Many people remember the wonderful children's fairy tale " Blue bird". However, what is perceived as a fairy tale for children was actually written as a parable for adults. Its author was famous writer Maurice Maeterlinck from Belgium. In addition to The Blue Bird, he wrote many other interesting works. The most symbolic among them is the play "The Blind".
Maurice Maeterlinck
The writer was born in the family of a Belgian notary in August 1862. It was customary in the family to speak French, which is why in the future the author wrote most of his works in this language.
When the boy was fourteen, he was sent to study at a Jesuit college. The study contributed to the development of Maeterlinck's desire to engage in literature, and on the other hand, formed an ardent anti-clerical position of the author.
After college, the young man took up the study of jurisprudence. IN free time he wrote poetry and prose. Despite the fact that his father insisted on a career as a lawyer, he helped the young man publish the first collection of poetry, Orangeries. A year later he published the play "La Princesse Maleine" and later concentrated on writing plays by Maurice Maeterlinck.
"Blind", "Unbidden", "Peleas and Milisanda" are the next famous plays of the writer. They glorified their creator not only in Belgium and France, but throughout the world. The works of this period are considered the most successful. This is due to the fact that in subsequent years the writer is fond of symbolism, his later plays are overly filled with mysticism.
In 1909, the play The Blue Bird was successfully staged in France. And two years later he gets Nobel Prize in Literature Maurice Maeterlinck. "Blind", "Blue Bird", "Peleas and Milisanda" and several others famous plays the author helped to achieve the writer of this prestigious award.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Maeterlinck in his work begins to touch on the theme of war ("Burgomaster of Stilmond").
In the twenties, the writer became more and more interested in the occult, while the works of this period are full of biblical motifs. Gradually, instead of plays, Maeterlinck writes more essays.
When the writer turned 50, King Albert I of Belgium granted him the title of count.
Since the beginning of World War II, the writer emigrates to the United States, but in 1947 he returns to Europe. Two years later, Maurice Maeterlinck died in Nice due to a heart attack.
Maeterlinck's play "The Blind": the history of creation
From the middle of the nineteenth century, the church began to lose influence on society. This was due to desperate attempts to maintain control over science and culture. Most scientists and artists were believers, but because of the active attempts of the church to grossly interfere in their work, anti-clerical sentiments grew among them.
Even while studying at the Jesuit College, Maurice Maeterlinck became negative about many of the ideas of the church. The Blind (play) was written under the influence of its author's observation of the loss of influence of the church in society. Maeterlinck believed that the church was already too "old" to lead, but if it was not replaced by another institution, society was doomed.
In 1890, this play was published, and a year later it was staged at the Theater of Art by Paul Faure. It was translated into Russian only four codes after publication. And in 1904, in one of the Moscow theaters, it was staged along with several others. short pieces Maeterlinck.
Main characters
Maeterlinck made the silent dead priest one of the main characters of the play. The blind people surrounding his body characterize him throughout the play, making it clear how important a role he played in their lives.
Another important hero is a baby - a child of a crazy blind. He is the only one able to see, however, due to such a young age, he is not yet able to become a guide for the rest.
Young Blind is a beautiful young girl who grew up in an area with picturesque nature but later lost her sight. Despite her disability, she continues to love beauty. The girl is charming and, despite the fact that all the surrounding men are blind, they all sympathize with her. Although she does not see anything, her eyes are still alive and, with proper treatment, she will soon be able to see clearly.
The most old woman among the blind is also the most rational. The oldest blind man is also reasonable.
Three blind-born men are one of the most unfortunate heroes. They have no memory of the beauty of the world since they have never seen it. They constantly resent and criticize others. The blind-born complain that the priest did not speak to them, but later it turns out that they themselves do not really want to listen to him.
The three old blind women, unlike the young blind woman, are completely inactive. They resigned themselves to their fate. No matter what happens, she continues to pray.
There are also two other blind men in the play, but they are not particularly active.
In total, there are eight heroes in The Blind: six blind men (3 blind-born, an old and 2 ordinary blind), six blind women (3 praying, old, young and crazy), a dead priest and a sighted child.
Maeterlinck "The Blind": a summary
The play tells about a shelter for the blind, in which only an elderly priest (who died at the very beginning of the play) and decrepit nuns can see. Recently there was a doctor, but he died earlier, because of which the priest was worried, as he was sick and foresaw own death. Shortly before her, he gathers all the blind and takes them for a walk around the island. However, he becomes ill and, after saying goodbye to the beautiful young blind woman, he dies.
However, the blind do not notice the death of their guide, and believing that he will soon return for them, they are waiting for his return. Over time, they begin to worry and communicate with each other. Reflecting and complaining about the behavior of the priest (envious blind-born), as well as remembering the past, the blind gradually lose hope for his return.
Soon a shelter dog arrives and thanks to her the blind learn that the priest has died. Thinking about how to get out, the blind begin to feel that someone is touching them. Soon they hear someone's steps and a young blind woman takes a sighted child in her arms, hoping that he will see who is coming. However, as we approach unknown child crying more and more.
Symbolism of the "Blind"
At the time of writing the play, Maurice Maeterlinck became interested in the philosophy of symbolism. "Blind" ( summary above) are full of many characters.
First of all, it is death that surrounds the blind. It is symbolized by the ocean not far away.
The lighthouse is also symbolic, the inhabitants of which see perfectly, but do not look towards the blind (a symbol of science).
Another symbol is the old sighted nuns of the orphanage, about whom it is known that, knowing about the disappearance of their wards, they will not go looking for them. Here Maeterlinck describes the contemporary attitude of the church towards the flock. Despite the calling to care for and protect the "blind" wards, many priests simply ignore their problems.
Blind heroes are mankind, which in the past centuries found its way thanks to faith (church).
But now faith has died and people are lost in the dark. They are looking for a way, but they are unable to find it on their own. At the end of the play, someone comes to the blind, but because of the open ending, it is not known whether this is a new conductor who wants to help unfortunate people, or a cruel killer.
Although some interpret the end of the play as the death of mankind, for many, the arrival of the unknown symbolizes hope. The cry of a sighted child, perhaps, does not mean fear, but joy or a call to a stranger (stranger) for help.
Significance for culture
Many readers liked Maeterlinck's depiction of a faithless humanity as the unguided blind. "The Blind" (the play's analysis and symbols above) influenced the writer's contemporaries and descendants. famous philosopher Nicholas Roerich, after staging the play in Moscow, drew in ink black and white illustration to the play.
Maeterlinck's idea of portraying society as a group of blind people prompted the writing of the novel Blindness, which was based on the film of the same name in 2008.
More than a hundred years have passed since the writing of the play "The Blind". Over the years, many cataclysms and events have occurred in society. However, even today, like a hundred years ago, humanity continues to behave like the blind in the hope of finding a guide. So the work of Maeterlinck continues to be relevant.
The inevitable invasion of death into ordinary, peaceful human life is the theme of most of these dramas. In the play "The Blind", several blind men and women are brought from an orphanage for a walk on deserted coast seas. Their guide, a decrepit priest, suddenly dies. The blind try in vain to get out of the forest and rush towards the sounds that seem to them human steps; but it is the sound of rising waves, the sound of the tide. The symbolism of this short play is clear: the blind represent humanity, which does not see the meaning of life. The old priest personifies religion, the former leader of mankind, decrepit and dying. In the pessimistic dramas of Maeterlinck there is no place for hope, but, in essence, there is no place for christian god. He anticipates the existentialists in many ways.
Maeterlinck was very talented, wrote about the exciting problems of love and death, his plays touched the spiritual strings of the readers, and this explained their success. But the reason for this success in intellectual circles was also the state of fear and confusion before the gloomy forces of imperialism, which was characteristic of the intelligentsia at the turn of the century. Besides, greatest success fell to Maeterlinck's less hopeless plays, in which, according to him, own words, love supplants death: "Peléas and Melisande", "Deprived and Selisette", and especially "Monna Vanna" (1902) and "The Blue Bird" (1908).
