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.
CHAPTER 36
Pinocchio finally ceases to be
a Marionette and becomes a boy
"My dear Father, we are saved!" cried the Marionette.
"All we have to do now is to get to the shore, and that is easy."
Without another word, he swam
swiftly away in an
effort to reach land as soon as possible. All at once he
noticed that Geppetto was shivering and shaking as if with
a high fever.
Was he shivering from fear or from cold? Who knows?
Perhaps a little of both. But Pinocchio, thinking his father
was frightened, tried to comfort him by saying:
"Courage, Father! In a few moments we shall be safe on land."
"But where is that
blessed shore?" asked the little old man,
more and more worried as he tried to
pierce the faraway shadows.
"Here I am searching on all sides and I see nothing but sea and sky."
"I see the shore," said the Marionette. "Remember, Father,
that I am like a cat. I see better at night than by day."
Poor Pinocchio pretended to be
peaceful and contented,
but he was far from that. He was
beginning to feel
discouraged, his strength was leaving him, and his breathing
was becoming more and more labored. He felt he could
not go on much longer, and the shore was still far away.
He swam a few more strokes. Then he turned to Geppetto
and cried out weakly:
"Help me, Father! Help, for I am dying!"
Father and son were really about to drown when they
heard a voice like a
guitar out of tune call from the sea:
"What is the trouble?"
"It is I and my poor father."
"I know the voice. You are Pinocchio."
"Exactly. And you?"
"I am the Tunny, your
companion in the Shark's
stomach."
"And how did you escape?"
"I imitated your example. You are the one who showed
me the way and after you went, I followed."
"Tunny, you arrived at the right moment! I
implore you,
for the love you bear your children, the little Tunnies,
to help us, or we are lost!"
"With great pleasure indeed. Hang onto my tail, both
of you, and let me lead you. In a twinkling you will be
safe on land."
Geppetto and Pinocchio, as you can easily imagine, did not
refuse the
invitation; indeed, instead of
hanging onto
the tail, they thought it better to climb on the Tunny's back.
"Are we too heavy?" asked Pinocchio.
"Heavy? Not in the least. You are as light as sea-shells,"
answered the Tunny, who was as large as a two-year-old horse.
As soon as they reached the shore, Pinocchio was the
first to jump to the ground to help his old father.
Then he turned to the fish and said to him:
"Dear friend, you have saved my father, and I have not
enough words with which to thank you! Allow me to
embrace you as a sign of my
eternal gratitude."
The Tunny stuck his nose out of the water and Pinocchio
knelt on the sand and kissed him most affectionately
on his cheek. At this warm greeting, the poor Tunny,
who was not used to such
tenderness, wept like a child.
He felt so embarrassed and
ashamed that he turned quickly,
plunged into the sea, and disappeared.
In the
meantime day had dawned.
Pinocchio offered his arm to Geppetto, who was so
weak he could hardly stand, and said to him:
"Lean on my arm, dear Father, and let us go. We will
walk very, very slowly, and if we feel tired we can rest
by the wayside."
"And where are we going?" asked Geppetto.
"To look for a house or a hut, where they will be kind enough
to give us a bite of bread and a bit of straw to sleep on."
They had not taken a hundred steps when they saw two
rough-looking individuals sitting on a stone begging for alms.
It was the Fox and the Cat, but one could hardly recognize
them, they looked so
miserable. The Cat, after pretending
to be blind for so many years had really lost the sight
of both eyes. And the Fox, old, thin, and almost hairless,
had even lost his tail. That sly thief had fallen into
deepest
poverty, and one day he had been forced to sell his
beautiful tail for a bite to eat.
"Oh, Pinocchio," he cried in a tearful voice. "Give us
some alms, we beg of you! We are old, tired, and sick."
"Sick!"
repeated the Cat.
"Addio, false friends!" answered the Marionette.
"You cheated me once, but you will never catch me again."
"Believe us! Today we are truly poor and starving."
"Starving!"
repeated the Cat.
"If you are poor; you
deserve it! Remember the old
proverb which says: `Stolen money never bears fruit.'
Addio, false friends."
"Have mercy on us!"
"On us."
"Addio, false friends. Remember the old
proverb which says:
`Bad wheat always makes poor bread!'"
"Do not
abandon us."
"Abandon us,"
repeated the Cat.
"Addio, false friends. Remember the old
proverb:
`Whoever steals his neighbor's shirt, usually dies without
his own.'"
Waving good-by to them, Pinocchio and Geppetto
calmly went on their way. After a few more steps,
they saw, at the end of a long road near a clump of trees,
a tiny
cottage built of straw.
"Someone must live in that little hut," said Pinocchio.
"Let us see for ourselves."
They went and knocked at the door.
"Who is it?" said a little voice from within.
"A poor father and a poorer son, without food and with
no roof to cover them," answered the Marionette.
"Turn the key and the door will open," said the same
little voice.
Pinocchio turned the key and the door opened. As soon
as they went in, they looked here and there and everywhere
but saw no one.
"Oh--ho, where is the owner of the hut?" cried Pinocchio,
very much surprised.
"Here I am, up here!"
Father and son looked up to the ceiling, and there on a
beam sat the Talking Cricket.
"Oh, my dear Cricket," said Pinocchio, bowing politely.
"Oh, now you call me your dear Cricket, but do you
remember when you threw your
hammer at me to kill me?"
"You are right, dear Cricket. Throw a
hammer at me now.
I
deserve it! But spare my poor old father."
"I am going to spare both the father and the son. I have
only wanted to
remind you of the trick you long ago