NATHANIEL
Thank you. (John goes out. Nathaniel looks musingly at Letitia who has been sitting silently on Emily's trunk, knitting, Nathaniel crosses to her and sits on a stool at her feet) Does John always talk to you so much, little church mouse?
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.
JONATHAN
There may be only eight.
NATHANIEL
Then I know who you are! (Jonathan looks at him in surprise) You are the celebrated dramatist, Alexander Jefferson, Sr.
JONATHAN
Did Aunt Letitia tell you?
NATHANIEL
No, sir. I read it on the billboards. (Jonathanlaughs with a catch in his breath) And I should like to attend a performance, Mr. Jefferson.
JONATHAN
It isn't finished yet.
NATHANIEL
Well, when am I to see this theatre?
LETITIA
Your Uncle Nathaniel and I shall come together.
JONATHAN
You've seen all the plays.
LETITIA
That doesn't make any difference. I'd like to see them again.
[Jonathan looks at her to be sure she is in earnest. Then he smiles.
JONATHAN
I'll finishZenobiafor tomorrow.
NATHANIEL
Agreed! Can you get the scenery ready?
JONATHAN
I painted it last week.
LETITIA
You must have the orchestra, too, Jonathan.
JONATHAN
Yes, ma'am. Susan has some new pieces.
NATHANIEL
Is Susan the orchestra?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
What else have you written?
JONATHAN
A lot of plays, sir. Mother and I used to write little plays. I don't write many any more.
NATHANIEL
Why not?
JONATHAN
I'm getting too big.
NATHANIEL
Do you ever write anything beside plays?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
That's splendid. Stories?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir.... And I've written some po—poetry.
NATHANIEL
Excellent!
JONATHAN
They're not very good, but Susan always wants me to write the poetry for the music.
[Aunt Letitia has repacked the trunk and locked it. She sees that Nathaniel and Jonathan are getting on famously.
LETITIA
I'll go to the house now and you can talk to Jonathan, Nathaniel.
[Jonathan looks appealingly at Letitia, but with a smile she goes downstairs.
Jonathan and Nathaniel look at each other for an embarrassed minute, then Jonathan takes refuge at his theatre.
NATHANIEL
May I see some of your plays?
JONATHAN
Do you really want to see them?
NATHANIEL
Yes.
[Jonathan goes to a box on the piano in which there are many manuscripts carefully bound. He hands one to Nathaniel.
JONATHAN
Here is one that mother and I wrote. She loved the theatre.
NATHANIEL (taking the strange-looking little manuscript.Reading:)
"Robin Hood and His Merry Men."
JONATHAN
We used to make all those old stories into plays.
NATHANIEL
Do you like to write?
JONATHAN
Oh, yes. I wish I could write real plays, but there's no one to help me now. My mother used to correct them and tell me what was wrong. She knew a lot about the theatre and she used to tell me all sorts of things. But now Aunt Letitia doesn't say anything. Sometimes she comes to a show, but she can't help me. And Uncle John doesn't like the theatre. He thinks I'm too old to give shows, but I can't help it. There's nothing I like so much.
NATHANIEL
May I read this some time?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir.... Would you like to see it played?
NATHANIEL
I want to see them all.
JONATHAN
Forty-one of them?
NATHANIEL
Forty-one of them! Where do you keep them all?
JONATHAN
Here in this box.
[He shows all the manuscripts.
NATHANIEL
What are the pink ones?
JONATHAN
Those are the ones mother liked best and these—(showing blue ones) are the ones I liked best.... I like them all now, but it used to be lots of fun to choose our favorites.
NATHANIEL
What is this one that's different from all the rest?
JONATHAN
That's one that mother wrote all by herself. It's best of all.
NATHANIEL
You must save these carefully, Jonathan—all your life.
JONATHAN
Oh, yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
Some day you may be proud of them.
JONATHAN
See—she wrote this, and I wrote this. I was a bad writer, wasn't I?
NATHANIEL
What do you want to do, Jonathan?
