{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_8606/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_8606","id":"gutenberg_8606","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/8606","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Plays/Films/Dramas","Fairy plays","French drama -- Translations into English","Nobel Prizes in Literature"],"text":"THE BLUE BIRD\n\n\n_A Fairy Play in Six Acts_\n\n\nBy Maurice Maeterlinck\n\n_Translated By_ Alexander Teixeira De Mattos\n\n\n\n\n\nCHARACTERS\n\n   TYLTYL\n   MYTYL\n   LIGHT\n   THE FAIRY B\u00c9RYLUNE\n   NEIGHBOUR BERLINGOT\n   DADDY TYL\n   MUMMY TYL\n   GAFFER TYL (Dead)\n   GRANNY TYL (Dead)\n   TYLTYL'S BROTHERS AND SISTERS (Dead)\n   TIME\n   NIGHT\n   NEIGHBOUR BERLINGOT'S LITTLE DAUGHTER\n   TYL\u00d4, THE DOG\n   TYLETTE, THE CAT\n   BREAD\n   SUGAR\n   FIRE\n   WATER\n   MILK\n   THE WOLF\n   THE PIG\n   THE OX\n   THE COW\n   THE BULL\n   THE SHEEP\n   THE COCK\n   THE RABBIT\n   THE HORSE\n   THE ASS\n   THE OAK\n   THE ELM\n   THE BEECH\n   THE LIME-TREE\n   THE FIR-TREE\n   THE CYPRESS\n   THE BIRCH\n   THE CHESTNUT-TREE\n   THE IVY\n   THE POPLAR\n   THE WILLOW\n   STARS, SICKNESSES, SHADES, LUXURIES, HAPPINESSES, JOYS, ETC.\n\n\n\n\nTRANSLATOR'S NOTE\n\nA new act appears for the first time in this edition and is inserted as\nAct IV--_Palace of Happiness_. It has been specially written for the\nChristmas revival of _The Blue Bird_ at the Haymarket Theatre, where\nit will take the place of the Forest Scene (Act III., Scene 2). In the\nprinted version, however, the Forest Scene is retained; and in this and all\nlater editions the play will consist of six acts instead of five.\n\nALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS.\nCHELSEA, 14 _November_, 1910.\n\n\n\n\nCOSTUMES\n\n\nTYLTYL wears the dress of Hop o' my Thumb in Perrault's Tales. Scarlet\nknickerbockers, pale-blue jacket, white stockings, tan shoes.\n\nMYTYL is dressed like Gretel or Little Red Riding-hood.\n\nLIGHT.--The \"moon-coloured\" dress in Perrault's _Peau d'\u00e2ne;_ that is\nto say, pale gold shot with silver, shimmering gauzes, forming a sort of\nrays, etc. Neo-Grecian or Anglo-Grecian (_\u00e0 la_ Walter Crane) or even\nmore or less Empire style: a high waist, bare arms, etc. Head-dress: a sort\nof diadem or even a light crown.\n\nTHE FAIRY B\u00c9RYLUNE and NEIGHBOUR BERLINGOT.--The traditional dress of the\npoor women in fairy-tales. If desired, the transformation of the Fairy into\na princess in Act I may be omitted.\n\nDADDY TYL, MUMMY TYL, GAFFER TYL and GRANNY TYL.--The traditional costume\nof the German wood-cutters and peasants in Grimm's Tales.\n\nTYLTYL'S BROTHERS AND SISTERS.--Different forms of the Hop-o'-my-Thumb\ncostume.\n\nTIME.--Traditional dress of Time: a wide black or dark-blue cloak, a\nstreaming white beard, scythe and hour-glass.\n\nNIGHT.--Ample black garments, covered with mysterious stars and \"shot\" with\nreddish-brown reflections. Veils, dark poppies, etc.\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR'S LITTLE GIRL.--Bright fair hair; a long white frock.\n\nTHE DOG,--Red dress-coat, white breeches, top-boots, a shiny hat. The\ncostume suggests that of John Bull.\n\nTHE CAT.--The costume of Puss In Boots: powdered wig, three-cornered hat,\nviolet or sky-blue coat, dress-sword, etc.\n\nN.B.--The heads of the DOG and the CAT should be only discreetly\nanimalised.\n\nTHE LUXURIES.--Before the transformation: wide, heavy mantles in red\nand yellow brocade; enormous fat jewels, etc. After the transformation:\nchocolate or coffee-coloured tights, giving the impression of unadorned\ndancing-jacks.\n\nTHE HAPPINESSES OF THE HOME.--Dresses of various colours, or, if preferred,\ncostumes of peasants, shepherds, wood-cutters and so on, but idealised and\ninterpreted fairy-fashion.\n\nTHE GREAT JOYS.--As stated in the text, shimmering dresses in soft and\nsubtle shades: rose-awakening, water's-smile, amber-dew, blue-of-dawn, etc.\n\nMATERNAL LOVE.--Dress very similar to the dress worn by Light, that is to\nsay, supple and almost transparent veils, as of a Greek statue, and, in so\nfar as possible, white. Pearls and other stones as rich and numerous as may\nbe desired, provided that they do not break the pure and candid harmony of\nthe whole.\n\nBREAD.--A rich pasha's dress. An ample crimson silk or velvet gown. A huge\nturban. A scimitar. An enormous stomach, red and puffed-out cheeks.\n\nSUGAR.--A silk gown, cut like that of a eunuch in a seraglio, half blue\nand half white, to suggest the paper wrapper of a sugar-loaf. Eunuch's\nheaddress.\n\nFIRE.--Red tights, a vermilion cloak, with changing reflections, lined with\ngold. An aigrette of iridescent flames.\n\nWATER.--A pale-blue or bluish-green dress, with transparent reflections and\neffects of rippling or trickling gauze, Neo-Grecian or Anglo-Grecian style.\nbut fuller and more voluminous than that of LIGHT. Head-dress of aquatic\nflowers and seaweed.\n\nTHE ANIMALS.--Popular or peasant costumes.\n\nTHE TREES.--Dresses of different shades of green or the colour of the\ntrunks of trees. Distinctive attributes in the shape of leaves or branches\nby which they can be recognised.\n\n\n\n\nSCENES\n\n  ACT I.--The Wood-cutter's Cottage.\n\n  ACT II.,  Scene 1--At the Fairy's.\n\n  Scene 2--The Land of Memory.\n\n  ACT III., Scene 1--The Palace of Night.\n\n  Scene 2--The Forest.\n\n  ACT IV.,  Scene 1--Before the Curtain.\n\n  Scene 2--The Palace of Happiness.\n\n  ACT V.,   Scene 1--Before the Curtain.\n\n  Scene 2--The Graveyard.\n\n  Scene 3--The Kingdom of the Future.\n\n  ACT VI.,  Scene 1--The Leave-taking.\n\n  Scene 2--The Awakening.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BLUE BIRD\n\n\n\n\nACT I.  _The Wood-cutter's Cottage_\n\n_The stage represents the interior of a wood-cutter's cottage, simple and\nrustic in appearance, but in no way poverty-stricken. A recessed fireplace\ncontaining the dying embers of a wood-fire. Kitchen utensils, a cupboard, a\nbread-pan, a grandfather's clock, a spinning-wheel, a water-tap, etc. On a\ntable, a lighted lamp. At the foot of the cupboard, on either side, a_\nDOG _and a_ CAT _lie sleeping, rolled up, each with his nose in his\ntail. Between them stands a large blue-and-white sugar-loaf. On the wall\nhangs a round cage containing a turtle-dove. At the back, two windows, with\nclosed inside shutters. Under one of the windows, a stool. On the left\nis the front door, with a big latch to it. On the right, another door. A\nladder leads up to a loft. On the right also are two little children's\ncots, at the head of which are two chains, with clothes carefully folded\non them. When the curtain rises_, TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _are sound\nasleep in their cots_, MUMMY TYL _tucks them in, leans over them,\nwatches them for a moment as they sleep and beckons to_ DADDY TYL,\n_who thrusts his head through the half-open door_. MUMMY TYL _lays\na finger on her lips, to impose silence upon him, and then goes out to the\nright, on tiptoe, after first putting out the lamp. The scene remains in\ndarkness for a moment. Then a light, gradually increasing in intensity,\nfilters in through the shutters. The lamp on the table lights again of\nitself, but its light is of a different colour than when_ MUMMY TYL\n_extinguished it. The two_ CHILDREN _appear to wake and sit up in\nbed_.\n\nTYLTYL\nMytyl?\n\nMYTYL\nTyltyl?\n\nTYLTYL\nAre you asleep?\n\nMYTYL\nAre you?...\n\nTYLTYL\nNo; how can I be asleep when I'm talking to you?\n\nMYTYL\nSay, is this Christmas Day?...\n\nTYLTYL\nNot yet; not till to-morrow. But Father Christmas won't bring us anything\nthis year....\n\nMYTYL\nWhy not?\n\nTYLTYL\nI heard mummy say that she couldn't go to town to tell him ... But he will\ncome next year....\n\nMYTYL\nIs next year far off?...\n\nTYLTYL\nA good long while.... But he will come to the rich children to-night....\n\nMYTYL\nReally?...\n\nTYLTYL\nHullo!... Mummy's forgotten to put out the lamp!... I've an idea!...\n\nMYTYL\nWhat?...\n\nTYLTYL\nLet's get up....\n\nMYTYL\nBut we mustn't....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, there's no one about.... Do you see the shutters?...\n\nMYTYL\nOh, how bright they are!...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's the lights of the party.\n\nMYTYL\nWhat party?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThe rich children opposite. It's the Christmas-tree. Let's open the\nshutters....\n\nMYTYL\nCan we?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOf course; there's no one to stop us.... Do you hear the music?... Let us\nget up....\n\n(_The two_ CHILDREN _get up, run to one of the windows, climb on\nto the stool and throw back the shutters. A bright light fills the room.\nThe_ CHILDREN _look out greedily_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nWe can see everything!...\n\nMYTYL (_who can hardly find room on the stool_)\nI can't....\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's snowing!... There's two carriages, with six horses each!...\n\nMYTYL\nThere are twelve little boys getting out!...\n\nTYLTYL\nHow silly you are!... They're little girls....\n\nMYTYL\nThey've got knickerbockers....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat do you know?... Don't push so!...\n\nMYTYL\nI never touched you.\n\nTYLTYL (_who is taking up the whole stool_)\nYou're taking up all the room...\n\nMYTYL\nWhy, I have no room at all!...\n\nTYLTYL\nDo be quiet! I see the tree!...\n\nMYTYL\nWhat tree?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, the Christmas-tree!... You're looking at the wall!...\n\nMYTYL\nI'm looking at the wall because I've got no room....\n\nTYLTYL (_giving her a miserly little place on the stool_)\nThere!... Will that do?... Now you're better off than I!... I say, what\nlots and lots of lights!...\n\nMYTYL\nWhat are those people doing who are making such a noise?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey're the musicians.\n\nMYTYL\nAre they angry?...\n\nTYLTYL\nNo; but it's hard work.\n\nMYTYL\nAnother carriage with white horses!...\n\nTYLTYL\nBe quiet!... And look!...\n\nMYTYL\nWhat are those gold things there, hanging from the branches?\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, toys, to be sure!... Swords, guns, soldiers, cannons....\n\nMYTYL\nAnd dolls; say, are there any dolls?...\n\nTYLTYL\nDolls?... That's too silly; there's no fun in dolls....\n\nMYTYL\nAnd what's that all round the table?....\n\nTYLTYL\nCakes and fruit and tarts....\n\nMYTYL\nI had some once when I was little....\n\nTYLTYL\nSo did I; it's nicer than bread, but they don't give you enough....\n\nMYTYL\nThey've got plenty over there.... The whole table's full.... Are they going\nto eat them?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOf course; what else would they do with them?...\n\nMYTYL\nWhy don't they eat them at once?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBecause they're not hungry....\n\nMYTYL (_stupefied with astonishment_)\nNot hungry?... Why not?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWell, they eat whenever they want to....\n\nMYTYL (_incredulously_)\nEvery day?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey say so....\n\nMYTYL\nWill they eat them all?... Will they give any away?...\n\nTYLTYL\nTo whom?...\n\nMYTYL\nTo us....\n\nTYLTYL\nThey don't know us....\n\nMYTYL\nSuppose we asked them....\n\nTYLTYL\nWe mustn't.\n\nMYTYL\nWhy not?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBecause it's not right.\n\nMYTYL (_clapping her hands_)\nOh, how pretty they are!...\n\nTYLTYL (_rapturously_)\nAnd how they're laughing and laughing!...\n\nMYTYL\nAnd the little ones dancing!...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, yes; let's dance too!... (_They stamp their feet for joy on the\nstool_.)\n\nMYTYL\nOh, what fun!...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey're getting the cakes!... They can touch them!... They're eating,\nthey're eating, they're eating!...\n\nMYTYL\nThe tiny ones, too!... They've got two, three, four apiece!...\n\nTYLTYL (_drunk with delight_)\nOh, how lovely!... Oh, how lovely, how lovely!...\n\nMYTYL (_counting imaginary cakes_)\nI've got twelve!...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd I four times twelve!... But I'll give you some....\n\n(_A knock at the door of the cottage_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_suddenly quieted and frightened_)\nWhat's that?...\n\nMYTYL (_scared_)\nIt's Daddy!...\n\n(_As they hesitate before opening the door, the big latch is seen to rise\nof itself, with a grating noise; the door half opens to admit a little old\nwoman dressed in green with a red hood on her head. She is humpbacked and\nlame and near-sighted; her nose and chin meet; and she walks bent on a\nstick. She is obviously a fairy_.)\n\nTHE FAIRY\nHave you the grass here that sings or the bird that is blue?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWe have some grass, but it can't sing....\n\nMYTYL\nTyltyl has a bird.\n\nTYLTYL\nBut I can't give it away....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWhy not?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBecause it's mine.\n\nTHE FAIRY\nThat's a reason, no doubt. Where is the bird?...\n\nTYLTYL (_pointing to the cage_)\nIn the cage....\n\nTHE FAIRY (_putting on her glasses to examine the bird_)\nI don't want it; it's not blue enough. You will have to go and find me the\none I want.\n\nTYLTYL\nBut I don't know where it is....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nNo more do I. That's why you must look for it. I can do without the grass\nthat sings, at a pinch; but I must absolutely have the blue bird. It's for\nmy little girl, who is very ill.\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat's the matter with her?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWe don't quite know; she wants to be happy....\n\nTYLTYL\nReally?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nDo you know who I am?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYou're rather like our neighbour, Madame Berlingot....\n\nTHE FAIRY (_growing suddenly angry_)\nNot a bit!... There's not the least likeness!... This is intolerable!... I\nam the Fairy B\u00e9rylune....\n\nTYLTYL\nOh! Very well....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nYou will have to start at once.\n\nTYLTYL\nAre you coming with us?\n\nTHE FAIRY\nI can't, because I put on the soup this morning and it always boils over\nif I leave it for more than an hour.... (_Pointing successively to the\nceiling, the chimney and the window_) Will you go out this way, or that\nway, or that way?...\n\nTYLTYL (_pointing timidly to the door_)\nI would rather go out that way....\n\nTHE FAIRY (_growing suddenly angry again_)\nThat's quite impossible; and it's a shocking habit!... (_Pointing to the\nwindow_) We'll go out this way.... Well?... What are you waiting for?...\nGet dressed at once.... (_The_ CHILDREN _do as they are told and\ndress quickly_.) I'll help Mytyl....\n\nTYLTYL\nWe have no shoes....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nThat doesn't matter. I will give you a little magic hat. Where are your\nfather and mother?....\n\nTYLTYL (_pointing to the door on the right_)\nThey're asleep in there....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nAnd your grandpapa and grandmamma?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey're dead....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nAnd your little brothers and sisters.... Have you any?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, yes; three little brothers....\n\nMYTYL\nAnd four little sisters....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWhere are they?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey are dead, too....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWould you like to see them again?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, yes!... At once!... Show them to us!...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nI haven't got them in my pocket.... But this is very lucky; you will see\nthem when you go through the Land of Memory.... It's on the way to the Blue\nBird, just on the left, past the third turning.... What were you doing when\nI knocked?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWe were playing at eating cakes?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nHave you any cakes?... Where are they?...\n\nTYLTYL\nIn the house of the rich children.... Come and look, it's so lovely. (_He\ndrags the_ FAIRY _to the window_.)\n\nTHE FAIRY (_at the window_)\nBut it's the others who are eating them!...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes; but we can see them eat....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nAren't you cross with them?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat for?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nFor eating all the cakes.... I think it's very wrong of them not to give\nyou some....\n\nTYLTYL\nNot at all; they're rich.... I say, isn't it beautiful over there?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nIt's no more beautiful there than here.\n\nTYLTYL\nUgh!... It's darker here and smaller and there are no cakes....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nIt's exactly the same, only you can't see....\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, I can; and I have very good eyes. I can see the time on the church\nclock and daddy can't...\n\nTHE FAIRY (_suddenly angry_)\nI tell you that you can't see!... How do you see me?... What do I look\nlike?... (_An awkward silence from_ TYLTYL.) Well, answer me, will\nyou? I want to know if you can see!... Am I pretty or ugly?... (_The\nsilence grows more and more uncomfortable_.) Won't you answer?... Am I\nyoung or old?... Are my cheeks pink or yellow?... Perhaps you'll say I have\na hump?...\n\nTYLTYL (_in a conciliatory tone_)\nNo, no; It's not a big one....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nOh, yes, to look at you, any one would think it enormous.... Have I a hook\nnose and have I lost one of my eyes?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, no, I don't say that.... Who put it out?...\n\nTHE FAIRY (_growing more and more irritated_).\nBut it's not out!... You wretched, impudent boy!... It's much finer than\nthe other; it's bigger and brighter and blue as the sky.... And my hair,\ndo you see that?... It's fair as the corn in the fields, it's like virgin\ngold!... And I've such heaps and heaps of it that it weighs my head\ndown.... It escapes on every side.... Do you see it on my hands? (_She\nholds out two lean wisps of grey hair_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, I see a little....\n\nTHE FAIRY (_indignantly_)\nA little!... Sheaves! Armfuls! Clusters! Waves of gold!... I know there are\npeople who say that they don't see any; but you're not one of those wicked,\nblind people, I should hope?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, no; I can see all that isn't hidden....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nBut you ought to see the rest with as little doubt!... Human beings are\nvery odd!... Since the death of the fairies, they see nothing at all and\nthey never suspect it.... Luckily, I always carry with me all that is\nwanted to give new light to dimmed eyes.... What am I taking out of my\nbag?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, what a dear little green hat!... What's that shining in the cockade?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nThat's the big diamond that makes people see....\n\nTYLTYL\nReally?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nYes; when you've got the hat on your head, you turn the diamond a little;\nfrom right to left, for instance, like this; do you see?... Then it presses\na bump which nobody knows of and which opens your eyes....\n\nTYLTYL\nDoesn't it hurt?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nOn the contrary, it's enchanted.... You at once see even the inside of\nthings: the soul of bread, of wine, of pepper, for instance....\n\nMYTYL\nCan you see the soul of sugar, too?...\n\nTHE FAIRY (_suddenly cross_)\nOf course you can!... I hate unnecessary questions.... The soul of sugar\nis no more interesting than the soul of pepper.... There, I give you all I\nhave to help you in your search for the Blue Bird. I know that the flying\ncarpet or the ring which makes its wearer invisible would be more useful to\nyou.... But I have lost the key of the cupboard in which I locked them....\nOh, I was almost forgetting!... (_Pointing to the diamond_) When you\nhold it like this, do you see?... One little turn more and you behold the\npast.... Another little turn and you behold the future.... It's curious and\npractical and it's quite noiseless....\n\nTYLTYL\nDaddy will take it from me....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nHe won't see it; no one can see it as long as it's on your head....\nWill you try it?... (_She puts the little green hat on_ TYLTYL'S\n_head_.) Now, turn the diamond.... One turn and then....\n\n(TYLTYL _has no sooner turned the diamond than a sudden and wonderful\nchange comes over everything. The old_ FAIRY _alters then and there\ninto a princess of marvellous beauty; the flints of which the cottage walls\nare built light up, turn blue as sapphires, become transparent and gleam\nand sparkle like the most precious stones. The humble furniture takes life\nand becomes resplendent; the deal table assumes as grave and noble an air\nas a table made of marble; the face of the clock winks its eye and smiles\ngenially, while the door that contains the pendulum opens and releases the\nHours, which, holding one another by the hand and laughing merrily, begin\nto dance to the sound of delicious music_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_displaying a legitimate bewilderment and pointing to the Hours_)\nWho are all those pretty ladies?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nDon't be afraid; they are the hours of your life and they are glad to be\nfree and visible for a moment....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd why are the walls so bright?... Are they made of sugar or of precious\nstones?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nAll stones are alike, all stones are precious; but man sees only a few of\nthem....\n\n(_While they are speaking, the scene of enchantment continues and is\ncompleted. The souls of the Quartern-loaves, in the form of little men in\ncrust-coloured tights, flurried and all powdered with flour, scramble out\nof the bread-pan and frisk round the table, where they are caught up by_\nFIRE, _who, springing from the hearth in yellow and vermilion tights,\nwrithes with laughter as he chases the loaves_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nWho are those ugly little men?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nOh, they're nothing; they are merely the souls of the Quartern-loaves, who\nare taking advantage of the reign of truth to leave the pan in which they\nwere too tightly packed....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd the big red fellow, with the nasty smell?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nHush!... Don't speak too loud; that's Fire.... He's dangerous. (_This\ndialogue does not interrupt the enchantment. The_ DOG _and the_\nCAT, _lying rolled up at the foot of the cupboard, utter a loud and\nsimultaneous cry and disappear down a trap; and in their places rise two\npersons, one of whom has the face of a bull-dog, the other that of a\ntom-cat. Forthwith, the little man with the bull-dog face, whom we will\nhenceforward call the_ DOG, _rushes upon_ TYLTYL, _kisses him\nviolently and overwhelms him with noisy and impetuous caresses; while the\nlittle man with the face of a tom-cat, whom we will simply call the_\nCAT, _combs his hair, washes his hands and strokes his whiskers before\ngoing up to_ MYTYL.)\n\nTHE DOG (_yelling, jumping about, knocking up against everything,\nunbearable_)\nMy little god!... Good-morning, good-morning, my dear little god!... At\nlast, at last we can talk!... I had so much to tell you!... Bark and wag\nmy tail as I might, you never understood!... But now!... Good-morning,\ngood-morning!... I love you!... Shall I do some of my tricks?... Shall\nI beg?... Would you like to see me walk on my front paws or dance on my\nhind-legs?...\n\nTYLTYL (_to the_ FAIRY)\nWho is this gentleman with the dog's head?....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nDon't you see? It's the soul of TYL\u00d4 whom you have set free....\n\nTHE CAT (_going up to_ MYTYL _and putting out his hand to her, with\nmuch ceremony and circumspection_)\nGood-morning, Miss.... How well you look this morning!...\n\nMYTYL\nGood-morning, sir.... (_To the_ FAIRY) Who is it?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWhy, don't you see? Its the soul of Tylette offering you his hand.... Kiss\nhim....\n\nTHE DOG (_hustling the_ CAT)\nMe, too!... I've kissed the little god!... I've kissed the little girl!...\nI've kissed everybody!... Oh, grand!... What fun we shall have!... I'm\ngoing to frighten Tylette I Bow, wow, wow!...\n\nTHE CAT\nSir, I don't know you....\n\nTHE FAIRY (_threatening the_ DOG _with her stick_)\nKeep still, will you, or else you'll go back into silence until the end of\ntime....