 In the weird circle In this cave, by the restless sea We are met to call from out the past Stories, strange, and weird Bellkeeper, hold the bell So all may know we are gathered again In the weird circle Speak again, dear bottle-tail, the dream Good lord Hello, anybody here? Get away, get away from that showcase What are you up to anyway? Open up the showcase, man, quickly I'll open up your head with the end of this broomstick Don't get away from there Open the caves, I tell you You think I'm just in? Well, I'll show you No, no, no, don't hit me Don't You get back out of there then There, that's better What are you doing? Calling the police, of course No, no, please, please, don't call the police Look here now, I run a humble antique shop And I'm accustomed to all sorts of people coming in to browse around But bursting into a man's place at the closing hour When he's cleaning up for the night And trying to break open his showcase Right in front of his eyes That's going a bit too far I assure you, I meant no harm Explain yourself then What were you up to? Those knives Yes? And what about them? I saw them through the window From outside and... Well, you couldn't go wrong stealing any of them There's not a finer collection in all England Stealing them? I tell you, I had no intention of stealing any of them There, there, there, all criminals are full of good intentions Look now, it's almost nine Five minutes to closing time You'd better be on your way But I can't leave I can't leave without that knife Must I call the police after all? You couldn't touch their price in a hundred years Why... You don't understand I mean, that one there The clasp knife with a buckhorn handle Surely you're joking That's only a simple piece Why, why I only put it there out of the way Until I find an appropriate tray for it Certainly not with those genuine antique blades But I want it I must have it Now why don't you go quietly You talk like someone from up on the hill I tell you, I must have it Now go on now, get out What is it? What's the matter? You're trembling Look at you You're white, here Here, sit down Sit down There There, now That better? Yes Yes, thanks Can I get you something? A glass of water? No No, I'll be all right You certainly gave me a fright Now what is it? What's the matter? Nothing really Why do you look at me that way? You've acted mighty strange ever since you came in here Don't worry I'm not from up there From the asylum I'm not from up on the hill Then you need to see a doctor No, a doctor can't help me I've been to the best physicians in London To the leading psychologists at Oxford None of them can help me Not one I confess it's driving me insane Insane, I tell you I can't escape it It's like death itself Fearful, inescapable It's made me curse the day I was ever born That's it That's it exactly My birth date I've had nothing but misfortune on my birthday All my life ever since I can remember And the worst misfortune occurred Always and inevitably in five-year cycles I broke my arm On my twelfth birthday My father was killed in a train crash Then my best friend married my girl At twenty-two I lost all the family securities Plunging us into debt Five years later matters grew worse When I lost a good position in a bank Another time I fell through a greeting And dislocated my hip disabling me Half a year until... Until finally On my thirty-second birthday My mother was stricken with paralysis But surely you don't put any such stock In such things Accidents happened to all of us Besides, what is all that to do with this Clasp knife here? I'm coming to that And believe me, all those occurrences Were not coincidental I tell you it's a curse A curse I shall never be rid of till... Oh, no matter You ask about the knife Well, that... That was the worst misfortune of all Ten years ago it was Shortly after midnight I was returning from a sea coast town On the west coast of England I was doing government work In the import-export trade at the time And my duties regularly took me to the coast To save time I tried a shortcut It was raining And a high wind was blowing Like tonight's storm The country was wild Desolate I lost my way Finally I came upon an old inn It was settled back off the road In a high ridge I drove the carriage to the stable With misgiving As I walked on to the inn Each step seemed to echo a warning Of impending disaster It was my birthday Two o'clock was the exact hour Of my birth And this... This was the fifth year Of the vicious cruel cycle Five years Broken arms Five years We regret to inform you Father killed and crashed Birthday Five years Father killed Lost securities We haven't a penny Lost Birthday Securities Five years A broken hip You can't work for months Can't work Falling Falling Down Down No, mother, it can't be Paralyzed Birthday Both legs Are you alright? I raised my knuckles to knock Beware, Frederick, scattered The fifth year This is the fifth year Don't Don't go in Leave this awful place Leave Leave, quickly You are afraid Afraid of the curse Go on in Knock Go ahead Knock See You are afraid I raised my hand again to the heavy oak panor Before I could knock The door swung open The innkeeper stood reflected in the doorway Come in, come in Don't let the storm blow out the hearth fire I went in I discovered I was the only guest Which made me all the more uneasy My tastes and the standard of the simplest In no time at all The innkeeper set supper before me I ate Then made myself comfortable by the fire Over the mantelpiece hung an evil looking knife It made me so uncomfortable That I had to ask the landlord about it Another night it would have gone unnoticed But tonight My birthday The cycle It held an ominous warning That's a curious looking knife there Where did it come from? Knife, sir? What knife? Why, that clasp knife there above the mantelpiece With a buccorn handle Why, surely you must Come now, it's time for bed You've had a hard night, you're tired Never mind if I'm tired or not I asked you a question That knife What, what, what, sir? There is no knife there No knife? Come here But you... Come here, I tell you Of course, if you will There now Look