the lovely maiden with azure hair sends for the poor marionette,puts him to bed, and calls three doctors to tell her if pinocchiois dead or aliveif the poor marionette had dangled there much longer,all hope would have been lost. luckily for him, thelovely maiden with azure hair once again looked out ofher window. filled with pity at the sight of the poor littlefellow being knocked helplessly about by the wind, sheclapped her hands sharply together three times.
at the signal, a loud whirr of wings in quick flight washeard and a large falcon came and settled itself on thewindow ledge.
"what do you command, my charming fairy?" asked the falcon,bending his beak in deep reverence (for it mustbe known that, after all, the lovely maiden with azurehair was none other than a very kind fairy who had lived,for more than a thousand years, in the vicinity of the forest).
"do you see that marionette hanging from the limbof that giant oak tree?""i see him.""very well. fly immediately to him. with yourstrong beak, break the knot which holds him tied, take him down, and lay him softly on the grassat the foot of the oak."the falcon flew away and after two minutes returned,saying, "i have done what you have commanded.""how did you find him? alive or dead?""at first glance, i thought he was dead. but i foundi was wrong, for as soon as i loosened the knot aroundhis neck, he gave a long sigh and mumbled with a faintvoice, `now i feel better!'"the fairy clapped her hands twice. a magnificentpoodle appeared, walking on his hind legs just like aman. he was dressed in court livery. a tricorn trimmedwith gold lace was set at a rakish angle over a wig of whitecurls that dropped down to his waist. he wore a jauntycoat of chocolate-colored velvet, with diamond buttons,and with two huge pockets which were always filled withbones, dropped there at dinner by his loving mistress.
breeches of crimson velvet, silk stockings, and low,silver-buckled slippers completed his costume. his tailwas encased in a blue silk covering, which was to protectit from the rain.
"come, medoro," said the fairy to him. "get mybest coach ready and set out toward the forest. onreaching the oak tree, you will find a poor, half-deadmarionette stretched out on the grass. lift him uptenderly, place him on the silken cushions of the coach,and bring him here to me."the poodle, to show that he understood, wagged his silk-covered tail two or three times and set off at a quick pace.
in a few minutes, a lovely little coach, made of glass,with lining as soft as whipped cream and chocolate pudding,and stuffed with canary feathers, pulled out of thestable. it was drawn by one hundred pairs of white mice,and the poodle sat on the coachman's seat and snappedhis whip gayly in the air, as if he were a real coachmanin a hurry to get to his destination.
in a quarter of an hour the coach was back. thefairy, who was waiting at the door of the house, liftedthe poor little marionette in her arms, took him to adainty room with mother-of-pearl walls, put him to bed,and sent immediately for the most famous doctors of theneighborhood to come to her.
one after another the doctors came, a crow, and owl,and a talking cricket.
"i should like to know, signori," said the fairy, turningto the three doctors gathered about pinocchio's bed,"i should like to know if this poor marionette is dead or alive."at this invitation, the crow stepped out and feltpinocchio's pulse, his nose, his little toe.
then he solemnly pronounced the following words:
"to my mind this marionette is dead and gone; but if,by any evil chance, he were not, then that would be asure sign that he is still alive!""i am sorry," said the owl, "to have to contradict the crow, my famous friend and colleague. to my mindthis marionette is alive; but if, by any evil chance, hewere not, then that would be a sure sign that he is wholly dead!""and do you hold any opinion?" the fairy asked the talking cricket.
"i say that a wise doctor, when he does not know what heis talking about, should know enough to keep his mouth shut.
however, that marionette is not a stranger to me.
i have known him a long time!"pinocchio, who until then had been very quiet,shuddered so hard that the bed shook.
"that marionette," continued the talking cricket,"is a rascal of the worst kind."pinocchio opened his eyes and closed them again.
"he is rude, lazy, a runaway."pinocchio hid his face under the sheets.
"that marionette is a disobedient son who is breakinghis father's heart!"long shuddering sobs were heard, cries, and deep sighs.
think how surprised everyone was when, on raising the sheets,they discovered pinocchio half melted in tears!
"when the dead weep, they are beginning to recover,"said the crow solemnly.
"i am sorry to contradict my famous friend and colleague," said the owl, "but as far as i'm concerned, i think thatwhen the dead weep, it means they do not want to die."
