“I left him three days ago on the seashore.”
“What was he doing?”
“He was making a little boat in order to cross the ocean. For four months the poor man has been looking for you, and not being able to find you he began to build a boat and now he is going to look for you in another country.”
“How far is it to the shore?” asked Pinocchio.
“A thousand miles.”
“A thousand miles! Oh, Dove! Oh, if only I had a pair of wings!”
“If you wish to go, I will carry you.”
“How?”
“On my back. Are you heavy?”
“No, indeed. I am as light as a feather.”
And then without saying anything further, Pinocchio jumped on the back of the Dove and put a leg back of each wing just like a man on horseback. He then cried to the Dove, “All ready, go!” The Dove spread his wings and in a few moments they almost touched the clouds. Arriving at that extraordinary height, the marionette had the curiosity to turn around and look down. He was so scared when he took a view of the country below that he was obliged to put his arms around the Dove’s neck.
They flew all day long. Toward evening the Dove said, “I am very thirsty.”
