PINOCCHIO climbed and climbed. The poor boy was getting very tired.
Still he wanted to be sure the dolphin was right. So he went on
bravely.
[Illustration]
At last the water began to grow lighter, and even his wooden head
could understand that he must be near the surface.
“It must be the light of the sun which I see,” he thought. “On, my
brave Pinocchio, and the top will soon be reached. Hurrah! Here I am!”
With a bound he was—yes, the dolphin was right—on the shore of a real
island.
Shaking the water out of his clothes, he looked around. Those
little beings, the corals, had certainly worked wonders.
[Illustration: “SHAKING THE WATER OUT OF HIS CLOTHES, HE LOOKED
AROUND.”]
The island was rather bare of trees and grass, but there was a cave
near the shore which soon attracted Pinocchio’s attention. He went
into it. It was not very large, but one could easily see that a man
had been there.
“People must certainly be living here. From now on I shall have to
believe Globicephalous,” thought the marionette.
When he came out, he walked around and started to explore the island.
He came to a small pond. In it lived not only frogs, but also
thousands of other tiny animals.
Pinocchio stopped to look at the water. It looked as green as grass.
He certainly would have had another shock if some one had told him
that the tiny animals that lived in it made it green. Yet that was
really the case.
These animals are not visible to the naked eye. Still they are
present in such great numbers that water sometimes looks green,
sometimes red, and at other times even black, on account of them and
their color.
This was not what interested Pinocchio most, however. He saw other
animals swimming around very quickly. Some were very tiny, very long,
and had no legs.
Others, a little larger, had two legs. Others had four legs, and
still larger ones had a short bit of a tail.
Perhaps you have guessed, children, what Pinocchio was looking at.
The small black animals were tadpoles.
When he was tired of looking at the pond, Pinocchio turned toward the
sea. He thought he might see his father, but he was disappointed.
Suddenly he gave a great shout of surprise.
And no wonder! As if by magic a fleet of tiny boats had appeared on
the surface of the water. They were no larger than an egg shell. Nor
was this all. From each little skiff rose two little rose-colored
sails, and each tiny boat put out three pairs of oars as long as
knitting needles.
“I wonder where the little boats came from,” cried Pinocchio. “Surely
this must be fairyland.”
“No, my boy, you are not in fairyland,” he heard a voice behind him
saying. “Those are simply shells.”
Turning quickly, Pinocchio saw a little fat man standing before him,
looking him over.
“Shells!” repeated the marionette, too surprised to think of anything
else to say.
[Illustration: “TURNING QUICKLY, PINOCCHIO SAW A LITTLE FAT MAN
STANDING BEFORE HIM.”]
“Yes, shells.”
“And are they also animals?” Pinocchio had asked this question so
many times that it came from him unconsciously.
“Yes, they are. They are small mollusks of strange form. When they
come to the surface of the sea, they turn the opening of their shells
upwards. Then they raise their sails, put out their oars, and float
away. They are called argonauts. Aren’t they pretty?”
“How beautiful they are! But see! They are disappearing!”
“Yes, because clouds are gathering. It looks as if a storm were
coming up, and these little animals don’t like storms. So they are
taking refuge under the water.”
“By the way,” began Pinocchio, “will you please tell me whether or
not you have met a little old man looking for his son?”
“No, I have not.”
“Well, then, good-by. It is getting late, and I must meet some
friends of mine.”
But the little man did not wish him to go, so he held him by the arm.
“Listen here, my little man, where did you come from?”
“From the sea.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I am taking a trip under the sea with three dolphin friends of
mine.”
“_Under_ the sea! How can you live there?”
“One of the dolphins made me an antibian.”
“You mean amphibian, my boy. What a wonderful experience you must be
having.”
“Yes, but please let me go now. I must meet my friends, or they will
go without me.”
[Illustration: “YOU WON’T?”]
“In a minute. But first tell me where you got that beautiful shell
you have on your head.”
“The dolphin Tursio gave it to me. He called it a long name, and said
it was very rare.”
“I know it. Will you give it to me?”
“No, I like it too much myself.”
“You won’t? Well, then, I shall have to take it,” and the man quickly
put out a hand for it.
But Pinocchio was quicker still. He gave a great jump, but oh! poor
fellow, he did not know how near the edge of the rock he was. Before
he could realize it, he fell headfirst into the water.
[Illustration]