|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 53
MOTHER. When you came here after your unlucky honeymoon, I'd hoped
you'd have got over the worst. But now I see it was only a
foretaste of what was to come.
LADY. I'm ready for anything; and I don't think this knot can ever
be undone. It must be cut!
MOTHER. But you're only making more difficulties for yourself by
suppressing his letters.
LADY. In days gone by, when I went through life like a sleep-walker,
everything seemed easy to me, but I begin to be uncertain now he's
started to waken thoughts in me. (She puts the letters into the
post-bag.) Here he is. 'Sh!
MOTHER. One thing more. Why do you let him wear that suit of your
first husband's?
LADY. I like torturing and humiliating him. I've persuaded him it
fits him and belonged to my father. Now, when I see him in the
werewolf's things, I feel I've got both of them in my clutches.
MOTHER. Heaven defend us! How spiteful you've grown!
LADY. Perhaps that was my r�le, if I have one in this man's life!
MOTHER. I sometimes wish the river would rise and carry us all away
whilst we're asleep at night. If it were to flow here for a
thousand years perhaps it would wash out the sin on which this
house is built.
LADY. Then it's true that my grandfather, the notary, illegally
seized property not his own? It's said this place was built with
the heritage of widows and orphans, the funds of ruined men, the
property of dead ones and the bribes of litigants.
MOTHER. Don't speak of it any more. The tears of those still living
have run together and formed a lake. And it's that lake, people
say, that's being drained now, and that'll cause the river to wash
us away.
LADY. Can't it be stopped by taking legal action? Is there no
justice on earth?
MOTHER. Not on earth. But there is in heaven. And heaven will drown
us, for we're the children of evildoers. (She goes up the steps.)
LADY. Isn't it enough to put up with one's own tears? Must one
inherit other people's?
(The STRANGER comes back.)
STRANGER. Did you call me?
LADY. No. I only tried to draw you to me, without really wanting
you.
STRANGER. I felt you meddling with my destiny in a way that made me
uneasy. Soon you'll have learnt all I know.
LADY. And more.
STRANGER. But I must ask you not to lay rough hands on my fate. I
am Cain, you see, and am under the ban of mysterious powers, who
permit no mortals to interfere with their work of vengeance. You
see this mark on my brow? (He removes his hat.) It means: Revenge
is mine, saith the Lord.
LADY. Does your hat press. ...
STRANGER. No. It chafes me. And so does the coat. If it weren't
that I wanted to please you, I'd have thrown them all into the
river. When I walk here in the neighbourhood, do you know that
people call me the doctor? They must take me for your husband, the
werewolf. And I'm unlucky. If I ask who planted some tree: they
say, the doctor. If I ask to whom the green fish basket belongs:
they say, the doctor. And if it isn't his then it belongs to the
doctor's wife. That is, to you! This confusion between him and me
makes my visit unbearable. I'd like to go away. ...
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|