The Complete Plays of J. M. Barrie - 30 Titles in One Edition. Джеймс Барри

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ Colonel Neil, I agree with every word you have said.

      JASPER. I haven’t said many.

      BELL (aside). Oh, I must love this man, I must despise the other.

      (W. G. comes to them.)

      W. G. Hi, everybody — time to start. (Gets punt ready, puts cushions in punt.)

      JASPER (looking down). A moment, W. G. Run and play.

      (Turning to BELL) Bell, I love you.

      BELL. NO, no, don’t say that.

      JASPER (aside). It’s all right, she prefers the other chap.

      (Aloud) Bell, will you marry me?

      BELL (swaying and then controlling herself). Colonel Neil, yes, I will. (Rises — gives him her hands impulsively, then runs down ladder steps.) Oh, what have I done? (Turns back.) Don’t mention it to anyone — yet. (Goes into saloon, where she meets MRS. GOLIGHTLY.)

      JASPER (horrified and amazed — in chair). She will! Miss Golightly, come back. It is all a mistake. I was only asking you to be my sister. Whew! I must put a stop to this.

      MRS. GOLIGHTLY. Bell, Penny is anxious to see the cricket match. Do you think it safe to leave the houseboat without anyone in it?

      BELL (evidently thinking of other matters). Quite safe.

      JASPER. Sarah, I’ll swear I never meant marriage to her.

      W. G. Come on! Colonel, slide down the rope.

      JASPER. Not if I know it — I’m not a slider.

      (MRS. GOLIGHTLY and PENNY take their places in the punt.)

      BELL (at saloon window). Kit, what have I done? (Comes to stern.) You horrid book! (Enters punt, nanny follows with banjo.)

      (Banjo plays, ANDREW pulls up blind, JASPER descends ladder, and BELL signs silence to him by putting finger on her lip. She enters punt, NANNY enters, presses JASPER’S hand significantly, and enters punt, JASPER enters punt, and W. G. is about to punt off.)

      NANNY. Stop! Where is Mr. McPhail?

      W. G. Hi, McPhail!

      (ANDREW enters. He is now dressed in frock-coat, silk hat, etc., with stethoscope sticking conspicuously out of his pocket. He walks with professional air.)

      Oh, Balbus! look at him!

      ANDREW. I see nothing to laugh at!

      NANNY. Nor I.

      ANDREW. But I am not coming with you. It wouldn’t be professional to play cricket, and a physician must attend to medical etiquette.

      NANNY. DO come!

      MRS. GOLIGHTLY. DO!

      ANDREW. No.

      JASPER. Come, though you don’t play. There may be accidents, and a leg to set, or some stumps to draw.

      ANDREW. Ha! (Enters punt.)

      JASPER. Stop! (Gets out of punt — takes hat and puts in drawer in cabin, returns to punt and exit.)

      (W. G. punts off, NANNY playing banjo. Punt disappears to) —

      O’er the swiftly flowing tide, Gaily we row the boat along, We wake the echoes far and wide With laughter and with song. Yeo ho, yeo ho, We gaily row, Gaily we row the boat along, We wake the echoes far and wide With laughter and with song.

      (After a pause enter SARAH along bank. She is looking about her suspiciously.)

      SARAH (sitting on bank). Oh, Jasper Phipps, if I could only find you, wouldn’t I comb your hair for you.

      (The cuckoo is heard.)

      JASPER. Damn that cuckoo!

      SARAH (starts to her feet). Jasper’s voice — he’s on board this boat. (Has almost gone off.) He is found! Found, found! (Assumes fighting position and cries) Jasper Phipps, hi!

      (Getting no answer, she looks about her. Then rushes into saloon, then into JASPER’S bedroom, where she sees his clothes, cries)

      His wedding clothes!

      (Folds them up, runs with them, reappears, runs through saloon with them, cries)

      He is gone! (Runs on deck, cries) But he must come back.

      (Puts clothes on lap, on deck, cries) I’ll wait!

      (Sits down on chair determinedly, with arms folded.)

      ACT III

      Evening, moonlight. The houseboat is precisely as when curtain fell on Act II, except that Sarah is now asleep in her chair on deck. From a distance is heard a piano with whistling accompaniment. Light splashes, as if of water rats, rustling in branches and ‘wheep wheep’ of birds settling to sleep. Next the sound of oars and a Cockney voice, ‘Look where you’re shoving your blooming canoe.’ A shadowy boat with one light goes by, a bat flaps about, and disappears. A distant clock strikes nine. Next a punt passes, containing a male and female figure. Man exclaims, ‘My darling, let us glide on like this for ever and ever!’ The woman answers, ‘But what would mamma say?’ Then someone is heard singing a verse of a song.

      DISTANCE. The singing fades away into distance, then the sound of punting.

      (KIT and BEN enter on bank.)

      BEN. Here we are, Mr. Upjohn, but you see they ain’t back yet! Hi! no, there’s not a soul aboard!

      KIT (boarding). I’ll wait for them, Ben! They must be back for supper presently!

      BEN. I dunno, Mr. Upjohn. Penny, the servant gal, says as them are late for everything since the Colonel came. You have heard on him, sir?

      KIT. I heard of him at the Inn!

      BEN. He saved the young lady’s life — he did!

      KIT. So I was told! (Sits on plank.) But why should that make them late for everything?

      BEN. Penny says it’s because he do have such a way with him! (Lights lamp in bow.)

      KIT. The dickens he has!

      BEN. It has even softened Penny, and I dunno as I ever knew a gal less easy to soften. You never seed him, sir?

      KIT. Never, but I know him by reputation!

      BEN. He wouldn’t let them put it in the papers about his saving the young lady’s life!

      KIT. СКАЧАТЬ