THE DOG You"re wrong, for all that.... They mean mischief.... Take care, my little G.o.d!... He"s closing my mouth!... I can"t speak!...
THE IVY (_who has tied up the_ DOG _like a parcel_) Where shall we put him?... I"ve muzzled him finely.... He can"t utter a word....
THE OAK Fasten him tight down there behind my trunk; to my big root.... We will decide later what had best be done with him....
(_The_ IVY _and the_ POPLAR _carry the_ DOG _behind the_ OAK"S _trunk_.)
THE OAK Is that done?... Well, now that we are rid of this inconvenient witness, of this renegade, let us deliberate in accordance with justice and truth....
I will not conceal from you the deep and painful nature of my emotion....
This is the first time that it is given to us to judge Man and make him feel our power.... I do not think that, after the harm which he has done us, after the monstrous injustice which we have suffered, there can remain the least doubt as to the sentence that awaits him....
ALL THE TREES and ALL THE ANIMALS No! No! No!... No doubt at all!... Hanging!... Death!... The injustice has been too great!... The abuse too wicked!... It has lasted too long!...
Crush him!... Eat him!... At once!... Here and now!...
TYLTYL (_to the_ CAT) What is the matter with them?... Are they displeased?...
THE CAT Don"t be alarmed.... They are a little annoyed because Spring is late....
Leave it to me; I will settle it all....
THE OAK This unanimity was inevitable.... We must now decide, in order to avoid reprisals, which form of execution will be the most practical, the easiest, the quickest and the safest, which will leave the fewest accusing traces when Man finds the little bodies in the forest....
TYLTYL What is all this about?... What is he driving at?... I am getting tired of this.... He has got the Blue Bird; let him hand it over....
THE BULL (_coming forward_) The most practical and the surest way is a good b.u.t.t with the horns in the pit of the stomach.... Shall I go at him?...
THE OAK Who speaks?...
THE CAT It"s the Bull.
THE COW It would be better to keep quiet.... I won"t meddle with it.... I have all the gra.s.s to browse in the field which you can see down there in the blue light of the moon.... I have quite enough to do....
THE OX I also.... However, I agree to everything beforehand....
THE BEECH I can offer my highest branch to hang them on....
THE IVY And I the slip-knot....
THE FIR-TREE And I the four planks for their little coffin....
THE CYPRESS And I a perpetual grant of a tomb....
THE WILLOW The simplest way would be to drown them in one of my rivers.... I will take charge of that....
THE LIME-TREE (_in a conciliatory tone_) Come, come.... Is it really necessary to go to such extremities?... They are very young.... We could quite simply prevent them from doing any harm by keeping them prisoners in an enclosure which I will undertake to form by planting myself all around....
THE OAK Who speaks?... I seem to recognise the honeyed accents of the Lime-tree....
THE FIR-TREE Yes, it"s he....
THE OAK So there is a renegade among us, as among the Animals?... Hitherto we have only had to deplore the disloyalty of the Fruit-trees; but they are not real trees....
THE PIG (_rolling his small eyes gluttonously_) I think we should first eat the little girl.... She ought to be very tender....
TYLTYL What"s he saying?... Just wait a bit, you...
THE CAT I don"t know what is the matter with them; but things are beginning to look badly....
THE OAK Silence!... What we have to decide is which of us shall have the honour of striking the first blow, who shall ward off from, our tops the greatest danger that has threatened us since the birth of Man....
THE FIR-TREE That honour falls to you, our king and our patriarch....
THE OAK Is that the Fir-tree speaking?... Alas, I am too old!... I am blind and infirm and my numbed arms no longer obey me.... No, to you, brother, ever green, ever upright, to you, who have witnessed the birth of most of these trees, to you be the glory, in default of myself, of the n.o.ble act of our deliverance....
THE FIR-TREE I thank you, venerable father.... But as I shall, in any case, have the honour of burying the two victims, I should be afraid of arousing the just jealousy of my colleagues; and I think that, next to ourselves, the oldest and the worthiest and the one that owns the best club is the Beech....
THE BEECH You know I am worm-eaten and my club is no longer to be relied upon.... But the Elm and the Cypress have powerful weapons....
THE ELM I should be only too pleased; but I can hardly stand upright.... A mole twisted my great toe last night....
THE CYPRESS As for me, I am ready.... But, like my brother, the Fir-tree, I shall have, if not the privilege of burying them, at least the advantage of weeping over their tomb.... It would be an unlawful plurality of offices.... Ask the Poplar....
THE POPLAR Me?... Are you serious?... Why, my wood is more tender than the flesh of a child!... And, besides, I don"t know what"s the matter with me.... I am shivering with fever.... Just look at my leaves.... I must have caught cold at sunrise this morning....
THE OAK (_bursting out with indignation_) You are afraid of Man!... Even those unprotected and unarmed little children inspire you with the mysterious terror which has always made us the slaves that we are!... Enough of this! Things being as they are and the opportunity unequalled, I shall go forth alone, old, crippled, trembling, blind as I am, against the hereditary enemy!... Where is he?...
(_Groping with his stick, he moves towards_ TYLTYL.)
TYLTYL (_taking his knife from his pocket_) Is it me he"s after, that old one, with his big stick?...
ALL THE TREES (_uttering a cry of alarm at the sight of the knife, they step in between and hold back the_ OAK) The knife!... Take care!... The knife!...
THE OAK (_struggling_) Let me be!... What does it matter?... The knife or the axe!... Who"s holding me back?... What! Are you all here?... What! You all want to....
(_Flinging down his_ _stick_) Well, so be it!... Shame upon us!... Let the Animals deliver us!...
THE BULL That"s right!... I"ll see to It!... And with one blow of the horns!...
THE OX _and_ THE COW (_holding him back by the tail_) What are you doing?... Don"t be a fool!... It"s a bad business!... It will end badly.... It is we who will pay for it.... Do let be.... It"s the wild animals" business....
THE BULL No, no!... It"s my business!... Wait and see!... Look here, hold me back or there will be an accident!...
TYLTYL (_to_ MYTYL, _who is uttering piercing screams_) Don"t be afraid!... Stand behind me.... I have my knife....
THE c.o.c.k He has plenty of pluck, the little chap!...
TYLTYL So you"ve made up your minds, it"s me you"re going for?...
THE a.s.s Why, of course, my little man; you"ve taken long enough to see it!...