| Chapter : | Watchman |
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- B: Tomorrow morning?
- C: Yes, it's dark now.
- B: Dark? No, it's still bright.
- C: Please don't go. It's bright here, but it must be already dark inside the bushes to put the trap in. What if a wolf is hiding there and suddenly jumps at you? If I were you, I would stay here and wouldn't move an inch until tomorrow morning.
- B: You are so fainthearted.
- A: Wolves, wolves! Wolves are coming!
(WATCHMAN C crouches down while old WATCHMAN B beats the tin drum.)
- A: Stop the drumbeat! Wolves are gone.
- B: You lay down again, didn't you?
- C: Wolves … are they gone?
- B: Why didn't you even try to beat the drum a little bit? If you beat the drum with me, I wouldn't feel lonely and weary …
- C: Oh, I feel so useless!
(Short silence. WATCHMAN B tenderly pats the face of the depressed boy.)
- B: But I like you.
- C: Me?
- B: Yeah.
- C: Even if I am just a coward?
- B: But I still like you. I was lonesome before you came. Look up there. The watchman on the watchtower is so far from here that I couldn't keep him company. So, it was like I was here all alone. I beat the drum as hard as I could, and walked around to check thousands of wolf traps, but there wasn't much I could do about being lonely. Son, do you know what being lonely feels like?
- C: No, I don't.