0:00:00.131,0:00:04.313
[ How it happened that Mastro Cherry, carpenter,

0:00:04.313,0:00:07.812
found a piece of wood that wept and laughed like a child ]

0:00:07.812,0:00:11.749
Centuries ago there lived--

0:00:11.749,0:00:13.526
"A king!" my little readers will say immediately.

0:00:13.526,0:00:17.245
No, children, you are mistaken.

0:00:17.245,0:00:19.960
Once upon a time there was a piece of wood.

0:00:19.960,0:00:22.675
It was not an expensive piece of wood. Far from it.

0:00:22.675,0:00:24.604
Just a common block of firewood,

0:00:24.604,0:00:26.761
one of those thick, solid logs that are put on the fire in winter

0:00:26.761,0:00:29.795
to make cold rooms cozy and warm.

0:00:29.795,0:00:32.969
I do not know how this really happened, yet the fact remains that one fine day

0:00:32.969,0:00:36.438
this piece of wood found itself in the shop of an old carpenter.

0:00:36.438,0:00:40.215
His real name was Mastro Antonio,

0:00:40.215,0:00:42.715
but everyone called him Mastro Cherry,

0:00:42.715,0:00:45.614
for the tip of his nose

0:00:45.614,0:00:47.747
was so round and red and shiny that it looked

0:00:47.747,0:00:50.165
like a ripe cherry.

0:00:50.165,0:00:52.157
As soon as he saw that piece of wood, Mastro Cherry

0:00:52.157,0:00:55.549
was filled with joy.

0:00:55.549,0:00:57.018
Rubbing his hands together happily,

0:00:57.018,0:01:00.085
he mumbled half to himself:

0:01:00.085,0:01:01.862
"This has come in the nick of time.

0:01:01.862,0:01:03.962
I shall use it to make the leg of a table."

0:01:03.962,0:01:06.955
Said and done

0:01:06.955,0:01:08.348
He grasped the hatchet quickly to peel off the bark and shape the wood.

0:01:08.348,0:01:13.196
But as he was about to give it the first blow,

0:01:13.196,0:01:16.107
he stood still with arm uplifted,

0:01:16.107,0:01:18.413
for he had heard a wee, little voice

0:01:18.413,0:01:21.422
say in a beseeching tone:

0:01:21.422,0:01:23.230
"Please be careful! Do not hit me so hard!"

0:01:23.230,0:01:25.314
What a look of surprise shone on Mastro Cherry's face! His funny face became still funnier.

0:01:25.314,0:01:29.475
He turned frightened eyes about the room

0:01:29.475,0:01:32.168
to find out where that wee, little voice had come from

0:01:32.168,0:01:35.540
and he saw no one!

0:01:35.540,0:01:37.286
He looked under the bench--no one!

0:01:37.286,0:01:39.878
He peeped inside the closet--no one!

0:01:39.878,0:01:44.085
He searched among the shavings-- no one!

0:01:44.085,0:01:48.143
He opened the door to look up and down the street--and still no one!

0:01:48.143,0:01:54.045
"Oh, I see!" he then said, laughing and scratching his Wig.

0:01:54.045,0:01:58.429
"It can easily be seen that I only thought I heard the tiny voice say the words!

0:01:58.429,0:02:01.572
Well, well--to work once more."

0:02:01.572,0:02:03.518
and taken an ax in his hand

0:02:03.518,0:02:05.510
He struck a most solemn blow upon the piece of wood.

0:02:05.510,0:02:08.460
"Oh, oh! You hurt!"

0:02:08.460,0:02:11.035
cried the same far-away little voice.

0:02:11.035,0:02:14.018
Mastro Cherry grew dumb,

0:02:14.018,0:02:17.098
his eyes popped out of his head,

0:02:17.098,0:02:19.675
his mouth opened wide, and his tongue hung down on his chin.

0:02:19.675,0:02:23.924
as a mask from fontana

0:02:23.924,0:02:25.839
As soon as he regained the use of his senses,

0:02:25.839,0:02:27.924
he said, trembling and stuttering from fright:

0:02:27.924,0:02:31.402
"Where did that voice come from, when there is no one around?

0:02:31.402,0:02:34.995
when there is no one around?

0:02:34.995,0:02:37.165
Might it be that this piece of wood

0:02:37.165,0:02:39.715
has learned to weep and cry like a child?

0:02:39.715,0:02:43.355
I can hardly believe it.

0:02:43.355,0:02:45.363
Here it is-

0:02:45.363,0:02:47.002
-a piece of common firewood, good only to burn in the stove, the same as any other.

0:02:47.002,0:02:50.457
and thrown on the fire

0:02:50.457,0:02:52.050
is to boil a pot of beans ...

0:02:52.050,0:02:54.590
Or so?

0:02:54.590,0:02:55.783
Yet-- might someone be hidden in it?

0:02:55.783,0:02:58.235
If so, the worse for him. I'll fix him!"

0:02:58.235,0:03:01.755
Now I adjust it!

0:03:01.755,0:03:03.363
With these words,

0:03:03.363,0:03:04.925
he grabbed the log with both hands

0:03:04.940,0:03:08.399
and started to knock it about unmercifully. He threw it to the floor, against the walls of the room, and even up to the ceiling.

0:03:08.399,0:03:12.779
He listened

0:03:12.779,0:03:14.694
for the tiny voice to moan and cry.

0:03:14.694,0:03:18.075
He waited two minutes--nothing;

0:03:18.075,0:03:20.674
five minutes--nothing;

0:03:20.674,0:03:22.697
ten minutes--nothing.

0:03:22.697,0:03:24.766
"Oh, I see,"

0:03:24.766,0:03:25.820
he said, trying bravely to laugh and ruffling up his wig with his hand.

0:03:25.820,0:03:29.983
"It can easily be seen I only

0:03:29.983,0:03:32.500
imagined I heard the tiny voice!

0:03:32.500,0:03:34.031
Well, well--to work once more!"

0:03:34.031,0:03:36.069
The poor fellow was scared half to death,

0:03:36.069,0:03:39.404
so he tried to sing a gay song in order to gain courage.

0:03:39.404,0:03:42.516
He set aside the hatchet

0:03:42.516,0:03:45.473
and picked up the plane

0:03:45.473,0:03:47.204
to make the wood smooth and even,

0:03:47.204,0:03:50.248
but as he drew it to and fro,

0:03:50.248,0:03:52.671
he heard the same tiny voice. This time it giggled as it spoke:

0:03:52.671,0:03:55.489
"Stop it! Oh, stop it! Ha, ha, ha! You tickle my stomach."

0:03:55.504,0:03:58.820
This time poor Mastro Cherry fell as if shot.

0:03:58.820,0:04:03.321
When he opened his eyes, he found himself sitting on the floor.

0:04:03.321,0:04:06.780
His face had changed;

0:04:06.780,0:04:09.315
fright had turned even the tip of his nose

0:04:09.315,0:04:11.277
to purple as it was almost always

0:04:11.277,0:04:13.554
from red to deepest purple.

0:04:13.554,0:04:16.680
[Regia di Riccardo Rivarola]