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LONGMAN LITERATURE
Equus
Peter Shaffer

Editor: Adrian Burke

scanned by naruchan
proofread by tigger

LONGMAN
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Contents
The writer on writing
Introduction
Structure and form
The role of psychiatry
Characterisation
Passion and religion
Critical reaction to the play
The writing of Equus
Reading log

Author's note on the book

Author's notes on the play
Equus
Glossary: reading the text
Study programme
The play's structure
Staging the play
Character and relationships
The writer's intentions
Themes
Collecting relevant quotations
Beyond the play
Study questions
Suggestions for further reading
Wider reading assignments
5
The writer on writing
I suppose my head has always been full of
images.
Peter Shaffer is one of Britain's foremost
contemporary dramatists. Born in 1926 and
educated at Cambridge he had a variety of jobs
before becoming a playwright. During the Second
World War he worked down a coal-mine; he has
also worked in the New York Public Library and as a
journalist. He was awarded the CBE in the 1987
Birthday Honours List.
His first big success was with Five Finger
Exercise in 1958, which ran for two years in
London before transferring to New York. Other
successes include Amadeus (which has been
filmed), The Private Ear: The Public Eye and
The Royal Hunt of the Sun. This last play
represented a departure for Shaffer as a writer; he
moved from detective stories, naturalistic drama
and farce to epic theatre and the adoption of
avant-garde stage techniques. It was while writing
The Royal Hunt of the Sun that Shaffer first
collaborated with the British theatrical director John
Dexter, who also directed Equus in its first
production at the National Theatre in 1973.
6
Both The Royal Hunt of the Sun and Equus are
above all plays about faith. One of Shaffer's
preoccupations as a writer is with the concept of
worship and human beings' attempts at gaining or
destroying a sense of religious faith. Another of his
concerns is to do with the greyness, the absence of

excitement and ecstasy in contemporary Britain

which extends to its theatre. He has complained
that English theatre 'deplores the large theme' and
that it seems to prefer 'the minute fragment,
minutely observed'. Shaffer's recent plays can be
seen as a reaction to the dreariness and lack of
passion which he sees in much drama. His plays
are ambitious in their scope and what they require
in order to be staged successfully. One stage
direction in The Royal Hunt of the Sun simply
reads: 'They climb the Andes.'
7
If it's a farce, let it be a big screaming farce. If
it's an epic, let it be big History. It's the
tepidness of so much you see - I'd rather go to
the pictures.
The Guardian, 8 August 1973
The Royal Hunt of the Sun was written before
Equus and was first staged in 1964. Its success
was largely due to the way Shaffer handled theatre
action in a very physical manner; of this play he
wrote: 'Visual action is to me as much a part of the
play as the dialogue'. Its subject matter was the
conquest of Peru by Francisco Pizarro and it depicts
the subjugation of 24 million Peruvians by 167
Spanish conquistadors. Shaffer examines the
conflict between Pizarro and Atahuallpa, the Inca
king, who are complete opposites in terms of their
cultures. In common with Equus this earlier play
offered the director the opportunity for spectacular
staging. According to Shaffer,
It was a hugely lavish affair, superbly set and
costumed... this sort of spectacle had not been
seen on drab English stages for some while.
As in Equus, sound, light and movement were an
essential part of the play. At different times the air
would be filled with pulsating drumbeats, animal
cries and ethnic music. The backdrop at the start of
8
the play is a 'huge metal medallion, quartered by
four black crucifixes, sharpened to resemble
swords' out of which later is spilt a flood of 'blood
red cloth' to represent massacre and bloodshed.
Amadeus, which came after Equus, shares with
the other two plays what Shaffer sees as 'a
common preoccupation with worship and man's
attempts to acquire or murder a special divinity'.
Of the three, only Equus has a contemporary
setting although all have their basis in real
historical events. Amadeus concerns the feud
between Mozart and his arch-rival Salieri: the
drama surrounds two very different protagonists,
and once again Shaffer takes the opportunity to

exploit the play's musical elements. Both Equus

and Amadeus boast the rare distinction of having
run for over a thousand performances on
Broadway, and in 1984 Amadeus won the
Academy Award for both script and film.
Shaffer's most recent plays are Yonadab and
Lettice and Lovage which won the Evening
Standard Drama Award for the best comedy of
1988.
Visual action has always been as important to
Shaffer as the words. This is why it is so important
for him to find the right director who can bring his
mental images to life. Both The Royal Hunt of
9
the Sun and Equus were originally staged by the
same director, John Dexter, who seems to have
had a particular ability to realise Shaffer's dramatic
imagery in concrete terms. In Equus Shaffer and
his director have to put on stage a mental world
which can make comprehensible both an horrific
deed and one man's reaction to it.
It is my object to tell tales; to conjure the
spectres of horror and happiness, and fill other
heads with the images which have haunted my
own. My desire, I suppose, is to perturb and
make gasp; to please and make laugh.
If Peter Shaffer's plays often concern passion, it is
perhaps because he is passionate about the
physical work involved in producing a play. For him
the journey from the original idea to its realisation
by actors in front of an audience involves a labour
of love. His is a restless spirit which carves away at
a block of text until its final form is revealed in the
manner of a sculptor. Shaffer has described the
work of a playwright in terms which stress the
craftsmanlike nature of his work: 'a man with
hammer, hammering out a solid structure'.
Shaffer has said that all acts of creation are also
'acts of autobiography'. In fact, he has even
confessed to having been known to ride himself but
10
not obsessively. I'm not Alan Strang.' It might be
argued that Shaffer's tireless work in continually
re-shaping Equus until he found its ideal structure
finds its counterpart within the play in the shape of
Dysart's determination to follow his investigation of
his patient and himself through to its bitter end.
Shaffer has indeed declared himself interested in
people who are passionately involved in the
process of living and this explains his fascination
with a boy who has blinded the animals he loves. 'I
think that people who say "I'm an atheist" are
rather boring. They've just stopped.'

Writing further about Equus, Shaffer observed:

Of all my plays Equus was the most private. I
wrote it for myself. I had no notion how
popular it was to become - its extraordinary
run of well over a thousand performances on
Broadway could never have been remotely
envisaged by me.
The play has been subject to a vast amount of
commentary and misuse: a few doctors
declaring it a madman's charter, some doyour-own-thingers using it as a means to
justify every kind of human aberration. For me
it is a deeply erotic play, and also one of tragic
conflict. Tragedy obviously does not lie in a
11
conflict of Right and Wrong, but in a collision
between two different kinds of Right in this
case, surely, between Dysart's professional
obligation to treat a terrified boy who has
committed a dreadful crime, and Alan's
passionate capacity for worship - his profound
desire to cry 'O Magnum Mysterium!' alone in a
rubbish-strewn field, his burning ecstasy set
against his doctor's careful prosaicism. Dysart
has to do what he does. Let no man say 'Do
your own thing', for example, to Jack the
Ripper. Yet in proceeding by his best and
honourable lights, the doctor cannot but know
that he is in some clear sense the destroyer of
a passion he must forever, and rightly, envy.
Shaffer's genius as a dramatist lies in the ability to
connect factual ideas to an emotional charge.
Perhaps this is the reason for so many of his plays
having their origins in fact: the Spanish conquest
of Latin America; a boy blinding six horses; Mozart
and his arch-rival. He has declared that he would
like to do a play on the Faust legend, in which a
man of great powers sells his soul to the devil.
Such a theme ignites Shaffer's imagination because
'it's a question of what you give for what, and I
don't mean money'. He challenges his audience's
expectations about the theatre and he strives for
'an electricity sparked almost exclusively from the
12
spoken word'.

13
Introduction
Equus has a strong narrative thrust; the audience
is curious to know what drove Alan Strangle
commit his hideous crime. The stage in Equus is
literally haunted by spectral effigies of horses

framing the action in a deliberately unrealistic

manner. Shaffer is most insistent that the actors
should avoid the 'cosy familiarity of a domestic
animal'. His choice of language - direct, sparse,
expletive-strewn - and his depiction of nudity and
violence set out deliberately to shock.
Structure and form
The play's construction resembles that of the
conventional detective story and thus betrays
Shaffer's origins as a writer. The interest of the
play is superficially an answer to the question:
'Why did the boy blind the horses?' However, the
dramatic technique of having Dysart address a
number of asides to the audience breaks the
conventions of naturalistic drama and re-focuses
our attention onto the psychiatrist.
The blinding of the horses is known from the very
start of the play and so any dramatic tension will
derive more from motive than from action. A
revelatory process is one of the ways in which the
14
drama unfolds itself as Dysart persuades Strang to
re-enact the significant events from his childhood
which lead up to the crime. This technique, similar
to flashbacks in film, makes for strong, spare
drama and also enables Dysart to perform the role
of the chorus from classical drama. The play opens
and closes in Dysart's office in a psychiatric
hospital. One of the play's ironies is that Dysart is
made to comment more on himself and his actions
than on those of his patient.
The play's structure is a series of interviews,
principally between Dysart and his patient. These
are interspersed with monologues or asides to the
audience where Dysart reflects upon the action and
its effects on himself as a psychiatrist and as a
man. Dysart dominates the play to such an extent
that it really is almost a one-man show. Such a
structure always poses the danger of becoming too
abstract, too monotonous and lacking in action.
Shaffer avoids such pitfalls by varying the modes
of presentation: swift intercutting, asides, dialogue,
enactment within the main play, the movement
and the spectacle of the horse-figures; all such
devices serve to provide variety, and alternately
wind up and relax the dramatic tension of the play.
The role of psychiatry
15
Through Dysart, the play deals with the human
need for worship and the search for meaning to life
in an apparently godless universe. The loss of a
certain, moral framework poses modern humanity

the problem of how to judge its actions. Dysart

sees the inadequacy of taking an exclusively
psychological view when he is forced to admit the
mystery of the human need for worship. This
realisation drives Dysart to the point of breakdown.
.Moments snap together like magnets, forging
a chain of shackles. Why? I can trace them. I
can even, with time, pull them apart again. But
why at the start they ever magnetized at all just those particular moments of experience
and no others - I don't know. And nor does
anyone else. Yet if I don't know - if I can never
know that - then what am I doing here?.
Act 2, scene 22
Dysart emerges clearly as a Freudian psychiatrist.
He encourages Alan to speak about his childhood
and uncovers the family setting which repressed
his early religious and sexual impulses. He is
interested in Alan's dreams and feels he has
'understood' him once he has got to the root of his
sexual obsession with horses. His main method
involves the psychiatrist in observing how Alan
thinks and by interpreting his dreams. This process
16
forces Alan to re-live the significant events from his
childhood which contributed to his later emotional
disorder.
The Freudian interpretation of human beings'
deepest impulses raises but does not answer the
basic question about the human capacity for evil.
Dysart views Alan's personality as being the result
of his childhood influences. By this account Alan is
neither mad nor evil but the product of his
environment. This is a view which Dora, Alan's
mother challenges:
.Whatever's happened has happened because
of Alan. Alan is himself. Every soul is itself. If
you added up everything we ever did to him,
from his first day on earth to this, you wouldn't
find why he did this terrible thing - because
that's him: not just all of our things added up.
I only know he was my Alan, and then the
Devil came.
Act 2, scene 23
Characterisation
The play has been criticised for the twodimensional nature of the supporting characters.
Dr Dysart dominates the play by his very presence
17
throughout and by his control over the narration
and the patient. There is never any suggestion that

he is untypical of his profession. Dr Dysart does not

stop at analysing his patient; he explains himself
He analyses his marriage and berates himself for
its failure; he goes on to condemn himself for not
simply taking up the cult of the primitive which he
toys with while on holiday in Greece. In contrast,
Alan's childhood in a social vacuum is briefly
sketched through acted flashback and by
statements collected from key witnesses.
The other characters can appear as cardboard roles
or little more than types. For example, to what
extent do we believe in Frank and Dora Strang? It
is arguable that beyond being stereotypes of lowermiddle-class parents they only need to be there to
'explain' Alan's repressed childhood and later
neurosis. If we are really to believe in family
pressures as the chief source of Alan's disturbance
then the relationship between Frank and Dora
requires much more profound and subtle
examination.
Dalton and the Young Horseman are even more
obviously 'horsy' types whom Shaffer seems to
hold in particular contempt. Hesther Salomon is the
only character - apart from Alan - who moves in
the real world of Dysart's consulting room but she
18
is usually no more than a sounding board for the
psychiatrist's confessions. Would the play have
been radically different if these had been
addressed to the audience, like Dysart's other
asides? It might be argued that Jill exists purely as
an 'Eve' character to seduce Alan from his 'Eden' of
the stable.
Passion and religion
Passion rather than religion is perhaps the real
subject of Equus. Dysart broods over the failure of
his marriage which lacks the naked, animal passion
of Alan's relationship with Jill. Alan's parents'
marriage is a pretty sterile affair with Frank sloping
off to see dirty films for some small sexual
gratification.
By comparison Shaffer characterises Jill's
relationship with Alan in terms of naturalness and
caring. Sex between the two young people is seen
as the natural and fitting fulfilment of their
courtship. Jill is the one person who seems to have
no 'hang-ups' about sex. Being with horses is also
seen as a way of gaining satisfaction from the
world. 'Just have fun,' Dalton tells Alan when he
takes him on.

19

Critical reaction to the play

When Equus was first produced it shocked the
critics and its audiences. Its shock lay in its
message about the world which western man has
built for himself: a world which is flat and lacking in
passion and which for most of us is the controlled
mediocrity of suburban life. It is better, says
Shaffer, to worship some god than none, even if
the passion aroused may turn to violence. The
atheist, puritanical father is discovered
surreptitiously visiting a 'dirty film'. Shaffer implies
that it is better to risk all in the way that Alan
does, than to reduce the glories of sexual passion
to squalid, solitary fumblings beneath a raincoat.
He [Alan] lives one hour every three weeks howling in a mist. And after the service kneels
to a slave who stands over him obviously and
unthrowably his master. With my body I thee
worship!.
Act 2, scene 25
Critical reaction has not always been favourable.
More than one critic has found fault with the play's
construction: feeling that the neatness and logic
with which Shaffer's Dr Dysart solves his case
destroy our belief and undermine the play's special
pleading for passion.
20
What was recognised from the outset is the power
of the play as a piece of theatre. The reaction of
The Observer's theatre critic is typical: 'Taken
realistically the play is a dud. Theatrically it is a
triumph.' The intensity of the images dreamed up
by Shaffer, where the actors paw the ground in
silver masks, horse and rider combined, serve to
tell the audience all they need to know about the
boy's obsession. Indeed, there is more than mere
spectacle to the detailed realisation for the play's
staging which Shaffer provides in his Author's
notes on the play (page XXI). They serve as a
precise instrument for the generation of dramatic
tension.
The writing of Equus
Shaffer's first draft was very much concerned with
the blinding of the horses and an attempt to
explain this act. The character of Dysart, the
psychiatrist, had only just started to emerge and
Shaffer was encouraged by the director, John
Dexter, to explore this character more deeply.
Shaffer now embarked on the process of writing
and destroying his writing and re-writing, often
revising his work in the light of criticism and

21
instruction from the director.
One never ends really. It's not just a text,
sacred words written down. The play is
animated in rehearsal. I don't think the role of
a playwright ever ends, not even after the first
night.
Peter Shaffer in an interview in The Guardian, 8
August 1973
Both writer and director decided on a structure
which 'cut across time illogically' to make the
events clear and not to attempt a chronological
narration which an orthodox play might do. This
led Shaffer to the first image of a boy caressing a
horse with which the play opens.
Darkness.
Silence.
Dim light up on the square. In a spotlight
stands Alan Strong, a lean boy of seventeen in
sweater and jeans. In front of him, the horse
Nugget. Alan's pose represents a contour of
great tenderness: his head is pressed against
the shoulder of the horse, his hands stretching
up to fondle its head.
During the re-writing Shaffer developed further the
characters of Alan's parents. Originally, both father
22
and mother had been depicted as being deeply
religious but it suited the purpose of the play to
change Frank into an atheist, thus heightening
dramatic conflict.
The greatest change during re-writing was one of
emphasis. The play's focus moved away from the
boy to concentrate instead on his effect on his
analyst. In Act I Dysart finds himself profoundly
affected by his contact with Alan Strang and in Act
2 he comes to realise the inadequacy of his
psychiatric skills. Peter Shaffer wrote:
. the play, as it grew under my hands, came
more and more to question the ultimate uses
of psychiatry. In the first draft the doctor was
drawn more vaguely; less in the central
position. In the second draft he grew more
prominent, and his self-doubts more important
to the meaning of the play.
For the play to succeed fully, writer and director
were agreed that its climax had to be a verbal one
where Dysart expressed the crisis which was inside
his own head. The set design reflected the desire
to put Dysart on trial, to expose him totally in all
his aspects to the audience. Both audience and

cast were placed in a witness box or an operating

theatre where they could concentrate upon the
23
spectacle of a rational man realising that he no
longer has any control over events.
During the writing process the play became for
Shaffer not only a 'deeply erotic play' but also one
of 'tragic conflict'. The play concludes by
confronting Dysart with an insoluble dilemma. Until
he accepts the idea of a God he cannot operate as
a psychiatrist. However, all his training, his beliefs,
his personal background make it impossible for him
to accept the idea of a God. The character on trial
in Equus is not Alan Strang; it is Martin Dysart.
24
Reading log
One of the easiest ways of keeping track of your
reading is to keep a log book. This can be any
exercise book or folder that you have to hand, but
make sure that you reserve it exclusively for
reflecting on your reading.
After every reading session, write an entry in your
reading log using the following headings as a
guide.
- Discussion/prediction
Is there anything which puzzles you? Note down
any questions you might want to discuss with
friends or with your teacher. Try to predict what
will happen next and later record how close you
were in your predictions. Also, make a note of the
clues in the text which influenced your predictions.
- Character study
To help you keep track of each character and the
part they play, open up a page for each of the
main characters in the play. Note down:
- the part they play in each scene;
- any aspects they reveal of their character;
- relevant comments made by them or by other
characters;
- changes or developments in character.
25
What is your attitude to the character? Does it
change during the course of the play?
- Dramatic significance
Briefly summarise:
- the action of each scene;
- characters involved;
- setting and plot development (show how your
total knowledge of the play has been added to).
Also, make a note of the means by which the
playwright has presented the material, for example

through dialogue, re-enactment, confrontation, and

so on.
- Themes
For each scene make notes on the introduction and
development of the main themes in the play. Say
what you think the attitude of the playwright is to
each theme. Are different characters used to
express different views of the theme?
- Language
What kinds of language does the writer use? Are
characters shown to be different from one another
by the way in which they speak? Is the language
colloquial or poetic? Do characters ever speak in
asides or directly address the audience?
Consider the reasons for the writer's use of
language.
26

"#$$%
27

lor Paul
with loe
28
&$'()*+% ,)'- ), '(- .))/
\hat appears in this book is a description o the
o qvv. at the National 1heatre in July 193. In
description, I am partly satisying mysel, but also partly
demand.
\hen people buy the published text o a new play,

irst production
making this
bowing to
they mostly

want to recall the experience they receied in the theatre. 1hat

experience is composed, o course, not merely o the words they
heard, but the gestures they saw, and the lighting, and the look o
the thing.
1here are, howeer, eils attendant on this sort o description. It
can imprison a play in one particular stylization. Just as seriously, it
can do a real injustice to the original Director, by incorporating his
ideas without truly acknowledging them. \orse, i the Director is
as inentie as John Dexter, it can actually seem to minimise those
ideas, just by latly setting down on paper what was ar rom lat on
the stage, and listing inexpressiely details o his work which, in
accumulation, became deeply expressie.
Dexter directs powerully through suggestion. Into the theatrical
spaces he contries, lows the communal imagination o an
audience. le enables it to charge the action o a play with electric
lie. le is a master o gesture and o economy. Aesthetically, his
ounding athers are Noh Drama and Bertholt Brecht: the plain
plank, the clear light, the great pleasure in a set-piece. I do not
mean by this that he would eer direct a single minute o physical
action which detracted rom the meaning o a play, or in some
grand isual sense suberted it - he sharply dislikes eect isolated
rom context - but he is naturally and rightly drawn to plays which
demand elaborate physical actions to complete them.
1be Ro,at vvt of tbe vv and tac/ Covea,, both o which he
directed, are such pieces: and so is qvv.. 1heir isual action is to
29
me as much a part o the play as the dialogue. I suppose my head
has always been ull o images. 1he gold masks staring hopeully
and then in gathering despair at the sky, at the end o 1be Ro,at
vvt of tbe vv, had been part o my imagination eer since I irst
saw a Peruian uneral mask with its elongated eyes and redsmeared cheeks. Brindsley Miller in the lit-up darkness of tac/
Covea,, slowly moing the spiky legs o a Regency chair one inch
beore the innocent ace o his spinster neighbour, had tiptoed that
ery journey in my head as I sat at my desk. But such images, like
the lield o la la in qvv. with its mist and nettles, still hae to
be externalized. In John Dexter's courageous and precise staging,
they acquire a ibrant and unorgettable lie.
\hile I am conessing debts, let me mention John Napier who
created the tough, bright masks o horsedom, Andy Phillips who lit
them superbly, and aboe all, Claude Chagrin, who animated them.
She created, with the help o six human actors, a stable o
Superhorses to stalk through the mind.
linally, out o a ine company I must set down the names o three
actors who made the irst perormance o this play lie with a ery
special intensity. Alec McCowen's D,.art touched audiences deeply
with its dry agony. Peter lirth's .tav let them sighing with
admiration. Nicholas Clay's horse, ^vgget was, quite simply,
unorgettable.
Rehearsing a play is making the word lesh. Publishing a play is
reersing the process. I can only hope this book is not too unjust
to these brilliant people.
30
&$'()*+% ,)'-% ), '(- 0123
One weekend oer two years ago, I was driing with a riend
through bleak countryside. \e passed a stable. Suddenly he was
reminded by it o an alarming crime which he had heard about

recently at a dinner party in London. le knew only one horrible

detail, and his complete mention o it could barely hae lasted a
minute - but it was enough to arouse in me an intense ascination.
1he act had been committed seeral years beore by a highly
disturbed young man. It had deeply shocked a local bench o
magistrates. It lacked, inally, any coherent explanation.
A ew months later my riend died. I could not eriy what he had
said, or ask him to expand it. le had gien me no name, no place,
and no time. I don't think he knew them. All I possessed was his
report o a dreadul eent, and the eeling it engendered in me. I
knew ery strongly that I wanted to interpret it in some entirely
personal way. I had to create a mental world in which the deed
could be made comprehensible.
Lery person and incident in qvv. is o my own inention, sae
the crime itsel: and een that I modiied to accord with what I eel
to be acceptable theatrical proportion. I am grateul now that I
hae neer receied conirmed details o the real story, since my
concern has been more and more with a dierent kind o
exploration.
I hae been lucky, in doing inal work on the play, to hae enjoyed
the adice and expert comment o a distinguished child
psychiatrist. 1hrough him I hae tried to keep things real in a more
naturalistic sense. I hae also come to perceie that psychiatrists
are an immensely aried breed, proessing immensely aried
methods and techniques. Martin Dysart is simply one doctor in one
hospital. I must take responsibility or him, as I do or his patient.
31
1be .et
A square o wood set on a circle o wood.
1he square resembles a railed boxing ring. 1he rail, also o wood,
encloses three sides. It is perorated on each side by an opening.
Under the rail are a ew ertical slats, as i in a ence. On the
downstage side there is no rail. 1he whole square is set on ball
bearings, so that by slight pressure rom actors standing round it
on the circle, it can be made to turn round smoothly by hand.
On the square are set three little plain benches, also o wood. 1hey
are placed parallel with the rail, against the slats, but can be moed
out by the actors to stand at right angles to them.
Set into the loor o the square, and lush with it, is a thin metal
pole, about a yard high. 1his can be raised out o the loor, to
stand upright. It acts as a support or the actor playing Nugget,
when he is ridden.
In the area outside the circle stand benches. 1wo downstage let
and right, are cured to accord with the circle. 1he let one is used
by Dysart as a listening and obsering post when he is out o the
square, and also by Alan as his hospital bed. 1he right one is used
by Alan's parents, who sit side by side on it. ,Viewpoint is rom the
main body o the audience.,
lurther benches stand upstage, and accommodate the other actors.
All the cast o qvv. sits on stage the entire eening. 1hey get up
to perorm their scenes, and return when they are done to their
places around the set. 1hey are witnesses, assistants - and especially
a Chorus.
Upstage, orming a backdrop to the whole, are tiers o seats in the
ashion o a dissecting theatre, ormed into two railed-o blocks,
pierced by a central tunnel. In these blocks sit members o the

audience. During the play, Dysart addresses them directly rom

32
time to time, as he addresses the main body o the theatre. No
other actor eer reers to them.
1o let and right, downstage, stand two ladders on which are
suspended horse masks.
1he colour o all benches is olie green.
Aboe the stage hangs a battery o lights, set in a huge metal ring.
Light cues, in this ersion, will be only o the most general
description.
1be bor.e.
1he actors wear track-suits o chestnut elet. On their eet are
light strutted hooes, about our inches high, set on metal horseshoes. On their hands are gloes o the same colour. On their
heads are tough masks made o alternating bands o siler wire and
leather: their eyes are outlined by leather blinkers. 1he actors' own
heads are seen beneath them: no attempt should be made to
conceal them.
Any literalism which could suggest the cosy amiliarity o a
domestic animal - or worse, a pantomime horse - should be
aoided. 1he actors should neer crouch on all ours, or een bend
orward. 1hey must always - except on the one occasion where
Nugget is ridden - stand upright, as i the body o the horse
extended inisibly behind them. Animal eect must be created
entirely mimetically, through the use o legs, knees, neck, ace, and
the turn o the head which can moe the mask aboe it through all
the gestures o equine wariness and pride. Great care must also be
taken that the masks are put on beore the audience with ery
precise timing - the actors watching each other, so that the masking
has an exact and ceremonial eect.
33
1be Cborv.
Reerences are made in the text to the Lquus Noise. I hae in mind
a choric eect, made by all the actors sitting round upstage, and
composed o humming, thumping, and stamping - though neer o
neighing or whinnying. 1his Noise heralds or illustrates the
presence o Lquus the God.
4(2*25'-*%
6&789: ;<=&78, a .,cbiatri.t
&>&: =87&:?
@7&:A =87&:?B !"# %&'!()
;C7& =87&:?B !"# *+'!()
D"=8D"7 =&>C6C:B & *&,"#')&'(
E9>> 6&=C:
D&77< ;&>8C:, a .tabte orver
& <CF:? ;&>8C:
& :F7="
Six actors - ivctvaivg tbe Yovvg or.evav, rbo at.o ta,. ^vgget aear

