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.

　　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，