Latest / Classic Adventure Books - Daily / 22 - The Adventures of Pinocchio - Carlo Collodi
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Chapter twenty two, Pinocchio discovers the thieves, and as a
- 0:04Speaker 1: reward for faithfulness, he regains his liberty. Even though a
- 0:09Speaker 1: boy may be very unhappy, he very seldom loses sleep
- 0:12Speaker 1: over his worries. The Marionette, being no exception to this rule,
- 0:16Speaker 1: slept on peacefully for a few hours till well along
- 0:19Speaker 1: toward midnight, when he was awakened by strange whisperings and
- 0:23Speaker 1: stealthy sounds coming from the yard. He stuck his nose
- 0:26Speaker 1: out of the dog house and saw four slender, hairy animals.
- 0:30Speaker 1: They were weasels, small animals, very fond of both eggs
- 0:33Speaker 1: and chickens. One of them left her companions, and, going
- 0:37Speaker 1: to the door of the dog house, said in the
- 0:39Speaker 1: sweet voice, good evening. M Lampo. My name is not M. Lampo,
- 0:45Speaker 1: answered Pinocchio. Who are you then? I am Pinocchio. What
- 0:50Speaker 1: are you doing here? I'm the watch dog? But where
- 0:54Speaker 1: is Melampo? Where is the old dog who used to
- 0:57Speaker 1: live in this house? He died this morning, died, poor beast.
- 1:03Speaker 1: He was so good still, judging by your face, I
- 1:08Speaker 1: think you too are a good natured dog. I beg
- 1:11Speaker 1: your pardon. I am not a dog. What are you then,
- 1:15Speaker 1: I am a marionette. Are you taking the place of
- 1:18Speaker 1: the watch dog? I'm sorry to say that I am.
- 1:22Speaker 1: I'm being punished. Well, I shall make the same terms
- 1:26Speaker 1: with you that we had with the dead Malampo. I'm
- 1:29Speaker 1: sure you will be glad to hear them. And what
- 1:32Speaker 1: are the terms? This is our plan, will come once
- 1:37Speaker 1: in a while, as in the past, to pay a
- 1:40Speaker 1: visit to this hen house, and we'll take away eight chickens.
- 1:44Speaker 1: Of these seven are for us and one for you,
- 1:48Speaker 1: provided of course, that you will make believe you are
- 1:51Speaker 1: sleeping and will not guard for the farmer. Did Malampo
- 1:55Speaker 1: really do that, asked Pinocchio. Indeed he did, and because
- 2:00Speaker 1: that we were the best of friends. Sleep away peacefully,
- 2:04Speaker 1: and remember that before we go, we shall leave you
- 2:07Speaker 1: a nice fat chicken all ready for your breakfast in
- 2:10Speaker 1: the morning. Is that understood even too well? Answered Pinocchio,
- 2:15Speaker 1: and shaking his head in a threatening manner, he seemed
- 2:18Speaker 1: to say, we'll talk this over in a few minutes,
- 2:20Speaker 1: my friends. As soon as the four weasels had talked
- 2:25Speaker 1: things over, they went straight to the chicken coop, which
- 2:27Speaker 1: stood close to the dock house. Digging busily with teeth
- 2:31Speaker 1: and claws, they opened the little door and slipped it.
- 2:35Speaker 1: But they were no sooner in than they heard the
- 2:36Speaker 1: door close with a sharp bay. The one who had
- 2:40Speaker 1: done the trick was Pinocchio, who, not satisfied with that,
- 2:43Speaker 1: dragged a heavy stone in front of it. That done,
- 2:46Speaker 1: he started to bark, and he barked as if he
- 2:49Speaker 1: were a real watch dog. Bow bow wow, bow wow.
- 2:53Speaker 1: The farmer heard the loud barks and jumped out of bed,
- 2:56Speaker 1: Taking his gun. He leaped to the window and shouted,
- 2:59Speaker 1: what's the matter? The thieves are here, answered Pinocchio, where
- 3:03Speaker 1: are they in the chicken coop? I'll come down in
- 3:06Speaker 1: the second, And in fact he was down in the
- 3:09Speaker 1: yard in a twinkling and running toward the chicken coop.
- 3:13Speaker 1: He opened the door, pulled out the weasels one by one,
- 3:16Speaker 1: and after tying them in a bag, said to them
- 3:18Speaker 1: in a happy voice, you're in my hands at last.
- 3:21Speaker 1: I could punish you now, but I'll wait in the morning.
- 3:24Speaker 1: You may come with me to the inn, and there
- 3:26Speaker 1: you'll make a fine dinner for some hungry mortal. It
- 3:29Speaker 1: is really too great an honor for you. One you
- 3:32Speaker 1: do not deserve. But as you see, I am really
- 3:35Speaker 1: a very kind and generous man, and I am going
- 3:37Speaker 1: to do this for you. Then he went up to
- 3:40Speaker 1: Pinocchio and began to pet and caress him. How did
- 3:43Speaker 1: you ever find them out so quickly? And to think
- 3:45Speaker 1: that m Lampo, my faithful Malampo, never saw them in
- 3:48Speaker 1: all these years the marionette could have told then and
- 3:52Speaker 1: there all he knew about the shameful contract between the
- 3:54Speaker 1: dog and the weasels. The thinking of the dead dog.
- 3:57Speaker 1: He said to himself, Malampo is dead. What is the
- 4:01Speaker 1: use of accusing him? The dead are gone, and they
- 4:03Speaker 1: cannot defend themselves. The best thing to do is to
- 4:06Speaker 1: leave them in peace. Were you awake or asleep when
- 4:09Speaker 1: they came, continued the farmer. I was asleep, answered Pinocchio.
- 4:14Speaker 1: But they awakened me with their whisperings. One of them
- 4:17Speaker 1: even came to the door of the dog house and
- 4:19Speaker 1: said to me, if you promise not to bark, we
- 4:21Speaker 1: will make you a present of one of the chickens
- 4:23Speaker 1: for your breakfast. Did you hear that they have the
- 4:26Speaker 1: audacity to make such a proposition as that to me?
- 4:29Speaker 1: For you must know that though I am a very
- 4:31Speaker 1: wicked marionette, full of faults. Still I never have been,
- 4:35Speaker 1: nor ever shall be bribed. Fine boy, cried the farmer,
- 4:39Speaker 1: slapping him on the shoulder in a friendly way. You
- 4:41Speaker 1: ought to be proud of yourself, and to show you
- 4:43Speaker 1: what I think of you. You are free from this
- 4:45Speaker 1: instant And he slipped the dog collar from his neck.
- 4:50Speaker 1: End of Chapter twenty two.