a. or.e..
1be vaiv actiov of tbe ta, ta/e. tace iv Ro/eb, P.,cbiatric o.itat iv
ovtberv vgtava.
1be tive i. tbe re.evt.
1be ta, i. airiaea ivto vvvberea .ceve., ivaicativg a cbavge of tive or tocate
or vooa: 1be actiov, borerer, i. covtivvov..
34
35
&5' C,G
Dar/ve...
itevce.
Div tigbt v ov tbe .qvare. v a .ottigbt .tava. .tav travg, a teav bo, of
.erevteev, iv .reater ava ;eav.. v frovt of biv, tbe bor.e ^vgget. .tav. o.e
rere.evt. a covtovr of great tevaerve..: bi. beaa i. re..ea agaiv.t tbe .bovtaer
of tbe bor.e, bi. bava. .tretcbivg v to fovate it. beaa. 1be bor.e iv tvrv
vvte. bi. vec/.
1be ftave of a cigarette tigbter ;vv. iv tbe aar/. igbt. cove v .tort, ov tbe
circte. Ov tbe teft bevcb, aorv.tage, Martiv D,.art, .vo/ivg. . vav iv bi.
viafortie..
;<=&78 \ith one particular horse, called Nugget, he embraces.
1he animal digs its sweaty brow into his cheek, and they stand in
the dark or an hour - like a necking couple. And o all nonsensical
things - I keep thinking about the bor.e! Not the boy: the horse, and
what it may be trying to do. I keep seeing that huge head kissing
him with its chained mouth. Nudging through the metal some
desire absolutely irreleant to illing its belly or propagating its own
kind. \hat desire could that be Not to stay a horse any longer
Not to remain reined up or eer in those particular genetic strings
Is it possible, at certain moments we cannot imagine, a horse can
add its suerings together - the non-stop jerks and jabs that are its
daily lie - and turn them into grie \hat use is grie to a horse
.tav teaa. ^vgget ovt of tbe .qvare ava tbe, ai.aear togetber v tbe tvvvet,
tbe bor.e. boore. .craivg aeticatet, ov tbe rooa.
D,.art ri.e., ava aaare..e. botb tbe targe avaievce iv tbe tbeatre ava tbe
36
.vatter ove ov .tage.
\ou see, I'm lost. \hat use, I should be asking, are questions like
these to an oerworked psychiatrist in a proincial hospital
1hey're worse than useless: they are, in act, subersie.
e evter. tbe .qvare. 1be tigbt gror. brigbter.
1he thing is, I'm desperate. \ou see, I'm wearing that horse's head
mysel. 1hat's the eeling. All reined up in old language and old
assumptions, straining to jump clean-hooed on to a whole new
track o being I only suspect is there. I can't see it, because my
educated, aerage head is being held at the wrong angle. I can't
jump because the bit orbids it, and my own basic orce - my
horsepower, i you like - is too little. 1he only thing I know or

sure is this: a horse's head is inally unknowable to me. \et I

handle children's heads - which I must presume to be more
complicated, at least in the area o my chie concern.. In a way, it
has nothing to do with this boy. 1he doubts hae been there or
years, piling up steadily in this dreary place. It's only the extremity
o this case that's made them actie. I know that. 1he etrevit, is
the point! All the same, whateer the reason, they are now, these
doubts, not just aguely worrying - but intolerable. I'm sorry. I'm
not making much sense. Let me start properly: in order. It began
one Monday last month, with lesther's isit.
H
1be tigbt get. rarver. e .it.. ^vr.e evter. tbe .qvare.
:F7=" Mrs Salomon to see you, Doctor.
;<=&78 Show her in, please.
^vr.e teare. ava cro..e. to rbere e.tber .it..
Some days I blame lesther. She brought him to me. But o course
37
that's nonsense. \hat is he but a last straw A last symbol I it
hadn't been him, it would hae been the next patient, or the next.
At least, I suppose so.
e.tber evter. tbe .qvare: a rovav iv ber viafortie..
D"=8D"7 lallo, Martin.
D,.art ri.e. ava /i..e. ber ov tbe cbee/.
;<=&78 Madam Chairman! \elcome to the torture chamber!
D"=8D"7 It's good o you to see me right away.
;<=&78 \ou're a welcome relie. 1ake a couch.
D"=8D"7 It's been a day
;<=&78 No - just a iteen year old schizophrenic, and a girl o
eight thrashed into catatonia by her ather. Normal, really.
\ou're in a state.
D"=8D"7 Martin, this is the most shocking case I eer tried.
;<=&78 So you said on the phone.
D"=8D"7 I mean it. My bench wanted to send the boy to
prison. lor lie, i they could manage it. It took me two hours solid
arguing to get him sent to you instead.
;<=&78 Me
D"=8D"7 I mean, to hospital.
;<=&78 Now look, lesther. Beore you say anything else, I can
take no more patients at the moment. I can't een cope with the
ones I hae.
D"=8D"7 \ou must.
;<=&78 \hy
D"=8D"7 Because most people are going to be disgusted by the
whole thing. Including doctors.
;<=&78 MA\ I RLMIND \OU I SlARL 1lIS ROOM \I1l 1\O
lIGlL\ competent psychiatrists
D"=8D"7 Bennett and 1horoughgood. 1hey'll be as shocked as
the public.
38
;<=&78 1lA1'S AN ABSOLU1LL\ UN\ARRAN1ABLL
S1A1LMLN1.
D"=8D"7 Ol, 1lL\'LL BL COOL AND LXAC1. AND
UNDLRNLA1l they'll be reolted, and immoably Lnglish. Just like
my bench.
;<=&78 \ell, what am I Polynesian

D"=8D"7 \ou know exactly what I mean!. ;av.e) Please,

Martin. It's ital. \ou're this boy's only chance.
;<=&78 \hy \hat's he done Dosed some little girl's Pepsi
with Spanish lly \hat could possibly throw your bench into twohour conulsions
D"=8D"7 le blinded six horses with a metal spike.
. tovg av.e.
;<=&78 Blinded
D"=8D"7 \es.
;<=&78 All at once, or oer a period
D"=8D"7 All on the same night.
;<=&78 \here
D"=8D"7 In a riding stable near \inchester. le worked there
at weekends.
;<=&78 low old
D"=8D"7 Seenteen.
;<=&78 \hat did he say in Court
D"=8D"7 Nothing. le just sang.
;<=&78 Sang
D"=8D"7 Any time anyone asked him anything.
Pav.e.
Please take him, Martin. It's the last aour I'll eer ask you.
;<=&78 No, it's not.
D"=8D"7 No, it's not - and he's probably abominable. All I
know is, he needs you badly. Because there really is nobody within
a hundred miles o your desk who can handle him. And perhaps
39
understand what this is about. Also.
;<=&78 \hat
D"=8D"7 1here's something ery special about him.
;<=&78 In what way
D"=8D"7 Vibrations.
;<=&78 \ou and your ibrations.
D"=8D"7 1hey're quite startling. \ou'll see.
;<=&78 \hen does he get here
D"=8D"7 1omorrow morning. Luckily there was a bed in
Neille \ard. I know this is an awul imposition, Martin. lrankly I
didn't know what else to do.
Pav.e.
;<=&78 Can you come in and see me on lriday
D"=8D"7 Bless you!
;<=&78 I you come ater work I can gie you a drink. \ill 6.30
be all right
D"=8D"7 \ou're a dear. \ou really are.
;<=&78 lamous or it.
D"=8D"7 Goodbye.
;<=&78 By the way, what's his name
D"=8D"7 Alan Strang.
be teare. ava retvrv. to ber .eat.
;<=&78 ;to avaievce) \hat did I expect o him Very little, I
promise you. One more dented little ace. One more adolescent
reak. 1he usual unusual. One great thing about being in the
adjustment business: you're neer short o customers.
^vr.e cove. aorv tbe tvvvet, fottorea b, .tav. be evter. tbe .qvare.
:F7=" Alan Strang, Doctor.
1be bo, cove. iv.
;<=&78 lallo. My name's Martin Dysart. I'm pleased to meet
you.
e vt. ovt bi. bava. .tav aoe. vot re.ova iv av, ra,.

40
1hat'll be all, Nurse, thank you.
I
^vr.e goe. ovt ava bac/ to ber tace. D,.art .it., oevivg a fite.
So: did you hae a good journey I hope they gae you lunch at
least. Not that there's much to choose between a British Rail meal
and one here.
.tav .tava. .tarivg at biv.
;<=&78 \on't you sit down
Pav.e. e aoe. vot. D,.art cov.vtt. bi. fite.
Is this your ull name Alan Strang
itevce.
And you're seenteen. Is that right Seenteen. \ell
&>&: ;.ivgivg tor) Double your pleasure
Double your un
\ith Doublemint, Doublemint
Doublemint gum.
;<=&78 ;vvertvrbea) Now, let's see. \ou work in an electrical
shop during the week. \ou lie with your parents, and your ather's
a printer. \hat sort o things does he print
&>&: ;.ivgivg tovaer) Double your pleasure
Double your un
\ith Doublemint, Doublemint
Doublemint gum.
;<=&78 I mean does he do lealets and calendars 1hings like
that
1be bo, aroacbe. biv, bo.tite.
&>&: ;.ivgivg) 1ry the taste o Martini
1he most beautiul drink in the world.
41
It's the right one 1he bright one 1hat's Martini!
;<=&78 I wish you'd sit down, i you're going to sing. Don't you
think you'd be more comortable
Pav.e.
&>&: ;.ivgivg) 1here's only one 1 in 1yphoo!
In packets and in teabags too.
Any way you make it, you'll ind it's true:
1here's only one 1 in 1yphoo!
;<=&78 ;areciatiret,) Now that's a good song. I like it better
than the other two. Can I hear that one again
.tav .tart. ara, frov biv, ava .it. ov tbe v.tage bevcb.
&>&: ;.ivgivg) Double your pleasure
Double your un
\ith Doublemint, Doublemint
Doublemint gum.
;<=&78 ;.vitivg) \ou know I was wrong. I really do think that
one's better. It's got such a catchy tune. Please do that one again.
itevce. 1be bo, gtare. at biv.
I'm going to put you in a priate bedroom or a little while. 1here
are one or two aailable, and they're rather more pleasant than
being in a ward. \ill you please come and see me tomorrow.
;e ri.e.) By the way, which parent is it who won't allow you to
watch teleision Mother or ather Or is it both ;cattivg ovt of tbe

aoor) Nurse!
.tav .tare. at biv. ^vr.e cove. iv.
:F7=" \es, Doctor
;<=&78 1ake Strang here to Number 1hree, will you le's
moing in there or a while.
:F7=" Very good, Doctor.
;<=&78 ;to .tav) \ou'll like that room. It's nice.
42
1be bo, .it. .tarivg at D,.art. D,.art retvrv. tbe .tare.
:F7=" Come along, young man. 1his way. I said this way,
please.
Retvctavtt, .tav ri.e. ava goe. to ^vr.e, a..ivg aavgerov.t, cto.e to D,.art,
ava ovt tbrovgb tbe teft aoor. D,.art too/. after biv, fa.civatea.
J
^vr.e ava atievt vore ov to tbe circte, ava rat/ aorv.tage to tbe bevcb
rbere tbe aoctor fir.t .at, rbicb i. to .erre at.o a. .tav. bea.
:F7=" \ell now: isn't this nice \ou're lucky to be in here, you
know, rather than the ward. 1hat ward's a noisy old place.
&>&: ;.ivgivg) Let's go where you wanna go - 1exaco!
:F7=" ;covtevtativg biv) I hope you're not going to make a
nuisance o yoursel. \ou'll hae a much better time o it here, you
know, i you behae yoursel.
&>&: lUCK Oll.
:F7=" ;tigbt) 1hat's the bell there. 1he la's down the corridor.
be teare. biv, ava goe. bac/ to ber tace. .tav tie. aorv.
K
D,.art .tava. iv tbe viaate of tbe .qvare ava aaare..e. tbe avaievce. e i.
agitatea.
;<=&78 1hat night, I had this ery explicit dream. In it I'm a
chie priest in lomeric Greece. I'm wearing a wide gold mask, all
noble and bearded, like the so-called Mask o Agamemnon ound
at Mycenae. I'm standing by a thick round stone and holding a
sharp knie. In act, I'm oiciating at some immensely important
43
ritual sacriice, on which depends the ate o the crops or o a
military expedition. 1he sacriice is a herd o children: about ie
hundred boys and girls. I can see them stretching away in a long
queue, right across the plain o Argos. I know it's Argos because o
the red soil. On either side o me stand two assistant priests,
wearing masks as well: lumpy, pop-eyed masks, such as also were
ound at Mycenae. 1hey are enormously strong, these other priests,
and absolutely tireless. As each child steps orward, they grab it
rom behind and throw it oer the stone. 1hen, with a surgical skill
which amazes een me, I it in the knie and slice elegantly down to
the nael, just like a seamstress ollowing a pattern. I part the laps,
seer the inner tubes, yank them out and throw them hot and
steaming on to the loor. 1he other two then study the pattern they
make, as i they were reading hieroglyphics. It's obious to me that
I'm tops as chie priest. It's this unique talent or caring that has
got me where I am. 1he only thing is, unknown to them, I'e
started to eel distinctly nauseous. And with each ictim, it's getting
worse. My ace is going green behind the mask. O course, I

redouble my eorts to look proessional - cutting and snipping or

all I'm worth: mainly because I know that i eer those two
assistants so much as glimpse my distress - and the implied doubt
that this repetitie and smelly work is doing any social good at all I will be the next across the stone. And then, o course - the damn
mask begins to slip. 1he priests both turn and look at it - it slips
some more - they see the green sweat running down my ace - their
gold pop-eyes suddenly ill up with blood - they tear the knie out
o my hand. and I wake up.
L
e.tber evter. tbe .qvare. igbt gror. rarver.
44
D"=8D"7 1hat's the most indulgent thing I eer heard.
;<=&78 \ou think
D"=8D"7 Please don't be ridiculous. \ou'e done the most
superb work with children. \ou must know that.
;<=&78 \es, but do the children
D"=8D"7 Really!
;<=&78 I'm sorry.
D"=8D"7 So you should be.
;<=&78 I don't know why you listen. It's just proessional
menopause. Leryone gets it sooner or later. Lxcept you.
D"=8D"7 Oh, o course. I eel totally it to be a magistrate all
the time.
;<=&78 No, you don't - but then that's you eeling unworthy to
ill a job. I eel the job is unworthy to ill me.
D"=8D"7 Do you seriously
;<=&78 MORL AND MORL. I'D LIKL 1O SPLND 1lL NLX1 1LN
\LARS wandering ery slowly around the reat Greece. Anyway, all
this dream nonsense is your ault.
D"=8D"7 Mine
;<=&78 I1'S 1lA1 LAD Ol \OURS \lO S1AR1LD I1 Oll. DO
\OU KNO\ it's his ace I saw on eery ictim across the stone
D"=8D"7 Strang
;<=&78 lL lAS 1lL S1RANGLS1 S1ARL I LVLR ML1.
D"=8D"7 \es.
;<=&78 I1'S LXAC1L\ LIKL BLING ACCUSLD. VIOLLN1L\
ACCUSLD. BU1 what o. 1reating him is going to be unsettling.
Lspecially in my present state. lis singing was direct enough. lis
speech is more so.
D"=8D"7 ;.vrri.ea) le's talking to you, then
;<=&78 Oh yes. It took him two more days o commercials, and
then he snapped. Just like that - I suspect it has something to do
with his nightmares.
45
^vr.e rat/. bri./t, rovva tbe circte, a btav/et orer ber arv, a ctiboara of
vote. iv ber bava.
D"=8D"7 le has nightmares
;<=&78 Bad ones.
:F7=" \e had to gie him a sedatie or two, Doctor. Last night
it was exactly the same.
;<=&78 ;to ^vr.e) \hat does he do Call out
:F7=" ;to ae./) A lot o screaming, Doctor.
;<=&78 ;to ^vr.e) Screaming
:F7=" One word in particular.

;<=&78 ;to ^vr.e) \ou mean a special word

:F7=" Oer and oer again, ;cov.vttivg ctiboara) It sounds like
'Lk'.
D"=8D"7 Lk
:F7=" \es, Doctor. Lk. 'Lk!' he goes. 'Lk!'
lLS1LR low weird.
:F7=" \hen I woke him up he clung to me like he was going to
break my arm.
be .to. at .tav. bea. e i. .ittivg v. be vt. tbe btav/et orer biv, ava
retvrv. to ber tace.
;<=&78 And then he burst in - just like that - without knocking
or anything. lortunately, I didn't hae a patient with me.
&>&: ;;vvivg v) Daa!
D"=8D"7 \hat
;<=&78 1he answer to a question I'd asked him two days beore.
Spat out with the same anger as he sang the commercials.
D"=8D"7 Dad what
&>&: \ho hates telly.
e tie. aorv.tage ov tbe circte, a. if ratcbivg teteri.iov.
D"=8D"7 \ou mean his dad orbids him to watch
;<=&78 \es.
&>&: It's a dangerous drug.
46
D"=8D"7 Oh, really!
rav/ .tava. v ava evter. tbe .ceve aorv.tage ov tbe circte. . vav iv bi.
fiftie..
@7&:A ;to .tav) It may not look like that, but that's what it is.
Absolutely atal mentally, i you receie my meaning.
Dora fottor. biv ov. be i. at.o viaateagea.
;C7& 1hat's a little extreme, dear, isn't it
@7&:A \OU SI1 IN lRON1 Ol 1lA1 1lING LONG LNOUGl,
\OU'LL BLCOML S1UPID lOR LIlL - LIKL MOS1 Ol 1lL
POPULA1ION. ;1O ..^) 1lL 1lING IS, I1'S A !Z. I1 SLLMS 1O
BL OllLRING \OU SOML1lING, BU1 AC1UALL\ I1'S 1AKING
SOML1lING A\A\. \OUR IN1LLLIGLNCL AND \OUR
CONCLN1RA1ION, LVLR\ MINU1L \OU \A1Cl I1. 1lA1'S A 1RUL
S\IZ, DO \OU SLL
eatea ov tbe ftoor, .tav .brvg..
I don't want to sound like a spoilsport, old chum - but there really
is no substitute or reading. \hat's the matter: don't you like it
&>&: I1'S ALL RIGl1.
@7&:A I KNO\ \OU 1lINK I1'S NONL Ol M\ BLLS\AX, BU1 I1
RLALL\ IS \OU KNO\. AC1UALL\, I1'S A DISGRACL \lLN \OU
COML 1O 1lINK Ol I1. \OU 1lL SON Ol A PRIN1LR, AND NLVLR
OPLNING A BOOK! Il ALL 1lL \ORLD \AS LIKL \OU, I'D BL OU1
Ol A JOB, Il \OU RLCLIVL M\ MLANING!
;C7& ALL 1lL SAML, 1IMLS ClANGL, lRANK.
@7&:A ;rea.ovabt,) 1hey change i you let them change, Dora.
Please return that set in the morning.
&>&: ;CRY^C O|1) NO!
;C7& lRANK! NO!
@7&:A I'm sorry, Dora, but I'm not haing that thing in the
house a moment longer. I told you I didn't want it to begin with.
;C7& But, dear, eeryone watches teleision these days!
@7&:A \es, and what do they watch Mindless iolence!
47
Mindless jokes! Lery ie minutes some laughing idiot selling you
something you don't want, just to bolster up the economic system.

;to .tav) I'm sorry, old chum.

e teare. tbe .ceve ava .it. agaiv iv bi. tace.
D"=8D"7 le's a Communist, then
;<=&78 Old-type Socialist, I'd say. Relentlessly sel-improing.
D"=8D"7 1hey're botb older than you'd expect.
;<=&78 So I gather.
;C7& ;too/ivg after rav/) Really, dear, you are ery extreme!
be teare. tbe .ceve too, ava agaiv .it. be.iae ber bv.bava.
D"=8D"7 She's an ex-school teacher, isn't she
;<=&78 \es. 1he boy's proud o that. \e got on to it this
aternoon.
&>&: ;bettigerevtt,, .tavaivg v) She knows more than you.
e.tber cro..e. ava .it. b, D,.art. Dvrivg tbe fottorivg, tbe bo, rat/. rovva
tbe circte, .ea/ivg to D,.art bvt vot too/ivg at biv. D,.art retie. iv tbe
.ave vavver.
;<=&78 ;to .tav) Does she
&>&: I bet I do too. I bet I know more history than you.
;<=&78 ;to .tav) \ell, I bet you don't.
&>&: All right: who was the lammer o the Scots
;<=&78 ;to .tav) I don't know: who
&>&: King Ldward the lirst. \ho neer smiled again
;<=&78 ;to .tav) I don't know: who
&>&: \ou don't know anything, do you It was lenry the lirst. I
know all the Kings.
;<=&78 ;to .tav) And who's your aourite
&>&: John.
;<=&78 ;to .tav) \hy
&>&: Because he put out the eyes o that smarty little Pav.e.
;.ev.ivg be ba. .aia .ovetbivg rrovg) \ell, he didn't really. le was
48
preented, because the gaoler was merciul!
D"=8D"7 Oh dear.
&>&: e ra. rerevtea!
;<=&78 Something odder was to ollow.
&>&: \ho said 'Religion is the opium o the people'
D"=8D"7 GOOD LORD!
.tav giggte..
;<=&78 1he odd thing was, he said it with a sort o guilty
snigger. 1he sentence is obiously associated with some kind o
tension.
D"=8D"7 \hat did you say
;<=&78 I gae him the right answer, ;to .tav) Karl Marx.
&>&: No.
;<=&78 ;to .tav) 1hen who
&>&: Mind your own beeswax.
;<=&78 It's probably his dad. le may say it to prooke his wie.
D"=8D"7 And you mean she's religious
;<=&78 She could be. I tried to discoer - none too successully.
&>&: Mind your own beeswax!
.tav goe. bac/ to bea ava tie. aorv iv tbe aar/.
;<=&78 loweer, I shall ind out on Sunday.
D"=8D"7 \hat do you mean
;<=&78 ;gettivg v) I want to hae a look at his home, so I inited
mysel oer.
D"=8D"7 Did you
;<=&78 I there's any tension oer religion, it should be eident
on a Sabbath eening! I'll let you know.
e /i..e. ber cbee/ ava tbe, art, botb tearivg tbe .qvare. e.tber .it. iv ber

tace agaiv; D,.art rat/. rovva tbe circte, ava greet. Dora rbo .tava. raitivg
for biv aorv.tage.
49
M
;<=&78 ;.ba/ivg bava.) Mrs Strang.
;C7& Mr Strang's still at the Press, I'm araid. le should be
home in a minute.
;<=&78 le works Sundays as well
;C7& Oh, yes. le doesn't set much store by Sundays.
;<=&78 Perhaps you and I could hae a little talk beore he
comes in.
;C7& Certainly. \on't you come into the liing room
be teaa. tbe ra, ivto tbe .qvare. be i. rer, verrov..
Please.
be votiov. biv to .it, tbev bota. ber bava. tigbtt, togetber.
;<=&78 Mrs Strang, hae you any idea how this thing could hae
occurred
;C7& I can't imagine, Doctor. It's all so unbelieable!. Alan's
always been such a gentle boy. le loes animals! Lspecially horses.
;<=&78 Lspecially
;C7& \es. le een has a photograph o one up in his bedroom.
A beautiul white one, looking oer a gate. lis ather gae it to him
a ew years ago, o a calendar he'd printed - and he's neer taken it
down. And when he was seen or eight, I used to hae to read
him the same book oer and oer, all abovt a horse.
;<=&78 Really
;C7& \es: it was called Prince, and no one could ride him.
.tav catt. frov bi. bea, vot too/ivg at bi. votber.
&>&: ;ecitea, ,ovvger roice) \hy not. \hy not. Say it! In his
oice!
;C7& le loed the idea o animals talking.
;<=&78 Did he
50
&>&: a, it! a, it!. |.e bi. roice!
;C7& ;rova roice) 'Because I am aithul!'
.tav giggte..
'My name is Prince, and I'm a Prince among horses! Only my
young Master can ride me! Anyone else - I'll tbror off!
.tav giggte. tovaer.
And then I remember I used to tell him a unny thing about alling
o horses. Did you know that when Christian caalry irst
appeared in the New \orld, the pagans thought horse and rider
was one person
;<=&78 Really
&>&: ;.ittivg v, avaea) One person
;C7& Actually, they thought it must be a god.
&>&: . goa!
;C7& It was only when one rider ell o, they realized the truth.
;<=&78 1hat's ascinating. I neer heard that beore. Can you
remember anything else like that you may hae told him about
horses
;C7& \ell, not really. 1hey're in the Bible, o course. 'le saith
among the trumpets, la, ha.'
;<=&78 la, ha
;C7& 1he Book o Job. Such a noble passage. Yov know -

;qvotivg) 'last thou gien the horse strength'

