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Equality

Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Edited by
François Levrau · Noel Clycq
Equality
 François Levrau · Noel Clycq
Editors

Equality
Multidisciplinary Perspectives
Editors
François Levrau Noel Clycq
University of Antwerp University of Antwerp
Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp, Belgium

ISBN 978-3-030-54309-9 ISBN 978-3-030-54310-5 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54310-5

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2021
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,
whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting,
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The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
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 Preface

At least since the Enlightenment the idea of ‘equality’ has served as one
of the main political and normative discursive ideals in European and
North-American societies. Notwithstanding the consensus on the impor-
tance of this idea(l), explaining what it exactly entails has turned out to
be quite difficult. After all, if we agree that people are to be respected as
each other’s moral equals, what then are the political, social, economic
and normative consequences? Different visions have been proposed and
so it is not entirely surprising that in current societies still a lot of
turmoil exists around equality related issues. Indeed, enduring and even
increasing patterns of socioeconomic inequality have led to fierce polit-
ical, philosophical and public discussions. However, contestations about
how (un)equal societies are today, should not be mixed up with contes-
tations about what kind of equality should be aimed at. These issues
should be carefully disentangled as it should be explained that the answer
to the latter has implications for the answer to the former. For example,
those who defend ‘equality of opportunity’ would not argue ‘inequali-
ties of outcome’ necessarily to be a problem. Discussions however are
also lingering on the extent to which ‘equality’ provides an impetus for

v
vi Preface

policies to recognise and accommodate sociocultural and religious differ-

ences. Indeed, it is not only the gap between the rich and the poor (or
less rich) that is much debated, as one can also witness strong emotions
stirred by the inflow of many (Muslim) migrants and refugees. In the
Western world Muslims and refugees are often portrayed and/or expe-
rienced as a Fremdkörper, the ‘other’ undermining ‘mainstream society’
of which they do not seem part—a discourse that might bear some
resemblances to episodes from Europe’s darkest past.
In this volume we illustrate that several of the challenges that modern
societies face, raise important and interesting issues about equality’s
nature, value, relevance, scope and its relation to other values. Some
of these challenges are rather new and point at innovative insights and
solutions, while often the tensions also have an enduring character and
therefore confront us with the question why they are so persistent. What
exactly is the mechanism that explains their longevity? This is just one of
the many puzzling questions that this book will address. Indeed, when it
comes to equality, the questions are manifold. What articulated norma-
tive ideal of equality should we aim at? What does it exactly mean when
saying that people are morally equal and how should people be treated as
equals? For example, does moral equality imply resource equality or is it
about equal opportunities? How does equality relate to other values such
as liberty and what type of solidarity comes with equality? What are the
conditions that impact on equality? What type of enduring and new chal-
lenges are modern societies facing with regard to equality? Are all kinds of
inequalities bad? What type of socioeconomic and/or sociocultural poli-
cies is to be implemented if some sort of equality is treated as a polar star?
Do people actually believe in the ideal of equality and if so, what exactly
do they believe? How do people react to inequality? Which model of
socioeconomic redistribution do Europeans prefer? How is (in)equality
perceived and depicted in media and cultural products? Does it make
sense to believe that equality of some sort can be realised, or should
we, instead, recognise its utopian character, thereby also considering that
the human selfishness and the innate distrust towards ‘the other’ are too
intractable to transform societies into more egalitarian ones?
As these are all complex questions, we believe the best way to deal
with them is a multi- and interdisciplinary approach. However, while
 Preface vii

the concept of equality has been studied in much detail in several disci-
plines, at date books that bring together the disciplinary insights are
rather scarce (notable exceptions are from Baker et al. 2009; Li and Tracer
2017; Lamont and Pierson 2019). While these excellent collections seem
to focus rather on specific issues (e.g. housing market, education, city life,
class, gender, ideology, health care, democracy) or case studies in order
to shed light on equality’s characterisation and importance, the present
collection takes academic disciplines as the entry points to the discus-
sion. Hence, the many issue and examples that will be dealt with serve as
clarifications for how a discipline defines (the importance of ) equality.
This book, thus, could help to fill a gap, as it contains nine disci-
plinary ‘state-of-the-art’ chapters from expert scholars across Europe. We
opted for this approach because from the very moment one starts a
reflection about equality, it is almost impossible not to invoke ideas and
insights coming from a plethora of disciplines. This need for multidisci-
plinary research is nicely captured by Lamont and Pierson (2019, p. 6) in
their recent paper: “At a moment when societies struggle to deal successfully
with inequalities, identifying and exploring connections between economic,
social, psychological, political, and cultural dimensions of inequality holds
great promise. It can clarify why many forms of social inequalities appear
so intractable, often deepening or broadening over time. It also can provide
insights into the kinds of interventions that might attenuate, ameliorate, or
counteract deepening inequalities.” Books that bring together the view-
points of several disciplines are even more important in a time where
scholars and politicians tend to be experts in only one field of exper-
tise. Some ninety years ago, José Ortega y Gasset (1932) already worried
about what he called the Barbarism of specialisation. As such the current
volume also feeds into the current trend towards more interdisciplinary
approaches to pressing social, political and economic issues. We therefore
express our hope that this book will invite the reader to look beyond the
boundaries of his/her own expertise or field of interest and get inspired
by the many insights that are provided by other disciplines.