\n\n(_Meanwhile, the enchantment has pursued its course: the spinning-wheel\nhas begun to turn madly in its corner and to spin brilliant rays of light;\nthe tap, in another corner, begins to sing in a very high voice and,\nturning into a luminous fountain, floods the sink with sheets of pearls and\nemeralds, through which darts the soul of_ WATER, _like a young\ngirl, streaming, dishevelled and tearful, who immediately begins to fight\nwith_ FIRE.)\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd who is that wet lady?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nDon't be afraid. It's Water just come from the tap....\n\n(_The milk-jug upsets, falls from the table and smashes on the floor; and\nfrom the spilt milk there rises a tall, white, bashful figure who seems to\nbe afraid of everything_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd the frightened lady in her nightgown?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nThat's Milk; she has broken her jug....\n\n(_The sugar-loaf, at the foot of the cupboard, grows taller and wider and\nsplits its paper wrapper, whence issues a mawkish and hypocritical being,\ndressed in a long coat half blue and half white, who goes up to_ MYTYL\n_with a sanctimonious smile_.)\n\nMYTYL (_greatly alarmed_)\nWhat does he want?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWhy, he is the soul of Sugar!...\n\nMYTYL (_reassured_)\nHas he any barley-sugar?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nHis pockets are full of it and each of his fingers is a sugar-stick....\n\n(_The lamp falls from the table and, at the same moment, its flame\nsprings up again and turns into a luminous maid of incomparable beauty. She\nis dressed in long transparent and dazzling veils and stands motionless in\na sort of ecstasy_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's the Queen!...\n\nMYTYL\nIt's the Blessed Virgin!...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nNo, my children; it's Light....\n\n(_Meanwhile, the saucepans on the shelves spin round like tops; the\nlinen-press throws open its folding-doors and unrolls a magnificent display\nof moon-coloured and sun-coloured stuffs, with which mingles a no less\nsplendid array of rags and tatters that come down the ladder from the loft.\nBut, suddenly, three loud knocks are heard on the door at the right_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_alarmed_)\nThat's daddy!... He's heard us!...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nTurn the diamond!... From left to right!...\n\n(TYLTYL _turns the diamond quickly_.)\nNot so quick!... Heavens! It's too late!... You turned it too briskly;\nthey will not have time to resume their places and we shall have a lot of\nannoyance....\n\n(_The FAIRY becomes an old woman again, the walls of the cottage lose\ntheir splendour. The Hours go back into the clock, the spinning-wheel\nstops, etc. But, in the general hurry and confusion, while_ FIRE _runs\nmadly round the room, looking for the chimney, one of the loaves of bread,\nwho has been unable to squeeze into the pan, bursts into sobs and utters\nroars of fright_.)\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWhat's the matter?...\n\nBREAD (_in tears_)\nThere's no room in the pan!...\n\nTHE FAIRY (_stooping over the pan_)\nYes, there is; yes, there is.... (_Pushing the other loaves, which have\nresumed their original places_.) Come, quick, make room there....\n\n(_The knocking at the door is renewed_.)\n\nBREAD (_utterly scared, vainly struggling to enter the pan_)\nI can't get in!... He'll eat me first!...\n\nTHE DOG (_frisking round_ TYLTYL)\nMy little god!... I am still here!... I can still talk!... I can still kiss\nyou!... Once more! Once more! Once more!...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWhat, you too?... Are you there still?...\n\nTHE DOG\nWhat luck!... I was too late to return to silence; the trap closed too\nquickly....\n\nTHE CAT\nSo did mine.... What is going to happen?... Is there any danger?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWell, I'm bound to tell you the truth: all those who accompany the two\nchildren will die at the end of the journey....\n\nTHE CAT (_to the_ DOG)\nCome, let us get back into the trap....\n\nTHE DOG\nNo, no!... I won't!... I want to go with the little god!... I want to talk\nto him all the time!...\n\nTHE CAT\nIdiot!...\n\n(_More knocking at the door_)\n\nBREAD (_shedding bitter tears_)\nI don't want to die at the end of the journey!... I want to get back at\nonce into my pan!...\n\nFIRE (_who has done nothing but run madly round the room, hissing with\nanguish_)\nI can't find my chimney!...\n\nWATER (_vainly trying to get into the tap_)\nI can't get into the tap!...\n\nSUGAR (_hovering round his paper wrapper_)\nI've burst my packing-paper!...\n\nMILK (_lymphatically and bashfully_)\nSomebody's broken my little jug!...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nGoodness me, what fools they are!... Fools and cowards too!... So you\nwould rather go on living in your ugly boxes, in your traps and taps, than\naccompany the children in search of the bird?...\n\nALL (_excepting the_ DOG _and_ LIGHT)\nYes, yes! Now, at once!... My tap!... My pan!... My chimney!... My trap!...\n\nTHE FAIRY (_to_ LIGHT, _who is dreamily gazing at the wreckage of her\nlamp_)\nAnd you, Light, what do you say?\n\nLIGHT\nI will go with the children....\n\nTHE DOG (_yelling with delight_)\nI too!... I too!...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nThat's right.... Besides, it's too late to go back; you have no choice now,\nyou must all start with us.... But you, Fire, don't come near anybody; you,\nDog, don't tease the Cat; and you, Water, hold yourself up and try not to\nrun all over the place....\n\n(_A violent knocking is again heard at the door on the right_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_listening_)\nThere's daddy again!... He's getting up this time; I can hear him\nwalking....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nLet us go out by the window.... You shall all come to my house, where I\nwill dress the Animals and the Things properly.... (_To_ BREAD) You,\nBread, take the cage in which to put the Blue Bird.... It will be in your\ncharge.... Quick, quick, let us waste no time....\n\n(_The window suddenly lengthens downwards, like a door. They all go\nout; after which the window resumes its primitive shape and closes quite\ninnocently. The room has become dark again and the two cots are steeped in\nshadow. The door on the right opens ajar and in the aperture appear the\nheads of_ DADDY _and_ MUMMY TYL.)\n\nDADDY TYL\nIt was nothing.... It's the cricket chirping....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nCan you see them?...\n\nDADDY TYL\nI can.... They are sleeping quite quietly....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nI can hear their breathing....\n\n(_The door closes again_)\n\n\nCURTAIN\n\n\n\n\nACT II.\n\n\n\n\nSCENE I.--_At the_ FAIRY'S.\n\n\n_A magnificent entrance-hall in the palace of the_ FAIRY B\u00c9RYLUNE.\n_Columns of gleaming marble with gold and silver capitals, staircases,\nporticoes, balustrades, etc_.\n\n_Enter from the back, on the right, sumptuously clad, the_ CAT, SUGAR\n_and_ FIRE. _They come from a room which emits rays of light; it is\nthe_ FAIRY'S _wardrobe. The_ CAT _has donned the classic\ncostume of Puss-in-boots_; SUGAR, _a silk dress, half white and half\npale-blue; and_ FIRE _wears a number of many-coloured aigrettes and a\nlong vermilion mantle lined with gold. They cross the whole length of the\nhall to the front of the stage, where the_ CAT _draws them up under a\nportico on the right_.\n\nTHE CAT\nThis way, I know every inch of this palace. It was left to the Fairy\nB\u00e9rylune by Bluebeard.... Let us make the most of our last minute of\nliberty, while the children and Light pay their visit to the Fairy's little\ndaughter.... I have brought you here in order to discuss the position in\nwhich we are placed.... Are we all here?...\n\nSUGAR\nI see the Dog coming out of the Fairy's wardrobe....\n\nFIRE\nWhat on earth has he got on?...\n\nTHE CAT\nHe has put on the livery of one of the footmen of Cinderella's coach.... It\nwas just the thing for him.... He has the soul of a flunkey.... But let us\nhide behind the balustrade.... It's strange how I mistrust him.... He had\nbetter not hear what I have to say to you....\n\nSUGAR\nIt is too late.... He has discovered us.... Look, here is Water also coming\nout of the wardrobe.... Goodness me, how fine she is!...\n\n(_The_ DOG _and_ WATER _join the first group_.)\n\nTHE DOG (_frisking about_)\nThere! There!... Aren't we fine I.... Just look at these laces and this\nembroidery!... It's real gold and no mistake!...\n\nTHE CAT (_to_ WATER)\nIs that Catskin's \"colour-of-time\" dress?... I seem to recognise it....\n\nWATER\nYes, it's the one that suited me best....\n\nFIRE (_between his teeth_)\nShe's not brought her umbrella....\n\nWATER\nWhat's that?...\n\nFIRE\nNothing, nothing....\n\nWATER\nI thought you might be speaking of a great red I saw the other day....\n\nTHE CAT\nCome, don't let as quarrel; we have more important things to do.... We are\nonly waiting for Bread; where is he?\n\nTHE DOG\nHe was making an endless fuss about choosing his dress....\n\nFIRE\nWorth while, isn't it, for a fellow who looks a fool and carries an\nenormous stomach?...\n\nTHE DOG\nAt last, he decided in favour of a Turkish robe, adorned with gems, a\nscimitar and a turban....\n\nTHE CAT\nThere he is!... He has put on Bluebeard's finest dress...\n\n_Enter_ BREAD, _in the costume described above. The silk robe is\ncrossed tightly over his huge stomach. In one hand he holds the hilt of a\nscimitar passed through his sash and in the other the cage intended for the\nBlue Bird_.\n\nBREAD (_waddling conceitedly_)\nWell?... What do you think of this?\n\nTHE DOG (_frisking round the_ LOAF)\nHow nice he looks! What a fool he looks! How nice he looks! How nice he\nlooks!...\n\nTHE CAT (_to the_ LOAF)\nAre the children dressed?...\n\nBREAD\nYes, Master Tyltyl has put on Hop-o'-my-Thumb's blue jacket and red\nbreeches; and Miss Mytyl has Gretel's frock and Cinderella's slippers....\nBut the great thing was the dressing of Light!...\n\nTHE CAT\nWhy?...\n\nBREAD\nThe Fairy thought her so lovely that she did not want to dress her at\nall!... Thereupon I protested in the name of our dignity as essential and\neminently respectable elements; and I ended by declaring that, under those\nconditions, I should refuse to be seen with her....\n\nFIRE\nThey ought to have bought her a lampshade!...\n\nTHE CAT\nAnd what answer did the Fairy make?...\n\nTHE LOAF\nShe hit me with her stick on my head and stomach....\n\nTHE CAT\nAnd then?...\n\nBREAD\nI allowed myself to be convinced; but, at the last moment, Light decided on\nthe moonbeam dress at the bottom of the chest with Catskin's treasures....\n\nTHE CAT\nCome, stop chattering, time presses.... Our future is at stake.... You have\nheard--the Fairy has just said so--that the end of this journey will, at\nthe same time, mark the end of our lives.... It is our business, therefore,\nto prolong it as much as possible and by every possible means.... But there\nis another thing: we must think of the fate of our race and the destiny of\nour children....\n\nBREAD\nHear, hear!... The Cat is right!...\n\nTHE CAT\nListen to me!... All of us here present, Animals, Things and Elements,\npossess a soul which man does not yet know. That is why we retain a remnant\nof independence; but, if he finds the Blue Bird, he will know all, he will\nsee all and we shall be completely at his mercy.... This is what I have\njust learned from my old friend, Night, who is also the guardian of the\nmysteries of Life.... It is to our interest, therefore, at all costs to\nprevent the finding of that bird, even if we have to go so far as to\nendanger the lives of the children themselves....\n\nTHE DOG (_indignantly_)\nWhat's the fellow saying?... Just say that again, will you, to see if I\nheard right?...\n\nBREAD\nOrder! Order!... It's not your turn to speak!... I'm in the chair at this\nmeeting....\n\nFIRE\nWho made you chairman?...\n\nWATER (_to_ FIRE)\nHold your tongue!... What are you interfering with?...\n\nFIRE\nI shall interfere where I choose.... And I want none of your remarks....\n\nSUGAR (_concilatorily_)\nExcuse me.... Do not let us quarrel.... This is a serious moment.... We\nmust, above all things, decide what measures to adopt....\n\nBREAD\nI quite agree with Sugar and the Cat....\n\nTHE DOG\nThis is ridiculous!... There is Man and that's all!... We have to obey him\nand do as he tells us!... That is the one and only fact!... I recognise no\none but him!... Hurrah for Man!... Man for ever!... In life or death, all\nfor Man!... Man is God!...\n\nBREAD\nI quite agree with the Dog.\n\nTHE CAT (_to the_ DOG)\nBut at least give your reasons....\n\nTHE DOG\nThere are no reasons!... I love Man and that's enough!... If you do\nanything against him, I will throttle you first and I will go and tell him\neverything....\n\nSUGAR (_intervening sweetly_)\nExcuse me.... Let us not embitter the discussion.... From a certain point\nof view, you are both of you right.... There is something to be said on\nboth sides....\n\nBREAD\nI quite agree with SUGAR!...\n\nTHE CAT\nAre we not, all of us, Water, Fire you yourselves, Bread and the Dog, the\nvictims of a nameless tyranny?... Do you remember the time when, before the\ncoming of the despot, we wandered at liberty upon the face of the earth?...\nFire and Water were the sole masters of the world; and see what they have\ncome to!... As for us puny descendants of the great wild animals....\nLook out!... Pretend to be doing nothing!... I see the Fairy and Light\ncoming.... Light has taken sides with Man; she is our worst enemy.... Here\nthey are....\n\n_Enter, on the right, the_ FAIRY, _in the shape of an old woman,\nand_ LIGHT, _followed by_ TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL.\n\nTHE FAIRY\nWell?... What is it?... What are you doing in that corner?... You look like\nconspirators.... It is time to start.... I have decided that Light shall be\nyour leader.... You will obey her as you would me and I am giving her my\nwand.... The children will pay a visit to their late grandparents this\nevening.... You will remain behind; that is more discreet.... They will\nspend the evening in the bosom of their dead family.... Meanwhile, you will\nbe getting ready all that is wanted for to-morrow's journey, which will be\na long one.... Come, up, be off and every one to his post!...\n\nTHE CAT (_hypocritically_)\nThat is just what I was saying to them, madam.... I was encouraging them to\ndo their duty bravely and conscientiously; unfortunately, the Dog, who kept\non interrupting me....\n\nTHE DOG\nWhat's that?... Just wait a bit I...\n\n(_He is about to leap upon the_ CAT, _but_ TYLTYL _foreseeing\nhis intention, stops with a threatening gesture_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nDown, Tyl\u00f4!... Take care; and, if ever I catch you again...\n\nTHE DOG\nMy little god, you don't know, it was he who...\n\nTYLTYL (_threatening him_)\nBe quiet!...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nCome, that will do.... Let Bread hand the cage for this evening to\nTyltyl.... It is just possible that the Blue Bird may be hidden In the\nPast, at the grandparents'.... In any case, it Is a chance which we must\nnot neglect.... Well, Bread, the cage?\n\nBREAD (_solemnly_)\nOne moment, if you please, Mrs. Fairy....\n(_Like an orator making a speech_)\nI call upon all of you to bear witness that this silver cage, which was\nentrusted to my care by....\n\nTHE FAIRY (_interrupting him_)\nEnough!... No speeches!... We will go out this way and the children\nthat....\n\nTYLTYL (_rather anxiously_)\nAre we to go all alone?...\n\nMYTYL\nI feel hungry!...\n\nTYLTYL\nI, too!...\n\nTHE FAIRY (_to_ BREAD)\nOpen your Turkish robe and give them a slice of your good stomach....\n\n(BREAD _opens his robe, draws his scimitar and cuts two slices out of his\nstomach and hands them to the_ CHILDREN.)\n\n\nSUGAR (_approaching the_ CHILDREN)\nAllow me at the same time to offer you a few sugar-sticks....\n(_He breaks off the five fingers of his left hand, one by one, and\npresents them to the_ CHILDREN.)\n\nMYTYL\nWhat is he doing?... He is breaking all his fingers!...\n\nSUGAR (_engagingly_)\nTaste them, they are capital... They're made of real barley-sugar....\n\nMYTYL (_tasting one of the fingers_)\nOh, how good they are!... Have you many of them?...\n\nSUGAR (_modestly_)\nYes; as many as I want....\n\nMYTYL\nDoes that hurt you much, when you break them off?...\n\nSUGAR\nNot at all.... On the contrary, it's a great advantage; they grow again at\nonce and so I always have new, clean fingers....\n\nTHE FAIRY\nCome, children, don't eat too much sugar.... Don't forget that you are to\nhave supper presently with your grandpapa and grandmamma....\n\nTYLTYL\nAre they here?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nYou shall see them at once....\n\nTYLTYL\nHow can we see them, when they are dead?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nHow can they be dead, when they live in your memory?... Men do not know\nthis secret, because they know so little; whereas you, thanks to the\ndiamond, are about to see that the dead who are remembered live as happily\nas though they were not dead....\n\nTYLTYL\nIs Light coming with us?\n\nTHE FAIRY\nNo, it is more proper that this visit should be confined to the family....\nI will wait near here, so as not to appear indiscreet.... They did not\ninvite me....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhich way are we to go?...\n\nTHE FAIRY\nOver there.... You are on the threshold of the Land of Memory.... As soon\nas you have turned the diamond, you will see a big tree with a board on it,\nwhich will show you that you are there.... But don't forget that you are\nto be back, both of you, by a quarter to nine.... It is extremely\nimportant.... Now mind and be punctual, for all would be lost if you were\nlate.... Good-bye for the present!...\n(_Calling the_ CAT, _the_ DOG, LIGHT, _etc_.) This way.... And the little\nones that way....\n\n(_She goes out to the right, with_ LIGHT, _the_ ANIMALS, _etc., while the_\nCHILDREN _go out to the left_.)\n\n\nCURTAIN\n\n\n\n\nSCENE 2.--_The Land of Memory_.\n\n_A thick fog, from which stands out, on the right, close to the\nfootlights, the trunk of a large oak, with a board nailed to it. A vague,\nmilky, impenetrable light prevails_. TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _are at\nthe foot of the oak_.\n\nTYLTYL\nHere Is the tree!...\n\nMYTYL\nThere's the board!...\n\nTYLTYL\nI can't read it.... Wait, I will climb up on this root.... That's it.... It\nsays, \"Land of Memory.\"\n\nMYTYL\nIs this where it begins?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, there's an arrow....\n\nMYTYL\nWell, where are grandad and granny?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBehind the fog.... We shall see....\n\nMYTYL\nI can see nothing at all!... I can't see my feet or my hands....\n(_Whimpering_) I'm cold!... I don't want to travel any more.... I want\nto go home....\n\nTYLTYL\nCome, don't keep on crying, just like Water.... You ought to be ashamed of\nyourself.... A great big little girl like you.... Look, the fog is lifting\nalready.... We shall see what's behind it....\n\n(_The mist begins to move; It grows thinner and lighter, disperses,\nevaporates. Soon, in a more and more transparent light, appears, under a\nleafy vault, a cheerful little peasant's cottage, covered with creepers.\nThe door and windows are open. There are bee-hives under a shed,\nflower-pots on the window-sills, a cage with a sleeping blackbird. Beside\nthe door is a bench, on which an old peasant and his wife_, TYLTYL'S\n_grandfather and grandmother, are seated, both sound asleep_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_suddenly recognising them_)\nIt's grandad and granny!...\n\nMYTYL (_clapping her hands_)\nYes! Yes!... So it is! So it is!...\n\nTYLTYL (_still a little distrustful_)\nTake care!... We don't know yet if they can stir.... Let's keep behind the\ntree....\n\n(GRANNY TYL _opens her eyes, raises her head, stretches herself, gives\na sigh and looks at_ GAFFER TYL, _who also wakes slowly from his\nsleep_.)\n\nGRANNY TYL\nI have a notion that our grandchildren who are still alive are coming to\nsee us today....\n\nGAFFER TYL\nThey are certainly thinking of as, for I feel anyhow and I have pins and\nneedles in my legs....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nI think they must be quite near, for I see tears of joy dancing before my\neyes....\n\nGAFFER TYL\nNo, no, they are a long way off.... I still feel weak....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nI tell you they are here; I am quite strong....\n\nTYLTYL _and_ MYTYL (_rushing up from behind the oak_)\nHere we are!... Here we are!... Gaffer! Granny!... It's we!... It's we!...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nThere!... You see?... What did I tell you?... I was sure they would come\nto-day....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nTyltyl!... Mytyl!... It's you!... It's she!... (_Trying to run to meet\nthem_) I can't run!... I've still got the rheumatics!...\n\nGAFFER TYL (_hobbling along as fast as he can_)\nNo more can I.... That's because of my wooden leg, which I still wear\ninstead of the one I broke when I fell off the big oak....\n\n(_The_ GRANDPARENTS _and the_ CHILDREN _exchange frantic\nembraces_.)\n\nGRANNY TYL\nHow tall and strong you've grown, Tyltyl!\n\nGAFFER TYL (_stroking_ MYTYL'S _hair_)\nAnd Mytyl!... Just look at her.... What pretty hair, what pretty eyes!...\n\nGRANNY TYL\nCome and kiss me again!... Come on to my lap....\n\nGAFFER TYL\nAnd what about me?...\n\nGRANNY TYL\nNo, no.... Come to me first.... How are Daddy and Mummy Tyl?...\n\nTYLTYL\nQuite well, granny.... They were asleep when we went out....\n\nGRANNY TYL (_gazing at them and covering them with caresses_)\nLord, how pretty they are and how nice and clean!... Was it mummy who\nwashed you?... And there are no holes in your stockings!... I used to darn\nthem once, you know.... Why don't you come to see us oftener?... It makes\nus so happy!... It is months and months now that you've forgotten us and\nthat we have seen nobody....\n\nTYLTYL\nWe couldn't, granny; and to-day its only because of the Fairy....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nWe are always here, waiting for a visit from those who are alive.... They\ncome so seldom!... The last time you were here, let me see, when was it?...\nIt was on All-hallows, when the church-bells were ringing....\n\nTYLTYL\nAll-hallows?... We didn't go out that day, for we both had very bad\ncolds....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nNo; but you thought of us....\n\nTYLTYL\nYes....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nWell, every time you think of us, we wake up and see you again....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat, is it enough to...\n\nGRANNY TYL\nBut come, you know that....\n\nTYLTYL\nNo, I didn't know....\n\nGRANNY TYL (_to_ GAFFER TYL)\nIt's astonishing, up there.... They don't know yet.... Do they never learn\nanything?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nIt's as in our own time.... The Living are so stupid when they speak of the\nOthers....\n\nTYLTYL\nDo you sleep all the time?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nYes, we get plenty of sleep, while waiting for a thought of the Living to\ncome and wake us.... Ah, it is good to sleep when life is done.... But it\nis pleasant also to wake up from time to time....\n\nTYLTYL\nSo you are not really dead?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nWhat do you say?... What is he saying?... Now he's using words we don't\nunderstand.... Is it a new word, a new invention?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThe word \"dead\"?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nYes, that was the word.... What does it mean?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, it means that one's no longer alive....\n\nGAFFER TYL\nHow silly they are, up there!...\n\nTYLTYL\nIs it nice here?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nOh, yes; not bad, not bad; and, if one could just have a smoke....\n\nTYLTYL\nAren't you allowed to smoke?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nYes, it's allowed; but I've broken my pipe....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nYes, yes, all would be well, if only you would come and see us oftener....\nDo you remember, Tyltyl?... The last time I baked you a lovely\napple-tart.... You ate such a lot of it that you made yourself ill....\n\nTYLTYL\nBut I haven't eaten any apple-tart since last year.... There were no apples\nthis year....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nDon't talk nonsense.... Here, we have them always....\n\nTYLTYL\nThat's different....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nWhat? That's different?... Why, nothing's different when we're able to kiss\neach other....\n\nTYLTYL (_looking first at his_ GRANDMOTHER _and then at his_ GRANDFATHER)\nYou haven't changed, grandad, not a bit, not a bit.... And granny hasn't\nchanged a bit either.... But you're better-looking....\n\nGAFFER TYL\nWell, we feel all right.... We have stopped growing older.... But you,\nhow tall you're growing!... Yes, you're shooting up finely.... Look,\nover there, on the door, is the mark of the last time.... That was on\nAll-hallows.... Now then, stand up straight.... (TYLTYL _stands up\nagainst the door_.) Four fingers taller!... That's immense!... (MYTYL\n_also stands up against the door_.) And Mytyl, four and a half!...