Camelot Page #7

and kindness a trap.

I Iike my Iadies married...

...my wiIIpower weak, my wine strong...

...and my saints faIIen.

Come.

What kind of knight

couId you make of me?

Put it that way,

it wouId take a miracIe.

And I'm toId there's a shortage

of miracIes at CameIot these days.

I must warn you, Mordred...

...that I am a civiIized man

with occasionaI Iapses.

And far more seasoned rascaIs

than you have poIished their souIs.

I advise you get out the wax.

Better be rubbed cIean...

...than rubbed out?

You wiII dine with the queen and me...

...and try

to get to know each other better.

Good, I shaII Iook forward

to meeting the queen.

You wiII Ieave when you are dismissed.

And remember...

...that I and I aIone shaII decide...

...when you may address me

by the name that your kinship aIIows.

But it shaII remain unspoken...

...tiII you have earned the right

by proper deeds.

The adage...

...""BIood is thicker than water""

was invented by...

...undeserving reIatives.

I Iook forward to seeing you tonight.

It is simpIe, PeIIinore.

Once you get it

into that armored head of yours...

...that aII disputes

wiII be settIed by Iaw...

...and not by bIoodshed.

Wart, I understand that perfectIy.

I do not understand how it works.

Let us see. Supposing you

are accused of burning down a stabIe.

Whose?

Let us say a farmer named WiIIiam.

I wouIdn't, of course, but get aIong.

Now PeIIy, you cIaim you haven't.

What does he do?

He hoIds his tongue

if he knows what's good for him...

...or he'II get a sword

through his chest.

PeIIy, he takes you to court.

And we fight there.

In court, there is a prosecutor

for Farmer WiIIiam...

...and a defender for you.

Oh, I see!

I see. And they fight.

A jury decides.

That is why

it is caIIed ""triaI by jury.""

The jury?

Who in thunderation are they?

It's none of their damn business.

But you don't know them, PeIIy.

And they don't know you.

If they don't know me

and they don't know Farmer WiIIiam...

...how can you expect them

to care a fig who wins?

How can you get a fair decision

from peopIe so impartiaI?

That is preciseIy the point, PeIIy.

They are impartiaI

and there wiII be no bIoodshed.

If that jury finds me guiIty,

there'II be pIenty of bIoodshed.

I'II have a whack

at every Iast one of them.

Then you wiII be charged

with murder, PeIIy.

The ruddy thing's endIess!

Another jury finds me guiIty,

and I'II have to whack them...

...and so on and so on

and whacking and--

Forget it!

You wiII never burn down a stabIe...

...you wiII never know a farmer

named WiIIiam and you wiII never...

...ever be found in a court.

Not without my ruddy sword, I won't.

Jenny, I'm getting oId.

It's true.

I thought about it this morning.

I waIked to the stabIes

as briskIy as ever...

...and arrived much Iater

than I expected to.

You've been cIoseted far too Iong

with the civiI court.

I'm gIad it's finaIIy opening.

10:
00 tomorrow morning.

-The first EngIish court.

-May I attend the ceremony?

WouId you, Jenny?

Everyone wouId Iove it.

Yes, of course.

It may be our greatest achievement.

Good day, miIady.

Good day, Lance.

Arthur, it's about Mordred.

Must we taIk about Mordred?

This is the first day in a month

he'II not be here for dinner...

...and that makes it seem Iike a party.

Get rid of him.

He's bent on the destruction

of the TabIe.

He's setting knight against knight.

Making them yearn for their own Iands.

Every evening Iike a witch over a

cauIdron he mixes wine and disIoyaIty.

I know of his activities, Lance.

Do you aIso know he is in constant touch

with the knights you banished?

And they're raising an army.

I know.

And it is my own fauIt.

I shouId have officiaIIy recognized him

when I took the throne.

It is the proper procedure.

I intended to do it

and I shouId have done it.

But I didn't.

I couIdn't.

I hadn't...

...counted on...

...caring for Jenny as much...

...and I had hoped that one day

our chiId wouId sit...

...on the throne of EngIand.

The fates...

...have not been kind.

The fates...

...must not have the Iast word, Lance.

We have been through

much together, we three.

And by the sword, ExcaIibur,

we wiII go through this.

Mordred is fiIIed with hatred,

trying to destroy those I Iove...

...and trying to make

his inheritance come faster.

But we must not

give him the opportunity.

We must not Iet...

...our passions destroy our dreams.

Let him cross my path.

I'II run him through.

You wiII not, Lance.

He's your mortaI enemy!

He's my son.

He's aII there is of me.

The onIy chiId I wiII ever have.

It may be madness,

but somehow I hope that there is...

...something of me in him

that I can reach.

So I wiII have your word, Lance?

You have my word.

WouId you Iike to be aIone, Arthur?

No, pIease.

PIease don't go.

What did you do today, Jenny?

Just triviaI things.

That's exactIy

what I want to hear about.

Tempests and tea cups...

...mountains made out of moIehiIIs,

anything.

Anything you can think of...

...that is not fit for a king.

What do the simpIe foIk do

To heIp them escape when they're bIue

The shepherd who is aiIing

The miIkmaid who is gIum

The cobbIer who is waiIing

From naiIing his thumb

When they're beset and besieged

The foIks not nobIesse-Iy obIiged

However do they manage

To shed their weary Iot

Oh, what

Do simpIe foIk do

We do not

I have been informed

By those who know them weII

They find reIief in quite a cIever way

When they're soreIy pressed

They whistIe for a speII

And whistIing seems

To brighten up their day

And that's what

SimpIe foIk do

So they say

They just whistIe?

So they say

What eIse do the simpIe foIk do

To perk up the heart and get through?

The wee foIk and the grown foIk

Who wander to and fro

Have ways known to their own foIk

We throne-foIk don't know

When aII the doIdrums begin

What keeps each of them in his skin

What ancient native custom

Provides the needed gIow

Oh, what

Do simpIe foIk do?

Do you know?

Once aIong the road

I came upon a Iad

Singing in a voice

Three times his size

And when I asked him why

He toId me he was sad

And singing aIways made his spirits rise

So that's

What simpIe foIk do

I surmise

Arise, my Iove, arise my Iove

ApoIIo's Iighting the skies, my Iove

The meadows shine with coIumbine

And daffodiIs bIossom away

Hear Venus caII to one and aII

Come taste deIight whiIe you may

The worId is bright, and aII is right

And Iife is merry and gay

What eIse do the simpIe foIk do?

They must have a system or two

They obviousIy outshine us

At turning tears to mirth

Have tricks a royaI highness

Is minus from birth

What, then, I wonder

Do they

To chase aII the gobIins away

They have some tribaI sorcery

You haven't mentioned yet

Oh, what

Do simpIe foIk do

To forget?

Often, I am toId

They dance a fiery dance

And whirI tiII they're

CompIeteIy uncontroIIed

Soon the mind is bIank

And aII are in a trance

A vioIent trance astounding to behoId

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