Pinocchio, Part 6: Inside the Shark

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Pinocchio had been a donkey for weeks. A circus had bought him, and he had worked until he fell and hurt his leg. Then a man had bought him to make a drum from his skin and had thrown him into the sea to drown. But when the fish ate the donkey skin, only the wooden puppet was left, and Pinocchio swam away, free.

Then he saw a huge shape in the water, with a mouth as wide as a cave. It was the Terrible Shark, the monster that all the fishermen feared. Pinocchio tried to swim away, but the shark swallowed him in one gulp, along with a large tuna that was swimming next to him.

Inside, everything was dark and wet. Pinocchio waited for his eyes to adjust. Far away, at the bottom of the tunnel, there was a small, flickering light. He walked toward it with slippery steps. He could hardly believe what he found: a little table with a candle on it, and an old man with white hair, eating a tiny bowl of soup. It was Geppetto.

"Father!" shouted Pinocchio, and he threw his arms around him. Geppetto cried and laughed at the same time. He explained that he had built a little boat to look for his son across the sea. A storm had destroyed it, and the shark had swallowed him two years before. "I have lived on a ship that was inside here, and on the food that came with it," he said. "But the last biscuit was eaten yesterday."

There was only one way out. The shark slept with its mouth open every night, because it was old and suffered from asthma. "We'll climb up its throat and swim to the shore," said Pinocchio. "But I can't swim," said Geppetto. "Hold on to my back," said Pinocchio, "and I'll carry you."

In the darkest hour of the night, they tiptoed along the tongue, across the teeth, and out into the moonlit water. The tuna, who had become their friend, helped them swim, and at last they reached the shore.

Pinocchio worked hard for months. He carried water for a farmer and looked after his sick father every day. He did not play, and he did not complain. One night, he dreamed of the fairy. "You have a kind heart," she whispered. "That's why I forgive you." The next morning, Pinocchio woke up and stretched. His arms were soft, his hair was brown, and his feet were warm. He was a real boy.

He looked across the room. On a chair, there was a puppet with its head to one side and its arms hanging down. "How funny I was when I was a puppet," said Pinocchio, and he laughed. Then he ran to Geppetto's bed, and for the first time, both of them had good news to share.