Original subtitles

Ian says it should take four or five days to get there.

Where is there?

North.

North of the mountain.

I feel awful about leaving you and Elspeth.

Oh, don't worry. We'll be fine.

I just can't leave the farm

with the geraniums ready to harvest any day.

Well, we're ready when you are, Captain Palmer.

-Oh, good. Right away. -Okay.

-Right.

Do that.

-TILLY:

Well...

off you go.

-And please be careful. -Yes.

Yes, do be careful.

You wouldn't be much good to us inside a lion's tummy.

What a charming thought, darling.

-Bye-bye. -Mm!

Take care of yourself.

-Bye, Robin. -ROBIN: Cheerio, Hereward.

Thank you.

Bye, Elspeth.

Njombo...

where's Twinkle?

I don't know, memsaab ndogo.

I have not seen her since I let her out of the boma.

Oh, drat that animal!

Elspeth, I'm going to be very busy with the still,

so I must trust you to get on with your lessons.

Yes. Just the second I find Twinkle.

Twinkle!

Twinkle!

Twinkle!

Twinkle!

Twinkle.

Twinkle, you wicked animal.

How many times have I told you

that you're to stay up near the house?

There's a python lives under that rock,

and he'll nip out and gobble you up one of these days,

quick as a flash.

Do you hear me?

Now come on. We're going home.

Come on.

Come on. We're going home. Come on.

Come on. That's it. Good girl.

Go on. Go on.

Out you go. Go on.

Good girl. Come on.

I'm so worried about her, Njombo.

-Come on. -

Why don't you get a charm to protect her?

Where will I get a charm like that?

From the mundo mugo.

He has charms for everything,

and certainly one against a snake.

What are you learning?

I'm reading about the life cycle of a liver fluke.

Hmm.

-Interesting? -Interesting?

What on earth will it be of any use to me

when I grow up to know about the liver fluke?

Could come in useful, I suppose.

Did you have to learn about it when you were at school?

I can't say I did, no.

Why don't you have a go at drawing the signs of the zodiac?

Sounds more fun.

Mummy's going to give me an examination

when she gets back,

and if I don't do well in all my subjects,

then I won't get a new saddle for Moyale.

Ah.

Well, in that case, better master the liver fluke.

ELSPETH: I wonder where Mummy is now.

Somewhere over there.

-ELSPETH: Beyond Mount Kenya? -Uh-huh.

I hope she's being careful with all those lions

and rhinos and things.

ROBIN: I'm sure she is.

NJOMBO: Memsaab ndogo.

He will do it.

He must first have some hairs

-from Twinkle's coat. -Right.

Do you think that's enough?

-Or a bit more? -Yes. A bit more.

There. That'll do.

That is enough.

You are to rub this on the head of the animal,

and the legs, and on her tongue.

Then she will be safe from hurt.

Thank you very much, indeed.

I'm really most grateful.

Come here.

ELSPETH: She doesn't like the taste.

She didn't eat it.

If it even touched her tongue, that is all right.

She did not come back to her boma last night,

and she cannot be found this morning.

But...

But why didn't you tell me before?

Twinkle will be safe.

Did you not get a charm to protect her?

Perhaps she has gone to find a bwana of her own.

Twinkle didn't come back.

ROBIN: She's pretty well fully grown now.

She was bound to want to go off and join her own.

You knew that.

Yes.

Only, I wish she hadn't become so trusting.

I suppose that was my fault.

Well, she's pretty clever.

She'll manage. What do you think, Njombo?

NJOMBO: Yes, Bwana.

Twinkle will not be in trouble.

She's too clever.

Come and have a look at the still.

I've just got it going.

This is just an experiment

to make sure everything is working smoothly.

There we are.

Distilled water.

But in a few days' time, when the geranium leaves are ready,

we should be distilling quite a lot of oil a day from them.

-Mummy will be pleased. -Mm.

Nice surprise for her when she gets back.

What's the matter, Sammy?

