Original subtitles

[Hawk screeches]

[Softly] A soaring hawk.

What?

Just studying that hawk up yonder.

Oh, yeah. Chicken hawk.

What do you suppose is going on in his head?

What?

What's he thinking?

He's got a brain like we have.

Got a heart.

What do you think is going on in his head

while he's looking down at us pitching hay?

Sometimes I wonder about you, boy.

Me, too.

Suspect that's the difference between us.

You're riding the wind, and me, I'm just... Riding a hay wagon.

Farming don't give a man much of a chance

for riding the wind.

But then it ain't a bad life, farming.

At least you're your own man.

I know.

Get on!

Mary: John!

-John! -Whoa.

John!

John!

Pa, I'll be home directly.

Just come in on the stage!

-I'd about given up. -Yeah, me, too.

What's it say?

Wait a minute.

"John Sanderson, esquire,

"we apologize for the delay in acknowledging

"receipt of the collection of short poems

"you sent last month entitled prairie songs.

"Please know it was not lack of interest

that occasioned the delay. On the contrary."

They like them.

That's wonderful. Go on, John.

"We have discussed your work in detail

"and would like now to put forward a proposition

"which we feel should interest a young man of your obvious talents.

"To that end, our Mr. Frederick Deering

will come to call on you very soon."

They're going to buy my poems.

They're going to buy my poems!

They're going to publish my poems in "the pathfinder"!

Oh, I'm going to get paid for doing what I love best in all the world.

Second best.

I'm so happy for you.

Not for me.

For us.

You can live anywhere you please if you're a writer,

in Timbuktu if you want.

I want to stay here.

So do I. In our own house.

Yeah. I know just the place for it.

On the rise, just above our place.

How'd you know?

I could tell the first time we went there together.

With pa's help, I could build it...

With a corral and a barn.

And a horse!

Maybe two. Maybe we could have a pair!

And a cow?

-How good are you at milking? -Very good.

And I can churn the best butter you ever tasted.

That'll be a help.

We'll need a vegetable garden just like ma's.

Strange what money does to you.

It makes you feel grown up all of a sudden.

It isn't everything, pa says,

but it sure helps.

You know, we've been carrying on as if it was all settled.

I never even asked you.

Yes, you did.

That was yesterday,

when I was a boy.

I think I'd better ask you again.

Go ahead.

Mary Ingalls...

I love you very much...

More than anything in the world.

I want you to be my wife.

Thank you, John.

Grace: For what we are about to receive,

may we be truly thankful. Amen.

-Amen. -Amen.

The business with the poetry. How'd that get started?

Miss Beadle.

She said that John's poems are too good

to keep hidden away in a notebook.

You kept it under your hat, seems like.

Well, we thought maybe nothing would come of it.

Well, maybe nothing will.

How do you figure what a poem's worth?

Oh, I don't know. I think they figure it up

the same way as they do corn.

Except it don't go by the bushel. Ain't that right, John?

Yep. You set it up on the scale, weigh it out.

16 poems, 423 lines,

3 1/4 pounds...

Comes to $7.10 exactly.

You're pulling my leg.

Isaiah: Well, no matter how you figure it up, it would be nice to have

a few dollars coming in on the side.

Won't be on the side.

Hmm?

I'm going to make a living at it, pa.

What do you mean, full-time?

You mean you ain't going to work?

Of course I'll work.

This'll be my work, writing poems and stories.

Well, don't look so surprised, Isaiah.

There's nothing so unusual about that.

What do you mean? You're going to get up in the morning,

drink your coffee, go off to work with a pencil?

Yep. Then write down the words and send them off to the publisher.

And get money for it regular?

That's what you hope for.

John, slow down. You're eating too fast.

I got to hurry, ma. I got some work.

What work?

Well, get my poems ready,

maybe sharpen up a few things.

Get ready for the man from "the pathfinder."

Now wait, hold on here. We got to talk about this.

You can't make a living putting words down on paper!

Well, I'm going to have to.

