ACT II.
JONATHAN
Will you play for me?
SUSAN
Oh, yes.... What shall I play?
JONATHAN
Anything.
[_Jonathan notices his dirty hands._
Excuse me a moment.
[_He goes to a bird-bath and washes his hands, wipes them and returns to the piano._
_Susan plays a bit of a nocturne with ease and grace._
JONATHAN
Do you remember this?
[_He hums "All on a Summer Day."_
SUSAN
Oh, yes.
[_She plays the tune in a sophisticated musical way, but Jonathan is disappointed._
SUSAN
You don't like it?
JONATHAN
That isn't exactly the way it goes.
SUSAN
Oh, yes, it is.
[_She plays it once more and sings it._
JONATHAN
No--no--no. It ought to go this way.
[_He sings it as he had sung it years before._
SUSAN
You sing that just as Jonathan used to sing it.
JONATHAN
I like it that way.
SUSAN
Did Jonathan teach it to you?
JONATHAN
Yes.... A long time ago.
SUSAN
Did he tell you--
JONATHAN
About the lovely lady who danced to the tune? Oh, she was wonderful!
SUSAN
Jonathan ran away--and he never wrote to me or thought of me.
JONATHAN
He thought of you and he talked of you and he sang of you.
SUSAN
No.... I can't believe that.
JONATHAN
Jonathan loves you very much.
SUSAN
If a man loves a woman very much he can't go away from her for years and years.
JONATHAN
Suppose Jonathan had pride and was ashamed to let you know that he had failed.
SUSAN
Jonathan wouldn't fail. I know Jonathan.
JONATHAN
He--Susan Sample!
[_Susan plays softly. She is lovely in the sunlight which is lengthening across the lawn._
[_Jonathan watches her quietly. The love of the boy fans into flame and he reaches out to her, then in the consciousness of his deformity he turns away._
SUSAN
Will you tell me where Jonathan was when you last saw him?
JONATHAN
I don't know--The last time I saw Jonathan--he was tall and straight--and making his way.
SUSAN
Oh, well.
[_Albert Peet enters. He is a little man of immaculate appearance and great preciseness._
ALBERT
Ah, Susan.
SUSAN
Albert, you are late.
ALBERT
Who is this?
SUSAN
This is a friend of Jonathan's.
ALBERT
Jonathan who?
SUSAN
Don't you remember Jonathan who had the toy theatre? He ran away from home.
ALBERT
Oh... and this is his friend? How do you do?
SUSAN
Do you remember this? I used to play it for you.
[_She begins "All on a Summer's Day."_
Jonathan and I made it up.
ALBERT (_laughing_)
Oh, yes.
SUSAN (_to Jonathan_)
Come on and sing it.
[_Jonathan is not sure of the status of Albert Peet._
[_Susan plays and she and Jonathan sing with great feeling._
ALBERT [_looking at his watch_
Well, all this is very pleasant indeed, but we'll have to go, Susan dear.
[_At the "Susan, dear" Jonathan turns quickly and sees the two holding hands. Susan holds up her left hand and shows an engagement ring on it. Jonathan is utterly crushed._
JONATHAN
I think I'd better say good-bye.
[_He takes up his cap._
SUSAN
Good-bye. If you see Jonathan, tell him I'm going to marry Albert Peet. He'll know.
ALBERT
Good-bye.
[_Albert and Susan walk off happily in the sunshine._
_Jonathan looks after them._
_Mlle. Perrault enters followed by Mary and John 3rd. Mlle. Perrault's dress is almost like the one she had worn when she first met Jonathan in the lumber-room, except that the colors are reversed and more brilliant. Mary is a lovely little yellow-haired child of ten and John 3rd is a stoical matter-of-fact boy of eight. The two children are evidently very fond of Mlle. Perrault, as fond as Jonathan and Susan had seemed. If the children seem thoughtless and cruel, it is because they are children and life has not yet laid a hard hand upon them. The sun rays are very low against the wall now so that anyone walking near it will cast a very heavy shadow._
MARY
John, look--he's a hunchback.
MLLE. PERRAULT
'Sh! Children.
[_The children whisper._
_Jonathan turns and seeing Mlle. Perrault smiles._
How do you do, little man.
