Waiting for Godot Read online

  ESTRAGON: (step forward). You’re angry? (Silence. Step forward.) Forgive me. (Silence. Step forward. Estragon lays his hand on Vladimir’s shoulder.) Come, Didi. (Silence.) Give me your hand. (Vladimir half turns.) Embrace me! (Vladimir stiffens.) Don’t be stubborn! (Vladimir softens. They embrace. Estragon recoils.) You stink of garlic!

  VLADIMIR: It’s for the kidneys. (Silence. Estragon looks attentively at the tree.) What do we do now?

  ESTRAGON: Wait.

  VLADIMIR: Yes, but while waiting.

  ESTRAGON: What about hanging ourselves?

  VLADIMIR: Hmm. It’d give us an erection.

  ESTRAGON: (highly excited). An erection!

  VLADIMIR: With all that follows. Where it falls mandrakes grow. That’s why they shriek when you pull them up. Did you not know that?

  ESTRAGON: Let’s hang ourselves immediately!

  VLADIMIR: From a bough? (They go towards the tree.) I wouldn’t trust it.

  ESTRAGON: We can always try.

  VLADIMIR: Go ahead.

  ESTRAGON: After you.

  VLADIMIR: No no, you first.

  ESTRAGON: Why me?

  VLADIMIR: You’re lighter than I am.

  ESTRAGON: Just so!

  VLADIMIR: I don’t understand.

  ESTRAGON: Use your intelligence, can’t you?

  Vladimir uses his intelligence.

  VLADIMIR: (finally). I remain in the dark.

  ESTRAGON: This is how it is. (He reflects.) The bough . . . the bough . . . (Angrily.) Use your head, can’t you?

  VLADIMIR: You’re my only hope.

  ESTRAGON: (with effort). Gogo light—bough not break—Gogo dead. Didi heavy—bough break—Didi alone. Whereas—

  VLADIMIR: I hadn’t thought of that.

  ESTRAGON: If it hangs you it’ll hang anything.

  VLADIMIR: But am I heavier than you?

  ESTRAGON: So you tell me. I don’t know. There’s an even chance. Or nearly.

  VLADIMIR: Well? What do we do?

  ESTRAGON: Don’t let’s do anything. It’s safer.

  VLADIMIR: Let’s wait and see what he says.

  ESTRAGON: Who?

  VLADIMIR: Godot.

  ESTRAGON: Good idea.

  VLADIMIR: Let’s wait till we know exactly how we stand.

  ESTRAGON: On the other hand it might be better to strike the iron before it freezes.

  VLADIMIR: I’m curious to hear what he has to offer. Then we’ll take it or leave it.

  ESTRAGON: What exactly did we ask him for?

  VLADIMIR: Were you not there?

  ESTRAGON: I can’t have been listening.

  VLADIMIR: Oh . . . Nothing very definite.

  ESTRAGON: A kind of prayer.

  VLADIMIR: Precisely.

  ESTRAGON: A vague supplication.

  VLADIMIR: Exactly.

  ESTRAGON: And what did he reply?

  VLADIMIR: That he’d see.

  ESTRAGON: That he couldn’t promise anything.

  VLADIMIR: That he’d have to think it over.

  ESTRAGON: In the quiet of his home.

  VLADIMIR: Consult his family.

  ESTRAGON: His friends.

  VLADIMIR: His agents.

  ESTRAGON: His correspondents.

  VLADIMIR: His books.

  ESTRAGON: His bank account.

  VLADIMIR: Before taking a decision.

  ESTRAGON: It’s the normal thing.

  VLADIMIR: Is it not?

  ESTRAGON: I think it is.

  VLADIMIR: I think so too.

  Silence.

  ESTRAGON: (anxious). And we?

  VLADIMIR: I beg your pardon?

  ESTRAGON: I said, And we?

  VLADIMIR: I don’t understand.

  ESTRAGON: Where do we come in?

