10

They all looked at her with a bewildered air.
They understood that it was a solemn moment 38

Delighted with the importance of his duty,
undid the top of his robe, drew his scimitar
and cut two slices out of his stomach 42

Sugar also wanted to impress the company and,
breaking off two of his fingers, handed them
to the astonished Children 44

Everything vanished and, instead, there appeared
a pretty little peasant's cottage 50

The grandparents and grandchildren sat down to supper 56

The road to the Palace of Night was rather long and
rather dangerous 66

Night sat up, all quivering. Her immense wings beat
around her; and she questioned Tylette in a
trembling voice 68

Wagging her head and stopping every minute to cough,
sneeze and blow her nose 74

A wonderful garden lay before him, a dream-garden
filled with flowers that shone like stars 80

Light's servants were very odd 90

Other Blue Children opened great big books 98

Other Blue Children unfolded maps and plans, or
brought enormous flowers 102

And, in a moment, the Blue Children were crowding
round the tall old man 110

The Cat at once draped her cloak round her, opened
the door and ran and bounded out into the forest 119

A regular waterfall of tears came gushing from her
eyes, flooding all around her 154

Closely pursued by the Dog, who overwhelmed her
with bites, blows and kicks 162

"It's the Blue Bird we were looking for! We have
been miles and miles and miles and he was here
all the time!" 174

CHAPTER I

THE WOODCUTTER'S COTTAGE

Once upon a time, a woodcutter and his wife lived in their cottage on
the edge of a large and ancient forest. They had two dear little
children who met with a most wonderful adventure.

But, before te