"I beg your pardon, I am not a dog."
"Not a dog? Then what are you?"
"I am a puppet."
"And you are acting as watch-dog?"
"That is only too true--as a punishment."
"Well, then, I will offer you the same conditions that we made with thedeceased Melampo, and I am sure you will be satisfied with them."
"What are these conditions?"
"One night in every week you are to permit us to visit this poultry-yardas we have hitherto done, and to carry off eight chickens. Of thesechickens seven are to be eaten by us, and one we will give to you, onthe express understanding, however, that you pretend to be asleep, andthat it never enters your head to bark and to waken the peasant."
"Did Melampo act in this manner?" asked Pinocchio.
"Certainly, and we were always on the best terms with him. Sleepquietly, and rest assured that before we go we will leave by the kennela beautiful chicken ready plucked for your breakfast tomorrow. Have weunderstood each other clearly?"
"Only too clearly!" answered Pinocchio, and he shook his headthreateningly, as much as to say: "You shall hear of this shortly!"
The four polecats, thinking themselves safe, repaired to thepoultry-yard, which was close to the kennel, and, having opened thewooden gate with their teeth and claws, they slipped in one by one. Butthey had only just passed through when they heard the gate shut behindthem with great violence.
It was Pinocchio who had shut it, and for greater security he put alarge stone against it to keep it closed.
He then began to bark, and he barked exactly like a watch-dog: "Bow-wow,bow-wow."
Hearing the barking, the peasant jumped out of bed and, taking his gun,he came to the window and asked:
"What is the matter?"
"There are robbers!" answered Pinocchio.
"Where are they?"
"In the poultry-yard."
"I will come down directly."
In fact, in less time than it takes to say "Amen!" the peasant camedown. He rushed into the poultry-yard, caught the polecats, and, havingput them into a sack, he said to them in a tone of great satisfaction:
"At last you have fallen into my hands! I might punish you, but I am notso cruel. I will content myself instead by carrying you in the morningto the innkeeper of the neighboring village, who will skin and cook youas hares with a sweet and sour sauce. It is an honor that you don'tdeserve, but generous people like me don't consider such trifles!"
He then approached Pinocchio and began to caress him, and amongst otherthings he asked him:
"How did you manage to discover the four thieves? To think that Melampo,my faithful Melampo, never found out anything!"
The puppet might then have told him the whole story; he might haveinformed him of the disgraceful conditions that had been made betweenthe dog and the polecats; but he remembered that the dog was dead and hethought to himself:
"What is the good of accusing the dead? The dead are dead, and the bestthing to be done is to leave them in peace!"
"When the thieves got into the yard, were you asleep or awake?" thepeasant went on to ask him.
"I was asleep," answered Pinocchio, "but the polecats woke me with theirchatter and one of them came to the kennel and said to me: 'If youpromise not to bark, and not to wake the master, we will make you apresent of a fine chicken ready plucked!' To think that they should havehad the audacity to make such a proposal to me! For, although I am apuppet, possessing perhaps nearly all the faults in the world, there isone that I certainly will never be guilty of, that of making terms with,and sharing the gains of, dishonest people!"
"Well said, my boy!" cried the peasant, slapping him on the shoulder."Such sentiments do you honor; and as a proof of my gratitude I will atonce set you at liberty, and you may return home."
And he removed the dog-collar.
CHAPTER XXIII
PINOCCHIO FLIES TO THE SEASHORE
As soon as Pinocchio was released from the heavy and humiliating weightof the dog-collar he started off across the fields and never stoppeduntil he had reached the high road that led to the Fairy's house. Hecould see amongst the trees the top of the Big Oak to which he had beenhung, but, although he looked in every direction, the little housebelonging to the beautiful Child with the blue hair was nowhere visible.
Seized with a sad presentiment, he began to run with all the strength hehad left and in a few minutes he reached the field where the littlewhite house had once stood. But it was no longer there. Instead of thehouse he saw a marble stone, on which were engraved these sad words:
HERE LIES THE CHILD WITH THE BLUE HAIR WHO DIED FROM SORROW BECAUSE SHE WAS ABANDONED BY HER LITTLE BROTHER PINOCCHIO
I leave you to imagine the puppet's feelings when he had with difficultyspelled out this epitaph. He fell with his face on the ground and,covering the tombstone with a thousand kisses, burst into an agony oftears. He cried all night and when morning came he was still crying,although he had no tears left, and his sobs and lamentations were soacute and heart-breaking that they aroused the echoes in the surroundinghills.
And as he wept he said:
"Oh, little Fairy, why did you die? Why did I not die instead of you, Iwho am so wicked, whilst you were so good? And my papa? Where can he be?Oh, little Fairy, tell me where I can find him, for I want to remainwith him always and never leave him again, never again! Oh, littleFairy, tell me that it is not true that you are dead! If you really loveyour little brother, come to life again. Does it not grieve you to seeme alone and abandoned by everybody? If assassins come they will hang meagain to the branch of a tree, and then I should die indeed. What do youimagine that I can do here alone in the world? Now that I have lost youand my papa, who will give me food? Where shall I go to sleep at night?Who will make me a new jacket? Oh, it would be better, a hundred timesbetter, for me to die also! Yes, I want to die--oh! oh! oh!"
An Immense Serpent Stretched Across the Road]
And in his despair he tried to tear his hair, but his hair was madeof wood so he could not even have the satisfaction of sticking hisfingers into it.
Just then a large Pigeon flew over his head and, stopping with distendedwings, called down to him from a great height:
"Tell me, child, what are you doing there?"
"Don't you see? I am crying!" said Pinocchio, raising his head towardsthe voice and rubbing his eyes with his jacket.
"Tell me," continued the Pigeon, "amongst your companions, do you happento know a puppet who is called Pinocchio?"
"Pinocchio? Did you say Pinocchio?" repeated the puppet, jumping quicklyto his feet. "I am Pinocchio!"
At this answer the Pigeon descended rapidly to the ground. He was largerthan a turkey.
"Do you also know Geppetto?" he asked.
"Do I know him! He is my poor papa! Has he perhaps spoken to you of me?Will you take me to him? Is he still alive? Answer me, for pity's sake:is he still alive?"
"I left him three days ago on the seashore."
"What was he doing?"
"He was building a little boat for himself, to cross the ocean. For morethan three months that poor man has been going all round the worldlooking for you. Not having succeeded in finding you, he has now takenit into his head to go to the distant countries of the New World insearch of you."
"How far is it from here to the shore?" asked Pinocchio breathlessly.
"More than six hundred miles."
"Six hundred miles? Oh, beautiful Pigeon, what a fine thing it would beto have your wings!"
"If you wish to go, I will carry you there."
"How?"
"On my back. Do you weigh much?"
"I weigh next to nothing. I am as light as a feather."
And without waiting for more Pinocchio jumped at once on the Pigeon'sback and, putting a leg on each side of him as men do on horseback, heexclaimed joyfully:
"Gallop, gallop, my little horse, for I am anxious to arrive quickly!"
<
br /> The Pigeon took flight and in a few minutes had soared so high that theyalmost touched the clouds. Finding himself at such an immense height thepuppet had the curiosity to turn and look down; but his head spun roundand he became so frightened to save himself from the danger of fallinghe wound his arms tightly round the neck of his feathered steed.
They flew all day. Towards evening the Pigeon said:
"I am very thirsty!"
"And I am very hungry!" rejoined Pinocchio.
"Let us stop at that dovecote for a few minutes and then we willcontinue our journey, so that we may reach the seashore by dawntomorrow."
They went into a deserted dovecote, where they found nothing but a basinfull of water and a basket full of vetch.
The puppet had never in his life been able to eat vetch: according tohim it made him sick. That evening, however, he ate to repletion, andwhen he had nearly emptied the basket he turned to the Pigeon and saidto him:
"I never could have believed that vetch was so good!"
"Be assured, my boy," replied the Pigeon, "that when hunger is real, andthere is nothing else to eat, even vetch becomes delicious. Hungerknows neither caprice nor greediness."
Having quickly finished their little meal they recommenced their journeyand flew away. The following morning they reached the seashore.
The Pigeon placed Pinocchio on the ground and, not wishing to betroubled with thanks for having done a good action, flew quickly awayand disappeared.
The shore was crowded with people who were looking out to sea, shoutingand gesticulating.
"What has happened?" asked Pinocchio of an old woman.
"A poor father who has lost his son has gone away in a boat to searchfor him on the other side of the water, and today the sea is tempestuousand the little boat is in danger of sinking."
"Where is the little boat?"
"It is out there in a line with my finger," said the old woman, pointingto a little boat which, seen at that distance, looked like a nutshellwith a very little man in it.
Pinocchio fixed his eyes on it and after looking attentively he gave apiercing scream, crying:
"It is my papa! It is my papa!"
The boat, meanwhile, beaten by the fury of the waves, at one momentdisappeared in the trough of the sea, and the next came again to thesurface. Pinocchio, standing on the top of a high rock, kept calling tohis father by name, and making every kind of signal to him with hishands, his handkerchief, and his cap.
And, although he was so far off, Geppetto appeared to recognize his son,for he also took off his cap and waved it, and tried by gestures tomake him understand that he would have returned if it had been possible,but that the sea was so tempestuous that he could not use his oars orapproach the shore.
Suddenly a tremendous wave rose and the boat disappeared. They waited,hoping it would come again to the surface, but it was seen no more.
"Poor man!" said the fishermen who were assembled on the shore;murmuring a prayer, they turned to go home.
Just then they heard a desperate cry and, looking back, they saw alittle boy who exclaimed, as he jumped from a rock into the sea:
"I will save my papa!"
Pinocchio, being made of wood, floated easily and he swam like a fish.At one moment they saw him disappear under the water, carried down bythe fury of the waves, and next he reappeared struggling with a leg oran arm. At last they lost sight of him and he was seen no more.
CHAPTER XXIV
PINOCCHIO FINDS THE FAIRY AGAIN
Pinocchio, hoping to be in time to help his father, swam the wholenight.
