Some Bloody Thing . . . again

"A wire or a rope, or some bloody thing anyway, extending from one end of itself to the other across a gulf an emptiness, and on top of this, crossing over, a man."
"Precariously balanced?"
"Of course precariously balanced.?"
"Dangerous this crossing over so?"
"Yes, very dangerous."
"Why was he up on it if it was so dangerous?"
"He was getting to the other side."
"The other side - that's very good. And what was so interesting about it so, this other side?"
"Nothing much."
"Nothing much!? And what was he going to do when he got over there?"
"He might wait for a bit, and then he'd come back again."
"Disappointed?"
"Disappointed? No, why would he be disappointed?"
"I thought he might be disappointed in there being nothing much over the other side having gone to all the trouble of getting over there.
Well anyway what's it all about so if he wasn't disappointed - this over to the other side stuff and then back again?"
"Applause."
"Applause what?"
"Applause rising up from below."
"Below what?"
"Below from an audience!"
"An audience? You said nothing about an audience."
"I thought you might have guessed it from the applause."
"I was lacking in information. So whats the applause about so?"
"The audience expressing approval."
"I know that. I know all about applause. But why specifically the applause?"
"For your man on the rope crossing from one side to the other."
"And it was definitely the man they were applauding?"
"Of course the man! What else would they be applauding?"
"I don't know - the sides?"
"Why would they be applauding the bloody sides?! It was all about the man."
"And the rope?"
"Well I suppose yes - the man and the rope, the man on the rope."
"And your man not falling?"
"Obviously."
"And if he fell - more applause?"
"No! Why would they be applauding him if he fell?"
"I'd be far impressed by a man falling than a man crossing over. The falling is far more dangerous. Especially from a height like that."
"Yes, but that's why he's up on the rope. He's trying not to fall."
"But if he doesn't want to fall, why does he get up on the rope?"
"You wouldn't get a fecking audience there looking up if there was no man up on the rope!"
"And so he needs an audience to get him up on the rope?"
"Yes."
"And you need to get the man up on the rope to get the audience?"
"Yes."
"For the applause?"
"And the money."
"Oh money changes everything. And are they throwing it up at him so, the audience to the man, the money, and him trying to catch it?"
"No! They just pay at the door to come in and watch."
"Oh a door. They think of everything. It's a bit more banal though isn't it. Wouldn't it be better my throwing the money up thing and your man trying to catch it?"
"I don't know. Maybe."
"And is there a net?"
"No net."
"But sure that would make it all the more impressive if he fell so - the fact that he'd have no net."
"But the no net is all the more reason not to fall."
" That's true I suppose. And there was a ladder up, was there?"
"Two ladders."
"One on top of the other?"
"No, one on each side!"
"So you could have one fellow going up the one side and another fellow going up the other?"
"You could."
"And what if when they got up there instead of trying to cross over the rope they just stood there staring at each other, and then after a while came back down again?"
"What about it?"
"Applause?"
"Why would anyone applaud that?!"
"For the originality of it. Everyone expecting them to start doing some kind of crossing over, walking around or jumping or something; and instead the just standing there and staring and coming back down again. It would be unusual. It would be a performance."
"It wouldn't be much of a performance."
"Maybe not. But if they sat down instead of standing up when they got up there. That might be good."
"I don't see how that would make it any better."
"Well, what if you had one of them standing up and the other one sitting down? Looking across at each other. Asymmetrical."
"There's no audience for that kind of thing."
"So you're saying it's the crossing over is all they're interested in?"
"Yes, that's what I'm saying."
"But it would be very psychological. You'd be wondering what the hell's going on."
"I'd say you'd be wondering if you could get your money back."
"Ah, you're very cynical."