in the land of toys?""days are spent in play and enjoyment from morn tillnight. at night one goes to bed, and next morning, thegood times begin all over again. what do you think of it?""h'm--!" said pinocchio, nodding his wooden head, as if to say,"it's the kind of life which would agree with me perfectly.""do you want to go with me, then? yes or no? youmust make up your mind.""no, no, and again no! i have promised my kind fairyto become a good boy, and i want to keep my word. justsee: the sun is setting and i must leave you and run.

good-by and good luck to you!""where are you going in such a hurry?""home. my good fairy wants me to return home before night.""wait two minutes more.""it's too late!""only two minutes.""and if the fairy scolds me?""let her scold. after she gets tired, she will stop," said lamp-wick.

"are you going alone or with others?""alone? there will be more than a hundred of us!""will you walk?""at midnight the wagon passes here that is to take uswithin the boundaries of that marvelous country.""how i wish midnight would strike!""why?""to see you all set out together.""stay here a while longer and you will see us!""no, no. i want to return home.""wait two more minutes.""i have waited too long as it is. the fairy will be worried.""poor fairy! is she afraid the bats will eat you up?""listen, lamp-wick," said the marionette, "are youreally sure that there are no schools in the land of toys?""not even the shadow of one.""not even one teacher?""not one.""and one does not have to study?""never, never, never!""what a great land!" said pinocchio, feeling his mouth water.

"what a beautiful land! i have never been there,but i can well imagine it.""why don't you come, too?""it is useless for you to tempt me! i told you i promisedmy good fairy to behave myself, and i am going tokeep my word.""good-by, then, and remember me to the grammarschools, to the high schools, and even to the colleges ifyou meet them on the way.""good-by, lamp-wick. have a pleasant trip, enjoyyourself, and remember your friends once in a while."with these words, the marionette started on his wayhome. turning once more to his friend, he asked him:

"but are you sure that, in that country, each week iscomposed of six saturdays and one sunday?""very sure!""and that vacation begins on the first of january andends on the thirty-first of december?""very, very sure!""what a great country!" repeated pinocchio, puzzledas to what to do.

then, in sudden determination, he said hurriedly:

"good-by for the last time, and good luck.""good-by.""how soon will you go?""within two hours.""what a pity! if it were only one hour, i might wait for you.""and the fairy?""by this time i'm late, and one hour more or less makesvery little difference.""poor pinocchio! and if the fairy scolds you?""oh, i'll let her scold. after she gets tired, she will stop."in the meantime, the night became darker and darker.

all at once in the distance a small light flickered. aqueer sound could be heard, soft as a little bell, and faintand muffled like the buzz of a far-away mosquito.

"there it is!" cried lamp-wick, jumping to his feet.

"what?" whispered pinocchio.

"the wagon which is coming to get me. for the lasttime, are you coming or not?""but is it really true that in that country boys neverhave to study?""never, never, never!""what a wonderful, beautiful, marvelous country! oh--h--h!!"

当然，皮诺乔马上就得到仙女同意，进城去把要请的人都给请来。临走时仙女对他说：

“那你就去请你的同学们明天来参加早宴吧。可你记住了，天黑前就得回家。明白了吗？”

我保证一个钟头就回来，木偶回答说。

“留神点，皮诺乔：孩子们总是答应起来很爽快，可做起来却慢腾腾的。”

“我跟别人可不一样，我说到做到。”

“咱们看吧。万一你不听话，你就要吃更大的苦头。”

“为什么？”

“因为孩子不听比他们懂得多的人劝，总是要倒霉的。”

“我已经尝到过滋味！”皮诺乔说，“现在我不会再犯老毛病了！”

“我说的话是真是假，咱们看吧。”

木偶二话不说，就跟做他妈妈的好心仙女告了别，又唱又跳地出门去了。

一个钟头多一点，所有的朋友他都请到了。有人一听就高兴地接受邀请。有人还得先求一求，可一听说有牛奶咖啡喝，还有两面涂黄油的面包吃，就都说：“我们为了让你高兴，要来的。”

现在诸位要知道，皮诺乔在他的朋友和同学中间，有一个最知己最要好的，名字叫罗梅奥，可大家给他取了个绰号叫“小灯芯”，因为他又干又瘦，活像晚上小油灯点的一根新灯芯。

小灯芯在全校学生当中最懒情最捣蛋，可皮诺乔却很喜欢他。事实就是这样，他一开头就上他家去找他，要请他赴早宴，可没碰到。他第二次去，小灯芯不在家。他第三次去，还是白跑。

哪儿能找到他呢？这里找，那里找，最后总算看见他躲在一间农舍的门廊里。

“你在这儿干吗？”皮诺乔走过去问他。

“等半夜好离开这里……”

“上哪儿去？”

“上很远很远的地方去！”

