mumbled something, apologies I presume. [Pause.] I'm a busy man, you
know, the final touches, before the festivities, you know what it is. [Pause.
Forcibly.] Com e on now, what is the object of this invasion? [Pause.] It was
a glorious bright day, I remember, fifty by the heliometer,7 but already the
sun was sinking down into the . . . down among the dead. [Normal tone.]
Nicely put, that. [Narrative tone.] Com e on now, come on, present your
petition and let me resume my labours. [Pause. Normal tone.] There's
English for you. A h well . . . [Narrative tone.] It was then he took the plunge.
It's my little one, he said. Tsstss, a little one, that's bad. My little boy, he
said, as if the sex mattered. Where did he come from? He named the hole.
A good half-day, on horse. What are you insinuating? That the place is still
inhabited? No no, not a soul, except himself and the child?assuming he
existed. Good. I enquired about the situation at Kov,8 beyond the gulf. Not
5. Membranous space in infant's skull at the 7. Literally, a sun meter. angles of the parietal bones. 8. Conceivably the town of Kova in southern Sibe6. Vesta is the brand name of a type of match ria (except that it has no gulf); more probably (from Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth). Hamm's invention.
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ENDGAME / 2411
a sinner. Good. An d you expect me to believe you have left your little one back there, all alone, and alive into the bargain? Com e now! [Pause.] It was a howling wild day, I remember, a hundred by the anemometer.9 Th e wind was tearing up the dead pines and sweeping them . . . away. [Pause. Normal tone.] A bit feeble, that. [Narrative tone.] Com e on, man, speak up, what is it you want from me, I have to put up m y holly. [Pause.] Well to make it short it finally transpired that what he wanted from me was . . . bread for his brat? Bread? But I have no bread, it doesn't agree with me. Good. Then perhaps a little corn? [Pause. Normal tone.] That should do it. [Narrative tone.] Corn, yes, I have corn, it's true, in m y granaries. But use your head. I give you some corn, a pound, a pound and a half, you bring it back to your child and you make him?if he's still alive?a nice pot of porridge, [NAGG reacts.] a nice pot and a half of porridge, full of nourishment. Good. Th e colours come back into his little cheeks?perhaps. An d then? [Pause.] I lost patience. [Violently.] Use your head, can't you, use your head, you're on earth, there's no cure for that! [Pause.] It was an exceedingly dry day, I remember, zero by the hygrometer. Ideal weather, for my lumbago.' [Pause. Violently.] But what in God's name do you imagine? That the earth will awake in spring? That the rivers and seas will run with fish again? That there's manna in heaven still for imbeciles like you? [Pause.] Gradually I cooled down, sufficiently at least to ask him how long he had taken on the way. Three whole days. Good. In what condition he had left the child. Deep in sleep. [Forcibly.] But deep in what sleep, deep in what sleep already? [Pause.] Well to make it short I finally offered to take hi m into m y service. He had touched a chord. An d then I imagined already that I wasn't muc h longer for this world. [He laughs. Pause.] Well? [Pause.] Well? Here if you were careful you might die a nice natural death, in peace and comfort. [Pause.] Well? [Pause.] In the end he asked me would I consent to take in the child as well?if he were still alive. [Pause.] It was the moment I was waiting for. [Pause.] Would I consent to take in the child . . . [Pause.] I can see him still, down on his knees, his hands flat on the ground, glaring at me with his ma d eyes, in defiance of m y wishes. [Pause. Normal tone.] I'll soon have finished with this story. [Pattse.] Unless I bring in other characters. [Pause.] But where would I find them? [Pause.] Where would I look for them? [Pause. He whistles. Enter CLOV .] Let us pray to God.
NAGG Me sugar-plum! CLOV There's a rat in the kitchen! HAMM A rat! Are there still rats? CLOV In the kitchen there's one. HAMM And you haven't exterminated him? CLOV Half. You disturbed us. HAMM He can't get away? CLOV NO. HAMM You'll finish him later. Let us pray to God. CLOV Again! NAGG Me sugar-plum! HAMM Go d first! [Pause.] Are you right? CLOV [Resigned.] Off we go.
9. A wind meter. I. Rheumatic pain in the lumbar region of the lower back. 'Hygrometer': a moisture meter.
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241 2 / SAMUEL BECKETT
HAMM [TO NAGG.] And you? NAGG [Clasping his hands, closing his eyes, in a gahhle. ] Ou r Father which art? HAMM Silence! In silence! Wher e are your manners? [Pause.] Off we go.
[Attitudes of prayer. Silence. Abandoning his attitude, discouraged.] Well? CLOV [Abandoning his attitude.] What a hope! And you? HAMM Sweet damn all! [To NAGG.] And you? NAGG Wait! [Pause. Abandoning his attitude.] Nothing doing! HAMM Th e bastard! He doesn't exist! CLOV Not yet. NAGG Me sugar-plum! HAMM There are no more sugar-plums! [Pause.] NAGG It's natural. After all I'm your father. It's true if it hadn't been me it
would have been someone else. But that's no excuse. [Pause.] Turkish Delight,2 for example, which no longer exists, we all know that, there is nothing in the world I love more. An d one day I'll ask you for some, in return for a kindness, and you'll promise it to me. On e must live with the times. [Pause.] Who m did you call when you were a tiny boy, and were frightened, in the dark? Your mother? No. Me. We let you cry. Then we moved you out of earshot, so that we might sleep in peace. [Pause.] I was asleep, as happy as a king, and you woke me up to have me listen to you. It wasn't indispensable, you didn't really need to have me listen to you. [Pause.] I hope the day will come when you'll really need to have me listen to you, and need to hear m y voice, any voice. [Pause.] Yes, I hope I'll live till then, to hear you calling me like when you were a tiny boy, and were frightened, in the dark, and I was your only hope. [Pause, NAGG knocks on lid of NELL'S bin. Pause.] Nell! [Pause. He knocks louder. Pause. Louder.] Nell! [Pause, NAGG sinks back into his bin, closes the lid behind him. Pause.]
HAMM Ou r revels now are ended.3 [He gropes for the dog] Th e dog's gone. CLOV He's not a real dog, he can't go. HAMM [Groping.] He's not there. CLOV He's lain down. HAMM Give him up to me. [CLOV picks up the dog and gives it to HAMM. HAMM
holds it in his arms. Pause, HAMM throws away the dog.] Dirty brute! [CLOV begins to pick up the objects lying on the ground.] Wha t are you doing? CLOV Putting things in order. [He straightens up. Fervently.] I'm going to clear
everything away! [He starts picking up again.] HAMM Order! CLOV [Straightening up.] I love order. It's m y