JONATHAN
I am well, I thank you.
MLLE. PERRAULT
What are you doing here?
JONATHAN
I am with Hank.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Hank?
JONATHAN
Yes, Hank's my pal. There he is--asleep.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Oh, what a dreadful person.... Children, don't go near him.
JONATHAN
He's not so bad.
MLLE. PERRAULT
But he is a vagrant--a tramp. Why does he do nothing?
JONATHAN
He's happier that way.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Are you his son?
JONATHAN
Oh, no.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Where is your mother?
JONATHAN
My mother's dead.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Where did she live?
JONATHAN (_Looks for a trace of recognition_)
I'd better not tell you.
MARY
Oh, please tell us.
JONATHAN
I'd better not.
MARY
You ask him, John.
JOHN III
Uh-uh!
MARY
Why not?
JOHN III
I don't want to know.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Why don't you want to tell _us_? We won't tell anybody.
JONATHAN
Nobody'll believe me.
MARY
Why?
JONATHAN
You see, I ran away from home--
JOHN III
When you run away from home, you're no good.
MARY
Now, John, that isn't always so.
JOHN III
It is.
MARY
It isn't. Goldilocks and the Babes in the Wood and the Marquis of Carabas were all good, and they ran away from home.
JOHN III
But they had bad homes.
MARY
Was your home bad?
JONATHAN
I thought it was.
JOHN III
You thought it was. But was it?
JONATHAN
No.
JOHN III
Then you're no good.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Oh, John.
JOHN III
No, he isn't. Grandfather said nobody who ran away from home was any good!
MARY
Why did you run away from home?
JONATHAN
I mustn't tell.
MARY
Oh, you won't tell anything!
JOHN III (_pointing to Hank_)
What did you say _he_ was, Ma'mselle?
MLLE. PERRAULT
He is a vagrant--
MARY AND JOHN III
What's a vagrant?
MARY
Ooh--
[_Puts up her hand to make a wish._
JOHN III
Aw, I'm not going to make a wish. Grandfather'll get it for me anyway if I want it.
MARY
Now, John Clay III--
[_Jonathan looks up quickly._
You always spoil things.
JONATHAN
Is that Mary Clay and John Clay?
MLLE. PERRAULT
Yes.
JONATHAN
They don't remember Jonathan, do they?
MLLE. PERRAULT
You mean Jonathan who ran away?
JONATHAN
Yes, ma'am.
MARY
Who's Jonathan?
JOHN III
He's David's friend. I know that. And he was very good.
MLLE. PERRAULT
What do you know about Jonathan?
JONATHAN
I knew him once--
MLLE. PERRAULT
He was a splendid little man! He could make such lovely songs.
JONATHAN
Do you remember the one he and Susan Sample made up?
MLLE. PERRAULT
Let's see--how did it go?
[_Hums a little--tries several folk tunes. The children edge up to Jonathan during this and manage to touch his back several times, each keeping count. Jonathan smiles at them, thinking it's attention._
JONATHAN
No, it went this way.
[_He sings a little of the song and Mlle. Perrault joins him. As he stops singing she switches the time to waltz time and begins to sway to it. The music is taken up as by a dream-orchestra and Mlle. Perrault dances a very lovely little waltz._
JOHN III
Oh, look at your shadow!
[_Mlle. Perrault turns and sees her shadow on the wall._
I can make a bigger one than that.
MARY
Oh, come on, ma'mselle, let's all make shadows.
[_The three of them stand in front of the wall._
JOHN III
Boy, you come, too.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Come, boy.
[_Jonathan joins them standing so that his deformity doesn't show in the shadow._
Now, let's dance--Give me your hand--so.
[_The four dance, while Mlle. Perrault hums "All on a Summer's Day." They are having a very good time when Susan and Albert enter._
_Jonathan is a little conscious of Susan and Albert, and he manages to make several awkward moves._
MLLE. PERRAULT
Now, let's make everybody's shadow dance by itself.
MARY
Oh, come on.
JOHN III
You first, Mlle.
MARY
It's your turn, Mlle.
[_Mlle. Perrault stands before the wall and makes a very lovely shadow._
John, you do it now.
JOHN III
I won't. I'm going to be next to last.... He's going to be last.
