Chapter SixteenAs retold for Aaron 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, but with a loud whir of wings, a large Falcon appeared. With its beak, it cut the knot of the rope that held Pinocchio, and laid the puppet upon the ground at the foot of the great oak tree.
Immediately, up drove a magnificent glass coach driven by a sharply dressed dog. Carefully, he picked up the Marionette, placed him in the back of the coach and drove to the white house where there now stood at the door that same beautiful maiden with azure hair who had earlier declined to let Pinocchio in. Heartless woman!
"Here is the Marionette, just as you commanded," said the Falcon, bending his beak in deep reverence to the Fairy who had lived for more than a thousand years in the forest. "At first I thought he was dead, but when I broke the rope that held him he let out a long sigh and said that he felt much better."
Taking the poor little puppet in her arms (and so gently too, for one who had not long before resisted his pleas for help), the Fairy carried him upstairs to a dainty room with mother-of-pearl walls where she put him to bed. She then sent immediately for the most famous doctors of the forest.
Quickly answering her call, a Crow, Owl and the Talking Cricket came to the house, up the stairs and into the room where Pinocchio lay upon the bed.
"What is your opinion?" asked the Fairy, indicating the puppet.
At this invitation, the Crow felt Pinocchio's pulse, his nose, and his little toe. "To my mind," he solemnly pronounced, "this puppet is quite dead. 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. But to my mind this Marionette is alive. However, 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," the Talking Cricket replied.
Then, continuing on, he said, "As for what I know, this Marionette is not a stranger to me. I have known him a long time."
Pinocchio, who up to that moment had appeared fatally oblivious, 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 a rude and lazy runaway, ignoring sound advice and eagerly pursuing bad."
Pinocchio hid his face under the sheets.
"That Marionette refuses the wisdom of his elders; in fact, I can assure you that he chastizes them with beatings and disdain. He is a disobedient son who is breaking his father's heart!"
From beneath the covers could be heard long shuddering sobs. The Fairy lifted the sheet to reveal 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."
"I'm not dead," Pinocchio sobbed, "and I don't want to die."
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