At the same moment a fisherman came out of the cave; he was so ugly, so horribly ugly, that he looked like a sea monster. Instead of hair his head was covered with a thick bush of green grass, his skin was green, his eyes were green, his long beard that came down to the ground was also green. He had the appearance of an immense lizard standing on its hind-paws.
When the fisherman had drawn his net out of the sea, he exclaimed with great satisfaction:
"Thank Heaven! Again today I shall have a splendid feast of fish!"
"What a mercy that I am not a fish!" said Pinocchio to himself, regaining a little courage.
The netful of fish was carried into the cave, which was dark and smoky. In the middle of the cave a large frying-pan full of oil was frying and sending out a smell of mushrooms that was suffocating.
"Now we will see what fish we have taken!" said the green fisherman, and, putting into the net an enormous hand, so out of all proportion that it looked like a baker's shovel, he pulled out a handful of fish.
"These fish are good!" he said, looking at them and smelling them complacently. And after he had smelled them he threw them into a pan without water.
He repeated the same operation many times, and as he drew out the fish his mouth watered and he said, chuckling to himself:
"What good whiting!"
"What exquisite sardines!"