Pinocchio in Africa

CHAPTER XV
PINOCCHIO SELLS DRINKING WATER

The time passed quickly. At the dinner hour Pinocchio had a great appetite and ate with much enjoyment. The master praised him highly for the tidy appearance of the store and urged him to keep up his good work.

“At the end of twenty years,” he said, “You will have put aside enough to return home, and a little extra money to spend on poor old Geppetto. Now that you have eaten, take this leather bag and fill it with water, which you are to sell about the city. When you return we shall know how much you have made.”

The bag was soon strapped on his shoulders and the marionette was shown the door. “Remember,” said his master, “a cent a glass!”

Pinocchio set out down the narrow street. He walked on, little caring where he went. His wooden brains were far away. He was grieved. Had the master known just how the marionette felt he would have run after him and at least regained his leather bag.

Pinocchio walked on. He was soon among a hurrying crowd of people. “Can this be Egypt in Africa? I have read about it often.”

A man, wrapped in a white cloak, touched him on the shoulder. Pinocchio did not understand, and started to go on about his business, but the man took him roughly by the nose. Pinocchio shrieked. The crowd stopped. At last, he discovered that the man wanted water. Pinocchio placed the bag on the ground. Then he poured the water into a glass. The man drank, paid, and went his way.

“What a thirst for water Africans have!” thought the marionette, as he remembered his companions of the circus. “I like ices better, and I am going to try to get one with this penny.” At once he started off, leaving the leather bag behind.

CHAPTER XVI
A RIDE ON A DOG’S BACK

A crowd of boys had by this time gathered in the street. They began, after the manner of boys in nearly every part of the world, to annoy one who was clearly a stranger. They did not know Pinocchio, however, nor the force of his feet and elbows. There came a shower of kicks and punches, and the boys scattered. Away flew Pinocchio. The people were astonished to see those tiny legs fly like the wind. They shouted and ran after him. Pinocchio resolved not to be caught. He turned into a side street that led into the open country. A large dog, stretched out upon the ground, was in his way. Pinocchio measured the distance and leaped.

At that very moment the dog sprang up, and hardly knowing how it happened, Pinocchio found himself astride his back. Barking furiously, the animal shot along like a cannon ball. The poor boy felt sure that he was going to break his neck and prayed for safety. On they rushed. The dog jumped over rocks and ditches as if he had done nothing in all his life but carry marionettes on his back.

“Is it possible that he is a horse-dog?” thought Pinocchio. “If he is, I shall ride him always, and when I return home, I shall present him to my father. My companions will die of envy when they see me riding to school like a gentleman. I shall make him a saddle like those I saw on the circus horses, and a pair of silver stirrups. A saddle is really necessary, because it is very uncomfortable to ride in this way.”

The came to a deep gully and the dog prepared to make the leap. Pinocchio muttered to himself: “This is the end. If I cross this in safety, I will surely return home and go to school.”

There was a leap, and a plunge into the black, empty air. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying at the bottom of a precipice in total darkness. How long had he been in the air? The marionette did not know. He remembered only that while flying down he had heard a familiar voice call, “Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Pinocchio!”

“Farewell to the world and to Africa,” said the marionette. “Wooden marionettes will never learn. Here I shall stay forever. It serves me right.”

CHAPTER XVII
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 don’t 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 blindman’s 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.

CHAPTER XVIII
THE CARAVAN

He saw nothing but rocks and sand; rocks that shone like mirrors, and sand that burned like fire. He walked on very sadly, without knowing where. Presently he found himself upon a hill, from which he could see a vast plain crossed by a wide highway. A long line of people and camels were on the march, but how strange they looked! They were going along with heads down and feet up. At first the marionette was filled with a strong desire to laugh; then he became frightened and rubbed his eyes, doubting what they told him.

“Am I dreaming?” he said to himself.

The line continued its march, and he distinctly heard the people laugh and joke as they all sat upside down on the backs of the inverted camels.

“I was not prepared for this! What a strange way of traveling they have in Africa! Maybe I too am walking on my head!” and he touched himself to make sure that his head was in its proper place.

Meanwhile the caravan passed on, and Pinocchio stood still, his eyes fixed upon the camels as they disappeared at the turning of the road. The only thing left for him to do was to follow them.

“Either on my head or on my feet I shall surely arrive somewhere! I do not believe that all those people will walk on air forever. Sometime or other they will stop to eat. I shall be there to help them.”