The snake by the river has made a kill.

What sort of kill?

There's a woman shouting that it has taken her toto.

I'll get my gun.

I can't see a snake.

It is under the rock.

It would be bad to shoot the python.

Why?

We shall not get any rain.

What's the python got to do with rain?

Have you not seen the big snake of many colors

that lies across the sky when the rain falls? Huh?

That is the snake who lives in the water.

But the python hasn't many colors.

When he goes in the water,

he puts on his bright clothes --

so bright they shine up into the sky.

Well, if that snake

has killed Twinkle or the toto,

it is wicked, and it must be killed.

Come on.

Come on, Elspeth. Right back.

Otherwise, you'll scare off the snake.

Sammy, for God's sake, tell them to be careful.

Elspeth, look.

Isn't that amazing?

Poor goat.

Anyway, it shows how silly it is

to worry about things that haven't happened. Hmm?

Twinkle's safe somewhere and enjoying herself,

and so, presumably, is that silly woman's child.

And that skin will make a jolly nice pair of shoes

and a bag for your mother.

I wonder why that woman thought the snake had eaten her toto.

She did not think so.

She has a baby in her belly.

When a woman like that sees a snake, it's unlucky.

The baby will belong to the snake,

who may come to fetch it away.

That is why she was crying.

Please, God, if you are up in heaven,

or on top of Mount Kenya,

wherever you are...

please keep Twinkle safe, well, and happy.

HEREWARD: What's that?

AHMED: Oryx.

The bull in the middle.

Yes. Good head, what?

We leave the others, get downwind.

Perfectly good shot from here.

Wounded him?

-Miss. High. -HEREWARD:

-Bad luck. -Very odd.

Wonder how the others are getting on.

Haven't heard a shot.

-Have you? -No.

Will they attack us?

Oh, no.

Not unless we bother them.

They're far too sleepy.

Although man is the lion's only enemy,

they always seem magnificently unaware of the fact.

In fact, I don't expect those ladies

have ever seen a human being before.

Goodness.

You mean no one's ever been here before?

It's very likely.

These tracks are made by game, not men.

Oh.

It's just like I imagined the Garden of Eden when I was small.

-Well, there's the fig tree. -

Perhaps this is where the man who wrote the Bible

-got the idea. -

Would you like a shot?

Yes.

All right.

Get the weight onto the forward foot.

I don't want to shoot it.

I know it's very silly of me, but I just don't have

that consuming passion to shoot animals

that Hereward seems to have.

And Tilly, come to that.

In fact, almost everyone.

They're so beautiful... and happy.

Why shoot the poor things?

I never shoot an animal or a bird

unless they're in pain or I'm starving,

or in self-defense.

You don't?

Honestly?

Then what on earth are you doing running safaris?

I don't run safaris.

Just this one.

Well, this one -- Why?

Can't you guess?

I'd like to take you and run away with you here and now.

Throw me across your saddle.

And where would we run to?

What the hell are you doing?

-No, bwana, no. -HEREWARD: Why not?

Very fine horn.

A female with a toto.

Quite right.

Well done, Ahmed.

MAN:

LETTICE: Mm! Mm.

Mm.

Do you love me?

Yes.

I think so.

I mean, even though I think I love you...

even though I do love you...

...it's not as easy as that.

It is easy. We love each other.

LETTICE: Ian, darling...

I ran away from my first husband for Hereward.

I keep burning my boats.

I haven't any left to burn.

I'm not a very good bet.

I'll risk that.

That crocodile looks definitely shocked.

Yes, I had an aunt who looked exactly like that.

-Perhaps they're related. -LETTICE:

HEREWARD: Oh, my God.

My gun!

My gun. My gun.

Don't you move!

Shh, shh.

-Your shot. -No. You shoot.

Shoot, you silly idiot.

Don't you call me a silly idiot!

Give me the gun.

Damn.

Evidently couldn't stick your language.

Ha ha!

I apologize.

Some sort of wilt.

