(Pause) And to close, a thing that
I 've often noticed: he breeds ! For
the sake of breeding! (To Victor,
passionately) Don't be like them !
Don ' t let yourself be pushed
around ! Don 't do as so many
young hopefuls, slipping away,
slipping away, vanishing. Badly
put, of no importance whatsoever.
So then, the great refusal, not the
little one, the great one, of which
man alone is capable, the most
glorious thing of which he is
capable, the refusal to be ! (Wipes
his forehead)
Mu.E. SKUNK
Take it easy, take it easy.
GlAZIER
My goodness, he's all worked up.
What a gift of gab ! You ' d think he
works on commission .
DR. PIOUK
( He digs around in his pocket,
takes out a tablet, holds it straight
out for a moment between thumb
and forefinger) Freedom !
GlAZIER
The swine ! He does find the
words that are needed.
DR. PIOUK
Take it! (He proffers the tablet to
Victor who takes it, gets up, goes
under the light. Mlle. Skunk
follows him anxiously)
1 82
SAiWEL BECKETI
MLLE. SKUNK
(To Dr. Piouk who hasn 't budged)
Doctor!
GlAZIER
Careful !
VICTOR
( Reading) Aspirin du Rhone. You
must think I ' m a complete idiot!
DR. PIOUK
( Rushing over) What? (He hastily
takes back the tablet, looks at it)
He's right! What a birdbrain ! (He
hits his head) This one's for me.
(He swallows it) The old, the
cowardly, the bastards, the scum
of the earth, the washouts, for
them the aspirins. But for you
(He digs around i n his pocket) -
for you the young, the pure, the
lads of the future - (He takes out
the tablet, the good one) - we
have something different - (He
displays the tablet) - something
altogether different! By your
leave . ( He takes Victor's hand,
places the tablet in it) Delightful
moment! Such a warm hand, so
alive ! (Solicitously) You have a
temperature?
VICTOR
(Looking at the tablet) It's swallowed?
DR. PIOUK
It is not a suppository, Monsieur.
GrAZIER
Careful! Careful !
MLLE. SKUNK
Victor, give me that!
DR. PIOUK
With a little running water, as
much as possible.
ELEUTHERIA
1 83
VICTOR
What's the guarantee?
DR. PIOUK
Of what?
VICTOR
Of effectiveness.
DR. PIOUK
The word of a professional, Monsieur, and of an honest man . Look
at me! (Victor looks at him)
You 've looked into these eyes?
There's your guarantee.
VICTOR
I believe you.
DR. PIOUK
Thank you.
VICTOR
You could pay dearly.
DR. PIOUK
What difference can that make to
you?
VICTOR
None, obviously, I seek to understand.
GLAZIER
He too ! Some hash !
DR. PIOUK
(Angrily) Oh, you' re all the same !
Give that back to me. (He extends
his hand)
VICTOR
I ' m keeping it. I ' m going to think
it out. ( Pause) No, I ' ll be frank
with you, it's all thought out. I
don 't need it. I ' m keeping it all
the same.
GLAZIER
And there you have it. Congratulations all around. (To Mlle.
Skunk) Here you are happy at
last, you'll j ust have to lay hold of
it during his sleep, his sleep of the
spent, you'll flush it away, with the
rest.
1 84
SAMUEL BECKETI
DR. PIOUK
I ' m disgusted with myself. (Pause)
Deeply so.
GlAZIER
Me too, I ' m disgusted with you.
(Taking Victor by the arm) Come !
GlAZIER
What composure ! What selfassurance !
DR. PIOUK
She 's slightly frigid.
VICTOR
Come? Where?
MlLE. SKUNK
( Exaltedly) With me ! To meet up
with life ! Hand in hand! Dawn is
breaking!
GlAZIER
Our time here is ended. Of the
consolations of quack medicine
you want no part. So, go ! With
her, since she 's here . You'll go a
little ways together.
DR. PIOUK
Marry her! Knock her up ! Take
your pleasure, take leave of your
senses, come to your senses,
writhe , croak!
VICTOR
It's all a mistake . I ' m staying here.
(A silence)
Mu.E. SKUNK
But - !
VICTOR
Qerky delivery) I 've changed my
mind. (A silence) Two years, it's
too little. (Pause) A life, it's too
little. (Pause ) My life will be long
and horrible. (Pause) But less
horrible than yours. (Pause) I'll
never be free. (Pause ) But I ' ll feel
myself ceaselessly becoming so.
(Pause) My life, I ' m going to tell
ELEUTHERIA
1 85
you with what I ' ll be using it up:
with grating my chains against
each other. From morning to
night and night to morning. That
useless little sound, that will be my
life. I don 't say my joy. Joy, that I
leave to you. My calm. My limbo.
