eBook - ePub
A Lesson from Aloes
Athol Fugard
This is a test
Partager le livre
- 96 pages
- English
- ePUB (adapté aux mobiles)
- Disponible sur iOS et Android
eBook - ePub
A Lesson from Aloes
Athol Fugard
DĂ©tails du livre
Aperçu du livre
Table des matiĂšres
Citations
Ă propos de ce livre
Two former political activists confront each other and the events which led to their sudden falling-out years ago.
Foire aux questions
Comment puis-je résilier mon abonnement ?
Il vous suffit de vous rendre dans la section compte dans paramĂštres et de cliquer sur « RĂ©silier lâabonnement ». Câest aussi simple que cela ! Une fois que vous aurez rĂ©siliĂ© votre abonnement, il restera actif pour le reste de la pĂ©riode pour laquelle vous avez payĂ©. DĂ©couvrez-en plus ici.
Puis-je / comment puis-je télécharger des livres ?
Pour le moment, tous nos livres en format ePub adaptĂ©s aux mobiles peuvent ĂȘtre tĂ©lĂ©chargĂ©s via lâapplication. La plupart de nos PDF sont Ă©galement disponibles en tĂ©lĂ©chargement et les autres seront tĂ©lĂ©chargeables trĂšs prochainement. DĂ©couvrez-en plus ici.
Quelle est la différence entre les formules tarifaires ?
Les deux abonnements vous donnent un accĂšs complet Ă la bibliothĂšque et Ă toutes les fonctionnalitĂ©s de Perlego. Les seules diffĂ©rences sont les tarifs ainsi que la pĂ©riode dâabonnement : avec lâabonnement annuel, vous Ă©conomiserez environ 30 % par rapport Ă 12 mois dâabonnement mensuel.
Quâest-ce que Perlego ?
Nous sommes un service dâabonnement Ă des ouvrages universitaires en ligne, oĂč vous pouvez accĂ©der Ă toute une bibliothĂšque pour un prix infĂ©rieur Ă celui dâun seul livre par mois. Avec plus dâun million de livres sur plus de 1 000 sujets, nous avons ce quâil vous faut ! DĂ©couvrez-en plus ici.
Prenez-vous en charge la synthÚse vocale ?
Recherchez le symbole Ăcouter sur votre prochain livre pour voir si vous pouvez lâĂ©couter. Lâoutil Ăcouter lit le texte Ă haute voix pour vous, en surlignant le passage qui est en cours de lecture. Vous pouvez le mettre sur pause, lâaccĂ©lĂ©rer ou le ralentir. DĂ©couvrez-en plus ici.
Est-ce que A Lesson from Aloes est un PDF/ePUB en ligne ?
Oui, vous pouvez accĂ©der Ă A Lesson from Aloes par Athol Fugard en format PDF et/ou ePUB ainsi quâĂ dâautres livres populaires dans Literature et African Drama. Nous disposons de plus dâun million dâouvrages Ă dĂ©couvrir dans notre catalogue.
Informations
Sujet
LiteratureSous-sujet
African DramaAct One
SCENE 1
The backyard. It is cluttered with a collection of aloes in a variety of tins of all shapes and sizes.
There is a gate with a nameboard: Xanadu.
PIET, seated at a garden table with an aloe in front of him, is studying a small field book on the plants. He is wearing spectacles, short trousers, no shirt and sandals without socks. GLADYS, behind sunglasses, sits very still on a garden bench.
Time: late afternoon.
PIET (Reading from the book) â... small, glaucous leaves, erect or incurved . . .â(Studies the specimen in front of him, then turns back to the book) âTuberculate-based . . .â(Turns to the glossary at the back of the book) Tuberculate ... âHaving knobby or warty excrescences. â(Back to the entry he was reading) âTuberculate-based soft prickles on both surfaces.â (He holds the book at armâs length for a comparison between the illustration and his plant. He shakes his head) No. Thatâs not it.
(He closes the book, and takes off the spectacles. He gets up quietly, the aloe in his hands, and looks at GLADYS)
GLADYS (Without moving) Iâm awake.