&>&: ;re.ovaivg) 'last thou clothed his neck with thunder'
;C7& ;to .tav) '1he glory o his nostrils is terrible!'
&>&: 'le swallows the ground with ierceness and rage!'
;C7& 'le saith among the trumpets -'
&>&: ;trvvetivg) 'la! la!'
;C7& ;to D,.art) Isn't that splendid
;<=&78 It certainly is.
&>&: ;trvvetivg) la! la!
;C7& And then, o course, we saw an awul lot o \esterns on
51
the teleision. le couldn't hae enough o those.
;<=&78 But surely you don't hae a set, do you I understood
Mr Strang doesn't approe.
;C7& ;cov.iratoriatt,) le doesn't. I used to let him slip o in
the aternoons to a riend next door.
;<=&78 ;.vitivg) \ou mean without his ather's knowledge
;C7& \lA1 1lL L\L DOLS NO1 SLL, 1lL lLAR1 DOLS NO1
GRILVL oer, does it Anyway, \esterns are harmless enough,
surely
rav/ .tava. v ava evter. tbe .qvare. .tav tie. bac/ vvaer tbe btav/et.
;to rav/) Oh, hallo dear. 1his is Dr Dysart.
@7&:A ;.ba/ivg bava.) low d'you do
;<=&78 low d'you do
;C7& I was just telling the Doctor, Alan's always adored horses.
@7&:A ;tigbt) \e assumed he did.
;C7& \ou know he did, dear. Look how he liked that
photograph you gae him.
@7&:A ;.tarttea) \hat about it
;C7& Nothing dear. Just that he pestered you to hae it as soon
as he saw it. Do you remember ;to D,.art) \e'e always been a
horsey amily. At least my side o it has. My grandather used to
ride eery morning on the downs behind Brighton, all dressed up
in bowler hat and jodhpurs! le used to look splendid. Indulging in
equitation, he called it.
rav/ vore. ara, frov tbev ava .it. rearit,.
&>&: ;tr,ivg tbe rora) Lquitation.
;C7& I remember I told him how that came rom eqvv., the Latin
word or horse. Alan was ascinated by that word, I know. I
suppose because he'd neer come across one with two U's together
beore.
&>&: ;.arovrivg it) qvv.!
;C7& I always wanted the boy to ride himsel. le'd hae so
52
enjoyed it.
;<=&78 But surely he did
;C7& No.
;<=&78 Neer
;C7& le didn't care or it. le was most deinite about not
wanting to.
;<=&78 But he must hae had to at the stables I mean, it would
be part o the job.
;C7& \ou'd hae thought so, but no. le absolutely wouldn't,
would he, dear
@7&:A ;ar,t,) It seems he was perectly happy raking out manure.
;<=&78 Did he eer gie a reason or this
;C7& No. I must say we both thought it most peculiar, but he
wouldn't discuss it. I mean, you'd hae thought he'd be longing to

get out in the air ater being cooped up all week in that dreadul
shop. Llectrical and kitchenware! Isn't tbat an enironment or a
sensitie boy, Doctor.
@7&:A Dear, hae you oered the doctor a cup o tea
;C7& Oh dear, no, I haen't!. And you must be dying or one.
;<=&78 1hat would be nice.
;C7& O course it would. Lxcuse me.
be goe. ovt bvt tivger. ov tbe circte, eare.aroivg vear tbe rigbt aoor. .tav
.tretcbe. ovt vvaer bi. btav/et ava .tee.. rav/ get. v.
@7&:A My wie has romantic ideas, i you receie my meaning.
;<=&78 About her amily
@7&:A She thinks she married beneath her. I daresay she did. I
don't understand these things mysel.
;<=&78 Mr Strang, I'm ascinated by the act that Alan wouldn't
ride.
@7&:A \es, well that's him. le's always been a weird lad, I hae
to be honest. Can you imagine spending your weekends like that just cleaning out stalls - with all the things that he could hae been
53
doing in the way o lurther Lducation
;<=&78 Lxcept he's hardly a scholar.
@7&:A low do we know le's neer really tried. lis mother
indulged him. She doesn't care i he can hardly write his own name,
and she a school teacher that was. Just as long as he's happy, she
says.
Dora rrivg. ber bava. iv avgvi.b. rav/ .it. agaiv.
;<=&78 \ould you say she was closer to him than you are
@7&:A 1hey'e always been thick as thiees. I can't say I entirely
approe - especially when I hear her whispering that Bible to him
hour ater hour, up there in his room.
;<=&78 \our wie is religious
@7&:A Some might say excessiely so. Mind you, that's her
business. But when it comes to dosing it down the boy's throat well, rankly, he's my son as well as hers. She doesn't see that. O
course, that's the unny thing about religious people. 1hey always
think their susceptibilities are more important than non-religious.
;<=&78 And you're non-religious, I take it
@7&:A I'm an atheist, and I don't mind admitting it. I you want
my opinion, it's the Bible that's responsible or all this.
;<=&78 \hy
@7&:A \ell, look at it yoursel. A boy spends night ater night
haing this stu read into him: an innocent man tortured to death thorns drien into his head - nails into his hands - a spear jammed
through his ribs. It can mark anyone or lie, that kind o thing. I'm
not joking. 1he boy was absolutely ascinated by all that. le was
always mooning oer religious pictures. I mean real kinky ones, i
you receie my meaning. I had to put a stop to it once or twice!.
;av.e) Bloody religion - it's our only real problem in this house, but
it's insuperable: I don't mind admitting it.
|vabte to .tava av, vore, Dora cove. iv agaiv.
;C7& ;tea.avtt,) \ou must excuse my husband, Doctor. 1his one
54
subject is something o an obsession with him, isn't it, dear \ou
must admit.
@7&:A Call it what you like. All that stu to me is just bad sex.
;C7& And what has that got to do with Alan
@7&:A Lerything!. ;.eriov.t,) Lerything, Dora!
;C7& I don't understand. \hat are you saying

e tvrv. ara, frov ber.

;<=&78 ;catvivgt,) Mr Strang, exactly how inormed do you judge
your son to be about sex
@7&:A ;tigbt) I don't know.
;<=&78 \ou didn't actually instruct him yoursel
@7&:A Not in so many words, no.
;<=&78 Dia ,ov, Mrs Strang
;C7& \ell, I spoke a little, yes. I had to. I'e been a teacher,
Doctor, and I know what happens i you don't. 1hey ind out
through magazines and dirty books.
;<=&78 \hat sort o thing did you tell him I'm sorry i this is
embarrassing.
;C7& I told him the biological acts. But I also told him what I
belieed. 1hat sex is not ;v.t a biological matter, but spiritual as
well. 1hat i God willed, he would all in loe one day. 1hat his
task was to prepare himsel or the most important happening o
his lie. And ater that, i he was lucky, he might come to know a
higher loe still. I simply. don't understand. .tav!.
be brea/. aorv iv .ob.. er bv.bava get. v ava goe. to ber.
@7&:A ;evbarra..ea) 1here now. 1here now, Dora. Come on!
;C7& ;ritb .vaaev ae.eratiov) All right - laugh! Laugh, as usual!
@7&:A ;/ivat,) No one's laughing, Dora.
be gtare. at biv. e vt. bi. arv. rovva ber .bovtaer.. No one's
laughing, are they Doctor
1evaert,, be teaa. bi. rife ovt of tbe .qvare, ava tbe, re.vve tbeir tace. ov
tbe bevcb.
55
igbt. gror vvcb aivver.
N
. .travge voi.e begiv.. .tav begiv. to vvrvvr frov bi. bea. e i. barivg a
baa vigbtvare, vorivg bi. bava. ava boa, a. if fravticatt, .traivivg to tvg
.ovetbivg bac/. D,.art teare. tbe .qvare a. tbe bo,. crie. ivcrea.e.
&>&: LK!. LK!. K!.
Crie. of Lk! ov tae fitt tbe tbeatre, frov att arovva. D,.art reacbe. tbe foot of
.tav. bea a. tbe bo, gire. a terribte cr, LK!
- ava ra/e. v. 1be .ovva. .va off. .tav ava tbe Doctor .tare at eacb otber.
1bev abrvtt, D,.art teare. tbe area ava reevter. tbe .qvare.
O
igbt. gror brigbter.
D,.art .it. ov bi. bevcb, teft, ava oev. bi. fite. .tav
i.
btav/et, ava cove. iv. e too/. trvcvtevt.
;<=&78 lallo. low are you this morning
.tav .tare. at biv.
Come on: sit down.
.tav cro..e. tbe .tage ava .it. ov tbe bevcb, oo.ite.
Sorry i I gae you a start last night. I was collecting
rom my oice, and I thought I'd look in on you. Do you
oten
&>&: DO YO|.
;<=&78 It's my job to ask the questions. \ours to answer

get. ovt of bea, teare. b

some papers
dream
them.

&>&: Says who

;<=&78 Says me. Do you dream oten
56
&>&: Do you
;<=&78 Look - Alan.
&>&: I'll answer i you answer. In turns.
Pav.e.
;<=&78 Very well. Only we hae to speak the truth.
&>&: ;voc/ivg) Very well.
;<=&78 So. Do you dream oten
&>&: \es. Do you
;<=&78 \es. Do you hae a special dream
&>&: No. Do you
;<=&78 \es. \hat was your dream about last night
&>&: Can't remember. \hat's yours about
;<=&78 I said the truth.
&>&: 1hat is the truth. \hat's yours about 1he special one.
;<=&78 Caring up children.
.tav .vite..
My turn!
&>&: \hat
;<=&78 \hat is your irst memory o a horse
&>&: \hat d'you mean
;<=&78 1he irst time one entered your lie, in any way.
&>&: Can't remember.
;<=&78 Are you sure
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 \ou hae no recollection o the irst time you noticed a
horse
&>&: I told you. Now it's my turn. Are you married
;<=&78 ;covtrottivg biv.etf) I am.
&>&: Is she a doctor too
;<=&78 It's my turn.
&>&: \es, well what
;<=&78 \hat is Lk
57
Pav.e.
\ou shouted it out last night in your sleep. I thought you might
like to talk about it.
&>&: ;.ivgivg) Double Diamond works wonders,
\orks wonders, works wonders!
;<=&78 Come on, now. \ou can do better than that.
&>&: ;.ivgivg tovaer) Double Diamond works wonders,
\orks wonders
lor you!
;<=&78 All right. Good morning.
&>&: \hat d'you mean
;<=&78 \e're inished or today.
&>&: But I'e only had ten minutes.
;<=&78 1oo bad.
e ic/. v a fite ava .tvaie. it. .tav tivger..
Didn't you hear me I said, Good morning.
&>&: 1hat's not air!
;<=&78 No
&>&: ;.araget,) 1he Goernment pays you twenty quid an hour to
see me. I know. I heard downstairs.
;<=&78 \ell, go back there and hear some more.
&>&: 1bat. vot fair!

e .rivg. v ctevcbivg bi. fi.t. iv a .vaaev riotevt rage.

\ou're a - you're a - \ou're a swiz!. Bloody swiz!. lucking swiz!
;<=&78 Do I hae to call Nurse
&>&: She puts a inger on me, I'll bash her!
;<=&78 She'll bash you much harder, I can assure you. Now go
away.
e reaa. bi. fite. .tav .ta,. rbere be i., evtit, ctevcbivg bi. bava.. e
tvrv. ara,.
. av.e.
. faivt bvv .tart. frov tbe Cborv..
58
&>&: ;.vttevt,) On a beach..
GP
e .te. ovt of tbe .qvare, v.tage, ava begiv. to rat/ rovva tbe circte. !arv
tigbt gtor. ov it.
;<=&78 \hat
&>&: \here I saw a horse. Swizzy.
ait, be /ic/. at tbe .ava, ava tbror. .tove. at tbe .ea.
;<=&78 low old were you
&>&: low should I know. Six.
;<=&78 \ell, go on. \hat were you doing there
&>&: Digging.
e tbror. biv.etf ov tbe grovva, aorv.tage cevtre of tbe circte, ava .tart.
.cvffivg ritb bi. bava..
;<=&78 A sandcastle
&>&: \ell, what else
;<=&78 ;rarvivgt,) And
&>&: Suddenly I heard this noise. Coming up behind me.
. ,ovvg or.evav i..ve. iv slow motion ovt of tbe tvvvet. e carrie. a
riaivg cro ritb rbicb be i. vrgivg ov bi. ivri.ibte bor.e, aorv tbe rigbt .iae of
tbe circte.
1be bvv ivcrea.e..
;<=&78 \hat noise
&>&: looes. Splashing.
;<=&78 Splashing
&>&: 1he tide was out and he was galloping.
;<=&78 \ho was
&>&: 1his ellow. Like a college chap. le was on a big horse urging him on. I thought he hadn't seen me. I called out: ley!
1be bor.evav goe. ivto natural time, cbargivg fa.t rovva tbe aorv.tage
59
corver of tbe .qvare .traigbt at .tav.
and they just swered in time!
DC7="6&: ;reivivg bac/) \hoa!.\hoa there! !boa!.
Sorry! I didn't see you!. Did I scare you
&>&: NO!
DC7="6&: ;too/ivg aorv ov biv) 1hat's a terriic castle!
&>&: \hat's his name
DC7="6&: 1rojan. \ou can stroke him, i you like. le won't
mind.
b,t, .tav .tretcbe. v ov titoe, ava at. av ivri.ibte .bovtaer.
;avv.ea) \ou can hardly reach down there. \ould you like to come
up
.tav voa., e,e. riae.

All right. Come round this side. \ou always mount a horse rom
the let. I'll gie you a lit. O.K.
.tav goe. rovva ov tbe otber .iae.
lere we go, now. Just do nothing. Upsadaisy!
.tav .et bi. foot ov tbe or.evav. tbigb, ava i. tiftea b, biv v ov to bi.
.bovtaer..
1be bvv frov tbe Cborv. becove. evttavt. 1bev .to..
All right
.tav voa..
Good. Now all you do is hold onto his mane.
e bota. v tbe cro, ava .tav gri. ov to it.
1ight now. And grip with your knees. All right
All set. Come on, then, 1rojan. Let's go!
1be or.evav rat/. .tort, v.tage rovva tbe circte, ritb .tav. teg. tigbt
rovva bi. vec/.
;<=&78 low was it \as it wonderul
.tav riae. iv .itevce.
Can't you remember
60
DC7="6&: Do you want to go aster
&>&: \es!
DC7="6&: O.K. All you hae to do is say 'Come on, 1rojan bear me away!'. Say it, then!
&>&: Bear me away!
1be or.evav .tart. to rvv ritb .tav rovva tbe circte.
;<=&78 \ou went ast
&>&: \es!
;<=&78 \eren't you rightened
&>&: No!
DC7="6&: Come on now, 1rojan! Bear us away! lold on!
Come on now!.
e rvv. fa.ter. .tav begiv. to tavgb. 1bev .vaaevt,, a. tbe, reacb agaiv tbe
rigbt aorv.tage corver, rav/ ava Dora .tava v iv atarv.
;C7& Alan!
@7&:A Alan!
;C7& Alan, stop!
rav/ rvv. rovva after tbev. Dora fottor. bebiva.
@7&:A ley, you! Yov!.
DC7="6&: \hoa, boy!. \hoa!.
e reiv. tbe bor.e rovva, ava rbeet. to face tbe arevt.. 1bi. att goe. fa.t.
@7&:A \hat do you imagine you are doing
DC7="6&: ;irovic) 'Imagine'
@7&:A \hat is my son doing up there
DC7="6&: \ater-skiing!
Dora ;oiv. tbev, breatbte...
;C7& Is he all right, lrank. le's not hurt
@7&:A Don't you think you should ask permission beore doing
a stupid thing like that
DC7="6&: \hat's stupid
&>&: It's loely, dad!
61
;C7& Alan, come down here!
DC7="6&: 1he boy's perectly sae. Please don't be hysterical.
@7&:A Don't you be la-di-da with me, young man! Come down
here, Alan. \ou heard what your mother said.
&>&: No.
@7&:A Come down at once. Right this moment.
&>&: NO.. NO!

@7&:A ;iv a ;vr,) I said - this moment!

e vtt. .tav frov tbe or.evav. .bovtaer.. 1be bo, .brie/., ava fatt. to
tbe grovva.
DC7="6&: \atch it!
;C7& lrank!
be rvv. to ber .ov, ava /veet.. 1be or.evav ./itter..
DC7="6&: Are you mad D'you want to terriy the horse
;C7& le's grazed his knee. lrank - the boy's hurt!
&>&: I'm not! v vot!
@7&:A \hat's your name
DC7="6&: Jesse James.
;C7& lrank, he's bleeding!
@7&:A I intend to report you to the police or endangering the
lies o children.
DC7="6&: Go right ahead!
;C7& Can you stand, dear
&>&: Oh, .to it!.
@7&:A \ou're a public menace, d'you know that low dare you
pick up children and put them on dangerous animals.
DC7="6&: Dangerous
@7&:A O course dangerous. Look at his eyes. 1hey're rolling.
DC7="6&: So are yours!
@7&:A In my opinion that is a dangerous animal. In my
considered opinion you are both dangers to the saety o this
beach.
62
DC7="6&: And in my opinion, you're a stupid art!
;C7& lrank, leae it!
@7&:A \hat did you say
;C7& I1'S NO1 IMPOR1AN1, lRANK - RLALL\!
@7&:A !bat aia ,ov .a,.
DC7="6&: Oh bugger o! Sorry, chum! Come on, 1rojan!
e vrge. bi. bor.e .traigbt at tbev, tbev rbeet. it ava gatto. off rovva tbe
rigbt .iae of tbe circte ava ara, v tbe tvvvet, ovt of .igbt. 1be arevt. cr, ovt,
a. tbe, are corerea ritb .ava ava rater. rav/ rvv. after biv, ava rovva tbe
teft .iae of tbe circte, ritb bi. rife fottorivg after.
&>&: Splash, splash, splash! All three o us got coered with
water! Dad got absolutely soaked!
@7&:A ;.bovtivg after tbe or.evav) looligan! lilthy hooligan!
&>&: I wanted to laugh!
@7&:A Upper class ri-ra! 1hat's all they are, people who go
riding! 1hat's what they ravt trample on ordinary people!
;C7& Don't be absurd, lrank.
@7&:A It's why they do it. It's why they bloody do it!
;C7& ;avv.ea) Look at you. \ou're coered!
@7&:A Not as much as you. 1here's sand all oer your hair!
be .tart. to tavgb.
;.bovtivg) looligan! Bloody hooligan!
be .tart. to tavgb vore. e trie. to brv.b tbe .ava ovt of ber bair.
\hat are you laughing at It's not unny. It's not unny at all, Dora!
be goe. off, rigbt, .titt tavgbivg. .tav eage. ivto tbe .qvare, .titt ov tbe
grovva.
It's just not unny!.
rav/ retvrv. to bi. tace ov tbe beacb, .vt/,.
.brvt .itevce.
&>&: And that's all I remember.
;<=&78 And a lot, too. 1hank you. \ou know, I'e neer been
63

on a horse in my lie.
&>&: ;vot too/ivg at biv) Nor me.
;<=&78 \ou mean, ater that
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 But you must hae done at the stables
&>&: No.
;<=&78 Neer
&>&: No.
;<=&78 low come
&>&: I didn't care to.
;<=&78 Did it hae anything to do with alling o like that, all
those years ago
&>&: ;tigbt) just didn't care to, that's all.
;<=&78 Do you think o that scene oten
&>&: I suppose.
;<=&78 \hy, do you think
&>&: 'Cos it's unny.
;<=&78 Is that all
&>&: \hat else My turn.. I told you a secret: now you tell me
one.
;<=&78 All right. I hae patients who'e got things to tell me,
only they're ashamed to say them to my ace. \hat do you think I
do about that
&>&: \hat
;<=&78 I gie them this little tape recorder.
e ta/e. a .vatt tae recoraer ava vicrobove frov bi. oc/et.
1hey go o to another room, and send me the tape through Nurse.
1hey don't hae to listen to it with me.
&>&: 1hat's stupid.
;<=&78 All you do is press this button, and speak into this.
It's ery simple. Anyway, your time's up or today. I'll see you
tomorrow.
64
&>&: ;gettivg v) Maybe.
;<=&78 Maybe
&>&: I I eel like it.
e i. abovt to go ovt. 1bev .vaaevt, be retvrv. to D,.art ava ta/e. tbe
vacbive frov biv.
It's stupid.
e teare. tbe .qvare ava goe. bac/ to bi. bea.
GG
;C7& ;cattivg ovt) Doctor!
Dora reevter. ava cove. .traigbt ov to tbe .qvare frov tbe rigbt. be rear. av
orercoat, ava i. verrov.t, carr,ivg a .boivg bag.
;<=&78 1hat same eening, his mother appeared.
;C7& lallo, Doctor.
;<=&78 Mrs Strang!
;C7& I'e been shopping in the neighbourhood. I thought I
might just look in.
;<=&78 Did you want to see Alan
;C7& ;vvcovfortabt,) No, no. Not just at the moment. Actually,
it's more you I wanted to see.
;<=&78 \es
;C7& \ou see, there's something Mr Strang and I thought you
ought to know. \e discussed it, and it might just be important.
;<=&78 \ell, come and sit down.

;C7& I can't stay more than a moment. I'm late as it is. Mr Strang
will be wanting his dinner.
;<=&78 Ah. ;evcovragivgt,) So, what was it you wanted to tell me
be .it. ov tbe v.tage bevcb.
;C7& \ell, do you remember that photograph I mentioned to
you. 1he one Mr Strang gae Alan to decorate his bedroom a ew
65
years ago
;<=&78 \es. A horse looking oer a gate, wasn't it
;C7& 1hat's right. \ell, actually, it took the place o another
kind o picture altogether.
;<=&78 \hat kind
;C7& It was a reproduction o Our Lord on his way to Calary.
Alan ound it in Reeds Art Shop, and ell absolutely in loe with it.
le insisted on buying it with his pocket money, and hanging it at
the oot o his bed where he could see it last thing at night. My
husband was ery displeased.
;<=&78 Because it was religious
;C7& In all airness I must admit it was a little extreme. 1he
Christ was loaded down with chains, and the centurions were really
laying on the stripes. It certainly would not hae been my choice,
but I don't beliee in interering too much with children, so I said
nothing.
;<=&78 But Mr Strang did
;C7& le stood it or a while, but one day we had one o our tis
about religion, and he went straight upstairs, tore it o the boy's
wall and threw it in the dustbin. Alan went quite hysterical. le
cried or days without stopping - and he was not a crier, you know.
;<=&78 But he recoered when he was gien the photograph o
the horse in its place
;C7& le certainly seemed to. At least, he hung it in exactly the
same position, and we had no more o that awul weeping.
;<=&78 1hank you, Mrs Strang. 1hat i. interesting. Lxactly
how long ago was that Can you remember
;C7& It must be ie years ago, Doctor. Alan would hae been
about twele. low is he, by the way
;<=&78 Bearing up.
be ri.e..
;C7& Please gie him my loe.
66
;<=&78 \ou can see him any time you want, you know.
;C7& Perhaps i I could come one aternoon without Mr Strang.
le and Alan don't exactly get on at the moment, as you can
imagine.
;<=&78 \hateer you decide, Mrs Strang. Oh, one thing.
;C7& \es
;<=&78 Could you describe that photograph o the horse in a
little more detail or me I presume it's still in his bedroom
;C7& Ol, \LS. I1'S A MOS1 RLMARKABLL PIC1URL, RLALL\.
\OU VLR\ RARLL\ SLL A lORSL 1AKLN lROM 1lA1 ANGLL ABSOLU1LL\ lLAD ON. 1lA1'S \lA1 MAKLS I1 SO IN1LRLS1ING.
;<=&78 \hy \hat does it look like
;C7& \ell, it's most extraordinary. It comes out all eyes.
;<=&78 Staring straight at you
;C7& \es, that's right.
.v vvcovfortabte av.e.
I'll come and see him one day ery soon, Doctor. Goodbye.
be teare., ava re.vve. ber tace b, ber bv.bava.

;<=&78 ;to avaievce) It was then - that moment - I elt real alarm.
\hat was it 1he shadow o a giant head across my desk. At any
rate, the eeling got worse with the stable-owner's isit.
GH
Dattov cove. iv to tbe .qvare: bear,.et: viafiftie..
;&>8C: Dr Dysart
;<=&78 Mr Dalton. It's ery good o you to come.
;&>8C: It is, actually. In my opinion the boy should be in
prison. Not in a hospital at the tax-payers' expense.
;<=&78 Please sit down.
Dattov .it..
67
1his must hae been a terrible experience or you.
;&>8C: 1errible I don't think I'll eer get oer it. Jill's had a
nerous breakdown.
;<=&78 Jill
;&>8C: 1he girl who worked or me. O course, she eels
responsible in a way. Being the one who introduced him in the irst
place.
;<=&78 le was introduced to the stable by a girl ;&>8C:
Jill Mason. le met her somewhere, and asked or a job. She told
him to come and see me. I wish to Christ she neer had.
;<=&78 But when he irst appeared he didn't seem in any way
peculiar ;&>8C: No, he was bloody good. le'd spend hours
with the horses cleaning and grooming them, way oer the call o
duty. I thought he was a real ind.
;<=&78 Apparently, during the whole time he worked or you,
he neer actually rode.
;&>8C: 1hat's true.
;<=&78 \asn't that peculiar
;&>8C: Very. f he didn't.
;<=&78 \hat do you mean
Dattov ri.e..
;&>8C: Because on and o, that whole year, I had the eeling
the horses were being taken out at night.
;<=&78 At night
;&>8C: 1here were just odd things I noticed. I mean too oten
one or other o them would be sweaty irst thing in the morning,
when it wasn't sick. Very sweaty, too. And its stall wouldn't be near
as mucky as it should be i it had been in all night. I neer paid it
much mind at the time. It was only when I realised I'd been hiring
a loony, I came to wonder i he hadn't been riding all the time,
behind our backs.
;<=&78 But wouldn't you hae noticed i things had been
68
disturbed
;&>8C: Nothing eer was. Still, he's a neat worker. 1hat
wouldn't proe anything.
;<=&78 Aren't the stables locked at night
;&>8C: \es.
;<=&78 And someone sleeps on the premises
;&>8C: Me and my son.
;<=&78 1wo people
;&>8C: I'm sorry, Doctor. It's obiously just my ancy. I tell
you, this thing has shaken me so bad, I'm liable to beliee anything.

I there's nothing else, I'll be going.

