The Dwarfs by Harold Pinter Read Free Book Online Page B

I’ll tell you a dream I had last night, if you like, to cheer you up.
    - All right.
    - I didn’t expect to dream last night.
    - What was it?
    - It was very straightforward, Pete said. I was with Virginia in a tube station, on the platform. People were rushing about. There was some sort of panic. When I looked round, I saw everyone’s faces were peeling, blotched, blistered. People were screaming, booming down the tunnels. There was a firebell clanging. When I looked at Ginny, I saw that her face was coming off in slabs too. Like plaster. Black scabs and stains. The skin was dropping off like lumps of catsmeat. I could hear it sizzling on the electric rails. I pulled her by the arm to get her out of there. She wouldn’t budge. She just stood there, with half a face, staring at me. I screamed at her to come away, but she still wouldn’t move. Then I suddenly thought - Christ, what’s my face like? Is that what she’s staring at? Is that rotting too?
    Len gasped.
    - One for the black book, eh? Pete said.
    Len covered his eyes with his hands.
    - Doesn’t matter about that, Pete said. Watch this. See how many I can do.
    - What?
    - Keep a count.
    Pete lay stomach down on the floor and began to propel himself up and down, on his forearms. Len leaned forward, watching him.
    - How many? Pete grunted.
    - Fifteen.
    Pete continued, staring in front of him.
    - Twenty.
    - Uh.
    - Twenty-five.
    - Uh.
    - Twenty-nine.
    - Enough.
    He relaxed and grinned, sitting on the floor.
    - Not bad, eh?
    - What are you made of? Len said. It’s beyond me.
    - Give me a week and I’ll do thirty-five.

Seven
    The dwarfs are back on the job, Len said. They’re keeping an eye on proceedings. They clock in very early, scenting the event. They are like kites in a city disguise; they only work in cities. However, they are certainly skilled labourers and their trade is not without risk. They wait for a smoke signal and unpack their kit. They are on the spot with no time wasted and circle the danger area. There, they take up positions, which they are able to change at a moment’s notice, if necessary. But they don’t stop work until the job in hand is ended, one way or another.
    I have not been able to pay a subscription, but they have consented to take me into their gang, on a short term basis. My stay with them cannot be long. I can’t see this particular assignment lasting into the winter. The game will be up by then. At present, however, this is the only way I myself can keep an eye on proceedings. And it is essential that I keep a close watch on the rate of exchange, on the rise and fall of the market. Probably neither Pete nor Mark is aware of the effect the state of his exchange has upon my market. But it is so.
    And so I shall keep the dwarfs company and watch with them. They miss very little. With due warning from them I shall be able to clear my stocks, should there be a landslide.

Eight
    At Pete’s request she sat down. He had something to say, he explained, to which she would do well to listen, since it might prove fruitful. Standing on the hearth to begin, he invited her to consider the question of physical appearance and to what degree it was relevant. His own concern was with where the body ceased to be a positive force and became a liability. For example, there was himself and Mark. He would venture to say that their physical appearances went before them and established a contact before their personalities were inclined to participate. To the undiscerning, that might serve as a pointer to what was to come, but how far was that pointer accurate? He himself was a pretty boy, Mark looked as though he had just got out of, or was just getting into, bed. Both their appearances were, he hoped, inconsistent with the facts of the matter. It was, indeed, one of their few mutual problems. They were both obliged to come to some sort of working arrangement with their form in the flesh, and the course they took to resolve the question could be