A magnificent entrance-hall in the palace of theFAIRY BÉRYLUNE.Columns of gleaming marble with gold and silver capitals, staircases, porticoes, balustrades, etc.
Enter from the back, on the right, sumptuously clad, theCAT, SUGARandFIRE.They come from a room which emits rays of light; it is theFAIRY'Swardrobe. TheCAThas donned the classic costume of Puss-in-boots; SUGAR,a silk dress, half white and half pale-blue; andFIREwears a number of many-coloured aigrettes and a long vermilion mantle lined with gold. They cross the whole length of the hall to the front of the stage, where theCATdraws them up under a portico on the right.
THE CAT This way, I know every inch of this palace. It was left to the Fairy Bérylune by Bluebeard.... Let us make the most of our last minute of liberty, while the children and Light pay their visit to the Fairy's little daughter.... I have brought you here in order to discuss the position in which we are placed.... Are we all here?...
SUGAR I see the Dog coming out of the Fairy's wardrobe....
FIRE What on earth has he got on?...
THE CAT He has put on the livery of one of the footmen of Cinderella's coach.... It was just the thing for him.... He has the soul of a flunkey.... But let us hide behind the balustrade.... It's strange how I mistrust him.... He had better not hear what I have to say to you....
SUGAR It is too late.... He has discovered us.... Look, here is Water also coming out of the wardrobe.... Goodness me, how fine she is!...
(TheDOGandWATERjoin the first group.)
THE DOG (frisking about) There! There!... Aren't we fine I.... Just look at these laces and this embroidery!... It's real gold and no mistake!...
THE CAT (toWATER) Is that Catskin's "colour-of-time" dress?... I seem to recognise it....
WATER Yes, it's the one that suited me best....
FIRE (between his teeth) She's not brought her umbrella....
WATER What's that?...
FIRE Nothing, nothing....
WATER I thought you might be speaking of a great red I saw the other day....
THE CAT Come, don't let as quarrel; we have more important things to do.... We are only waiting for Bread; where is he?
THE DOG He was making an endless fuss about choosing his dress....
FIRE Worth while, isn't it, for a fellow who looks a fool and carries an enormous stomach?...
THE DOG At last, he decided in favour of a Turkish robe, adorned with gems, a scimitar and a turban....
THE CAT There he is!... He has put on Bluebeard's finest dress...
EnterBREAD,in the costume described above. The silk robe is crossed tightly over his huge stomach. In one hand he holds the hilt of a scimitar passed through his sash and in the other the cage intended for the Blue Bird.
BREAD (waddling conceitedly) Well?... What do you think of this?
THE DOG (frisking round theLOAF) How nice he looks! What a fool he looks! How nice he looks! How nice he looks!...
THE CAT (to theLOAF) Are the children dressed?...
BREAD Yes, Master Tyltyl has put on Hop-o'-my-Thumb's blue jacket and red breeches; and Miss Mytyl has Gretel's frock and Cinderella's slippers.... But the great thing was the dressing of Light!...
THE CAT Why?...
BREAD The Fairy thought her so lovely that she did not want to dress her at all!... Thereupon I protested in the name of our dignity as essential and eminently respectable elements; and I ended by declaring that, under those conditions, I should refuse to be seen with her....
FIRE They ought to have bought her a lampshade!...
THE CAT And what answer did the Fairy make?...
THE LOAF She hit me with her stick on my head and stomach....
THE CAT And then?...
BREAD I allowed myself to be convinced; but, at the last moment, Light decided on the moonbeam dress at the bottom of the chest with Catskin's treasures....
THE CAT Come, stop chattering, time presses.... Our future is at stake.... You have heard—the Fairy has just said so—that the end of this journey will, at the same time, mark the end of our lives.... It is our business, therefore, to prolong it as much as possible and by every possible means.... But there is another thing: we must think of the fate of our race and the destiny of our children....
BREAD Hear, hear!... The Cat is right!...
THE CAT Listen to me!... All of us here present, Animals, Things and Elements, possess a soul which man does not yet know. That is why we retain a remnant of independence; but, if he finds the Blue Bird, he will know all, he will see all and we shall be completely at his mercy.... This is what I have just learned from my old friend, Night, who is also the guardian of the mysteries of Life.... It is to our interest, therefore, at all costs to prevent the finding of that bird, even if we have to go so far as to endanger the lives of the children themselves....
THE DOG (indignantly) What's the fellow saying?... Just say that again, will you, to see if I heard right?...
BREAD Order! Order!... It's not your turn to speak!... I'm in the chair at this meeting....
FIRE Who made you chairman?...
WATER (toFIRE) Hold your tongue!... What are you interfering with?...
FIRE I shall interfere where I choose.... And I want none of your remarks....
SUGAR (concilatorily) Excuse me.... Do not let us quarrel.... This is a serious moment.... We must, above all things, decide what measures to adopt....
BREAD I quite agree with Sugar and the Cat....
THE DOG This is ridiculous!... There is Man and that's all!... We have to obey him and do as he tells us!... That is the one and only fact!... I recognise no one but him!... Hurrah for Man!... Man for ever!... In life or death, all for Man!... Man is God!...
BREAD I quite agree with the Dog.
THE CAT (to theDOG) But at least give your reasons....
THE DOG There are no reasons!... I love Man and that's enough!... If you do anything against him, I will throttle you first and I will go and tell him everything....
SUGAR (intervening sweetly) Excuse me.... Let us not embitter the discussion.... From a certain point of view, you are both of you right.... There is something to be said on both sides....