  VLADIMIR: Come in?

  ESTRAGON: Take your time.

  VLADIMIR: Come in? On our hands and knees.

  ESTRAGON: As bad as that?

  VLADIMIR: Your Worship wishes to assert his prerogatives?

  ESTRAGON: We’ve no rights any more?

  Laugh of Vladimir, stifled as before, less the smile.

  VLADIMIR: You’d make me laugh if it wasn’t prohibited.

  ESTRAGON: We’ve lost our rights?

  VLADIMIR: (distinctly). We got rid of them.

  Silence. They remain motionless, arms dangling, heads sunk, sagging at the knees.

  ESTRAGON: (feebly). We’re not tied? (Pause.) We’re not—

  VLADIMIR: Listen!

  They listen, grotesquely rigid.

  ESTRAGON: I hear nothing.

  VLADIMIR: Hsst! (They listen. Estragon loses his balance, almost falls. He clutches the arm of Vladimir who totters. They listen, huddled together.) Nor I. Sighs of relief. They relax and separate.

  ESTRAGON: You gave me a fright.

  VLADIMIR: I thought it was he.

  ESTRAGON: Who?

  VLADIMIR: Godot.

  ESTRAGON: Pah! The wind in the reeds.

  VLADIMIR: I could have sworn I heard shouts.

  ESTRAGON: And why would he shout?

  VLADIMIR: At his horse.

  Silence.

  ESTRAGON: (violently). I’m hungry!

  VLADIMIR: Do you want a carrot?

  ESTRAGON: Is that all there is?

  VLADIMIR: I might have some turnips.

  ESTRAGON: Give me a carrot. (Vladimir rummages in his pockets, takes out a turnip and gives it to Estragon who takes a bite out of it. Angrily.)

  It’s a turnip!

  VLADIMIR: Oh pardon! I could have sworn it was a carrot. (He rummages again in his pockets, finds nothing but turnips.) All that’s turnips. (He rummages.) You must have eaten the last. (He rummages.) Wait, I have it. (He brings out a carrot and gives it to Estragon.) There, dear fellow. (Estragon wipes the carrot on his sleeve and begins to eat it.) Make it last, that’s the end of them.

  ESTRAGON: (chewing). I asked you a question.

  VLADIMIR: Ah.

  ESTRAGON: Did you reply?

  VLADIMIR: How’s the carrot?

  ESTRAGON: It’s a carrot.

  VLADIMIR: So much the better, so much the better. (Pause.)

  What was it you wanted to know?

  ESTRAGON: I’ve forgotten. (Chews.) That’s what annoys me. (He looks at the carrot appreciatively, dangles it between finger and thumb.) I’ll never forget this carrot. (He sucks the end of it meditatively.) Ah yes, now I remember.

  VLADIMIR: Well?

  ESTRAGON: (his mouth full, vacuously). We’re not tied?

  VLADIMIR: I don’t hear a word you’re saying.

  ESTRAGON: (chews, swallows). I’m asking you if we’re tied.

  VLADIMIR: Tied?

  ESTRAGON: Ti-ed.

  VLADIMIR: How do you mean tied?

  ESTRAGON: Down.

  VLADIMIR: But to whom? By whom?

  ESTRAGON: To your man.

  VLADIMIR: To Godot? Tied to Godot! What an idea! No question of it. (Pause.) For the moment.

  ESTRAGON: His name is Godot?

  VLADIMIR: I think so.

  ESTRAGON: Fancy that. (He raises what remains of the carrot by the stub of leaf, twirls it before his eyes.)

  Funny, the more you eat the worse it gets.

  VLADIMIR: With me it’s just the opposite.

  ESTRAGON: In other words?

  VLADIMIR: I get used to the muck as I go along.

  ESTRAGON: (after prolonged reflection). Is that the opposite?

  VLADIMIR: Question of temperament.

  ESTRAGON: Of character.

