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33 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
GARCIN [enters, accompanied by the ROOM-VALET, and glances around him]: Hm! So here we are?
VALET: Yes, Mr. Garcin.
GARCIN: And this is what it looks like?
VALET: Yes.
GARCIN: Second Empire furniture, I observe. . . . Well, well, I dare say one gets used to it in time.
VALET: Some do, some don't.
GARCIN: Are all the rooms like this one?
VALET: How could they be? We cater for all sorts: Chinamen and Indians, for instance. What use would they have for a Second Empire chair?
GARCIN: And what use do you suppose I have for one? Do you know who I was? . . .Oh, well, it's no great matter. And, to tell the truth, I had quite a habit of living among furniture that I didn't relish, and in false positions. I'd even come to like it. A false position in a Louis-Philippe dining room-- you know the style?--well, that had its points, you know. Bogus in bogus, so to speak.
VALET: And you'll find that living in a Second Empire drawing-room has its points.
GARCIN: Really? . . .Yes, yes, I dare say. . . . [He takes another look around.] Still I certainly didn't expect-- this! You know what they tell us down there?
VALET: What about?
GARCIN: About [makes a sweeping gesture] this--er--residence.
VALET: Really, sir, how could you believe such cock-and-bull stories? Told by people who'd never set foot here. For, of course, if they had--
GARCIN: Quite so. [Both laugh. Abruptly the laugh dies from GARCIN'S face.] But I say, where are the instruments of torture?
VALET: The what?
GARCIN: The racks and red-hot pincers and all the other paraphernalia?
VALET: Ah, you must have your little joke, sir.
GARCIN: My little joke? Oh, I see. No, I wasn't joking. [A short silence. He strolls round the room.] No mirrors, I notice. No windows. Only to be expected. And nothing breakable. [Bursts out angrily.] But damn it all, they might have left me my toothbrush!
VALET: That's good! So you haven't yet got over your--what-do-you-call-it?--sense of human dignity? Excuse me smiling
GARCIN [thumping ragefully the arm of an armchair]: I'll ask you to be more polite. I quite realize the position I'm in, but I won't tolerate . . .
VALET: Sorry, sir. No offense meant. But all our guests ask me the same questions. Silly questions, if you'll pardon my saying so. Where's the torture-chamber? That's the first thing they ask, all of them. They don't bother their heads about the bathroom requisites, that I can assure you. But after a bit, when they've got their nerve back, they start in about their toothbrushes and what-not. Good heavens, Mr. Garcin, can't you use your brains? What, I ask you, would be the point of brushing your teeth?
GARCIN [more calmly]: Yes, of course you're right. [He looks around again.] And why should one want to see oneself in a looking-glass? But that bronze contraption on the mantelpiece, that's another story. I suppose there will be times when I stare my eyes out at it. Stare my eyes out--see what I mean? . . . All right, let's put our cards on the table. I assure you I'm quite conscious of my position. Shall I tell you what it feels like? A man's drowning, choking, sinking by inches, till only his eyes are just above water. And what does he see? A bronze atrocity by--what's the fellow's name?--Barbedienne. A collector's piece. As in a nightmare. That's their idea, isn't it? . . . No, I suppose you're under orders not to answer questions; and I won't insist. But don't forget, my man, I've a good notion of what's coming to me, so don't you boast you've caught me off my guard. I'm facing the situation, facing it. [He starts pacing the room again.] So that's that; no toothbrush. And no bed, either. One never sleeps, I take it?
VALET: That's so.
GARCIN: Just as I expected. Why should one sleep? A sort of drowsiness steals on you, tickles you behind the ears, and you feel your eyes closing--but why sleep? You lie down on the sofa and--in a flash, sleep flies away. Miles and miles away. So you rub your eyes, get up, and it starts all over again.
VALET: Romantic, that's what you are.
GARCIN: Will you keep quiet, please! . . . I won't make a scene, I shan't be sorry for myself, I'll face the situation, as I said just now. Face it fairly and squarely. I won't have it springing at me from behind, before I've time to size it up. And you call that being "romantic!" . . . So it comes to this; one doesn't need rest. Why bother about sleep if one isn't sleepy? That stands to reason, doesn't it? Wait a minute, there's a snag somewhere; something disagreeable. Why, now, should it be disagreeable? . . . Ah, I see; it's life without a break.