As he spoke the marionette started forward, walking rapidly in the hot sun.

CHAPTER XIX
THE BABY PULLS HIS NOSE

In half an hour he had caught up with the topsy-turvy caravan. It had stopped at a large well, which was filled with clear, cool water. The people were laughing and talking as if they were at home. They were all as happy as they could be.

Pinocchio could not understand it. Had these people really stood on their heads? What had happened to them? There was something wrong. He had certainly seen them traveling in that strange fashion. However, a marionette who is hungry and thirsty does not worry long about things he cannot explain. He was there, and the people were eating and drinking.

“What a fool I am! If their heads were upside down, they could neither eat nor drink. Surely they will not refuse me a little water, and perhaps as they are familiar with Africa, I may discover in talking with them where the mines of gold and precious stones are to be found.”

So saying, Pinocchio moved toward an old man who was sitting with a pipe in his mouth. He had finished his meal and was enjoying a smoke. The marionette took off his hat and said, “Pardon me, sir; what time is it?”

The old man’s answer came in a volume of smoke.

“Ask the sun, my boy. He will tell you.”

“Thank you!” said Pinocchio, a little taken aback by this reception, and he moved on toward a woman with a baby on her shoulders.

“Madam, will you please tell me if I am on the right road to—”

“The world is wide,” broke in the woman.

“And long too,” thought the marionette. “How polite these Africans are!”

Of course, the marionette was a stupid fellow. He was a little ashamed to beg for food, and had only asked these questions so that the people might notice him and perhaps offer him food and water. An ordinary boy would have asked for what he wanted, but the blockhead was too proud.

He was about to go on when the baby began to wave its arms, and to shout, “I want it! I want it!”

Can you guess what it wanted? Pinocchio’s nose! The child reached out its hands, and cried and kicked in trying to get hold of it.

The whole caravan looked toward the spot. A group of children gathered about them. Even the camels lifted their heads to see what was the matter.

The mother was distressed because the child’s screams and kicks continued. She asked Pinocchio to let it touch his nose. His pride was hurt, but thinking it best to humor the child, he went closer and allowed his nose to be touched and squeezed and pulled until the baby was perfectly happy and satisfied. The good woman laughed, and thanked Pinocchio by offering him some bread and milk.

Pinocchio buried his face in the milk and ate the bread. There was no doubt of his hunger. The others offered him fruit and cake. He was pleased. Africa, after all, was a country where one could live. His hunger satisfied, he did what marionettes usually do,—talked about himself. In a short time all the people knew who he was and why he had come to Africa. The old man with the pipe asked him, “Who told you that here in Africa there is so much gold?”

“Who told me? He who knows told me!”

“But are you sure that he did not wish to deceive you?”

“Deceive me?” replied the marionette, “My dear sire, to deceive me one must have a good—” and he touched his forehead with his forefinger as much as to say that within lay a great brain. “Before leaving home I studied so much that the teacher feared I should ruin my health.”

“Very well,” replied the old man, “let us travel together, for we also are in search of gold and precious stones.”

Pinocchio’s heart beat fast with hope. At last there was some one to help him in his search. He could scarcely control himself enough to say: “Willingly, most willingly! I have no objections. Suit yourselves.”

CHAPTER XX
PINOCCHIO TRAVELS WITH THE CARAVAN

The camels, refreshed by the large amount of water they had taken, stood up, proud of their loads. Even the donkey brayed. Yes, there was a donkey! And this fact displeased Pinocchio. He had for a long time felt a great dislike for these animals. In fact, he had once been a donkey, and his dislike was a natural one.

The donkey did not carry any load, and for that reason the marionette was asked to ride on its back. He hesitated. It was stupid to ride a donkey, and he would have preferred to walk, but he did not like to seem rude to the good people, and up he mounted.

They traveled all day along the narrow road which gradually wound around the slope of a mountain. The old man rode by the side of Pinocchio, asking him many questions about the studies he had taken up to prepare himself for this trip to Africa.

The marionette talked a great deal, and as might have been expected, made many blunders. He began to think that his companions were very simple, and that in Africa one could tell any kind of lie without being discovered. He even went so far as to assure the old man that he knew the very spot where they could find gold and diamonds, and ended by saying that within a week they should all be men of great wealth.

