grinning
) Besides, you are indoors technically.
TSHEMBE Men die here on account of such technicalities.
CHARLIE (
Simply, looking at the other
) I really would like to talk. ( TSHEMBE
says nothing but remains
) I’ll get the bottle. (
He does so. Smoothly, engagingly: a man practiced at setting others at ease
) I’ll tell you right off, Matoseh, I know you are trying to decide: which
kind
am I? One of the obtuse ones who is sure to ask you all aboutrituals and lions? Or one of the top-heavy “little magazine” types who is going to engage a real live African intellectual in a discussion of “negritude” and Senghor’s poetry to show that I am—(
He winks;
TSHEMBE
smiles back the least bit, warming
)—really—“in.” Well, I am neither. I am a man who feels like talking. Sit down.
TSHEMBE (
Sits
) American straightforwardness is
almost
as disarming as Americans invariably think it is.
( CHARLIE
grins and lifts his glass in friendly salute;
TSHEMBE
reacts in kind and they drink
)
CHARLIE You married?
TSHEMBE Yes. I have, however, only
one
wife!
CHARLIE (
Annoyed
) Look, I thought we had decided to assume that the other was something more than an ass, Matoseh.
TSHEMBE It may be, Mr. Morris, that I have developed counterassumptions because I have had—(
Mimicking lightly but cruelly
)—too many long, lo-o-ong “talks” wherein the white intellectual begins by suggesting not only fellowship but the universal damnation of imperialism. But that, you see, is always only the beginning. Then the real game is begun. (
With mock grandiloquence
) The game of plumbing
my
depths! Of trying to dig out
my
“frustrations”! And of finding deep in my “primeval soul” what
you
think is the secret—quintessential—“root” of my nationalism: “envy and SHAME”! (
As swiftly dropping it
) But, you see, I have already had those talks. They bore me.
CHARLIE I see that you are outraged by others’ assumptions but that
you
are full of them! Let’s get a simple thing understood: I am not a hundred other people. Are you? (
They glare at one another; by his silence and barely perceptible smile
TSHEMBE
concedes
) Cigarette?
TSHEMBE Thank you.
CHARLIE What parts of the States were you in?
TSHEMBE Most of your urban capitals: Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago … New York, of course.
CHARLIE Man, you really got around. I hope the shortness of your visit didn’t distort your view? That happens, you know.
TSHEMBE (
Dryly
) I believe I understood what I saw in America.
CHARLIE (
Laughing
) Well now, it’s the damnedest thing—everybody seems to come with preconceptions. You know, America is a lot more than supermarkets, instant coffee and the fast buck.
TSHEMBE I don’t believe that America is misunderstood because of its instant coffee, Mr. Morris. But then I don’t believe it is very often misunderstood.
CHARLIE (
Turning his cigarette about
) Did you get down to our … tobacco country at all?
TSHEMBE Yes, I was in
the South!
(
With deliberate impatience
) And yes, I did find your American
apartheid
absolutely enraging!
CHARLIE (
Openly frustrated
) You really can’t come off it, can you! Why the hell should it be so hard for us to talk, man?! Christ, all I want to do is talk!
TSHEMBE (
Whirling on him, words flying
) And just why should we be able to “talk” so easily? What is this marvelous nonsense with you Americans? For a handshake, a grin, a cigarette and half a glass of whiskey you want three hundred years to disappear—and in five minutes! Do you really think the rape of a continent dissolves in cigarette smoke? (
He drops and crushes his cigarette underfoot
) This is Africa, Mr. Morris, and I am an African, not one of your simpering American Negroes sitting around discussing admission to country clubs!
(
He hands his glass to
CHARLIE
and turns to go
. CHARLIE
slams it down
)
CHARLIE You know even less about American Negroes than you think you know about me!
TSHEMBE Perhaps my
) Besides, you are indoors technically.
TSHEMBE Men die here on account of such technicalities.
CHARLIE (
Simply, looking at the other
) I really would like to talk. ( TSHEMBE
says nothing but remains
) I’ll get the bottle. (
He does so. Smoothly, engagingly: a man practiced at setting others at ease
) I’ll tell you right off, Matoseh, I know you are trying to decide: which
kind
am I? One of the obtuse ones who is sure to ask you all aboutrituals and lions? Or one of the top-heavy “little magazine” types who is going to engage a real live African intellectual in a discussion of “negritude” and Senghor’s poetry to show that I am—(
He winks;
TSHEMBE
smiles back the least bit, warming
)—really—“in.” Well, I am neither. I am a man who feels like talking. Sit down.
TSHEMBE (
Sits
) American straightforwardness is
almost
as disarming as Americans invariably think it is.
( CHARLIE
grins and lifts his glass in friendly salute;
TSHEMBE
reacts in kind and they drink
)
CHARLIE You married?
TSHEMBE Yes. I have, however, only
one
wife!
CHARLIE (
Annoyed
) Look, I thought we had decided to assume that the other was something more than an ass, Matoseh.
TSHEMBE It may be, Mr. Morris, that I have developed counterassumptions because I have had—(
Mimicking lightly but cruelly
)—too many long, lo-o-ong “talks” wherein the white intellectual begins by suggesting not only fellowship but the universal damnation of imperialism. But that, you see, is always only the beginning. Then the real game is begun. (
With mock grandiloquence
) The game of plumbing
my
depths! Of trying to dig out
my
“frustrations”! And of finding deep in my “primeval soul” what
you
think is the secret—quintessential—“root” of my nationalism: “envy and SHAME”! (
As swiftly dropping it
) But, you see, I have already had those talks. They bore me.
CHARLIE I see that you are outraged by others’ assumptions but that
you
are full of them! Let’s get a simple thing understood: I am not a hundred other people. Are you? (
They glare at one another; by his silence and barely perceptible smile
TSHEMBE
concedes
) Cigarette?
TSHEMBE Thank you.
CHARLIE What parts of the States were you in?
TSHEMBE Most of your urban capitals: Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago … New York, of course.
CHARLIE Man, you really got around. I hope the shortness of your visit didn’t distort your view? That happens, you know.
TSHEMBE (
Dryly
) I believe I understood what I saw in America.
CHARLIE (
Laughing
) Well now, it’s the damnedest thing—everybody seems to come with preconceptions. You know, America is a lot more than supermarkets, instant coffee and the fast buck.
TSHEMBE I don’t believe that America is misunderstood because of its instant coffee, Mr. Morris. But then I don’t believe it is very often misunderstood.
CHARLIE (
Turning his cigarette about
) Did you get down to our … tobacco country at all?
TSHEMBE Yes, I was in
the South!
(
With deliberate impatience
) And yes, I did find your American
apartheid
absolutely enraging!
CHARLIE (
Openly frustrated
) You really can’t come off it, can you! Why the hell should it be so hard for us to talk, man?! Christ, all I want to do is talk!
TSHEMBE (
Whirling on him, words flying
) And just why should we be able to “talk” so easily? What is this marvelous nonsense with you Americans? For a handshake, a grin, a cigarette and half a glass of whiskey you want three hundred years to disappear—and in five minutes! Do you really think the rape of a continent dissolves in cigarette smoke? (
He drops and crushes his cigarette underfoot
) This is Africa, Mr. Morris, and I am an African, not one of your simpering American Negroes sitting around discussing admission to country clubs!
(
He hands his glass to
CHARLIE
and turns to go
. CHARLIE
slams it down
)
CHARLIE You know even less about American Negroes than you think you know about me!
TSHEMBE Perhaps my
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