正当可怜的皮诺乔给两个杀人强盗吊在大橡树枝头上，觉得这会儿死多活少的时候，天蓝色头发的美丽小女孩重新在窗口出现了，她看见木偶给套着脖子吊着，让北风吹得摇来摇去，太不幸了，不由得很可怜他，于是轻轻拍了三下手掌。
这三下手掌一拍，就听到很响的拍翅膀声，一只大老鹰风驰电掣地飞来，停在窗台上，
“有什么吩咐啊，我仁慈的仙女？”老鹰说着，垂下鸟嘴致敬（因为要知道，这天蓝色头发的小女孩不是别人，正是最善良的仙女，她在这树林附近已住了一千多年了）。
“你看见那木偶吗，给吊在大橡树树枝上的？”
“看见了。”
“那好。马上飞到那里，用你那有力的尖嘴解开那个吊着他的绳套，把他轻轻放在橡树下的草地。”
老鹰飞走了，两分钟就回来了，说：
“吩咐我做的都给做好了。”
“你觉得他怎么样？活着还是死了？”
“我看他好像死了，可还没全死，因为我一松开套在他喉咙的绳套，他叹了一口气，嘟囔了一声：‘这会儿我觉得好多了！’”
仙女于是又轻轻拍了两下手掌，来了一只很漂亮的卷毛狗。它像人那样用后腿直立走道。
这只卷毛狗身穿车夫的礼服，头戴金边小三角帽，白色假卷发垂到脖子上。巧克力色的上衣上钉着宝石钮扣，两边有两个大口袋，放主人吃饭时赏它的肉骨头。下身穿一条大红天鹅绒裤子、一双丝袜、一双开口软鞋。后面还有一样东西，很像雨伞稍，蓝绸子做的。下雨的时候用来藏它的尾巴。
“做件好事，梅多罗！”仙女对卷毛狗说，“马上到我的厩房里，赶一辆最好的车子上树林子去。你到了大橡树底下，就会找到已经半死的可怜木偶直挺挺地躺在草地上。你把他抱起来，很小心很小心地放在车子坐垫上，把他送到这儿来。明白了吗，”
卷毛狗把后面那个蓝绸子尾巴套摇了三四次，表示它明白了，然后像闪电似地跑掉了。
一转眼工夫，只见厩房里出来了一辆天蓝色的漂亮小轿车，外面装饰着金丝雀羽毛，里面裱糊得象掼奶油和奶油蛋糕那样。车子用一百对白老鼠来拉，卷毛狗坐在驾车台上，左右地抽着鞭子，车夫赶路的时候都是这样的。
一刻钟不到，这辆小轿车就回来了。等在门口的仙女抱起可怜的木偶，把他抱进一间墙上镶嵌着珍珠的小卧室，马上请来附近最有名的大夫。
三位大夫马上接连来了，一位是乌鸦，一位是猫头鹰，一位是会说话的蟋蟀。
“我想请诸位先生看看，”仙女对围在皮诺乔床边的三位大夫说，“我想请诸位先生看看，这不幸的木偶是死了还是活着……”
听了仙女的请求，乌鸦第一位给皮诺乔摸脉，接着摸鼻子，接着摸小脚趾。等到都摸过了，它极其严肃地说了这一番话：
“我认为木偶完全死了，但万一他没有死，那就有可靠的迹像表明，他完全活着！”
“我很抱歉，”猫头鹰说，“我必须表示，我的看法跟我这位有名的朋友和同行乌鸦大夫正好相反。我认为，木偶完全活着，但万一他不幸没有活着，那就有可靠的迹像表明，他的确死了！”
“您说哩，”仙女问会说话的蟋蟀。
“我要说的是，一位小心谨慎的大夫在不知道他所要说的事情时，最好是不开口。再说，这位木偶对我来说不是陌生面孔，我认识他有好些日子了！……”
皮诺乔本来一直躺着不动，像段真正的木头，可这会儿一下子猛烈颤抖，弄得整张床都摇动起来。
“这个木偶，”会说话的蟋蟀往下说，“是个大坏蛋……”
皮诺乔张开眼睛看看，马上又闭上。
“是个无赖，是个二流子，是个流氓……”
皮诺乔把脸缩到被单底下。
“这木偶是个不听话的坏孩子，他要把他可怜的爸爸气死！……”
它说到这里，只听见屋子里有压抑着的哭声和哽咽声。诸位想象一下大伙儿有多么惊奇吧，因为他们把被单掀起一点，就看到是皮诺乔在哭，在哽咽。
“死人会哭，就表明他正在好起来，”乌鸦严肃地说。
“我只好表示我的看法跟我这位有名的朋友和同行正好相反，”猫头鹰跟着说，“依我看，死人会哭，就表明他不想死。”