In-plays of this period live speech the heroes are replaced by the former "double" dialogue, the plays are saturated with active action and acquire a concrete historical background and a sharp plot ("Monna Vayana"). These are no longer "plays of silence" and not "static plays".
But Meterlish himself is gradually overcoming his pessimism and apology for immortality. Already in fairy tale play"Ariana and the Bluebeard" (1901) the heroine actively fights against evil, against despotism, she is helped by the peasants of the surrounding lands. So social motives penetrate into the plays of Maeterlinck. In the second period, "Sister Beatrice" (1900), "Monna Vanna" (1902), "The Miracle of St. Anthony" (1904.) and "The Blue Bird" (1908) were written. All these plays, in essence, are far from symbolism and hopelessness. They can be called romantic, and the "Miracle of St. Anthony" even acquires realistic and satirical features. At the bed of a dead rich old woman, relatives are crowding, thirsty for an inheritance. Saint Anthony, who appeared directly from paradise, tries to resurrect the deceased, heeding the prayers of her devoted maid. Outraged relatives put all kinds of obstacles to him, call the police. He nevertheless resurrects the old woman, but she immediately orders to expel "this dirty beggar." So mystical legend turns into witty satirical comedy, in ridicule of the bourgeoisie;
In and weight "Death of Tentagil" the messengers of the evil queen, symbolizing death, kidnap the boy Tentagil from a close circle of his loved ones guarding him; the cry of a child fades somewhere behind iron door, and his sister can only curse the monster that killed the boy.
Meterlipk performed in 1889 with the play "Princess Malene", a dramatization of an old German fairy tale, to which he gave a hopelessly tragic flavor. There is also some imitation of "Hamlet" - in the image of Prince Hjalmar, the groom of Malene, and especially in the setting royal castle where heinous crimes are committed. But the play has two meanings: fabulous story the innocently persecuted girl guesses the tragedy of human doom. The man is shown as a toy of invisible mysterious forces that choke him, as the noose of the evil queen squeezed Malene's neck. Hence the unusually gloomy landscape background of the play: the castle is surrounded by a cemetery, it steps on the castle and is constantly mentioned in conversations. In this image of the cemetery, the doom of man is symbolized - Maeterlinck's favorite idea. Death is done main character his first dramas.
The beautiful and touching play "Peléas and Melisande" about the love of young Peléas for his elder brother's wife went around almost all the major stages of the world, and was repeatedly set to music. Maeterlinck's wide popularity began with her.
their philosophical and aesthetic views Maeterlinck set forth for the first time in the treatise Treasure of the Humble (1896). He suggests that the playwright look for "tragic in everyday life." Nothing is more tragic, according to Maeterlinck, than the figure of an old man sitting peacefully at home under a lit lamp. The mysterious meaning is hidden, according to Maeterlinck, in any disorderly dialogue, and even more so in silence. The playwright, who has to operate with the dialogue of characters, negotiates here to the destruction of the dialogue, puts silence above speech. The speech of the characters in the early plays of Maeterlinck is disordered, broken, interrupted by incoherent interjections. These exclamations and groans should reflect the spiritual confusion of the heroes, their growing fear of the Unknown. Behind the chaotic dialogue and minutes of silence, according to Methorlinck, there should be a second, internal dialogue, the conversation of souls or the conversation of a person with his fate.
The “Princess Malene” was followed by the plays: “The Blind” (1890), “Unbidden” (1890), “The Seven Princesses” (1891), “Peleas and Melisande” (1892), “Aladina and Palomides” (1894), “There , inside" (1894), "The Death of Tentagil" (1894), "Aglavena and Selisette" (1896). , In the play Unbidden, a young woman dies after giving birth. The family sits around the table in the next room, not expecting anything bad. Death is already entering the house, and by some signs one can guess its arrival: the sound of a honed scythe is heard; the door opens by itself; the lamp goes out. But only a blind grandfather guesses the invasion of death - precisely because of his blindness, his detachment from the outside world. In the drama “There, Inside,” passers-by stand under the window, bringing the terrible news of the suicide of a young girl. They do not dare to knock, seeing how peacefully the family of the deceased spends the evening, not yet knowing anything about the disaster that has happened. The Blue Bird is the pinnacle of Maeterlinck's work. In 1918, Maeterlinck wrote a sequel to The Blue Bird. This is the play "Betrothal". In it, the grown-up Tiltil seeks and finds a bride, who turns out to be his former little neighbor. But the second play is weaker, devoid of the fabulous charm and depth of the first. Maeterlinck lived to a ripe old age and wrote a number of other works, including the drama Joan of Arc, inspired by the patriotic upsurge of 1945. But the period of the 1890-1900s remained the most significant period of his work. The occupation of France and Belgium by the Nazis forced the writer to leave for the United States, but he returned to France shortly before his death. The playwright's works form the aesthetics and poetics of the "new drama", which opposes itself to entertaining, melodramatic plays. The texts of the "new drama" are topical, bring out new social types, emphasize the drama human existence, an acute conflict between "falsehood" and "truth", being and consciousness. M. Maeterlinck's plays "Unbidden", "The Blind" are directed to the depiction of the tragedy of everyday life, the hidden horror of existence, which manifests itself in the static nature of the stage word and action, the pathos of "silence". These plays are full of understatement, allusions, almost devoid of dramatic action, their characters have a sense of confusion in front of an unknowable fate. In the dialogue of Maeterlinck's plays, as happens in poetic speech, it is not so much the rational meaning of the word that becomes important, but the general rhythm of phrases, hypnotic pauses. In Maeterlinck's plays, pauses, silence, various sounds that are heard only in silence - rustling, rustling, etc. play a huge role. Trying to get away from this silence, Maeterlinck's heroes start the most stupid, meaningless conversations, people often speak simply to say something so as not to be silent. These incoherent dialogues should give a sense of the absurdity, meaninglessness and horror of human existence. Behind the words you need to catch something more significant, therefore, in the plays of Maeterlinck big role plays subtext, like Chekhov. The most pessimistic are the early plays of the 1890s. "Blind" (1890) - several blind men and women are sitting in the forest and waiting for a guide who has gone somewhere, they live in a shelter for the blind and now they went for a walk. There is still no guide, the anxiety of the blind is growing, they are talking to each other in order to drown out this anxiety and the feeling of complete loneliness that covers them in silence, in silence they completely lose touch with the world. They talk about their loneliness, that they do not understand what the world is, what they themselves are. In the end, they are seized with horror: they were abandoned, they begin to fumble around with their hands in a panic, and one of them stumbles upon the cooled corpse of the guide - an old priest, who, it turns out, has died and sat between them all the time while they were waiting for him. Then they hear someone's strange steps, among them there is one sighted child, seeing someone, he desperately screams in fear: someone terrible has come, apparently, this is Death. The blind are a symbol modern humanity, blind, that is, who has lost his bearings, goals, meanings, who has lost his religious faith (it is not for nothing that their deceased guide is a priest). And now humanity can only wander at random, but as a result, death awaits it. Drama "Blind" – symbolic image human life. The guide priest led blind men and women into the forest, now they sit opposite each other, not knowing that the guide has died, and his corpse is right next to them. The darkness of the night is deepening, the sea is raging, the blind are all waiting for the return of the priest. Freezing, hungry people gradually begin to lose hope for salvation. The dog that came running from the shelter leads them to the corpse, then the blind are convinced that there is nowhere to wait for help. Mysterious rustles, steps, indistinct sounds are heard, a sighted baby bursts into tears in the arms of a blind mother. The blind become a symbol of humanity, forever wandering in the dark, the dying guide is a religion that people no longer have. Among them is death, but they do not know and do not see this, only a few, the most sensitive, feel its proximity. The play does not have a traditional dramatic plot that develops according to the usual laws of theatrical action. Characters are not "characters", socio-psychological types, but types of worldview, attitudes towards life Name of this play is consonant with its content and characters: after all, they are all blind, except for the priest, and even he is dead throughout the entire action. Their blindness is spiritual. The priest who went to fetch water and whom they are waiting for is the Messiah, without whom they cannot be saved. Blindness of society. In total, 11 characters are involved in the play. Priest, decrepit old man, guide of the blind. This central image in the play, because the blind talk about him, talk about him, expect his arrival as deliverance from death. On the day when the play takes place, he went for a walk with the inhabitants