Original subtitles

Keep 'em movin'!

[ Cattle Lowing ]

There's Summit Pass ahead.

Ride back and tell the boys on drag. I wanna push the herd through before sundown.

Yes, sir. [ Rumbling ]

Hold those cattle!

[ Cattle Lowing ]

We could have gone the Indians one better.

Not only been buried standing up, but mounted.

Buried alive at that if that slide had started 15 minutes later.

Remind me to go to church this Sunday, will ya?I'm for that.

But I got a feeling that come Sunday and a month of others,

you'll be riding herd right here.

With the pass gone, there's no way over those mountains, not even an Indian trail.

You mean the herd's bottled up here?

Looks that way, unless-- That's for nobody to say but Judge Garth.

See how good a foreman you can be till I get back.

[ Chiming ]

Yeah, with the pass blocked, the herd bottled up,

we can't run 'em south to the railroad.

10,000 head waiting to freeze. [ Door Opens ]

Oh. Did we wake you?

Well, I thought you were at the roundup. Is something wrong?

There's been a landslide at Summit Pass. No one was hurt.

I'll just go up there and have a look, that's all.

If that's all it was, why couldn't it wait?

I don't--Could it be that the pass is blocked...

and the herd can't get back to Shiloh?

There's nothing for you to worry about. The herd's on open range, not on Antlow's land.

Daddy, you know there's gonna be terrible trouble.I don't know any such thing.

He's been looking for an excuse to kill you. Everybody knows that.

What are you going to do?Well, for one thing, I'm gonna send you to bed.

Losing sleep won't help.

It will if I pray that Junius Antlow doesn't get his wish.

You do that.

What do we do?

There's only one thing we can do.

Run the herd north.North?

We can't drive 'em south to the railroad at Medicine Bow.

I won't let 'em freeze on that range.

So we drive north and pick up the railroad at Junction City.

That means crossing Antlow Range.

With his permission.You know he's always had a blind hatred for you.

Well, a man can change given the opportunity.

Junius Antlow change? I think I'll come along and watch the miracle.

You come along as far as the herd. After that, I go alone.

Whatever else you may have heard, Junius isn't gonna shoot an unarmed man.

Except you, maybe.

It's a chance I'll have to take.

Hello, Susan.

Henry.

Good to see you.It's good of you to say so.

Susan, I've gotta see Junius...

on a matter of great importance.

Well, Junius isn't here. He's gone away for a few days.

Away? Where?

Please leave, Henry. Please.

The two of you meetin' up together again can bring no good.

Believe me, it can't.

[ Door Opens ]

Ah! Thought I recognized the voice. How long's it been?

Goin' on 10 years.

Well, I can't say you've changed much. Put on a little weight maybe.

Can't say you've changed much either, Junius.

[ Chuckling ] Ah, that's where you're wrong.

I'm only half a man, as you can see.

Depends on how you judge a man.

Yeah, that's true.

But we can't all be as philosophical as you, can we?

Well, Susan, is that any way to treat a good friend and neighbor,

leave him standin' out here in the sun, huh?

Won't you come in? Please?Thank you.

Fetch Chris.Junius, I don't--

Well, I do, Susan. It's been many a year since our boy said hello to the judge.

Sit down, Henry. Sit down. Make yourself at home.

As I recall, this was your favorite chair when you fell asleep...

trying to beat me at chess.

Well, it's pretty dusty.Oh, that's all right. That isn't necessary.

See, invisible dust of years, it piles up.

Sit down.

Now, what makes you come calling?

Well, you might say it was an act of providence.

Providence?

I suppose you know I've been running my herd on the range...

that, uh, backs up to your land.

Uh-huh.

Well, I can't get my cattle back to Shiloh.

Why not?

The pass is gone. It's been blocked by a landslide.

Summit Pass is gone?

[ Exhales ] That don't seem possible.

Yeah, that would cut off your herd,

kind of back 'em up against those cliffs.

There is a way out.

If I can run my herd across your land...

to the freight station at Junction City--

Are you asking me for a favor?

Or a business deal, whichever you prefer.

How much will it take, Junius? You can name it.

Now, that I can.

No, no, no. Put it away.

Not enough money in the mint to pay me.

Now, what is it the good book says, Henry?

"Man does not live by bread alone."

You can take your cattle across my land,

get them to the market, if that's what you want.

- You mean that? - Well, I said it, didn't I?

Well.

I don't know what to say, how to thank you,

not only for your generosity...

and for making it possible for me to save my herd,

but most of all, for letting what was between us...

die.

