“Another beautiful zoöphyte. And to finish the trimming of your cap you might use this five-pointed starfish.”
“What? Is this a fish, also? Surely you are mistaken!”
“Oh, no, Mr. Pinocchio, I am perfectly sure that I am not mistaken. The starfish is just as much an animal as the coral is.”
“It was a long time before people learned that coral is made by tiny living animals. But now everybody knows that there are hundreds of the little coral animals living and working together on the same branch.”
“These little animals grow and multiply very quickly. In a short time they even make mountains under the sea.”
“You know how to tell fanciful tales better than I, Globicephalous.”
“But my tales happen to be true ones, though they do seem fanciful. That mountain you see there is made by coral polyps. If you should climb to the top of it, you would find yourself on an island.”
“Very well. I’ll try it. I might find my father.”
“Yes, or you might meet some one, and ask whether he has been seen.”
“Ask! Do people live on islands in the middle of the sea? What are you talking about?”