“我可是上你家找你三次了！……”

“你找我干吗？”

“你不知道这个重要消息吗？你不知道我交的好运吗？”

“什么好运？”

“赶明儿我就不再是木偶，要变成一个真孩子，像你，像大家一样了。”

“恭喜恭喜。”

“就为了这件事，希望你明天上我家赴早宴。”

“可我跟你说了，我今天夜里就得离开这里！”

“几点钟？”

“半夜十二点。”

“上哪儿？”

“上一个国家……这是全世界最美的国家，一个真正的快乐的国家！……”

“这国家叫什么名字？”

“叫‘玩儿国’。你干吗不跟我一起去呢？”

“我，我可不去！”

“那你就大错特错了，皮诺乔！你相信我的话，不去你要后悔的。对我们孩子来说，哪儿还能找到一个更好的国家呢？那儿没有学校，那儿没有老师，那儿没有书本。在这幸福国家里永远不要学习。星期四不用上学，一个星期有六个星期四和一个星期日。你想象一下吧，秋假从一月一号放到十二月最后一天。这个国家真配我胃口！一切文明国家都该像它这样才好！……”

“在‘玩儿国’里日子是怎么过的？”

“就玩着过，从早玩到晚。晚上睡一觉，第二天早晨又重新开始玩。你觉得怎么样？”

“嗯！……”皮诺乔嗯了一声，轻轻点点头，像是说：“这种日子我也真想过。”

“那么，我想跟我一起去吗？去还是不去？你拿主意吧。”

“不去，不去，不去，我不去。如今我已经答应过我的好心仙女，说我要做个好孩子，说了就要算数。再说，我看太阳正在落下去，我得马上离开你，赶紧走了。好，再见，祝我一路平安。”

“你这么急急忙忙的上哪儿啊？”

“回家。我的好仙女要我天黑前回家。”

“再等两分钟吧。”

“那太晚了。”

“就那么两分钟嘛，”

“万一仙女骂我呢？”

“让她去骂好了。她骂够了会不骂的，”小灯芯这小坏蛋说。

“你怎么？一个人去还是跟大伙儿一起去，”

“一个人去？有百来个孩子呢？”

“走着去吗？”

“半夜有一辆车子经过这里，要把我们一直送到这个无比幸福的国家去。”

“现在是半夜就好了，那我什么都愿意给！……”

“为什么？”

“为了看看你们大伙儿动身。”

“在这儿再等一会儿，你就看见了。”

“不行不行，我得回家了，”

“就等那么两分钟吧。”

“我已经呆得太久了。仙女要想我啦。”

“可怜的仙女！她是怕蝙蝠吃了你吗？”

“不过，”皮诺乔又说，“你断定这国家没学校吗？……”

“连学校的影子也没有，”

“也没有老师吗？……”

“一个也没有。”

“也不要学习吗？……”

“不要，不要，不要！”

“多美的国家呀！”皮诺乔说，觉得口水都要流下来了。“多美的国家呀！我没到过那里，可我完全能想象出来！……”

“那你干吗不也上那儿去吗？”

“你引不动我！如今我已经答应我的好仙女，要做个有头脑的孩子，我不想说话不算数。”

“那就再见吧，代我向初级中学致敬！……要是你在路上碰到一些高级中学，也代我向它们致敬。”

“再见，小灯芯，一路平安，祝你快活，常常想到朋友们。”

木偶说着就要走，走了两步又停下来，向他这位朋友回过身子，问道：

“你真的断定，这国家个个星期都是六个星期四和一个星期日吗？”

“完全断定。”

“你真的知道，年年的假期都是从一月一号放到十二月最末了一天吗？”

“一点不假！”

“多美的国家呀！”皮诺乔又说一遍，太高兴了，吐了口口水。

接着他又拿定主意，狠了狠心，很快地又说了一句：

“好，真的再见了，一路平安。”

“再见。”

“你们多咱动身？”

“就在两个钟头之内！”

“真可惜！要是只有一个钟头，我还可以等等。”

“那仙女呢？”

“不过现在反正晚了……回家早一个钟头晚一个钟头没什么两样。”

“可怜的皮诺乔！万一仙女骂你呢？”

“没法子！让她骂吧。骂够了会不骂的。”

这时天已经全黑，黑得伸手不见五指了。忽然只见远远有一点灯光在移动……还听到铃铛声和喇叭声，声音很轻很闷，似是蚊子嗡嗡叫！

“来了！”小灯芯叫着跳起来。

“谁来了？”皮诺乔低声问。

“来接我的车子。好，你要去吗？去还是不去？”

“可你说的是真话吗？”木偶问道，“在那个国家里孩子都不要学习？”

“不要，不要，不要！”

“多美的国家呀！……多美的国家！……多美的国家呀！……”