Eugene O'Neill

“ She's my child as much as yours. A fine one you are to be telling folks how to do things, you—— [She bites her lips. Husband and wife look into each other's eyes with something akin to hatred in their expressions; then RUTH turns away with a shrug of affected indifference.] All right, take care of her then, if you think it's so easy. You'll be whipping her yourself inside of a week. [She walks away into the kitchen.]
ROBERT— [Smoothing MARY'S hair—tenderly.] We'll show Mama you're a good little girl, won't we? ”

“ Does he suppose you're runnin' a hotel—with no one to help with things?" But she don't pay no attention. She's as bad as he is, a'most—thinks she knows better than an old, sick body like me.
MRS. MAYO— [Dully.] Robbie's always late for things. He can't help it, Sarah.
MRS. ATKINS— [With a snort.] Can't help it! How you do go on, Kate, findin' excuses for him! Anybody can help anything they've a mind to—as long as they've got health, and ain't rendered helpless like me, [She adds as a pious afterthought] —through the will of God. ”

“ She speaks in an uncertain voice, without assertiveness, as if all power of willing had deserted her. MRS. ATKINS is in her wheel chair. She is a thin, pale-faced, unintelligent looking woman of about forty-eight, with hard, bright eyes. A victim of partial paralysis for many years, condemned to be pushed from day to day of her life in a wheel chair, she has developed the selfish, irritable nature of the chronic invalid. ”

“ The farm'll be better off too. There's been a curse on it ever since you took hold. So go! Go and be a tramp like you've always wanted. It's all you're good for. I can get along without you, don't you worry. I'll get some peace. [Exulting fiercely.] And Andy's coming back, don't forget that! He'll attend to things like they should be. He'll show what a man can do! I don't need you. Andy's coming! ”

“ He's too good a sailor to be caught napping. Besies we'll never know the ship's here till Andy steps in the door. He'll want to surprise us. [With an affectionate smile.] I wonder if the old chump's changed much? He doesn't seem to from his letters, does he? Still the same practical hard-head. [Shaking his head.] But just the same I doubt if he'll want to settle down to a hum-drum farm life, after all he's been through.
RUTH— [Resentfully.] Andy's not like you. He likes the farm.
ROBERT— [Immersed in his own thoughts—enthusiastically.] Gad, the things he's seen and experienced! ”

“ There! I hope you'll be satisfied and keep still. You're only to play for a minute, remember. Then you've got to take your nap. [MARY sits down on the floor before the table and plays with the doll in silence. RUTH glances at the place set on the table.] It's a wonder Rob wouldn't try to get to meals on time once in a while. Does he think I've nothing to do on a hot day like this but stand in that kitchen washing dishes?
MRS. MAYO— [Dully.] Something must have gone wrong again.
RUTH— [Wearily.] I s'pose so. Something's always going wrong these days, it looks like. ”

“ Timms is the best farm hereabouts. They was laughin' at me for workin' for you, that's what! "How're things up to the Mayo place?" they hollers every mornin'. "What's Robert doin' now—pasturin' the cattle in the corn-lot? Is he seasonin' his hay with rain this year, same as last?" they shouts. ”

“ Didn't I hear you speaking about Andy a while ago?
MRS. MAYO—We were wondering when he'd get home.
RUTH— [Brightening.] Rob says any day now he's liable to drop in and surprise us—him and the Captain. I wonder if he's changed much—what he'll be like. It'll certainly look natural to see him around the farm again.
MRS. ATKINS—Let's hope the farm'll look more natural, too, when he's had a hand at it. The way thin's are now!
RUTH— [Irritably.] Will you stop harping on that, Ma? We all know things aren't as they might be. What's the good of your complaining all the time? ”

“ Things might be worse. Robert never had any experience in farming. You can't expect him to learn in a day.
MRS. ATKINS— [Snappily.] He's had three years to learn, and he's gettin' worse 'stead of better. He hasn't got it in him, that's what; and I do say it to you, Kate Mayo, even if he is your son. He doesn't want to learn. Everything I've told him he's that pig-headed he's gone and done the exact opposite. And now look where things are! ”

“ A patched screen door is in the rear. Through it the yard can be seen, its small stretch of lawn divided by the dirt path leading to the door from the gate in the white picket fence which borders the road.
The room has changed, not so much in its outward appearance as in its general atmosphere. Little significant details give evidence of carelessness, of inefficiency, of an industry gone to seed. The chairs appear shabby from lack of paint; the table cover is spotted and askew; holes show in the curtains; a child's doll, with one arm gone, lies under the table; a hoe stands in a corner ”

“ Oh! [They are interrupted by the sound of a loud knock at the kitchen door.] There's someone at the kitchen door. [She hurries out. A moment later she reappears.] It's Ben. He says he wants to see you.
ROBERT— [Frowning.] What's the trouble now, I wonder? [In a loud voice.] Come on in here, Ben. [Ben slouches in from the kitchen. He is a hulking, awkward young fellow with a heavy, stupid face and shifty, cunning eyes. He is dressed in overalls, boots, etc., and wears a broad-brimmed hat of coarse straw pushed back on his head.] ”

“ Say a word of encouragement once in a while when things go wrong, even if it is my fault. You know the odds I've been up against since Pa died. I'm not a farmer. I've never claimed to be one. But there's nothing else I can do under the circumstances, and I've got to pull things through somehow. ”

“ Work you'll never get done by reading books all the time.
ROBERT— [Shutting the book with a snap.] Why do you persist in nagging at me for getting pleasure out of reading? Is it because—— [He checks himself abruptly.] ”

“ I didn't notice. [He picks up his knife and fork and begins to eat gingerly, without appetite.]
RUTH—I should think you might have some feeling for me, Rob, and not always be late for meals. If you think it's fun sweltering in that oven of a kitchen to keep things warm for you, you're mistaken. ”

“ MRS. ATKINS—What good's workin' hard if it don't accomplish anythin', I'd like to know?
MRS. MAYO—Robbie's had bad luck against him.
MRS. ATKINS—Say what you've a mind to, Kate, the proof of the puddin's in the eatin'; and you can't deny that things have been goin' from bad to worse ever since your husband died two years back. ”