One of them turns a cartwheel; the other leaps merrily over an obstacle over which he could have simply stepped; the third elegantly demonstrates a gesture with his lower arm by lifting the arm and quickly bending the elbow, letting, as if by magic, the sleeve slip to the elbow. He repeats this several times, finally with the same movement giving himself playfully a light.
At last, quite as a matter of course, one after the other sits down by the table, the women in the fauteuils with footstools, VON STROHEIM in the fauteuil without footstool, JANNINGS in the easy chair, GEORGE in the straight chair. As in an afterimage they still hint at their previous playful acts, still repeat what they said to one another.) I forgot myself completely. “I”? We! We forgot ourselves.
(Finally they calm down. Only BERGNER is still playing with her handbag and does not know where to put it.)
VON STROHEIM
Why don’t you leave it on your lap?
JANNINGS
Having something on your lap is most pleasant.
GEORGE
(It occurred to him simultaneously.) … something on your lap is most pleasant. (They laugh.) In your lap you have the most pleasant feeling for something.
PORTEN
(It occurred to her too, but a little later.) In your lap you have the most pleasant feeling for something. (They all laugh. BERGNER cautiously puts the handbag on her lap, and with little wiggling movements puts herself into a comfortable position in the fauteuil. She emits a small sound.
All of them try what it is like to have things on one’s lap, are satisfied, and put the things back in their places. PORTEN shows her naked arm to VON STROHEIM.) You see, I’ve got goose pimples.
VON STROHEIM
Are you … Do you feel — (He stops in time.) So you have goose pimples, do you? (He laughs.)
(All laugh as if it were an unpleasant memory.)
PORTEN
Yes, I simply have goose pimples.
(Pause. JANNINGS pulls something out of his upholstered seat. He holds it up and shows it to GEORGE. At the same time, as if unintentionally, with the index finger of the other hand he elongates one eye. GEORGE ignores that, bends toward what JANNINGS has in his hand.)
VON STROHEIM
(Also turns his head toward JANNINGS. In a playful mood) You have something there. What is it? Nothing special, I assume? Nothing worth mentioning, I hope. There’s no need to talk about it, is there?
(BERGNER and PORTEN turn their heads slightly too, but look away again immediately.)
JANNINGS
A pin. (They all look at it, as though surprised.)
VON STROHEIM
A pin? You don’t mean “the pin”?
JANNINGS
The very one.
PORTEN
And it really exists? It isn’t merely a figure of speech?
JANNINGS
Here, see for yourself.
(He hands the pin to GEORGE, who hands it to VON STROHEIM very matter-of-factly, who hands it to PORTEN.)
PORTEN
It has all turned out to be true. Not even the ruby-red pinhead is missing. It has all come true.
VON STROHEIM
Did you dream about it?
PORTEN
Someone mentioned it in the dream. (She hands the pin to BERGNER.) When I saw the pin just now, I remembered it again. And I had thought it was also only just another word.
GEORGE
Once someone told me about a corpse with a pinhead-sized wound on his neck. (Pause.) (To JANNINGS) Did you tell me about that?
JANNINGS
I can’t remember. But when you started telling the story, it seemed familiar to me, too.
GEORGE
No, it was a movie. (Pause.) It was thundering and at the same time fog banks on the village street …
BERGNER
Should I drop it?
(They all become quiet and do not move. She drops the pin.)
GEORGE
(Negates the effect by speaking again too soon.) Children with lumps of plaster on their eyes — (He breaks off, but it is already too late. However, they only smile, leave the pin where it fell.)
VON STROHEIM
I already told you the story about the lake?
PORTEN
No.
(He looks at BERGNER: she shakes her head tenderly.)
JANNINGS
(Simultaneously) No.
VON STROHEIM
Then I probably only thought of it.
PORTEN
Does it have anything to do with the pin?
VON STROHEIM
I was sitting by a lakeshore in the morning and the lake was sparkling. Suddenly I noticed: the lake is sparkling. It is really sparkling.
(Pause.)
PORTEN
Something similar happened to me one time when someone told me that his pockets were empty. “My pockets are empty!” I didn’t believe him and he turned his pockets inside out. They really were empty. Incredible!
(GEORGE takes a cigar out of the cigar box, then offers the box to JANNINGS, who takes out a cigar. GEORGE strikes a match and hands it to JANNINGS; he lights his cigar and blows out the match. GEORGE lights himself another match.
VON STROHEIM takes the red cloth from the table, jumps up with it, walks around with it, shakes it as if he wants to demonstrate it to them. They bend forward, inspect. VON STROHEIM looks around triumphantly. They nod, shake their heads surprised, laugh with delight, slap their thighs with laughter. Exclamations such as “A red cloth, indeed!” “No doubt about it!” “Lupus in fabula,” “Talk of the devil!” “Atlantis has reappeared!”
VON STROHEIM stands in front of the others like a magician. He turns all his pockets inside out very fast — the pockets are very wide and light-colored — and strikes a pose. PORTEN applauds vigorously. VON STROHEIM, as magician, takes off his smoking jacket in a jiffy, turns it over, and already has put it back on.)
JANNINGS
(Enthusiastically) So it is true! (VON STROHEIM produces a small imitation of a rolling pin out of his pocket, which is now the magician’s pocket. JANNINGS exclaiming so that the cigar drops out of his mouth) Not only in jokes then! (GEORGE hands him the cigar. JANNINGS wipes the ash off his knees, stops suddenly, notices what he is doing, continues cleaning in a merry ritual.) Ash on my suit! When I tell about that, no one will believe me. (They all laugh. VON STROHEIM conjures up the magician’s magic cloth, a flag in colors that do not signify a particular country. He blows briskly on the flag, making it flutter.) Indeed, it flutters! The flag flutters! (VON STROHEIM stashes the things into his pockets, becomes an actor: he walks to the bar, takes out a bottle, fondles it, then supports himself backward with one hand on the table. JANNINGS calmly translates this for GEORGE.) He is fondling the bottle and supporting himself with his hand on the table. (VON STROHEIM moves to the side of the table, dangles the bottle by the neck, and begins to squint. JANNINGS to GEORGE) He is holding the bottle by the neck and squinting. (VON STROHEIM puts the bottle back and moves through the room with hunched shoulders, making an unnecessarily wide curve around each object but at the same time scrutinizing each.) He hunches his shoulders, looks at the objects, yet makes a curve around them.