  VLADIMIR: Nothing you can do about it.

  ESTRAGON: No use struggling.

  VLADIMIR: One is what one is.

  ESTRAGON: No use wriggling.

  VLADIMIR: The essential doesn’t change.

  ESTRAGON: Nothing to be done. (He proffers the remains of the carrot to Vladimir.) Like to finish it?

  A terrible cry, close at hand. Estragon drops the carrot. They remain motionless, then together ma
ke a sudden rush towards the wings. Estragon stops halfway, runs back, picks up the carrot, stuffs it in his pocket, runs to rejoin Vladimir who is waiting for him, stops again, runs back, picks up his boot, runs to rejoin Vladimir. Huddled together, shoulders hunched, cringing away from the menace, they wait.

  Enter Pozzo and Lucky. Pozzo drives Lucky by means of a rope passed round his neck, so that Lucky is the first to enter, followed by the rope which is long enough to let him reach the middle of the stage before Pozzo appears. Lucky carries a heavy bag, a folding stool, a picnic basket and a greatcoat, Pozzo a whip.

  POZZO: (off). On! (Crack of whip. Pozzo appears. They cross the stage. Lucky passes before Vladimir and Estragon and exit. Pozzo at the sight of Vladimir and Estragon stops short. The rope tautens. Pozzo jerks at it violently.) Back!

  Noise of Lucky falling with all his baggage. Vladimir and Estragon turn towards him, half wishing half fearing to go to his assistance. Vladimir takes a step towards Lucky, Estragon holds him back by the sleeve.

  VLADIMIR: Let me go!

  ESTRAGON: Stay where you are!

  POZZO: Be careful! He’s wicked. (Vladimir and Estragon turn towards Pozzo.) With strangers.

  ESTRAGON: (undertone). Is that him?

  VLADIMIR: Who?

  ESTRAGON: (trying to remember the name). Er . . .

  VLADIMIR: Godot?

  ESTRAGON: Yes.

  POZZO: I present myself: Pozzo.

  VLADIMIR: (to Estragon). Not at all!

  ESTRAGON: He said Godot.

  VLADIMIR: Not at all!

  ESTRAGON: (timidly, to Pozzo). You’re not Mr. Godot, Sir?

  POZZO: (terrifying voice). I am Pozzo! (Silence.) Pozzo!

  (Silence.) Does that name mean nothing to you?

  (Silence.) I say does that name mean nothing to you?

  Vladimir and Estragon look at each other questioningly.

  ESTRAGON: (pretending to search). Bozzo . . . Bozzo . . .

  VLADIMIR: (ditto). Pozzo . . . Pozzo . . .

  POZZO: PPPOZZZO!

  ESTRAGON: Ah! Pozzo . . . let me see . . . Pozzo . . .

  VLADIMIR: Is it Pozzo or Bozzo?

  ESTRAGON: Pozzo . . . no . . . I’m afraid I . . . no . . . I don’t seem to . . .

  Pozzo advances threateningly.

  VLADIMIR: (conciliating). I once knew a family called Gozzo.

  The mother had the clap.

  ESTRAGON: (hastily). We’re not from these parts, Sir.

  POZZO: (halting). You are human beings none the less.

  (He puts on his glasses.) As far as one can see. (He takes off his glasses.) Of the same species as myself. (He bursts into an enormous laugh.) Of the same species as Pozzo! Made in God’s image!

  VLADIMIR: Well you see—

  POZZO: (peremptory). Who is Godot?

  ESTRAGON: Godot?

  POZZO: You took me for Godot.

  VLADIMIR: Oh no, Sir, not for an instant, Sir.

  POZZO: Who is he?

  VLADIMIR: Oh he’s a . . . he’s a kind of acquaintance.

  ESTRAGON: Nothing of the kind, we hardly know him.

  VLADIMIR: True . . . we don’t know him very well . . . but all the same . . .