of the orphanage. During the rest, the Priest quietly gives his soul to God, leaving his blind wards alone in a forest clearing. In the play, the Priest plays the role of a guide and savior, the one on whose arrival the life of abandoned people depends. Therefore, the blind eagerly await the return of their guide. In addition, the play has three blind-born. They are dissatisfied with the fact that they left the orphanage, they are dissatisfied with the Priest, even with each other (" Why did you wake me up?"). One can interpret their role as follows: they are spiritually blind people who do not want to change anything in themselves. There are characters in the play that are essentially similar: The oldest blind And The oldest blind. They are presented as carriers of wisdom and experience among the male and, accordingly, female half the blind. Another actor – young blind – « strikingly young, flowing hair covers her camp". She is the bearer of bright hope, tolerance, mercy and indulgence towards her comrades. To her, as if to the light, all the rest of the blind are drawn. young blind with crazy child the blind are involved in the final scene of the play. In the play, "blindness" is interpreted as a symbol of the self-consciousness of mankind. Physically blind people are soul blind, they cannot change anything on their own, they are forced to passively expect changes. This, in my opinion, is problem in the work. In other words, the people are shown as a crowd of blind people - they are helpless, blind and in need of guidance. The play has an open the final. It remains unclear whose appearance the child in the arms of the young blind met with a cry. In my opinion, at the end of the play, Death itself comes to the lost people, lying in wait for everyone. The blind heard precisely her rustle of a dress about " dead leaves". This is evidenced by the desperate cry of the child, and the exclamation of the oldest blind woman: “ Oh, have mercy on us!» First, the tragedy of Maeterlinck is expressed in the tragedy of everyday human existence. The blind eke out a miserable and very difficult existence on a lonely island, in an orphanage. They are surrounded by the same old people as themselves. The blind themselves are aware of their hopeless situation, the inevitability of suffering and death. So, for example, the oldest blind man exclaims: "Now it's our turn!" Secondly, the concepts of subtext and mood come to the fore. The action of the play is essentially static and takes place in only one place. Heroes repeatedly declare their moods, feelings, experiences: The oldest blind Yes, yes, we are scared! Young blind. We've been scared for a long time! Third, the play has open final, which ends with the cry of a child in the dark. We can only guess who visited the lost people. "Unbidden" Unbidden is death that came to the family to the woman in labor. In the evening, the whole family expected the Sister of Mercy, but Death came instead: “Suddenly, the clang of a sharpened scythe is heard,” "Father.<…>Don't push the door! You know she squeaks. Maid. Yes, I do not touch her, sir. Father. No, you are pushing it, as if you want to enter the room!” Blind grandfather- the father of the woman in labor, who lies in another room. He is blind, but he sensitively feels what is happening around: he feels the state of those present (“ I'm sure my daughter is worse», « I hear that you are scared”), able to predict what will happen soon: “ I must not have long to live...". In addition, among his sighted relatives, Grandfather is the only one able to “see” the presence of Death with his soul: “ It seemed to me that someone else was sitting with us ... " Father- the husband of the mother. He is softer than his brother (" Indeed, for the first time since her painful birth, I feel that I am at home, that I am among my own”), treats Grandfather’s quirks with respect and reverence (“ At his age, that's forgivable."). Oh economic (" In the morning I told her to refuel”) and worries about the health of his wife (“ my wife really wants to see her»). Uncle- Father's brother. More decisive than his brother, not afraid to evaluate people ("It's not good of her"). He does not treat Grandfather so respectfully (“You are delusional!”). Three daughters(Ursula, Genevieve, Gertrude) - friendly sisters (they leave the room together, holding hands, kissing). Ursula is the most courteous with Grandfather, she is more friends with him than her sisters. Grandfather trusts her more than anyone else. Sister of Mercy- does not utter a single word in the play. This character is only a herald of the death of his wife. Dressed in all black. Briefly formulate the problem that is revealed in the work.: Not all people can feel the presence of death, but only those who themselves are not far from it. Death is inevitable, no matter how one tries to avoid it. M. Maeterlinck left the ending of the play open: we will never know what will happen to Grandfather, whether Death left or was left alone with Grandfather. At the end of the play, Grandfather clearly felt that death was sitting at the same table with relatives. The fact that he "saw" her, and the rest did not, and his words about a possible imminent death prove that Death, in addition to the woman in labor, will also take Grandfather. At the end of the play, Grandfather became worried, he became scared, he did not want to be alone with Death, but it happened anyway: in the confusion, all the relatives run away, and Grandfather is left alone. So, the meeting of death and man inevitably took place in private. Features of the "new drama": Symbolism Contrasting tradition (one-act play, open ending, static time and place) Installation on “lifelike” (an accurate description of the life of that time, down to the smallest detail: you need to add oil to the lamp, you need to invite a carpenter, a gardener) + "fourth wall": the actors never turn to the auditorium, they completely abstract from it Dialogue prevails over action (there are almost no stage directions in the play, it is built on a conversation) Indicate the features of which direction you think are defining in this work: Symbolism: In the foreground, the inner feelings of the characters Dvoemirie - Grandfather ceases to perceive surrounding reality the way family members see it. He feels with his soul another world, mystical. The symbolism of light: the action of the play takes place in the evening. This is the time when mystical dark forces awaken. The twilight that replaces the day is like a black streak in life. So here, the joy of the birth of a baby is replaced by the grief of the death of a woman in labor. In addition, sometimes green color(the color of window panes in the depth) symbolizes death. mystical world- V everyday life people are invaded by death - a representative of the mystical world. "Unbidden” reproduces the expectation next to the room of the woman in labor. Everyone is waiting for news from the doctor, and only the blind old man feels the approach of Death. Maeterlinck creates a world of people living their everyday lives, and a world outside of them, which is incomprehensible, threatening in relation to a person. Therefore, the very existence of a person is tragic, doomed to sudden death, sudden suffering, grief, loss. A truly key work for the work of M. Maeterlinck was The Blue Bird (1908). A fascinating fairy tale for children and at the same time philosophical tale for adults, full of symbol and allegory, largely conducive to discrepancies. In contrast to the "theater of silence" with its deathly immobility, everything here comes in search, daring, movement. The forces of nature revived by the will of the playwright put on a performance designed to explain the meaning of life. On the scale of boundless time, the past corresponds to the time of universal naive vision, the present is the realm of blindness, from which humanity is emerging slowly but inevitably, and, finally, the future is the hour of the union of the Soul of light and three lofty joys. In this sense, Maeterlinck's best creation can be called a play of hope. The action of the play begins and ends in the lumberjack's hut. This means that now Maeterlinck turns our eyes not to the foggy Unknown, but to real people with their needs, fears and needs. Tiltil and Mitil are the children of a poor man. Accompanied by the souls of animals (Cat, Dog) and the most essential things (Water, Bread, Sugar, Milk, Fire), they go through many adventures, wandering in search of the Blue Bird, who must heal the sick girl. After a long search, Tiltil and Mitil find the Blue Bird at their home, recognize its blue in the blue of a nondescript turtledove, but it flies away from the hands of the children. The symbol of the Blue Bird is many-sided and ambiguous, but it is undoubtedly an image of flight, height and inaccessibility, whose fabulous blue is nevertheless suggested by the color of the native sky, stretching over all people. 1. Symbolism of light
. First in a fairy tale symbolic detail we observe at the very beginning, even before the children are awake. The strength of the light mysteriously changes in the room: “The stage is immersed in darkness for some time, then gradually increasing light begins to break through the cracks in the shutters. The lamp on the table lights up by itself.. This action symbolizes the concept of "seeing in the true light." In the light in which Tiltil and Mitil will see the world after the diamond on the cap turns. In the light in which any person can see the world, looking at it with a pure heart. In this scene, the familiar contradiction between blindness and sight comes out, passes from the deep philosophical overtones into a dramatic story. It is this motif that runs through the whole work and is central. 2. The symbolism of the diamond
. Let's pay attention to the mechanism of action of the magic diamond. And here we find a symbol: the traditional touch magic wand to the subject became in Maeterlinck the touch of a diamond on the “special bump” on Tyltil’s head .