[_Mary makes a pretty "statue."_
MARY
Now, John--
[_John III, holding a staff, stands bow-legged and pigeon-toed._
_All of them laugh._
MLLE. PERRAULT (_to John III_)
You little Jackanapes! You!
JOHN III (_to Jonathan_)
You can't do that.
[_Jonathan, still conscious of Susan, but more in the spirit of the game nevertheless, laughs almost gleefully._
JONATHAN
You just wait.
[_He stands in front of the wall and does some comical movements with his feet and legs, then he turns in such a way that for the first time the shadow of his hump is thrown into a pitiful distortion on the wall. He doesn't see it at first, for he is lost in the game with the children._
JOHN III (_yelling suddenly_)
Oh, look!
[_The children laugh immoderately, and Jonathan turns his head quickly, but in so doing alters the shadow. He smiles joyfully and then once more falls into the distorted picture._
MARY
Ooh--
JOHN III
That's funnier than mine.
[_Jonathan turns his head this time and sees the full horror of the thing._
_Mlle. Perrault and Susan have realized too late to protect Jonathan._
MLLE. PERRAULT
John! Mary! Tell the little boy good-bye. We must go.
[_Jonathan looks toward Susan and Albert. There is pity in Susan's eyes and a smile in Albert's._
SUSAN
Albert, come--let's go!
[_They pass into the house._
JOHN III [_Almost as Susan speaks._
Wasn't he funniest of all!
MLLE. PERRAULT
Now, run along, children. Run along.
MARY
Look, I can make a hump-back.
JOHN III
So can I.
MARY
Not a good one!
JOHN III
You can't touch mine.
[_He smacks Mary on the back and runs off, Mary following him._
MLLE. PERRAULT
Little man, I'm very sorry. You mustn't let them hurt you. They are only children.
JONATHAN
Yes, ma'am.... Thank you.
MLLE. PERRAULT
May I do something for you?
JONATHAN
No, ma'am... if you please... I must go to Hank.
MLLE. PERRAULT
Here, take this--
[_She offers a coin._
JONATHAN
Oh, no, ma'am....
[_He puts his hand behind him._
MLLE. PERRAULT
I am sorry.... Very, very sorry.
JONATHAN
Yes, ma'am.
[_Mlle. Perrault goes out silently, and in a moment she is heard to call_ "Marie"--"John," _and a distant answer is heard_.
_Susan comes to the door and sees Jonathan. She crosses to him. He looks at her almost with madness in his eyes._
SUSAN
They didn't mean to hurt you.
[_She lays her hand on his arm._
JONATHAN
Yes, I know.
[_There is a moment of the tenderest, most understanding silence. He turns away._
_Susan starts to reach in her bag, she even takes her purse out; but she replaces it unopened, and instead of bestowing alms, she takes a flower from her hair and presses it in Jonathan's hands._
_He looks at her with years of pent-up gratitude loosed from his heart._
_Silently, she turns away and goes into the house. Jonathan, left alone, turns so that his hump once more shows in the most distorted shadow. He lifts the flower and for a single moment, its shadow rises above the shadow of the hump, a tiny cross on his little Calvary. Then he lays the flower against his cheek and sits upon the log near Hank._
_Hank awakens._
HANK (_looking up stupidly_)
What you got?
JONATHAN (_hiding the flower_)
Nothing.
HANK
Come across, Humpy.
JONATHAN
Don't you call me that!
HANK
So--ho! What you yelling at me for?
[_He sits up._
JONATHAN
Nothing.... I didn't mean to yell.
HANK
What you got there?
JONATHAN
I tell you I haven't got anything, Hank.
HANK
Come on. Come across.
JONATHAN
It's not for you.
HANK
Come on.
JONATHAN (_Rises and moves away_)
No.
HANK.
Gimme it here....
[_He grabs Jonathan and tears the flower from his hand._
JONATHAN
Stop that!
HANK
Great God! (_Throwing the crushed petals on the ground_) Say, what's the matter with you?
JONATHAN
I tell you, I'm going back.... I'm going back to my home.... I'm going to find my Uncle Nathaniel. I know he'll take me in. He won't blame me because I'm a cripple.... I know.... I know.... Didn't he say, "Poor Jonathan"?...
