Pinocchio Story – Pinocchio and the Good Fairy

Stories such as Pinocchio and the Good Fairy are omnipresent. They have been an intrinsic part of human interaction for ages. Everything we talk or express in our daily lives hold stories with profound emotions such as humor, grief, joy, fear, and anger. Our forefathers have paved the way for the art of storytelling. 

In our childhood, we used to listen to stories and lullabies from our grandmothers. Those stories were the cornerstone of our moral development and emotional strength. They bestowed a legacy of ethical values and moral principles. The narratives of beautiful fairies, horrifying demons, and valiant kings depict the moral essence of the victory of good over evil.

One such story that has been celebrated for generations is Pinocchio and the Good Fairy. 

Pinocchio and the Good Fairy 

The Adventures of Pinocchio, a novel written by Italian author Carlo Collodi, is a marvelous depiction of a child’s feats of humanity. Pinocchio, a marionette, is naïve and ignorant to the vicious tricks of the world. He, like any other child, has countless dreams and desires. However, to achieve those dreams, he repeatedly gets deceived by evil people who want to exploit his talents for their wrong purposes. The Fairy with turquoise hair makes him realize his amazing qualities and changes his life forever.  

Here, we present you the epic story of Pinocchio and the Good Fairy:

In Tuscany, Italy there lived a carpenter named Master Antonio. He found a log of wood which he decided to carve into a leg for his table. As he began to work on the log, it spoke out. Astonished with this strange incident, he decided to hand it over to a woodcarver, Geppetto. Geppetto was a poor humble person who would earn his living by carving puppets. Geppetto decided to carve a boy out of it whom he would call “Pinocchio”. However, the puppet displayed some unruly behavior during its construction. He kicked Geppetto as soon as he finished carving his feet. When Geppetto was teaching him to walk, he fled from the house and ran on the streets. Pinocchio was noticed by a Carabinieri who thought he was abused and Geppetto was imprisoned.

Being alone, Pinocchio headed to the house to satiate his hunger. When he arrived at the house, he found a talking cricket who was living in the house for centuries. 

The cricket cautioned him of the repercussions of disobedience and self-indulgence. Disliking his teachings, Pinocchio threw a hammer on him without an intention to kill it. However, cricket died by accident.

When Pinocchio went to boil the egg, it turned into a bird and flew out of the house. Following the bird, Pinocchio went out to look for food. In his search, he came to the door of an old man. The old man assumed Pinocchio was a mischievous kid who rang the bell for pleasure. 

So, instead of giving him food, he splashed a bucket of cold water on Pinocchio’s head. Pinocchio returned home to dry himself and rested on a stove. The next morning, when he woke up, he fell from the stove and burnt his feet. 

Fortunately, Geppetto was acquitted of the charges and returned home. He repaired Pinocchio’s feet which made Pinocchio grateful to him. So, he decided to go to school. Geppetto sold his only coat to purchase books for Pinocchio.

Once on his way to school, Pinocchio came across the Great Marionette Theatre. With a wish to visit the theatre, he sold his book to buy tickets. 

In the theatre, a performance was going on that featured the puppets Harlequin, Pulcinella, and Signora Rasaura. The three puppets noticed Pinocchio and called him on the stage. This angered the puppet master, Mangiafuoco, who then took Pinocchio with him to turn him into firewood for cooking his meals. 

However, Mangiafuoco relieved him on his appeal to be set free. He then decided to set Harlequin on fire. Pinocchio pleaded with him to release Harlequin. Mangiafuoco accepted his plea and released Harlequin. Knowing how poor Pinocchio’s father was, he gifted him five gold coins.

On his way home, Pinocchio encountered a Fox and a cat. The fox pretended to be lame and the cat pretended to be blind. 

A white blackbird perched on Pinocchio’s shoulder and warned him of the two treacherous creatures. But the cat ate the blackbird. The two cunning animals assured Pinocchio that if he buried the gold coins in the Field of Miracles in the city of Catchfools, they would grow into a tree of gold coins.

