Pincushion

“ Take a small piece of calico or any cotton scrap, about three inches wide and six inches long, and fold it across the middle. Take a needle and cotton and tack it up the sides, and down again, if you cannot make small stitches, keeping both rows of stitches very close together. Now fray out the threads at the ends of your strip, and turn the bag inside out. You can fill it with lavender if you like, or stuff it with cotton wool and some powdered scent; or you can stuff it quite tight with bran instead, and make a pincushion of it. Tie the opening up tightly with strong thread, Figure 20. ”

“ When Pinocchio regained his senses he found himself lying on the ground wrapped up in coverlets and warm as a bun just out of the oven. Above his head dangled horizontally the huge basket from which he had been flung by the shock of its sudden halt, and which swung on the steel cables of the filovia as if it were weary of being up there and eager to set about its job. All about was the gleam of the snow, even though the light was growing paler every moment. ”

“ The pipsissawa, which is sometimes called prince's pine, is half as tall as the woodchuck that lives under the brown boulder; and the seedling fir in his first season was as tall as the prince's pine, so for the time they made the most of each other's company. The woodchuck and the pipsissawa were never to be any taller, but the silver fir was to keep on growing as long as he stood in the earth and drew sap. In his second season, which happened to be a good growing year, the fir was as tall as the woodchuck and began to look about him. ”

“ 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.” ”

“ His nose wished to have nothing to do with it, and would even have drawn back, but the marionette said; “It is necessary to accustom yourself to all things, my friends. One must have patience. Don’t be afraid; if I find any roses, I promise to gather them for you.”
The nose became quiet, the mouth ate, the hunger was satisfied, and when the meal was finished Pinocchio jumped to his feet and shouted joyously; “I have had my first meal in Africa. Now I must begin my search for wealth.” He forgot the night, his father, and Fatina. His only thought was to get farther away from home. ”

“ 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. ”

“ PINOCCHIO IN DOUBT
Pinocchio went away very angry, vowing that he would avenge himself on all who had laughed at him.
“To begin with,” said he, “I intend to make them all die of thirst. If they wait to drink of the water that I bring, they will certainly die.” With these thoughts in his mind the marionette started homeward, carrying the bucket on his head.
“The bucket will repay me for all the work I have had put upon me. How unlucky we children are! Wherever we go, there is always something for us to do. ”

“ What so attracted Pinocchio were medusæ. They also are animals belonging to the zoöphytes.
These medusæ have no solid parts and cannot live out of the water. If taken out and left in the sun they dry up and soon nothing is left of them. Some of them are as small as a penny, and others are very large.
“If I could only take one,” sighed Pinocchio, hanging way out of his shell in his efforts to touch them. ”

“ HIS FIRST NIGHT AS EMPEROR
Pinocchio, his heart filled with joy, entered the capital of his new empire amid the shouts of the people who crowded the streets. The children, rolling on the ground in glee, raised such a dust that one could hardly see.
Forward, forward, they marched through the streets until the main square was reached. The city was not a large city. Pinocchio was a little disappointed. The houses were only huts plastered with mud. The streets and even the main square were dirty. ”

“ Pinocchio was too much shocked to say a word.
The grand chamberlain came to his aid and whispered something in his ear.
“Speak!” replied the marionette, “I bid you speak, for whatever you do is well done.”
The minister was pleased at the faith his majesty had in him. He turned his dark face toward the two offenders and said, “One sheep and three fingers! You shall both be hanged.”
Pinocchio, half-dazed, watched the minister.
Case followed case, and at the end of each one Pinocchio said to the minister, “Act. I bid you act. What you do is always well done.” ”

“ He gazed around him, frightened at his own words, but he saw the flushed faces of the people and heard them whisper: “The sea talks—” “The sun is filled with stars—” “The tiger laughs—” “The summer is red—” and similar phrases equally sensible.
“What is the matter with everybody?” thought the marionette, as he looked about, and saw one of the kings asleep on the ground beside him. Other forms were stretched out around them. Even as he looked, Pinocchio the First, Emperor and King of all Africa, fell over on his wooden nose, and he too was soon fast asleep. ”

