singing, tossing and lolling about or sleeping among the haunches of
venison, the miraculous fruits, the overturned jars and ewers. They are
enormously, incredibly fat and red in the face, covered with velvet and
brocade, crowned with gold and pearls and precious stones. Beautiful female
slaves incessantly bring decorated dishes and foaming beverages. Vulgar,
blatantly hilarious music, in which the brasses predominate. The stage is
bathed in a red and heavy light_.

(TYLTYL, MYTYL, _the_ DOG, BREAD _and_ SUGAR _are a little
awestruck at first end crowd round_ LIGHT _in the foreground, to the
right. The_ CAT, _without a word, walks to the background, also to the
right, lifts a dark curtain and disappears_.)

TYLTYL
Who are those fat gentlemen enjoying themselves and eating such a lot of
good things?

LIGHT
They are the biggest Luxuries of the Earth, the ones that can be seen with
the naked eye. It is possible, though not very likely, that the Blue Bird
may have strayed among them for a moment. That is why you must not turn the
diamond yet. For form's sake, we will begin by searching this part of the
hall.

TYLTYL
Can we go up to them?

LIGHT
Certainly. They are not ill-natured, although they are vulgar and usually
rather ill-bred.