A Fairy Play in Six Acts

by
Maurice Maeterlinck

Translated by Alexander Teixeira De Mattos

CHARACTERS

TYLTYL
MYTYL
LIGHT
THE FAIRY BÉRYLUNE
NEIGHBOUR BERLINGOT
DADDY TYL
MUMMY TYL
GAFFER TYL (Dead)
GRANNY TYL (Dead)
TYLTYL’S BROTHERS AND SISTERS (Dead)
TIME
NIGHT
NEIGHBOUR BERLINGOT’S LITTLE DAUGHTER
TYLÔ, THE DOG
TYLETTE, THE CAT
BREAD
SUGAR
FIRE
WATER
MILK
THE WOLF
THE PIG
THE OX
THE COW
THE BULL
THE SHEEP
THE COCK
THE RABBIT
THE HORSE
THE ASS
THE OAK
THE ELM
THE BEECH
THE LIME-TREE
THE FIR-TREE
THE CYPRESS
THE BIRCH
THE CHESTNUT-TREE
THE IVY
THE POPLAR
THE WILLOW
STARS, SICKNESSES, SHADES, LUXURIES, HAPPINESSES, JOYS, ETC.

Translator’s Note

A new act appears for the first time in this edition and is inserted as Act IV — Palace of Happiness. It has been specially written for the Christmas revival of The Blue Bird at the Haymarket Theatre, where it will take the place of the Forest Scene (Act III., Scene 2). In the printed version, however, the Forest Scene is retained; and in this and all later editions the play will consist of six acts instead of five.

ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS. CHELSEA, 14 November, 1910.

Costumes

TYLTYL wears the dress of Hop o’ my Thumb in Perrault’s Tales. Scarlet knickerbockers, pale-blue jacket, white stockings, tan shoes.

MYTYL is dressed like Gretel or Little Red Riding-hood.

LIGHT. — The “moon-coloured” dress in Perrault’s Peau d’âne; that is to say, pale gold shot with silver, shimmering gauzes, forming a sort of rays, etc. Neo-Grecian or Anglo-Grecian (à la Walter Crane) or even more or less Empire style: a high waist, bare arms, etc. Head-dress: a sort of diadem or even a light crown.

THE FAIRY BÉRYLUNE and NEIGHBOUR BERLINGOT. — The traditional dress of the poor women in fairy-tales. If desired, the transformation of the Fairy into a princess in Act I may be omitted.

DADDY TYL, MUMMY TYL, GAFFER TYL and GRANNY TYL. — The traditional costume of the German wood-cutters and peasants in Grimm’s Tales.

TYLTYL’S BROTHERS AND SISTERS. — Different forms of the Hop-o’-my-Thumb costume.

TIME. — Traditional dress of Time: a wide black or dark-blue cloak, a streaming white beard, scythe and hour-glass.

NIGHT. — Ample black garments, covered with mysterious stars and “shot” with reddish-brown reflections. Veils, dark poppies, etc.

THE NEIGHBOUR’S LITTLE GIRL. — Bright fair hair; a long white frock.

THE DOG, — Red dress-coat, white breeches, top-boots, a shiny hat. The costume suggests that of John Bull.

THE CAT. — The costume of Puss In Boots: powdered wig, three-cornered hat, violet or sky-blue coat, dress-sword, etc.

N.B. — The heads of the DOG and the CAT should be only discreetly animalised.

THE LUXURIES. — Before the transformation: wide, heavy mantles in red and yellow brocade; enormous fat jewels, etc. After the transformation: chocolate or coffee-coloured tights, giving the impression of unadorned dancing-jacks.

THE HAPPINESSES OF THE HOME.— Dresses of various colours, or, if preferred, costumes of peasants, shepherds, wood-cutters and so on, but idealised and interpreted fairy-fashion.

THE GREAT JOYS. — As stated in the text, shimmering dresses in soft and subtle shades: rose-awakening, water’s-smile, amber-dew, blue-of-dawn, etc.

MATERNAL LOVE. — Dress very similar to the dress worn by Light, that is to say, supple and almost transparent veils, as of a Greek statue, and, in so far as possible, white. Pearls and other stones as rich and numerous as may be desired, provided that they do not break the pure and candid harmony of the whole.

BREAD. — A rich pasha’s dress. An ample crimson silk or velvet gown. A huge turban. A scimitar. An enormous stomach, red and puffed-out cheeks.

SUGAR. — A silk gown, cut like that of a eunuch in a seraglio, half blue and half white, to suggest the paper wrapper of a sugar-loaf. Eunuch’s headdress.

FIRE. — Red tights, a vermilion cloak, with changing reflections, lined with gold. An aigrette of iridescent flames.

WATER. — A pale-blue or bluish-green dress, with transparent reflections and effects of rippling or trickling gauze, Neo-Grecian or Anglo-Grecian style. but fuller and more voluminous than that of LIGHT. Head-dress of aquatic flowers and seaweed.

THE ANIMALS. — Popular or peasant costumes.

THE TREES. — Dresses of different shades of green or the colour of the trunks of trees. Distinctive attributes in the shape of leaves or branches by which they can be recognised.

Act I
The Wood-Cutter’s Cottage

The stage represents the interior of a wood-cutter’s cottage, 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. On a table, a lighted lamp. At the foot of the cupboard, on either side, a DOG and a CAT lie sleeping, rolled up, each with his nose in his tail. Between them stands a large blue-and-white sugar-loaf. On the wall hangs a round cage containing a turtle-dove. At the back, two windows, with closed inside shutters. Under one of the windows, a stool. On the left is the front door, with a big latch to it. On the right, another door. A ladder leads up to a loft. On the right also are two little children’s cots, at the head of which are two chains, with clothes carefully folded on them. When the curtain rises, TYLTYL and MYTYL are sound asleep in their cots, MUMMY TYL tucks them in, leans over them, watches them for a moment as they sleep and beckons to DADDY TYL, who thrusts his head through the half-open door. MUMMY TYL lays a finger on her lips, to impose silence upon him, and then goes out to the right, on tiptoe, after first putting out the lamp. The scene remains in darkness for a moment. Then a light, gradually increasing in intensity, filters in through the shutters. The lamp on the table lights again of itself, but its light is of a different colour than when MUMMY TYL extinguished it. The two CHILDREN appear to wake and sit up in bed.

TYLTYL Mytyl?

MYTYL Tyltyl?

TYLTYL Are you asleep?

MYTYL Are you?...

TYLTYL No; how can I be asleep when I’m talking to you?

MYTYL Say, is this Christmas Day?...

TYLTYL Not yet; not till to-morrow. But Father Christmas won’t bring us anything this year....

MYTYL Why not?

TYLTYL I heard mummy say that she couldn’t go to town to tell him ... But he will come next year....

MYTYL Is next year far off?...

TYLTYL A good long while.... But he will come to the rich children to-night....

MYTYL Really?...

TYLTYL Hullo!... Mummy’s forgotten to put out the lamp!... I’ve an idea!...

MYTYL What?...

TYLTYL Let’s get up....

MYTYL But we mustn’t....

TYLTYL Why, there’s no one about.... Do you see the shutters?...

MYTYL Oh, how bright they are!...

TYLTYL It’s the lights of the party.

MYTYL What party?...

TYLTYL The rich children opposite. It’s the Christmas-tree. Let’s open the shutters....