XVII
The Fairy approached Pinocchio, and after touching his forehead perceived1 that he had taken a high fever.Then she put a little bit of white powder in a glass of water and, handing it to the marionette2, said to him sweetly, “Drink, and in a few days you will be cured.” Pinocchio looked at the glass, made a mouth3, then with a voice full of sobs said, “Is it sweet or bitter?”
“It is bitter, but it will do you good.”
“If it is bitter, I do not want it.”
“Listen to me, drink it.”
“I do not like bitter things.”
“Drink it, and when you have drunk it I will give you a little ball of sugar to take the taste out of your mouth.”
“Where is the ball of sugar?”
“Here it is,” said the Fairy, taking out a ball of sugar.
“First I want the ball of sugar, then I will drink the bitter water.”
“You promise me?”
“Yes.”
The Fairy gave him the sugar, and Pinocchio, after having crushed it to atoms4, said, licking his lips: “How nice! If sugar could only be medicine, I would take it all day long.”
“Now keep your promise and drink these few bitter drops. They will cure you.”
Pinocchio unwillingly took the glass in his hand and put it under his nose; then he put it to lips; then he put it under his nose again. Finally he said: “It is too bitter! I cannot drink it.”
“How can you say that when you have not tasted it?”
“I know. I smell it. I want another ball of sugar first; then I will drink it.”
So the Fairy, with the patience of an indulgent5 mamma, placed in his mouth another ball of sugar and then gave him the glass again. “I cannot drink it,” said the marionette, making numerous grimaces6.
“Why?”
“Because that pillow on my feet annoys me.”
The Fairy took the pillow away.
“It is useless, I cannot drink it even now.”
“Really,” cried Pinocchio, breaking forth into tears, “I cannot drink that bitter water! No, no, no!”
“My child, you will be sorry.”
“I do not care.”
“Your fever is bad.”
“I do not care.”
“The fever will carry you in a few hours to another world.”
“I do not care.”
“Have you no fear of death?”
“No. I have no fear. I would rather die than take that bad medicine.”
Just at that moment the door of the room opened and four Rabbits entered, carrying on their shoulders a coffin. “What do you want with me?” cried Pinocchio, straightening himself up in his bed.
“We have come to take you away,” replied the largest Rabbit.
“To take me away? But I am not dead!”
“Not now, but you have only a few more moments of life, having refused to drink the medicine.”
“Oh, my Fairy!” screamed the marionette; “Give me the glass quickly. I do not wish to die.” And he took the glass in both hands and swallowed7 the medicine at one gulp8.
“Oh, pshaw9!” said the Rabbits; “We have made this trip for nothing.” And placing the coffin on their shoulders again, the Rabbits went out of the room.
The fact was that a few moments later Pinocchio jumped down from the bed well and strong; for you must know that wooden marionettes have the advantage of rarely being sick, and when they are they get well quickly. The Fairy, seeing him run through the room as lively and bright as a little chicken just out of its shell, said to him, “Then my medicine has cured you?”
“Yes, indeed! It has brought me back to this world.”
“Then why was it that you begged me not to make you drink it?”
“Boys always behave so. We have more fear of the medicine than of the sickness.”
“Shame on you! Boys ought to know that a good medicine taken in time may save them from serious trouble and perhaps from death.”
“Oh! Another time I will not behave so badly. I will remember the Rabbits with the coffin on their shoulders and then I will take the medicine quickly.”
“Now come here and tell me how it happened that you fell into the hands of assassins10.”
“Well, it happened in this way. The manager of the marionettes, gave me five pieces of gold and let me take these to my Papa. I met on the road a Fox and a Cat, two very nice persons, who said to me: ‘Do you wish those pieces to become two thousand? Come with us and we will take you to the Field of Wonders.’ I said, ‘Let us go.’ and they said, ‘Let us stop at the Red Lobster11 Inn, and after midnight we will continue our journey.’ When I awoke I found that they had gone. I then began to walk alone in the dark and I met two coal sacks with assassins inside who said to me, ‘Give us your money.’ I said, ‘I have none.’ I hid the gold pieces in my mouth. One of the assassins tried to make me open my mouth, but I ran away across the fields. I climbed a tree, but they set fire to it and forced me to take to my heels12 again. The assassins ran after me. They hanged me to a tree, and said, ‘Tomorrow we will come back, and then you will be dead and we can open your mouth. Then we shall be able to get the gold that is hidden under your tongue.’”
