Stranica 162 [162]
144 PINOCCHIO
fended himself like a hero. He used his feet,
which were of the hardest wood, to such pur¬
pose that he kept his enemies at a respectful
distance. Wherever they touched they left a
bruise by way of reminder.
The boys, becoming furious at not being
able to measure themselves hand to hand with
the puppet, had recourse to other weapons.
Loosening their satchels they commenced
throwing their school-books at him—grammars,
dictionaries, spelling-books, geography books,
and other scholastic works. But Pinocchio was
quick and had sharp eyes, and always managed
to duck in time, so that the books passed over
his head and all fell into the sea.
Imagine the astonishment of the fish!
Thinking that the books were something to
eat they all arrived in shoals, but having tasted
a page or two, or a frontispiece, they spat it
quickly out and made a wry face that seemed
to say: “ It isn’t food for us; we are accustomed
to something much better! ”
The battle meantime had become fiercer
than ever, when a big crab, who had come out
of the water and had climbed slowly up on
to the shore, called out in a hoarse voice that
sounded like a trumpet with a bad cold:
" Have done with that, you young ruffians,