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Chapter 1 “Geppetto Makes a Puppet” 

Once upon a time a block of firewood found its way into the room of a kind but poor old wood carver named Geppetto. It was a small but comfortable room on the ground floor, with a tiny window under the stairway. The furniture couldn't have been much simpler: an old chair, a rickety bed, and a broken-down table. In a back corner stood a decrepit, old stove.

As soon as he saw that piece of wood, Geppetto was filled with joy. Rubbing his hands together happily, he said to himself: “This has come in the nick of time. Now I can make myself a beautiful wooden puppet that can dance and turn somersaults. With it I can travel the world and earn my supper.”

Geppetto took out his tools to begin cutting the wood into the proper shape, but first stopped to ask himself: “What should I call him? I think I'll call him Pinocchio. I once knew a whole family by that name, and they were all lucky.”

After choosing the name for his puppet, Geppetto set to work. He made the hair, the forehead, and the eyes. All of a sudden the newly made eyes moved back and forth, then stopped and stared at him! Seeing this, Geppetto asked, “Why are you staring at me?”

But there was no answer.

After the eyes, Geppetto made the nose, which began to grow as soon as it was finished. It grew and grew until it became so long that it seemed endless. Poor Geppetto kept cutting it and cutting it, but the more he cut, the longer the nose grew. In despair, he finally left it alone.

Next he made the mouth. No sooner was it finished than it stuck out its tongue at him!

Eager to finish what he'd started, Geppetto ignored the insult and went on with his work. After the mouth, he made the ears, the chin, the neck, the shoulders, the stomach, the arms, and the hands.

As he was about to put the finishing touches on the fingertips, Geppetto suddenly felt his face being poked. “Pinocchio, you bad boy!” he yelled. “You're not even finished yet, and you're already rude to your poor old father. That's very bad, my son. Very bad!”

The legs and feet still had to be made. As soon as they were done, Geppetto felt a sharp kick! Though thoroughly exasperated by the puppet's antics, Geppetto didn't yell. Instead, he said to himself: “Well, I guess I deserve it. I should have realized this might happen before I started to make him. But now it's too late.”

He took hold of

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