fire eater sneezes and forgives pinocchio,who saves his friend, harlequin, from deathin the theater, great excitement reigned.
fire eater (this was really his name) was very ugly, but he was far from being as bad as he looked. proof ofthis is that, when he saw the poor marionette beingbrought in to him, struggling with fear and crying, "idon't want to die! i don't want to die!" he felt sorry forhim and began first to waver and then to weaken. finally,he could control himself no longer and gave a loud sneeze.
at that sneeze, harlequin, who until then had beenas sad as a weeping willow, smiled happily and leaningtoward the marionette, whispered to him:
"good news, brother mine! fire eater has sneezedand this is a sign that he feels sorry for you.
you are saved!"for be it known, that, while other people, when sadand sorrowful, weep and wipe their eyes, fire eater, onthe other hand, had the strange habit of sneezing eachtime he felt unhappy. the way was just as good as anyother to show the kindness of his heart.
after sneezing, fire eater, ugly as ever, cried to pinocchio:
"stop crying! your wails give me a funny feelingdown here in my stomach and--e--tchee!--e--tchee!"two loud sneezes finished his speech.
"god bless you!" said pinocchio.
"thanks! are your father and mother still living?"demanded fire eater.
"my father, yes. my mother i have never known.""your poor father would suffer terribly if i were touse you as firewood. poor old man! i feel sorry forhim! e--tchee! e--tchee! e--tchee!" three more sneezessounded, louder than ever.
"god bless you!" said pinocchio.
"thanks! however, i ought to be sorry for myself,too, just now. my good dinner is spoiled. i have nomore wood for the fire, and the lamb is only half cooked.
never mind! in your place i'll burn some other marionette.
hey there! officers!"at the call, two wooden officers appeared, long andthin as a yard of rope, with queer hats on their headsand swords in their hands.
fire eater yelled at them in a hoarse voice:
"take harlequin, tie him, and throw him on the fire.
i want my lamb well done!"think how poor harlequin felt! he was so scaredthat his legs doubled up under him and he fell to the floor.
pinocchio, at that heartbreaking sight, threw himselfat the feet of fire eater and, weeping bitterly, askedin a pitiful voice which could scarcely be heard:
"have pity, i beg of you, signore!""there are no signori here!""have pity, kind sir!""there are no sirs here!""have pity, your excellency!"on hearing himself addressed as your excellency, thedirector of the marionette theater sat up very straightin his chair, stroked his long beard, and becoming suddenlykind and compassionate, smiled proudly as he said to pinocchio:
"well, what do you want from me now, marionette?""i beg for mercy for my poor friend, harlequin, whohas never done the least harm in his life.""there is no mercy here, pinocchio. i have sparedyou. harlequin must burn in your place. i am hungryand my dinner must be cooked.""in that case," said pinocchio proudly, as he stoodup and flung away his cap of dough, "in that case, myduty is clear. come, officers! tie me up and throw meon those flames. no, it is not fair for poor harlequin,the best friend that i have in the world, to die in my place!"these brave words, said in a piercing voice, made allthe other marionettes cry. even the officers, who weremade of wood also, cried like two babies.
fire eater at first remained hard and cold as a pieceof ice; but then, little by little, he softened and began tosneeze. and after four or five sneezes, he opened widehis arms and said to pinocchio:
"you are a brave boy! come to my arms and kiss me!"pinocchio ran to him and scurrying like a squirrel up thelong black beard, he gave fire eater a loving kiss on thetip of his nose.
"has pardon been granted to me?" asked poorharlequin with a voice that was hardly a breath.
"pardon is yours!" answered fire eater; and sighingand wagging his head, he added: "well, tonight i shallhave to eat my lamb only half cooked, but beware thenext time, marionettes."at the news that pardon had been given, themarionettes ran to the stage and, turning on all the lights,they danced and sang till dawn.
