CURTAIN
SCENE 3.—The Kingdom of the Future.
The immense halls of the Azure Palace, where the children wait that are yet to be born. Infinite perspectives of sapphire columns supporting turquoise vaults. Everything, from the light and the lapis-lazuli flagstones to the shimmering background into which the last arches run and disappear, everything, down to the smallest objects, is of an unreal, intense, fairy-like blue. Only the plinths and capitals of the columns, the key-stones, a few seats and circular benches are of white marble or alabaster. To the right, between the columns, are great opalescent doors. These doors, which TIME will throw back towards the end of the scene, open upon actual life and the quays of the Dawn. Everywhere, harmoniously peopling the hall, is a crowd of CHILDREN robed in long azure garments. Some are playing, others strolling to and fro, others talking or dreaming; many are asleep, many also are working, between the colonnades, at future inventions; and their tools, their instruments, the apparatus which they are constructing, the plants, flowers and fruit which they are cultivating or plucking are of the same supernatural and luminous blue as the general atmosphere of the Palace. Figures of a taller stature, clad in a paler and more diaphanous azure, figures of a sovereign and silent beauty move among the CHILDREN and would seem to be angels.
Enter on the left, as though by stealth, gliding between the columns in the foreground, TYLTYL, MYTYL and LIGHT. Their arrival causes a certain movement among the BLUE CHILDREN, who come running up on every hand, form a group around the unwonted visitors and gaze upon them with curiosity.
MYTYL Where are Sugar, the Cat and Bread?...
LIGHT They cannot enter here; they would know the future and would not obey....
TYLTYL And the Dog?...
LIGHT It is not well, either, that he should know what awaits him in the course of the ages....I have locked them all up in the vaults of the church....
TYLTYL Where are we?...
LIGHT We are in the Kingdom of the Future, in the midst of the children who are not yet born. As the diamond allows us to see clearly in this region which is hidden from men, we shall very probably find the Blue Bird here....
TYLTYL Certainly the bird will be blue, since everything here is blue....(Looking all around him.) Heaven, how beautiful it all is!...
LIGHT Look at the children running up....
TYLTYL Are they angry?...
LIGHT Not at all....You can see, they are smiling, but they are surprised....
THE BLUE CHILDREN (running up in ever-increasing numbers) Live children!...Come and look at the little live children!...
TYLTYL Why do they call us the little live children?
LIGHT Because they themselves are not alive yet....
TYLTYL What are they doing, then?...
LIGHT They are awaiting the hour of their birth....
TYLTYL The hour of their birth?...
LIGHT Yes; it is from here that all the children come who are born upon our earth. Each awaits his day.... When the fathers and mothers want children, the great doors which you see there, on the right, are opened and the little ones go down....
TYLTYL What a, lot there are! What a lot there are!...
LIGHT There are many more.... We do not see them all.... There are thirty thousand halls like this, all full of them.... Just think, there are enough to last to the end of the world!... No one could count them....
TYLTYL And those tall blue persons, who are they?...
LIGHT No one exactly knows.... They are believed to be guardians.... I have heard that they will come upon earth after men.... But we are not allowed to ask them....
TYLTYL Why not?...
LIGHT Because it is the earth's secret....
TYLTYL And may one talk to the others, the little ones?...
LIGHT Certainly; you must make friends.... Look, there is one who is more curious than the rest.... Go up to him, speak to him....
TYLTYL What shall I say to him?...
LIGHT Whatever you like, as you would to a little playfellow....
TYLTYL Can I shake hands with him?...
LIGHT Of course, he won't hurt you.... But come, don't look so constrained.... I will leave you alone, you will be more at ease by yourselves.... Besides, I want to speak to the tall blue person....
TYLTYL (going up to the BLUE CHILD and holding out his hand) How do you do?... (Touching the CHILD'S blue dress with his finger.) What's that?...
THE CHILD (gravely touching TYLTYL'S hat) And that?...
TYLTYL That?... That is my hat.... Have you no hat?...
THE CHILD No; what is it for?...
TYLTYL It's to say How-do-you-do with.... And then for when it rains or when it's cold....
THE CHILD What does that mean, when it's cold?...
TYLTYL When you shiver like this: brrrr! brrrr!... When you blow into your hands and go like this with your arms....
(He vigorously beats his arms across his chest.)