“You must walk straight ahead,” the saucy marionette was saying, “then to the right, and you will arrive at the bottom of a valley, through which flows a beautiful brook of yellow water. By the side of this brook is a tree, and beneath the tree there is gold in plenty.”

The old man was amazed to hear the tales he told. Pinocchio himself felt ashamed of all these lies. He was afraid his nose would grow as it had done one day at home. But no, it was still its natural size!

“Well!” he thought, “if it has not grown longer this time, it will never grow again, no matter how many lies I tell.”

CHAPTER XXI
HE IS OFFERED FOR SALE

They went on until they met a second caravan resting at a well. Every one admired Pinocchio, and the old man who had him in charge treated him as if he were his own son.

Pinocchio was greatly pleased. Yet to tell the truth he was worried. Suppose they discovered that he had lied, and that he knew nothing about Africa, or the gold, or the diamonds! What would happen then?

The old man was talking to three or four men of the new caravan. Pinocchio did not like their faces. Now and then they looked toward the marionette with open eyes of astonishment.

Pinocchio pricked up his ears to listen to the good things the old man was saying about him. He felt highly flattered on hearing himself praised for his character, his intelligence, and his ability to eat and drink.

Then the men lowered their voices, and the marionette only now and then caught some stray words.

“How much do you want?”

“Come!” replied the good old man, “between us there should not be so much talk. I cannot give him to you unless you give me twenty yards of English calico, thirty yards of iron wire, and four strings of glass beads.”

“It is too much. It is too much,” replied one.

“They are bargaining for the donkey,” said Pinocchio, and he felt sorry for the poor beast.

“I am sorry for you,” he went on, addressing the donkey, “because you have made me quite comfortable. Now I must give you up and walk.”

“It is too much. It is too much,” the men were saying.

“Yes, yes, all you say is very true,” spoke one in a high voice, “but, after all, he is made of wood.”

“Of wood? Who is made of wood? The donkey?” thought Pinocchio, looking at the animal, which stood still, its ears erect as if it also were listening.

“Here!” put in one of the men, “the bargain is made if you will give him up for an elephant’s tooth; if not, let us talk no more of it.”

The old man was silent. He looked at the marionette, and then with a sigh which came from his heart he said: “You drive a hard bargain! Add at least the horn of a rhinoceros and let us be done with it.”

“Put in the horn!” replied the man, and they shook hands. “You have done well, my friends,” the old man said. “That fellow there,”—and this time pointed directly at Pinocchio,—“that fellow there has some great ideas in his head. He knows a thing or two! He says he knows the exact spot where one may find gold and diamonds.”

Pinocchio was thunderstruck! It was he and not the donkey that had been sold.

“Dogs!” he cried, “farewell. I go from you forever.” And away he leaped as fast as the north wind. They did not even try to follow him. Who could have caught him.

CHAPTER XXII
THE BIRD IN THE FOREST

After two hours of hard running, Pinocchio, still angry at the treatment he had received, came to a forest. “It’s better to be a bird in the bushes than a bird in a cage!” he thought.

Although the walk in the forest was refreshing, he began, as usual, to be hungry. The place was very beautiful, but beauty could not satisfy a marionette’s appetite. He looked here and there in the hope that he might see trees loaded with the fruit about which the elephant man had spoken. He saw nothing but branches and leaves, leaves and branches. On he walked. Both the forest and his hunger seemed without end.

Fortunately Pinocchio was very strong. Being made of wood, he could endure a great many hardships. He was sure that his good Fairy would come to help him, so he kept on bravely. He had walked a long way before he saw a large tree, bearing fruit that resembled oranges.

“At last!” he cried aloud. The birds flew away at the sound. Pinocchio climbed over the rocks and up the tree as fast as he could.

“I will eat enough to last for a week!” he said, as he thought of the orange peel his father Geppetto had given him for supper.

He picked the largest of the fruit and put it into his mouth. It was as hard as ivory. He pulled out his penknife, with which he used to sharpen his pencil at school. With great difficulty he cut the fruit in two, to find within only a soft, bitter pulp. Then he tried another and another. All were like the first one, and he gave up trying because he was at length convinced that none of the fruit was fit to eat.

Tired and unhappy, with bowed head and dangling arms, he pushed on slowly, stumbling over rocks, and becoming entangled again and again in the briers. He thought sadly of the disappointments he had met with in Africa.

