THE CAT (_to_ TYLTYL) Take of your hat. It's the Oak!... THE OAK (_to_ TYLTYL) Who are you?.... TYLTYL I am Tyltyl, sir.... When can I have the Blue Bird?... THE OAK Tyltyl, the wood-cutter's son?... TYLTYL Yes, sir.... THE OAK Your father has done us much harm.... In my family alone, he has put to death six hundred of my sons, four hundred and seventy-five uncles and aunts, twelve hundred cousins of both sexes, three hundred and eighty daughters-in-law, and twelve thousand great-grandsons!... TYLTYL I know nothing about it, sir.... He did not do it on purpose.... THE OAK What have you come here for; and why have you made our souls leave their abodes?... TYLTYL I beg your pardon, sir, for disturbing you.... The Cat said that you would tell us where the Blue Bird was.... THE OAK Yes, I know that you are looking for the Blue Bird, that is to say, the great secret of things and of happiness, so that Man may make our servitude still harder.... TYLTYL Oh, no, sir; it is for the Fairy Bérylune's little girl, who is very ill.... THE OAK (_laying silence upon him with a gesture_) Enough!... I do not hear the Animals.... Where are they?... All this concerns them as much as us.... We, the Trees, must not assume the responsibility alone for the grave measures that have become necessary.... On the day when MAN hears that we have done what we are about to do, there will be terrible reprisals..... It is right, therefore, that our agreement should be unanimous, so that our silence may be the same.... THE FIR-TREE (_looking over the top of the other trees_) The Animals are coming.... They are following the Rabbit.... Here are the souls of the Horse, the Bull, the Ox, the Cow, the Wolf, the Sheep, the Pig, the Cock, the Goat, the Ass, and the Bear.... (_Enter the souls of the_ ANIMALS, _who, as the_ FIR-TREE _utters their names, come forward and sit down among the trees, with the exception of the soul of the_ GOAT, _who roams to and fro, and of the_ PIG, _who snuffles among the roots_.) THE OAK Are all here present?... THE RABBIT The Hen could not leave her eggs, the Hare is out on a run, the Stag has a pain in his horns, the Fox is ill--here is the doctor's certificate--the Goose did not understand and the Turkey flew into a passion.... THE OAK These abstentions are most regrettable.... However, we have a quorum.... You know, my brothers, the nature of our business. The child you see before you, thanks to a talisman stolen from the powers of Earth, is able to take possession of the Blue Bird and thus to snatch from us the secret which we have kept since the origin of life.... Now we know enough of Man to entertain no doubt as to the fate which he reserves for us once he is in possession of this secret. That is why it seems to me that any hesitation would be both foolish and criminal.... It is a serious moment; the child must be done away with before it is too late.... TYLTYL What is he saying?...