Androcles and the Lion Page #7

or you wouldn't say that.

Ah, well, my friend, we shall no doubt

contrive a happy release for you.

Oh, thank you.

And, uh, which is Ferrovius?

I am he.

They tell me you can fight.

It is easy to fight.

I can die, Caesar.

- That is still easier, is it not?

- Not to me, Caesar.

Death comes hard to my flesh...

and fighting comes

very easily to my spirit...

oh, sinner that I am.

Metellus, I should like to have

this man in the Praetorian Guard.

Oh, I should not, Caesar.

He looks a spoilsport.

There are men in whose presence

it is impossible to have any fun.

Men who are a sort of

walking conscience.

He would make us all uncomfortable.

For that very reason,

perhaps, it might be as well to have him.

An emperor can hardly have

too many consciences.

Listen, Ferrovius.

You and your friends shall not be

outnumbered in the arena today.

You shall have arms, and there shall be

but one gladiator to each Christian.

If you come out of the arena alive...

I will consider favorably

any request of yours...

and give you a place

in the Praetorian Guard.

Even if the request be that no questions

be asked about your faith...

I shall, perhaps, not refuse it.

I will not fight. I will die.

Better stand with the archangels...

than with the Praetorian Guard.

I cannot believe that the archangels... -

whoever they may be... -

would not prefer to be recruited

from the Praetorian Guard.

However, as you please.

Come, let us see the show.

The hour has come, Ferrovius.

- Do you still scorn the Praetorian Guard?

- I do.

Then I shall no into my box

and see you killed.

- [Crowd Roars]

- [Trumpet Fanfare]

Welcome, vestal virgins.

[Crowd Roars]

Farewell.

Farewell, brother...

till we meet in the sweet by-and-by.

You're going too. Take a sword here

and pick out any armor you can find to fit you.

No, really, I can't fight.

I never could.

I can't bring myself

to dislike anyone enough.

I'm to be thrown to the lions

with the lady.

Then get out of the way

and hold your noise.

You Christians have got to fight.

Here. Arm yourselves!

I'll die sword in hand...

to show the people I could fight

if it were my master's will...

and that I could kill the man

who kills me if I choose.

Put on that armor!

- No armor.

- [Armor Clatters]

Here! Do as your told!

Put on that armor!

I said no armor.

And what am I to say when I'm accused

of sending you into the arena unprotected?

Say your prayers, brother...

and have no fear

of the princes of this world.

You obstinate fool.

- [Crowd Cheering]

- [Fanfare]

O Heaven, give me strength.

[Chuckling]

That frightens you, does it?

Man...

there is no terror like the terror

of that sound to me.

When I hear a trumpet or a drum...

or the clash of steel...

or the hum of the catapult

as the great stone flies...

fire runs through my veins.

I can feel my blood surge up

hot behind my eyes.

I must charge!

I must strike! I must conquer!

Caesar himself will not be safe

in his imperial seat...

if once the spirit gets loose in me.

Oh, brothers, pray.

- [Fanfare]

- Exhort me!

Remind me that if I raise my sword...

my honor falls...

and my master...

is crucified afresh.

In with you. Into the arena!

The stage is waiting!

The emperor's waiting.

What are you dreaming of, man?

- Send your men in at once!

- It's these Christians hanging back.

- Liar.

- March!

- Shove them in there!

- Touch them, dogs, and we'll die here...

and cheat the heathen of their spectacle.

Brothers, the great moment has come.

Farewell.

[Crowd Cheering]

[Trumpet Fanfare]

[Crowd Roaring]

[Crowd Cheering Wildly]

[Cheering Wildly]

[Swords Clattering]

[Crowd Cheering, Muffled]

I'm glad I don't have to fight.

That would really be

an awful martyrdom.

I am lucky.

Androcles, burn the incense.

You'll be forgiven.

Let my death atone for both of us.

I feel as if I were killing you.

Don't think of me, sister.

Think of yourself.

- That will keep your heart up.

- [Man Chuckles]

Oh, it's you, handsome Captain.

Have you come to see us die?

I'm on duty with the emperor, Lavinia.

Is it part of your duty to laugh at us?

No, that's part of my private pleasure.

Your friend here is a humorist.

I laughed at his telling you to think of yourself

and to keep up your heart.

I say think of yourself

and burn the incense.

He is not a humorist.

He was right.

You ought to know that, Captain.

You have been face-to-face with death.

Not with certain death, Lavinia.

Only death in battle

which spares more men than death in bed.

What you're facing is certain death.

You have nothing left now but your faith

in this craze of yours, this Christianity.

Are your Christian fairy stories any truer

than our stories about Jupiter and Diana?

In which, I may tell you,

I believe no more than the emperor does.

Captain, all that seems nothing to me now.

I'll not say that death is a terrible thing.

But I will say it is so real a thing...

that when it comes close...

all the imaginary things...

all the fairy stories, as you call them...

fade into mere dreams

beside the reality of death.

I know now that I am not dying

for stories or dreams.

My faith has been oozing away minute by minute

whilst I've been waiting here...

with death coming nearer and nearer...

with reality becoming realer and realer...

with stories and dreams fading away...

into nothing.

Are you then going to die for nothing?

Yes. That is the wonderful thing.

It is since all the stories

and dreams have gone...

I have now no doubt at all that I must die

for something greater than dreams or stories.

But for what?

I don't know.

If it were for anything small enough to know,

it would be too small to die for.

Perhaps, after all, I am going to die for God.

Nothing else is real enough to die for.

What is God?

When we know that, Captain,

we shall be gods ourselves.

Lavinia, come down to earth.

Burn the incense and marry me.

Would you marry me if I hauled down the flag

on the day of battle and burnt the incense?

Sons take after their mothers, you know.

Do you want your son to be a coward?

By great Diana...

I think I would strangle you

if you gave in now.

The hand of God is upon us, Captain.

What nonsense it all is.

What a monstrous thing it is

that you should die for such nonsense...

and that I should look on helplessly...

when my whole soul cries out against it.

Die then, if you must!

But at least I can cut the emperor's throat,

then my own when I see your blood!

[Crowd Cheering]

[Cheering Continues]

[Ferrovius]

Lost!

Lost... - Lost forever!

I have betrayed my master.

Cut off this hand.

It has offended.

Take this sword! Strike!

- What have you done, Ferrovius?

- I know not.

There was blood behind my eyes, and...

there's blood on my sword.

What does that mean?

What does it mean?

It means that you're the greatest man in Rome!

It means that you shall have

a laurel wreath of gold!

Superb fighter...

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote