The Blue Bird Part 7

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 (_approaching the_ CHILDREN) 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 the_ CHILDREN.)

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 the_ CAT, _the_ DOG, LIGHT, _etc_.) This way.... And the little ones that way....

(_She goes out to the right, with_ LIGHT, _the_ ANIMALS, _etc., while the_ CHILDREN _go out to the left_.)

CURTAIN

SCENE 2.--_The Land of Memory_.

_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_. TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL _are 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'S _grandfather 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 TYL _opens her eyes, raises her head, stretches herself, gives a sigh and looks at_ GAFFER 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....

TYLTYL _and_ MYTYL (_rus.h.i.+ng 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....