And what a horrible night it was! The rain came down in torrents, ithailed, the thunder was frightful, and the flashes of lightning made itas light as day.
Towards morning he saw a long strip of land not far off. It was anisland in the midst of the sea.
He tried his utmost to reach the shore, but it was all in vain. Thewaves, racing and tumbling over each other, knocked him about as if hehad been a stick or a wisp of straw. At last, fortunately for him, abillow rolled up with such fury and impetuosity that he was lifted upand thrown far on to the sands.
He fell with such force that, as he struck the ground, his ribs and allhis joints cracked, but he comforted himself, saying:
"This time also I have made a wonderful escape!"
Little by little the sky cleared, the sun shone out in all his splendor,and the sea became as quiet and as smooth as oil.
The puppet put his clothes in the sun to dry and began to look in everydirection in hopes of seeing on the vast expanse of water a little boatwith a little man in it. But, although he looked and looked, he couldsee nothing but the sky, and the sea, and the sail of some ship, but sofar away that it seemed no bigger than a fly.
"If I only knew what this island was called!" he said to himself. "If Ionly knew whether it was inhabited by civilized people--I mean, bypeople who have not the bad habit of hanging boys to the branches of thetrees. But whom can I ask? Whom, if there is nobody?"
This idea of finding himself alone, alone, all alone, in the midst ofthis great uninhabited country, made him so melancholy that he was justbeginning to cry. But at that moment, at a short distance from theshore, he saw a big fish swimming by; it was going quietly on its ownbusiness with its head out of the water.
Not knowing its name, the puppet called to it in a loud voice to makehimself heard:
"Eh, Sir Fish, will you permit me a word with you?"
"Two if you like," answered the fish, who was a Dolphin, and so politethat few similar are to be found in any sea in the world.
"Will you be kind enough to tell me if there are villages in this islandwhere it would be possible to obtain something to eat, without runningthe danger of being eaten?"
"Certainly there are," replied the Dolphin. "Indeed, you will find oneat a short distance from here."
"And what road must I take to go there?"
"You must take that path to your left and follow your nose. You cannotmake a mistake."
"Will you tell me another thing? You who swim about the sea all day andall night, have you by chance met a little boat with my papa in it?"
"And who is your papa?"
"He is the best papa in the world, whilst it would be difficult to finda worse son than I am."
"During the terrible storm last night," answered the Dolphin, "thelittle boat must have gone to the bottom."
"And my papa?"
"He must have been swallowed by the terrible Dog-Fish, who for some dayspast has been spreading devastation and ruin in our waters."
"Is this Dog-Fish very big?" asked Pinocchio, who was already beginningto quake with fear.
"Big!" replied the Dolphin. "That you may form some idea of his size, Ineed only tell you that he is bigger than a five-storied house, and thathis mouth is so enormous and so deep that a railway train with itssmoking engine could pass down his throat."
"Mercy upon us!" exclaimed the terrified puppet; and, putting on hisclothes with the greatest haste, he said to the Dolphin:
"Good-bye, Sir Fish; excuse the trouble I have given you, and manythanks for your politeness."
He then took the path that had been pointed out to him and began towalk fast--so fast, indeed, that he was almost running. And at theslightest noise he turned to look behind him, fearing that he might seethe terrible Dog-Fish with a railway train in its mouth following him.
After a walk of half an hour he reached a little village called "TheVillage of the Industrious Bees." The road was alive with people runninghere and there to attend to their business; all were at work, all hadsomething to do. You could not have found an idler or a vagabond, noteven if you had searched for him with a lighted lamp.
"Ah!" said that lazy Pinocchio at once, "I see that this village willnever suit me! I wasn't born to work!"
In the meanwhile he was tormented by hunger, for he had eaten nothingfor twenty-four hours--not even vetch. What was he to do?
There were only two ways b
y which he could obtain food--either by askingfor a little work, or by begging for a nickel or for a mouthful ofbread.
He was ashamed to beg, for his father had always preached to him that noone had a right to beg except the aged and the infirm. The really poorin this world, deserving of compassion and assistance, are only thosewho from age or sickness are no longer able to earn their own bread withthe labor of their hands. It is the duty of every one else to work; andif they will not work, so much the worse for them if they suffer fromhunger.
At that moment a man came down the road, tired and panting for breath.He was dragging, alone, with fatigue and difficulty, two carts full ofcharcoal.
Pinocchio, judging by his face that he was a kind man, approached himand, casting down his eyes with shame, he said to him in a low voice:
"Would you have the charity to give me a nickel, for I am dying ofhunger?"
"You shall have not only a nickel," said the man, "but I will give you aquarter, provided that you help me to drag home these two carts ofcharcoal."
"I am surprised at you!" answered the puppet in a tone of offense. "Letme tell you that I am not accustomed to do the work of a donkey: I havenever drawn a cart!"
"So much the better for you," answered the man. "Then, my boy, if youare really dying of hunger, eat two fine slices of your pride, and becareful not to get indigestion."
A few minutes afterwards a mason passed down the road carrying on hisshoulders a basket of lime.
Pinocchio: The Tale of a Puppet Page 7