TYLTYL (_going up to her, wonderstruck_) Oh, how like Light she is!...
TYLTYL Yes, indeed!... But she will grow bigger....
THE NEIGHBOUR What are they saying?... Haven't they got over it yet?...
MUMMY TYL They are better, they are mending.... It will be all right when they have had their breakfasts....
THE NEIGHBOUR (_pushing the_ LITTLE GIRL _into_ TYLTYL'S _arms_). Come along, child, come and thank Tyltyl....
(TYLTYL, _suddenly frightened, takes a step back_.)
MUMMY TYL Well, Tyltyl, what's the matter?.... Are you afraid of the little girl?... Come, give her a kiss, a good big kiss.... No, a better one than that.... You're not so shy as a rule!... Another one!... But what's the matter with you?... You look as if you were going to cry....
(TYLTYL, _after kissing the_ LITTLE GIRL _rather awkwardly, stands before her for a moment and the two children look at each other without speaking; then_ TYLTYL _strokes the dove's head_.)
THE LITTLE GIRL Yes, I am so pleased with him....
TYLTYL I have seen bluer ones.... But those which are quite blue, you know, do what you will, you can't catch them....
THE LITTLE GIRL That doesn't matter; he's lovely....
THE LITTLE GIRL Not yet.... What does he eat?...
TYLTYL Anything: corn, bread, Indian corn, grasshoppers....
TYLTYL With his beak. You'll see, I will show you....
(_He moves in order to take the bird from the_ LITTLE GIRL'S _hands. She resists instinctively; and, taking advantage of the hesitation of their movements, the_ DOVE _escapes and flies away_.)
THE LITTLE GIRL (_with a cry of despair_) Mother!... He is gone!... (_She bursts into sobs_.)
TYLTYL Never mind.... Don't cry.... I will catch him again.... (_Stepping to the front of the stage and addressing the audience_.) If any of you should find him, would you be so very kind as to give him back to us?... We need him for our happiness, later on....
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Blue Bird: A Fairy Play in Six Acts, by Maurice Maeterlinck