The consciousness of the hero changes - and then the world around him is transformed according to the laws of a fairy tale. "Big diamond, it brings back sight." 3. The symbolism of the images of children. Also, the central symbols of the play can be called the images of the children themselves and their poor relatives. They were typical representatives Belgian, and in general, European society. At the beginning of the play, in the fairy palace, Tiltil and Mitil dress up as characters from fairy tales popular among the people. It is precisely because of their commonness as a guarantee of universality that they turned out to be a symbol of humanity. 4. Symbolism of other characters. Other characters of the extravaganza are also symbolic. Among all worth highlight the cat
. Tiletta symbolizes evil, betrayal, hypocrisy. An insidious and dangerous enemy for children - such is her unexpected essence, her mysterious idea. The cat is friends with the Night: both of them guard the secrets of life. She is short with death; her old friends- Misfortune. It is she who, in secret from the soul of Light, leads children into the forest to be torn to pieces by trees and animals. And here's what is important: children do not see the Cat in the "true light", they do not see it the way they see their other companions. Mytil loves Tiletta and protects her from Tilo's attacks. The cat is the only traveler whose soul, free under the rays of the diamond, did not fit in with its visible appearance. Bread, Fire, Milk, Sugar, Water and Dog
did not conceal anything alien in themselves, they were direct proof of the identity of appearance and essence. The idea did not contradict the phenomenon, it only revealed and developed its invisible (“silent”) possibilities. So Bread
symbolizes cowardice, conciliation. It has negative petty-bourgeois qualities. Sugar
sweetly, the compliments made to him do not come from pure heart, his manner of communicating is theatrical. Perhaps it symbolizes people from high society, close to power, trying in every possible way to please the rulers, just to "sit" in a good position. However, both Bread and Sugar have positive features. They selflessly accompany children. Moreover, Bread also carries a cage, and Sugar breaks off his candy fingers and gives them to Mytyl, who so rarely eats sweets in ordinary life. Dog
embodies exclusively positive sides character. He is devoted, ready to go to his death, saving children. However, the owners do not fully understand this. They constantly make remarks to the dog, drive away even when he tries to tell them the truth about the betrayal of the cat. 5. Symbolism of the Soul of Light
. It is worth paying special attention to central character plays - the Soul of Light. Note that in The Blue Bird among the travelers there is only one Soul of Light - an allegorical image. But the Soul of Light is an exception. This is not just a companion of children, it is their "leader"; them in her figure personifies symbol of light - the guide of the blind
. The remaining allegorical characters of the play are encountered by children on their way to the Blue Bird: each of them in a naively naked form carries his own morality - or rather, his part of the general morality - each presents his own special concrete lesson. Meetings with these characters form the stages of spiritual and spiritual education of children: Night and Time, Bliss, the fattest of which symbolize wealth, property, greed, and Joy, symbolizing the everyday life of ordinary people. honest people, Ghosts and Diseases teach Tiltil and Mytil either in the form of direct verbal edification, or by their own silent example, or by creating situations instructive for children from which a worldly lesson can be learned. The Soul of Light drives the internal action of the play, as, obeying the fairy, it leads the children from stage to stage of their path. Its task is to unwind the tangle of events passing from one time to another, changing space. But the role of a guide is also to inspire hope, not to let faith fade away. 6. Symbolism of time. Sleep and dream
- this is the external, objective, and internal, subjective time of the "journey" of children. In a dream, with the help of memory and imagination, the quality of time as a special category of reality is symbolically recreated - the unity and continuity of its flow. The fact that the present contains both the past and the future, and that its "composition" is the composition" of the personality itself, Maeterlinck writes a lot in his philosophical studies of the beginning of the century. The dialectical interconnection of the three sides of time is carried out in the bodily, mental and spiritual being of a person: Meterliik seeks to prove this idea both on the pages of his philosophical prose and with the help of poetic images and symbols of the Blue Bird. 7. Blue bird symbol
. Finally, it should be said about the main symbol of the extravaganza - about the Blue Bird itself. The play says that the heroes need the blue bird "in order to become happy in the future"... Here the symbol of the bird intersects with the image of time, with the Kingdom of the future. The bird always flies away, you can't catch it. What else flies like a bird? Happiness flies. The bird is a symbol of happiness; and happiness, as you know, has long been out of the question; adults talk about business, about arranging life on a positive basis; but they never talk about happiness, miracles, and similar things; it is even rather indecent; because happiness flies like a bird; and it is unpleasant for adults to chase the constantly flying Bird and try to pour salt on its tail. Another matter - to the child; children can play with it; Seriousness and decency are not asked from them, after all. We can immediately conclude that children also symbolize hope for future happiness. Although they did not find the bird during the journey, and the turtledove flew away at the end, they do not despair and are going to continue searching for the blue bird, that is, happiness. THE DEATH OF TENTAGIL is one of three miniatures for the puppet theater (the other two are "Aladdin and Palomides" and "There-Inside"). Puppets - Flemish, Brussels, Antwerp - were very famous at the beginning of the twentieth century, they successfully played dramatized parables, fairy tales, morality and other plays of the "abstract" genre, for which the specific language of this theater (rhythm, gesture, mask) was the best theatrical language. Maeterlinck wrote three small dramas in the same year as his first theatrical manifesto, The Treasure of the Humble, from which the story is said to begin. contemporary theater. In this manifesto, Maeterlinck summed up his own early creativity; the Maeterlinck theater until 1894 is called the "first theater". “From the tragedy of great adventures and the banality of a materialistic or psychological drama,” Maeterlinck suggested moving on to a drama that “should capture the basic tragedy contained in the very tragedy of existence ... It will be about making us follow the shaky and painful steps of a human being, approaching or moving away from truth, beauty, or God. For the new drama, the actor of the old European theater was not very suitable, and Maeterlinck writes in writing that “perhaps it is necessary to completely eliminate the living being from the stage”, eliminating character from his plays, as the most important category of realism, and abstracting, depersonalizing the characters; the characters are so subservient to the main philosophical line of the author that they seem to “get stiff”, reminiscent of puppets incapable of independent action. There were all grounds for the famous founder modernist direction in modern dramaturgy A. Jarry write about Maeterlinck's plays: "For the first time in France ... an abstract theater appeared." THE DEATH OF TENTAJIL is a fusion of the theater of silence, the theater of expectation, even the theater of screaming (a slightly hysterical image of Igren). Thematically, this play is a fusion of two themes that predominate in Maeterlinck's early dramaturgy: the theme of inexorable death, the cruel tragedy of existence (which brings the DEATH OF TENTAGEL closer to "Unbidden" and to "There-Inside", since in these plays fate appears in the guise of death, then is in the form of a general, and not selective and individual human destiny); the second theme is the theme of "death-salvation", it is also the theme of the vulnerability of love (as in the plays "Princess Malene" or "Peléas and Melisande"). The forces that come into conflict in the plays written earlier - Man and Death, Love and Doom - form a new combination here: in the struggle for little Tentagil, Love and Death clash. The theater differs from literature also in that it is impossible to comment, even in the theater of expectation visualization is necessary. The whole ritual of waiting takes place on the Island - in a deserted, gloomy place where people feel their abandonment and insecurity more acutely; the characters talk in nervous, laconic remarks, which, however, create a musical tone. Only the voices remain from the characters by the end of the fifth act - Tentajeel's disappearance occurs at total darkness; it was the sound of the play that its first directors attached great importance to. In France, "The Death of