They reached the red lobster inn where they overindulged themselves in food on Pinocchio’s money. They told Pinocchio to wake up at midnight to proceed for Catchfools. However, they deserted him two hours before the set time. 

Pinocchio had to pay for their meals from one of his coins. The animals had lied to the innkeeper that the cat’s eldest kitten was sick and so, they had to leave. They instructed him to tell Pinocchio that they would meet him at Field of Miracles the next morning.

The spirit of the Talking Cricket appeared before Pinocchio and told him to return home and hand over the coins to his father. Pinocchio rebuffed the cricket and headed to Catchfools. While he was traveling across the forest, he was encountered by two thieves impersonated by the Fox and the Cat. They attacked him to steal away his coins. 

To secure his coins, Pinocchio hid them inside his mouth. He injured the cat’s paw and ran away. He reached a white house and knocked on the door. 

A fairy with turquoise hair opened the door and welcomed Pinocchio. She told him that she was dead and was waiting for a coffin. The two robbers came and kidnapped Pinocchio. They hanged him on a tree and waited for him to stifle.

The Fairy sent a falcon to save Pinocchio and commanded her poodle servant Medoro to carry him on his stagecoach. The Fairy summoned three doctors to check if Pinocchio was alive or dead. 

An owl and a crow, two of the three doctors, were confused about the condition of Pinocchio. The owl assessed that Pinocchio was alive while the crow stated that Pinocchio was dead. The third doctor, the spirit of the Talking Cricket, claimed that Pinocchio as well, however, he had been disobedient and insensitive to his father. 

Pinocchio was treated through medicines and got recuperated. On being asked about the gold coins, Pinocchio lied to the Fairy. As he spoke the lie, his nose elongated, and it went on until he could not see anything around him. The Fairy called the woodpeckers to cut it off and bring it in its normal condition.

On his way home, Pinocchio was again confronted by the Fox and the Cat. When Pinocchio asked them about the Cat’s severed paw, they told that they had to lose it to feed a hungry wolf. The two vicious creatures reminded him about the Field of Miracles. Pinocchio agreed to go there with them. 

Eventually, they reached the City of Catchfools, where every creature had committed some stupidity for which they were facing repercussions. Pinocchio planted his four coins in the Field of Miracles and left the place for a few minutes to give them time to turn into a tree of gold coins. In his absence, the Fox and the Cat dug out the coins and ran off.

When Pinocchio returned to the Field of Miracles, he got informed about the deception of the Fox and the Cat from a parrot. To restore his coins, Pinocchio approached the Catchfools courthouse and filed his complaint to a Gorilla Judge. 

Though the Gorilla Judge considered his complaint, he convicted him of the crime of committing stupidity and sentenced him to four months of imprisonment. Pinocchio was sent to jail by two mastiffs donned as Gendarmerie. Soon, the prisoners were released as the Emperor of Catchfools proclaimed a ceremony of the triumph of his army over the city’s adversaries. While leaving the jail, Pinocchio started his crime and departed Catchfools.

On his way through the forest, Pinocchio was encountered by a huge serpent that was lying still on the ground. The serpent had a smoky tail. Pinocchio asked the snake to move aside, but the snake didn’t. 

As Pinocchio was going to step on it, the snake sprang up suddenly and hissed at the puppet, moving him upside down. Looking at his awkward position, the serpent laughed out so hard that one of its arteries gushed out blood and he died.

Now, Pinocchio marched towards Fairy’s cottage in the forest. But, on his way, he hideously entered a farmer’s backyard to pluck some grapes. He fell into a weasel trap and came across a glow worm inside. 

Pinocchio was soon caught by the farmer and he captured him in the doghouse of his late watchdog Melampo to protect the hen house. Pinocchio saved the chickens from the weasels, which made the farmer pleased and he released the marionette. The puppet then headed to the Fairy’s cottage but found only a gravestone there. He deduced that the Fairy had died out of grief.

