This is what happens to bad students (Pinocchio in Toyland)

This week I finished reading The Adventures of Pinocchio for the first time.  It was written by Carlo Coloddi and published in Italian in 1883.

It concerns the wooden marionette, Pinocchio, who is a very bad son to his poor father, Geppetto.  It contains many cautionary tales about the bad things that will happen to bad boys.

I hope that you are all studying English hard.  Because the story also contains a moral for those who neglect their studies.  The copyright for this work has expired, so I hope that Carlo Colloddi won’t mind if I summarise Pinocchio’s misadventure when he neglects his studies to go to Toyland...

 

An episode from “The Adventures of Pinocchio”,: Toyland

"Why don't you come to Toyland with me?" Lampwick said. "Nobody ever studies there and you can play all day long!"

"Does such a place really exist?" asked Pinocchio in amazement.

"The wagon comes by this evening to take me there," said Lampwick. "Would you like to come?"

Forgetting all his promises to his father and the fairy, Pinocchio was again heading for trouble. Midnight struck, and the wagon arrived to pick up the two friends, along with some other lads who could hardly wait to reach a place where schoolbooks and teachers had never been heard of. Twelve pairs of donkeys pulled the wagon. The boys clambered into the wagon. Pinocchio, the most excited of them all, jumped on to a donkey. Toyland, here we come!

Now Toyland was just as Lampwick had described it: the boys all had great fun and there were no lessons. You weren't even allowed to whisper the word "school", and Pinocchio could hardly believe he was able to play all the time.

"This is the life!" he said each time he met Lampwick.

"I was right, wasn't I?" exclaimed his friend, pleased with himself.

"Oh, yes Lampwick! Thanks to you I'm enjoying myself. And just think: teacher told me to keep well away from you."

One day, however, Pinocchio awoke to a nasty surprise. When he raised a hand to his head, he found he had sprouted a long pair of hairy ears, in place of the simple ears that Geppetto had never got round to finishing. And that wasn't all! The next day, they had grown longer than ever. Pinocchio shamefully pulled on a large cotton cap and went off to search for Lampwick. He too was wearing a hat, pulled right down to his nose. With the same thought in their heads, the boys stared at each other, then snatching off their hats, they began to laugh at the funny sight of long hairy ears. But as they screamed with laughter, Lampwick suddenly went pale and stumbled. "Pinocchio, help! Help!" But Pinocchio himself was stumbling about and he burst into tears. For their faces were growing into the shape of a donkey's head and they felt themselves go down on all fours. Pinocchio and Lampwick were turning into a pair of donkeys. And when they tried to groan with fear, they brayed loudly instead. When the Toyland wagon driver heard the braying of his new donkeys, he rubbed his hands in glee.

 

Vocabulary:

a misadventure – An adventure that goes wrong; a bad experience.

to neglect something – Not to do something that you should.

a lad – A boy

to clamber – To climb in a clumsy way

“This is the life” – This is an expression which people say when they are enjoying luxury.  For example, you might say it when drinking champagne and eating truffles.

nasty – Very unpleasant.

to sprout – To grow quickly.

to snatch something – To grab something; to take it very quickly with your hand.

to stumble –To nearly fall over.

to bray – This is the noise that a donkey makes.

glee – Great happiness or joy