How much I've wanted that all these years-- to be the kind of friends we were.

Friends? Who said anything about being friends, Henry?

Now, you said, uh, you wanted to run your cattle across my land.

I said it'd be all right. But it's a business deal.

Maybe you won't wanna pay the price.

I don't want any money.

Then what?

My legs, Henry.

Just give me back my legs.

What's wrong, Henry?

Is that too much to ask-- just to make me walk again?

To give me back what you took away?

Impossible? No more impossible...

than for you to get your cattle across my land,

unless you want to make some other kind of payment.

Unless you wanna get down on your knees and beg...

the way I said you would when I first heard the news...

about that slide.You knew.

Yes, I knew.

Colton was close enough to see it.

- He brought me the good news. - And all this show--

[ Laughing ]

You wouldn't take away the first real pleasure...

I've had in 10 years, would you, Henry?

Oh, but the best is yet to come, Henry.

It'll come with the winter when the grass is thinnin' out,

and the snow drifts are 20 feet high.

And those cattle up there are trying to--

I'll have my cattle out of there long before that.

How? When the spring thaw comes,

there'll be nothing left but piles of bones.

I'm sorry for you, Junius.

You've got a lot more to lose.

- It's your cattle. - It's your conscience!

Let cattle freeze, to starve to death, to die hard.

Don't talk to me about conscience!

Where was yours when you shot my God-given legs out from under me?

You know what happened!

If only you could be made to see the truth.

The truth? The truth is, you crippled me!

Yeah, there he is, Son.

My great good friend and your godfather.

The man who crippled me.

If you ever see him on our land again, shoot him down...

like the Judas he is!

Dad!

Sit down.

I'm sorry, Susan.

Hope the twig isn't bent too far.

[ Door Closes ]What was that supposed to mean?

I'll tell you what it meant.

You won't tell my son anything.

So he came begging just like you said he would.

Well, not as much as I had hoped for.

Well, just wait till winter comes.

Nope. He won't do it.

If there's any way of saving his herd,

Garth will find it.

[ Train Whistle Blowing ]Here they come. I can hardly wait to see 'em.

Now, remember, we're supposed to make 'em feel at home,

you know, not like something on exhibition.

Daddy, don't worry about me. I read everything I can find out about 'em.

Well, they're just as human as anybody else.That's too bad.

They won't work any better.Well, not from what I've heard.

They're supposed to be the hardest workers in the world.

They'll sure have a chance to prove it.

[ Whistle Blows ]

There's not one.Judge, you sure the wire said today?

Read it yourself. "Full crew and foreman arriving today."

Not another train from San Francisco till next week, if they come then.

Well, maybe I'd better wire San Francisco. Mr. Garth?

Oh, you'd have to be, since that gent don't give the impression...

of being no scholar.Sorry. I don't recall--

Well, how could you? You're shaking the fist of Lafferty for the first time.

Well!

My daughter, Betsy, my foreman-- Mr. Lafferty.

Oh, forget the "mister." "Big Jim" they call me. I'm your new construction chief.

You were supposed to arrive with a full crew.

That's right. Now if you'll just exercise a little patience, Judge--

Patience? I thought I made it clear we were supposed to get started right away.

You will, Judge. You will.Well, how?

Soon as that iron monster stops belchin' smoke--

- What's that got to do with it? - [ Shouts In Cantonese ]

Why wouldn't they come out till now?

Lad, you wouldn't be a bit more brave if you were put inside a dragon.

Did you say a dragon?

I did. You might think that's a train.

Supposin' you never saw one, and no sooner you'd stepped off the boat from China...

and some foreigner in a strange land put you inside the belly of a monster,

spittin' fire, snortin' smoke,

winding like some great serpent across the countryside,

huffin' and puffin', roarin' day and night.

It's no wonder they're scared half to death.

They think it's asleep now. Just plain tired out, the dragon is.

So now they feel it's safe to come out?

You mean to tell me you didn't know that?

Well, did you, Daddy?

Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on the Chinese, but--

Show me the man who is, except another Chinaman.

I spent months with them building the Central Pacific, and I can tell you,

the more I think I know about them, the less I really do.

There's just no penetratin' the Chinese mind. No penetratin' it.

Well, I was given to understand you can handle them.Oh, we get along.

I don't try to change their ways.

[ Chattering In Cantonese ]

That looks like that's all of 'em.

Aye, that's the lot. These wagons for them?