Going to have another mouth to feed pretty soon.

I just asked Mary Ingalls to marry me.

And she said she would.

Have you heard any talk about the Rasmussens?

Like what?

That they were selling their place and moving east.

Hanson said he heard something about it.

A man's going to come and talk to John

about paying him for his poems.

That's very good. I know.

Going to be nice having a working poet around walnut grove.

I was just thinking, if they do sell out,

I'd like to put a bid on that bay mare of theirs.

Mr. Frederick Deering, his name is.

Whose name?

The man from "the pathfinder."

Oh. You know, that mare's got to be 16 hands high.

Can't be more than 6 years old.

Going to have to put that black horse out to pasture pretty soon.

"Your obedient servant, Jeremy Hollis,

editor of the pathfinder."

We're going to save our money and put it in the bank.

Very good.

I don't know how much they'd ask for the animal, but--

what'd you say?

I said we're going to save our money.

Well, who's we?

John and I.

For what?

A house. A place of our own.

Well...

Why not?

Well, I--I don't know why not.

I just never thought about it.

I mean, she's only 13 years old.

Charles, how old were we when we met?

Oh, come on, Caroline. You know that's different.

We weren't even serious.

[Laughs] We weren't?

Isaiah: You know, Ingalls, I don't know as I'd pick you to be a relation.

Maybe I'm going to get you whether I want you or not.

Time's on our side. We aren't going to let her marry till she's 15.

That's a year and a half away.

He'll be over to talk to you before long.

I'll be ready for him.

You know, I ain't exactly the world's greatest authority on poetry.

Seems like most of them was pretty well off when they started.

Byron was a lord. What do you figure a lord makes?

More than a farmer.

Can't get it through my head

how a boy can go off into the world

and make a living putting words down on paper.

He's just a pup. He don't know

half the things we knew at his age.

Ah, he'll learn.

Maybe. Can't say nothing to him, though.

Boy's got to make his own decision.

He ask you for advice, you give it to him.

He don't, you shut up.

Well, like you say, we got a year and a half.

He's coming!

He's on his way!

-He's here! -Who?

The man from "the pathfinder."

-How'd you know it was him? -I could tell.

He was driving a livery rig.

He had a store- bought suit on,

a satchel, and a necktie!

He's probably in the house right now!

Whoo-hoo!

-Watch the team. -Okay.

We're all very impressed with your work, young man.

Thank you, sir.

Imagination is a gift, you know.

Can't be taught. Can't be learned.

You obviously have it.

I hope you're properly grateful.

Yes, sir, I am.

John reads a great deal.

Of course.

Well, tell me, John...

What do you want to do with your life?

Well, sir, I'd like to be a writer.

Well, you've made a very good start.

Do you work hard at it?

I don't have to, sir.

I don't know just how it happens.

My mind is just full of people.

I can lie on my back

and let my mind go,

and things happen.

Words...

And lines of poetry and stories...

Kind of like music inside me.

That's why I call my poems "prairie songs."

The words just come flying in my head.

Well, you just might be a writer in time.

You have the talent and the imagination.

What you need now is the discipline to shape it.

It's a fine beginning. Fine.

But not yet ready for publishing.

Then...I don't understand.

Each spring, we choose a promising boy

from the farming community to send to the university--

seed corn, a spring sowing

in the hopes that in a dozen years

we might have another Sam Clemens, Cullen Bryant.

We feel that you are an excellent prospect, young man.

We're offering you 4 years at the university.

Board, room, tuition.

Oh, John!

Oh, John!

Well, this is the proposal.

I know it's a big decision.

You'll want to discuss it with your parents.

-Yes, sir. -Now, if you'll excuse me,

I have a train to catch.

Oh, yes, of course!

Now, John, should you decide not to accept,

we have another young man in mind,

and we would appreciate you letting us know as soon as possible.

Yes, sir. I will.

-A real pleasure, ma'am. -Well, thank you, sir.

I hope you'll accept, John. Bye.

