in the shark's body pinocchio finds whom?
read this chapter, my children, and you will knowpinocchio, as soon as he had said good-by to his goodfriend, the tunny, tottered away in the darkness andbegan to walk as well as he could toward the faint lightwhich glowed in the distance.
as he walked his feet splashed in a pool of greasy andslippery water, which had such a heavy smell of fish friedin oil that pinocchio thought it was lent.
the farther on he went, the brighter and clearer grewthe tiny light. on and on he walked till finally he found--i give you a thousand guesses, my dear children! hefound a little table set for dinner and lighted by a candlestuck in a glass bottle; and near the table sat a little oldman, white as the snow, eating live fish. they wriggledso that, now and again, one of them slipped out of the oldman's mouth and escaped into the darkness under the table.
at this sight, the poor marionette was filled with suchgreat and sudden happiness that he almost dropped in afaint. he wanted to laugh, he wanted to cry, he wantedto say a thousand and one things, but all he could do wasto stand still, stuttering and stammering brokenly. atlast, with a great effort, he was able to let out a scream ofjoy and, opening wide his arms he threw them around theold man's neck.
"oh, father, dear father! have i found you at last?
now i shall never, never leave you again!""are my eyes really telling me the truth?" answeredthe old man, rubbing his eyes. "are you really my owndear pinocchio?""yes, yes, yes! it is i! look at me! and you haveforgiven me, haven't you? oh, my dear father, howgood you are! and to think that i--oh, but if youonly knew how many misfortunes have fallen on my headand how many troubles i have had! just think that onthe day you sold your old coat to buy me my a-b-cbook so that i could go to school, i ran away to themarionette theater and the proprietor caught me andwanted to burn me to cook his roast lamb! he was theone who gave me the five gold pieces for you, but i metthe fox and the cat, who took me to the inn of the redlobster. there they ate like wolves and i left the innalone and i met the assassins in the wood. i ran and theyran after me, always after me, till they hanged me to thebranch of a giant oak tree. then the fairy of the azurehair sent the coach to rescue me and the doctors, afterlooking at me, said, `if he is not dead, then he is surelyalive,' and then i told a lie and my nose began to grow.
it grew and it grew, till i couldn't get it through thedoor of the room. and then i went with the fox and thecat to the field of wonders to bury the gold pieces. theparrot laughed at me and, instead of two thousand goldpieces, i found none. when the judge heard i had beenrobbed, he sent me to jail to make the thieves happy; andwhen i came away i saw a fine bunch of grapes hanging ona vine. the trap caught me and the farmer put a collar onme and made me a watchdog. he found out i was innocentwhen i caught the weasels and he let me go. the serpentwith the tail that smoked started to laugh and a vein in hischest broke and so i went back to the fairy's house. shewas dead, and the pigeon, seeing me crying, said to me, `ihave seen your father building a boat to look for you inamerica,' and i said to him, `oh, if i only had wings!' andhe said to me, `do you want to go to your father?' and isaid, `perhaps, but how?' and he said, `get on my back. i'lltake you there.' we flew all night long, and next morningthe fishermen were looking toward the sea, crying, `thereis a poor little man drowning,' and i knew it was you,because my heart told me so and i waved to you from the shore--""i knew you also," put in geppetto, "and i wanted togo to you; but how could i? the sea was rough and thewhitecaps overturned the boat. then a terrible sharkcame up out of the sea and, as soon as he saw me in thewater, swam quickly toward me, put out his tongue, andswallowed me as easily as if i had been a chocolate peppermint.""and how long have you been shut away in here?""from that day to this, two long weary years--twoyears, my pinocchio, which have been like two centuries.""and how have you lived? where did you find thecandle? and the matches with which to light it--wheredid you get them?""you must know that, in the storm which swamped myboat, a large ship also suffered the same fate. the sailorswere all saved, but the ship went right to the bottom ofthe sea, and the same terrible shark that swallowed me,swallowed most of it.""what! swallowed a ship?" asked pinocchio in astonishment.
"at one gulp. the only thing he spat out was the main-mast, for it stuck in his teeth. to my own good luck, thatship was loaded with meat, preserved foods, crackers,bread, bottles of wine, raisins, cheese, coffee, sugar, waxcandles, and boxes of matches. with all these blessings, ihave been able to live happily on for two whole years, butnow i am at the very last crumbs. today there is nothingleft in the cupboard, and this candle you see here is thelast one i have.""and then?""and then, my dear, we'll find ourselves in darkness.""then, my dear father," said pinocchio, "there is notime to lose. we must try to escape.""escape! how?""we can run out of the shark's mouth and dive into the sea.""you speak well, but i cannot swim, my dear pinocchio.""why should that matter? you can climb on my shouldersand i, who am a fine swimmer, will carry you safelyto the shore.""dreams, my boy!" answered geppetto, shaking hishead and smiling sadly. "do you think it possible for amarionette, a yard high, to have the strength to carry meon his shoulders and swim?""try it and see! and in any case, if it is written that wemust die, we shall at least die together."not adding another word, pinocchio took the candle in his handand going ahead to light the way, he said to his father:
"follow me and have no fear."they walked a long distance through the stomach andthe whole body of the shark. when they reached thethroat of the monster, they stopped for a while to wait forthe right moment in which to make their escape.
i want you to know that the shark, being very old andsuffering from asthma and heart trouble, was obliged tosleep with his mouth open. because of this, pinocchio wasable to catch a glimpse of the sky filled with stars, as helooked up through the open jaws of his new home.
