Tyltyl. And who is that frightened lady in her nightgown?
The Fairy. That’s 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. It’s the Queen!
Suddenly, the children hear three loud knocks at the door.
Tyltyl (alarmed). That’s daddy!
The Fairy. Turn the diamond! From left to right!
Tyltyl turns the diamond quickly.
The Fairy. Not so quick! It’s 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. What’s the matter?
Bread (in tears). There’s 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 can’t get in! He’ll 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 won’t! 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 don’t want to die at the end of the journey! I want to get back into my pan!
Fire. I can’t find my chimney!
Water (trying to get into the tap). I can’t 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. That’s right. Besides, it’s too late to go back; you have no choice now, you must all start with us. But you, Fire, don’t come near anybody; you, Dog, don’t tease the Cat; and you, Water, hold yourself up.
Somebody knocks violently.
Tyltyl (listening). There’s daddy again! I can hear him.
The Fairy. Let us go out by the window. We’ll 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. It’s the cricket.
Mummy Tyl. Can you see them?
Daddy Tyl. I can. They are sleeping.
2. At the Fairy’s
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 Fairy’s 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 Fairy’s wardrobe.
Fire. What he got on?
The Cat. The livery of one of the footmen of Cinderella’s 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! Aren’t we fine! Just look at these laces and this embroidery! It’s 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-Thumb’s[15] blue jacket and red breeches. Miss Mytyl has Gretel’s frock and Cinderella’s 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. It’s 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