HIS ADVENTURE WITH A LION
The marionette was on the point of filling his mouth a second time,
when he heard a frightful roar directly under his feet. The shock
almost tumbled him down headfirst. Had he fallen, how unfortunate it
would have been! He would have gone straight into the deep mouth of an
African lion which was ready to devour him at one gulp.
Oh, mercy! cried the marionette. And the lion gave another dreadful
roar which seemed to say: Mercy indeed! I have you now, you little
thief.
Dear lion, pleaded Pinocchio, have pity on a poor orphan lad who is
nearly starving!
The lion roared still louder. Who has given you permission to take
what belongs to another without having earned it by useful and honest
work? In this world he who does not work must starve.
You are right, my dear lion, you are right. I am ready to pay to the
last cent for all the honey I eat, but please dont seem so angry or I
shall die of fear.
Then the lion stopped roaring, and sitting down upon the ground, he
looked at the marionette as if to say: Well, what are you going to do
about it? Are you coming down or not?
Listen, my dear lion, answered Pinocchio; so long as you stay there,
I shall not come down. If you want me to go away and leave the honey,
remove yourself a hundred miles or so, and then I will obey you.
The lion did not move.
For almost an hour Pinocchio sat glued to the tree, not daring to eat
the honey or to come down to the waiting lion. The hot rays of the sun
beat upon him. He felt that he must die, for hunger, fear, and heat
seemed ready to destroy him.
Surely there must be away out of this, he thought. That lion must
have in him some spark of kindness. He has made up his mind to keep me
company, and perhaps it is my duty to thank him.
Then the marionette raised his hand to ask permission to speak. It
would have been better had he kept still.
At this gesture the lion uttered a roar so loud that it shook the whole
forest. He began to lash the ground with his tail, sending up a cloud
of dust that nearly choked the marionette, and repeating all the while
in lion language, If you move hand or foot, you will die!
Pinocchio sat still. Another hour passed in silence. Pinocchio still
suffered from the heat and from hunger. Both honey and shade were
within easy reach, and he could enjoy neither.
What an obstinate beast! he muttered. How stupid he is to wait
there! There is enough room in the forest for us both.
But the lion did not move, and Pinocchios suffering was great. He was
sure now that he was going to die, and he looked sadly at those wooden
legs which had carried him through so many adventures. There was the
shade, but he could not reach it. There was the honey that must not be
touched.
Eat! eat! said the honey. Come! come! said the shade.
Fortunately a new character now arrived on the scene. A magnificent
giraffe came along through the bushes, eating the tender shoots as it
approached the spot.
Pinocchio saw the giraffe and recognized it at once from a picture of
one he had seen in school. The lion saw it also. What should he do?
Continue to watch the marionette, or attack and carry off the giraffe?
He decided to take the giraffe. As the animal raised its head to bite
off the leaves from a tall acacia, the lion leaped at its throat and
killed it. Seizing the body in his powerful jaws, the lion disappeared
through the forest, and Pinocchio was left behind to have his fill of
honey. He ate as he had never eaten before.
When he could eat no longer he came down from the tree, but how strange
he felt! His eyes were dim, and his head began to swim, while his legs
went here and there in every direction. He could not even talk clearly.
African honey plays jokes upon those who eat too much of it! he
seemed to hear some one say. He turned to see who it was that had
spoken to him, but no one was there. The next moment he fell heavily to
the ground as if he had been knocked down with a club.
That is what happens to greedy boys! continued the voice of the
little bird who had shown him the honey, but Pinocchio lay fast asleep.