-Bye. -Good-bye!

Oh, think of it, John!

A 4-year scholarship!

Isaiah, isn't it--

pa?

Pa!

I'm going to run over and tell Mary.

Then I'll be back to give you a hand.

It's all right. I can handle it.

What do you mean? You need me on top of the load.

Loaded a lot of hay wagons by myself.

Reckon I can do it again,

what with you going off to college.

I'm not going away until fall.

As long as I'm here, I'm going to help.

Going to be a poet, you got no business pitching hay.

You don't want me to go.

It's your life. It's your decision to make.

You got better things to do than chores,

putting words down on paper.

Now you can do that, you got no business farming

or chopping wood or pitching hay.

Pa, listen to me.

I'm only going away for a spell.

I'm not leaving you.

I can do my chores and be part of the family

and write my words, too.

We're different, boy.

You and me, we're different. It's like...

Like we live on two different hills with a big ditch between us.

I mean, you're doing things

I ain't got the faintest notion what they are.

You don't want me, then.

I want you to be what you want to be.

I ain't gonna pull you up on my hill

if you want to stay on yours.

I can't ever thank you enough.

I ain't asking for thanks.

It's not just thanks.

I love my real pa--

I ain't a patch on your pa. I ain't--

never mind what you ain't.

You're all I needed for a father...

And then some.

I'll be out in the field.

Ma...

He's hurting or-- or mad or something.

It'll pass.

What did I do wrong?

Most every father would like his son

to follow in his footsteps.

You're going in a different direction,

and that bothers him.

Well, he didn't say that.

No.

But it's still the problem.

He'll get over it.

Now why don't you go over to the Ingalls'

and give Mary the good news?

All right.

But I still feel like I'm doing something wrong.

It's the rightest thing you ever did,

and don't you ever forget it.

Isaiah'll come to know that in time.

He'll get over it.

Then go on!

Mary's going to be as happy for you as I am!

All right. Thanks.

Charles. Shall I go inside?

No, no, no. Go right on with what you're doing.

-John. -Morning.

-John, how are you? -Fine.

Come over for a little talk, did you?

Well, no, sir. I got no time. Where's Mary?

She's over at the big oak.

Had a little studying to do.

Come on in the house where we can be alone.

Hey, John?

Hey, don't you want to have a talk?

How can I tell him he and Mary have to wait a year and a half

if he doesn't ask me?

Mary!

-I got great news. -What is it?

I talked to the man from "the pathfinder."

-What'd he say? -I'm going to the university.

-When? -This fall.

Only one boy from the whole district,

and they picked me!

He says I got the imagination and the talent,

and I'm going to make a writer someday

like Mark twain or Robert Burns.

How long will you be away?

4 years.

[Whispers] 4 years.

I didn't talk to him for more than 5 minutes,

and he changed my whole life.

4 years at the university.

Everything paid.

I don't even know what a university looks like.

Wonderful, I expect.

It's a great opportunity.

You'll be gone a long time.

But I'll be back in the summer, though, for two weeks,

maybe 3!

And at Christmas.

Why, we'll see each other twice a year!

Twice a year.

That's better than nothing.

We'll have so much to talk about!

You'll be different.

No, I won't.

You will, too.

Living in Chicago...

Going to the university.

It'll be like living on the moon

compared to walnut grove.

What do you want me to do?

I want you to go.

You can't turn down 4 years at the university.

It'll be different, John.

And you'll be different, too, when you come back at Christmas.

Are you sure you want me to go?

Of course I do.

When it's done, we'll both be glad you did it.

I got to get home.

Sorry I missed supper.

Are you hungry?

Haven't given it much thought.

Well, I'll fetch something for you.

Thanks.

There's more if you want it.

That'll be fine.

Is it Mary?

It'll work.

Takes time, but--

thought my mind was made up.

Seems like it ought to be.

You'll ride the wind one day, John.

Will I?

And Mary?

Well, she'll be here, waiting for you.

If she's fond enough of you, she will be.

