matter to be an emperor. There was a great deal of workto be done, and work was always tiresome to Pinocchio. Each day he mustget out of bed at a fixed hour, and allow himself to be washed andoiled. Then came breakfast, and after that the ministers with theaffairs of state.
True, his work did not seem hard. He had only to say "Yes" or "No." Butin the task of deciding whether it should be "Yes" or "No" lay the realdifficulty.
Sometimes he would be left with only a few servants, among them someboys to entertain him or to drive away the flies with big featherdusters, which tickled his nose and made him sneeze. These werepleasant moments in his life, but he was often bored, and being acunning rogue he thought out a plan by which once in a while he couldbe freed from care.
Among the boys at the court was one who resembled him in all thingsexcept in the color of his skin. What had Pinocchio planned?
One day, while strolling through the woods near the capital, he calledthe boy to him and taking his arm, said to him in a gentle voice, "Doyou love your emperor?"
"Is it necessary to ask, your majesty?" replied the boy, moved to tearsat such an honor.
"And should you like to do your emperor a favor?"
"Your majesty, to do you a service I would go at once, with only myfeather duster to protect me, and pinch a boa constrictor's tongue!"
"Good!" replied Pinocchio. "You are a fine lad, and you will become agreat man. But let us put aside boa constrictors for the time. I haveoften been sad because I am not like my subjects. I should like tocolor my skin so that it would be like a native's, dear Marameho,--likeyours. You know how pleased the ministers would be."
"Your majesty, it would be the brightest day of our lives!"
"Good boy!" exclaimed the marionette. "If you always answer so well, Ipromise you the place of keeper of the king's treasures."
The boy's eyes shone.
"Well, can it be done?" asked the marionette.
"Nothing more simple, your majesty," replied Marameho. "I know of aplant, the fruit of which will serve our purpose."
"When can we get this wonderful dye?"
"To-day, if your majesty will permit me to absent myself for a shorttime," replied Marameho with great respect.
"Go, go at once," ordered the marionette, greatly delighted. "But wait;there is something more. We are alone and may drop our titles. Yourmajesty, your highness, weary me to death. Call me plain Pinocchio, andI will call you my dear Marameho."
The poor boy was overcome with all this kindness, and planting a kissupon the point of his emperor's nose, he vanished through the trees.
The next day a proclamation was made throughout the empire. His royaland imperial highness had become as black as the blackest of hissubjects.
The ministers were joyous, and they celebrated this happy event with agreat feast. That day they did nothing but eat and dance.
As a rule the emperor, of course, could not take part in suchamusements. It was his business to sit upon the throne while theministers and the people danced and played before him. This time,however, the ancient law was broken. Pinocchio danced like a madman theentire night, while the faithful Marameho, clothed in the emperor'sgarments, sat upon the throne. No one even dreamed of the exchange.
CHAPTER XXXVIITHE HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNT
The next day was set aside for a hunt in honor of the young emperor,Pinocchio the First. He would have been content to stay home, but thiswould have been taken as a grave insult to the people.
A herd of hippopotamuses had been discovered a few miles from thecapital. His ministers agreed that the emperor must go. There wasnothing else for him to do.
Besides, the hunt was for scientific purposes. As Pinocchio had madeknown his views on schools, he could do no less than encourage thisexpedition, which was the only educational training allowed in thecountry.
The hunters, in fact, were persons of high rank, who spent their timein searching for traces of wild animals. It seemed strange to Pinocchiothat these learned hunters did not study how to protect their animals,instead of trying to kill them.
"I suppose it is the custom of the country," thought the marionette.
Two hours before sunrise the leaders in the hunt, armed with bows,arrows, and javelins, stood before the royal palace waiting for theemperor. He was to ride on the back of a bull, which the prime ministerheld by a rope.
They were not kept waiting long. Pinocchio the First came forth with apleasant smile upon his lips. Inwardly, he was very angry, but littledid his faithful subjects suspect how he felt.
