fast that Pinocchio, falling down into the body of the fish, lay unconscious for a half hour.

When he recovered his senses the puppet's mind was hazy and he couldn't remember where he was. All around him everything was dark. He listened for a few moments and heard nothing. Once in a while a soft wind blew on his face. At first he couldn't tell where it was coming from, but after a while he remembered what had happened and deduced that it was coming from the monster's lungs.

Pinocchio at first tried to be brave, but as soon as he became convinced that he was really and truly in the shark's body, he burst into tears. “Help! Help!” he sobbed. “Oh, poor me! Won't someone help me?”

“Who is there to help you?” said a voice from the darkness.

“Who are you?” asked Pinocchio, frozen with terror.

“I'm a tuna who was swallowed at the same time as you. And what kind of fish are you?”

“I'm not a fish; I'm a puppet. But what are we going to do?”

“Wait here until the shark has digested us, I suppose.”

“But I don't want to be digested,” shouted Pinocchio, starting to sob. “I want to get out of here. I want to escape.”

“Go, then, if you can!”

“How big is this shark?” asked the puppet.

“He's almost a mile long.”

While talking in the darkness, Pinocchio thought he saw a faint light in the distance.

“What's that light?” he said to the tuna.

“It's just an illusion. There are no lights in here.”

“But I tell you I see it!”

“The fish looked where the puppet was looking and said, “Now I see it, too. But it must be some kind of mirage.”

“I don't think so.”

“Then it's probably some other poor fish, waiting, as we are, to be digested.”

“I want to talk to him. He may be an old fish and may know of some way out.”

“I hope so.”

“Good-bye, then. When will I see you again?”

“Who knows?” answered the tuna. “It's better to not even think about it.”

Chapter 31 “The Reunion”

Pinocchio, slowly feeling his way through the murky darkness began to walk toward the faint light that glowed in the distance. The farther he went, the brighter and clearer grew the tiny light. On and on he walked until finally he found, amazingly, a little table set for dinner and lighted by a candle stuck in a glass bottle. Near the table sat a little old man.

At this sight, the poor puppet was filled with such happiness that he nearly fainted. He wanted to laugh, to cry, to say a thousand things; but instead, all he could do was stand still and stutter some meaningless words. At last he managed to utter a cry of joy