And its
drivelling
scribe.
Samuel Beckett
S m a ] ] s l a t e s b l a c k t o o b r o u g h t
from a ruined mansion. What tales bad thf'Y tongues
. u
to tel1. Their lung tale tolcl. Such the dwelling i11 seen i]] ,;aid. Outwardh. High tinll'.
Changcll the stone that draws her when revisitecl
L
alonc. Or she who changes it wheu side by sicle. Now
L,
alone it leans. Bacb\-ard or forwanl as the case mav be.
Is it to nature alone it O\\-es its rough-hewn air? Or to
some too human hand forced to desist? As lVIichel
angelo's from the regicille's bust. If there llIal not LL
be no more cIuestion,; let tlwre at It'asl be no ! Ilore
answers. Granite of no common variety assuredh. Black as jade the jasper that flecks its whiteness. On its what is the wrong word its uptilted face obscure graffiti. Scrawled b:- the ages for tllf' e:-e to solicit in
vain. Winter evenings on her doorstep she imagines she can see it glitter afar. When from their source in the west-south-west the last rays rake its averse face. Such ill seen the stone alone where it stands at the far fringe of the pastures. On her way out with the flowers
as unerring as best she can she lingers by- it. As on her way back with empty hands. Lingers by it a while on
))u)
her way on. Toward the one or other abode. As un erring as best she can.
See them again side by side. Not quite touching. Lit aslant by the latest last rays they cast to the east-north east their long parallel shadows. Evening therefore. Winter evening. It will always be evening. Always
winter. When not night. Winter night. No more lambs. No more flowers. Empty-handed she shall go to the tomb. Until she go no more. Or no more return. So much for that. Undistinguishable the twin shadows.
HI
85
Till one at length more dense as if of a bod\- better G.
opaque. At length more still. As faintl)- at length the other trembles under the staring gaze. Throughout
LLL-
this confrontation the sun stands still. That is to say the earth. Not to recoil on until the parting. Then on its face over the pastures and then the stones the still living shadow slowl:- glides. Lengthening and fading more and more. But never quite away. Under the hovering eye.
Close-up of a dial. Nothing else. White disc divided in minutes. Unless it be in seconds. Sixty black dots. No figure. One hand onlyo Finest of fine black darts. It advances by fits and starts. No tick. Leaps from dot to dot with so lightning a leap that but for its new position it had not stirred. Whole nights ma)- pass as may but a fraction of a second or an)- intermediate lapse of time soever before it flings itself from one degree to the next. None at any moment overleaping in all fairness be it said. Let it when discovered be pointing east. Having thus covered after its fashion assuming the instrument plumb the first quarter of
its latest hour. Unless it be its latest minute. Then doubt certain-then despair certain nights of its ever attaining the last. Ever regaining north.
She reappears at evening at her window. When not
night evening. If she will see Venus again she must GG
open it. Well! First draw aside the curtain and then open. Head bowed she waits to be able. Mindful per haps of evenings when she was able too late. Black night fallen. But no. In her head too pure wait. The curtain. Seen closer thanks to this hiatus it reveals it
self at last for what it is. A black greatcoat. Hooked b) i. ts tails from the rod it hangs sprawling inside out like a carcass in a butcher's stall. Or better inside in for the pathos of the dangling arms. Same infinitesimal
quaver as the buttonhook and passim. Another novelt) the chair drawn up to the window. This to raise the line of sight on the fair prey loftier when first sighted than at first sight ill seen. What empty space henceforward.
For long pacing to and fro in the gloom. Suddenl:- in a single gesture she snatches aside the coat and to again on a sky as black as it. And then? Careful. Have her
86
87
sit? Lie? Kneel? Go? She too vacillates. Till in the end the back and forth preYails. Sends her wavering north and south from wall to wall. In the kindlv dark.
She is vanishing. With the rest. The already ill seen bedimmed and ill seen again annulled. The mind betrays the treacherous eYes and the treacherous word their treacheries. Haze sole certitude. The same that reigns beyond the pastures. It gains them already. It 'will gain the zone of stones. Then the dwelling through
all its chinks. The eve will close in vain. To see but haze. Not even. Be itself but haze. How can it ever be said? Quick however ill said before it submerges all. Light. In one treacherous word. Dazzling haze. Light in its might at last. Where no more to be seen. To be said. Gentl) gently.
The face yet again in the light of the last rays. No loss of pallor. Kone of cold. Suspended on the verge for this sight the westering sun. That is the eastering earth. The thin lips seem as if never again to part.