THE CHILD Is it cold on earth?...
TYLTYL Yes, sometimes, in the winter, when there is no fire....
THE CHILD Why is there no fire?...
TYLTYL Because it's expensive and it costs money to buy wood....
THE CHILD What is money?...
TYLTYL It's what you pay with....
THE CHILD Oh....
TYLTYL Some people have money and others have none....
THE CHILD Why not?...
TYLTYL Because they are not rich.... Are you rich?... How old are you?...
THE CHILD I am going to be born soon.... I shall be born in twelve years.... Is it nice to be born?...
TYLTYL Oh, yes!... It's great fun!...
THE CHILD How did you manage?...
TYLTYL I can't remember.... It is so long ago!...
THE CHILD They say it's lovely, the earth and the live people!...
TYLTYL Yes, it's not bad.... There are birds and cakes and toys.... Some have them all; but those who have none can look at them....
THE CHILD They tell us that the mothers stand waiting at the door.... They are good, aren't they?...
TYLTYL Oh, yes!... They are better than anything in the world!... And the grannies too; but they die too soon....
THE CHILD They die?... What is that?...
TYLTYL They go away one evening and do not come back....
THE CHILD Why?...
TYLTYL How can one tell?... Perhaps because they feel sad....
THE CHILD Has yours gone?...
TYLTYL My grandmamma?...
THE CHILD Your mamma or your grandmamma, I don't know....
TYLTYL Oh, but it's not the same thing!... The grannies go first; that's sad enough.... Mine was very kind to me....
THE CHILD What is the matter with your eyes?.... Are they making pearls?...
TYLTYL No; it's not pearls....
THE CHILD What is it, then?...
TYLTYL It's nothing; it's all that blue, which dazzles me a little....
THE CHILD What is that called?...
TYLTYL What?...
THE CHILD There, that, falling down....
TYLTYL Nothing, it is a little water....
THE CHILD Does it come from the eyes?...
TYLTYL Yes, sometimes, when one cries....
THE CHILD What does that mean, crying?...
TYLTYL I have not been crying; it is the fault of that blue... But if I had cried, it would be the same thing....
THE CHILD Does one often cry?...
TYLTYL Not little boys, but little girls do.... Don't you cry here?...
THE CHILD No; I don't know how....
TYLTYL Well, you will learn.... What are you playing with, those great blue wings?...
THE CHILD These?... That's for the invention which I shall make on earth....
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 nobody 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 lustre 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?...
THE CHILD It seems that they will not be able to leave together...
TYLTYL And the little pink one, who looks so serious and is sucking his thumb, what is he?...
THE CHILD It appears that he is to wipe out injustice from the earth....
TYLTYL Oh!...
THE CHILD They say it's a tremendous work....
TYLTYL And the little red-haired one, who walks as if he did not see where he was going, is he blind?...
THE CHILD Not yet; but he will become so....Look at him well; it seems that he is to conquer Death....
TYLTYL What does that mean?...
THE CHILD I don't exactly know; but they say it's a great thing....
TYLTYL (pointing to a crowd of CHILDREN sleeping at the foot of the columns, on the steps, the benches, etc.) And all those asleep, what a number of them there are asleep!... Do they do nothing?...
THE CHILD They are thinking of something....
TYLTYL Of what?...
THE CHILD They do not know yet; but they must take something with them to earth; we are not allowed to go from here empty-handed....
TYLTYL Who says so?...
THE CHILD Time, who stands at the door.... You will see when he opens it.... He is very tiresome....
A CHILD (running up from the back of the hall and elbowing his way through the crowd) How are you, TYLTYL?...
TYLTYL Hullo!... How does he know my name?...
THE CHILD (who has just run up and who now kisses TYLTYL and MYTYL effusively.) How are you?... All right?... Come, give me a kiss, and you too, Mytyl. It's not surprising that I should know your name, seeing that I shall be your brother.... They have only just told me that you were here.... I was right at the other end of the hall, packing up my ideas.... Tell mummy that I am ready....
TYLTYL What?... Are you coming to us?...
THE CHILD Certainly, next year, on Palm Sunday.... Don't tease me too much when I am little.... I am very glad to have kissed you both beforehand.... Tell daddy to mend the cradle.... Is it comfortable in our home?...
