comfortable.
His ministers had been waiting some time, and Pinocchio did not thinkit wise to prolong his first meal. With a truly stately stride heentered the audience chamber.
Pinocchio the First, Emperor and King of all Africa, felt it to be hisfirst duty to express his gratitude for the magnificent reception thathad been given to him. The ministers made an equally polite response.
Persons of rank now came to pay homage to the new king. Among them weregreat chiefs of tribes, princes, and kings of the neighboring states.Pinocchio received them all with much pomp. This sort of thing was atfirst very pleasing to him. But day after day the visitors and thefeasts continued. As Pinocchio was the host, he had to eat with allthese newcomers. He became very stout, and his jaws ached from so muchchewing. Eating was becoming a burden to him. He even longed for thedays when he had gone hungry. However, one must take things as theycome and be ready to suffer for the good of one's country.
One day there came to the court three kings, the most powerful within arange of a thousand miles. The first was clad in a white skirt, and amilitary coat which he had bought from an English captain. He came withhis head uncovered and a high hat in his hand. The second wore an oldhelmet on the back of his head. The third carried a clumsy sword in onehand and in the other a broken umbrella.
They bowed to the ground very respectfully, and then each in turnslapped Pinocchio in the face.
The marionette, who did not expect this sort of greeting, was about toexpress his anger, when the master of ceremonies whispered in his earthat such a greeting was given only to great people.
"When in Rome, do as the Romans do," thought Pinocchio, and he smiledat the visitors.
Dinner was then announced. Pinocchio felt sick at the thought of eatingagain. It was the fifth time that day, and the sun was still high inthe sky, but of course it was not proper to dismiss three kings withouthaving feasted them.
They went out to the dining room, which was under a tree. Beneath thebranches were more than a thousand people. They all sat on the ground,and were waited upon by tall young men, who carried around large platesof meat.
The three kings gave themselves up to the joys of eating. They tooktheir food in their hands and swallowed it without even stopping tochew it. Each man ate enough to satisfy a score of ordinary people, forAfrican kings are great eaters. The poor marionette tried to eat asmuch as the others did. He felt that his reputation depended upon it.How he suffered!
At sunset, when all had satisfied their hunger, there was placed beforethem a strange-looking affair with a long tube fastened to it. Adisagreeable smoke came out of it.
"What new thing is this?" thought the marionette, but he did not say aword, for by this time he had learned that an emperor must appear toknow everything.
The matter, however, was quickly made clear. The outfit was a hugepipe, with a long mouthpiece. The master of ceremonies presented themouthpiece to the emperor and asked him to have the kindness to smoke.
"What blockheads!" the marionette muttered to himself. "I never smokeanything but the finest cigars!"
Still, he considered it wise to make no objections. He puffed twice onthe pipe stem, and then passed it to the king that sat at his righthand.
The king drew a mouthful and then passed the pipe to his next neighbor.Thus the pipe moved along in regular order until it came back toPinocchio. Poor Pinocchio! he was already feeling a little queer afterhis first attempt, and did not enjoy the idea of smoking again; but heknew that he must live up to the reputation of a great emperor.Accordingly he bravely took the pipe and puffed half a dozen times.
Alas! It would have been better for him had he not tried it again! Hewas wretchedly sick. His head swam dizzily, and the sweat stood out onhis forehead. He tried to hide his feelings by talking, but what hesaid was sheer nonsense.
"When I was king in my own country, the Talking Cricket told me--becausemy feet burned--that the alphabet had been swallowed by the cat--that washung to a tree by a dog--that was owned by the director of the circus."
He gazed around him, frightened at his own words, but he saw theflushed faces of the people and heard them whisper: "The sea talks--""The sun is filled with stars--" "The tiger laughs--" "The summer is red--" and similar phrases equally sensible.
"What is the matter with everybody?" thought the marionette, as helooked about, and saw one of the kings asleep on the ground beside him.Other forms were stretched out around them. Even as he looked,Pinocchio the First, Emperor and King of all Africa, fell over on hiswooden nose, and he too was soon fast asleep.