Antwerp, Belgium François Levrau

Noel Clycq
viii Preface

References
Baker, J., Lynch, K., Cantillon, S., & Walsh, J. (2009). Equality: From theory
to action. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Lamont, M., & Pierson, P. (Eds.). (2019). Inequality as a multidimensional
process. Dædalus, Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 148(3),
1–190.
Li, M., & Tracer, D. (2017). Interdisciplinary perspectives on fairness, equity, and
justice. Cham: Springer International Press.
Ortega Y Gasset, J. (1932). The revolt of the masses. New York, London: Norton
& Company.
 Contents

Part I Introduction

1 Introduction: Equality as a Multifaceted Concept 3

François Levrau and Noel Clycq

Part II Theories & Histories

2 Egalitarianism: A Tour d’horizon 43

François Levrau

3 Equality, Rights and Community: A Long Term

Perspective 103
Bert De Munck

4 Multiculturalism Today: Difference, Equality

and Interculturalism 135
Tariq Modood and Tamar de Waal

ix
x Contents

Part III Institutions & Policies

5 Religion and Equality in the Workplace:

A Legal-Philosophical Analysis 167
François Levrau and Leni Franken

6 Economic Equality and the Welfare State 199

Wim Van Lancker and Aaron Van den Heede

7 Gender, Anti-discrimination and Diversity: The EU’s

Role in Promoting Equality 231
Ruby Gropas

Part IV Experiences & Impressions

8 How Do People React to (In)Equality and (In)Justice?

A Psychological Approach 267
Johanna Pretsch

9 What Welfare Principles Do Europeans Prefer?

An Analysis of Their Attitudes Towards Old Age
Pensions and Unemployment Benefits 295
Tim Reeskens and Wim van Oorschot

10 A Transdisciplinary Cultural Studies’ Approach

to Inequality: What Can We Learn from Precarity
Studies and Why Does Art Matter? 321
Sieglinde Lemke

Index 347
 Notes on Contributors

Noel Clycq is Research Professor in training and education sciences at

the research group Edubron at the University of Antwerp. He focuses on
issues of diversity, globalisation and the governance of learning. In the
past he held the chair ‘European values: Discourses and prospects’ at the
History department and was senior researcher at the Centre for Migra-
tion and Intercultural studies (University of Antwerp). He publishes in
national as well as international journals on issues related to ethnicity,
gender, migration, multiculturalism, education and the family. He (co-
)coordinated large-scale interuniversity projects at the national as well as
the European level, and supervises several Ph.D.-projects on early school
leaving, collective identity formation, emotion and school belonging, the
(un)making of Muslim identities and community education.
Bert De Munck is Full Professor at the History Department at the
University of Antwerp, teaching ‘Early Modern History’, ‘Theory of
Historical Knowledge’ and ‘History of Science and Society’. He is a
member of the Centre for Urban History, Antwerp, and the Director
of the interdisciplinary Urban Studies Institute and the International
Scientific Research Community (WOG) ‘Urban Agency: The Historical

xi
xii Notes on Contributors

Fabrication of the City as an Object of Study’. His research concentrates

on early modern cities, in particular craft guilds, civil society, poor relief
and the ‘repertoires of evaluation’ regarding skills and products. Relevant
publications are Guilds, Labour and the Urban Body Politic: Fabricating
Community in the Southern Netherlands, 1300 –1800 (Routledge, 2018);
‘Disassembling the City: A Historical and an Epistemological View on
the Agency of Cities’, Journal of Urban History (2017), 43, 5, 811–829;
and ‘Artisans, Products and Gifts: Rethinking the History of Material
Culture in Early Modern Europe’, Past & Present (August 2014), 224,
39–74.
Tamar de Waal is Assistant Professor in legal and political theory at the
Amsterdam Law School of the University of Amsterdam. Her disser-
tation Conditional Belonging: A Legal-Philosophical Inquiry into Inte-
gration Requirements for Immigrants in Europe (2017) won the VWR-
prize for best dissertation in legal philosophy in The Netherlands and
Belgium. She has published articles in, among others, Journal of Intercul-
tural Studies, Comparative Migration Studies and Buffalo Human Rights
Law Review. In 2021, her first monograph will be published by Hart
Publishing.
Leni Franken studied philosophy (University of Antwerp/KULeuven)
and religious sciences (KULeuven). She obtained her Ph.D. in polit-
ical philosophy at the University of Antwerp, where she currently works
as a teaching assistant and senior researcher. Her research focuses on
autonomy-based liberalism; church–state relations; financing religions;
neutrality; faith-based schools; and religious and citizenship education.
On these topics, she published two monographs and numerous national
and international journal articles and book chapters.
Ruby Gropas is Adviser on Social Affairs at the European Commission
and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. She holds a
Lectureship in International Relations at the Law Faculty of the Univer-
sity of Thrace and has worked at the Hellenic Foundation for Euro-
pean and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and McKinsey & Co. She was
Southeast Europe Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International
Centre for Scholars in Washington, DC, Visiting Fellow with the Centre
 Notes on Contributors xiii