I'm afraid there won't be room with all those bundles.

Yeah, well, all their worldly possessions. They'll find the room.

They come from a country a lot more crowded than this.

[ Cantonese ]

[ Whistle Blowing ]

[ Shouting, Indistinct ]

[ No Audible Dialogue ]

What do you know?

[ Cantonese ]

Whoa.

Chinamen, Dad. Real Chinamen. We saw 'em, didn't we?

Pigtails down to here.Coolies.

Hindu word the British brought into China.

Muscle for rent. That's what it means.

Coolies? Ain't that what they used on the railroad?

You mean to say Garth brought 'em in to lay a railroad over that mountain?

You mean he's-- he's gonna ride 'em out.I don't care how much muscle.

They ain't gonna lay no track over that mountain before winter.

They tell a story, as I remember,

a story I heard in the Orient long before I moved here...

of how an army tried to get over the Chinese wall...

only to be thrown back time and again.

But they had a warlord in command who never let anything stop him.

[ Sighs ] He figured a way to get past that wall.

How?

He went under it.

A tunnel, Judge. That's the thing.

You're gonna dig a tunnel through that pile of loose shale and boulders?

The more you dig, the more it'll slide.

Right you are, lad. But I don't intend to dig there. Look.

Here's where the avalanche has cut off the canyon.

But off to the left here, that wall is solid granite.

Because of the way the canyon cuts back on itself,

it can't be much more than a hundred feet thick.

If we tunnel though here and break out here,

we'd have a nice tunnel for the herd to go through,

bypass the fall, and get back to Shiloh.

Hmm.You're gonna start the tunnel on this side then, eh?

Well, that's the easiest. Otherwise, our people have to climb the cliffs.

[ Garth ] That's not the only good reason.

You mean Antlow?Yeah.

Think he might try to stop us?

Well, we have to assume he might try.

But he'd have to scale those cliffs to get at our men.

Judge, I think we'd better post a guard on the summit.

Yeah. How long do you think it'll take to dig this tunnel?

Oh, with luck, we should finish before the first snowfall.

Good.

[ Chanting, Shouting In Cantonese ]

I want you boys to know there's a good possibility...

Junius Antlow may try to interfere with our work here.

He and his men would have to come from that direction beyond the herd.

You think he might try to run off the herd?He might.

On the other hand, he might try to attack the workers at the tunnel mouth back there.

He and his men would have to come over these cliffs to do that.

That's why I want you four boys to stand guard here day and night.

Work out your own system of relief.All right.

Unless anybody has any better ideas, I guess four hours on, four hours off.

If we can keep going at this pace, we'll be in well before the first snowfall.

They sure can work.

Here.

Now that's a good lad, pitchin' in. We can use an extra hand.

How many women would you say were among 'em?Women? None.

Hmm?None.

Well, isn't it kind of hard to tell the way they're dressed and everything?

A woman in camp-- it's like having a Jonah aboard.

They'd know better than to let one slip through.Suppose one did?

We'd have to get rid of her. What made you bring it up?

Nothing.

[ Reading, Indistinct ]

[ Galloping Hooves ]

Well, was I right? Are they digging the tunnel?

I think so.What do you mean, you think so?

I told you to spy 'em out, find out what was going on.

We tried, Dad. Couldn't get close enough.

Garth's put men with rifles on the cliffs. Never climb past them in daylight.

Well, then how'd you find out about the tunnel?

Well, we could hear 'em blastin' with dynamite.

It'd take them 10 years to blast away all the rock from that avalanche.

So I figure they must be tunneling.

If he finishes that tunnel before winter, it'll save that herd.

No! That herd must be destroyed.

Then you're just gonna have to wait, Dad.

Garth will beat the weather, or he won't.

There's no way we can interfere with him short of starting a range war.

No. That might cost me.

I wouldn't want it that way. It's only Garth that should be punished.

Then there's nothing you can do.

I'll think on it.

You'd better go and saddle those horses, Son.

Your boy doesn't have much stomach for trouble.

- You say they got a lot of dynamite in that tunnel. - That's right. What about it?

You think you could, uh, get by those guards at night?

Yeah, I think so.

Here. You could use a little weight.

[ Cantonese ]

What'd he say?He says 10,000 thanks, but his cousin has more than enough.

One cup of rice after a long day's work?

That's right. Something tells me a fever got the lad at birth.

Never made a sound all his life, and it looks like he never will.

Hmm.