BREAD I quite agree with SUGAR!...
THE CAT Are we not, all of us, Water, Fire you yourselves, Bread and the Dog, the victims of a nameless tyranny?... Do you remember the time when, before the coming of the despot, we wandered at liberty upon the face of the earth?... Fire and Water were the sole masters of the world; and see what they have come to!... As for us puny descendants of the great wild animals.... Look out!... Pretend to be doing nothing!... I see the Fairy and Light coming.... Light has taken sides with Man; she is our worst enemy.... Here they are....
Enter, on the right, theFAIRY,in the shape of an old woman, andLIGHT,followed byTYLTYLandMYTYL.
THE FAIRY Well?... What is it?... What are you doing in that corner?... You look like conspirators.... It is time to start.... I have decided that Light shall be your leader.... You will obey her as you would me and I am giving her my wand.... The children will pay a visit to their late grandparents this evening.... You will remain behind; that is more discreet.... They will spend the evening in the bosom of their dead family.... Meanwhile, you will be getting ready all that is wanted for to-morrow's journey, which will be a long one.... Come, up, be off and every one to his post!...
THE CAT (hypocritically) That is just what I was saying to them, madam.... I was encouraging them to do their duty bravely and conscientiously; unfortunately, the Dog, who kept on interrupting me....
THE DOG What's that?... Just wait a bit I...
(He is about to leap upon theCAT,butTYLTYLforeseeing his intention, stops with a threatening gesture.)
TYLTYL Down, Tylô!... Take care; and, if ever I catch you again...
THE DOG My little god, you don't know, it was he who...
TYLTYL (threatening him) Be quiet!...
THE FAIRY Come, that will do.... Let Bread hand the cage for this evening to Tyltyl.... It is just possible that the Blue Bird may be hidden In the Past, at the grandparents'.... In any case, it Is a chance which we must not neglect.... Well, Bread, the cage?
BREAD (solemnly) One moment, if you please, Mrs. Fairy.... (Like an orator making a speech) I call upon all of you to bear witness that this silver cage, which was entrusted to my care by....
THE FAIRY (interrupting him) Enough!... No speeches!... We will go out this way and the children that....
TYLTYL (rather anxiously) Are we to go all alone?...
MYTYL I feel hungry!...
TYLTYL I, too!...
THE FAIRY (toBREAD) Open your Turkish robe and give them a slice of your good stomach....
(BREADopens his robe, draws his scimitar and cuts two slices out of his stomach and hands them to theCHILDREN.)
SUGAR (approaching theCHILDREN) Allow me at the same time to offer you a few sugar-sticks.... (He breaks off the five fingers of his left hand, one by one, and presents them to theCHILDREN.)
MYTYL What is he doing?... He is breaking all his fingers!...
SUGAR (engagingly) Taste them, they are capital... They're made of real barley-sugar....
MYTYL (tasting one of the fingers) Oh, how good they are!... Have you many of them?...
SUGAR (modestly) Yes; as many as I want....
MYTYL Does that hurt you much, when you break them off?...
SUGAR Not at all.... On the contrary, it's a great advantage; they grow again at once and so I always have new, clean fingers....
THE FAIRY Come, children, don't eat too much sugar.... Don't forget that you are to have supper presently with your grandpapa and grandmamma....
TYLTYL Are they here?...
THE FAIRY You shall see them at once....
TYLTYL How can we see them, when they are dead?...
THE FAIRY How can they be dead, when they live in your memory?... Men do not know this secret, because they know so little; whereas you, thanks to the diamond, are about to see that the dead who are remembered live as happily as though they were not dead....
TYLTYL Is Light coming with us?
THE FAIRY No, it is more proper that this visit should be confined to the family.... I will wait near here, so as not to appear indiscreet.... They did not invite me....
TYLTYL Which way are we to go?...
THE FAIRY Over there.... You are on the threshold of the Land of Memory.... As soon as you have turned the diamond, you will see a big tree with a board on it, which will show you that you are there.... But don't forget that you are to be back, both of you, by a quarter to nine.... It is extremely important.... Now mind and be punctual, for all would be lost if you were late.... Good-bye for the present!... (Calling theCAT,theDOG, LIGHT,etc.) This way.... And the little ones that way....
(She goes out to the right, withLIGHT,theANIMALS,etc., while theCHILDRENgo out to the left.)
A thick fog, from which stands out, on the right, close to the footlights, the trunk of a large oak, with a board nailed to it. A vague, milky, impenetrable light prevails. TYLTYLandMYTYLare at the foot of the oak.
TYLTYL Here Is the tree!...
MYTYL There's the board!...
TYLTYL I can't read it.... Wait, I will climb up on this root.... That's it.... It says, "Land of Memory."
MYTYL Is this where it begins?...
TYLTYL Yes, there's an arrow....
MYTYL Well, where are grandad and granny?...
TYLTYL Behind the fog.... We shall see....
MYTYL I can see nothing at all!... I can't see my feet or my hands.... (Whimpering) I'm cold!... I don't want to travel any more.... I want to go home....
TYLTYL Come, don't keep on crying, just like Water.... You ought to be ashamed of yourself.... A great big little girl like you.... Look, the fog is lifting already.... We shall see what's behind it....
(The mist begins to move; It grows thinner and lighter, disperses, evaporates. Soon, in a more and more transparent light, appears, under a leafy vault, a cheerful little peasant's cottage, covered with creepers. The door and windows are open. There are bee-hives under a shed, flower-pots on the window-sills, a cage with a sleeping blackbird. Beside the door is a bench, on which an old peasant and his wife, TYLTYL'Sgrandfather and grandmother, are seated, both sound asleep.)