VALET: What are you talking about?
GARCIN: Your eyelids. We move ours up and down. Blinking, we call it. It's like a small black shutter that clicks down and makes a break. Everything goes black; one's eyes are moistened. You can't imagine how restful, refreshing, it is. Four thousand little rests per hour. Four thousand little respites--just think! . . . So that's the idea. I'm to live without eyelids. Don't act the fool, you know what I mean. No eyelids, no sleep; it follows, doesn't it? I shall never sleep again. But then--how shall I endure my own company? Try to understand. You see, I'm fond of teasing, it's a second nature with me--and I'm used to teasing myself. Plaguing myself, if you prefer; I don't tease nicely. But I can't go on doing that without a break. Down there I had my nights. I slept. I always had good nights. By way of compensation, I suppose. And happy little dreams. There was a green field. Just an ordinary field. I used to stroll in it. . . . Is it daytime now?
VALET: Can't you see? The lights are on.
GARCIN: Ah, yes, I've got it. It's your daytime. And outside?
VALET: Outside?
GARCIN: Damn it, you know what I mean. Beyond that wall.
VALET: There's a passage.
GARCIN: And at the end of the passage?
VALET: There's more rooms, more passages, and stairs.
GARCIN: And what lies beyond them?
VALET: That's all.
GARCIN: But surely you have a day off sometimes. Where do you go?
VALET: To my uncle's place. He's the head valet here. He has a room on the third floor.
GARCIN: I should have guessed as much. Where's the light-switch?
VALET: There isn't any.
GARCIN: What? Can't one turn off the light?
VALET: Oh, the management can cut off the current if they want to. But I can't remember their having done so on this floor. We have all the electricity we want.
GARCIN: So one has to live with one's eyes open all the time?
VALET: To live, did you say?
GARCIN: Don't let's quibble over words. With one's eyes open. Forever. Always broad daylight in my eyes--and in my head. [Short silence.] And suppose I took that contraption on the mantelpiece and dropped it on the lamp--wouldn't it go out?
VALET: You can't move it. It's too heavy.
GARCIN [seizing the bronze ornament and trying to lift it]: You're right. It's too heavy. [A short silence follows.]
VALET: Very well, sir, if you don't need me any more, I'll be off.
GARCIN: What? You're going? [The VALET goes up to the door.] Wait. [VALET looks around.] That's a bell, isn't it? [VALET nods.] And if I ring, you're bound to come?
VALET: Well, yes, that's so--in a way. But you can never be sure about that bell. There's something wrong with the wiring, and it doesn't always work. [GARCIN goes to the bell-push and presses the button. A bell purrs outside.]
GARCIN: It's working all right.
VALET [looking surprised]: So it is. [He, too, presses the button.] But I shouldn't count on it too much if I were you. It's--capricious. Well, I really must go now. [GARCIN makes a gesture to detain him.] Yes, sir?
GARCIN: No, never mind. [He goes to the mantel piece and picks up a paper-knife.] What's this?
VALET: Can't you see? An ordinary paper-knife.
GARCIN: Are there books here?
VALET: No.
GARCIN: Then what's the use of this? [VALET shrugs his shoulders.] Very well. You can go. [VALET goes out.]
VALET: Did you call, sir?
GARCIN [on the point of answering "Yes"--but then his eyes fall on INEZ]: No.
VALET [turning to INEZ]: This is your room, madam. [INEZ says nothing.] If there's any information you require--? [INEZ still keeps silent, and the VALET looks slightly huffed.] Most of our guests have quite a lot to ask me. But I won't insist. Anyhow, as regards the toothbrush, and the electric bell, and that thing on the mantelshelf, this gentleman can tell you anything you want to know as well as I could. We've had a little chat, him and me. [VALET goes out.] [GARCIN refrains from looking at INEZ, who is inspecting the room. Abruptly she turns to GARCIN.]
ESTELLE: I never thought you were. I--I thought someone was trying to play a rather nasty trick on me. [To the VALET] Is anyone else coming?
VALET: No, madam. No one else is coming.
GARCIN [bowing again]: Joseph Garcin.
VALET: Do you require me any longer?