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When he suddenly found himself attacked by cold inthe head, he would have had to fly from thepalace, but for the timely aid of our dear Tylo,who ran after the little minx and drove her backto her cavern, amidst the laughter of Tylo and Midle, who thought gleefully that, so far, the trialhad not been very terrible.
The boy, therefore, ran to the next door withstill greater courage.
Take care, cried Knight, in a dreadful voice. It'sthe wars. They are more powerful than ever. I daren't think what would happen, if one of thembroke loose. Stand ready, all of you, to push backthe door.
Knight had not finished uttering her warnings,when the plucky little fellow repented his rashness.
He tried in vain to shut the door which he hadopened, and invincible force was pushing it fromthe other side, streams of blood flowed throughthe cracks, flames shot forth, shouts, oaths andgroans mingled with the roar of cannon and the rattle of musketry.
Everybody in the palace of Knight was runningabout in wild confusion. Bread and Sugar tried totake to flight, but could not find the way out,and they now came back to Tylo and put theirshoulders to the door with despairing force.
The cat pretended to be anxious, while secretlyrejoicing. This may be the end of it, she said,curling her whiskers. They won't dare to go onafter this.
Dear Tylo made superhuman efforts to help hislittle master, while Mytle stood crying in acorner. At last, our hero gave a shout of triumph.Hurrah! They're giving way! Victory! Victory! Thedoor is shut.
At the same time, he dropped on the steps, utterlyexhausted, dabbing his forehead with his poorlittle hands which shook with terror.
Well? asked Knight, harshly. Have you had enough?Did you see them?
Yes, yes! replied the little fellow, sobbing. Theyare hideous and awful. I don't think they have ablue bird.
You may be sure they haven't, answered Knight, angrily. If they had, they would eat him at once. Yousee there is nothing to be done.
Tylo drew himself up proudly. I must seeeverything, he declared. Light said so. It's aneasy thing to say, retorted Knight, when one'safraid and stays at home.
Let us go to the next door, said Tylo, resolutely.What's in here? This is where I keep the shadesand the terrors. Tylo reflected for a minute.
As far as shades go, he thought, Mrs. Knight ispoking fun at me. It's more than an hour since I've seen anything but shade in this house of hers,and I shall be very glad to see daylight again.
03:06
As for the terrors, if they are anything like theghosts, we shall have another good joke.
Our friend went to the door and opened it, beforehis companions had time to protest. For thatmatter, they were all sitting on the floor,exhausted with the last fright, and they looked atone another in astonishment, glad to findthemselves alive after such a scare.
Meanwhile, Tylo threw back the door and nothingcame out. There's no one there, he said.
Yes, there is. Yes, there is. Look out, saidKnight, who was still shamming fright.
She was simply furious. She had hoped to make agreat impression with her terrors, and, lo andbehold, the wretches, who had so long been snubbedby ma'am, were afraid of him.
She encouraged them with kind words and succeededin coaxing out a few tall figures covered withgray veils.
They began to run all around the hall until,hearing the children laugh, they were seized withfear and rushed indoors again.
The attempt had failed, as far as Knight wasconcerned, and the dread hour was about to strike.
Already, Tylo was moving towards the big door atthe end of the hall. A few last words took placebetween them.
Do not open that one, said Knight, in awestrucktones.
Why not?
Because it's not allowed.
Then it's here that the blue bird is hidden.
Go no farther, do not tempt fate, do not open thatdoor.
But why? again asked Tylo, obstinately.
Thereupon, Knight, irritated by his persistency,flew into a rage, hurled the most terrible threatsat him, and ended by saying.
Not one of those who have opened it, were it butby a hair's breadth, has ever returned alive tothe light of day.
It means certain death, and all the horrors, allthe terrors, all the fears of which men speak onearth are as nothing compared with those whichawait you if you insist on touching that door.
Don't do it, master dear, said Bread, withchattering teeth. Don't do it. Take pity on us. Iimplore you on my knees.
You are sacrificing the lives of all of us, mewedthe cat.
I won't. I shan't, sobbed Midal.
Pity! pity! whined Sugar, wringing his fingers.
All of them were weeping and crying, all of themcrowded round Tylo.
Dear Tylo alone, who respected his little master'swishes, dared not speak a word, though he fullybelieved that his last hour had come.
Two big tears rolled down his cheeks, and he licked Tylo's hands in despair.
It was really a most touching scene, and for amoment, our hero hesitated.
His heart beat wildly, his throat was parched withanguish, he tried to speak and could not get out asound, besides, he did not wish to show weaknessin the presence of his hapless companions.
If I have not the strength to fulfill my task, hesaid to himself, who will fulfill it?
If my friends behold my distress, it is all upwith me, they will not let me go through with mymission and I shall never find the blue bird.
06:05
At this thought, the boy's heart leapt within hisbreast and all his generous nature rose inrebellion.
It would never do to be, perhaps, with an arm'slength of happiness and not to try for it, at therisk of dying in the attempt to try for it andhand it over at last to all mankind.
That settled it. Tylo resolved to sacrificehimself.
Like a true hero, he brandished the heavy goldenkey and cried.
I must open the door.
He ran up to the great door, with Tylo panting byhis side.
The poor dog was half dead with fright, but hispride and his devotion to Tylo obliged him to smother his fears.
