Pinocchio escapes the police and rescues Alidoro

Pinocchio escapes the police and rescues Alidoro in a single pursuit that turns into a test of mercy: pursued by a dog sent to catch him, Pinocchio reaches safety in the sea, then risks himself to save the animal drowning there. The episode converts flight into reciprocal aid, showing that even amid his fear and impulsiveness Pinocchio can choose compassion over self-preservation.

Arrest and Opportunity

The pursuit follows the fight that leaves Eugene badly hurt. As the other boys flee, Pinocchio stays beside his injured schoolmate, tries to bathe his head with seawater, and cries out to him. He fears what will happen when he has to go home and face The Fairy with Azure Hair, and laments that he should have gone to school instead of listening to the boys he now recognizes as a bad influence. When the Carabineers arrive, however, his distress does not prevent them from taking him away. They leave Eugene in the care of fishermen, telling them to take the injured boy home and bind his wounds, and say they will return for him the next day.

The officers put Pinocchio between them and order him to march quickly. He obeys, but his body registers the shock: he feels ill, sees double, and trembles so badly that he cannot speak. Passing the windows of Fairy’s House while held between the Carabineers troubles him particularly; he imagines how The Fairy with Azure Hair will react if she sees him under arrest. His escape begins not with a planned trick but with a sudden change in circumstance: a gust of wind blows his cap off and sends it sailing down the street.

Pinocchio asks permission to retrieve it. The Carabineers allow him to go, provided he hurries. He picks up the cap, but instead of putting it on his head he clamps it between his teeth and races toward the sea. The gesture makes the cap part of his flight: his hands are free as he runs, and the officers have only a moment to react. Unable to catch him themselves, they send a large Mastiff after him, a dog acclaimed in races. People gather at windows and in the street to watch the contest, until Pinocchio and the dog kick up so much dust that they disappear from view.

The Chase Reaches the Shore

The dog, Alidoro, gains on Pinocchio. The puppet hears the Mastiff’s labored breathing close behind and feels his hot breath as the distance between them narrows. By then the shore is only a few steps away. Pinocchio leaps into the water; Alidoro, running too fast to stop, follows him out to sea. The chase is abruptly reversed. Pinocchio can swim, but Alidoro cannot: he beats at the water with his paws and sinks lower the harder he struggles.

From a distance Pinocchio initially treats the dog’s danger as his chance to get away. But Alidoro calls to him for help, addressing him by name and pleading to be saved. The appeal interrupts the simple logic of pursuit and escape. Alidoro promises not to chase him again if Pinocchio helps. Pinocchio does not immediately act; he hesitates, still facing the risk of the dog who had been sent after him. Then he remembers Geppetto’s advice that a kind deed is never lost and swims back.

Rescue and Reciprocity

Pinocchio reaches Alidoro, catches hold of his tail, and drags him to shore. The Mastiff is too weak to stand and has swallowed so much seawater that his body is swollen. The rescue is practical and physical: Pinocchio has to swim to the struggling animal and haul him out, rather than merely accept his promise from a safe distance. Having brought him to land, however, Pinocchio does not linger. He throws himself back into the sea, choosing to keep moving rather than place himself wholly in Alidoro’s power.

As Pinocchio swims away, he calls a farewell to Alidoro and wishes him well. The dog answers with thanks, acknowledging that Pinocchio has saved his life and saying that a good turn is returned in this world if the opportunity comes. The exchange gives the episode its lasting consequence: an encounter that began with Alidoro as pursuer ends with a bond of obligation created by Pinocchio’s choice to help him. The promise does not undo the chase, but it changes what the two characters may mean to one another in a later moment of need.

Narrative Significance

The episode moves through a sharp reversal of roles. First the Carabineers control Pinocchio’s movement; then the cap’s sudden flight opens a route out of their grasp, and Alidoro takes over as pursuer. Once both have plunged into the sea, the apparent advantage belongs to Pinocchio, but the dog’s inability to swim makes him helpless. Pinocchio could use that helplessness simply to escape. Instead, Geppetto’s remembered counsel turns the flight into a rescue, and the former pursuer becomes the recipient of mercy.

That choice is meaningful precisely because Pinocchio remains wary. He hesitates before going back and swims away again after bringing Alidoro ashore. The scene therefore does not present kindness as the absence of fear or caution: Pinocchio helps while still protecting himself. The narrator’s emphasis on a kind deed being returned is made concrete in Alidoro’s promise, linking the episode’s moral idea to a specific rescue and a possible future repayment. Afterward, Pinocchio continues close to shore and sees smoke rising from a cave, carrying the story from the open-water escape toward his next encounter.