SCENE IV

_A Closet in the Fairy's Palace_

_A sort of waiting-room or lumber-room containing the principal accessories of the Tales of Mother Goose: Cinderella's pumpkin and glass slipper; Red Ridinghood's cake and bowl; Hop-o'-my-Thumb's pebbles; the Ogre's daughters' golden crowns; the Sleeping Beauty's distaff and snake-tub; the Giant's seven-leagued hoots; Blue Beard's key; the Blue Bird in his silver cage; and, hanging from the wall, Catskin's weather-coloured, moon-coloured and sun-coloured dresses. All these things look rather tawdry in the grey and unbecoming light_. TYLTYL'S _seven little friends are locked up in this room. In the same unsympathetic light they look much less pretty than when they entered the cottage and they seem rather tired, discontented and glum, except_ THE VEILED GIRL, _who stands on one side, motionless, impassive and unrevealing_.

BELLINE

Where have they brought us?

ROSARELLE

I don't know; but I must say that it's not a nice place in which to keep young ladies waiting.

BELLINE

Yes, it looks like a lumber-room where they've stored all the odds and ends and litter of the house.

ROSARELLE

(_Touching the various objects in disgust_.) What's this? A distaff? Bless me, what for?... A pumpkin, a cake, an old bowl and goodness knows what else!... A tub full of dead eels! Gracious, how they smell!... It's all disgracefully kept.... And that lot of old fly-blown, spun-glass dresses!... My dear, how horrible!... What sort of place can this be? A potting-shed, a rag-and-bone shop, a pawn-broker's, or a thieves' kitchen? Whom can it belong to? A receiver of stolen goods? (_Touching the more bizarre dresses_.) Or a Hottentot dressmaker?

BELLINE

There's something of everything ... except a broom and a duster.

ROSARELLE

One wouldn't be enough.

BELLINE

And nothing to sit on but an old wooden bench....

ROSARELLE

But it's carved, my love!...

BELLINE

Yes, carved in dust.

ROSARELLE

Reach me one of those hideous rags and let me wipe it....

BELLINE

(_Eagerly and obsequiously_.) Wait, miss, I'll do that.... (_She takes the moon-coloured dress and dusts the seat with it_.) There, that's a little better; that's at least one corner nearly clean enough to sit on.

ROSARELLE

(_Sitting down_.) I'm tired out!

BELLINE

(_Sitting down beside her_.) So am I; my feet are dreadfully sore.

ROSARELLE

(_Looking around through her lorgnette_.) But what I want to know is where have we got to? My dear, have we fallen into a trap?

BELLINE

The company certainly is a little mixed. There's the miller's daughter, the girl from the inn, the wood-cutter....

ROSARELLE

Or rather, to be accurate, the wood-stealer.... There's even the little beggar-girl from the bridge by the Hermitage, to whom I refused a penny last Sunday.... My dear, you should have heard the insolent way in which she asked for it!...

BELLINE

And what's that white image standing in the corner, the one that never stirs, never speaks and follows us wherever we go?

ROSARELLE

That great lump of clay, that ugly wax-work? That washed-out plaster saint?

BELLINE

She looks very ill.

ROSARELLE

She may have Jewish leprosy or Zanzibar plague or Bombay cholera.... I tell you, we must be careful: that's all very catching....

AIMETTE

(_Coming up to the bench timidly_.) I should like to sit down too, I'm very tired....

ROSARELLE

Mind what you're about, miss!... There's dust enough as it is; I don't want flour into the bargain.

ROSELLE

What's all this, what's all this? Are we turning up our nose at flour now?

ROSARELLE

I wasn't addressing my remarks to you, madam.

ROSELLE

No, but I'm speaking to you. What bread would you eat if you had no flour?

ROSARELLE

You would do better to tell your father to pay the three quarters' rent that's in arrear.

ROSELLE

He'll pay his rent when your horrid old miser of a grandfather has seen to those repairs. We've been asking to have them done these last three years.

BELLINE

Is it the repairs that prevent your father from paying his butcher's bills?

ROSELLE

Does he owe anything at your shop?

BELLINE

It's six months since we saw the colour of his money.

ROSELLE

He's waiting to see the colour of yours at the inn.

BELLINE

Of mine indeed? You can wait a long time before I set foot in your dirty dram-shop.

ROSELLE

Yes, but that father of yours isn't so squeamish when he comes on Sundays and tipples till we have to put him out dead-drunk.

ROSARELLE

Don't answer her, my dear; we are not accustomed to these pot-house brawls.

ROSELLE

As for you, miss, who pretend to be so particular, you just go and ask your father, the mayor, who it was that nibbled the holes, which were not made by rats, in the town's cash-box.