“It is settled. I am to die of hunger. Where are the delicious fruits and the precious stones? Should I not do better to go home and leave the gold and silver to those who want them?”

As he went along, thinking over these things, he noticed ahead of him a bird about the size of a canary, which looked at him as if it longed to console him in his misery.

It went on before Pinocchio, flying from one branch to another, stopping when the marionette stopped, and moving every time the marionette moved. Pinocchio said to himself: “Does this dear little bird wish to be eaten? I’ll pluck its feathers, stick a twig through it, put it in the sun, and in half an hour it will be cooked and ready to eat.”

While the hungry marionette was giving himself up to this thought, the bird began to sing,

“Pinocchio, my dear,
    If you would honey eat,
Come closer to me here,
    And you will find a treat.”

Imagine Pinocchio’s surprise! He approached the little songster and looked up. Sure enough, there on a branch of a great tree was a beehive.

One would think that Pinocchio would at least stop to thank the bird, but not he! Up the tree he went like a squirrel, while the bees buzzed about him angrily. The marionette laughed.

“Sting away! sting away, brave bees! I am a marionette and made of wood. You may sting me as much as you please.” He thrust his hand into the hive and drew out a handful of sweet honey.

“This time at least I shall not die of hunger.”

CHAPTER XXIII
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 don’t 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 Pinocchio’s 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.

CHAPTER XXIV
PINOCCHIO IS BROUGHT BEFORE THE KING

Pinocchio had slept for hours when he was aroused by strange sounds. Were these the voices of human beings.

“Yah! Yah! Hoi! Hoi! Uff! Uff!”

What could it possibly be? The marionette opened an eye, but quickly shut it again when he saw a number of coal-black faces turned toward him.

“What do these ugly people want of me?” he asked himself, as he lay there perfectly still.

When Pinocchio next opened his eyes he saw to his great surprise that the men had formed a circle about him. At their chief’s command they began to dance. It was all so funny that Pinocchio could hardly keep from laughing. Then the chief made a sign, at which the savages advanced toward the marionette, took him up by his arms and legs, and started away with him.

“This is not so bad,” thought the marionette.

After a time his bearers laid him gently upon the ground and commenced to examine him. Pinocchio decided to make believe he was dead.

For that reason he kept his eyes shut tightly and lay still.

Suddenly there was a great noise. He was startled. Opening one eye, he saw approaching a chief followed by a crowd of attendants. Judging from the manner in which the new arrivals were received, they were persons of high rank. At their approach the savages knelt down, raised their hands high in the air, and bent their foreheads to the ground.

A man stepped out from the ranks and came toward Pinocchio. He examined the marionette from head to foot, while all the others looked on in silence.

When the examination was over the marionette hoped to be left in peace, but another approached him and went through the same performance. Then came a third, a fourth, a fifth, and so on.

Pinocchio was somewhat tired of this. As the last one came up he muttered, “Now I shall see what they are going to do with me.”

The man who had first examined Pinocchio now approached him again, and calling the bearers, said, in a tongue which, curiously enough, the marionette understood, “Turn the little animal over!”

Upon hearing himself called an animal, Pinocchio was seized with a mad desire to give his tormentor a kick, but he thought better of it.

The bearers advanced, took the marionette by the shoulders, and rolled him over.

“Easy! easy! this bed is not too soft,” Pinocchio said to himself.

A second examination followed, and then another command, “Roll him over again!”

“What do you take me for,—a top?” muttered the marionette in a burst of rage. But he pricked up his ears when the man who had been rolling him over turned to another and said, “Your majesty!”

“Indeed!” thought Pinocchio, “we are not dealing with ordinary persons! We are beginning to know great people. Let me hear what he has to say about me to his black majesty,” and the marionette listened with the deepest attention.

“Your majesty, my knowledge of the noble art of cooking assures me that this creature”—and he gave Pinocchio a kick—“is an animal of an extinct race. It has been turned into wood, carried by the water to the beach, and then brought here by the wind.”

“Not so bad for a cook,” thought Pinocchio. He felt half inclined to strike out and hit the nose of the wise savage, who had again knelt down to examine him.

“Your majesty,” continued the cook, “this little animal is dead, because if it were not dead—”

“It would be alive,” Pinocchio muttered. “What a beast! How stupid!”

