The Blue Bird: A Fairy Play in Six ActsMaeterlinck, Maurice
General
The Blue Bird: A Fairy Play in Six Acts
Maeterlinck, Maurice
Fairy plays; French drama -- Translations into English
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!...
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account