Peeping from their join a suspicion of pulp. Unlikely site of olden kisses given and received. Or given only. Or rece. ived only. Impressive above all the corners imperceptibly upcurved. A smile? Is it possible? Ghost of an ancient smile smiled finally once and for all. Such ill half seen the mouth in the light of the last rays. Sud denly they leave it. Rather it leaves them. Off again to the dark. There to smile on. If smile is what it is.
Reexamined rid of light the mouth changes. Unex
plainably. Lips as before. Same closure. Same hint of
extruding pulp. At the corners same imperceptible
laxness. In a word the smile still there if smile is what
it is. Neither more nor less. Less! And yet no longer . '-'
. )
88
89
the same. True that light distorts. Particularl)" sunset. That mockery. True too that the eyes then agaze for
,L
the viewless planet are now closed. On other viewless-
ness. Of which more if eyer anon. There the explana
tion at last. This same smile established with eves
open is with them closed no longer the same. Though
LU
between the two inspections the mouth unchanged.
Utterly. Good. But in what wa)- no longer the same? What there now that was not there? What there no more that was? Enough. Away.
Back after many winters. Long after in this endless
winter. This endless heart of winter. Too soon. She as
when fled. Where as when fled. Still or again. Eyes
closed in the dark. To the dark. In their own dark. On
the lips same minute smile. If smile is what it is. In
short alive as she alone knows how neither more nor
less. Less! Compared to true stone. Within as sadly as
before all as at first sight ill seen. With the happ)
exception of the lights' enhanced opacity. Dim the
light of day from them were day again to dawn. With
out on the other hand some progress. Toward unbro
ken night. Universal stone. Day no sooner risen fallen. G.
Scrapped all the ill seen ill said. The e)-e has changed.
And its drivelling scribe. Absence has changed them.
Not enough. Time to go again. Where still more to
change. Whence back too soon. Changed but not GL
enough. Strangers but not enough. To all the ill seen ill said. Then back again. Disarmed for to finish with
it all at last. With her and her rags of sk} and earth.
And if again too soon go again. Change still more
again. Then back again. Barring impediment. Ah. So
on. Till fit to finish with it all at last. All the trash. In
unbroken night. Universal stone. So first go. But first GL
see her again. As when fled. And the abode. That under G
the changed e)'-e it too ma)- change. Begin. Just one parting look. Before all meet again. Then go. Barring impediment. Ah.
But see she suddenly no longer there. Where sud- G
o
its change? Careful. Less. Ah the sweet one word. Less. G
90
91
denly fled. Quick then the chair before she reappears. At length. Everv angle. With what one word convev
. 0.
It is less. The same but less. Whencesoever the glare. True that the light. See now how words too. A few drops mishaphazard. Then strangur)-. To sa)- the least. Less. It will end by being no more. Bv never having
. 0.
been. Divine prospect. True that the light.
~
Suddenly enough and way for remembrance. Closed •G•
again to that end the vile jell)- or opened again or left as
it was however that was. Till all recalled. First finally by far hanging from their skirts two black greatcoats. Followed b:- the first hazy outlines of what possibl)' a hutch when suddenly enough. Remembrance! When
• c.
all worse there than when first ill seen. The pallet. The chair. The coffer. The trap. Alone the eye has changed. Alone can cause to change. In the meantime nothing wanting. Wrong. The buttonhook. The nail. Wrong. There the)' are again. Still. Worse there than ever. Un changed for the worse. Ope eye and at them to begin. But flrst the partition. It rid they too would be. It less thev by as much.
It of all the properties doubtless the least obdurate. See the instant see it again when unaided it dissolved.
'
So to sa)' of itself. With no help from the eye. Not till
long after to reappear. As if reluctantly. For what rea
son? For one not far to seek. For others then said
obscure. One other above all. One other still far to
seek. Analogy of the heart? The skull? Hear from here c. ,
the howls of laughter of the damned.
Enough. Quicker. Quick seC' how all in keeping
92
93
'- ,
with the chair. Minimallv Ie:,;s. No more. Well on tilt' way to inc:\. istence. As to zero the infinite. Quick sa:-. And of her'? As much. Quick find )1('1' again. In that black heart. That mock brain.
The sheet. Bet\veen tips of trembling [mgers. In two.
