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The Blue Bird: A Fairy Play in Six Acts, a play by Maurice Maeterlinck |
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Act 5 - Scene 2 |
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_ ACT V - SCENE II SCENE 2.--The Graveyard. [It is night. The moon is shining on a country graveyard.. Numerous tombstones, grassy mounds, wooden crosses, stone slabs, etc. TYLTYL and MYTYL are standing by a short stone pillar.]
TYLTYL (_not too much at his ease_) I am never frightened.... MYTYL I say, are the dead wicked?... TYLTYL Why, no, they're not alive!... MYTYL Have you ever seen one?... TYLTYL Yes, once, long ago, when I was very young.... MYTYL What was it like, say?... TYLTYL Quite white, very still and very cold and it didn't talk.... MYTYL Are we going to see them, say?... TYLTYL Why, of course, Light said so.... MYTYL Where are they?... TYLTYL Here, under the grass or under those big stones.... MYTYL Are they there all the year round?... TYLTYL Yes. MYTYL (_pointing to the slabs_) Are those the doors of their houses?... TYLTYL Yes. MYTYL Do they go out when it's fine?... TYLTYL They can only go out at night.... MYTYL Why?... TYLTYL Because they are in their shirts.... MYTYL Do they go out also when it rains?... TYLTYL When it rains, they stay at home.... MYTYL Is it nice in their homes, say?... TYLTYL They say it's very cramped.... MYTYL Have they any little children?... TYLTYL Why, yes; they have all those that die.... MYTYL And what do they live on?... TYLTYL They eat roots.... MYTYL Shall we see them?... TYLTYL Of course; we see everything when I turn the diamond. MYTYL And what will they say?... TYLTYL They will say nothing, as they don't talk.... MYTYL Why don't they talk?... TYLTYL Because they have nothing to say.... MYTYL Why have they nothing to say?... TYLTYL You're a nuisance.... (A pause) MYTYL When will you turn the diamond? TYLTYL You heard Light say that I was to wait until midnight, because that disturbs them less.... MYTYL Why does that disturb them less?... TYLTYL Because that is when they go out to take the air.... MYTYL Is it not midnight yet?... TYLTYL Do you see the church clock?... MYTYL Yes, I can even see the small hand.... TYLTYL Well, midnight is just going to strike.... There!... Do you hear?... (_The clock strikes twelve_) MYTYL I want to go away!... TYLTYL Not now.... I am going to turn the diamond.... MYTYL No, no!... Don't!... I want to go away!... I am so frightened, little brother!... I am terribly frightened!... TYLTYL But there is no danger.... MYTYL I don't want to see the dead!... I don't want to see them!... TYLTYL Very well, you shall not see them; shut your eyes.... MYTYL (clinging to_ TYLTYL'S clothes) Tyltyl, I can't stay!... No, I can't possibly!... They are going to come out of the ground!... TYLTYL Don't tremble like that.... They will only come out for a moment.... MYTYL But you're trembling, too!... They will be awful!... TYLTYL It is time, the hour is passing.... (TYLTYL turns the diamond. A terrifying minute of silence and motionlessness elapses, after which, slowly, the crosses totter, the mounds open, the slabs rise up....) MYTYL (cowering against TYLTYL) They are coming out!... They are there!... (Then, from all the gaping tombs, there rises gradually an efflorescence at first frail and timid, like steam; then white and virginal and more and more tufty, more and more tall and plentiful and marvellous. Little by little, irresistibly, invading all things, it transforms the graveyard into a sort of fairy-like and nuptial garden, over which rise the first rays of the dawn. The dew glitters, the flowers open their blooms, the wind murmurs in the leaves, the bees hum, the birds wake and flood the air with the first raptures of their hymns to the sun and to life. Stunned and dazzled,_ TYLTYL and MYTYL, holding each other by the hand, take a few steps among the flowers while they seek for the trace of the tombs.) MYTYL (_looking in the grass_) Where are the dead?.... TYLTYL (_looking also_) There are no dead....
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