for Democracy Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford Univer-

sity, and Research Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence.
Her research and publications have focused on migration, European
integration and human rights. She holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge
University.
Sieglinde Lemke is Professor of American Studies in the University of
Freiburg, and a permanent fellow at the Hutchins Centre at Harvard
University. She is also the director of the Black Forest Writing Seminar.
She is the author of three monographs and 35 articles and has given
guest lectures at numerous universities in the United States, Australia,
India and Europe. Her research was funded by the German Research
Fund, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Freiburger Institute for Advanced
Studies, and the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Her
book Inequality, Poverty, and Precarity in Contemporary American Culture
(2017) offers the most comprehensive analysis of the cultural discourse
on socioeconomic inequity.
François Levrau holds a M.A. in Clinical Psychology and a M.A. in
Moral Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Social Sciences. Currently he is
senior researcher and teaching assistant at the University of Antwerp.
He published about issues related to, multiculturalism, social cohe-
sion, recognition and higher education. Articles appeared among others
in Comparative Migration Studies, Cosmos and History, Ethical Perspec-
tives, Ethnicities, Political Quarterly, Research in Higher Education, Res
Philosophica, Res Publica, The Pluralist.
Tariq Modood is the founding Director of the Bristol University
Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship. He has
held over 40 grants and consultancies (UK, European and the United
States), has over 25 (co-)authored and (co-)edited books and reports
and over 250 articles or chapters in political philosophy, sociology
and public philosophy. He is the co-founding editor of the interna-
tional journal Ethnicities. His publications include Multicultural Poli-
tics: Racism, Ethnicity and Muslims in Britain (2005), Still Not Easy
Being British: Struggles for Multicultural Citizenship (2010) and Essays on
Secularism and Multiculturalism (2019).
xiv Notes on Contributors

Johanna Pretsch is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of

Koblenz-Landau in the Department of Differential Psychology and
Psychological Assessment and a family therapist and systemic counsellor.
While she is dedicated to the transfer of knowledge between theory and
practice, her main research interests are justice experiences of children
and adolescents, individual differences in education, justice in education
as well as the development of civic attitudes and behaviour in children
and adolescents.
Tim Reeskens is Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology at
Tilburg University, Netherlands. His research interest lies in the compar-
ative study of political and social attitudes, with a focus on social capital,
welfare attitudes and national identity. Tim is the national programme
director of the European Values Study Netherlands. His work appeared
in several sociological journals, including European Sociological Review,
International Journal of Comparative Sociology and Journal of European
Social Policy.
Aaron Van den Heede worked as a researcher at the Herman Deleeck
Centre of Social Policy at the University of Antwerp from 2008 to 2012.
From 2012 to 2017 he joined the research department of the Belgian
National Union of Socialist Mutual Health Funds. In 2018 he joined the
Centre for Sociological Research (CESO) at the University of Leuven.
His main research topics have been social and health care inequality
and poverty in general. Since 2019, he returned to the Belgian National
Union of Socialist Mutual Health Funds in the role of team leader of an
administrative unit. Aaron holds a master’s degree in Sociology (Ghent
University).
Wim Van Lancker is an Assistant Professor of social work and social
policy at the Centre for Sociological Research, University of Leuven. He
is the governor and treasurer of the Foundation for International Studies
on Social Security (FISS). He published widely in high-ranking journals
and edited volumes on the redistributive outcomes of the welfare state in
comparative perspective, in particular on the design and effectiveness of
social policy measures in relation to poverty and inequality in the early
years. He is co-editor of the Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy.
 Notes on Contributors xv

Wim van Oorschot is Professor of Social Policy at KU Leuven,

Belgium. His expertise is in the field of the EU-comparative analysis of
the relationships between culture and welfare state. He is initiator and
coordinator of the Welfare Attitudes repeat modules of the European
Social Surveys 2008 and 2016, and co-editor of The Social Legitimacy of
Targeted Welfare: Attitudes to Welfare Deservingness, Edward Elgar, 2017.
He is Honorary President of ESPAnet, the Network for European Social
Policy Analysis.
 List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 Ten capabilities according to Martha Nussbaum (Source

