1
Next day at 11 a.m. Higgins’s laboratory in Wimpole Street. Colonel Pickering is sitting at the table. Higgins is standing near him. Higgins is a strong, lively man of forty. He is dressed in a professional black coat with a white shirt and a black silk tie. He is an energetic person and is very interested in science.
2
[Mrs. Pearce, Higgin’s housekeeper looks in]
Mrs. Pearce. A young woman wants to see you, sir.
Higgins [to Pickering] Let’s have a look at her. Invite her in, Mrs. Pearce.
The flower girl enters in state. Her clothes are cleaner than last time, but they are still a little dirty and very strange.
Higgins. Why, I met this girl last night. She’s not useful to me now. [To the girl] Please, go away. I don’t need you anymore.
3
The flower girl. Listen to me first. I came here for lessons and I can pay for them, too. I want to be a lady in a flower shop but they will not take me, if I don’t learn to speak more gently and learn manners.
Higgins. What’s your name?
The flower girl. Liza Doolittle.
Higgins. How much do you want to pay for a lesson?
Liza. Well, you are going to teach me my own language so I won’t give more than a shilling. And that’s all I can give!
Higgins. Pickering, She earns about half-a-crown a day and she offers me two-fifths or 40 per cent of her day’s income for a lesson. It’s quite a lot! My god, it’s the biggest offer I ever had!
4
Pickering. Higgins: I’m interested. What about the ambassador’s garden party? You are the best teacher ever! You will teach her and I’ll pay for the lessons.
Higgins. All right! Eliza: you are going to live here for the next six months and learn how to speak beautifully, like a lady. If you study well , you shall sleep in a bedroom, and have lots to eat, money to buy chocolates and take rides in a taxi. At the end of six months you shall go to Buckingham Palace in a carriage, beautifully dressed. If you’re bad and lazy you will sleep in the back kitchen with black beetles!. Is that clear? Mrs. Pearce, take her to the bath-room now!