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More Portmanteau Plays
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Год написания книги
2018
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LETITIA
I have been a poor relation for thirty-five years, my boy, and to be a successful poor relation, one must learn the art of silence.
NATHANIEL
No wonder I ran away!
LETITIA
But you should have written to me.
NATHANIEL
Perhaps—I should—yes—I should have written, but I didn't. You see, Aunt Letty, I was a sensitive boy. All my life I had dreamed of doing my own work. I saw Henry disappointed in life, I saw Emily made miserable enough through the traditions of the family. John couldn't understand me and I couldn't understand him. There was no common meeting-ground. John was the head of the family and so deeply was the idea of submission to rule ingrained in me that I could think of only one way out of my restraint. I wouldn't study engineering, and I wouldn't continue at Somerset School. Well, I ran away from my ancestral castle to find my way in a new world. I think I have found it.
LETITIA
Jonathan doesn't want to study engineering, either.
NATHANIEL (Looks closely at her a moment and then smiles)
As Ibsen would say—Ghosts! (He walks toward the window) Poor John!
LETITIA
Poor Jonathan!
[At this moment Jonathan enters the room. He is a slender boy of fourteen with a deep problem in his eyes. When he smiles before his elders, which is seldom, he seems always prepared to restrain the smile. His voice is just changing and this adds to his reticence. He has a tremendous capacity for expressing wonderment and, as usual with one of his type, he is capable of great displays of temper. He gives the impression of thinking about everything he sees. He is at the age of wonder and only custom prevents the world from becoming the promised land of visions and enchantments.
NATHANIEL
Poor Jonathan!
[He turns and sees the boy.
The two stand face to face for a moment. For Nathaniel it is the first moment of a new relationship. For Jonathan it is a moment of uncertainty. He has heard himself called "Poor Jonathan" and he is facing another male relative.
Jonathan looks first at Letitia, then at Nathaniel and then at Letitia.
LETITIA
Jonathan, this is your Uncle Nathaniel. Nathaniel, this is Emily's boy.
NATHANIEL (Holds out his hand which Jonathan takes very shyly)
Jonathan!
JONATHAN
How do you do, sir?
NATHANIEL
How tall you are!
JONATHAN (quite conscious of his short trousers)
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
I didn't take you away from any studies, did I?
JONATHAN
No, sir.... I was just writing something when Susan called me.
NATHANIEL
May I ask what you were writing?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir....
[He swallows.
… A play.
NATHANIEL
A play! Zenobia?
JONATHAN (Looks quickly for some indication of laughter in Nathaniel's eyes)
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
It's a tragedy, isn't it?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
In ten acts.
I have been a poor relation for thirty-five years, my boy, and to be a successful poor relation, one must learn the art of silence.
NATHANIEL
No wonder I ran away!
LETITIA
But you should have written to me.
NATHANIEL
Perhaps—I should—yes—I should have written, but I didn't. You see, Aunt Letty, I was a sensitive boy. All my life I had dreamed of doing my own work. I saw Henry disappointed in life, I saw Emily made miserable enough through the traditions of the family. John couldn't understand me and I couldn't understand him. There was no common meeting-ground. John was the head of the family and so deeply was the idea of submission to rule ingrained in me that I could think of only one way out of my restraint. I wouldn't study engineering, and I wouldn't continue at Somerset School. Well, I ran away from my ancestral castle to find my way in a new world. I think I have found it.
LETITIA
Jonathan doesn't want to study engineering, either.
NATHANIEL (Looks closely at her a moment and then smiles)
As Ibsen would say—Ghosts! (He walks toward the window) Poor John!
LETITIA
Poor Jonathan!
[At this moment Jonathan enters the room. He is a slender boy of fourteen with a deep problem in his eyes. When he smiles before his elders, which is seldom, he seems always prepared to restrain the smile. His voice is just changing and this adds to his reticence. He has a tremendous capacity for expressing wonderment and, as usual with one of his type, he is capable of great displays of temper. He gives the impression of thinking about everything he sees. He is at the age of wonder and only custom prevents the world from becoming the promised land of visions and enchantments.
NATHANIEL
Poor Jonathan!
[He turns and sees the boy.
The two stand face to face for a moment. For Nathaniel it is the first moment of a new relationship. For Jonathan it is a moment of uncertainty. He has heard himself called "Poor Jonathan" and he is facing another male relative.
Jonathan looks first at Letitia, then at Nathaniel and then at Letitia.
LETITIA
Jonathan, this is your Uncle Nathaniel. Nathaniel, this is Emily's boy.
NATHANIEL (Holds out his hand which Jonathan takes very shyly)
Jonathan!
JONATHAN
How do you do, sir?
NATHANIEL
How tall you are!
JONATHAN (quite conscious of his short trousers)
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
I didn't take you away from any studies, did I?
JONATHAN
No, sir.... I was just writing something when Susan called me.
NATHANIEL
May I ask what you were writing?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir....
[He swallows.
… A play.
NATHANIEL
A play! Zenobia?
JONATHAN (Looks quickly for some indication of laughter in Nathaniel's eyes)
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
It's a tragedy, isn't it?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
In ten acts.
Другие электронные книги автора Stuart Walker
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