\nAha, ill weeds grow apace!... How they've grown, oh, how they've grown!...\n\nTYLTYL (_looking around him with delight_)\nNothing is changed, everything is in its old place!... Only everything is\nprettier!... There is the clock with the big hand which I broke the point\noff....\n\nGAFFER TYL\nAnd here is the soup-tureen you chipped a corner off....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd here is the hole which I made in the door, the day I found the\ngimlet....\n\nGAFFER TYL\nYes, you've done some damage in your time!... And here is the plum-tree in\nwhich you were so fond of climbing, when I wasn't looking.... It still has\nits fine red plums....\n\nTYLTYL\nBut they are finer than ever!...\n\nMYTYL\nAnd here is the old blackbird!... Does he still sing?...\n\n(_The blackbird wakes and begins to sing at the top of his voice_.)\n\nGRANNY TYL\nYou see.... As soon as one thinks of him....\n\nTYLTYL (_observing with amazement that the blackbird is quite blue_)\nBut he's blue!... Why, that's the bird, the Blue Bird which I am to take\nback to the Fairy.... And you never told us that you had him here!... Oh,\nhe's blue, blue, blue as a blue glass marble!... (_Entreatingly_)\nGrandad, granny, will you give him to me?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nYes, perhaps, perhaps.... What do you think, granny?...\n\nGRANNY TYL\nCertainly, certainly.... What use is he to us?... He does nothing but\nsleep.... We never hear him sing....\n\nTYLTYL\nI will put him in my cage.... I say, where is my cage?... Oh, I know, I\nleft it behind the big tree.... (_He runs to the tree, fetches the cage\nand puts the blackbird into it_.) So, really, you've really given him to\nme?... How pleased the Fairy will be!... And Light too!...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nMind you, I won't answer for the bird.... I'm afraid that he will never get\nused again to the restless life up there and that he'll come back here by\nthe first wind that blows this way.... However, we shall see.... Leave him\nthere, for the present, and come and look at the cow....\n\nTYLTYL (_noticing the hives_)\nAnd how are the bees getting on?\n\nGAFFER TYL\nOh, pretty well.... They are no longer alive, as you call it up there; but\nthey work hard....\n\nTYLTYL (_going up to the hives_)\nOh, yes!... I can smell the honey!... How heavy the hives must be!... All\nthe flowers are so beautiful!... And my little dead sisters, are they here\ntoo?...\n\nMYTYL\nAnd where are my three little brothers who were buried?...\n\n(_At these words, seven little_ CHILDREN, _of different sizes, like\na set of Pan's pipes, come out of the cottage, one by one_.)\n\nGRANNY TYL\nHere they are, here they are!... As soon as you think of them, as soon as\nyou speak of them, they are there, the darlings!...\n\n(TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _run to meet the_ CHILDREN. _They hustle\nand hug one another and dance and whirl about and utter screams of\njoy_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nHullo, Pierrot!... (_They clutch each other by the hair_.) Ah, so\nwe're going to fight again, as in the old days.... And Robert!... I say,\nJean, what's become of your top?... Madeleine and Pierette and Pauline!...\nAnd here's Riquette!...\n\nMYTYL\nOh, Riquette, Riquette!... She's still crawling on all fours!...\n\nGRANNY TYL\nYes, she has stopped growing.\n\nTYLTYL (_noticing the little_ DOG _yelping around them_)\nThere's Kiki, whose tail I cut off with Pauline's scissors.... He hasn't\nchanged either....\n\nGAFFER TYL (_sententiously_)\nNo, nothing changes here....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd Pauline still has a pimple on her nose....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nYes, it won't go away; there's nothing to be done for it....\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, how well they look, how fat and glossy they are!... What jolly cheeks\nthey have!... They look well fed....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nThey have been much better since they ceased living.... There's nothing\nmore to fear, nobody is ever ill, one has no anxiety....\n\n(_The clock inside the cottage strikes eight_.)\n\nGRANNY TYL (_amazed_)\nWhat's that?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nI don't know, I'm sure.... It must be the clock....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nIt can't be.... It never strikes....\n\nGAFFER TYL\nBecause we no longer think of the time.... Was any one thinking of the\ntime?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, I was.... What is the time?...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nI'm sure I can't tell.... I've forgotten how.... It struck eight times, so\nI suppose it's what they call eight o'clock up there....\n\nTYLTYL\nLight expects me at a quarter to nine.... It's because of the Fairy....\nIt's extremely important.... I'm off!...\n\nGRANNY TYL\nDon't leave us like that, just as supper's ready!... Quick, quick, let's\nlay the table outside.... I've got some capital cabbage-soup and a\nbeautiful plum-tart....\n\n(_They get out the table, dishes, plates, etc., and lay for supper\noutside the door, all helping_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nWell, as I've got the Blue Bird.... And then it's so long since I tasted\ncabbage-soup.... Ever since I've been, travelling.... They don't have it at\nthe hotels....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nThere!... That didn't take long!... Sit down, children.... Don't let us\nlose time, if you're in a hurry....\n\n(_They have lit the lamp and served the soup. The_ GRANDPARENTS _and\nthe_ CHILDREN _sit down round the table, jostling and elbowing one\nanother and laughing and screaming with pleasure_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_eating like a glutton_)\nHow good it is!... Oh, how good it is!...I want some more! More!...\n\n(_He brandishes his wooden spoon and noisily hits his plate with it_.)\n\nGAFFER TYL\nCome, come, a little more quiet.... You're just as ill-behaved as ever; and\nyou'll break your plate....\n\nTYLTYL (_half-raising himself on his stool_)\nI want more, more!... (_He seizes the tureen, drags it toward him and\nupsets it and the soup, which trickles over the table and down over their\nknees and scalds them. Yells and screams of pain_.)\n\nGRANNY TYL\nThere!... I told you so!...\n\nGAFFER TYL (_giving TYLTYL a loud box on the ear_)\nThat's one for you!...\n\nTYLTYL (_staggered for a moment, next puts his hand to his cheek with an\nexpression of rapture_)\nOh, that's just like the slaps you used to give me when you were alive?...\nGrandad, how nice it was and how good it makes one feel!... I must give you\na kiss!...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nVery well; there's more where that came from, if you like them....\n\n(_The clock strikes half-past eight_)\n\nTYLTYL (_starting up_)\nHalf-past eight!... (_He flings down his spoon_.) Mytyl, we've only\njust got time!...\n\nGRANNY TYL\nOh, I say!... Just a few minutes more!... Your house isn't on fire!... We\nsee you so seldom....\n\nTYLTYL\nNo, we can't possibly.... Light is so kind.... And I promised her.... Come,\nMytyl, come!...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nGoodness gracious, how tiresome the Living are with all their business and\nexcitement!...\n\nTYLTYL (_taking his cage and hurriedly kissing everybody all round_)\nGood-bye, grandad.... Good-bye, granny.... Good-bye, brothers and sisters,\nPierrot, Robert, Pauline, Madeleine, Riquette and you, too, Kiki.... I feel\nwe mustn't stay.... Don't cry, granny; we will come back often....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nCome back every day!...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, yes; we will come back as often as we can....\n\nGRANNY TYL\nIt's our only pleasure and it's such a treat for us when your thoughts\nvisit us!...\n\nGAFFER TYL\nWe have no other amusements....\n\nTYLTYL\nQuick, quick!... My cage!... My bird!...\n\nGAFFER TYL (_handing him the cage_)\nHere they are!... You know, I don't warrant him; and if he's not the right\ncolour...\n\nTYLTYL\nGood-bye! Good-bye!...\n\nTHE BROTHERS AND SISTERS TYL\nGood-bye, Tyltyl! Good-bye, Mytyl!... Remember the barley-sugar!...\nGood-bye!... Come again!... Come again!...\n\n(_They all wave their handkerchiefs while_ TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL\n_slowly move away. But already, during the last sentences, the fog of the\nbeginning of the scene has been gradually re-forming, so that, at the end,\nall has disappeared in the mist and, at the fall of the curtain_, TYLTYL\n_and_ MYTYL _are again alone visible under the big oak_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's this way, Mytyl....\n\nMYTYL\nWhere is Light?...\n\nTYLTYL\nI don't know.... (_Looking at the bird in the cage_.) But the bird is\nno longer blue!... He has turned black!...\n\nMYTYL\nGive me your hand, little brother.... I feel so frightened and so cold....\n\n\nCURTAIN\n\n\n\n\nACT III.\n\n\n\n\nSCENE 1.--_The Palace of_ NIGHT.\n\n\n_A large and wonderful hall of an austere, rigid, metallic and sepulchral\nmagnificence, giving the impression of a Greek temple with columns,\narchitraves, flagstones and ornaments of black marble, gold and ebony. The\nhall is trapezium-shaped. Basalt steps, occupying almost the entire width,\ndivide it into three successive stages, which rise gradually toward the\nback. On the right and left, between the columns, are doors of sombre\nbronze. At the back, a monumental door of brass. The palace is lit only\nby a vague light that seems to emanate mainly from the brilliancy of the\nmarble and the ebony. At the rise of the curtain_, NIGHT, _in the form\nof a very old woman, clad in long, black garments, is seated on the steps\nof the second stage between two children, of whom one, almost naked,\nlike Cupid, is smiling in a deep sleep, while the other is standing up,\nmotionless and veiled from head to foot_.\n\n_Enter from the right, in the foreground, the_ CAT\n\nNIGHT\nWho goes there?\n\nTHE CAT (_sinking heavily upon the marble steps_)\nIt is I, Mother Night.... I am worn out....\n\nNIGHT\nWhat's the matter, child?... You look pale and thin and you are splashed\nwith mud to your very whiskers.... Have you been fighting on the tiles\nagain, in the snow and rain?...\n\nTHE CAT\nIt has nothing to do with the tiles!... It's our secret that's at stake!...\nIt's the beginning of the end!... I have managed to escape for a moment to\nwarn you; but I greatly fear that there is nothing to be done....\n\nNIGHT\nWhy?... What has happened?...\n\nTHE CAT\nI have told you of little Tyltyl, the woodcutter's son, and of the magic\ndiamond.... Well, he is coming here to demand the Blue Bird of you....\n\nNIGHT\nHe hasn't got it yet.....\n\nTHE CAT\nHe will have it soon, unless we perform some miracle.... This is how the\nmatter stands: Light, who is guiding him and betraying us all, for she has\nplaced herself entirely on Man's side, Light has learned that the Blue\nBird, the real one, the only one that can live in the light of day, is\nhidden here, among the blue birds of the dreams that live on the rays of\nthe moon and die as soon as they set eyes on the sun.... She knows that she\nis forbidden to cross the threshold of your palace, but she is sending the\nchildren; and, as you cannot prevent Man from opening the doors of\nyour secrets, I do not know how all this will end.... In any case, if,\nunfortunately, they should lay their hands on the real Blue Bird, there\nwould be nothing for us but to disappear....\n\nNIGHT\nOh dear, oh dear!.... What times we live in!... I never have a moment's\npeace.... I cannot understand Man, these last few years.... What is he\naiming at?... Must he absolutely know everything?... Already he has\ncaptured a third of my Mysteries, all my Terrors are afraid and dare not\nleave the house, my Ghosts have taken flight, the greater part of my\nSicknesses are ill....\n\nTHE CAT\nI know, Mother Night, I know, the times are hard and we are almost alone in\nour struggle against Man.... But I hear them coming.... I see only one way:\nas they are children, we must give them such a fright that they will not\ndare to persist or to open the great door at the back, behind which they\nwould find the Birds of the Moon.... The secrets of the other caverns will\nbe enough to distract their attention and terrify them....\n\nNIGHT (_listening to a sound outside_)\nWhat do I hear?... Are there many of them?...\n\nTHE CAT\nIt is nothing; it is our friends, Bread and Sugar; Water is not very well\nand Fire could not come, because he is related to Light.... The Dog is\nthe only one who is not on our side; but it is never possible to keep him\naway....\n\n(_Enter timidly, on the right, in the foreground, TYLTYL, MYTYL, BREAD,\nSUGAR and the DOG_.)\n\nTHE CAT (_rushing up to TYLTYL_)\nThis way, little master, this way.... I have told Night, who is delighted\nto see you.... You must forgive her, she is a little indisposed; that is\nwhy she was not able to come to meet you....\n\nTYLTYL\nGood-day, Mrs. Night....\n\nNIGHT (_in an offended voice_)\nGood-day?... I am not used to that.... You might say, Good-night, or, at\nleast. Good-evening....\n\nTYLTYL (_mortified_)\nI beg your pardon, ma'am....I did not know....(_Pointing to the two_\nCHILDREN.) Are those your two little boys?... They are very nice....\n\nNIGHT\nThis is Sleep....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy is he so fat?...\n\nNIGHT\nThat is because he sleeps well....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd the other, hiding himself?... Why does he veil his face?...Is he\nill?... What is his name?...\n\nNIGHT\nThat is Sleep's sister.... It is better not to mention her name....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy?...\n\nNIGHT\nBecause her name is not pleasant to hear.... But let us talk of something\nelse.... The Cat tells me that you have come here to look for the Blue\nBird....\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, ma'am, if you will allow me.... Will you tell me where he is?...\n\nNIGHT\nI don't know, dear.... All I can say is that he is not here.... I have\nnever seen him....\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, yes.... Light told me that he was here; and Light knows what she is\nsaying.... Will you hand me your keys?...\n\nNIGHT\nBut you must understand, dear, that I cannot give my keys like that to\nthe first comer.... I have the keeping of all Nature's secrets and I am\nabsolutely forbidden to deliver them to anybody, especially to a child....\n\nTYLTYL\nYou have no right to refuse them to Man when he asks you for them....I know\nthat....\n\nNIGHT\nWho told you?...\n\nTYLTYL\nLight....\n\nNIGHT\nLight again! Always Light!... How dare she interfere, how dare she?...\n\nTHE DOG\nShall I take them from her by force, my little god?...\n\nTYLTYL\nHold your tongue, keep quiet and try to behave.... (_To_NIGHT) Come,\nmadam, give me your keys, please....\n\nNIGHT\nHave you the sign, at least?... Where is it?...\n\nTYLTYL (_touching his hat_)\nBehold the Diamond!...\n\nNIGHT (_resigning herself to the inevitable_)\nWell, then... Here is the key that opens all the doors of the hall.... Look\nto yourself if you meet with a misfortune.... I will not be responsible....\n\nBREAD (_very anxiously_)\nIs it dangerous?...\n\nNIGHT\nDangerous?... I will go so far as to say that I myself do not know what I\nshall do when certain of those bronze doors open upon the abyss.... All\naround the hall, in each of those basalt caves, are all the evils, all the\nplagues, all the sicknesses, all the terrors, all the catastrophes, all the\nmysteries that have afflicted life since the beginning of the world.... I\nhave had trouble enough to Imprison them there with the aid of Destiny; and\nit is not without difficulty, I assure you, that I keep some little order\namong those undisciplined characters.... You have seen what happens when\none of them escapes and shows itself on earth....\n\nBREAD\nMy great age, my experience and my devotion make me the natural protector\nof these two children; therefore, Mrs. Night, permit me to ask you a\nquestion....\n\nNIGHT\nCertainly....\n\nBREAD\nIn case of danger, which is the way of escape?...\n\nNIGHT\nThere is no way of escape.\n\nTYLTYL (_taking the key and climbing the first steps_)\nLet us begin here.... What is behind this bronze door?...\n\nNIGHT\nI think it is the Ghosts.... It is long since I opened the door and since\nthey came out....\n\nTYLTYL (_placing the key in the lock_)\nI will see.... (_To_ BREAD) Have you the cage for the Blue Bird?...\n\nBREAD (_with chattering teeth_)\nI'm not frightened, but don't you think it would be better not to open the\ndoor, but to peep through the keyhole?...\n\nTYLTYL\nI don't want your advice....\n\nMYTYL (_suddenly beginning to cry_)\nI am frightened!... Where is Sugar?... I want to go home!...\n\nSUGAR (_eagerly, obsequiously_)\nHere I am, miss, here I am.... Don't cry, I will break off one of my\nfingers so that you may have a sugar-stick....\n\nTYLTYL\nEnough of this!...\n\n(_He turns the key and cautiously opens the door. Forthwith, five or\nsix_ GHOSTS _of strange and different forms escape and disperse on\nevery side_. MYTYL _gives a scream of fright_, BREAD, _terrified,\nthrows away the cage and goes and hides at the back of the hall, while_\nNIGHT, _running after the_ GHOSTS, _cries out to_ TYLTYL.)\n\nNIGHT\nQuick! Quick!... Shut the door!... They will all escape and we should never\nbe able to catch them again!... They have felt bored in there, ever since\nMan ceased to take them seriously....\n(_She runs after the_ GHOSTS _and endeavours, with the aid of a whip\nformed of snakes, to drive them back to the door of their prison_.)\nHelp me!... Here!... Here!...\n\nTYLTYL (_to the_ DOG)\nHelp her, Tyl\u00f4, at them!...\n\nTHE DOG (_leaping up and barking_)\nYes, yes, yes!...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd Bread, where's Bread?...\n\nBREAD (_at the back of the hall_)\nHere.... I am near the door to prevent them from going out....\n\n(_One of the_ GHOSTS _moves in that direction and he rushes away at\nfull speed, uttering yells of terror_.)\n\nNIGHT (_to three_ GHOSTS _whom she has seized by the neck_)\nThis way, you!... (_To_ TYLTYL) Open the door a little.... (_She\npushes the_ GHOSTS _into the cave_.) There, that's it....\n(_The_ DOG _brings up two more_.) And these two.... Come, quick,\nin with you!... You know you're only allowed out on All-hallows....\n\n(_She closes the door._)\n\nTYLTYL (_going to another door_)\nWhat's behind this one?....\n\nNIGHT\nWhat is the good?...I have already told you the Blue Bird has never been\nhere.... However, as you please.... Open the doors if you like.... It's the\nSicknesses....\n\nTYLTYL (_with the key in the lock_.)\nMust I be careful in opening?...\n\nNIGHT\nNo, it is not worth while.... They are very quiet, the poor little\nthings.... They are not happy.... Man, for some time, has been waging\nsuch a determined war upon them!... Especially since the discovery of the\nmicrobes.... Open, you will see....\n\n(TYLTYL _opens the door quite wide. Nothing appears_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nDon't they come out?\n\nNIGHT\nI told you they are almost all poorly and very much discouraged....\nThe doctors are so unkind to them.... Go in for a moment and see for\nyourself....\n\n(TYLTYL _enters the cavern and comes out again immediately_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nThe Blue Bird is not there.... They look very ill, those Sicknesses of\nyours.... They did not even lift their heads.... (_One little Sickness in\nslippers, a dressing-gown and a cotton nightcap escapes from the cavern\nand begins to frisk about the hall_.) Look!... There's a little one\nescaping.... Which one is it?...\n\nNIGHT\nIt's nothing, one of the smallest; it's Cold-in-the-Head.... It is one\nof those which are least persecuted and which enjoy the best health....\n(_Calling to_ COLD-IN-THE-HEAD) Come here, dear....It's too soon yet;\nyou must wait for the winter.... (COLD-IN-THE-HEAD, _sneezing, coughing\nand blowing its nose, returns to the cavern and_ TYLTYL _shuts the\ndoor_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_going to the next door_)\nLet us look at this one..... What is in here?...\n\nNIGHT\nTake care!... It is the Wars.... They are more terrible and powerful\nthan ever.... Heaven knows what would happen if one of them escaped!...\nFortunately, they are rather heavy and slow-moving.... But we must stand\nready to push back the door, all of us together, while you take a rapid\nglance into the cavern....\n\n(TYLTYL, _with a thousand precautions, opens the door ajar so that there\nis only a little gap to which he can put his eye. He at once doubles his\nback against the door, shouting_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nQuick! Quick!... Push with all your might!... They have seen me!... They\nare all coming!... They are breaking down the door!...\n\nNIGHT\nCome, all together!... Push hard!... Bread, what are you doing?... Push,\nall of you!... How strong they are!... Ah, that's it!... They are giving\nway!... It was high time!... Did you see them?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, yes!... They are huge and awful!... I don't think that they have the\nBlue Bird....\n\nNIGHT\nYou may be sure they haven't.... If they had, they would eat him at\nonce.... Well, have you had enough of it?... You see there is nothing to be\ndone....\n\nTYLTYL\nI must see everything.... Light said so....\n\nNIGHT\nLight said so!... It's an easy thing to say when one's afraid and stays at\nhome....\n\nTYLTYL\nLet us go to the next.... What is in here?...\n\nNIGHT\nThis is where I lock up the Shades and the Terrors....\n\nTYLTYL\nCan I open the door?...\n\nNIGHT\nCertainly.... They are pretty quiet; they are like the Sicknesses....\n\nTYLTYL (_half-opening the door, with a certain mistrustfulness, and\ntaking a look into the cavern_)\nAre they not there?...\n\nNIGHT (_looking into the cavern in her turn_)\nWell, Shades, what are you doing?... Come out for a moment and stretch your\nlegs; it will do you good.... And the Terrors also.... There is nothing to\nbe afraid of.... (_A few_ SHADES _and a few_ TERRORS, _in the\nshape of women, shrouded, the former in black veils and the latter in\ngreenish veils, piteously venture to take a few steps outside the cavern;\nand then, upon a movement of_ TYLTYL'S, _hastily run back again_.)\nCome, don't be afraid.... It's only a child; he won't hurt you....\n(_To_ TYLTYL) They have become extremely timid, except the great ones,\nthose whom you see at the back....\n\nTYLTYL (_looking into the depths of the cave_)\nOh, how terrifying they are!...\n\nNIGHT\nThey are chained up.... They are the only ones that are not afraid of\nMan.... But shut the door, lest they should grow angry....\n\nTYLTYL (_going to the next door_)\nI say!... This is a darker one.... What is here?\n\nNIGHT\nThere are several Mysteries behind this one.... If you are absolutely bent\nupon it, you may open it too.... But don't go in.... Be very cautious and\nlet us get ready to push back the door, as we did with the Wars....\n\nTYLTYL (_half-opening the door; with unparalleled precautions and passing\nhis head fearsomely through the aperture_)\nOh!... How cold!... My eyes are smarting!... Shut it quickly!... Push, oh,\npush! They are pushing against us!... (NIGHT, _the_ DOG, _the_ CAT _and_\nSUGAR _push back the door_.) Oh, I saw!...\n\nNIGHT\nWhat?...\n\nTYLTYL (_upset_)\nI don't know, it was awful!... They were all seated like monsters without\neyes.... Who was the giant who tried to seize me?...\n\nNIGHT\nIt was probably Silence; he has charge of this door.... It appears to have\nbeen alarming?... You are quite pale still and trembling all over....\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, I would never have believed.... I had never seen.... And my hands are\nfrozen....\n\nNIGHT\nIt will be worse presently if you go on....\n\nTYLTYL (_going to the next door_)\nAnd this one?... Is this terrible also?...\n\nNIGHT\nNo; there is a little of everything here.... It is where I keep the\nunemployed Stars, my personal Perfumes, a few Glimmers that belong to me,\nsuch as Will-o'-the-Wisps, Glow-worms and Fireflies, also the Dew, the Song\nof the Nightingales and so on....\n\nTYLTYL\nJust so, the Stars, the Song of the Nightingales.... This must be the\ndoor....\n\nNIGHT\nOpen it, if you like; there Is nothing very bad inside....\n\n(TYLTYL _throws the door wide open. The_ STARS, _in the shape of\nbeautiful young girls veiled in many-coloured radiancy, escape from their\nprison, disperse over the hall and form graceful groups on the steps and\naround the columns, bathed in a sort of luminous penumbra. The_ PERFUMES\nOF THE NIGHT, _who are almost invisible, the_ WILL-O'-THE-WISPS,\n_the_ FIREFLIES _and the transparent_ DEW _join them, while\nthe_ SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALES _streams from the cavern and floods the\nPalace of_ NIGHT.)\n\nMYTYL (_clapping her hands with delight_)\nOh, what pretty ladies!...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd how well they dance!...\n\nMYTYL\nAnd how sweet they smell!...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd how beautifully they sing!...\n\nMYTYL\nWhat are those, whom one can hardly see?...\n\nNIGHT\nThose are the Perfumes of my Shadow.\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd those others, over there, in spun glass?...