Tentagille" has not been played since 1913 (in February 1997, one of the most "controversial" directors of France - Claude Regis - staged this play on the stage of the Gerard Philippe theater in Saint-Denis, Paris); in Russia - since 1906, in any case, major directors did not take on it after the famous production of Meyerhold. In 1997, three premieres of Maeterlinck's plays took place in Paris: "Peléas et Melisande" - Debussy's opera at the Paris Opera (Palais Garnier), chamber performance"Peleas and Melisande" on the dramatic stage of the ATHENEY theater and, in many ways, an experimental and reviving Meyerhold's scenography performance by Claude Régi. For the Russian audience, Maeterlinck remains "the author of one play" - "The Blue Bird", associated with children's trips to the theater, sometimes, however, also with the history of the Moscow Art Theater, since "The Blue Bird" is a long-lived performance of this theater. France is now rediscovering Maeterlinck; history loves repetition - perhaps it will be remembered in our country too. THE DEATH OF TENTAGIL Meyerhold staged at the Studio on Povarskaya near Stanislavsky in the Moscow Art Theater in the year of the Paris premiere (the Mathurin theater, December 28, 1905), but then the viewer could not see it. Although Rozanov claimed that in those years “everyone was a little Maeterlinck,” Moscow had no time for Maeterlinck... However, it was on this play, brought to a preliminary screening, but then left without a premiere, that Meyerhold tested the principles of the new theater. Meyerhold's first interpretation of the play was in tune with the topic of the day, which is easy to see when reading the speech prepared by the director for the premiere. However real prisons Russia and Maeterlinck's "tower" obviously were on different planes, absolutely incompatible with each other, and the fate that rules the fate of the characters in the play had other properties than the "historical necessity" of the SU side world. Meyerhold abandoned the idea of "imposing political activity on Maeterlinck" (Rudnitsky K.L.). “The starting point for us is worship. Maeterlinck's performance is a gentle mystery, a barely audible harmony of voices (emphasis added by me - K.R.), a chorus of quiet tears, stifled sobs and a tremor of hope. His drama is primarily a manifestation and purification of the soul. His drama is a chorus of singing in an undertone about suffering, love, beauty and death. Simplicity, taking away from the earth into the world of dreams. Harmony proclaiming peace, ”the director came to this conclusion in July 1905. Stanislavsky allowed Meyerhold to give the performance a ritual form. The theater is a temple where the actors do not play, but serve as priests - an amazing, even strange approach to a performance for the Moscow Art Theater. From the very beginning, it became clear that for Maeterlinck's play, the deep stage platform, brought almost to the ideal in the Moscow Art Theater, was only a hindrance. In the process of preparing the performance, S. Sudeikin and N. Sapunov, young artists, adherents of Vrubel and students of Korovin, who designed the performance, even abandoned the preliminary layout of the scenery - also an unprecedented event in the history of the Moscow Art Theater. Sketches by Sudeikin and Sapunov represent a generalized scenery built on "impressionist plans". Sudeikin designed the first three acts: green-blue tones, in some places pink and bright red flowers. The last two acts were designed by Sapunov: under the heavy vaults, shrouded in mist, maids in gray robes resembling cobwebs glided. It was decided to place the figures of the actors close to the ramp, Meyerhold wanted to bring all the actors to the fore: an almost complete rejection of the deceptive three-dimensionality theatrical productions, the approximation of the theater of a live actor to the theater of shadows, or - to the picturesque theater. Meyerhold led the actors to the front edge of the tablet, but he decided to cover the mirror of the stage with tulle, leaving a narrow strip of proscenium in a mysterious haze for the "gentle mystery". Especially for this performance, I. Sats was invited to the theater. THE DEATH OF TENTAJIL is his first work as a theatrical composer. By the way, a very successful work, as I. Sats found quiet, but disturbing harmonies, very suitable in tone to Maeterlinck. The music, probably, also dictated a special plasticity, subordinated to the rhythm. Everything that the Moscow Art Theater was proud of was not useful to Meyerhold. Instead of experiencing "spiritual emotions" - he requires "experiencing the form", facial expressions are reduced to "smile to everyone", the requirement for firmness of sound displaces any "vibration", in general - "epic calmness" and "Madonna's movements". Then the famous "bas-reliefs" of Meyerhold are born - "statuary", that is, sculptural expressiveness. When human faces became a bas-relief, looming from the haze of tulle, voices began to take on great significance. Maeterlinck argued that spoken words only make sense because of the silence that bathes them, words arise from the silence of pauses. Meyerhold literally idolized pauses, elevated understatement to a principle, introducing new laws for pronouncing a text: a ban on everyday conversation, epic calmness, hardness of sound, cold chasing of words, tragedy with a smile on his face. Thus, Meyerhold defines the principles of the symbolist performance, something that Stanislavsky did not succeed in his time (the 7th season of the Moscow Art Theater - 1904). But only the premiere could confirm the correctness of the proportions of this construction. In August 1905, a preview of THE DEATH OF TENTAZHIL and Hauptmann's play "Shlyuk and Yau" was held in Pushkino. “The death of Tentagil is a sensation. It's so beautiful, new, sensational!" - Stanislavsky wrote after the performance in a letter to Lilina. However, in October 1905, already in the studio on Povarskaya, dress rehearsal disappointed Stanislavsky: electric lighting killed the scenery, and the actors, who for the first time uttered the text to the music, lost their tone. Most likely, the search for tone would then have continued, if the time had been a little calmer, it is difficult to judge. A production by Claude Regis probably gives some idea of what a Meyerhold production would have been like. Probably. Each director looks at Maeterlinck in his own way; this fits perfectly into the concept that the playwright himself shared - the concept of director's theater, in which the actor is, first of all, a means of expressing an idea. “In a world that has eliminated death as an anomaly of bad taste, in order to replace it with a false definition of life as permanently healthy and dedicated to making a profit ... everything rational in general, it becomes absolutely necessary to show a ritual where life is balanced by that legitimate gesture that brings to it death,” these are the words of Claude Regis. And here is what Meyerhold wrote, preparing a speech for the premiere in Tiflis (March 19, 1906): “The Death of Tentagil is the same music. Thousand spectators. A thousand explanations, if only music needs to be explained. Xenia Ragozina. Pushkino. 1997. Characters Tentagil Igren sister Tentagil Bellanger Agloval Three Servants of the Queen * The translation is dedicated to Felix Shmul, close friend translator. First act. On a hill, high above the castle. Igren enters, she leads Tentagil by the hand. Igren. Tentagil, your first night with us will be disturbing. The sea roars closer and the trees cry in the dark. It's already late, but the moon is slowing down and frozen behind the poplars that are choking the palace... We are finally alone... Maybe alone, you always have to be careful here. Here they will track down the approach of even the most modest happiness. I said to myself once, even the Lord could not hear - so quietly and deep in my soul, I told myself that I was becoming happier ... And what ... That was enough, and soon our old father died, and both brothers disappeared , and none alive soul I didn't know where... We were left alone, Tentagil, with our poor sister, and I'm afraid to think what will happen next... Come to me... sit on your knees... Now hug me, throw your little arms around my neck. .. Maybe they won’t be able to separate them... Do you remember, a long time ago, in the evenings, when the time came, I carried you along corridors without windows - and you were afraid of the shadows from the lamp on the walls? .. I felt my soul shrink and quivered on my lips when I saw you this morning... I thought you were far away... I thought you were protected... Why did you come back to the island? Tentagil. I don't know sister. Igren. Did they... talk to you? Tentagil. That it's time to go back. Igren. But why didn't they tell you? Tentagil. The queen said so, sister. Igren. But why did she command so? .. I know they talked about many things ... Tentagil. Sister, I didn't hear a word. Igren. But they were talking among themselves, you didn't hear about what? Tentagil. They spoke in whispers, sister. Igren. Whisper? Tentagil. Whisper, sister. Or looked at me. Igren. But they were talking about the queen? Tentagil. They said, Igren, they said that you can’t see her .. Igren. And the others that were with you on the ship, they