Geppetto returns home and giveshis own breakfast to the MarionetteThe poor Marionette, who was still half asleep, had notyet found out that his two feet were burned and gone. Assoon as he heard his Father's voice, he jumped up from hisseat to open the door, but, as he did so, he staggered andfell headlong to the floor.
In falling, he made as much noise as a sack of woodfalling from the fifth story of a house.
"Open the door for me!" Geppetto shouted from the street.
"Father, dear Father, I can't," answered the Marionettein despair, crying and rolling on the floor.
"Why can't you?""Because someone has eaten my feet.""And who has eaten them?""The cat," answered Pinocchio, seeing that little animalbusily playing with some shavings in the corner of the room.
"Open! I say," repeated Geppetto, "or I'll give you asound whipping when I get in.""Father, believe me, I can't stand up. Oh, dear!
Oh, dear! I shall have to walk on my knees all my life."Geppetto, thinking that all these tears and cries wereonly other pranks of the Marionette, climbed up the sideof the house and went in through the window.
At first he was very angry, but on seeing Pinocchiostretched out on the floor and really without feet, he feltvery sad and sorrowful. Picking him up from the floor, hefondled and caressed him, talking to him while the tearsran down his cheeks:
"My little Pinocchio, my dear little Pinocchio!
How did you burn your feet?""I don't know, Father, but believe me, the night hasbeen a terrible one and I shall remember it as long as I live.
The thunder was so noisy and the lightning so bright--and I was hungry. And then the Talking Cricket said tome, `You deserve it; you were bad;' and I said to him,`Careful, Cricket;' and he said to me, `You are a Marionetteand you have a wooden head;' and I threw the hammer at him and killed him. It was his own fault, for I didn't wantto kill him. And I put the pan on the coals, but the Chickflew away and said, `I'll see you again! Remember me tothe family.' And my hunger grew, and I went out, and theold man with a nightcap looked out of the window andthrew water on me, and I came home and put my feet onthe stove to dry them because I was still hungry, and I fellasleep and now my feet are gone but my hunger isn't!
Oh!--Oh!--Oh!" And poor Pinocchio began to screamand cry so loudly that he could be heard for miles around.
Geppetto, who had understood nothing of all thatjumbled talk, except that the Marionette was hungry, felt sorryfor him, and pulling three pears out of his pocket, offeredthem to him, saying:
"These three pears were for my breakfast, but I givethem to you gladly. Eat them and stop weeping.""If you want me to eat them, please peel them for me.""Peel them?" asked Geppetto, very much surprised. "Ishould never have thought, dear boy of mine, that youwere so dainty and fussy about your food. Bad, very bad!
In this world, even as children, we must accustom ourselvesto eat of everything, for we never know what life mayhold in store for us!""You may be right," answered Pinocchio, "but I will noteat the pears if they are not peeled. I don't like them."And good old Geppetto took out a knife, peeled thethree pears, and put the skins in a row on the table.
Pinocchio ate one pear in a twinkling and started tothrow the core away, but Geppetto held his arm.
"Oh, no, don't throw it away! Everything in this worldmay be of some use!""But the core I will not eat!" cried Pinocchio in an angry tone.
"Who knows?" repeated Geppetto calmly.
And later the three cores were placed on the table nextto the skins.
Pinocchio had eaten the three pears, or rather devoured them.
Then he yawned deeply, and wailed:
"I'm still hungry.""But I have no more to give you.""Really, nothing--nothing?""I have only these three cores and these skins.""Very well, then," said Pinocchio, "if there is nothingelse I'll eat them."At first he made a wry face, but, one after another, theskins and the cores disappeared.
"Ah! Now I feel fine!" he said after eating the last one.
"You see," observed Geppetto, "that I was right when I told you that one must not be too fussy and too daintyabout food. My dear, we never know what life may havein store for us!"