The Night of the Iguana Page #11

The zenith of its life will be

Gone past forever

And from thence

A second history will commence

A chronicle no longer gold

A bargaining with mist and mold

And finally, the broken stem

The plummeting to earth

And then, an intercourse

Not well designed for beings

Of a golden kind

Whose native green must arch above

The earth's obscene, corrupting love

And still the ripe fruit and the branch

Observe the sky begin to blanch

Without a cry, without a prayer

With no betrayal of despair

Oh, courage

Could you not as well

Select a second place to dwell

Not only in that golden tree

But in the frightened heart of me?

Have you got that, Hannah?

Yes, Grandfather.

- All of it?

- Every word.

- And it's finished?

- Yes.

- Finally finished?

- Yes, finally finished.

And it's good.

Beautiful.

- Is it good?

- Beautiful, Grandfather.

Oh, Grandfather, I'm so happy for you.

Thank you for writing such a lovely poem.

It was worth the long wait.

Can you sleep a little now?

I'll fetch your shawl.

I'd like to pray now.

Oh, God.

Please can't we stop now?

He won't need the shawl.

God has played God

and set him free.

Oh, courage

Could you not as well

Have found a second place to dwell

Not only in that golden tree

But in the frightened heart of me?

Miss Jelkes.

What are you doing?

You're not gonna leave us today, are you?

There's no reason to delay.

Everything has been done.

Thanks to your kindness

and Mrs. Faulk's...

...Dr. Lopez and all the good people

in the village.

I know now why he insisted

we go on with this trip.

He knew it was the end.

And he wanted it to come where he could

be buried peacefully on a green hilltop...

...within sight and sound of the sea,

his "cradle of life."

- You're going on, are you?

- Yes, naturally.

- Where?

- Well, first I shall go into town...

...and try my luck in the plaza.

What luck do you expect in the plaza?

Do you expect the old lady selling tacos

to buy your sketches like hotcakes?

There'll be some tourists, and I shall give

them what is known as the "hard sell."

Miss Jelkes, you're not operating

on the realistic level.

Yes, I am. We are operating

on a realistic level...

...when we are doing the things

that have to be done.

But you can't go on alone. Think of how

it will feel after so many years.

I shall know how it feels when I feel it.

Miss Jelkes, I wonder...

Yes. What do you wonder?

Well, I was wondering...

...if it was possible for us

to travel together.

I mean, travel together.

Do you really think we could?

I don't see why not,

both of us sort of at loose ends.

I feel sure the impracticality of it

would be all too clear to you later.

I think it would only prove awkward

and embarrassing for both of us.

- Miss Jelkes...

- I wonder if Mrs. Faulk is about?

- I would like to thank her.

- Yeah.

She's about.

And about to make an announcement.

Sit down, you two.

Sit down.

I got a proposition to make,

a business proposition.

You know, Miss Jelkes, honey,

you impress me.

Very favorably. The way

you dished up that fish and all.

So favorably, in fact, that I'm prepared

to make you the following proposition.

What proposition, Mrs. Faulk?

I want a Coke.

Beer. Beer!

My proposition is this:

that you take over here.

The place furnishes a living

plus a neat little profit.

I take in about 4000 a year,

after expenses.

Four thousand dollars.

It wouldn't surprise me

if you couldn't do even better...

...provided Shannon there

didn't drink up your share of the profits.

Well, that's the deal.

We split the profits fifty-fifty.

Even-steven.

Share and share alike.

Does that make any sense to you?

Maxine. Are you all right?

Of course I'm all right.

What do you mean, am I all right?

My only reason for including you

on this deal is a man's presence is required.

There's gotta be a man. That's one of

the basic principles of hotel administration.

There's gotta be a man to make

the place attractive to the ladies.

Wives of the men that go fishing.

Matter of fact, my offer is contingent

on the presence of a man.

- There's no deal unless Shannon stays on.

- What about you, Mrs. Faulk?

Me? I'm fed up with this place.

Fed up to the teeth, into the gums

and the jawbone.

- Jungle rot's set in.

- Where are you going?

Well, I'm not going on any

of your Blake Tours, that's for sure!

I'm heading north.

El Paso, maybe. Yeah, I like El Paso.

Air-conditioned cocktail lounges.

Fifteen-to-one martinis and mirrors that

don't scare you when they look at you!

You know, I'm a young woman. Attractive,

too, if I can get to a decent beauty parlor.

Don't you worry about the widow Faulk.

She'll have a ball!

- Fantastic.

- Yes, Mr. Shannon.

Fantastic is what it is.

You were building your nest

and you didn't even know it.

- Goodbye.

- Goodbye.

- At least let me drive you into town.

- No, thank you, I prefer to walk.

What you could do for me, though,

is have my luggage sent in after me.

Oh, I almost forgot.

I found this in the pocket of my smock

when I was packing this morning.

Yes, I want you to have it.

I couldn't possibly accept,

Mr. Shannon.

No, take it, please. Hock it.

It'll pay your way back to the States.

That's a real amethyst...

...so don't let the local loan shark

give you less than 1800 pesos for it.

Its value has been well-established

over the years.

Very well, Mr. Shannon.

I'll send the pawn ticket

back to you so that you can redeem it.

- What are you doing, Maxine?

- Packing.

Go on, fall apart.

Everything's falling apart,

including you and Shannon!

Complimentary rum-coco.

It's a speciality of the Costa Verde.

I don't want a rum-coco. If I wanted

a rum-coco, I'd make a rum-coco.

She's gone, Maxine.

The poem's finished.

You mean she's not gonna

take me up on my proposition?

Oh, she's not.

I am.

That is, if you...

If you really need a man around here.

It's not hot yet, Shannon.

Why don't we go down to the beach.

Well, I can...

I can get down the hill, Maxine,

but I'm not too sure about getting...

...back up.

I'll get you back up, baby.

I'll always get you back up.

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