Cat People Page #4

IRENA (cont'd)

No, no. Sit still, please.

She begins to dump the ash trays and collect the saucers and

cups. Oliver smokes contentedly. Irena carries the tray

behind the screen. Oliver snuffs out the cigarette and picks

the statue up, holding it for a moment in his hand.

IRENA (cont'd)

(coming out from behind

screen; eagerly)

Are you admiring my statue?

OLIVER:

(who does not like it at

all)

Not exactly. Who's it supposed to

be?

IRENA:

King John.

OLIVER:

King John? The Magna Carta and

stuff?

IRENA:

Oh, no. King John of Serbia. He

was a fine king. He drove the

Mamelukes out of Serbia and freed

the people.

OLIVER:

But why have this around?

IRENA:

Perhaps you have in your room a

picture of George Washington or

Abraham Lincoln?

OLIVER:

(still unconvinced)

Aren't there some better statues of

him -- some without that cat thing?

IRENA:

Yes. There are beautiful statues

of King John. There is one in

Belgrade, where his face shines

with goodness. But this statue

reminds me of my home, the little

village where I was born. This is

the statue that stands in the

square.

OLIVER:

But what does it mean? Why is he

spearing that cat?

Irena turns, her back to the fireplace mantel. In her hand

is the statue of King John. Above her, to one side, the three

cats in the Goya portrait glare from the shadowed background.

IRENA:

It's not really a cat. It's

meant to represent the evil ways

into which my village once had

fallen. You see, the Mamelukes

came to Serbia long, long ago,

and they made the people slaves.

But my village was too little,

too far away in the mountains.

They left it alone. For five

hundred years my little village

was cut off from the Mother

Church. At first the people were

good and worshipped God in a true

Christian way. But, little by

little, the people changed. When

King John drove out the Mamelukes

and came to our village he found

dreadful things. The people bowed

down to Satan and said their

Masses to him. They had become

witches and were evil. King John

put some of them to the sword and

burned some of them in fires.

(pauses, drops her voice

a little)

But some --the wisest and the

most wicked -- escaped into the

mountains.

(looks at Oliver) )

Now, do you understand?

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