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Chapter 4. The Palace of Night
Some time after, the children and their friendsmet at the first dawn to go to the Palace ofNight, where they hoped to find the blue bird.
Several of the party failed to answer to theirnames when the roll was called.
Milk, for whom any sort of excitement was bad, waskeeping her room. Water sent an excuse, she was
accustomed always to travel in a bed of moss, wasalready half-dead with fatigue and was afraid of
falling ill. As for Light, she had been on badterms with Night since the world began, and Fire,as a
relation, shared her dislike. Light kissed thechildren and told Tylo the way, for it was his
business to lead the expedition, and the littleband set out upon its road. You can imagine dearTylo trotting
ahead, on his hind legs, like a little man, withhis nose in the air, his tongue dangling down his
chin, his front paws folded across his chest. Hefidgets, sniffs about, runs up and down, covering
twice the ground without minding how tired itmakes him. He is so full of his own importancethat
he disdains the temptations on his path, heneglects the rubbish heaps, pays no attention to
anything he sees and cuts all his old friends.Poor Tylo! He was so delighted to become a man,
and yet he was no happier than before. Of course,life was the same to him, because his nature had
remained unchanged. What was the use of his beinga man, if he continued to feel and think like adog?
In fact, his troubles were increased a hundredfoldby the sense of responsibility that now weighed
upon him. Ah, he said, with a sigh, for he wasjoining blindly in his little God's search,
without for a moment reflecting that the end ofthe journey would mean the end of his life.
Ah, he said, if I got hold of that rascal of ablue bird, trust me, I wouldn't touch him even
with the tip of my tongue, not if he were as plumpand sweet as a quail. Bread followed solemnly,
carrying the cage, the two children came next, andsugar brought up the rear. But where was the
cat? To discover the reason of her absence, wemust go a little way back and read her thoughts.
At the time when Tyla called a meeting of theanimals and things in the fairy's hall,
she was contemplating a great plot which would aimat prolonging the journey,
but she had reckoned without the stupidity of herhearers. The idiots, she thought,
have very nearly spoiled the whole thing byfoolishly throwing themselves at the fairy's feet,
as though they were guilty of a crime. It isbetter to rely upon one's self alone.
In my cat life, all our training is founded onsuspicion,
I can see that it is just the same in the life ofmen. Those who confide in others are only
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betrayed, it is better to keep silent and to betreacherous one's self. The road to the palace
of night? Was rather long and rather dangerous. Asyou see, my dear little readers, the cat was in
the same position as the dog, she had not changedher soul and was simply continuing her former
existence, but, of course, she was very wicked,whereas our dear Tyla was, if anything, too good.
Tyla, therefore, resolved to act on her ownaccount and went, before daybreak, to call on
night, who was an old friend of hers. The road tothe palace of night was rather long and rather
dangerous. It had precipices on either side of it,you had to climb up and climb down and then
climb up again among high rocks that always seemedwaiting to crush the passers-by. At last,
you came to the edge of a dark circle, and thereyou had to go down thousands of steps to reach the
black marble underground palace in which nightlived. The cat, who had often been there before,
raced along the road, light as a feather. Hercloak, borne on the wind, streamed like a banner
behind her, the plume in her hat fluttered gracefully, and her little gray kid boots
hardly touched the ground. She soon reached herdestination and, in a few bounds, came to the
great hall where night was. It was really awonderful sight. Night, stately and grand as a
queen, reclined upon her throne, she slept, andnot a glimmer, not a star twinkled around her.
But we know that the night has no secrets for catsand that their eyes have the power of
piercing the darkness. So Tylet saw night asthough it were broad daylight. Before waking her,
she cast a loving glance at that motherly andfamiliar face. It was white and silvery as the
moon, and its unbending features inspired bothfear and admiration. Night's figure,
which was half visible through her long black veils, was as beautiful as that of a Greek statue.
She had long arms and a pair of enormous wings,now furled in sleep, came from her shoulders to
her feet and gave her a look of majesty beyondcompare. Still, in spite of her affection for her
best of friends, Tylet did not waste too much timein gazing at her, it was a critical moment,
and time was short. Tired and jaded and overcomewith anguish, she sank upon the steps of the
throne and mewed, plaintively. It is I, MotherNight. I am worn out. Night sat up,
all quivering. Her immense wings beat around her,and she questioned.
Tylet in a trembling voice. Night is of an anxiousnature and easily alarmed.
Her beauty, built up of peace and repose, possesses the secret of silence,
which life is constantly disturbing, a starshooting through the sky, a leaf falling to
the ground, the hoot of an owl, a mere nothing isenough to tear the black velvet paw which she
spreads over the earth each evening. The cat,therefore, had not finished speaking, when Night
sat up, all quivering. Her immense wings beataround her, and she questioned Tylet in atrembling
voice. As soon as she had learned the danger thatthreatened her she began to lament her fate.
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What? A man's son coming to her palace? And,perhaps, with the help of the magic diamond,
discovering her secrets. What should she do? Whatwould become of her? How could she defend
herself? And, forgetting that she was sinningagainst silence, her own particular god, Night
began to utter piercing screams. It was true thatfalling into such a commotion was hardly likely
to help her find a cure for her troubles. Luckilyfor her, Tylet, who was accustomed to the
annoyances and worries of human life, was betterarmed. She had worked out her plan when goingahead
of the children, and she was hoping to persuadeNight to adopt it. She explained this plan to her
in a few words. I see only one thing for it,Mother Night, as they are children, we must give
them such a fright that they will not dare toinsist on opening the great door at the back of
the hall, behind which the birds of the moon liveand generally the blue bird too. The secrets of
the other caverns will be sure to scare them. Thehope of our safety lies in the terror which
will make them feel. There was clearly no othercourse to take. But Night had not time to reply,
for she heard a sound. Then her beautiful featurescontracted, her wings spread out angrily,
and everything in her attitude told Tylet thatNight approved of her plan.