On seeing Pinocchio grieving on the death of the Fairy, a helpful pigeon offered him a flight to drop him to the seashore where Geppetto was constructing a boat for searching Pinocchio. When the marionette tried to reach his father in the sea, the waves swept him away to the shore. The Terrible Dogfish swallowed Geppetto. Pinocchio then took a ride on a dolphin to the island of Busy Bees.

On reaching the island of Busy Bees, Pinocchio met a lady for whom he carried a jug in exchange for food and water. When he reached the lady’s cottage, he found that she was none other than the Fairy who had astonishingly become very old. The Fairy told Pinocchio that she would behave like his mother from now on and he would start going to school. She indicated that if Pinocchio excelled in his school and proved to be the best for a year, he would turn into a real boy.

Pinocchio worked hard and topped the class. However, the other students in the school became envious of his success. They conspired to fool Pinocchio by lying to him that they saw a sea urchin on the coast, and it was none other than the creature who swallowed Geppetto. But a duel occurred, and a boy named Eugene got injured by Pinocchio’s schoolbook unintentionally. 

Pinocchio was held guilty by two Carabiners for hurting Eugene. But he fled away, and, on his way, he rescued a mastiff named Alidoro from drowning. In return, Alidoro rescued the puppet from the Green Fisherman who was going to devour him. On reaching home, he met Snail, and the Fairy gave him another chance to prove himself good.

Pinocchio ranked high in his class and proved himself the best. The Fairy became happy with his performance and told him that he will become a real boy the very next day. She asked him to invite his friends for a celebration. 

As he was going to invite his friends, he was confronted with a boy named Candlewick. Candlewick was heading to a playful town named Toyland where everyone used to play the whole day and never had to work. Fascinated by this offer, Pinocchio accompanied him to the Toyland. They spent five joyful months in Toyland.

One morning as they woke up, they found they had developed donkeys’ ears. A Dormouse told the marionette that he had caught a donkey fever, in which the boys who played all day and did not work, turned into donkeys. Pinocchio and Candlewick turned completely into donkeys after some time. 

Pinocchio was sold to a circus by the Coachman. During the training in the circus, Pinocchio fell and broke his leg while performing stunts. He is then sold to a man who wanted to make a drum from his skin. To drown him, the man threw the donkey into the sea. However, when the man went to take back his dead body, he found a puppet in the form of Pinocchio. Pinocchio told him that the fish consumed the skin of the donkey, leaving him in his original shape.                      

Pinocchio then jumped back into the river. While he was swimming, he came across the Terrible Dogfish. The Fairy in the form of a blue-furred goat appeared on the hilltop and instructed Pinocchio to avoid the Terrible Dogfish. 

However, Pinocchio was unable to do so and the Dogfish swallowed him. When Pinocchio came inside the body of the Dogfish, he stumbled upon his father, Geppetto. Geppetto had been living there in a ship. Pinocchio and Geppetto escaped the Dogfish with the help of a friend named tuna, who was also present inside.

While they were returning home, Pinocchio and Geppetto ran into the Fox and the Cat. The Fox and the Cat had now become destitute. The inabilities which they had long back pretended to be suffering from in front of Pinocchio had turned into reality. 

The Fox had become lame and the Cat had become blind. The two animals begged for food and money from Pinocchio, but he spurned them saying they are paying off for their treachery and immorality. Pinocchio and Geppetto reached a tiny cottage where the Talking Cricket resided. 

The Talking Cricket told them that they can stay in the cottage, which he got from a goat with turquoise hair. Pinocchio is hired by a farmer named Giangio. While he was working in the farmer’s house, he found a terminally ill donkey whom he identified as Candlewick.        

 After many months of toiling hard to look after his sick father Geppetto, Pinocchio saved forty pennies which he took to the town to purchase himself a new suit. He found that the Fairy had gone very sick and was in dire need of money. Pinocchio decided to give all his money to the Snail he met long back on the Island of Busy Bees.

On the same night, Pinocchio saw a dream in which the Fairy visited and kissed him. The next day, he turned into a real boy and saw his puppet body lying lifeless on a chair. The next Fairy had gifted him a suit, pair of boots, and a bag. Pinocchio thought the bag contained the forty pennies he donated for the well-being of the Fairy. But, surprisingly, he found forty newly minted gold coins in the bag. Geppetto also regained his health.