"the time has come for us to escape," he whispered,turning to his father. "the shark is fast asleep. the seais calm and the night is as bright as day. follow me closely,dear father, and we shall soon be saved."no sooner said than done. they climbed up the throatof the monster till they came to that immense open mouth.
there they had to walk on tiptoes, for if they tickled theshark's long tongue he might awaken--and where wouldthey be then? the tongue was so wide and so long thatit looked like a country road. the two fugitives were justabout to dive into the sea when the shark sneezed verysuddenly and, as he sneezed, he gave pinocchio andgeppetto such a jolt that they found themselves thrown ontheir backs and dashed once more and very unceremoniouslyinto the stomach of the monster.
to make matters worse, the candle went out and fatherand son were left in the dark.
"and now?" asked pinocchio with a serious face.
"now we are lost.""why lost? give me your hand, dear father, and becareful not to slip!""where will you take me?""we must try again. come with me and don't be afraid."with these words pinocchio took his father by the handand, always walking on tiptoes, they climbed up the monster'sthroat for a second time. they then crossed thewhole tongue and jumped over three rows of teeth. butbefore they took the last great leap, the marionette saidto his father:
"climb on my back and hold on tightly to my neck.
i'll take care of everything else."as soon as geppetto was comfortably seated on hisshoulders, pinocchio, very sure of what he was doing,dived into the water and started to swim. the sea was likeoil, the moon shone in all splendor, and the shark continuedto sleep so soundly that not even a cannon shot wouldhave awakened him.
皮诺乔对他的好朋友金枪鱼说过再见，就在鲨鱼的肚子里摸着黑，向在老远老远一闪一闪的微弱亮光一步一步走去。
他走着走着，只觉得脚踏在滑溜溜的油腻水坑里。油腻的水发出炸鱼一样的气味，使他觉得像是在大斋期。
他越是往前走，火光就越是亮，越是清楚。他走啊走啊，最后走到了。等他走到跟前……他可是看到什么啦？就让诸位猜上一千次，诸位也别想猜出来。他看到了一张小桌子，上面摆着吃的，还有一支点着的蜡烛，插在一个绿色的玻璃瓶上。桌子旁边坐着一个小老头，头发胡子白得像雪，或者说白得像切开的面包。这小老头正在那里嚼着一些生猛的小鱼。这些小鱼太生猛了，有时他吃着吃着就打他嘴里跳了出来。
可怜的皮诺乔一看见这个人，马上感到大喜过望，差点儿都要昏倒了，他想笑，他想哭，他想说许多许多话，可结果只能乱叫一通，结结巴巴地说些无头无尾、前言不打后语的话。最后他好容易迸发出一阵欢呼，张开胳膊，扑过去搂住小老头的脖子，叫了起来：
“噢！我的爸爸！我终于又找到您了！从今往后，我永远、永远、永远不再离开您！”
“我眼睛看见的是真的吗？”小老头擦着眼睛回答说，“你当真是我亲爱的皮诺乔吗？”
