SCENE--Twilight of the next day. The monkey house at the Zoo. One spot
of clear gray light falls on the front of one cage so that the interior
can be seen. The other cages are vague, shrouded in shadow from which
chatterings pitched in a conversational tone can be heard. On the one
cage a sign from which the word "gorilla" stands out. The gigantic
animal himself is seen squatting on his haunches on a bench in much the
same attitude as Rodin's "Thinker." YANK enters from the left.
Immediately a chorus of angry chattering and screeching breaks out. The
gorilla turns his eyes but makes no sound or move.
YANK--[_With a hard, bitter laugh._] Welcome to your city, huh? Hail,
hail, de gang's all here! [_At the sound of his voice the chattering
dies away into an attentive silence. YANK walks up to the gorilla's
cage and, leaning over the railing, stares in at its occupant, who
stares back at him, silent and motionless. There is a pause of dead
stillness. Then YANK begins to talk in a friendly confidential tone,
half-mockingly, but with a deep undercurrent of sympathy._] Say, yuh're
some hard-lookin' guy, ain't yuh? I seen lots of tough nuts dat de gang
called gorillas, but yuh're de foist real one I ever seen. Some chest
yuh got, and shoulders, and dem arms and mits! I bet yuh got a punch in
eider fist dat'd knock 'em all silly! [_This with genuine admiration.
The gorilla, as if he understood, stands upright, swelling out his
chest and pounding on it with his fist. YANK grins sympathetically._]
Sure, I get yuh. Yuh challenge de whole woild, huh? Yuh got what I was
sayin' even if yuh muffed de woids. [_Then bitterness creeping in._]
And why wouldn't yuh get me? Ain't we both members of de same club--de
Hairy Apes? [_They stare at each other--a pause--then YANK goes on
slowly and bitterly._] So yuh're what she seen when she looked at me,
de white-faced tart! I was you to her, get me? On'y outa de cage--broke
out--free to moider her, see? Sure! Dat's what she tought. She wasn't
wise dat I was in a cage, too--worser'n yours--sure--a damn
sight--'cause you got some chanct to bust loose--but me--[_He grows
confused._] Aw, hell! It's all wrong, ain't it? [_A pause._] I s'pose
yuh wanter know what I'm doin' here, huh? I been warmin' a bench down
to de Battery--ever since last night. Sure. I seen de sun come up. Dat
was pretty, too--all red and pink and green. I was lookin' at de
skyscrapers--steel--and all de ships comin' in, sailin' out, all over
de oith--and dey was steel, too. De sun was warm, dey wasn't no clouds,
and dere was a breeze blowin'. Sure, it was great stuff. I got it aw
right--what Paddy said about dat bein' de right dope--on'y I couldn't
get IN it, see? I couldn't belong in dat. It was over my head. And I
kept tinkin'--and den I beat it up here to see what youse was like. And
I waited till dey was all gone to git yuh alone. Say, how d'yuh feel
sittin' in dat pen all de time, havin' to stand for 'em comin' and
starin' at yuh--de white-faced, skinny tarts and de boobs what marry
'em--makin' fun of yuh, laughin' at yuh, gittin' scared of yuh--damn
'em! [_He pounds on the rail with his fist. The gorilla rattles the
bars of his cage and snarls. All the other monkeys set up an angry
chattering in the darkness. YANK goes on excitedly._] Sure! Dat's de
way it hits me, too. On'y yuh're lucky, see? Yuh don't belong wit 'em
and yuh know it. But me, I belong wit 'em--but I don't, see? Dey don't
belong wit me, dat's what. Get me? Tinkin' is hard--[_He passes one
hand across his forehead with a painful gesture. The gorilla growls
impatiently. YANK goes on gropingly._] It's dis way, what I'm drivin'
at. Youse can sit and dope dream in de past, green woods, de jungle and
de rest of it. Den yuh belong and dey don't. Den yuh kin laugh at 'em,
see? Yuh're de champ of de woild. But me--I ain't got no past to tink
in, nor nothin' dat's comin', on'y what's now--and dat don't belong.
Sure, you're de best off! Yuh can't tink, can yuh? Yuh can't talk
neider. But I kin make a bluff at talkin' and tinkin'--a'most git away
wit it--a'most!--and dat's where de joker comes in. [_He laughs._] I
ain't on oith and I ain't in heaven, get me? I'm in de middle tryin' to
separate 'em, takin' all de woist punches from bot' of 'em. Maybe dat's
what dey call hell, huh? But you, yuh're at de bottom. You belong!
Sure! Yuh're de on'y one in de woild dat does, yuh lucky stiff! [_The
gorilla growls proudly._] And dat's why dey gotter put yuh in a cage,
see? [_The gorilla roars angrily._] Sure! Yuh get me. It beats it when
you try to tink it or talk it--it's way down--deep--behind--you 'n' me
we feel it. Sure! Bot' members of dis club! [_He laughs--then in a
savage tone._] What de hell! T' hell wit it! A little action, dat's our
meat! Dat belongs! Knock 'em down and keep bustin' 'em till dey croaks
yuh wit a gat--wit steel! Sure! Are yuh game? Dey've looked at youse,
ain't dey--in a cage? Wanter git even? Wanter wind up like a sport
'stead of croakin' slow in dere? [_The gorilla roars an emphatic
affirmative. YANK goes on with a sort of furious exaltation._] Sure!
Yuh're reg'lar! Yuh'll stick to de finish! Me 'n' you, huh?--bot'
members of this club! We'll put up one last star bout dat'll knock 'em
offen deir seats! Dey'll have to make de cages stronger after we're
trou! [_The gorilla is straining at his bars, growling, hopping from
one foot to the other. YANK takes a jimmy from under his coat and
forces the lock on the cage door. He throws this open._] Pardon from de
governor! Step out and shake hands! I'll take yuh for a walk down Fif'
Avenoo. We'll knock 'em offen de oith and croak wit de band playin'.
Come on, Brother. [_The gorilla scrambles gingerly out of his cage.
Goes to YANK and stands looking at him. YANK keeps his mocking
tone--holds out his hand._] Shake--de secret grip of our order.
[_Something, the tone of mockery, perhaps, suddenly enrages the animal.
With a spring he wraps his huge arms around YANK in a murderous hug.
There is a crackling snap of crushed ribs--a gasping cry, still
mocking, from YANK._] Hey, I didn't say, kiss me. [_The gorilla lets
the crushed body slip to the floor; stands over it uncertainly,
considering; then picks it up, throws it in the cage, shuts the door,
and shuffles off menacingly into the darkness at left. A great uproar
of frightened chattering and whimpering comes from the other cages.
Then YANK moves, groaning, opening his eyes, and there is silence. He
mutters painfully._] Say--dey oughter match him--wit Zybszko. He got
me, aw right. I'm trou. Even him didn't tink I belonged. [_Then, with
sudden passionate despair._] Christ, where do I get off at? Where do I
fit in? [_Checking himself as suddenly._] Aw, what de hell! No
squakin', see! No quittin', get me! Croak wit your boots on! [_He grabs
hold of the bars of the cage and hauls himself painfully to his
feet--looks around him bewilderedly--forces a mocking laugh._] In de
cage, huh? [_In the strident tones of a circus barker._] Ladies and
gents, step forward and take a slant at de one and only--[_His voice
weakening_]--one and original--Hairy Ape from de wilds of--[_He slips
in a heap on the floor and dies. The monkeys set up a chattering,
whimpering wail. And, perhaps, the Hairy Ape at last belongs._]
[_Curtain_]