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156 PINOCCHIO
soon as they were ready he threw them into
the frying-pan.
The first to dance in the boiling oil were
the poor whiting; the crabs followed, then the
sardines, then the soles, then the anchovies, and
at last it was Pinocchio’s turn. Seeing himself
so near death, and such a horrible death, he
was so frightened, and trembled so violently,
that he had neither voice nor breath left for
further entreaties.
But the poor boy implored with his eyes!
The green fisherman, however, without caring
in the least, plunged him five or six times in
the flour, until he was white from head to foot,
and looked like a puppet made of plaster.
He then took him by the head, and....