a little marble slab on which were cut the following words:
Here lies
The Baby with the Blue Hair
Dead with Grief
For having been abandoned by her
Little Brother Pinocchio.
As he could not read he did not know what to do. The Talking Cricket happened to be near and read it for him. I leave you to imagine how the marionette felt when he understood the meaning of those words. He fell to the ground and, covering the marble slab with kisses, cried as if his heart would break. He cried all night and all the next morning, until he had no more tears left. His cries and sobs were so loud that all the hills round about repeated them.
“Oh, my little Fairy, why are you dead?” he cried. “Why, instead of you, am I not dead? Oh, my dear little Fairy, tell me where I can find my papa. I wish to be with him and never leave him any more. Oh, tell me that it is not true that you are dead. If you truly love me, if you like your little brother, come back! return to life! Does it not make you unhappy to see me left all alone by everybody? If the assassins come and hang me to a tree again, I shall die this time for