TYLTYL Not bad.... And mummy is so kind!...
THE CHILD And the food?...
TYLTYL That depends.... We even have cakes sometimes, don't we, Mytyl?...
MYTYL On New Year's Day and the fourteenth of July.... Mummy makes them....
TYLTYL What have you got in that bag?... Are you bringing us something?...
THE CHILD I am bringing three illnesses: scarlatina, whooping-cough and measles....
TYLTYL Oh, that's all, is it?... And, after that, what will you do?...
THE CHILD After that?... I shall leave you....
TYLTYL It will hardly be worth while coming!...
THE CHILD We can't pick and choose!...
(At that moment, a sort of prolonged, powerful, crystalline vibration is heard to rise and swell; it seems to emanate from the columns and the opal doors, which are irradiated by a brighter light than before.)
TYLTYL What is that?...
THE CHILD That's Time!... He is going to open the gates!...
(A great change comes over the crowd of BLUE CHILDREN, Most of them leave their machines and their labours, numbers of sleepers awake and all turn their eyes towards the opal doors and go nearer to them.)
LIGHT (joining TYLTYL) Let us try to hide behind the columns.... It will not do for Time to discover us....
TYLTYL Where does that noise come from?...
A CHILD It is the Dawn rising.... This is the hour when the children who are to be born to-day go down to earth....
TYLTYL How will they go down?... Are there ladders?...
THE CHILD You shall see.... Time is drawing the bolts....
TYLTYL Who is Time?...
THE CHILD An old man who comes to call those who are going....
TYLTYL Is he wicked?...
THE CHILD No; but he hears nothing.... Beg as they may, if it's not their turn, he pushes back all those who try to go....
TYLTYL Are they glad to go?...
THE CHILD We are sorry when we are left behind, but we are sad when we go.... There! There!... He is opening the doors!...
(The great opalescent doors turn slowly on their hinges. The sounds of the earth are heard like a distant music. A red and green light penetrates into the hall; TIME, a tall old man with a streaming beard, armed with his scythe and hourglass, appears upon the threshold; and the spectator perceives the extremity of the white and gold sails of a galley moored to a sort of quay, formed by the rosy mists of the Dawn.)
TIME (on the threshold) Are they ready whose hour has struck?...
BLUE CHILDREN (elbowing their way and running up from all sides) Here we are!... Here we are!... Here we are!...
TIME (in a gruff voice to the CHILDREN defiling before him to go out) One at a time!... Once again, there are many more of you than are wanted!... It's always the same thing!... You can't deceive me!...(Pushing back a CHILD.) It's not your turn!... Go back and wait till to-morrow.... Nor you either; go in and return in ten years.... A thirteenth shepherd?... There are only twelve wanted; there is no need for more; the days of Theocritus and Virgil are past.... More doctors?... There are too many already; they are grumbling about it on earth.... And where are the engineers?... They want an honest man, only one, as a phenomenon.... Where is the honest man?... Is it you?... (THE CHILD nods yes.) You appear to me to be a very poor specimen!... Hallo, you, over there, not so fast, not so fast!... And you, what are you bringing?... Nothing at all, empty-handed?... Then you can't go through.... Prepare something, a great crime, if you like, or a fine sickness, I don't care ... but you mast have something.... (Catching sight of a little CHILD whom the others are pushing forward, while he resists with all his strength.) Well, what's the matter with you?... You know that the hour has come.... They want a hero to fight against injustice; you're the one: you most start....
THE BLUE CHILDREN He doesn't want to, sir....
TIME What?... He doesn't want to?... Where does the little monster think he is?... No objections, we have no time to spare....
THE CHILD (who is being pushed) No, no!...I don't want to go!... I would rather not be born!... I would rather stay here!...
TIME That is not the question.... When the hour comes, it comes!... Now then, quick, forward!...
A CHILD (stepping forward) Oh, let me pass!... I will go and take his place!... They say that my parents are old and have been waiting for me so long!...
TIME None of that!... You will start at your proper hour, at your proper time.... We should never be done if we listened to you.... One wants to go, another refuses; it's too soon or it's too late.... (Pushing back some CHILDREN who have encroached upon the threshold.) Not so near, you children!... Back, you inquisitive ones!... Those who are not starting have no business outside.... You are in a hurry now; later, when your turn comes, you will be frightened and hang back.... Look, there are four who are trembling like leaves.... (To a CHILD who, on the point of crossing the threshold, suddenly goes back.) Well, what is it?... What's the matter?...