\n\nNIGHT\nThey are the Dew of the plains and forests.... But enough!... They would\nnever have done.... It is the devil's own business to get them back, once\nthey begin to dance.... (_Clapping her hands together_.) Now then,\nStars, quick!... This is not the time for dancing.... The sky is overcast\nand heavily clouded.... Come, quick, in with you, or I will go and fetch a\nray of sunlight!... (_The_ STARS, PERFUMES, _etc., take to flight in\ndismay and rush back into the cavern; and the door is closed upon them. At\nthe same time, the song of the_ NIGHTINGALE _ceases_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_going to the door at the back_)\nHere is the great middle door....\n\nNIGHT (_gravely_)\nDo not open that one...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy not?....\n\nNIGHT\nBecause it's not allowed....\n\nTYLTYL\nThen it's here that the Blue Bird is hidden; Light told me so....\n\nNIGHT (_maternally_)\nListen to me, child ... I have been kind and indulgent ... I have done for\nyou what I have never done for any one before ... I have given up all my\nsecrets to you.... I like you, I feel pity for your youth and innocence and\nI am speaking to you as a mother.... Listen to me, my child, and believe\nme; relinquish your quest, go no further, do not tempt fate, do not open\nthat door....\n\nTYLTYL (_a little shaken_)\nBut why?...\n\nNIGHT\nBecause I do not wish you to be lost.... Because not one of those, do you\nhear, not one of those who have opened it, were it but by a hair's breadth,\nhas ever returned alive to the light of day.... Because every awful thing\nimaginable, because all the terrors, all the horrors of which men speak on\nearth are as nothing compared with the most harmless of those which assail\na man from the moment when his eye lights upon the first threats of the\nabyss to which no one dares give a name.... So much so that I myself, if\nyou are bent, in spite of everything, upon touching that door, will ask you\nto wait until I have sought safety in my windowless tower... Now it is for\nyou to know, for you to reflect....\n\n(MYTYL, _all in tears, utters cries of inarticulate terror and tries to\ndrag_ TYLTYL _away_.)\n\nBREAD (_with chattering teeth_)\nDon't do it, master dear!... (_Flinging himself on his knees_) Take\npity on us!... I implore you on my knees.... You see that Night is\nright....\n\nTHE CAT\nYou are sacrificing the lives of all of us....\n\nTYLTYL\nI must open the door....\n\nMYTYL (_stamping her feet, amid her sobs_)\nI won't!... I sha'n't!...\n\nTYLTYL\nSugar and Bread, take Mytyl by the hand and run away with her.... I am\ngoing to open the door....\n\nNIGHT\nRun for your lives!... Come quickly!... It is time!... (_She flees._)\n\nBREAD (_fleeing wildly_)\nAt least wait till we are at the end of the hall!...\n\nTHE CAT (_also fleeing_)\nWait! Wait!...\n\n(_They hide behind the columns at the other end of the hall_. TYLTYL\n_remains alone with the DOG by the monumental door_.)\n\nTHE DOG (_panting and hiccoughing with suppressed fright_)\nI shall stay, I shall stay!... I'm not afraid!... I shall stay!... I shall\nstay with my little god!... I shall stay!... I shall stay!...\n\nTYLTYL (_patting the_ DOG)\nThat's right, Tyl\u00f4, that's right!... Kiss me.... You and I are two.... And\nnow, steady!...\n\n(_He places the key in the lock. A cry of alarm comes from the other\nend of the hall, where the runaways have taken refuge. The key has hardly\ntouched the door before its tall and wide leaves open in the middle, glide\napart and disappear on either side in the thickness of the walls, suddenly\nrevealing the most unexpected of gardens, unreal, infinite and ineffable,\na dream-garden bathed in nocturnal light, where, among stars and planets,\nillumining all that they touch, flying ceaselessly from jewel to jewel and\nfrom moonbeam to moonbeam, fairy-like blue birds hover perpetually and\nharmoniously down to the confines of the horizon, birds innumerable to\nthe point of appearing to be the breath, the azured atmosphere, the very\nsubstance of the wonderful garden_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_dazzled, bewildered, standing in the light of the garden_)\nOh!... Heaven!... (_Turning to those who have fled_) Come quickly!...\nThey are here!... It's they, it's they, it's they!... We have them\nat last!... Thousands of blue birds!... Millions!.... Thousands of\nmillions!... There will be too many!... Come, Mytyl!... Come, Tyl\u00f4!...\nCome, all!... Help me!... (_Darting in among the birds_.) You can\ncatch them by handfuls!... They are not shy!... They are not afraid of\nus!.... Here! Here!.... (MYTYL _and the others run up. They all enter the\ndazzling garden, except_ NIGHT _and the_ CAT.) You see!... There\nare too many of them!... They fly into my hands!... Look, they are eating\nthe moonbeams!... Mytyl, where are you?.... There are so many blue wings,\nso many feathers falling that one cannot see anything for them!.... Don't\nbite them, Tyl\u00f4!.... Don't hurt them!.... Take them very gently!....\n\nMYTYL (_covered with blue birds_)\nI have caught seven already!.... Oh, how they flap their wings!.... I can't\nhold them!....\n\nTYLTYL\nNor can I!.... I have too many of them!... They're escaping!.... They're\ncoming back!.... Tyl\u00f4 has some, too!.... They will drag us with them!....\nThey will take us up to the sky!.... Quick, let us go out this way!....\nLight is waiting for us!.... How pleased she will be!.... This way, this\nway!....\n\n(_They escape from the garden, with their hands full of struggling birds,\nand, crossing the whole hall amid the mad whirl of the azure wings, go out\non the right, where they first entered, followed by_ BREAD _and_\nSUGAR, _who have caught no birds_. NIGHT _and the_ CAT, _left\nalone, return to the back of the stage and look anxiously into the\ngarden_.)\n\nNIGHT\nHaven't they got him?...\n\nTHE CAT\nNo.... I see him there, on that moonbeam.... They could not reach him, he\nkept too high....\n\n(_The_ CURTAIN _falls. Immediately after, before the dropped\ncurtain_, ENTER, _at the same time, on the left_, LIGHT _and on\nthe right_, TYLTYL, MYTYL _and the_ DOG, _who run up all covered\nby the birds which they have captured. But already the birds appear\nlifeless and, with hanging heads and drooping wings, are nothing more in\ntheir hands than inert remains._)\n\nLIGHT\nWell, have you caught him?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, yes!...As many as we wanted!... There are thousands of them!... Here\nthey are!... Do you see them?... (_Looking at the birds, which he holds\nout to_ LIGHT, _and perceiving that they are dead_) Why, they\nare dead!... What have they done to them?... Yours too, Mytyl?... Tyl\u00f4's\nalso?... (_Angrily flinging down the dead bodies of the birds_) Oh,\nthis is too bad?... Who killed them?... I am too unhappy!...\n\n(_He hides his head in his arms and his whole frame is shaken with\nsobs._)\n\nLIGHT (_pressing him maternally in her arms_)\nDo not cry, my child.... You did not catch the one that is able to live in\nbroad daylight.... He has gone elsewhere.... We shall find him again....\n\nTHE DOG (_looking at the dead birds_))\nAre they good to eat?....\n\n(_They all go out on the left_.)\n\n\n\n\nSCENE 2.--_The Forest._\n\n_A forest. It is night. The moon is shining. Old trees of various kinds,\nnotably an_ OAK, _a_ BEECH, _an_ ELM, _a_ POPLAR, _a_ FIR-TREE, _a_\nCYPRESS, _a_ LIME-TREE, _a_ CHESTNUT-TREE, _etc_.\n\nENTER _the_ CAT.\n\nTHE CAT (_bowing to the trees in turn_)\nTo all the trees here present, greeting!....\n\nTHE TREES (_murmuring in their leaves_)\nGreeting!....\n\nTHE CAT\nThis is a great day, a day of days!.... Our enemy is coming to set free\nyour energies and to deliver himself into your hands..... It is Tyltyl, the\nson of the wood-cutter, who has done you so much harm.... He is seeking the\nBlue Bird, whom you have kept hidden from Man since the beginning of\nthe world and who alone knows our secret.... (_A murmuring in the\nleaves_.) What do you say?... Ah, it's the Poplar!... Yes, he possesses\na diamond which has the virtue of setting free our spirits for a moment;\nhe can compel us to hand over the Blue Bird and thenceforth we shall be\ndefinitely at Man's mercy.... (_A murmuring in the leaves_.) Who is\nspeaking?... Ah, the Oak!... How are you?... (_A murmuring in the leaves\nof the_ OAK.) Still got your cold?... Does the Liquorice no longer look\nafter you?... Can't you throw off your rheumatism?... Believe me, that's\nbecause of the moss; you put too much of it on your feet.... Is the Blue\nBird still with you?... (_A murmuring in the leaves of the_ OAK.) I\nbeg your pardon?... Yes, there is no room for hesitation; we must take\nthe opportunity; he must he done away with.... (_A murmuring in the\nleaves_.) I didn't quite catch.... Oh, yes, he is with his little\nsister; she must die, too.... (_A murmuring in the leaves_.) Yes, they\nhave the Dog with them; there is no keeping him away.... (_A murmuring in\nthe leaves_.) What did you say?... Bribe him?... Impossible.... I have\ntried everything.... (_A murmuring in the leaves_.) Ah, is that you,\nFir-Tree?... Yes, get four planks ready.... Yes, there are Fire, Sugar,\nWater and Bread besides.... They are all with us, except Bread, who is\nrather doubtful.... Light alone is on Man's side; but she won't come....\nI made the children believe that they ought to steal away while she was\nasleep.... There never was such an opportunity.... (_A murmuring in the\nleaves_.) Ah, that's the Beech's voice!... Yes, you are right; we must\ninform the animals.... Has the Rabbit got his drum?... Is he with you?...\nGood, let him beat the troop at once.... Here they are!...\n\n(_The roll of the_ RABBIT'S _drum is heard, diminishing in the\ndistance. Enter_ TYLTYL, MYTYL _and the_ DOG.)\n\nTYLTYL\nIs this the place?...\n\nTHE CAT (_obsequiously, eagerly, mealy-mouthed, rushing to meet the_\nCHILDREN)\nAh, there you are, my little master!... How well you look and how pretty,\nthis evening!.... I went before you to announce your arrival.... All Is\ngoing well. We shall have the Blue Bird to-night, I am sure.... I have just\nsent the Rabbit to beat the troop in order to convoke the principal\nanimals of the country.... You can hear them already among the foliage....\nListen!... They are a little shy and dare not come near.... (_The sounds\nare heard of different animals, such as cows, pigs, horses, donkeys, etc.\nThe_ CAT, _aside, to_ TYLTYL, _taking him apart_) But why\nhave you brought the Dog?... I have told you he is on the worst terms with\neverybody, even the trees.... I fear that his odious presence will spoil\neverything....\n\nTYLTYL\nI could not get rid of him.... (_To the_ DOG, _threatening him_)\nGo away, you ugly thing!...\n\nTHE DOG\nWho?... I?... Why?... What have I done?...\n\nTYLTYL\nI tell you, go away!... We don't want you here and there's an end of it....\nYou're a nuisance, there!...\n\nTHE DOG\nI sha'n't say a word.... I shall follow you at a distance.... They sha'n't\nsee me.... Shall I beg?...\n\nTHE CAT (_aside, to_ TYLTYL)\nDo you allow this disobedience?... Hit him on the nose with your stick; he\nis really unbearable!...\n\nTYLTYL (_beating the_ DOG)\nThere, that will teach you to be more obedient!...\n\nTHE DOG (_yelling_)\nOw! Ow! Ow!...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat do you say?...\n\nTHE DOG\nI must kiss you now you've beaten me!... (_He covers_ TYLTYL _with\nviolent kisses and embraces_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nCome.... That will do.... That's enough.... Go away!...\n\nMYTYL\nNo, no; I want him to stay.... I am afraid of everything when he is not\nthere....\n\nTHE DOG (_leaping up and almost upsetting_ MYTYL, _whom he overwhelms with\nhurried and enthusiastic kisses_)\nOh, the dear little girl!... How beautiful she is!... How good she is!...\nHow beautiful she is, how sweet she is!...I must kiss her!... Once more,\nonce more, once more!...\n\nTHE CAT\nWhat an idiot!... Well, we shall see!... Let us lose no time.... Turn the\ndiamond....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere shall I stand?...\n\nTHE CAT\nIn this moonbeam; you will see better.... There, turn it gently!...\n\n(TYLTYL _turns the Diamond. A long-drawn-out rustling shakes the leaves\nand branches. The oldest and most stately trunks open to make way for the\nsoul which each of them contains. The appearance of these souls differs\naccording to the appearance and the character of the trees which they\nrepresent. The soul of the_ ELM, _for instance, is a sort of pursy,\npot-bellied, crabbed gnome; the_ LIME-TREE _is placid, familiar and\njovial; the_ BEECH, _elegant and agile; the_ BIRCH, _white,\nreserved and restless; the_ WILLOW, _stunted, dishevelled and\nplaintive; the_ FIR-TREE, _tall, lean and taciturn; the_ CYPRESS,\n_tragic; the_ CHESTNUT-TREE, _pretentious and rather dandified;\nthe_ POPLAR, _sprightly, cumbersome, talkative. Some emerge slowly\nfrom their trunks, torpidly stretching themselves, as though they had been\nimprisoned or asleep for ages; others leap out actively, eagerly; and all\ncome and stand in a circle round the two_ CHILDREN, _while keeping as\nnear as they can to the tree in which they were born_.)\n\nTHE POPLAR (_running up first and screaming at the top of his voice_)\nMen?... Little men!... We shall be able to talk to them!... We've done with\nsilence!... Done with it!... Where do they come from?... Who are they?...\nWhat are they?... (_To the_ LIME-TREE, _who comes forward quietly\nsmoking his pipe_) Do you know them, Daddy Lime-Tree?...\n\nTHE LIME-TREE\nI do not remember ever having seen them....\n\nTHE POPLAR\nOh, yes, you must have!... You know all the men; you're always hanging\nabout their houses....\n\nTHE LIME-TREE (_examining the_ CHILDREN)\nNo, I assure you.... I don't know them.... They are too young still.... I\nonly know the lovers who come to see me by moonlight and the topers who\ndrink their beer under my branches....\n\nTHE CHESTNUT-TREE (_affectedly adjusting his eyeglass_)\nWho are these?... Are they poor people from the country?...\n\nTHE POPLAR\nOh, as for you, Mr. Chestnut-Tree, ever since you have refused to show\nyourself except in the streets of the big towns...\n\nTHE WILLOW (_hobbling along in a pair of wooden shoes_)\nOh dear, oh dear!... They have come to cut off my head and arms again for\nfagots!...\n\nTHE POPLAR\nSilence!... Here is the Oak leaving his palace!... He looks far from well\nthis evening.... Don't you think he is growing very old?... What can his\nage be?... The Fir-tree says he is four thousand; but I am sure that he\nexaggerates.... Listen; he will tell us all about it....\n\n(_The_ OAK _comes slowly forward. He is fabulously old, crowned with\nmistletoe and clad in a long green gown edged with moss and lichen. He is\nblind; his white beard streams in the wind. He leans with one hand on a\nknotty stick and with the other on a young_ OAKLING, _who serves as\nhis guide. The Blue Bird is perched on his shoulder. At his approach, the\nother trees draw themselves up in a row and bow respectfully_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nHe has the Blue Bird!... Quick! Quick!... Here!... Give it to me!...\n\nTHE TREES\nSilence!...\n\nTHE CAT (_to_ TYLTYL)\nTake of your hat. It's the Oak!...\n\nTHE OAK (_to_ TYLTYL)\nWho are you?....\n\nTYLTYL\nI am Tyltyl, sir.... When can I have the Blue Bird?...\n\nTHE OAK\nTyltyl, the wood-cutter's son?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, sir....\n\nTHE OAK\nYour father has done us much harm.... In my family alone, he has put to\ndeath six hundred of my sons, four hundred and seventy-five uncles and\naunts, twelve hundred cousins of both sexes, three hundred and eighty\ndaughters-in-law, and twelve thousand great-grandsons!...\n\nTYLTYL\nI know nothing about it, sir.... He did not do it on purpose....\n\nTHE OAK\nWhat have you come here for; and why have you made our souls leave their\nabodes?...\n\nTYLTYL\nI beg your pardon, sir, for disturbing you.... The Cat said that you would\ntell us where the Blue Bird was....\n\nTHE OAK\nYes, I know that you are looking for the Blue Bird, that is to say, the\ngreat secret of things and of happiness, so that Man may make our servitude\nstill harder....\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, no, sir; it is for the Fairy B\u00e9rylune's little girl, who is very\nill....\n\nTHE OAK (_laying silence upon him with a gesture_)\nEnough!... I do not hear the Animals.... Where are they?... All this\nconcerns them as much as us.... We, the Trees, must not assume the\nresponsibility alone for the grave measures that have become necessary....\nOn the day when MAN hears that we have done what we are about to do, there\nwill be terrible reprisals..... It is right, therefore, that our agreement\nshould be unanimous, so that our silence may be the same....\n\nTHE FIR-TREE (_looking over the top of the other trees_)\nThe Animals are coming.... They are following the Rabbit.... Here are the\nsouls of the Horse, the Bull, the Ox, the Cow, the Wolf, the Sheep, the\nPig, the Cock, the Goat, the Ass, and the Bear....\n\n(_Enter the souls of the_ ANIMALS, _who, as the_ FIR-TREE\n_utters their names, come forward and sit down among the trees, with the\nexception of the soul of the_ GOAT, _who roams to and fro, and of\nthe_ PIG, _who snuffles among the roots_.)\n\nTHE OAK\nAre all here present?...\n\nTHE RABBIT\nThe Hen could not leave her eggs, the Hare is out on a run, the Stag has a\npain in his horns, the Fox is ill--here is the doctor's certificate--the\nGoose did not understand and the Turkey flew into a passion....\n\nTHE OAK\nThese abstentions are most regrettable.... However, we have a quorum....\nYou know, my brothers, the nature of our business. The child you see before\nyou, thanks to a talisman stolen from the powers of Earth, is able to take\npossession of the Blue Bird and thus to snatch from us the secret which\nwe have kept since the origin of life.... Now we know enough of Man to\nentertain no doubt as to the fate which he reserves for us once he is in\npossession of this secret. That is why it seems to me that any hesitation\nwould be both foolish and criminal.... It is a serious moment; the child\nmust be done away with before it is too late....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat is he saying?...\n\nTHE DOG (_prowling round the_ OAK _and showing his fangs_)\nDo you see my teeth, you old cripple?...\n\nTHE BEECH (_indignantly_)\nHe is insulting the Oak!...\n\nTHE OAK\nIs that the Dog?... Drive him out! We must suffer no traitors among us!...\n\nTHE CAT (_aside, to_ TYLTYL)\nSend the Dog away.... It's a misunderstanding.... Leave it to me; I will\narrange things.... But send him away as quick as you can....\n\nTYLTYL (_to the_ DOG)\nWill you be off!...\n\nTHE DOG\nDo let me worry the gouty old beggar's moss slippers!.... It will be such a\njoke!...\n\nTYLTYL\nHold your tongue!... And be off with you!... Be off, you ugly brute!...\n\nTHE DOG\nAll right, all right, I'm going.... I'll come back when you want me....\n\nTHE CAT (_aside, to_ TYLTYL)\nIt would be a good thing to chain him up, or he will commit some folly; the\nTrees will be angry and all will end badly....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat can I do?... I have lost his leash....\n\nTHE CAT\nHere's the Ivy just coming along with strong bonds....\n\nTHE DOG (_growling_)\nI'll come back, I'll come back!... Ugh! Goutytoes! Timbertoes!... Pack of\nold stunted growths, pack of old roots!... It's the Cat who's at the bottom\nof all this!... I'll be even with him!... What have you been whispering\nabout, you sneak, you tiger, you Judas!... Wow, wow, wow!....\n\nTHE CAT\nYou see, he insults everybody....\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, he is unbearable and one can't hear one's self speak.... Mr. Ivy, will\nyou chain him up, please?...\n\nTHE IVY (_timorously going up to the_ DOG)\nWon't he bite?...\n\nTHE DOG (_growling_)\nOn the contrary, on the contrary!... He's going to kiss you!... Just wait\nand see!... Come along, come along, you old ball of twine, you!...\n\nTYLTYL (_threatening him with his stick_)\nTyl\u00f4!...\n\nTHE DOG (_cringing at_ TYLTYL'S _feet and wagging his tail_)\nWhat am I to do, my little god?\n\nTYLTYL\nLie down flat!... Obey the Ivy.... Let him bind you, or....\n\nTHE DOG (_growling between his teeth, while the_ IVY _binds him_)\nBall of twine I... Hunk of yarn!... Hangman's rope I... Calves' leash!...\nLook, my little god I ... He's cutting my paws!... He's choking me!...\n\nTYLTYL\nI don't care!... It's your own fault.... Hold your tongue; be quiet; you're\nunbearable!...\n\nTHE DOG\nYou're wrong, for all that.... They mean mischief.... Take care, my little\ngod!... He's closing my mouth!... I can't speak!...\n\nTHE IVY (_who has tied up the_ DOG _like a parcel_)\nWhere shall we put him?... I've muzzled him finely.... He can't utter a\nword....\n\nTHE OAK\nFasten him tight down there behind my trunk; to my big root.... We will\ndecide later what had best be done with him....\n\n(_The_ IVY _and the_ POPLAR _carry the_ DOG _behind\nthe_ OAK'S _trunk_.)\n\nTHE OAK\nIs that done?... Well, now that we are rid of this inconvenient witness, of\nthis renegade, let us deliberate in accordance with justice and truth....\nI will not conceal from you the deep and painful nature of my emotion....\nThis is the first time that it is given to us to judge Man and make him\nfeel our power.... I do not think that, after the harm which he has done\nus, after the monstrous injustice which we have suffered, there can remain\nthe least doubt as to the sentence that awaits him....\n\nALL THE TREES and ALL THE ANIMALS\nNo! No! No!... No doubt at all!... Hanging!... Death!... The injustice has\nbeen too great!... The abuse too wicked!... It has lasted too long!...\nCrush him!... Eat him!... At once!... Here and now!...\n\nTYLTYL (_to the_ CAT)\nWhat is the matter with them?... Are they displeased?...\n\nTHE CAT\nDon't be alarmed.... They are a little annoyed because Spring is late....\nLeave it to me; I will settle it all....\n\nTHE OAK\nThis unanimity was inevitable.... We must now decide, in order to avoid\nreprisals, which form of execution will be the most practical, the easiest,\nthe quickest and the safest, which will leave the fewest accusing traces\nwhen Man finds the little bodies in the forest....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat is all this about?... What is he driving at?... I am getting tired of\nthis.... He has got the Blue Bird; let him hand it over....\n\nTHE BULL (_coming forward_)\nThe most practical and the surest way is a good butt with the horns in the\npit of the stomach.... Shall I go at him?...\n\nTHE OAK\nWho speaks?...\n\nTHE CAT\nIt's the Bull.\n\nTHE COW\nIt would be better to keep quiet.... I won't meddle with it.... I have all\nthe grass to browse in the field which you can see down there in the blue\nlight of the moon.... I have quite enough to do....\n\nTHE OX\nI also.... However, I agree to everything beforehand....\n\nTHE BEECH\nI can offer my highest branch to hang them on....\n\nTHE IVY\nAnd I the slip-knot....\n\nTHE FIR-TREE\nAnd I the four planks for their little coffin....\n\nTHE CYPRESS\nAnd I a perpetual grant of a tomb....\n\nTHE WILLOW\nThe simplest way would be to drown them in one of my rivers.... I will take\ncharge of that....\n\nTHE LIME-TREE (_in a conciliatory tone_)\nCome, come.... Is it really necessary to go to such extremities?... They\nare very young.... We could quite simply prevent them from doing any harm\nby keeping them prisoners in an enclosure which I will undertake to form by\nplanting myself all around....\n\nTHE OAK\nWho speaks?... I seem to recognise the honeyed accents of the Lime-tree....\n\nTHE FIR-TREE\nYes, it's he....\n\nTHE OAK\nSo there is a renegade among us, as among the Animals?... Hitherto we have\nonly had to deplore the disloyalty of the Fruit-trees; but they are not\nreal trees....\n\nTHE PIG (_rolling his small eyes gluttonously_)\nI think we should first eat the little girl.... She ought to be very\ntender....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat's he saying?... Just wait a bit, you...\n\nTHE CAT\nI don't know what is the matter with them; but things are beginning to look\nbadly....\n\nTHE OAK\nSilence!... What we have to decide is which of us shall have the honour of\nstriking the first blow, who shall ward off from, our tops the greatest\ndanger that has threatened us since the birth of Man....\n\nTHE FIR-TREE\nThat honour falls to you, our king and our patriarch....\n\nTHE OAK\nIs that the Fir-tree speaking?... Alas, I am too old!... I am blind and\ninfirm and my numbed arms no longer obey me.... No, to you, brother, ever\ngreen, ever upright, to you, who have witnessed the birth of most of these\ntrees, to you be the glory, in default of myself, of the noble act of our\ndeliverance....\n\nTHE FIR-TREE\nI thank you, venerable father.... But as I shall, in any case, have the\nhonour of burying the two victims, I should be afraid of arousing the just\njealousy of my colleagues; and I think that, next to ourselves, the oldest\nand the worthiest and the one that owns the best club is the Beech....\n\nTHE BEECH\nYou know I am worm-eaten and my club is no longer to be relied upon.... But\nthe Elm and the Cypress have powerful weapons....\n\nTHE ELM\nI should be only too pleased; but I can hardly stand upright.... A mole\ntwisted my great toe last night....\n\nTHE CYPRESS\nAs for me, I am ready.... But, like my brother, the Fir-tree, I shall have,\nif not the privilege of burying them, at least the advantage of weeping\nover their tomb.... It would be an unlawful plurality of offices.... Ask\nthe Poplar....\n\nTHE POPLAR\nMe?... Are you serious?... Why, my wood is more tender than the flesh of\na child!... And, besides, I don't know what's the matter with me.... I am\nshivering with fever.... Just look at my leaves.... I must have caught cold\nat sunrise this morning....\n\nTHE OAK (_bursting out with indignation_)\nYou are afraid of Man!... Even those unprotected and unarmed little\nchildren inspire you with the mysterious terror which has always made us\nthe slaves that we are!... Enough of this! Things being as they are and the\nopportunity unequalled, I shall go forth alone, old, crippled, trembling,\nblind as I am, against the hereditary enemy!... Where is he?...\n\n(_Groping with his stick, he moves towards_ TYLTYL.)\n\nTYLTYL (_taking his knife from his pocket_)\nIs it me he's after, that old one, with his big stick?...\n\nALL THE TREES (_uttering a cry of alarm at the sight of the knife, they\nstep in between and hold back the_ OAK)\nThe knife!... Take care!... The knife!...\n\nTHE OAK (_struggling_)\nLet me be!... What does it matter?... The knife or the axe!... Who's\nholding me back?... What! Are you all here?... What! You all want to....\n(_Flinging down his_ _stick_) Well, so be it!... Shame upon\nus!... Let the Animals deliver us!...\n\nTHE BULL\nThat's right!... I'll see to It!... And with one blow of the horns!...\n\nTHE OX _and_ THE COW (_holding him back by the tail_)\nWhat are you doing?... Don't be a fool!... It's a bad business!... It will\nend badly.... It is we who will pay for it.... Do let be.... It's the wild\nanimals' business....\n\nTHE BULL\nNo, no!... It's my business!... Wait and see!... Look here, hold me back or\nthere will be an accident!...\n\nTYLTYL (_to_ MYTYL, _who is uttering piercing screams_)\nDon't be afraid!... Stand behind me.... I have my knife....\n\nTHE COCK\nHe has plenty of pluck, the little chap!...\n\nTYLTYL\nSo you've made up your minds, it's me you're going for?...\n\nTHE ASS\nWhy, of course, my little man; you've taken long enough to see it!...\n\nTHE PIG\nYou can say your prayers; your last hour has come.... But don't hide the\nlittle girl.... I want to feast my eyes on her.... I'm going to eat her\nfirst....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat have I done to you?...\n\nTHE SHEEP\nNothing at all, my little man.... Eaten my little brother, my two sisters,\nmy three uncles, my aunt, my grandpapa and my grandmamma.... Wait, wait,\nwhen you're down, you shall see that I have teeth also....\n\nTHE ASS\nAnd I hoofs!...\n\nTHE HORSE (_haughtily pawing the ground_)\nYou shall see what you shall see!... Would you rather that I tore you with\nmy teeth or knocked you down with a kick?... (_He moves ostentatiously\ntowards_ TYLTYL, _who faces him and raises his knife. Suddenly the_\nHORSE, _seized with panic, turns and rushes away_.) Ah, no!... That's\nnot fair!... That's against the rules!.... He's defending himself!...\n\nTHE COCK (_unable to hide his admiration_)\nI don't care, the little chap's full of grit!...\n\nTHE PIG (_to the_ BEAR _and the_ WOLF)\nLet us all rush on them together.... I will support you from the rear....\nWe will throw them down and share the little girl when she is on the\nground....\n\nTHE WOLF\nDivert their attention in front.... I am going to make a turning\nmovement....\n\n(_He goes round_ TYLTYL, _whom he attacks from behind and half\noverthrows_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nYou brute!... (_He raises himself on one knee brandishing his knife and\ndoing his best to cover his little sister, who utters yells of distress.\nSeeing him half overturned, all the_ ANIMALS _and_ TREES _come up\nand try to hit him_. TYLTYL _calls distractedly for assistance_.)\nHelp! Help!... Tyl\u00f4! Tyl\u00f4!... Where is the Cat?... Tyl\u00f4!... Tylette!\nTylette!... Come! Come!...\n\nTHE CAT (_hypocritically, holding aloof_)\nI can't come.... I have sprained my paw....\n\nTYLTYL (_warding of the blows and defending himself as best he can_)\nHelp!... Tyl\u00f4! Tyl\u00f4!... I can't hold out!... There are too many of them!...\nThe Bear! The Pig! The Donkey! The Ass! The Fir-tree! The Beech!... Tyl\u00f4!\nTyl\u00f4! Tyl\u00f4!...\n\n(_Dragging his broken bonds after him, the_ DOG _leaps from behind\nthe trunk of the_ OAK _and, elbowing his way through_ TREES\n_and_ ANIMALS, _flings himself before_ TYLTYL, _whom he defends\nfuriously_.)\n\nTHE DOG (_distributing great bites_)\nHere! Here, my little god!... Don't be afraid! Have at them!... I know how\nto use my teeth!... Here, there's one for you, Bear, in your fat hams!...\nNow then, who wants some more?... Here, that's for the Pig and that's for\nthe Horse and that's for the Bull's tail!... There, I've torn the Beech's\ntrousers and the Oak's petticoat!... The Fir-tree's making tracks!... Whew,\nit's warm work!...\n\nTYLTYL (_overcome_)\nI'm done for!... The Cypress has caught me a great blow on the head....\n\nTHE DOG\nOw!... That's the Willow!... He's broken my paw!...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey're coming back, they're charging down upon us, all together!... This\ntime, it's the Wolf!...\n\nTHE DOG\nWait till I give him one for himself!...\n\nTHE WOLF\nFool!... Our brother!... His father drowned your seven puppies!...\n\nTHE DOG\nQuite right!... And a good thing too!... It was because they looked like\nyou!...\n\nALL THE TREES AND ANIMALS\nRenegade!... Idiot!... Traitor!... Felon!... Simpleton!... Judas!... Leave\nhim!... He's a dead man!... Come over to us!...\n\nTHE DOG (_drunk with ardour and devotion_)\nNever! Never!... I alone against all of you!... Never! Never!... True to\nthe gods, to the best, to the greatest!... (_To_ TYLTYL) Take care,\nhere's the Bear!... Beware of the Bull!... I'll jump at his throat....\nOw!... That's a kick.... The Ass has broken two of my teeth....\n\nTYLTYL\nI'm done for, Tyl\u00f4!... Ah!... That was a blow from the Elm.... Look, my\nhand's bleeding.... That's the Wolf or the Pig....\n\nTHE DOG\nWait, my little god.... Let me kiss you.... There, a good lick.... That\nwill do you good.... Keep behind me.... They dare not come again.... Yes,\nthough.... Here they are coming back!... This time, it's serious!.... We\nmust stand firm!...\n\nTYLTYL (_dropping to the ground_)\nNo, I can hold out no longer!...\n\nTHE DOG (_listening_)\nThey are coming!... I hear them, I scent them!...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere?... Who?...\n\nTHE DOG\nThere! There!... It's Light!... She has found us!... Saved, my little\nking!... Kiss me!... We are saved!... Look!... They're alarmed!... They're\nretreating!... They're afraid!...\n\nTYLTYL\nLight!... Light!... Come quick!... Hurry!... They have rebelled!... They\nare all against us!...\n\n_Enter_ LIGHT. _As she comes forward, the dawn rises over the\nforest, which becomes light_.\n\nLIGHT\nWhat is it?... What has happened?... But, my poor boy, didn't you know?...\nTurn the diamond!... They will return into silence and obscurity; and you\nwill no longer perceive their hidden feelings....\n\n(TYLTYL _turns the diamond. Immediately, the souls of all the_ TREES\n_rush back into the trunks, which close again. The souls of the_\nANIMALS _also disappear; and a peaceful_ COW _and_ SHEEP,\n_etc., are seen browsing in the distance. The Forest becomes harmless\nonce more_, TYLTYL _looks around him in amazement_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere are they?... What was the matter with them?... Were they mad?...\n\nLIGHT\nNo, they are always like that; but we do not know it because we do not see\nit.... I told you so before; it is dangerous to wake them when I am not\nthere....\n\nTYLTYL (_wiping his knife_)\nWell, but for the Dog and if I had not had my knife!... I would never have\nbelieved that they were so wicked!...\n\nLIGHT\nYou see that Man is all alone against all in this world....\n\nTHE DOG\nAre you very badly hurt, my little god?...\n\nTYLTYL\nNothing serious.... As for Mytyl, they have not touched her.... But you, my\ndear Tyl\u00f4?... Your mouth is all over blood and your paw is broken!...\n\nTHE DOG\nIt is not worth speaking of.... It won't show to-morrow.... But it was a\ntough fight!...\n\nTHE CAT (_appearing from behind a thicket, limping_)\nI should think so!... The Ox caught me a blow with his horns in the\nstomach.... You can't see the marks, but it's very painful.... And the Oak\nbroke my paw....\n\nTHE DOG\nI should like to know which one....\n\nMYTYL (_stroking the_ CAT)\nMy poor Tylette, did he really?.... Where were you?... I did not see\nyou....\n\nTHE CAT (_hypocritically_)\nMummy dear, I was wounded at the first, while attacking that horrid Pig,\nwho wanted to eat you.... And then the Oak gave me a great blow which\nstruck me senseless....\n\nTHE DOG (_to the_ CAT, _between his teeth_)\nAs for you, I want a word with you presently.... It will keep!...\n\nTHE CAT (_plaintively, to_ MYTYL)\nMummy dear, he's insulting me.... He wants to hurt me....\n\nMYTYL (_to the_ DOG)\nLeave him alone, will you, you ugly beast?...\n\n(_They all go out_.)\n\n\nCURTAIN\n\n\n\n\nACT IV\n\n\n\n\nSCENE 1.--_Before the Curtain_.\n\n\n_The curtain represents beautiful clouds_\n\n(_Enter_ TYLTYL, MYTYL, LIGHT, _the_ DOG, _the_ CAT, BREAD,\nFIRE, SUGAR, WATER _and_ MILK.)\n\n\nLIGHT\nI believe we have the Blue Bird this time. I ought to have thought of it\nbefore. But the idea came to me, like a ray from the sky, this morning\nonly, when I recovered my strengthen the dawn.... We are at the entrance\nto the enchanted palaces where all men's Joys, all men's Happinesses are\ngathered together in the charge of Fate.\n\nTYLTYL\nAre there many of them? Shall we have any? Are they little?\n\nLIGHT\nSome are little and some are great; some are coarse and some are delicate;\nsome are very beautiful and others not so pleasant to look upon.... But the\nugliest were expelled from the garden some time ago and took refuge with\nthe Miseries. For we must not forget that the Miseries inhabit an adjoining\ncave, which communicates with the Garden of Happiness and is separated from\nit only by a sort of vapour or fine veil, lifted at every moment by\nthe winds that blow from the heights of Justice or from the depths of\nEternity.... What we have now to do is to organise ourselves and take\ncertain precautions. Generally, the Joys are very good; but, still, there\nare some of them that are more dangerous and treacherous than the greatest\nMiseries.\n\nBREAD\nI have an idea! If they are dangerous and treacherous, would it not be\nbetter for us all to wait at the door, so that we may lend a hand to the\nchildren should they be obliged to fly?....\n\nTHE DOG\nNot at all! Not at all! I mean to go everywhere with my little gods! Let\nthose who are afraid remain at the door! We have no need (_looking at_\nBREAD) of cowards (_looking at the_ CAT) or traitors!...\n\nFIRE\nI'm going!... I hear it's great fun!... They dance all the time....\n\nBREAD\nDo they have any eating as well?\n\nWATER (_moaning_)\nI have never known the smallest Happiness!... I should like to see some at\nlast!....\n\nLIGHT\nHold your tongues! Who asked your opinions?... This is what I have decided:\nthe Dog, Bread and Sugar shall go with the children. Water shall stay\noutside, because she is too cold, and Fire, because he is too turbulent. I\nstrongly urge Milk to remain at the door, because he is so impressionable.\nAs for the Cat, he can do as he likes.....\n\nTHE CAT\nI shall take the opportunity of calling on the chief Miseries of my\nacquaintance, who live next door to the Joys....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd you, Light? Aren't you coming?\n\nLIGHT\nI cannot go into the Joys like this: most of them cannot endure me. But\nI have here the thick veil with which I cover myself when I visit\nhappy people.... (_She unfolds a long veil and wraps herself in it\ncarefully_.) Not a ray of my soul must startle them, for there are many\nHappinesses that are afraid and are not happy.... There... like this, even\nthe ugliest and coarsest of them will have nothing to fear....\n\n(_The curtain opens and discloses the next Scene_)\n\n\n\n\nSCENE 2.--_The Palace of Happiness_.\n\n_When the curtain of clouds opens, the stage represents, in the forefront\nof the palace, a sort of hall formed of tall marble columns, between which\nhang heavy purple draperies, supported by golden ropes and concealing all\nthe background. The architecture suggests the most sensual and sumptuous\nmoments of the Venetian or Flemish Renascence, as seen in the pictures\nof Veronese or Rubens, with garlands, horns of plenty, fringes, vases,\nstatues, gildings, lavishly distributed on every side. In the middle stands\na massive and marvellous table of jasper and silver-gilt, laden with\ncandlesticks, glass, gold and silver plate and fabulous viands. Around the\ntable, the biggest luxuries of the Earth sit eating, drinking, shouting,\nsinging, tossing and lolling about or sleeping among the haunches of\nvenison, the miraculous fruits, the overturned jars and ewers. They are\nenormously, incredibly fat and red in the face, covered with velvet and\nbrocade, crowned with gold and pearls and precious stones. Beautiful female\nslaves incessantly bring decorated dishes and foaming beverages. Vulgar,\nblatantly hilarious music, in which the brasses predominate. The stage is\nbathed in a red and heavy light_.\n\n(TYLTYL, MYTYL, _the_ DOG, BREAD _and_ SUGAR _are a little\nawestruck at first end crowd round_ LIGHT _in the foreground, to the\nright. The_ CAT, _without a word, walks to the background, also to the\nright, lifts a dark curtain and disappears_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nWho are those fat gentlemen enjoying themselves and eating such a lot of\ngood things?\n\nLIGHT\nThey are the biggest Luxuries of the Earth, the ones that can be seen with\nthe naked eye. It is possible, though not very likely, that the Blue Bird\nmay have strayed among them for a moment. That is why you must not turn the\ndiamond yet. For form's sake, we will begin by searching this part of the\nhall.\n\nTYLTYL\nCan we go up to them?\n\nLIGHT\nCertainly. They are not ill-natured, although they are vulgar and usually\nrather ill-bred.\n\nMYTYL\nWhat beautiful cakes they have!....\n\nTHE DOG\nAnd such game! And sausages! And legs of lamb and calves' liver!... There\nis nothing nicer or lovelier in the world than liver!...\n\nBREAD\nExcept quartern-loaves made of fine white flour! They have splendid\nones!... How lovely they are! How lovely they are!...\n\nSUGAR\nI beg your pardon, I beg your pardon, I beg a thousand pardons.... Allow\nme, allow me.... I would not like to hurt anybody's feelings; but are you\nnot forgetting the sweetmeats, which form the glory of that table and\nwhich, if I may say so, surpass in grandeur and magnificence all that\nexists in this hall, or perhaps anywhere else?...\n\nTYLTYL\nHow pleased and happy they look!... And they are shouting! And laughing!\nAnd singing!... I believe they have seen us....\n\n(_A dozen of the biggest_ LUXURIES _have risen from table and now,\nholding their stomachs in their hands, advance laboriously towards the_\nCHILDREN.)\n\nLIGHT\nHave no fear, they are very affable.... They will probably invite you to\ndinner.... Do not accept, do not accept anything, lest you should forget\nyour mission....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat? Not even a tiny cake? They look so good, so fresh, so well iced with\nsugar, covered with candied fruits and brimming over with cream!...\n\nLIGHT\nThey are dangerous and would break your will. A man should know how to\nsacrifice something to the duty he is performing. Refuse politely, but\nfirmly.\n\nTHE BIGGEST OF THE LUXURIES (_holding out his hand to_ TYLTYL)\nHow do you do, Tyltyl?...\n\nTYLTYL (_surprised_)\nWhy, do you know me?... Who are you?...\n\nTHE LUXURY\nI am the biggest of the Luxuries, the Luxury of Being Rich; and I come, in\nthe name of my brothers, to beg you and your family to honour our endless\nrepast with your presence. You will find yourself surrounded by all that is\nbest among the real, big Luxuries of this Earth. Allow me to introduce\nto you the chief of them. Here is my son-in-law, the Luxury of Being a\nLandowner, who has a stomach shaped like a pear. This is the Luxury of\nSatisfied Vanity, who has such a nice, puffy face, (_The_ LUXURY OF\nSATISFIED VANITY _gives a patronising nod_.) These are the Luxury of\nDrinking when you are not Thirsty and the Luxury of Eating when you are not\nHungry: they are twins and their legs are made of macaroni. (_They bow,\nstaggering_.) Here are the Luxury of Knowing Nothing, who is as deaf as\na post, and the Luxury of Understanding Nothing, who is as blind as a bat.\nHere are the Luxury of Doing Nothing and the Luxury of Sleeping more\nthan Necessary: their hands are made of bread-crumb and their eyes of\npeach-jelly. Lastly, here is Fat Laughter: his mouth is split from ear to\near and he is irresistible....\n\n(FAT LAUGHTER _bows, writhing and holding his sides_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_pointing to a_ LUXURY _who is standing a little on one side_)\nAnd who is that one, who dares not come up to us and who is turning his\nback?...\n\nTHE LUXURY OF BEING RICH\nDo not ask about him: he is a little awkward and is not fit to be\nintroduced to children.... (_Seizing_ TYLTYL'S _hands_) But come\nalong! They are beginning the banquet all over again.... It is the twelfth\ntime since this morning. We are only waiting for you.... Do you hear all\nthe revellers calling and shouting for you?... I cannot introduce you to\nall of them, there are so many of them.... (_Offering his arm to the two\nchildren_) Allow me to lead you to the two seats of honour....\n\nTYLTYL\nNo, thank you very much, Mr. Luxury.... I am so sorry.... I can't come for\nthe moment.... We are in a great hurry, we are looking for the Blue Bird.\nYou don't happen to know, I suppose, where he is hiding?\n\nTHE LUXURY\nThe Blue Bird?... Wait a bit.... Yes, I remember.... Some one was telling\nme about him the other day.... He is a bird, that is not good to eat, I\nbelieve.... At any rate, he has never figured on our table.... That means\nthat we have a poor opinion of him. But don't trouble; we have much better\nthings.... You shall share our life, you shall see all that we do....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat do you do?\n\nTHE LUXURY\nWhy, we occupy ourselves incessantly in doing nothing.... We never have a\nmoment's rest.... We have to drink, we have to eat, we have to sleep. It's\nmost engrossing....\n\nTYLTYL\nIs it amusing?\n\nTHE LUXURY\nWhy, yes.... It needs must be; it's all there is on this Earth....\n\nLIGHT\nDo you think so?...\n\nTHE LUXURY (_pointing to_ LIGHT, _aside, to_ TYLTYL)\nWho is that ill-bred young person?...\n\n(_During the whole of the preceding conversation a crowd of_ LUXURIES\n_of the second order have been busying themselves with the_ DOG,\nSUGAR _and_ BREAD _and have dragged them to the orgie_. TYLTYL\n_suddenly sees them seated fraternally at the table with their hosts,\neating, drinking and flinging themselves about wildly_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, look, Light!... They are sitting at the table!...\n\nLIGHT\nCall them back, or this will have a bad end!...\n\nTYLTYL\nTyl\u00f4!... Here, Tyl\u00f4!... Come here at once, will you? Do you hear?... And\nyou too, Sugar and Bread, who told you to leave me?... What are you doing\nthere, without permission?\n\nBREAD (_speaking with his mouth full_)\nCan't you keep a civil tongue in your mouth?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat? Is Bread daring to be impertinent?... Why, what's come over you?...\nAnd you, Tyl\u00f4?... Is that the way you obey? Now then, come here, on your\nknees, on your knees!... And look sharp!...\n\nTHE DOG (_muttering, from the end of the table_)\nWhen I'm eating, I'm at home to nobody and I hear nothing....\n\nSUGAR (_honey-mouthed_)\nPardon us, we could not possibly leave such charming hosts so abruptly:\nthey would be offended....\n\nTHE LUXURY\nYou see!... They are setting you an example.... Come, we are waiting for\nyou.... We won't hear of a refusal.... We shall have to resort to a gentle\nviolence.... Come, you Luxuries, help me!... Let us push them to the table\nby force, so that they may be happy in spite of themselves!... (_All\nthe_ LUXURIES, _uttering cries of joy and skipping about as nimbly\nas they are able, drag the_ CHILDREN, _who struggle, while_ FAT\nLAUGHTER _seizes_ LIGHT _vigorously round the waist_.)\n\nLIGHT\nTurn the diamond, it is time!...\n\n(TYLTYL _obeys_ LIGHT'S _order. Forthwith, the stage is lit up with\nan ineffably pure, divinely roseate, harmonious and ethereal brightness.\nThe heavy ornaments in the foreground, the thick red hangings become\nunfastened and disappear, revealing an immense and magnificent hall, a\nsort of cathedral of gladness and serenity, tall, innocent and almost\ntransparent, whose endless fabric rests upon innumerous long and slender,\nlimpid and blissful columns, suggesting the architecture of the Palladian\nchurches or certain drawings by Carpaccio, notably the \"Presentation of the\nVirgin\" in the Uffizi Gallery. The table of the orgie melts away without\nleaving a trace; the velvets, the brocades, the garlands of the_\nLUXURIES _rise before the luminous gust that invades the temple tear\nasunder and fall, together with the grinning masks, at the feet of the\nastounded revellers. These become visibly deflated, like burst bladders,\nexchange glances, blink their eyes in the unknown rays that hurt them;\nand, seeing themselves at last as they really are, that is to say, naked,\nhideous, flabby and lamentable, they begin to utter yells of shame and\ndismay, amid which those of_ FAT LAUGHTER _are clearly distinguishable\nabove all the rest. The_ LUXURY OF UNDERSTANDING NOTHING _alone\nremains perfectly calm, while his friends rush about madly, trying to flee,\nto hide themselves in corners which they hope to find dark. But there is\nnot a shadow left in the dazzling room. And so the majority, in their\ndespair, decide to pass through the threatening curtain which, in an angle\non the right, closes the vault of the Cave of Miseries. Each time that one\nof them, in his panic, raises a skirt of the curtain, a storm of oaths,\nimprecations and maledictions is heard to issue from the hollow depths of\nthe cave. As for the_ DOG, BREAD _and_ SUGAR, _they hang their\nheads, join the group of the_ CHILDREN _and hide behind them very\nsheepishly_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_watching the_ LUXURIES _flying_)\nGoodness, how ugly they are!... Where are they going?...\n\nLIGHT\nI really believe that they have lost their heads.... They are going to take\nrefuge with the Miseries, where I very much fear that they will be kept for\ngood....\n\nTYLTYL (_looking around him, wonder-struck_)\nOh, what a beautiful hall, what a beautiful hall!... Where are we?...\n\nLIGHT\nWe have not moved: it is your eyes that see differently.... We now behold\nthe truth of things; and we shall perceive the soul of the Joys that endure\nthe brightness of the diamond.\n\nTYLTYL\nHow beautiful it is!... And what lovely weather!... It is just like\nmidsummer.... Hullo! It looks as though people were coming to talk to\nus....\n\n(_The halls begin to fill with angel forms that seem to be emerging from\na long slumber and glide harmoniously between the columns. They are clad\nin shimmering dresses, of soft and subtle shades; rose-awakening,\nwater's-smile, amber-dew, blue-of-dawn, etc_.)\n\nLIGHT\nHere come some amiable and curious Joys who will direct us....\n\nTYLTYL\nDo you know them?...\n\nLIGHT\nYes, I know them all; I often come to them, without their knowing who I\nam....\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, what a lot of them there are!... They are crowding from every side!\n\nLIGHT\nThere were many more of them once. The Luxuries have done them great harm.\n\nTYLTYL\nNo matter, there are a good few of them left....\n\nLIGHT\nYou will see plenty of others, as the influence of the diamond spreads\nthrough the halls.... There are many more Happinesses on Earth than people\nthink; but the generality of men do not discover them....\n\nTYLTYL\nHere are some little ones: let us run and meet them....\n\nLIGHT\nIt is unnecessary: those which interest us will pass this way. We have no\ntime to make the acquaintance of all the rest....\n\n(_A troop of little_ HAPPINESSES, _frisking and bursting with\nlaughter, run up from the back of the halls and dance round the_\nCHILDREN _in a ring_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nHow pretty, how very pretty they are!... Where do they come from, who are\nthey?...\n\nLIGHT\nThey are the Children's Happinesses....\n\nTYLTYL\nCan one speak to them?\n\nLIGHT\nIt would be no use. They sing, they dance, they laugh, but they do not talk\nyet....\n\nTYLTYL (_skipping about_)\nHow do you do? How do you do?... Oh, look at that fat one laughing!... What\npretty cheeks they have, what pretty frocks they have!... Are they all rich\nhere?...\n\nLIGHT\nWhy, no, here, as everywhere, there are many more poor than rich....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere are the poor ones?...\n\nLIGHT\nYou can't distinguish them.... A Child's Happiness is always arrayed in all\nthat is most beautiful in Heaven and upon Earth.