[ Gasping, Coughing ]

Ken! Ken, what happened?[ Coughing ] I don't know.

We set off a charge, but it wasn't that big to go off like that.

How many men went in with you?Twelve.

Well, nine came out. Where's his cousin, the one that can't talk?

He must still be in there.

Come on. We'll give him a hand.

Help me get this off him.

[ Chattering ]

Clint, this wagon's going to town.Right.

[ Cantonese ]

[ Cantonese ][ Cantonese ]

[ Shouting In Cantonese ]

Don't, Chang.

What's the matter?He wants his cousin to stay here with him.

Tell him the kid needs a doctor.He knows that.

[ Shouts In Cantonese ]

[ Groans ]Lie still.

And don't talk.With all those cracked ribs, the less strain the better.

What about the--The girl?

She's still unconscious, but she's gonna be all right.

Doctor, hurry, please.

You're to remain still unless you don't want to heal properly.

That means stay right where you are.

I am sorry.

So you cantalk, in English, at that.

Good morning. Time for breakfast.

Now, you have to eat all of this because Dr. Spaulding said...

that you're terribly undernourished.

That comes from living in China.

Hunger is forever stalking the celestial kingdom. I read that.

Yes, there is always hunger in my land.

- What's the matter? - You see from my feet that have not been bound.

Your feet? What do they have to do with it?

I am not of noble birth.

It is not for the master's daughter to serve me.

The master-- Oh, you mean my father?

If it'll make you feel any better, he helped me fix it.

I am honored by this feast.

It's just a normal breakfast. Come on.

First, you eat the oatmeal, and eat that with a spoon.

Something that they don't have in China.

Oh, I forgot. They do have spoons. It's forks and knives that they don't use.

Long, long ago, our people also ate with knives and forks...

until an emperor thought thatwas uncivilized.

And did he chop the heads off the ones he caught eating like we do?

It has always been the privilege of an emperor to chop off the heads of his subjects.

If not for one reason, then another.

Fascinating. Oh!

All the things that I want to ask you about everything Chinese.

Come on. Eat.

Lafferty says the odds are ten to one that explosion was not an accident.

Deliberate sabotage, huh? Think it was Junius?

Maybe. But it'd be impossible to prove.

We're posting guards at the tunnel from now on.

I'd better go back with ya.

No. What good would you do with a set of cracked ribs?

No, you stay here and hold the fort. Keep an eye on Betsy...

if you can tear her away from that Chinese girl for a minute.

Huh. I wonder if Betsy's been able to find out...

why she came over here disguised as a coolie.

Some sort of woman's reason, I suppose.

I don't know. It may have something to do...

with some Chinese philosophy we don't know anything about.

Chinese philosophy?

She thinks like any other woman-- with her heart instead of her head.

Well, at any rate, you give Betsy a hand taking care of her.

It'll keep your mind off those cracked ribs for a few days,

give 'em a chance to heal.Take care of yourself, Judge.

I wouldn't even put bushwhacking past Junius now.

Good morning.Good morning to you.

Oh, please, come in. Do without knocking.

Where's the tea? No tea for a Chinese princess?

Well, the doctor said to feed her.

Your father said I was to help you take care of this girl.

Go bring the tea.

Sometimes, your so subtle.

Go ahead and finish your breakfast.

Don't stop on account of me, Miss-- whatever your name is.

I thought you could speak English.

For some things, I have words.

Do you have the words for your name?

Kam Ho.

Why do you keep your head lowered?

It is our custom before a man.

But you didn't do that before.

We were not alone.

Well, you're in America now.

You don't have to keep your head lowered alone or in a crowd.

When I read of such things, I could not even imagine it.

And many other things.

Tell me, honorable sir, is it really true no parents ever sell their daughters here,

no matter how much they have need of the money?

Is that what goes on in China?

It is customary in famine and in hard times...

to be sold as a servant or a slave girl.

So that's why you came over here disguised as a coolie. Your father sold you.

No. My venerable ancestors have long left...

for the land of Yam Fong,

the world of departed spirits.

Well, then whoever raised you tried to sell you. Is that it?

No. That was not my fate.

I was raised in the house of Chang. My uncle was very kind.

Your uncle? Is he the one you came over with?

Can he speak English?

Where did you learn?

In a mission school in Canton.

Why pass yourself off as a coolie?

I cannot say it was my idea, but a brilliant one of the honorable Chang.

They would not allow a woman in the camp.

That's very clever of your uncle,

except that he almost got you killed in the bargain.