didn't say anything? Tentagil. They were busy with wind and sail, Igren. Igren. It's all right, my child, don't be surprised... Tentagil. But they left me alone, sister. Igren. Listen to me, Tentagil, I'll tell you everything I know... Tentagil. Everything you know, Igren? Igren. But so little, my child. so little... My sister and I have been wandering around this island like blind people since birth, and we are afraid to understand what is really happening. I lived for a long time, believing that this was how it should be ... Birds flew up, leaves trembled, roses blossomed - there were no other events here. And we had such silence that if an apple, filled with juice, fell in the garden, everyone ran to the windows to look. And no one suspected anything... But one night I realized that something strange was happening on the island... I wanted to run away, but I couldn't... Do you understand what I want to say?... Tentagil. Yes, yes, sister, I understand you... Igren. Well, let's not talk any more about what we don't know... Look at those dead trees poisoning the horizon. Do you see the castle behind them, in the depths of the valley? Tentagil. Something black in the distance, Igren? Igren. Yes, black. Blacker than the local twilight... But this is our home... Why wasn't it built somewhere in the surrounding mountains? The mountains are blue during the day, and you can breathe there. From there you can see the sea and meadows on the other side of the rocks ... But they built it in a lowland where air does not penetrate. The castle falls into ruins, but no one notices it... First, cracks appear, and then the walls seem to dissolve in twilight... And only one tower has not coped with time... It is so big that the house never leaves its shadow ... Tentagil. Something glows in the dark, Igren... Look, look, those huge windows are shining red?.. Igren. This is the same tower, Tentagil, where there is light, there is the throne of the queen. Tentagil. Will I see her? Will I see the queen? Igren. Nobody can see her. Tentagil. Why can't anyone see her? Igren. Snuggle up to me, more, more, Tentagil... It is impossible for us to be overheard - even birds or grass... Tentagil. Grass doesn't grow here, sister... - Silence - What is the queen doing? Igren. My child, no one knows. She has not been out for a long time, she lives alone in her tower, and her servants cannot endure the day ... She is very old, she is the mother of our mother, she likes to rule ... alone ... She is jealous, envious, and they say that reason her gloomy... They say she is afraid that someone will take her place... That's why she sent servants for you... I don't know how, but her orders are carried out. And the doors to the tower, meanwhile, are locked day and night... I have never met her, but others seem to have seen her in those days when she was young... Tentagil. Is she very ugly, Igren? Igren. They say that she is ugly and is getting bigger... But those who have seen her are wary of saying more... And has anyone seen her? Only inexplicable power is known to everyone on this island by the severity of the soul ... Do not be frightened beyond measure, my little Tentagil, and do not be afraid of bad dreams - the sisters will not close their eyes over you - and misfortune will pass you by. Just be always near me, our sister Bellanger or the old ruler Agloval... Tentagil. Only you, Bellanger and Agloval... Igren. And Agloval. He loves us... Tentagil. He's so old, sister! Igren. He is old, but so wise... our last friend, and much is revealed to him... Still strange, she brought you back without warning anyone... My poor heart.. How sad and how good it was to know that you were far away that you are beyond the sea... But now... When at dawn I went out to watch the sun rise from behind the mountains, and saw you... I was shocked... I recognized you right away... Tentagil. No, no, I laughed first. Igren. And I couldn't answer... You will soon understand... It's time, Tentagil, the wind is catching up the dusk from the sea... Hold me tighter, more, and more, before we leave... You don't know how people love ...Give me your little hand. I'll hold her tight, and we'll go to our sick house... They are going away. Second act Room in the castle. Agloval and Igren. Bellanger enters. Bellanger. Where is Tentagil? Igren. Here. Speak quietly, he sleeps in the next room. He was so pale, exhausted. The long journey had robbed him of his strength, and the air of the castle had already entered his little soul. He cried for no reason. I took him in my arms and rocked him. Come, look... He sleeps on our bed... He sleeps so solemnly, with his hand pressed to his forehead, like a sad little king... Bellanger. - Suddenly bursts into tears - Igren! .. My poor sister! .. Igren. What happened to you? Bellanger. I don't dare... And I'm not sure I understood everything... I... overheard something I shouldn't have heard... Igren. What are you talking about? Bellanger. I passed the stairs to the tower... Igren. To the tower? Bellanger. The door was not locked. I opened it, very carefully... and I... entered... Igren. Have you entered? Bellanger. I had never been there before... There were corridors lit by lamps, low galleries without end... You remember, we can't go there... I was afraid, I wanted to go back, but I heard the noise of voices, barely distinguishable... Igren. At the foot of the tower live the queen's maids. That's right, they were... Bellanger. I don't know exactly who it was... We were separated by more than one door, the voices seemed to me as if strangled... I got as close as I could... And, with difficulty, I understood that they were talking about the child brought this morning, about the golden crown... They laughed, Igren! Igren. Laughed? Bellanger. Yes, it must have been laughter, if not crying... It was hard to understand... I listened, barely catching the voices... It seemed that there was a crowd wandering under the vaults. And everyone quietly says that the queen called the child ... They can come in the evening. Igren. In the evening?.. Bellanger. Yes, Igren, I think - in the evening ... Igren. Did they call him by his first name? Bellanger. They talked about the baby, all the time about the baby... Igren. There are no other children here... Bellanger. They spoke loudly, but not for long, and then one of them said that the day did not seem to have come yet. Igren. I know what it all means, it's not the first time they've come out of the tower... I know well why they're leaving... But how can I believe that this will happen today?.. Let's see... There are three of us and there is still time. .. Bellanger. What are you going to do? Igren. I don't know what I'll do yet, but she'll be surprised. Do you know what will happen? Bellanger. What? Igren. Let him just try to take it away from us! Bellanger. But we are alone and weak, Igren... Igren. This is true. Alone... And we know the only way, but fail-safe!.. We will fall on our knees, as always... - Ironically - And she will take pity on us... She always succumbs to tears... We will do whatever she wants. And then she will smile, perhaps... She always spares those who are already kneeling in front of her!.. How many years she has been sitting in her terrible tower, devouring us, and no one has ever told her no. It oppresses our souls like a gravestone, but we do not dare to dump it... Once upon a time they lived in the castle strong men, but they were also frightened - and then she devoured them... Today is my turn?.. Let's see... I don't want, finally!... I don't care how she rules over us, I... don't no longer live in the shadow of her tower... Get out! Get out, both of you, if you're afraid. And leave me... I'll be the only one waiting... Bellanger. Sister, I don't know what you're up to, but I'm staying. Bellanger. Me too, girl... My soul hasn't been calm for a long time... You can try... Again... We've already tried, more than once... Igren. You too?.. Bellanger. Everyone tries sooner or later ... But in last moment retreat. You will see for yourself ... And I ... Order her now to rise to her, and I will unquestioningly lower my hands, and my old legs will meekly climb the tower, although I don’t know that I won’t get out of there alive. I don't have the courage to resist her... The sword refuses to serve me... And it's useless here... But I want to help you because you're hoping... Close the doors, girl. Wake Tentajeel, take him in your arms and hold him tight... We have no other protection... Third act. Same room. Igren and Agloval. Igren. I checked the doors. All three. Only the larger one needs to be guarded. The rest are squat and heavy, they have never been opened, the keys have long been lost, the iron bolts have grown into the walls ... Help me close it, it is heavier than the city gates ... How strong, even lightning will not break through it. .. Are you ready for anything? Bellanger. - Sits down on the step at the threshold - I will sit here with a sword in my hands and all night I won't close my eyes. It has happened more than once... I remember, but I cannot understand... Once I sat on this step and could neither get up nor draw my sword... The sword is with me, and today I will try, even if my hands no longer have the strength ... It's time, even if the efforts are in vain ... Bellanger comes out of the