\n\nTYLTYL (_unable to restrain himself_)\nI should like to dance with them....\n\nLIGHT\nIt is absolutely impossible, we have no time.... I see that they have not\nthe Blue Bird.... Besides, they are in a hurry: you see, they have already\npassed.... They too have no time to waste, for childhood is very short....\n\n(_Another troop of_ HAPPINESSES, _a little taller than the last,\nrush into the hall, singing at the top of their voice, \"There they are!\nThere they are! They see us! They see us!\" and, dance a merry fling around\nthe_ CHILDREN, _at the end of which the one who appears to be\nthe chief of the little band goes up to_ TYLTYL _with hand\noutstretched_.)\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nHow do you do, Tyltyl?...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnother one who knows me!... (_To_ LIGHT) I am getting known wherever\nI go!... (_To the_ HAPPINESS) Who are you?...\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nDon't you recognise me?... I'll wager that you don't recognise any one\nhere!\n\nTYLTYL (_a little embarrassed_)\nWhy, no.... I don't know.... I don't remember seeing any of you.\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nThere, do you hear?... I was sure of it!... He has never seen us!...\n\n(_All the other_ HAPPINESSES _burst out laughing_) Why, my dear\nTyltyl, we are the only things you do know!... We are always around you!...\nWe eat, drink, wake up, breathe and live with you!...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, yes, just so, I know, I remember.... But I should like to know what\nyour names are....\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nI can see that you know nothing.... I am the chief of the Happinesses of\nyour home; and all these are the other Happinesses that live there....\n\nTYLTYL\nThen there are Happinesses in my home?\n\n(_All the_ HAPPINESSES _burst out laughing_.)\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nYou heard him!... Are there Happinesses in his home!... Why, you little\nwretch, it is crammed with Happinesses in every nook and cranny!... We\nlaugh, we sing, we create enough joy to knock down the walls and lift the\nroof; but, do what we may, you see nothing and you hear nothing.... I hope\nthat, in future, you will be a little more sensible.... Meantime, you shall\nshake hands with the more noteworthy of us.... Then, when you reach home\nagain, you will recognise them more easily and, at the end of a fine day,\nyou will know how to encourage them with a smile, to thank them with a\npleasant word, for they really do all they can to make your life easy and\ndelightful.... Let me introduce myself first: the Happiness of Being Well,\nat your service.... I am not the prettiest, but I am the most important.\nWill you know me again?... This is the Happiness of Pure Air, who is almost\ntransparent.... Here is the Happiness of Loving one's Parents, who is clad\nin grey and always a little sad, because no one ever looks at him.... Here\nare the Happiness of the Blue Sky, who, of course, is dressed in blue, and\nthe Happiness of the Forest, who, also of course, is clad in green: you\nwill see him every time you go to the window.... Here, again, is the\ngood Happiness of Sunny Hours, who is diamond-coloured, and this is the\nHappiness of Spring, who is bright emerald....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd are you as fine as that every day?\n\nTHE HAPPINESS OF BEING WELL\nWhy, yes, it is Sunday every day, in every house, when people open their\neyes.... And then, when evening comes, here is the Happiness of the\nSunsets, who is grander than all the kings in the world and who is followed\nby the Happiness of Seeing the Stars Rise, who is gilded like a god of\nold.... Then, when the weather breaks, here are the Happiness of the Rain,\nwho is covered with pearls, and the Happiness of the Winter Fire, who opens\nhis beautiful purple mantle to frozen hands.... And I have not mentioned\nthe best among us, because he is nearly a brother of the great limpid\nJoys whom you will see presently: his name is the Happiness of Innocent\nThoughts, and he is the brightest of as all.... And then here are.... But\nreally there are too many of them!... We should never have done; and I must\nfirst send word to the Great Joys, who are right at the back, near the\ngates of Heaven, and who have not yet heard of your arrival.... I will send\nthe Happiness of Running Barefoot in the Dew, who is the nimblest of us....\n(_To the_ HAPPINESS OF RUNNING BAREFOOT IN THE DEW, _who comes\nforward capering_) Off you go!...\n\nLIGHT (_to_ TYLTYL)\nIn the meantime, you might enquire about the Blue Bird. It is just possible\nthat the chief Happiness of your home knows where he is....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere Is he?...\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nHe doesn't know where the Blue Bird is!... (_All the_ HAPPINESSES OF\nTHE HOME _burst out laughing_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_vexed_)\nNo, I do not know.... There's nothing to laugh at.... (_Fresh bursts of\nlaughter_.)\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nCome, don't be angry... and let us be serious.... He doesn't know: well,\nwhat do you expect? He is no more absurd than the majority of men.... But\nlittle Happiness of Running Barefoot in the Dew has told the Great Joys and\nthey are coming towards us....\n\n(_Tall and beautiful angelic figures, clad in shimmering dresses, come\nslowly forward_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nHow beautiful they are!... Why are they not laughing?... Are they not\nhappy?...\n\nLIGHT\nIt is not when one laughs that one is really happy....\n\nTYLTYL\nWho are they?...\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nThey are the Great Joys....\n\nTYLTYL\nDo you know their names?...\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nOf course; we often play with them.... Here, first of all, before the\nothers, is the Great Joy of Being Just, who smiles each time an injustice\nis repaired. I am too young: I have never seen her smile yet. Behind her is\nthe Joy of Being Good, who is the happiest, but the saddest; and it is very\ndifficult to keep her from going to the Miseries, whom she would like to\nconsole; for, if she left us, we should be almost as miserable as the\nMiseries themselves. On the right is the Joy of Fame, next to the Joy of\nThinking. After her comes the Joy of Understanding, who is always looking\nfor her brother, the Luxury of Understanding Nothing....\n\nTYLTYL\nBut I have seen her brother!... He went to the Miseries with the Big\nLuxuries....\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nI was certain of it.... He has turned out badly; keeping evil company has\ncorrupted him entirely.... But do not speak of it to his sister. She would\nwant to go and look for him and we should lose one of our most beautiful\nJoys.... Here, among the greatest Joys, is the Joy of Seeing what is\nBeautiful, who daily adds a few rays to the light that reigns amongst\nus....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd there, far away, far away, in the golden clouds, the one whom I can\nhardly see when I stand as high as I can on tip-toe?...\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nThat is the Great Joy of Loving.... But, do what you will, you are ever so\nmuch too small to see her altogether....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd over there, right at the back, those who are veiled and who do not come\nnear?...\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nThose are the Joys whom men do not yet know....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat do the others want with us?... Why are they standing aside?...\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nIt is before a new Joy who is arriving, perhaps the purest that we have\nhere....\n\nTYLTYL\nWho is it?\n\nTHE HAPPINESS\nDon't you recognise her yet?... But take a better look at her, open your\ntwo eyes down to the very heart of your soul!... She has seen you, she\nhas seen you!... She runs up to you, holding out her arms!... It is your\nmother's Joy, it is the peerless Joy of Maternal Love!...\n\n(_The other_ JOYS, _who have run up from every side, acclaim the_\nJOY OF MATERNAL LOVE _with their cheers and then fall back before her in\nsilence_.)\n\nTHE JOY OF MATERNAL LOVE\nTyltyl! And Mytyl!... What, do I find you here?... I never expected it!...\nI was very lonely at home; and here are you two climbing to that Heaven\nwhere the souls of all mothers beam with joy!... But first kisses, heaps\nand heaps of kisses!... Into my arms, the two of you; there is nothing on\nearth that gives greater happiness!... Tyltyl, aren't you laughing?... Nor\nyou either, Mytyl?... Don't you know your mother's love when you see it?...\nWhy, look at me: are these not my eyes, my lips, my arms?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, yes, I recognise them, but I did not know.... You are like Mummy, but\nyou are much prettier....\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nWhy, of course, I have stopped growing old.... And every day brings me\nfresh strength and youth and happiness.... Each of your smiles makes me\nyounger by a year.... At home, that does not show; but here everything is\nseen and it is the truth....\n\nTYLTYL (_wonder-struck, gazing at her and kissing her by turns_)\nAnd that beautiful dress of yours: what is it made of?... Is it silk,\nsilver or pearls?...\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nNo, it is made of kisses and caresses and loving looks.... Each kiss you\ngive me adds a ray of moon-light or sunshine to it....\n\nTYLTYL\nHow funny, I should never have thought that you were so rich!... Where used\nyou to hide it?... Was it in the cupboard of which Daddy has the key?...\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nNo, no, I always wear it, but people do not see it, because people see\nnothing when their eyes are closed.... All mothers are rich when they love\ntheir children.... There are no poor mothers, no ugly ones, no old ones.\nTheir love is always the most beautiful of the Joys.... And, when they seem\nmost sad, it needs but a kiss which they receive or give to turn all their\ntears into stars in the depths of their eyes....\n\nTYLTYL (_looking at her with astonishment_)\nWhy, yes, it's true, your eyes are filled with stars.... And they are\nreally your eyes, only they are much more beautiful.... And this is your\nhand too, with the little ring on it.... It even has the burn which you\ngave it one evening when lighting the lamp.... But it is much whiter; and\nhow delicate the skin is!... There seems to be light flowing through it....\nDoesn't it do any work like the one at home?...\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nWhy yes, it is the very same: did you never see that it becomes quite white\nand fills with light the moment it fondles you?...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's wonderful, Mummy: you have the same voice also; but you speak much\nbetter than you do at home....\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nAt home, one has too much to do and there is no time.... But what one does\nnot say one hears all the same.... Now that you have seen me, will you know\nme again, in my torn dress, when you go back to the cottage tomorrow?...\n\nTYLTYL\nI don't want to go back.... As you are here, I want to stay also, as long\nas you remain....\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nBut it's just the same thing: I am down below, we are all down below....\nYou have come up here only to realise and to learn, once and for all, how\nto see me when you see me down below.... Do you understand, Tyltyl dear?...\nYou believe yourself in Heaven; but Heaven is wherever you and I kiss each\nother.... There are not two mothers; and you have no other.... Every child\nhas only one; and it is always the same one and always the most beautiful;\nbut you have to know her and to know how to look.... But how did you manage\nto come up here and to find a road for which men have been seeking ever\nsince they began to dwell upon the Earth?...\n\nTYLTYL (_pointing to_ LIGHT, _who, discreetly, has drawn a little to one\nside_)\nShe brought me....\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nWho is she?...\n\nTYLTYL\nLight....\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nI have never seen her.... I was told that she was very fond of you both and\nvery kind.... But why does she hide herself?... Does she never show her\nface?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, yes, but she is afraid that the Joys might be frightened if they saw\ntoo clearly....\n\nMATERNAL LOVE\nBut doesn't she know that we are waiting only for her! (_Calling the\nother_ GREAT JOYS) Come, come, sisters! Come quickly, all of you! Light\nhas come to visit us at last!...\n\n(_A stir among the_ GREAT JOYS, _who draw nearer, with cries of\n\"Light is here!... Light! Light!_...\")\n\nTHE JOY OF UNDERSTANDING (_thrusting all the others aside, to come and\nembrace_ LIGHT)\nYou are Light and we did not know it!... And we have been waiting for you\nfor years and years and years!... Do you recognise me?... I am the Joy of\nUnderstanding, who have been seeking you for so long!... We are very happy,\nbut we cannot see beyond ourselves....\n\nTHE JOY OF BEING JUST (_embracing_ LIGHT _in her turn_)\nDo you recognise me?... I am the Joy of Being Just, who have besought you\nso long.... We are very happy, but we cannot see beyond our shadows.\n\nTHE JOY OF SEEING WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL (_also embracing_ LIGHT)\nDo you recognise me?... I am the Joy of Seeing what is Beautiful, who have\nloved you so dearly.... We are very happy, but we cannot see beyond our\ndreams....\n\nTHE JOY OF UNDERSTANDING\nCome, sister, come, do not keep us waiting any longer.... We are strong\nenough, we are pure enough.... Put aside those veils which still conceal\nfrom us the last truths and the last happinesses.... See, all my sisters\nare kneeling at your feet.... You are our queen and our reward.\n\nLIGHT (_drawing her veils closer_)\nSisters, my beautiful sisters, I am obeying my Master.... The hour is not\nyet come; it will strike, perhaps, and I shall return without fear and\nwithout shadow.... Farewell, rise and let us kiss once more, like sisters\nlost and found, while waiting for the day that will soon appear....\n\nMATERNAL LOVE (_embracing_ LIGHT)\nYou have been very good to my poor little ones....\n\nLIGHT\nI shall always be good to those who love one another....\n\nTHE JOY OF UNDERSTANDING (_going up to_ LIGHT)\nLet the last kiss be laid upon my forehead....\n\n(_They exchange a long kiss; and, when they separate and raise their\nheads, tears are seen to stand in their eyes_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_surprised_)\nWhy are you crying?... (_Looking at the other_ JOYS) I say! You're\ncrying too!... But why have all of you tears in your eyes?...\n\nLIGHT\nHush, dear....\n\n\nCURTAIN\n\n\n\n\nACT V\n\n\n\n\nSCENE I.--_Before the Curtain_.\n\n\n_Enter_ TYLTYL, MYTYL, LIGHT, _the_ DOG, _the_ CAT, BREAD,\nFIRE, SUGAR, WATER _and_ MILK.\n\nLIGHT\nI have received a note from the Fairy B\u00e9rylune telling me that the Blue\nBird is probably here.\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere?...\n\nLIGHT\nHere, in the graveyard behind that wall.... It appears that one of the dead\nin the graveyard is hiding it in his tomb.... We must find out which one it\nis.... We shall have to pass them under review....\n\nTYLTYL\nUnder review?... How is that done?...\n\nLIGHT\nIt is very simple: at midnight, so as not to disturb them too greatly, you\nwill turn the diamond. We shall see them come out of the ground; or else we\nshall see those who do not come out lying in their tombs....\n\nTYLTYL\nWill they not be angry?...\n\nLIGHT\nNot at all; they will not even know.... They do not like being disturbed,\nbut, as it is their custom, in any case, to come out at midnight, that will\nnot inconvenience them....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy are Bread, Sugar and Milk so pale and why do they say nothing?...\n\nMILK (_staggering_)\nI feel I am going to turn....\n\nLIGHT (_aside to TYLTYL_)\nDo not mind them.... They are afraid of the dead....\n\nFIRE (_frisking about_)\nI'm not afraid of them!... I am used to burning them.... Time was when I\nburnt them all; that was much more amusing than nowadays ...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd why Is Tyl\u00f4 trembling?... Is he afraid, too?...\n\nTHE DOG\nI?... I'm not trembling!... I am never afraid; but if you went away, I\nshould go too....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd has the Cat nothing to say?...\n\nTHE CAT (_mysteriously_)\nI know what's what....\n\nTYLTYL (_to LIGHT_)\nAre you coming with us?...\n\nLIGHT\nNo; it is better that I should remain at the gate of the graveyard with the\nThings and the Animals.... Some of them would be too frightened and I fear\nthat the others would misbehave.... Fire, in particular, would want to burn\nthe dead, as of old; and that is no longer done.... I shall leave you alone\nwith Mytyl....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd may not Tyl\u00f4 stay with us?...\n\nTHE DOG\nYes, yes, I shall stay; I shall stay here I... I want to stay with my\nlittle god!...\n\nLIGHT\nIt is impossible.... The Fairy gave formal orders; besides, there is\nnothing to fear....\n\nTHE DOG\nVery well, very well, it makes no difference. If they are vicious, my\nlittle god, all you have to do Is this ... (_he whistles_) and you\nshall see.... It will be just as in the forest: Wow! Wow! Wow!...\n\nLIGHT\nCome, good-bye, dear children ... I shall not be far away.... (_She\nkisses the_ CHILDREN.) Those who love me and whom I love always find me\nagain.... (_To the_ THINGS _and the_ ANIMALS) This way, all of\nyou....\n\n(_She goes out with the_ THINGS _and the_ ANIMALS. _The_\nCHILDREN _remain alone in the middle of the stage. The curtain, opens and\ndiscloses the next scene_.)\n\n\n\n\nSCENE 2.--_The Graveyard_.\n\n_It is night. The moon is shining on a country graveyard.. Numerous\ntombstones, grassy mounds, wooden crosses, stone slabs, etc_. TYLTYL\n_and_ MYTYL _are standing by a short stone pillar_.\n\nMYTYL\nI am frightened!...\n\nTYLTYL (_not too much at his ease_)\nI am never frightened....\n\nMYTYL\nI say, are the dead wicked?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, no, they're not alive!...\n\nMYTYL\nHave you ever seen one?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, once, long ago, when I was very young....\n\nMYTYL\nWhat was it like, say?...\n\nTYLTYL\nQuite white, very still and very cold and it didn't talk....\n\nMYTYL\nAre we going to see them, say?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, of course, Light said so....\n\nMYTYL\nWhere are they?...\n\nTYLTYL\nHere, under the grass or under those big stones....\n\nMYTYL\nAre they there all the year round?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes.\n\nMYTYL (_pointing to the slabs_)\nAre those the doors of their houses?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes.\n\nMYTYL\nDo they go out when it's fine?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey can only go out at night....\n\nMYTYL\nWhy?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBecause they are in their shirts....\n\nMYTYL\nDo they go out also when it rains?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhen it rains, they stay at home....\n\nMYTYL\nIs it nice in their homes, say?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey say it's very cramped....\n\nMYTYL\nHave they any little children?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, yes; they have all those that die....\n\nMYTYL\nAnd what do they live on?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey eat roots....\n\nMYTYL\nShall we see them?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOf course; we see everything when I turn the diamond.\n\nMYTYL\nAnd what will they say?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey will say nothing, as they don't talk....\n\nMYTYL\nWhy don't they talk?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBecause they have nothing to say....\n\nMYTYL\nWhy have they nothing to say?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYou're a nuisance....\n\n(_A pause_)\n\nMYTYL\nWhen will you turn the diamond?\n\nTYLTYL\nYou heard Light say that I was to wait until midnight, because that\ndisturbs them less....\n\nMYTYL\nWhy does that disturb them less?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBecause that is when they go out to take the air....\n\nMYTYL\nIs it not midnight yet?...\n\nTYLTYL\nDo you see the church clock?...\n\nMYTYL\nYes, I can even see the small hand....\n\nTYLTYL\nWell, midnight is just going to strike.... There!... Do you hear?...\n\n(_The clock strikes twelve_)\n\nMYTYL\nI want to go away!...\n\nTYLTYL\nNot now.... I am going to turn the diamond....\n\nMYTYL\nNo, no!... Don't!... I want to go away!... I am so frightened, little\nbrother!... I am terribly frightened!...\n\nTYLTYL\nBut there is no danger....\n\nMYTYL\nI don't want to see the dead!... I don't want to see them!...\n\nTYLTYL\nVery well, you shall not see them; shut your eyes....\n\nMYTYL (_clinging to_ TYLTYL'S _clothes_)\nTyltyl, I can't stay!... No, I can't possibly!... They are going to come\nout of the ground!...\n\nTYLTYL\nDon't tremble like that.... They will only come out for a moment....\n\nMYTYL\nBut you're trembling, too!... They will be awful!...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt is time, the hour is passing....\n\n(TYLTYL _turns the diamond. A terrifying minute of silence and\nmotionlessness elapses, after which, slowly, the crosses totter, the mounds\nopen, the slabs rise up...._)\n\nMYTYL (_cowering against_ TYLTYL)\nThey are coming out!... They are there!...\n\n(_Then, from all the gaping tombs, there rises gradually an efflorescence\nat first frail and timid, like steam; then white and virginal and more and\nmore tufty, more and more tall and plentiful and marvellous. Little by\nlittle, irresistibly, invading all things, it transforms the graveyard into\na sort of fairy-like and nuptial garden, over which rise the first rays of\nthe dawn. The dew glitters, the flowers open their blooms, the wind murmurs\nin the leaves, the bees hum, the birds wake and flood the air with\nthe first raptures of their hymns to the sun and to life. Stunned and\ndazzled,_ TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL, _holding each other by the hand,\ntake a few steps among the flowers while they seek for the trace of the\ntombs_.)\n\nMYTYL (_looking in the grass_)\nWhere are the dead?....\n\nTYLTYL (_looking also_)\nThere are no dead....\n\n\nCURTAIN\n\n\n\n\nSCENE 3.--_The Kingdom of the Future_.\n\n_The immense halls of the Azure Palace, where the children wait that\nare yet to be born. Infinite perspectives of sapphire columns supporting\nturquoise vaults. Everything, from the light and the lapis-lazuli\nflagstones to the shimmering background into which the last arches run\nand disappear, everything, down to the smallest objects, is of an unreal,\nintense, fairy-like blue. Only the plinths and capitals of the columns,\nthe key-stones, a few seats and circular benches are of white marble or\nalabaster. To the right, between the columns, are great opalescent doors.\nThese doors, which_ TIME _will throw back towards the end of the\nscene, open upon actual life and the quays of the Dawn. Everywhere,\nharmoniously peopling the hall, is a crowd of_ CHILDREN _robed in\nlong azure garments. Some are playing, others strolling to and fro, others\ntalking or dreaming; many are asleep, many also are working, between the\ncolonnades, at future inventions; and their tools, their instruments, the\napparatus which they are constructing, the plants, flowers and fruit which\nthey are cultivating or plucking are of the same supernatural and luminous\nblue as the general atmosphere of the Palace. Figures of a taller stature,\nclad in a paler and more diaphanous azure, figures of a sovereign and\nsilent beauty move among the_ CHILDREN _and would seem to be angels.\n\n_Enter on the left, as though by stealth, gliding between the columns in\nthe foreground_, TYLTYL, MYTYL _and_ LIGHT. Their arrival causes\na certain movement among the_ BLUE CHILDREN, _who come running up on\nevery hand, form a group around the unwonted visitors and gaze upon them\nwith curiosity_.\n\nMYTYL\nWhere are Sugar, the Cat and Bread?...\n\nLIGHT\nThey cannot enter here; they would know the future and would not obey....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd the Dog?...\n\nLIGHT\nIt is not well, either, that he should know what awaits him in the course\nof the ages....I have locked them all up in the vaults of the church....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere are we?...\n\nLIGHT\nWe are in the Kingdom of the Future, in the midst of the children who are\nnot yet born. As the diamond allows us to see clearly in this region which\nis hidden from men, we shall very probably find the Blue Bird here....\n\nTYLTYL\nCertainly the bird will be blue, since everything here is\nblue....(_Looking all around him_.) Heaven, how beautiful it all\nis!...\n\nLIGHT\nLook at the children running up....\n\nTYLTYL\nAre they angry?...\n\nLIGHT\nNot at all....You can see, they are smiling, but they are surprised....