  ESTRAGON: Personally I wouldn’t even know him if I saw him.

  POZZO: You took me for him.

  ESTRAGON: (recoiling before Pozzo). That’s to say . . . you understand . . . the dusk . . . the strain . . . waiting . . . I confess . . . I imagined . . . for a second . . .

  POZZO: Waiting? So you were waiting for him?

  VLADIMIR: Well you see—

  POZZO: Here? On my land?

  VLADIMIR: We didn’t intend any harm.

  ESTRAGON: We meant well.

  POZZO: The road is free to all.

  VLADIMIR: That’s how we looked at it.

  POZZO: It’s a disgrace. But there you are.

  ESTRAGON: Nothing we can do about it.

  POZZO: (with magnanimous gesture). Let’s say no more about it. (He jerks the rope.) Up pig! (Pause.) Every time he drops he falls asleep. (Jerks the rope.) Up hog! (Noise of Lucky getting up and picking up his baggage. Pozzo jerks the rope.) Back! (Enter Lucky backwards.) Stop! (Lucky stops.) Turn! (Lucky turns. To Vladimir and Estragon, affably.) Gentlemen, I am happy to have met you. (Before their incredulous expression.) Yes yes, sincerely happy. (He jerks the rope.) Closer! (Lucky advances.) Stop! (Lucky stops.) Yes, the road seems long when one journeys all alone for ... (he consults his watch) . . . yes . . . (he calculates) . . . yes, six hours, that’s right, six hours on end, and never a soul in sight. (To Lucky.) Coat! (Lucky puts down the bag, advances, gives the coat, goes back to his place, takes up the bag.) Hold that! (Pozzo holds out the whip. Lucky advances and, both his hands being occupied, takes the whip in his mouth, then goes back to his place. Pozzo begins to put on his coat, stops.) Coat! (Lucky puts down bag, basket and stool, advances, helps Pozzo on with his coat, goes back to his place and takes up bag, basket and stool.) Touch of autumn in the air this evening. (Pozzo finishes buttoning his coat, stoops, inspects himself, straightens up.) Whip! (Lucky advances, stoops, Pozzo snatches the whip from his mouth, Lucky goes back to his place.) Yes, gentlemen, I cannot go for long without the society of my likes (he puts on his glasses and looks at the two likes) even when the likeness is an imperfect one. (He takes off his glasses.) Stool! (Lucky puts down bag and basket, advances, opens stool, puts it down, goes back to his place, takes up bag and basket.) Closer! (Lucky puts down bag and basket, advances, moves stool, goes back to his place, takes up bag and basket. Pozzo sits down, places the butt of his whip against Lucky’s chest and pushes.) Back! (Lucky takes a step back.) Further! (Lucky takes another step back.) Stop! (Lucky stops. To Vladimir and Estragon.) That is why, with your permission, I propose to dally with you a moment, before I venture any further. Basket! (Lucky advances, gives the basket, goes back to his place.) The fresh air stimulates the jaded appetite. (He opens the basket, takes out a piece of chicken and a bottle of wine.) Basket! (Lucky advances, picks up the basket and goes back to his place.) Further! (Lucky takes a step back .) He stinks. Happy days!

  He drinks from the bottle, puts it down and begins to eat. Silence. Vladimir and Estragon, cautiously at first, then more boldly, begin to circle about Lucky, inspecting him up and down. Pozzo eats his chicken voraciously, throwing away the bones after having sucked them. Lucky sags slowly, until bag and basket touch the ground, then straightens up with a start and begins to sag again. Rhythm of one sleeping on his feet.

  ESTRAGON: What ails him?

  VLADIMIR: He looks tired.

  ESTRAGON: Why doesn’t he put down his bags?

  VLADIMIR: How do I know? (They close in on him.) Careful!

  ESTRAGON: Say something to him.

  VLADIMIR: Look!

  ESTRAGON: What?

  VLADIMIR: (pointing). His neck!

