Page 11 (1/2)

Chapter Eleven

The day arrived e is to give our little play in Professor Quackenbush’s class at Harvard The scene we is to do is when King Lear an his fool go out onto the heath, which is like astorm done blowed up an everbody run into a shack called a "hovel"

Inside the hovel there is a guy called Mad Touised up as a crazy person on account of being fucked over by his brother, who is a bastid Also, the king is gone totally nuts by this tiar is playin a nut too, an the fool, of course, is actin like one My part is to be the Earl of Gloucester, who is Edgar’s father, an sort of a straight es

Professor Quackenbush have rigged up a ole blanket or soot so electric fan with clothespins holdin pieces of paper to the blades Anyway, here counnysack an wearin a colander on his head The girl they got to play the fool has foun a fool’s costume someplace, with a little cap that has bells tied to it, an theuy playin To an soe an has painted his face with dirt They is takin it all very seriously

I am probly the best-lookin of the bunch, tho, cause Jenny done set down an sewed me up a costume out of a sheet an a pillow case that I am wearin like a diaper, an she has also made me a cape out of a tablecloth, just like Superman wears

Anyway, Professor Quackenbush start up his wind e twelve, where Mad Tom is tellin us his sad story

"Do poor Tom some charity, who Lear say, "What? Have his daughters brought hiive them all?"

An the fool say, "Nay, he reserved a blanket, else we had all been shao on for a wile, then the fool say, "This cold night will turn us all to fools and madmen"

In this, the fool is correct

Just bout this ti a torch, which Professor Quackenbush have borrowed from the dra fire!" an Professor Quackenbush light o across the room into the hovel

"This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet," To axes

An I say, "What are you there? Your names?"

Mad To, the toad, the tadpole and the newt" an a bunch of other shit, an then I sposed to suddenly recognize the king, an say:

"What! Hath your grace no better company?"

An Mad Toentleman - Modo he’s call’d, and Mahu"

The wind machine be blowin hard now, an I reckon Professor Quackenbush have not considered that I am six feet six inches tall when he built the hovel, cause the top of

Mad Tom, he is now sposed to say, "Poor Tom’s a-cold," but instead, he say, "Watch that torch!"

I look down at ton III say to me, "Look out for that torch, you idiot!" an I say back to him, "For once in my life I am not the idiot - you is!" An then all of a sudden the roof to the hovel catch on fire an fall on Mad To an set it on fire too

"Turn off the goddamn windburning up!

Mad To Lear take off his colander an jam it on Mad Tom’s head to put the fire out People is juirl playin the fool gets hysterical an commence to shriek an cry, "We will all be kilt!" For a moment or two, it actually looks that way

I turn behin ht on fire, an so I thowed open the winder an grapped the fool aroun her waist an out we leaped It was only from the secont story winder, an they was a bunch of shrubs down there that broke our fall, but it was also lunchtime an hundrits of people anderin aroun the Yard There as, all a-fire an smolderin

Black smoke come pourin from up in the open winder of the class an all of a sudden there is Professor Quackenbush, leanin out an lookin aroun, shakin his fist, face all covered up with soot

"Gump, you fuckin idiot - you stupid asshole! You will pay for this!" he shoutin

The fool is grovelin aroun on the groun an bawlin an wringing her hans but she is okay - just singed up a bit - so I just took off - bounded across the Yard fast as I could run, cape still on fire, sot hoet into the apartment, Jenny say, "Oh, Forrest, hoas it? I bet you onderful!" Then she get a peculiar look on her face "Say, do you s story," I say

Anyhow, after that I did not attend the "Role of the Idiot in World Literature" no ht I an Jenny are playin with The Cracked Eggs an all day long we is makin love an takin walks an havin picnics on the banks of the Charles River an it is heaven Jenny has written a nice tender song called "Do It to Me Hard an Fast," in which I get to take bout a five- an summer, an ent down to Nek an made the tapes for Mister Feeblestein an a feeeks later he call up to say we is gonna have a record albu after that, everbody be callin us up to play in their towns an we took thebus with beds an shit in it an go on the road

Now there is soreat role in ht after we is finished the first set at the Hodaddy Club, Mose, the drus, take me aside an say, "Forrest, you is a nice clean-cut feller an all, but they is somethin I want you to try that I think will make you play that harmonica better"

I axe what it is, an Mose say, "Here," an he give arette I tell hiular cigarette, Forrest It have got somethin in it to expand your horizons"