“ Men, women, and children were lounging about, gossiping, buying, and selling. When they saw the marionette they gathered around him, and many began to shout: “It is Pinocchio! Look, here is Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Pinocchio!”
“Well, this is strange!” said the marionette to himself. “I am known even in Africa. Surely I am a great person.”
Like most great men, Pinocchio was annoyed at his noisy reception. In some anger he made his way through the crowd, pushing people right and left with his elbows. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Pinch, but Mr. Pinch is a fellow-creature, my dear; Mr. Pinch is an item in the vast total of humanity, my love; and we have a right, it is our duty, to expect in Mr. Pinch some development of those better qualities, the possession of which in our own persons inspires our humble self-respect. No," continued Mr. Pecksniff". "No! Heaven forbid that I should say, nothing can be expected from Mr. Pinch; or that I should say, nothing can be expected from any man alive (even the most degraded, which Mr. Pinch is not, no really) ”

“ 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.” ”

“ Suddenly the boredom is broken, every one jumps up and runs out to a certain point and crowds around an automobile that has just arrived. Pinocchio wakes up with a start, finds his mouth full of grit, his nose dirty, and hears all the noise about him—has a terrible fright, lets out a yell, and rushes out of the tent. But he is scarcely outside before he feels himself caught up by his legs and whirled around on the ground. He gets up again and is face to face with Bersaglierino, who has not left his post and who laughs loudly at Pinocchio's plight. ”

“ Nevertheless, you continue to climb without effort, as if the legs moved automatically. If you speak, the voice reaches the ears faintly as if it came from a distance. Sometimes you have a certain discomfort called mountain-sickness, which makes the temples throb and brings with it such a languor that the traveler is forced to give up his ascent. Pinocchio, who for some time had been experiencing all these sensations peculiar to the high mountains, found himself suddenly hidden in a fog so thick that he couldn't see a hand's-breath before his nose. ”

“ 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. ”

“ There would have to be something out of the ordinary. He therefore added to the fare some dried fish and a delicious morsel of orange peel. “He will even have fruit,” the good man had said to himself, smiling at the joy his dear Pinocchio would feel on seeing himself treated like a man of the world.
The marionette ate his supper with relish, and having finished his meal, went over to his sleeping father and kissed him as a reward for the fish and the orange peel. Pinocchio, to say the least, had a good heart, and would have done anything for his father except study and work. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Pinocchio began to think after lying still a long time. “Perhaps if I try I [Pg 83] may be able to walk around like a hermit crab. Let me see.”
Slowly the marionette stuck out first one leg, then another; then his arms came out, and lastly his head appeared. Holding the shell with both hands he tried to walk around.... Impossible. After a few steps he was exhausted.
“Too bad! It is so comfortable here! If only I had a horse! ’Twould be like riding in a carriage!”
While he was thinking thus, he saw not far away four fish like the ones he had seen under the hammerhead. ”

“ It was still black night and we were about to leave Pinchow behind when this fellow suddenly fell on his knees in the yard before us, and, bowing to the earth, like a suppliant before a Chinese emperor, implored us to let him go home, for he was losing money on the journey and so on. The average American, I fancy, does not like to be prayed to ”

“ 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? ”

“ Captain Teschisso took hold of the rope Pinocchio had tied around his waist and pulled one end of it through his leather belt, fastened the other end round his body, and, after planting his feet firmly, said: "Take hold of the rope and pull yourself up. You are quite safe; the mountain will crumble before I fall."
Pinocchio did his best to get on his feet, but couldn't succeed. His hinder parts adhered 116 to the crust of the snow as if some magician had glued them firmly. ”

“ 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.” ”