Free The Complete Dramatic Works by Samuel Beckett

went for you yesterday.
    ESTRAGON: I tell you there was ten of them.
    VLADIMIR: No, before that, the one that kicked you.
    ESTRAGON: Is he there?
    VLADIMIR: As large as life. [ Gesture towards LUCKY .] For the moment he is inert. But he might run amuck any minute.
    POZZO: Help!
    ESTRAGON: And suppose we gave him a good beating, the two of us?
    VLADIMIR: You mean if we fell on him in his sleep?
    ESTRAGON: Yes.
    VLADIMIR: That seems a good idea all right. But could we do it? Is he really asleep? [ Pause. ]No, the best would be to take advantage of Pozzo’s calling for help –
    POZZO: Help!
    VLADIMIR: To help him –
    ESTRAGON: We help him ?
    VLADIMIR: In anticipation of some tangible return.
    ESTRAGON: And suppose he –
    VLADIMIR: Let us not waste our time in idle discourse! [ Pause. Vehemently. ]Let us do something, while we have the chance! It is not every day that we are needed.
     Not indeed that we personally are needed. Others would meet the case equally well,
     if not better. To all mankind they were addressed, those cries for help still ringing
     in our ears! But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether
     we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late! Let us represent
     worthily for once the foul brood to which a cruel fate consigned us! What do you say?
     [ ESTRAGON says nothing. ]It is true that when with folded arms we weigh the pros and cons we are no less a
     credit to our species. The tiger bounds to the help of his congeners without the least
     reflection, or else he slinks away into the depths of the thickets. But that is not
     the question. What are we doing here, that is the question. And we are blessed in this, that we happen to know the answer. Yes,
     in this immense confusion one thing alone is clear. We are waiting for Godot to come
     –
    ESTRAGON: Ah!
    POZZO: Help!
    VLADIMIR: Or for night to fall. [ Pause. ]We have kept our appointment, and that’s an end to that. We are not saints, but we
     have kept our appointment. How many people can boast as much?
    ESTRAGON: Billions.
    VLADIMIR: You think so?
    ESTRAGON: I don’t know.
    VLADIMIR: You may be right.
    POZZO: Help!
    VLADIMIR: All I know is that the hours are long, under these conditions, and constrain us to
     beguile them with proceedings which – how shall I say – which may at first sight seem
     reasonable, until they become a habit. You may say it is to prevent our reason from
     foundering. No doubt. But has it not long been straying in the night without end of
     the abyssal depths? That’s what I sometimes wonder. You follow my reasoning?
    ESTRAGON: [ Aphoristic for once. ]We all are born mad. Some remain so.
    POZZO: Help! I’ll pay you!
    ESTRAGON: How much?
    POZZO: One hundred francs!
    ESTRAGON: It’s not enough.
    VLADIMIR: I wouldn’t go so far as that.
    ESTRAGON: You think it’s enough?
    VLADIMIR: No, I mean so far as to assert that I was weak in the head when I came into the world.
     But that is not the question.
    POZZO: Two hundred!
    VLADIMIR: We wait. We are bored. [ He throws up his hand. ] No, don’t protest, we are bored to death, there’s no denying it. Good. A diversion
     comes along and what do we do? We let it go to waste. Come, let’s get to work! [ He advances towards the heap, stops in his stride. ]In an instant all will vanish and we’ll be alone once more, in the midst of nothingness!
    [ He broods. ]
    POZZO: Two hundred!
    VLADIMIR: We’re coming!
    [ He tries to pull POZZO
to his feet, fails, tries again,
stumbles, falls, tries to get up, fails. ]
    ESTRAGON: What’s the matter with you all?
    VLADIMIR: Help!
    ESTRAGON: I’m going.
    VLADIMIR: Don’t leave me! They’ll kill me!
    POZZO: Where am I?
    VLADIMIR: Gogo!
    POZZO: Help!
    VLADIMIR: Help!
    ESTRAGON: I’m going.
    VLADIMIR: Help me up first. Then we’ll go together.
    ESTRAGON: You promise?
    VLADIMIR: I swear it!
    ESTRAGON: And we’ll never come back?
    VLADIMIR: Never!
    ESTRAGON: We’ll go to the