THE BETROTHAL A SEQUEL TO THE BLUE BIRD _A Fairy Play in Five Acts and Eleven Scenes_ BY MAURICE MAETERLINCK _Translated by_ ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1918 CHARACTERS (_arranged in the order of their entrance on the stage_) TYLTYL THE FAIRY BÉRYLUNE MILETTE (the Wood-cutter's Daughter) BELLINE (the Butcher's Daughter) ROSELLE (the Inn-keeper's Daughter) AIMETTE (the Miller's Daughter) JALLINE (the Beggar's Daughter) ROSARELLE (the Mayor's Daughter) JOY (the Veiled Girl, or the White Phantom) DESTINY THE MISER LIGHT SOME USUAL THOUGHTS GRANNY TYL GAFFER TYL THE GREAT MENDICANT THE GREAT PEASANT THE RICH ANCESTOR THE SICK ANCESTOR THE DRUNKEN ANCESTOR THE MURDERER ANCESTOR THE GREAT ANCESTOR OTHER ANCESTORS SOME OF TYLTYL'S "ME'S" VARIOUS CHILDREN IN THE ABODE OF THE CHILDREN THE FIVE LITTLE ONES THE SMALLEST OF THEM ALL MUMMY TYL MYTYL DADDY TYL THE NEIGHBOUR ACT I _Scene_ 1 _The Wood-cutter's Cottage_. ACT II 2 _Outside the Door_. 3 _The Miser's Cave_. 4 _A Closet in the Fairy's Palace_. 5 _A Ballroom in the Fairy's Palace_. ACT III 6 _Before the Curtain representing Rocks_. 7 _The Abode of the Ancestors_. ACT IV 8 _Before the Curtain representing the Milky Way_. 9 _The Abode of the Children_. ACT V 10 _Before the Curtain representing the Edge of a Forest_. 11 _The Awakening_. THE BETROTHAL; OR THE BLUE BIRD CHOOSES ACT I SCENE I _The Wood-cutter's Cottage_ _The cottage-scene in The Blue Bird: the interior of a wood-cutter's cabin, simple and rustic in appearance, but in no way poverty-stricken. A recessed fireplace containing the dying embers of a wood-fire. Kitchen-utensils, a cupboard, a bread-pan, a grandfather's clock, a spinning-wheel, a water-tap, etc. A dog and a cat asleep. A large blue-and-white sugar-loaf. On the wall hangs a round cage containing a blue bird. At the back, two windows with closed shutters. On the left is the front-door, with a big latch to it. A ladder leads up to a loft. But there is only one bed_, TYLTYL'S; _he is now sixteen years of age. It is dark; the scene is lit only by a few moonbeams which filter through the shutters_. TYLTYL _is sound asleep_. (_A knock at the door_.) TYLTYL (_Waking with a start_.) Who's there? (_Another knock_.) Wait till I put on my breeches. The door's bolted. I'll come and open it. THE FAIRY