Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tennessee Williams
direction and bears down upon
Brick, all very quick and alive. ]
BIG MAMA:
Here he is, here's my precious baby! What's that you've
got in your hand? You put that liquor down, son, your hand was made
fo’ holdin’ somethin’ better than that!
GOOPER:
Look at Brick put it down!
[ Brick has obeyed Big Mama by draining the
glass and handing it to her. Again everyone laughs, some high, some
low. ]
BIG MAMA:
Oh, you bad boy, you, you're my bad little boy. Give Big Mama a kiss, you bad
boy, you! Look at him shy away, will you? Brick never liked
bein’ kissed or made a fuss over, I guess because he's always had too
much of it!
Son, you turn that thing off!
[ Brick has switched on the TV
set. ]
I can't stand TV, radio was bad enough but TV has gone it one
better, I mean— [ plops
wheezing in chair ] — one worse,
ha ha! Now what'm I sittin’ down here faw? I want
t’ sit next to my sweetheart on the sofa, hold hands with him and love him up
a little!
[ Big Mama has on a black and white figured
chiffon. The large irregular patterns, like the markings of some massive animal,
the luster of her great diamonds and many pearls, the brilliants set in the
silver frames of her glasses, her riotous voice, booming laugh, have dominated
the room since she entered. Big Daddy has been regarding her with a steady
grimace of chronic annoyance. ]
BIG MAMA [ still
louder ]:
Preacher, Preacher, hey, Preach! Give me you’ hand an’ help me
up from this chair!
REVEREND TOOKER:
None of your tricks, Big Mama!
BIG MAMA:
What tricks? You give me you’ hand so I can get up
an'—
[ Reverend Tooker extends her his hand. She
grabs it and pulls him into her lap with a shrill laugh that spans an octave in
two notes. ]
Ever seen a preacher in a fat lady's lap? Hey, hey,
folks! Ever seen a preacher in a fat lady's lap?
[ Big Mama is notorious throughout the Delta
for this sort of inelegant horseplay. Margaret looks on with indulgent humor,
sipping Dubonnet “on the rocks” and watching Brick, but Mae and
Gooper exchange signs of humorless anxiety over these antics, the sort of
behavior which Mae thinks may account for their failure to quite get in with the
smartest young married set in Memphis, despite all. One of the Negroes, Lacy or
Sookey, peeks in, cackling. They are wailing for a sign to bring in the cake and
champagne. But Big Daddy's not amused. He doesn't understand why,
in spite of the infinite mental relief he's received from the do
doctor's report, he still has these same old fox teeth in his guts.
"This spastic thing sure is something,” he says to himself, but
aloud he roars at Big Mama: ]
BIG DADDY:
BIG MAMA, WILL YOU QUIT
HORSIN‘ ?—You're too old an’ too fat
fo’ that sort of crazy kid stuff an’ besides a woman with your blood
pressure—she had two hundred last spring! —is riskin’ a
stroke when you mess around like that. . . .
BIG MAMA:
Here comes Big Daddy's birthday!
[ Negroes in white jackets enter with an
enormous birthday cake ablaze with candles and carrying buckets of champagne
with satin ribbons about the bottle necks.
[ Mae and Gooper strike up song, and
everybody, including the Negroes and Children, joins in. Only Brick remains
aloof. ]
EVERYONE:
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, Big Daddy—
[ Some sing: “Dear, Big
Daddy!" ]
Happy birthday to you.
[ Some sing: “How old are
you?" ]
[ Mae has come down center and is organizing
her children like a chorus. She gives them a barely audible: “One, two,
three!” and they are off in the new tune. ]
CHILDREN:
Skinamarinka—dinka—dink
Skinamarinka—do
We love you.
Skinamarinka—dinka—dink
Skinamarinka—do.
[ All together, they turn to Big
Daddy. ]
Big Daddy, you!
[ They turn back front, like a musical comedy
chorus. ]
We love you in the morning;
We love you in the night.
