The Cat (going up to Mytyl with much ceremony and circumspection). Good-morning, Miss. How well you look this morning!
Mytyl. Good-morning. (To the Fairy) Who is it?
The Fairy. Why, dont you see? Its the soul of Tylette.
The Dog (hustling the Cat). Ill kiss the little god! Ill kiss the little girl! Ill kiss everybody! Oh, Ill frighten Tylette! Bow, wow, wow!
The Cat. Sir, I dont know you.
Meanwhile, the spinning-wheel[11] turns madly in its corner and spins brilliant rays of light. The tap begins to sing in a very high voice and turns into a luminous fountain. It floods the sink with pearls and emeralds, through which darts the soul of Water. Its a young girl, who immediately begins to fight with Fire.
Tyltyl. And who is that wet lady?
The Fairy. Dont be afraid. Its just Water from the tap.
The milk-jug falls from the table and smashes on the floor. From the milk there rises a tall, white, bashful figure. It is afraid of everything.
Tyltyl. And who is that frightened lady in her nightgown?
The Fairy. Thats Milk.
The sugar-loaf grows taller and wider. Then a mawkish and hypocritical creature in a long coat, half blue and half white, goes up to Mytyl with a sanctimonious smile.
Mytyl (alarmed). What does he want?
The Fairy. Why, he is the soul of Sugar!
Mytyl (reassured). Has he any sugar-sticks[12]?
The Fairy. His pockets are full of it and each of his fingers is a sugar-stick, too.
The lamp falls from the table and. Its flame turns into a luminous maid of incomparable beauty. She is dressed in long transparent veils and stands motionless.
Tyltyl. Its the Queen!
Suddenly, the children hear three loud knocks at the door.
Tyltyl (alarmed). Thats daddy!
The Fairy. Turn the diamond! From left to right!
Tyltyl turns the diamond quickly.
The Fairy. Not so quick! Its too late! You turned it too briskly; we will have a lot of problems.
The Fairy becomes an old woman again, the walls of the cottage lose their splendour. The Hours go back into the clock, the spinning-wheel stops. Fire runs madly round the room, one of the loaves of bread sobs.
The Fairy. Whats the matter?
Bread (in tears). Theres no room in the pan!
The Fairy (looking into the pan). Yes, there is; yes, there is. (Pushing the other loaves). Come, quick.
Somebody knocks again.
Bread (scared). I cant get in! Hell eat me first!
The Dog. My little god! I am still here! I can still talk! I can still kiss you! Once more! Once more! Once more!
The Fairy. What, you too? Are you there still?
The Dog. What luck! I was too late to return.
The Cat. Me too. What will happen? Is there any danger?
The Fairy. Well, I must tell you the truth: all those who accompany the two Children will die at the end of the journey.
The Cat (to the Dog). Come, let us get back.
The Dog. No, no! I wont! I want to go with the little god! I want to talk to him all the time!
The Cat. Idiot!
Somebody knocks again.
Bread (crying). I dont want to die at the end of the journey! I want to get back into my pan!
Fire. I cant find my chimney!
Water (trying to get into the tap). I cant get into the tap!
Sugar. Where is my packing-paper[13]?
Milk. Where is my little jug?
The Fairy. What fools they are! Fools and cowards too! So you prefer to live in your ugly boxes, in your traps and taps, than accompany the Children in search of the bird?
All (excepting the Dog and Light). Yes, yes! Now, at once! My tap! My pan! My chimney! My trap!
The Fairy (to Light). And you, Light, what do you say?
Light. I will go with the children.
The Dog (yelling with delight). I too! I too!
The Fairy. Thats right. Besides, its too late to go back; you have no choice now, you must all start with us. But you, Fire, dont come near anybody; you, Dog, dont tease the Cat; and you, Water, hold yourself up.
Somebody knocks violently.
Tyltyl (listening). Theres daddy again! I can hear him.
The Fairy. Let us go out by the window. Well come to my house, where I will dress the Animals and the Things properly. (To Bread) You, Bread, take the cage for the Blue Bird. Quick, quick!
The window suddenly becomes a door. They all go out; after which the window closes. The room becomes dark again. The door on the right opens ajar and in the aperture appear the heads of Daddy and Mummy Tyl.
Daddy Tyl. Nothing. Its the cricket.
Mummy Tyl. Can you see them?
Daddy Tyl. I can. They are sleeping.
2. At the Fairys
A magnificent entrance-hall in the palace of the Fairy Berylune. Columns of gleaming marble with gold and silver capitals, staircases, porticoes, balustrades.
The Cat, Sugar and Fire come from a room which emits rays of light; it is the Fairys wardrobe. The Cat has the classic costume of Puss-in-boots[14]; Sugar, a silk dress, half white and half pale-blue; and Fire wears a long vermilion mantle.
The Cat. This way, I know every inch of this palace. Let us discuss our position. Are we all here?
Sugar. The Dog is coming out of the Fairys wardrobe.
Fire. What he got on?
The Cat. The livery of one of the footmen of Cinderellas coach. It is just for him. He has the soul of a flunkey. But let us hide behind the balustrade. I mistrust him. He must not hear what I say to you.
