cold or from fear. Perhaps a little from both the
one and the other. But Pinocchio, thinking it was from fear, said, to
comfort him:

"Courage, papa! In a few minutes we shall be safely on shore."

"But where is this blessed shore?" asked the little old man, becoming
still more frightened, and screwing up his eyes as tailors do when they
wish to thread a needle. "I have been looking in every direction and I
see nothing but the sky and the sea."

"But I see the shore as well," said the puppet. "You must know that I am
like a cat: I see better by night than by day."

Poor Pinocchio was making a pretense of being in good spirits, but in
reality he was beginning to feel discouraged; his strength was failing,
he was gasping and panting for breath. He could do no more, and the
shore was still far off.

He swam until he had no breath left; then he turned his head to Geppetto
and said in broken words?

"Papa, help me, I am dying!"

The father and son were on the point of drowning when they heard a voice
like a guitar out of tune saying:

"Who is it that is dying?"

"It is I, and my poor father!"

"I know that voice! You are Pinocchio!"

"Precisely; and you?"

"I am the Tunny, your prison companion in the body of the Dog-Fish."

"And how did you manage to escape?"

"I followed your example. You showed me the road, and I escaped after
you."

"Tunny, you have arrived at the right moment! I implore you to help us
or we are lost."

"Willingly and with all my heart. You must, both of you, take hold of my
tail and leave it to me to guide you. I will take you on shore in four
minutes."

Geppetto and Pinocchio, as I need not tell you, accepted the offer at
once; but, instead of holding on by his tail, they thought it would be
more comfortable to get on the Tunny's back.

Having reached the shore, Pinocchio sprang first on land that he might
help his father to do the same. He then turned to the Tunny and said to
him in a voice full of emotion:

"My friend, you have saved my papa's life. I can find no words with
which to thank you properly. Permit me at least to give you a kiss as a
sign of my eternal gratitude!"

The Tunny put his head out of the water and Pinocchio, kneeling on the
ground, kissed him tenderly on the mouth. At this spontaneous proof of
warm affection, the poor Tunny, who was not accustomed to it, felt
extremely touched, and, ashamed to let himself be seen crying like a
child, he plunged under