;<=&78 Look: een i you were right, why should anyone do
that \hy would any boy preer to ride by himsel at night, when
he could go o with others during the day.
;&>8C: Are you asking me le's a loony, isn't he
Dattov teare. tbe .qvare ava .it. agaiv iv bi. tace. D,.art ratcbe. biv go.
&>&: It was .e,.
;<=&78 lis tape arried that eening.
GI
.tav i. .ittivg ov bi. bea botaivg tbe taerecoraer. ^vr.e aroacbe. bri./t,,
ta/e. tbe vacbive frov biv gire. it to D,.art iv tbe .qvare ava teare.
agaiv, re.vvivg ber .eat. D,.art .ritcbe. ov tbe tae.
&>&: 1hat's what you want to know, isn't it All right: it was. I'm
talking about the beach. 1hat time when I was a kid. \hat I told
you about.
Pav.e. e i. iv great evotiovat aifficvtt,.
D,.art .it. ov tbe teft bevcb ti.tevivg, fite iv bava. .tav ri.e. ava .tava.
airectt, bebiva biv, bvt ov tbe circte, a. if recoraivg tbe ev.vivg .eecb. e
verer, of covr.e, too/. airectt, at tbe Doctor.
69
I was pushed orward on the horse. 1here was sweat on my legs
rom his neck. 1he ellow held me tight, and let me turn the horse
which way I wanted. All that power going any way you wanted.
lis sides were all warm, and the smell. 1hen suddenly I was on
the ground, where Dad pulled me. I could hae bashed him.
Pav.e.
Something else. \hen the horse irst appeared, I looked up into
his mouth. It was huge. 1here was this chain in it. 1he ellow
pulled it, and cream dripped out. I said 'Does it hurt' And he said the horse said - said e .to., iv avgvi.b. D,.art va/e. a vote iv bi. fite.
;ae.eratet,) It was always the same, ater that. Lery time I heard
one clop by, I had to run and see. Up a country lane or anywhere.
1hey sort o pulled me. I couldn't take my eyes o them. Just to
watch their skins. 1he way their necks twist, and sweat shines in
the olds. ;av.e) I can't remember when it started. Mum reading
to me about Prince who no one could ride, except one boy. Or the
white horse in Reelations. 'le that sat upon him was called
laithul and 1rue. lis eyes were as lames o ire, and he had a
name written that no man knew but himsel. \ords like reins.
Stirrup. llanks. 'Dashing his spurs against his charger's lanks!'.
Len the words made me eel -. \ears, I neer told anyone.
Mum wouldn't understand. She likes 'Lquitation'. Bowler hats and
jodhpurs! 'My grandather dressed or the horse,' she says. \hat
does that mean 1he horse isn't dressed. It's the most naked thing
you eer saw! More than a dog or a cat or anything. Len the most
broken down old nag has got its tife! 1o put a bowler on it is
fittb,!. Putting them through their paces! Bloody gymkhanas!.
No one understands!. Lxcept cowboys. 1hey do. I wish I was a
cowboy. 1hey're ree. 1hey just swing up and then it's miles o
grass. I bet all cowboys are orbav.!. I bet they are!
70
:F7=" Mr Strang to see you, Doctor.
;<=&78 ;iv .vrri.e) Mr Strang Show him up, please.
&>&: No one eer says to cowboys 'Receie my meaning'! 1hey

wouldn't dare. Or 'God' all the time, ;vivic/ivg bi. votber) 'God sees
you, Alan. God's got eyes eerywhere -'
e .to. abrvtt,.
I'm not doing any more!. I hate this!. \ou can whistle or
anymore. I'e had it!
e retvrv. avgrit, to bi. bea, tbrorivg tbe btav/et orer biv. D,.art .ritcbe.
off tbe tae.
GJ
rav/ travg cove. ivto tbe .qvare, bi. bat iv bi. bava. e i. verrov. ava
evbarra..ea.
;<=&78 ;retcovivg) lallo, Mr Strang.
@7&:A I was just passing. I hope it's not too late.
;<=&78 O course not. I'm delighted to see you.
@7&:A My wie doesn't know I'm here. I'd be grateul to you i
you didn't enlighten her, i you receie my meaning.
;<=&78 Lerything that happens in this room is conidential, Mr
Strang.
@7&:A I hope so. I hope so.
;<=&78 ;gevtt,) Do you hae something to tell me
@7&:A As a matter o act I hae. \es.
;<=&78 \our wie told me about the photograph.
@7&:A I know, it's not that! It's abovt that, but it's - worse.. I
wanted to tell you the other night, but I couldn't in ront o Dora.
Maybe I should hae. It might show her where all that stu leads
to, she drills into the boy behind my back.
71
;<=&78 \hat kind o thing is it
@7&:A Something I witnessed.
;<=&78 \here
@7&:A At home. About eighteen months ago.
;<=&78 Go on.
@7&:A It was late. I'd gone upstairs to etch something. 1he boy
had been in bed hours, or so I thought.
;<=&78 Go on.
@7&:A As I came along the passage I saw the door o his
bedroom was ajar. I'm sure he didn't know it was. lrom inside I
heard the sound o this chanting.
;<=&78 Chanting
@7&:A Like the Bible. One o those lists his mother's always
reading to him.
;<=&78 \hat kind o list
@7&:A 1hose Begats. So-and-so begat, you know. Genealogy.
;<=&78 Can you remember what Alan's list sounded like
@7&:A \ell, the .ort o thing. I stood there absolutely astonished.
1he irst word I heard was.
&>&: ;ri.ivg ava cbavtivg) Privce!
;<=&78 Prince
@7&:A Prince begat Prance. 1hat sort o nonsense.
.tav vore. .tort, to tbe cevtre of tbe circte, aorv.tage.
&>&: And Prance begat Prankus! And Prankus begat llankus!
@7&:A I looked through the door, and he was standing in the
moonlight in his pyjamas, right in ront o that big photograph.
;<=&78 1he horse with the huge eyes
@7&:A Right.
&>&: llankus begat Spankus. And Spankus begat Spunkus the
Great, who lied three score years!

@7&:A It was all like that. I can't remember the exact names, o
course. 1hen suddenly he knelt down.
72
;<=&78 In ront o the photograph
@7&:A \es. Right there at the oot o his bed.
&>&: ;/veetivg) And Legwus begat Neckwus. And Neckwus begat
lleckwus, the King o Spit. And lleckwus spoke out o his
chinkle-chankle!
e bor. biv.etf to tbe grovva.
;<=&78 \hat
@7&:A I'm sure that was the word. I'e neer orgotten it.
Chinkle-chankle. .tav rai.e. bi. beaa ava eteva. bi. bava. v iv gtor,.
&>&: And he said 'Behold - I gie you Lquus, my only begotten
son!'
;<=&78 Lquus
@7&:A \es. No doubt o that. le repeated that word seeral
times. 'Lquus my only begotten son.'
&>&: ;rererevtt,) Lk.. wus!
;<=&78 ;.vaaevt, vvaer.tavaivg: atvo.t a.iae) Lk.. Lk___
@7&:A ;evbarra..ea) And then.
;<=&78 \es: what
@7&:A le took a piece o string out o his pocket. Made up into
a noose. And put it in his mouth.
.tav briate. biv.etf ritb ivri.ibte .trivg, ava vtt. it bac/.
And then with his other hand he picked up a coat hanger. A
wooden coat hanger, and - and ;<=&78 Began to beat himsel
.tav, iv vive, begiv. to tbra.b biv.etf, ivcrea.ivg tbe .tro/e. iv .eea ava
riciov.ve...
Pav.e.
@7&:A \ou see why I couldn't tell his mother.. Religion.
Religion's at the bottom o all this!
;<=&78 \hat did you do
@7&:A Nothing. I coughed - and went back downstairs.
1be bo, .tart. gvittit, tear. tbe .trivg frov bi. vovtb ava .cravbte. bac/ to
73
bea.
;<=&78 Did you eer speak to him about it later Len
obliquely
@7&:A ;vvbait,) I can't speak o things like that, Doctor. It's
not in my nature.
;<=&78 ;/ivat,) No. I see that.
@7&:A But I thought you ought to know. So I came.
;<=&78 ;rarvt,) \es. I'm ery grateul to you. 1hank you. Pav.e.
@7&:A \ell, that's it.
;<=&78 Is there anything else
@7&:A ;erev vore evbarra..ea) 1here is actually. One thing.
;<=&78 \hat's that
@7&:A On the night that he did it - that awul thing in the stable
;<=&78 \es
@7&:A 1hat ery night, he was out with a girl.
;<=&78 low d'you know that
@7&:A I just know.
;<=&78 ;vtea) Did he tell you
@7&:A I can't say any more.
;<=&78 I don't quite understand.
@7&:A Lerything said in here is conidential, you said.

;<=&78 Absolutely.
@7&:A 1hen ask him. Ask him about taking a girl out, that ery
night he did it. ;abrvtt,) Goodbye, Doctor.
e goe.. D,.art too/. after biv. rav/ re.vve. bi. .eat.
GK
.tav get. v ava evter. tbe .qvare.
74
;<=&78 Alan! Come in. Sit down, ;tea.avtt,) \hat did you do
last night
&>&: \atched telly.
;<=&78 Any good
&>&: All right.
;<=&78 1hanks or the tape. It was excellent.
&>&: I'm not making any more.
;<=&78 One thing I didn't quite understand. \ou began to say
something about the horse on the beach talking to you.
&>&: 1hat's stupid. lorses don't talk.
;<=&78 So I beliee.
&>&: I don't know what you mean.
;<=&78 Neer mind. 1ell me something else. \ho introduced
you to the stable to begin with
Pav.e.
&>&: Someone I met.
;<=&78 \here
&>&: Bryson's.
;<=&78 1he shop where you worked
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 1hat's a unny place or you to be. \hose idea was that
&>&: Dad.
;<=&78 I'd thought he'd hae wanted you to work with him.
&>&: I haen't the aptitude. And printing's a ailing trade. I you
receie my meaning.
;<=&78 ;avv.ea) I see. \hat did your mother think
&>&: Shops are common.
;<=&78 And you
&>&: I loed it.
;<=&78 Really
&>&: ;.arca.tic) \hy not \ou get to spend eery minute with
electrical things. It's un.
75
^vr.e, Dattov ava tbe actor. ta,ivg bor.e. catt ovt to biv a. Cv.tover.,
.eatea rbere tbe, are. 1beir roice. are aggre..ire ava aevavaivg. 1bere i. a
cov.tavt bac/grovva vvvbtivg, vaae v of traae vave., ovt of rbicb cav
cteart, be ai.tivgvi.bea tbe itaticiea rora., rbicb are .bovtea ovt.
CUS1OMLR Pbitco!
&>&: ;to D,.art) O course it might just drie you o your
chump.
4F=8C6"7 I want to buy a hot-plate. I'm told the Pbitco is a
good make!
&>&: I think it is, madam.
4F=8C6"7 Revivgtov ladies' shaers
&>&: I'm not sure, madam.
4F=8C6"7 Robe tableware
4F=8C6"7 Cro,ae.
4F=8C6"7 1ote.

4F=8C6"7 Pifco automatic toothbrushes

&>&: I'll ind out, sir.
4F=8C6"7 eavtiftor!
4F=8C6"7 !ivaoteve!
4F=8C6"7 I want a Pbitco transistor radio!
4F=8C6"7 1his isn't a Revivgtov! I wanted a Revivgtov!
&>&: Sorry.
4F=8C6"7 Are you a dealer or oorer.
&>&: Sorry.
4F=8C6"7 I wanted the heat retaining Pifco!
&>&: orr,!
]itt cove. ivto tbe .qvare: a girt iv ber eart, trevtie., rett, ava viaate cta...
be rear. a .reater ava ;eav.. 1be vvvbtivg .to..
E9>> lallo.
&>&: lallo.
E9>> lae you any blades or a clipping machine
&>&: Clipping
76
E9>> 1o clip horses.
Pav.e. e .tare. at ber, oevvovtbea.
\hat's the matter
&>&: \ou work at Dalton's stables. I'e seen you.
Dvrivg tbe fottorivg, be vive. vttivg ara, a ite of boe. ov a .betf iv tbe
.bo.
E9>> I'e seen you too, haen't I \ou're the boy who's always
staring into the yard around lunch-time.
&>&: Me
E9>> \ou're there most days.
&>&: Not me.
E9>> ;avv.ea) O course it's you. Mr Dalton was only saying the
other day: '\ho's that boy keeps staring in at the door'
Are you looking or a job or something
&>&: ;eagert,) Is there one
E9>> I don't know.
&>&: I can only do weekends.
E9>> 1hat's when most people ride. \e can always use extra
hands. It'd mainly be mucking out.
&>&: I don't mind.
E9>> Can you ride
&>&: No. No. I don't want to.
be too/. at biv cvriov.t,.
Please.
E9>> Come up on Saturday. I'll introduce you to Mr Dalton.
be teare. tbe .qvare.
;<=&78 \hen was this About a year ago
&>&: I suppose.
;<=&78 And she did
&>&: \es.
ri./t, be vore. tbe tbree bevcbe. to forv tbree .tatt. iv tbe .tabte.
77
GL
Ricb tigbt fatt. ov tbe .qvare.
.v evttavt bvvvivg frov tbe Cborv..
1ravivg i. beara. 1bree actor. ta,ivg bor.e. ri.e frov tbeir tace.. 1ogetber

tbe, vvboo/ tbree bor.e va./. frov tbe taaaer. to teft ava rigbt, vt tbev ov
ritb rigia tivivg, ava rat/ ritb .ra,ivg bor.evotiov ivto tbe .qvare. 1beir
vetat boore. .tav ov tbe rooa. 1beir va./. tvrv ava to.. bigb abore tbeir
beaa. a. tbe, ritt ao .oraaicatt, tbrovgbovt att bor.e .ceve. va/ivg tbe
.teet gteav iv tbe tigbt.
or a vovevt tbe, .eev to covrerge ov tbe bo, a. be .tava. iv tbe viaate of tbe
.tabte, bvt tbev tbe, .riftt, tvrv ava ta/e v o.itiov. a. if tetberea b, tbe
beaa, ritb tbeir ivri.ibte rvv. torara. biv, ove b, eacb bevcb.
.tav i. .vv/ iv tbi. gtorivg rorta of bor.e.. o.t iv rovaer, be .tart. atvo.t
ivrotvvtarit, to /veet ov tbe ftoor iv rererevce bvt i. .bart, ivterrvtea b,
tbe cbeer, roice of Dattov, covivg ivto tbe .tabte, fottorea b, ]itt. 1be bo,
.traigbtev. v gvittit,.
;&>8C: lirst thing to learn is drill. Learn it and keep to it. I
want this place neat, dry and clean at all times. Ater you'e
mucked out, Jill will show you some grooming. \hat we call
strapping a horse.
E9>> I think 1rooper's got a stone.
;&>8C: \es Let's see.
e cro..e. to tbe bor.e b, tbe teft bevcb, rbo i. batavcivg ove boof ov it. ti.
e ic/. v tbe boof.
\ou're right, ;to .tav) See this 1his V here. It's what's called a
rog. Sort o shock-absorber. Once you pierce that, it takes ages to
heal - so you want to watch or it. \ou clean it out with this. \hat
we call a hoo-pick.
e ta/e. frov bi. oc/et av ivri.ibte ic/.
78
Mind how you go with it. It's ery sharp. Use it like this.
e qvic/t, ta/e. tbe .tove ovt. See
.tav voa., fa.civatea.
\ou'll soon get the hang o it. Jill will look ater you. \hat she
doesn't know about stables, isn't worth knowing.
E9>> ;tea.ea) Oh yes, I'm sure!
;&>8C: ;.^D^C ..^ 1 PCK) CARLlUL lO\ \OU GO
\I1l 1lA1.
1he main rule is, anything you don't know: ask. Neer pretend you
know something when you don't, ;.vitivg) Actually, the main rule is:
enjoy yoursel. All right
&>&: \es, sir.
;&>8C: Good lad. See you later.
e voa. to tbev cbeerfvtt,, ava teare. tbe .qvare. .tav cteart, vt. tbe
ivri.ibte boofic/ ov tbe rait, aorv.tage teft.
E9>> All right, let's start on some grooming. \hy don't we begin
with him le looks as i he needs it.
1be, aroacb ^vgget, rbo i. .tavaivg to tbe rigbt. be at. biv. .tav .it.
ava ratcbe. ber.
1his is Nugget. le's my aourite. le's as gentle as a baby, aren't
you But terribly ast i you want him to be.
Dvrivg tbe fottorivg, .be vive. botb tbe actiov. ava tbe ob;ect., rbicb
.be ic/. v frov tbe rigbt bevcb.
Now this is the dandy, and we start with that. 1hen you moe on
to the body brush. 1his is the most important, and you use it with
this curry-comb. Now you always groom the same way: rom the
ears downward. Don't be araid to do it hard. 1he harder you do it,
the more the horse loes it. Push it right through the coat: like this.
1be bo, ratcbe. iv fa.civatiov a. .be brv.be. tbe ivri.ibte boa, of ^vgget,
.craivg tbe airt ava bair off ov to tbe ivri.ibte cvrr,covb. ^or ava tbev tbe
bor.e va./ vore. rer, .tigbtt, iv tea.vre.
Down towards the tail and right through the coat. See how he

79
loes it I'm giing you a loely massage, boy, aren't I ... \ou try.
be bava. biv tbe brv.b. Civgert, be ri.e. ava aroacbe. ^vgget.
vbarra..ea ava ecitea, be coie. ber vorevevt., iveertt,.
Keep it nice and easy. Neer rush. Down towards the tail and right
through the coat. 1hat's it. Again. Down towards the tail and right
through the coat.... Very good. Now you keep that up or iteen
minutes and then do old 1rooper. \ill you
. av voa..
\ou'e got a eel or it. I can tell. It's going to be nice teaching
you. See you later.
be teare. tbe .qvare ava re.vve. ber tace. .tav i. teft atove ritb tbe bor.e..
1be, att .tav. e aroacbe. ^vgget agaiv, ava tovcbe. tbe bor.e. .bovtaer.
1be va./ tvrv. .bart, iv bi. airectiov. 1be bo, av.e., tbev vore. bi. bava
gevtt, orer tbe ovttive of tbe vec/ ava bac/. 1be va./ i. rea..vrea. t .tare.
abeaa vvvorivg. 1bev .tav tift. bi. atv to bi. face ava .vett. it aeet,,
cto.ivg bi. e,e..
D,.art ri.e. frov bi. bevcb, ava begiv. to rat/ .tort, v.tage rovva tbe circte.
;<=&78 \as that good 1ouching them.
.tav gire. a faivt groav.
&>&: Mmm.
;<=&78 It must hae been marellous, being near them at last.
Stroking them. Making them resh and glossy. 1ell me.
itevce. .tav begiv. to brv.b ^vgget.
low about the girl Did you like her
&>&: ;tigbt) All right.
;<=&78 Just all right
.tav cbavge. bi. o.itiov, vorivg rovva ^vgget. rvv .o tbat bi. bac/ i. to
tbe avaievce. e brv.be. baraer. D,.art cove. aorv.tage arovva tbe circte,
ava fivatt, bac/ to bi. bevcb.
\as she riendly
&>&: \es.
80
;<=&78 Or stand-oish
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 \ell which
&>&: \hat
;<=&78 \hich was she
.tav brv.be. baraer.
Did you take her out Come on now: tell me. Did, you hae a date
with her
&>&: \hat
;<=&78 ;.ittivg) 1ell me i you did.
1be bo, .vaaevt, etoae. iv ove of bi. rage..
&>&: ;,ettivg) 1LLL ML!
.tt tbe va./. to.. at tbe voi.e.
;<=&78 \hat
&>&: 1ett ve, tett ve, tett ve, tett ve!
.tav .torv. ovt of tbe .qvare, ava aorv.tage to rbere D,.art .it.. e i.
ragivg. Dvrivg tbe ev.vivg, tbe bor.e. teare b, att tbree oevivg..
On and on, sitting there! Nosey Parker! 1hat's all you are!
Bloody Nosey Parker! Just like Dad. On and on and bloody on!
1ell me, tell me, tell me!. Answer this. Answer that.
Neer stop! e varcbe. rovva tbe circte ava bac/ ivto tbe .qvare. D,.art ri.e. ava evter.
it frov tbe otber .iae.
GM

igbt. brigbtev.
;<=&78 I'm sorry.
.tav .tav. abovt rbat i. vor tbe office agaiv, retacivg tbe bevcbe. to tbeir
v.vat o.itiov.
81
&>&: All right, it's my turn now. \ou tell me! Answer me!
;<=&78 \e're not playing that game now.
&>&: \e're playing what I say.
;<=&78 All right. \hat do you want to know
e .it..
&>&: Do ,ov hae dates
;<=&78 I told you. I'm married.
.tav aroacbe. biv, rer, bo.tite.
&>&: I know. ler name's Margaret, She's a dentist! \ou see, I
ound out! \hat made you go with her Did you use to bite her
hands when she did you in the chair
1be bo, .it. vet to biv, cto.e.
;<=&78 1hat's not ery unny.
&>&: Do you hae girls behind her back
;<=&78 No.
&>&: 1hen what Do you uck her
;<=&78 1hat's enough now.
e ri.e. ava vore. ara,.
&>&: Come on, tell me! 1ell me, tell me!
;<=&78 I said that's enough now.
.tav ri.e. too ava rat/. arovva biv.
&>&: I bet you don't. I bet you neer touch her. Come on, tell
me. \ou'e got no kids, hae you Is that because you don't uck
;<=&78 ;.bar) Go to your room. Go on: quick march.
Pav.e. .tav vore. ara, frov biv, iv.otevtt, ta/e. v a ac/et of D,.art.
cigarette. frov tbe bevcb, ava etract. ove.
Gie me those cigarettes.
1be bo, vt. ove iv bi. vovtb.
;etoaivg) Alan, gire tbev to ve!
Retvctavtt, .tav .bore. tbe cigarette bac/ iv tbe ac/et, tvrv. ava bava. it to
biv. ^or go!
.tav bott. ovt of tbe .qvare, ava bac/ to bi. bea. D,.art, vvverrea, aaare..e.
82
tbe avaievce.
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! 1he boy's on the run, so he gets
deensie. \hat am , then. \icked little bastard - he knew
exactly what questions to try. le'd actually marched himsel round
the hospital, making enquiries about my wie. \icked and - o
course, perceptie. Ler since I made that crack about caring up
children, he's been aware o me in an absolutely speciic way. O
course, there's nothing noel in that. Adanced neurotics can be
dazzling at that game. 1hey aim unsweringly at your area o
maximum ulnerability. \hich I suppose is as good a way as any
o describing Margaret.
e .it.. e.tber evter. tbe .qvare. igbt gror. rarver.
GN
D"=8D"7 Now stop it.
;<=&78 Do I embarrass you
D"=8D"7 I suspect you're about to.

Pav.e.
;<=&78 My wie doesn't understand me, \our lonour.
D"=8D"7 Do you understand her
;<=&78 No. Obiously I neer did.
D"=8D"7 I'm sorry. I'e neer liked to ask but I'e always
imagined you weren't exactly compatible.
be vore. to .it oo.ite.
;<=&78 \e were. It actually worked or a bit. I mean or both o
us. \e worked or each other. She actually or me through a kind
o briskness. A clear, red-headed, inaccessible briskness which kept
me keyed up or months. Mind you, i you're kinky or Northern
lygienic, as I am, you can't ind anything much more compelling
than a Scottish Lady Dentist.
83
D"=8D"7 t. ,ov who are wicked, you know!
;<=&78 Not at all: She got exactly the same rom me. Antiseptic
proiciency. I was like that in those days. \e suited each other
admirably. I see us in our wedding photo: Doctor and Doctor Mac
Brisk. \e were brisk in our wooing, brisk in our wedding, brisk in
our disappointment. \e turned rom each other briskly into our
separate surgeries: and now there's damn all.
D"=8D"7 \ou hae no children, hae you
;<=&78 No, we didn't go in or them. Instead, she sits beside
our salmon-pink, glazed brick ireplace, and knits things or
orphans in a home she helps with. And I sit opposite, turning the
pages o art books on Ancient Greece. Occasionally, I still trail a
aint scent o my enthusiasm across her path. I pass her a picture
o the sacred acrobats o Crete leaping through the horns o
running bulls - and she'll say: 'Och, Martin, what an ab.vrrea thing
to be doing! 1he lighland Games, now there's vorvat sport!' Or
she'll obsere, just ater I'e told her a story rom the Iliad: '\ou
know, when you come to think o it, Agamemnon and that lot
were nothing but a bunch o ruians rom the Gorbals, only with
ancy names!' ;e ri.e.) \ou get the picture. She's turned into a
Shrink. 1he amiliar domestic monster. Margaret Dysart: the
Shrink's Shrink.
D"=8D"7 1hat's cruel, Martin.
;<=&78 \es. Do you know what it's like or two people to lie
in the same house as i they were in dierent parts o the world
Mentally, she's always in some drizzly kirk o her own inheriting:
and I'm in some Doric temple - clouds tearing through pillars eagles bearing prophecies out o the sky. She inds all that
repulsie. All my wie has eer taken rom the Mediterranean rom that whole ast intuitie culture - are our bottles o Chianti
to make into lamps, and two china condiment donkeys labelled
Sally and Peppy.
84
Pav.e.
;vore ivtivatet,) I wish there was one person in my lie I could
show. One instinctie, absolutely unbrisk person I could take to
Greece, and stand in ront o certain shrines and sacred streams
and say 'Look! Lie is only comprehensible through a thousand
local Gods. And not just the old dead ones with names like Zeus no, but liing Geniuses o Place and Person! And not just Greece
but modern Lngland! Spirits o certain trees, certain cures o brick
wall, certain chip shops, i you like, and slate roos - just as o
certain rowns in people and slouches. I'd say to them - '\orship
as many as you can see - and more will appear!'. I I had a son, I

bet you he'd come out exactly like his mother. Utterly worshipless.
\ould you like a drink
D"=8D"7 No, thanks. Actually, I'e got to be going. As usual.
;<=&78 Really
D"=8D"7 Really. I'e got an Lerest o papers to get through
beore bed.
;<=&78 \ou neer stop, do you
D"=8D"7 Do you
;<=&78 1his boy, with his stare. le's trying to sae himsel
through me.
D"=8D"7 I'd say so.
;<=&78 \hat am I trying to do to him
D"=8D"7 Restore him, surely
;<=&78 1o what
D"=8D"7 A normal lie.
;<=&78 Normal
D"=8D"7 It still means something.
;<=&78 Does it
D"=8D"7 O course.
;<=&78 \ou mean a normal boy has one head: a normal head
has two ears
85
lLA1lLR \ou know I don't.
;<=&78 1hen what else
D"=8D"7 ;tigbtt,) Oh, stop it.
;<=&78 No, what \ou tell me.
D"=8D"7 ;ri.ivg: .vitivg) I won't be put on the stand like this,
Martin. \ou're really disgraceul!. ;Pav.e) \ou know what I mean
by a normal smile in a child's eyes, and one that isn't - een i I
can't exactly deine it. Don't you
;<=&78 \es.
D"=8D"7 1hen we hae a duty to that, surely Both o us.
;<=&78 1ouch. I'll talk to you.
D"=8D"7 Dismissed
;<=&78 \ou said you had to go.
D"=8D"7 I do. ;.be /i..e. bi. cbee/). 1hank you or what you're
doing. \ou're going through a rotten patch at the moment. I'm
sorry. I suppose one o the ew things one can do is simply hold
on to priorities.
;<=&78 Like what
D"=8D"7 Oh - children beore grown-ups. 1hings like that.
e covtevtate. ber.
;<=&78 \ou're really quite splendid.
D"=8D"7 lamous or it. Goodnight.
be teare. biv.
;<=&78 ;to biv.etf or to tbe avaievce) Normal!. Normal!
GO
.tav ri.e. ava evter. tbe .qvare. e i. .vbavea.
;<=&78 Good aternoon.
&>&: Aternoon.
;<=&78 I'm sorry about our row yesterday.
86
&>&: It was stupid.
;<=&78 It was.
&>&: \hat I said, I mean.

