The Blue Bird for Children Page 13

  CHAPTER X

  THE AWAKENING

  The grandfather's clock in Tyl the woodcutter's cottage had struckeight; and his two little Children, Tyltyl and Mytyl, were stillasleep in their little beds. Mummy Tyl stood looking at them, with herarms akimbo and her apron tucked up, laughing and scolding in the samebreath:

  "I can't let them go on sleeping till mid-day," she said. "Come, getup, you little lazybones!"

  But it was no use shaking them, kissing them or pulling thebed-clothes off them: they kept on falling back upon their pillows,with their noses pointing at the ceiling, their mouths wide open,their eyes shut and their cheeks all pink.

  At last, after receiving a gentle thump in the ribs, Tyltyl opened oneeye and murmured:

  "What?... Light?... Where are you?... No, no, don't go away...."

  "Light!" cried Mummy Tyl, laughing. "Why, of course, it's light....Has been for ever so long!... What's the matter with you?... You lookquite blinded...."

  "Mummy!... Mummy!" said Tyltyl, rubbing his eyes. "It's you!..."

  "Why, of course, it's I!... Why do you stare at me in that way?... Ismy nose turned upside down, by any chance?"

  Tyltyl was quite awake by this time and did not trouble to answer thequestion. He was beside himself with delight! It was ages and agessince he had seen his Mummy and he never tired of kissing her.

  Mummy Tyl began to be uneasy. What could the matter be? Had her boylost his senses? Here he was suddenly talking of a long journey in thecompany of the Fairy and Water and Milk and Sugar and Fire and Breadand Light! He made believe that he had been away a year!...

  "But you haven't left the room!" cried Mummy Tyl, who was now nearlybeside herself with fright. "I put you to bed last night and here youare this morning! It's Christmas Day: don't you hear the bells in thevillage?..."

  "Of course, it's Christmas Day," said Tyltyl, obstinately, "seeingthat I went away a year ago, on Christmas Eve!... You're not angrywith me?... Did you feel very sad?... And what did Daddy say?..."

  "Come, you're still asleep!" said Mummy Tyl, trying to take comfort."You've been dreaming!... Get up and put on your breeches and yourlittle jacket...."

  "Hullo, I've got my shirt on!" said Tyltyl.

  And, leaping up, he knelt down on the bed and began to dress, whilehis mother kept on looking at him with a scared face.

  The little boy rattled on:

  "Ask Mytyl, if you don't believe me.... Oh, we have had suchadventures!... We saw Grandad and Granny ... yes, in the Land ofMemory ... it was on our way. They are dead, but they are quite well,aren't they, Mytyl?"

  And Mytyl, who was now beginning to wake up, joined her brother indescribing their visit to the grandparents and the fun which they hadhad with their little brothers and sisters.

  This was too much for Mummy Tyl. She ran to the door of the cottageand called with all her might to her husband, who was working on theedge of the forest:

  "Oh, dear, oh, dear!" she cried. "I shall lose them as I lost theothers!... Do come!... Come quick...."

  Daddy Tyl soon entered the cottage, with his axe in his hand; helistened to his wife's lamentations, while the two Children told thestory of their adventures over again and asked him what he had doneduring the year.

  "You see, you see!" said Mummy Tyl, crying. "They have lost theirheads, something will happen to them; run and fetch the doctor...."

  But the woodcutter was not the man to put himself out for such atrifle. He kissed the little ones, calmly lit his pipe and declaredthat they looked very well and that there was no hurry.

  At that moment, there came a knock at the door and the neighbourwalked in. She was a little old woman leaning on a stick and very muchlike the Fairy Berylune. The Children at once flung their arms aroundher neck and capered round her, shouting merrily:

  "It's the Fairy Berylune!"

  The neighbour, who was a little hard of hearing, paid no attention totheir cries and said to Mummy Tyl:

  "I have come to ask for a bit of fire for my Christmas stew.... It'svery chilly this morning.... Good-morning, children...."

  Meanwhile, Tyltyl had become a little thoughtful. No doubt, he wasglad to see the old Fairy again; but what would she say when she heardthat he had not the Blue Bird? He made up his mind like a man andwent up to her boldly:

  "Fairy Berylune, I could not find the Blue Bird...."

  "What is he saying?" asked the neighbor, quite taken aback.

  Thereupon Mummy Tyl began to fret again:

  "Come, Tyltyl, don't you know Goody Berlingot?"

  "Why, yes, of course," said Tyltyl, looking the neighbor up and down."It's the Fairy Berylune."

  "Bery ... what?" asked the neighbor.

  "Berylune," answered Tyltyl, calmly.

