Gemma Mongiardini-Rembadi

“ The boys traveled two weeks longer, and at last Marsovino thought himself near his destination. So he dived into the water to a great depth.
After a while, as he sank deeper and deeper into the sea, Pinocchio became frightened. They were down so far that no light from the sun could reach them.
“Where are you carrying me to, my dear?” he asked. “If we go any farther, we cannot possibly live. How could we, with this immense amount of water over us?”
“We’ll be all right, my boy, never fear. If little fish like that can live here, why, so can we.” ”

“ If the dolphins had been there, they would have told Pinocchio that these dark-colored fish are called remora. With the flat disk they can attach themselves to other fish. Sometimes they let themselves be carried. At other times, when they feel in the mood for mischief, they pull others along wherever they wish. This is what happened to the shark.
“Those fish certainly saved my life,” thought Pinocchio. “But I hope the shark won’t do to them what he wanted to do to me.”
Feeling in need of a place of safety, he tried to hide himself in a large hole in a rock. ”

“ But in the sea are many animals which do not possess them.”
“Please explain yourself,” said Pinocchio, who had understood little.
“Very well. Listen. There are the cetaceans, to which belong the whales, the narwhals, and the dolphins; the amphibians, to which belong the frogs and the seals; the mollusks, which is what the little animals that live in shells are called; the crustaceans, which is the correct name for the lobsters, crayfishes, and crabs; and the zoöphytes, among which are the corals, sponges, and the many varieties of polyps. All these, you must know, are not fish.” ”

“ But there must be thousands of them?”
“Yes, and millions.”
“But the sea will soon be full of herrings, then.”
“No fear of that, Pinocchio. Think of the many large fish that are in the sea. They live on these eggs and on small fishes. Why, they can and they do swallow hundreds of eggs at a time. The sea is big enough to hold all its fish and more. You don’t think we are crowded, do you?”
“Last night we certainly were.”
“One night is not every night. You see, herrings travel in great numbers, and we happened to meet a school of them.” ”

“ You are a servant, and you can’t have studied much. Still you may know this: Mr. Tursio does not want me to call him a fish. What is he, if not a fish?”
“Do you think Mr. Tursio would dare tell a lie to such an important personage as you are?” said Globicephalous, who was having some fun all by himself. [Pg 48] “Neither Mr. Tursio nor Master Marsovino should be called fish. Nor I either, for that matter.”
“What are you, then? Birds? You have about their shape, and you live in the water. I know that in the sea there are only fish.” ”

“ As if these were not enough, out of a hole came a crab larger than any of the others. He was rapidly coming nearer, but before long one of his claws was grasped by one lobster, the other by another. Without the least movement to fight, the crab just pulled off his claws, and quickly went back to his hole.
Pinocchio was thunderstruck. How could the crab do this so calmly? For the simple reason that the crab preferred losing his claws to being killed and eaten up. In a few months he would grow another set of claws as good as those he had lost. Yes, a crab can do that, children. ”

“ Through the water Tursio went like an arrow, followed by Marsovino and the servant.
Pinocchio, to gain courage, shut his eyes. When he opened them again, wonder of wonders! Very near to him a large sun was moving back and forth. It looked as if it were alive.
“The sun at the bottom of the sea!” yelled Pinocchio, frightened almost to death. “Do you want me to believe that? You must be a wizard playing tricks on me.”
“I am not a wizard, Pinocchio, and the [Pg 34] sun is not a trick. It is nothing more nor less than a fish.” ”

“ It has a very long tail, which it uses as a weapon.”
“To what class of fishes does it belong?” asked Pinocchio.
“It belongs to the same class as the lampreys, which look like snakes, the torpedo,—”
“Be careful never to touch that fellow,” here interrupted Tursio.
“—the sawfish and the squaloids,—that is, the common shark and the hammerhead.”
“The saw? The hammer?” observed Pinocchio. “If I find them, I must keep them for my father. He is a carpenter, but so poor that he seldom has money with which to buy tools.” ”

“ Pinocchio, I am perfectly sure that I am not mistaken. The starfish is just as much an animal as the coral is.”
“It was a long time before people learned that coral is made by tiny living animals. But now everybody knows that there are hundreds of the little coral animals living and working together on the same branch.”
“These little animals grow and multiply very quickly. In a short time they even make mountains under the sea.”
“You know how to tell fanciful tales better than I, Globicephalous.” ”