Origin of the story:

The Adventures of Pinocchio is a beautifully written novel by the Italian author Carlo Collodi. The novel was written in Pescia, a city located in Tuscany, central Italy. The novel is didactic in its approach and gives us moral insights about the value of goodness and discipline in life. The Italian language of the story is replete with features of the Florentine dialect.

In the period of Italian unification, Collodi joined journalism to contribute to the political movement of Risorgimento in its conflict with the Austrian Empire. In the 1850s, Collodi prolifically produced many fiction and non-fiction books. In 1848, he began writing II Lampione, a newspaper of political satire. He ended his career as a journalist with the advent of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

For the newly integrated Italy, Collodi published many didactic stories for children. In 1876, he wrote Little Johnny’s voyage through Italy, which was based on an undisciplined boy who experiences many mortifying situations during his travel journey. In 1881, Collodi wrote a short story on a marionette and sent it to an editor friend with little confidence on its chance of getting published in the children’s column. However, the editor liked it a lot and published it. It became popular among children.

On 7th July 1881, The Adventures of Pinocchio was first published in Giornale per I bambini, one of the earliest Italian weekly magazines for children. The first 15 episodes of the original version ended on a disappointing note, with Pinocchio getting hanged for his countless mistakes. 

However, to make the story more relatable to children, Collodi included chapters 16-36 in which Pinocchio is saved by the Fairy with Turquoise Hair who finally turns him into a real boy. The maternal figure Fairy pervades the second half of the book while the first half is more focused on the paternal figure Geppetto. In 1883, the story took its form into a single book that was a great success.

Moral of the story:

Pinocchio and the Good Fairy is a didactic story that educates us about the significance of wisdom, courage, and determination. Pinocchio relentlessly commits mistakes by taking inappropriate decisions in life. But, being a wise boy, he learned from those mistakes and never repeated them. Every child or even an adult should embrace such qualities of improving oneself. 

The crux of the story lies in the fact that one must follow their right instincts rather than running behind elusive goals. Pinocchio was a boy of immense determination who won the hearts of people with his kindness, perseverance, and courage.

The real-life examples where the story could be applied:

We often get enticed into materialistic opportunities that often come our way. Suppose you are offered a business that involves nefarious deals to make plenty of money. You may get lured to such offerings if you are facing grave financial issues. 

However, you have little idea about the repercussions of accepting such an offer. In the story of Pinocchio, he is cautioned by wise creatures every time he was on the verge of falling into the trap of wicked people. So, you should also listen to your elders or your wise instincts to prevent yourself from wrongdoings. 

Children often disobey their elders to achieve something unusual and tempting. Pinocchio mistreated his father many times, however, with the guidance of Fairy and otherwise creatures he developed discipline and put his life at stake to save and support his father Geppetto. 

Children must embrace the quality of discipline, obedience, and perseverance in their lives. If a child lacks these qualities, it is very essential for her/his parents and teachers to inculcate good habits and moral discipline in them. 

The story of Pinocchio and the Good Fairy conveys that a person must show generosity and benevolence even in scarcity. With his hard work and commitment, Pinocchio had saved forty pennies which he wanted to spend to purchase himself a suit. However, when he discovered that the Fairy was extremely sick, he decided to donate that money for her well-being instead of spending on his suit.

For this generosity, he was rewarded by the Fairy who eventually turned him into a real boy. She also gifted him a suit, a pair of boots, and a bag that miraculously turned out to contain forty gold coins. Hence, children should be kind and supportive to all, especially the needy people. 

Conclusion:

The story of Pinocchio and the Good Fairy is an inspirational tale of the triumph of virtue over evil. The world will always mislead us, but we must always follow our wisdom rather than pursuing short-term goals. 

We should always apply the knowledge and insights we have learned from our elders and discourage foolish actions and decisions. And importantly, we should be obedient to our elders and charitable to poor and sick people.