Pinocchio forgot all his troubles, and was full of fun and mischief. Grasping a long thin seaweed and using it as a whip, he went gaily along.
“Up, up, my little horses! Trot, trot,—gallop, gallop,” he sang at the top of his voice.
The fishes obeyed him well and in a short time they had gone a long way. Pinocchio soon became so bold that he whipped a dory which was passing by, pulled a horrible bullhead by the tail, and slapped a red mullet that was studying him with interest.
Meanwhile the horses ran and ran, wherever they wished. Soon Pinocchio saw that they were near the surface of the water.
“‘Up, Up, my Little Horses!’”
“When I reach the top, I shall be able to see where I am. I will then swim to the coral reef and find Globicephalous,” he thought.
But on the surface of the water such a surprise was awaiting him that he forgot all about coral reefs or dolphins.
All around him mushrooms were hanging. They were of all shapes and sizes, and of a hundred beautiful colors. Some had round heads, which looked like soap bubbles. Some looked like inverted glass bells; others like brightly colored umbrellas. Still others seemed to be made of emeralds and sapphires. From all of them, long beautiful silvery threads hung down into the water. The waves moved them about, and the sun playing with them made them look like so many rainbows.