Nussbaum [2000]) 63
Fig. 6.1 Social expenditures as % of Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), 1880–2015 (Source Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and
Max Roser [2018]) 205
Fig. 6.2 Cycles of want and plenty over the life course (Source
Rowntree [1901], taken from Hills [2015]) 208
Fig. 6.3 Income sources in contemporary welfare states over
the life course (Source EU-SILC 2016, author’s
computations) 209

xvii
xviii List of Figures

Fig. 6.4 Social spending and poverty (panel A) and income

inequality (panel B) (Source OECD SOCX database
and OECD Income Distribution database. Note Poverty
rate is the share of individuals living in a household
with an equivalized disposable income below 60% of
median equivalized disposable household income in the
country of residence. Disposable household income is
equivalized using the modified OECD-scale to render
incomes of households of different size comparable.
Income inequality is measured by means of the Gini
coefficient. Social expenditures comprise spending on
social protection, labour market policies and health care,
and tax breaks with social purposes) 213
Fig. 6.5 National income (NNI) per capita and poverty (panel A)
and income inequality (panel B) (Source OECD Income
distribution database. Note national income (NNI) per
capita is expressed as a precentage of average NNI per
capita across OECD countries. For the definition of
poverty and inequality, see note under Fig. 6.4) 217
Fig. 6.6 Poverty (panel A) and income inequality (panel B)
based on market and disposable income (Source OECD
Income distribution database. Note: Redistribution is
measured as the difference in percentage points between
market income and disposable income. For definition
of poverty and inequality, see note under Fig. 6.4. The
dashed bar shows the amount of redistribution achieved) 220
Fig. 9.1 Distribution of preferences towards redistribution of old
age pensions and unemployment benefits across countries 302
12 F. Levrau and N. Clycq

The first challenge has to do with the welfare state. Though welfare
policies have been installed for many decades as concrete ways in which
national and European politicians can show the extent to which they
value socioeconomic equality, recent research has illustrated serious flaws
with respect to the protection of vulnerable groups (Cantillon & Vanden-
broucke 2013; Cantillon & Van Lancker, 2013; see also the chapter of
Van Lancker & Van den Heede in this book). The paradox, however,
is that economic growth has not always been a way to feed the welfare
state, but it has rather become a (neoliberal) end in itself and yet a way
to condone the dismantling of the welfare state. Many welfare states in
fact did not succeed in making any further progress in the fight against
(relative) income poverty, particularly within the working-age popula-
tion. How, then, should the welfare state be reconceptualized in an era of
increasing fluidity, globalization, mobility, meritocracy (see below), and
neoliberal dictates that might condone forms of inequality? And, what
type of inequalities can we accept?
This brings us neatly to a second challenge; the role of meritocracy
and hence the expectation that one’s educational and/or labour market
success is primarily (or solely) due to one’s individual ambitions, efforts,
and choices. It is not a coincidence that while the equalizing impact
of welfare states is in decline, meritocratic narratives have become more
popular as they shift the responsibility for one’s socioeconomic situation
towards the level of the individual. What people have or have not, is
what they deserve. Yet, according to some, the welfare system spoils and
even maintains the ‘underclass’ (see, e.g., Dalrymple, 2001). The ethos
that comes along with meritocracy, however, can lead to increasing social
tensions and even to a demonization of the (poor) working class. Owen
(2011), for example, has described how the working class has gone from
‘salt of the earth’ to ‘scum of the earth’. The stereotype of the ‘chav’
is invoked to both avoid engagement with social and economic prob-
lems and to justify the inequality gap. Also egalitarian philosophers such
as Wolff (1998) have argued that ‘luck egalitarianism’—the view that
inequalities are legitimate and thus should not be compensated when
they derive from personal choices—promotes a wrong kind of ethos by
encouraging the state to view the disadvantaged with distrust and as
potential cheaters. Needless to say, but this stereotypical portrayal can
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The next morning, bright and early, they were again ready to start.
The dolphin, who knew now where he was, began to rise to the
