6 The Fairy and the All-Knowing Nose

The Fair CHAPTER 6 The Fairy and the All-Knowing Nose It was a good thing for a certain dangling puppet that, just at that moment, the pale and kind Fairy happened to look out her window again. Filled with pity at seeing Pinocchio hanging from a tree, she clapped her hands together sharply three times and summoned her friend, a large falcon. "Please go and break the rope that binds that poor puppet," she said. "Then lay him gently down on the grass."

Once Pinocchio was safely lying on the ground, Fairy clapped her hands twice more. A magnificent poodle appeared, walking on his hind legs and draped in silk and velvet. "Poodle," Fairy said, "please go to that poor puppet lying in the grass. Lift him tenderly and bring him back here to me." The poodle agreed. But instead of trotting over like a regular dog, he took Fairy's coach. The coach's lining was as soft as whipped cream and chocolate pudding, and it was pulled by one hundred pairs of perfect white mice. When Pinocchio reached the house, Fairy gently laid him under a soft white sheet. To make sure he was all right, Fairy called some of the county's most famous doctors, which included the crow, the owl, and the cricket, to come and look at the puppet. Feeling Pinocchio's pulse, his nose, and his

little wooden toe, Dr. Crow concluded that the poor puppet was dead. "Unless, that is, he is not dead, in which case he is almost certainly alive." "I am sorry to contradict my very famous colleague," said Dr. Owl, "but I would have to say this puppet alive. Unless, that is, he is not alive, in which case he is probably definitely dead." "And what about you, Dr. Cricket?" Fairy asked. Cricket replied that the wisest doctors, when they didn't know what they were talking about, knew enough to keep their mouths shut. "But I do know this puppet," Cricket added. "And dead or alive, in my medical opinion, he is a rascal of the very worst kind!" "What do you mean?" Fairy asked. "He is a disobedient son who is always

breaking his poor father's heart." Under the white sheet, Pinocchio heard these words and, very much alive, began to cry. After the doctors left, Fairy noticed that Pinocchio had a terrible fever. She tried to give him some aspirin. "Yuck," the puppet said. "That medicine is bitter. I would like some sugar instead!" "You can have some sugar afterward," Fairy said. "No, before!" "Do you promise to take your medicine if I give you the sugar first?" Fairy asked. Pinocchio promised, but he was lying. Even though Fairy gave him some sugar, he still would not take his medicine. "You must take your medicine or you could die!" Fairy cried. "I don't care. I would rather die than taste

that awful medicine," Pinocchio said. At these words, four black rabbits burst into the room carrying a small black coffin on their shoulders. "We heard you were ready to die," the largest rabbit said. "We have come for you." "But I'm not dead yet!" Pinocchio cried. "You will be in just a few minutes, if you don't take your medicine." Pinocchio swallowed his medicine in one quick gulp. Almost immediately, he felt as good as new. He had to admit, when one is sick, even bitter medicine is a very sweet thing. Then Fairy asked Pinocchio to tell her how he had gotten got mixed up with the muggers. "Where are the gold pieces now?" Fairy asked when he had finished his story. "I lost them," answered Pinocchio, but he

was lying again. The pieces were in his pocket. As he spoke, an interesting thing happened. His nose instantly grew two inches. "Where did you lose them?" Fairy asked. "In the woods," Pinocchio said, lying again. And wouldn't you know it? His nose promptly grew two inches longer still. "I mean, I did not lose them," he stuttered. "I, um, swallowed them when I took the medicine." At this third lie, Pinocchio's nose grew so long that he could not even turn around. If he turned to the right, he banged into the bed or windows. To the left, he hit the walls or the door. If he raised his nose, he would poke Fairy's eyes out. Like most liars, he was stuck. Watching him struggle, Fairy laughed.