Part 16 (1/2)
”I didn't let him He chased me and sed me without even a 'by your leave'! And nohat are we to do here in the dark?”
”Wait until the Shark has digested us both, I suppose”
”But I don't want to be digested,” shouted Pinocchio, starting to sob
”Neither do I,” said the Tunny, ”but I ah to think that if one is born a fish, it ispan”
”What nonsense!” cried Pinocchio
”Mine is an opinion,” replied the Tunny, ”and opinions should be respected”
”But I want to get out of this place I want to escape”
”Go, if you can!”
”Is this Shark that has sed us very long?” asked the Marionette
”His body, not counting the tail, is al in the darkness, Pinocchio thought he saw a faint light in the distance
”What can that be?” he said to the Tunny
”Soested by the Shark”
”I want to see him He may be an old fish and ood luck, dear Marionette”
”Good-by, Tunny”
”Good-by, Marionette, and good luck”
”When shall I see you again?”
”Who knows? It is better not to think about it”
CHAPTER 35
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 sht 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 led 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 alh, he wanted to cry, he wanted to say a thousand and one things, but all he could do was to stand still, stuttering and stareat effort, he was able to let out a screa 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!”
”Arehis eyes ”Are you really my own dear Pinocchio?”
”Yes, yes, yes! It is I! Look at iven ood you are! And to think that I--Oh, but if you only kne 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 o to school, I ran away to the Marionette Theater and the proprietor caught me and wanted to burn ave old 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 iant oak tree Then the Fairy of the Azure Hair sent the coach to rescueat me, said, 'If he is not dead, then he is surely alive,' and then I told a lie and et it through the door of the room And then I ith the Fox and the Cat to the Field of Wonders to bury the gold pieces The Parrot laughed at old 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 ca on a vine The trap caughtHe found out I was innocent when I caught the Weasels and he let h and a vein in his chest broke and so I went back to the Fairy's house She was dead, and the Pigeon, seeinga boat to look for you in As!' and he said to o to your father?' and I said, 'Perhaps, but how?' and he said, 'Get on , and next , 'There is a poor little ,' and I kneas 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 ue, and sed me as easily as if I had been a chocolate pepper have you been shut away in here?”
”Fro 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 et them?”
”You e shi+p also suffered the saht to the bottom of the sea, and the same Terrible Shark that sed me, sed most of it”
”What! Sed a shi+p?” asked Pinocchio in astonish he spat out was the ood luck, that shi+p was loaded with meat, preserved foods, crackers, bread, bottles of wine, raisins, cheese, coffee, sugar, wax candles, and boxes of s, I have been able to live happily on for thole years, but now I a 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”
”Drea 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 weanother word, Pinocchio took the candle in his hand and going ahead to light the way, he said to his father: ”Follow h the stomach and the whole body of the Shark When they reached the throat of the ht moment in which to make their escape
I want you to know that the Shark, being very old and suffering froed to sleep with his lih the open jaws of his new home
”The ti to his father ”The Shark is fast asleep The sea is calht 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 ue 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