JONATHAN
You mean what do I want to be?
NATHANIEL
Yes.
JONATHAN
I want to write plays.
NATHANIEL
Is that all?
JONATHAN
Well, I'd like to run a theatre.
NATHANIEL
What else?
JONATHAN
I'd—you won't tell anyone, will you?
NATHANIEL
Of course not.
JONATHAN
You see, Uncle John wants me to go to Somerset School to study engineering and learn the business.
NATHANIEL
And you don't want to—Is that it?
JONATHAN
I'd rather be a writer.
NATHANIEL
They say you can't make any money at writing.
JONATHAN
That's what Uncle John says, but I want to just the same.
NATHANIEL
If you follow John's advice, you'll be a rich man.
JONATHAN
I'd rather be poor. What would you do, Uncle Nathaniel?
NATHANIEL
I—why I'd—Oh, come now, Jonathan—you know John is the head of the Clay family and you and he must decide this question.
JONATHAN
Wouldn't you want to be what you want to be?
NATHANIEL
Perhaps I should.
JONATHAN
I don't see how anyone can decide what you want to be—no matter how old he is.
NATHANIEL
Have you ever talked to John?
JONATHAN
Oh, yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
What did he say?
JONATHAN
He said I had to study engineering or go to work in the factory next fall for good.
NATHANIEL
What do you want to do?
JONATHAN
I want to go to a fine prep school and then to college and then—
NATHANIEL
Then what?
JONATHAN
I want to be an actor!!
NATHANIEL
I see.
JONATHAN
Don't tell anybody.
NATHANIEL
I won't. That's pretty far from engineering, isn't it?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir. But everybody can't be alike. You and Uncle John aren't anything alike.
NATHANIEL
And we're brothers, too.
JONATHAN
Do you ever get all mixed up and don't know what to do?
NATHANIEL
Oh, yes. I think everybody does.
JONATHAN
What do you do then?
NATHANIEL
I do something very silly.
JONATHAN
Do you do silly things, too?
NATHANIEL
Yes. I'm afraid I do.
JONATHAN
What do you do when you get all mixed up?
NATHANIEL
I'll tell you—it might not work with everybody, you know—but it works with me.
JONATHAN
Yes, sir!
NATHANIEL
My mother used to sing me a song called—"There is a green hill far away." I always liked that song because it gave me a feeling ofcontentment and happiness. I imagined that I could see that hill with its pleasant green slopes and at its foot lay a little cottage all cool and pleasant and open to the winds. There were no locks and bolts to keep one out or to keep one in. I used to imagine that I was climbing that hill to the top of the world and when I reached the summit I could see—
JONATHAN (enthralled)
I know—the whole wide world.
NATHANIEL
Its very bigness made me happy in my imagination.... Then when I grew up and heavy troubles came to me I remembered the Green Hill Far Away and one day I found such a hill and I climbed it—clear to the top—and there below me lay the world—the whole wide world—and I told the world something then and felt the better for it.... Jonathan, there is nothing like a hilltop to make a man feel worth while.
JONATHAN
I know what you mean.... But I always want to jump when I look down from any place, do you?
NATHANIEL
I suppose everybody does.
JONATHAN
Uncle John thinks every boy ought to be alike.
NATHANIEL
Many schools used to think that way.
JONATHAN
But boys don't all think the same. They're differentjust like men, only they don't know so much.
NATHANIEL
Perhaps not.
JONATHAN
Uncle John won't let me put on long pants until I'm fifteen.
NATHANIEL
He let me put them on when I was fifteen, too.
JONATHAN
Were you as tall as I am?
NATHANIEL
Just about the same height, but my legs were like pipe stems and I was very much ashamed.
JONATHAN
So am I.
NATHANIEL
You'll forget all about it after you're fifteen.
JONATHAN
I can talk to you like I used to talk to my mother.
NATHANIEL
Thank you. We're going to be fine friends, aren't we?
JONATHAN
You bet. Is it silly for me to like to write plays?
NATHANIEL
Why do you ask that?