LL
Four. Eight. Old frantic fingers. Not paper an: more. Each eighth apart. In two. Four. Finish with the knife. Hack into shrells. Down the plughole. On to the nc:\. t. White. Quick blacken.
Alone the face remains. Of the rest beneath its covcr
ing no trace. During the inspection a sudden sound.
Startling without consequence for the gaze the mind L c.
awake. How e:\. plain it? And without going so far how L c.
say it? Far behind the e)-e the quest begins. What time
the event recedes. When suddenly to the rescue it
comes again. Forthwith the uncommon common noun
collapsion. Reinforced a little later if not enfeebled b),
the infrequent slumberous. A slumberous collapsion.
Two. Then far from the still agonizing en' a gleam of
GL. L
hope. B~' the grace of these modest beginnings. With in second sight the shack in ruins. To scrute to(Tether
~b with the inscrutable face. All curiosity spent.
Later while the face still Ulwielding another sound of
•0
fall but this time sharp. Heightening the fond illusion o0
of general havoc in train. Here a great leap into what brief future remains and sum111ar~' puncture of that pun:' balloon. Far ahead to the instant when the coats will havE' gone from their rods and the buttonhook from its nail. And been have the sigh no more than
that. Sigh upon sigh till all sighed quite awa:. All the fond trash. Destined before bf'ing to be no more than that. Last sighs. Of relief.
Quick beforehand again two 111Ysteries. Not even. Mild shocks. Not even. In such abeyance the mind then. And from then on. First the curtains gone with out loss of dark. Sweet foretaste of the joy at journey's end. Second after long hesitation no trace of the fallen where they fell. No trace of all the ado. Alone on the
one hand the rods alone. A little bent. And alone on
the other most alone the nail. Unilllpaired. All set to
st'rve again. Like unto its glorious ancestors. At the oL
place of the skull. One Apri! afternoon. Deposition done.
Full glare now on the face pn~sent throughout the recent future. As seen ill s(~en throughout the past neither more nor less. Less! Collated \II-ith its cast it lives be\ ond a douht. Were it onl\- hy virtue of its imperfect pallor. And imperceptible tremor unworth~'
of true plaster. Heartening on the other hand the e~'es
persistentl~-closed. No doubt a record in this position.
Unobserved at least till now. Suddenly the look. :\"0
thing having stirred. Look? Too weak a word. Too o0
wrong. Its absence? No better.
from a ruined mansion. What tales bad thf'Y tongues
. u
to tel1. Their lung tale tolcl. Such the dwelling i11 seen i]] ,;aid. Outwardh. High tinll'.
Changcll the stone that draws her when revisitecl
L
alonc. Or she who changes it wheu side by sicle. Now
L,
alone it leans. Bacb\-ard or forwanl as the case mav be.
Is it to nature alone it O\\-es its rough-hewn air? Or to
some too human hand forced to desist? As lVIichel
angelo's from the regicille's bust. If there llIal not LL
be no more cIuestion,; let tlwre at It'asl be no ! Ilore
answers. Granite of no common variety assuredh. Black as jade the jasper that flecks its whiteness. On its what is the wrong word its uptilted face obscure graffiti. Scrawled b:- the ages for tllf' e:-e to solicit in
vain. Winter evenings on her doorstep she imagines she can see it glitter afar. When from their source in the west-south-west the last rays rake its averse face. Such ill seen the stone alone where it stands at the far fringe of the pastures. On her way out with the flowers
as unerring as best she can she lingers by- it. As on her way back with empty hands. Lingers by it a while on
))u)
her way on. Toward the one or other abode. As un erring as best she can.
See them again side by side. Not quite touching. Lit aslant by the latest last rays they cast to the east-north east their long parallel shadows. Evening therefore. Winter evening. It will always be evening. Always
winter. When not night. Winter night. No more lambs. No more flowers. Empty-handed she shall go to the tomb. Until she go no more. Or no more return. So much for that. Undistinguishable the twin shadows.
HI
85
Till one at length more dense as if of a bod\- better G.
opaque. At length more still. As faintl)- at length the other trembles under the staring gaze. Throughout
LLL-
this confrontation the sun stands still. That is to say the earth. Not to recoil on until the parting. Then on its face over the pastures and then the stones the still living shadow slowl:- glides. Lengthening and fading more and more. But never quite away. Under the hovering eye.