I shall stay, he said to his master, I'm notafraid. I shall stay with my little god.
In the meantime, all the others had fled.
Bread was crumbling to bits behind a pillar, sugarwas melting in a corner with Midal in his arms,Knight and the cat, both shaking with fury, keptto the far end of the hall.
A wonderful garden lay before him.
A dream garden filled with flowers that shone likestars.
Then Tylo gave Tylo a last kiss, pressed him tohis heart and, with never a tremble, put the keyin the lock.
Yells of terror came from all the corners of thehall, where the runaways had taken shelter, whilethe two leaves of the great door opened by magicin front of our little friend, who was struck downwith admiration and delight.
What an exquisite surprise!
A wonderful garden lay before him, a dream gardenfilled with flowers that shone like stars, waterfalls that came rushing from the sky and treeswhich the moon had clothed in silver.
And then there was something whirling like a bluecloud among the clusters of roses.
Tylo rubbed his eyes, he could not believe hissenses.
He waited, looked again and then dashed into thegarden, shouting like mad.
Come quickly! Come quickly! They are here! We havethem at last! Millions of blue birds! Thousands ofmillions!
Come Midal! Come Tylo! Come, all! Help me! You cancatch them by handfuls!
Reassured at last, his friends came running up andall darted in among the birds, seeing who couldcatch the most.
I've caught seven already, cried Midal. I can'thold them.
Nor can I, said Tyltyl. I have too many of them.They're escaping from my arms. Tylo has some too.
Let us go out, let us go! Light is waiting for us!How pleased she will be! This way, this way!
And they all danced and scampered away in their glee, singing songs of triumph as they went.
Knight and the Cat, who had not shared in thegeneral rejoicing, crept back anxiously to thegreat door, and Knight whimpered.
Haven't they got him?
No, said the Cat, who saw the real blue bird perched high up on a moonbeam. They could not reachhim, he kept too high.
Our friends in all haste ran up the numberlessstairs between them in the daylight.
09:01
Each of them hugged the birds which he hadcaptured, never dreaming that every step whichbrought them nearer to the light was fatal to thepoor things,
so that, by the time they came to the top of thestaircase, they were carrying nothing but deadbirds.
Light was waiting for them anxiously.
Well, have you caught him? she asked.
Yes, yes, said Tyltyl. Lots of them. There arethousands. Look!
As he spoke, he held out the dear birds to her andsaw, to his dismay, that they were nothing morethan lifeless corpses,
their poor little wings were broken and theirheads drooped sadly from their necks.
The boy in his despair turned to his companions.Alas, they too were hugging nothing but deadbirds.
Then Tytyl threw himself sobbing into Light'sarms. Once more, all his hopes were dashed to theground.
Do not cry, my child, said Light. You did notcatch the one that is able to live in broaddaylight. We shall find him yet.
Of course, we shall find him, said Bread andSugar, with one voice.
They were great goobies, both of them, but theywanted to console the boy.
As for friend Tylo, he was so much put out that heforgot his dignity for a moment and, looking atthe dead birds, exclaimed.
Are they good to eat, I wonder?
The party set out to walk back and sleep in theTemple of Light.
It was a melancholy journey—all regretted thepeace of home and felt inclined to blame Tytyl forhis want of caution.
Sugar edged up to Bread and whispered in his ear.
Don't you think, Mr. Chairman, that all thisexcitement is very useless?
And Bread, who felt flattered at receiving so muchattention, answered, pompously.
Never you fear, my dear fellow, I shall put allthis right.
Life would be unbearable if we had to listen toall the whimsies of that little madcap.
Tomorrow, we shall stay in bed.
They forgot that, but for the boy at whom theywere sneering, they would never have been alive atall,
and that, if he had suddenly told Bread that hemust go back to his pan to be eaten and Sugar thathe was to be cut into small lumps to sweeten Daddytyl's coffee and Mummytyl's syrups,
they would have thrown themselves at their benefactors' feet and begged for mercy.
In fact, they were incapable of appreciating theirgood luck until they were brought face to facewith bad,
poor things.
The fairy Beryllune, when making them a present oftheir human life, ought to have thrown in a littlewisdom.
They were not so much to blame.
Of course, they were only following man's example.
Given the power of speaking, they jabbered.
Knowing how to judge, they condemned.
Able to feel, they complained.
They had hearts which increased their sense offear, without adding to their happiness.
As to their brains, which could easily havearranged all the rest, they made so little of themthat they had already grown quite rusty,
and, if you could have opened their heads andlooked at the works of their life inside,
you would have seen the poor brains, which weretheir most precious possession,
jumping about at every movement they made andrattling in their empty skulls like dry peas in apod.
12:04
Fortunately, Light, thanks to her wonderfulinsight, knew all about their state of mind.
She determined, therefore, to employ the elementsand things no more than she was obliged to.
They are useful, she thought, to feed the childrenand amuse them on the way,
but they must have no further share in the trials,because they have neither courage nor conviction.
Meanwhile, the party walked on, the road widenedout and became resplendent,
and, at the end, the Temple of Light stood on acrystal height,
shedding its beams around.
The tired children made the dog carry them pick-a-back by turns,
and they were almost asleep when they reached theshining steps.
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