“But many of them may have no pearls at all. You see,” continued Marsovino, opening a shell, “this one has none. But do you see this coating of many colors on the inside of the shell? That is a substance which comes from the body of the mollusk. It is called mother of pearl. When the oyster opens its shell, a grain of sand may get into it. The oyster does not like this, as the stone hurts her, but she can’t throw it out. So she covers it up with this substance from her body. When the little stone is all covered up, we have a lovely pearl.”
“Who would ever have thought such a thing possible!” thought Pinocchio, getting to work. He soon had a large number of oysters; but when he opened them he found only a few small balls.
“Come here, Pinocchio. You may have better luck in this corner,” and Marsovino led the way to a nook in the rocks. “Look in there.”
Again Pinocchio searched, and soon a great many shells lay at his feet ready to be opened. Without mercy, he went at them, tearing and pulling the poor little creatures from their homes. His search finished, he threw them aside. The sand was soon covered with the dead and the dying.
“Poor little beings!” observed Marsovino. “After they have given you their pearls, is that the way to treat them? Could you not be more careful?”
Pinocchio had a kind soul. He was only thoughtless. So he went to work and tried to undo the wrong he had done. Those oysters which were only slightly hurt he put back into their shells; while he ate the others, and so ended their sufferings.
This work finished, he went on with his search for pearls. In a short time he had a small pile of beautiful pearls. Some were large, some small, some globular, and others shaped like drops of water.
In color, too, they were different. Almost all were white, some faintly pink, a few grayish, and one was all black.
“Well, Pinocchio, you have enough. With them you will be as rich as the king of China. Come now. We must go on with our journey.”