next room with Tentagile in his arms. Bellanger. He didn't sleep... Igren. He's pale... What's wrong with him? Bellanger. Don't know. He was crying softly... Igren. Tentagil... Bellanger. He doesn't look at you... Igren. He didn't recognize me... Tentagil... It's me, your sister... What are you looking at like that? Turn around to me, well ... let's play ... Tentagil. No no... Igren. Do not want? Tentagil. I can't walk, Igren... Igren. Can't walk?.. Well, what are you... Do you have any pain? Tentagil. Yes. Igren. What hurts you, Tentagil? Tell me I'll help... Tentagil. I can't tell, Igren. It's everywhere... Igren. Come to me, Tentagil... You know how gentle my hands are, they will quickly heal you... I will take him, Bellanger... Sit on my knees - and everything will pass... You see, everything is fine, sisters with you... the pain will go away and will not dare to return... Tentagil. She's there, Igren... Why is it so dark, Igren? Igren. But a lamp burns under the vault, Tentagil... Tentagil. She is small, is there another one? Igren. Why do we need another? You can see everything you need to see... Tentagil. A! Igren. How deep are your eyes, Tentagil! Tentagil. And you, Igren! Igren. And in the morning I didn’t notice... Something rose in them... You never know what the soul saw... Tentagil. I didn't see the soul, Igren... Why is Agloval sitting on the threshold? Igren. He was tired... He wanted to hug you and go to sleep... He was waiting for you to wake up... Tentagil. What's on his knees? Igren. On the knees? I can not see anything. Tentagil. No... Something glitters there. Bellanger. Nothing, child. I was inspecting an old sword. I hardly recognize him ... He served me for so many years, but for some time now I have ceased to trust him. I'm afraid the blade will break soon... Here's a crack, small, but right next to the hilt... And the steel is dull... I asked myself... I forgot what... It's so hard on my heart today... What can you do?. There are such terrible evenings when life with all its senselessness rises to the throat ... And I want only one thing - to close my eyes ... It's late ... It's late, and I'm tired ... Tentagil. He's hurt, Igren. Igren. Where, Tentagil? Tentagil. Wounds on the arms and forehead cut. Bellanger. These are very old wounds, child, they haven't hurt in a long time... Haven't you noticed before? So the light fell on them only now. Tentagil. He is sad, Igren... Igren. No, Tentagil, he's tired... Tentagil. You too, Igren, you are sad too... Igren. No, Tentagil, look, I'm already smiling... Tentagil. And Bellanger, she's sad too... Igren. No, Tentagil, she smiles... Tentagil. Don't smile like that, I know... Igren. Don't, don't think, hug me... Kissing Tentajeel. Tentagil. Why, Igren, why does it hurt so much when you kiss me? Igren. Are you in pain? Tentagil. Yes... I don't know why... I can hear your heartbeat, Igren... Igren. Do you hear the heart? Tentagil. Yes! Yes! It beats so... as if it wants to... Igren. What? Tentagil. I don't know, Igren... Igren. Don't speak in riddles... Don't worry in vain... Tears!.. Your eyes are moist... What worries you?.. I also hear your heart... I always hear your heart when I hug you... Hearts speak to each other what we are silent about ... Tentagil. I can't hear yours now... Igren. That's why... Tentagil!... What's wrong with your heart?... It's bursting!... Tentagil. Igren! Sister, Igren! Igren. Tentageel?.. Tentagil. I hear!.. They... They are coming!.. Igren. Who, Tentagil?.. What's the matter with you?.. Tentagil. Behind the door! They were at the door! - He faints in Igren's lap. Igren. What happened to him?.. He... lost his senses... Bellanger. Watch out, sister, he might fall... Bellanger. - He gets up with a sword in his hands - Now I hear ... They are walking along the gallery. Silence. Everyone is listening. Bellanger. I hear... There are many... Igren. A lot of? How many?.. Bellanger. I don't know... They are both heard and not heard... They don't walk... they are approaching... They... touched the door... Igren. - Convulsively squeezing in the arms of Tentagil - Tentagil! Tentageel! Bellanger. - Embracing them at the same time - I'm here! I'm with you... Tentagil!... Bellanger. They pushed the door... hush... listen. They push the door and whisper... You can hear the key turning in the lock with a creak. Igren. They have the key! Bellanger. Yes, yes... I knew... Get ready... - He gets up, raises his sword. Sisters: - Here! Help me!.. Silence. The door opens. Like a madman, Agloval strikes at the doorway, the point getting stuck between the door and the jamb. The sword breaks with a crack under the heavy pressure of the door leaf, and the fragments, ringing, fly up the steps. Igren jumps up with Tentagile in his arms. He is unconscious. She, Bellanger and Agloval, making huge but futile efforts, try to close the door. The door continues to slowly open, although no one is seen or heard behind it. Cold and calm light fills the room. At this moment, Tentajeel, suddenly straightening up, comes to his senses and lets out a long cry of relief. Hugs sisters. The moment he screams, the door gives way, but it slams shut so abruptly that the three others lean on it for a while longer. Igren. Tentageel! Everyone looks at each other in surprise. Bellanger. - Listening at the door - I can't hear anything... Igren. - Beside himself with joy - Tentagil! .. Tentagil! .. See, see his eyes? They are blue!.. Talk to us!.. Embrace us!.. Embrace us, I beg you!.. More!.. More!.. To the very depths of our souls, Tentagil!.. All four, with eyes full of tears, huddle together. Fourth act. Corridor in front of the same room. The Queen's three maids enter under a veil. First. - Eavesdropping at the door - They fell asleep. Second. Enough to wait. Third. The queen will like it if everything is quiet. First. They would fall asleep anyway... Second. Open soon. Third. Hurry... First. Wait here. I can handle myself. Second. It won't be difficult. He is quite small. Third. Watch out for big sister. Second. The Queen won't like it if they find out. First. Do not doubt. Nobody will hear. Second. Go, it's time. The first maid cautiously opens the door and enters the room. Third. Phew... Silence. The first servant returns. Second. What? First. He sleeps between them. He wrapped his arms around his neck, and the sisters' arms were entwined around him. I can't do it alone... Second. I will help you. Third. Go together... I'll keep watch here... First. Let's be careful. They know something... The three of them struggled with a bad obsession... Two maids enter the room. Third. They always know, but they can't understand... Silence. The two maids leave the room again. Third. So? Second. Come with us... You can't separate them. First. Just open their hands - they are again intertwined ... Second. And the child clings to the sisters, closer and closer. First. He sleeps with his forehead pressed against the elder's heart. Second. And the head rises and falls on her chest... First. We can't get his hands out... Second. He grabbed them by the hair of the sisters ... First. He clenched the elder's golden curl between his teeth. Second. She needs to cut her hair. First. And the other one too, you'll see... Second. Do you have scissors? Third. Yes... First. Hurry, they're busy... Second. Their eyelids flutter to the beat of their hearts... First. True, I even looked into the elder's blue eyes... Second. She looked at us, but didn't see... First. If you touch one, all three will shudder... Second. They want to wake up, but they can't move... First. The older one wants to scream, but she can't... Second. Hurry, they've been warned... Third. Is the old man there? First. Yes, but he sleeps in the corner... The second .... leaning on the hilt of the sword ... The first .... knowing nothing and not seeing dreams ... Third. Hurry, it's time to leave... First. It will be difficult to untangle their hands... Second. True, they seem to drown and grab each other ... Third. It's time, let's go... They enter. Deep silence is interrupted by sighs and barely audible anxious moans, muffled by sleep. Then, the three maids hurriedly leave the gloomy room. One of them is holding the sleeping Tentagil, whose hands, clenched in sleep and agony, are bathed in long, golden locks of the sisters' hair. Igren enters, her eyes wandering, her hair loose. Lamp in hand. Igren. - looking around in confusion - They didn't follow me... Bellanger!.. Bellanger!.. Agloval!.. Where are you?.. They said they love him, but they left me alone... Tentagil! Tentagil!.. How so?.. I climbed, climbed countless stairs between endless ruthless walls, my heart is ready to stop, the walls seem to be floating... lips and fly away, I feel that this is about to happen ... I don’t know what I’m doing, I don’t see anything and I don’t hear ... Silence! ... - I collected these strands of hair, I found them then on the steps, then on the walls ... and they showed me the way ... My poor little brother! ... What am I saying? ... I remember ... No, I don’t know anything else ... impossible... With me now only my thoughts... That's how you wake up - and suddenly... In essence, understand, in essence, you only need to think carefully... You can say this way and that, but the soul, the soul is always chooses a different path. And it is not known what we