Chapter 28
Pinocchio runs the danger of being fried in a pan like a fishDuring that wild chase, Pinocchio lived through aterrible moment when he almost gave himself up as lost.
This was when Alidoro (that was the Mastiff's name),in a frenzy of running, came so near that he was on thevery point of reaching him.
The Marionette heard, close behind him, the laboredbreathing of the beast who was fast on his trail, and nowand again even felt his hot breath blow over him.
Luckily, by this time, he was very near the shore, andthe sea was in sight; in fact, only a few short steps away.
As soon as he set foot on the beach, Pinocchio gave aleap and fell into the water. Alidoro tried to stop, butas he was running very fast, he couldn't, and he, too,landed far out in the sea. Strange though it may seem,the Dog could not swim. He beat the water with his paws tohold himself up, but the harder he tried, the deeper he sank.
As he stuck his head out once more, the poor fellow's eyeswere bulging and he barked out wildly, "I drown! I drown!""Drown!" answered Pinocchio from afar, happy at his escape.
"Help, Pinocchio, dear little Pinocchio! Save me from death!"At those cries of suffering, the Marionette, who afterall had a very kind heart, was moved to compassion.
He turned toward the poor animal and said to him:
"But if I help you, will you promise not to bother meagain by running after me?""I promise! I promise! Only hurry, for if you waitanother second, I'll be dead and gone!"Pinocchio hesitated still another minute. Then, rememberinghow his father had often told him that a kind deed is never lost,he swam to Alidoro and, catching hold of his tail, dragged him to the shore.
The poor Dog was so weak he could not stand. He hadswallowed so much salt water that he was swollen like aballoon. However, Pinocchio, not wishing to trust himtoo much, threw himself once again into the sea. As heswam away, he called out:
"Good-by, Alidoro, good luck and remember me to the family!""Good-by, little Pinocchio," answered the Dog.
"A thousand thanks for having saved me from death.
You did me a good turn, and, in this world, what is givenis always returned. If the chance comes, I shall be there."Pinocchio went on swimming close to shore. At lasthe thought he had reached a safe place. Glancing up anddown the beach, he saw the opening of a cave out of whichrose a spiral of smoke.
"In that cave," he said to himself, "there must be a fire.
So much the better. I'll dry my clothes and warm myself,and then--well--"His mind made up, Pinocchio swam to the rocks, butas he started to climb, he felt something under him liftinghim up higher and higher. He tried to escape, but he wastoo late. To his great surprise, he found himself in a hugenet, amid a crowd of fish of all kinds and sizes, who werefighting and struggling desperately to free themselves.
At the same time, he saw a Fisherman come out of thecave, a Fisherman so ugly that Pinocchio thought he was asea monster. In place of hair, his head was covered by athick bush of green grass. Green was the skin of his body,green were his eyes, green was the long, long beard thatreached down to his feet. He looked like a giant lizardwith legs and arms.
When the Fisherman pulled the net out of the sea,he cried out joyfully:
"Blessed Providence! Once more I'll have a fine meal of fish!""Thank Heaven, I'm not a fish!" said Pinocchio to himself,trying with these words to find a little courage.
The Fisherman took the net and the fish to the cave,a dark, gloomy, smoky place. In the middle of it, a panfull of oil sizzled over a smoky fire, sending out a repellingodor of tallow that took away one's breath.
"Now, let's see what kind of fish we have caughttoday," said the Green Fisherman. He put a hand as bigas a spade into the net and pulled out a handful of mullets.
"Fine mullets, these!" he said, after looking at them andsmelling them with pleasure. After that, he threw theminto a large, empty tub.
Many times he repeated this performance. As he pulledeach fish out of the net, his mouth watered with thethought of the good dinner coming, and he said:
"Fine fish, these bass!""Very tasty, these whitefish!""Delicious flounders, these!""What splendid crabs!""And these dear little anchovies, with their heads still on!"As you can well imagine, the bass, the flounders, thewhitefish, and even the little anchovies all went togetherinto the tub to keep the mullets company. The last to comeout of the net was Pinocchio.
As soon as the Fisherman pulled him out, his green eyesopened wide with surprise, and he cried out in fear:
"What kind of fish is this? I don't remember evereating anything like it."He looked at him closely and after turning him over andover, he said at last:
"I understand. He must be a crab!"Pinocchio, mortified at being taken for a crab, said resentfully:
"What nonsense! A crab indeed! I am no such thing.
Beware how you deal with me! I am a Marionette,I want you to know.""A Marionette?" asked the Fisherman. "I must admit thata Marionette fish is, for me, an entirely new kind of fish.
So much the better. I'll eat you with greater relish.""Eat me? But can't you understand that I'm not a fish?
Can't you hear that I speak and think as you do?""It's true," answered the Fisherman; "but since I seethat you are a fish, well able to talk and think as I do,I'll treat you with all due respect.""And that is--""That, as a sign of my particular esteem, I'll leave toyou the choice of the manner in which you are to becooked. Do you wish to be fried in a pan, or do you preferto be cooked with tomato sauce?""To tell you the truth," answered Pinocchio, "if I must choose,I should much rather go free so I may return home!""Are you fooling? Do you think that I want to losethe opportunity to taste such a rare fish? A Marionettefish does not come very often to these seas. Leave it to me.
I'll fry you in the pan with the others. I know you'll like it.
It's always a comfort to find oneself in good company."The unlucky Marionette, hearing this, began to cry andwail and beg. With tears streaming down his cheeks, he said:
"How much better it would have been for me to go to school!
I did listen to my playmates and now I am paying for it!
Oh! Oh! Oh!"And as he struggled and squirmed like an eel to escape from him,the Green Fisherman took a stout cord and tied him hand and foot,and threw him into the bottom of the tub with the others.
Then he pulled a wooden bowl full of flour out of acupboard and started to roll the fish into it, one by one.
When they were white with it, he threw them into the pan.
The first to dance in the hot oil were the mullets,the bass followed, then the whitefish, the flounders, andthe anchovies. Pinocchio's turn came last. Seeing himselfso near to death (and such a horrible death!) he beganto tremble so with fright that he had no voice left withwhich to beg for his life.
The poor boy beseeched only with his eyes. But theGreen Fisherman, not even noticing that it was he, turnedhim over and over in the flour until he looked like aMarionette made of chalk.
Then he took him by the head and--