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THE LIME-TREE I do not remember ever having seen them....
THE POPLAR Oh, yes, you must have!... You know all the men; you're always hanging about their houses....
THE LIME-TREE (_examining the_ CHILDREN) No, I a.s.sure you.... I don't know them.... They are too young still.... I only know the lovers who come to see me by moonlight and the topers who drink their beer under my branches....
THE CHESTNUT-TREE (_affectedly adjusting his eyegla.s.s_) Who are these?... Are they poor people from the country?...
THE POPLAR Oh, as for you, Mr. Chestnut-Tree, ever since you have refused to show yourself except in the streets of the big towns...
THE WILLOW (_hobbling along in a pair of wooden shoes_) Oh dear, oh dear!... They have come to cut off my head and arms again for f.a.gots!...
THE POPLAR Silence!... Here is the Oak leaving his palace!... He looks far from well this evening.... Don't you think he is growing very old?... What can his age be?... The Fir-tree says he is four thousand; but I am sure that he exaggerates.... Listen; he will tell us all about it....
(_The_ OAK _comes slowly forward. He is fabulously old, crowned with mistletoe and clad in a long green gown edged with moss and lichen. He is blind; his white beard streams in the wind. He leans with one hand on a knotty stick and with the other on a young_ OAKLING, _who serves as his guide. The Blue Bird is perched on his shoulder. At his approach, the other trees draw themselves up in a row and bow respectfully_.)
TYLTYL He has the Blue Bird!... Quick! Quick!... Here!... Give it to me!...
THE TREES Silence!...
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 s.e.xes, 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 Berylune'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 a.s.sume 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 c.o.c.k, the Goat, the a.s.s, 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 pa.s.sion....
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 s.n.a.t.c.h 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?...
THE DOG (_prowling round the_ OAK _and showing his fangs_) Do you see my teeth, you old cripple?...
THE BEECH (_indignantly_) He is insulting the Oak!...
THE OAK Is that the Dog?... Drive him out! We must suffer no traitors among us!...
THE CAT (_aside, to_ TYLTYL) Send the Dog away.... It's a misunderstanding.... Leave it to me; I will arrange things.... But send him away as quick as you can....
TYLTYL (_to the_ DOG) Will you be off!...
THE DOG Do let me worry the gouty old beggar's moss slippers!.... It will be such a joke!...
TYLTYL Hold your tongue!... And be off with you!... Be off, you ugly brute!...
THE DOG All right, all right, I'm going.... I'll come back when you want me....
THE CAT (_aside, to_ TYLTYL) It would be a good thing to chain him up, or he will commit some folly; the Trees will be angry and all will end badly....
TYLTYL What can I do?... I have lost his leash....
THE CAT Here's the Ivy just coming along with strong bonds....
THE DOG (_growling_) I'll come back, I'll come back!... Ugh! Goutytoes! Timbertoes!... Pack of old stunted growths, pack of old roots!... It's the Cat who's at the bottom of all this!... I'll be even with him!... What have you been whispering about, you sneak, you tiger, you Judas!... Wow, wow, wow!....
THE CAT You see, he insults everybody....
TYLTYL Yes, he is unbearable and one can't hear one's self speak.... Mr. Ivy, will you chain him up, please?...
THE IVY (_timorously going up to the_ DOG) Won't he bite?...
THE DOG (_growling_) On the contrary, on the contrary!... He's going to kiss you!... Just wait and see!... Come along, come along, you old ball of twine, you!...
TYLTYL (_threatening him with his stick_) Tylo!...
THE DOG (_cringing at_ TYLTYL'S _feet and wagging his tail_) What am I to do, my little G.o.d?
TYLTYL Lie down flat!... Obey the Ivy.... Let him bind you, or....
THE DOG (_growling between his teeth, while the_ IVY _binds him_) Ball of twine I... Hunk of yarn!... Hangman's rope I... Calves' leash!...
Look, my little G.o.d I ... He's cutting my paws!... He's choking me!...
TYLTYL I don't care!... It's your own fault.... Hold your tongue; be quiet; you're unbearable!...
