The Happy Time

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
Look, maman, what Uncle Desmond sent. A photograph of himself and two nice ladies.

Susan Bonnard:
Nice ladies! Jacques, will you look at this? Bibi, go up and wash your hands.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
They're not dirty!

Susan Bonnard:
At once. [Bibi leaves] Well? You know what's on my mind. Show it to Grandpa.

Grandpere Bonnard:
[glancing briefly, then, dismissively] Too skinny.

Susan Bonnard:
What do you suppose Bibi thinks of a thing like this?

Jacques Bonnard:
Thinks? He thinks nothing. He's only happy that Desmond remembered his birthday.

Susan Bonnard:
But these women! Who ARE they? WHAT are they? You know Bibi imitates all of you. He's even picked up Desmond's trick with the medals.

Grandpere Bonnard:
With the same results.

Susan Bonnard:
Be still. Jacques, he'll realize what this is all about someday.

Jacques Bonnard:
Eh! When he's old enough to realize, he'll be old enough to understand.

Susan Bonnard:
That Desmond-he's becoming the most roving eye in Ottawa. With everything else, does he have to be a traveling salesman? I shudder to think what is happening to women all over Canada.

Grandpere Bonnard:
We have had no reports from the outlying provinces.

Jacques Bonnard:
Don't worry about Desmond. One of these days he will change and settle down.

Susan Bonnard:
That's a transformation devoutly to be wished.

Grandpere Bonnard:
You quote?

Susan Bonnard:
Shakespeare.

Grandpere Bonnard:
Ah! There was an Englishman with glands!

Susan Bonnard:
[Bibi returns to the dining room, adjusting lacy garters on his sleeves] Bibi, what have you got on your sleeves?

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
They're too long. Before he left town, Uncle Desmond gave me some garters to hold them up.

Susan Bonnard:
Women's garters! Take them off! Look at them! Off some... stranger's legs!

Grandpere Bonnard:
To Desmond she was not a stranger.

Susan Bonnard:
Jacques!

Jacques Bonnard:
Calm yourself, my love. My brother is young.

Susan Bonnard:
Your son is younger.

Jacques Bonnard:
And after all, there is no great harm in catching garters that are thrown from the stage of the Casino Burlesque. It's done by some of our most distinguished citizens. It's a form of sport.

Susan Bonnard:
I don't want garters from the burlesque on my son's arms.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
Only one is from the burlesque! The other was obtained privately!

Susan Bonnard:
[shrieking, she leaves the room]

Jacques Bonnard:
Now, Bibi-in the world of men, one does not talk too much. It's enough to have the garters; one does not volunteer the information where they were obtained. You will understand when you are a man.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
Papa? When will I be?

Jacques Bonnard:
What?

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
When will I be a man?

Jacques Bonnard:
Soon enough.

Grandpere Bonnard:
There is a law of nature, called la pubert?, and it is widespread among all animals, being the awakening of a natural appetite. Life will taste better then-like a good soup! It is the seasoning that counts! But it is a hard appetite to satisfy, believe me.

Jacques Bonnard:
Believe me, my love; this bird, in his song-which I understand completely-has expressed a desire to live his own life! It is a desire that must be respected.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
How do you know what he wants, papa?

Susan Bonnard:
Your father, it seems, understands the language of birds. The first day we met, he told me that he'd been speaking with a lark, who wished us to visit him in the woods.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
This is how it happened?

Jacques Bonnard:
This is how it began.

Grandpere Bonnard:
[to Susan] And you-the bird's wish was granted? You went into the woods with him? [Susan glances at Bibi, then shrugs] You cannot be all Scotch! [to Jacques] And you are even better than I thought!

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
Your trip, Uncle Desmond-were there many adventures?

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
Well, you know, Bibi: where Desmond's horses trot, no grass will grow.

Jacques Bonnard:
What are you doing in Ottawa? Have you lost your job?

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
No, the sales manager lost his. Bibi, bring us some glasses.

Jacques Bonnard:
What do you mean?

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
He's dead. He has unscrewed his billiard table. So the office sent for me.

Jacques Bonnard:
To offer you the job?

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
Well, an office, a desk, a secretary...

Jacques Bonnard:
And you said yes!

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
No, I said no.

Jacques Bonnard:
You said no? Why?

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
You should see the secretary.

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
What's the occasion, this time?

Grandpere Bonnard:
The Widow Latouche is waiting; I'm late.

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
Ho ho ho! It will unscrew your billiard table!

Uncle Louis Bonnard:
Believe me, not even a young man can go out every night dancing and never sleep. Something will collapse: maybe the arteries or the veins...

Grandpere Bonnard:
The one who knows of a better way to die-will he step forward?

Dr. Marchaud:
[taking Grandpere's pulse] I've warned you before: it's bad enough for a young man to burn the candle at both ends; but with you, there's nothing but the wick-and that's burnt out.

Grandpere Bonnard:
Hmph! A man stumbles in the street - and then the vultures gather!

Dr. Marchaud:
The pulse is like a roller coaster at Luna Park. [to Desmond] Open his shirt.

