Chapter 8

    Geppetto makes Pinocchio a new pair of feet,and sells his coat to buy him an A-B-C bookThe Marionette¹, as soon as his hunger was appeased,started to grumble² and cry that he wanted a new pair of feet.

　　But Mastro Geppetto, in order to punish him for hismischief, let him alone the whole morning. After dinnerhe said to him:

　　"Why should I make your feet over again? To see yourun away from home once more?""I promise you," answered the Marionette, sobbing,"that from now on I'll be good--""Boys always promise that when they want something,"said Geppetto.

　　"I promise to go to school every day, to study, and to succeed--""Boys always sing that song when they want their own will.""But I am not like other boys! I am better than all of them and I always tell the truth. I promise you, Father,that I'll learn a trade, and I'll be the comfort and staff ofyour old age."Geppetto, though trying to look very stern³, felt his eyesfill with tears and his heart soften⁴ when he saw Pinocchioso unhappy. He said no more, but taking his tools and twopieces of wood, he set to work diligently⁵.

　　In less than an hour the feet were finished, two slender,nimble little feet, strong and quick, modeled as if by anartist's hands.

　　"Close your eyes and sleep!" Geppetto then said to the Marionette.

　　Pinocchio closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep,while Geppetto stuck on the two feet with a bit of gluemelted in an eggshell, doing his work so well that the jointcould hardly be seen.

　　As soon as the Marionette felt his new feet, he gave oneleap from the table and started to skip and jump around,as if he had lost his head from very joy.

　　"To show you how grateful I am to you, Father, I'll goto school now. But to go to school I need a suit of clothes."Geppetto did not have a penny in his pocket, so hemade his son a little suit of flowered paper, a pair of shoesfrom the bark of a tree, and a tiny cap from a bit of dough⁶.

　　Pinocchio ran to look at himself in a bowl of water, andhe felt so happy that he said proudly:

　　"Now I look like a gentleman.""Truly," answered Geppetto. "But remember that fineclothes do not make the man unless they be neat and clean.""Very true," answered Pinocchio, "but, in order to goto school, I still need something very important.""What is it?""An A-B-C book.""To be sure! But how shall we get it?""That's easy. We'll go to a bookstore and buy it.""And the money?""I have none.""Neither have I," said the old man sadly.

　　Pinocchio, although a happy boy always, became sadand downcast at these words. When poverty shows itself,even mischievous⁷ boys understand what it means.

　　"What does it matter, after all?" cried Geppetto all atonce, as he jumped up from his chair. Putting on his oldcoat, full of darns and patches, he ran out of the housewithout another word.

　　After a while he returned. In his hands he had theA-B-C book for his son, but the old coat was gone. Thepoor fellow was in his shirt sleeves and the day was cold.

　　"Where's your coat, Father?""I have sold it.""Why did you sell your coat?""It was too warm."Pinocchio understood the answer in a twinkling, and,unable to restrain his tears, he jumped on his father's neckand kissed him over and over.