(Pause) And you come to speak to
me of love, of reason , of death !
(Pause) Hey, look, go away, go
away!
DR. PIOUK
What is this thing all about? (To
Mlle . Skunk) Do you want me to
make out a certification of insanity?
GLAZIER
Talk about a view from every
angle, this one comes full circle,
and then some. (Pause) I don 't
know any more what I wanted, but
I wouldn 't be surprised if l had it.
Mu.E. SKUNK
It's all over.
GLAZIER
(Worried, to Victor) You ' re not
going to pull another fast one on
us by changing your mind?
VICTOR
What?
DR. PIOUK
It's schizophrenia.
Mu.E. SKUNK
Let's go.
GLAZIER
You ' re right, he's gone .
MllE. SKUNK
(To the Glazier) You think that he
may still change his mind?
GLAZIER
I don 't think so. But I am always
mistaken. (To Victor) Will you
1 86
SAMUEL BECKEIT
motion to her if you change your
mind again? (A silence . The
Glazier takes Victor by the arm)
How about it!
VICTOR
What is it?
GLAZIER
Will you motion to the young lady
if you again change your mind?
VICTOR
Yes, yes, I will motion to her.
GLAZIER
(To Mlle. Skunk) You see, he will
motion to you . (Pause) Don 't cry!
DR. PIOUK
For the love of Saint Anne, let's
get out of this hell-hole. I have an
awful thirst. (A silence) I ' m inviting you out to dinner.
GLAZIER
You're inviting me out to dinner?
DR. PIOUK
Both of you.
GLAZIER
Why me?
DR. PIOUK
I like my revels to be well-attended. Mter you 'll bring me back
by taxi.
GLAZIER
Impossible. I have to take care of
Michel.
DR. PIOUK
Michel?
GLAZIER
My son . He is ill.
DR. PIOUK
Well then , we 'll stop off first and
see your son. We 'll give him a
small sedative . Then we 'll go have
ourselves a blowout. But handled
with care . All three of us. (Pause)
Oysters, I have this unbelievable
yen for oysters !
1 87
GLAZIER
Nothing like the medical men for
dancing on graves.
DR. PIOUK
What do you expect me to do? To
tear off my moustache? Let's get a
move on .
GLAZIER
(To Mlle. Skunk) Don 't cry. He 'll
get over it.
MllE. SKUNK
Adieu, Victor.
DR. PIOUK
Come. (He draws Olga toward the
door) We 'll find some other way.
(He turns around) I ' m in this
lucidity phase, it's tremendous. It
calls for a drink. (Exit Mlle. Skunk
and Dr. Piouk. Victor standing, as
if frozen. The Glazier gets closer
to him)
GLAZIER
You ' re not holding it against me?
(A silence) I did all I could. I ' m
leaving you m y card. ( H e proffers
his card. Victor doesn ' t take it,
perhaps doesn ' t see it. The Glazier places it on the bed) Give me
your hand. (A silence) Victor!
VIcroR
What is it?
GLAZIER
I ' m leaving. Give me your hand.
VIcroR
My hand. Here . (He holds out his
hand. The Glazier takes it, shakes
it, kisses it, lets go of it, rushes out.
Victor looks at his hand still
poised, raises, opens and looks at
the other, sees the tablet, tosses it
aside, rubs one hand against the
1 88
SAMUEL BECKETT
other, takes off his shoes using his
feet, walks. Mter a while he sits
down on the bed. He sees the
glass, tosses it aside . He gets up,
goes to the switch, turns it off,
goes back and sits down on the
bed. Looks at the bed. Sees the
Glazier's card, takes it, looks at it,
tosses it aside . Fixes the covers.
Hears steps. Enter Mme. Karl. She
turns on the light)
MME. KARL
Well?
VICTOR
What is it?
MME. KARL
This is how you' re going out.
VICTOR
Yes, this is how. What do you
want?
MME. KARL
I want my answer. Are you staying
or are you leaving? I have three
blokes after the room.
VICTOR
I am staying.
MME. KARL
Then give me cash. (Victor gets
up, digs around in his trouser
pocket, takes out a wad of
crumpled bills, gives them to
Mme. Karl , digs around again in
his pocket, takes out some
change, gives it to Mme . Karl. She
counts up. Sound of computation ) A hundred forty sous are
m1ssmg.
VICTOR
That's all I have .
MME. KARL
This doesn 't cover it.
ELEUTHERIA
1 89
VICTOR
I'll give it to you another time.
( Pause) Take the tools. Sell them.
It has to be worth something.
MME. KARL
The tools? What tools? ( She sees
them , goes and has a closer look
at them) But it's not yours, this.
