“Who would ever have thought such a thing possible?” thought Pinocchio, getting to work. He soon had a large number of oysters; but when he opened them he found only a few small balls.
“Come here, Pinocchio. You may have better luck in this corner,” and Marsovino led the way to a nook in the rocks. “Look in there.”
Again Pinocchio searched, and soon a great many shells lay at his feet ready to be opened. Without mercy, he went at them, tearing and pulling the poor little creatures from their homes. His search finished, he threw them aside. The sand was soon covered with the dead and the dying.
“Poor little beings!” observed Marsovino. “After they have given you their pearls, is that the way to treat them? Could you not be more careful?”
Pinocchio had a kind soul. He was only thoughtless. So he went to work and tried to undo the wrong he had done. Those oysters which were only slightly hurt he put back into their shells; while he ate the others, and so ended their sufferings.
This work finished, he went on with his search for pearls. In a short time he had a small pile of beautiful pearls. Some were large, some small, some globular, and others shaped like drops of water.
In color, too, they were different. Almost all were white, some faintly pink, a few grayish, and one was all black.
“Well, Pinocchio, you have enough. With them you will be as rich as the king of China. Come now. We must go on with our journey.”
“But these pearls, where shall I put them? I wish I had a bag or a box.”
“It will not be so hard to find that. Let’s look around.”
The dolphin swam around. He did not stay away long. Soon he came back, holding a small object out to Pinocchio. It was a little cubical body, and seemed like a strange-looking box.
“Here is the box, my friend,” he called.
“Well, what is this?” asked Pinocchio, looking at the object. It was hard and dark, and reminded him of the shell which had saved his life.
“That was a fish.”
“A fish? That box?”
“Exactly. This is only its shell, but once a fish lived in it. It is called the sea urchin. That box you have there helps him to defend himself. Do you notice how hard it is?”
“Well, the sea is certainly a wonderful place. Once upon a time I hated it. Now I should like to be a fish, so as to live in it always.”
CHAPTER XIII
The journey was progressing rapidly. Blue skies and green countries had disappeared. Gone were the many-colored fish. Sea and sky were of a dark gray color. Why all this? Because our two friends had reached the cold north, where for so many months no sun shines.
Luckily, though, spring had begun. The sun showed itself for a while every day. And every day it showed itself a little longer. In the summer it would be there even at midnight.
The cold was very great. Pinocchio had a fur suit which Tursio had given him, but still he was almost freezing. Marsovino also suffered.
“It will be better for us if we dive deep into the sea,” he observed. “We shall find it warmer there.”
“Please wait awhile,” begged Pinocchio. “I want to see that island first,” and with his hand Pinocchio pointed to a high mountain still far away. It was as white as snow, and seemed almost to touch
“Oh, you want to see that island,” repeated Marsovino, chuckling to himself. “Very well.”
“Yes, it does look queer, doesn’t it? I wonder if there are people on it?”
“Perhaps. We shall see.”
It seemed as if the island had heard Pinocchio speak. Strange to say, it was coming to meet the dolphin and his friend. And with it were two others.
“Look! look!” shouted Pinocchio. “The islands at the pole walk! This is fun!”
“Yes, they are taking a walk, as you see,” answered Marsovino, who was enjoying himself, too. “But if they come nearer, our journey will end right here.”
He had not finished speaking when a terrific noise was heard. The sound was deafening. Pinocchio found himself thrown from his horse into the water. When he opened his eyes—he always closed them when he was frightened—no islands were to be seen.
“Marsovino! Marsovino! Help! Help!” he cried, fearing he had lost his friend.
“Here I am! Come!”
Swiftly the marionette swam to the dolphin, and again climbed on his back.
“Will you please tell me what happened to those islands? Or are we in fairyland? I never knew lands could disappear in a minute like that!”
“Those were not islands, my dear Pinocchio. They were icebergs. These great mountains of ice, when they come against each other, are broken into bits. See, all that is left of them are pieces of ice;” and Marsovino pointed to ice which was floating on the sea.
The next day Pinocchio had another surprise. In front of him, as far as he could see, was a city of ice. Everything was flat, everything was white.
Immense landscapes, snowy white, met his eye wherever he turned.
Mountains of ice could be seen in the distance. And, wonderful to see, the ice was so clear and transparent that it looked like glass. When the sun shone on it, it sparkled and showed all the colors of the rainbow.
Pinocchio thought himself in fairyland. But as he was looking, a strong wind rose suddenly; and then the icebergs fell and broke with deafening noise.
Finally, Marsovino thought it best to swim far under water.
He was afraid of losing his life in the midst of all those icebergs.
Two days later the two boys rounded the southern point of Greenland. On the sandy shore of this island continent could be seen a large number of animals. They had round clumsy bodies, each having a small head with two small bright eyes. Where we have arms, they had what looked like very strong fins.
