Pinocchio in Africa Part 9

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!

26. 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 n.o.body 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.

27. 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."

"h.e.l.lo there!" he said in a low voice. No one answered.

"h.e.l.lo 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.

I 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 const.i.tution." thought the marionette, "I am as good as new."

28. Pinocchio Is Carried Away In An Eggsh.e.l.l

PINOCCHIO now found himself in a dense growth of shrubbery which made his progress difficult. He pushed on among the th.o.r.n.y 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 price. 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 b.u.t.terflies 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 sh.e.l.l into which the unfortunate marionette had fallen, and was now rus.h.i.+ng 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.

29. Pinocchio Escapes Again