The words were not out of his mouth, when a shapeless and ridiculous bulk, clad in all the colours of the rainbow, came and blocked the narrow door of the hall. It was the enormous stomach of Bread, who filled the whole opening. He kept on knocking himself, without knowing why; for he was not very clever and, besides, he was not yet used to moving about in human beings’ houses. At last, it occurred to him to stoop; and, by squeezing through sideways, he managed to make his way into the hall.
It was certainly not a triumphal entry, but he was pleased with it all the same:
“Here I am!” he said. “Here I am! I have put on Blue-beard’s finest dress. … What do you think of this?”
The Dog began to frisk around him: he thought Bread magnificent! That yellow velvet costume, covered all over with silver crescents, reminded Tylô of the delicious horseshoe rolls which he loved; and the huge, gaudy turban on Bread’s head was really very like a fairy bun!
“How nice he looks!” he cried. “How nice he looks!”
Bread was shyly followed by Milk. Her simple mind had made her prefer her cream dress to all the finery which the Fairy suggested to her. She was really a model of humility.
Bread was beginning to talk about the dresses of Tyltyl, Light and Mytyl, when the Cat cut him short in a masterful voice:
“We shall see them in good time,” she said. “Stop chattering, listen to me, time presses: our future is at stake. …”
They all looked at her with a bewildered air. They understood that it was a solemn moment, but the human language was still full of mystery to them. Sugar wriggled his long fingers as a sign of distress; Bread patted his huge stomach; Water lay on the floor and seemed to suffer from the most profound despair; and Milk only had eyes for Bread, who had been her friend for ages and ages.
The Cat, becoming impatient, continued her speech:
“The Fairy has just said it, the end of this journey will, at the same time, mark the end of our lives. It is our business, therefore, to spin the journey out as long as possible and by every means in our power. …”
Bread, who was afraid of being eaten as soon as he was no longer a man, hastened to express approval; but the Dog, who was standing a little way off, pretending not to hear, began to growl deep down in his soul. He well knew what the Cat was driving at; and, when Tylette ended her speech with the words, “We must at all costs prolong the journey and prevent Blue Bird from being found, even if it means endangering the lives of the Children,” the good Dog, obeying only the promptings of his heart, leapt at the Cat to bite her. Sugar, Bread and Fire flung themselves between them:
“Order! Order!” said Bread pompously. “I’m in the chair at this meeting.”
“Who made you chairman?” stormed Fire.
“Who asked you to interfere?” asked Water, whirling her wet hair over Fire.
“Excuse me,” said Sugar, shaking all over, in conciliatory tones. “Excuse me. … This is a serious moment. … Let us talk things over in a friendly way.”
“I quite agree with Sugar and the Cat,” said Bread, as though that ended the matter.
“This is ridiculous!” said the Dog, barking and showing his teeth. “There is Man and that’s all! … We have to obey him and do as he tells us! … I recognise no one but him! … Hurrah for Man! … Man forever! … In life or death, all for Man! … Man is everything! …”
But the Cat’s shrill voice rose above all the others. She was full of grudges against Man and she wanted to make use of the short spell of humanity which she now enjoyed to avenge her whole race:
“All of us here present,” she cried, “Animals, Things and Elements, possess a soul which Man does not yet know. That is why we retain a remnant of independence; but, if he finds the Blue Bird, he will know all, he will see all and we shall be completely at his mercy. … Remember the time when we wandered at liberty upon the face of the earth! …” But, suddenly her face changed, her voice sank to a whisper and she hissed, “Look out! I hear the Fairy and Light coming. I need hardly tell you that Light has taken sides with Man and means to stand by him; she is our worst enemy. … Be careful!”
But our friends had had no practice in trickery and, feeling themselves in the wrong, took up such ridiculous and uncomfortable attitudes that the Fairy, the moment she appeared upon the threshold, exclaimed:
“What are you doing in that corner? … You look like a pack of conspirators!”
Quite scared and thinking that the Fairy had already guessed their wicked intentions, they fell upon their knees before her. Luckily for them, the Fairy hardly gave a thought to what was passing through their little minds. She had come to explain the first part of the journey to the Children and to tell each of the others what to do. Tyltyl and Mytyl stood hand in hand in front of her, looking a little frightened and a little awkward in their fine clothes. They stared at each other in childish admiration.
The little girl was wearing a yellow silk frock embroidered with pink posies and covered with gold spangles. On her head was a lovely orange velvet cap; and a starched muslin tucker covered her little arms. Tyltyl was dressed in a red jacket and blue knickerbockers, both of velvet; and of course he wore the wonderful little hat on his head.
The Fairy said to them:
“It is just possible that the Blue Bird is hiding at your grandparents’ in the Land of Memory; so you will go there