surface. A few hours later he had reached the place Tursio had
spoken about.
“Here we are at last!” he cried.
“Here? Why, where is the ship?”
“There,” answered Marsovino,
pointing to a great black mass which
showed through the water.
“That! Why look how it is trimmed!”
And he was indeed right. The
inhabitants of the sea had taken
possession of everything. The keel of
the ship was overgrown with beautiful
slender seaweeds. The decks were
covered with sponges. The stairs had
disappeared under the work of polyps.
On the lookout bridge hundreds of anemones raised their brightly
colored corollas. The needles of sea urchins threatened passers-by
from the portholes. Silvery fishes and starfishes were seen all over.
Everything was living on the dead ship.
“Now let us hasten,” said Marsovino.
“Very well,” answered Pinocchio.
“We have been so long in coming that now we must be quick,”
continued the dolphin.
“Father must be worried. Let us look for the treasure, and then we
can begin our return journey to-night.”
“Very well,” again assented Pinocchio.
“Make haste, then. Get into that ship. Don’t lose any more time.”
“Come, let us go.”
“Let us go! How can I go? Don’t you see how small the doors are?
You must go alone!”
Pinocchio did not like the idea. He stood still and thought. His
courage utterly failed him. To go alone into that great black ship!
Why, how could he do such a thing?
“Well, what are you thinking of?” asked Marsovino, who had dropped
Pinocchio at the door of the stairs.
“I haven’t made up my mind yet. I don’t like the idea of going in there
very much.”
“But you must. I can’t go, and we must have the gold. Will you
decide? I thought you had offered to help Mr. Tursio.”
When he heard that, Pinocchio finally made up his mind. He opened
the door and went down a few steps. Then he stopped.
“Must I really go?” he asked.
Marsovino began to lose his patience.
“If you do not make haste getting into that ship, I shall return without
you,” he could not help saying.
“Very well. Here I go.”
“You remember Tursio’s instructions, don’t you? At the bottom of the
stairs there is a large room. At one end a door leads into the
captain’s room. In a corner of the captain’s room, you will find two
boxes. They contain the treasure. Good-by and good luck.”
Very slowly Pinocchio went down. Luckily for him a few sunfishes
were floating around, giving some light.
When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw in front of him a
large square room. In the walls were long narrow holes, like the
shelves of a pantry. These had probably been the sailors’ bunks. But
to Pinocchio they were puzzles.
The roof, which was very high, was of glass. This made the room
lighter than the stairs, and so Pinocchio took courage.
At one end of the room there was a small narrow door. Pinocchio
walked to it and tried to open it. Still, though the door was not locked,
it would not open. It seemed as if some one were holding it closed
from the inside. The marionette pushed it, kicked it, struggled with it,
and finally he succeeded in opening it. He was able to put just the tip
of his nose in the crack.
He had no sooner done this, though, than it was held as in a vise.
Pinocchio felt something pulling and pulling.
“My nose will surely come off,” he thought; but after trying and trying
he was at last free again.
“I wonder what that was? What can be behind
that door? In any case it may be better to
have some weapon of defense,” and thinking
this, Pinocchio looked around.
“Those shelves may hold something useful.”
But when he came near them, what did he
see? A mattress, pillows, sheets!
“What could this have been? A hospital?”
Poor Pinocchio! He was most certainly a
dunce!
On the floor in a corner he found a pair of
large boots.
“These will do,” he thought.
Again he pushed the door. This time he was
able to open it wide. As soon as he had done
so, he threw a large boot in blindly. Had he never done so, it would
have been better! In a second the room became as black as pitch.
“Marsovino! Oh! Oh! Oh! Marsovino!” screamed the poor boy,
thinking himself blinded.
The dolphin, waiting for Pinocchio at the head of the stairs, became
frightened at this appeal. He thought something serious had
happened. He swam to the top of the deck and broke several panes
of glass. Looking into the room he called: “What is the matter? I am
here.”
Pinocchio felt a little better when he saw Marsovino.
“Oh, Marsovino!” he cried.
“What has happened, my poor Pinocchio?”
“I have found a bottle of ink.”
“A bottle of what?”
“Of ink. I threw a boot at something, and now the room is full of ink.”
“Oh, now I understand. You have to deal with an octopus.”
“What’s that?”
“A mollusk.”
“Oh, if that’s what it is, I’m not afraid. I know them well.”
 “‘Marsovino! Oh! Oh! Oh!’”

