SHOUTS AND MURMURS
i82 the
first
hiss is
heard in the auditorium
caught up and echoed
till
—
a hiss
the uproar takes on the
sound of a crowd trampling something underfoot.
The comedian hand
and
steps forward
for silence.
realize that, after
It
many
lifts
breathless
is
years,
a shaking
when they
he will try at last
to speak, that they are there on the night
the long-muted voice of the Funambules.
He
Deburau
when
will be heard at
does open his mouth, but
no word comes. Then he
falls
back upon the only
language he knows, the eloquent speech of panto-
mime. been,
In gestures he
how
sick
he
is,
them how sick he has that he can no longer play tells
for their delight, that this
He
makes
is
his last appearance.
his excuses, speaks his farewell.
the tears streak
down
the
now
As
tragic white of his
moon-face, he makes his last gesture, a kiss blown
from the Funambules to the gamins of Paris. The curtain, by the chance of a breaking string, comes
down
like the knife of the guillotine.
The
cur-
tain knew.
The
silent audience disperses silently.
In the
moment later the excited manager is busy with the new playbills for the night, but it is Deburau who comes to tell them they need not bother to change the name of the Pierrot. In empty
hall a