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BIFF [unable to bear him]: Okay. Good night, Mom. [He starts moving.]

WILLY: Because you got a greatness in you, Biff, remember that. You got all kinds a greatness . . . [He lies back, exhausted. BIFF walks out.]

LINDA [calling after BIFF]: Sleep well, darling!

HAPPY: I’m gonna get married, Mom. I wanted to tell you.

LINDA: Go to sleep, dear.

HAPPY [going]: I just wanted to tell you.

WILLY: Keep up the good work. [HAPPY exits.] God . . . remember that Ebbets Field game? The championship of the city?

LINDA: Just rest. Should I sing to you?

WILLY: Yeah. Sing to me. [LINDA hums a soft lullaby.] When that team came out—he was the tallest, remember?

LINDA: Oh, yes. And in gold.

[BIFF enters the darkened kitchen, takes a cigarette, and leaves the house. He comes downstage into a golden pool of light. He smokes, staring at the night.]

WILLY: Like a young god. Hercules—something like that. And the sun, the sun all around him. Remember how he waved to me? Right up from the field, with the representatives of three colleges standing by? And the buyers I brought, and the cheers when he came out—Loman, Loman, Loman! God Almighty, he’ll be great yet. A star like that, magnificent, can never really fade away!

[The light on WILLY is fading. The gas heater begins to glow through the kitchen wall, near the stairs, a blue flame beneath red coils.]

LINDA [timidly]: Willy dear, what has he got against you?

WILLY: I’m so tired. Don’t talk any more.

[BIFF slowly returns to the kitchen. He stops, stares toward the heater.]

LINDA: Will you ask Howard to let you work in New York?

WILLY: First thing in the morning. Everything’ll be all right.

[BIFF reaches behind the heater and draws out a length of rubber tubing. He is horrified and turns his head toward WILLY’S room, still dimly lit, from which the strains of LINDA’S desperate but monotonous humming rise.]

WILLY [staring through the window into the moonlight]: Gee, look at the moon moving between the buildings!

[BIFF wraps the tubing around his hand and quickly goes up the stairs.]

CURTAIN

ACT TWO

Music is heard, gay and bright. The curtain rises as the music fades away.

[WILLY, in shirt sleeves, is sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee, his hat in his lap. LINDA is filling his cup when she can.]

WILLY: Wonderful coffee. Meal in itself.

LINDA: Can I make you some eggs?

WILLY: No. Take a breath.

LINDA: You look so rested, dear.

WILLY: I slept like a dead one. First time in months. Imagine, sleeping till ten on a Tuesday morning. Boys left nice and early, heh?

LINDA: They were out of here by eight o’clock.

WILLY: Good work!

LINDA: It was so thrilling to see them leaving together. I can’t get over the shaving lotion in this house!

WILLY [smiling]: Mmm—

LINDA: Biff was very changed this morning. His whole attitude seemed to be hopeful. He couldn’t wait to get downtown to see Oliver.

WILLY: He’s heading for a change. There’s no question, there simply are certain men that take longer to get—solidified. How did he dress?

LINDA: His blue suit. He’s so handsome in that suit. He could be a—anything in that suit!

[WILLY gets up from the table. LINDA holds his jacket for him.]

WILLY: There’s no question, no question at all. Gee, on the way home tonight I’d like to buy some seeds.

LINDA [laughing]: That’d be wonderful. But not enough sun gets back there. Nothing’ll grow any more.

WILLY: You wait, kid, before it’s all over we’re gonna get a little place out in the country, and I’ll raise some vegetables, a couple of chickens . . .

LINDA: You’ll do it yet, dear.

[WILLY walks out of his jacket. LINDA follows him.]

WILLY: And they’ll get married, and come for a weekend. I’d build a little guest house. ’Cause I got so many fine tools, all I’d need would be a little lumber and some peace of mind.

LINDA [ joyfully]: I sewed the lining . . .

WILLY: I could build two guest houses, so they’d both come. Did he decide how much he’s going to ask Oliver for?

LINDA [ getting