Oh, you're both so young.

You've got so much to do, so much to learn.

I know.

I know all that.

Knowing doesn't make it any easier.

What'll I be when I come back?

Will I be the same?

No.

Neither will she.

She's a girl now.

She'll be a woman then,

and you'll be a man.

And you'll see each other with different eyes.

That's what I'm afraid of.

I don't want things to change.

But they do, John.

You can't help it.

Oh, there's a great, big world out there

waiting for you, John.

Like an enormous house with a million rooms

all filled with treasures,

and at the university, they'll give you the keys.

What about Mary?

She's a very bright girl.

No telling what she might do

if she sets her mind to it.

But if I go away...

I--I'll lose her.

Maybe.

Things won't be the same again.

Things never are the same.

Don't fret about it, John.

Good night.

Good night.

John, breakfast is ready!

Put it on the table. Be careful.

Sit down. Breakfast is all ready.

I got something to say.

I, uh, done my thinking and made my decision.

I'm not going to take it.

Grace: Oh, John!

John: My mind's made up.

I thought about it all last night.

I'm going to stay here and farm with Isaiah.

I could spend 4 years at the university

and not become a writer after all.

Nobody's promising anything.

You don't need promises.

All you want is an opportunity!

I got an opportunity here.

Are you sure you know what you're doing,

-what you're giving up? -I think so.

You haven't the faintest notion, John!

They're offering you the world!

My world's right here.

I made my decision.

Now I'm going to go haying.

Never mind about the haying. I'll take care of that.

You go get your gal. There's something I want to show you.

She's probably left for school.

Well, go on! Get her. I'll meet you up on the rise.

Isaiah!

Isaiah, you can't let it go like this!

What are you talking about? You heard the boy.

His mind's made up! He made a man's decision.

A man's decision? A boy made it!

[Dog barks]

Charles.

-Yeah, darling. -Here he comes.

It's about time.

[Chickens cluck]

-Hi, Mr. Ingalls. -John, how you doing?

Mr. Ingalls, I got to--

now just take it easy. I understand how you feel.

We can talk this over like a couple of grown men.

Is she here?

No, no. She went off to school about 5 minutes ago.

Excuse us. Why don't we go in--

well, I'll catch up to her.

John!

John, don't you think we ought to have that talk?

John: Mary!

Pa says he has to show us something.

I got to go to school.

Come on!

He said it's important.

Ha ha! Hey, come on, you two. Come on!

You can see it real good from right down here.

Come on! Come on!

You're going to be a man of property, boy.

Come on. No sorry house for you, gal, when the time comes.

Been saving this.

I been hoping.

Never let on, but I been hoping.

There's 30 acres down there.

There ain't a better piece of bottom land

in this whole state than that one!

Ain't been turned yet, but we can do that.

We can do that together.

Sow a crop of winter wheat.

We'll borrow your pa's team.

We'll turn that sod on its ear! Ha ha.

Oh, you're not going to make much of a crop the first year.

But the next year-- the next year you watch out!

We'll work it together, you and me.

You see, what happens is you make a crop.

You got money in the bank.

Then when the time comes, you can move

that gal of yours into a real house.

Right over here.

Put it--put it right there.

It faces out on your field, see?

That way you can sit up here

and look out on your land. The thing you do--

the thing you do is you build a big old porch

right here across the front, see?

Oh, you got to have a chimney

and some shingles on the roof,

and a plank floor and some glass windows.

Ooh! Something else I wanted to show you. Here. Look at here.

Here you go. Feel that.

There.

You know what that means?

That means there's water down there.

I'll bet it ain't 10, 15 feet under the ground!

You know what that means, gal?

That means we can put a well

just 10 feet from your back door!

Then we'll have a barn. Have a barn right yonder there.

Big old barn, and a corral for some stock.

And a garden. Garden here.

And a whole lot of flowers! Ha.

I'll tell you what.

You make a crop,

you got money in the bank!

When can we start building?

Oh, well, uh... Tomorrow.

