head andscrewsupherface in disgust, mother, Isay,why Yvan, are yousoselfish, I'm notselfish,I'm notselfish, to be going you'renotgoingtostart aswell,you'renot aheart have I me like MmeRomérothis morningandtell of heart a has family ofstone,thateverybody in our stone,that's whatMmeRomérosaid this morningwhenI refused to raise herwages she's gonecompletely mad, bytheway to sixtyfrancs anhourtax-free, shehadthe gallto sayeveryone inthefamilyhadaheartofstone, when sheknowsverywell aboutpoor André's pacemaker, that's youhaven't even bothered to drop himaline,yes, me not it's right, veryfunny,everything's ajoketo you, learn to lot a got still who'stheselfish one, Yvan,you've about life, offyougo, myboy,go on, goon, goand see - - yourprecious friends. Serge Hehasn'tread it. Yvan Oh. Marc No,but Sergejust told meitwasamasterpiece. Serge I said itwas amasterpiece because it isamasterpiece. Marc Quite. Serge Itis amasterpiece. Marc Whyare yougetting annoyed? Serge Youseemto beinsinuating Iusethewordmasterpiece attheslightest excuse. Marc Notatall ... Serge You said theword in akindofsarcastic way... Silence. Marc Notatall! Serge Thenwhat? Yvan Thennothing. Nothing's beenresolved.Ihungup. Mini-drama withCatherine.Cutshort, becauseIwaslate. Marc Whydoyoulet yourselfbebuggered aroundbyall these women? Yvan WhydoIletmyselfbebuggeredaround, Idon't know!They're allinsane. Serge You'velostweight. Yvan Ofcourse Ihave.Halfastone.Purely through stress. Marc Read Seneca Yvan DeVita Beata,justwhatIneed! What'shesuggest? Serge Yes,yes, the wordmasterpiece inakind of... Marc Is hecrazy? Notatall! ...However,whenyouused theword,youqualified it bysaying'incredibly modern'. Serge Yes. So? Marc Yousaid 'incredibly modern', asif modernwasthe highest complimentyoucouldgive. Asif, whendescribing something,youcouldn'tthink ofanythingmore admirable,moreprofoundly admirable, thanmodern. Serge So? Marc Sonothing. Andplease noteImadenomention ofthe wordincredibly... Incrediblymodern! Marc It's amasterpiece. Serge You'rereally needling metoday. Yvan Oh? Marc No,I'mnot... 30 31 Yvan You're notgoingtoquarrel all evening,thatwould justabout finish me! Serge He's right, you mightonce inawhile haveanopin- Serge Youdon'tthinkit's extraordinary that amanwho wrotenearly twothousandyears agoshould still be Yvan Listen, if you thinkyou're goingto use me asa coconutshy, I'moutofhere! I've putupwithenough up to date? today. Marc No. Ofcourse not. That'sthe definition ofaclassic. Marc Where'syoursense ofhumour, Yvan? Serge You're justplaying with words. Yvan What? Yvan So, what arewegoingto do? Isupposethe cinema's upthespout, sorry. Shallweeat? Marc Where'syour sense ofhumour, oldchap? Marc Serge tells meyou'reverytakenwithhis painting. tolaughat. Where's mysense of bang Yvan Yes...Iamquite...takenwithit, yes... You're not, Igather. Marc No. Let's goand eat. Serge knowsatasty spot. Lyonnaise. Serge Youthinkthe food'stoo fatty. Marc I thinkthefood's abit onthefatty side, butIdon't mindgivingit awhirl. Serge No,ifyou thinkthefood'stoo fatty, we'llfind ion ofyourown. Yvan Where's mysense ofhumour?Idon't see anything tobe funny? humour, areyoutrying Marc I think recently you'vesomewhatlost yoursense of humour. Youwanttowatch out, believe me! Yvan What'sthe matter withyou? Marc Don'tyouthink recently I've also somewhatlost mysense ofhumour? Yvan Oh,Isee! Serge Allright, that's enough,let's make adecision. Tell somewhereelse. youthe truth, I'mnotevenhungry. Marc No,I don'tmindgivingitawhirl. Yvan You're both really sinister this evening. Serge We'llgotothe restaurant if youthinkyou'll like it. If not,wewon't. (to Yvan)Youlike Lyonnaise food? Serge Youwantmyopinionaboutyourwomenproblems? Yvan I'll dowhateveryoulike. Marc He'lldowhatever youlike. Whateveryoulike, he'll always do. Yvan What'sthematter with you? You're bothbehaving verystrangely. 32 Yvan Goon. Serge Inmyview,themosthysterical ofthemall is Catherine. Byfar. Marc Noquestion. Serge Andifyou're already letting yourself bebuggered aroundbyher,you'reinfor ahideousfuture. 