Close-up of a dial. Nothing else. White disc divided in minutes. Unless it be in seconds. Sixty black dots. No figure. One hand onlyo Finest of fine black darts. It advances by fits and starts. No tick. Leaps from dot to dot with so lightning a leap that but for its new position it had not stirred. Whole nights ma)- pass as may but a fraction of a second or an)- intermediate lapse of time soever before it flings itself from one degree to the next. None at any moment overleaping in all fairness be it said. Let it when discovered be pointing east. Having thus covered after its fashion assuming the instrument plumb the first quarter of
its latest hour. Unless it be its latest minute. Then doubt certain-then despair certain nights of its ever attaining the last. Ever regaining north.
She reappears at evening at her window. When not
night evening. If she will see Venus again she must GG
open it. Well! First draw aside the curtain and then open. Head bowed she waits to be able. Mindful per haps of evenings when she was able too late. Black night fallen. But no. In her head too pure wait. The curtain. Seen closer thanks to this hiatus it reveals it
self at last for what it is. A black greatcoat. Hooked b) i. ts tails from the rod it hangs sprawling inside out like a carcass in a butcher's stall. Or better inside in for the pathos of the dangling arms. Same infinitesimal
quaver as the buttonhook and passim. Another novelt) the chair drawn up to the window. This to raise the line of sight on the fair prey loftier when first sighted than at first sight ill seen. What empty space henceforward.
For long pacing to and fro in the gloom. Suddenl:- in a single gesture she snatches aside the coat and to again on a sky as black as it. And then? Careful. Have her
86
87
sit? Lie? Kneel? Go? She too vacillates. Till in the end the back and forth preYails. Sends her wavering north and south from wall to wall. In the kindlv dark.
She is vanishing. With the rest. The already ill seen bedimmed and ill seen again annulled. The mind betrays the treacherous eYes and the treacherous word their treacheries. Haze sole certitude. The same that reigns beyond the pastures. It gains them already. It 'will gain the zone of stones. Then the dwelling through
all its chinks. The eve will close in vain. To see but haze. Not even. Be itself but haze. How can it ever be said? Quick however ill said before it submerges all. Light. In one treacherous word. Dazzling haze. Light in its might at last. Where no more to be seen. To be said. Gentl) gently.
The face yet again in the light of the last rays. No loss of pallor. Kone of cold. Suspended on the verge for this sight the westering sun. That is the eastering earth. The thin lips seem as if never again to part.
Peeping from their join a suspicion of pulp. Unlikely site of olden kisses given and received. Or given only. Or rece. ived only. Impressive above all the corners imperceptibly upcurved. A smile? Is it possible? Ghost of an ancient smile smiled finally once and for all. Such ill half seen the mouth in the light of the last rays. Sud denly they leave it. Rather it leaves them. Off again to the dark. There to smile on. If smile is what it is.
Reexamined rid of light the mouth changes. Unex
plainably. Lips as before. Same closure. Same hint of
extruding pulp. At the corners same imperceptible
laxness. In a word the smile still there if smile is what
it is. Neither more nor less. Less! And yet no longer . '-'
. )
88
89
the same. True that light distorts. Particularl)" sunset. That mockery. True too that the eyes then agaze for
,L
the viewless planet are now closed. On other viewless-
ness. Of which more if eyer anon. There the explana
tion at last. This same smile established with eves
open is with them closed no longer the same. Though
LU
between the two inspections the mouth unchanged.
Utterly. Good. But in what wa)- no longer the same? What there now that was not there? What there no more that was? Enough. Away.
Back after many winters. Long after in this endless
winter. This endless heart of winter. Too soon. She as
when fled. Where as when fled. Still or again. Eyes
closed in the dark. To the dark. In their own dark. On
the lips same minute smile. If smile is what it is. In
short alive as she alone knows how neither more nor
less. Less! Compared to true stone. Within as sadly as
before all as at first sight ill seen. With the happ)
exception of the lights' enhanced opacity. Dim the
light of day from them were day again to dawn. With
out on the other hand some progress. Toward unbro
ken night. Universal stone. Day no sooner risen fallen. G.
Scrapped all the ill seen ill said. The e)-e has changed.
And its drivelling scribe. Absence has changed them.
Not enough. Time to go again. Where still more to
change. Whence back too soon. Changed but not GL
enough. Strangers but not enough. To all the ill seen ill said. Then back again. Disarmed for to finish with
it all at last. With her and her rags of sk} and earth.
And if again too soon go again. Change still more
again. Then back again. Barring impediment. Ah. So
on. Till fit to finish with it all at last. All the trash. In
unbroken night. Universal stone. So first go. But first GL
see her again. As when fled. And the abode. That under G
the changed e)'-e it too ma)- change. Begin. Just one parting look. Before all meet again. Then go. Barring impediment. Ah.
