{"id":4503,"date":"2014-01-23T09:36:36","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T09:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=4503"},"modified":"2014-01-24T09:49:24","modified_gmt":"2014-01-24T09:49:24","slug":"pinocchio-part-2-the-doctors-diagnosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/pinocchio-part-2-the-doctors-diagnosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinocchio Part 2 – The Doctor’s Diagnosis"},"content":{"rendered":"

In part 1<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/a>, I took a look at the \u2018real\u2019 Pinocchio, as created by Carlo Lorenzini, better known as Collodi, and explained how I was finding the book surprisingly dark and sinister compared to the sugary Disney version that I grew up with. Were Italian children disturbed by this classic fairy tale? Perhaps, but they certainly wanted more of the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"Pinocchio<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pinocchio impiccato, by Roberto Innocenti<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Collodi\u2019s masterpiece was originally published in instalments under the title Storia di un Burattino<\/strong> (Story of a Puppet) in the \u2018Giornale per i Bambini\u2019<\/strong> (The Children\u2019s Paper), between the 7th of July and 27th October 1881. Fifteen chapters in all, the last of which left his young readers with the tragic image of Pinocchio hung from a tree by Gli Assassini<\/strong> (The Assassins). However, there was such an outcry for more news about poor Pinocchio that Collodi was forced to extend the story for another 21 chapters, thus creating Le Avventure di Pinocchio<\/strong> (The Adventures of Pinocchio).<\/p>\n

Like all great stories, Pinocchio\u2019s is spiced with humour, and I particularly enjoyed the chapter in which \u201cLa bella Bambina dai capelli turchini fa raccogliere il burattino: lo mette a letto, e chiama tre medici per sapere se sia vivo o morto.\u201d<\/strong> (The beautiful little girl with the turquois hair has the puppet brought to her: she puts him to bed and calls three doctors to find out if he is alive or dead). Here, with my humble translation into English, is the part where the doctors proclaim their prognoses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\"06-pinocho-mazzanti\"<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Illustration by Enrico Mazzanti<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u2013 Vorrei sapere da lor signori*, \u2013 disse la Fata, rivolgendosi ai tre medici riuniti intorno al letto di Pinocchio, \u2013 vorrei sapere da lor signori se questo disgraziato burattino sia morto o vivo!…
A quest\u2019invito, il Corvo, facendosi avanti per il primo, tast\u00f2 il polso a Pinocchio: poi gli tast\u00f2 il naso, poi il dito mignolo dei piedi: e quand\u2019ebbe tastato ben bene, pronunzi\u00f2 solennemente queste parole:
\u2013 A mio credere il burattino \u00e8 bell\u2019e morto: ma se per disgrazia non fosse morto, allora sarebbe indizio sicuro che \u00e8 sempre vivo!
\u2013 Mi dispiace, \u2013 disse la Civetta, \u2013 di dover contraddire il Corvo, mio illustre amico e collega: per me, invece, il burattino \u00e8 sempre vivo; ma se per disgrazia non fosse vivo, allora sarebbe segno che \u00e8 morto davvero!
\u2013 E lei non dice nulla? \u2013 domand\u00f2 la Fata al Grillo-parlante.
\u2013 Io dico che il medico prudente quando non sa quello che dice, la miglior cosa che possa fare, \u00e8 quella di stare zitto. Del resto quel burattino l\u00ec non m\u2019\u00e8 fisonomia nuova: io lo conosco da un pezzo!…
Pinocchio, che fin allora era stato immobile come un vero pezzo di legno, ebbe una specie di fremito convulso, che fece scuotere tutto il letto<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

– I\u2019d like to know gentlemen, \u2013 said the fairy, addressing herself to the three doctors gathered around Pinocchio\u2019s bed, I\u2019d like to know gentlemen if this poor puppet is dead or alive!\u2026.
At this invitation, the Crow, stepping forward first, felt Pinocchio’s wrist, then he felt his nose, then his little toe: and when he’d finished his examination, solemnly pronounced these words:
– In my opinion the puppet is good and dead: but if unfortunately he should turn out not to be dead, then it would be a sure sign <\/font>that he’s still alive
– I’m sorry, – said the Owl, – to have to contradict my illustrious friend and colleague the Crow: but in my opinion the puppet is still alive; however if, unfortunately, he should turn out not to be alive, well, then it would be a sign that he’s really dead!
– And do you have nothing to say? – the fairy asked the Talking Cricket.
– I say that the best thing that a cautious doctor can do when he doesn’t know what he’s saying is to keep quiet. Besides, that puppet there isn’t unfamiliar to me: I’ve known him for some time!
Pinocchio, who up until then had been as still as a real piece of wood, gave a kind of convulsive shudder that shook the whole bed.<\/font><\/p>\n

*lor signori<\/strong>: lor<\/strong> is short for \u2018loro\u2019<\/strong>  and is an antiquated plural form of \u2018lei\u2019<\/strong> (\u2018you\u2019 formal<\/em>), now substituted by \u2018voi\u2019<\/strong> (you plural<\/em>). The expression \u2018Lor Signori\u2019<\/strong>  (Literally: You Gentlemen) shows a very high level of politeness and reverence, and for this reason is still used today in an ironic way.<\/p>\n

I hope I\u2019ve whetted your appetites for Le Avventure di Pinocchio<\/strong>. You can find the original Italian text in PDF form here<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/a>, but if you can\u2019t manage the story in Italian there is a highly rated English\/Italian side by side version available: The Adventures of Pinocchio (Le Avventure Di Pinocchio) (Biblioteca Italiana)<\/font><\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

In part 1, I took a look at the \u2018real\u2019 Pinocchio, as created by Carlo Lorenzini, better known as Collodi, and explained how I was finding the book surprisingly dark and sinister compared to the sugary Disney version that I grew up with. Were Italian children disturbed by this classic fairy tale? Perhaps, but they…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":4521,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[619],"tags":[292225,292227,292226],"class_list":["post-4503","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-italian-language","tag-fairy-with-blue-hair","tag-pinocchio-and-the-doctors","tag-talking-cricket"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4503"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4528,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4503\/revisions\/4528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}