Killed the lot.

Typical Africa.

It didn't say anything about this

in the government pamphlet.

Never does.

Perhaps if the rains had come, we might have saved them.

We need Mummy back.

I wonder how she's getting on.

Better than us, I hope.

Better plow the lot in.

"Starved." Remember "starved."

"Starved."

"I saw their starved lips in the gloam

with horrid warning gapèd wide.

And I awoke and found me here

on the cold hill's side."

Poor Twinkle.

I hope she's not cold at night.

"And this is why I sojourn here,

alone and palely loitering."

"Alone and palely loitering,

though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,

and no birds sing."

Memsaab ndogo.

I'm sorry, Njombo. I can't come now.

I'm doing my lessons.

Twinkle.

What about Twinkle?!

She has been seen -- in the reserve.

Will you take me there?

This evening.

Why do they think it's Twinkle?

The owners of the shambas set traps,

and these duikers walk 'round them.

One of them threw a spear.

He was as close to it as that tree.

And the spear turned aside.

I knew it. They'll kill her.

The mundo mugo says that his medicine is very strong.

I must go and talk to her.

She will run away, memsaab ndogo.

She belongs to her bwana now...

no longer to the house.

Twinkle!

Twinkle.

Twinkle.

HEREWARD: Yes.

There's an old bull there with a marvelous head on him.

Oh, yes. Yes, I see.

Where is he?

Right there in the middle.

HEREWARD: Oh, yes.

Fine fellow.

Your shot, Tilly.

We'll have to get a lot closer.

Do you want a shot, Tilly?

Oh, no.

No, I'd only make a bosh of it.

Let Hereward have a try.

Right. Solid shot.

The rest of you over by that big fever tree.

Right, now keep low.

They're as cunning as the devil, these fellows,

with noses like bloodhounds.

We've got to keep downwind of them.

Can I have the camera?

Asante.

I want to get a bit nearer.

Right.

I'll go for a heart shot.

If you wound him and he charges,

he'll be out for your blood.

He'll come straight at you.

Aim bang in the middle and keep shooting.

Christ, you've wounded a bloody cow!

-I aimed at a bloody cow. -IAN: Do what I told you.

Get out of it.

That was my buffalo.

Why did you shoot it?

Because you couldn't hit a haystack at 20 feet

and I happened to want to stay alive myself.

Oh! Well done.

IAN: Well done, indeed --

to wound a cow when you were meant to be aiming at a bull.

I hit the one I was aiming at.

Good head.

-We don't shoot cows. -HEREWARD:

Come on, you two.

Go and stand beside it, and I'll take a photograph.

All right.

Follow me.

TILLY: Right. Come on.

IAN: Yes, go on, have it framed.

Then you can tell them how you shot it

and put the head up in your drawing room.

Look here, Crawford. I've had enough of your bloody insolence.

I'm paying for this safari.

So far as I'm concerned,

it's been a monumental waste of money.

You and your nigger bearer

don't seem to have the first idea what you're doing.

You seem to spend most of your time

slobbering over my wife.

Hereward! For goodness' sake!

Let's have it out.

This fellow is a cad and a rotter,

-and he needs dealing with. -All right.

You and your black boy are the sort of scum

that gives Africa a bad name.

IAN:

Aah.

I'll have that fellow strung up.

-Don't move, Hereward. -HEREWARD:

It's attempted murder.

I need bandages -- quickly. Your puttees.

Aah!

The wound seems clean enough.

I've dressed it with plenty of permanganate.

He's had some morphia, which should keep the pain down.

Well done, Tilly. You ought to get a medal.

He was very lucky.

Another inch, and it would have got his heart.

What have you done with Ahmed?

He's vanished into thin air.

Back to his own people, no doubt.

Look, I'm awfully sorry about all this.

Not entirely your fault.

IAN: I've got a bearer party ready.

If we make forced marches,

we should get to civilization in three to four days.

I'm afraid it'll be rather hard going on you ladies.

