The Story of Three Loves

Charles Coutray:
You are coming up to my studio.

Paula Woodward:
Tonight?

Charles Coutray:
At once.

Paula Woodward:
[after a long pensive pause] I don't think I possibly can.

Charles Coutray:
[Annoyed and impatient] I don't know who you are, but, let me tell you, you flatter yourself.

Paula Woodward:
Oh, no, I don't.

Charles Coutray:
Oh, yes, you do! You're afraid for your virtue, which is in no danger!

Charles Coutray:
[to Paula] If there's one thing I hate, it's a jealous lover.

Bartender:
[to young Tommy] Sorry, my boy, children aren't allowed in the bar. You come back in about ten years, and I'll mix you a nice drink.

Mrs. Hazel Pennicott:
Are you wondering whether I'm a witch?

Tommy:
aged 11: Suppose you are a witch?

Mrs. Hazel Pennicott:
Suppose I am.

Tommy:
aged 11: Would you do a guy a favor?

Mrs. Hazel Pennicott:
I've been waiting for twenty years to give a guy a favor.

Mrs. Hazel Pennicott:
[Mrs. Pennicott drops her purse] How awkward of me! [Madamoiselle reaches down and gets it for her] Thank you. Thank you, my dear. You're kind... and very pretty too! Are you crying or smiling? [No answer] Maybe both. Did you bring someone to the station, or are you waiting for someone? [No answer] Maybe both? Somebody gone... somebody expected. But if you're waiting, don't wait too long because when one is as young as you are, one doesn't have to wait for anyone. They'll find you wherever you are. I know. My name is Hazel Pennicott. [She walks away]

Nina Burkhardt:
You were going to tell me what you wanted.

Pierre Narval:
Up to a few years ago I was an aerialist. You know, a trapeze artist. They said I was the best - better than the best. But I was unlucky. They said I took risks, but if you don't want to take risks, you can crawl along the ground, can't you, like a fly with its wings off? Up there on the bar you got to do something... something that nobody else can do, eh?

Nina Burkhardt:
I suppose so.

Pierre Narval:
I want you to be my partner.

Nina Burkhardt:
Me? But I've never... How do you know I could learn?

Pierre Narval:
I don't know. I have a hunch. You jumped on skis, and you jumped into the Seine.

Nina Burkhardt:
[She smiles] And you offer me a better way to die?

Pierre Narval:
No, a better way to live.

Pierre Narval:
[Going out the door] Good night, Rose.

Rose:
[Pleading] Then have pity on me. I thought we were going to be so happy.

Pierre Narval:
Happy? With me? Look, Rose, find someone who isn't sick. The ground's covered with them, but I don't belong on the ground. [Leaves]