The Night of the Iguana Page #6

Nelly was a lady

Last night she died

Toll the bell

For lovely Nell

My dark Virginny bride

Don't you step in this room.

Don't step over that threshold.

Don't complicate my life. I've got a fever.

Don't complicate my fever.

Larry, watch out.

You're walking on broken glass.

- Never mind.

- Stand still.

You're cutting your feet,

leaving blood stains on the floor.

- Who saw you come in here?

- Nobody but an iguana.

- Your guardian angel will be in full cry.

- Let her howl.

I hate her and I hate that little snitch

of a b*tch that ruined you in Virginia.

You're ruining me in Mexico.

Get off your knees, it's indecent.

Sit down over there. I want to

explain something to you. Look and listen.

A man has got just so much

in his emotional bank balance.

But mine has run out.

It's stone dry.

I can't draw a check on it now.

There's nothing left to draw out.

Oh, Lord, you've got blood stains on it.

I'm sorry to tell you

that you're as dangerous...

...as you are young and lovely.

And it's your being young and lovely

that makes you so dangerous.

And that gives you this destructive

potential over a destructible man.

We're not going back.

We'll stay here together.

Live here, be beachcombers like

Fletcher Christian and that native girl.

Living in the sun.

You're going to marry me, Larry.

Oh, Lord, no, no.

And nothing could be worse

for a girl in your unstable condition...

...to be mixed up with a man

in my unstable condition.

Because two people

in unstable conditions...

...are like two countries

facing each other in unstable conditions.

The destructive potential could blow

the whole world to bits...

...past all repair.

You're walking barefoot on glass.

I would walk on brimstone through hell...

...to get you out of my room.

Now will you get out of my room.

I don't believe you don't love me.

I love...

I love nobody.

I know it's practically impossible

for anybody to realize they're not loved...

...when in love with somebody

they think they're in love with.

You couldn't walk barefoot on glass

if you didn't love me.

I'm walking barefoot on glass

because you won't leave me alone.

All right, I'll do it too. I'll walk on glass

and I'll bleed to death with you.

No, you won't do this. You will get

out of my room and out of my life.

No, put me down. No!

You will not come near me again,

understand?

Put me down. I hate you!

You've ruined my life.

You've killed me, killed me!

Put me down!

What is this, Mr. Shannon?

Hell and damnation.

Your feet are bleeding.

There's glass all over the floor

in my room.

Sit down. I have antiseptics

and surgical gauze in my room.

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.

That word "fantastic" seems to be

your favorite word, Mr. Shannon.

Miss Jelkes...

...we live on two levels.

Just two?

The fantastic level and the realistic level

are the two levels upon which we live.

But which is the real one really?

I would say both, Mr. Shannon.

But when you live

on the fantastic level...

...as I have more and more lately,

but have to operate on the realistic level...

...that's when you get spooked.

And I am spooked, Miss Jelkes.

A chronicle no longer gold

A bargaining with mist of gold

There.

Now I'll go and clear up

the broken glass in your room.

Don't bother about that. If you'd be

kind enough to bring my shoes...

...and could you let me have

my clerical collar? It's on the floor.

Are you planning to conduct a church

service here tonight, Mr. Shannon?

No, I just plan to do...

...nothing.

Oh, and bring me that distributor head,

if you would.

This?

That's it.

If you're not going to conduct a service,

why get into this uncomfortable outfit?

Because I've been accused of being

defrocked and lying about it, that's why.

I will demonstrate to these ladies that

I'm still a frocked minister of the gospel.

I'm afraid it's no use, Mr. Shannon.

The neckband's so frayed,

it won't hold the collar button.

- Oh, damn.

- Hannah!

Oh, God, he's fallen.

Hey, Grandpa.

There you are.

I wish my pulse were as steady as his.

Did you feel dizzy, Grandfather?

No, no.

I was working on my new poem and...

Where's my cane?

There you are, Grandpa.

I was beating time with my cane

and my cane slipped.

You'd better rest a while.

Yes.

Rest a while.

He'll be all right now,

we can talk outside.

Why are you breathing like that?

Some people take a drink...

...others take a pill.

I just take a few deep breaths.

Well...

...don't be frightened about it.

He was amazing, just amazing...

...until he started having these little,

whatever they are, these spells.

When they started, I...

...tried to persuade him to go back to

Nantucket but he said, "No. Mexico."

So Mexico it is.

And he wouldn't rest anywhere,

until he got to the sea.

"The cradle of life," as he calls it.

So here we are, Mr. Shannon.

Like a couple of scarecrows

on this windy hilltop...

...over the cradle of life.

The plummeting to earth and then...

Hannah? Hannah?

- Yes, Grandfather?

- I'm pretty sure I'm gonna finish it here.

I have the same feeling myself,

Grandpa.

I've never been surer of anything

in my life.

I've never been surer of anything

in mine, either.

Of course, you'll finish the poem.

Why, it's nearly finished already.

I'll be outside if you want me

to write something down.

He'll probably sleep a while now.

Miss Jelkes, may l...?

May I have one of your cigarettes?

You must never smoke those.

They're made out of cigarette ends

taken out of the gutters.

Have one of mine.

English, imported, in an airtight tin.

It's my one luxury in life.

Yes, thank you, I will,

since you've thrown mine away.

Well...

...l'm going to tell you something

about yourself, Miss Jelkes.

You are a lady,

a real one and a great one.

What have I done to merit

that compliment from you?

Well, you took out your cigarettes,

found out you only had two left.

You can't afford to buy another pack

of even that cheap brand...

...and so you put them away for later,

right?

Mercilessly accurate, Mr. Shannon.

But when I asked you for one, you gave

me it without slightest sign of reluctance.

I think you're making a big point

out of a small matter.

Oh, no, no.

I'm making a small point

out of a very, very large matter.

How long have you been inactive

in the church, Mr. Shannon?

What's that got to do

with the price of rice in China?

- Nothing.

- And what's it got to do...

...with the price of coffee in Brazil?

I retract the question, with apologies.

Very well, then,

I'll be glad to answer it. I...

I have been inactive

in the church for all but one year...

...since I was ordained

a minister of the church.

That's quite a sabbatical, Mr. Shannon.

Yes, I had one parish for one year

and then...

...I was not defrocked...

...I was locked out of the church.

Are you...? You drawing me?

I'm trying to.

Why did they lock you out?

For fornication and conduct

unbecoming a man of the cloth.

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