Class 11 English 2024 Edition www.tntextbooks.in · Section 100

Woman : No, no, it can’t be true! They can’t do this to Joe. Not to my Joe. (Woman forces Woman back into her seat.) Woman : There, there, don’t upset yourself, dear. There’s nothing to worry about. (Woman starts weeping and sobbing.) Man : A bit big, wasn’t it? Man : Nothing to what they used in the old days. I heard of a chap once the roots of whose teeth were wrapped round his jaw-bone. He was five hours in the chair. Man : None the worse for it, I’ll bet. (There is a sudden screech of metal from the surgery. Woman gasps with horror and is about to make a dash for the surgery door when she is dragged back by Woman . Man groans loudly. The Small Boy and the Little Girl at the table start a fight about a magazine they both want. Woman and Woman attempt to separate them. Through all this noise Woman is still trying to show her photographs.) Little Girl: It’s mine! It’s mine! Small Boy: No, it’s mine! I saw it first. Woman : Sit down, Dorothea. Sit down and be quiet. I’ll tell your daddy about this. Then there’ll be trouble. Really, it’s the last time I’ll bring you anywhere. Little Girl: See if I care. Woman : I wish some people would keep their children under control. Woman : Well, really! (At last the little girl and the small boy settle into their seats. They are both sulking.) Man : There should be a special waiting-room for children. (The metallic screech is heard again from the surgery. Fresh sobs from Woman1.) Woman : I can’t stand it. Oh, Joe! Joe! Joe! (Man groans.) Small Boy: What was that noise, Mummy? Woman : Don’t ask awkward questions, Maurice. Man : I’ll tell you, little boy. That noise was a man having a tooth out. That’s how it’s going to sound when you have yours out, only much, much louder, because then it’ll be inside your head. -C-SR-The First - - :