The Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair sends for the poor Marionette, puts
him to bed, and calls three Doctors to tell her if Pinocchio is dead or
alive.
If the poor Marionette had dangled there much longer, all hope would
have been lost. Luckily for him, the Lovely Maiden with Azure Hair once
again looked out of her window. Filled with pity at the sight of the
poor little fellow being knocked helplessly about by the wind, she
clapped her hands sharply together three times.
At the signal, a loud whirr of wings in quick flight was heard and a
large Falcon came and settled itself on the window ledge.
“What do you command, my charming Fairy?” asked the Falcon, bending his
beak in deep reverence (for it must be known that, after all, the Lovely
Maiden with Azure Hair 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 limb of that giant oak
tree?”
“I see him.”
“Very well. Fly immediately to him. With your strong beak, break the
knot which holds him tied, take him down, and lay him softly on the
grass at 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 found I was wrong, for
as soon as I loosened the knot around his neck, he gave a long sigh and
mumbled with a faint voice, ‘Now I feel better!’”
The Fairy clapped her hands twice. A magnificent Poodle appeared,
walking on his hind legs just like a man. He was dressed in court
livery. A tricorn trimmed with gold lace was set at a rakish angle over
a wig of white curls that dropped down to his waist. He wore a jaunty
coat of chocolate-colored velvet, with diamond buttons, and with two
huge pockets which were always filled with bones, dropped there
at dinner by his loving mistress. Breeches of crimson velvet, silk
stockings, and low, silver-buckled slippers completed his costume. His
tail was encased in a blue silk covering, which was to protect it from
the rain.
“Come, Medoro,” said the Fairy to him. “Get my best coach ready and set
out toward the forest. On reaching the oak tree, you will find a poor,
half-dead Marionette stretched out on the grass. Lift him up tenderly,
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 the stable. It was drawn by one hundred pairs
of white mice, and the Poodle sat on the coachman’s seat and snapped his
whip gayly in the air, as if he were a real coachman in a hurry to get
to his destination.
In a quarter of an hour the coach was back. The Fairy, who was waiting
at the door of the house, lifted the poor little Marionette in her arms,
took him to a dainty room with mother-of-pearl walls, put him to bed,
and sent immediately for the most famous doctors of the neighborhood 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, turning to 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 felt Pinocchio’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 a sure 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 mind this Marionette is alive; but if, by
any evil chance, he were 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 he is 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 breaking his 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 that when the dead weep, it means
they do not want to die.”