SCENES FROM A PLAY
295
VOicEs oF THE CROWD. We did!
VOICE OF DoN ZABAGLIONE. And lastly, tell me, if you please, which
people was it that went all over the world to dig mines, build bridges,
make roads, drain swamps?
VOicEs oF THE CRowD. We did! We did! We did!
VOICE oF DoN ZABAGLIONE. Well, now I shall explain to you the
origins of our wretchedness. Whatever civilization there is in this world
of ours, the best part of it is the work of our hands. But the other na–
tions have robbed us of it. However, after centuries of humiliation and
injustice, Divine Providence has at last sent our country the Man who
will see to it that we get back everything that belongs to us and that
the others have taken from us.
VorcEs OF THE CRowD. To London! To London!
OTHER VorcES. To New York! To Philadelphia!
OTHER VorcEs. To Sao Paulo! To the Avenida Paulista! To the Ave–
nida Angelica!
OTHER VoiCES. To Buenos Aires!
A VorcE. To New York! To Forty-Second Street!
OTHER VorcEs. What is there at Forty-Second Street?
THE VorcE. You'll see what there is! Christ be our helper, to Forty–
Second Street!
VorcE OF DoN ZABAGLIONE. First-born heir of immortal Rome, 0 thou,
my people....
DoN PAOLO
slams the window to, cutting short the orator's voice.
DoN PAOLO
(angrily).
What a play-actor! What a clown!
UuvA. And yet, in ten or fifteen years' time, if as may very well hap–
pen there is a shuffle of dictatorships, you will step right into the shoes
of Don Zabaglione. What I mean to say is, you will inherit his function
as a windbag.
DoN PAOLO. You know, Uliva, witticisms,
if
they are to be witty, should
contain some wit; otherwise, they are vulgar banalities.
UuvA. Of course, there'll be a certain difference. Unlike Don Zaba–
glione, you'll believe what you say. I have always admired your unlim–
ited capacity for believing.
DoN PAOLO. And as for your cynicism, I have never taken it seriously.
Otherwise I couldn't understand why you should have stayed with us
all these years, and why you are with us still. It's certainly not for the
sake of convenience.
UuvA. That's where you're wrong; it happens to be just for the sake