“Because if it were not dead, it would not be so hard. To conclude, had it not been made of wood, I could have cooked it for your majesty’s dinner.”

Pinocchio said to himself: “Listen to this black rascal! Eaten alive! What kind of country have I fallen into? What vulgar people! It’s lucky for me that I am made of wood!”

His majesty then commanded that as the animal was not good to eat it should be buried.

Immediately three or four of the men began to dig a hole, while the unfortunate marionette, half dead with fright, tried to form some plan of escape. The time passed. The hole was dug, and the poor fellow could not think of any plan. Run away! But how? And if they found out that he was alive would he not be cooked and eaten? The marionette did not know what to do.

In the meantime two men had raised him from the ground and stood ready to throw him into the hole. Then in spite of himself, the marionette began to shout at the top of his lungs: “Stop! Stop! I will not be buried alive! Help! Help! My good Fatina!—Fatina!—my Fatina! Help!”

At the first shout the two men who were holding him let him fall to the ground and started off in a great fright. All the others followed their example.

“What funny people!” said Pinocchio. “If I had known that they would all run away like this, I should not have been so uneasy. However, I really do not know why I have come here. If I only knew where to find diamonds and gold, it would not be so hard. I might return home to my father, for who knows how much he is suffering because I am not there!”

At that moment he would have given up the whole trip, but he was too stupid to keep an idea in his head for more than a few seconds. Another thought flashed across his mind, and he forgot his poor father.

“If these people run away, it means that they are afraid, and if they are afraid, it means that they have no courage. Now then, I, being very brave, may in a short time come to rule over everything in Africa. Perhaps—who knows!—I may become a king or an emperor!”

Pinocchio, you lazy dreamer, are you never going to learn wisdom? Only a blockhead like you could be so foolish. A wooden emperor, indeed!

CHAPTER XXV
THE MONKEYS STONE THE MARIONETTE

Filled with these hopes and forgetting his fright, Pinocchio set boldly forth without the least alarm at the difficulties of the journey. He was going merrily along, dreaming of all the great things he would do as emperor of Africa, when at a turn in the road there came flying after him a volley of stones. Had any struck him he would have been killed. Astonished and frightened at this strange turn of affairs, he glanced around, but saw no one. He looked up at the trees, and then from right to left, but nobody was in sight.

“This is pleasant!” exclaimed the marionette. “Have those pebbles fallen from the sky?” And he started to go on his way.

He had taken only a few steps, when a second discharge drove him to the shelter of a large tree. Thence he looked carefully in the direction from which the stones continued to come. To his surprise he discovered among the bushes and twigs a large number of monkeys.

“Well! What is this?” cried the marionette. “Those rogues must not be allowed to play such mean tricks. I had better be on my guard.”

He picked up a stout stick lying on the ground near by. To his amazement, the monkeys threw away the stones and began to pick up sticks likewise.

“I hope I shall get through this safely!” thought Pinocchio. He raised his stick and threatened the whole army of monkeys.

The monkeys, as if obeying his command, raised their sticks and held them erect, imitating exactly the action of the marionette. Then Pinocchio lowered his stick, and the monkeys lowered theirs. Again Pinocchio lifted his stick as high as he could, and the monkeys raised theirs, holding them stiffly like soldiers on drill.

“Arms rest!” cried Pinocchio.

All the monkeys, imitating the marionette, lowered their sticks in perfect order, just as soldiers do at the officer’s command.

“That’s a good idea,” thought Pinocchio, “I might become the leader of the monkeys, and within a month conquer all Africa.” And he laughed at the joke.

The monkeys looked straight at him, standing erect and in line waiting for further orders.

“Ah! you wish to follow me!” said the marionette. “This might suit your taste, but not mine, thank you! I will give you marching orders. Then I shall be left in peace.”

Accordingly Pinocchio, who was determined to get away from these annoying beasts, moved two steps forward. The monkeys advanced two steps also. Then he took three steps to the rear, and the monkeys went back three steps.

“At—tention!” and facing about quickly, he started to run. All the monkeys also turned, and began to run in the direction opposite to that taken by the marionette. Pinocchio, laughing at his own cunning, went his way, only now and then turning to watch the dark forms as they disappeared in the distance.

“They all run away in this country,” he said to himself, and he too ran on, fearing that the worthy beasts would return for further orders.

