The Girl [crossing slowly to the window, and drawing aside the curtain]. Look! What a beautiful night! The thousands of sleeping houses! The millions of shining stars! And the lights beneath! And in the distance, how the stars and the lights meet! So that one cannot say: "Here Gods ends; Here Man begins."
[The telephone rings, harshly, and shrilly. Strickland goes to the receiver.]
Strickland [quietly]. Yes?... You're afraid I'm going to miss the train?... Yes? Well, I'm going to miss the train!... I'm going to stay and face the music! [Hysterically.] I'm an honest man, d'ye hear me? I'm an honest man. [And furiously, he pitches the telephone to the floor, and stands panting, shivering, on the spot. From the window a soft radiance beckons, and trembling in every limb, putting out his hands as if to ward off some unseen obstacle, he moves there slowly.] Did you hear what I told him? I'm going to make good. I'm going to face the music! Because I'm an honest man! An honest man!
[He gasps, stops abruptly, and in a sudden panic-stricken movement, tears the curtains down. The window is closed—has never been opened—but the girl has vanished. And as Strickland, burying his face in his hands, drops to his knees in awe,
The Curtain Falls.]
NIGHT
A Play
By Sholom Asch
Translated by Jack Robbins.
Copyright, 1920, by Sholom Asch.
All rights reserved.