-Tomorrow! -Right. I already talked to Hanson

about getting the first jag of lumber.

I didn't want to say nothing, you know,

until you made up your mind.

But she's here. She's all yours.

You can go to work on her tomorrow.

Carrie.

Thank you.

More soup?

I'm not hungry.

Anything wrong, Mary?

Not exactly.

-It's just that-- -hush up, Laura.

Hush up, Laura!

Is there something I should know about, or...

Pa, I just don't feel like eating. That's all.

Sorry. I just thought--

Charles, have some more stew.

Oh. Thank you.

[Knock on door]

I'll get it.

-Ah, John. Come on in. -Evening, Mr. Ingalls.

Mary's just about through supper.

Um, I'd just as soon talk to you now, if you don't mind.

Sure. Come in.

Could we talk outside? It's kind of private.

Yeah. We'll be right back.

Mr. Ingalls...

[Breathes heavily]

I, uh...

Well...

Take a deep breath, boy,

and swallow hard and say it.

I love your daughter, sir.

So do I.

But I want to marry her!

I'll be a good husband.

I'll take care of her and...

Well...

That's about it, sir.

I've said my piece.

And I think you said it very well.

I'd be happy to have you as a member of the family.

Thank you, sir.

Now, why don't you sit down before you fall down?

You know, John, we have another question here,

and it's a pretty important one.

Yes, sir?

It's something that's...

Going to have a big effect on you and Mary both.

You made a decision not too long ago.

Yeah. I, uh...

I've made up my mind about that, sir.

Your mind's made up right now,

but what about a few years from now?

You're giving up a chance for a good education.

It's a chance you're not going to have again.

Once you're married, that's all going to be in the past.

You're sure?

Yes, sir.

I'm sure.

I've made my decision.

All right, a year and a half from now when Mary's 15,

she's yours.

A year and a half, sir?

That's an awful long time.

You and my daughter are going to spend

the rest of your lives together.

That's a long time.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, sir. Thank you so much.

What do you expect he'll say?

"Sir...

I've come to ask you on bended knee--"

Mary: Laura, will you hush up?

Mary, your pa knows how he feels.

He's been through the same thing as John Jr.

[Door opens]

I hope my stew didn't get cold.

Oh, you're engaged.

-Oh, pa! -[Laughs]

Thank you.

-Where's John? -Well, it's dark, I sent him home.

You're just engaged, you know?

Guess who.

Uh...jenny Lynn.

-Lillie Langtry? -[Laughs]

No. Don't look so disappointed.

I brought you some cornbread and buttermilk.

Thanks.

I can't believe you're doing it.

Well, I wasn't much of a carpenter at first.

But I'm learning.

What's this?

Robert Burns. Miss Beadle thought you might want to look at it.

-No? -I'm not interested.

It's got "highland Mary" and "sweet Afton."

I told you I'm not interested.

Just take it back and tell her thanks.

I don't want to look at it.

She has some others.

I've got no time for books. I'm building a house.

Isn't that enough?

Mary.

I am through with writing.

I'm through with poetry, I'm through with books.

The sooner we get that settled, the better off we'll be.

I'm sorry.

I guess I'll be going home now.

Ma's doing some canning, and I told her I'd help.

Did you look at this?

No.

Robert Burns.

"Oh, Mary, at thy window be!

"It is the wished, the trysted hour.

Those smiles and glances--"

grace!

I'm sorry.

I don't want to hear poetry.

Why not?

Do I have to have a reason?

Hello, darling.

Evening, Isaiah.

Hey, John, I was talking to Ingalls.

He's going to lend us that team.

Means we can start busting that field by tomorrow.

I figure the house can wait, but the crops can't.

Got to get them in before it rains.

Of course, I don't mean to make no decisions for you.

I know.

What you're doing here,

you don't agree with me, all you got to do is--

what's eating you, John?

Nothing.

I'll take this back to Miss Beadle.

Tell her thanks.

There's another one on my desk you can have,

if you want it.