CHAPTER XXVI
PINOCCHIO DREAMS AGAIN

“If these people are such cowards that they run at the sound of my voice, in a few days I shall be master of all Africa. I shall be a great man. However, this is a country of hunger and thirst and fatigue. I must find a place where I can rest a little before I begin my career of conquest.”

Fortune now seemed to favor Pinocchio. Not far off he thought he saw a group of huts at the foot of a hill. He felt that besides getting rest and shelter, he might also find something to eat. Greedy marionette!

As he approached he was struck by the strangeness of these buildings. They looked like little towers topped with domes. He went along wondering what race of people lived in houses built without windows or doors. He saw no one, and he was filled with a sort of fear.

“Shall I go on or not?” he mused. “Perhaps it would be best to call out, Some one will show me where to go for food and shelter.”

“Hello there!” he said in a low voice. No one answered.

“Hello there!” repeated the marionette a little louder. But there was no answer.

“They are deaf, or asleep, or dead!” concluded the marionette, after calling out at the top of his voice again and again.

Then he thought it might be a deserted village, and he entered bravely between the towers. There was no one to be seen. As he stretched out his tired limbs on the ground he murmured. “Since it is useless to think of eating, I may at least rest.” And in a few minutes he was sound asleep.

He dreamed that he was being pulled along by an army of small insects that resembled ants. It seemed to him that he was making every effort to stop them, but he could not succeed. They dragged and rolled him down a slope toward a frightful precipice, over which he must fall. It even seemed as if they had entered his mouth by hundreds, busying themselves in tearing out his tongue. It served him right, too, because his tongue had made many false promises and caused everybody much suffering.

“You will never tell any more lies!” the ants seemed to say.

Then the marionette awoke with a struggle and a cry of fear. His dream was a reality. He was covered with ants. He brushed them off his face, his arms, his legs,—in short, his whole body. They had tortured him for four or five hours, and only the fact that he was made of very hard wood had saved his life.

“Thanks to my strong constitution.” thought the marionette, “I am as good as new.”

Pinocchio now found himself in a dense growth of shrubbery which made his progress difficult. He pushed on among the thorny plants. They would have stopped any one but a wooden marionette. His clothes were torn, to be sure, but he did not mind that.

“Soon I shall have a suit that will make me look like a prince. Goods of the best quality, and tailoring that has never been equaled! The gold, the silver, and the diamonds must be found.” And he went on at a brisk gait as if he had been on the highway.

Trees, shrubs, underbrush,—nothing else! The scene would have grown tiresome had it not been for a swarm of butterflies of the most beautiful and brilliant colors. They flew here and there, now letting themselves be carried by the wind, now hovering about in search of the flowers hidden in the thick foliage.

From time to time a hare would run between Pinocchio’s feet, and after a few bounds would turn sharply around to stare at him with curious eyes, as much as to say that a marionette was a comical sight. Young monkeys peeped through the leaves, laughed at him, and then scampered away.

Pinocchio walked along fearlessly, caring little for what went on around him, and thinking only of the treasures for which he was seeking.

On and on he walked until at length he found himself at the edge of a vast plain. He gave a great sigh of relief. The long march through the woods had tired him. However, he kept his eyes open, now and then looking down at his feet to see if any precious stones were lying about. Presently his attention was drawn to a great hole or nest, in which he saw some white objects shaped like hen’s eggs, but considerably larger than his head.

Curious to see whether or not he could lift one, Pinocchio approached the nest. Just then he heard a frightful noise behind him.

Turning quickly, the marionette saw a huge bird running toward him. The next moment a powerful push sent him head over heels upon one of the eggs! As he fell he heard a loud crash, and at almost the same instant found himself carried through the air. What had befallen him?

Of course, the hole was the nest of an ostrich. Enraged at the sight of the broken egg, the fierce bird had seized in its powerful beak that part of the shell into which the unfortunate marionette had fallen, and was now rushing across the plain with the swiftness of an express train.

The marionette screamed in terror, and with the stick which he still held in his hand rained blows upon the bird’s long neck. But the blows had no effect whatever. The furious creature ran and ran and ran. Pinocchio, gasping for breath, was certain that his end was near.

The mad race lasted for hours. Suddenly the marionette was thrown into a muddy pool, in which he sank up to his neck like a frog. Having no desire to be suffocated in the mud, he raised his head a little, although he did not try to climb out. What he saw surprised him beyond measure.

