In the Shark's body Pinocchio finds whom? Read this chapter, my children, and
you will know
Pinocchio, as soon as he had said good-by to his good friend, the Tunny, tottered
away in the darkness and began to walk as well as he could toward the faint light
which glowed in the distance.
As he walked his feet splashed in a pool of greasy and slippery water, which had
such a heavy smell of fish fried in oil that Pinocchio thought it was Lent.
The farther on he went, the brighter and clearer grew the tiny light. On and on he
walked till finally he found --I give you a thousand guesses, my dear children! He
found a little table set for dinner and lighted by a candle stuck in a glass bottle;
and near the table sat a little old man, white as the snow, eating live fish. They
wriggled so that, now and again, one of them slipped out of the old man's mouth
and escaped into the darkness under the table.
At this sight, the poor Marionette was filled with such great and sudden
happiness that he almost dropped in a faint. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to
cry, he wanted to say a thousand and one things, but all he could do was to
stand still, stuttering and stammering brokenly. At last, with a great effort, he was
able to let out a scream of joy and, opening wide his arms he threw them around
the old man's neck.
"Oh, Father, dear Father! Have I found you at last? Now I shall never, never
leave you again!"
"Are my eyes really telling me the truth?" answered the old man, rubbing his
eyes. "Are you really my own dear Pinocchio?"
"Yes, yes, yes! It is I! Look at me! And you have forgiven me, haven't you? Oh,
my dear Father, how good you are! And to think that I--Oh, but if you only knew
how many misfortunes have fallen on my head and how many troubles I have
had! Just think that on the day you sold your old coat to buy me my A-B-C book
so that I could go to school, I ran away to the Marionette Theater and the
proprietor caught me and wanted to burn me to cook his roast lamb! He was the
one who gave me the five gold pieces for you, but I met the Fox and the Cat, who
took me to the Inn of the Red Lobster. There they ate like wolves and I left the
Inn alone and I met the Assassins in the wood. I ran and they ran after me,
always after me, till they hanged me to the branch of a giant oak tree. Then the
Fairy of the Azure Hair sent the coach to rescue me and the doctors, after
looking at me, said, Ìf he is not dead, then he is surely alive,' and then I told a lie
and my nose began to grow. It grew and it grew, till I couldn't get it through the
door of the room. And then I went with the Fox and the Cat to the Field of
Wonders to bury the gold pieces. The Parrot laughed at me and, instead of two
thousand gold pieces, I found none. When the Judge heard I had been robbed,
he sent me to jail to make the thieves happy; and when I came away I saw a fine
bunch of grapes hanging on a vine. The trap caught me and the Farmer put a
collar on me and made me a watchdog. He found out I was innocent when I
caught the Weasels and he let me go. The Serpent with the tail that smoked
started to laugh and a vein in his chest broke and so I went back to the Fairy's
house. She was dead, and the Pigeon, seeing me crying, said to me, Ì have
seen your father building a boat to look for you in America,' and I said to him,
Òh, if I only had wings!' and he said to me, `Do you want to go to your father?'
and I said, `Perhaps, but how?' and he said, `Get on my back. I'l take you there.'
We flew all night long, and next morning the fishermen were looking toward the
sea, crying, `There is a poor little man drowning,' and I knew it was you, because
my heart told me so and I waved to you from the shore--"
"I knew you also," put in Geppetto, "and I wanted to go to you; but how could I?
The sea was rough and the whitecaps overturned the boat. Then a Terrible
Shark came up out of the sea and, as soon as he saw me in the water, swam
quickly toward me, put out his tongue, and swallowed me as easily as if I had
been a chocolate peppermint."
"And how long have you been shut away in here?"
"From that day to this, two long weary years--two years, my Pinocchio, which
have been like two centuries."
"And how have you lived? Where did you find the candle? And the matches with
which to light it--where did you get them?"
"You must know that, in the storm which swamped my boat, a large ship also
suffered the same fate. The sailors were all saved, but the ship went right to the
bottom of the sea, and the same Terrible Shark that swallowed me, swallowed
most of it."
"What! Swallowed a ship?" asked Pinocchio in astonishment.
"At one gulp. The only thing he spat out was the main- mast, for it stuck in his
teeth. To my own good luck, that ship was loaded with meat, preserved foods,
crackers, bread, bottles of wine, raisins, cheese, coffee, sugar, wax candles, and
boxes of matches. With all these blessings, I have been able to live happily on for
two whole years, but now I am at the very last crumbs. Today there is nothing left
in the cupboard, and this candle you see here is the last one I have."
"And then?"
"And then, my dear, we'll find ourselves in darkness."
"Then, my dear Father," said Pinocchio, "there is no time to lose. We must try to
escape."
"Escape! How?"
"We can run out of the Shark's mouth and dive into the sea."
"You speak well, but I cannot swim, my dear Pinocchio."
"Why should that matter? You can climb on my shoulders and I, who am a fine
swimmer, will carry you safely to the shore."
"Dreams, my boy!" answered Geppetto, shaking his head and smiling sadly. "Do
you think it possible for a Marionette, a yard high, to have the strength to carry
me on his shoulders and swim?"
"Try it and see! And in any case, if it is written that we must die, we shall at least
die together."
Not adding another word, Pinocchio took the candle in his hand and going ahead
to light the way, he said to his father:
"Follow me and have no fear."
They walked a long distance through the stomach and the whole body of the
Shark. When they reached the throat of the monster, they stopped for a while to
wait for the right moment in which to make their escape.
I want you to know that the Shark, being very old and suffering from asthma and
heart trouble, was obliged to sleep with his mouth open. Because of this,
Pinocchio was able to catch a glimpse of the sky filled with stars, as he looked up
through the open jaws of his new home.
"The time has come for us to escape," he whispered, turning to his father. "The
Shark is fast asleep. The sea is calm and the night is as bright as day. Follow me
closely, dear Father, and we shall soon be saved."
No sooner said than done. They climbed up the throat of the monster till they
came to that immense open mouth. There they had to walk on tiptoes, for if they
tickled the Shark's long tongue he might awaken--and where would they be then?
The tongue was so wide and so long that it looked like a country road. The two
fugitives were just about to dive into the sea when the Shark sneezed very
suddenly and, as he sneezed, he gave Pinocchio and Geppetto such a jolt that
they found themselves thrown on their backs and dashed once more and very
unceremoniously into the stomach of the monster.
To make matters worse, the candle went out and father and son were left in the
dark.
"And now?" asked Pinocchio with a serious face.
"Now we are lost."
"Why lost? Give me your hand, dear Father, and be careful not to slip!"
"Where will you take me?"
"We must try again. Come with me and don't be afraid."
With these words Pinocchio took his father by the hand and, always walking on
tiptoes, they climbed up the monster's throat for a second time. They then
crossed the whole tongue and jumped over three rows of teeth. But before they
took the last great leap, the Marionette said to his father:
"Climb on my back and hold on tightly to my neck. I'll take care of everything
else."
As soon as Geppetto was comfortably seated on his shoulders, Pinocchio, very
sure of what he was doing, dived into the water and started to swim. The sea
was like oil, the moon shone in all splendor, and the Shark continued to sleep so
soundly that not even a cannon shot would have awakened him.