Three Plays by Tennessee Williams Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Tennessee Williams
the gallery as Big Daddy says:]
BIG DADDY : Then what the hell were you doing out there at three o'clock in the morning?
BRICK : Jumping the hurdles, Big Daddy, runnin' and jumpin' the hurdles, but those high hurdles have gotten too high for me, now.
BIG DADDY : 'Cause you was drunk?
BRICK [his vague smile fading a little] : Sober I wouldn't have tried to jump the low ones....
BIG MAMA [quickly] : Big Daddy, blow out the candles on your birthday cake!
MARGARET [at the same time] : I want to propose a toast to Big Daddy Pollitt on his sixty-fifth birthday, the biggest cotton-planter in—
BIG DADDY [bellowing with fury and disgust] : I told you to stop it, now stop it, quit this—!
BIG MAMA [coming in front of Big Daddy with the cake] : Big Daddy, I will not allow you to talk that way, not even on your birthday, I—
BIG DADDY : I'll talk like I want to on my birthday, Ida, or any other goddam day of the year and anybody here that don't like it knows what they can do!
BIG MAMA : You don't mean that!
BIG DADDY : What makes you think I don't mean it?
[Meanwhile various discreet signals have been exchanged and Gooper has also gone out on the gallery.]
BIG MAMA : I just know you don't mean it.
BIG DADDY : You don't know a goddam thing and you never did!
BIG MAMA : Big Daddy, you don't mean that.
BIG DADDY : Oh, yes, I do, oh, yes, I do, I mean it! I put up with a whole lot of crap around here because I thought I was dying. And you thought I was dying and you started taking over, well, you can stop taking over now, Ida, because I'm not gonna die, you can just stop now this business of taking over because you're not taking over because I'm not dying, I went through the laboratory and the goddam exploratory operation and there's nothing wrong with me but a spastic colon. And I'm not dying of cancer which you thought I was dying of. Ain't that so? Didn't you think that I was dying of cancer, Ida?
[Almost everybody is out on the gallery but the two old people glaring at each other across the blaming cake. Big Mama's chest heaves and she presses a fat fist to her mouth. Big Daddy continues, hoarsely:]
Ain't that so, Ida? Didn't you have an idea I was dying of cancer and now you could take control of this place and everything on it? I got that impression, I seemed to get that impression. Your loud voice everywhere, your fat old body butting in here and there!
BIG MAMA : Hush! The Preacher!
BIG DADDY : Rut the goddam preacher!
[Big Mama gasps loudly and sits down on the sofa which is almost too small for her.]
Did you hear what I said? I said rut the goddam preacher!
[Somebody closes the gallery doors from outside just as there is a burst of fireworks and excited cries from the children.]
BIG MAMA : I never seen you act like this before and I can't think what's got in you!
BIG DADDY : I went through all that laboratory and operation and all just so I would know if you or me was boss here! Well, now it turns out that I am and you ain't—and that's my birthday present—and my cake and champagne!—because for three years now you been gradually taking over. Bossing. Talking. Sashaying your fat old body around the place I made! I made this place! I was overseer on it! I was the overseer on the old Straw and Ochello plantation. I quit school at ten! I quit school at ten years old and went to work like a nigger in the fields. And I rose to be overseer of the Straw and Ochello plantation. And old Straw died and I was Ochello's partner and the place got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger! I did all that myself with no goddam help from you, and now you think you're just about to take over. Well, I am just about to tell you that you are not just about to take over, you are not just about to take over a God damn thing. Is that clear to you, Ida? Is that very plain to you, now? Is that understood completely? I been through
BIG DADDY : Then what the hell were you doing out there at three o'clock in the morning?
BRICK : Jumping the hurdles, Big Daddy, runnin' and jumpin' the hurdles, but those high hurdles have gotten too high for me, now.
BIG DADDY : 'Cause you was drunk?
BRICK [his vague smile fading a little] : Sober I wouldn't have tried to jump the low ones....
BIG MAMA [quickly] : Big Daddy, blow out the candles on your birthday cake!
MARGARET [at the same time] : I want to propose a toast to Big Daddy Pollitt on his sixty-fifth birthday, the biggest cotton-planter in—
BIG DADDY [bellowing with fury and disgust] : I told you to stop it, now stop it, quit this—!
BIG MAMA [coming in front of Big Daddy with the cake] : Big Daddy, I will not allow you to talk that way, not even on your birthday, I—
BIG DADDY : I'll talk like I want to on my birthday, Ida, or any other goddam day of the year and anybody here that don't like it knows what they can do!
BIG MAMA : You don't mean that!
BIG DADDY : What makes you think I don't mean it?
[Meanwhile various discreet signals have been exchanged and Gooper has also gone out on the gallery.]
BIG MAMA : I just know you don't mean it.
BIG DADDY : You don't know a goddam thing and you never did!
BIG MAMA : Big Daddy, you don't mean that.
BIG DADDY : Oh, yes, I do, oh, yes, I do, I mean it! I put up with a whole lot of crap around here because I thought I was dying. And you thought I was dying and you started taking over, well, you can stop taking over now, Ida, because I'm not gonna die, you can just stop now this business of taking over because you're not taking over because I'm not dying, I went through the laboratory and the goddam exploratory operation and there's nothing wrong with me but a spastic colon. And I'm not dying of cancer which you thought I was dying of. Ain't that so? Didn't you think that I was dying of cancer, Ida?
[Almost everybody is out on the gallery but the two old people glaring at each other across the blaming cake. Big Mama's chest heaves and she presses a fat fist to her mouth. Big Daddy continues, hoarsely:]
Ain't that so, Ida? Didn't you have an idea I was dying of cancer and now you could take control of this place and everything on it? I got that impression, I seemed to get that impression. Your loud voice everywhere, your fat old body butting in here and there!
BIG MAMA : Hush! The Preacher!
BIG DADDY : Rut the goddam preacher!
[Big Mama gasps loudly and sits down on the sofa which is almost too small for her.]
Did you hear what I said? I said rut the goddam preacher!
[Somebody closes the gallery doors from outside just as there is a burst of fireworks and excited cries from the children.]
BIG MAMA : I never seen you act like this before and I can't think what's got in you!
BIG DADDY : I went through all that laboratory and operation and all just so I would know if you or me was boss here! Well, now it turns out that I am and you ain't—and that's my birthday present—and my cake and champagne!—because for three years now you been gradually taking over. Bossing. Talking. Sashaying your fat old body around the place I made! I made this place! I was overseer on it! I was the overseer on the old Straw and Ochello plantation. I quit school at ten! I quit school at ten years old and went to work like a nigger in the fields. And I rose to be overseer of the Straw and Ochello plantation. And old Straw died and I was Ochello's partner and the place got bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger! I did all that myself with no goddam help from you, and now you think you're just about to take over. Well, I am just about to tell you that you are not just about to take over, you are not just about to take over a God damn thing. Is that clear to you, Ida? Is that very plain to you, now? Is that understood completely? I been through
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