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THE journey was progressing rapidly. Blue skies and green countries
had disappeared. Gone were the many-colored fish. Sea and sky were of
a dark gray color. Why all this? Because our two friends had reached
the cold north, where for so many months no sun shines.
Luckily, though, spring had begun. The sun showed itself for a while
every day. And every day it showed itself a little longer. In the
summer it would be there even at midnight.
The cold was very great. Pinocchio had a fur suit which Tursio had
given him, but still he was almost freezing. Marsovino also suffered.
“It will be better for us if we dive deep into the sea,” he observed.
“We shall find it warmer there.”
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“Please wait awhile,” begged Pinocchio. “I want to see that island
first,” and with his hand Pinocchio pointed to a high mountain still
far away. It was as white as snow, and seemed almost to touch the sky.
“Oh, you want to see that island,” repeated Marsovino, chuckling to
himself. “Very well.”
“Yes, it does look queer, doesn’t it? I wonder if there are people on
it?”
“Perhaps. We shall see.”
It seemed as if the island had heard Pinocchio speak. Strange to say,
it was coming to meet the dolphin and his friend. And with it were
two others.
“Look! look!” shouted Pinocchio. “The islands at the pole walk! This
is fun!”
“Yes, they are taking a walk, as you see,” answered Marsovino, who
was enjoying himself, too. “But if they come nearer, our journey will
end right here.”
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He had not finished speaking when a terrific noise was heard. The
sound was deafening. Pinocchio found himself thrown from his horse
into the water. When he opened his eyes—he always closed them when
he was frightened—no islands were to be seen.
“Marsovino! Marsovino! Help! Help!” he cried, fearing he had lost his
friend.
“Here I am! Come!”
Swiftly the marionette swam to the dolphin, and again climbed on his
back.
“Will you please tell me what happened to those islands? Or are we in
fairyland? I never knew lands could disappear in a minute like that!”
“Those were not islands, my dear Pinocchio. They were icebergs. These
great mountains of ice, when they come against each other, are broken
into bits. See, all that is left of them are pieces of ice;” and
Marsovino pointed to ice which was floating on the sea.
The next day Pinocchio had another surprise. In front of him, as far
as he could see, was a city of ice. Everything was flat, everything
was white.
Immense landscapes, snowy white, met his eye wherever he turned.
Mountains of ice could be seen in the distance. And, wonderful to
see, the ice was so clear and transparent that it looked like glass.
When the sun shone on it, it sparkled and showed all the colors of
the rainbow.
Pinocchio thought himself in fairyland. But as he was looking, a
strong wind rose suddenly; and then the icebergs fell and broke with
deafening noise.
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Finally, Marsovino thought it best to swim far under water. He was
afraid of losing his life in the midst of all those icebergs.
Two days later the two boys rounded the southern point of Greenland.
On the sandy shore of this island continent could be seen a large
number of animals. They had round clumsy bodies, each having a small
head with two small bright eyes. Where we have arms, they had what
looked like very strong fins.
These animals were seals. Their bodies were covered with
reddish-brown fur. Lying on the sand, they were enjoying the warmth
of the sun. The young ones were playing with one another and enjoying
themselves, too.
Pinocchio paid little attention to them. But suddenly out of the
water came another band. The newcomers were somewhat different from
the seals, but they belonged to the same family.
Their fur was almost black, not brown, and their heads were larger.
They were walruses. From their mouths two long, thick ivory teeth
protruded. They looked very fierce, and soon they showed their
fierceness.
Seeing that the beach was occupied, and wanting it for themselves,
they started to fight for it. The seals fought very bravely, but what
could they do against those terrible teeth? The poor wounded beasts
struggled and kept up cries of “pa—pa—pa—pa.”
“Listen to that. They are calling ‘papa.’ I never thought fish could
talk,” said Pinocchio.
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“First of all, seals are not fish, but mammals. And then there are
some fish which do produce sounds. Tunnies, when out of the water,
cry like children. Some poulpes, when caught, groan. Others make a
sound like a whistle.”
“I am ready to believe anything,” Pinocchio said very weakly. “But
what is a poulpe?”
“Oh, that is another name for the octopus or devilfish,” was the
reply.
The fight continued, but the seals were soon conquered. The
victorious walruses were not to enjoy their victory, however.
While the fight was still waging, some fishermen had quietly come up
to the field of battle. Before long many of the combatants lay dead,
and were carried away into boats. The few that were left forgot the
fight, and were happy enough to escape into the water.
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