We love you when
Brick, all very quick and alive. ]
BIG MAMA:
Here he is, here's my precious baby! What's that you've
got in your hand? You put that liquor down, son, your hand was made
fo’ holdin’ somethin’ better than that!
GOOPER:
Look at Brick put it down!
[ Brick has obeyed Big Mama by draining the
glass and handing it to her. Again everyone laughs, some high, some
low. ]
BIG MAMA:
Oh, you bad boy, you, you're my bad little boy. Give Big Mama a kiss, you bad
boy, you! Look at him shy away, will you? Brick never liked
bein’ kissed or made a fuss over, I guess because he's always had too
much of it!
Son, you turn that thing off!
[ Brick has switched on the TV
set. ]
I can't stand TV, radio was bad enough but TV has gone it one
better, I mean— [ plops
wheezing in chair ] — one worse,
ha ha! Now what'm I sittin’ down here faw? I want
t’ sit next to my sweetheart on the sofa, hold hands with him and love him up
a little!
[ Big Mama has on a black and white figured
chiffon. The large irregular patterns, like the markings of some massive animal,
the luster of her great diamonds and many pearls, the brilliants set in the
silver frames of her glasses, her riotous voice, booming laugh, have dominated
the room since she entered. Big Daddy has been regarding her with a steady
grimace of chronic annoyance. ]
BIG MAMA [ still
louder ]:
Preacher, Preacher, hey, Preach! Give me you’ hand an’ help me
up from this chair!
REVEREND TOOKER:
None of your tricks, Big Mama!
BIG MAMA:
What tricks? You give me you’ hand so I can get up
an'—
[ Reverend Tooker extends her his hand. She
grabs it and pulls him into her lap with a shrill laugh that spans an octave in
two notes. ]
Ever seen a preacher in a fat lady's lap? Hey, hey,
folks! Ever seen a preacher in a fat lady's lap?
[ Big Mama is notorious throughout the Delta
for this sort of inelegant horseplay. Margaret looks on with indulgent humor,
sipping Dubonnet “on the rocks” and watching Brick, but Mae and
Gooper exchange signs of humorless anxiety over these antics, the sort of
behavior which Mae thinks may account for their failure to quite get in with the
smartest young married set in Memphis, despite all. One of the Negroes, Lacy or
Sookey, peeks in, cackling. They are wailing for a sign to bring in the cake and
champagne. But Big Daddy's not amused. He doesn't understand why,
in spite of the infinite mental relief he's received from the do
doctor's report, he still has these same old fox teeth in his guts.
"This spastic thing sure is something,” he says to himself, but
aloud he roars at Big Mama: ]
BIG DADDY:
BIG MAMA, WILL YOU QUIT
HORSIN‘ ?—You're too old an’ too fat
fo’ that sort of crazy kid stuff an’ besides a woman with your blood
pressure—she had two hundred last spring! —is riskin’ a
stroke when you mess around like that. . . .
BIG MAMA:
Here comes Big Daddy's birthday!
[ Negroes in white jackets enter with an
enormous birthday cake ablaze with candles and carrying buckets of champagne
with satin ribbons about the bottle necks.
[ Mae and Gooper strike up song, and
everybody, including the Negroes and Children, joins in. Only Brick remains
aloof. ]
EVERYONE:
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday, Big Daddy—
[ Some sing: “Dear, Big
Daddy!" ]
Happy birthday to you.
[ Some sing: “How old are
you?" ]
[ Mae has come down center and is organizing
her children like a chorus. She gives them a barely audible: “One, two,
three!” and they are off in the new tune. ]
CHILDREN:
Skinamarinka—dinka—dink
Skinamarinka—do
We love you.
Skinamarinka—dinka—dink
Skinamarinka—do.
[ All together, they turn to Big
Daddy. ]
Big Daddy, you!
[ They turn back front, like a musical comedy
chorus. ]
We love you in the morning;
We love you in the night.
We love you when