Luckily for the two friends, he did not. The sword disappeared into the sea, and the travelers continued their journey.
“I must dive now, to see where we are,” said Marsovino; and soon Pinocchio found himself at the bottom of the sea. Curious as ever, the marionette looked around, peering here and peering there.
Seeing some cuplike objects hanging on the rocks, he put out his hands for them. They looked very soft and were full of holes. But as soon as Pinocchio touched them, the holes disappeared, and the cups clung tightly to the rocks.
“Oh, excuse me,” begged Pinocchio, “I thought you were sponges.”
“And what are they, if not that?” laughingly asked Marsovino.
“But they move just as if they were alive!”
“And is not the sponge an animal?”
“Really? Do you mean it?”
“Why, yes. The sponge is not only one animal, but a number of animals living together. And what do you think hides in that cuplike sponge you see there, to live a quiet happy life in it?”