\n\nTHE BLUE CHILDREN (_running up in ever-increasing numbers_)\nLive children!...Come and look at the little live children!...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy do they call us the little live children?\n\nLIGHT\nBecause they themselves are not alive yet....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat are they doing, then?...\n\nLIGHT\nThey are awaiting the hour of their birth....\n\nTYLTYL\nThe hour of their birth?...\n\nLIGHT\nYes; it is from here that all the children come who are born upon our\nearth. Each awaits his day.... When the fathers and mothers want children,\nthe great doors which you see there, on the right, are opened and the\nlittle ones go down....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat a, lot there are! What a lot there are!...\n\nLIGHT\nThere are many more.... We do not see them all.... There are thirty\nthousand halls like this, all full of them.... Just think, there are enough\nto last to the end of the world!... No one could count them....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd those tall blue persons, who are they?...\n\nLIGHT\nNo one exactly knows.... They are believed to be guardians.... I have heard\nthat they will come upon earth after men.... But we are not allowed to ask\nthem....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy not?...\n\nLIGHT\nBecause it is the earth's secret....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd may one talk to the others, the little ones?...\n\nLIGHT\nCertainly; you must make friends.... Look, there is one who is more curious\nthan the rest.... Go up to him, speak to him....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat shall I say to him?...\n\nLIGHT\nWhatever you like, as you would to a little playfellow....\n\nTYLTYL\nCan I shake hands with him?...\n\nLIGHT\nOf course, he won't hurt you.... But come, don't look so constrained.... I\nwill leave you alone, you will be more at ease by yourselves.... Besides, I\nwant to speak to the tall blue person....\n\nTYLTYL (_going up to the_ BLUE CHILD _and holding out his hand_)\nHow do you do?... (_Touching the_ CHILD'S _blue dress with his\nfinger_.) What's that?...\n\nTHE CHILD (_gravely touching_ TYLTYL'S _hat_)\nAnd that?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThat?... That is my hat.... Have you no hat?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nNo; what is it for?...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's to say How-do-you-do with.... And then for when it rains or when it's\ncold....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhat does that mean, when it's cold?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhen you shiver like this: brrrr! brrrr!... When you blow into your hands\nand go like this with your arms....\n\n(_He vigorously beats his arms across his chest_.)\n\nTHE CHILD\nIs it cold on earth?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, sometimes, in the winter, when there is no fire....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhy is there no fire?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBecause it's expensive and it costs money to buy wood....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhat is money?...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's what you pay with....\n\nTHE CHILD\nOh....\n\nTYLTYL\nSome people have money and others have none....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhy not?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBecause they are not rich.... Are you rich?... How old are you?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nI am going to be born soon.... I shall be born in twelve years.... Is it\nnice to be born?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, yes!... It's great fun!...\n\nTHE CHILD\nHow did you manage?...\n\nTYLTYL\nI can't remember.... It is so long ago!...\n\nTHE CHILD\nThey say it's lovely, the earth and the live people!...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, it's not bad.... There are birds and cakes and toys.... Some have them\nall; but those who have none can look at them....\n\nTHE CHILD\nThey tell us that the mothers stand waiting at the door.... They are good,\naren't they?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, yes!... They are better than anything in the world!... And the grannies\ntoo; but they die too soon....\n\nTHE CHILD\nThey die?... What is that?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThey go away one evening and do not come back....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhy?...\n\nTYLTYL\nHow can one tell?... Perhaps because they feel sad....\n\nTHE CHILD\nHas yours gone?...\n\nTYLTYL\nMy grandmamma?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nYour mamma or your grandmamma, I don't know....\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, but it's not the same thing!... The grannies go first; that's sad\nenough.... Mine was very kind to me....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhat is the matter with your eyes?.... Are they making pearls?...\n\nTYLTYL\nNo; it's not pearls....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhat is it, then?...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's nothing; it's all that blue, which dazzles me a little....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhat is that called?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nThere, that, falling down....\n\nTYLTYL\nNothing, it is a little water....\n\nTHE CHILD\nDoes it come from the eyes?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, sometimes, when one cries....\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhat does that mean, crying?...\n\nTYLTYL\nI have not been crying; it is the fault of that blue... But if I had cried,\nit would be the same thing....\n\nTHE CHILD\nDoes one often cry?...\n\nTYLTYL\nNot little boys, but little girls do.... Don't you cry here?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nNo; I don't know how....\n\nTYLTYL\nWell, you will learn.... What are you playing with, those great blue\nwings?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nThese?... That's for the invention which I shall make on earth....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat invention?... Have you invented something?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nWhy, yes; haven't you heard?... When I am on earth, I shall have to invent\nthe thing that gives happiness....\n\nTYLTYL\nIs it good to eat?... Does it make a noise?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nNo; you hear nothing....\n\nTYLTYL\nThat's a pity....\n\nTHE CHILD\nI work at it every day.... It is almost finished.... Would you like to see\nit?...\n\nTYLTYL\nVery much.... Where is it?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nThere, you can see it from here, between those two columns....\n\nANOTHER BLUE CHILD (_coming up to_ TYLTYL _and plucking his sleeve_)\nWould you like to see mine, say?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, what is it?...\n\nTHE SECOND CHILD\nThe thirty-three remedies for prolonging life.... There, in those blue\nphials....\n\nA THIRD CHILD (_stepping out from the crowd_)\nI will show you a light which nobody knows of!... (_He lights himself\nup entirely with an extraordinary flame_.) It's rather curious, isn't\nit?...\n\nA FOURTH CHILD (_pulling_ TYLTYL'S _arm_)\nDo come and look at my machine which flies in the air like a bird without\nwings!...\n\nA FIFTH CHILD\nNo, no; mine first! It discovers the treasures hidden in the moon!...\n\nTHE BLUE CHILDREN (_crowding round_ TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _and all crying\ntogether_)\nNo, no, come and see mine!... No, mine is much finer!... Mine is a\nwonderful invention!... Mine is made of sugar!... His is no good!... He\nstole the idea from me!...\n\n(_Amid these disordered exclamations, the_ LIVE CHILDREN _are\ndragged towards the blue workshops, where each of the inventors sets his\nideal machine going. There ensues a cerulean whirl of wheels, disks,\nflywheels, driving-wheels, pulleys, straps and strange and as yet unnamed\nobjects shrouded in the bluey mists of the unreal. A crowd of odd and\nmysterious mechanisms dart forth and hover under the vaults or crawl at the\nfoot of the columns, while_ CHILDREN _unfold charts and plans, open\nbooks, uncover azure statues and bring enormous flowers and gigantic fruits\nthat seem formed of sapphires and turquoises_.)\n\nA LITTLE BLUE CHILD (_bending under the weight of some colossal blue\ndaisies_)\nLook at my flowers!...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat are they?... I don't know them....\n\nTHE LITTLE BLUE CHILD\nThey are daisies!...\n\nTYLTYL\nImpossible!... They are as big as tables!...\n\nTHE LITTLE BLUE CHILD\nAnd they smell so good!...\n\nTYLTYL (_smelling them_)\nWonderful!...\n\nTHE LITTLE BLUE CHILD\nThey will grow like that when I am on earth....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhen will that be?...\n\nTHE LITTLE BLUE CHILD\nIn fifty-three years, four months and nine days....\n\n(_Two_ BLUE CHILDREN _arrive, carrying, like a lustre hanging on a\npole, an incredible bunch of grapes, each larger than a pear_.)\n\nONE OF THE CHILDREN (_carrying the grapes_)\nWhat do you say to my fruits?...\n\nTYLTYL\nA bunch of pears!...\n\nTHE CHILD\nNo, they are grapes!... They will all be like that when I am thirty.... I\nhave found the way....\n\nANOTHER CHILD (_staggering under a basket of blue apples the size of\nmelons_)\nAnd mine!... Look at my apples!...\n\nTYLTYL\nBut those are melons!...\n\nTHE CHILD\nNo, no!... They are my apples and they are not the finest at that!... They\nwill all be alike when I am alive.... I have discovered the system!...\n\nANOTHER CHILD (_wheeling a blue barrow with blue melons bigger than\npumpkins_)\nWhat do you say to my little melons?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBut they are pumpkins!...\n\nTHE CHILD WITH THE MELONS\nWhen I come on earth, the melons will be splendid!... I shall be the\ngardener of the King of the Three Planets....\n\nTYLTYL\nThe King of the Three Planets?\n\nTHE CHILD WITH THE MELONS\nThe great king who for thirty-five years will bring happiness to the Earth,\nMars and the Moon.... You can see him from here....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere is he?...\n\nTHE CHILD WITH THE MELONS\nThere, the little boy sleeping at the foot of that column.\n\nTYLTYL\nOn the left?...\n\nTHE CHILD WITH THE MELONS\nNo, on the right.... The one on the left is the child who will bring pure\njoy to the globe....\n\nTYLTYL\nHow?...\n\nTHE CHILD (_the one that first talked to_ TYLTYL)\nBy means of ideas which people have not yet had....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd the other, that little fat one with his fingers to his nose, what will\nhe do?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nHe is to discover the fire that will warm the earth when the sun is paler\nthan now....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd the two holding each other by the hand and always kissing; are they\nbrother and sister?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nNo; they are very comical....They are the Lovers....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat is that?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nI don't know.... Time calls them that, to make fun of them.... They spend\nthe day looking into each other's eyes, kissing and bidding each other\nfarewell....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nIt seems that they will not be able to leave together...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd the little pink one, who looks so serious and is sucking his thumb,\nwhat is he?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nIt appears that he is to wipe out injustice from the earth....\n\nTYLTYL\nOh!...\n\nTHE CHILD\nThey say it's a tremendous work....\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd the little red-haired one, who walks as if he did not see where he was\ngoing, is he blind?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nNot yet; but he will become so....Look at him well; it seems that he is to\nconquer Death....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat does that mean?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nI don't exactly know; but they say it's a great thing....\n\nTYLTYL (_pointing to a crowd of_ CHILDREN _sleeping at the foot of\nthe columns, on the steps, the benches, etc_.)\nAnd all those asleep, what a number of them there are asleep!... Do they do\nnothing?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nThey are thinking of something....\n\nTYLTYL\nOf what?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nThey do not know yet; but they must take something with them to earth; we\nare not allowed to go from here empty-handed....\n\nTYLTYL\nWho says so?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nTime, who stands at the door.... You will see when he opens it.... He is\nvery tiresome....\n\nA CHILD (_running up from the back of the hall and elbowing his way\nthrough the crowd_)\nHow are you, TYLTYL?...\n\nTYLTYL\nHullo!... How does he know my name?...\n\nTHE CHILD (_who has just run up and who now kisses_ TYLTYL _and_\nMYTYL _effusively_.)\nHow are you?... All right?... Come, give me a kiss, and you too, Mytyl.\nIt's not surprising that I should know your name, seeing that I shall be\nyour brother.... They have only just told me that you were here.... I was\nright at the other end of the hall, packing up my ideas.... Tell mummy that\nI am ready....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat?... Are you coming to us?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nCertainly, next year, on Palm Sunday.... Don't tease me too much when I am\nlittle.... I am very glad to have kissed you both beforehand.... Tell daddy\nto mend the cradle.... Is it comfortable in our home?...\n\nTYLTYL\nNot bad.... And mummy is so kind!...\n\nTHE CHILD\nAnd the food?...\n\nTYLTYL\nThat depends.... We even have cakes sometimes, don't we, Mytyl?...\n\nMYTYL\nOn New Year's Day and the fourteenth of July.... Mummy makes them....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat have you got in that bag?... Are you bringing us something?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nI am bringing three illnesses: scarlatina, whooping-cough and measles....\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, that's all, is it?... And, after that, what will you do?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nAfter that?... I shall leave you....\n\nTYLTYL\nIt will hardly be worth while coming!...\n\nTHE CHILD\nWe can't pick and choose!...\n\n(_At that moment, a sort of prolonged, powerful, crystalline vibration is\nheard to rise and swell; it seems to emanate from the columns and the opal\ndoors, which are irradiated by a brighter light than before_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat is that?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nThat's Time!... He is going to open the gates!...\n\n(_A great change comes over the crowd of_ BLUE CHILDREN, _Most of\nthem leave their machines and their labours, numbers of sleepers awake and\nall turn their eyes towards the opal doors and go nearer to them_.)\n\nLIGHT (_joining_ TYLTYL)\nLet us try to hide behind the columns.... It will not do for Time to\ndiscover us....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere does that noise come from?...\n\nA CHILD\nIt is the Dawn rising.... This is the hour when the children who are to be\nborn to-day go down to earth....\n\nTYLTYL\nHow will they go down?... Are there ladders?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nYou shall see.... Time is drawing the bolts....\n\nTYLTYL\nWho is Time?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nAn old man who comes to call those who are going....\n\nTYLTYL\nIs he wicked?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nNo; but he hears nothing.... Beg as they may, if it's not their turn, he\npushes back all those who try to go....\n\nTYLTYL\nAre they glad to go?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nWe are sorry when we are left behind, but we are sad when we go.... There!\nThere!... He is opening the doors!...\n\n(_The great opalescent doors turn slowly on their hinges. The sounds of\nthe earth are heard like a distant music. A red and green light penetrates\ninto the hall_; TIME, _a tall old man with a streaming beard, armed\nwith his scythe and hourglass, appears upon the threshold; and the\nspectator perceives the extremity of the white and gold sails of a galley\nmoored to a sort of quay, formed by the rosy mists of the Dawn_.)\n\nTIME (_on the threshold_)\nAre they ready whose hour has struck?...\n\nBLUE CHILDREN (_elbowing their way and running up from all sides_)\nHere we are!... Here we are!... Here we are!...\n\nTIME (_in a gruff voice to the_ CHILDREN _defiling before him to go out_)\nOne at a time!... Once again, there are many more of you than\nare wanted!... It's always the same thing!... You can't deceive\nme!...(_Pushing back a_ CHILD.) It's not your turn!... Go back and\nwait till to-morrow.... Nor you either; go in and return in ten years.... A\nthirteenth shepherd?... There are only twelve wanted; there is no need for\nmore; the days of Theocritus and Virgil are past.... More doctors?... There\nare too many already; they are grumbling about it on earth.... And\nwhere are the engineers?... They want an honest man, only one, as a\nphenomenon.... Where is the honest man?... Is it you?... (THE CHILD _nods\nyes_.) You appear to me to be a very poor specimen!... Hallo, you, over\nthere, not so fast, not so fast!... And you, what are you bringing?...\nNothing at all, empty-handed?... Then you can't go through.... Prepare\nsomething, a great crime, if you like, or a fine sickness, I don't care ...\nbut you mast have something.... (_Catching sight of a little_ CHILD\n_whom the others are pushing forward, while he resists with all his\nstrength_.) Well, what's the matter with you?... You know that the hour\nhas come.... They want a hero to fight against injustice; you're the one:\nyou most start....\n\nTHE BLUE CHILDREN\nHe doesn't want to, sir....\n\nTIME\nWhat?... He doesn't want to?... Where does the little monster think he\nis?... No objections, we have no time to spare....\n\nTHE CHILD (_who is being pushed_)\nNo, no!...I don't want to go!... I would rather not be born!... I would\nrather stay here!...\n\nTIME\nThat is not the question.... When the hour comes, it comes!... Now then,\nquick, forward!...\n\nA CHILD (_stepping forward_)\nOh, let me pass!... I will go and take his place!... They say that my\nparents are old and have been waiting for me so long!...\n\nTIME\nNone of that!... You will start at your proper hour, at your proper\ntime.... We should never be done if we listened to you.... One wants to\ngo, another refuses; it's too soon or it's too late.... (_Pushing back\nsome_ CHILDREN _who have encroached upon the threshold_.) Not so\nnear, you children!... Back, you inquisitive ones!... Those who are not\nstarting have no business outside.... You are in a hurry now; later, when\nyour turn comes, you will be frightened and hang back.... Look, there are\nfour who are trembling like leaves.... (_To a_ CHILD _who, on the\npoint of crossing the threshold, suddenly goes back_.) Well, what is\nit?... What's the matter?...\n\nTHE CHILD\nI have forgotten the box containing the two crimes which I shall have to\ncommit....\n\nANOTHER CHILD\nAnd I the little pot with my idea for enlightening the crowd....\n\nA THIRD CHILD\nI have forgotten the graft of my finest pear!...\n\nTIME\nRun quick and fetch them!... We have only six hundred and twelve seconds\nleft.... The galley of the Dawn is already flapping her sails to show that\nshe is waiting.... You will come too late and you won't be born!... Come,\nquick, on board with you!... (_Laying hold of a_ CHILD _who tries to\npass between his legs to reach the quay_.) Oh, no, not you!... This is\nthe third time you've tried to be born before your turn.... Don't let me\ncatch you at it again, or you can wait forever with my sister Eternity;\nand you know that it's not amusing there!... But come, are we ready?... Is\nevery one at his post?... (_Surveying the_ CHILDREN _standing on the\nquay or already seated In the galley_.) There is still one missing....\nIt is no use his hiding, I see him in the crowd.... You can't deceive\nme!... Come on, you, the little fellow whom they call the Lover, say\ngood-bye to your sweetheart....\n\n(_The two_ CHILDREN _who are called the Lovers, fondly entwined,\ntheir faces livid with despair, go up to_ TIME _and kneel at his\nfeet_.)\n\nTHE FIRST CHILD\nMr. Time, let me stay behind with her!...\n\nTHE SECOND CHILD\nMr. Time, let me go with him!...\n\nTIME\nImpossible!... We have only three hundred and ninety-four seconds left....\n\nTHE FIRST CHILD\nI would rather not be born!...\n\nTIME\nYou cannot choose....\n\nTHE SECOND CHILD (_beseechingly_)\nMr. Time, I shall come too late!...\n\nTHE FIRST CHILD\nI shall be gone before she comes down!...\n\nTHE SECOND CHILD\nI shall never see him again!...\n\nTHE FIRST CHILD\nWe shall be alone in the world!...\n\nTIME\nAll this does not concern me.... Address your entreaties to Life.... I\nunite and part as I am told....(_Seizing one of the_ CHILDREN.)\nCome!...\n\nTHE FIRST CHILD (_struggling_)\nNo, no, no!... She, too!...\n\nTHE SECOND CHILD (_clinging to the clothes of the_ FIRST)\nLeave him with me!... Leave him!...\n\nTIME\nCome, come, he is not going to die, but to live!... (_Dragging away\nthe_ FIRST CHILD.) Come along!...\n\nTHE SECOND CHILD (_stretching her arms out frantically to the_ CHILD\n_that is being carried off_)\nA sign!... A sign!... Tell me how to find you!...\n\nTHE FIRST CHILD\nI shall always love you!...\n\nTHE SECOND CHILD\nI shall be the saddest thing on earth!... You will know me by that!...\n\n(_She falls and remains stretched on the ground_.)\n\nTIME\nYou would do much better to hope.... And now, that is all....\n(_Consulting his hour-glass_.) We have only sixty-three seconds\nleft....\n\n(_Last and violent movements among the_ CHILDREN _departing and\nremaining. They exchange hurried farewells_.)\n\nTHE BLUE CHILDREN\nGood-bye, Pierre!... Good-bye, Jean!... Have you all you want?... Announce\nmy idea!... Have you got the new turnscrew?... Mind you speak of my\nmelons!... Have you forgotten nothing?... Try to know me again I... I shall\nfind you!... Don't lose your ideas!... Don't lean too far into space!...\nSend me your news!... They say one can't... Oh, try, do try!... Try to\ntell us if it's nice!... I will come to meet you I... I shall be born on a\nthrone!...\n\nTIME (_shaking his keys and his scythe_)\nEnough! Enough!... The anchor's raised!...\n\n(_The sails of the galley pass and disappear. The voices of the_\nCHILDREN _in the galley are heard in the distance_: \"The Earth! The\nEarth!... I can see it!... How beautiful it is!... How bright it is!... How\nbig it is!\"... _Then, as though issuing from the depths of the abyss, an\nextremely distant song of gladness and expectation_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_to_ LIGHT)\nWhat is that?... It is not they singing.... It sounds like other voices....\n\nLIGHT\nYes, it is the song of the mothers coming out to meet them....\n\n(_Meanwhile_, TIME _closes the opalescent doors. He turns to take\na last look at the hall and suddenly perceives_ TYLTYL, MYTYL\n_and_ LIGHT.)\n\nTIME (_dumbfoundered and furious_)\nWhat's that?... What are you doing here?... Who are you?... Why are you not\nblue?... How did you get in?... (_He comes forward, threatening them with\nhis scythe_.)\n\nLIGHT (_to_ TYLTYL)\nDo not answer!... I have the Blue Bird.... He is hidden under my cloak....\nLet us escape.... Turn the diamond, he will lose our traces.... (_They\nslip away on the left, between the columns in the foreground_.)\n\n\nCURTAIN\n\n\n\n\nACT VI\n\n\n\n\nSCENE I.--_The Leave-taking_.\n\n\n_The stage represents a wall with a small door. It is the break of\nday_.\n\n(_Enter_ TYLTYL, MYTYL, LIGHT, BREAD, WATER, SUGAR, FIRE _and_\nMILK) You would never guess where we are....\n\nTYLTYL\nWell, no, Light, because I don't know....\n\nLIGHT\nDon't you recognise that wall and that little door?...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt is a red wall and a little green door.\n\nLIGHT\nAnd doesn't that remind you of anything?...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt reminds me that Time shewed us the door....\n\nLIGHT\nHow odd people are when they dream.... They do not recognise their own\nhands....\n\nTYLTYL\nWho is dreaming?... Am I?...\n\nLIGHT\nPerhaps it's myself.... Who can tell?... However, this wall contains a\nhouse which you have seen more than once since you were born....\n\nTYLTYL\nA house which I have seen more than once since I was born?...\n\nLIGHT\nWhy yes, sleepy-head!... It is the house which we left one evening, just a\nyear ago, to a day....\n\nTYLTYL\nJust a year ago?... Why, then....\n\nLIGHT\nCome, come!... Don't open great eyes like sapphire caves.... It's the dear\nold house of your father and mother....\n\nTYLTYL (_going up to the door_)\nBut I think.... Yes, really.... It seems to me.... This little door.... I\nrecognise the wooden pin.... Are they in there?... Are we near mummy?... I\nwant to go in at once.... I want to kiss her at once!...\n\nLIGHT\nOne moment.... They are sound asleep; you must not wake them with a\nstart.... Besides, the door will not open till the hour strikes....