[_At this moment Nathaniel enters, and the two stand face to face as they had stood in the lumber-room at their first meeting._
_Hank slinks away._
_Nathaniel is untouched by the years. Jonathan looks at him hopefully, but there is no glint of recognition In Nathaniel's eye._
JONATHAN (_timidly_)
Uncle Nathaniel.
NATHANIEL
What did you say, my boy?
JONATHAN (_Less and less audible, as his disappointment increases_)
Uncle Nathaniel.
NATHANIEL
I can't hear you.
JONATHAN
You--are--my--Uncle Nathaniel.
NATHANIEL
Come, come, my boy. I can't hear you.
JONATHAN
Aren't you--Mr.--Nathaniel--Clay?
NATHANIEL (_kindly, but as to a stranger_)
Yes, I am Mr. Nathaniel Clay.
[_Jonathan smiles one of his old half smiles._
JONATHAN
My name's--Jonathan.
NATHANIEL
Jonathan!... I had a nephew whose name was Jonathan.
JONATHAN
Don't you know me?
NATHANIEL
You must forgive me, little man--but I do not remember you. Boys grow so quickly.
JONATHAN
Don't you remember _Zenobia_?
NATHANIEL
_Zenobia?_ Who was she?
JONATHAN
Don't you remember the little theatre?
NATHANIEL
Oh, yes, my nephew Jonathan had a little toy theatre, and he wrote a play called _Zenobia_.... He burnt them.
JONATHAN
Was it wrong to burn them?
NATHANIEL
I don't know. You see Jonathan ran away, and I have never seen him since.
JONATHAN
Do you blame him?
NATHANIEL
Well, I can't say. When a fine boy like Jonathan runs away from home, he may have what he considers a good reason.
JONATHAN
Don't you know why he ran away?
NATHANIEL
I think I know.
JONATHAN
Would you tell me why?
NATHANIEL
That wouldn't do any good, my boy.... If you had an uncle who liked you very much, would you run away?
JONATHAN
No, sir--not if I had another chance....
NATHANIEL
What do you mean?
JONATHAN
Don't you really know me?
NATHANIEL
I'm sorry--no!
JONATHAN (_pointing to Hank_)
Do you know him?
NATHANIEL
That tramp?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir.... That's Hank.
NATHANIEL
Hank?
JONATHAN
Yes, the one I ran away with.
NATHANIEL
Did you run away, too?
JONATHAN
Yes, sir; I jumped out the window, and I fell and broke my back. Hank said--
NATHANIEL
What a dirty man!
JONATHAN
He's my pal.
NATHANIEL
You're evidently a fine young man inside.
JONATHAN
Oh, I'm sorry, sir, that I ran away.
NATHANIEL
You can't undo the past, my boy, but you can make the future.
JONATHAN
I can't straighten my back.
NATHANIEL
Perhaps not, but you can straighten your life.
JONATHAN
I'm only a beggar, sir.
NATHANIEL
There is something everybody can do.
JONATHAN
There isn't any place for me....
NATHANIEL
My boy, there is a place for everybody who wants a place.
JONATHAN
Do you remember what your nephew wanted to do?
NATHANIEL
Yes, he wanted to write plays and run a theatre and be an actor.
JONATHAN
I couldn't ever be an actor, could I?
NATHANIEL
No, my boy.
JONATHAN
Supposing you had your heart set on something and couldn't do it, what would you do?
NATHANIEL
I'd not give up.... I'd try something else.
JONATHAN
Supposing I were your nephew, what would you do?
NATHANIEL
I'd find out what you wanted to be.
JONATHAN
Don't I look like Jonathan?
NATHANIEL
Jonathan must be very tall now.
JONATHAN
If Jonathan weren't tall?
NATHANIEL
But he _is_ tall and splendid. I know Jonathan! And he's doing what he set out to do.
JONATHAN
I hope you'll find him, sir, and I hope he'll make you proud.
NATHANIEL (_very earnestly_)
My boy, how old are you?
JONATHAN
I'm twenty.
NATHANIEL
Twenty.... Will you try to pull yourself out of the rut?
JONATHAN
What do you mean, sir?
NATHANIEL
Look at that man. What is he to you?
