the end is in the beginning and yet we go on

(...)
HAMM:
Go and get the gaff.
(Clov goes to the door, halts.)
CLOV:
Do this, do that, and I do it. I never refuse. Why?
HAMM:
You're not able to.
CLOV:
Soon I won't do it any more.
HAMM:
You won't be able to any more.
(Exit Clov.)
Ah the creatures, the creatures, everything has to be explained to them.
(Enter Clov with gaff.)
CLOV:
Here's your gaff. Stick it up.
(He gives the gaff to Hamm who, wielding it like a puntpole, tries to move his chair.)
HAMM:
Did I move?
CLOV:
No.
(Hamm throws down the gaff.)
HAMM:
Go and get the oilcan.
CLOV:
What for?
HAMM:
To oil the castors.
CLOV:
I oiled them yesterday.
HAMM:
Yesterday! What does that mean? Yesterday!
CLOV (violently):
That means that bloody awful day, long ago, before this bloody awful day. I use the words you taught me. If they don't mean anything any more, teach me others. Or let me be silent.
(...)

| samuel beckett, endgame, 1957 |