“And where have you put your gold now?” asked the Fairy.
“I have lost them,” replied Pinocchio. But he told a lie; for he had them in his pocket.
Scarcely had he told this lie when his nose, which was already long, grew two fingers longer.
“And where did you lose them?”
“In the forest.”
At this second lie his nose grew still longer.
“If you have lost them in the forest, we will look for them and find them, because all that is lost in my forest is always found again.”
“Oh, now I remember well,” replied Pinocchio, “the four pieces of money were swallowed when I took that medicine.”
At this third lie the nose grew so long that poor Pinocchio could not turn himself round in the room. If he turned to one side, it struck the bed or the glass in the window; if he turned to the other side, it struck the walls or the door of the room; if he raised his head, he ran the risk of putting out one of the Fairy's eyes.
And the Fairy looked and laughed.
“Why do you laugh?” asked the marionette, quite confused and surprised.
“I laugh at the foolish lies you have told.”
“How do you know that I have told lies?”
“Lies, my boy, are recognized immediately, because there are two kinds: there are lies that have short legs and lies that have long noses. Yours seem to have long noses.”
Pinocchio, not knowing where to hide himself for shame, tried to get out of the room, but he did not succeed. His nose had grown so large that he could not go through the door.
第十七章
仙女走到匹诺曹面前，摸摸他的额头，觉得他在发高烧。于是她在水杯里放了一些白药粉，然后将它递给小木偶，亲切地对他说：“喝吧，几天后你就会好了。”匹诺曹看了看杯子，做了个鬼脸，然后呜咽着说：“甜的还是苦的？”
“是苦的，不过它会让你好起来。”
“要是苦的，我就不喝。”
“听我的话，喝了它。”
“我不喜欢苦涩的东西。”
“喝了它。你喝完了,我给你一个小糖球，化掉嘴里的苦味。”
“糖球在哪儿?”
“在这儿。”仙女说着便拿出糖.
“我要先吃糖球，然后再喝苦水。”
“你说话算数?”
“是的。”
仙女把糖给他,匹诺曹将它嚼得粉碎吃下去，舔了舔嘴唇，说: “好甜哦!糖要是药，我愿意整天吃。”
“现在遵守你的诺言,喝掉那几滴苦水，它们会治好你的病。”
匹诺曹很不情愿地将杯子捧在手里，端到鼻子下，然后放到嘴唇边，然后又把它端到鼻子下。最后他说:“这东西太苦了!我没法喝。”
“你尝也没有尝，怎么能那样说呢?”
“我知道，我闻过了。我还要再吃一块糖，然后才喝它。”
仙女像个宠爱孩子的母亲那样有耐心。她放了另一粒糖球在他嘴里，然后再把杯子递给他。 “我喝不下去。” 木偶扮了许多鬼脸说道。
“为什么?”
“因为我脚上的枕头碍着我。”
仙女拿开枕头。
“那没有用，我现在还是无法喝下去。”
“真 的，” 匹诺曹突然大哭起来，叫道，“我无法喝下那苦水!不，不，绝不!”
“我的孩子,你会后悔的。”
“我不管。”
“你烧得很厉害。”
“我不管。”
“ 几小时之内 ， 高 烧会将你带到另一个世界。”
“我不管。”
“你 一点 也不怕死吗?”
“是的，我不怕。我宁愿死也不愿吃那难吃的药。”
就在这时，房门开了。四只肩上扛着一口棺材的兔子进来了。“你们要把我怎么样?”匹诺曹叫道，从床上坐了起来。
“我们收你的尸。” 最大的一只兔子回答。
“收尸?可我还没死啊!”
