(Rada hesitates, then goes into the kitchen. Brander holds out a ring to Tarrasch.)
Her husband’s ring. I got it off his finger
When he went down. He lay there, doubled up,
With one of those hideous belly wounds. He begged,
Horribly, for a bullet; so, poor devil,
I put him out of his misery. I can’t eat
With hands like that. Ugh! Look!
Nanko (rising and peering at them).
Ah, but they’re red.
Red, aren’t they? And there’s red on your coat, too.
(He fingers it curiously.)
I suppose that’s blood, eh? People are such cowards.
Many of them never seem to understand
That man’s a fighting animal. They’re afraid,
Dreadfully afraid, of the sight of blood.
I think it’s a beautiful colour, beautiful!
You know, in the Old Testament, they used
To splash it on the door-posts.
Brander (pushing him away).
Go and sit down,
You crazy old devil!
(Rada enters with a bowl of water, sets it on a chair, and returns to the couch. Brander washes his hands.)
Tarrasch.