It’s the next night, and the boy in Stratford again lies awake,
listening. He doesn’t really believe he’ll hear his name, but he
wants to be awake in case it happens. He doesn’t like to miss
things. If he knows something important is coming, like a trip
to the merry-go-round and the Whip at Pleasure Beach, he’ll wait
for it minute by minute, day after day, as if by taking his
attention away from it for even a second he might cause it not
to happen. But this is different. He doesn’t know it’s going to
happen. It probably won’t happen, how could it happen, but
there’s a chance, who knows. What he really needs to figure out
is how to answer, if his name is called. In the story, Samuel
was told to answer “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” He
tries to imagine it: “Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.” It
sounds like a boy in a play. Better to say “Yes?,” which is what
he’d say if his father called his name. But the Lord is not his
father. The Lord is more powerful than his powerful father. He’s
more like the