{"id":4466,"date":"2014-01-20T14:36:46","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T14:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=4466"},"modified":"2014-01-20T15:54:30","modified_gmt":"2014-01-20T15:54:30","slug":"will-the-real-pinocchio-please-stand-up-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/will-the-real-pinocchio-please-stand-up-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Will The Real Pinocchio Please Stand Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

My current bedtime reading, Le Avventure di Pinocchio<\/strong>, given to me by my brother in law Gippi, is turning out to be a real revelation in several unexpected ways. Having grown up in England my only previous knowledge of Pinocchio was the endearing mischievous puppet from Disney\u2019s famous 1940 musical animation. Certainly a classic piece of children\u2019s entertainment, but Disney, as I\u2019m discovering, took some pretty big liberties with the original story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Pinocchio\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
An original illustration by Enrico Mazzanti for Le Avventure di Pinocchio<\/font><\/strong><\/em> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

C\u2019era una volta…
\u2013 Un re! \u2013 diranno subito i miei piccoli lettori.
No, ragazzi, avete sbagliato. C\u2019era una volta un pezzo di legno.<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

Once upon a time there was…
– A King! – my little readers will immediately say.
No, children, you’re wrong. Once upon a time there was a piece of wood.<\/font><\/p>\n

So begins the fantastic \u2018Adventures of Pinocchio\u2019 (Storia di un Burattino<\/strong>) written in the 1880\u2019s by journalist Carlo Lorenzini under the pseudonym Collodi. The \u2018real\u2019 Pinocchio, however, is initially a far darker and unpleasant character than Disney\u2019s sentimentalised interpretation. Here is il grillo parlante<\/strong>\u2019s (the talking cricket\u2019s) description of the puppet: "<\/p>\n

\u2013 Quel burattino l\u00ec, \u2013 seguit\u00f2 a dire il Grillo-parlante, \u2013 \u00e8 una birba matricolata…
Pinocchio apr\u00ec gli occhi e li richiuse subito.
\u2013 \u00e8 un monellaccio, uno svogliato, un vagabondo.
Pinocchio si nascose la faccia sotto i lenzuoli.
\u2013 Quel burattino l\u00ec \u00e8 un figliuolo disubbidiente, che far\u00e0 morire di crepacuore il suo povero babbo!..<\/font><\/strong><\/p>\n

– That puppet there, the Talking Cricket continued, – is a certified scoundrel…
Pinocchio opened his eyes then closed them quickly again
– is a brat, a slacker, a vagabond.
Pinocchio hid his face under the sheet.
– That puppet there is a disobedient son, who will make his poor father die from a broken heart!..<\/font><\/p>\n

The original story is full of wonderful obsolete words and Tuscan expressions such as \u2018il fatto gli \u00e8\u2019<\/strong> (the fact it is): \u201cNon so come andasse, ma il fatto gli \u00e8 che un bel giorno questo pezzo di legno capit\u00f2 nella bottega di un vecchio falegname\u201d<\/strong> (I don\u2019t know how it came about, but the fact is that one fine day this piece of wood ended up in the workshop of an old carpenter), and \u2018tu mi hai fatto male\u2019<\/strong> (you, you have hurt me): \u201cE ripresa l\u2019ascia in mano, tir\u00f2 gi\u00f9 un solennissimo colpo sul pezzo di legno. \u2013 Ohi! tu m\u2019hai fatto male! \u2013 grid\u00f2 rammaricandosi la solita vocina.\u201d<\/strong> (\u201cAnd taking up the axe again in his hand, brought down a great big blow on the piece of wood. \u2013 Hey! you hurt me! \u2013 cried the same little voice.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Then we have corbello<\/strong>, an obsolete word for basket: \u201cguard\u00f2 nel corbello dei trucioli\u201d<\/strong> (he looked in the basket of wood shavings), and uscio<\/strong>, Tuscan for door: apr\u00ec l\u2019uscio di bottega<\/strong> (he opened the workshop door).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Enrico_Mazzanti_-_the_hanged_Pinocchio_(1883)\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pinocchio hung from the tree and left to die by \u2018gli assassini\u2019<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Le Avventure di Pinocchio<\/strong> is also much scarier than I imagined, and the chapter with the following preface, \u201cPinocchio, per non aver dato retta ai buoni consigli del Grillo-parlante, s\u2019imbatte negli assassini\u201d<\/strong> (\u201cBecause he didn\u2019t listen to the Talking Cricket Pinocchio runs into the assassins\u201d), is particularly nightmarish.<\/p>\n

In part 2 of this blog I\u2019ll look at another extract from Pinocchio’s adventures in which he first encounters \u2018la bella Bambina dai Capelli Turchini\u2019<\/strong> (The Fairy with Turquoise Hair).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

My current bedtime reading, Le Avventure di Pinocchio, given to me by my brother in law Gippi, is turning out to be a real revelation in several unexpected ways. Having grown up in England my only previous knowledge of Pinocchio was the endearing mischievous puppet from Disney\u2019s famous 1940 musical animation. Certainly a classic piece…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":4470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[619],"tags":[128806,128807,292222,292221],"class_list":["post-4466","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-italian-language","tag-carlo-collodi","tag-carlo-lorenzini","tag-pinocchio-italian-english-translation","tag-pinocchio-original-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t