SUNDAY 14TH JANUARY 2024 A TALE FROM A BOOK I GET ON 1990

Rubattino the strange puppet

While Rubattino, Melinda and old Bepi try to make their way through the rabbit warren, the evil magician notices that his magic trunk has disappeared. But because he is a magician, it is not difficult for him to find out where it is. "Ah, my trunk is therefore at Rubattino's!" he exclaims, and having turned a dry log into a racehorse, the magician gallops towards Melinda's house. The magician clears the quick lorello with a hasty "Abracadabra" and enters the house from which a curious noise is coming: at first glance, it is difficult for him to distinguish anything apart from the rabbits' ears, then he sees Rubattino and the magic trunk and his face wrinkles: with a leap he reaches the puppet and "Abracadabra!" he shouts, and a long pair of rabbit ears stick to poor Rubattino and old Bepi. Another imperious gesture from the magician, and all the rabbits have disappeared! The magician slips into the trunk rolling towards the exit and vanishes into thin air. The two friends look at each other dumbfounded, but Melinda arrives and with a pair of shears wants to cut off the long sticky ears. Rubattino and Bepi flee terrified, holding tightly to their big ears, and arrive in a clearing in the woods, where they hear a faint cri-cri: it's the trigger that's caught!

In a flash they free the beast, which thanks them happily for regaining its freedom. But his joy does not last long; suddenly the footsteps of the magician are heard. With a leap, the cricket reaches a branch jutting out over the path, while the two friends throw themselves behind a bush. When the magician passes just under the branch on which the cricket is sitting, the little insect snatches his hat: without it, all the magician's magic disappears forever! The furious magician touches his bald head. The cricket jumps off the branch and in one leap is behind the bush with Rubattino and Bepi who, having put on the fairy hat, see the long ears gradually disappear until they return to their normal size. Now it is the turn of the cricket: touched with the tip of the hat, it resumes the appearance of the dwarf Rossano. In the meantime, the magician wanders desperately through the forest, looking for the magic hat. But Rubattino is waiting for him behind an old log, and when he sees him pass by, he throws him into an animal trap; and today he is still there, crying and thinking about the lost treasure!