LIONEL ABEL
around.)
...
where is she? She was supposed to come in
crying: "0 my God! . .. they're bringing him home
wounded!"
DOCTOR HINKFUSS : But what difference does that make
now? Did I tell you we could take your homecoming for
granted?
PENNY-WHISTLE: Well , then, it seems to me you
ought to take it for granted that I am dead , and not expect
me to say anything more.
DOCTOR HINKFUSS : Nothing of the sort! You must speak.
Go on with the scene. Die!
PENNY-WHISTLE: Very well. Here's the scene for you :
(He
lies back on the divan . )
I'm dead.
DOCTOR HINKFUSS: But not like that!
PENNY-WHISTLE:
(Leaping to his feet and comingforward):
My
dear Mr. Manager, why don't you come up here and finish
me off? . .. For me my entrance was everything. You've
seen fit to skip that . .. I needed that maid's scream to get
properly worked up. And Death was supposed to come in
with me . .. And I was supposed to speak.... as I
leaned on this lady here .
(He draws the CHANTEUSE to him
and leans against her, an arm around
her
neck.)
. . .
I was sup–
posed to make you weep-really weep- with the last bit of
breath in my body, bringing my lips together like this
(He
tries to whistle, but is unable
to)
. . .
it was to be my last little
whistle; and now . . .
(He calls the CUSTOMER to his side)
.. .
come here .
..
(He puts one arm around the CUSTOMER's
neck)
like this - between you two - but closer to you, my
dear-dropping my head-as little birds do-when they
die.
(He drops his head on the breast ofthe CHANTEUSE; a mo–
ment later, his arms relax and he drops to the floor dead. )
221
I cite this scene to make my point, but also in tribute to Piran–
dello, who has helped us understand one of the essential forms of
narrative drama, the kind of drama in which Don Quixote appears.
And now I can ask this question: How does Don Quixote
differ
from heroes of tragedy?
Nabokov describes the knight as possessed of a "whimsical
nobility." I find the phrase capital, for Don Quixote's "nobility" is
never required by the facts . He actually arraigns the facts insofar as
they do not require it of him. The hero of tragedy, Bernard Knox
has told us, replies to argument with arguments and to force with
force. Don Quixote initiates argument, and against those he sees as
