The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder Page A

Maggie, when I saw the things that we could do when it was over. When you’re at war you think about a better life; when you’re at peace you think about a more comfortable one. I’ve lost it. I feel sick and tired.
    MRS. ANTROBUS:
    Listen! The baby’s crying.
    I hear Gladys talking. Probably she’s quieting Henry again. George, while Gladys and I were living here—like moles, like rats, and when we were at our wits’ end to save the baby’s life—the only thought we clung to was that you were going to bring something good out of this suffering. In the night, in the dark, we’d whisper about it, starving and sick.—Oh, George, you’ll have to get it back again. Think! What else kept us alive all these years? Even now, it’s not comfort we want. We can suffer whatever’s necessary; only give us back that promise.
    Enter SABINA with a lighted lamp. She is dressed as in Act I.
    SABINA:
    Mrs. Antrobus . . .
    MRS. ANTROBUS:
    Yes, Sabina?
    SABINA:
    Will you need me?
    MRS. ANTROBUS:
    No, Sabina, you can go to bed.
    SABINA:
    Mrs. Antrobus, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to go to the bonfire and celebrate seeing the war’s over. And, Mrs. Antrobus, they’ve opened the Gem Movie Theatre and they’re giving away a hand-painted soup tureen to every lady, and I thought one of us ought to go.
    ANTROBUS:
    Well, Sabina, I haven’t any money. I haven’t seen any money for quite a while.
    SABINA:
    Oh, you don’t need money. They’re taking anything you can give them. And I have some . . . some . . . Mrs. Antrobus, promise you won’t tell anyone. It’s a little against the law. But I’ll give you some, too.
    ANTROBUS:
    What is it?
    SABINA:
    I’ll give you some, too. Yesterday I picked up a lot of . . . of beef-cubes!
    MRS. ANTROBUS turns and says calmly:
    MRS. ANTROBUS:
    But, Sabina, you know you ought to give that in to the Center downtown. They know who needs them most.
    SABINA:
    Outburst.
    Mrs. Antrobus, I didn’t make this war. I didn’t ask for it. And, in my opinion, after anybody’s gone through what we’ve gone through, they have a right to grab what they can find. You’re a very nice man, Mr. Antrobus, but you’d have got on better in the world if you’d realized that dog-eat-dog was the rule in the beginning and always will be. And most of all now.
    In tears.
    Oh, the world’s an awful place, and you know it is. I used to think something could be done about it; but I know better now. I hate it. I hate it.
    She comes forward slowly and brings six cubes from the bag.
    All right. All right. You can have them.
    ANTROBUS:
    Thank you, Sabina.
    SABINA:
    Can I have . . . can I have one to go to the movies?
    ANTROBUS in silence gives her one.
    Thank you.
    ANTROBUS:
    Good night, Sabina.
    SABINA:
    Mr. Antrobus, don’t mind what I say. I’m just an ordinary girl, you know what I mean, I’m just an ordinary girl. But you’re a bright man, you’re a very bright man, and of course you invented the alphabet and the wheel, and, my God, a lot of things . . . and if you’ve got any other plans, my God, don’t let me upset them. Only every now and then I’ve got to go to the movies. I mean my nerves can’t stand it. But if you have any ideas about improving the crazy old world, I’m really with you. I really am. Because it’s . . . it’s . . . Good night.
    She goes out. ANTROBUS starts laughing softly with exhilaration.
    ANTROBUS:
    Now I remember what three things always went together when I was able to see things most clearly: three things. Three things:
    He points to where SABINA has gone out.
    The voice of the people in their confusion and their need. And the thought of you and the children and this house. And . . . Maggie! I didn’t dare ask you: my books! They haven’t been lost, have they?
    MRS. ANTROBUS:
    No. There are some of them right here. Kind