ROSARELLE

(_Springing to her feet, furiously_.) Holes which were not made by rats! What do you mean?

ROSELLE

I mean what every one in the village means!...

ROSARELLE

Mind what you're saying; and say it again if you dare.

ROSELLE

Well, what would you do if I did say it again? You don't frighten me with your airs and graces.

ROSARELLE

Never mind my airs and graces; I'll soon show you what I'll do.

ROSELLE

Well, then, I do say it again.

ROSARELLE

(_Boxing her ears_.) And take that for your answer!...

(_Piercing screams and a general turmoil_. ROSELLE and AIMETTE _make a rush at_ BELLINE _and_ ROSARELLE, _while_ MILETTE _and_ JALLINE _vainly try to separate the combatants_. THE VEILED GIRL _alone remains motionless in her corner, as though she were not present. The others claw one another's faces, tear one another's hair and end by uttering such piercing yells and shrieks that_ TYLTYL, _returning from the_ MISER'S, _hears them from the far end of the palace and comes running up, scared and dismayed. He is bare-headed and only half-dressed and does not understand what is going on_.)

TYLTYL

What is it? What's the matter? What has happened? An accident? Are you hurt? What have you been doing?

THE GIRLS

(_All speaking together_.) It's she!... No, no, it was Rosarelle who began!... I tell you, it was she!... She insulted me!... She boxed my ears!... She dared to talk against my father!... She spoke ill of my mother!... She's lying, she's lying!... She nearly pulled my ear off!... She's driven a hairpin into my cheek!...

(_Enter_ THE FAIRY.)

THE FAIRY

Why, what's the matter?

TYLTYL

(_In bewilderment_.) I don't know, ma'am. I think they must have gone mad. They were so sweet when I left them. I should never have known them!... Look, look, they are quite different!... Rosarelle and Belline's eyes are blazing like furies', Aimette looks so spiteful and Roselle so brazen, Jalline hasn't washed herself and Milette's cheeks are as red as a turkey-cock's.... (_Bursting into tears and hiding his eyes with his arm, like a child crying_.) I can't bear it! Oh, I can't bear it!

THE FAIRY

But, you little silly, it's your own fault!

TYLTYL

My fault?

THE FAIRY

Yes, of course, it's your fault.... And, first, where have you come from? What have you done with your jacket and your green hat?

TYLTYL

Why, ma'am, I was busy dressing; I was putting on the little pair of silk breeches and the jacket embroidered with pearls which you told me I was to wear when I went to see the Ancestors.... Then I heard screams, dropped everything, ran up and found them fighting, tearing out one another's hair and scratching one another's faces....

THE FAIRY

A pretty business!... That will teach you to run after them without your talisman, which reveals the truth.... I call it most incorrect and improper.... Don't you see that you are not seeing them now as they are?...

TYLTYL

I'm not seeing them as they are?... Then how do I see them?...

THE FAIRY

Why, as they are not, that is to say, as you ought never to see them.... It's all so wonderfully simple: anything that's ugly isn't true, never has been true and never will be.

TYLTYL

That's easily said; but you see what you do see.

THE FAIRY

When you see what you do see, you see nothing at all.... I've told you before, it's what you do not see that makes the world go round.... All this doesn't count; it's only a little foam on the surface of the ocean.... But run quickly and fetch the sapphire and we shall once more see deep down into their souls, the truth of their hearts and the well-spring of their life.... Wait, you needn't trouble: I see Light coming; she has brought you your hat.

(_Enter_ LIGHT.)

LIGHT

Good-evening, Tyltyl.

TYLTYL

(_Throwing himself passionately into her arms_.) Oh, Light, Light!... It's my dear Light!... Where were you?... What have you been doing ever since I saw you last?... I have missed you so much and looked for you so often!...

LIGHT

My dear little Tyltyl!... I have never lost sight of you.... I have guided you and counselled you and kissed you very often, without your knowing it.... But we will talk about all this later; to-day we have no time; I have only one night to give you and there is a great deal to be done.

(_Enter_ DESTINY.)

DESTINY

Where is Tyltyl?

TYLTYL

Here. I'm not trying to hide.

DESTINY

And quite right too, for it would be no use; there's no escaping me....

TYLTYL

(_Contemplating him in astonishment_.)

But what's the matter with you?... What has happened to you? You look so much smaller!... You seem to be less tall and less broad.... You're not ill, are you?...

DESTINY

(_Who has indeed shrunk appreciably_.)

I? I never change, I am always the same; I am insuperable, insensible, invulnerable, immutable, inexorable, irresistible, invisible, inflexible and irrevocable!...