there at the mantelpiece Is that a knife or isn't it? No, of course it's not a knife What? Come closer Here Now, see for yourself What? Man, you're right I'd have staked my life Oh, that's all right, sir I can see where in the shadow of the fire You might have mistaken this mantelpiece Designed for a knife Funny, I never noticed it myself Before this I don't understand how my eyes Could have played such a trick on me Oh, you should have eaten heavier You're tired Yes Yes, I suppose so I guess I'll go to bed Well, good night then That's Tom A man can't even undress for bed in peace You're afraid, Frederick Scatchard Afraid, afraid No No, I'm not afraid But with the moaning of that wind There it goes again That clap of thunder and flashes of lightning It's enough to drive a man mad You're afraid Afraid of tonight Your birthday The fifth year Look at yourself You're trembling No No, no, no, see See, I put the candle on the dresser And my hand is steady There There, now I can lie down a while Sleep will come easier You fool Why didn't you extinguish the candle? You're afraid to be alone in the dark That's why you're afraid Who's there? Speak up There, there I see you at the foot of the bed Who are you? What do you want? A woman No Not really What do you want? Don't be afraid I just came to pay you a visit Stay away from me Don't come any closer What's that in your hand? It's a knife That's right, it's a knife See how clean and sharp the blade is How it glistens That book horn handle It's the knife I saw over the mantelpiece Why do you raise your arm? You're going to kill me Stay away Stay away You mad woman Don't stand back Don't stab me Murder Wake up everyone A woman with a knife in her hand in my room A yellow-haired woman She stabbed at me twice Let's have a look here Hold the candle Keep your gun ready She's dangerous Do you see her? There's no one here Impossible She stood there as plain as they At the foot of this very bed See there Look at the torn bedclothes You could have torn that in your sleep Or even used a pen knife to make those slits But I have no pen knife And I wasn't sleeping The devil fly away with you First a knife over the mantelpiece Now a murdering woman with a knife I suppose to it was a clasp knife With a book horn handle That's right Now I know there's something wrong with you You'd best see a doctor and a hurryman Such hallucinations See here I protest Protest is it I should be the one to protest Coming into peaceful man's place And babbling about a dream Oh why did I ever have to draw you as a guest Very well Give me a light to dress by and I'll leave then Better out in the storm That I spend another minute in this room After what I've seen Hurry it up then I wouldn't have taken your money If I'd known your dreaming Screeching ways beforehand Twenty minutes past two You ought to be ashamed of yourself Nice time in the morning To frighten honest people out of their wits Maybe your dream woman Got in through these strong fastenings What was that? It's the woman in white The knife She's following me through the storm Get up Get up, get along there Now it's no one My imagination again I guess Tonight Tonight The fifth year The curse Am I Am I to be tortured Haunted by My dream woman The story of that wild woman Brandishing a knife did haunt me And finally I had to sit down And write a complete account of what had happened An exact description of the woman in the inn A year passed Two, four Then as the fifth year of the cycle Neared a fresh foreboding knot at me I lost my appetite My sleep became again fitful And I suffered moments of terrific mental strain Then one day at a tea I met Rebecca Murdock The young lady of a prominent London family She had a disturbing personality A fathomless something that frightened And intrigued me at one and the same time I courted her It was after a dance Rebecca and I were walking in the garden It was a beautiful night Rebecca Yes, dear You said back there how much you enjoy those dances Yes And these walks Frederick And we both like music and books And well countless things I can't think of anything we couldn't enjoy together Of course you don't know too much about my work You know I'm interested in everything that concerns you That's what I mean Then why can't we? I mean Yes Rebecca, do you really like me? Need you ask Do you love me as much as I love you? Oh Fred You're such a blind deer Then you'll marry me? Silly, of course I will Oh, stop Stop, Fred, you're musing my hair Fred, I've got it We can have a double celebration, can't we? We'll be married on your birthday My... My birthday? Yes, why not? I... Why, there's no reason why we can't, I suppose No Well, there's no reason at all My birthday We were married on my birthday The day of reoccurring doom I feared that day anticipating disaster But it did not come At last I thought the spell was broken Marriage A honeymoon on the continent A home we had planned together Just a string of good fortune Where even my business was good Yes Yes, perhaps business was too good Too good Hello darling Oh, hello dear We're going on dress for dinner We're going to the theater with the politics Tonight again Yes, now do hurry at 7.30 Why do you have to stay so late at the office? It takes money to run a home Darling, I shouldn't have said that Hurry, run along and dress But must we go? We've the tickets now and it's the last performance At the playhouse I'm sorry, I just can't make it Now you run along, go ahead without me I... All right I don't like to go without you But I really had my heart set on seeing the show Hello Rebecca Who's there? Hello dear Oh, it's you Fred You frightened me, you're home early Dinner ready? I'll fix a snack and a jiffy So Or would you like me to send out for something? No, no, don't bother Have a busy day Oh yes, tea this afternoon and... Fred Darling, you won't be angry with me now No You've been shopping again How did you know? Well Oh, you'll love them I know An evening wrap in the most stunning gown I must show you Come along, just wait till you... Hello Fred dear Would you mind awfully if I went to the country with the politics? It's a weekend