CHAPTER XXVIII
PINOCCHIO ESCAPES AGAIN

His ostrich was no longer alone. There stood another. The new arrival, somewhat smaller, but uglier and even more ferocious than the first, moved cautiously, ready for fight. Suddenly Pinocchio saw the gleam of a knife, and an instant later the ostrich that had carried him thus far fell to the ground, wounded to death. The marionette could not understand how it was possible for a bird to carry a knife hidden beneath its wings and to make use of it. Yet the thing had happened right before his eyes; there was no doubt about it.

While seeking an explanation for this very strange incident, he saw the victorious ostrich draw first one arm, then the other, from beneath its feathers, and finally take off its beak and place it upon the ground. The second ostrich was a man.

Pinocchio now began to understand what had happened, and to hate the trickster who had put on the feathers of an ostrich, in order to attack and kill the poor creature that lay there breathing its last.

The man approached the dying ostrich and tried to lift the huge bird to his shoulders, but in spite of his great strength he failed. Then looking about in search of help, he saw the marionette, whose head was out of the water, and signaled to him to come ashore. Pinocchio would have refused, but there was the knife lying on the ground, and there was the man. He decided to obey.

He came out of the pond as best he could, and the ugly black man began to laugh. He laughed and laughed until he was able to stand no longer, and could only throw himself upon the ground, where he lay, breathless and weak. The marionette, seeing this, said to himself: “If I do not escape now, it will be my own fault. My dear legs, it is no dishonor to run when you must!” and he went on at a gallop toward a hill which could be seen a short distance away.

“May you die of laughing, you villain!” he cried as he ran.

Presently he was somewhat alarmed to discover that the man was running after him. Feeling sure, however, that he could easily outrun his pursuer, he halted a moment, as if waiting for him. The man was hurrying on, thinking that the boy could go no farther, when the saucy marionette, putting his hand to his mouth, shouted “Cuckoo!” Then at a pace swifter than the wind he set off once more, pausing now and again to call out, “Cuckoo! Cuckoo!”

Pinocchio had nearly reached the top of the hill, and the man was halfway up, when a loud roar made them both stop. Turning around, they saw that a lion was carrying off the dead ostrich. At that, the hunter thrust his fingers into his curly hair, and without paying further attention to the marionette, started off to regain the knife, which was still lying where it had fallen.

“Tit for tat,” Pinocchio shouted after him, and went on up the hill.

CHAPTER XXIX
PINOCCHIO IS SWALLOWED BY A CROCODILE

When Pinocchio reached the top of the hill he looked around for a place where he could rest. He thought of the lion that had carried off the ostrich, and he did not like the idea of meeting him. Fortunately there were no signs of life, but neither was there any place where he could sit down in comfort. Sand and rocks, rocks and sand were everywhere. In the distance he saw water.

“At any rate,” he said, “I shall at least be able to wash myself;” and he turned his footsteps toward the water.

He arrived before long at the water’s edge. How fresh and clean it was! He was so dusty and tired that there was only one thing to do,—take a bath! When Pinocchio decided upon a course of action he did not hesitate. In an instant he was undressed.

As he started toward the water a voice cried, “Pinocchio! Pinocchio!”

“Oh, let Pinocchio alone!” the marionette said, and leaped into the air.

Horrors! As he came flying down, a green mass rose to the surface of the river. It was a crocodile! Pinocchio saw it and shuddered, but there was no time to cry out. Down, down he went into that open mouth! But wooden marionettes are always fortunate. The crocodile’s throat was so wide that Pinocchio slipped into the stomach of the creature with great ease. Not even a scratch! As he was accustomed to being under water and inside the bodies of animals, he was not at all frightened. In fact, when he noticed that he was being carried down to the bottom of the river, where it was cool and refreshing, he uttered no word of complaint, but rather enjoyed the experience.

The crocodile crawled in to a cave, and prepared to digest the marionette at its leisure. Pinocchio was naturally annoyed at this and began to kick and squirm about.

At first this did not seem to cause any ill effects, but Pinocchio kicked and struggled until the poor reptile could not help wondering what the trouble was, and began to twist and shake its whole body. Pinocchio did not stop. Presently the crocodile decided to return to the surface and deposit the marionette upon the bank. Pinocchio desired nothing better. As soon as he saw a ray of light he became very quiet. The crocodile, now that the trouble seemed over, was about to return to its cave, but it had made this plan without consulting our wooden marionette.