  "Berlingot," said the neighbor. "You mean Berlingot."

  Tyltyl was a little put out by her positive way of talking; and heanswered:

  "Berylune or Berlingot, as you please, ma'am, but I know what I'msaying...."

  Daddy Tyl was beginning to have enough of it:

  "We must put a stop to this," he said. "I will give them a smack ortwo."

  "Don't," said the neighbor; "it's not worth while. It's only a littlefit of dreaming; they must have been sleeping in the moonbeams.... Mylittle girl, who is very ill, is often like that...."

  Mummy Tyl put aside her own anxiety for a moment and asked after thehealth of Neighbor Berlingot's little girl.

  "She's only so-so," said the neighbor, shaking her head. "She can'tget up.... The doctor says it's her nerves.... I know what would cureher, for all that. She was asking me for it only this morning, for herChristmas present...."

  She hesitated a little, looked at Tyltyl with a sigh and added, in adisheartened tone:

  "What can I do? It's a fancy she has...."

  The others looked at one another in silence: they knew what theneighbor's words meant. Her little girl had long been saying that shewould get well if Tyltyl would only give her his dove; but he was sofond of it that he refused to part with it....

  "Well," said Mummy Tyl to her son, "won't you give your bird to thatpoor little thing? She has been dying to have it for ever so long!..."

  "My bird!" cried Tyltyl, slapping his forehead as though they hadspoken of something quite out of the way. "My bird!" he repeated."That's true, I was forgetting about him!... And the cage!... Mytyl,do you see the cage?... It's the one which Bread carried.... Yes, yes,it's the same one, there it is, there it is!"

  "It's the Blue Bird we were looking for! We have beenmiles and miles and miles and he was here all the time!"]

  Tyltyl would not believe his eyes. He took a chair, put it under thecage and climbed on to it gaily, saying:

  "Of course, I'll give him to her, of course, I will!..."

  Then he stopped, in amazement:

  "Why, he's blue!" he said. "It's my dove, just the same, but he hasturned blue while I was away!"

  And our hero jumped down from the chair and began to skip for joy,crying:

  "It's the Blue Bird we were looking for! We have been miles and milesand miles and he was here all the time!... He was here, at home!...Oh, but how wonderful!... Mytyl, do you see the bird? What would Lightsay?... There, Madame Berlingot, take him quickly to your littlegirl...."

  While he was talking, Mummy Tyl threw herself into her husband's armsand moaned:

  "You see?... You see?... He's taken bad again.... He's wandering...."

  Meantime, Neighbor Berlingot beamed all over her face, clasped herhands together and mumbled her thanks. When Tyltyl gave her the bird,she could hardly believe her eyes. She hugged the boy in her arms andwept with joy and gratitude:

  "Do you give it me?" she kept saying. "Do you give it me like that,straight away and for nothing?... Goodness, how happy she will be!...I fly, I fly!... I will come back to tell you what she says...."

  "Yes, yes, go quickly," said Tyltyl, "for some of them change theircolor!"

  Neighbour Berlingot ran out and Tyltyl shut the door after
her. Thenhe turned round on the threshold, looked at the walls of the cottage,looked all around him and seemed wonderstruck:

  "Daddy, Mummy, what have you done to the house?" he asked. "It's justas it was, but it's much prettier."

  His parents looked at each other in bewilderment; and the little boywent on:

  "Why, yes, everything has been painted and made to look like new;everything is clean and polished.... And look at the forest outsidethe window!... How big and fine it is!... One would think it was quitenew!... How happy I feel here, oh, how happy I feel!"

  The worthy woodcutter and his wife could not make out what was comingover their son; but you, my dear little readers, who have followedTyltyl and Mytyl through their beautiful dream, will have guessed whatit was that altered everything in our young hero's view.

  It was not for nothing that the Fairy, in his dream, had given him atalisman to open his eyes. He had learned to see the beauty of thingsaround him; he had passed through trials that had developed hiscourage; while pursuing the Blue Bird, the Bird of Happiness that wasto bring happiness to the Fairy's little girl, he had becomeopen-handed and so good-natured that the mere thought of givingpleasure to others filled his heart with joy. And, while travellingthrough endless, wonderful, imaginary regions, his mind had opened outto life.

  The boy was right, when he thought everything more beautiful, for, tohis richer and purer understanding, everything must needs seeminfinitely fairer than before.

  Meanwhile, Tyltyl continued his joyful inspection of the cottage. Heleaned over the bread-pan to speak a kind word to the Loaves; herushed at Tylo, who was sleeping in his basket, and congratulated himon the good fight which he had made in the forest.