TYLTYL (suddenly recognising them) It's grandad and granny!...
MYTYL (clapping her hands) Yes! Yes!... So it is! So it is!...
TYLTYL (still a little distrustful) Take care!... We don't know yet if they can stir.... Let's keep behind the tree....
(GRANNY TYLopens her eyes, raises her head, stretches herself, gives a sigh and looks atGAFFER TYL,who also wakes slowly from his sleep.)
GRANNY TYL I have a notion that our grandchildren who are still alive are coming to see us today....
GAFFER TYL They are certainly thinking of as, for I feel anyhow and I have pins and needles in my legs....
GRANNY TYL I think they must be quite near, for I see tears of joy dancing before my eyes....
GAFFER TYL No, no, they are a long way off.... I still feel weak....
GRANNY TYL I tell you they are here; I am quite strong....
TYLTYLandMYTYL (rushing up from behind the oak) Here we are!... Here we are!... Gaffer! Granny!... It's we!... It's we!...
GAFFER TYL There!... You see?... What did I tell you?... I was sure they would come to-day....
GRANNY TYL Tyltyl!... Mytyl!... It's you!... It's she!... (Trying to run to meet them) I can't run!... I've still got the rheumatics!...
GAFFER TYL (hobbling along as fast as he can) No more can I.... That's because of my wooden leg, which I still wear instead of the one I broke when I fell off the big oak....
(TheGRANDPARENTSand theCHILDRENexchange frantic embraces.)
GRANNY TYL How tall and strong you've grown, Tyltyl!
GAFFER TYL (strokingMYTYL'Shair) And Mytyl!... Just look at her.... What pretty hair, what pretty eyes!...
GRANNY TYL Come and kiss me again!... Come on to my lap....
GAFFER TYL And what about me?...
GRANNY TYL No, no.... Come to me first.... How are Daddy and Mummy Tyl?...
TYLTYL Quite well, granny.... They were asleep when we went out....
GRANNY TYL (gazing at them and covering them with caresses) Lord, how pretty they are and how nice and clean!... Was it mummy who washed you?... And there are no holes in your stockings!... I used to darn them once, you know.... Why don't you come to see us oftener?... It makes us so happy!... It is months and months now that you've forgotten us and that we have seen nobody....
TYLTYL We couldn't, granny; and to-day its only because of the Fairy....
GRANNY TYL We are always here, waiting for a visit from those who are alive.... They come so seldom!... The last time you were here, let me see, when was it?... It was on All-hallows, when the church-bells were ringing....
TYLTYL All-hallows?... We didn't go out that day, for we both had very bad colds....
GRANNY TYL No; but you thought of us....
TYLTYL Yes....
GRANNY TYL Well, every time you think of us, we wake up and see you again....
TYLTYL What, is it enough to...
GRANNY TYL But come, you know that....
TYLTYL No, I didn't know....
GRANNY TYL (toGAFFER TYL) It's astonishing, up there.... They don't know yet.... Do they never learn anything?...
GAFFER TYL It's as in our own time.... The Living are so stupid when they speak of the Others....
TYLTYL Do you sleep all the time?...
GAFFER TYL Yes, we get plenty of sleep, while waiting for a thought of the Living to come and wake us.... Ah, it is good to sleep when life is done.... But it is pleasant also to wake up from time to time....
TYLTYL So you are not really dead?...
GAFFER TYL What do you say?... What is he saying?... Now he's using words we don't understand.... Is it a new word, a new invention?...
TYLTYL The word "dead"?...
GAFFER TYL Yes, that was the word.... What does it mean?...
TYLTYL Why, it means that one's no longer alive....
GAFFER TYL How silly they are, up there!...
TYLTYL Is it nice here?...
GAFFER TYL Oh, yes; not bad, not bad; and, if one could just have a smoke....
TYLTYL Aren't you allowed to smoke?...
GAFFER TYL Yes, it's allowed; but I've broken my pipe....
GRANNY TYL Yes, yes, all would be well, if only you would come and see us oftener.... Do you remember, Tyltyl?... The last time I baked you a lovely apple-tart.... You ate such a lot of it that you made yourself ill....
TYLTYL But I haven't eaten any apple-tart since last year.... There were no apples this year....
GRANNY TYL Don't talk nonsense.... Here, we have them always....
TYLTYL That's different....
GRANNY TYL What? That's different?... Why, nothing's different when we're able to kiss each other....
TYLTYL (looking first at hisGRANDMOTHERand then at hisGRANDFATHER) You haven't changed, grandad, not a bit, not a bit.... And granny hasn't changed a bit either.... But you're better-looking....
GAFFER TYL Well, we feel all right.... We have stopped growing older.... But you, how tall you're growing!... Yes, you're shooting up finely.... Look, over there, on the door, is the mark of the last time.... That was on All-hallows.... Now then, stand up straight.... (TYLTYLstands up against the door.) Four fingers taller!... That's immense!... (MYTYLalso stands up against the door.) And Mytyl, four and a half!... Aha, ill weeds grow apace!... How they've grown, oh, how they've grown!...
TYLTYL (looking around him with delight) Nothing is changed, everything is in its old place!... Only everything is prettier!... There is the clock with the big hand which I broke the point off....
GAFFER TYL And here is the soup-tureen you chipped a corner off....
TYLTYL And here is the hole which I made in the door, the day I found the gimlet....
GAFFER TYL Yes, you've done some damage in your time!... And here is the plum-tree in which you were so fond of climbing, when I wasn't looking.... It still has its fine red plums....