These animals were seals. Their bodies were covered with reddish-brown fur. Lying on the sand, they were enjoying the warmth of the sun. The young ones were playing with one another and enjoying themselves, too.
Pinocchio paid little attention to them. But suddenly out of the water came another band. The newcomers were somewhat different from the seals, but they belonged to the same family.
Their fur was almost black, not brown, and their heads were larger. They were walruses. From their mouths” two long, thick ivory teeth protruded. They looked very fierce, and soon they showed their fierceness.
Seeing that the beach was occupied, and wanting it for themselves, they started to fight for it. The seals fought very bravely, but what could they do against those terrible teeth? The poor wounded beasts struggled and kept up cries of “pa—pa—pa—pa.”
“Listen to that. They are calling ‘papa.’ I never thought fish could talk,” said Pinocchio.
“First of all, seals are not fish, but mammals. And then there are some fish which do produce sounds. Tunnies, when out of the water, cry like children. Some poulpes, when caught, groan. Others make a sound like a whistle.”
“I am ready to believe anything,” Pinocchio said very weakly. “But what is a poulpe?”
“Oh, that is another name for the octopus or devilfish,” was the reply.
The fight continued, but the seals were soon conquered. The victorious walruses were not to enjoy their victory, however.
While the fight was still waging, some fishermen had quietly come up to the field of battle. Before long many of the combatants lay dead, and were carried away into boats. The few that were left forgot the fight, and were happy enough to escape into the water.
CHAPTER XIV
The boys traveled two weeks longer, and at last Marsovino thought himself near his destination. So he dived into the water to a great depth.
After a while, as he sank deeper and deeper into the sea, Pinocchio became frightened. They were down so far that no light from th
e sun could reach them.
“Where are you carrying me to, my dear?” he asked. “If we go any farther, we cannot possibly live. How could we, with this immense amount of water over us?”
“We’ll be all right, my boy, never fear. If little fish like that can live here, why, so can we.”
Marsovino was pointing to many horrible dark objects which were swimming around him. They had a round head, great black bodies, no eyes, and from their heads a long thread moved about in the water. At the end of the threads were small lights.
“What ugly things!” said Pinocchio. “What are they, and why do they have those small lights on their heads?”
“If you look closely, you will see that those little beings have no eyes. So they depend on these lights for their food. Other animals are drawn to the lights. When they are near enough these animals feel them. Then they are seized and eaten.”
“The sea is wonderful,” nodded Pinocchio, drowsily, “but don’t you think that we might take some sleep? I am very tired.”
“Very well,” said Marsovino.
Pinocchio threw himself on the sand, and in a few minutes both friends were asleep.
The next morning, bright and early, they were again ready to start. The dolphin, who knew now where he was, began to rise to the surface. A few hours later he had reached the place Tursio had spoken about.
“Here we are at last!” he cried.
“Here? Why, where is the ship?”
“There,” answered Marsovino, pointing to a great black mass which showed through the water.
“That! Why look how it is trimmed!” And he was indeed right. The inhabitants of the sea had taken possession of everything. The keel of the ship was overgrown with beautiful slender seaweeds. The decks were covered with sponges. The stairs had disappeared under the work of polyps.
On the lookout bridge hundreds of anemones raised their brightly colored corollas. The needles of sea urchins threatened passers-by from the portholes. Silvery fishes and starfishes were seen all over. Everything was living on the dead ship.
“Now let us hasten,” said Marsovino.
“Very well,” answered Pinocchio.
“We have been so long in coming that now we must be quick,” continued the dolphin.
“Father must be worried. Let us look for the treasure, and then we can begin our return journey tonight.”
“Very well,” again assented Pinocchio.
“Make haste, then. Get into that ship. Don’t lose any more time.”
“Come, let us go.”
“Let us go! How can I go? Don’t you see how small the doors are? You must go alone!”
Pinocchio did not like the idea. He stood still and thought. His courage utterly failed him. To go alone into that great black ship! Why, how could he do such a thing?
“Well, what are you thinking o?” asked Marsovino, who had dropped Pinocchio at the door of the stairs.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet. I don’t like the idea of going in there very much.”
“But you must. I can’t go, and we must have the gold. Will you decide? I thought you had offered to help Mr. Tursio.”
When he heard that, Pinocchio finally made up his mind. He opened the door and went down a few steps. Then he stopped.
“Must I really go?” he asked.
Marsovino began to lose his patience.
“If you do not make haste getting into that ship, I shall return without you,” he could not help saying.
“Very well. Here I go.”
“You remember Tursio’s instructions, don’t you } At the bottom of the stairs there is a large room. At one end a door leads into the captain’s room. In a corner of the captain’s room, you will find two boxes. They contain the treasure. Good-by and good luck.”
