CHAPLIN'S FIRST APPEARANCE ON THE STAGE I

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 601.

Nora: Yes, I ___ (to give) three dirty old pipes to an old man at the door. You ___ (not to smoke) them lately.

Harry: Yes, I will... Hello, who ___ (to play) with my pipes? Three of them ___ (to miss).

Nora: Harry, could you turn out your work-room? I have been meaning (to mean) to ask you for days.

Harry: And for years I ___ (to tell) you that you ___ (to be) perfectly free to throw out anything that I ___ (to leave) about if it ___ (to get) in your way.

Nora: You know, Harry, you do make it hard for me to keep the place in order when you ___ (to leave) your things about everywhere. For years I ___ (to ask) you not to keep your books in the kitchen and not to leave gardening tools inside the house.

Harry: My goodness, you ___ (to work) hard.

Nora: No, since lunchtime, I ___ (to turn) out the rooms upstairs, I ___ (not to finish) them yet. I ___ (to do) our room and Robert's.

Harry: Well, I hope you ___ (to have) a rest this afternoon.

Nora: Oh, but I ___ (cannot): the furniture ___ (to look) shabby for months, so this morning I ___ (to take) all the loose covers off the armchairs and I ___ (to wash) them. That bit of sun early this afternoon ___ (to help) to dry them.

Harry: But I ___ (to want) you to wait until weekend so that I ___ (can) help.

N о r a: I ___ (to clean) the whole house. I ___ (to say) I ___ (to be) going to.

A HARD DAY

Harry: You look a bit tired, Nora. What ___ you ___ (to do) all the day?

Harry: But, Nora, you ___ (to throw) out my three oldest and best pipes!

Mother ___ (to have) trouble with her voice for some time lately. It ___ never ___ (to be) strong and the slightest cold ___ (to bring) on laryngitis which ___ (to last) for weeks, but she ___ (to be) obliged to keep working so that her voice ___ (to grow) progressively worse. In the middle of singing it ___ (to crack) or suddenly ___ (to disappear) into a whisper and the audience ___ (to start) laughing. This ___ (to influence) deeply her health and as a consequence, her theatrical engagements.
It ___ (to be) owing to her vocal condition that at the age of five I ___ (to make) my first appearance on the stage. Mother usually ___ (to bring) me to the theatre at night. She ___ (to play) at Aldershot at the time, a small theatre where mostly soldiers ___ (to gather). I ___ (to remember) standing in the wings when Mother's voice ___ (to crack) and ___ (to go) into a whisper. The audience ___ (to begin) to laugh and sing falsetto and make catcalls. At first I ___ quite ___ (not to understand) what ___ (to go) on. But the noise ___ (to increase) until Mother ___ (to be) obliged to walk off the stage. When she ___ (to come) into the wings she ___ (to be) very upset and ___ (to argue) with the stage manager who ___ (to see) me perform before Mother's friends and ___ (to say) something about letting me go on in her place.