THE KINGDOM OF GOD
A monologue from the
play by Gregorio Martinez Sierra
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NOTE: This monologue is reprinted
from The Plays of G. Martinez Sierra. G. Martinez Sierra.
New York: E.P. Dutton, 1922. |
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CECILIA: I've never known but one . . . and he was
a cur. That's his baby. [Points to the basket.] . . .
because it is his . . . though his devil of a mother does
say it isn't. There it is in a basket and wrapped up in a few
old rags like a kitten . . . and he riding in his carriage. Five
dollars he gave me when the old lady threw me out of the house.
Five dollars! And him with stacks of money. [She started speaking
quietly enough, but now her voice has risen with excitement.]
Just think what I was when I went into service there . . . and
then where I was when I left it! And then on top of it all she
had the face to say to me . . . the old swine . . . that I'd
gone and seduced her son . . . because he wasn't of age! What
about me? I wasn't eighteen. And I know what I ought to have
done instead of coming here like a fool . . . made a scandal
and put the two of them in jail . . . yes, him and his mother
both. For she knew well enough what was going on . . . and as
long as there wasn't a baby coming she was quite pleased for
the boy to be getting his fun at home . . . for then he didn't
want to get married . . . for when he gets married he gets half
of their money, and that doesn't suit her at all. Curse him .
. . and his mother . . . and his child . . . and me too for a
fool to trust what he said to me . . . when he wanted to get
his way. Said he was the master so he was . . . and all that
he had he'd give me. It didn't cost him much, when his mother
threw me out of the house to get out of that little promise.
Think of it . . . think. Five dollars! Five dollars for life
. . . and me with a baby on my back. And if I leave it behind
me here I'm a bad mother. And if I take it I'm marked down a
bad lot wherever I turn.
MORE MONOLOGUES BY GREGORIO MARTINEZ SIERRA |
