Excerpt

Have you ever read the Adventures of Pinocchio? What a famous fellow he was! He could talk and walk and live as you do, children; and still he was only a marionette! How sad the little fellow felt when he saw his father disappear in his little boat over the sea! Do you remember how Pinocchio then tried to swim across the ocean? How he did his best to save his poor old father? How he jumped into the water? How he swam and swam over those great, high waves? And how at last he became so tired, that he could only lie still and let the waves carry him? If you remember this, you will also surely remember that on the next day Pinocchio, almost lifeless, was thrown on an island. There he found himself on a small stretch of ground. All around him was the great ocean. Where could he get news of his dear old father? As he looked about him, he saw a large dark object in the water. It was a dolphin. It had stuck its nose out of the water and seemed to be waiting for the marionette. Of Pinocchio’s father, the dolphin knew nothing. “But,” said he, “I am very much afraid the boat has been lost in the night.” My dear children, if you have a good memory, you cannot forget that after saying this the dolphin turned and disappeared...