THE CHILD I have forgotten the box containing the two crimes which I shall have to commit....
ANOTHER CHILD And I the little pot with my idea for enlightening the crowd....
A THIRD CHILD I have forgotten the graft of my finest pear!...
TIME Run quick and fetch them!... We have only six hundred and twelve seconds left.... The galley of the Dawn is already flapping her sails to show that she is waiting.... You will come too late and you won't be born!... Come, quick, on board with you!... (Laying hold of a CHILD who tries to pass between his legs to reach the quay.) Oh, no, not you!... This is the third time you've tried to be born before your turn.... Don't let me catch you at it again, or you can wait forever with my sister Eternity; and you know that it's not amusing there!... But come, are we ready?... Is every one at his post?... (Surveying the CHILDREN standing on the quay or already seated In the galley.) There is still one missing.... It is no use his hiding, I see him in the crowd.... You can't deceive me!... Come on, you, the little fellow whom they call the Lover, say good-bye to your sweetheart....
(The two CHILDREN who are called the Lovers, fondly entwined, their faces livid with despair, go up to TIME and kneel at his feet.)
THE FIRST CHILD Mr. Time, let me stay behind with her!...
THE SECOND CHILD Mr. Time, let me go with him!...
TIME Impossible!... We have only three hundred and ninety-four seconds left....
THE FIRST CHILD I would rather not be born!...
TIME You cannot choose....
THE SECOND CHILD (beseechingly) Mr. Time, I shall come too late!...
THE FIRST CHILD I shall be gone before she comes down!...
THE SECOND CHILD I shall never see him again!...
THE FIRST CHILD We shall be alone in the world!...
TIME All this does not concern me.... Address your entreaties to Life.... I unite and part as I am told....(Seizing one of the CHILDREN.) Come!...
THE FIRST CHILD (struggling) No, no, no!... She, too!...
THE SECOND CHILD (clinging to the clothes of the FIRST) Leave him with me!... Leave him!...
TIME Come, come, he is not going to die, but to live!... (Dragging away the FIRST CHILD.) Come along!...
THE SECOND CHILD (stretching her arms out frantically to the CHILD that is being carried off) A sign!... A sign!... Tell me how to find you!...
THE FIRST CHILD I shall always love you!...
THE SECOND CHILD I shall be the saddest thing on earth!... You will know me by that!...
(She falls and remains stretched on the ground.)
TIME You would do much better to hope.... And now, that is all.... (Consulting his hour-glass.) We have only sixty-three seconds left....
(Last and violent movements among the CHILDREN departing and remaining. They exchange hurried farewells.)
THE BLUE CHILDREN Good-bye, Pierre!... Good-bye, Jean!... Have you all you want?... Announce my idea!... Have you got the new turnscrew?... Mind you speak of my melons!... Have you forgotten nothing?... Try to know me again I... I shall find you!... Don't lose your ideas!... Don't lean too far into space!... Send me your news!... They say one can't... Oh, try, do try!... Try to tell us if it's nice!... I will come to meet you I... I shall be born on a throne!...
TIME (shaking his keys and his scythe) Enough! Enough!... The anchor's raised!...
(The sails of the galley pass and disappear. The voices of the CHILDREN in the galley are heard in the distance: "The Earth! The Earth!... I can see it!... How beautiful it is!... How bright it is!... How big it is!"... Then, as though issuing from the depths of the abyss, an extremely distant song of gladness and expectation.)
TYLTYL (to LIGHT) What is that?... It is not they singing.... It sounds like other voices....
LIGHT Yes, it is the song of the mothers coming out to meet them....
(Meanwhile, TIME closes the opalescent doors. He turns to take a last look at the hall and suddenly perceives TYLTYL, MYTYL and LIGHT.)
TIME (dumbfoundered and furious) What's that?... What are you doing here?... Who are you?... Why are you not blue?... How did you get in?... (He comes forward, threatening them with his scythe.)
LIGHT (to TYLTYL) Do not answer!... I have the Blue Bird.... He is hidden under my cloak.... Let us escape.... Turn the diamond, he will lose our traces.... (They slip away on the left, between the columns in the foreground.)