pieces of wood, he set to work.

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

“Now close your eyes and sleep!” Geppetto said.

Pinocchio didn't feel the least bit sleepy, but he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep while Geppetto attached the two feet with a bit of glue, doing his work so well that the seams between the legs and the appended extremities could hardly be seen.

As soon as Pinocchio felt his new feet, he gave one leap from the table and started to skip and jump around, mad with joy. Finally he stopped and said, “To show you how grateful I am to you, Father, I'll go to school now. But to go to school I'll need a suit of clothes.”

Geppetto did not have a penny in his pocket, so he made his son a little suit out of paper with pictures of flowers on it, a pair of shoes from the bark of a tree, and a tiny hat from a piece of bread.

Pinocchio ran to look at his reflection in a bowl of water, and he felt so happy that he said proudly, “Now I look like a gentleman.”

“Indeed,” answered Geppetto. “But remember that fine clothes do not make a gentleman unless they are neat and clean.”

“Very true,” answered Pinocchio, “But in order to go to school, I still need something very important.”

“What?”

“A schoolbook.”

“To be sure! But how will we get it?”

“That's easy. We'll go to the bookstore and buy it,” explained the puppet.

“And the money?”

“I don't have any.”

“Neither have I,” said the old man sadly.

Pinocchio became downcast at these words, for when poverty shows itself, it destroys all joy—even in children.

“Wait here!” cried Geppetto all at once, as he jumped up from his chair. Putting on his old coat, full of holes and patches, he ran out of the house without another word.

After a while he returned. In his hands he had a brand-new schoolbook for his son, but the old coat was gone. The poor fellow was in his shirtsleeves, and it was snowing outside.

“Where's your coat, Father?”

“I sold it.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because it made me too warm.”

Pinocchio understood the import of the white lie instantly, and, unable to restrain his tears, he jumped on his father's neck and kissed him over and over.

Chapter 5 “The Puppet Theater”

When it stopped snowing, Pinocchio hurried off to school with his new book under his arm. As he walked along, he busily planned his agenda. He thought: “In school, today I'll learn to read, tomorrow to write, and the day after to do arithmetic. Then, clever as I am,