“是的，是的，是的，真是我！您已经饶恕我了，这不是真的吗？噢！我的爸爸，您多么好啊！……想一想吧，我却是那么……噢！只要您知道多少不幸劈里啪啦地落到我头上，我碰到了多少倒霉事情啊！你想象一下吧，我的可怜的爸爸，您那一天卖掉了您的上衣，给我买了一本识字课本让我上学，我却溜去看木偶戏，木偶戏班班主想把我扔到火里去烤他那只小羊。后来也是他给了我五个金币，叫我带回家给您。可我碰到了一只狐狸和一只猫，它们带我到‘红虾旅馆’，它们在那里狼吞虎咽，后来我一个人夜里离开旅馆，路上遇到两个杀人的强盗。他们追我。我跑，他们追，我使劲跑，他们使劲追。我跑啊跑，他们追啊追。最后他们还是捉住了我，把我吊在一棵大橡树的树枝上。后来一位天蓝色头发的美丽仙女派车把我救走。大夫看过我以后，马上说：‘如果他没有死，那就是还活着。’这时候我忽然说了个谎，我的鼻子就长起来，长得连房门也出不去了。后来我同狐狸和猫去种四个金币。一个金币已经在旅馆里花掉。一只鹦鹉笑起我来。我不是弄到两千个金币，而是弄得一无所有了。法官听说我给偷了，马上把我关到牢里，让小偷们高兴。出了监牢，我看地里有一串很好的葡萄。结果给捕兽夹夹住。农夫有百分之百的道理给我套上狗颈圈，让我看守鸡埘。等到他知道我是无辜的，就把我放走。一条尾巴喷烟的蛇哈哈大笑，笑得肚子上一根静脉都爆了。于是我回到美丽仙女的家，可她已经死了。鸽子看见我哭，对我说：‘我看见你爸爸做了一只小船要去找你。’我对它说：‘噢！我有翅膀就好了！’它对我说：‘你想到你爸爸那儿去吗？’我说：‘想极了！可谁送我去呢？’他对我说：‘我送你去。’我对它说：‘怎么去法呢？’他对我说：‘爬到我的背上来。’我们就这样飞了一夜。后来天亮了，所有的渔民看着大海，他们对我说：‘有一个可怜人坐在一只小船上，船要沉了，’我打老远马上认出是您，因为我的心这么对我说，于是我做手势叫您回到岸上来……”
“我也认出是你，”杰佩托说，“我也想回到岸上，可怎么办呢？大海波涛汹涌，一个大浪把小船打翻了。就在这时候，旁边正好有一条可怕的大鲨鱼，它一看见我在水里，马上向我游过来，伸出舌头，赶上了我，一口把我吞下去，就像吞一只波伦亚饺子似的，”
“您在这里面关了多久啦？”皮诺乔问。
“打那一天到现在，都有两个年头了。我的皮诺乔，这两个年头我觉得就像两个世纪！”
“您是怎么过的？您打哪儿弄来这蜡烛？点蜡烛的火柴又是谁给您的？”
“我这就原原本本告诉你。你要知道，打翻我那小船的同一个风暴，把一艘商船也打沉了。海员全都得救，可是船沉到海底。这条鲨鱼这一天胃口太好，吞下我以后，把船也吞进来了……”
“怎么？一口就吞了整条船？……”皮诺乔惊奇地问。
“对，一口就吞了整条船。它只吐掉了一根主桅，因为主桅像根鱼刺似地嵌在它的牙缝里。我真运气，这条船装的是罐头肉、饼干、面包干、一瓶瓶的酒、葡萄干、干酪、咖啡、砂糖、蜡烛和一箱箱火柴，多谢老天爷开恩，我又能活上两年，可现在我都吃光用光，再没什么了，你看见这支点着的蜡烛吗？它已经是我最后一支……”
“那以后怎么办？……”
“以后吗？我亲爱的，咱俩就得生活在黑暗当中了。”
“那么，我的爸爸，”皮诺乔说，“咱们没有时间可以错过了。必须马上想办法逃走……”
“逃走？……怎么逃？”
“咱们溜出鲨鱼的嘴，跳到海里去游走。”
“你话是说得不错。可亲爱的皮诺乔，我不会游泳。”
“那有什么关系？……您就骑在我的肩膀上。我是个游泳好手，可以安安稳稳把您带到岸上。”
“你这是幻想，我的孩子！”杰佩托回答说，摇着头微微苦笑，“像你这样一个木偶，只有一米高，你以为你有力气背着我游泳吗？”
“您试一下就知道了！万一咱们命定该死，咱们就拥抱着死在一起，这至少是个很大的安慰。”
皮诺乔二话不说，拿起蜡烛，走在前面照路，回头对他爸爸说：
“跟着我走，别怕。”
他们就这样走了很大一段路，穿过鲨鱼的整个肚子。可等他们来到怪物的喉咙口，他们想还是停下来等一等，先看准一个有利时机再逃出去。
现在必须知道，这条鲨鱼太老了，又加上害气喘病和心脏病，睡觉只好张开嘴巴，因此皮诺乔从喉咙口往上看，能够看到张开的人嘴巴外面一大片星空和极其美丽的月光。
“现在逃走正是时候，”他转过脸向他爸爸低声说。“鲨鱼睡熟了。大海平静，亮得如同白昼，爸爸，您跟着我，咱们马上就得救了。”
说干就干，他们顺着海怪的喉咙往上爬，来到其大无比的嘴巴那儿，开始踮起脚尖在舌头上走。这舌头又大又长，像花园里的大道。他们已经站在那里，正准备狠狠一跳，跳到大海里去游起来，可正在这时候，鲨鱼打了个喷嚏。它打喷嚏先要狠狠地吸口气。它一吸气，皮诺乔和杰佩托就给吸了回去，重新落到怪物的肚子里头。
他们摔了个大跟头。蜡烛灭了，父子两人就呆在漆黑一片当中。
“现在怎么办了……”皮诺乔认真地问，
“我的孩子，现在咱们全完了。”
“为什么完了？把手给我，爸爸，当心别滑倒！”
“你带我上哪儿啊？”
“咱们试试看再逃一次，您跟我来，别怕。”
皮诺乔说着，拉住他爸爸的手，他们一直踮着脚尖走，一起重新顺着怪物的喉咙向上爬，接着他们走过整条舌头，爬过三排牙齿，在狠狠地一跳之前，木偶对他爸爸说：
“骑到我肩膀上，抱得紧紧的，其余的我来想办法对付。”
杰佩托在儿子肩膀上一坐好，皮诺乔就满有把握地跳到水里，游起来了。大海平静无波。月亮发出全部光华。鲨鱼继续安心大睡，睡得那么熟，甚至开大炮也轰不醒它。
