THE CAVE
If I get out of this prison alive, it will be the greatest wonder I
have ever known. Pinocchio sat in the spot where he had fallen. He now
began to suffer from thirst. There had been a great deal of excitement,
and his throat was parched. He would have given anything for a sip of
the water he had so carelessly left in the middle of the street only a
little while before.
I dont want to die here, he said. I must get up and walk.
So saying, he moved slowly about, groping with his hands and feet as if
he were playing blindmans buff. The ground was soft, and the air
seemed fresh. In fact, it was not so bad as he had at first thought.
Only four things worried him,darkness, hunger, thirst, and fear. Aside
from these he was safe and sound.
He had gone but a short distance through the darkness when suddenly he
thought he heard a faint murmur. He saw a gleam of light. The blood
rushed through his veins. He walked on. The sound became clearer, and
the light grew brighter. At length Pinocchio found himself in a cave
lighted by soft rays. The murmuring sound was caused by a small stream
of water coming out from a high rock and forming a little waterfall.
Pinocchio rushed toward the rocks, opened his mouth wide like a funnel,
and drank his fill.
I shall not die of thirst, said the marionette. Unfortunately, I am
still hungry. What a fate is mine! Why can we not live without eating?
Some day I am going to find a way. If I succeed, I shall teach the poor
people to live without food as I do. How happy they will be! Meanwhile
he looked about for a means of escape. Soon he discovered the hole that
lighted the cave, and walked out once more under the open sky.