Sexual Perversity in Chicago and the Duck Variations by David Mamet Read Free Book Online Page A

who guides them from one home to the next. They all know the way. Each of them has it in him to know when the time is to move. . . . But he . . . He will be in charge until . . .
EMIL :
Yes.
GEORGE :
Just like the other one . . .
EMIL :
There's no shame in that.
GEORGE :
Just like the previous duck . . .
EMIL :
It happened to him, it's got to happen to him.
GEORGE :
The time comes to step down.
EMIL :
He dies.
GEORGE :
He dies, he leaves . . . something. And another duck moves on up.
EMIL :
And someday.
GEORGE :
Yes.
EMIL :
Someone will take his place.
GEORGE :
Until . . .
EMIL :
It's boring just to think about it.

     

    SECOND VARIATION
    “The Duck's Life”
    GEORGE :
You know, the duck's life is not all hearts and flowers. He's got his worries, too. He's got fleas and lice and diseases of the body. Delusions. Wing problems. Sexual difficulties. Many things.
EMIL :
It's not an easy life.
GEORGE :
Only the beginning. The duck is at the mercy of any elements in the vicinity. Sunspots. Miscarriage. Inappropriate changes in the weather.
EMIL :
Yes.
GEORGE :
Hunters. Blight. Tornadoes. Traps. Any number of airplanes.
EMIL :
Small vicious children.
GEORGE :
Chainstores. And, of course, the Blue Heron.
EMIL :
Blue Heron?
GEORGE :
The hereditary Enemy of the Duck.
EMIL :
Yeah?
GEORGE :
It's what they call symbiosis. They both live to insure the happiness of each other. The Blue Herons eat ducks, and the duck . . .
EMIL :
Yes?
GEORGE :
The duck's part of the bargain . . .
EMIL :
Is to be eaten by the Heron?
GEORGE :
Is to . . . Well it slips me for the moment, but it's not as one-sided as it might appear. Nature has given the duck speed and endurance and the art of concealment. She has made the Heron large and unwieldy and blue to be able to spot at a distance. On the other hand he has the benefits of size and occasional camouflage should he come up against something blue.
EMIL :
And shaped like a bird.
GEORGE :
Not always necessary. The battle between the two is as old as time. The ducks propagating, the Herons eating them. The Herons multiplying and losing great numbers to exhaustion in the never-ending chase of the duck. Each keeping the other in check, down through history, until a bond of unspoken friendship and respect unites them, even in the embrace of death.
EMIL :
So why do they continue to fight?
GEORGE :
Survival of the fittest. The never-ending struggle between heredity and environment. The urge to combat. Old as the oceans. Instilled in us all. Who can say to what purpose?
EMIL :
Who?
GEORGE :
We do not know. But this much we do know. As long as the duck exists, he will battle day and night, sick and well with the Heron, for so is it writ. And as long as the sky is made dark with the wing of the Monster Bird, the Heron will feast on duck.

     

    THIRD VARIATION
    “Also They Got Barnyard Ducks”
    EMIL :
Also they got barnyard ducks.
GEORGE :
Yeah. I know.
EMIL :
That they raise for Easter and Thanksgiving.
GEORGE :
You're thinking of Turkeys.
EMIL :
Also ducks.
GEORGE :
They keep ‘em? In captivity?
EMIL :
Yeah. In the Barnyard. They clip their wings.
GEORGE :
Uh.
EMIL :
Yeah. What? You can't put ‘em on their honor?!
GEORGE :
Times have changed.
EMIL :
Vandalism . . . . . . they fat ‘em up. They feed ‘em, the farmers, on special mixtures. Corn, and maybe an oat. And they got special injections they give ‘em. To keep ‘em happy.
GEORGE :
And they can't fly.
EMIL :
No.
GEORGE :
All with wildness is gone.
EMIL :
Just walking around the farm all day. Eating.
GEORGE :
They're allowed to mate?
EMIL :
This we do not know.
GEORGE :
Eh?
EMIL :
Only a few farmers know this.
GEORGE :
Yeah?
EMIL :
The mating of ducks is a private matter between the duck in question and his mate.
GEORGE :
Yeah?
EMIL :
It is a thing which few White men have witnessed. . . . And those who claim to have seen it . . . strangely do not wish to speak.
GEORGE :
There are things we're better off not to know.
EMIL :
If you don't know, you never