TYLTYL But they are finer than ever!...
MYTYL And here is the old blackbird!... Does he still sing?...
(The blackbird wakes and begins to sing at the top of his voice.)
GRANNY TYL You see.... As soon as one thinks of him....
TYLTYL (observing with amazement that the blackbird is quite blue) But he's blue!... Why, that's the bird, the Blue Bird which I am to take back to the Fairy.... And you never told us that you had him here!... Oh, he's blue, blue, blue as a blue glass marble!... (Entreatingly) Grandad, granny, will you give him to me?...
GAFFER TYL Yes, perhaps, perhaps.... What do you think, granny?...
GRANNY TYL Certainly, certainly.... What use is he to us?... He does nothing but sleep.... We never hear him sing....
TYLTYL I will put him in my cage.... I say, where is my cage?... Oh, I know, I left it behind the big tree.... (He runs to the tree, fetches the cage and puts the blackbird into it.) So, really, you've really given him to me?... How pleased the Fairy will be!... And Light too!...
GAFFER TYL Mind you, I won't answer for the bird.... I'm afraid that he will never get used again to the restless life up there and that he'll come back here by the first wind that blows this way.... However, we shall see.... Leave him there, for the present, and come and look at the cow....
TYLTYL (noticing the hives) And how are the bees getting on?
GAFFER TYL Oh, pretty well.... They are no longer alive, as you call it up there; but they work hard....
TYLTYL (going up to the hives) Oh, yes!... I can smell the honey!... How heavy the hives must be!... All the flowers are so beautiful!... And my little dead sisters, are they here too?...
MYTYL And where are my three little brothers who were buried?...
(At these words, seven littleCHILDREN,of different sizes, like a set of Pan's pipes, come out of the cottage, one by one.)
GRANNY TYL Here they are, here they are!... As soon as you think of them, as soon as you speak of them, they are there, the darlings!...
(TYLTYLandMYTYLrun to meet theCHILDREN.They hustle and hug one another and dance and whirl about and utter screams of joy.)
TYLTYL Hullo, Pierrot!... (They clutch each other by the hair.) Ah, so we're going to fight again, as in the old days.... And Robert!... I say, Jean, what's become of your top?... Madeleine and Pierette and Pauline!... And here's Riquette!...
MYTYL Oh, Riquette, Riquette!... She's still crawling on all fours!...
GRANNY TYL Yes, she has stopped growing.
TYLTYL (noticing the littleDOGyelping around them) There's Kiki, whose tail I cut off with Pauline's scissors.... He hasn't changed either....
GAFFER TYL (sententiously) No, nothing changes here....
TYLTYL And Pauline still has a pimple on her nose....
GRANNY TYL Yes, it won't go away; there's nothing to be done for it....
TYLTYL Oh, how well they look, how fat and glossy they are!... What jolly cheeks they have!... They look well fed....
GRANNY TYL They have been much better since they ceased living.... There's nothing more to fear, nobody is ever ill, one has no anxiety....
(The clock inside the cottage strikes eight.)
GRANNY TYL (amazed) What's that?...
GAFFER TYL I don't know, I'm sure.... It must be the clock....
GRANNY TYL It can't be.... It never strikes....
GAFFER TYL Because we no longer think of the time.... Was any one thinking of the time?...
TYLTYL Yes, I was.... What is the time?...
GAFFER TYL I'm sure I can't tell.... I've forgotten how.... It struck eight times, so I suppose it's what they call eight o'clock up there....
TYLTYL Light expects me at a quarter to nine.... It's because of the Fairy.... It's extremely important.... I'm off!...
GRANNY TYL Don't leave us like that, just as supper's ready!... Quick, quick, let's lay the table outside.... I've got some capital cabbage-soup and a beautiful plum-tart....
(They get out the table, dishes, plates, etc., and lay for supper outside the door, all helping.)
TYLTYL Well, as I've got the Blue Bird.... And then it's so long since I tasted cabbage-soup.... Ever since I've been, travelling.... They don't have it at the hotels....
GRANNY TYL There!... That didn't take long!... Sit down, children.... Don't let us lose time, if you're in a hurry....
(They have lit the lamp and served the soup. TheGRANDPARENTSand theCHILDRENsit down round the table, jostling and elbowing one another and laughing and screaming with pleasure.)
TYLTYL (eating like a glutton) How good it is!... Oh, how good it is!...I want some more! More!...
(He brandishes his wooden spoon and noisily hits his plate with it.)
GAFFER TYL Come, come, a little more quiet.... You're just as ill-behaved as ever; and you'll break your plate....
TYLTYL (half-raising himself on his stool) I want more, more!... (He seizes the tureen, drags it toward him and upsets it and the soup, which trickles over the table and down over their knees and scalds them. Yells and screams of pain.)
GRANNY TYL There!... I told you so!...
GAFFER TYL (giving TYLTYL a loud box on the ear) That's one for you!...
TYLTYL (staggered for a moment, next puts his hand to his cheek with an expression of rapture) Oh, that's just like the slaps you used to give me when you were alive?... Grandad, how nice it was and how good it makes one feel!... I must give you a kiss!...
GAFFER TYL Very well; there's more where that came from, if you like them....
(The clock strikes half-past eight)
TYLTYL (starting up) Half-past eight!... (He flings down his spoon.) Mytyl, we've only just got time!...
GRANNY TYL Oh, I say!... Just a few minutes more!... Your house isn't on fire!... We see you so seldom....