CHAPTER XXXVPINOCCHIO MAKES HIS FIRST ADDRESS
The next day was a splendid one. The sky was a clear blue, the earthwas green and fresh. Thousands upon thousands shouted with joy.Pinocchio was to be crowned king and emperor.
He had carefully prepared the royal address, and came proudly forwardmounted upon a large elephant, towering above his people. The trumpetssounded, the drums beat, the children rolled on the ground. At a signalfrom the master of ceremonies all was still. Even the birds ceased tosing. A troop of monkeys, leaping about in the trees, paused to listen.The emperor spoke as follows:
"Ministers of Africa, officers of the army, chiefs and underchiefs,servants and slaves, men, women, and children, all, beloved subjects,listen to the voice of your emperor!"--and Pinocchio looked around atthe multitude.
"We, Pinocchio the First, speak to you, and bring to you the word ofpeace and of love. A new day is about to open to you. Rejoice, Opeople! We have concluded to bring happiness to every heart and richesto every home. We shall not reveal all the plans which, in time, wehope to see carried out. We shall begin very modestly. Our first giftto you, O people, is Time. Time is very valuable. We have a great dealof it in store. Our kingdom is rich in Time; therefore we have decreedto give each of you as much Time as you want. How can we be moregenerous!
"Behold the bright sun in the clear blue sky! There is not its equalanywhere else in the world. Kings are proud of it. We, your emperor andruler, have decreed that every one of you, our faithful subjects, mayenjoy the sunlight free of any charge, without tax or duty. Can we bemore unselfish?
"You hear the song of the birds, the voices of the animals, therustling of the leaves in the wind! These also we give you to enjoy atyour leisure, and without expense.
"There is one thing, however, that needs our special notice, and thiswe shall now bring to your attention. Remember, we shall enforce withall our power this law we are about to propose."
Here Pinocchio placed his hand upon his breast and looked toward thesky.
"We will never introduce into our kingdom that shameful system whichbrings sorrow to many countries known to us. We speak of the horriblescheme called Compulsory Education! What a disgrace it is, belovedsubjects, to see so many bright, intelligent children seated for hoursand hours before books which ruin their eyesight! The eye is a preciousjewel, and it is improved, not by books, but by looking here and there,above and below, everywhere and anywhere, as the butterflies and thebirds do. Let us teach our children as nature teaches us. Let us burnour books and our schools. Do not drive our dear little ones to sillywords and cruel numbers. It makes our heart bleed to see parents calltheir children from some pleasant game and shut them up in uglyschoolrooms."
At this point Pinocchio was so moved that he had to stop. He lookedaround at the many mothers, and saw them wipe the tears from theireyes. Proud of the impression his words had made on these kind hearts,he went on in a tone so pathetic that it touched even the elephantwhich carried him.
"These are gentle tears, dear subjects, and they show how noble areyour hearts. You love your children. We ourselves will never see themsuffer. No, a thousand times no! We are not so cruel as to tear youaway from your dear ones. They may continue to roll upon the grass,free as the birds that fly. They are free to hunt for crickets, tosteal birds' nests, to bite and to kick each other, to run and play inthe fields and woods with the monkeys.
"We consider these e
xercises very necessary, and whenever the graveaffairs of the state will permit we will visit you and encourage thesesports. You perceive that in this matter you owe much to your emperor,who was made to go to school, and who saw the evils of education. Alas!too many of his young companions were completely ruined so far as theireyes and brains were concerned.
"Officers and soldiers, ministers of the crown, beloved subjects, we,Pinocchio the First, Emperor and King, ask you to shout with all thebreath in your lungs: 'Down with Compulsory Education! Down with theschool!' "
A deafening roar, louder than thunder, arose from the people: "Downwith Compulsory Education! Down with the school!"
This speech was followed by a review of the troops, which lasted tillnight.
Emperor Pinocchio, tired but satisfied, then returned in state to theroyal palace.
CHAPTER XXXVITHE EMPEROR BECOMES AS BLACK AS A CROW
It was no easy