The last to come out of the net was Pinocchio.
As soon as the Fisherman pulled him out, his green eyes opened wide with
surprise, and he cried out in fear:
"What kind of fish is this? I don't remember ever eating anything like
it."
He looked at him closely and after turning him over and over, he said at
last:
"I understand. He must be a crab!"
Pinocchio, mortified at being taken for a crab, said resentfully:
"What nonsense! A crab indeed! I am no such thing. Beware how you deal
with me! I am a Marionette, I want you to know."
"A Marionette?" asked the Fisherman. "I must admit that a Marionette
fish is, for me, an entirely new kind of fish. So much the better. I'll
eat you with greater relish."
"Eat me? But can't you understand that I'm not a fish? Can't you hear
that I speak and think as you do?"
"It's true," answered the Fisherman; "but since I see that you are a
fish, well able to talk and think as I do, I'll treat you with all due
respect."
"And that is--"
"That, as a sign of my particular esteem, I'll leave to you the choice
of the manner in which you are to be cooked.
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