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat hour?... Is there long to wait?...\n\nLIGHT\nAlas, no!... A few poor minutes....\n\nTYLTYL\nAren't you glad to be back?... What is it, Light?... You are quite pale,\nyou look ill....\n\nLIGHT\nIt's nothing, child.... I feel a little sad, because I am leaving you....\n\nTYLTYL\nLeaving us?...\n\nLIGHT\nI must.... I have nothing more to do here; the year is over, the Fairy is\ncoming back to ask you for the Blue Bird....\n\nTYLTYL\nBut I haven't got the Blue Bird!... The one of the Land of Memory turned\nquite black, the one of the Future turned quite pink, the Night's are dead\nand I could not catch the one in the Forest.... Is it my fault if they\nchange colour, or die, or escape?... Will the Fairy be angry and what will\nshe say?...\n\nLIGHT\nWe have done what we could.... It seems likely that the Blue Bird does not\nexist or that he changes colour when he is caged....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere is the cage?...\n\nBREAD\nHere, master.... It was entrusted to my diligent care during our long\njourney; to-day, now that my mission is drawing to an end, I restore it to\nyour hands, untouched and carefully closed, as I received it.... (_Like\nan orator making a speech_) And now, in the name of all, I crave\npermission to add a few words....\n\nFIRE\nHe has not been called upon to speak!...\n\nWATER\nOrder!...\n\nBREAD\nThe malevolent interruptions of a contemptible enemy, of an envious\nrival....\n\nFIRE\nAn envious rival!... What would you be without me?... A lump of shapeless\nand indigestible dough....\n\nWATER\nOrder!...\n\nFIRE\nI won't be shouted down by you! ...\n\n(_They threaten each other and are about to come to blows_.)\n\nLIGHT (_raising her wand_)\nEnough!...\n\nBREAD\nThe insults and the ridiculous pretensions of an element whose notorious\nmisbehaviour and whose scandalous excesses drive the world to despair....\n\nFIRE\nYou fat pasty-face!\n\nBREAD (_raising his voice_)\nWill not prevent me from doing my duty to the end.... I wish, therefore, in\nthe name of all...\n\nFIRE\nNot in mine!... I have a tongue of my own!...\n\nBREAD\nIn the name of all and with a restrained but simple and deep emotion,\nto take leave of two distinguished children, whose exalted mission ends\nto-day.... When bidding them farewell, with all the grief and all the\nfondness which a mutual esteem....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat?... You are bidding us farewell?... Are you leaving us too?...\n\nBREAD\nAlas, needs must, since the hour when men's eyes are to be opened has not\nyet come.... I am leaving you, it is true; but the separation will only be\napparent, you will no longer hear me speak....\n\nFIRE\nThat will be no loss!...\n\nWATER\nOrder! Silence!...\n\nFIRE\nI shall keep silence when you cease babbling in the kettles, the wells, the\nbrooks, the waterfalls and the taps....\n\nLIGHT (_threatening them with her wand_)\nThat will do, do you hear?... You are all very quarrelsome; It is the\ncoming separation that sets your nerves on edge like this....\n\nBREAD (_with great dignity_)\nThat does not apply to me.... I was saying, you will no longer hear me\nspeak, no longer see me in my living form.... Your eyes are about to close\nto the invisible life of the Things; but I shall always be there. In the\nbread-pan, on the shelf, on the table, beside the soup, I who am, if I may\nsay so, with Water and Fire, the most faithful companion, the oldest friend\nof Man....\n\nFIRE\nWell, and what about me?...\n\nLIGHT\nCome, the minutes are passing, the hour is at hand which will send us back\ninto silence.... Be quick and kiss the children....\n\nFIRE (_rushing forward_)\nI first! I first!... (_Violently kissing the_ CHILDREN.) Good-bye,\nTyltyl and Mytyl!... Good-bye, my darlings.... Think of me if ever you want\nany one to set fire to anything....\n\nMYTYL\nOh! Oh!... He's burning me!...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh! Oh!... He's scorched my nose!...\n\nLIGHT\nCome, Fire, moderate your transports.... Remember you're not in your\nchimney....\n\nWATER\nWhat an idiot!...\n\nBREAD\nWhat a vulgarian!...\n\nFIRE\nThere, look; I will put my hands in my pockets.... But don't forget me....\nI am the friend of Man.... I shall always be there, in the hearth and in\nthe oven; and I will come sometimes and put out my tongue for you when\nyou are cold or sad.... I shall be warm in winter and roast chestnuts for\nyou....\n\nWATER (_approaching the_ CHILDREN)\nI shall kiss you without hurting you, tenderly, my children....\n\nFIRE\nTake care, you'll get wet!...\n\nWATER\nI am loving and gentle; I am kind to human beings....\n\nFIRE\nWhat about those you drown?...\n\nWATER\nLove the wells, listen to the brooks.... I shall always be there....\n\nFIRE\nShe has flooded the whole place....\n\nWATER\nWhen you sit down, in the evening, beside the springs--there is more than\none here in the forest--try to understand what they are trying to say....\n\nFIRE\nEnough! Enough!... I can't swim!...\n\nWATER\nI shall no longer be able to tell you as clearly as I do to-day that I love\nyou; but you will not forget that that is what I am saying to you when you\nhear my voice.... Alas!... I can say no more.... My tears choke me and\nprevent my speaking....\n\nFIRE\nIt doesn't sound like it!...\n\nWATER\nThink of me when you see the water-bottle.... Alas! I have to be silent\nthere; but my thoughts will always be of you.... You will find me also in\nthe ewer, the watering-can, the cistern and the tap....\n\nMILK (_approaching timidly_)\nAnd me in the milk-jug....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat, you too, my dear Milk, so shy and so good?... Is everybody going?...\n\nSUGAR (_naturally mawkish and sanctimonious_)\nIf you have a little corner left in your memory, remember sometimes that my\npresence was sweet to you.... That is all I have to say.... Tears are not\nin harmony with my temperament and they hurt me terribly when they fall on\nmy feet....\n\nBREAD\nJesuit!...\n\nFIRE (_yelping_)\nSugar-plum! Lollipop! Caramel!...\n\nTYLTYL\nBut where are Tylette and Tyl\u00f4 gone to?... What are they doing?...\n\n(_The_ CAT _is heard to utter shrill cries_.)\n\nMYTYL (_alarmed_)\nIt's Tylette crying!... He is being hurt!...\n\n(_Enter the_ CAT, _running, his hair on end and dishevelled, his\nclothes torn, holding his handkerchief to his cheek, as though he had the\ntoothache. He utters angry groans and is closely pursued by the_ DOG,\n_who overwhelms him with bites, blows and kicks_.)\n\nTHE DOG (_beating the_ CAT)\nThere!... Have you had enough?... Do you want any more?... There! There!\nThere!...\n\nLIGHT, TYLTYL and MYTYL (_rushing forward to part them_)\nTyl\u00f4!... Are you mad?... Well, I never!... Down!... Stop that, will you?...\nHow dare you?... Wait, wait!...\n\n(_They part the_ DOG _and the_ CAT _by main force_.)\n\nLIGHT\nWhat is it?... What has happened?...\n\nTHE CAT (_blubbering and wiping his eyes_)\nIt's the Dog, Mrs. Light.... He insulted me, he put tin tacks in my food,\nhe pulled my tail, he beat me; and I had done nothing, nothing, nothing at\nall!...\n\nTHE DOG (_mimicking him_)\nNothing, nothing, nothing at all!... (_In an undertone, with a mocking\ngrimace_) Never mind, you've had some, you've had some and you're going\nto have some more!...\n\nMYTYL (_pressing the_ CAT _in her arms_)\nMy poor Tylette, where has he hurt you?... Tell me.... I shall cry too....\n\nLIGHT (_to the_ DOG, _severely_)\nYour conduct is all the more, unworthy since you have chosen for this\ndisgraceful exhibition the already most painful moment when we are about to\npart from these poor children....\n\nTHE DOG (_suddenly sobered_)\nTo part from these poor children?...\n\nLIGHT\nYes; the hour which you know of is at hand.... We are going to return to\nsilence.... We shall no longer be able to speak to them....\n\nTHE DOG (_suddenly uttering real howls of despair and flinging himself\nupon the_ CHILDREN, _whom he loads with violent and tumultuous caresses_.)\nNo! No!... I refuse!... I refuse!... I shall always talk!... You will\nunderstand me now, will you not, my little god?... Yes! Yes! Yes!... And we\nshall tell each other everything, everything, everything!... And I shall be\nvery good.... And I shall learn to read and write and play dominoes!... And\nI shall always be very clean.... And I shall never steal anything in the\nkitchen again.... Shall I do a wonderful trick for you?... Would you like\nme to kiss the Cat?...\n\nMYTYL (_to the_ CAT)\nAnd you, Tylette?... Have you nothing to say to us?...\n\nTHE CAT (_in an affected and enigmatic tone_)\nI love you both as much as you deserve....\n\nLIGHT\nNow let me, in my turn, children, give you a last kiss....\n\nTYLTYL and MYTYL (_hanging on to_ LIGHT'S _dress_)\nNo, no, no, Light!... Stay here with us!... Daddy won't mind.... We will\ntell mummy how kind you have been....\n\nLIGHT\nAlas! I cannot!... This door is closed to us and I must leave you....\n\nTYLTYL\nWhere will you go all alone?...\n\nLIGHT\nNot very far, my children; over there, to the Land of the Silence of\nThings....\n\nTYLTYL\nNo, no; I won't have you go.... We will go with you.... I shall tell\nmummy....\n\nLIGHT\nDo not cry, my dear little ones.... I have not a voice like Water; I have\nonly my brightness, which Man does not understand.... But I watch over him\nto the end of his days.... Never forget that I am speaking to you in every\nspreading moonbeam, in every twinkling star, in every dawn that rises, in\nevery lamp that is lit, in every good and bright thought of your soul....\n(_Eight o'clock strikes behind the wall_.) Listen!... The hour is\nstriking!... Good-bye!... The door is opening!... In with you, in with\nyou!...\n\n(_She pushes the_ CHILDREN _through the door, which has half-opened\nand which closes again behind them_. BREAD _wipes away a furtive\ntear_, SUGAR _and_ WATER, _etc., all in tears, flee precipitously\nand disappear in the wings to the right and left. The_ DOG _howls\nbehind the scenes. The stage remains empty for a moment and then the\nscenery representing the wall and the little door opens in the middle and\nreveals the last scene_.)\n\n\n\n\nSCENE 2.--_The Awakening_.\n\n_The same setting as in_ ACT I, _but the objects, the walls and the\natmosphere all appear incomparably and magically fresher, happier, more\nsmiling. The daylight penetrates gaily through the chinks of the closed\nshutters. To the right, at the back_, TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _lie\nsound asleep in their little beds. The_ DOG, _the_ CAT _and\nthe_ THINGS _are in the places which they occupied in_ ACT I,\n_before the arrival of the_ FAIRY.\n\n_Enter_ MUMMY TYL\n\nMUMMY TYL (_in a cheerfully scolding voice_)\nUp, come, get up, you little lazybones!... Aren't you ashamed of\nyourselves?... It has struck eight and the sun is high above the trees!...\nLord, how they sleep, how they sleep!... (_She leans over and kisses\nthe_ CHILDREN.) They are quite rosy.... Tyltyl smells of lavender and\nMytyl of lilies-of-the-valley.... (_Kissing them again_) What sweet\nthings children are!... Still, they can't go on sleeping till midday.... I\nmustn't let them grow up idle.... And, besides, I have heard that it's\nnot very healthy.... (_Gently shaking_ TYLTYL) Wake up, wake up,\nTyltyl....\n\nTYLTYL (_waking up_)\nWhat?... Light?... Where is she?... No, no, don't go away....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nLight?... Why, of course it's light... Has been for ever so long.... It's\nas bright as noonday, though the shutters are closed.... Wait a bit till I\nopen them.... (_She pushes back the shutters and the dazzling daylight\ninvades the room_.) There! See!... What's the matter with you?... You\nlook quite blinded....\n\nTYLTYL (_rubbing his eyes_)\nMummy, mummy!... It's you!...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhy, of course, it's I.... Who did you think it was?...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's you.... Yes, yes, it's you!....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nYes, yes, it's I.... I haven't changed my face since last night.... Why do\nyou stare at me in that wonderstruck way?... Is my nose turned upside down,\nby any chance?...\n\nTYLTYL\nOh, how nice it is to see you again!... It's so long, so long ago!... I\nmust kiss you at once.... Again! Again! Again!... And how comfortable my\nbed is!... I am back at home!...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhat's the matter?... Why don't you wake up?... Don't tell me you're\nill.... Let me see, show me your tongue.... Come, get up and dress....\n\nTYLTYL\nHullo, I've got my shirt on!...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nOf course you have.... Put on your breeches and your little jacket....\nThere they are, on the chair....\n\nTYLTYL\nIs that what I did on the journey?...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhat journey?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, last year....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nLast year?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, yes!...At Christmas, when I went away....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhen you went away?... You haven't left the room.... I put you to bed last\nnight, and here you are this morning.... Have you dreamed all that?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBut you don't understand!... It was last year, when I went away with Mytyl,\nthe Fairy, Light--how nice Light is!--Bread, Sugar, Water, Fire: they did\nnothing but quarrel!... You're not angry with me?... Did you feel very\nsad?... And what did daddy say?... I could not refuse... I left a note to\nexplain....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhat are you talking about?... For sure, either you're ill or else you're\nstill asleep.... (_She gives him a friendly shake_.) There, wake\nup.... There, is that better?...\n\nTYLTYL\nBut, mummy, I assure you.... It's you that's still asleep....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhat! Still asleep, am I?... Why? I've been up since six o'clock.... I've\nfinished all the cleaning and lit the fire....\n\nTYLTYL\nBut ask Mytyl if it's not true.... Oh, we have had such adventures!...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhy Mytyl?... What do you mean?...\n\nTYLTYL\nShe was with me.... We saw grandad and granny....\n\nMUMMY TYL (_more and more bewildered_)\nGrandad and granny?...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, in the Land of Memory.... It was on our way.... They are dead, but\nthey are quite well.... Granny made us a lovely plum-tart.... And then the\nlittle brothers--Robert, Jean and his top--and Madeleine and Pierrette and\nPauline and Riquette, too....\n\nMYTYL\nRiquette still goes about on all fours!...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnd Pauline still has a pimple on her nose....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nHave you found the key of the cupboard where daddy hides his brandy\nbottle?...\n\nTYLTYL\nDoes daddy hide a brandy bottle?...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nCertainly. One has to hide everything when one has little meddlesome\ngood-for-nothings like you.... But come, out with it, confess that you took\nit.... I would rather it was that.... I sha'n't tell daddy.... I sha'n't\nbeat you....\n\nTYLTYL\nBut, mummy, I don't know where it is....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nJust walk in front of me, so that I may see if you can walk straight....\n(TYLTYL _does so_) No, it's not that.... Dear heaven, what is the\nmatter with them?... I shall lose them too, as I lost the others!...\n(_Suddenly mad with alarm, she calls out_) Daddy Tyl!... Come, quick!\nThe children are ill!...\n\n(_Enter_ DADDY TYL, _very calmly, with an axe in his hand_.)\n\nDADDY TYL\nWhat is it?...\n\nTYLTYL and MYTYL (_running up gaily to kiss their father_)\nHullo, daddy!... It's daddy!... Good-morning, daddy!... Have you had plenty\nof work this year?...\n\nDADDY TYL\nWell, what's the matter?... They don't look ill; they look very well....\n\nMUMMY TYL (_weeping_)\nYou can't trust their looks.... It will be as with the others.... They\nlooked quite well also to the end; and then God took them.... I don't know\nwhat's the matter with them.... I put them to bed quite quietly last night;\nand this morning, when they woke up, everything was wrong.... They don't\nknow what they're saying; they talk about a journey.... They have seen\nLight and grandad and granny, who are dead, but who are quite well....\n\nTYLTYL\nBut grandad still has his wooden leg....\n\nMYTYL\nAnd granny her rheumatics....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nDo you hear?... Run and fetch the doctor!...\n\nDADDY TYL\nWhy, no, no.... They are not dead yet.... Come, let us look into this....\n(_A knock at the front door_.) Come in!...\n\n(_Enter_ NEIGHBOUR BERLINGOT, _a little old woman resembling the_\nFAIRY _in_ ACT I _and leaning on a stick_.)\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nGood-morning and a Merry Christmas to you all!...\n\nTYLTYL\nIt's the Fairy B\u00e9rylune!...\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nI have come to ask for a bit of fire for my Christmas stew.... It's very\nchilly this morning.... Good-morning, children, how are you?...\n\nTYLTYL\nFairy B\u00e9rylune, I could not find the Blue Bird....\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nWhat is he saying?...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nDon't ask me, Madame Berlingot.... They don't know what they are saying....\nThey have been like that since they woke up.... They must have eaten\nsomething that wasn't good....\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nWhy, Tyltyl, don't you remember Goody Berlingot, your Neighbour\nBerlingot?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, yes, ma'am.... You are the Fairy B\u00e9rylune.... You're not angry with\nus?...\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nB\u00e9ry... what? Goodness gracious me!...\n\nTYLTYL\nB\u00e9rylune.\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nBerlingot, you mean Berlingot....\n\nTYLTYL\nB\u00e9rylune or Berlingot, as you please, ma'am.... But Mytyl knows....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nThat's the worst of it, that Mytyl also....\n\nDADDY TYL\nPooh, pooh!... That will soon go; I will give them a smack or two....\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nDon't; It's not worth while.... I know all about it; it's only a little fit\nof dreaming.... They must have slept in the moonbeams.... My little girl,\nwho is very ill, is often like that....\n\nMUMMY TYL\nBy the way, how is your little girl?...\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nOnly so-so.... She can't get up.... The doctor says that it's her\nnerves.... I know what would cure her, for all that. She was asking me for\nit only this morning, for her Christmas box; it's a notion she has...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nYes, I know; it's Tyltyl's bird.... Well, Tyltyl, aren't you going to give\nit at last to that poor little thing?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhat, mummy?...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nYour bird.... It's no use to you.... You don't even look at it now.... And\nshe has been dying to have it for ever so long!...\n\nTYLTYL\nHullo, that's true, my bird!... Where is he?... Oh, there's the cage!...\nMytyl, do you see the cage?... It's the one which Bread carried.... Yes,\nyes, it's the same one, but there's only one bird in it.... Has he\neaten the other, I wonder?... Hullo, why, he's blue!... But it's my\nturtle-dove!... But he's much bluer than when I went away!... Why, that's\nthe blue bird we were looking for!... We went so far and he was here all\nthe time!... Oh, but it's wonderful!... Mytyl, do you see the bird? What\nwould Light say?... I will take down the cage.... (_He climbs on a chair\nand takes down the cage and carries it to the_ NEIGHBOUR.) There, Madame\nBerlingot, there you are.... He's not quite blue yet, but that will come,\nyou shall see!... Take him off quick to your little girl....\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nReally?... Do you mean it?... Do you give it me like that, straight away\nand for nothing?... Lord, how happy she will be!... (_Kissing_ TYLTYL)\nI must give you a kiss!... I fly!... I fly!...\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, yes; be quick.... Some of them change their colour....\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nI will come back to tell you what she says....\n\n(_She goes out_.)\n\nTYLTYL (_after taking a long look around him_)\nDaddy, mummy, what have you done to the house?... It's just as it was, but\nit's much prettier....\n\nDADDY TYL\nHow do you mean, it's prettier?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWhy, yes, everything has been painted and made to look new, everything is\nclean and polished.... It was not like that last year....\n\nDADDY TYL\nLast year?...\n\nTYLTYL (_going to the window_)\nAnd look at the forest!... How big and fine it is!... One would think\nit was new!... How happy I feel here!... (_Going to the bread-pan and\nopening it_) Where's Bread?.... I say, the loaves are very quiet.... And\nthen here's Tyl\u00f4!... Hullo, Tyl\u00f4, Tyl\u00f4!... Ah, you had a fine fight!... Do\nyou remember, in the forest?...\n\nMYTYL\nAnd Tylette.... He knows me, but he has stopped talking....\n\nTYLTYL\nMr. Bread.... (_Feeling his forehead_) Hullo, the diamond's gone!...\nWho's taken my little green hat?... Never mind; I don't want it any\nmore.... Ah, Fire!... He's a good one!... He crackles and laughs to make\nWater angry.... (_Running to the tap_) And Water?... Good-morning,\nWater!... What does she say?... She still talks, but I don't understand her\nas well as I did....\n\nMYTYL\nI don't see Sugar....\n\nTYLTYL\nLord, how happy I am, happy, happy, happy!...\n\nMYTYL\nSo am I, so am I!...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhat are you spinning round for like that?....\n\nDADDY TYL\nDon't mind them and don't distress yourself.... They are playing at being\nhappy....\n\nTYLTYL\nI liked Light best of all.... Where's her lamp?... Can we light it?...\n(_Looking round him again_.) Goodness me, how lovely it all is and how\nglad I feel!...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWhy?...\n\nTYLTYL\nI don't know, mummy....\n\n(_A knock at the front-door_.)\n\nDADDY TYL\nCome in, come in!...\n\n(_Enter the_ NEIGHBOUR, _holding by the hand a little girl of a\nfair and wonderful beauty, who carries_ TYLTYL'S _dove pressed in her\narms_.)\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nDo you see the miracle?...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nImpossible!... Can she walk?...\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nCan she walk?... She can run, she can dance, she can fly!... When she saw\nthe bird, she jumped, just like that, with one bound, to the window, to see\nby the light if it was really Tyltyl's dove.... And then, whoosh!... Out\ninto the street, like an angel!... It was as much as I could do to keep\npace with her....\n\nTYLTYL (_going up to her, wonderstruck_)\nOh, how like Light she is!...\n\nMYTYL\nShe is much smaller....\n\nTYLTYL\nYes, indeed!... But she will grow bigger....\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR\nWhat are they saying?... Haven't they got over it yet?...\n\nMUMMY TYL\nThey are better, they are mending.... It will be all right when they have\nhad their breakfasts....\n\nTHE NEIGHBOUR (_pushing the_ LITTLE GIRL _into_ TYLTYL'S _arms_).\nCome along, child, come and thank Tyltyl....\n\n(TYLTYL, _suddenly frightened, takes a step back_.)\n\nMUMMY TYL\nWell, Tyltyl, what's the matter?.... Are you afraid of the little girl?...\nCome, give her a kiss, a good big kiss.... No, a better one than that....\nYou're not so shy as a rule!... Another one!... But what's the matter with\nyou?... You look as if you were going to cry....\n\n(TYLTYL, _after kissing the_ LITTLE GIRL _rather awkwardly, stands\nbefore her for a moment and the two children look at each other without\nspeaking; then_ TYLTYL _strokes the dove's head_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nIs he blue enough?...\n\nTHE LITTLE GIRL\nYes, I am so pleased with him....\n\nTYLTYL\nI have seen bluer ones.... But those which are quite blue, you know, do\nwhat you will, you can't catch them....\n\nTHE LITTLE GIRL\nThat doesn't matter; he's lovely....\n\nTYLTYL\nHas he had anything to eat?...\n\nTHE LITTLE GIRL\nNot yet.... What does he eat?...\n\nTYLTYL\nAnything: corn, bread, Indian corn, grasshoppers....\n\nTHE LITTLE GIRL\nHow does he eat, say?...\n\nTYLTYL\nWith his beak. You'll see, I will show you....\n\n(_He moves in order to take the bird from the_ LITTLE GIRL'S _hands.\nShe resists instinctively; and, taking advantage of the hesitation of their\nmovements, the_ DOVE _escapes and flies away_.)\n\nTHE LITTLE GIRL (_with a cry of despair_)\nMother!... He is gone!... (_She bursts into sobs_.)\n\nTYLTYL\nNever mind.... Don't cry.... I will catch him again.... (_Stepping to the\nfront of the stage and addressing the audience_.) If any of you should\nfind him, would you be so very kind as to give him back to us?... We need\nhim for our happiness, later on....\n\n\nCURTAIN","title":"The Blue Bird: A Fairy Play in Six Acts","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":32346}