JONATHAN
He's my pal.
NATHANIEL
You mustn't waste your life on such emptiness as his.
JONATHAN
I'm going to try, sir.... And if I make good, will you believe I'm Jonathan?
NATHANIEL
I'll believe you are you.... Here....
[_He offers Jonathan a coin._
JONATHAN
Oh, no, sir.... I can't--from you--
NATHANIEL
Well, you are a strange beggar--
JONATHAN
I'm not a beggar at heart.... I don't want to be what I am. But I don't know which way to turn. I'm all mixed up.
NATHANIEL
All mixed up?
[_Nathaniel turns and looks toward the hill._
Boy, there is a green hill far away. Climb to the top of it, look about and you will see--
JONATHAN
I know: the whole wide world!
NATHANIEL
Exactly.
JONATHAN
Yes, sir.
NATHANIEL
Go to the hilltop alone--and cry out to your heart's content.--There's nothing like a hilltop to make a man feel worth while!
JONATHAN
I knew that, sir; but I forgot it. I'm going--
NATHANIEL
Good-bye, boy; God bless you.
[_The two clasp hands and Nathaniel goes._
JONATHAN
He believes in me....
[_He watches Nathaniel with wide eyes, then calls to Hank._
Hank! Hank!
HANK
What you want?
JONATHAN
_He_ didn't know me!
HANK
Who didn't know you?
[_Hank lies down._
JONATHAN
Uncle Nathaniel.... He just passed by.... But, Hank, he believed in me! He believed I'd make good.
HANK
Say, what's the matter with you today?
JONATHAN
I'm goin' to leave you, Hank.
HANK
Huh?
JONATHAN
Old pal, I'm going to leave you forever. You've stuck by me--
HANK
Sure, I've stuck by you.
[_Makes himself comfortable._
Ain't you saved me a heap o' trouble?
JONATHAN
But I'm going now, Hank. Good-bye. I'm going to the green hill far away.
[_He starts away leaving Hank alone and asleep. The lights fade out._
_Soft music is heard through the darkness and slowly the outline of the green hill appears close at hand. Jonathan outlined against the sky appears at the edge of the hill, climbing with difficulty._
NATHANIEL (_The voice is heard with the music_)
Nine ninety-nine--one thousand. You're nearly there, Boy.
JONATHAN
Nine hundred and ninety-nine--one thousand--I'm almost there.
NATHANIEL (_far away_)
A thousand and one--a thousand and two--
JONATHAN
A thousand and one, a thousand and two--I am here!
NATHANIEL (_far away_)
The world is here.
JONATHAN (_as though addressing the world_)
Listen.... I ran away. I ran away. I was fourteen. I saw visions of great things. I heard voices of the past and the future. I wanted to tell what I saw and heard.... Oh, you who made sport of my dreams, I am here at the top of the world! Uncle John, I have heard things you will never hear, and I have seen things you will never see.
JOHN (_far away_)
But your back's broken.
JONATHAN
Oh, Susan--Susan Sample--see--see. I told you I wasn't a beggar. See--see--Jonathan stands at the top of the world!
SUSAN (_faintly_)
But your back's broken.
JONATHAN
Oh, people of all the world, I am a boy who asks you to hear me and to understand. I only wanted to work out _my_ way.... I planned my way because I couldn't help it--I wanted to build my own world--alone.... I climbed clear to the top--Jonathan stands before you--
VOICES
Jonathan's dead.
JONATHAN
Dead?... Oh, see the wreck of everything.... Jonathan _is_ dead!
[_He falls._
NATHANIEL
Boy--boy--Jonathan!--I believe you are you.
JONATHAN
Uncle Nathaniel!
[_He rises slowly._
Oh, people of all the world, my Uncle Nathaniel understands.--I speak for all the boys of all times. Have patience--patience and understanding. Don't you remember when you were young? We come to you with hopes and dreams and wishes and fears,--and these are the things that life is made of--
NATHANIEL
I am here, Jonathan.
JONATHAN
I'm coming to you. I'm coming back to you with all my hopes and dreams.
NATHANIEL
We're waiting for you, Jonathan.
JONATHAN
I've made my wish that's coming true!!
[_He jumps into space._
_Curtain._