18.  The Cave

If I get out of this prison alive, it will be the greatest wonder I have ever known.”  Pinocchio sat in the spot where he had fallen.  He now began to suffer from thirst.  There had been a great deal of excitement, and his throat was parched.  He would have given anything for a sip of the water he had so carelessly left in the middle of the street only a little while before.

   “I don’t want to die here,” he said.  “I must get up and walk.”

So saying, he moved slowly about, groping with his hands and feet as if he were playing blindman’s buff.  The ground was soft, and the air seemed fresh.  In fact, it was not so bad as he had at first thought.  Only four things worried him, darkness, hunger, thirst, and fear.  Aside from these he was safe and sound.

He had gone but a short distance through the darkness when suddenly he thought he heard a faint murmur.  He saw a gleam of light.  The blood rushed through his veins.  He walked on.  The sound became clearer, and the light grew brighter.  At length Pinocchio found himself in a cave lighted by soft rays.  The murmuring sound was caused by a small stream of water coming out from a high rock and forming a little waterfall.  Pinocchio rushed toward the rocks, opened his mouth wide like a funnel, and drank his fill.

“I shall not die of thirst,” said the marionette.  “Unfortunately, I am still hungry.  What a fate is mine!  Why can we not live without eating?  Some day I am going to find a way.  If I succeed, I shall teach the poor people to live without food as I do.  How happy they will be!” Meanwhile he looked about for a means of escape.  Soon he discovered the hole that lighted the cave, and walked out once more under the open sky.

19.  The Caravan

He saw nothing but rocks and sand; rocks that shone like mirrors, and sand that burned like fire.  He walked on very sadly, without knowing where.  Presently he found himself upon a hill, from which he could see a vast plain crossed by a wide highway.  A long line of people and camels were on the march, but how strange they looked!  They were going along with heads down and feet up.  At first the marionette was filled with a strong desire to laugh; then he became frightened and rubbed his eyes, doubting what they told him.

   “Am I dreaming?” he said to himself.

The line continued its march, and he distinctly heard the people laugh and joke as they all sat upside down on the backs of the inverted camels.

“I was not prepared for this!  What a strange way of traveling they have in Africa!  Maybe I too am walking on my head!” and he touched himself to make sure that his head was in its proper place.

Meanwhile the caravan passed on, and Pinocchio stood still, his eyes fixed upon the camels as they disappeared at the turning of the road.  The only thing left for him to do was to follow them.