Very slowly Pinocchio went down. Luckily for him a few sunfishes were floating around, giving some light.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw in front of him a large square room. In the walls were long narrow holes, like the shelves of a pantry. These had probably been the sailors’ bunks. But to Pinocchio they were puzzles.
The roof, which was very high, was of glass. This made the room lighter than the stairs, and so Pinocchio took courage.
At one end of the room there was a small narrow door. Pinocchio walked to it and tried to open it. Still, though the door was not locked, it would not open. It seemed as if some one were holding it closed from the inside. The marionette pushed it, kicked it, struggled with it, and finally he succeeded in opening it. He was able to put just the tip of his nose in the crack.
He had no sooner done this, though, than it was held as in a vise. Pinocchio felt something pulling and pulling.
“My nose will surely come off,” he thought; but after trying and trying he was at last free again.
“I wonder what that was? What can be behind that door? In any case it may be better to have some weapon of defense,” and thinking this, Pinocchio looked around.
“Those shelves may hold something useful.”
But when he came near them, what did he see? A mattress, pillows, and sheets! What could this have been? A hospital
Poor Pinocchio! He was most certainly a dunce!
On the floor in a corner he found a pair of large boots.
“These will do,” he thought.
Again he pushed the door. This time he was able to open it wide. As soon as he had done so, he threw a large boot in blindly. Had he never done so, it would have been better! In a second the room became as black as pitch.
“Marsovino! Oh! Oh! Oh! Marsovino!” screamed the poor boy, thinking himself blinded.
The dolphin, waiting for Pinocchio at the head of the stairs, became frightened at this appeal. He thought something serious had happened. He swam to the top of the deck and broke several panes of glass. Looking into the room he called: “What is the matter? I am here.”
Pinocchio felt a little better when he saw Marsovino.
“0h, Marsovino!” he cried.
“What has happened, my poor Pinocchio?”
“I have found a bottle of ink.”
“A bottle of what?”
“Of ink. I threw a boot at something, and now the room is full of ink.”
“Oh, now I understand. You have to deal with an octopus.”
“What’s that?”
“A mollusk.”
“Oh, if that’s what it is, I’m not afraid. I know them well.”
“Yes, but not this one. This is the greatest mollusk known. It is a near relation of the calamary, but much larger. There are some even five or six yards long.”
“Oh!” shivered Pinocchio, looking around.
“The one in the captain’s room must be a small one, though. If I were with you, I should free you in a second. There is nothing a dolphin likes better than an octopus or a calamary.”
“But the ink?”
“The ink is the means of defense of these mollusks. When pursued or in danger, this animal ejects this inky liquid. In that way, it forms a cloud in the water and is able to escape.”
“Shall I be killed?”
“If you keep out of reach of its long arms, you will be all right.”
“Oh, now I see what got hold of my poor nose. It is aching yet. Now tell me, Marsovino, if this animal is guarding the treasure, how shall I possibly get at it? We might as well give it up,” and Pinocchio started towards the stairs.
“How very courageous you are! After trying so hard, are you going to give up at the last minute?”
Pinocchio did not answer, but very slowly he retraced his steps. Going over to the bunks, he took a large mattress. Holding it in front of him, he moved toward the door, which was still ajar.
The water from the captain’s room had mixed with the water of the large room, and now it was not so dark. Very cautiously, the marionette peeked over the mattress.
In a corner of the room lay the poulpe or octopus. As Marsovino had said, it was not very large. Still it was very ugly.
Think of a large head, soft and jellylike, with two great eyes staring at you. Think of that head and eight long thick arms around it. No wonder Pinocchio felt like turning back.
The monster moved restlessly about, stretching and twisting its arms. In one of them it held Pinocchio’s boot. Every minute its huge body changed color. At first it was white, then gray, then brown, then spotted with purple. Pinocchio hardly knew what to think of it.
“You are certainly very ugly, my dear bottle of ink,” he thought. “Well, why am I standing here? I might as well try to kill him. Hurrah! Here comes the brave marionette!”
Very slowly Pinocchio walked up to the octopus, but not near enough to be in reach of those arms. Then with a quick move he threw the mattress over the struggling mass. Pressing it down tightly, he held it there.
For a long time the arms twitched nervously about, but at last they stopped moving. The boy waited a few minutes longer, and then, thinking the creature dead, he stood up.
The mattress, however, he left on top of the poulpe. Not only that, but running back, he took another and put it on top of the first. He wanted to be sure the octopus would not move. At last he breathed easily and set to work to get the boxes.
Yes, think of it! That lazy marionette really set to work. He dragged the boxes one after the other into the large room, and then he called Marsovino.
“Here is the treasure, Marsovino. Now how am I to carry these heavy boxes upstairs?”
Marsovino then lowered a stout rope which he had carried with him. Pinocchio tied the boxes to it, one after the other, and the dolphin pulled them up.
The Pinocchio Megapack: 4 Classic Puppet Tales Page 19
