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DOWN—down—Pinocchio sank, straight to the bottom of the sea.
And here we must remember that we are to think of Pinocchio as a real
boy of flesh and blood. Only the shell was of wood. Otherwise he
would have floated away on the surface of the water.
When he finally touched sand he felt half dead. It was not a very
pleasant experience to fall through so much water.
After a while, feeling better, he got up and looked around. He was in
a strange place, a place he had never seen before. Of Globicephalous
there was no sign.
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The poor boy was frightened almost to death. He thought a trick had
been played upon him. But if he had had his wits about him, he would
not have been so puzzled.
Poor thoughtless marionette! He did not remember how he had walked
around in his explorations. He had fallen into the sea on the eastern
side of the island, and Globicephalous was waiting for him on the
southern side. But Pinocchio’s wooden mind knew nothing of east or
south.
“Oh! poor me,” he could not help crying, “and now what shall I do? I
cannot climb this steep rock. If I remain here, I shall be eaten in
no time by some of these fish I see swimming around.”
In fact, immense tunnies were passing near him. Enormous rays,
looking like giant fans, dashed by. Over him glided horrible
uranoscopes, or stargazers.
These fish, like the halibut, have both eyes on the tops of their
heads, and so can only see above them. Luckily, Pinocchio was under
them, otherwise—
“I am afraid I am not very safe here,” observed Pinocchio, whose
knees were beginning to feel weak. “If these fish notice me, I shall
disappear. I do wish I could find dear old Globicephalous.”
Thoroughly frightened, he started to run madly along. Of course he
ran in the wrong direction.
“I wonder what this is,” he grumbled. He had stepped on something
large and hard.
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He pushed the thick seaweeds aside. In their midst he found a large
turtle. For a wonder Pinocchio knew what it was.
“How fortunate you are!” sighed the marionette. “At least you have a
house. In that armor of yours you are safe from anybody.”
But such did not seem to be the case. The harmless reptile was lying
quietly in the weeds trying to sleep. But even though Pinocchio
was in such a plight as to be lost in the sea, still the love of
mischief had not left him. Taking the poor animal by its hind legs he
turned it over on its back.
The poor thing struggled and tried to right itself, but all in vain.
When a turtle is on its back, it has to stay there.
This is so well known that when fishermen catch them they turn them
over, sure of finding them in the same position even a day later.
Seeing another shell near by, Pinocchio was about to treat it in the
same manner. But as it felt very light he examined it closely. It was
empty. The animal had probably been dead a long time, and the shell
alone was left. It was almost a yard long.
As he was looking at it, he chanced to turn his head upward. Horrors!
What did he see? An enormous animal was about to throw itself upon
him!
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No one had ever told Pinocchio what this fish was. Still, even he
could easily guess its name. Its strange shape is so much like that
of a large hammer that it is unmistakable. It was the terrible hammer
that Tursio had spoken about.
“I am lost,” breathed Pinocchio, closing his eyes and throwing
himself flat amongst the seaweed.
Who could have blamed the poor boy for being frightened? He had seen
that large gray mass coming nearer and nearer with wide-open mouth.
He had seen the large black and gold eyes at the ends of the head,
gleaming brightly with thinking of the coming feast. Poor fellow!
But just as he was imagining himself in the shark’s mouth Pinocchio
realized that the minutes were passing and that he was still alive.
“He may have changed his mind about committing a marionetticide,” he
reflected with eyes still closed.
Time passed, and thinking that the shark had not courage enough to
attack him, Pinocchio had the courage to—open his eyes. He could
hardly believe what he saw. The shark was moving away. Still, he
could see that the fish was going because he had to, not because
he wanted to. Looking more carefully then, he saw a strange sight.
Three small fish were sticking to the sides of the hammerhead, and
were pulling him away. Our hero had never seen such strange-looking
animals as those three fishes. They were small and narrow, and on
their heads each had a large flat object, which looked just like a
dish.
If the dolphins had been there, they would have told Pinocchio that
these dark-colored fish are called remora. With the flat disk they
can attach themselves to other fish. Sometimes they let themselves
be carried. At other times, when they feel in the mood for mischief,
they pull others along wherever they wish. This is what happened to
the shark.
“Those fish certainly saved my life,” thought Pinocchio. “But I hope
the shark won’t do to them what he wanted to do to me.”
Feeling in need of a place of safety, he tried to hide himself in a
large hole in a rock. But he had hardly put one foot in, when he
felt his shoe being pulled off by a large claw. Two eyes at the ends
of two long sticks glared ferociously at him. It was a large lobster.
Pinocchio had disturbed Mr. Lobster while he was looking for dinner,
and so had been punished. Happily for Pinocchio the lobster was
satisfied with the shoe! If the claw had taken hold of the foot also,
it might even have gone through the wood, and then, poor Pinocchio!
In disturbing the lobster our hero must certainly have offended its
whole family. Before he could realize it, the sand before him was
full of horrible crustaceans. Frightened out of his wits, he could
just look and wonder when they would stop coming. From every hole in
the rock they came, little ones, big ones, flat ones, round ones.
And ready to fight they certainly were! With claws in the air and
eyes roving madly they approached. Very carefully they looked the boy
over. A lobster or a crab never begins to fight unless he knows what
he has to deal with.
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And still they kept coming! Wherever Pinocchio turned, there was a
horrible creature. To the right the large mouth of a common lobster
threatened him. To the left an ugly spiny lobster shook his claws
at him. Behind and before him the sand was covered with them, large
green crabs, common crabs, porcelain crabs, common lobster, spider
crabs, glass crabs, tiny fiddlers, and others.
As if these were not enough, out of a hole came a crab larger than
any of the others. He was rapidly coming nearer, but before long
one of his claws was grasped by one lobster, the other by another.
Without the least movement to fight, the crab just pulled off his
claws, and quickly went back to his hole.
Pinocchio was thunderstruck. How could the crab do this so calmly?
For the simple reason that the crab preferred losing his claws to
being killed and eaten up. In a few months he would grow another
set of claws as good as those he had lost. Yes, a crab can do that,
children. Think of it!
“Oh, dear me!” thought Pinocchio, who was getting rather nervous by
this time. “What is going to become of me? If only I had a shell as
has a turtle I could hide away and be safe.”
“Oh! what a splendid idea!” he suddenly burst out. “Why didn’t I
think of it before? I shall have a shell to hide in!”
And without another word he slipped into the shell he had been
looking at. In a moment nothing could be seen of him, not even his
nose.
The crustaceans did not understand with what kind of a being they
had to deal. So after examining the shell all over, they slowly
disappeared into their holes.
With a great sigh of relief Pinocchio dared to stick his head out of
the shell. Seeing his shoe lying on the ground, he quickly put his
foot in it. It was not very pleasant to walk on the sand without a
shoe.
“If I do not hurry and find Globicephalous, this house of safety may
become a house of death,” Pinocchio began to think after lying still
a long time. “Perhaps if I try I may be able to walk around like a
hermit crab. Let me see.”
Slowly the marionette stuck out first one leg, then another; then his
arms came out, and lastly his head appeared. Holding the shell with
both hands he tried to walk around.... Impossible. After a few steps
he was exhausted.
“Too bad! It is so comfortable here! If only I had a horse! ’Twould
be like riding in a carriage!”
While he was thinking thus, he saw not far away four fish like the
ones he had seen under the hammerhead. An idea flashed through his
head.
“Oh, if I only could!... The horses!...” he whispered.
Trying very hard, he succeeded in dragging himself near them. The
fish were very busy. They were looking for small crabs to eat, and
paid no attention to him. Trembling in every limb, Pinocchio went on.
As soon as he was near them, he bent over slowly. How kind the little
fish were! As soon as they felt the shell on their heads they stuck
to it. Just what Pinocchio wanted! In a moment he felt himself rising
in the air, or rather in the water. The remoras were strong and
pulled him along swiftly.
“Hurrah! Here I am in a flying machine!” screamed Pinocchio, clapping
his hands. “I feel like a prince, and not even a king has a carriage
like mine! Hurrah!”
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