“Why should that matter?
You can climb on my shoulders and I, who am a fine swimmer, will carry you safely to the shore.”
“Dreams, my boy!” answered Geppetto, shaking his head and smiling sadly.
“Do you think it possible for a Marionette, a yard high, to have the strength to carry me on his shoulders and swim?”
“Try it and see!
And in any case, if it is written that we must die, we shall at least die together.”
Not adding another word, Pinocchio took the candle in his hand and 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 and the whole body of the Shark.
When they reached the throat of the monster, they stopped for a while to wait for the right moment in which to make their escape.
I want you to know that the Shark, being very old and suffering from asthma and heart trouble, was obliged to sleep with his mouth open.
Because of this, Pinocchio was able to catch a glimpse of the sky filled with stars, as he looked 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 sea is 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 throat of the monster till they came to that immense open mouth. There they had to walk on tiptoes, for if they tickled the Shark’s long tongue he might awaken—and where would they be then? The tongue was so wide and so long that it looked like a country road.
The two fugitives were just about to dive into the sea when the Shark sneezed very suddenly and, as he sneezed, he gave Pinocchio and Geppetto such a jolt that they found themselves thrown on their backs and dashed once more and very unceremoniously into the stomach of the monster.
To make matters worse, the candle went out and father and 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 be careful 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 hand and, always walking on tiptoes, they climbed up the monster’s throat for a second time.
They then crossed the whole tongue and jumped over three rows of teeth.
But before they took the last great leap, the Marionette said to 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 his shoulders, Pinocchio, very sure of what he was doing, dived into the water and started to swim.
The sea was like oil, the moon shone in all splendor, and the Shark continued to sleep so soundly that not even a cannon shot would have awakened him.
CHAPTER 36 Pinocchio finally ceases to be a Marionette and becomes a boy
“My dear Father, we are saved!” cried the Marionette. “All we have to do now is to get to the shore, and that is easy.” Without another word, he swam swiftly away in an effort to reach land as soon as possible. All at once he noticed that Geppetto was shivering and shaking as if with a high fever.
Was he shivering from fear or from cold?
Who knows? Perhaps a little of both.
But Pinocchio, thinking his father was frightened, tried to comfort him by saying:
“Courage, Father!
In a few moments we shall be safe on land.”
“But where is that blessed shore?” asked the little old man, more and more worried as he tried to pierce the faraway shadows.
“Here I am searching on all sides and I see nothing but sea and sky.”
“I see the shore,” said the Marionette. “Remember, Father, that I am like a cat. I see better at night than by day.”
Poor Pinocchio pretended to be peaceful and contented, but he was far from that.
He was beginning to feel discouraged, his strength was leaving him, and his breathing was becoming more and more labored.
He felt he could not go on much longer, and the shore was still far away.
He swam a few more strokes.
Then he turned to Geppetto and cried out weakly:
“Help me, Father! Help, for I am dying!”
Father and son were really about to drown when they heard a voice like a guitar out of tune call from the sea: