I can. There they are, laughing. Why aren't you laughing, eh?
SPERANSKY
I feel very despondent.
TONY
Laugh. You must laugh. Everybody is laughing. Hush, hush! _(Pause)_
Listen, nobody exists, nobody--do you understand? There is no God,
there is no man, there are no animals. Here is the table--it doesn't
exist. Here is the candle--it doesn't exist. The only things that
exist are faces--you understand? Keep quiet, keep quiet. I am very
much afraid.
SPERANSKY
What are you afraid of?
TONY _(bending near to Speransky)_
That I'll die of laughter.
SPERANSKY
Really?
TONY _(shaking his head affirmatively)_
Yes, that I'll die of laughter. I am afraid that some day I'll catch
sight of a face which will send me off roaring with laughter; and I'll
roar and roar until I die. Keep quiet. I know.
SPERANSKY
You never laugh
TONY
I am always laughing, but you don't see it. It's nothing. The only
thing I am afraid is that I'll die. I'll come across a face one of
these days which will start me off in a fit of laughter, and I'll
laugh and laugh and laugh and won't be able to stop. Yes, it's coming,
it's coming. _(Wipes his chest and neck)_
SPERANSKY
The dead know everything.
TONY _(mysteriously, with awe)_
I am afraid of Savva's face. It's a very funny face. One could die
laughing over it. The point is that you can't stop laughing--that's
the principal thing. You laugh and laugh and laugh. Is there nobody
here?
SPERANSKY
Apparently no.
TONY
Keep quiet, keep quiet, I know. Keep quiet. _(Pause; the tramp of the
pilgrim's footsteps grows louder, as if they were walking in the very
room itself)_ Are they going?
SPERANSKY
Yes, they are going. _(Pause)_
TONY
I like you. Sing me that song of yours. I'll listen.
SPERANSKY
With your permission, Anthony. _(Sings in an undertone, almost in a
whisper, a dismal, long-drawn-out tune somewhat resembling a litany)_
Life's a sham, 'tis false, untrue,
Death alone is true, aye, true.
_(With increasing caution and pedantry, shaking his finger as if
imparting a secret)_
All things tumble, vanish, break,
Death is sure to overtake
Outcast, tramp, and tiniest fly
Unperceived by naked eye.
TONY
What?
SPERANSKY
Unperceived by naked eye,
Wheedling, coaxing, courting, wooing,
Death weds all to their undoing
And the myth of life is ended.
That's all, Anthony.
TONY
Keep still
|