“Don’t hit me!”
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— Non mi picchiar tanto forte!—
“Don’t hit me so hard!”
The wood’s first words.
The first sentence the wood ever speaks is a plea against pain — <i>non mi picchiar tanto forte</i>. Before Pinocchio has a face or a name, the thing he is made of can already suffer and ask for mercy. The book’s moral world opens not with a wish or a boast but with a small voice asking not to be hurt.
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Pinocchio 1.9 — The Great Library Project interlinear edition · greatlibraryproject.com/book/pinocchio/1.9/