then release into the wild. I came here with this miserable lamp, it was not blown out by a draft on the stairs... In fact, what do you need to think about?... So many elusive things... But after all, someone must know? But then why is he hiding?.. - Looks around - I've never been here... And you can't go higher, it's forbidden... How cold! And it's so dark around that it's scary to breathe... They say that darkness poisons. What a terrible door! .. - Approaches and feels it - Cold! .. Cast from iron ... but where is the lock? .. How to open it? I don't see the loops, it seems to have grown into the walls... No, you can't go higher now... There is no further stairs... - Emits a cry full of unbearable torment - Ah! Another strand! sandwiched between the doors... Tentagile!... Tentagile!... I heard the door just slam shut... This door. I remembered! .. I remembered! .. Let me go! .. - Hands and feet knocking on the door - Monster! Monster! That's who you are! .. I know that you are there! So listen! Here I am blaspheming! Yes! I spit on you! A soft knock is heard from the other side of the door. Then Tentajeel's voice barely audibly penetrates through the doors. Tentagil. Igren! .. Igren! .. Igren. Tentagil!.. Is that you? Is that you, Tentagil? Tentagil. Rather open. open it for me, Igren! Igren. Yes, yes, but how... Tentagil?.. My little brother... do you hear?.. What is there?.. What is the matter with you, Tentagil?.. Are you in pain?.. Are you there, behind the door?.. Tentagil. Igren! Igren! I'll die if you don't open it! Igren. Wait. Tentagil!... I'm trying, trying... Tentagil. Igren, don't you hear, Igren... There is no time... She couldn't hold me back, Igren, I hit her, pushed her away, ran... Hurry, hurry, she's coming... Igren. I'm trying, Tentagil... Where is she? Tentagil... I can't see anything around and I can't hear... I'm afraid. Igren, I'm afraid... hurry, hurry open that door, for God's sake. Igren!.. Igren. - feverishly feeling the door - I will find ... of course, I will find ... Wait a little ... a minute ... a moment ... Tentagil. I can't take it anymore, Igren. Her breath behind me. Igren. Nothing. Tentagil, my little Tentagil, don't be afraid... You can't see anything. Tentagil. No. Igren, where you are is light. I see the light in you, Igren. But here, no... Igren. Do you see me, Tentagil?.. Not a single gap... Tentagil. No, no, Igren, here she is... but so small... Igren. Which side? Here?.. Tell me... or here?.. Tentagil. Here... here... Can't you hear?... I'm knocking... Igren. Here? Tentagil. Higher. But she is very small, even a needle will not go through ... Igren. Don't be afraid, I'm here... Tentagil. Oh, I hear, Igren! Pull! Pull! Open it for me!.. She's coming!.. Open it just a little bit!.. Just a little bit... because I'm small... Igren. I can't. Tentagil... I pulled, I pushed, I hit her! Bila! - knocks again and beats against the unyielding door - My fingers are numb ... Don't cry! .. Cursed iron ... Tentagil. - sobbing desperately - Do something! Open it to me, Igren!.. Just a little... and I can... I'm so small... I'm so small... you know... Igren. But I only have a lamp, Tentagil... Only a lamp! - He hits with all his might with a lamp on the door. The lamp breaks. - ABOUT! It's completely dark! Tentagil, are you here?.. Try, try to help me from the inside!.. Tentagil. No, no, I have nothing ... Nothing at all ... And there is no more crack of light ... Igren. What's the matter with you, Tentagil?.. I can't hear you... Tentagil. Dear sister, Igren... I can't... Igren. What is there, Tentagil? Where are you? Tentagil. She is here. I'm afraid... Igren!... Igren!... I know she's here!... Igren. Who? Who, Tentagil? Tentagil. I don't know... I can't see... But I can't take it anymore... She presses on my throat!... Her hands on my throat... Oh! Igren! Here! Here!.. Igren. Yes. Tentagil... Tentagil. It's so... so dark in here... Igren. Protect yourself! Fight! Break her! Don't be afraid!.. I'm here!.. I'm here, Tentagil... Answer me!.. Help!.. Where are you?.. I'll help you... hug me... hug me through the door... Tentagil. - barely audible - I'm here ... I'm here, Igren ... Igren. That's it, that's it. I kiss you, do you hear? More! More! Tentagil. - quieter and quieter - And I'll... Here, Igren!.. Igren!.. Oh... A small body is heard falling outside the door. Igren. Tentagil! .. Tentagil! .. What's the matter with you? .. Give it back to me, give it back! .. For God's sake! .. Give it back to me! I don't hear him anymore... What are you doing?.. You won't hurt him?... You won't? He is a child, he is only a child, and does not resist... Look, I'm not proud... Here I am on my knees... Give it back... I beg you... Give it back! Not for me, you know! I will do everything what you want! I'm not a slut, look! I've lost everything... Well, punish me somehow differently! - it is not true! You're kind, won't you forgive in the end?... He's so small, he's so... handsome!... Look, it's impossible... Here he hugs your neck with his little hands, he brings his lips to yours... And God would not have resisted... Will you open it? Will you open? I don't ask for anything, just for one moment... I don't remember anything, do you understand?.. There is no more time... But nothing is worth letting go... It's not difficult... It's not difficult... - Long implacable silence - Monster! Monster!.. I despise you!.. Igren, sitting on the floor, embracing the door, sobs in complete darkness. It took place in an old forest, under a beautiful sky covered with stars. A rather old priest leaned against a standing oak and for a moment it seemed that he had died. The old man's lips were already of blue color, and his eyes looked nowhere, or maybe he looked into eternity. He quietly folded his hands on his knees. Twelve old men are sitting with him, right side women sit, on the left - men. They are all blind. Three of the old women are praying to God, another is too old for any actions, the fifth has a baby sleeping on her knees, the sixth does not fit into this team at all, she is young and has the most beautiful long hair. All those gathered are dressed very poorly and monastically alike. People are waiting for something. They sit covering their faces with both hands. Nature next to them is serene and beautiful: around and willows, and cypresses, and yews. It's dark all around. The blind do not see the darkness and speak calmly. Everyone is waiting for the arrival of the clergyman. He fell ill the other day and began to fear everything that was happening around him after the doctor died. The clergyman thought that the winter would be endless and freezing. He also dreamed of seeing rocks, because he was afraid of the sea. The youngest girl said that the last time she saw him, he was trembling with fear, but, gaining strength, he kissed her and she never saw him again. Someone from those sitting said that he wished everyone good night. The blind sat and listened to the whisper of quiet waves, although such a sound was unpleasant for them. At their last meeting with the clergyman, he said that he would show them the island, where they could all live in peace. For this campaign and gathered here all sitting. It is considered absolutely impossible for a blind person to determine the time of day, but they try to guess, someone is trying to feel the moon on himself, while others imagine that they feel the presence of many stars. Worst of all is the one who was blind from birth, because he has no idea how it all should look like and they explain that they hear only the voices of those gathered. Twelve people think to go home to their shelter. At that moment, the clock struck exactly twelve times, but none of those present understood whether it was twelve noon or midnight. The night birds have already woken up, they fly around people and flap their wings. Some of those sitting offered to move forward and try to orient themselves along the river flowing along them, but the rest decided to wait for the clergyman, sitting in this place. Those seated decided to share stories about who ended up on this lost island. The youngest woman said that she still remembers the place of her birth, it was very sunny there, huge mountains and millions of beautiful flowers were visible. One who was born blind cannot remember anything. The wind lifts the leaves and they circle around the blind. Those sitting cannot always understand whether a piece of paper touched them or someone touched their shoulder. They become scared. The young blind woman began to smell the wonderful smell of asphodelia. These flowers symbolize the world of the dead. Someone collects these flowers and gives them to her. A rustle was heard in the distance, it was a dog. The dog came from a shelter. The dog is dragging something, as it turned out it was dead man, one of the seated. The blind begin to guess that one of them has died, but have not yet understood who it is. Some of the sitting women begin to cry, others get down on their knees and pray. The old woman grumbles that those who did not want to go earlier are to blame. The dog is still close to the dead man. A whirlwind rises and the blind join hands. Footsteps approached in the distance. The child cries and the young woman takes it to herself. Someone approached, silently stood up and the child began to scream loudly.