Well, this may not be like the tea in China, but--

I'd say you oughta get down on your knees and give thanks. Don't you think?

Give thanks?That you were born a girl in this country.

What's he talking about?

Whoa.

Good morning. You know, it's a long way. Are you sure you're up to it?

How is it said in this land? I am good as new.

Kam Ho?Well, almost like new.

Honorable sir, are you well enough to go?

I'm better than new.

Don't expect us back from town too early.What's to keep you?

You're only gonna see the doctor.

For one thing, I've got some business to take care of for your father.

And for another, I--I wish to buy some silk.

And I wish to take her to her first American restaurant... for lunch.

Get up!

Remember the doctor said you had to gain some weight.

For openers, a great American dish--

spaghetti with butter sauce and cheese.

Go ahead and try it.

There's a trick to it. Watch. Use your spoon.

Big spoon.

It's so slippery, like little eels.Mmm.

When you get the hang of it-- Let me show you.

There you are.

Go ahead. Haul it in.

I will now attempt it alone.Fine.

Take it easy. Wrap it good and tight.

That's it. That's it. You're gettin' the hang of it.

You're supposed to swallow that.

- After you chew it. - [ Laughing ]

Hello, Chris.

The special.

Chris, this is Kam Ho. Chris Antlow.How do you do?

I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare.

How's your father?Do you really care?

If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked.

I guess you heard there was an accident up at the tunnel.

No.Well, then your father hasn't heard either.

No. What if he did? What does that have to do him?

Nothing maybe,

except a God-fearing man's...

gotta feel mighty bad,

mighty bad when he's been hoping something like that would happen.

Then all of a sudden,

there's an explosion, and a girl almost dies...

and two men are killed.

I'd sure hate to have something like that on my conscience.

What are you getting at? That my father had something to do with it?

I didn't say that.Well, that's what you're hinting at.

Please. Where should we buy the silk cloths?

At the general store.

A week from tonight is the 15th day...

of the eight month of the Chinese year,

when we celebrate the festival of the harvest moon in my country.

I wish to make some mandarin gowns for Betsy and myself.

I will make a full effort to bring the blessings of the gods on the judge's house.

But none will enter where there are only women.

Well, if that's an invitation, I'll be there.

Somethin' on your mind?

Well, come on. Spit it out, boy.

I was in town today. I heard there was an explosion...

down at that tunnel that Garth's digging.

One explosion? There have been 10 or 12 every day.

They got dynamite down there.This one was an accident.

A couple of the men were killed.

Oh. Well, now, that's the best news I've heard in a week.

- One of 'em was Henry Garth, I hope. - Oh, Dad!

Well, I do hope! Is there anything wrong in that?

Or it's your idea I should be down there praying with him.

Maybe helping him dig.No, I don't think you should do that.

Well, thank you for your kindness and understanding.

Now, Dad, don't be like that. Don't try to make it out that I'm some sort of enemy!

Garth is my enemy.

No, he isn't, Dad. He's just a man. A man trying to get his cattle to market.

Whosoever brings comfort to mine enemies.

I don't think we should try to help him, but that doesn't mean we have to--

Him shall I spite,

and all who work for him, no matter who gets hurt.

Those two coolies that died shouldn't have been working for him.

How'd you know they were two coolies that were killed?

You just said so.No, I didn't.

You knew about it all along, didn't you?

Dad, did you put Colton up to it?

Nobody can prove anything.Dad, that's murder!

Chris!

I didn't think you'd have to know, but maybe it's better that you do.

I am going to stop that tunnel any way I can.

I just thought I'd tell ya.

I don't consider you as anything but my son.

And if there is a showdown,

I know where you'll stand.

Then you know more than I do, Dad.

[ Door Opens, Closes ]

♪♪ [ Singing In Cantonese ]

♪ Forever through the years

♪ The wheat of heaven turns

♪ The moon of harvest time

♪ But the loved ones

♪ The loved ones

♪ Who gather underneath

♪ Soon do not return

♪ Like bamboo in a breeze

♪ The loved ones

♪ The loved ones

♪ Soon are parted

♪ By the forever years

♪♪ [ Ends ]

Oh, that was beautiful.Your playing was.

- She taught me this afternoon. - But my singing was miserable.

And my dancing as clumsy as a water buffalo.

Then a water buffalo must be the most graceful thing in China.

That doesn't sound like a song for a fiesta.

Fiesta?

Holiday.

"Lovers soon are parted by the forever years."