“不是现在。可你不喝药，就活不了多久了。”
“哦，好仙女!” 木偶尖叫: “快把杯子给我，我不想死。” 他双手捧着杯子，将药一口气喝光。
“呸!”兔子们说， “我们白跑了一趟。”兔子们再次将棺材扛在肩上，走出房间。
结果几分钟之后，匹诺曹从床上跳下来，健康而强壮。你们应该知道吧，木制的木偶很少生病。就算生病了，很快就会康复。仙女看到他像破壳而出的小鸡一样在房间欢蹦乱跳，就对他说:“那么我的药已经治好你了?”
“是的，的确是!它又把我带回这个世界.”
“那 你为什么求我不要让你喝呢?”
“孩 子们总是那样做，我们觉得吃药比生病更可怕。”
“你真不知羞!孩子们应该知道良药及时，可以将你们从重病中救出来，甚至可以起死回生.”
“哦!下次我一定不这样，我会记得肩上扛着棺材的兔子，会很快把药吃了。”
“现在你过来 ， 告诉我，你怎么会落到杀手们手里的?”
“嗯，是这样的：木偶们的经理给我5个金币，我把这些钱拿给爸爸。我在路上遇到一只狐狸和一只猫，他们非常和蔼，对我说:‘你想把那些钱变成两千块吗? 和我们一起走，我们带你到 “奇田”去。’ 我说:‘ 好吧。’ 他们说:‘我们在红虾酒馆休息一下，半夜之后，我们再继续赶路。’ 当我醒来时发现他们已经走了，于是我开始独自在黑暗中走，遇到两个躲在煤袋里的杀手。他们对我说:‘把你的钱交出来。’我说: ‘我没有钱。’ 我把钱藏在嘴巴里。有一个杀手想要撬开我的嘴巴，但是我跑过田野，爬到一棵树上，他们就放火烧树，迫使我下来。他们在后面追我，捉住我后，把我吊在一棵树上，还说: ‘明天我们会回来，那时候你就死了。我们就可以弄开你嘴巴，拿到藏在你舌头下的金币了。’”
“现在 你把金币放在哪儿啦?”仙女问。
“我弄丢了。”匹诺曹回答，但是他撒谎了，因为他把金币装在口袋里了。
他刚说完这个谎话，他的鼻子已经变了，比两根手指还要长。
“你在什么地方丢的?”
“在森林里。”
这第二句谎话一出口，他的鼻子变得更长了。
“如 果你把它们丢在森林里，我们可以找回来。因为所有丢在我森林里的东西，都可以再找到。”
“哦，现在我记起来了，”匹诺曹回答，“我吃药的时候，把4个金币给吞下去了。”
说完这第三句谎话，他的鼻子变得非常长，可怜的匹诺曹无法在房间里转身。如果他转向一边，鼻子就撞到床或窗玻璃；如果他转向另一边，鼻子就撞到墙或是房门；如果他抬起头来，就有可能会戳到仙女的一只眼睛。
仙女望着他大笑。
“你笑什么？”木偶问，非常迷惑和惊讶。
“我在笑你所说的 愚蠢的谎话。”
“你 怎 么 知 道 我 说谎？”
“我的孩子，谎话是可以马上看出来的。因为谎话有两种：一种是会让腿变短的谎话；一种是令鼻子变长的谎话。你说的似乎是长鼻子的谎话。”
匹诺曹羞愧得无地可容，想要跑出房间，但没成功。他的鼻子长得太长了，他无法出门。
1. perceive v. 察觉
2. marionette n. 木偶
3. make a mouth 做鬼脸，做苦相
4. atom n. 微粒
5. indulgent adj. 纵容的
6. grimace n. 鬼脸
7. swallow v. 吞咽
8. gulp [n. 一口（吞下）
9. pshaw int. 表示不耐烦、轻蔑时的叫声
10. assassin n. 杀手；刺客
11. lobster n. 龙虾
12. take to one's heels 逃走，滑脚溜走