JONATHAN
Because Uncle John says it's silly.
NATHANIEL
Well, it all depends upon the way you look at it,Jonathan. The world has never been able to agree as to what is and what is not silly. Mr. Browning, the poet, might have considered hooks and eyes the silliest things in the world; but to Mr. de Long, they were, no doubt, the most important things in the world. Many men agree with Mr. Browning and many ladies agree with Mr. de Long.
JONATHAN
That's what I think.
NATHANIEL
You and I probably have many thoughts in common.
[Susan and Mlle. Perrault enter. Mlle. Perrault is a Frenchwoman of exquisite grace and poise. She speaks English fluently, but with a charming accent and an occasional Gallic phrase larding her pleasant sentences. Her entrance into the room is electric. She has already won Susan.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Ah, there you are, Mr. Nathaniel Clay. I met la belle Susanne in the roadway and she told me you were in the lumber room in the carriage house and I say to her, "We shall track him to his lair." Besides, I want to see what a lumber room is.
NATHANIEL
I was hiding from you.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Villain! And this is Jonathan. How do you do? Susanne tells me you write poetry and she writes music and she promise me that you will sing for me.
JONATHAN
I can't sing.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Ah! Susanne tell me you have a theatre and you write plays and paint scenery and write poetry and sing songs and she say if I come here to the lumber room in the carriage house you will play me a tragedy and sing me a song.
JONATHAN
Yes, ma'am.
NATHANIEL
Having introduced yourself to everybody, will you tell me, Susan, how Mlle. Perrault learned so much in such a little time?
SUSAN
Well, I was waiting for Jonathan to call me.
JONATHAN
Oh, I forgot.
MLLE. PERRAULT
She was sitting like a little fairy in the grass by the roadway, and I stop my car and ask for Mr. Nathaniel Clay and she say you are here in the lumber room in the carriage house and she tell me many things—because we like each other very, very much and we walk very, very slowly.
NATHANIEL
Now! Now that you know all about Miss Susan Sample and Mr. Jonathan—(He realizes he doesn't know Jonathan's second name) I think I shall introduce you by your pen name, Jonathan—Mr. Alexander Jefferson, Sr.
(To Mlle. Perrault)
I am going to let them know about you. This,lady and gentleman, is Mlle. Marthe Perrault of Paris, France. Mlle. Perrault, may I present my friend Susan and my nephew Jonathan?
MLLE. PERRAULT (falling into the mood)
I am very, very pleased to see you again, Miss Sample. It is a great pleasure to have the honor of meeting you, Mr. Alexander Jefferson, Sr. I am looking forward to the première of your great tragedy,Zenobia, of which Miss Sample has been telling me.
SUSAN (Puts her arms about Mlle. Perrault and Jonathan is uncertain whether to be happy or afraid)
He wrote lots of others, too.
JONATHAN
Forty-one.
NATHANIEL
I think I'll tell you two a secret. (Susan pricks up her ears) Do you like secrets?
SUSAN
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
And can you keep them?
SUSAN
Oh, yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
Well, some day Mlle. Perrault is going to be my wife.
[He kisses Mlle. Perrault's hand.
Mlle. Perrault shows her engagement ring.
SUSAN
When?
NATHANIEL
Very soon. She is here on some war work andwhen she and her father go back to France I shall follow and we shall be married.
SUSAN
Ooh—
NATHANIEL
Now you mustn't tell.
SUSAN
Honest.
JONATHAN
No, sir!
MLLE. PERRAULT
Now, we have a secret. And you are going to sing me a little song.
SUSAN
Come on, Jonathan. Let's do the new one.
JONATHAN
Well, I'll try.
[He is quite miserable with stage-fright.
Susan sits at the piano and plays a chord. Then Jonathan begins to sing with much fear in his voice.
JONATHAN (singing)
All on a summer's day,With flowers by the way,A fair young prince and his purple knightFound a princess at her play.So by the crescent moonHe asked a royal boonAnd sat him down on a soft green knoll—And the night-time came too soon.