party I told them you had to work at the office But they insisted I go Yes, but we planned Don't be difficult Fred We planned to go dancing tomorrow night Like old times I know Fred, but they're so insistent Do you... Do you want to go? It'll be so much fun And you're so busy at the office Yes Yes, I'm very busy I guess you'd better not disappoint them Go along, I'll see you Monday I've made up sandwiches And stocked the icebox for you Goodbye darling Thanks Goodbye Goodbye now I remembered the sense of foreboding I felt when I fell in love with my wife Here were the roots growing Spreading out, stifling our relationship No longer was it give and take Now she took everything Gave nothing Our selfishness seemed endless Too prolonged to be coincidental Tonight dear Oh Fred, I'm going to the opera I'll call for you at eight Too tired Fred, I've shopped all day Like old times But I can't Can't, no time Can't, no time I don't know why I went on loving her We stayed in the same house Lived separate lives Her elaborate tastes were draining our funds She contrived to have all our property Our assets put in her name Something warned me There was trouble ahead for the two of us And as the fifth year of our marriage Anniversary approached I became more and more convinced of it And then the newspapers began running accounts Of strange attacks Made on innocent victims late at night The victims were always badly cut up By a knife A maniac at large A dangerous criminal mind at work My birthday came nearer I spent a sleepless week just before it And then last night I went back to the office late To keep my mind occupied It was about 1 a.m. when I returned home Rebecca! Oh, it's you I thought you were in bed No, no, I had to walk, Rebecca What are you doing with that knife? Oh, it's only an old one I found with some discarded cutlery Class knife A con handle What? Why do you look at it so? Oh, it's nothing I just don't remember seeing it around the house before Well, I was cleaning out the attic I found it then Oh, yes Yes, of course Stupid of me to forget It's time you were in bed Yes, yes Oh, why don't you go along? I'm so sleepy Don't stay up too late now Rebecca! Don't you want me to put away that knife? Oh, no, I'll put it away in the morning I'm going to bed now Good night It's the same That night at the inn Five years ago That class knife with a buccorn handle First by the fireplace A storm is blowing up like that night You're afraid Afraid That voice again Why was I appalled to think the spell was broken? The spell of my birthday lingers with me Catches up with me Will it overtake me again tonight? Everything tonight is the same as that night at the inn Everything but... Hello Rebecca I... I thought you were in bed And I expected to find you asleep That white robe It seems familiar, but I don't remember It's new Rebecca The knife Yeah Where did you get it? I told you once Come now, you don't expect me to believe that Believe what you will Where did you get it? That is none of your business Since you insist You refuse then to tell me? Exactly Then you force me to make a very difficult decision I must turn you over to the police Oh, you're not serious I certainly am Years ago I slept at an inn on the west coast of England A woman tried to murder me in my bed I've read of many such cases happening within our own city In the past six months So? The woman who attacked me used a clasp knife Like the one you had tonight You're that woman You're quite mad Nevertheless, I'm turning you over to the police Do you expect an inspector from Scotland Yard To believe such a fairy tale? Imagine your own wife Your very charming wife Trying to kill you You know it's not a fairy tale? I'll tell the police, of course You're completely mad I don't know about that You thought I knew so little about business and such The estate you know belongs to me now Your wife Do you still believe I married you Because I loved you? You're a witch But no one will ever know Will they? What's that in your hand? Rebecca, put down that knife You old fool You're afraid just like all the others You It was you who attacked all those other innocent people You're a maniac Don't Don't come any closer That's still It won't hurt I warn you Don't run away You're going to get hurt, Rebecca Get back to the scene You've got my knife No, never Drop it You're breaking my arm My own life Very gross Drop it You beat me, Vixen Give me that knife My dress You've done it Give me that knife No Come back Come back Drop that knife, Rebecca Rebecca I must stop or I must Rebecca Rebecca, come back Rebecca Come down off that fire escape She went to the roof of the building And I lost a trail I continued searching Throughout the night All morning This afternoon I went home And she was not there I rested Then tonight I resumed my search I must find her before two o'clock My birth hour I must find her I must I can't have any peace Until I find her And get that knife The knife The knife That's it there You mean this one? Yes It's the exact knife I told you about I see now Why you want it so badly Then tell me You get it I don't know The heaven's sake, man I must know Well, it was a woman Yes Came in here about 7.30 this evening With this knife? Yes At the time I wondered Why she wanted to sell it She was obviously a good family Go on, go on You bought it Yes And where did she go? Where did the woman go? Poor thing The tailor next door told me A woman answering her description Was killed about an hour later It must have been horrible The cab struck her as she crossed the street Walked right into it In the darkness But What was she like? Very beautiful I remember offering to call a cab for her She was not prepared for the weather Did she? She wore a white gown More like a robe than a dress Who was it? Yes, by Jove it was torn No Yes, now I remember That's another reason I offered my help No, now it couldn't be But it was, sir You're a dream woman You're a dream woman Dream woman? No No Oh yes It was My wife It was my wife My wife No dream woman My wife My wife From the time-worn pages of the past We have brought you The dream woman Bellkeeper All the bells