TYLTYL No, we can't possibly.... Light is so kind.... And I promised her.... Come, Mytyl, come!...
GAFFER TYL Goodness gracious, how tiresome the Living are with all their business and excitement!...
TYLTYL (taking his cage and hurriedly kissing everybody all round) Good-bye, grandad.... Good-bye, granny.... Good-bye, brothers and sisters, Pierrot, Robert, Pauline, Madeleine, Riquette and you, too, Kiki.... I feel we mustn't stay.... Don't cry, granny; we will come back often....
GRANNY TYL Come back every day!...
TYLTYL Yes, yes; we will come back as often as we can....
GRANNY TYL It's our only pleasure and it's such a treat for us when your thoughts visit us!...
GAFFER TYL We have no other amusements....
TYLTYL Quick, quick!... My cage!... My bird!...
GAFFER TYL (handing him the cage) Here they are!... You know, I don't warrant him; and if he's not the right colour...
TYLTYL Good-bye! Good-bye!...
THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS TYL Good-bye, Tyltyl! Good-bye, Mytyl!... Remember the barley-sugar!... Good-bye!... Come again!... Come again!...
(They all wave their handkerchiefs whileTYLTYLandMYTYLslowly move away. But already, during the last sentences, the fog of the beginning of the scene has been gradually re-forming, so that, at the end, all has disappeared in the mist and, at the fall of the curtain, TYLTYLandMYTYLare again alone visible under the big oak.)
TYLTYL It's this way, Mytyl....
MYTYL Where is Light?...
TYLTYL I don't know.... (Looking at the bird in the cage.) But the bird is no longer blue!... He has turned black!...
MYTYL Give me your hand, little brother.... I feel so frightened and so cold....
A large and wonderful hall of an austere, rigid, metallic and sepulchral magnificence, giving the impression of a Greek temple with columns, architraves, flagstones and ornaments of black marble, gold and ebony. The hall is trapezium-shaped. Basalt steps, occupying almost the entire width, divide it into three successive stages, which rise gradually toward the back. On the right and left, between the columns, are doors of sombre bronze. At the back, a monumental door of brass. The palace is lit only by a vague light that seems to emanate mainly from the brilliancy of the marble and the ebony. At the rise of the curtain, NIGHT,in the form of a very old woman, clad in long, black garments, is seated on the steps of the second stage between two children, of whom one, almost naked, like Cupid, is smiling in a deep sleep, while the other is standing up, motionless and veiled from head to foot.
Enter from the right, in the foreground, theCAT
NIGHT Who goes there?
THE CAT (sinking heavily upon the marble steps) It is I, Mother Night.... I am worn out....
NIGHT What's the matter, child?... You look pale and thin and you are splashed with mud to your very whiskers.... Have you been fighting on the tiles again, in the snow and rain?...
THE CAT It has nothing to do with the tiles!... It's our secret that's at stake!... It's the beginning of the end!... I have managed to escape for a moment to warn you; but I greatly fear that there is nothing to be done....
NIGHT Why?... What has happened?...
THE CAT I have told you of little Tyltyl, the woodcutter's son, and of the magic diamond.... Well, he is coming here to demand the Blue Bird of you....
NIGHT He hasn't got it yet.....
THE CAT He will have it soon, unless we perform some miracle.... This is how the matter stands: Light, who is guiding him and betraying us all, for she has placed herself entirely on Man's side, Light has learned that the Blue Bird, the real one, the only one that can live in the light of day, is hidden here, among the blue birds of the dreams that live on the rays of the moon and die as soon as they set eyes on the sun.... She knows that she is forbidden to cross the threshold of your palace, but she is sending the children; and, as you cannot prevent Man from opening the doors of your secrets, I do not know how all this will end.... In any case, if, unfortunately, they should lay their hands on the real Blue Bird, there would be nothing for us but to disappear....
NIGHT Oh dear, oh dear!.... What times we live in!... I never have a moment's peace.... I cannot understand Man, these last few years.... What is he aiming at?... Must he absolutely know everything?... Already he has captured a third of my Mysteries, all my Terrors are afraid and dare not leave the house, my Ghosts have taken flight, the greater part of my Sicknesses are ill....
THE CAT I know, Mother Night, I know, the times are hard and we are almost alone in our struggle against Man.... But I hear them coming.... I see only one way: as they are children, we must give them such a fright that they will not dare to persist or to open the great door at the back, behind which they would find the Birds of the Moon.... The secrets of the other caverns will be enough to distract their attention and terrify them....
NIGHT (listening to a sound outside) What do I hear?... Are there many of them?...
THE CAT It is nothing; it is our friends, Bread and Sugar; Water is not very well and Fire could not come, because he is related to Light.... The Dog is the only one who is not on our side; but it is never possible to keep him away....
(Enter timidly, on the right, in the foreground, TYLTYL, MYTYL, BREAD, SUGAR and the DOG.)
THE CAT (rushing up to TYLTYL) This way, little master, this way.... I have told Night, who is delighted to see you.... You must forgive her, she is a little indisposed; that is why she was not able to come to meet you....
TYLTYL Good-day, Mrs. Night....
NIGHT (in an offended voice) Good-day?... I am not used to that.... You might say, Good-night, or, at least. Good-evening....
TYLTYL (mortified) I beg your pardon, ma'am....I did not know....(Pointing to the twoCHILDREN.) Are those your two little boys?... They are very nice....
NIGHT This is Sleep....
TYLTYL Why is he so fat?...
NIGHT That is because he sleeps well....
