Page:The adventures of Pinocchio (Cramp 1904).djvu/151

 Pinocchio continued to swim, keeping always near the shore. Finally he thought he had arrived at a good safe place to land. Looking up and down, he saw on the reefs a sort of grotto out of which came a long thread of smoke.

“In that grotto,” he said to himself, “there must be some fire. So much the better; I will go and dry myself. Then whatever will happen will happen.”

Having taken this resolution he approached the reef; but when he was about to land he felt something in the water that drew him along. He tried to escape but it was too late. He found himself in a great fish net full of fishes of every kind. And then he saw coming out of the grotto a fisherman so ugly that he appeared to be a sea monster. Instead of hair he had bunches of seaweed on his head. His skin also was green; so were his eyes and his long beard. He looked like a great big lizard with arms and legs.

When the fisherman had pulled out the net he gave a great cry of satisfaction: “Thank goodness! To-day I shall have a nice big meal.”

“It is a good thing I am not a fish,” said Pinocchio to himself, becoming more hopeful.

The net of fishes was carried into the grotto, which was dark and smoky. In the center was a fire, and over it a frying pan full of oil was spitting.