- Sounds like a love song. - Now it's time for the cakes.

The moon cakes.

Thank you. I'll see if the tea's ready.

Is this part of the ceremony?Yes.

In honor of the harvest moon.Thank you.

Will you sing again?If you can endure my very poor voice.

[ Pots Clanging ]

What's all the racket?See for yourself.

[ Gong Clanging ]

It's their way of scaring off the evil spirits at the start of the harvest festival.

I supposed that's to make the soil more fruitful?

No, that's a ceremony of the honorable death.

Ceremony of what?It's an old ritual for scaring off the evil ones...

who won't let their prayers be heard for a good harvest.

Well, why honorable death?

Well, because they use the same poison when they take their own lives,

which they don't regard as a sin, but as an honorable good-bye...

when there's no other way to go.

And, uh-- And that's their Chinese belief.

Dragon venom they call it. Straight out of China.

Bright moon tonight.

Yeah. It should make the job of your men guarding the ridge a lot easier.

I got a feeling your friend, Mr. Antlow, is going to leave us alone.

I wouldn't count on it.

[ Betsy ] Look at all those beautiful chicken tracks.

Or whatever you call 'em.

Every one of these little "chicken tracks" is a word in our language.

What does it mean?

Two days, the sun has come and sped away.

Two nights, the moon so bright has waned and fled.

And still, I do not hear the voice I long for.

Near he is, somewhere.

Near he is, and yet farther from me...

than the river Chi...

and the kingdom of the lotus beyond the emerald sea.

Autumn lingers, soon to wither in winter's long embrace.

This I know.

No blossom of plum or peach tree shall I see in springtime...

should he not come and part the curtain...

of broken reeds that is my heart.

You must miss him very much.

All the way to China.

Um, tell me, what-what did it feel like when you fell in love?

Did it feel like lightning hit you?

It-- It was more like a rushing stream.

You mean you were carried away?

I felt I was... drowning.

[ Praying In Cantonese ]

Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.

I knew Kwinena would bring you.

Kwinena?In the garden of my father's house,

there's a stone on which stands a porcelain figure of the goddess of mercy.

When I could not sleep, I would pray to her.

Tonight, I prayed you would come and tell me in what way I offended you.

You haven't offended me. What gave you that idea?

Our shadows have not crossed for two days.

[ Chuckles ] I've been in town checking on some supplies the judge ordered.

Then you are not displeased with me?

Of course not.

A rider came in today from camp. He had a message from your uncle.

He says he's praying for you to get well soon.

He expects you back, but, uh,

I don't think Lafferty will take well to that idea.

The honorable Chang knows I shall go back.

- I am bound to him. - Bound?

I am to be his wife and bear his sons.

But if he's your uncle--

We're not of the same blood. Only of the same clan.

He's not my uncle as you would think of it.

I see.

How-- How long have you known him?

Since my parents died when I was a child.

I was promised to him by my father.

It is the custom in my country for parents to choose the husband.

Well, if it was all said, why didn't he marry you in China...

instead of smuggling you over here as a coolie?

Honorable Chang is a learned man.

Is caller of Confucius. He follows all the ways of his ancestors.

He could not take a wife and still buy rice for his aged parents too.

Then he left them.

When he heard of the money to be made in this land,

that he could fulfill his duty to his parents and yet have a family of his own--

What about you? Do you love him?

In his country, no man would walk before the honorable Chang.

Though he was a poor man, all would walk behind him at a respectable distance...

because of his learning and character.

But here, he is without honor, without the home of his ancestors,

without his venerable parents, as scholar of the sages...

wearing the straw hat and the sandals of a coolie...

because he wishes me to bear his sons.

I don't doubt he's everything you say he is. Maybe more.

But do you want to be his wife?

I do not question the choice of my parents.

[ Randy ] ♪ Down in some lone valley

♪ In a lonesome place

♪ Where the wild birds sing sweetly ♪

♪ And the wind blows so free ♪

♪ Farewell, pretty Sarah

♪ I bid you adieu

♪ But I'll dream of pretty Sarah ♪

♪ Wherever I go

♪ My love she won't have me ♪

♪ So I understand

♪ She wants a rancher

♪ Who owns house and land

♪ I cannot maintain her

♪ With silver and gold

♪ But I'll dream of pretty Sarah ♪

♪ Wherever I go ♪

[ Footsteps ]

Randy. I thought you might like some chow.

Thanks.Where are the rest of the men?

Oh, they're strung out along the ridge.