Sugar. It is too late. He sees us. Look, Water is also coming out of the wardrobe. How fine she is!
The Dog and Water join the first group.
The Dog. There! There! Arent we fine! Just look at these laces and this embroidery! Its real gold!
The Cat. We are only waiting for Bread; where is he?
Fire. He has such a foolish face and carries an enormous stomach!
The Dog. He decided to put a Turkish robe on, a scimitar and a turban.
The Cat. There he is!
Bread comes in. In one hand he holds a scimitar and in the other the cage for the Blue Bird.
Bread. Well? What do you think of this?
The Dog. How nice he looks! What a fool he looks! How nice he looks! How nice he looks!
The Cat (to the Bread). Are the Children dressed?
Bread. Yes, Master Tyltyl put on Hop-o-my-Thumbs[15] blue jacket and red breeches. Miss Mytyl has Gretels frock and Cinderellas slippers. But the most difficult thing was to dress Light!
The Cat. Why?
Bread. The Fairy said she did not want to dress her at all! She is nice as she is.
Fire. Its necessary to buy her a lampshade!
The Cat.Stop chattering[16]. Our future is at stake. The Fairy says 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. 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 possess a soul which man does not yet know. That is why we retain independence. But, if people find the Blue Bird, they will know all, and they will see all. My old friend, Night, told me so. She is the guardian of the mysteries of Life. It is to our interest, therefore, to prevent the finding of that bird. Even if we endanger the lives of the Children themselves.
The Dog (indignantly). Whats the Cat saying? Just say that again, will you. Do I heard right?
Bread. Order! Order! Its not your turn to speak!
Fire. Who made you chairman?
Water (to Fire). Hold your tongue![17] None of your business[18].
Fire. I speak when I want. And I want none of your remarks.
Sugar. Excuse me. Do not let us quarrel. This is a serious moment. We must decide what to do.
Bread. I quite agree with Sugar and the Cat.
The Dog. This is ridiculous! There is Man and thats all! We must obey him and do as he tells us! That is the fact! 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 the Dog). Give your reasons.
The Dog. There are no reasons! I love Man and thats enough! If you do anything against him, I will throttle you first and I will go and tell him everything.
Sugar (sweetly). Excuse me. Let us not embitter the discussion. From a certain point of view, you are both right.
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 despot, we wandered at liberty upon the earth? Fire and Water were the sole masters of the world. And we, puny descendants of the great wild animals Look out! I see the Fairy and Light. Light is with Man; she is our worst enemy. Here they are.
The Fairy is in the shape of an old woman. She is coming with Light, Tyltyl and Mytyl.
The Fairy. Well? What is it? What are you doing in that corner? You look like conspirators. It is time to start. Listen to me. Light will be your leader. You will obey her. I am giving her my wand. The Children will visit their late grandparents[19] this evening. They will spend the evening with their dead family. Meanwhile, you will prepare all that is wanted for tomorrows journey. It will be long.
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 interrupted me.
The Dog. Whats that? Just wait a bit I
He wants to leap upon the Cat, but Tyltyl stops him.
Tyltyl. Tylo! If I catch you again
The Dog. My little god, you dont know, it was the Cat who
Tyltyl. Be quiet!
The Fairy. Come. Bread, for this evening, hand the cage to Tyltyl. It is possible that the Blue Bird may be 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.
The Fairy. We will go out this way and the Children that.
Tyltyl (anxiously). Are we to go all alone?
Mytyl. I feel hungry!
Tyltyl. I, too!
The Fairy (to Bread). Open your Turkish robe and give them a slice of your good stomach.
Bread opens his robe, draws his scimitar and cuts two slices out of his stomach and hands them to the children.
Sugar. Allow me to offer you a few sugar-sticks.
He breaks off the five fingers of his left hand, one by one, and presents them to the children.
Mytyl. What is he doing? He is breaking all his fingers!
Sugar. Please, taste them Theyre real 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. They grow again at once and so I always have new, clean fingers.
The Fairy. Come, children, dont eat too much sugar. Dont forget that you will have supper presently with your grandpapa and grandmamma.
Tyltyl. Are they here?
The Fairy. You will 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. Thanks to the diamond, you will see that if you remember the dead, they live happily.
Tyltyl. Is Light coming with us?
The Fairy. No, it is a family visit. I will wait near here. They did not invite me.
Tyltyl. Which way will we go?
The Fairy. Over there. You are on the threshold of the Land of Memory. Turn the diamond, and you will see a big tree with a board on it. It will show you that you are there. But dont forget to come back, by a quarter to nine. It is extremely important. Be punctual, dont be late. Good-bye!
3. The Land of Memory
A thick fog. The trunk of a large oak, with a board. A vague, milky, impenetrable light.
Tyltyl. Here is the tree!
Mytyl. Theres the board!
Tyltyl. I cant read it. Wait, I will climb up on this root. It says, Land of Memory.
Mytyl. Is this where it begins?
Tyltyl. Yes, theres an arrow.
Mytyl. Well, where are granddad and granny?
Tyltyl. Behind the fog. We will see.
Mytyl. I can see nothing at all! I cant see my feet or my hands. (Whimpering) Im cold! I dont want to travel any more. I want to go home.