and what was of value turns into pus. I can hide nothing. I can’t lay anything aside. Nothing can be put aside, nothing can be hidden, nothing can be saved, it waits, it eats, it’s voracious, you’re in it, Pete’s in it, you’re all in my corner. There must be somewhere else!
Swift cross fade of lights to down centre area.
PETE is seen vaguely, standing downstage below LEN’S room. MARK is seated in his room. Unlit. LEN crouches, watching PETE .
Pete walks by the river. Under the woodyard wall stops. Stops. Hiss of the yellow grass. The wood battlements jaw over the wall. Dust in the fairground ticks. The night ticks.He hears the tick of the roundabout, up river with the sweat. Pete walks by the river. Under the woodyard wall stops. Stops. The wood hangs. Deathmask on the water. Pete walks by the—gull. Slicing gull. Gull. Down. He stops. Rat corpse in the yellow grass. Gull pads. Gull probes. Gull stamps his feet. Gull whinnies up. Gull screams, tears, Pete, tears, digs, Pete cuts, breaks, Pete stretches the corpse, flaps his wings, Pete’s beak grows, probes, digs, pulls, the river jolts, no moon, what can I see, the dwarfs collect, they slide down the bridge, they scutter by the shoreside, the dwarfs collect, capable, industrious, they wear raincoats, it is going to rain, Pete digs, he screws in to the head, the dwarfs watch, Pete tugs, he tugs, he’s tugging, he kills, he’s killing, the rat’s head, with a snap the cloth of the rat’s head tears. Pete walks by the … [ Deep groan. ]
He sinks into chair left of his table. Lights in LEN’S room swiftly fade up. PETE turns to him.
PETE: You look the worse for wear. What’s the matter with you?
LEN: I’ve been ill.
PETE: Ill? What’s the matter?
LEN: Cheese. Stale cheese. It got me in the end. I’ve been eating a lot of cheese.
PETE: Yes, well, it’s easy to eat too much cheese.
LEN: It all came out, in about twenty-eight goes. I couldn’t stop shivering and I couldn’t stop squatting. It got me all right. I’m all right now. I only go three times a day now. I can more or less regulate it. Once in the morning. A quick dash before lunch. Another quick dash after tea, and then I’m free to do what I want. I don’t think you understand. That cheese didn’t die. It only began to live when you swallowed it, you see, after it had gone down. I bumped into a German one night, he came home with me and helped mefinish it off. He took it to bed with him, he sat up in bed with it, in the guest’s suite. I went in and had a gander. He had it taped. He was brutal with it. He would bite into it and then concentrate. I had to hand it to him. The sweat came out on his nose but he stayed on his feet. After he’d got out of bed, that was. Stood bolt upright, swallowed it, clicked his fingers, ordered another piece of blackcurrant pie. It’s my pie-making season. His piss stank worse than the cheese. You look in the pink.
PETE: You want to watch your step. You know that? You’re going from bad to worse. Why don’t you pull yourself together? Eh? Get a steady job. Cultivate a bit of go and guts for a change. Make yourself useful, mate, for Christ’s sake. As you are, you’re just a dead weight round everybody’s neck. You want to listen to your friends, mate. Who else have you got?
PETE taps him on the shoulder and exits. A light comes up on MARK . The lights in LEN’S room fade out. LEN rises to down centre.
LEN: Mark sits by the fireside. Crosses his legs. His fingers wear a ring. The finger poised. Mark regards his finger. He regards his legs. He regards the fireside. Outside the door is the black blossom. He combs his hair with an ebony comb, he sits, he lies, he lowers his eyelashes, raises them, sees no change in the posture of the room, lights a cigarette, watches his hand clasp the lighter, watches the flame, sees his mouth go forward, sees the consummation, is satisfied. Pleased, sees the smoke in the lamp, pleased with the lamp and the
Swift cross fade of lights to down centre area.
PETE is seen vaguely, standing downstage below LEN’S room. MARK is seated in his room. Unlit. LEN crouches, watching PETE .
Pete walks by the river. Under the woodyard wall stops. Stops. Hiss of the yellow grass. The wood battlements jaw over the wall. Dust in the fairground ticks. The night ticks.He hears the tick of the roundabout, up river with the sweat. Pete walks by the river. Under the woodyard wall stops. Stops. The wood hangs. Deathmask on the water. Pete walks by the—gull. Slicing gull. Gull. Down. He stops. Rat corpse in the yellow grass. Gull pads. Gull probes. Gull stamps his feet. Gull whinnies up. Gull screams, tears, Pete, tears, digs, Pete cuts, breaks, Pete stretches the corpse, flaps his wings, Pete’s beak grows, probes, digs, pulls, the river jolts, no moon, what can I see, the dwarfs collect, they slide down the bridge, they scutter by the shoreside, the dwarfs collect, capable, industrious, they wear raincoats, it is going to rain, Pete digs, he screws in to the head, the dwarfs watch, Pete tugs, he tugs, he’s tugging, he kills, he’s killing, the rat’s head, with a snap the cloth of the rat’s head tears. Pete walks by the … [ Deep groan. ]
He sinks into chair left of his table. Lights in LEN’S room swiftly fade up. PETE turns to him.
PETE: You look the worse for wear. What’s the matter with you?
LEN: I’ve been ill.
PETE: Ill? What’s the matter?
LEN: Cheese. Stale cheese. It got me in the end. I’ve been eating a lot of cheese.
PETE: Yes, well, it’s easy to eat too much cheese.
LEN: It all came out, in about twenty-eight goes. I couldn’t stop shivering and I couldn’t stop squatting. It got me all right. I’m all right now. I only go three times a day now. I can more or less regulate it. Once in the morning. A quick dash before lunch. Another quick dash after tea, and then I’m free to do what I want. I don’t think you understand. That cheese didn’t die. It only began to live when you swallowed it, you see, after it had gone down. I bumped into a German one night, he came home with me and helped mefinish it off. He took it to bed with him, he sat up in bed with it, in the guest’s suite. I went in and had a gander. He had it taped. He was brutal with it. He would bite into it and then concentrate. I had to hand it to him. The sweat came out on his nose but he stayed on his feet. After he’d got out of bed, that was. Stood bolt upright, swallowed it, clicked his fingers, ordered another piece of blackcurrant pie. It’s my pie-making season. His piss stank worse than the cheese. You look in the pink.
PETE: You want to watch your step. You know that? You’re going from bad to worse. Why don’t you pull yourself together? Eh? Get a steady job. Cultivate a bit of go and guts for a change. Make yourself useful, mate, for Christ’s sake. As you are, you’re just a dead weight round everybody’s neck. You want to listen to your friends, mate. Who else have you got?
PETE taps him on the shoulder and exits. A light comes up on MARK . The lights in LEN’S room fade out. LEN rises to down centre.
LEN: Mark sits by the fireside. Crosses his legs. His fingers wear a ring. The finger poised. Mark regards his finger. He regards his legs. He regards the fireside. Outside the door is the black blossom. He combs his hair with an ebony comb, he sits, he lies, he lowers his eyelashes, raises them, sees no change in the posture of the room, lights a cigarette, watches his hand clasp the lighter, watches the flame, sees his mouth go forward, sees the consummation, is satisfied. Pleased, sees the smoke in the lamp, pleased with the lamp and the
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