TYLTYL And the other, hiding himself?... Why does he veil his face?...Is he ill?... What is his name?...
NIGHT That is Sleep's sister.... It is better not to mention her name....
TYLTYL Why?...
NIGHT Because her name is not pleasant to hear.... But let us talk of something else.... The Cat tells me that you have come here to look for the Blue Bird....
TYLTYL Yes, ma'am, if you will allow me.... Will you tell me where he is?...
NIGHT I don't know, dear.... All I can say is that he is not here.... I have never seen him....
TYLTYL Yes, yes.... Light told me that he was here; and Light knows what she is saying.... Will you hand me your keys?...
NIGHT But you must understand, dear, that I cannot give my keys like that to the first comer.... I have the keeping of all Nature's secrets and I am absolutely forbidden to deliver them to anybody, especially to a child....
TYLTYL You have no right to refuse them to Man when he asks you for them....I know that....
NIGHT Who told you?...
TYLTYL Light....
NIGHT Light again! Always Light!... How dare she interfere, how dare she?...
THE DOG Shall I take them from her by force, my little god?...
TYLTYL Hold your tongue, keep quiet and try to behave.... (ToNIGHT) Come, madam, give me your keys, please....
NIGHT Have you the sign, at least?... Where is it?...
TYLTYL (touching his hat) Behold the Diamond!...
NIGHT (resigning herself to the inevitable) Well, then... Here is the key that opens all the doors of the hall.... Look to yourself if you meet with a misfortune.... I will not be responsible....
BREAD (very anxiously) Is it dangerous?...
NIGHT Dangerous?... I will go so far as to say that I myself do not know what I shall do when certain of those bronze doors open upon the abyss.... All around the hall, in each of those basalt caves, are all the evils, all the plagues, all the sicknesses, all the terrors, all the catastrophes, all the mysteries that have afflicted life since the beginning of the world.... I have had trouble enough to Imprison them there with the aid of Destiny; and it is not without difficulty, I assure you, that I keep some little order among those undisciplined characters.... You have seen what happens when one of them escapes and shows itself on earth....
BREAD My great age, my experience and my devotion make me the natural protector of these two children; therefore, Mrs. Night, permit me to ask you a question....
NIGHT Certainly....
BREAD In case of danger, which is the way of escape?...
NIGHT There is no way of escape.
TYLTYL (taking the key and climbing the first steps) Let us begin here.... What is behind this bronze door?...
NIGHT I think it is the Ghosts.... It is long since I opened the door and since they came out....
TYLTYL (placing the key in the lock) I will see.... (ToBREAD) Have you the cage for the Blue Bird?...
BREAD (with chattering teeth) I'm not frightened, but don't you think it would be better not to open the door, but to peep through the keyhole?...
TYLTYL I don't want your advice....
MYTYL (suddenly beginning to cry) I am frightened!... Where is Sugar?... I want to go home!...
SUGAR (eagerly, obsequiously) Here I am, miss, here I am.... Don't cry, I will break off one of my fingers so that you may have a sugar-stick....
TYLTYL Enough of this!...
(He turns the key and cautiously opens the door. Forthwith, five or sixGHOSTSof strange and different forms escape and disperse on every side. MYTYLgives a scream of fright, BREAD,terrified, throws away the cage and goes and hides at the back of the hall, whileNIGHT,running after theGHOSTS,cries out toTYLTYL.)
NIGHT Quick! Quick!... Shut the door!... They will all escape and we should never be able to catch them again!... They have felt bored in there, ever since Man ceased to take them seriously.... (She runs after theGHOSTSand endeavours, with the aid of a whip formed of snakes, to drive them back to the door of their prison.) Help me!... Here!... Here!...
TYLTYL (to theDOG) Help her, Tylô, at them!...
THE DOG (leaping up and barking) Yes, yes, yes!...
TYLTYL And Bread, where's Bread?...
BREAD (at the back of the hall) Here.... I am near the door to prevent them from going out....
(One of theGHOSTSmoves in that direction and he rushes away at full speed, uttering yells of terror.)
NIGHT (to threeGHOSTSwhom she has seized by the neck) This way, you!... (ToTYLTYL) Open the door a little.... (She pushes theGHOSTSinto the cave.) There, that's it.... (TheDOGbrings up two more.) And these two.... Come, quick, in with you!... You know you're only allowed out on All-hallows....
(She closes the door.)
TYLTYL (going to another door) What's behind this one?....
NIGHT What is the good?...I have already told you the Blue Bird has never been here.... However, as you please.... Open the doors if you like.... It's the Sicknesses....
TYLTYL (with the key in the lock.) Must I be careful in opening?...
NIGHT No, it is not worth while.... They are very quiet, the poor little things.... They are not happy.... Man, for some time, has been waging such a determined war upon them!... Especially since the discovery of the microbes.... Open, you will see....
(TYLTYLopens the door quite wide. Nothing appears.)
TYLTYL Don't they come out?
NIGHT I told you they are almost all poorly and very much discouraged.... The doctors are so unkind to them.... Go in for a moment and see for yourself....
(TYLTYLenters the cavern and comes out again immediately.)
TYLTYL The Blue Bird is not there.... They look very ill, those Sicknesses of yours.... They did not even lift their heads.... (One little Sickness in slippers, a dressing-gown and a cotton nightcap escapes from the cavern and begins to frisk about the hall.) Look!... There's a little one escaping.... Which one is it?...