TYLTYL

All right, all right, what I said was merely....

THE FAIRY

(_Aside, to_ TYLTYL.) Be quiet, you will only vex him and he will get out of hand.... It is probably being so close to Light that has upset him; they never did agree.... (_Aloud_.) Come, children, it's time.... Put on your hat, Tyltyl, and turn the sapphire; we shall see what happens: sometimes it works upon people's hearts, sometimes on their minds, sometimes on the objects around them and often on all three; one cannot tell before-hand....

(_He turns the sapphire. The closet brightens with a blue and supernatural light which gives beauty and life to everything in the room; the accessories of Mother Goose seem to wake up: the spindle revolves madly and unreels threads of gold and crystal; the pumpkin swells, sways from side to side and lights up; the Blue Bird bursts into song; the snake-tub bubbles and pours forth fruits and flowers; the moon-coloured and sun-coloured dresses wave and glitter; the columns and aisles gleam with precious stones. But the group of_ GIRLS _especially undergoes a radical and wonderful transformation: their features relax, their eyes open wider, smiles blossom on their lips, their frocks become gay and splendid, innocence, gladness, kindness and beauty bloom once more; and_ TYLTYL, _in an ecstasy, clapping his hands, intoxicated with delight, rushes into the midst of them, giving and receiving kisses and not knowing which of them to listen to_.)

TYLTYL

They're themselves again, they're themselves again!... How lovely they are, how lovely they are!... Jalline, Milette my darling, Aimette, Belline darling, Rosarelle, Roselle!... They are all as they were before and I love every one of them!... Let us kiss again, again, again!... Oh, let us kiss for ever!...

(_At this moment_, THE VEILED GIRL, _who has played no part in the transfiguration or in the general ecstasy, staggers in her corner and, without uttering a sound, falls suddenly and unresistingly, like a statue, and lies motionless, stretched on the floor. Silence, terror and consternation, followed by cries and bustle_; THE GIRLS _rush to her assistance and gather eagerly round her_.)

ROSELLE

(_Lifting her up_.) Help me, somebody!

ROSARELLE

She isn't hurt, is she?

ROSELLE

(_Examining her anxiously_.) No, no, I can't see anything.

AIMETTE

(_Stroking her forehead_.) She's breathing, she's sighing.

ROSARELLE

(_Kissing her_.) She has only fainted.... Tell us what you feel.... You're not in pain, dear, are you?

MILETTE

She doesn't answer.

JALLINE

(_Taking one of her hands and stroking it_.) Perhaps she's hungry.

MILETTE

(_Stroking the other hand_.) No, can't you feel? She's cold.

JALLINE

Will you have my cloak?

ROSELLE

No, no, it's not that.... What she wants is a drop of brandy.... I haven't my bottle.... And don't all crowd round her, she's suffocating. She wants air!...

ROSARELLE

(_Supporting her head_.) Have you some water there?... We ought to send for a doctor....

BELLINE

She's as white as marble.... She might be dead....

ROSARELLE

No, no, she's coming to.... I can hear her heart beating....

THE FAIRY

(_Intervening_.) Come, come, it's nothing.... I have practised medicine longer than men have and know a little more about it. Do not be uneasy; there is nothing to fear; I will undertake to cure her.... But we are wasting precious time, the night is passing and we shall get nothing done.... (_To_ THE GIRLS.) Come, dears, go and dress yourselves; your cloaks are waiting for you and everything is ready. Just follow Light; she will advise you.... We will meet in the great ballroom of the palace.... (THE GIRLS _go out, preceded by_ LIGHT. _To_ DESTINY.) You too, Destiny, follow Light; you want another costume. You can't go as you are. One must not be conspicuous, especially at this moment.... (DESTINY _obeys, grudgingly_.) I don't quite know how to dress the fellow. However, Light will think of something: she has more imagination than I.... Let's see to the little patient. She's better.... (_Helping her to rise_.) There, there.... Sit down on this bench.... No?... You prefer to stand up?... As you please: in that case, lean against the column, for the walls will soon disappear.... Now that we are alone, Tyltyl, will you tell me at last, between ourselves, who that girl is?...

TYLTYL

But, ma'am, I don't know at all....

THE FAIRY

You must make an effort.... She can't live unless you remember who she is.... It's a great responsibility.

TYLTYL

But it's not my fault.... I've done what I could; I can't make it out.

THE FAIRY

So much the worse for you. I can't understand it either.... Come, get dressed. Here's the little jacket which Light brought you.... And now, with one stroke of the wand, we will enter the ballroom and see what your little friends have made of themselves. (_She touches the panels of the closet, which disappear_.)