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20 - The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi · Classic Adventure Books Collection

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  Chapter twenty. Freed from prison, Pinocchio sets out to return to the fairy,
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  but on the way he meets a serpent and later is caught in a
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  trap. Fancy the happiness of Pinocchio. On finding himself free, without saying
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  yes or no, he fled from the city and set out on the road
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  that was to take him back to the house of the lovely Fairy. It
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  had rained for many days, and the road was so muddy that at times
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  Pinocchio sank down almost to his knees, but he kept on bravely, tormented
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  by the wish to see his father and his fairy sister with ozarre hair,
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  he raced like a greyhound. As he ran, he was splashed with mud
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  even up to his cap. How unhappy I have been, he said to
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  himself. And yet I deserve everything, for I am certainly very stubborn and
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  stupid. I will always have my own way. I won't listen to those
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  who love me and who have more brains. But from now on I'll be
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  different, and I'll try to become a most obedient boy. I have found
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  out, beyond any doubt whatsoever, that disobedient boys are certainly far from happy
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  and that in the long run they always lose out. I wonder if Father
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  is waiting for me? Will I find him at the Fairy's house? It
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  is so long, poor man, since I have seen him, and I
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  do so want his love and his kisses. And will the Fairy ever forgive
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  me for all I have done? She who has been so good to me,
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  and to whom I owe my life? Can there be a worse or
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  more heartless boy than I am? Anywhere As he spoke, he stopped,
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  suddenly frozen with terror. What was the matter? An immense serpent lay stretched
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  across the road, a serpent with bright green skin, fiery eyes which glowed
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  and burned, and a pointed tail that smoked like a chimney. How frightened
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  was poor Pinocchio. He ran back wildly for half a mile, and at
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  last settled himself atop a heap of stones to wait for the serpent to go
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  on his way and leave the road clear for him. He waited an hour,
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  two hours, three hours, But the serpent was always there, and
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  even from afar one could see the flash of his red eyes and the column
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  of smoke which rose from his long, pointed tail. Pinocchio, trying to
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  feel very brave, walked straight up to him and said, in a sweet,
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  soothing voice, I beg your pardon, mister serpent, would you be
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  so kind as to step aside to let me pass? He might as well
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  have talked to a wall. The serpent never moved once more. In the
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  same sweet voice, he spoke, you must know, mister serpent, that
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  I am going home, where my father is waiting for me. It is
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  so long since I have seen him. Would you mind very much if I
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  passed? He waited for some sign of an answer to his questions, but
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  the answer did not come. On the contrary, the green serpent, who
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  had seemed until then wide awake and full of life, became suddenly very quiet
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  and still, his eyes closed, and his tail stopped smoking. Is he
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  dead, I wonder, said Pinocchio, rubbing his hands together happily, without
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  a moment's hesitation. He started to step over him, but he had just
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  raised one leg when the serpent shot up like a spring, and the marionette
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  fell head over heels backward. He fell so awkwardly that his head stuck in
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  the mud, and there he stood, with his legs straight up in the
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  air. At the sight of the marionette, kicking and squirming like a young
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  whirlwind. The serpent laughed so heartily and so long, that at last he
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  burst an artery and died on the spot. Pinocchio freed himself from his awkward
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  position and once more began to run in order to reach the fairy's house before
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  dark. As he went, the pangs of hunger grew so strong that,
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  unable to withstand them, he jumped into a field to pick a few grapes
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  that tempted him. Woe to him. No sooner had he reached the grapevine,
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  than crack went his legs. The poor marionette was caught in a trap
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  set there by a farmer for some weasels which came every night to steal his
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  chickens. End of Chapter twenty