33 Yvan WhatcanIdo? Yvan Oh,yes. Yvan Cancelthe wedding? Ithought ofyoutoday attheshop,weranofffive hundred posters bythis blokewhopaintswhite flowers, totally white, onawhite background. Serge He'sright. Serge TheAntrios isnotwhite. Yvan But Ican't, are youcrazy? Yvan No, ofcoursenot. Iwasjust saying. Marc Whynot? Marc Youthinkthis painting is notwhite, Yvan? Yvan Well, becauseIcan't,that's all! It's all arranged. I've only been workingatthe stationery business for a month Yvan Notentirely,no. Marc Cancelit. Marc What'sthatgotto dowithit? Yvan It's heruncle'sstationery business, hehad absolutely noneedtotake onanyone, least ofall someone who's only everworkedintextiles. Serge Youmustdowhatyoulike.I've told youwhatI Marc Ah.Thenwhatcolouris it? Yvan Variouscolours...There'syellow, there's grey, some slightly ochrish lines. Marc Andyou're movedbythese colours? Yvan Yes...I'mmovedbythese colours. Marc Youhavenosubstance, Yvan. You'reflabby,you're think. anamoeba. Yvan I'msorry, Serge, Idon'tmeanto berude, butyou're Serge Whyare you attackingYvanlike this? advice. Youcan't claim to have been agreat success in that field... Marc Because he's alittle arse-licker, he's obsequious, dazzled bymoney, dazzled bywhathebelieves to beculture, andasyouknowculture is somethingI absolutelypiss on. notnecessarily the personI'd cometo for matrimonial Serge Precisely. Briefsilence. Yvan Ican't backoutofthe wedding.IknowCatherine is hystericalbutshe hashergood points. There are certain crucial qualitiesyouneedwhenyou're marryingsomeone like me...(Heindicates theAntrios.) Whereareyou going toputit? Serge Idon't knowyet. Yvan Whydon'tyouputit there? Serge Becausethere, it'd bewiped outbythesunlight. 34 Serge...What'sgotinto you? Marc (to Yvan) Howcould you, Yvan?...And infront ofme.Infront ofme,Yvan. Yvan Whatd'you mean,infront ofyou?... Whatd'you mean, in front ofyou? Ifind these colours touching. Yes.Ifit's all thesameto you. Stop wantingto control everything. 35 Marc Howcouldyousay, infrontofme,thatyoufind these colourstouching? Yvan Because it's the truth. Marc Thetruth? You find these colourstouching? Yvan Yes.Ifind these colours touching. Marc You find these colours touching, Yvan?! Serge Hefinds these colours touching! He'sperfectly enti- tled to! Marc No,he'snotentitled to. Serge Whatdoyou mean,he's notentitled to? Marc He's notentitled to. Yvan I'mnot entitled to?... Marc No. Serge Whyis henotentitled to? Idon'tthink you're very well, perhapsyououghttogo andseesomeone. Marc He's notentitled to say hefinds these colours touching,becausehe doesn't. Yvan Idon't findthese colours touching? Marc There are nocolours. Youcan't see them.Andyou don'tfindthem touching. Yvan Right. I'moff. Serge Whereare yougoing? Yvan I'm off. Idon't see whyIhave to putup withyour tantrums. Serge Don'tgo! You're not going to start taking offence, areyou?...If yougo,you're giving in tohim. Yvanstands there, hesitating, caughtbetweentwopos- sibilities. A manofhistimeis amanwholives in his owntime. Marc Balls. Howcan amanlive inanyother timebuthis own?Answer methat. Serge Amanofhis time is someone ofwhomit canbe said intwenty years' orinahundredyears'time, hewas representative ofhis era. Marc Hm. Towhatend? Serge Whatdoyoumean, to whatend? Marc Whatuseis it to meif one day somebodysays, I was representative ofmyera? Serge Listen, oldfruit, we'renottalkingaboutyou, if you imagine suchathing! Wedon'tgiveafuckaboutyou! can A manofhis time, I'mtrying to explain to you, like most peopleyouadmire,is someone whomakessomecontri- Yvan Speakfor yourself! Marc This is really demeaning, Yvan!... Serge Whodoyouthinkyouare, Marc? Whoare youtolegislate? Youdon'tlike anything,you despise everyone. Youtake pride in notbeing amanof yourtime... Marc What's that supposed to mean, amanofmytime? 36 bution to thehumanrace...A man of his time doesn't assumethe history ofArthas cometoanend with a pseudo-Flemishview of Cavaillon.. Marc Carcassonne. Serge Samething. Aman ofhis time plays his part inthe fundamentaldynamic ofevolution 37