NIGHT It's nothing, one of the smallest; it's Cold-in-the-Head.... It is one of those which are least persecuted and which enjoy the best health.... (Calling toCOLD-IN-THE-HEAD) Come here, dear....It's too soon yet; you must wait for the winter.... (COLD-IN-THE-HEAD,sneezing, coughing and blowing its nose, returns to the cavern andTYLTYLshuts the door.)
TYLTYL (going to the next door) Let us look at this one..... What is in here?...
NIGHT Take care!... It is the Wars.... They are more terrible and powerful than ever.... Heaven knows what would happen if one of them escaped!... Fortunately, they are rather heavy and slow-moving.... But we must stand ready to push back the door, all of us together, while you take a rapid glance into the cavern....
(TYLTYL,with a thousand precautions, opens the door ajar so that there is only a little gap to which he can put his eye. He at once doubles his back against the door, shouting.)
TYLTYL Quick! Quick!... Push with all your might!... They have seen me!... They are all coming!... They are breaking down the door!...
NIGHT Come, all together!... Push hard!... Bread, what are you doing?... Push, all of you!... How strong they are!... Ah, that's it!... They are giving way!... It was high time!... Did you see them?...
TYLTYL Yes, yes!... They are huge and awful!... I don't think that they have the Blue Bird....
NIGHT You may be sure they haven't.... If they had, they would eat him at once.... Well, have you had enough of it?... You see there is nothing to be done....
TYLTYL I must see everything.... Light said so....
NIGHT Light said so!... It's an easy thing to say when one's afraid and stays at home....
TYLTYL Let us go to the next.... What is in here?...
NIGHT This is where I lock up the Shades and the Terrors....
TYLTYL Can I open the door?...
NIGHT Certainly.... They are pretty quiet; they are like the Sicknesses....
TYLTYL (half-opening the door, with a certain mistrustfulness, and taking a look into the cavern) Are they not there?...
NIGHT (looking into the cavern in her turn) Well, Shades, what are you doing?... Come out for a moment and stretch your legs; it will do you good.... And the Terrors also.... There is nothing to be afraid of.... (A fewSHADESand a fewTERRORS,in the shape of women, shrouded, the former in black veils and the latter in greenish veils, piteously venture to take a few steps outside the cavern; and then, upon a movement ofTYLTYL'S,hastily run back again.) Come, don't be afraid.... It's only a child; he won't hurt you.... (ToTYLTYL) They have become extremely timid, except the great ones, those whom you see at the back....
TYLTYL (looking into the depths of the cave) Oh, how terrifying they are!...
NIGHT They are chained up.... They are the only ones that are not afraid of Man.... But shut the door, lest they should grow angry....
TYLTYL (going to the next door) I say!... This is a darker one.... What is here?
NIGHT There are several Mysteries behind this one.... If you are absolutely bent upon it, you may open it too.... But don't go in.... Be very cautious and let us get ready to push back the door, as we did with the Wars....
TYLTYL (half-opening the door; with unparalleled precautions and passing his head fearsomely through the aperture) Oh!... How cold!... My eyes are smarting!... Shut it quickly!... Push, oh, push! They are pushing against us!... (NIGHT,theDOG,theCATandSUGARpush back the door.) Oh, I saw!...
NIGHT What?...
TYLTYL (upset) I don't know, it was awful!... They were all seated like monsters without eyes.... Who was the giant who tried to seize me?...
NIGHT It was probably Silence; he has charge of this door.... It appears to have been alarming?... You are quite pale still and trembling all over....
TYLTYL Yes, I would never have believed.... I had never seen.... And my hands are frozen....
NIGHT It will be worse presently if you go on....
TYLTYL (going to the next door) And this one?... Is this terrible also?...
NIGHT No; there is a little of everything here.... It is where I keep the unemployed Stars, my personal Perfumes, a few Glimmers that belong to me, such as Will-o'-the-Wisps, Glow-worms and Fireflies, also the Dew, the Song of the Nightingales and so on....
TYLTYL Just so, the Stars, the Song of the Nightingales.... This must be the door....
NIGHT Open it, if you like; there Is nothing very bad inside....
(TYLTYLthrows the door wide open. TheSTARS,in the shape of beautiful young girls veiled in many-coloured radiancy, escape from their prison, disperse over the hall and form graceful groups on the steps and around the columns, bathed in a sort of luminous penumbra. ThePERFUMES OF THE NIGHT,who are almost invisible, theWILL-O'-THE-WISPS,theFIREFLIESand the transparentDEWjoin them, while theSONG OF THE NIGHTINGALESstreams from the cavern and floods the Palace ofNIGHT.)
MYTYL (clapping her hands with delight) Oh, what pretty ladies!...
TYLTYL And how well they dance!...
MYTYL And how sweet they smell!...
TYLTYL And how beautifully they sing!...
MYTYL What are those, whom one can hardly see?...
NIGHT Those are the Perfumes of my Shadow.
TYLTYL And those others, over there, in spun glass?...
NIGHT They are the Dew of the plains and forests.... But enough!... They would never have done.... It is the devil's own business to get them back, once they begin to dance.... (Clapping her hands together.) Now then, Stars, quick!... This is not the time for dancing.... The sky is overcast and heavily clouded.... Come, quick, in with you, or I will go and fetch a ray of sunlight!... (TheSTARS, PERFUMES,etc., take to flight in dismay and rush back into the cavern; and the door is closed upon them. At the same time, the song of theNIGHTINGALEceases.)
TYLTYL (going to the door at the back) Here is the great middle door....
NIGHT (gravely) Do not open that one...
TYLTYL Why not?....
NIGHT Because it's not allowed....
TYLTYL Then it's here that the Blue Bird is hidden; Light told me so....