;<=&78 low are you sleeping

.tav .brvg..
\ou're not eeling well, are you
&>&: All right.
;<=&78 \ould you like to play a game It could make you eel
better.
&>&: \hat kind
;<=&78 It's called tiv/. \ou hae to ix your eyes on
something: say, that little stain oer there on the wall - and I tap
this pen on the desk. 1he irst time I tap it, you close your eyes.
1he next time you open them. And so on. Close, open, close,
open, till I say Stop.
&>&: low can that make you eel better
;<=&78 It relaxes you. \ou'll eel as though you're talking to me
in your sleep.
&>&: It's stupid.
;<=&78 \ou don't hae to do it, i you don't want to.
&>&: I didn't say I didn't want to.
;<=&78 \ell
&>&: I don't mind.
;<=&78 Good. Sit down and start watching that stain. Put your
hands by your sides, and open the ingers wide.
e oev. tbe teft bevcb ava .tav .it. ov tbe eva of it.
1he thing is to eel comortable, and relax absolutely. Are you
looking at the stain
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 Right. Now try and keep your mind as blank as possible.
&>&: 1hat's not diicult.
87
;<=&78 Ssh. Stop talking. On the irst tap, close. On the
second, open. Are you ready
.tav voa.. D,.art ta. bi. ev ov tbe rooaev rait. .tav .bvt. bi. e,e..
D,.art ta. agaiv. .tav oev. tbev. 1be ta. are erevt, .acea. .fter fovr of
tbev tbe .ovva cvt. ovt, ava i. retacea b, a tovaer, vetattic .ovva, ov tae.
D,.art tat/. tbrovgb tbi., to tbe avaievce tbe tigbt cbavge. to cota rbite tbe
bo, .it. iv frovt of biv, .tarivg at tbe ratt, oevivg ava .bvttivg bi. e,e..
1he Normal is the good smile in a child's eyes - all right. It is also
the dead stare in a million adults. It both sustains and kills - like a
God. It is the Ordinary made beautiul: it is also the Aerage made
lethal. 1he Normal is the indispensable, murderous God o lealth,
and I am his Priest. My tools are ery delicate. My compassion is
honest. I hae honestly assisted children in this room. I hae talked
away terrors and relieed many agonies. But also - beyond question
- I hae cut rom them parts o indiiduality repugnant to this
God, in both his aspects. Parts sacred to rarer and more wonderul
Gods. And at what length. sacriices to Zeus took at the most,
surely, sixty seconds each. Sacriices to the Normal can take as long
as sixty months.
1be vatvrat .ovva of tbe evcit re.vve.. igbt cbavge. bac/.
;to .tav) Now your eyes are eeling heay. \ou want to sleep, don't
you \ou want a long, deep sleep. lae it. \our head is heay.
Very heay. \our shoulders are heay. Sleep.
1be evcit .to.. .tav. e,e. revaiv .bvt ava bi. beaa ba. .vv/ ov bi. cbe.t.
Can you hear me
&>&: Mmm.
;<=&78 \ou can speak normally. Say \es, i you can.
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 Good boy. Now raise your head, and open your eyes.
e aoe. .o.

Now, Alan, you're going to answer questions I'm going to ask you.
88
Do you understand
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 And when you wake up, you are going to remember
eerything you tell me. All right
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 Good. Now I want you to think back in time. \ou are
on that beach you told me about. 1he tide has gone out, and you're
making sandcastles. Aboe you, staring down at you, is that great
horse's head, and the cream dropping rom it.
Can you see that
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 \ou ask him a question. 'Does the chain hurt'
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 Do you ask him aloud
&>&: No.
;<=&78 And what does the horse say back
&>&: '\es.'
;<=&78 1hen what do you say
&>&: '1il take it out or you.'
;<=&78 And he says
&>&: 'It neer comes out. 1hey hae me in chains.'
;<=&78 Like Jesus
&>&: \es!
;<=&78 Only his name isn't Jesus, is it
&>&: No.
;<=&78 \hat is it
&>&: No one knows but him and me.
;<=&78 \ou can tell me, Alan. Name him.
&>&: Lquus.
;<=&78 1hank you. Does he lie in all horses or just some
&>&: All.
;<=&78 Good boy. Now: you leae the beach. \ou're in your
89
bedroom at home. \ou're twele years old. \ou're in ront o the
picture. \ou're looking at Lquus rom the oot o your bed. \ould
you like to kneel down
&>&: \LS.
;<=&78 ;evcovragivgt,) Go on, then.
.tav /veet..
Now tell me. \hy is Lquus in chains
&>&: lor the sins o the world.
;<=&78 \hat does he say to you
&>&: 'I see you.' 'I will sae you.'
;<=&78 low
&>&: 'Bear you away. 1wo shall be one.'
;<=&78 lorse and rider shall be one beast
&>&: One person!
;<=&78 Go on.
&>&: 'And my chinkle-chankle shall be in thy hand.'
;<=&78 Chinkle-chankle 1hat's his mouth chain
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 Good. \ou can get up. Come on.
.tav ri.e..
Now: think o the stable. \hat is the stable lis 1emple
lis loly o lolies
&>&: \LS.

;<=&78 \here you wash him \here you tend him, and brush
him with many brushes
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 And there he spoke to you, didn't he le looked at you
with his gentle eyes, and spake unto you
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 \hat did he say 'Ride me' 'Mount me, and ride me
orth at night'
90
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 And you obeyed
&>&: \LS.
;<=&78 low did you learn By watching others
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 It must hae been diicult. \ou bounced about
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 But he showed you, didn't he Lquus showed you the
way.
&>&: No!
;<=&78 le didn't
&>&: lL SlO\LD ML NO1lING! lL'S A MLAN BUGGLR! RIDL OR lALL! 1lA1'S S1RA\ LA\.
;<=&78 Straw Law
&>&: le was born in the straw, and this is his law.
;<=&78 But you managed \ou mastered him
&>&: lad to!
;<=&78 And then you rode in secret
&>&: \LS.
;<=&78 low oten
&>&: Lery three weeks. More, people would notice.
;<=&78 On a particular horse
&>&: No.
;<=&78 low did you get into the stable
&>&: Stole a key. lad it copied at Bryson's.
;<=&78 Cleer boy.
.tav .vite..
1hen you'd slip out o the house
&>&: Midnight! On the stroke!
;<=&78 low ar's the stable
&>&: 1wo miles.
Pav.e.
91
;<=&78 Let's do it! Let's go riding!. Now!
e .tava. v, ava v.be. iv bi. bevcb.
\ou are there now, in ront o the stable door.
.tav tvrv. v.tage.
1hat key's in your hand. Go and open it.
HP
.tav vore. v.tage, ava vive. oevivg tbe aoor.
oft tigbt ov tbe circte.
vvvivg frov tbe Cborv.: tbe qvv. ^oi.e.
1be bor.e actor. evter, rai.e bigb tbeir va./., ava vt tbev ov att togetber.
1be, .tava arovva tbe circte ^vgget iv tbe vovtb of tbe tvvvet.
;<=&78 Quietly as possible. Dalton may still be awake. Sssh.
Quietly. Good. Now go in.

.tav .te. .ecrett, ovt of tbe .qvare tbrovgb tbe cevtrat oevivg ov to tbe circte,
vor gtorivg ritb a rarv tigbt. e too/. abovt biv. 1be bor.e. .tav
vvea.it,: tbeir va./. tvrv torara. biv.
\ou are on the inside now. All the horses are staring at you.
Can you see them
&>&: ;ecitea) \es!
;<=&78 \hich one are you going to take
&>&: Nugget.
.tav reacbe. v ava vive. teaaivg ^vgget carefvtt, rovva tbe circte aorv.tage
ritb a roe, a.t att tbe bor.e. ov tbe rigbt.
;<=&78 \hat colour is Nugget
&>&: Chestnut.
1be bor.e ic/. bi. ra, ritb care. .tav batt. biv at tbe corver of tbe .qvare.
;<=&78 \hat do you do, irst thing
&>&: Put on his sandals.
92
;<=&78 Sandals
e /veet., aorv.tage cevtre.
&>&: Sandals o majesty!. Made o sack.
e ic/. v tbe ivri.ibte .avaat., ava /i..e. tbev aerovtt,.
1ie them round his hooes.
e ta. ^vgget. rigbt teg: tbe bor.e rai.e. it ava tbe bo, vive. t,ivg tbe .ac/
rovva it.
;<=&78 All our hooes
&>&: \es.
;<=&78 1hen
&>&: Chinkle-chankle.
e vive. ic/ivg v tbe briate ava bit.
le doesn't like it so late, but he takes it or my sake. le bends or
me. le stretches orth his neck to it.
^vgget beva. bi. beaa aorv. .tav fir.t ritvatt, vt. tbe bit ivto bi. orv
vovtb, tbev cro..e., ava trav.fer. it ivto ^vgget.. e reacbe. v ava bvc/te.
ov tbe briate. 1bev be teaa. biv b, tbe ivri.ibte reiv., acro.. tbe frovt of tbe
.tage ava v rovva tbe teft .iae of tbe circte. ^vgget fottor. obeaievtt,.
&>&: Buckle and lead out.
;<=&78 No saddle
&>&: Neer.
;<=&78 Go on.
&>&: \alk down the path behind. le's quiet. Always is, this bit.
Meek and mild legs. At least till the ield. 1hen there's trouble.
1be bor.e ;er/. bac/. 1be va./ to..e..
;<=&78 \hat kind
&>&: \on't go in.
;<=&78 \hy not
&>&: It's his place o la la.
;<=&78 \hat
&>&: lA lA.
93
;<=&78 Make him go into it.
&>&: ;rbi.erivg fiercet,) Come on!. Come on!.
e arag. tbe bor.e ivto tbe .qvare a. D,.art .te. ovt of it.
HG
^vgget cove. to a batt .tarivg aiagovatt, aorv rbat i. vor tbe fieta. 1be
qvv. voi.e aie. ara,. 1be bo, too/. abovt biv.

;<=&78 ;frov tbe circte) Is it a big ield

&>&: luge!
;<=&78 \hat's it like
&>&: lull o mist. Nettles on your eet.
e vive. ta/ivg off bi. .boe. ava tbe .tivg.
.b!
;<=&78 ;goivg bac/ to bi. bevcb) \ou take your shoes o
&>&: Lerything.
;<=&78 All your clothes
&>&: \es.
e vive. vvare..ivg covtetet, iv frovt of tbe bor.e. !bev be i. fivi.bea, ava
obriov.t, qvite va/ea, be tbror. ovt bi. arv. ava .bor. biv.etf fvtt, to bi.
Coa, borivg bi. beaa before ^vgget.
;<=&78 \here do you leae them
&>&: 1ree hole near the gate. No one could ind them.
e rat/. v.tage ava crovcbe. b, tbe bevcb, .tvffivg tbe ivri.ibte ctotbe.
beveatb it. D,.art .it. agaiv ov tbe teft bevcb, aorv.tage be,ova tbe circte.
;<=&78 low does it eel now
&>&: ;bota. biv.etf) Burns.
;<=&78 Burns
&>&: 1he mist!
;<=&78 Go on. Now what
&>&: 1he Manbit.
94
e reacbe. agaiv vvaer tbe bevcb ava arar. ovt av ivri.ibte .tic/.
;<=&78 Manbit
&>&: 1he stick or my mouth.
;<=&78 \our mouth
&>&: 1o bite on.
;<=&78 \hy \hat or
&>&: So's it won't happen too quick.
;<=&78 Is it always the same stick
&>&: Course. Sacred stick. Keep it in the hole. 1he Ark o the
Manbit.
;<=&78 And now what. \hat do you do now
Pav.e. e ri.e. ava aroacbe. ^vgget.
&>&: 1OUCl lIM!
;<=&78 \here
&>&: ;iv rovaer) All oer. Lerywhere. Belly. Ribs. lis ribs are o
iory. O great alue!. lis lank is cool. lis nostrils open or me.
lis eyes shine. 1hey can see in the dark. ,e.!vaaevt, be aa.be. iv ai.tre.. to tbe fartbe.t corver of tbe .qvare.
;<=&78 Co ov!. 1hen
Pav.e.
&>&: Gie sugar.
;<=&78 A lump o sugar
.tav retvrv. to ^vgget.
&>&: lis Last Supper.
;<=&78 Last beore what
&>&: la la.
e /veet. before tbe bor.e, atv. vrara ava ;oivea togetber.
;<=&78 Do you say anything when you gie it to him
&>&: ;offerivg it) 1ake my sins. Lat them or my sake. le always
does.
^vgget bor. tbe va./ ivto .tav. atv, tbev ta/e. a .te bac/ to eat.
95
And then he's ready
;<=&78 \ou can get up on him now

&>&: \es!
;<=&78 Do it, then. Mount him.
.tav, t,ivg before ^vgget, .tretcbe. ovt ov tbe .qvare. e gra.. tbe to of tbe
tbiv vetat ote evbeaaea iv tbe rooa. e rbi.er. bi. Coa. vave
cerevoviatt,.
ALAN Equus!. Equus!. Equus!
e vtt. tbe ote vrigbt. 1be actor ta,ivg ^vgget teav. forrara ava grab. it.
.t tbe .ave iv.tavt att tbe otber bor.e. teav forrara arovva tbe circte, eacb
tacivg a gtorea bava ov tbe rait. .tav ri.e. ava rat/. rigbt bac/ to tbe
v.tage corver, teft.
1a/e ve!
e rvv. ava ;vv. bigb ov to ^vgget. bac/.
;cr,ivg ovt) .b!
;<=&78 \hat is it
&>&: lurts!
;<=&78 lurts
&>&: Knies in his skin! Little knies - all inside my legs.
^vgget vive. re.tireve...
&>&: Stay, Lquus. No one said Go!. 1hat's it. le's good.
Lquus the Godslae, laithul and 1rue. Into my hands he
commends himsel - naked in his chinkle-chankle. ;be vvcbe.
^vgget) Stop it!. le wants to go so badly.
;<=&78 Go, then. Leae me behind. Ride away now, Alan.
Now!. Now you are alone with Lquus.
.tav .tiffev. bi. boa,.
&>&: ;ritvatt,) Lquus - son o lleckwus - son o Neckwus -!at/.
. bvv frov tbe Cborv..
1er, .tort, tbe bor.e. .tavaivg ov tbe circte begiv to tvrv tbe .qvare b, gevtt,
v.bivg tbe rooaev rait. .tav ava bi. vovvt .tart to rerotre.
96
1be effect, ivveaiatet,, i. of a .tatve beivg .tort, tvrvea rovva ov a tivtb.
Dvrivg tbe riae borerer tbe .eea ivcrea.e., ava tbe tigbt aecrea.e. vvtit it i.
ovt, a fierce .ottigbt ov bor.e ava riaer, ritb tbe orer.itt gtivtivg ov tbe otber
va./. teavivg iv torara. tbev.
lere we go. 1he King rides out on Lquus, mightiest o horses.
Only I can ride him. le lets me turn him this way and that. lis
neck comes out o my body. It lits in the dark. Lquus, my
Godslae!. Now the King commands you. 1onight, we ride
against them all.
;<=&78 \ho's all
&>&: My oes and lis.
;<=&78 \ho are your oes
&>&: 1he losts o looer. 1he losts o Philco. 1he losts o
Pico. 1he louse o Remington and all its tribe!
;<=&78 \ho are lis oes
&>&: 1he losts o Jodhpur. 1he losts o Bowler and
Gymkhana. All those who show him o or their anity. 1ie
rosettes on his head or their anity! Come on, Lquus. Let's get
them!. 1rot!
1be .eea of tbe tvrvivg .qvare ivcrea.e..
teaa,! teaa,! teaa,! teaa,! Cowboys are watching! 1ake o
their stetsons. 1hey know who we are. 1hey're admiring us!
Bowing low unto us! Come on now - show them! Cavter!
. . . CAN1LR!
e rbi. ^vgget.
And Lquus the Mighty rose against All!
lis enemies scatter, his enemies all! 1URN!

1rample them, trample them, 1rample them, trample them,

1URN! 1URN!! 1URN!!!
1be qvv. voi.e ivcrea.e. iv rotvve.
;.bovtivg) \LL! . . . \AA! . . . \ONDLRlUL! . . .
97
I'm sti! Sti in the wind!
M, mane, sti in the wind!
M, lanks! M, hooes!
Mane on my legs, on my lanks, like whips!
Raw!
Raw!
v rar! Rar!
leel me on you! Ov you! Ov you! Ov you!
I want to be iv you!
I want to BL you oreer and eer!qvv., tore ,ov!
Now! Bear me away!
Make us One Person!
e riae. qvv. fravticatt,.
Ove Per.ov! Ove Per.ov! Ove Per.ov! Ove Per.ov! e ri.e. v ov tbe bor.e.
bac/, ava catt. ti/e a trvvet.
la-lA!. la-lA!. la-lA!
1be trvvet tvrv. to great crie..
lA-lA! lA-lA! lA-lA! lA-lA! lA!. lA!. lAAAAA!
e tri.t. ti/e a ftave.
itevce.
1be tvrvivg .qvare cove. to a .to iv tbe .ave o.itiov it occviea at tbe
oevivg of tbe .ct.
tort, tbe bo, aro. off tbe bor.e. bac/ ov to tbe grovva. e torer. bi. beaa
ava /i..e. ^vgget. boof. ivatt, be ftivg. bac/ bi. beaa ava crie. v to biv:
AMLN!
^vgget .vort., ovce.
tac/ovt
98
&5' 8Q)
HH
Dar/ve...
igbt. cove .tort, v ov .tav /veetivg iv tbe vigbt at tbe boore. of ^vgget.
tort, be get. v, ctivbivg torivgt, v tbe boa, of tbe bor.e vvtit be cav .tava
ava /i.. it.
D,.art .it. ov tbe aorv.tage bevcb rbere be begav .ct Ove.
;<=&78 \ith one particular horse, called Nugget, he embraces.
le showed me how he stands with it aterwards in the night, one
hand on its chest, one on its neck, like a rozen tango dancer,
inhaling its cold sweet breath. 'lae you noticed,' he said, 'about
horses: how they'll stand one hoo on its end, like those girls in the
ballet'
.tav teaa. ^vgget ovt of tbe .qvare. D,.art ri.e.. 1be bor.e rat/. ara, v
tbe tvvvet ava ai.aear.. 1be bo, cove. aorv.tage ava .it. ov tbe bevcb
D,.art ba. racatea. D,.art cro..e. aorv.tage ava vore. .tort, v rovva tbe
circte, vvtit be reacbe. tbe cevtrat evtravce to tbe .qvare. Now he's gone o
to rest, leaing me alone with Lquus. I can hear the creature's
oice. It's calling me out o the black cae o the Psyche. I shoe in

my dim little torch, and there he stands - waiting or me. le raises

his matted head. le opens his great square teeth, and says ;voc/ivg) '!b,.. \hy Me. \hy - ultimately - Me. Do you
really imagine you can account or Me 1otally, inallibly, ineitably
account or Me. Poor Doctor Dysart!' e evter. tbe .qvare.
O course I'e stared at such images beore. Or been stared at by
them, whicheer way you look at it. And weirdly oten now with
me the eeling is that tbe, are staring at v. that in some quite
palpable way they precede us. Meaningless, but unsettling. In
99
either case, this one is the most alarming yet. It asks questions I'e
aoided all my proessional lie.
;Pav.e) A child is born into a world o phenomena all equal in their
power to enslae. It snis - it sucks - it strokes its eyes oer the
whole uncomortable range. Suddenly one strikes. \hy Moments
snap together like magnets, orging a chain o shackles. \hy I can
trace them. I can een, with time, pull them apart again. But why at
the start they were eer magnetized at all - just those particular
moments o experience and no others - I don't know. .va vor aoe.
av,ove et.e. \et if I don't know - i I can neer know that - then
what am I doing here I don't mean clinically doing or socially
doing - I mean fvvaavevtatt,! 1hese questions, these \hys, are
undamental - yet they hae no place in a consulting room. So
then, do I. 1his is the eeling more and more with me - No
Place. Displacement. 'Account or me,' says staring Lquus. 'lirst
account or Me!.' I ancy this is more than menopause.
^vr.e rv.be. iv.
:F7=" Doctor!. Doctor! 1here's a terrible scene with the
Strang boy. lis mother came to isit him, and I gae her the tray
to take in. le threw it at her. She's saying the most dreadul things.
.tav .rivg. v, aorv teft. Dora .rivg. v, aorv rigbt. 1be, face eacb otber
acro.. tbe bottov eva of tbe .tage. t i. ob.errabte tbat at tbe .tart of tbi. .ct
rav/ i. vot .ittivg be.iae bi. rife ov tbeir bevcb. t i. boefvtt, vot ob.errabte
tbat be i. tacea avovg tbe avaievce v.tage, iv tbe gtoov, b, tbe cevtrat
tvvvet.
;C7& Don't you dare! Dovt ,ov aare!
;<=&78 Is she still there
:F7=" \es!
e qvic/t, teare. tbe .qvare, fottorea b, tbe ^vr.e. Dora vore. torara. ber
.ov.
;C7& Don't you look at me like that! I'm not a doctor, you know,
who'll take anything. Don't you dare gie me that stare, young man!
100
be .ta. bi. face. D,.art ;oiv. tbev.
;<=&78 Mrs Strang!
;C7& I know your stares. 1hey don't work on me!
;<=&78 ;to ber) Leae this room.
;C7& \hat did you say
;<=&78 I tell you to leae here at once.
Dora be.itate.. 1bev:
;C7& Goodbye, Alan.
be rat/. a.t ber .ov, ava rovva ivto tbe .qvare. D,.art fottor. ber. otb
are rer, v.et. .tav retvrv. to bi. bevcb ava ^vr.e to ber tace.
HI

igbt. v ov tbe .qvare.

;<=&78 I must ask you neer to come here again.
;C7& Do you think I want to Do you think I want to
;<=&78 Mrs Strang, what on earth has got into you Can't you
see the boy is highly distressed
;C7& ;irovic) Really
;<=&78 O course! le's at a most delicate stage o treatment.
le's totally exposed. Ashamed. Lerything you can imagine!
;C7& ;etoaivg) .va ve. !bat abovt ve.. !bat ao ,ov tbiv/
av.. I'm a parent, o course - so it doesn't count. 1hat's a dirty
word in here, isn't it, 'parent'
;<=&78 \ou know that's not true.
;C7& Oh, I know. I know, all right! I'e heard it all my lie. It's
ovr ault. \hateer happens, re did it. Alan's just a little ictim.
le's really done nothing at all! ;.araget,) \hat do you hae to do in
this world to get any sympathy - blind animals
;<=&78 Sit down, Mrs Strang.
;C7& ;igvorivg biv: vore ava vore vrgevtt,) Look, Doctor: you don't
101
hae to lie with this. Alan is one patient to you: one out o many.
le's my son. I lie awake eery night thinking about it. lrank lies
there beside me. I can hear him. Neither o us sleeps all night. \ou
come to us and say \ho orbids teleision who does what behind
whose back - as i we're criminals. Let me tell you something.
\e're not criminals. \e'e done nothing wrong. \e loed Alan.
\e gae him the best loe we could. All right, we quarrel
sometimes - all parents quarrel - we always make it up. My husband
is a good man. le's an upright man, religion or no religion. le
cares or his home, or the world, and or his boy. Alan had loe
and care and treats, and as much un as any boy in the world. I
know about loeless homes: I was a teacher. Our home wasn't
loeless. I know about priacy too - not inading a child's priacy.
All right, lrank may be at ault there - he digs into him too much but nothing in excess. le's not a bully. ;graret,) No, doctor.
\hateer's happened has happened becav.e of .tav. Alan is himsel.
Lery soul is itsel. I you added up eerything we eer did to him,
rom his irst day on earth to this, you wouldn't ind why he did
this terrible thing - because that's biv: not just all o our things
added up. Do you understand what I'm saying I want you to
understand, because I lie awake and awake thinking it out, and I
want you to know that I deny it absolutely what he's doing now,
staring at me, attacking me or what be. done, or what be is! ;av.e:
catver) \ou'e got your words, and I'e got mine. \ou call it a
complex, I suppose. But i you knew God, Doctor, you would
know about the Deil. \ou'd know the Deil isn't made by what
mummy says and daddy says. 1he Deil's tbere. It's an oldashioned word, but a true tiling. I'll go. \hat I did in there was
inexcusable. I only know he was my little Alan, and then the Deil
came.
be teare. tbe .qvare, ava re.vve. ber tace. D,.art ratcbe. ber go, tbev teare.
biv.etf b, tbe oo.ite evtravce, ava aroacbe. .tav.
102
HJ
eatea ov bi. bevcb, tbe bo, gtare. at biv.
;<=&78 I thought you liked your mother.

itevce.
She doesn't know anything, you know. I haen't told her what
told me. \ou do know that, don't you
&>&: It was lies anyway.
;<=&78 \hat
&>&: \ou and your pencil. Just a con trick, that's all.
;<=&78 \hat do you mean
&>&: Made me say a lot o lies.
;<=&78 Did it. Like what
&>&: All o it. Lerything I said. Lot o lies.
Pav.e.
;<=&78 I see.
&>&: \ou ought to be locked up. \our bloody tricks.
;<=&78 I thought you liked tricks.
&>&: It'll be the drug next. I know.
D,.art tvrv., .bart,.
;<=&78 \hat drug
&>&: I'e heard. I'm not ignorant. I know what you get up to
here. Shoe needles in people, pump them ull o truth drug,
they can't help saying things. 1hat's next, isn't it
Pav.e.
;<=&78 Alan, do you know why you're here
&>&: So you can gie me truth drugs.
e gtare. at biv. D,.art teare. abrvtt,, ava retvrv. to tbe

you

in
so

.qvare.

