'And how long have you been shut up here?' asked Pinocchio.
'Since that day—it must be nearly two years ago: two years, my dear Pinocchio, that have seemed to me like two centuries!'
'And how have you managed to live? And where did you get the candle? And the matches to light it? Who gave them to you?'
'Stop, and I will tell you everything. You must know, then, that in the same storm in which my boat was upset a merchant vessel foundered. The sailors were all saved but the vessel went to the bottom, and the Dog-fish, who had that day an excellent appetite, after he had swallowed me, swallowed also the vessel. . . .'
'How?'
'He swallowed it in one mouthful, and the only thing that he spat out was the mainmast, that had stuck between his teeth like a fish-bone. Fortunately for me the vessel was laden with preserved meat in tins, biscuit, bottles of wine, dried raisins, cheese, coffee, sugar, candles, and boxes of wax matches. With this providential supply I have been able to live for two years. But I have arrived at the end of my resources: there is nothing left in the larder, and this candle that you see burning is the last that remains. . . .'