My feet!

TILLY: Oh.

Oh, yes.

-How I hate boots! -

Thank goodness I don't have to be a soldier.

Oh.

Tilly...

...what am I to do?

Well...

cope with Hereward, for a start.

I know.

I mean after that.

Of course I must go to Nairobi.

Then I must decide about Ian.

It's dreadful to drift into a position

where whatever you do, someone must get hurt.

Well, decide who would get hurt most...

or recover soonest.

Yes.

That's exactly right.

Hereward is a trained soldier.

He's used to battles.

He might emerge bloody, but unbowed.

But Ian...

...he says he's been searching for something all his life

and has at last found it.

If he loses me now, there will be nothing else left for him

to search for.

And that would be the end of him.

They say love makes people cunning.

I can see he's very attractive.

There are plenty of attractive men about.

I, too, feel that I've come to the end of a journey.

Often, there's no need for any words between us.

We're completely at ease together.

And even when he's not there,

my thoughts are shaped to fit his mind.

It's a queer feeling.

One I've never had before.

To be practical...

...could Ian support you?

He wants to settle down

and farm some land he's bought up near Mount Elgon.

Is he the settling-down type?

Of course you disapprove and are on Hereward's side.

And you're right.

It's so easy to dress up one's weakness as courage

and selfishness as enterprise.

I just don't know what's right or wrong anymore.

Well...

...I know what I'd do.

But then, I'm not you.

You would do your duty.

No.

I would do what I wanted and enjoy it...

and eventually regret it...

...and never admit it.

Perhaps I shall die of exhaustion,

and that will solve the whole problem.

What a time we've had, Tilly.

I feel now as though I have passed the very peak

and crown of my life.

Come on.

ROBIN: Well, we haven't done too badly, Sammy.

All right.

Elspeth, you must make sure

-the root's absolutely straight. -Yes, Daddy.

And make sure the line's straight.

We soon will have a coffee shamba as big as a forest.

And the fruit will fill so many wagons.

And our bwana will be richer than Kingi Georgi.

Yes.

When the memsaab comes back, she will be pleased.

Very pleased.

Mummy!

Elspeth.

Tilly, darling, thank goodness you're safe.

Yes. We've missed you very much.

Now the rains have come,

we're planting out coffee like billyoh.

The office is in an awful muddle, I'm afraid.

-Did you shoot anything?

Not really.

I wounded a lion, and Ian finished it off for me.

At least we won't need to buy another rug for the living room.

What's happened to the others?

Hereward had an accident.

They had to go to Nairobi.

ELSPETH: What sort of accident?

Just an accident. Nothing very bad.

Darling, would you fetch me some more lemonade, please?

Yes.

Ian and Lettice had an affair.

Hereward started a flaming row with Ian.

Ahmed made what the papers would call

a dramatic intervention with his knife.

What?!

News!

Just come through on the telegraph.

There's a war started.

Good God! What sort of a war?

-War with Germany. -Where?

Europe.

Well, everywhere, I suppose.

I wonder what it'll mean... to us.

I'm still on the Regular Army Reserve,

so I suppose I may be called back.

But not here.

Just when we've got the farm started.

-That would be so silly. -Don't fuss, Tilly.

Nobody knows what's happening, anyway.

I'm off to Nairobi to find out.

-Could we not go together? -Of course, old boy.

Robin, there's no rush.

How do you know?

After all, down in the south,

the border with German East Africa's

not far from the railway.

They may need people badly with military experience.

No, we'd best go home.

I shall have to pack a few things.

There's a good fellow.

You won't have to go back home, do you think, Robin?

No, no.

If it really is a proper war, it won't last for long.

No one could afford it, for one thing.

Keep on planting the coffee.

I'll be back as soon as I find out what's happening.

-Bye, Daddy. -Bye-bye, sweetheart.

I think the war will make old Hereward happy.

I'm coming, Major.

What will happen to everyone here?

-Will we be safe? -

Lord alone knows.