The Blue Bird Part 24

TYLTYL What invention?... Have you invented something?...

THE CHILD Why, yes; haven't you heard?... When I am on earth, I shall have to invent the thing that gives happiness....

TYLTYL Is it good to eat?... Does it make a noise?...

THE CHILD No; you hear nothing....

TYLTYL That's a pity....

THE CHILD I work at it every day.... It is almost finished.... Would you like to see it?...

TYLTYL Very much.... Where is it?...

THE CHILD There, you can see it from here, between those two columns....

ANOTHER BLUE CHILD (_coming up to_ TYLTYL _and plucking his sleeve_) Would you like to see mine, say?...

TYLTYL Yes, what is it?...

THE SECOND CHILD The thirty-three remedies for prolonging life.... There, in those blue phials....

A THIRD CHILD (_stepping out from the crowd_) I will show you a light which n.o.body knows of!... (_He lights himself up entirely with an extraordinary flame_.) It's rather curious, isn't it?...

A FOURTH CHILD (_pulling_ TYLTYL'S _arm_) Do come and look at my machine which flies in the air like a bird without wings!...

A FIFTH CHILD No, no; mine first! It discovers the treasures hidden in the moon!...

THE BLUE CHILDREN (_crowding round_ TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _and all crying together_) No, no, come and see mine!... No, mine is much finer!... Mine is a wonderful invention!... Mine is made of sugar!... His is no good!... He stole the idea from me!...

(_Amid these disordered exclamations, the_ LIVE CHILDREN _are dragged towards the blue workshops, where each of the inventors sets his ideal machine going. There ensues a cerulean whirl of wheels, disks, flywheels, driving-wheels, pulleys, straps and strange and as yet unnamed objects shrouded in the bluey mists of the unreal. A crowd of odd and mysterious mechanisms dart forth and hover under the vaults or crawl at the foot of the columns, while_ CHILDREN _unfold charts and plans, open books, uncover azure statues and bring enormous flowers and gigantic fruits that seem formed of sapphires and turquoises_.)

A LITTLE BLUE CHILD (_bending under the weight of some colossal blue daisies_) Look at my flowers!...

TYLTYL What are they?... I don't know them....

THE LITTLE BLUE CHILD They are daisies!...

TYLTYL Impossible!... They are as big as tables!...

THE LITTLE BLUE CHILD And they smell so good!...

TYLTYL (_smelling them_) Wonderful!...

THE LITTLE BLUE CHILD They will grow like that when I am on earth....

TYLTYL When will that be?...

THE LITTLE BLUE CHILD In fifty-three years, four months and nine days....

(_Two_ BLUE CHILDREN _arrive, carrying, like a l.u.s.tre hanging on a pole, an incredible bunch of grapes, each larger than a pear_.)

ONE OF THE CHILDREN (_carrying the grapes_) What do you say to my fruits?...

TYLTYL A bunch of pears!...

THE CHILD No, they are grapes!... They will all be like that when I am thirty.... I have found the way....

ANOTHER CHILD (_staggering under a basket of blue apples the size of melons_) And mine!... Look at my apples!...

TYLTYL But those are melons!...

THE CHILD No, no!... They are my apples and they are not the finest at that!... They will all be alike when I am alive.... I have discovered the system!...

ANOTHER CHILD (_wheeling a blue barrow with blue melons bigger than pumpkins_) What do you say to my little melons?...

TYLTYL But they are pumpkins!...

THE CHILD WITH THE MELONS When I come on earth, the melons will be splendid!... I shall be the gardener of the King of the Three Planets....

TYLTYL The King of the Three Planets?

THE CHILD WITH THE MELONS The great king who for thirty-five years will bring happiness to the Earth, Mars and the Moon.... You can see him from here....

TYLTYL Where is he?...

THE CHILD WITH THE MELONS There, the little boy sleeping at the foot of that column.

TYLTYL On the left?...

THE CHILD WITH THE MELONS No, on the right.... The one on the left is the child who will bring pure joy to the globe....

TYLTYL How?...

THE CHILD (_the one that first talked to_ TYLTYL) By means of ideas which people have not yet had....

TYLTYL And the other, that little fat one with his fingers to his nose, what will he do?...

THE CHILD He is to discover the fire that will warm the earth when the sun is paler than now....

TYLTYL And the two holding each other by the hand and always kissing; are they brother and sister?...

THE CHILD No; they are very comical....They are the Lovers....

TYLTYL What is that?...

THE CHILD I don't know.... Time calls them that, to make fun of them.... They spend the day looking into each other's eyes, kissing and bidding each other farewell....

TYLTYL Why?...