The Lower Depths Quotes

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: Money buys your fate in hell.

Tonosama - the former Samurai: Money buys you Buddha's mercy.

Sutekichi the Thief: I can do without corpses.

Kahei the Pilgrim: You're scared?

Sutekichi the Thief: ...They're not my thing.

Kahei the Pilgrim: Say, my lord, why do you provoke her that way? It's her only pleasure, crying her eyes out that way.

Tonosama - the former Samurai: [lazily] I'm sick and tired of her tales.

[He scoffs]

Tonosama - the former Samurai: Makes me sick.

Sutekichi the Thief: She won't give me the the time of day.

Tomekichi the Tinker: She's a tough one.

Sutekichi the Thief: She doesn't care about my feelings.

Tomekichi the Tinker: And what feelings are those?

Sutekichi the Thief: I feel really bad for her. I can't let her be.

Tonosama - the former Samurai: Lay off the dreams. You're just a two-bit, slam-bam whore. Huh? Stop imagining you're some kind of virgin.

[Osen lunges at him. Tonosama runs away, giggling]

Osugi the Landlady: Anyone seen my sister?

Tatsu: She's the one who found the old codger.

Osugi the Landlady: So he was here, then.

Tatsu: You mean Sutekichi? Sure was. But he didn't say boo to Okayo.

[Last lines; Tonosama stumbles indoors, dripping wet, interrupting his housemates' impromptu acapella song and dance number]

Tonosama - the former Samurai: Hey, everybody! Come quick! The actor hung himself, out back by the cliff!

[the other men stare at him aghast. Osen slowly saunters into the doorway, clearly horrified; Tonosama's not lying. There's a long pause]

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: It was such a great party, and he had to go and ruin it. Bastard!

Sutekichi the Thief: I was having a great dream. I was fishing, and I'd just hooked this monster snapper. Truly a dream fish. I was just about to land that fish.

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: That's no snapper. That's Osugi.

The Actor: You landed Osugi long ago.

Sutekichi the Thief: Who asked you?

[Yoshisaburo and the actor laugh]

Sutekichi the Thief: Scram, the bitch and the lot of you.

Asa, Tomekichi's Wife: You're a nice old man... very nice...

Kahei the Pilgrim: Oh, I'm like a pebble in the river... washed down from the mountains, polished and smooth all over.

Tatsu: Why don't you hurry up...

[He suddenly screams at Shimazo through his unfinished barrel as though it were a megaphone]

Tatsu: AND HITCH YOURSELF TO OTAKI?

Osugi the Landlady: Aren't you gone yet? You busybody. All you do is talk behind my back. I'll run you out of town.

Unokichi: Bye-bye!

Tonosama - the former Samurai: Hey, gramps, you're quite the scoundrel, aren't you?

Kahei the Pilgrim: Never judge a book by its cover.

Rokubei, Osugi's Husband: [to Sutekichi] Can I open the door?

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: Might as well open Pandora's box.

Rokubei, Osugi's Husband: Three mats' worth for bedtime and taking over the common room. I'm raising your rent by ten pennies.

Tomekichi the Tinker: Why not just strangle me?

Rokubei, Osugi's Husband: Because I wouldn't get a single penny out of that.

Tomekichi the Tinker: Wanna fight?

[Rokubei staggers back, accidentally treading on a reclining Yoshisaburo]

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: Hey! Ouch!

Rokubei, Osugi's Husband: [to Yoshisaburo] Don't scare me.

The Actor: I can't risk breathing dust. Doc's orders. "Your bitol organs are poisoned with alcohol."

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: You mean "vital organs".

The Actor: That's right, my bitol organs.

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: It's definitely gone to your tongue. Another six months and you'll have full-blown palsy.

Kahei the Pilgrim: [to Tonosama] I've seen two or three lords in my time. But it seems to me, for a lord, your fall from grace landed you flat on your ass.

[Sutekichi roars with laughter]

Tsugaru: Hey, card up the sleeve! I saw!

Tonosama - the former Samurai: What the...?

The Actor: Bad move, rich man.

Tsugaru: I saw it! You cheated! I quit!

Tonosama - the former Samurai: Lose barely 100 pennies and you shriek like you've lost a fortune.

[He scoffs]

Tonosama - the former Samurai: You're one hell of a rich man!

Tsugaru: You've got to gamble honestly!

Shimazo the Police Agent: [drunkenly] Anyway, as I was saying, a tiger means bamboo, bamboo means a sparrow, a peony... a peony...

[He passes out]

Kahei the Pilgrim: You're a good man, and smart to boot. What went wrong?

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: The slammer. Four and seven months. When they threw me out, I had nowhere to go.

Kahei the Pilgrim: Oh, my. Why jail?

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: There was this jerk...

Kahei the Pilgrim: You did him in?

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: Just my luck. There was a meat cleaver handy.

Kahei the Pilgrim: Any women involved?

Yoshisaburo the Gambler: No, it wasn't like that... But enough of that. That was ten years ago now.

Sutekichi the Thief: Hey, geezer, is Buddha really real?

[Kahei laughs knowingly]

Sutekichi the Thief: What's so goddamn funny? Is he or isn't he?

Kahei the Pilgrim: I'm sure he is, for those who wish him to be.