CHAPTER X
“Goodevening, Messrs. Cetaceans,” said Pinocchio, bowing low to Tursio and Marsovino as soon as he saw them coming.
“Why, where did you learn our family name? You called us fish once upon a time.”
“Globicephalous told me. I know now the difference between a fish and a cetacean.”
“You have taken lessons from a servant? Why, I thought you were ashamed even to be seen walking with one.”
Pinocchio was silent. He was beginning to learn manners.
“Well, Pinocchio, to-morrow morning you are to come with us to visit my friend Beluga. You may walk around a little now with Marsovino; but after your walk you are to go to sleep. I want you up early to-morrow.”
While the marionette was listening to Tursio he had noticed a bright red eel lying quietly among some weeds. The mood for mischief again seized him. He smiled to himself. Approaching Marsovino, he pulled him gently by the fin, and said to him smilingly:
“Come with me. I want to show you something. Look in those weeds. There is a beautiful electrical machine there.”
“An electrical machine!” Marsovino was full of interest. “Where is it?”
“Stick your nose among the weeds and you will see it.”
The dolphin did as he was told. Pinocchiolaughed up his sleeve, and very quietly hid himself behind some friendly rocks.
“Oh!” suddenly screamed Marsovino, leaping backward. “An electrical machine! Why, it is an electric eel, you mean boy! That was an unkind joke, Pinocchio.”
Yes, that mischief maker, seeing the eel again, thought he would play a trick on the poor dolphin.
Tursio, hearing the screams, had come nearer.
“The electric eel! You poor boy! How you must suffer!”
“Luckily the eel was asleep, so I had no great shock.”
“Yes, luckily. When it is asleep, it does not hurt much.”
“But how did you ever get near him?”
“Why, Pinocchio—” and then he stopped. Why should he tell? But he was too late.
“Oh, that Pinocchio. Well, remember, marionette, usually one gets paid in his own coin. Now you look tired. Stop stretching yourself and go to sleep.”
“Very well, Mr. Tursio,” came meekly from Pinocchio. “But may I ask a favor of you?”
“What is it?”
“Seeing that we are near the island, may I sleep there to-night? I found a small cave there this morning, and it looked comfortable. May I, Mr. Tursio?”
“Why, surely, my boy.”
“Thank you. But will you please sleep near? I should feel better if I knew you were near.”
“Very well, my lion tamer.”
Globicephalous then took Pinocchio on his back and rose with him to the surface.
“I wonder what those two dolphins are talking about,” he thought, seeing Tursio and Marsovino whispering together.
Tursio seemed little pleased. Marsovino was begging for something. Finally the good old dolphin smiled an unwilling “yes” to his pupil.
“It may teach him a lesson,” Pinocchioheard Tursio say, and he wondered at the words. Soon he forgot all about them.
“Good-night,” he called, jumping on land and disappearing into the cave.
He gathered some seaweed and made a soft bed.
“This is very good,” he said, lying down. But soon he found out that he could not sleep.
He could not understand why. He was so tired, after two nights of sleeplessness, but still his eyes would not close. Everything around him was so quiet that he began to be frightened. He got up and looked out on the sea. It was as black as ink, oh! pitch-black.
“How horrible the sea is at night,” grumbled the marionette.
“‘Good-night,’” he called.
No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he wished them in again. As if the waves had taken offense at his remark, they were suddenly turned into fire. It seemed as if millions of stars had fallen into the sea.
Pinocchio ran out of the cave. As far as eye could reach there was nothing but this fiery sea. The bright, shiny water rose and fell in silvery waves. Millions of sparks were thrown up into the air and fell back again.
“Oh! the sea is on fire,” shouted Pinocchio, and that O-o-o-o-h was the longest that had as yet come from his mouth. “And then Mr. Tursio tells me he is not a wizard.”
He could hardly be blamed, poor ignorant little marionette. That scene certainly belonged more to fairyland than to real life.
It was the phosphorescence of the sea that attracted Pinocchio’s attention. Sometimes this is so wonderfully beautiful that seen once, it can never be forgotten.
“‘Oh! the Sea is on Fire.’”
Our wooden hero was so awe-struck at first that he could only stand and gaze at it. Finally he gathered courage, and went nearer and nearer the water. And when a wave touched his feet, he jumped back for fear of being burned. But he found the water was just as cool as before.
“Why, this fire does not burn! How queer! What can it be?”
In his ignorance he could not answer, but I shall answer for him.
The phosphorescence of the sea is produced by millions of very tiny zoöphytes, so small that they cannot be seen with the naked eye. These minute zoöphytes have a sheen like fireflies. When they light up all together, they make the ocean look like a sea of molten gold.
While Pinocchio was still gazing, the fire went out just as quickly as it had come. The night was again as dark as ink. Thiswas not much to the marionette’s taste, so he started back to his cave. Glancing toward the sea again, it seemed to him that the dolphins were not in the same place.
“I hope I’ll be able to sleep now,” he thought. “I am so tired.”
But he had hardly reached the mouth of the cave when, with a shriek, he turned and fled. Why?
An awful, a horrible monster was hanging at the mouth of the cave. It was more than a yard long, and with a mouth like an oven. On its head were two long horns; and its body was shining in the night, frightful in its shape and color. Can you imagine Pinocchio’s fright?
“A dragon!” he shrieked. “A dragon in my cave! Help! Help!”
Running madly toward the sea, he never stopped until he reached the dolphins.
“‘A Dragon!’ he shrieked.”
“Globicephalous, for pity’s sake! Tursio! Marsovino! Help! Wake up! A demon is in my cave! Yes, come and see—his mouth wide open, ready to eat me up. If only you could see the size of his horns!”
But when the dolphins awoke and realized what was happening, they only laughed and laughed. Pinocchio could not understand. He looked from one to the other. Finally he said, “Well, I don’t see anything so funny. What is it?”
“Look at the brave boy! Look! Look!” called Marsovino, bursting with laughter.
“I thought you threw stones into a lion’s mouth,” shouted Globicephalous, making fun of the poor fellow.
“Lions are one thing, demons another,” explained Pinocchio, almost crying with shame.
“But what demons are you talking about, anyway?” asked Tursio.
“Come, and you will see.”
When they reached the cave, there was the dragon still hanging. His eyes were still glaring, his mouth still wide, his body still shining in the night.
“B-r-r-r-!” came from our shivering hero.
“Look at it well, you foolish boy. What do you think of it? A demon? Where are its eyes? Doesn’t it look more like a mere fish?”
“Yes, well?” asked Pinocchio, who didn’t know what to think.
“Well, it is a fish. Sometimes it is called fishing frog, sometimes goosefish, and sometimes sea devil from its horrible looks.”
“Marsovino has just paid you back foryour joke. He took the dry skin of this fish, filled it with water, and inside of it put two sunfishes. When you thought he was asleep, he was hanging it up. It has given you a chance to show us how brave you are.”
Pinocchio felt very small. Slowly he approached the monster and looked it over. How foolish he had been!
“What a horrible mouth you have, my fish,” he said. “And what is this horn doing at the top of your head?”
“That helps him to get his dinner,” explained Tursio. “Other fish are caught on the horns, and the frog has nothing to do but eat them.”
“Well, Iwasfrightened,” admitted the marionette, soberly.
“We have lost enough sleep by this time. To bed, all of you,” ordered Tursio.
This time Pinocchio did not have to wait long for sleep to come. He was soon dreaming about sharks, flying machines, sea devils, and electric eels.