I'm going to bed.

Good night.

Oh, don't fret about him. He's put in a big day. He's tired.

He's empty.

What do you mean?

Something's gone out of him.

Isaiah, you're the one that told me

not long ago that you and the boy are different.

You forgetting that?

He's growing up. He's coming into manhood.

A lot of things on his mind, that's all.

He'll be all right.

I hope so.

I wonder, though...

What?

He used to smile.

Kind of late, isn't it?

I know. I'm not sleepy.

John's poems.

He gave them to grace, but she thought I'd like to read them.

"Meadowlark."

"Winter kill."

"Charlie's fiddle"?

That's about pa.

How does he do it?

How does he put into words

exactly what I hear

and feel when I hear your pa play?

Ever ask him?

We don't talk much about poetry.

Other things on his mind, hmm?

He's awful busy.

Hmm.

That's what happens when you fall in love and get married.

You enter a whole new world,

and you leave the old one behind.

That happen to you?

Sure. Happens to everybody.

What kind of a world did you leave behind?

Can't remember.

Oh, if I think back to the time

before I met and married your pa...

It's like I...

Don't even know that girl.

The things she wanted to do...

Places she wanted to go.

The person she wanted to be.

Things change so.

You get married...

And you have one another to look out for...

House to build...

Crops to grow...

Children to raise,

feed, and clothe.

Bills to pay.

And that'll happen to us, too?

But you'll be glad

for all of it.

You leave one world behind,

and you go on to the new...

And you forget the dreams you had

before it all happened.

Will John forget his poetry?

Well...

Your pa still plays his fiddle, doesn't he?

Don't fret about it.

It happens to all of us, Mary.

Good night.

Good night.

Got a lot to do, but it's coming.

Going to have a nice field down there, you and John.

What you're going to have to do next,

you're going to have to figure out what kind of door you want.

Solid from top to bottom,

or we can put in one of them divided ones

where you get air through the top

and keep the varmints out with the bottom.

I loved it.

I'd fall asleep thinking about it,

then I'd dream about it...

A green field down there...

New wheat coming up in the spring...

Wildflowers.

It was a wonderful dream.

Dream?

That's what it was, a dream.

Barn over there...

And a chicken house.

Our own well.

This ain't a dream! It's real!

Be ready to move into before you know it.

No, I won't.

What are you talking about?

I don't know how to start.

What's the matter, Mary?

You know what's wrong, Mr. Edwards,

just as well as I do.

What we're doing here is wrong.

What we decided back in the beginning was wrong.

Wrong? There's nothing wrong about it!

I mean, look at him down there.

He'll have that field busted by sundown tomorrow.

You got yourself a good farmer down there.

He's doing it all for you.

That's what's wrong about it.

He's doing it for me and for you,

not for himself.

He isn't a farmer.

He wasn't born to be a farmer.

He was born for this.

He was born to books

and words,

and the music he can make with them.

And we're taking them away from him.

Now, Mary, girl, you don't want to--

it's true! You know it's true.

We can't hold him like a meadowlark in a cage!

He'll stay if we ask him to,

with the life gone out of him

and the music.

I want him, more than you do, maybe,

but not that way.

I don't think you do, either.

Do you?

[Bell chiming]

John, here's some sandwiches and some cake.

I made them last night.

Thank you, Mrs. Ingalls.

Keep your hand on your pocketbook.

Isaiah, you've already told him that 20 times.

22.

Don't worry, I will.

Thanks.

Ain't no reason to thank me.

Debt's on my side.

We'll be thinking about you.

All the time.

Good luck, John.

Thank you, Mr. Ingalls.

I'll be back for Christmas.

It won't be so long.

You'll write?

Every day.

I'll write, too.

I want to know all about you.

And your studies.

[Cries]

Aboard!

I love you.

All aboard!

I love you!

Here, John.

Take care!

-Good-bye, John! -Bye, John!

-Bye, John! -Bye, John!

Take care!

[Whistle blows]

[Bell ringing]