  ESTRAGON: (looking at the neck). I see nothing.

  VLADIMIR: Here.

  Estragon goes over beside Vladimir.

  ESTRAGON: Oh I say!

  VLADIMIR: A running sore!

  ESTRAGON: It’s the rope.

  VLADIMIR: It’s the rubbing.

  ESTRAGON: It’s inevitable.

  VLADIMIR: It’s the knot.

  ESTRAGON: It’s the chafing.

  They resume their inspection, dwell on the face.

  VLADIMIR: (grudgingly) He’s not bad looking.

  ESTRAGON: (shrugging his shoulders, wry face). Would you say so?

  VLADIMIR: A trifle effeminate.

  ESTRAGON: Look at the slobber.

  VLADIMIR: It’s inevitable.

  ESTRAGON: Look at the slaver.

  VLADIMIR: Perhaps he’s a halfwit.

  ESTRAGON: A cretin.

  VLADIMIR: (looking closer). Looks like a goiter.

  ESTRAGON: (ditto). It’s not certain.

  VLADIMIR: He’s panting.

  ESTRAGON: It’s inevitable.

  VLADIMIR: And his eyes!

  ESTR
AGON: What about them?

  VLADIMIR: Goggling out of his head.

  ESTRAGON: Looks at his last gasp to me.

  VLADIMIR: It’s not certain. (Pause.) Ask him a question.

  ESTRAGON: Would that be a good thing?

  VLADIMIR: What do we risk?

  ESTRAGON: (timidly). Mister . . .

  VLADIMIR: Louder.

  ESTRAGON: (louder). Mister . . .

  POZZO: Leave him in peace! (They turn towards Pozzo who, having finished eating, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.) Can’t you see he wants to rest? Basket! (He strikes a match and begins to light his pipe. Estragon sees the chicken bones on the ground and stares at them greedily. As Lucky does not move Pozzo throws the match angrily away and jerks the rope.) Basket! (Lucky starts, almost falls, recovers his senses, advances, puts the bottle in the basket and goes back to his place. Estragon stares at the bones. Pozzo strikes another match and lights his pipe.) What can you expect, it’s not his job. (He pulls at his pipe, stretches out his legs.) Ah! That’s better.

  ESTRAGON: (timidly). Please Sir . . .

  POZZO: What is it, my good man?

  ESTRAGON: Er . . . you’ve finished with the . . . er . . . you don’t need the . . . er . . . bones, Sir?

  VLADIMIR: (scandalized). You couldn’t have waited?

  POZZO: No no, he does well to ask. Do I need the bones?

  (He turns them over with the end of his whip.) No, personally I do not need them any more. (Estragon takes a step towards the bones.) But . . .(Estragon stops short) . . . but in theory the bones go to the carrier. He is therefore the one to ask. (Estragon turns towards Lucky, hesitates.) Go on, go on, don’t be afraid, ask him, he’ll tell you. Estragon goes towards Lucky, stops before him.

  ESTRAGON: Mister . . . excuse me, Mister . . .

  POZZO: You’re being spoken to, pig! Reply! (To Estragon.)

  Try him again.

  ESTRAGON: Excuse me, Mister, the bones, you won’t be wanting the bones?

  Lucky looks long at Estragon.

  POZZO: (in raptures). Mister! (Lucky bows his head.)

  Reply! Do you want them or don’t you? (Silence of Lucky. To Estragon.) They’re yours. (Estragon makes a dart at the bones, picks them up and begins to gnaw them.) I don’t like it. I’ve never known him refuse a bone before. (He looks anxiously at Lucky.) Nice business it’d be if he fell sick on me!

  He puffs at his pipe.

  VLADIMIR: (exploding). It’s a scandal!

  Silence. Flabbergasted, Estragon stops gnawing, looks at Pozzo and Vladimir in turn. Pozzo outwardly calm. Vladimir embarrassed.