Page 36 - Nutshell 4

SCENE 4: The bar at the Explorers Club

BARGELLO: (enters, agitated) Ericson! I have a thing or two to tell
you!

ERICSON: (leaning on bar) Well, well. Young Bargello, back at last. A
thing or two to tell me, eh? I hope that doesn’t exhaust the contents
of your brain.

BARGELLO: Very funny! Pesky is crazy! I suppose you knew very
well that Dr. Pesky was crazy.

ERICSON: Of course I did! Who did you expect to find in a mental
hospital?

BARGELLO: I didn’t know that Bellevue was a mental hospital.

ERICSON: But you’re the Great Bargello. You’re the smartest
explorer in the world.

BARGELLO: Oh, you certainly taught me a lesson. It took me a
long time to figure out that there couldn’t be an inside that wasn’t
outside a smaller inside, or an outside that wasn’t inside a bigger
outside. An impossible task!

ERICSON: I’d call it a fool’s errand. Hee-hee-hee!

BARGELLO: Bah! I’m thirsty. (pounds bar) Hey, bartender! Where is
he?

ERICSON: Oh, he went off a long time ago to find me some yak
butter. I’m tired of waiting for it, though. You can have it instead.
You look like you could use a drink. Well, that’s what you get for
going to extremes! Hee-hee-hee! (exits)

BARGELLO: Drat! I’m still the greatest explorer in the world.
Maybe I didn’t find the smallest or the largest thing there is, but I
sure went farther than anybody else ever did to find them!

BARTENDER: (enters wearily) Mr. Ericson, I have your yak butter. I
had to climb the Himalayas to get it, but now I can make your
Tibetan hot buttered tea. Hey, where is Mr. Ericson?

BARGELLO: Oh, he just left. I’ll take his drink, whatever it is.