木偶戏班班主吃火人（他就叫这么个名字）看样子是个可怕的人，那是没话说的，特别是他那把黑色大胡子，像围裙似地盖住他整个胸口和整整两条腿，可他到底不是个坏人，事实上，他一看见可怜的皮诺乔给带到他面前，拼命挣扎，哇哇大叫：“我不要死，我不要死！”心马上就软，可怜起他来了，他鼻子忽然发热，忍了好大一会儿，可终于忍不住，就大声打了一个喷嚏。
花衣小丑一直在伤心，像垂柳那样弯下身子，可一听见打喷嚏，马上喜容满面，向皮诺乔弯过身来，轻轻跟他咬耳朵说：
“好消息，兄弟，班主打喷嚏了，这表示他已经感动，在可怜你，如今你有救了。”
因为要知道，有许多人一同情什么人，或者是哭，或者至少是假装擦眼睛，可吃火人不同，他真的感动了，就要打喷嚏，这也是一种表示他心软的的方式，
打过喷嚏以后，木偶戏班班主还是装出很凶的样于，对皮诺乔叫道：
“别哭了！你哇哇哭，叫我肚子里难受极了……叫我觉得绞痛，几乎，几乎……啊嚏，啊嚏……”又打了两个喷嚏。
“长命百岁！”皮诺乔说，
“谢谢！你爸爸妈妈都活着吗？”吃火人问他，
“爸爸活着，可我从来不知道妈妈，”
“我这会儿要是把你扔到炭火里，谁知道你的老父亲要多么伤心啊！可怜的老头！我很同情他！……啊嚏，啊嚏，啊嚏！”他又打了三个喷嚏，
“长命千岁！”皮诺乔说，
“谢谢！不过也得同情同请我，因为你看，我要把这头羊烤熟，木柴没有了，说老实话，你在这种情况下对我非常有用！可如今我很感动，我想忍耐看不烧你，既然不烧你，我就得在我的戏班里另找一个木偶来代替你，把他扔到叉子底下去烧……喂，守卫的！”
一声命今，马上来了两个木头守卫，他们挺高挺高，挺瘦挺瘦，头戴两角帽，手握出鞘的剑，
木偶戏班班主气咻咻地对他们说：
“给我把这个花衣小丑抓住，捆得牢牢的，扔到火里去，我要让我这只羊烤得香香的！”
诸位想象一下这个可怜的花衣小丑吧！他吓得两条腿一弯，跪在地上了，
皮诺乔看见这种凄惨场面，就扑倒在班主脚下，嚎啕大哭，泪水把他那把大胡子也给弄湿了，开始哀求他说：
“可怜可怜吧，吃火人先生！……”
“这里没有先生！……”木偶戏班班主冷冰冰地回答说。
“可怜可怜吧，骑士先生！……”
“这里没有骑士！……”
“可怜可怜吧，爵士先生！……”
“这里没有爵士！”
“可怜可怜吧，大老爷！……”
木偶戏班班主—听见叫他大老爷，马上噘起了嘴，变得慈祥多了，温和多了，问皮诺乔说：
“你到底求我什么事？”
“我求您开开恩，放了可怜的花衣小丑！”
“这可开不得恩。我不烧你就得烧他，因为我要把我这只羊烤得香香的。”
“那么，”皮诺乔大叫一声，站了起来，扔掉头上的面包心帽子，“那么，我知道我该怎么做了。来吧，守卫先生们！把我捆起来扔到火里去，不行，让可怜的花衣小丑，我的真正朋友，替我去死是不公道的！……”
这番话说得丁当响亮，声调豪迈激昂，在场的木偶听了没有不哭的，连两个守卫，虽然是木头做的，也哭得像吃奶的羊羔。
吃火人起先一点不动心，冷得像块冰，可后来慢慢地、慢慢地也开始感动了，又打喷嚏了。他一口气打了四五个喷嚏，于是疼爱地张开怀抱，对皮诺乔说：
“你是个好小子！过来，给我一个吻。”
皮诺乔马上跑过去，像只松鼠似地顺着木偶戏班班主的大胡子往上爬，爬到上面，在他鼻尖上给了他一个最甜最甜的吻。
“那么，您开恩啦？”可怜的花衣小丑问道，声音细得好不容易才听见。
“开恩了！”吃火人回答说。接着他叹口气，摇摇头，“没法子！今儿晚上我只能吃半生不熟的羊肉了。可下一回，谁要是打动我的心，他就活该倒霉！……”
一听说开了恩，所有的木偶都跑到戏台上，像开盛大晚会那样，点亮了所有的灯和烛台，开始又跳又舞。他们就这样一直跳啊舞的直到大天亮。
