me? Ain't we both members of de same club--de
Hairy Apes? [_They stare at each other--a pause--then YANK goes on
slowly and bitterly._] So yuh're what she seen when she looked at me,
de white-faced tart! I was you to her, get me? On'y outa de cage--broke
out--free to moider her, see? Sure! Dat's what she tought. She wasn't
wise dat I was in a cage, too--worser'n yours--sure--a damn
sight--'cause you got some chanct to bust loose--but me--[_He grows
confused._] Aw, hell! It's all wrong, ain't it? [_A pause._] I s'pose
yuh wanter know what I'm doin' here, huh? I been warmin' a bench down
to de Battery--ever since last night. Sure. I seen de sun come up. Dat
was pretty, too--all red and pink and green. I was lookin' at de
skyscrapers--steel--and all de ships comin' in, sailin' out, all over
de oith--and dey was steel, too. De sun was warm, dey wasn't no clouds,
and dere was a breeze blowin'. Sure, it was great stuff. I got it aw
right--what Paddy said about dat bein' de right dope--on'y I couldn't
get IN it, see? I couldn't belong in dat. It was over my head. And I
kept tinkin'--and den I beat it up here to see what youse was like. And
I waited till dey was all gone to git yuh alone. Say, how d'yuh feel
sittin' in dat pen all de time, havin' to stand for 'em comin' and
starin' at yuh--de white-faced, skinny tarts and de boobs what marry
'em--makin' fun of yuh, laughin' at yuh, gittin' scared of yuh--damn
'em! [_He pounds on the rail with his fist. The gorilla rattles the
bars of his cage and snarls. All the other monkeys set up an angry
chattering in the darkness. YANK goes on excitedly._] Sure! Dat's de
way it hits me, too. On'y yuh're lucky, see? Yuh don't belong wit 'em
and yuh know it. But me, I belong wit 'em--but I don't, see? Dey don't
belong wit me, dat's what. Get me? Tinkin' is hard--[_He passes one
hand across his forehead with a painful gesture. The gorilla growls
impatiently. YANK goes on gropingly._] It's dis way, what I'm drivin'
at. Youse can sit and dope dream in de past, green woods, de jungle and
de rest of it. Den yuh belong and dey don't. Den yuh kin laugh at 'em,
see? Yuh're de champ of de woild. But me--I ain't got no past to tink
in, nor nothin' dat's comin', on'y what's now--and dat don't belong.
Sure, you're de best off! Yuh can't tink, can yuh? Yuh can't talk
neider. But I kin make a bluff at talkin' and tinkin'--a'most git away
wit it--a'most!--and dat's where de joker comes in. [_He laughs._] I