Very little time did it take to get poor old Geppetto to prison. In the meantime that rascal, Pinocchio, free now from the clutches of the Carabineer, was running wildly across fields and meadows, taking one short cut after another toward home. In his wild flight, he leaped over brambles and bushes, and across brooks and ponds, as if he were a goat or a hare chased by hounds.
       On reaching home, he found the house door half open. He slipped into the room, locked the door, and threw himself on the floor, happy at his escape.
       But his happiness lasted only a short time, for just then he heard someone saying:
       "Cri-cri-cri!"
       "Who is calling me?" asked Pinocchio, greatly frightened.
       "I am!"
       Pinocchio turned and saw a large cricket crawling slowly up the wall.
       "Tell me, Cricket, who are you?"
       "I am the Talking Cricket and I have been living in this room for more than one hundred years."
       "Today, however, this room is mine," said the Marionette, "and if you wish to do me a favor, get out now, and don't turn around even once."
       "I refuse to leave this spot," answered the Cricket, "until I have told you a great truth."
       "Tell it, then, and hurry."
       "Woe to boys who refuse to obey their parents and run away from home! They will never be happy in this world, and when they are older they will be very sorry for it."
       "Sing on, Cricket mine, as you please. What I know is, that tomorrow, at dawn, I leave this place forever. If I stay here the same thing will happen to me which happens to all other boys and girls. They are sent to school, and whether they want to or not, they must study. As for me, let me tell you, I hate to study! It's much more fun, I think, to chase after butterflies, climb trees, and steal birds' nests."
       "Poor little silly! Don't you know that if you go on like that, you will grow into a perfect donkey and that you'll be the laughingstock of everyone?"
       "Keep still, you ugly Cricket!" cried Pinocchio.
       But the Cricket, who was a wise old philosopher, instead of being offended at Pinocchio's impudence, continued in the same tone:
       "If you do not like going to school, why don't you at least learn a trade, so that you can earn an honest living?"
       "Shall I tell you something?" asked Pinocchio, who was beginning to lose patience. "Of all the trades in the world, there is only one that really suits me."
       "And what can that be?"
       "That of eating, drinking, sleeping, playing, and wandering around from morning till night."
       "Let me tell you, for your own good, Pinocchio," said the Talking Cricket in his calm voice, "that those who follow that trade always end up in the hospital or in prison."
       "Careful, ugly Cricket! If you make me angry, you'll be sorry!"
       "Poor Pinocchio, I am sorry for you."
       "Why?"
       "Because you are a Marionette and, what is much worse, you have a wooden head."
       At these last words, Pinocchio jumped up in a fury, took a hammer from the bench, and threw it with all his strength at the Talking Cricket.
       Perhaps he did not think he would strike it. But, sad to relate, my dear children, he did hit the Cricket, straight on its head.
       With a last weak "cri-cri-cri" the poor Cricket fell from the wall, dead!

Chapter 1: How it happened that Mastro Cherry, carpenter, found a piece of wood that wept and laughed like a child
Chapter 2: Mastro Cherry gives the piece of wood to his friend Geppetto, who takes it to make himself a Marionette that will dance, fence, and turn somersaults
Chapter 3: As soon as he gets home, Geppetto fashions the Marionette and calls it Pinocchio. The first pranks of the Marionette
Chapter 4: The story of Pinocchio and the Talking Cricket, in which one sees that bad children do not like to be corrected by those who know more than they do
Chapter 5: Pinocchio is hungry and looks for an egg to cook himself an omelet; but, to his surprise, the omelet flies out of the window
Chapter 6: Pinocchio falls asleep with his feet on a foot warmer, and awakens the next day with his feet all burned off
Chapter 7: Geppetto returns home and gives his own breakfast to the Marionette
Chapter 8: Geppetto makes Pinocchio a new pair of feet, and sells his coat to buy him an A-B-C book
Chapter 9: Pinocchio sells his A-B-C book to pay his way into the Marionette Theater
Chapter 10: The Marionettes recognize their brother Pinocchio, and greet him with loud cheers; but the Director, Fire Eater, happens along and poor Pinocchio almost loses his life
Chapter 11: Fire Eater sneezes and forgives Pinocchio, who saves his friend, Harlequin, from death
Chapter 12: Fire Eater gives Pinocchio five gold pieces for his father, Geppetto; but the Marionette meets a Fox and a Cat and follows them
Chapter 13: The Inn of the Red Lobster
Chapter 14: Pinocchio, not having listened to the good advice of the Talking Cricket, falls into the hands of the Assassins
Chapter 15: The Assassins chase Pinocchio, catch him, and hang him to the branch of a giant oak tree
Chapter 16: The Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair sends for the poor Marionette, puts him to bed, and calls three Doctors to tell her if Pinocchio is dead or alive
Chapter 17
Chapter 18: Pinocchio finds the Fox and the Cat again, and goes with them to sow the gold pieces in the Field of Wonders
Chapter 19: Pinocchio is robbed of his gold pieces and, in punishment, is sentenced to four months in prison
Chapter 20: Freed from prison, Pinocchio sets out to return to the Fairy; but on the way he meets a Serpent and later is caught in a trap
Chapter 21: Pinocchio is caught by a Farmer, who uses him as a watchdog for his chicken coop
Chapter 22: Pinocchio discovers the thieves and, as a reward for faithfulness, he regains his liberty
Chapter 23
Chapter 24: Pinocchio reaches the Island of the Busy Bees and finds the Fairy once more
Chapter 25: Pinocchio promises the Fairy to be good and to study, as he is growing tired of being a Marionette, and wishes to become a real boy
Chapter 26: Pinocchio goes to the seashore with his friends to see the Terrible Shark
Chapter 27: The great battle between Pinocchio and his playmates. One is wounded. Pinocchio is arrested
Chapter 28: Pinocchio runs the danger of being fried in a pan like a fish
Chapter 29
Chapter 30: Pinocchio, instead of becoming a boy, runs away to the Land of Toys with his friend, Lamp-Wick
Chapter 31: After five months of play, Pinocchio wakes up one fine morning and finds a great surprise awaiting him
Chapter 32: Pinocchio's ears become like those of a Donkey. In a little while he changes into a real Donkey and begins to bray
Chapter 33
Chapter 34: Pinocchio is thrown into the sea, eaten by fishes, and becomes a Marionette once more. As he swims to land, he is swallowed by the Terrible Shark
Chapter 35: In the Shark's body Pinocchio finds whom? Read this chapter, my children, and you will know
Chapter 36: Pinocchio finally ceases to be a Marionette and becomes a boy