“Suppose I let the beast carry me a short distance! I can make it throw me upon the bank later as well as now! It may carry me to some place where—enough, I am going to try it! A green ship, without sails, without engines, and without a crew, is not to be found every day. Boo! boo! boo!” muttered the marionette.

The crocodile, frightened at the strange noises inside its body, began to swim with all its strength. It swam and swam and swam! When it slowed up the marionette continued, “Boo! boo! boo!” and the crocodile went on faster than ever.

The poor creature became thoroughly exhausted, and fairly wept with anger and fright, but the strange voice went on without ceasing.

At last, growing desperate, the crocodile stopped, opened its huge jaws, and with a great effort sent the marionette flying through the air to the bank of the river; then it disappeared in the deep water.

“Pleasant trip home! Remember me to everybody!” cried Pinocchio as he leaped about joyously.

CHAPTER XXX
PINOCCHIO IS MADE EMPEROR

Finding himself without any clothes, the marionette began to think of his condition. To go back and search for his suit was out of the question. To go about in that state did not seem proper, although he knew that the Africans in general were dressed in the same fashion.

Finally he decided to make himself a suit of leaves. There were some beautiful ones near by that were just suited to the purpose. He knew how to go to work, for at home he had often made clothes out of shavings and twigs. He set about his task at once and in a short time had made a garment that reached from his waist down to his knees. He was busy selecting the leaves for a coat when he happened to raise his eyes, and saw a crowd of men and women rushing about as if either very happy or frantic with terror.

“Lunatics!” he murmured, and went on with his work, for he disliked to be seen half-dressed. All at once the marionette heard a hissing, humming sound. A cloud of arrows fell around him. He was amazed and terrified, not by the arrows,—for what harm could arrows do to him?—but by the idea that this meant more trouble for Pinocchio.

“So long as they shoot, I fear nothing; but if they try to capture me, I may have to jump into the river and take to my green ship.”

The arrows continued to fall like hailstones on his shoulders, on his breast, on his arms and legs; but of course they dropped to the ground without doing any harm. The natives were astonished. They looked at one another in blank surprise.

Pinocchio, weary of the game, turned in anger toward them and shouted: “Give up shooting, stupid ones! Do you not see that you are wasting your time?”

They had already perceived that this was true, and they stopped shooting. A group braver than the rest now approached the marionette and surrounded him. One of them shouted, “Hoi! Hoi! Hoi!”

“Pinocchio!” answered the marionette.

“Yah! Yah! Yah!”

“Pinocchio!” the boy repeated. “Are you deaf?”

Then they began to shout in chorus: “Yah! Yah! Hoi! Hoi! Uff! Uff! Uff!”

And Pinocchio replied: “Yah! Yah! Hoi! Hoi! Uff! Uff! Uff!”

This conversation soon began to be wearisome, and Pinocchio tried to escape. It was too late. The Africans, quick as a flash, closed in about him and, seizing him by the legs, raised him from the ground, shouting: “Long live our emperor, Pinocchio the First! Long live our emperor, Pinocchio!”

Pinocchio had never dreamed of such a welcome.

“Long live Pinocchio!”

“Ah! at last! I knew that in Africa my greatness would be recognized. Now I shall be revenged on you, my dear restaurant-keeper, and on you, dear policemen, who wanted to arrest me. Old man, you who wanted to sell me for a rhinoceros horn, now it is my turn!” Thus thought Pinocchio.

This was his first triumph. Flocking like ravens, his African subjects came to render homage to the new emperor, who was carried aloft on willing shoulders. As he passed, all bowed to the ground and then followed in his train. Such a multitude joined the procession that it looked, from a distance, like a vast blot of ink. They went along singing the praises of Pinocchio the First, Emperor and King of all the African kings, sent from heaven to earth to replace the late emperor, who had died the preceding day.

As they marched a great chorus chanted: “He was to come forth from the mouth of a crocodile! He was to remain unharmed by poisoned arrows! He was to have a wooden head! Long live our emperor, Pinocchio the First! Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!”

“They shot poisoned arrows at me!” thought the marionette. “That is the way they treated their future king. Lucky for me that I am made of wood,—very hard wood too! How fortunate that I came to Africa as a marionette! If I had been a real boy, there would be little to say about Pinocchio now.”