103
HK
e.tber cove. iv .ivvttaveov.t, frov tbe otber .iae.
;<=&78 ;agitatea) le actually thinks they exist! And o course he
wants one.
D"=8D"7 It doesn't sound like that to me.
;<=&78 O course he does. \hy mention them otherwise le
wants a way to speak. 1o inally tell me what happened in that
stable. 1ape's too isolated, and hypnosis is a trick. At least that's
the pretence.
D"=8D"7 Does he still say that today
;<=&78 I haen't seen him. I cancelled his appointment this
morning, and let him stew in his own anxiety. Now I am almost
tempted to play a real trick on him.
D"=8D"7 ;.ittivg) Like what
;<=&78 1he old placebo.
D"=8D"7 \ou mean a harmless pill
;<=&78 lull o attegea 1ruth Drug. Probably an aspirin.
D"=8D"7 But he'd deny it aterwards. Same thing all oer.
;<=&78 No. Because he's ready to abreact.
D"=8D"7 Abreact
;<=&78 Lie it all again. le won't be able to deny it ater that,
because he'll hae shown me. Not just told me - but acted it out in
ront o me.
D"=8D"7 Can you get him to do that
;<=&78 I think so. le's nearly done it already. Under all that
glowering, he trusts me. Do you realise that
D"=8D"7 ;rarvt,) I'm sure he does.
;<=&78 Poor bloody ool.
D"=8D"7 Don't start that again.
Pav.e.
;<=&78 ;qviett,) Can you think o anything worse one can do to

104
anybody than take away their worship
D"=8D"7 \orship
;<=&78 \es, that word again!
D"=8D"7 Aren't you being a little extreme
;<=&78 Lxtremity's the point.
D"=8D"7 \orship isn't destructie, Martin. I know that.
;<=&78 I don't. I only know it's the core o his lie. \hat else
has he got 1hink about him. le can hardly read. le knows no
physics or engineering to make the world real or him. No
paintings to show him how others hae enjoyed it. No music
except teleision jingles. No history except tales rom a desperate
mother. No riends. Not one kid to gie him a joke, or make him
know himsel more moderately. le's a modern citizen or whom
society doesn't exist. le lies ove bovr eery three weeks - howling
in a mist. And ater the serice kneels to a slae who stands oer
him obiously and unthrowably his master. \ith my body I thee
worship!. Many men hae less ital relationships with their wies.
Pav.e.
D"=8D"7 All the same, they don't usually blind their wies, do
they
;<=&78 Oh, come on!
D"=8D"7 \ell, do they
;<=&78 ;.arca.ticatt,) \ou mean he's dangerous A iolent,
dangerous madman who's going to run round the country doing it
again and again
D"=8D"7 I mean he's in pain, Martin. le's been in pain or
most o his lie. 1hat much, at least, you /vor.
;<=&78 Possibly.
D"=8D"7 Po..ibt,.!. 1hat cut-o little igure you just
described must hae been in pain or years.
;<=&78 ;aoggeat,) Possibly.
D"=8D"7 And you can take it away.
105
;<=&78 Still - possibly.
D"=8D"7 1hen that's enough. 1hat simply has to be enough
or you, surely
;<=&78 No!
D"=8D"7 \hy not
;<=&78 Because it's his.
D"=8D"7 I don't understand.
;<=&78 lis pain. lis own. le made it.
Pav.e.
;earve.tt,) Look. to go through lie and call it yours - ,ovr tife you
irst hae to get your own pain. Pain that's unique to you. \ou
can't just dip into the common bin and say '1hat's enough!'. le's
done that. All right, he's sick. le's ull o misery and ear. le was
dangerous, and could be again, though I doubt it. But that boy has
known a passion more erocious than I hae elt in any second o
my lie. And let me tell you something: I eny it.
D"=8D"7 \ou can't.
;<=&78 ;rebevevtt,) Don't you see 1hat's the Accusation! 1hat's
what his stare has been saying to me all this time. .t tea.t gattoea!
!bev aia ,ov.. ;.ivt,) I'm jealous, lesther. Jealous o Alan
Strang.
D"=8D"7 1hat's absurd.
;<=&78 Is it. I go on about my wie. 1hat smug woman by
the ire. lae you thought o the ellow on the other side o it

1he inicky, critical husband looking through his art books on

mythical Greece. \hat worship has be eer known Real worship!
\ithout worship you shrink, it's as brutal as that. I shrank my
orv lie. No one can do it or you. I settled or being pallid and
proincial, out o my own eternal timidity. 1he old story o bluster,
and do bugger-all. I imply that we can't hae children: but
actually, it's only me. I had mysel tested behind her back. 1he
lowest sperm count you could ind. And I neer told her. 1hat's all
106
I need - her sympathy mixed with resentment. I tell eeryone
Margaret's the puritan, I'm the pagan. Some pagan! Such wild
returns I make to the womb o ciilization. 1hree weeks a year in
the Peleponnese, eery bed booked in adance, eery meal paid or
by ouchers, cautious jaunts in hired liats, suitcase crammed with
Kao-Pectate! Such a antastic surrender to the primitie. And I use
that word endlessly: 'primitie'. 'Oh, the primitie world,' I say.
'\hat instinctual truths were lost with it!' And while I sit there,
baiting a poor unimaginatie woman with the word, that reaky boy
tries to conjure the reality! I sit looking at pages o centaurs
trampling the soil o Argos - and outside my window he is trying to
becove ove, in a lampshire ield!. I watch that woman knitting,
night ater night - a woman I haen't /i..ea in six years - and he
stands in the dark or an hour, sucking the sweat o his God's
hairy cheek! ;av.e) 1hen in the morning, I put away my books on
the cultural shel, close up the Kodachrome snaps o Mount
Olympus, touch my reproduction statue o Dionysus or luck - and
go o to hospital to treat him or insanity. Do you see
D"=8D"7 1he boy's in pain, Martin. 1hat's all I see. In the
end. I'm sorry.
e too/. at ber. .tav get. v frov bi. bevcb ava .teattbit, tace. av evretoe
iv tbe teftbava evtravce of tbe .qvare, tbev goe. bac/ ava .it. ritb bi. bac/ to
tbe avaievce, a. if ratcbivg teteri.iov. e.tber ri.e..
D"=8D"7 1hat stare o his. lae you thought it might not be
accusing you at all
;<=&78 \hat then
D"=8D"7 Claiming you.
;<=&78 lor what
D"=8D"7 ;vi.cbierov.t,) A new God.
Pav.e.
;<=&78 1oo conentional, or him. linding a religion in
Psychiatry is really or ery ordinary patients.
107
be tavgb..
D"=8D"7 Maybe he just wants a new Dad. Or is that too
conentional too. Since you're questioning your proession
anyway, perhaps you ought to try it and see.
;<=&78 ;avv.ea) I'll talk to you.
D"=8D"7 Goodbye.
be .vite., ava teare. biv.
HL
D,.art becove. arare of tbe tetter t,ivg ov tbe ftoor. e ic/. it v, oev. ava
reaa. it.
&>&: ;.ea/ivg .tifft,, a. D,.art reaa.) 'It is all true, what I said ater
you tapped the pencil. I'm sorry i I said dierent. Post Scriptum: I
know why I'm in here.' Pav.e.

;<=&78 ;C.^C, ]OY|Y) NURSL!

^vr.e cove. iv.
:F7=" \es, Doctor
;<=&78 ;tr,ivg to covceat bi. tea.vre) Good eening!
:F7=" \ou're in late tonight.
;<=&78 \es!. 1ell me, is the Strang boy in bed yet
:F7=" Oh, no, Doctor. le's bound to be upstairs looking at
teleision. le always watches to the last possible moment.
le doesn't like going to his room at all.
;<=&78 \ou mean he's still haing nightmares
:F7=" le had a bad one last night.
;<=&78 \ould you ask him to come down here, please
:F7=" ;faivt .vrri.e) Now
;<=&78 I'd like a word with him.
:F7=" ;vtea) Very good, Doctor.
;<=&78 I he's not back in his room by lights out, tell Night
108
Nurse not to worry. I'll see he gets back to bed all right.
And would you phone my home and tell my wie I may be in late
:F7=" \es, Doctor.
;<=&78 Ask him to come straight away, please.
^vr.e goe. to tbe bevcb, ta. .tav ov tbe .bovtaer, rbi.er. ber ve..age iv
bi. ear, ava retvrv. to ber tace. .tav .tava. v ava av.e. for a .ecova
tbev .te. ivto tbe .qvare.
HM
e .tava. iv tbe aoorra,, aere..ea.
;<=&78 lallo.
&>&: lallo.
;<=&78 I got your letter. 1hank you. ;av.e) Also the Post
Scriptum.
&>&: ;aefev.iret,) 1hat's the right word. My mum told me. It's
Latin or 'Ater-writing'.
;<=&78 low are you eeling
&>&: All right.
;<=&78 I'm sorry I didn't see you today.
&>&: \ou were ed up with me.
;<=&78 \es. ;av.e) Can I make it up to you now
&>&: \hat d'you mean
;<=&78 I thought we'd hae a session.
&>&: ;.tarttea) Now
;<=&78 \es! At dead o night!. Better than going to sleep, isn't
it
1be bo, ftivcbe..
Alan - look. Lerything I say has a trick or a catch. Lerything I do
is a trick or a catch. 1hat's all I know to do. But they work - and
you know that. 1rust me.
109
Pav.e.
&>&: \ou got another trick, then
;<=&78 \es.
&>&: A truth drug
;<=&78 I you like.
&>&: \hat's it do
;<=&78 Make it easier or you to talk.
&>&: Like you can't help yoursel

;<=&78 1hat's right. Like you hae to speak the truth at all costs.
And all o it.
Pav.e.
&>&: ;.t,t,) Comes in a needle, doesn't it
;<=&78 No.
&>&: \here is it
;<=&78 ;ivaicativg bi. oc/et) In here.
&>&: Let's see.
D,.art .otevvt, ta/e. a bottte of itt. ovt of bi. oc/et.
;<=&78 1here.
&>&: ;.v.iciov.) 1hat really it
;<=&78 It is. Do you want to try it
&>&: No.
;<=&78 I think you do.
&>&: I don't. Not at all.
;<=&78 Aterwards you'd sleep. \ou'd hae no bad dreams all
night. Probably many nights, rom then on.
Pav.e.
&>&: low long's it take to work
;<=&78 It's instant. Like coee.
&>&: ;batf betierivg) It isn't!
;<=&78 I promise you. \ell
&>&: Can I hae a ag
;<=&78 Pill irst. Do you want some water
110
&>&: No.
D,.art .ba/e. ove ovt ov to bi. atv. .tav be.itate. for a .ecova tbev ta/e.
it ava .rattor. it.
;<=&78 1hen you can chase it down with this. Sit down.
e offer. biv a cigarette, ava tigbt. it for biv.
&>&: ;verrov.) \hat happens now
;<=&78 \e wait or it to work.
&>&: \hat'll I eel irst
;<=&78 Nothing much. Ater a minute, about a hundred green
snakes should come out o that cupboard singing the lallelujah
Chorus.
&>&: ;avvo,ea) v .eriov.!
;<=&78 ;earve.tt,) \ou'll eel nothing. Nothing's going to happen
now but what you want to happen. \ou're not going to say
anything to me but what you want to say. Just relax. Lie back and
inish your ag.
.tav .tare. at biv. 1bev accet. tbe .itvatiov, ava tie. bac/.
;<=&78 Good boy.
&>&: I bet this room's heard some unny things.
;<=&78 It certainly has.
&>&: I like it.
;<=&78 1his room
&>&: Don't you
;<=&78 \ell, there's not much to like, is there
&>&: low long am I going to be in here
;<=&78 It's hard to say. I quite see you want to leae.
&>&: No.
;<=&78 \ou don't
&>&: \here would I go
;<=&78 lome...
1be bo, too/. at biv. D,.art cro..e. ava .it. ov tbe rait v.tage, bi. feet ov
tbe bevcb. . av.e.
111

Actually, I'd like to leae this room and neer see it again in my
lie.
&>&: ;.vrri.e) \hy
;<=&78 I'e been in it too long.
&>&: \here would you go
;<=&78 Somewhere.
&>&: Secret
;<=&78 \es. 1here's a sea - a great sea - I loe. It's where the
Gods used to go to bathe.
&>&: \lA1 GODS
;<=&78 1he old ones. Beore they died.
&>&: Gods don't die.
;<=&78 \es, they do. Pav.e.
1here's a illage I spent one night in, where I'd like to lie.
It's all white.
&>&: low would you Nosey Parker, though \ou wouldn't hae
a room or it any more.
;<=&78 I wouldn't mind. I don't actually enjoy being a Nosey
Parker, you know.
&>&: 1hen why do it
;<=&78 Because you're unhappy.
&>&: So are you.
D,.art too/. at biv .bart,. .tav .it. v iv atarv.
Oooh, I didn't mean that!
;<=&78 Didn't you
&>&: lere - is that how it works 1hings just slip out, not eeling
anything
;<=&78 1hat's right.
&>&: But it's so quick!
;<=&78 I told you: it's instant.
&>&: ;aetigbtea) It's wicked, isn't it I mean, you can say anything
under it.
112
;<=&78 \es.
&>&: Ask me a question.
;<=&78 1ell me about Jill.
Pav.e. 1be bo, tvrv. ara,.
&>&: 1here's nothing to tell.
;<=&78 Nothing
&>&: No.
;<=&78 \ell, or example - is she pretty \ou'e neer
described her.
&>&: She's all right.
;<=&78 \hat colour hair
&>&: Dunno.
;<=&78 Is it long or short
&>&: Dunno.
;<=&78 ;tigbtt,) \ou must know that.
&>&: I don't remember. aovt!
D,.art ri.e. ava cove. aorv to biv. e ta/e. tbe cigarette ovt of bi. bava.
;<=&78 ;firvt,) Lie back___Now listen. \ou hae to do this.
And now. \ou are going to tell me eerything that happened with
this girl. And not just tett me - .bor me. Act it out, i you like - een
more than you did when I tapped the pencil. I want you to eel ree
to do absolutely anything in this room. 1he pill will help you. I will
help you. Now, where does she lie
. tovg av.e.
&>&: ;tigbt) Near the stables. About a mile.
D,.art .te. aorv ovt of tbe .qvare a. ]itt evter. it. e .it. agaiv ov tbe

aorv.tage bevcb.
HN
1be tigbt gror. rarver.
113
E9>> It's called 1he China Pantry.
be cove. aorv ava .it. ca.vatt, ov tbe rait. er vavver i. oev ava tigbtt,
rorocatire. Dvrivg tbe.e .ceve. .tav act. airectt, ritb ber, ava verer too/.
orer at D,.art rbev be retie. to biv.
\hen Daddy disappeared, she was let without a bean. She had to
earn her own liing. I must say she did jolly well, considering she
was neer trained in business.
;<=&78 \hat do you mean, 'disappeared'
&>&: ;to D,.art) le ran o. No one eer saw him again.
E9>> Just let a note on her dressing table saying 'Sorry. I'e had it.'
Just like that. She neer got oer it. It turned her right o men. All
my dates hae to be sort o secret. I mean, she knows about them,
but I can't eer bring anyone back home. She's so rude to them.
&>&: ;to D,.art) She was always looking.
;<=&78 At you
&>&: ;to D,.art) Saying stupid things.
be ;vv. off tbe bevcb.
E9>> \ou'e got super eyes.
&>&: ;to D,.art) Anyway, .be was the one who had them.
be .it. vet to biv. vbarra..ea, tbe bo, trie. to vore ara, a. far a. be
cav.
E9>> 1here was an article in the paper last week saying what points
about boys ascinate girls. 1hey said Number One is bottoms. I
think it's eyes eery time. 1hey ascinate you too, don't they
&>&: Me
E9>> ;.t,) Or is it only horse's eyes
&>&: ;.tarttea) \hat d'you mean
E9>> I saw you staring into Nugget's eyes yesterday or ages. I
spied on you through the door!
&>&: ;bott,) 1here must hae been something in it!
E9>> \ou're a real Man o Mystery, aren't you
&>&: ;to D,.art) Sometimes, it was like she knew.
114
;<=&78 Did you eer hint
&>&: ;to D,.art) Course not!
E9>> I loe horses' eyes. 1he way you can see yoursel in them.
D'you ind them sexy
&>&: ;ovtragea) \hat!
E9>> lorses.
&>&: Don't be dat!
e .rivg. v, ava ara, frov ber.
E9>> Girls do. I mean, they go through a period when they pat
them and kiss them a lot. I know I did. I suppose it's just a
substitute, really.
&>&: ;to D,.art) 1hat kind o thing, all the time. Until one
night.
;<=&78 \es \hat
&>&: ;to D,.art: aefev.iret,) She did it! Not me. It was her idea, the
whole thing!. She got me into it!
;<=&78 \hat are you saying 'One night': go on rom there. .
av.e.

&>&: ;to D,.art) Saturday night. \e were just closing up.

E9>> low would you like to take me out
&>&: \hat
E9>> ;coott,) low would you like to take me out tonight
&>&: I'e got to go home.
E9>> \hat or
e trie. to e.cae v.tage.
&>&: 1hey expect me.
E9>> Ring up and say you're going out.
&>&: I can't.
E9>> \hy
&>&: 1hey expect me.
E9>> Look. Lither we go out together and hae some un, or you
go back to your boring home, a. v.vat, and I go back to mine.
115
1hat's the situation, isn't it
&>&: \ell. where would we go
E9>> 1he pictures! 1here's a skinlick oer in \inchester! I'e
neer seen one, hae you
&>&: NO.
E9>> \ouldn't you like to would. All those heay Swedes,
panting at each other! . .. \hat d'you say
&>&: ;CR^^^C) \Ll!.
E9>> GOOD!.
e tvrv. ara,.
;<=&78 GO ON, PLLASL.
e .te. off tbe .qvare.
&>&: ;to D,.art) I'm tired now!
;<=&78 Come on now. \ou can't stop there.
e .torv. rovva tbe circte to D,.art, ava face. biv airectt,.
&>&: I'm tirea! I want to go to bed!
;<=&78 ;.bart,) \ell, you can't. I want to hear about the ilm.
&>&: ;bo.tite) lear what. !bat.. It was bloody awul!
1be actor. ta,ivg bor.e. cove .riftt, ov to tbe .qvare, are..ea iv .ort. coat.
or raivcoat.. 1be, vore tbe bevcbe. to be arattet ritb tbe avaievce, ava .it ov
tbev .tarivg ovt frovt.
;<=&78 \hy
&>&: Nosey Parker!
D\AR1 !b,.
&>&: ecav.e!. \ell - we went into the Cinema!
HO
. bvr.t of roc/ vv.ic, iv.tavtt, faaivg aorv. igbt. aar/ev.
.tav reevter. tbe .qvare. ]itt ri.e. ava togetber tbe, groe tbeir ra, to tbe
116
aorv.tage bevcb, a. if iv a aar/ avaitorivv.
&>&: ;to D,.art) 1he whole place was ull o men. Jill was the
only girl.
1be, v.b b, a atrov .eatea at tbe eva, ava .it .iae b, .iae, .tarivg v at tbe
ivri.ibte .creev, tocatea abore tbe beaa. of tbe vaiv avaievce.
. .ottigbt bit. tbe bo,. face.
\e sat down and the ilm came on. It was dat. Nothing happened
or ages. 1here was this girl Brita, who was sixteen. She went to
stay in this house, where there was an older boy. le kept giing
her looks, but she ignored him completely. In the end she took a
shower. She went into the bathroom and took o all her clothes.

1he lot. Very slowly. \hat she didn't know was the boy was
looking through the door all the time.. ;be .tart. to becove ecitea) It
was antastic! 1he water ell on her breasts, bouncing down her.
rav/ .te. ivto tbe .qvare fvrtiret, frov tbe bac/, bat iv bava, ava .tava.
too/ivg abovt for a tace.
;<=&78 \as that the irst time you'd seen a girl naked
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es! \ou couldn't see eerything, though..
;too/ivg abovt biv) All round me they were all looking. All the men staring up like they were in church. Like they were a sort o
congregation. And then - ;be .ee. bi. fatber) .b!
.t tbe .ave iv.tavt rav/ .ee. biv.
@7&:A Alan!
&>&: God!
E9>> \hat is it
&>&: Daa!
E9>> !bere.
&>&: At the back! e .ar ve!
E9>> \ou sure
&>&: \es!
@7&:A ;cattivg) Alan!
&>&: Ol GOD!
117
e trie. to biae bi. face iv tbe girt. .bovtaer. i. fatber cove. aorv tbe ai.te
torara. biv.
@7&:A Alan! \ou can hear me! Don't pretend!
R&87C:= ...b!
@7&:A ;aroacbivg tbe ror of .eat.) Do I hae to come and etch
you out. Do I.
Crie. of ..b! ava bvt v!
Do I, Alan
&>&: ;tbrovgb grittea teetb) Oh uck!
e get. v a. tbe voi.e ivcrea.e.. ]itt get. v too ava fottor. biv.
;<=&78 \ou went
&>&: ;to D,.art) \hat else could I do le kept shouting.
Leryone was saying Shut up!
1be, go ovt, rigbt, tbrovgb tbe grov of Patrov. rbo ri.e rote.tivg a. tbe,
a.., qvic/t, retace tbe bevcbe. ava teare tbe .qvare.
D,.art evter. it.
IP
igbt brigbtev. frov tbe civeva, bvt revaiv. cota: .treet. at vigbt.
1be tbree rat/ rovva tbe circte aorv.tage iv a tive: rav/ teaaivg, rearivg
bi. bat. e batt. iv tbe viaate of tbe teft rait, ava .tava. .tarivg .traigbt
abeaa of biv, rigia ritb evbarra..vevt. .tav i. rer, agitatea.
&>&: ;to D,.art) \e went into the street, all three o us. It was
weird. \e just stood there by the bus stop - like we were three
people in a queue, and we didn't know each other. Dad was all
white and sweaty. le didn't look at us at all. It must hae gone on
or about ie minutes. I tried to speak. I said - ;to bi. fatber) I - I I'e neer been there beore. lonest. Neer. ;to D,.art) le
didn't seem to hear. Jill tried.
118
E9>> It's true, Mr Strang. It wasn't Alan's idea to go there. It was
mine.
&>&: ;to D,.art) le just went on staring, straight ahead. It was
awul.