　木偶肚子一不饿，马上就叽哩咕噜，哇哇大哭，吵着要一双新的脚。
　　可杰佩托为了他的恶作剧，想要罚罚他，就让他去哇哇哭，让他绝望了整整半天，最后才说：
　　“凭什么我要给你再做一双脚呢？是为了眼巴巴看着你再打家里溜出去吗？”
　　“我向您保证，”木偶哭着说，“从今以后我一定做个好孩子……”
　　“所有孩子碰到想讨点什么的时候，”杰佩托回答，“他们都是这样说的。”
　　“我向您保证，我要去上学读书，叫人看得起……”
　　“所有孩子碰到想讨点什么的时候，都来这一套。”
　　“可我跟别的孩子不同！我比所有的孩子好，我一直说真话，爸爸，我向您保证，我要学会一种本领，等您老了，我安慰您，养您。”
　　杰佩托虽然装出一副凶相，可看着他那可怜的皮诺乔这么受罪，眼里噙着眼泪，心里充满了爱，他不再回答什么话，只是拿起工具和两块干木头，一个劲地干起活来了。
　　一个钟头不到，两只脚已经做好。这两只小脚轻巧，干燥，灵活，真像一位天才雕刻家做出来的，
　　杰佩托于是对木偶说：
　　“闭上眼睛睡一觉吧！”
　　木偶闭上眼睛假装睡觉。在木偶假装睡觉的时埃，杰佩托用鸡蛋壳装点溶化了的胶，把两只脚给他黏上，黏得那么天衣无缝，一点看不出黏过的样子。
　　木偶一看见自己有了脚，就打直挺挺躺着的桌子上翻下来，乱蹦乱跳的跳了上千次，翻了上千个跟头，简直乐疯了。
　　“为了报答您给我做的一切”，皮诺乔对他爸爸说，“我要马上去上学。”
　　“好样儿的孩子！”
　　“可是去上学得有点儿东西穿。”
　　杰佩托很穷，口袋里连一个子儿也没有，于是用花纸给他做了一套衣服，用树皮给他做了一双鞋，用面包心给他做了一顶小帽子。
　　皮诺乔马上跑到一脸盆水那里去照，对自己的模样满意极了，神气活现地说：
　　“我真像一位体面的先生！”
　　“不错，”杰佩托回答说，“可是你要记住，使人成为体面先生的不是好衣服，而主要是干净的衣服。”
　　“不过”，木偶又说了，“我上学还少一样东西，一样最要紧的东西。”
　　“什么东西？”
　　“我还少一本识字课本。”
　　“你说得对，可怎么弄到它呢。”
　　“那还不方便，到书店里买就是了。”
　　“钱呢？……”
　　“我没钱。”
　　“我也没钱，”好老头说，心里很难过。
　　皮诺乔尽管是个快活透顶的孩子，可也难过起来了。因为一件真正伤心的事，那是人人都会懂得的，连孩子也不例外。
　　“没法子，只好这么办！”杰佩托叫了一声，忽然站起来，穿上打满补丁的粗布旧上衣，跑出门去了。
　　一会儿工夫他就回来。回来的时候，他手里拿着给他孩子买的识字课本，可短上衣没有了。这个可怜人只穿着衬衫，外面可是在下雪。
　　“上衣呢，爸爸？”
　　“我给卖了。”
　　“为什么卖了？”
　　“因为我热。”
　　他回答的这句话是什么意思，皮诺乔一下子就明白了，他那颗良心不由得一阵冲动，就扑上去抱住杰佩托的脖子，在他的整个脸上到处亲吻。

1 marionette   

n.木偶

参考例句：

• With this marionette I wish to travel through the world.我希望带着这个木偶周游世界。
• The development of marionette had a great influence on the future development of opera.木偶戏的发展对以后的戏曲有十分重要的影响。

2 grumble   

vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another grumble from you.我不愿再听到你的抱怨。
• He could do nothing but grumble over the situation.他除了埋怨局势之外别无他法。

3 stern   

adj.严厉的，严格的，严峻的；n.船尾

参考例句：

• The ship was in a blaze from stem to stern.整艘船从头到尾都着火了。
• The headmaster ruled the school with a stern discipline.校长治校严谨。

4 soften   

v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和

参考例句：

• Plastics will soften when exposed to heat.塑料适当加热就可以软化。
• This special cream will help to soften up our skin.这种特殊的护肤霜有助于使皮肤变得柔软。

5 diligently   

ad.industriously;carefully

参考例句：

• He applied himself diligently to learning French. 他孜孜不倦地学法语。
• He had studied diligently at college. 他在大学里勤奋学习。

6 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。

7 mischievous   

adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的

参考例句：

• He is a mischievous but lovable boy.他是一个淘气但可爱的小孩。
• A mischievous cur must be tied short.恶狗必须拴得短。