How's it goin' down below?Oh, fine.

Those Chinese really make the dirt fly.

Why, that tunnel's halfway done, I figure.

No sign of Antlow's men, huh?No, not yet.

I'm beginning to think they might not show up at all.

Oh, a funny thing happened. maybe you ain't heard.I ain't heard nothin'.

Well, that Chinese fella that was hurt in the explosion and they sent back to Shiloh--

- What was funny about it? - Well, it wasn't a him, but a her.

No foolin'? That's right.

- Well, what else is new? - Nothin' else.

- No more explosions? - Nope.

Unless you count Mr. Lafferty's when he heard about that Chinese girl.

[ Chuckles ] Yeah, I bet.

I'll see you later.Yeah, thanks again.

Please take me with you.You're not well enough to go back to camp.

The honorable Chang wishes me to be with him.

Then let him fetch ya. Till then, you're staying here.

He would lose face coming to me.

I'll hitch a wagon.

"Lifted up their voice and wept.

"Called the name of that place Bochim.

And they sacrificed there under the"--

Well?I got past the guards on the cliff.

But I couldn't get into the tunnel. They put guards there too.

Sit down.

You know, judging by the pile of rocks they've got dug out,

I'd say that tunnel's about three quarters finished.

Garth's gonna lick us.

No. If we can't destroy the tunnel, we'll hit at his coolies.

You expect me to kill all 50 of 'em?

[ Chuckles ] Not kill. Demoralize.

Play on their heathen superstitions, and they'll all quit.

It's the Lord that's shown me the way.

- I learned as Delilah learned. - Delilah?

She destroyed Sampson's strength by cutting his hair.

Now, if you take a Chinese's pigtail from him,

you destroy more than his strength.

You hit at his very soul.

What's that you're burning?

A poem of a woman's sadness.

Aren't you happy to be returning to the man you will marry?

With him, I will never feel as a woman should with her husband.

This I know. Even before the wedding night,

when he lifts the veil from my face...

and I taste his lips for the first time--

Why do you go to him?

It is my juwan.

Your juwan?

Fate.

Come on, now. Things can't be that bad.

It is. I must marry this man, or die.

Die?Take my own life.

It would be honorable.[ Scoffs ]

Kam Ho, what would killing yourself solve?

Why don't you just tell Chang you can't marry him?

I told you, my father promised me to him.

Yeah, but youdidn't.

Surely your father wouldn't want you to make an unhappy marriage.

He made the promise. I must honor it,

or I will find no peace in the land of the departed spirits...

for all time to come. You believe that?

Yes. It is so written in the book of rights...

given us by Confucius.

I won't argue with your religion.

But there must be something you can do.

What would you do?

Or is it that you have never been promised in marriage?

By my father?Yes.

[ Chuckles ] No. That's not the way we do things.

Neither my father nor my long-dead ancestors will choose my wife.

She'll be my choice. The woman I love who loves me.

Ah. Because you are a man?

No. In our country, a woman has the same right.

How can such things be?

Just take my word for it.

For a moment, you made me forget my unhappy heart.

Kam Ho, your father isn't here to release you from his promise.

But couldn't Chang release you?

He wants me to marry him.

Does he love you?Oh, yes.

Surely he wouldn't want to force you into an unhappy marriage, or worse.

That's simple logic. And if Chang released you,

then you would not be dishonoring your father.

Yes. Yes, that is true.

You should talk to him about it.

Yes. I shall speak to him.

And he's a kind man.

So very kind. He will let me go.

Fine.

And, uh, there'll be no more talk about the honorable death, huh?

No. I do not want to die.

I want to live, live for the someday...

when a man I love will love me.

The poem is ashes,

but I shall write another...

of how a woman has been made happy by a man's wisdom.

No hard feelings, but just to keep you quiet--

[ Chattering, Shouting ]

[ Shouting In Cantonese ]

What are you two doing here?

Never mind that. What's all the excitement about?

Someone cut off his pigtail.And that's life to a Chinaman.

I must go to him now.

What do you mean, life?

Oh, you can bet that Junius knows what that means, having lived in the Orient.

And he must know this can lead to what they call big trouble.

[ Shouting In Cantonese ]

Tell him I'm sorry about what happened.

That would not take away his sorrow.

A man whose queue has been taken from him cannot return to China.

His head would be chopped off the minute he set foot in his homeland...

by order of the emperor Chin.

And so... he cannot go back and marry another.

We can find another Chinese woman in this country, or send for one.

