Pinocchio is thrown into the sea, eaten by fishes,and becomes a Marionette1 once more. As he swims to land,he is swallowed by the Terrible SharkDown into the sea, deeper and deeper, sank Pinocchio, andfinally, after fifty minutes of waiting, the man on the cliffsaid to himself:

　　"By this time my poor littlelame2Donkey must bedrowned. Up with him and then I can get to work on mybeautiful drum."He pulled the rope which he had tied to Pinocchio'sleg--pulled and pulled and pulled and, at last, he saw appear on the surface of the water--Can you guess what?

　　Instead of a dead donkey, he saw a very much aliveMarionette,wriggling3and squirming like aneel4.

　　Seeing that wooden Marionette, the poor man thoughthe was dreaming and sat there with his mouth wide openand his eyes popping out of his head.

　　Gathering his wits together, he said:

　　"And the Donkey I threw into the sea?""I am that Donkey," answered the Marionette laughing.

　　"You?""I.""Ah, you little cheat! Are youpoking5fun at me?""Poking fun at you? Not at all, dear Master.

　　I am talking seriously.""But, then, how is it that you, who a few minutes agowere a donkey, are nowstanding6before me a wooden Marionette?""It may be the effect of salt water. The sea is fond ofplaying these tricks.""Be careful, Marionette, be careful! Don't laugh at me!

　　Woe be to you, if I lose my patience!""Well, then, my Master, do you want to know my whole story?

　　驴子落到水里以后过了五十分钟，买主自言自语说：
　　“这会儿我那可怜的瘸腿驴子准已经淹死了。我用他重新拉上来，好拿他的皮做个出色大鼓。”
　　于是他动手拉绑住驴子一条腿的绳子，他拉啊，拉啊，拉啊，最后看见从水里出来了……请诸位猜猜看，拉出来的是什么？他看见从水里拉上来的不是一头死驴，而是一个活木偶，以为是在做梦，呆住了，嘴张得老大，眼睛都突了出来。
　　等到他从原先的惊讶中清醒一点，结结巴巴地哭看说：
　　“我推到海里的驴子上哪儿去啦？……”
　　“这头驴子就是我！”木偶笑着回答说，
　　“是你？”
　　“是我。”
　　“啊！你这个骗子！你想开我的玩笑吗？”
　　“开您的玩笑，一点不是，亲爱的主人，我跟您说的是真话。”
　　“可你怎么不久前还是头驴子，到水里去了一会，现在变成了一个木偶呢？”
　　“这大概是海水的作用，是大海开的一个玩笑。”
　　“你当心点，木偶，你当心点！……可别暗地里取笑我。要是我忍不住发起火来，你可就倒霉啦！”
　　“我说，我的主人，您想知道全部真相吗？

1 marionette     

n.木偶

参考例句：

With this marionette I wish to travel through the world.我希望带着这个木偶周游世界。

The development of marionette had a great influence on the future development of opera.木偶戏的发展对以后的戏曲有十分重要的影响。

2 lame     

adj.跛的，(辩解、论据等)无说服力的

参考例句：

The lame man needs a stick when he walks.那跛脚男子走路时需借助拐棍。

I don't believe his story.It'sounds a bit lame.我不信他讲的那一套。他的话听起来有些靠不住。

3 wriggling     

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕

参考例句：

The baby was wriggling around on my lap. 婴儿在我大腿上扭来扭去。 

Something that looks like a gray snake is wriggling out. 有一种看来象是灰蛇的东西蠕动着出来了。 来自辞典例句

4 eel     

n.鳗鲡

参考例句：

He used an eel spear to catch an eel.他用一只捕鳗叉捕鳗鱼。

In Suzhou,there was a restaurant that specialized in eel noodles.苏州有一家饭馆，他们那里的招牌菜是鳗鱼面。

5 poking     

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。 

He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。 

6 standing     

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。

They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。