Cat People Page #2

you're gonna marry me...

...and those fairy tales, you can tell them

to our children. They'll love them.

Comitadji.

Oh, Mr. Carver, you should not call

a good man that.

But it's Serbian. I got it

from my barber this afternoon.

But you might insult him.

Comitadji means 'thief,' 'bandit.'

- I've been double-crossed.

Oliver's bride seems to be a very nice girl.

And a very pretty one too.

Carver tells me she's a bit odd.

He's worried about the marriage.

- Nonsense, Irena's a grand girl.

She and Oliver are going

to be very happy together.

I certainly hope so.

To the bride.

- To the bride.

Look at that woman.

Isn't she something?

Looks like a cat.

Thank you so much

for this lovely party, Alice.

I didn't know

there was a Serbian restaurant.

Anything you want to know

about this city, ask me.

I know all the unimportant details.

Well, how do you like that?

What did that woman say to you, darling?

Well, what did she say?

Now, wait a minute.

It can't be that serious.

Just one single word.

She greeted me.

She called me sister.

You saw her, Oliver.

You saw what she looked like.

- Oh, the cat people.

She looks like a cat, so she must be one

of the cat people. One of King John's pets.

Irena, you crazy kid.

I know a joke about weddings.

Why would my wedding

be a dollar-and-cents wedding, eh?

All right, why?

I haven't a dollar,

and me girl hasn't any sense.

That's a corny joke even for you, doc.

- Come on, Carver.

What is it, darling?

I'm... I'm going to beg.

Mrs. Reed.

It's nice to hear that. Nice.

I want to be Mrs. Reed.

- Well, you are.

But I want to be Mrs. Reed really.

I want to be everything

that name means to me.

And I can't. I can't.

Oliver...

...be kind, be patient.

Let me have time.

Time to get over that feeling

there's something evil in me.

Darling...

...you can have all the time

there is in the world if you want it...

...and all the patience

and kindness there's in me.

Only a little time, Oliver.

I don't want more than that.

Good night, Irena.

Good night, Oliver.

Good night, Irena.

Well, ain't seen you here

in some time, ma'am.

I've been married.

I've been married for almost a month.

That's what I tell this critter.

Nobody comes to see him

when they're happy. No, sir.

The monkey house and the aviary

gets the happy customers.

But he's beautiful.

No, he ain't beautiful.

He's an evil critter, ma'am.

You read your Bible. In Revelations...

...where the book's talking about

the worst beast of them all.

It says:

'And the beast which I saw...

...was like unto a leopard.'

Like unto a leopard.

- Yes, ma'am.

Like a leopard, but not a leopard.

I guess that fits this fella.

Yes, it fits him.

Best wishes for your marriage, ma'am.

Would you like some sherry?

If you're determined to mourn that bird,

we'll have a regular wake.

It's not just because the bird died.

It's me.

I envy every woman I see on the street.

They can't match your little finger.

- I envy them.

They are happy.

They make their husbands happy.

They lead normal, happy lives.

They're free.

Do you know what happened to the bird?

- It died.

It died of fright when I tried

to take it in my hand.

All right, the bird was afraid of you.

That's nothing.

I had a rabbit once that hated me...

...yet I grew up to be quite a nice fella.

Oliver.

When I went past the panther's cage...

...I had to open the box.

I had to throw the bird to him.

Do you understand?

I had to. I had to do it.

That's what frightens me.

Irena, I've been trying to kid you out of it.

Maybe that's wrong.

I've tried to...

- No one could have been more gentle...

...or more patient.

I've tried to make you realize

all these stories are so much nonsense.

But now I see it's not the stories.

It's the fact that you believe them.

We've got to have help, Irena.

Not that sort of help.

There's something wrong, and we have

to face it in an intelligent way.

We don't need a King John

with fire and sword.

We need someone who can find

the reason for your belief and cure it.

That's what we need.

A psychiatrist.

Oh, find one for me, Oliver.

The best one. The very best one.

You were saying, the cats...

They torment me.

I wake in the night...

...and the tread of their feet

whispers in my brain.

I have no peace...

...for they are in me.

In me.

In me.

Hypnosis always tires me.

Some of my patients, too,

find it exhausting.

It's only that I remember nothing.

It's my duty to remember.

I have it all here.

Most interesting.

You told me of your village

and the people and their strange beliefs.

I am so ashamed.

It must seem so childish.

And the cat women of your village too.

You told me of them.

Women who, in jealousy or anger

or out of their own corrupt passions...

...can change into great cats,

like panthers.

And if one of these women

were to fall in love...

...and if her lover were to kiss her,

take her into his embrace...

...she would be driven by her own evil

to kill him.

That's what you believe and fear,

isn't it?

These things are very simple

to psychiatrists.

You told me about your childhood.

Perhaps we will find this trouble stems

from some early experience.

You said you didn't know your father.

That he died in some mysterious

accident in the forest before your birth.

And because of that, the children

teased you and called your mother...

...a witch, a cat woman.

These childhood tragedies

are inclined to corrode the soul...

...to leave a canker in the mind.

But we will try to repair the damage.

You're not to worry.

And what shall I tell my husband?

Naturally, he is anxious to have some word.

What does one tell a husband?

One tells him nothing.

Alice, it's so nice to see you.

Hello, darling.

How did you make out with Louis?

- Louis?

Dr. Judd.

Alice knows, darling.

Of course. Didn't I suggest Dr. Judd?

I met him on the commodore's boat.

The way he goes around kissing hands

makes me want to spit cotton.

But I guess he knows all

there is to know about psychiatry.

I told Alice. I knew she'd know

some good doctor.

I don't see why that was necessary.

Sorry. I seem to have put my big foot in it.

I'm sorry, Irena.

I'm sure neither Oliver nor I

had any notion of offending you.

I'm dreadfully sorry.

Goodbye, Alice.

Darling, really, there's no reason to...

- But, Oliver...

...how can you discuss such things?

Such intimate things about me?

How much did you tell her?

You can tell Alice anything. She's

a good egg, she understands anything.

There are some things a woman doesn't

want other women to understand.

Irena.

I woke up. You were gone.

What's wrong, darling?

- I couldn't sleep. I went out.

Where'd you go?

- Just walked.

I'm sorry about this afternoon.

I just didn't think.

Oliver...

...we should never quarrel.

Never let me feel jealousy or anger.

Whatever is in me is held in,

is kept harmless...

...when I am happy.

I'd turn handsprings, darling.

I'd dance in the streets to make you happy.

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