1492: Conquest of Paradise Page #2

COLUMBUS:

Father, I am doing what I think is

the best for him. And he has the

teacher I would have chosen for

myself.

MARCHENA laughs at the compliment.

MARCHENA:

Just be careful you don't lose him.

They have crossed the cloister. MARCHENA pushes open a

door.

INT. A HUGE LIBRARY - LA RABIDA - DAY

Hundreds of books lined up on the shelves, displaying the

miracle of printing, a recent German discovery. Several

MONKS, perched on high stools behind lecterns, are busily

"ILLUMINATING" some of these massive volumes, delicately

painting around the letters in bright colors and gold

leaf.

Rays of light fall diagonally through high openings,

projecting geometric patterns on the tiled floor. As

MARCHENA and COLUMBUS move forward their conversation is

punctuated by light and shadow.

MARCHENA:

(fumbles in a pocket

under his robe)

I have something for you.

Almost casually, he hands COLUMBUS a letter.

MARCHENA:

You will be heard at the University

of Salamanca...

COLUMBUS stops dead in his tracks. Almost frantically he

tears open the letter, hardly able to believe his eyes.

COLUMBUS:

God... That's in a week!

MARCHENA:

That's what it says.

COLUMBUS:

How did you manage it?

MARCHENA:

(smiling)

With some difficulty. I had to

promise them you were not a total

fool.

MARCHENA pushes open a second door, hidden behind a wooden

panel.

INT. STUDY - LA RABIDA - DAY

MARCHENA is not a tidy man. Books are piled up on the

floor, the desk, on every shelf, along with maps,

instruments of astronomy... the visible evidence of an

inquiring mind.

With practiced familiarity, as if they had done this a

hundred times -- which indeed they have -- MARCHENA sits

behind his desk, and COLUMBUS opposite him. MARCHENA

lights a candle and considers the mess. Then

methodically, he slowly sweeps it from in front of him

with his sleeve, exposing a large map underneath.

When he looks up again, there is a new severity in his

expression. He turns over an hourglass.

MARCHENA:

Why do you wish to sail west?

COLUMBUS:

To open a new route to Asia. At the

moment there are only two ways of

reaching it...

He leans forward, and points to the map spread out on the

desk.

COLUMBUS:

By sea, sailing around the African

Continent -- the journey takes a

year...

His finger traces the journey, from west to east.

COLUMBUS:

Or by land...

We are CLOSE now on the map, as we watch his finger

tracing a line between Europe and the Far East.

COLUMBUS (O.S.)

... But the Turks have closed this

route to all Christians. Trading

with the Orient has become arduous,

if not dangerous.

(he pauses)

There is a third way...

We notice that the outline of the European continent is

familiar. But we also notice that, in that great expanse

of ocean, the whole American continent is missing.

COLUMBUS:

By sailing West across the Ocean

Sea.

CLOSE ON MARCHENA'S FACE, touched by the mystery.

MARCHENA:

How can you be so certain? The

Ocean is said to be infinite.

COLUMBUS:

Ignorance! I believe the Indies are

no more than 750 leagues west of the

Canary Islands.

MARCHENA:

How can you be so certain?

COLUMBUS:

The calculations of Toscanelli Marin

de Tyr, Esdras...

MARCHENA:

(interrupting)

Esdras is a Jew.

COLUMBUS:

So was Christ!

MARCHENA throws his quill in the air in frustration. He

glances at the hourglass:

MARCHENA:

Two minutes... and already you're a

dead man. Don't let passion

overwhelm you, Colon.

COLUMBUS:

(mockingly)

I'll try to remember that,

Marchena...

MARCHENA:

Father Marchena!

COLUMBUS:

(ignoring this)

Passion is something one cannot

control!

MARCHENA:

(heatedly)

You get so carried away when you are

being contradicted!

COLUMBUS:

I've been contradicted all my

life... Eternity!

MARCHENA:

(amused)

Only God knows the meaning of such

words, my son.

EXT. COURTYARD - LA RABIDA - EVENING

DIEGO and FERNANDO wait in the courtyard. COLUMBUS

appears and lifts FERNANDO onto the mule. DIEGO turns to

go.

COLUMBUS:

Diego.

COLUMBUS walks over to him, squats down so their eyes

meet. He looks at his SON for a moment.

COLUMBUS:

Would you like to come and stay with

us?

Uncomfortable with the proposition, DIEGO cannot find an

answer.

COLUMBUS:

I'll do whatever makes you happy.

DIEGO:

I am happy, Father.

COLUMBUS reaches out -- and touches his shoulder.

He climbs up behind FERNANDO, who waves back to his

BROTHER as they ride off.

EXT. CADIZ - STREETS AND CATHEDRAL SQUARE - NIGHT

COLUMBUS leads the mule, carrying the sleeping FERNANDO,

through narrow streets. There's a clamorous noise in the

air. Suddenly a large group of YOUNG MEN, shouting with

excitement, run up the street and brush past them. Then

more people. FERNANDO sits up straight. The noise grows,

rowdy, rumbling, sharp with excitement and violence.

Huge CROWDS have thronged the massive old square outside

the cathedral. Holding the mule by its reins, COLUMBUS

tries to push his way through... Suddenly, as a gap opens

in the crowd, we see the cause of the excitement: in the

center of the square stand three pyres, already alit.

HOODED EXECUTIONERS are busy around the fires.

FERNANDO:

Look, Father!

Before COLUMBUS can stop him, FERNANDO has slipped off the

mule and into the crowd.

COLUMBUS:

Fernando!

But the BOY has been swallowed into the mass of people.

COLUMBUS tries to follow him. Flames leap into the night

sky with a terrible crackling, lighting up the square with

a lurid glow. Prayers are being chanted somewhere.

FERNANDO has elbowed his way to the front of the crowd.

A PRIEST brandishes a crucifix in front of the face of a

MAN bound to a post. The heretic wears the "sambenito", a

robe made of coarse fabric on which his sins have been

crudely illustrated -- we see cabalistic signs,

indicating that the man is Jewish.

THE MAN'S eyes are mad with fear. But he refuses to kiss

the crucifix, as a sign of his repentance.

FERNANDO is transfixed by the scene, but still doesn't

realize what is happening. He is too close to the

platform to see what is in the flames of the other pyres.

COLUMBUS:

Fernando!

He motions to his son, takes the BOY'S hand, and drags him

away from the scene. But FERNANDO looks back. The

distance now allows him to see inside the flames.

A HALF-CHARRED FIGURE -- THE MAN'S face is distorted in a

silent scream... The neck snaps like burning wood, and the

head falls on one shoulder. Then the whole body collapses

into the fire.

INT. BEATRIX'S HOUSE - HALLWAY AND STABLE - NIGHT

COLUMBUS and FERNANDO lead the mule into the white-washed,

stone-floored hallway of the modest house. FERNANDO is

mute, shocked by what he just witnessed. COLUMBUS takes

the mule into its stall, and as he does so, his mother,

BEATRIX, appears from the kitchen to greet them. She is a

beautiful woman in her twenties, a calm, strong, domestic

personality. COLUMBUS tousles the BOY'S hair. FERNANDO

glances at his MOTHER but looks subdued and doesn't say

anything.

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