He cannot even buy a wife without his queue.

For then, she could never return or be buried in her homeland either.

What are you trying to tell me?

That you're even more obligated to marry him now?

He's the only son of the house of Chang.

Without a woman to bear him sons, his family tree would die.

This would be his greatest shame.

Look. I'm not asking you to add to his misery now,

but later,

I think you owe it to yourself to tell him just how you feel.

You were right.

But I never figured how right when you talked about a different way of thinking.

Yeah, people can talk the same language, and still be worlds apart.

All right. I talked the coolies into going back to work tomorrow...

and the promise it won't happen again.

But let one more pigtail get chopped off,

and you can be sure they'll all drop their tools and run.

[ Shouting In Cantonese ]

No, it's a lie!

You said to scout them out and see if the coolies had stopped digging below.

Well, they stopped digging, all right. They just broke through on the other side.

Do you know what that means? Garth will be driving his herd through...

just as soon as he can run them from downrange.

No, no! The Lord showed me the way.

Sampson, in the Book of Judges.

That same book, it tells how Sampson, blind and handicapped,

no longer the man he was, still pulled the pillars of the palace...

down on the Philistines.

Now, we're gonna blast that tunnel shut!

Go on! We'll get everybody. Come on.Junius, no!

I can't let you go. You'll be killed!Get out of my way, woman.

Hasn't this cost me enough? The husband I once had?

You don't understand!I do understand!

You lost more than your legs when you fought against Judge Garth.

You lost your mind!Oh!

Now you get enough dynamite to blast down that mountain!

Ma?

Ma! [ Door Opens ]

What's the matter? Where is everybody?

There was no way of stopping him. No way!

Garth. He went to hit Garth?

Your father and every man that works for him.

They took dynamite!

Chris! Chris, don't you go near there!

There's gonna be shootin'! Chris!

Stop where you are!

[ Gunshot ]

My father's on his way here with all the riders from the ranch.

Get the men. Thanks.

You don't owe me any thanks. I did it for him.

Sooner or later, he's gonna have to realize...

that killing innocent people won't get him his legs back.

You still don't know how it happened, do you?

No. He just told me that you were his friend.

And you find it hard to understand that--

Yes. That you crippled him? I find it hard to understand.

But you're his son, Chris. His son, not just a friend.

Still, you rode to try to stop him from doing something you thought was wrong.

Well, 10 years ago, like you, I rode.

Tried to stop him from burning out some homesteaders.

When I faced him, he wouldn't listen to reason. He drew on me.

I had to fire in self-defense.

I didn't want to kill him. I shot at his legs.

May the hour of the tiger not come to you.

The hour of the tiger?

When we are snatched away from life by the claws of death.

I'll be back.

Get back! Get back!

Garth and his men are ready for you. You haven't got a chance.

So you've decided which side you're on, huh?

Will you listen to me, Dad? I'm on no one's side. I just wanna put a stop to this.

Then get out of our way, Son.

You heard your pa. Now, move!

Now, if you can't back up your own dad,

then you just stay out of it altogether.

Now, you beat it, kid.

I'm gonna run you down, you don't get, boy.

Stay back, Colton.

No! Colton!

Wait a minute!

[ Sobbing ]

[ Gunshot ]

So that's your answer? Kill yourself?It's the only way.

It's no way!

[ Bottle Shatters ]Even if he won't release you.

- I did not ask him. - You said you were going to.

That was before the big sorrow had come to his life.

I could not bring him more sorrow.

Did you think that killing yourself would not bring him sorrow?

I did not think of that.

What then?

That I could not bear his sons... loving you.

Would you then bring me sorrow?

It is the only way.

But your father's promise didn't obligate you to me.

My heart obligates me.

For this, you'll die.

How can I make you see some sense?

Your ways are not my ways.

I-- I never tried to change your ways. Just understand them.

Then understand what I must do.

Because it is the only honorable way?

Yes.

That's not true.

I say that if you do this thing, you will dishonor me.

- You? - Isn't it your belief...

that your life belongs to whoever saves it?

That's true.

Well, didn't I save your life when the roof of the cave collapsed?

Had you not carried me out, I would have died.

Then your life belongs to me, and I forbid you to destroy it.

Should the hour of the tiger come by your own hand,

I will be forever dishonored.

I shall never dishonor you.

Then you must choose life.

I shall pray for guidance.

Good.

Kam Ho, I am sure that in time,

all this unhappiness will be forgotten.

I shall never forget you.

Never is a long time.