Here they are, cried the cat. The little band camemarching down the steps of Night's gloomy
staircase. Tylo pranced bravely in front, whereasTytle looked around him with an anxious glance.
He certainly found nothing to comfort him. It wasall very magnificent, but very terrifying.
Picture a huge and wonderful black marble hall, ofa stern and tomb-like splendor.
There is no ceiling visible, and the ebony pillarsthat surround the amphitheater shoot up
to the sky. It is only when you lift your eyes upthere that you catch the faint light falling
from the stars. Everywhere, the thickest darknessreigns. Two restless flames, no more, flicker on
either side of Night's throne, before a monumentaldoor of brass. Bronze doors show through the
pillars to the right and left. The cat rushed upto the children.
This way, little master, this way. I have toldNight, and she is delighted to see you.
Tylet's soft voice and smile made Tytle feelhimself again, and he walked up to the throne
with a bold and confident step, saying. Good day,Mrs. Night. Night was offended by the word,
good day, which reminded her of her eternal enemyLight, and answered dryly. Good day? I am
not used to that. You might say, good night, or,at least, good evening. Our hero was not prepared
to quarrel. He felt very small in the presence ofthat stately lady. He quickly begged her pardon,
as nicely as he could, and very gently asked herleave to look for the blue bird in her palace.
I have never seen him, he is not here, exclaimedNight, flapping her great wings to frighten
the boy. But, when he insisted and gave no sign offear, she herself began to dread the diamond,
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which, by lighting up her darkness, wouldcompletely destroy her power, and she thought
it better to pretend to yield to an impulse ofgenerosity and at once to point to the big key
that lay on the steps of the throne. Without amoment's hesitation, Tytle seized hold of it and
ran to the first door of the hall. Everybody shookwith fright. Bread's teeth chattered in his
head, Sugar, who was standing some way off, moanedwith mortal anguish, Mytle howled.
Where is Sugar? I want to go home. Meanwhile, Tytle, pale and resolute, was trying to open the
door, while Night's grave voice, rising above thedin, proclaimed the first danger.
It's the ghosts! Oh, dear! thought Tytle. I havenever seen a ghost, it must be awful.
The faithful Tytle, by his side, was panting withall his might, for dogs hate anything uncanny.
At last, the key grated in the lock. Silence reigned as dense and heavy as the darkness.
No one dared draw a breath. Then the door opened,and, in a moment, the gloom was filled with white
figures running in every direction. Some lengthened out right up to the sky, others
twined themselves round the pillars, others wriggled ever so fast along the ground. They
were something like men, but it was impossible todistinguish their features—they—I could not
catch them. The moment you looked at them, theyturned into a white mist. Tytle did his best to
chase them, for Mrs. Night kept to the plan contrived by the cat and pretended to be frightened.
She had been the ghost's friend for hundreds andhundreds of years and had only to say a word
to drive them in again, but she was careful to donothing of the sort and, flapping her wings
like mad, she called upon all her gods andscreamed. Drive them away! Drive them away!
Help! Help! But the poor ghosts, who hardly evercome out now that man no longer believes in them,
were much too happy at taking a breath of air,and, had it not been that they were afraid of
Tytle, who tried to bite their legs, they wouldnever have been put back indoors.
Oof! gasped the dog, when the door was shut atlast. I have strong teeth, goodness knows,
but chaps like those I never saw before. When youbite them, you'd think their legs were made
of cotton. By this time, Tytle was making for thesecond door and asking.
What's behind this one? Night made a gesture asthough to put him off.
Did the obstinate little fellow really want to seeeverything?
Must I be careful when I open it? asked Tytle.
No, said Night, it is not worthwhile. It's thesicknesses. They are very quiet,
the poor little things. Man, for some time, hasbeen waging such war upon them. Open and see for
yourself. Tytle threw the door wide open and stoodspeechless with astonishment, there was
nothing to be seen. He was just about to close thedoor again, when he was hustled aside by a little
body in a dressing-gown and a cotton nightcap, whobegan to frisk about the hall, wagging her
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head and stopping every minute to cough, sneezeand blow her nose, and to pull on her slippers,
which were too big for her and kept dropping offher feet. Sugar, Brad and Tytle were no longer
frightened and began to laugh like anything. Butthey had no sooner come near the little
person in the cotton nightcap than they themselvesbegan to cough and sneeze.
It's the least important of the sicknesses, saidNight. It's cold in the head.
Oh, dear, oh, dear! thought Sugar. If my nosekeeps on running like this, I'm done for,
I shall melt. Wagging her head and stopping everyminute to cough, sneeze and blow her nose.
Poor Sugar! He did not know where to hide himself.He had become very much attached to life since
the journey began, for he had fallen overhead inears in love with water. And yet this love caused
him the greatest worry. This water was atremendous flirt, expected a lot of attention andwas
not particular with whom she mixed, but mixing toomuch with water was an expensive luxury,
as poor Sugar found to his cost, for, at everykiss he gave her, he left a bit of himself behind,
until he began to tremble for his life.
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