NIGHT (maternally) Listen to me, child ... I have been kind and indulgent ... I have done for you what I have never done for any one before ... I have given up all my secrets to you.... I like you, I feel pity for your youth and innocence and I am speaking to you as a mother.... Listen to me, my child, and believe me; relinquish your quest, go no further, do not tempt fate, do not open that door....
TYLTYL (a little shaken) But why?...
NIGHT Because I do not wish you to be lost.... Because not one of those, do you hear, not one of those who have opened it, were it but by a hair's breadth, has ever returned alive to the light of day.... Because every awful thing imaginable, because all the terrors, all the horrors of which men speak on earth are as nothing compared with the most harmless of those which assail a man from the moment when his eye lights upon the first threats of the abyss to which no one dares give a name.... So much so that I myself, if you are bent, in spite of everything, upon touching that door, will ask you to wait until I have sought safety in my windowless tower... Now it is for you to know, for you to reflect....
(MYTYL,all in tears, utters cries of inarticulate terror and tries to dragTYLTYLaway.)
BREAD (with chattering teeth) Don't do it, master dear!... (Flinging himself on his knees) Take pity on us!... I implore you on my knees.... You see that Night is right....
THE CAT You are sacrificing the lives of all of us....
TYLTYL I must open the door....
MYTYL (stamping her feet, amid her sobs) I won't!... I sha'n't!...
TYLTYL Sugar and Bread, take Mytyl by the hand and run away with her.... I am going to open the door....
NIGHT Run for your lives!... Come quickly!... It is time!... (She flees.)
BREAD (fleeing wildly) At least wait till we are at the end of the hall!...
THE CAT (also fleeing) Wait! Wait!...
(They hide behind the columns at the other end of the hall. TYLTYLremains alone with the DOG by the monumental door.)
THE DOG (panting and hiccoughing with suppressed fright) I shall stay, I shall stay!... I'm not afraid!... I shall stay!... I shall stay with my little god!... I shall stay!... I shall stay!...
TYLTYL (patting theDOG) That's right, Tylô, that's right!... Kiss me.... You and I are two.... And now, steady!...
(He places the key in the lock. A cry of alarm comes from the other end of the hall, where the runaways have taken refuge. The key has hardly touched the door before its tall and wide leaves open in the middle, glide apart and disappear on either side in the thickness of the walls, suddenly revealing the most unexpected of gardens, unreal, infinite and ineffable, a dream-garden bathed in nocturnal light, where, among stars and planets, illumining all that they touch, flying ceaselessly from jewel to jewel and from moonbeam to moonbeam, fairy-like blue birds hover perpetually and harmoniously down to the confines of the horizon, birds innumerable to the point of appearing to be the breath, the azured atmosphere, the very substance of the wonderful garden.)
TYLTYL (dazzled, bewildered, standing in the light of the garden) Oh!... Heaven!... (Turning to those who have fled) Come quickly!... They are here!... It's they, it's they, it's they!... We have them at last!... Thousands of blue birds!... Millions!.... Thousands of millions!... There will be too many!... Come, Mytyl!... Come, Tylô!... Come, all!... Help me!... (Darting in among the birds.) You can catch them by handfuls!... They are not shy!... They are not afraid of us!.... Here! Here!.... (MYTYLand the others run up. They all enter the dazzling garden, exceptNIGHTand theCAT.) You see!... There are too many of them!... They fly into my hands!... Look, they are eating the moonbeams!... Mytyl, where are you?.... There are so many blue wings, so many feathers falling that one cannot see anything for them!.... Don't bite them, Tylô!.... Don't hurt them!.... Take them very gently!....
MYTYL (covered with blue birds) I have caught seven already!.... Oh, how they flap their wings!.... I can't hold them!....
TYLTYL Nor can I!.... I have too many of them!... They're escaping!.... They're coming back!.... Tylô has some, too!.... They will drag us with them!.... They will take us up to the sky!.... Quick, let us go out this way!.... Light is waiting for us!.... How pleased she will be!.... This way, this way!....
(They escape from the garden, with their hands full of struggling birds, and, crossing the whole hall amid the mad whirl of the azure wings, go out on the right, where they first entered, followed byBREADandSUGAR,who have caught no birds. NIGHTand theCAT,left alone, return to the back of the stage and look anxiously into the garden.)
NIGHT Haven't they got him?...
THE CAT No.... I see him there, on that moonbeam.... They could not reach him, he kept too high....
(TheCURTAINfalls. Immediately after, before the dropped curtain, ENTER,at the same time, on the left, LIGHTand on the right, TYLTYL, MYTYLand theDOG,who run up all covered by the birds which they have captured. But already the birds appear lifeless and, with hanging heads and drooping wings, are nothing more in their hands than inert remains.)
LIGHT Well, have you caught him?...
TYLTYL Yes, yes!...As many as we wanted!... There are thousands of them!... Here they are!... Do you see them?... (Looking at the birds, which he holds out toLIGHT,and perceiving that they are dead) Why, they are dead!... What have they done to them?... Yours too, Mytyl?... Tylô's also?... (Angrily flinging down the dead bodies of the birds) Oh, this is too bad?... Who killed them?... I am too unhappy!...
(He hides his head in his arms and his whole frame is shaken with sobs.)
LIGHT (pressing him maternally in her arms) Do not cry, my child.... You did not catch the one that is able to live in broad daylight.... He has gone elsewhere.... We shall find him again....
THE DOG (looking at the dead birds)) Are they good to eat?....
(They all go out on the left.)