E9>> I'm not shocked by ilms like that. I think they're just silly.
&>&: ;to D,.art) 1he bus wouldn't come. \e just stood and
stood. 1hen suddenly he spoke.
rav/ ta/e. off bi. bat.
@7&:A ;.tifft,) I'd like you to know something. Both o you. I
came here tonight to see the Manager. le asked me to call on him
or business purposes. I happen to be a printer, Miss. A picture
house needs posters. 1hat's entirely why I'm here. 1o discuss
posters. \hile I was waiting I happened to glance in, that's all. I
can only say I'm going to complain to the council. I had no idea
they showed ilms like this. I'm certainly going to reuse my
serices.
E9>> ;/ivat,) \es, o course.
@7&:A So long as that's understood.
&>&: ;to D,.art) 1hen the bus came along.
@7&:A Come along, now Alan.
e vore. ara, aorv.tage.
&>&: No.
@7&:A ;tvrvivg) No uss, please. Say Goodnight to the young
lady.
&>&: ;tivia bvt firv) No. I'm stopping here. I'e got to see her
home. It's proper.
Pav.e.
@7&:A ;a. aigvifiea a. o..ibte) Very well. I'll see you when you
choose to return. Very well then. \es.
e rat/. bac/ to bi. origivat .eat, vet to bi. rife. e .tare. acro.. tbe
.qvare at bi. .ov rbo .tare. bac/ at biv. 1bev, .tort,, be .it..
&>&: ;to D,.art) And he got in, and we didn't. le sat down and
119
looked at me through the glass. And I saw.
;<=&78 ;.oft) \hat
&>&: ;to D,.art) lis ace. It was scared.
;<=&78 O you
&>&: ;to D,.art) It was terrible. \e had to walk home. lour
miles. I got the shakes.
;<=&78 \ou were scared too
&>&: ;to D,.art) It was like a hole had been drilled in my tummy.
A hole - right here. And the air was getting in!
e .tart. to rat/ v.tage, rovva tbe circte.
IG
1be girt .ta,. .titt.
E9>> ;arare of otber eote too/ivg) Alan.
&>&: ;to D,.art) People kept turning round in the street to look.
E9>> Alan!
&>&: ;to D,.art) I kept seeing him, just as he droe o. Scared o
me. And me scared o biv. I kept thinking - all those airs he
put on!. 'Receie my meaning. Improe your mind!'. All those
nights he said he'd be in late. 'Keep my supper hot, Dora!' '\our
poor ather: he works so hard!'. Bugger! Old bugger!. lilthy old
bugger!
e .to., ctevcbivg bi. fi.t..
E9>> ley! \ait or me!
be rvv. after biv. e rait..
\hat are you thinking about
&>&: Nothing.
E9>> Mind my own beeswax

be tavgb..
&>&: ;to D,.art) And suddenly she began to laugh.
120
E9>> I'm sorry. But it's pretty unny, when you think o it.
&>&: ;beritaerea) \hat
E9>> Catching him like that! I mean, it's terrible - but it's ery
unny.
&>&: \Ll!
e tvrv. frov ber.
E9>> No, wait!. I'm sorry. I know you're upset. But it's not the
end o the world, is it I mean, what was he doing Only what we
were. \atching a silly ilm. It's a case o like ather like son, I'd
say!. I mean, when that girl was taking a shower, you were pretty
interested, weren't you
e tvrv. rovva ava too/. at ber.
\e keep saying old people are square. 1hen when they suddenly
aren't - we don't like it!
;<=&78 \hat did you think about that
&>&: ;to D,.art) I don't know. I kept looking at all the people in
the street. 1hey were mostly men coming out o pubs. I suddenly
thought - tbe, att ao it! .tt of tbev!. 1hey're not just Dads - they're
people with pricks!. And Dad - he's not just Dad either. le's a
man with a prick too. \ou know, I'd neer thought about it.
Pav.e.
\e went into the country.
e rat/. agaiv. ]itt fottor.. 1be, tvrv tbe corver ava cove aorv.tage, rigbt.
\e kept walking. I just thought about Dad, and how he was
nothing special -just a poor old sod on his own. e .to.. ;to ]itt:
reati.ivg it) Poor old sod!
E9>> 1hat's right!
&>&: ;grativg ritb it) I mean, what else has he got. le's got
mum, o course, but well - she - she - she E9>> She doesn't gie him anything
&>&: 1hat's right. I bet you. She doesn't gie him anything.
1hat's right. 1hat's really right!. She likes Ladies and
121
Gentlemen. Do you understand what I mean
E9>> ;vi.cbierov.t,) Ladies and gentlemen aren't naked
&>&: 1hat's right! Neer!. ^erer! 1hat would be disgusting!
She'd hae to put bowler hats on them!.Jodhpurs!
be tavgb..
;<=&78 \as that the irst time you eer thought anything like
that about your mother. I mean, that she was unair to your
dad
&>&: ;to D,.art) Absolutely!
;<=&78 low did you eel
&>&: ;to D,.art) Sorry. I mean or him. Poor old sod, that's what
I elt - he's just like me! le hates ladies and gents just like me! Posh
things - and la-di-da. le goes o by himsel at, night, and does his
own secret thing which no one'll know about, just like me! 1here's
no dierence - he's just the same as me - just the same! e .to. iv ai.tre.., tbev bott. bac/ a tittte v.tage.
Christ!
;<=&78 ;.tervt,) Go on.
&>&: ;to D,.art) I can't.
;<=&78 O course you can. \ou're doing wonderully.
&>&: ;1O DY.R1) NO, PLLASL. DO^1 M.K M!
;<=&78 ;firv) Don't think: just answer. \ou were happy at that

second, weren't you \hen you realised about your dad. low lots
o people hae secrets, not just you
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es.
;<=&78 \ou elt sort o ree, didn't you I mean, ree to do
anything
&>&: ;to D,.art, too/ivg at ]itt) \es!
;<=&78 \hat was she doing
&>&: ;to D,.art) lolding my hand.
;<=&78 And that was good
122
&>&: ;to D,.art) Oh, yes!
;<=&78 Remember what you thought. .. if it. baevivg to ,ov
vor. 1bi. rer, vovevt. \hat's in your head
&>&: ;to D,.art) ler eyes. be. the one with eyes!. I keep
looking at them, because I really want ;<=&78 1o look at her breasts
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es.
;<=&78 Like in the ilm.
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es. 1hen she starts to scratch my hand.
E9>> \ou're really ery nice, you know that
&>&: ;to D,.art) Moing her nails on the back. ler ace so warm.
ler eyes.
;<=&78 \ou want her ery much
&>&: ;1O DY.R1) \LS.
E9>> I loe your eyes. be /i..e. biv.
;rbi.erivg) Let's go!
&>&: \here
E9>> I know a place. It's right near here.
&>&: \here
E9>> Surprise!. Come on!
be aart. ara, rovva tbe circte, acro.. tbe .tage ava v tbe teft .iae.
Come ov!
&>&: ;to D,.art) She runs ahead. I ollow. And then - and then -!
e batt..
;<=&78 \hat
&>&: ;to D,.art) I see what she means.
;<=&78 \hat. \here are you. \here has she taken you
&>&: ,1O JILL, 1lL S1ABLLS
E9>> O course!
IH
123
Cborv. va/e. a rarvivg bvv.
1be bor.e.actor. evter, ava cerevoviatt, vt ov tbeir va./. fir.t rai.ivg
tbev bigb abore tbeir beaa.. ^vgget .tava. iv tbe cevtrat tvvvet.
&>&: ;recoitivg) No!
E9>> \here else 1hey're perect!
&>&: No!
e tvrv. bi. beaa frov ber.
E9>> Or do you want to go home now and ace your dad
&>&: No!
E9>> 1hen come on!
e eage. verrov.t, a.t tbe bor.e .tavaivg at tbe teft, rbicb tvrv. it. vec/ ava
erev vore. a cbattevgivg .te after biv.
&>&: \hy not your place
E9>> I can't. Mother doesn't like me bringing back boys. I told

you. Anyway, the Barn's better.

&>&: No!
E9>> All that straw. It's cosy.
&>&: No.
E9>> !b, vot.
&>&: 1hem!
E9>> Dalton will be in bed. \hat's the matter. Don't you
want to
&>&: ;acbivg to) \es!
E9>> SO
&>&: ;ae.erate) 1bev!. 1bev!.
E9>> !bo.
&>&: ;O!) lORSLS.
E9>> or.e... \ou're really dotty, aren't you. \hat do you
mean e .tart. .ba/ivg.
Oh, you're reezing. Let's get under the straw. \ou'll be warm
there.
124
&>&: ;vttivg ara,) No!
E9>> \hat on earth's the matter with you.
itevce. e rovt too/ at ber.
Look, i the sight o horses oends you, my lord, we can just shut
the door. \ou won't hae to see them. All right
;<=&78 \hat door is that In the barn
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es.
;<=&78 So what do you do \ou go in
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es.
II
. ricb tigbt fatt..
vrtiret, .tav evter. tbe .qvare frov tbe to eva, ava ]itt fottor.. 1be bor.e.
ov tbe circte retire ovt of .igbt ov eitber .iae. ^vgget retreat. v tbe tvvvet av
a
.tava. rbere be cav ;v.t be gtiv.ea iv tbe aivve...
;<=&78 Into the 1emple 1he loly o lolies
&>&: ;to D,.art: ae.erate) \hat else can I do. I can't say! I can't
tell her. ;to ]itt) Shut it tight.
E9>> All right. \ou're crazy.
&>&: Lock it.
E9>> Lock
&>&: \es.
E9>> It's just an old door. \hat's the matter with you 1hey're in
their boxes. 1hey can't get out. Are you all right
&>&: \hy
E9>> \ou look weird.
&>&: OCK 1!
E9>> Ssssh! D'you want to wake up Dalton. Stay there, idiot.
be vive. toc/ivg a bear, aoor, v.tage.
125
;<=&78 Describe the barn, please.
&>&: ;rat/ivg rovva it: to D,.art) Large room. Straw eerywhere.
Some tools. ;a. if ic/ivg it v off tbe rait rbere be teft it iv .ct Ove) A
hoo pick!.
e aro. it ba.tit,, ava aa.be. ara, frov tbe .ot.
;<=&78 Co ov.
&>&: ;to D,.art) At the end this big door. Behind it -

;<=&78 lorses.
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es.
;<=&78 low many
&>&: ;to D,.art) Six.
;<=&78 Jill closes the door so you can't see them
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es.
;<=&78 AND 1lLN. \lA1 lAPPLNS NO\. COML ON,
ALAN. Show me.
E9>> See, it's all shut. 1here's just us. Let's sit down. Come on.
1be, .it togetber ov tbe .ave bevcb, teft.
lallo.
&>&: ;qvic/t,) lallo.
be /i..e. biv tigbtt,. e re.ova.. vaaevt, a faivt travtivg of boore., off
.tage, va/e. biv ;vv v.
E9>> \hat is it
e tvrv. bi. beaa v.tage, ti.tevivg.
Relax. 1here's no one there. Come here.
be tovcbe. bi. bava. e tvrv. to ber agaiv.
\ou're ery gentle. I loe that.
&>&: So are you. I mean.
e /i..e. ber .ovtaveov.t,. 1be boore. travte agaiv, baraer. e brea/.
ara, frov ber abrvtt, torara. tbe v.tage corver.
E9>> ;ri.ivg) \hat is it
&>&: Nothing!
126
be vore. torara. biv. e tvrv. ava vore. a.t ber. e i. cteart, ai.tre..ea.
be covtevtate. biv for a vovevt.
E9>> ;gevtt,) 1ake your sweater o.
&>&: \hat
E9>> I will, i you will.
e .tare. at ber. . av.e.
be tift. ber .reater orer ber beaa: be ratcbe. tbev vvi. bi.. 1be, eacb
revore tbeir .boe., tbeir .oc/., ava tbeir ;eav.. 1bev tbe, too/ at eacb otber
aiagovatt, acro.. tbe .qvare, iv rbicb tbe tigbt i. gevtt, ivcrea.ivg.
&>&: \ou're. \ou're ery.
E9>> So are you.. ;av.e) Come here.
e goe. to ber. be cove. to biv. 1be, veet iv tbe viaate, ava bota eacb
otber, ava evbrace.
&>&: ;to D,.art) She put her mouth in mine. It was loely! Ob, it
ra. toret,!
1be, bvr.t ivto giggte.. e ta,. ber gevtt, ov tbe ftoor iv tbe cevtre of tbe
.qvare, ava beva. orer ber eagert,.
vaaevt, tbe voi.e of qvv. fitt. tbe tace. oore. .va.b ov rooa. .tav
.traigbtev. v, rigia. e .tare. .traigbt abeaa of biv orer tbe rove boa, of tbe
girt.
;<=&78 \es, what happened then, Alan
&>&: ;to D,.art: brvtatt, ) I put it in her!
;<=&78 \es
&>&: ;to D,.art) I put it in her.
;<=&78 \ou did
&>&: ,to D,.art) \es!
;<=&78 \as it easy
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es.
;<=&78 Describe it.
&>&: ;to D,.art) I told you.
;<=&78 More exactly.
&>&: ;to D,.art) I put it in her!
127

;<=&78 Did you

&>&: ;to D,.art) All the way!
;<=&78 Did you, Alan
&>&: ;to D,.art) All the way. I shoed it. I put it in her all the
way.
;<=&78 Did you
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es!
;<=&78 Did you
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es!. \es!
;<=&78 Gie me the 1RU1l!. Did you. ove.tt,.
&>&: ;to D,.art) luck o!
e cotta.e., t,ivg v.tage ov bi. face. ]itt tie. ov ber bac/ votiovte.., ber beaa
aorv.tage, ber arv. etevaea bebiva ber. . av.e.
;<=&78 ;gevtt,) \hat was it \ou couldn't 1hough you wanted
to ery much
&>&: ;to D,.art) I couldn't. see her.
;<=&78 \hat do you mean
&>&: ;to D,.art) Only lim. Lery time I kissed her - e was in
the way.
;<=&78 \ho
.tav tvrv. ov bi. bac/.
&>&: ;to D,.art) \ou /vor who!. \hen I touched her, I elt
iv. Under me. lis side, waiting or my hand. lis lanks. I
reused him. I looked. I looked right at her. and I couldn't do it.
\hen I shut my eyes, I saw lim at once. 1he streaks on his
belly. ;ritb vore ae.eratiov) I couldn't eel ber lesh at all! I wanted
the oam o his neck. lis sweaty hide. Not lesh. iae! or.e
biae!. 1hen I couldn't een kiss her.
]itt .it. v.
E9>> \hat is it
&>&: ;aoagivg ber bava) No!
128
e .cravbte. v ava crovcbe. iv tbe corver agaiv.t tbe rait., ti/e a tittte bea.t
iv a cage.
E9>> Alan!
&>&: Stop it!
]itt get. v.
E9>> It's all right. It's all right. Don't worry about it. It oten
happens - honest. 1here's nothing wrong. I don't mind, you
know. I don't at all.
e aa.be. a.t ber aorv.tage.
Alan, look at me. Alan. Alan!
e cotta.e. agaiv b, tbe rait.
&>&: Get out!.
E9>> \lA1
&>&: ;.oft) Out!
E9>> 1here's nothing wrong: beliee me! It's ery common.
&>&: C1 O|1!
e .vatcbe. v tbe ivri.ibte ic/.
GL1 OU1!
E9>> Put that down!
&>&: LLAVL ML ALONL!
E9>> Put that down, Alan. It's ery dangerous. Go on, please drop it.
e aro. it, ava tvrv. frov ber.
&>&: \ou eer tell anyone. Just you tell.
E9>> \ho do you think I am. I'm your riend - Alan.
be goe. torara. biv.

Listen: you don't hae to do anything. 1ry to realize that. Nothing

at all. \hy don't we just lie here together in the straw. And talk.
&>&: ;O!, PLLASL.
E9>> Just talk.
&>&: Ptea.e!
129
E9>> All right, I'm going. Let me put my clothes on irst.
be are..e., ba.tit,.
&>&: \ou tell anyone!. Just tell and see E9>> Ob, .to it!. I wish you could beliee me. It's not in the least
important.
Pav.e.
Anyway, I won't say anything. \ou know that. \ou know I
won't.
Pav.e. e .tava. ritb bi. bac/ to ber.
Goodnight, then, Alan. I wish - I really wish e tvrv. ov ber, bi..ivg. i. face i. ai.tortea o..e..ea. v borrifiea atarv
.be tvrv. ]vvbte. tbe aoor oev teare. tbe barv .bvt. tbe aoor bara bebiva
ber, ava aa.be. v tbe tvvvet ovt of .igbt, a.t tbe baret, ri.ibte figvre of
^vgget.
IJ
.tav .tava. atove, ava va/ea.
. faivt bvvvivg ava arvvvivg. 1be bo, too/. abovt biv iv grorivg terror.
;<=&78 \hat
&>&: ;to D,.art) le was there. 1hrough the door. 1he door was
shut, but he was there!. le'd seen eerything. I could hear him.
le was laughing.
;<=&78 Laughing
&>&: ;to D,.art) Mocking!. Moc/ivg!.
tavaivg aorv.tage be .tare. v torara. tbe tvvvet. . great .itevce reigb. ov
tbe .qvare.
;to tbe .itevce: terrifiea) lriend. Lquus the Kind. 1he Merciul!.
orgire ve!. itevce.
It wasn't me. Not really me. Me!. lorgie me!. 1ake me back
130
again! Please!. PLLASL!
e /veet. ov tbe aorv.tage ti of tbe .qvare, .titt facivg tbe aoor, bvaativg iv
fear.
I'll neer do it again. I swear. I swear!.
itevce.
;iv a voav) Ptea.e!!!.
;<=&78 And le \hat does le say
&>&: ;to D,.art: rbi.erivg) 'Mine!. \ou're mine!. I am yours
and you are mine!'. 1hen I see his eyes. 1hey are rolling!
^vgget begiv. to aaravce .tort,, ritb retevtte.. boore., aorv tbe cevtrat tvvvet
.
'I see you. I see you. Always! Lerywhere! loreer!'
;<=&78 Kiss anyone and I will see
&>&: ;to D,.art) \es!
;<=&78 Lie with anyone and I will see
&>&: ;1O DY.R1) \LS!
;<=&78 And you will ail! loreer and eer you will fait! \ou will
see ML - and you will lAIL!
1be bo, tvrv. rovva, bvggivg biv.etf iv aiv. rov tbe .iae. tro vore bor.e.
covrerge ritb ^vgget ov tbe rait.. 1beir boore. .tav avgrit,. 1be eqvv.

^oi.e i. beara vore terribt,.

1he Lord thy God is a Jealous God. le sees you. le sees you
oreer and eer, Alan. le sees you!. e .ee. ,ov!
&>&: ;iv terror) Lyes!. \hite eyes - neer closed! Lyes like
lames - coming - coming!. God seest! God seest!. NO!.
Pav.e. e .teaaie. biv.etf. 1be .tage begiv. to btac/ev.
;qvieter) No more. No more, Lquus.
e get. v. e goe. to tbe bevcb. e ta/e. v tbe ivri.ibte ic/. e vore.
.tort, v.tage torara. ^vgget, covceativg tbe reaov bebiva bi. va/ea bac/,
iv tbe grorivg aar/ve... e .tretcbe. ovt bi. bava ava fovate. ^vgget. va./.
;gevtt,) Lquus. Noble Lquus. laithul and 1rue. Godslae.
1hou-God-Seest-NO1lING!
131
e .tab. ovt ^vgget. e,e.. 1be bor.e .tav. iv agov,. . great .creavivg
begiv. to fitt tbe tbeatre, grorivg erer tovaer. .tav aa.be. at tbe otber tro
bor.e. ava btiva. tbev too, .tabbivg orer tbe rait.. 1beir vetat boore. ;oiv iv
tbe .tavivg.
Retevtte..t,, a. tbi. baev., tbree vore bor.e. aear iv cove. of tigbt: vot
vatvrati.tic avivat. ti/e tbe fir.t tbree, bvt areaafvt creatvre. ovt of vigbtva
re.
1beir e,e. ftare tbeir vo.trit. ftare tbeir vovtb. ftare. 1be, are arcbet,at
ivage. ;vagivg, vvi.bivg, itite... 1be, ao vot batt at tbe rait, bvt ivraae
tbe .qvare. .. tbe, travte at biv, tbe bo, tea. ae.eratet, at tbev, ;vvivg
bigb ava va/ea iv tbe aar/, .ta.bivg at tbeir beaa. ritb arv. vrai.ea.
1be .creav. ivcrea.e. 1be otber bor.e. fottor ivto tbe .qvare. 1be rbote tace
i. fittea ritb cavvovivg, btivaea bor.e. ava tbe bo, aoagivg avovg tbev,
aroiaivg tbeir .ta.bivg boore. a. be.t be cav. ivatt, tbe, tvvge off ivto
aar/ve.. ava ara, ovt of .igbt. 1be voi.e aie. abrvtt,, ava att re bear i.
.tav ,ettivg iv b,.teria a. be cotta.e. ov tbe grovva .tabbivg at bi. orv e,e.
ritb tbe ivri.ibte ic/.
&>&: lind me!. lind me!. lind me!.
KILL ML!. KILL ML!.
IK
1be tigbt cbavge. qvic/t, bac/ to brigbtve...
D,.art evter. .riftt,, bvrt. a btav/et ov tbe teft bevcb, ava rv.be. orer to
.tav. 1be bo, i. barivg covrvt.iov. ov tbe ftoor. D,.art grab. bi. bava.,
force. tbev frov bi. e,e., .coo. biv v iv bi. arv. ava carrie. biv orer to tbe
bevcb. .tav bvrt. bi. arv. rovva D,.art ava ctivg. to biv, ga.ivg ava
/ic/ivg bi. teg. iv a areaafvt frev,.
D,.art ta,. biv aorv ava re..e. bi. beaa bac/ ov tbe bevcb. e /ee.
tat/ivg vrgevtt, tat/ivg .ootbivg tbe agov, a. be cav.
;<=&78 lere. lere. Ssssh. Ssssh. Calm now. Lie back.
132
]v.t tie bac/! Now breathe in deep. Very deep. In. Out. In.
Out. 1hat's it. In. Ovt. v. Ovt.
1be bo,. breatb i. ararv ivto bi. boa, ritb a bar.b ra.ivg .ovva, rbicb
.tort, gror. te... D,.art vt. tbe btav/et orer biv.
Keep it going. 1hat's a good boy. Very good boy. It's all oer
now, Alan. It's all oer. le'll go away now. \ou'll neer see him
again, I promise. \ou'll hae no more bad dreams. No more awul
nights. 1hink o that!. \ou are going to be well. I'm going to
make you well, I promise you. - \ou'll be here or a while, but I'll
be here too, so it won't be so bad. Just trust me.
e .tava. vrigbt. 1be bo, tie. .titt.
Sleep now. lae a good long sleep. \ou'e earned it. Sleep. Just

sleep. I'm going to make you well.

e .te. bac/rara. ivto tbe cevtre of tbe .qvare. 1be tigbt brigbtev. .ove
vore. . av.e.
;<=&78 I'm lying to you, Alan. le won't really go that easily.
Just clop away rom you like a nice old nag. Oh, no! \hen Lquus
leaes - i he leaes at all - it will be with your intestines in his
teeth. And I don't stock replacements. I you knew anything,
you'd get up this minute and run rom me ast as you could.
e.tber .ea/. frov ber tace.
D"=8D"7 1he boy's in pain, Martin.
;<=&78 \es.
D"=8D"7 And you can take it away.
;<=&78 \LS.
D"=8D"7 1hen that has to be enough or you, surely. In the
end!
;<=&78 ;cr,ivg ovt) .tt rigbt! tt ta/e it ara,! le'll be deliered
rom madness. !bat tbev. le'll eel himsel acceptable! !bat tbev.
Do you think eelings like his can be simply re-attached, like
plasters Stuck on to other objects we select oo/ at biv!. My
133
desire might be to make this boy an ardent husband - a caring
citizen - a worshipper o abstract and uniying God. My
achieement, howeer, is more likely to make a ghost!. Let me
tell you exactly what I'm going to do to him!
e .te. ovt of tbe .qvare ava rat/. rovva tbe v.tage eva of it, .torvivg at
tbe avaievce.
I'll heal the rash on his body. I'll erase the welts cut into his mind
by lying manes. \hen that's done, I'll set him on a nice miniscooter and send him puttering o into the Normal world where
animals are treated roert,: made extinct, or put into seritude, or
tethered all their lies in dim light, just to eed it! I'll gie him the
good Normal world where we're tethered beside them - blinking
our nights away in a non-stop drench o cathode-ray oer our
shrielling heads! I'll take away his lield o la la, and gie him
Normal places or his ecstasy - multi-lane highways drien through
the guts o cities, extinguishing Place altogether, erev tbe iaea of Ptace!
le'll trot on his metal pony tamely through the concrete eening and one thing I promise you: he will neer touch hide again! \ith
any luck his priate parts will come to eel as plastic to him as the
products o the actory to which he will almost certainly be sent.
\ho knows le may een come to ind sex unny. Smirky unny.
Bit o grunt unny. 1rampled and urtie and entirely in control.
lopeully, he'll eel nothing at his ork but Approed llesh.
aovbt, borerer, ritb vvcb a..iov!. Passion, you see, can be destroyed
by a doctor. It cannot be created.
e aaare..e. .tav airectt,, iv farerett.
\ou won't gallop any more, Alan. lorses will be quite sae. \ou'll
sae your pennies eery week, till you can change that scooter in
or a car, and put the odd ity p on the gee-gees, quite orgetting
that they were eer anything more to you than bearers o little
proits and little losses. \ou will, howeer, be without pain. More
or less completely without pain.
134
Pav.e.
e .ea/. airectt, to tbe tbeatre, .tavaivg b, tbe votiovte.. boa, of .tav
travg, vvaer tbe btav/et.
And now or me it neer stops: that oice o Lquus out o the cae
- '\hy Me. \hy Me. Account or Me!'. All right - I

surrender! I say it!. In an ultimate sense I cannot know what I do

in this place - yet I do ultimate things. Lssentially I cannot know
what I do - yet I do essential things. Irreersible, terminal things. I
stand in the dark with a pick in my hand, striking at heads!
e vore. ara, frov .tav, bac/ to tbe aorv.tage bevcb, ava fivatt, .it..
I need - more desperately than my children need me - a way o
seeing in the dark. \hat way is this. !bat aar/ i. tbi... I cannot
call it ordained o God: I can't get that ar.
I will howeer pay it so much homage. 1here is now, in my mouth,
this sharp chain. And it neer comes out.
. tovg av.e, D,.art .it. .tarivg.
tac/ovt
Glossary: reading the text
Author's notes on the play
Chorus organised band of singers or dancers,
especially in Greek tragedy representing interested
spectators and employed to explain the actions,
express sympathy with characters and draw
morals.
Winkers leather screens on a horse's bridle
preventing it from seeing sideways.
135
mimetically by copying or imitation.
Act I, scenes I to 7
schizophrenic person suffering from a mental
disease marked by disconnection between
thoughts, feelings and actions.
catatonia state of inertia. Catatonic schizophrenia
is a kind of mental illness in which the sufferer can
stay in a state of absolute immobility for a long
time.
bench in the British judicial system this is the
magistrate's or judge's seat in a court. Hesther is
probably a magistrate. A magistrate is usually an
unpaid layperson appointed to try minor offences.
Polynesian inhabitant of islands in the central and
west Pacific including Hawaii and New Zealand.
Spanish fly dried beetle formerly used in medicine
and thought to have aphrodisiac qualities.
Doublemint brand of chewing gum.
Martini popular vermouth drink. This and the
Doublemint gum are both featured in advertising
136
jingles which were well known at the time that this
play was first produced. Alan's repetition of these

advertising jingles is used by him as a means of

evasion; they screen him from Dysart's probing
questions. They also suggest that Alan is highly
responsive to the influences which surround him.
1 How successful is the opening of the play in
gaining the audience's attention and at engaging
its curiosity?
2 What are your initial impressions of Alan and
Dysart?
3 How does the audience's attitude towards Alan
develop during these opening scenes? To what
extent can we sympathise with him in spite of our
knowledge of what he has done?
4 What are the various ways in which we learn
about Alan during these scenes?
5 What has been learned of Alan's motives for
blinding the horses by the end of scene 7?
6 Does Alan appear to be mentally unbalanced? If
so, in what ways?
7 What is your first impression of Alan's father?
137
What are the reasons for introducing him into the
play at this point?
8 How does Shaffer characterise the Strangs'
relationship?
Act I, scenes 8 to 11
lav common abbreviation for the lavatory.
Homeric Homer, probable author of The Iliad
and The Odyssey; Greek epic poet of classical
times.
Agamemnon in Greek legend, King of Argos and
commander of the Greek army which besieged
Troy. He was murdered on his return from Troy by
his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. The
mask referred to is the gold funeral mask wrongly
believed to have been that of Agamemnon.
Mycenae city of ancient Greece in the plain of
Argos in the Peloponnese region.
menopause period in a woman's life, generally
between forty and fifty, at which menstruation and
hence fertility ceases. This image serves to point
up Dysart's feeling that his career has reached its
138

end and that what he does is of no value.

