Pinocchio in Africa Part 3

"When do you leave for Africa?" Pinocchio was asked.

"Have I not told you? To-morrow morning at daybreak, even if it rains."

"Excellent! But you must carry with you several things which you may need."

"And those are - ?"

"First of all you will need plenty of money."

"That is not lacking," said Pinocchio in his usual airy way.

"Good! Then you should get a rifle."

"What for?"

"To defend yourself against the wild animals."

"Come, come! You don't want me to believe that! I have seen what the wild animals of Africa are!"

"Be careful, marionette. Take a good rifle with you, for one never knows what will happen in Africa."

"But I do not know how to load one."

"Well, then, stay at home. It is folly for you to begin such an undertaking without arms and without knowing how to use them."

"It is you who are foolish. Do not make me angry. When I have decided upon a thing no one can stop me from carrying it out."

"Take care, marionette; you may be sorry."

"Nevertheless I shall go."

"You may find things very unpleasant."

"It is for that very reason that I am going."

"You may never return."

"The good Fairy will protect me."

"Who is the Fairy?"

"How may things you want to know! If you are in need of nothing else, I will bid you all good-by!"

"Farewell, marionette."

"Till we meet again."

"Good-by, blockhead."

"Don't be rude! said Pinocchio, greatly vexed, and out he went.

9. Pinocchio Does Not Sleep

WHEN Pinocchio arrived at his home he found his father already in bed. Old Geppetto did not earn enough to provide a supper for two. He used to say that he was not hungry, and go to bed. But there was always plenty for Pinocchio. An onion, some beans moistened in water, and a piece of bread which had been left over from the morning, were never missing.

That night Pinocchio found a better meal than usual.

His good father, not having seen his son at the regular dinner hour, knew that the boy would be very hungry. 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.

That night he slept little. Lions, elephants, tigers, panthers, beautiful women dressed in silk and mounted on b.u.t.terflies as large as eagles, men, in large boots, armed with knives and guns, palaces of silver and gold! All these and a great many more strange sights floated before his dreaming eyes, while he could hear animals roaring, howling, and whistling to the sound of trumpets and drums.

At length the night needed and Pinocchio arose. First of all he went to bid farewell to his friends in the circus, but they were no longer to be found. During the night the director had quietly stolen away with his company.

"A pleasant journey to you!" said Pinocchio, and he began to search the ground for a forgotten piece of gold, or some precious stone which might have fallen from a lady's diadem; but he found nothing.

"What shall I do now? Shall I go to Africa or to school? It might be better to go to school, for the teacher says that I am a little behind in reading, writing, composition, history, geography, and arithmetic.

In other subjects I am not so dull. Yes, yes; it will certainly do me more good to go to school. Then I shall be a dunce no longer."

Having made this sensible decision, the marionette started for home with the idea of studying his lessons and of going to school.

10. Pinocchio Eats Dates

SOON he met a man in a paper hat and a white ap.r.o.n. He was pus.h.i.+ng a cart filled with a kind of fruit that Pinocchio had never seen before.

"Dates! dates! fresh dates! sweet dates! real African dates!" came the cry.

"Even he speaks of Africa!" thought Pinocchio. "Africa seems to follow me. But what has Africa to do with dates, and what are these dates? I have never heard of them." The man stopped; Pinocchio stopped also. A lady bought some of the dates, and it happened that one of them fell on the ground. The marionette picked it up and handed it to her.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Keep it yourself; you have earned it."

The man with the cart went on, "Dates! dates! fresh dates! sweet dates! real African dates!"

Pinocchio looked after him for a time and then put the date into his mouth. Great Caesar! How delicious! Never before had he tasted anything so sweet. The orange peel was nothing compared with this! What the circus people had told him, then, was really true!

"To Africa I go," he said, "even if I break a leg. What do I care about the Red Sea, the Yellow Sea, the Green, or any other sea? I will go!"

And the rascal, forgetting his home and his father, who at that very moment was waiting to give him his breakfast, set out toward the sea.

As he neared the water he heard a voice call, "Pinocchio!

Pinocchio!"

The marionette stopped and looked around, but seeing no one, he went on.

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio! Be careful! You know not what you do!"