TYLTYL
How shall I get in? There's no bell and no knocker. Am I to tap at the door?
THE FAIRY
Do nothing of the sort! That would be giving him a hint; and he would become unmanageable.... But this also is quite simple. I will touch the big lock with my wand; the doors will slide back to right and left; and you will suddenly be on the other side, that is to say, right inside the cave, before he even suspects it. Once there, you can keep quiet in your corner for a moment and watch him playing with his gold, if that amuses you; and it will amuse you, for it's rather curious. Then, when you've had enough, turn the sapphire. Get over there, on the left, against the wall of the arch, so that you can slip into his den at once, without making a noise.... Look out! The door will disappear! And I'll take myself off this way!... (She touches the great lock with her wand.)
SCENE III
The Miser's Cave
(The heavy doors open in the middle, slide right and left and disappear in the slips, revealing the whole of THE MISER'S den, an immense cave with low arches in which are piled large sacks bursting with gold, silver and copper coins. The only light comes from a wretched smoking candle. TYLTYL hides himself as well as he can in a dark corner. THE MISER, an old, hook-nosed man, with a dirty white beard and long, scanty hair, is dressed in a sort of squalid, patched dressing-gown. On the floor is an old carpet, with three sacks bulging with gold at one corner.)
THE MISER
To-day I shall count the contents of these three sacks all over again. I must have made a mistake in my last reckoning. There are three louis missing. Three louis are sixty francs, which make a considerable difference in a total of six hundred thousand francs. It's quite impossible to sleep with that anxiety on one's mind. Each of these three sacks ought to hold two hundred thousand francs, the first and second in louis of twenty francs and the third in ten-franc pieces. I shall empty them on the carpet first to see what a lovely heap they make.... (He empties the contents of the first sack on the carpet.) How they sparkle, how they sparkle!... What a lot of them there are!... When you see the gold spreading itself out, it's impossible to believe that it all could go into one sack!... Let's have another.... This is the sack with the little ten-franc pieces.... (He empties a second sack.) They are as lovely as the big ones.... They are younger, that's all, and there are more of them.... Now let's see what the third holds.... (He empties the third sack. A few gold coins roll of the carpet. He throws himself flat on the floor to catch them.) Oh, no, oh, no, children!... This won't do!... You mustn't run away like that!... Nothing is allowed to leave this cave!... Trying to hide yourselves, are you? To go where, pray? Don't you know that there's no place like home?... Fancy running away like that from daddy! I should never have thought it of you! This way, children, this way, darlings. This way, my pretty ones! Back to the heap, back to the cradle, then you'll be happy!... (He picks up a coin which has rolled farther than the rest.) Don't do it again, you: you're always making off; you're a little torment and you set a bad example. Beg my pardon, or I'll punish you. You shall be the first to be spent; I'll give you to a beggar, do you hear?... (Kissing it.) No, no, I'm only pretending.... There, there, don't cry!... I was merely frightening you.... I love you all the same, but don't do it again!... Here, here, here, they're here, in front of me and all around me.... It will take me quite a fortnight to count them all and to weigh them in my scales.... What a lot of them, what a lot of them! And how pretty they are!... I know them every one, I could call them by their names.... They would need a hundred and twenty thousand different names; and each of those names stands for a treasure!... (He rolls on the carpet amidst the gold.) I love to see them close!... Oh, what a cosy bed! And what a joy it is to be among one's daughters!... For they are my daughters: I brought them into the world; I have nurtured them, protected them from harm, fondled and pampered them; I know their history, the trouble they've given me, but all is forgotten: they love me, I love them and we shall never part again!... Oh, what a fine thing happiness is!... (He fills his two hands with the gold, makes it trickle over his heart, on his forehead and in his heard and utters little sighs of pleasure which gradually swell into roars of delight. Suddenly, he shudders, starts and springs up, thinking that he has heard a sound.) What is it?... Who's there?... (Reassuring himself.) No, no, it's nothing ... no one would dare.... (He sees TYLTYL and gives a shout.) A thief!... A thief!... A thief!... You here!... You here!... (With his hands clutching like claws, terrified and terrifying, he rushes upon TYLTYL, who jumps back and quickly turns the sapphire. THE MISER stops short. After an inward struggle which seems violent and lasts for some seconds, his hands drop to his sides, his face brightens and loses its hardness. He seems to wake from a bad dream and tries to wipe the memory of it from his forehead. He gazes with astonishment at the gold spread over the carpet, feels and pushes it with his foot, seems not to know what it is and then addresses TYLTYL in a very calm and gentle voice.)
THE MISER