“Yes, but not this one. This is the greatest mollusk known. It is a near
relation of the calamary, but much larger. There are some even five
or six yards long.”
“Oh!” shivered Pinocchio, looking around.
“The one in the captain’s room must be a small one, though. If I were
with you, I should free you in a second. There is nothing a dolphin
likes better than an octopus or a calamary.”
“But the ink?”
“The ink is the means of defense of these mollusks. When pursued
or in danger, this animal ejects this inky liquid. In that way, it forms a
cloud in the water and is able to escape.”
“Shall I be killed?”
“If you keep out of reach of its long arms, you will be all right.”
“Oh, now I see what got hold of my poor nose. It is aching yet. Now
tell me, Marsovino, if this animal is guarding the treasure, how shall I
possibly get at it? We might as well give it up,” and Pinocchio started
towards the stairs.
“How very courageous you are! After trying so hard, are you going to
give up at the last minute?”
Pinocchio did not answer, but very
slowly he retraced his steps. Going
over to the bunks, he took a large
mattress. Holding it in front of him, he
moved toward the door, which was
still ajar.
The water from the captain’s room
had mixed with the water of the large
room, and now it was not so dark.
Very cautiously, the marionette
peeked over the mattress.
In a corner of the room lay the poulpe
or octopus. As Marsovino had said, it
was not very large. Still it was very
ugly.
Think of a large head, soft and jellylike, with two great eyes staring at
you. Think of that head and eight long thick arms around it. No
wonder Pinocchio felt like turning back.
The monster moved restlessly about, stretching and twisting its
arms. In one of them it held Pinocchio’s boot. Every minute its huge
body changed color. At first it was white, then gray, then brown, then
spotted with purple. Pinocchio hardly knew what to think of it.
“You are certainly very ugly, my dear bottle of ink,” he thought.
“Well, why am I standing here? I might as well try to kill him. Hurrah!
Here comes the brave marionette!”
Very slowly Pinocchio walked up to the octopus, but not near enough
to be in reach of those arms. Then with a quick move he threw the
mattress over the struggling mass. Pressing it down tightly, he held it
there.
For a long time the arms twitched nervously about, but at last they
stopped moving. The boy waited a few minutes longer, and then,
thinking the creature dead, he stood up.
The mattress, however, he left on top of the poulpe. Not only that,
but running back, he took another and put it on top of the first. He
wanted to be sure the octopus would not move. At last he breathed
easily and set to work to get the boxes.
Yes, think of it! That lazy marionette really set to work. He dragged
the boxes one after the other into the large room, and then he called
Marsovino.
“Here is the treasure, Marsovino. Now how am I to carry these heavy
boxes upstairs?”
Marsovino then lowered a stout rope which he had carried with him.
Pinocchio tied the boxes to it, one after the other, and the dolphin
pulled them up.
“Throw the rope down again, Marsovino!”
“What for? Are there three treasure boxes?”
“You will see.”
As soon as the end of the rope touched the floor of the room,
Pinocchio tied it around his waist. “Now pull!” he called.
Marsovino pulled, and in a second
Pinocchio stood on the bridge.
“I really had no wish to return by those
dark dusty stairs,” he laughed, seeing
Marsovino’s look of wonder.
 CHAPTER XV
At last the two had done their duty. The treasure
was theirs. All that remained now was to go back to
Tursio with it.
“Let us start this minute,” said Marsovino, who was
anxious to see his father again.
“Yes, but first please give me something to eat.”
“Should you like to have some grapes?” said Marsovino, kindly.
“I don’t see the use of making my mouth water needlessly,”
answered Pinocchio.
“But I mean what I’m saying. Should you like some grapes?”
“Show them to me first. Then I’ll answer you.”
“Come here then, unbeliever.” As he spoke, Marsovino led Pinocchio
to a mast, which, strange to say, had not been touched by the
polyps. Hanging from a slender thread was a bunch of what looked
like red grapes.
“What are they?” Pinocchio could only ask.
“Don’t you see? They are sea grapes. Eat them.”
“But first I want you to tell me what they are.”
“They are the eggs of the calamary, a near relation of the octopus
you had to deal with to-day.”
“Very well, then. I’m willing to destroy all sign of those horrible
beings.” In a short time Pinocchio had made a good luncheon out of
them.
 “‘What are They?’”

