It was an
island in the midst of the sea.

He tried his utmost to reach the shore, but it was all in vain. The
waves, racing and tumbling over each other, knocked him about as if he
had been a stick or a wisp of straw. At last, fortunately for him, a
billow rolled up with such fury and impetuosity that he was lifted up
and thrown far on to the sands.

He fell with such force that, as he struck the ground, his ribs and all
his joints cracked, but he comforted himself, saying:

"This time also I have made a wonderful escape!"

Little by little the sky cleared, the sun shone out in all his splendor,
and the sea became as quiet and as smooth as oil.

The puppet put his clothes in the sun to dry and began to look in every
direction in hopes of seeing on the vast expanse of water a little boat
with a little man in it. But, although he looked and looked, he could
see nothing but the sky, and the sea, and the sail of some ship, but so
far away that it seemed no bigger than a fly.

"If I only knew what this island was called!" he said to himself. "If I
only knew whether it was inhabited by civilized people--I mean, by
people who have not the bad habit of hanging boys to the branches of the
trees. But whom can I ask? Whom, if there is nobody?"

This idea of finding himself alone, alone, all alone, in the midst of
this great uninhabited country, made him so melancholy that he was just
beginning to cry. But at that moment, at a short distance from the
shore, he saw a big fish swimming by; it was going quietly on its own
business with its head out of the water.

Not knowing its name, the puppet called to it in a loud voice to make
himself heard:

"Eh, Sir Fish, will you permit me a word with you?"

"Two if you like," answered the fish, who was a Dolphin, and so polite
that few similar are to be found in any sea in the world.

"Will you be kind enough to tell me if there are villages in this island
where it would be possible to obtain something to eat, without running
the danger of being eaten?"

"Certainly there are," replied the Dolphin. "Indeed, you will find one
at a short distance from here."

"And what road must I take to go there?"

"You must take that path to your left and follow your nose. You cannot
make a mistake."

"Will you tell me another thing? You who swim about the sea all day and
all night, have you by chance met a little boat with my papa in it?"

"And who is your papa?"

"He is the best papa