Part 3
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 little_ CHILDREN, _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!...
(TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _run to meet the_ CHILDREN. _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 little_ DOG _yelping 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. The_ GRANDPARENTS _and the_ CHILDREN _sit 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 while_ TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _slowly 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_, TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _are 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....
CURTAIN
## ACT III.
## SCENE 1.--_The Palace of_ NIGHT.
_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, the_ CAT
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 two_ CHILDREN.) 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.... (_To_NIGHT) 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.... (_To_ BREAD) 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 six_ GHOSTS _of strange and different forms escape and disperse on every side_. MYTYL _gives a scream of fright_, BREAD, _terrified, throws away the cage and goes and hides at the back of the hall, while_ NIGHT, _running after the_ GHOSTS, _cries out to_ TYLTYL.)
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 the_ GHOSTS _and 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 the_ DOG) 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 the_ GHOSTS _moves in that direction and he rushes away at full speed, uttering yells of terror_.)
NIGHT (_to three_ GHOSTS _whom she has seized by the neck_) This way, you!... (_To_ TYLTYL) Open the door a little.... (_She pushes the_ GHOSTS _into the cave_.) There, that's it.... (_The_ DOG _brings 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....
(TYLTYL _opens 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....
(TYLTYL _enters 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 to_ COLD-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 and_ TYLTYL _shuts 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 few_ SHADES _and a few_ TERRORS, _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 of_ TYLTYL'S, _hastily run back again_.) Come, don't be afraid.... It's only a child; he won't hurt you.... (_To_ TYLTYL) 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, _the_ DOG, _the_ CAT _and_ SUGAR _push 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....
(TYLTYL _throws the door wide open. The_ STARS, _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. The_ PERFUMES OF THE NIGHT, _who are almost invisible, the_ WILL-O'-THE-WISPS, _the_ FIREFLIES _and the transparent_ DEW _join them, while the_ SONG OF THE NIGHTINGALES _streams from the cavern and floods the Palace of_ NIGHT.)
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?...