the name of this island!" he said to himself. "If I even
knew what kind of people I would find here! But whom shall I ask? There
is no one here."

The idea of finding himself in so lonesome a spot made him so sad that
he was about to cry, but just then he saw a big Fish swimming near-by,
with his head far out of the water.

Not knowing what to call him, the Marionette said to him:

"Hey there, Mr. Fish, may I have a word with you?"

"Even two, if you want," answered the fish, who happened to be a very
polite Dolphin.

"Will you please tell me if, on this island, there are places where one
may eat without necessarily being eaten?"

"Surely, there are," answered the Dolphin. "In fact you'll find one not
far from this spot."

"And how shall I get there?"

"Take that path on your left and follow your nose. You can't go wrong."

"Tell me another thing. You who travel day and night through the sea,
did you not perhaps meet a little boat with my father in it?"

"And who is you father?"

"He is the best father in the world, even as I am the worst son that can
be found."

"In the storm of last night," answered the Dolphin, "the little boat
must have been swamped."

"And my father?"

"By this time, he must have been swallowed by the Terrible Shark, which,
for the last few days, has been bringing terror to these waters."

"Is this Shark very big?" asked Pinocchio, who was beginning to tremble
with fright.

"Is he big?" replied the Dolphin. "Just to give you an idea of his size,
let me tell you that he is larger than a five story building and that
he has a mouth so big and so deep, that a whole train and engine could
easily get into it."

"Mother mine!" cried the Marionette, scared to death; and dressing
himself as fast as he could, he turned to the Dolphin and said:

"Farewell, Mr. Fish. Pardon the bother, and many thanks for your
kindness."

This said, he took the path at so swift a gait that he seemed to fly,
and at every small sound he heard, he turned in fear to see whether the
Terrible Shark, five stories high and with a train in his mouth, was
following him.

After walking a half hour, he came to a small country called the Land
of the Busy Bees. The streets were filled with people running to and fro
about their tasks. Everyone worked, everyone had something to do. Even
if one were to search with a lantern, not one idle man or one tramp
could have been found.

"I understand," said Pinocchio at on