All on a summer's day,With flowers by the way,A fair young prince and his purple knightFound a princess at her play.So by the crescent moonHe asked a royal boonAnd sat him down on a soft green knoll—And the night-time came too soon.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Oh, that is just like a little French peasant song! How does it go? La—la—la—la—la—la.
[Susan begins to play it again.
Jonathan sings more surely than before.
Slowly Mlle. Perrault falls into the rhythm and very simply dances a little peasant dance to Jonathan's and Susan's song. The two youngsters are in the seventh heaven of delight.
So—when one is very happy or very sad, he makes a song and when he's very, very happy, he dances. And when he is very, very, very unhappy he dies. You see,Iam very, very happy. When do you playZenobia, Mr. Jefferson, Sr.?
JONATHAN
I'll have it ready tomorrow, maybe tonight.
NATHANIEL
We shall have a season ticket. But now, I want you to meet my blessed Aunt Letitia. She hasn't changed one bit in all these years.
MLLE. PERRAULT
To Aunt Letitia then. Good-bye, Jonathan. Tomorrow is the day of the great première.
JONATHAN (awkwardly)
Thanks.
MLLE. PERRAULT
And la belle petite Susanne, au revoir.
SUSAN
I'll walk with you part of the way.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Very well. Marchons, marchons....
[They go out.
NATHANIEL (holding back a little)
Good-bye, Mr. Manager.
[He goes out calling"Marthe."
Jonathan is left alone in his joy.As he stands,a strange, aimless, vacuous whistling is heard outside the window an though from one ambling by. Jonathan hears it unconsciously, moves to put his plays away, alternately whistling and singing "All on a summer's day."
Presently the whistling of the strange air is heard as though coming from downstairs. It stops and a voice calls out"Hi!"
JONATHAN
Who is it?
VOICE
It's me.
JONATHAN
What do you want?
[By this time the Voice has become a person in the shape of Hank, one of the scum of creation who asks nothing of life and gives nothing. He was born of woman and he grew into man's form, but one looking at him wonders how he survived dirt and the mere effort of breathing. He is stoutish with no marked coloring unless it be a cross between khaki and field-gray. Weather and time have conspired to render him inconspicuous. When he speaks his voice is produced with a careful effort to conserve energy. When he walks it seems to be a movement in answer to prayer rather than a physical fact.
HANK
Say—
JONATHAN
How'd you get in here?
HANK
Well, it's this way, you see. The gate was openout there and this looked pretty fine to me so I come in.
JONATHAN
You'd better go away before my uncle sees you.
HANK
Look here, young feller, I ain't goin' a-do no harm.
JONATHAN
Well, he doesn't allow strangers on the place.
HANK
I jus' come in to ask if I could sleep somewhere around here if I worked for my sleep and grub.
JONATHAN
No, he won't let you.
HANK
How do you know he won't?
JONATHAN
'Cause it's a rule.
[Hank whistles a snatch of the strange air and sits down.
HANK
Where's your pa?
JONATHAN
He's dead.
HANK
Long?
JONATHAN
Ten years ago.
HANK
How old are you?
JONATHAN
Fourteen.
HANK
Your pa died when you were four. So did mine.
JONATHAN
Did you ever have an uncle?
HANK
How many you got?
JONATHAN
I got two living and one dead.
HANK
All three of mine's dead.
[He whistles a snatch of the strange air and takes a chew of tobacco.
Where's your ma?
JONATHAN (Is about to become impatient, but an innate tolerance causes him to answer)
She died when I was twelve.
HANK
So did mine. (Whistles) We're alike in lots of ways, ain't we?
JONATHAN
What did you do when your mother died?
HANK
I felt pretty sorry.
JONATHAN
Did your brothers and sisters help you any?
HANK
Have you any brothers and sisters?
JONATHAN
No—
HANK
Me neither. (Whistles casually) No one took no notice of me.
JONATHAN
What'd you do?
HANK
I went away.
JONATHAN
Why didn't you try to work?
