The Betrothal Part 1

The Betrothal.

by Maurice Maeterlinck.

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

(_Behind the door._) Don't trouble, don't trouble!... It's only me!...

How do you do? (_The door has opened of its own accord and_ THE FAIRY BeRYLUNE _enters under the guise of an old woman, as in the first scene of the Blue Bird. At the same time the room is filled with a strange brightness, which remains after the door is closed again_.)

TYLTYL

(_In surprise_.) Who are you?

THE FAIRY

Don't you know me? Why, Tyltyl, it's hardly seven years since we said good-bye to each other!

TYLTYL

(_Bewildered and vainly searching his memory_.) Yes, yes, I remember ...

and I know what you mean....

THE FAIRY

Yes, but you don't quite grasp who I am and you don't remember anything at all. You haven't changed, I see: just the same careless, ungrateful, wool-gathering little fellow that you always were!... But you have grown taller and stronger, my lad, and quite handsome! If I were not a fairy, I should never have known you! Yes, really quite handsome!... But are you aware of it? It doesn't seem to have occurred to you!

TYLTYL

We only had one tiny looking-gla.s.s in the house, about as big as your hand. Mytyl took it and keeps it in her room.

THE FAIRY

So Mytyl has a room of her own now?

TYLTYL

Yes, she sleeps next door, under the stairs, and I here, in the kitchen.

Shall I wake her?

THE FAIRY

(_Growing suddenly and unreasonably angry, as on her former visit_.) There's no need to do anything of the sort!... I have nothing to do with her; her hour has not struck; and, when it does I shall be quite capable of finding her, without being shown the way as though I were blind!...

In the meantime, I want n.o.body's advice....

TYLTYL

(_In dismay_.) But ma'am, I didn't know....

THE FAIRY

That will do.... (_Recovering her temper as suddenly as she lost it_.) By the way, how old are you?

TYLTYL

I shall be sixteen a fortnight after Epiphany.

THE FAIRY

(_Growing angry again_.) A fortnight after Epiphany!... What a way of reckoning!... And here am I without my almanack, having left it with Destiny last time I called on him, fifty years ago!... I don't know where I stand.... However, never mind: I'll make the calculation when we see him, for we shall have to get it exactly right.... And what have you been doing these seven years since we met?

TYLTYL

I have been working in the forest with daddy.

THE FAIRY

That means you've been helping him cut down trees. I don't like that very much. You call that working, do you? Ah, well, men evidently can't live without destroying the last things of beauty that remain on the earth!... So let's talk of something else.... (_Mysteriously_.) Can any one hear us?

TYLTYL

I don't think so.

THE FAIRY

(_Growing angry once more_.) It doesn't matter what you think, but whether you're sure. What I have to say is tremendously important ...

and strictly private. Come here, quite close, so that I can whisper it.... Whom are you in love with?

TYLTYL

(_In amazement_.) Whom am I in love with?