of the boys.

And, so saying, he gave him a blow on the head with his fist.

But it was give and take; for the puppet, as was to be expected,
immediately returned the blow, and the fight in a moment became general
and desperate.

Pinocchio, although he was one alone, defended himself like a hero. He
used his feet, which were of the hardest wood, to such purpose that he
kept his enemies at a respectful distance. Wherever they touched they
left a bruise by way of reminder.

The boys, becoming furious at not being able to measure themselves hand
to hand with the puppet, had recourse to other weapons. Loosening their
satchels, they commenced throwing their school-books at him--grammars,
dictionaries, spelling-books, geography books, and other scholastic
works. But Pinocchio was quick and had sharp eyes, and always managed to
duck in time, so that the books passed over his head and all fell into
the sea.

Imagine the astonishment of the fish! Thinking that the books were
something to eat they all arrived in shoals, but, having tasted a page
or two, or a frontispiece, they spat it quickly out and made a wry face
that seemed to say: "It isn't food for us; we are accustomed to
something much better!"

The battle meantime had become fiercer than ever, when a big crab, who
had come out of the water and had climbed slowly up on the shore, called
out in a hoarse voice that sounded like a trumpet with a bad cold:

[Illustration: FOUR RABBITS AS BLACK AS INK ENTERED CARRYING A LITTLE
BIER]

"Have done with that, you young ruffians, for you are nothing else!
These hand-to-hand fights between boys seldom finish well. Some disaster
is sure to happen!"

Poor crab! He might as well have preached to the wind. Even that young
rascal, Pinocchio, turning around, looked at him mockingly and said
rudely:

"Hold your tongue, you tiresome crab! You had better suck some liquorice
lozenges to cure that cold in your throat."

Just then the boys, who had no more books of their own to throw, spied
at a little distance the satchel that belonged to Pinocchio, and took
possession of it.

Amongst the books there was one bound in strong cardboard with the back
and points of parchment. It was a Treatise on Arithmetic.

One of the boys seized this volume and, aiming at Pinocchio's head,
threw it at him with all the force he could muster. But instead of
hitting the puppet it struck one of his companions on the temple, who,
turning as white a