"A fine time for a king to rise!" he thought. "Am I or am I notemperor? If I am emperor, I should sleep as long as I wish, eat what Iplease, and do anything I like. It seems to me that I am the slave ofmy people rather than their ruler. Wait, my dear subjects; I will soonprove to you what stuff I am made of."
The people waited. The ministers explained to the emperor that he wasto ride on the bull.
"My dear subjects, have you lost your senses?" thought the marionette."I certainly will not ride on a bull. How long have bulls been used ashorses? This beast will hurl me into the first ditch we come to. A fineregard you have for your emperor! I almost begin to believe that youwant to get rid of me and have another king."
However, there was no way of escape, and he decided to do as he wastold. He leaped squarely upon the bull, and calmly sat there. The bull,fortunately, did not move.
"Good beast!" said Pinocchio, somewhat encouraged, as he gave thesignal to depart.
The sun was already up when they reached the river where the hunt wasto take place.
Hippopotamus hunting is a very dangerous sport, but it was one that thepeople dearly loved.
Scouts were sent on ahead while the hunters crawled like snakes throughthe high, thick grass. As they neared the river, they became verycareful. With their eyes fixed, their ears wide open, their spearsfirmly grasped, they were ready to attack at any moment.
Pinocchio pretended that he was suffering with a pain in the left foot,and slowly dropped behind the others. He had never had any great likingfor the hunt. He felt annoyed that he should always have to do thingsthat he did not enjoy. He would have stayed where he was, but the primeminister came along in search of him.
Tired of the insolence of this man, the marionette thrust back his hatwith a bold sweep of his hand, as if to say, "Now I shall show you whoI am, and who I was." Pinocchio then hastened toward the river,reaching the bank at the very moment when the hunters had started alarge hippopotamus out of the weeds.
The huge animal tried to get away and made for the river.
"Some one must jump into the water and kill it with the javelin," saidthe prime minister. Nobody stirred.
Suddenly a loud voice rang through the stillness:
"I will go."
And Pinocchio, amid shouts of admiration and terror from his subjects,dived into the river and swam toward the animal.
The hippopotamus scented the enemy and turned upon him, but the nimblemarionette, swimming around the great creature, grasped it by itsshort, thick tail.
When the beast felt itself gently pulled in this manner it began toturn round and round like a dog chasing a troublesome fly.
This performance, which was both funny and terrible, lasted for fullyfive minutes. During all that time Pinocchio did nothing but laugh. Hedid not seem to realize what would happen to him if he were clutched bythose terrible jaws.
At length the animal, blind with rage, plunged below the surface of thewater, leaving the marionette and the others dumbfounded.
This adventure increased tenfold the admiration of the black huntersfor their emperor, although it was not wholly satisfactory to the chiefcook of the royal household, who had already planned a great dinner.But Pinocchio quickly consoled him, assuring him that when it came toeating the tongue and feet of a hippopotamus, the emperor wouldcheerfully forego the pleasure.
CHAPTER XXXVIIITHE EMPEROR SURPRISES HIS SUBJECTS BY HIS WISDOM
Pinocchio's power grew greater an
d greater. The courage shown by him inthe hand-to-hand fight with the hippopotamus had made a greatimpression on the ministers.
The grand council, for instance, had assembled the high court ofjustice, which was to try a large number of important cases. The verynext morning the wise and brave Pinocchio was urged to pass judgmentupon the cases to be presented that day.
Pinocchio thought of playing the usual trick upon his ministers byplacing Marameho in his seat; but this was an important affair, andmust be attended to in person.
"Dignitaries! chamberlains! ministers! royal judges! guards! To thecourt!"
The persons called came forward and knelt down to kiss the earth beforehis majesty; then, rising, they all moved on to the court of justice.
Beneath a canopy of ostrich feathers, held aloft by a stately African,walked Pinocchio the First, Emperor and King of all the African kings.He was