“ All of them. And many of them come from a single oyster, for an oyster [Pg 42] gives forth almost two millions of eggs at a time. These little things have so many enemies, however, that very seldom do more than ten of the millions grow old.”
“Two millions! Then I may eat all I want to,” continued Pinocchio, unmercifully tearing away the poor oysters, young and old.
“Look, Pinocchio,” here called Tursio, pointing to a small fish, colored with brilliant blues and reds. “That is the stickleback. You may have heard that this fish makes a nest, as do birds. ”

“ They are calling ‘papa.’ I never thought fish could talk,” said Pinocchio.
[Pg 152]
“First of all, seals are not fish, but mammals. And then there are some fish which do produce sounds. Tunnies, when out of the water, cry like children. Some poulpes, when caught, groan. Others make a sound like a whistle.”
“I am ready to believe anything,” Pinocchio said very weakly. “But what is a poulpe?”
“Oh, that is another name for the octopus or devilfish,” was the reply. ”

“ The island was rather bare of trees and grass, but there was a cave near the shore which soon attracted Pinocchio’s attention. He went into it. It was not very large, but one could easily see that a man had been there.
“People must certainly be living here. From now on I shall have to believe Globicephalous,” thought the marionette. ”

“ You see,” continued Marsovino, opening a shell, “this one has none. But do you see this coating of many colors on the inside of the shell? That is a substance which comes from the body of the mollusk. It is called mother of pearl. When the oyster opens its shell, a grain of sand may get into it. The oyster does not like this, as the stone hurts her, but she can’t throw it out. So she covers it up with this substance from her body. When the little stone is all covered up, we have a lovely pearl.”
“Who would ever have thought such a thing possible!” thought Pinocchio, getting to work. ”

“ So he pulled the tail of one, pinched another’s round body, or shook a third one by the nose. The poor things turned and struggled. But this only afforded greater fun for Pinocchio.
But, oh! He had no sooner touched a large red eel’s tail, than he gave a scream of pain. His shouts of laughter were changed to moans, and in his struggles the marionette [Pg 92] fell out of the shell and tumbled on the sand.
“Help! Help! I am dying! Some one has killed me!” howled Pinocchio, so loudly that he could have been heard a mile away. ”

“ It was too soon, the little one was too young to take care of himself; so the father took the only means he had to save the youngster from an enemy,” patiently explained Tursio.
Just then a small fish attracted the dolphin’s attention.
“Boys,” he said, “do you see that tiny fish? It is called the pilot fish. It is the shark’s most faithful friend. Wherever goes the shark, there goes the pilot fish.”
“Now, Pinocchio,” he continued after a pause, “I shall leave you with Globicephalous. Marsovino and I are going to pay a visit to the dolphin Beluga, who is a great friend of mine. ”

“ These, you know, are the dolphin’s favorite food.
The salmon is a fish that lives both in rivers and in seas. Like the swallow, he looks for warm places in which to pass the winter. So, in large numbers he migrates to the sea at that time of the year, and in the spring he returns to the rivers.
“This morning our breakfast will be light,” observed Tursio, swallowing three herring at once.
“I shall not eat anything. I don’t feel very well. Besides, salmon is the only thing I can eat,” said Marsovino. ”

“ Luncheon finished, Marsovino gave Pinocchio the box of pearls which he was holding for the marionette. Then the dolphin tied the treasure boxes on his back, and the two friends were ready to start.
They again passed the beach where the seals had had their battle. Now it was full of men. Some were skinning the poor animals. Others were pressing out the oil from their bodies. Still others were spreading the skins out on the sand to dry.
Again the two travelers came into the polar seas. Here they found a great change. Icebergs had melted, and the sea was full of floating ice. ”

“ It looked like a sword, and Pinocchio, of course, thought it was one.
“What have we here?” he asked. “A soldier battling in the sea? And is that thing his sword?”
“You can hardly be blamed for thinking it a sword. It looks very much like one,” said Marsovino. “It is the long upper jaw of a [Pg 138] fish, and from this it receives its name, swordfish. With this weapon, as it is very strong, the fish can defend himself against much larger animals. ”

“ Tursio then handed Pinocchio a small shell of very strange shape. It looked like a helmet.
“Wear this, Pinocchio,” he said. “It will make a pretty cap for you.”
“It is very pretty. What is it?”
“It is a very rare shell.”
“But it is only one shell. Where is its mate?”
“It has none. It is a univalve. That means it has only one shell. The tellines have two shells, and are therefore called bivalve. Another kind looks like a box with a cover.”
[Pg 27]
“But does an animal live in there?”
“Of course. Every shell has its mollusk.” ”