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 In that very instant, a loud knock sounded on the door.

　　"Come in," said the carpenter, not having an atom of strength left with which to stand up.

　　At the words, the door opened and a dapper little Oldman came in. His name was Geppetto, but to the boys of the neighborhood he was Polendina,[1] on account of the wig he always wore which was just the color of yellow corn.

　　[1] Cornmeal mush Geppetto had a very bad temper. Woe to the one who called him Polendina! He became as wild as a beast and no one could soothe him.

　　"Good day, Mastro Antonio," said Geppetto. "What are you doing on the floor?" "I am teaching the ants their A B C's." "Good luck to you!" "What brought you here, friend Geppetto?" "My legs. And it may flatter you to know, Mastro Antonio, that I have come to you to beg for a favor." "Here I am, at your service," answered the carpenter, raising himself on to his knees.

　　"This morning a fine idea came to me." "Let's hear it." "I thought of making myself a beautiful wooden Marionette. It must be wonderful, one that will be able to dance, fence, and turn somersaults. With it I intend to go around the world, to earn my crust of bread and cup of wine. What do you think of it?" "Bravo, Polendina!" cried the same tiny voice which came from no one knew where.

　　On hearing himself called Polendina, Mastro Geppetto turned the color of a red pepper and, facing the carpenter, said to him angrily:

　　"Why do you insult me?" "Who is insulting you?" "You called me Polendina." "I did not." "I suppose you think _I_ did! Yet I KNOW it was you." "No!" "Yes!" "No!" "Yes!" And growing angrier each moment, they went from words to blows, and finally began to scratch and bite and slap each other.

　　正在这节骨眼，有人笃笃笃敲门。
　　“进来”，老木匠说，他连重新站起来的力气也没有了，
　　于是木匠铺里进来了一个小老头，他老是老，可老得精神，他的名字叫做杰佩托，可街坊邻居的孩子要想逗他发顿脾气，就叫他的外号“老玉米糊”，他有这么个外号，因为他那头黄色假发活像玉米糊。
　　杰佩托脾气挺坏，谁叫他“老玉米糊”就得倒大霉！他一下子凶得像只野兽，谁也没法对付他。
　　“您好，安东尼奥师傅。”杰佩托说，“您坐在地上干吗呀？”
　　“我吗，我在教蚂蚁做算术哪。”
　　“祝您成功！”
　　“倒是什么把您给带到我这儿来啦，杰佩托老朋友。”
　　“是我的腿把我带来了呗，您知道，安东尼奥师傅，我是来求您给我帮个忙的。”
　　“随时乐意为您效劳。”老木匠回答说，跪了起来。
　　“今天早晨，我脑子里忽然想出了一个主意。”
　　“咱们倒来听听看。”
　　“我想亲手给自己做个漂亮的木偶，不是个普通木偶，是个呱呱叫的木偶，会跳舞，会耍剑，还会翻跟头。我要带着这么个木偶周游世界，挣块面包吃吃，混杯酒喝喝。您看怎么样。”
　　“好极了，老玉米糊！”还是那个很细很细的声音不却从哪儿叫起来。
　　杰佩托这位老朋友一听人家叫他老玉米糊，脸登时气红了，红得像个红辣椒。他向老木匠一下子转过脸来，气呼呼地说：
　　“您干吗得罪我，”
　　“谁得罪您了，”
　　“您叫我老玉米糊！……”
　　“我没叫过您老玉米糊。”
　　“难道是我叫了吗？我说是您叫了。”
　　“我没叫！”
　　“您叫了！”
　　“我没叫！”
　　“您叫了！”
　　他们越来越激动，结果从动口到动手，两个打了起来，又抓又咬，像两只猴子似的。