PIET Well, my dear, we have a stranger in our midst. Aloe Anonymous! Because that is what it is until I know its name. Iâve been through my book twice, page by page, but there is nothing that looks quite like it. I donât think I can allow myself to believe Iâve discovered a new species. That would be something! Iâd name it after you, my dear. Hail aloe Gladysiensis! Sounds rather good, doesnât it? (He reads the other aloes) Hail ferox! And you aristata ... arborescens ... ciliaris ... and now Gladysiensis! Welcome to the most noble order of Eastern Cape aloes. An impressive array of names, isnât it? And knowing them is important. It makes me feel that little bit more at home in my world. And yet, as little Juliet once said: âWhatâs in a name? That which we call a rose/By any other name would smell as sweet.â (These lines, and all his other quotations, although delivered with a heavy Afrikaans accent, are said with a sincere appreciation of the words involved. He thinks about those he has just quoted) Alas, itâs not as simple as that, is it?
GLADYS Are you talking to me?
PIET Who else, my dear?
GLADYS The aloes ... or yourself. Iâm never sure these days.
PIET Names are more than just labels. (He sits beside her on the bench) Petrus Jacobus Bezuidenhout. (He gives a little smile) âSo, would Petrus, were he not Petrus called,/Retain that dear perfection which he owns without that title?â
GLADYS What are you talking about?
PIET The balcony scene. Where the little lady laments Romeoâs name. I was just thinking about mine, trying to hear it as others do.
GLADYS And?
PIET Nothing ... except that when other men say Piet Bezuidenhout it is me they are talking about. Yes! That is whatâs in a name. My face, my story in mine, as much as theirs, is in Romeo and Juliet. âThen deny thy father and refuse thy name.â Hell! I donât know about those Italians, but thatâs a hard one for an Afrikaner. No. For better or for worse, I will remain positively identified as Petrus Jacobus Bezuidenhout; Species, Afrikaner; Habitat, Algoa Park, Port Elizabeth, in this year of our Lord, 1963 ... and accept the consequences.
(He looks at his wrist watch)
GLADYS What is the time now?
PIET Just on four oâclock.
GLADYS Itâs passing very slowly, isnât it?
PIET Yes, it is. The sun is as lazy as we are this afternoon.
GLADYS (Shaking her head) Itâs because weâre waiting.
PIET Let me get you something to read.
GLADYS Iâm all right.
PIET Iâve got todayâs paper inside.
GLADYS Stop fussing, Peter. Iâve learned how to sit and wait. When should we expect them?
PIET I didnât fix a definite time. I just said, âSupper.â So what do you think? Half-past six? Seven? They wonât be too late because of the children. If we start to get ready at five, we should be all right. Everything under control in the kitchen?
GLADYS Yes.
PIET Then relax, my dear. Enjoy the sunshine.
GLADYS Iâm perfectly relaxed.
PIET Good.
GLADYS Youâre the one who canât keep still.
PIET (He moves back to the garden table where we first saw him) Just tidying up my mess.
GLADYS I hope Iâm not getting too much sun.
PIET No danger of that on an autumn afternoon. This is the start of our gentle time, Gladys ... our season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom friend of the maturing sun. On the farm there was almost a sense of the veld sighing with relief when autumn finally set in. We certainly did. Man and animal. Months of grace while we waited for the first rains.
GLADYS My skin canât take it. I learned that lesson when I was a little girl.
PIET Sunburn.
GLADYS Yes. A holiday somewhere with my mother and father. On the very first day I picked up too much sun on the beach and that was the end of it. My mother dabbed me all over with calamine lotion to soothe the pain. I can remember looking at myself in the mirror ... a frightened little white ghost. Mommy was terrified that I was going to end up with a brown skin. But she neednât have worried. It all peeled away and there I was, the same as before.
PIET The voortrekker women had the same problem. Thatâs where the old white bonnet comes from. Protection.
GLADYS I think it was Cape Town. Not that it...