Karl Marx nineteenth-century German
philosopher, economist and revolutionary social
theorist. His view of religion was that it kept the
working classes in their place at the bottom of
society because it taught them to be happy with
their lot.
'He saith among the trumpets, Ha, ha.' from
Job 40: 19-25.
Hast thou given the horse strength? hast thou
clothed his neck with thunder? Canst thou
make him afraid as a grasshopper? The glory
of his nostrils is terrible. He paweth in the
valley, and rejoiceth in his strength: he goeth
on to meet the armed men. He mocketh at
fear, and is not affrighted; neither turneth he
back for the sword.
The quiver rattleth against him, the glittering
spear and the shield. He swalloweth the
ground with the fierceness and rage: neither
believeth he that it is the sound of the
trumpet. He saith among the trumpets, Ha ha;
And he smelleth the battle afar off, the
thunder of the captains, and the shouting.
This is an important passage for the power of its
poetry in suggesting the depth of Alan's feeling and
also because it establishes Alan's 'god' as being Old
139
Testament in character. We are dealing with a
world in which there can be no mercy for sinners.
This section is full of images of violence and blood
which would be very likely to stimulate Alan's
imagination. The audience are presented with an
adolescent's mind which is a strange mixture of
contemporary advertisements and archaic snippets
from the Bible.
The Book of Job chapter in the Old Testament,
probably written in the fourth century BC. Its hero
is a wealthy man, whose patience and exemplary
piety are tried by dire and undeserved misfortunes
and who, in spite of bitter lamentations, remains
finally confident in the goodness of God. (Hence
the name is associated with being long-suffering
and patient in the face of misfortune.)
atheist person who either does not believe in a
god, or who positively denies the very possibility of
its existence. Alan's father's rejection of religion is
based on his view that it has damaged his son's
mental health.
truculent aggressive, savage or harsh.
1 How deep an understanding do we have of Alan
and his problems by the end of this group of
scenes?

140
2 What are the significant influences in Alan's
childhood which have driven him towards a worship
of horses?
3 In what ways is Dysart beginning to develop as a
character in his own right - instead of being simply
a kind of detective?
4 How does Shaffer develop the horse imagery in
these scenes?
5 Explain the importance of the two pictures in
Alan's emotional development.
6 Why won't Frank allow his son to watch
television?
7 What verbal strategies does Alan employ to
evade Dysart's questions and how does the
psychiatrist respond?
8 What different methods does the playwright use
to tell the story of Alan's childhood?
Act I, scenes 12 to 16
begot to procreate or have children. In the early
141
books in the Old Testament, there are often lists of
names, family trees or genealogical tables. It is
these lists which Alan's mother was always reading
to him when he was little. Alan's own genealogical
list traces Equus's family tree and it reveals how
his obsession with horses is mixed up with his
sexually repressed upbringing. Prince (the name of
the horse in the story told to him by his mother)
suggests the sound of Prance, which describes the
springing walk of a horse. This leads - by sound
association - to Prankus which suggests that Alan's
childhood activities were naughty, a prank. Flankus
is reminiscent of the word flank or the horse's
body. The flank, being the part of the horse
whipped by the rider leads us to Spankus. This
suggests the idea of a naughty child being
punished by having its bottom smacked (spanked)
and the more general idea of flagellation as a
perversion; the 'bad sex' which Alan's father refers
to on page 18. The next name in the genealogy
reinforces the idea that Alan's fantasies are to do
with masturbation; spunk being a slang word for
'semen'. The close interlinking of ideas relating to
repression, childhood punishment and sexuality
suggest a Freudian view of Alan's mental problems.
Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychiatrist, has been
enormously influential in the world of psychiatry for

his view that repression of infantile sexuality is the

root of neurosis in adults. Dysart is clearly
142
influenced by Freud because he investigates Alan's
mental problems through an exploration of his
childhood influences, particularly those of his
parents.
Genealogy a kind of pedigree, a description of the
development of a species by listing all the
individuals from the start to the end.
Ek. wus Dysart belatedly realises the significance
of the noises Alan made in his dreams earlier in Act
I, scene 6.
Alan in mime begins to thrash himself once
more Alan's flagellation is coupled with his intense
sexual repression. Flagellation has been used both
in the name of religion as a means to deny the
body's demands for pleasure and, in completely the
opposite way to stimulate sexual activity.
obliquely not going straight to the point,
roundabout. There is surely a little intentional irony
here: Frank is unable to live up the meaning of his
name ('frank' meaning candid or open) and finds
himself unable to be 'frank' with his son about sex.
Frank is therefore seen as being largely responsible
for his son's sexual repression as a child and
subsequent neurosis in adolescence.
143
dandy. curry-comb the former is a stiff brush
and the latter a type of comb used for grooming
horses.
1 In what ways does Dalton's information
contribute to our understanding of Alan?
2 What aspects of horses excite and interest Alan?
3 Do you think Alan is closer to his mother or his
father?
4 What do you think is the dramatic significance of
Jill, stablegirl?
5 What have Dysart's revelations about his
marriage to do with Alan's story?
6 What part does Hesther play in these scenes?
7 In what ways does Dysart find himself under
attack as both a psychiatrist and an ordinary
person?
8 What do you think is the nature of Alan's
relationship with Jill?
9 How realistic is the depth of Dysart's involvement
with the case of Alan Strang?
Act I, scenes 17 to 21

The Gorbals poor area of Glasgow.

kirk Scottish word for church.
144
Doric style of classical Greek architecture.
Zeus in Greek mythology, chief of the gods.
Horse and rider shall be one beast? this is a
reference to Act I, scene 7, to something Alan's
mother remembers telling him in his childhood:
'when Christian cavalry first appeared in the New
World, the pagans thought horse and rider was one
person. They thought it must be a god.'
Holy of Holies allusion to the holiest part of the
temple where only the high priest is allowed.
The Ark of the Manbit another parody bringing to
mind the Ark of the Covenant in the Old
Testament; this was the chest containing the Ten
Commandments as given to Moses by God.
His neck comes out of my body. to Alan this
means the unification of himself with the horse. It
is also, however, a startling and somewhat surreal
phallic image. It reinforces the sexual
suggestiveness of the whole scene in which
religious and sexual fervour become bizarrely
intertwined. On page 56 Dysart instructs Alan: 'Do
it, then. Mount him.' This illustrates the sexual
ambiguity of the whole scene with the play on
meanings of the word 'mount'. Likewise when
Dysart instructs Alan to 'Ride away now' the
145
audience cannot help but be aware of the popular
meaning of the phrase 'to ride' meaning to have
sexual intercourse.
The Hosts of Hoover. tribe! it is significant that
Alan sees the emblems of the consumer world of
electrical goods as being the enemies of his god.
The implication is that the materialism of the
modern industrial world is at least partly
responsible for alienating humanity from its innate
need for a spiritual world.
1 Who is in charge during scene 17 - Alan Strang
or Martin Dysart? How do such confrontations
serve to erode Dysart's faith in himself?
2 What reasons does Dysart give Hesther for the
breakdown of his marriage?
3 Is Hesther ever given more than the role of
simply being a passive listener?
4 What reasons might Shaffer have had for getting
Dysart to consider what we mean by 'normal' in
our society at this point in the play?
5 What is Dysart's attitude towards 'the normal'?

6 What part do the horses and the Chorus play in

bringing Act I to a dramatic conclusion?
7 How does Alan's riding combine his sexual and
religious obsessions?

146
Act 2, scenes 22 to 27
a con trick confidence trick in which a crook robs
his victim by firstly gaining their trust in order to
carry out the theft. Ironically, Alan's view of
psychiatry is probably one that Dysart shares with
him.
placebo medicine given to a patient to humour
him. It is perhaps significant in its implication that
Dysart feels his medical skills are also a fake.
Peloponnese peninsula forming the southern part
of Greece. Kao-Pectate medicine for diarrhoea.
Dionysus the Greek god of fertility, and in ancient
times the central figure of some of the most
passionate and violent sexual rituals.
without a bean (colloquial) having no money.
1 In what ways does the opening scene of Act 2
recall the play's very first scene?
2 How successful is this opening scene in restarting the play's momentum?
3 Does Dora's outburst on page 62 alter our views
of Alan and his motivations for his crime?
4 How, despite his apparent antagonism, does Alan
show that he trusts Dysart and that he still needs
147
his help?
5 How successfully do these scenes combine
revelations about both Strang and Dysart? In
whom are you most interested?
Act 2, scenes 28 to 35
skinflick sex film. It suggests the kind of film in
which the main interest would be centred upon the
sexual activity of its stars.
all those heavy Swedes in the 1950s Sweden got
a reputation for being more free sexually than the
rest of Europe. Many sex films were made there.
The Lord thy God is a Jealous God Jehovah, the
God of the Old Testament, is portrayed as being a
much more authoritarian and vengeful figure than
the gentler, forgiving God of the New Testament.
The 'god' which Alan has created for himself has its

roots in the influences he has received from his

mother's Bible readings.
the odd fifty p on the gee-gees an occasional
bet of a trifling amount on a horse race.
How convincing is Shaffer's portrait of Jill as an
open and warm young woman?
How do these scenes show that Alan is still
148
unwilling to 'grow up' and take responsibility for his
own sexuality as a man?
The scene where Alan meets his father at the
pictures borders on being farcical. Does this crude
piece of humour have any point beyond serving to
relieve the dramatic tension?
What does Alan realise that he has in common with
his father?
How does the final scene succeed in providing a
climax greater than the earlier scene where Alan
blinds the horses?
Study programme
The play's structure
1 Draw a flow-chart of the sequence of information
which Peter Shaffer uses to tell the audience the
roots of Alan's problems. The flow-chart might
begin like this:
blinds six horses (page 4)
->
'Ek' is Alan's special word (page 10)
->
the importance of horses in his childhood (page 14)
->
first encounter with a horse (page 22)
149
2 Use the information gained from the flow-chart to
draw a time-line of the main events in Alan's life
from his early childhood to the blinding of the
horses. Part of the time-line might look like this:
Age 6: sees horse on beach and rides it
Age 7: mother reads to him over and over again
from a book about horses.
Age 12: buys religious picture depicting Christ on
Calvary
Age 13: father-throws out picture and gives him a
replacement picture of a white horse...
3 Now consider these questions and answer them
in the form of an essay:

- What is the effect of Shaffer's dramatic method

of cutting up and re-ordering the chronology of
Alan's story?
- How successful is Shaffer in keeping the
audience's interest in the 'story' of the play?
Staging the play
Peter Shaffer lays great emphasis upon the actual
150
physical setting for the play.
1 Re-read Shaffer's notes on the set design for this
play. Then try to make a sketch plan of the set
according to his requirements. Points to consider
are:
- Which type of theatre would you use: the
traditional proscenium arch or the more modem
theatre-in-the-round? (Research each type of
theatre.)
- What would be the advantages and
disadvantages of each type of theatre?
- What dimensions would the set be?
- Where would you place the audience?
- What kind of lighting effects are you trying to
create?
- What improvements or modifications would you
make to Shaffer's original set requirements?
2 Having completed Assignment I above, discuss
the following:
- What problems did you face in trying to interpret
Shaffer's requirements?
- Why do you think that Shaffer is so precise in
outlining the set design? What effects is he trying
to achieve?
- Why does Shaffer want the audience to sit as if
151
they were at a 'dissecting theatre'?
- Why does Shaffer require the cast of Equus to sit
'on the stage the entire evening'?
- Which type of theatre would be the best setting
for this play? Present your conclusions in a seminar
paper or essay.
Character and relationships
As the play progresses, it becomes increasingly
clear that Dysart's roles as both a man and a
psychiatrist are being put on trial by the
playwright. The process begins at the play's very
outset when Dysart considers the way in which
contact with Alan has made him question his work
as a psychiatrist:

In a way, it has nothing to do with this boy.

The doubts have been there for years, piling up
steadily in this dreary place. It's only the
extremity of this case that's made them active.
I know that.
Act I, scene I
Alan's worship, his crime, his motives for it and his
behaviour all undermine Dysart's faith in himself as
a doctor and as a man. Shaffer dramatises this
interrogation of Dysart throughout the play,
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starting with instances like this exchange:
DYSART. Do you dream often?
ALAN Do you?
DYSART It's my job to ask the questions. Yours
to answer them.
ALAN Says who?
Act I, scene 9
The doctor's case notes
1 In order to explore the process by which Dysart
comes to understand how he can cure Alan and the
consequences of such a cure, write some of the
entries which he would have made in his case
notes on Alan.
Choose three or four key scenes where Dysart and
Alan talk. Reread them and then write Dysart's
record of each session and his observations about
his patient
The doctor's diary
2 The play's focus is as much on Dysart the man as
Dysart the psychiatrist.
In order to explore Dysart's inner life, write entries
153
in his diary which coincide with the occasions when
he saw Alan Strang. It will be important here to
show how treating Alan affects Dysart in the most
profound ways.
3 Shaffer has written this about the human
condition:
Man squeezed like a nut between an ideal
choice and a practical one and cracked in bits.
must always be new and painful.
Write a commentary on Dysart's case notes and his
diary to illustrate his 'ideal choice' and his 'practical
choice'.

The writer's intentions

In a personal essay on the writing of Equus, Peter
Shaffer has this to say about his intentions:
It is my object to tell tales; to conjure the
spectres of horror and happiness, and fill other
heads with the images which have haunted my
own. My desire, I suppose, is to perturb and
make gasp; to please and make laugh, to
surprise.
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In this same essay he describes how the play 'as it
grew under my hands, came more and more to
question the uses of psychiatry'.
1 Prepare to interview Peter Shaffer about his
intentions in writing this play.
First, brainstorm on paper what you think he was
trying to achieve. Then use these ideas to
formulate questions which could be put to the
writer. For example, you might choose to focus
upon the character of Alan Strang and the writer's
attitude to him. Questions such as: 'What
impression did you intend the audience to form of
Alan at the beginning of the play?' or 'To what
extent is Alan's crime explicable in terms of his
parents' influence upon him?' should elicit
interesting answers.
Once you have found a focus for your questions
you should research your own answers by rereading parts of the play again and noting down
what you think Shaffer's answers might be.
Working in a group, take this a stage further by
taking it in turns to role play the writer and
improvise his answers. It is important to pause
regularly to reflect upon the writer's answers and
to ensure that there is solid evidence in the text of
the play to support them.

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Themes
A modern citizen
One of the central themes of the play is the
spiritual and moral vacuum in which twentiethcentury western humanity exists. Human beings'
alienation from any sense of overall purpose in life
is most profoundly experienced, in the view of
many, by working-class, undereducated youngsters
living in the industrialised west.

1 Compare this extract from Kes by Barry Mines

with Dysart's evaluation of Alan in Equus.
. What else has he got?
[apart from his horseworship] Think about him. He can hardly read.
He knows no physics or engineering to make
the world real for him. No paintings to show
him how others have enjoyed it No music
except television jingles. No history except
tales from a desperate mother. No friends. Not
one kid to give him a joke, or make him know
himself more moderately. He's a modem citizen
for whom society doesn't exist.
Act 2, scene 25
In this scene from Kes the headmaster is about to
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cane a group of boys for smoking. This is part of
what he says to them before dealing out the
punishment:
I've taught in this city for over thirty-five years
now; many of your parents were pupils under
me in the old city schools before this estate
was built and I'm certain that in all those years
I have never encountered a generation as
difficult to handle as this one. I thought I
understood young people, I should be able to
with all my experience, yet there's something
happening today that's frightening, that makes
me feel it's all been a waste of time. You're
not interested Nobody can tell you anything,
can they, Macdowall? You know it all, you
young people, you think you're so
sophisticated with all your gear and your
music. But the trouble is, it's superficial, just a
sheen with nothing worthwhile or solid
underneath. As far as I can see there's been no
advance at all in discipline, decency, manners
or morals.
Kes, Penguin, 1969
How does this account of the youth of today
compare with the one from Equus? Where do the
similarities and the differences lie? Present your
conclusions as a seminar paper or essay.
157
2 Compare the headmaster's disillusionment with
his professional role with Dysart's loss of faith in
his work as a psychiatrist. Do both men feel that
they are failing for similar reasons? Present your
conclusion as a seminar paper.
Collecting relevant quotations

A very effective way to build up a set of revision

resources or notes on the play is to collect
quotations under different headings.
Either write out your quotations using one page of
an exercise book per heading, or use record cards.
Record cards are easier to shuffle about and can
slip into your pocket for instant revision sessions.
Test fellow students by reading out quotations and
trying to assign to each a speaker and theme(s).
Principal characters
1 One obvious set of headings concerns the
principal characters. You should note down things
said by characters which are particularly revealing
about themselves and also comments made by
other characters about them. For example, under
Dysart you might put this quotation:
158
You see, I'm lost. What use, I should be
asking, are questions like these to an
overworked psychiatrist in a provincial
hospital?.
Act I, scene I
You might also choose to note this comment from
Hesther because of the insight it gives the audience
into Dysart's family life (or lack of it):
You have no children, have you?
Act I, scene 18
Themes
2 In a similar way, collect quotations for different
thematic headings. Try brainstorming ones which
are appropriate to Equus. Some suggestions are
psychiatry; sexuality; religion; family life; people's
search for meaning in life; materialism; passion;
horses.
This is a good way to put into a sharper focus your
ideas about the play.
Beyond the play
159
The trial of Alan Strang
1 In Act I, scene 2, Hesther tells Dysart:
My bench wanted to send the boy to prison.
For life, if they could manage it It took me two
hours solid arguing to get him sent to you
instead.

In order to explore Alan's character, the motivation

behind his crime and the degree to which he can
be held responsible for it, re-enact his trial.
You will need to decide who is to take on the roles
of the characters in the play, and who will be the
prosecuting and defending lawyers, and the judge.
Hesther is one of a panel of judges or magistrates.
You will also have to decide whether you are going
to allow Martin Dysart to submit evidence (because
in the actual play Alan is brought to him after his
trial).
Each character will have to be researched by the
student taking that role. This means tracking the
character through the play and collecting anything
they say which is relevant to the case. You will find
the notes made for 'Collecting relevant quotations',
assignments I and 2 on pages 110-11, very useful
for this. The prosecuting and defending lawyers will
face the task of presenting their cases and they will
160
have to call each character as a witness.
Study questions
Many of the activities you have already completed
will help you to answer the following questions.
Before you begin to write, consider these points
about essay writing:
- Analyse what the question is asking. Do this by
circling key words or phrases in red ink and
numbering each part.
- Use each part of the question to 'brainstorm'
ideas and references to the play which you think
are relevant to the answer.
- Decide on the order in which you are going to
tackle the parts of the question. It may help you to
draw a flow-diagram of the parts so that you can
see which aspects of the question are linked.
- Organise your ideas and quotations into sections
to fit your flow-diagram. You can do this by placing
notes in columns under the various headings.
- Write a first draft of your essay. Do not concern
yourself too much with paragraphing and so on;
just aim to get your ideas down on paper and do
not be too critical of what you write.
- Redraft as many times as you need, ensuring all
the time that;
161
- each paragraph addresses the question;
- each paragraph addresses a new part of the
question, or at least develops a part;
- you have an opening and closing paragraph which
are clear and linked to the question set;

- you have checked for spelling and grammatical

errors.
1 Is Equus a play about religion, sexuality or a
mixture of both these themes?
2 Peter Shaffer has written that in writing Equus
he came 'more and more to question the ultimate
uses of psychiatry'.
Show how, through the character of Dysart, the
play questions the purposes and the value of
psychiatry.
3 The violence of the action and the play's
language cannot be justified.'
To what extent can you agree with this comment
on Equus?
4 'If the diagnosis is dubious and the clinical
analysis over-heated, it is perhaps less important
than the opportunity it gives Mr Shaffer to provide
162
some stunning dramatic effects.'
What are the elements in Equus which make it a
dramatic play for an audience to watch?
5 Show the stages which Dysart goes through in
his dilemma about how he should 'treat' Alan
Strang.
6 How much does visual action contribute to the
power of Equus as a piece of theatre?
7 Write about the importance of any two of the
following characters: Frank Strang; Dora Strang;
Hesther Salomon; Jill Mason.
8 Who is the play's central character: Alan Strang
or Martin Dysart? Give reasons for your answer.
9 To what extent has Shaffer succeeded in
presenting the minor characters as real people
rather than types?
10 Show how the shock of Alan Strang's crime is
precisely calculated, and how the play is structured
to continue to produce shocks and surprises to its
very close.
11 Discuss the importance of the human need for
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'worship' and religious ritual in the play.
12 How important is the psychiatric setting to the

play's meaning?
Suggestions for further reading
Other plays by Peter Shaffer
Five Finger Exercise (1958)
A young German student arrives in England to
tutor a fourteen-year old girl. At first he fits in well
with the middle-class family but then he becomes
the scapegoat for the whole family's problems.
Accused of trying to make love to the wife, he
unsuccessfully attempts suicide.
The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964)
Pizarro leads an army of conquistadors to Peru to
conquer the golden kingdom of the Incas. A
strange bond develops between Pizarro and the
young Inca king.
Black Comedy (1965)
The action takes place in the apartment of a
struggling young sculptor and his girlfriend, who
are expecting dinner guests. The play relies upon
an overriding theatrical joke: when a fuse blows
164
plunging the flat into 'darkness' the stage is
flooded with light and the characters grope about
in full view of the audience.
The Battle of Shrivings (1970)
A play which in its final form has never been acted.
It is in essence a dialogue on the theme of human
aggression. Into the world of Gideon Petrie, a
philanthropist, bursts one of his ex-pupils to
challenge him to a duel to settle a philosophical
argument.
Amadeus (1979)
The play opens with whispered voices gossiping
about Salieri's claim to have murdered Mozart.
Having met an aged Salieri, the action then moves
back in time to show the threat posed to Salieri by
the highly praised and young Mozart. Salieri
decides to destroy Mozart and his career.
Yonadab (1985)
Based on an Old Testament episode from the Book
of Samuel, Yonadab - main character and narrator
- has an incestuous love for his cousin. For this he
suffers a terrible punishment and in the process
renounces all religious beliefs.
Whom Do I Have the Honour of Addressing?
(1989) A one-character comedy for radio in which
165
a middle-aged woman dictates onto tape a final

desperate statement concerning her life and death.

Out of a desire for self-explanation, for justice and
also for revenge she sets the record straight about
her relationship with the most popular film star in
Hollywood.
Texts on themes related to Equus
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
The story of a mental institution ruled by Nurse
Ratched on behalf of the all-powerful combine. Into
this terrifying, grey world comes Randle T.
McMurphy, a brawling, gambling man, who wages
total war on behalf of his cowed fellow inmates.
This is a sharp satire on the mechanised nature of
modem life.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
Set in the not-too-distant future, Alex is jailed
because of his juvenile excesses. There he is made
the subject of 'Ludovic's Technique', a chilling
experiment in Reclamation Treatment. The reader
is constantly challenged to decide whether the
book is horror, farce or social prophecy. Whatever
it is, it is a penetrating study of human choice
between good and evil.
166
Zigger Zagger by Peter Terson
This is a play for a large cast and is roughly
contemporary with Equus. It centres on a teenage
boy who finds meaning in his life through being a
football fan. Following his team becomes almost as
much a religion with him as horses are for Alan
Strang.
The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
A novel, first published in 1969, which is
interesting for its treatment of the sexually
liberated individual within a repressive Victorian
society and also for its use of the 'story within the
story' technique. It tells in gripping style the story
of a woman whose tale of seduction and desertion
lures the hero, Charles Smithson, into changing his
life to devastating effect.

Wider reading assignments

1 Compare and contrast Alan Strang with one or
more of the central characters from the texts
outlined above. How do the attitudes of their
authors differ towards these characters?
2 With reference to at least one of the texts listed
in 'Suggestions for further reading' and to Equus,

167
discuss the extent to which the main characters are
shown to be trapped by social forces beyond their
control.
3 'All of these texts challenge the reader to redefine his/her concept of what it means to be
normal in our society.'
Discuss this comment with reference to Equus and
to one or more of the texts outlined above.
4 'Peter Shaffer's plays are repeated variations of
the theme of man's struggle for meaning in a world
in which death dominates and religion holds no
salvation.'
With reference to Equus and at least one other
play by Peter Shaffer, discuss the extent to which
this statement can be justified.
5 With reference to Equus, The Royal Hunt of
the Sun and/or Amadeus, compare and contrast
the ways in which Peter Shaffer depicts the
relationship between each play's central
characters.
6 'Spectacle, ritual and universal themes are
central to Shaffer's work as a dramatist.'
168
To what extent is this a fair description of the plays
you have read by Peter Shaffer?
Acknowledgements
Cover illustration by Ian Pollock Consultants:
Geoff Barton