Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/149

. [Re-entering] Well, what is it going to be?

. Nothing at present. Bring pen and paper.

. And the lady?

. The same for the lady.

. Pen and paper for two, sir?

. No, no, nothing at present.

. [Calling] Pen and paper! [To ] From the theatre—the company that's playing through the feria. Not so bad, eh? On the side… Coming!

. Are you writing to some one?

. No. We are expected to order: I can do my accounts. I am not like most actors—Bohemians, who know nothing about business. I keep all my bills. Whatever I make, I always save half, and am never in want.

. [To ] The toast, sir. [Calling through the window] Coffee!

. I shall not pay that rascal more than four pesetas when the feria is over. Now he is charging six for a room opening on an inner court with a bed in it that's so big that no woman could ever occupy it alone.

. Don't say that.

. Why? Did I say anything?

. Say occupy—not alone. Don't you see? It sounds better. Don't you understand syntax? Can't you express yourself correctly? How do you expect to appear in a purely literary play unless you express yourself properly, unless you know grammar? It is easy to see you were brought up in the varieties.

. Yes, and there was something doing in the varieties while I was in them, I can tell you. Now what do we get with this legitimate stuff? Five coppers a week—when we get them. The people here are all against us. They