Topical Guide 139
Mark Dorset
King Lear
“Hey, Peter! Peter!” [Spike] called. “Wait up!” When she reached me, she was a little out of breath. “It’s such a nice day,” she declared, flinging her arms toward the sky. “What do you say I walk you home? . . . You and I can have a nice talk.” It sounded like a command to me, so I followed her. She walked off, singing “The rain it raineth every day.”
Little Follies, “The Girl with the White Fur Muff”
LEAR
My wits begin to turn.
Come on, my boy: how dost, my boy? art cold?
I am cold myself. Where is this straw, my fellow?
The art of our necessities is strange,
That can make vile things precious. Come, your hovel.
Poor fool and knave, I have one part in my heart
That’s sorry yet for thee.
FOOL
[Singing]
He that has and a little tiny wit—
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,—
Must make content with his fortunes fit,
For the rain it raineth every day.
LEAR
True, my good boy. Come, bring us to this hovel.Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 3, Scene 2
Keeping One’s Mouth Shut, The Wisdom of
When I caught up to her, she raised her arm and I thought she was going to knock me on the ear, but instead she flung her arm across my shoulder and gave me a friendly squeeze.
While we walked along, scraping our shoes on the sidewalk and chatting about this and that, I thought to myself, “Gee, this Spike is pretty nice. It just goes to show that you shouldn’t judge people by reputation or appearance.” I almost thought of sharing this observation with Spike, but when I tried putting it into words, it came out as, “You know, Spike, you’re not the rat that everybody thinks you are,” and so I decided to keep it to myself.Little Follies, “The Girl with the White Fur Muff”
King Lear
“What’re you thinking about so hard? I bet you haven’t heard a word I said.”
“Oh, uh, nothing,” I said. “Just, uh, nothing.”
“‘Speak,’” she said, chewing her gum enthusiastically and giving me that big grin again.
“Nothing,” I said.
“‘Nothing?’” she said, widening the grin so that I could see the gum again and giving me a knock on the shoulder.
“Nothing,” I said.
“Hey! That’s great!” she said. “That was perfect. Maybe you ought to play Cordelia!”
“Huh?” I said. Then I realized what she was getting at. “Oh, I get it,” I said. “Act I, Scene I. Yeah. Very good.”Little Follies, “The Girl with the White Fur Muff”
LEAR
. . . Now, our joy,
Although our last and least, to whose young love
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
Strive to be interessed, what can you say to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters’? Speak.
CORDELIA
Nothing, my lord.
LEAR
Nothing?
CORDELIA
Nothing.
LEAR
Nothing will come of nothing.Shakespeare, King Lear, Act 1, Scene 1
Keeping One’s Mouth Shut, The Wisdom of
“I’ve been practicing. I think I’d be a pretty good Cordelia myself. What do you say?”
“Cordelia?” was what I said.
“Yeah,” said Spike. She poked me in the stomach with her forefinger. “I’m going to try out for the part—and I sure hope I get it.”
“I don’t know—” I began, without knowing how I was going to finish.Little Follies, “The Girl with the White Fur Muff”
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