  Mytyl stooped down to stroke Tylette, who was snoozing by the stove,and said:

  "Well, Tylette?... You know me, I see, but you have stopped talking."

  Then Tyltyl put his hand up to his forehead:

  "Hullo!" he cried. "The diamond's gone!... Who's taken my little greenhat?... Never mind, I don't want it any more!... Ah, there's Fire!Good-morning, sir! He'll be crackling to make Water angry!" He ran tothe tap, turned it on and bent down over the water. "Good-morning,Water, good-morning!... What does she say?... She still talks, but Idon't understand her as well as I did.... Oh, how happy I am, howhappy I am!..."

  "So am I, so am I!" cried Mytyl.

  And our two young friends took each other's hands and began to scamperround the kitchen.

  Mummy Tyl felt a little relieved at seeing them so full of life andspirits. Besides, Daddy Tyl was so calm and placid. He sat eating hisporridge and laughing:

  "You see, they are _playing_ at being happy!" he said.

  Of course, the poor dear man did not know that a wonderful dream hadtaught his little children not to play at being happy, but to _be_happy, which is the greatest and most difficult of lessons.

  "I like Light best of all," said Tyltyl to Mytyl, standing on tip-toeby the window. "You can see her over there, through the trees of theforest. To-night, she will be in the lamp. Dear, oh, dear, how lovelyit all is and how glad I feel, how glad I...."

  He stopped and listened. Everybody lent an ear. They heard laughterand merry voices; and the sounds came nearer.

  "It's her voice!" cried Tyltyl. "Let me open the door!"

  As a matter of fact, it was the little girl, with her mother, NeighborBerlingot.

  "Look at her," said Goody Berlingot, quite overcome with joy. "She canrun, she can dance, she can fly! It's a miracle! When she saw thebird, she jumped, just like that...."

  And Goody Berlingot hopped from one leg to the other at the risk offalling and breaking her long, hooked nose.

  The Children clapped their hands and everybody laughed.

  The little girl was there, in her long white night-dress, standing inthe middle of the kitchen, a little surprised to find herself on herfeet after so many months' illness. She smiled and pressed Tyltyl'sdove to her heart.

  Tyltyl looked first at the child and then at Mytyl:

  "Don't you think she's very like Light?" he asked.

  "She is much smaller," said Mytyl.

  "Yes, indeed!" said Tyltyl. "But she will grow!..."

  And the three Children tried to put a little food down the Bird'sbeak, while the parents began to feel easier in their minds and lookedat them and smiled.

  Tyltyl was radiant. I will not conceal from you, my dear littlereaders, that the Dove had hardly changed colour at all and that itwas joy and happiness that decked him with a magnificent bright blueplumage in our hero's eyes. No matter! Tyltyl, without knowing it, haddiscovered Light's great secret, which is _that we draw nearer tohappiness by trying to give it to others_.

  But now something happened. Everybody became excited, the Childrenscreamed, the parents threw up their arms and rushed to the open door:the Bird had suddenly escaped! He was flying away as fast as he could.

  "My bird! My bird!" sobbed the little girl.

  But Tyltyl was the first to run to the staircase and he returned intriumph:

  "It's all right!" he said. "Don't cry! He is still in the house and weshall find him again."

  And he gave a kiss to the little girl, who was already smiling throughher tears:

  "You'll be sure to catch him again, won't you?" she asked.

  "Trust me," replied our friend, confidentially. "I now know where heis."

  You also, my dear little readers, now know where the Blue Bird is.Dear Light revealed nothing to the woodcutter's Children, but sheshowed them the road to happiness by teaching them to be good and kindand generous.

  Suppose that, at the beginning of this story, she had said to them:

  "Go straight back home. The Blue Bird is there, in the humble cottage,in the wicker cage, with your dear father and mother who love you."

  The Children would never have believed her:

  "What!" Tyltyl would have answered. "The Blue Bird, my dove? Nonsense:my dove is grey!... Happiness, in the cottage? With Daddy and Mummy?Oh, I say! There are no toys at home and it's awfully boring there: wewant to go ever so far and meet with tremendous adventures and haveall sorts of fun...."

  That is what he would have said; and he and Mytyl would have set outin spite of everything, without listening to Light's advice, for themost certain truths are good for nothing if we do not put them to thetest ourselves. It only takes a moment to tell a child all the wisdomin the world, but our whole lives are not long enough to help usunderstand it, because our own experience is our only light.

  Each of us must seek out happiness for himself; and he has to takeendless pains and undergo many a cruel disappointment before he learnsto become happy by appreciating the simple and perfect pleasures thatare always within easy reach of his mind and heart.

  THE END