“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.”

CHAPTER 17

Pinocchio eats sugar, but refuses to take medicine.  When the undertakers come for him, he drinks the medicine and feels better.  Afterwards he tells a lie and, in punishment, his nose grows longer and longer.

As soon as the three doctors had left the room, the Fairy went to Pinocchio’s bed and, touching him on the forehead, noticed that he was burning with fever.

She took a glass of water, put a white powder into it, and, handing it to the Marionette, said lovingly to him: 

“Drink this, and in a few days you’ll be up and well.”

Pinocchio looked at the glass, made a wry face, and asked in a whining voice:  “Is it sweet or bitter?”

“It is bitter, but it is good for you.”

“If it is bitter, I don’t want it.”

“Drink it!”

“I don’t like anything bitter.”

“Drink it and I’ll give you a lump of sugar to take the bitter taste from your mouth.”

“Where’s the sugar?”

“Here it is,” said the Fairy, taking a lump from a golden sugar bowl.

“I want the sugar first, then I’ll drink the bitter water.”

“Do you promise?”

“Yes.”

The Fairy gave him the sugar and Pinocchio, after chewing and swallowing it in a twinkling, said, smacking his lips: 

“If only sugar were medicine!  I should take it every day.”

“Now keep your promise and drink these few drops of water.  They’ll be good for you.”

Pinocchio took the glass in both hands and stuck his nose into it.  He lifted it to his mouth and once more stuck his nose into it.

“It is too bitter, much too bitter!  I can’t drink it.”

“How do you know, when you haven’t even tasted it?”