Chapter 35

In the Shark's body Pinocchio finds whom?

Read this chapter, my children, and you will knowPinocchio, as soon as he had said good-by to his goodfriend, the Tunny, tottered away in the darkness andbegan to walk as well as he could toward the faint lightwhich glowed in the distance.

As he walked his feet splashed in a pool of greasy andslippery water, which had such a heavy smell of fish friedin oil that Pinocchio thought it was Lent.

The farther on he went, the brighter and clearer grewthe tiny light. On and on he walked till finally he found--I give you a thousand guesses, my dear children! Hefound a little table set for dinner and lighted by a candlestuck in a glass bottle; and near the table sat a little oldman, white as the snow, eating live fish. They wriggledso that, now and again, one of them slipped out of the oldman's mouth and escaped into the darkness under the table.

At this sight, the poor Marionette was filled with suchgreat and sudden happiness that he almost dropped in afaint. He wanted to laugh, he wanted to cry, he wantedto say a thousand and one things, but all he could do wasto stand still, stuttering and stammering brokenly. Atlast, with a great effort, he was able to let out a scream ofjoy and, opening wide his arms he threw them around theold man's neck.

"Oh, Father, dear Father! Have I found you at last?

Now I shall never, never leave you again!""Are my eyes really telling me the truth?" answeredthe old man, rubbing his eyes. "Are you really my owndear Pinocchio?""Yes, yes, yes! It is I! Look at me! And you haveforgiven me, haven't you? Oh, my dear Father, howgood you are! And to think that I--Oh, but if youonly knew how many misfortunes have fallen on my headand how many troubles I have had! Just think that onthe day you sold your old coat to buy me my A-B-Cbook so that I could go to school, I ran away to theMarionette Theater and the proprietor caught me andwanted to burn me to cook his roast lamb! He was theone who gave me the five gold pieces for you, but I metthe Fox and the Cat, who took me to the Inn of the RedLobster. There they ate like wolves and I left the Innalone and I met the Assassins in the wood. I ran and theyran after me, always after me, till they hanged me to thebranch of a giant oak tree. Then the Fairy of the AzureHair sent the coach to rescue me and the doctors, afterlooking at me, said, `If he is not dead, then he is surelyalive,' and then I told a lie and my nose began to grow.

It grew and it grew, till I couldn't get it through thedoor of the room. And then I went with the Fox and theCat to the Field of Wonders to bury the gold pieces. TheParrot laughed at me and, instead of two thousand goldpieces, I found none. When the Judge heard I had beenrobbed, he sent me to jail to make the thieves happy; andwhen I came away I saw a fine bunch of grapes hanging ona vine. The trap caught me and the Farmer put a collar onme and made me a watchdog. He found out I was innocentwhen I caught the Weasels and he let me go. The Serpentwith the tail that smoked started to laugh and a vein in hischest broke and so I went back to the Fairy's house. Shewas dead, and the Pigeon, seeing me crying, said to me, `Ihave seen your father building a boat to look for you inAmerica,' and I said to him, `Oh, if I only had wings!' andhe said to me, `Do you want to go to your father?' and Isaid, `Perhaps, but how?' and he said, `Get on my back. I'lltake you there.' We flew all night long, and next morningthe fishermen were looking toward the sea, crying, `Thereis a poor little man drowning,' and I knew it was 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 togo to you; but how could I? The sea was rough and thewhitecaps overturned the boat. Then a Terrible Sharkcame up out of the sea and, as soon as he saw me in thewater, swam quickly toward me, put out his tongue, andswallowed me as easily as if I had been a chocolate peppermint.""And how long have you been shut away in here?""From that day to this, two long weary years--twoyears, my Pinocchio, which have been like two centuries.""And how have you lived? Where did you find thecandle? And the matches with which to light it--wheredid you get them?""You must know that, in the storm which swamped myboat, a large ship also suffered the same fate. The sailorswere all saved, but the ship went right to the bottom ofthe 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, thatship was loaded with meat, preserved foods, crackers,bread, bottles of wine, raisins, cheese, coffee, sugar, waxcandles, and boxes of matches. With all these blessings, Ihave been able to live happily on for two whole years, butnow I am at the very last crumbs. Today there is nothingleft in the cupboard, and this candle you see here is thelast one I have.""And then?""And then, my dear, we'll find ourselves in darkness.""Then, my dear Father," said Pinocchio, "there is notime 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 shouldersand I, who am a fine swimmer, will carry you safelyto the shore.""Dreams, my boy!" answered Geppetto, shaking hishead and smiling sadly. "Do you think it possible for aMarionette, a yard high, to have the strength to carry meon his shoulders and swim?""Try it and see! And in any case, if it is written that wemust die, we shall at least die together."Not adding another word, Pinocchio took the candle in his handand 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 andthe whole body of the Shark. When they reached thethroat of the monster, they stopped for a while to wait forthe right moment in which to make their escape.

I want you to know that the Shark, being very old andsuffering from asthma and heart trouble, was obliged tosleep with his mouth open. Because of this, Pinocchio wasable to catch a glimpse of the sky filled with stars, as helooked 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 seais 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 throatof the monster till they came to that immense open mouth.

There they had to walk on tiptoes, for if they tickled theShark's long tongue he might awaken--and where wouldthey be then? The tongue was so wide and so long thatit looked like a country road. The two fugitives were justabout to dive into the sea when the Shark sneezed verysuddenly and, as he sneezed, he gave Pinocchio andGeppetto such a jolt that they found themselves thrown ontheir backs and dashed once more and very unceremoniouslyinto the stomach of the monster.

To make matters worse, the candle went out and fatherand 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 becareful 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 handand, always walking on tiptoes, they climbed up the monster'sthroat for a second time. They then crossed thewhole tongue and jumped over three rows of teeth. Butbefore they took the last great leap, the Marionette saidto 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 hisshoulders, Pinocchio, very sure of what he was doing,dived into the water and started to swim. The sea was likeoil, the moon shone in all splendor, and the Shark continuedto sleep so soundly that not even a cannon shot wouldhave awakened him.