Luncheon finished, Marsovino gave Pinocchio the box of pearls

which he was holding for the marionette. Then the dolphin tied the
treasure boxes on his back, and the two friends were ready to start.
They again passed the beach where the seals had had their battle.
Now it was full of men. Some were skinning the poor animals. Others
were pressing out the oil from their bodies. Still others were
spreading the skins out on the sand to dry.
Again the two travelers came into the polar seas. Here they found a
great change. Icebergs had melted, and the sea was full of floating
ice.
At last, without meeting any mishaps, the two again entered the
warmer ocean. They had gone only a few miles when Pinocchio
heard a great noise behind him. Both friends turned. On the calm
surface of the sea rose two high columns of water.
“The whale!” exclaimed Marsovino.
“Nonsense, whale!” answered Pinocchio, who now and then still
forgot how little he knew. “Don’t you see it’s a fountain? How could
an animal send the water so high?”
“Still it is the whale. You are just seeing a cetacean breathe.”
“You are a cetacean, too. But I see only one hole in your head, and
the jet of water you throw is very low.”
“Yes, we are cetaceans, but we are not whales. The whale proper
has two breathing holes.”
“Mercy! what a noise that monster does make!” breathed Pinocchio.
“Now, if she comes near us, we’ll disappear.”
“Have no fear, Pinocchio. The whale, although such a large animal,
is quiet and harmless if you let her alone. She is even timid. And
don’t think that because her mouth is large she can eat large
animals.”
“Her mouth may be large, but her throat is so small that she can
swallow only very small fishes. If we had met the cachalot, or sperm
whale, we should have reason to be frightened.”
“And what is that?”
“It’s an immense cetacean. You can tell it from the common whale,
not only by its one breathing hole, but also by its size. The head
alone is enormous, and its mouth is frightful with its many large
sharp teeth.”
“Hasn’t this whale teeth?”
“No. But instead of teeth, its upper jaw is lined with at least seven
hundred plates of a thick horny substance. These plates are often
twelve and fifteen feet long.”
“When the whale wants to eat it opens its huge mouth, and then
closes it full of water. This water is then strained through the plates,
and hundreds of small fishes are caught in them. The whale can
then swallow her dinner at her leisure.”
“What a dinner!” exclaimed Pinocchio. “Now tell me this. Why is it
that so many whales are captured by whalers? You say that they are
harmless. Why, then, should they be killed?”
“They are caught because of their value. Those horny plates I spoke
of are what is called whalebone. The large tongue of the whale
contains many barrels of oil. From the body of the whale great
quantities of fat may be had. All these things are of great use in the
world.”
“What about that other whale you
spoke of? The one with the terrible
teeth.”
“The sperm whale? Oh! that one is a
dreadful being. With its great mouth
and sharp teeth it can eat anything.
Seals, dolphins, and even the terrible
squaloids are lost, if they come near
him. He is very ferocious.”
While Marsovino and Pinocchio were
talking, the whale had come nearer.
The marionette saw a small dark
object climb on her back.
“What is that?” he asked.
“That’s a baby whale. Whales are very affectionate mothers. The
baby whale is tired, so the mother is going to carry it.”
Suddenly a dark head and body rose out of the water. Like an arrow
it threw itself on the poor whale. With its large mouth it tore a great
piece of flesh from the cetacean’s side and then disappeared into the
waves.
“Mercy! The sea wolf!” cried Marsovino, looking around for some
place to hide.
“What is the sea wolf? The name does not sound terrible.”
“It is the most dangerous and fierce squaloid. It is even worse than
the hammer! Let us run!” said Marsovino, breathlessly.
“But if we run the wolf will run after us.”
“You are right. Where shall we hide? Oh, here! Let us try to get
among these weeds.”
Near them was a large plant. Its leaves would make a very safe
hiding place. Pinocchio stood on Marsovino’s back and pushed the
leaves aside. In a short time the two were so well hidden that no
eyes could see them.
“Here we are safe,” and the dolphin
gave a sigh of relief.
“And how well we can see.”
Pinocchio, like the boy he was,
wanted to see the fight.
In fact, a short distance away, a terrific
fight was in progress. The wolf had
now attacked the baby whale. This
made the mother furious. She tried to
hit the shark with her tail, but he was
too quick for her. The poor cetacean
was getting the worst of it. The wolf’s
mouth, provided with four hundred
sharp teeth, was tearing the whale’s
side to pieces. Blood was pouring from them both, and it seemed as
if the whale could not hold out much longer.
A second dark body now made its appearance. It was as long as the
whale, but much larger. Its head was enormous, and from the top of
it rose a single high column of water.
“The sperm whale! The cachalot!” breathed Marsovino, and it
seemed to Pinocchio that the dolphin turned pale.
It was not to be mistaken! It was the terrible whale! And he seemed
not at all frightened by the sight of the fighters. Instead, opening wide
his mouth—and such a mouth—he threw himself on them. With a
snap of the great jaws the sea wolf’s tail disappeared.
And then, as if the battle were not fierce enough, a long bladelike
object appeared on the scene. The sides of the blade were provided
with sharp teeth. Behind the blade was a dark head. The new arrival
was the sawfish, coming to see what the matter was. Without much
ado it started to deal blows, first on this side, then on that.
Not even the sperm whale escaped the terrible saw. Long ragged
tears were soon seen on its body. Cries of pain were heard on all
sides. The sea was a sea of blood.
Finally the whale, seeing that she was lost if she stayed there long,
tried to escape. As swiftly as she could, she swam away with her
baby.
Though the whale was gone, the fight
still raged. The wolf and the saw,
although both of the same family, are
sworn enemies. Not paying much
attention to the sperm whale, they
started to battle with each other. But the
wolf was so exhausted by the loss of
blood that it could not do much. The
cachalot, seeing himself overlooked,
threw himself on the sawfish. But as
quick as a flash the sawfish dived and
came up on the other side of the giant. Angrier than ever, the whale