HANK
Couldn't find nothing suitable. 'T first I felt sort o' worried an' then I kep' walkin' on and I seen so much trouble where I went I says to myself, "Hank, you're lucky," I says. "You ain't got no fam'ly to bother you an' you ain't got nothing to worry you an' you don't have to get no place in partic'lar and you don't have to stay no place." A man wot's got a wife's all the time worrying about her health or her money spendin' or her gaddin' or her naggin'. An' a man w'ots got a fam'ly's always wondering where they'll end. An' a man's wot's got a home's all time worrying about keepin' it locked up. I bet the poor nut wot owns this place can't breathe easy for bein' scared things'll be took or burnt up. W'y you—look at you—(Whistles) You're wishin' I'd go 'cause you're 'fraid I'll take somethin'. I won't take nothin', young feller, 'cause I don't need nothin' now and I won't need nothin' till it's cold again—and then I'll git an overcoat maybe. It's too much trouble takin' things—'cause you have to carry 'em. (Whistles) You goin' to let me sleep here some place?
JONATHAN
I can't. My uncle would drive you away. Maybe he'd have you arrested.
HANK
I ain't done nothin'. I ain't hurtin' nobody.
JONATHAN
Well, he doesn't allow strangers around.
HANK (Whistles. At the window)
That's where I went by jus' now.
JONATHAN
I heard you whistling.
HANK
That's a tune I made up once. (Whistles)
JONATHAN
Do you make up tunes?
HANK
That's the only one I ever done. It comes in handy and it don't hurt no one.
[Jonathan unconsciously tries to whistle a phrase of the tune.
HANK
No, that ain't it. It's this way.
[Whistles.
Jonathan tries it again and fails.
No. Here.
Jonathan makes it this time.
HANK
That's it. Say, what you got these bars for? It's like jail. Are they afraid you'll jump out on them rocks?
JONATHAN
No, I guess not. There isn't much danger of my wanting to jump out.
HANK
You never can tell for sure, young feller.
JONATHAN
It's to keep people from climbing in.
HANK
There ain't no bars over that one. (Pointing to gable window)
JONATHAN
That's too high.
HANK
It'd be like fallin' off the top of a house, wouldn't it?
[Whistles.
Jonathan whistles "All on a Summer's Day."
HANK
What you got there?
JONATHAN
That's my theatre.
HANK
A show?
JONATHAN
Yes.
HANK
How does it work?
JONATHAN
These are the actors.
HANK
What's the string fer?
JONATHAN
You put him in a groove and pull him.
HANK
Lemme see it.
JONATHAN
All right. I'll show you a scene from the play I'm going to play for my Uncle Nathaniel tomorrow.
HANK
Fire away.
[Jonathan lights the lamps that are back of the screen and pulls the blinds or some cover over the barred windows.
HANK
I wouldn't have all this junk if you'd give it to me. No, sir, when I move I carry my house with me and there ain't much o' that now. (Indicates his clothes)
JONATHAN
All ready. Now you sit there.
[Places Hank on the bench.
He goes behind the screen and taps some bells.
HANK
What's that fer?
JONATHAN
That's to get ready.
HANK
Well, I'm ready.
[Jonathan opens the curtain and discloses a scene from Zenobia.
That's beautiful. It's just like real.
[Jonathan pulls a figure across the stage.
Hello, old man. That's the one I jus' seen. Where's the string?
[Jonathan lifts the string.
JONATHAN
Here it is.
HANK
Now where's that feller goin' to?
JONATHAN (coming out from behind the screen)
Well, you see,Zenobia—
HANK
Zenob—God, what a name!
JONATHAN
They used to have names like that.
HANK
How d' you do it?
JONATHAN
Look, I'll show you a little.
[He goes behind the screen and closes the curtain.
HANK
What you doin' that for? I like to see that picture.
JONATHAN
I'm going to show you how I do it.
[Jonathan rings the bells.
HANK
All right. I'm ready. Let her go.
[Jonathan opens the curtain and pulls a character on, then another.
JONATHAN (in assumed voice)