But see she suddenly no longer there. Where sud- G
o
its change? Careful. Less. Ah the sweet one word. Less. G
90
91
denly fled. Quick then the chair before she reappears. At length. Everv angle. With what one word convev
. 0.
It is less. The same but less. Whencesoever the glare. True that the light. See now how words too. A few drops mishaphazard. Then strangur)-. To sa)- the least. Less. It will end by being no more. Bv never having
. 0.
been. Divine prospect. True that the light.
~
Suddenly enough and way for remembrance. Closed •G•
again to that end the vile jell)- or opened again or left as
it was however that was. Till all recalled. First finally by far hanging from their skirts two black greatcoats. Followed b:- the first hazy outlines of what possibl)' a hutch when suddenly enough. Remembrance! When
• c.
all worse there than when first ill seen. The pallet. The chair. The coffer. The trap. Alone the eye has changed. Alone can cause to change. In the meantime nothing wanting. Wrong. The buttonhook. The nail. Wrong. There the)' are again. Still. Worse there than ever. Un changed for the worse. Ope eye and at them to begin. But flrst the partition. It rid they too would be. It less thev by as much.
It of all the properties doubtless the least obdurate. See the instant see it again when unaided it dissolved.
'
So to sa)' of itself. With no help from the eye. Not till
long after to reappear. As if reluctantly. For what rea
son? For one not far to seek. For others then said
obscure. One other above all. One other still far to
seek. Analogy of the heart? The skull? Hear from here c. ,
the howls of laughter of the damned.
Enough. Quicker. Quick seC' how all in keeping
92
93
'- ,
with the chair. Minimallv Ie:,;s. No more. Well on tilt' way to inc:\. istence. As to zero the infinite. Quick sa:-. And of her'? As much. Quick find )1('1' again. In that black heart. That mock brain.
The sheet. Bet\veen tips of trembling [mgers. In two.
LL
Four. Eight. Old frantic fingers. Not paper an: more. Each eighth apart. In two. Four. Finish with the knife. Hack into shrells. Down the plughole. On to the nc:\. t. White. Quick blacken.
Alone the face remains. Of the rest beneath its covcr
ing no trace. During the inspection a sudden sound.
Startling without consequence for the gaze the mind L c.
awake. How e:\. plain it? And without going so far how L c.
say it? Far behind the e)-e the quest begins. What time
the event recedes. When suddenly to the rescue it
comes again. Forthwith the uncommon common noun
collapsion. Reinforced a little later if not enfeebled b),
the infrequent slumberous. A slumberous collapsion.
Two. Then far from the still agonizing en' a gleam of
GL. L
hope. B~' the grace of these modest beginnings. With in second sight the shack in ruins. To scrute to(Tether
~b with the inscrutable face. All curiosity spent.
Later while the face still Ulwielding another sound of
•0
fall but this time sharp. Heightening the fond illusion o0
of general havoc in train. Here a great leap into what brief future remains and sum111ar~' puncture of that pun:' balloon. Far ahead to the instant when the coats will havE' gone from their rods and the buttonhook from its nail. And been have the sigh no more than
that. Sigh upon sigh till all sighed quite awa:. All the fond trash. Destined before bf'ing to be no more than that. Last sighs. Of relief.
Quick beforehand again two 111Ysteries. Not even. Mild shocks. Not even. In such abeyance the mind then. And from then on. First the curtains gone with out loss of dark. Sweet foretaste of the joy at journey's end. Second after long hesitation no trace of the fallen where they fell. No trace of all the ado. Alone on the
one hand the rods alone. A little bent. And alone on
the other most alone the nail. Unilllpaired. All set to
st'rve again. Like unto its glorious ancestors. At the oL
place of the skull. One Apri! afternoon. Deposition done.
Full glare now on the face pn~sent throughout the recent future. As seen ill s(~en throughout the past neither more nor less. Less! Collated \II-ith its cast it lives be\ ond a douht. Were it onl\- hy virtue of its imperfect pallor. And imperceptible tremor unworth~'
of true plaster. Heartening on the other hand the e~'es
persistentl~-closed. No doubt a record in this position.
Unobserved at least till now. Suddenly the look. :\"0
thing having stirred. Look? Too weak a word. Too o0
wrong. Its absence? No better.
