Part 11 (1/2)
They had just reached the village, when a sudden gust of wind blew off Pinocchio's cap andfar down the street
”Would you allow me,” the Marionette asked the Carabineers, ”to run after o; but hurry”
The Marionette went, picked up his cap--but instead of putting it on his head, he stuck it between his teeth and then raced toward the sea
He went like a bullet out of a gun
The Carabineers, judging that it would be very difficult to catch hie Mastiff after hi races Pinocchio ran fast and the Dog ran faster At so athered in the street, anxious to see the end of the contest But they were disappointed, for the Dog and Pinocchio raised so much dust on the road that, after a few moments, it was impossible to see the fried in a pan like a fish During that wild chase, Pinocchio lived through a terrible ave himself up as lost This hen Alidoro (that was the Mastiff's na, ca him
The Marionette heard, close behind hi of the beast as fast on his trail, and now and again even felt his hot breath blow over him
Luckily, by this tiht; in fact, only a few short steps away
As soon as he set foot on the beach, Pinocchio gave a leap and fell into the water Alidoro tried to stop, but as he was running very fast, he couldn't, and he, too, landed far out in the sea Strange though itcould not swim He beat the water with his paws to hold himself up, but the harder he tried, the deeper he sank As he stuck his head out onceand he barked out wildly, ”I drown! I drown!”
”Drown!” answered Pinocchio from afar, happy at his escape
”Help, Pinocchio, dear little Pinocchio! Save , the Marionette, who after all had a very kind heart, was moved to compassion He turned toward the poor animal and said to hiain by running after me?”
”I promise! I promise! Only hurry, for if you wait another second, I'll be dead and gone!”
Pinocchio hesitated still anotherhow his father had often told him that a kind deed is never lost, he swaed hi was so weak he could not stand He had sed so much salt water that he ollen like a balloon However, Pinocchio, not wishi+ng to trust hiain into the sea As he say, he called out: ”Good-by, Alidoro, good luck and remember me to the fa ”A thousand thanks for having saved ood turn, and, in this world, what is given is always returned If the chance co close to shore At last he thought he had reached a safe place Glancing up and down the beach, he saw the opening of a cave out of which rose a spiral of smoke
”In that cave,” he said to himself, ”there must be a fire So much the better I'll dry my clothes and warm myself, and then--well--”
His mind made up, Pinocchio swa under hiher He tried to escape, but he was too late To his great surprise, he found hie net, a and struggling desperately to free themselves
At the same tily that Pinocchio thought he was a sea monster In place of hair, his head was covered by a thick bush of green grass Green was the skin of his body, green were his eyes, green was the long, long beard that reached down to his feet He looked like a giant lizard with legs and arms
When the Fisherman pulled the net out of the sea, he cried out joyfully: ”Blessed Providence! Once more I'll have a fine meal of fish!+”
”Thank Heaven, I' with these words to find a little courage
The Fisherloomy, smoky place In the middle of it, a pan full of oil sizzled over a s odor of tallow that took away one's breath
”Now, let's see what kind of fish we have caught today,” said the Green Fisher as a spade into the net and pulled out a handful ofat the thee, empty tub
Many times he repeated this performance As he pulled each fish out of the net, his , and he said: ”Fine fish, these bass!”
”Very tasty, these whitefish!+”
”Delicious flounders, these!”
”What splendid crabs!”
”And these dear little anchovies, with their heads still on!”
As you can well iine, the bass, the flounders, the whitefish, and even the little anchovies all went together into the tub to keep the mullets company The last to come out of the net was Pinocchio
As soon as the Fisherreen eyes opened ith surprise, and he cried out in fear: ”What kind of fish is this? I don't re like it”
He looked at hi him over and over, he said at last: ”I understand Hetaken for a crab, said resentfully: ”What nonsense! A crab indeed! I a Beware how you deal with me! I am a Marionette, I want you to know”
”A Marionette?” asked the Fisherman ”I must admit that a Marionette fish is, for me, an entirely new kind of fish So reater relish”
”Eat me? But can't you understand that I'm not a fish? Can't you hear that I speak and think as you do?”
”It's true,” answered the Fisherman; ”but since I see that you are a fish, well able to talk and think as I do, I'll treat you with all due respect”
”And that is--”
”That, as a sign of my particular esteem, I'll leave to you the choice of the manner in which you are to be cooked Do you wish to be fried in a pan, or do you prefer to be cooked with tomato sauce?”
”To tell you the truth,” answered Pinocchio, ”if I o free so I ? Do you think that I want to lose the opportunity to taste such a rare fish? A Marionette fish does not come very often to these seas Leave it to me I'll fry you in the pan with the others I know you'll like it It's always a coood coan to cry and wail and beg With tears strea down his cheeks, he said: ”How o to school! I did listen tofor it! Oh! Oh! Oh!”
And as he struggled and squirmed like an eel to escape from him, the Green Fisherman took a stout cord and tied him hand and foot, and threw him into the bottom of the tub with the others