VICTOR
He gave them to me.
MME. KARL
Tell me another! Why would he
have given them to you?
VICTOR
I don ' t know. He gave them to
me. Take them. ( He sees the
Glazier's card, picks it up, gives it
to Mme. Karl) Here 's his card.
You just have to ask him. ( Mme.
Karl puts the card in her pocket,
picks up the tools, puts them in
the box)
MME. KARL
How low the ground is! ( She gets
up again, the box under her arm)
VICTOR
If you find the diamond, keep it
for him. He wants it.
MME. KARL
The diamond? What line are you
giving me this time? (A silence)
What diamond?
VICTOR
I don 't know. It's a sort of tool, I
believe. Ask someone. (Mme. Karl
looks at him, shrugs, goes) Madame Karl . (She turns around)
You wouldn ' t have found a jacket
on the stairs?
MME. KARL
Ajacket? Whatjacket?
VICTOR
I can ' t find my jacket. I believe I
1 90
SAM UEL BECKETI
lost it on the stairs. If you find it
you can sell it too. (Pause) It's
maroon, I believe .
MME. KARL
Are you sure you're not completely daft? (Victor goes back to
sit on his bed. He looks at the
covers. Mme. Karl looks at him)
VICTOR
Mme. Karl.
MME. KARL
What?
VICTOR
Mme. Karl.
MME. KARL
WHAT?
VICTOR
You wouldn 't have a second cover
to give me?
MME. KARL
Why? You're cold in the bed?
VICTOR
Yes.
MME. KARL
Well, soon it will be spring. (A
silence) You want to eat?
VICTOR
No .
MME. KARL
I have a nice soup. (A silence) A
small tartine? (A silence) You are
going to get sick. (A silence) It's
not me who will be able to nurse
you. (A silence) What a sorry
sight! (Exit)
(Victor seated on the bed. He
looks at the bed, the room, the
window, the door. He gets up and
undertakes to push his bed to the
back of the room, as far from the
door and the window as possible,
that is, toward the side of the
footlights with the Audience
ELEUTHERIA
1 9 1
member's stage-box. H e has a
hard time. He pushes it, pulls it,
with pauses for rest, seated on the
edge of the bed. It is clear that he
is not strong. He finally succeeds.
He sits down on the bed, now
parallel to the footlights. Mter a
while, he gets up, goes to the
switch, turns it off, looks out the
window, goes back and sits down
on the bed, facing the audience .
He looks perseveringly at the
audience, the orchestra, the
balcony ( Should there be one) , to
the right, to the left. Then he gets
into bed, his scrawny back turned
on mankind)
CURTAIN
NOTES
p . 1 5
Impasse d e l ' Enfant:Jesus. Alley-like
street on the left bank, in Paris, located
right off the Rue de Vaugirard and
between the Boulevard du Montparnasse
and the Boulevard Pasteur. Not far from
the Luxembourg Gardens and the various faculties of the University of Paris.
p. 1 6
Passy. According to the Michelin guide, a
calm residential neighborhood ( 1 6th
arrondissement) where tall buildings give
way to villas and gardens. Debussy, Faure
and Manet are buried in its cemetery,
which is about ten blocks from rue
Spontini.
p. 1 7
Nimis sero, imber serotinus. May be translated as "too late , the belated showers. "
p . 1 8
The ninth . The ninth ( and lowest) circle
in the funnel-shaped cavity that is
Dante's hell, and home to its worst
offenders: the treacherous to (in ascending order of heinousness) kindred, country and cause, guests, and lords and
benefactors.
p. 2 1
Rue Spontini. Fashionable street o n the
right bank, in Paris, located a few streets
away from the Bois de Boulogne, between Avenue Foch and Avenue Victor-
1 94
SAMUEL BECKETT
Hugo. About a mile and a half from
Victor's Impasse.
p. 27
Delage . Luxury car. Mter Louis Delage
(1874-1947) , French industrialist and
engineer, and one of the pioneers of the
automobile industry. He invented several
types of engines.
p. 45
Robinson . (Plessis-Robinson) . Suburban
center southwest of Paris, chief town
( cheflieu) of the canton of Hauts-de
Seine.
p. 113
Iassy. Romanian city, in Moldavia.
p. 1 20
Tartine. Slice of bread usually covered
with butter, jam, etc. Half of a bagu ette.
p . 132
Might have known . Involves a somewhat
untranslatable play on the use of the
Proust-redolent imperfect subjunctive ,
an exquisitely fussy mood.
p. 1 47
Taylorizing. Mter Frederick Winslow
Taylor (1856-1915) , principal advocate of
the scientific management movement in