After having gone along for three days and nights without stopping
a minute to rest, finally the beast, that carried on his back the
sack containing the little monkey, stopped suddenly, and coughed so
violently that he unloaded the sack in the middle of a field.
The cough was so severe that the sack, in falling to the ground,
began to roll on the grass and kept on rolling for a half-mile. Just
imagine how many summersaults the poor little monkey made in that
dark sack!
But the worst moment for him was when he tried to break the sack and
get out. He used his nails, but they did no good. He used his teeth,
but they could not help him. Finally, he gave a yell, and began to
cry like a baby.
“Who is that crying?” asked a large Rat, who happened to pass that
way.
“It is I, a poor little monkey that is dying with hun”--
But he could not finish the word, because a very large yawn escaped
from his mouth instead.
“Come out and eat,” said the Rat.
“It is very easy to say that, but I cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because I cannot break the sack open.”
“Oh, pshaw! I will open it.”
And the Rat began to gnaw with all his power, but the sack was as
hard as leather, and he made very little impression.
“How much time will it take to make a hole?” asked Beppo.
“In about four or five months I ought to finish it,” replied the Rat.
“Five months!” cried poor Beppo. “In five months I shall be nothing
but nails and bones.”
And he began to cry louder than ever.
“Who is that crying?” asked a Calf that was grazing near by.
“It is an unfortunate little monkey, who cannot get out of a sack,”
replied the Rat.
“Why can’t he get out?”
“Because it is so hard that it has to be broken.”
“Let me do it. With a butt of my horns I will break it.”
And the Calf, without waiting a minute, gave the sack a terrible butt
with his horns.
“Oh, I am dead!” cried poor Beppo; and he said no more.
Meanwhile the sack, at that shock, began again to roll along the
earth, like a bladder filled with air; and the Rat and the Calf tried
hard to stop it, but the sack rolled more quickly, and left the Rat
and the Calf far behind, with their tongues out of their mouths.
After having rolled for a day, it finally fell into a river so large
and deep that no one could see from one bank to another.
The next morning some fishermen knocked at the door of a beautiful
palace. To the servant who came to open it, they eagerly said, “Is
the little master up?”
“The little master is up, and is taking his coffee and milk,” replied
the servant.
“Just tell him that this morning, at sunrise, we fished from the
river this sack”--
“What is in that sack?” interrupted the servant.
“The little master has waited for it for several days.”
As soon as the servant had done the errand, he returned to the door
and said to the fishermen, “Enter quickly.”
The fishermen entered with the sack on their shoulders, and, when
they arrived before the little master, they placed it carefully on
the floor.
“Open it!” said the young master, Alfred.
“It is impossible, sir. We have tried to crush it with chisels, with
hatchets, and with piercers; but the sack is harder than rock.”
“Take this pin, and make holes in it.” Saying this, Alfred took from
his neck a gold pin surmounted by a large pearl, on which--a most
singular thing--there was a head of a beautiful baby with blue hair.
The fishermen took the pin in their hands, and looking at each other
in stupid wonder, as if to say, “How is it possible with this little
pin to force open this sack, that has resisted hachets and piercers?”
“Quickly! Quickly!” repeated Alfred, in a commanding tone.
The fishermen, in order to be obedient, leaned over, trying to pierce
the sack. Just imagine their surprise when they perceived that the
pin entered the sack as easily as if the sack were made of bread or
cream puff!
When the hole in the sack was sufficiently large, they saw the poor
little monkey with scarcely any signs of life.
Alfred took the little monkey by the neck, and bathed his mouth with
a little warm milk. A little while after Beppo came to and opened his
mouth. Then Alfred placed in the little monkey’s mouth a small ball
of sugar and a buttered crust of bread. Beppo swallowed both without
chewing them. Then he opened his eyes and looked kindly at the little
master who had been so good and kind to him. Beppo looked as if he
wished to say “thank you.” He felt so strong that, standing on his
hind legs, he took Alfred’s hand and covered it with kisses.
[Illustration]
The fishermen, both men with large hearts, moved by this scene, shed
large tears and dried their eyes. Alfred said to them: “Go now to
work, and close the door. I have a great desire to talk privately
with this little monkey.”