Pinocchio Reports the Theft but Is Sentenced to Prison

Pinocchio’s attempt to seek justice for the theft of his four gold coins ends with the victim imprisoned in place of the thieves. The episode turns a straightforward complaint into a sharp reversal: the court hears his account, appears moved, and then orders his arrest. His eventual release comes not through a correction of the judgment but through an amnesty that he secures by claiming to be a criminal.

The Report and the Complaint

The episode begins after the Fox and the Cat have returned to the Field of Miracles, dug up the gold coins Pinocchio buried there, and fled. When a Parrot tells him what happened, Pinocchio refuses at first to accept it. He digs into the ground with his hands and nails, making a hole deep enough to hold a haystack standing upright, but finds no coins. The empty earth confirms both the theft and the failure of the plan that had led him to bury his money. Overcome with desperation, Pinocchio runs back to the city and goes straight to court to report the two swindlers. In the judge’s presence, he recounts the fraud in detail, gives the thieves’ names and identifying descriptions, and asks for justice. His complaint is specific: four gold coins have been stolen, and he identifies the people he says took them. The scene gives him the formal role of a complainant, seeking restitution through the authorities rather than trying to pursue the thieves himself.

The Court’s Reversal

The judge is an aged gorilla, distinguished by his white beard and gold spectacles without lenses, which he must wear because of a long-standing eye inflammation. Pinocchio’s account appears to receive a sympathetic hearing. The judge listens benevolently, takes a keen interest, and seems touched by the story. When Pinocchio finishes, the judge reaches out and rings a bell. The visible signs of attention and feeling lead directly to an action that reverses the apparent promise of the hearing. Two mastiffs dressed as gendarmes appear at the bell. The judge points to Pinocchio and orders them to seize him and put him in prison, describing him as a poor devil who has been robbed of four gold coins. The detail makes the reversal unmistakable: the stolen amount is acknowledged, but the person reporting the theft becomes the person punished. Pinocchio is stunned and tries to protest; the guards cover his mouth to prevent delay and take him away. The hearing does not result in an investigation of the Fox and the Cat or a recovery of the coins. Its immediate outcome is Pinocchio’s confinement.

Four Months in Prison and Release

Pinocchio remains in prison for four months, described as a long stretch, and might have stayed longer but for a change in the city’s circumstances. The young Emperor of Acchiappa-citrulli wins a great victory over his enemies and orders public celebrations, including illuminations, fireworks, races of racehorses, and bicycle races. To mark the occasion, he also orders the prisons opened and all the criminals released. The order is broad and celebratory, not a response to Pinocchio’s complaint or to any reconsideration of his case. When Pinocchio asks the jailer to let him out along with the others, the jailer initially refuses because Pinocchio is not among the criminals. Pinocchio answers by claiming that he, too, is a criminal. The jailer accepts this assertion, respectfully removes his cap, and opens the prison doors. Thus the identity that had made Pinocchio an unjust exception to the amnesty becomes, once he claims it, the means of his escape. He leaves without a formal vindication, and the four-month imprisonment ends through a loophole in the release order rather than a judgment in his favor.

Narrative Significance

The incident is built around successive reversals: Pinocchio’s buried coins are gone; the court that he approaches for help turns its authority against him; and the general release excludes him until he adopts the status of a criminal. The judge’s apparent sympathy intensifies the irony, since it precedes rather than prevents the sentence. The episode does not show the court establishing the thieves’ guilt or addressing Pinocchio’s loss. Instead, it places his detailed report beside an abrupt punishment and lets the contrast define the encounter. The release repeats that pattern of justice arriving indirectly. The Emperor’s victory creates a holiday and an amnesty, but neither event has anything to do with Pinocchio’s innocence or the stolen money. The jailer applies the order according to the category of criminal, and Pinocchio gets out by agreeing to be placed in that category. Once free, he leaves the city and resumes the road toward the Blue-Haired Fairy’s House. The episode therefore closes the imprisonment while returning him to the larger journey, with the theft still unrepaired and the court’s judgment uncorrected.