[Curtains open on James, wearily walking across the stage.

]
Eli: [offstage] James! [runs in, breathing hard] James, where are you headed?
James: Home, where do you think?
Eli: [still panting, puts his hand on James’s shoulder] You’ve gotta come see
something.
James: No, Eli, not now—I’m exhausted.
Eli: [trying to catch his breath] James, this is big! You want to see it, I
promise.
James: All I want right now is to sit down and eat supper. And then sleep. [turning
away] It can wait until tomorrow.
Eli: [eagerly, but not aggressively, grabbing James’s arm] No, it can’t!
James: [irritated, turns with a sigh, pulling his arm away] Fine. What is it?
Eli: [enters storytelling mode, excited] Okay, you know that I was working in the
southeast field today, where they’re extending the wheat?
James: Yeah.
Eli: Well, I was away on the far end, kind of by myself, and I was just about to
quit for the day—it was so blazing hot, you know, and my arms were about to give
out—
James: [curtly] Yes, I was there. Can we skip the commentary?
Eli: [hesitates for just a moment, cut by James’s attitude, but resumes with
fervor] Well, I found, buried there…. [pauses, shaking his head in amazement] I
still—you’re not gonna believe me—
James: [impatient] Well try me, would you!
Eli: [earnest, almost solemn] I found…a treasure. A treasure, James, in an old
coffer, just a foot or so down.
James: [skeptical] You’re joking.
Eli: No, I’m not—it’s real! [James looks at him for a minute, then scoffs and turns
to walk away.] James, there’s more wealth there than I ever could’ve imagined in
one place!
James: [turns back and looks at Eli, shaking his head in disbelief, with a slight
chuckle] You, my friend, have been reading too many of your daughter’s fairy tales—
Eli: [fervent] I’m not making this up! And I’m not crazy either! You’ve gotta
believe me: I could tell my spade was hitting something and I got down and dug it
out with my own hands! I swear, it’s true—
James: [lifts his hands, to calm Eli down] Okay. Okay. [looks at him and shrugs]
Sure: I’ll believe you. That’s great—someone must have set aside some spare change
for a rainy day and forgotten all about it.
Eli: [shaking his head] We’re not talking about a few shekels, James. I said
“treasure” and I mean “treasure.”