Grandpere Bonnard:
Must I endure this? I'm not a public display!

Dr. Marchaud:
No, you're a public nuisance.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
[crying] I won't go back to school! I'll never go back to school! I didn't do it-it isn't fair! Why do I have to tell lies to escape a beating?

Jacques Bonnard:
What-what's the matter? What happened? What is it at that school? Maman! Who beat you?

Susan Bonnard:
Beating? What beating?

Jacques Bonnard:
Come on, Bibi. Now, please, stop crying and tell us, what happened?

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
What is this of a beating?

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
In school, the principal finds a dirty picture. It's from my 'Gay Paree' which I have taken there. [Susan looks up at the brothers, reproachfully. The brothers look embarrassed]

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
Now, wait. They are not dirty pictures in Le Gay Paree. They are, it is true, pictures of women with few clothes, but this is not dirty! Ah, no!

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
But this is only the beginning! It is a picture of a girl, standing like so [he gets up and imitates the pose; Susan looks shocked]

Susan Bonnard:
Jacques!

Jacques Bonnard:
This is not dirty.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
But in this picture, on the head, instead of the face of the girl in the magazine, there's drawn the face of Miss Tate, my teacher.

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
This is... indelicate, but it is still not dirty.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
But also with the pencil, many things have been added.

Uncle Louis Bonnard:
THIS could be dirty.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
It's not Uncle Desmond's fault! Only Peggy O'Hare's. When the principal asks her if I drew the picture, she says yes, I drew it! It's a lie, I didn't draw it!

Susan Bonnard:
But why would Peggy tell a lie like that about you?

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
I don't understand! She kicks me, she trips me, she spills ink on my books! [the brothers begin to exchange knowing smiles] Why does she do this to me?

Jacques Bonnard:
Ah!

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
Oh ho!

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
But why?

Jacques Bonnard:
Well, Bibi, it is that Peggy wishes to be your girl.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
My girl? [pulling up his pant leg] Look! Black and blue!

Uncle Desmond Bonnard:
Well, it is how American women show affection. [in Jacques' ear] I have been in Detroit.

Jacques Bonnard:
I think you and I should have a little talk. Sit down, Bibi. Well, there is no need to ask you why you did what you did. The reason is obvious: you did it because... why did you do it?

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
I had a desire to know what would happen... if I kissed Mignonette the way Valentino did.

Jacques Bonnard:
You were curious.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
Oui, curious.

Jacques Bonnard:
Nothing more.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
There is something more, but I don't know what it is.

Jacques Bonnard:
Ah. Well. It is this 'something more' of which we shall speak. Now you see, Bibi, this... desire you have, it's a natural one, and since it is natural, it cannot be bad. It becomes bad only when the reason is bad. That is why so many people are mixed up

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
I, too, am mixed up.

Jacques Bonnard:
Well, of course! So am I. Well, let's try to unmix ourselves, shall we? Now, Bibi, we speak now of love. And where there is love, there is also desire; they go together. Love must have the desire; I don't believe there can be love without it. But, it is possible to have the desire without love, and this is where the world falls apart. For instance, you don't understand why the principal of your school beat you.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
No, papa.

Jacques Bonnard:
Well, it is because he has been brought up to believe that the desire is wrong. And since he himself has the desire, he's even more mixed up than we are! He has been brought up in a world where the desire has been used so badly-so badly, believe me-that it itself is thought to be bad; and this is wrong. This is wrong, Bibi. And you know the reason for this condition? It is because so many people are without love.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
Many people?

Jacques Bonnard:
Many.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
Uncle Louis?

Jacques Bonnard:
You love your Uncle Louis, don't you?

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
I love him strongly.

Jacques Bonnard:
That's good. He has a great need of love. And without love, one is defeated.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
But this love is different. The love I have for Uncle Louis is different from the love I have for you; this also is different from the way I love maman. And then... Mignonette.

Jacques Bonnard:
Eh, oui, Bibi. And this love we speak of now, when it is real, when it is true, it is the greatest love of all. I know; we have it here, in this house, Maman and I; it is the best, it is the most natural. In this way, the world comes down to a house, and a room, and a bed, and if there are two people in love there, then that is the whole world. Of course, you won't know this for many years. You know it is possible never to know it? I hope you will. If you are as lucky as I am, you will.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
I will look for someone like Maman!

Jacques Bonnard:
Oh, no! No, no, no, no! On the contrary: the secret is not to imitate. Look for your heart's need, and then she will come. Well, I've talked enough, and still you don't know what I wish to say.

Robert 'Bibi' Bonnard:
I think I do.

Jacques Bonnard:
Well, perhaps, when we speak of this again, I will find better words.

Susan Bonnard:
[as Grandpere emerges from the house in his finery] Grandpa!

Grandpere Bonnard:
Ah, bon soir. I'm late.

Susan Bonnard:
Where are you going?

Grandpere Bonnard:
Out.

Susan Bonnard:
You should be in bed!

Grandpere Bonnard:
It is only a matter of time.