now turned to the wolf and in an instant snapped his head off.
The whale was satisfied. Pouring blood from twenty wounds, he left
the field of battle. The sawfish was left alone in all his glory. He was
hurt but little. Very calmly he started to make a dinner of the sea
wolf, or at least of what was left of him.
The dolphin now thought it safe to try to escape. Once out of the
weeds, he fled as fast as he could.
Poor Pinocchio could only sit still and look around. He feared any
minute to see a hammerhead or a wolf or a whale appear before
him.
“Oh! how horrible, how awful is the sea!” he thought.
 CHAPTER XVI
After racing along madly for a while, Marsovino
became so tired that he had to stop.
“I must rest,” he said to Pinocchio.
“Very well, I’m willing,” answered the marionette.
In front of them the two friends could see a dark
mass. Seen from the sea, it looked like a strip of
land. But on approaching, one could see that it was
nothing but a high rock.
This strip was separated from the shore of a small island by a long
narrow channel of water. Marsovino swam a few yards up the
channel, and then stopped to let Pinocchio jump on land.
“That battle in the sea has upset me greatly,” said Pinocchio to his
friend. “I must strengthen myself with some food. But I don’t see
anything around. What shall I eat?”
The last words were interrupted by a soft whistle from the channel. A
second whistle was heard, then a third, then a fourth. Our two friends
turned. Large, clumsy, black bodies were coming out of the water.
They were trying very hard to get to shore.
Pinocchio knew them at once. They were sea tortoises, and it was
they who had made those strange sounds. After dragging
themselves to the shore, they stood on the sand, moving their heads
and blinking up at the sun.
“You said you wanted something to eat, Pinocchio. Well, do you see
those large holes on the sand there? Look in them. You will surely
find some tortoise eggs in them. They will make a delicious dinner
for you.”
Pinocchio did not have to be told twice. In a moment he was gone. In
a short time he returned with two large eggs in his hands.
“Make haste, now, eat them. We must
continue our journey, and we have no
time to lose.”
“You are going to wait, my dear
Marsovino. I really do not see why you
should be in such a hurry.”
“Because father told me never to stop
needlessly. That’s why.”
“Yes, I know; but you shall wait now.
Since I have been with you I have eaten
nothing but raw fish. Fish and mollusks,
mollusks and fish, and I’m getting tired
of it. To-day I am going to eat boiled
eggs.”
“Boiled eggs! How, pray, and in what are
you going to boil them?”
“Ha, ha! That’s my secret. That day in the ship I found an iron box
with the word matches written on it. I kept it, but I never opened it.
Here it is.” And Pinocchio showed the dolphin a small black box
firmly closed.
“Now I’m going to use the matches. Do you want to see me build a
fire and cook my eggs?”
“Very well, have your own way. But make haste, you disobedient
boy.”
In no time Pinocchio had a good fire started.
“Now in what shall I put the water to boil?” he thought.
He looked around, and not very far away he saw a huge empty
tortoise shell.
“Marsovino!” he called. “Come here! Will you please blow on this fire
for me? I don’t want it to go out, and I want to get that tortoise shell
and some water.”
“But I can’t move out of the water,” answered Marsovino.
“Oh, yes, you can. Come! Drag yourself as near as possible to the
water. You amphibians can live out of the water for a while. So make
haste!”
“But Mr. Tursio told me never to leave the water.”
“Well, just for once.”
Marsovino finally gave in. There was no great harm in just one little
disobedience, he thought.
Pinocchio hastened away, and soon he was back with the shell full of
fresh water.
“Oh, how good that spring water was,” he said to his friend, who was
busily blowing the fire. “Now for a good dinner!”
The eggs were soon cooked, and Pinocchio certainly enjoyed them.
“I feel so well after that dinner I could travel to the end of the world,”
he said when he had finished.
The two travelers then turned toward the sea. But Marsovino gave a
cry of horror. In the channel hardly any water was left. The pebbly
bottom could be seen, and beyond that the steep rock.
“The tide!” cried Marsovino. “I forgot the tide! Poor me! I am lost!”
“What is the matter?”
“Don’t you see the water is gone? The tide has gone out, and now
how am I to get back to the sea? Before the tide comes in again I
shall be dead. Oh, oh, I shall never see dear father again.” And as
he talked poor Marsovino was beginning to breathe with difficulty,
and to suffer greatly.
Pinocchio understood little about tides, but he knew what Marsovino
meant by dying.
“And it is all my fault,” he cried, pulling at his hair. “If he dies, poor
me, what shall happen to me? I must find some way of saving him.”
Marsovino was now giving little sign of life. He lay on the sand, with
eyes closed, and breathing heavily.
With two bounds, Pinocchio was on top of the rocky ledge. Before
him was the sea.
“If only it were possible to break a hole in this rock,” he thought.
As if in answer, a strange object made its appearance in front of him.
It was a white spiral pole about two yards long. Behind the pole
Pinocchio saw a round gray head spotted with black. Against the
rocks the animal came with such force that they trembled. Suddenly
an idea struck our hero.
“Pardon me,” he called, “but will you allow me to speak with you a
moment?”
The immense animal, about six yards long, looked the boy over.
“What do you want, you small piece of humanity?” he asked proudly.
Pinocchio very humbly and very quickly told him the story of the poor
dolphin.
“And as it is my fault that he is in this condition, I want to try to save
him!” he exclaimed. “You seem so strong, will you please give this
rock a few knocks with that tooth of yours? I know you’ll be able to
break it.”
At this earnest supplication the narwhal, for that is what the animal
was, was highly pleased. He looked at Pinocchio in a tolerant way.
“First of all,” he answered, “before I do anything for you, let me ask
you a question.”
“Yes, sir, but please make haste, or Marsovino will die.”
“Do not interrupt me again, boy. First of all, what are you willing to
give me in return for this favor?”
“I have nothing, sir. I would give you anything I have—I wish I had
something—but I have nothing.”
“I do nothing for nothing. Good-by, then,” the narwhal replied. “But
answer me this. What have you in that box in your hands? That box