Desire Under the Elms Page #3

- And I hate the sight of you.

Disgraziato!

- You and Eben quarrelling again?

- No.

- You were talking mighty loud.

- If you heard us, why ask?

- I didn't hear what you said.

- It was nothing.

- That Eben's a strange one.

- He's exactly like you.

You think so, Anna?

Eben and me,

we've always fought and fought.

I could never bear him.

He's so soft, like his ma.

- He's about as soft as you are.

- Maybe I've been too hard on him.

You're getting soft,

that's what he was saying.

Eben was saying?

He'd better not do anything to try me

or he'll soon discover how soft I am.

- Pretty, ain't it?

- I do not see anything pretty.

The sky. It feels like

a warm meadow up there.

Are you planning to buy up

over the farm too?

I'd like to own my place up there.

I'm gettin' old, Anna. Ripe on the bough.

It's always Ionesome cold in the house,

even when it's boilin' hot outside,

haven't you noticed?

Better down in the barn,

the smell from the hay,

the warmth from the animals.

That's the only place

I don't seem to feel the cold.

I suppose it's old age

creepin' up on my bones.

You're not dead yet.

No, I'm not. Not by a long sight.

I'm sound and as tough as hickory.

But after three score and ten,

the Lord warns us to prepare.

That's why Eben

keeps coming into my head.

Now that his sinful brothers

have gone on the path to hell,

there's nobody left but Eben.

And me? Am I not left?

Why you like Eben so much?

Why you say nothing about me?

Am I your lawful wife or not?

Yes, you are.

So you plan to leave the farm to Eben?

Leave? I'm not giving it to anyone.

When you go, what do you plan to do?

Bury it with you?

I guess not.

But if I could, I would.

In my dying hour,

I'd set it afire and watch it burn.

This house, every ear of corn,

every tree, to the last blade of hay.

I'd sit and know it was all dying with me.

No one else

would ever own what was mine.

- Except I'd turn my animals free.

- And me?

- You'd be turned free, too.

- That's what I get for marrying you?

Turn kind to Eben who hates you,

and talk of turning me out.

- Now, I...

- Let me tell you about Eben.

He's with that woman in the village.

I tried to stop him

disgracing you and me.

He's a sinner, natural-born.

It's lust eatin' his heart.

And his lust for me?

Can you find excuses for that?

Lust for you?

What do you think

we were quarrelling about?

I'll kill him. I'll blow his soft brains

to the top of them elm trees.

- By heaven I will!

- Listen, it was not anything bad.

It was just a boy fooling,

not anything serious.

Just joking and teasing.

- Then why did you say "lust"?

- It sounded worse than I meant.

Sometimes American words

get confused in my head.

I was angry, I thought

you were leaving him the farm...

I'll horsewhip him off the place.

No, you wouldn't drive him off.

Who would help you on the farm?

There's something in what you say.

You got a head on your shoulders.

We'll let him stay.

I oughtn't to get so angry

at that young calf.

But what son of mine

will keep on here after me?

Simeon and Peter have gone to hell.

Eben's following.

Three sons,

and not one of them's worth nothin'.

Who'll keep on here after me?

- There's me.

- You're a woman.

I'm your wife.

That's not me.

A son is me, mine, my blood.

Mine ought to get mine.

Then it's still mine.

Even though I'm six feet

under the ground, you see?

I see.

Maybe the Lord will give us a son.

A son, to you and to me?

Yes. You are a strong man yet.

It's not impossible, is it?

Why do you stare like that?

Have you never thought it before?

I've been thinking of it all the time,

ever since the first day I came here.

Yes, and I've been praying

it would happen, too.

You've been praying, for a son for us?

- I want a son.

- It would be the blessing of God.

There'd be nothing I wouldn't do for you.

You'd only have to ask.

Anything you'd a mind to.

Will you leave the farm to me then?

To me and to your son?

I'd do anything you ask. I swear it.

May I be everlastingly damned if I don't.

Listen, Anna.

When I first came here

50 years ago, I was just 20.

But the strongest and the hardest 20

anybody ever saw.

Ten times as strong

and fifty times as hard as Eben.

This place was nothin' but stones.

Folks laughed

but they didn't know what I knowed.

When you can make corn sprout

out of stones, God's living in you.

They weren't strong.

They reckoned God was easy.

But God's hard. God's in the stones.

"Build my church on a rock,

out of stones, I'll be in them."

That's what he meant to Peter. Stones.

I picked them up

and piled them into walls.

You can read the years of my life

out there in them walls.

They were Ionesome years.

I took two wives and they both died

without knowing me.

They left me three sons

and I was Ionelier than ever.

I lived with the boys,

but they hated me because I was hard.

I hated them because they were soft.

They were the sons of my body,

but never of my spirit.

In the spring, the call came.

The voice of God

crying in my wilderness.

And I sought you and I found you.

Are you any the wiser

for all I've told you?

- Maybe.

- You don't know nothin'.

And you never will.

If you don't have a son to redeem you...

You will have a son, I promise you.

A son of your body.

A son of your spirit too.

How can you promise?

Maybe I have second sight.

Maybe I can foretell the future.

I believe maybe you can.

It's cold in this house.

It's uneasy.

There's something poking about

in the dark corners.

- Where are you going?

- I'm going out to tend to my animals.

I won't be back till late, till I've finished.

You shouldn't, Eben.

I can make you happy.

- I don't want to be happy with you.

- Why do you lie?

I hate the sight of you.

Well... I kissed you anyway.

And you kissed back.

And your lips were burning.

If you hate me, why did you kiss me?

Why were your lips burning?

It's like poison on them.

You're no good. You're not a man.

You're what your father says, nothing.

What did you come in here for,

if I'm good for nothing?

Did you think I was in love with you?

Don't be proud.

You're here, you're young.

I'm tired of old men.

It's as simple as that.

Get out of my room.

This is my room

and you're only hired help.

Get out of here before I kill you.

I'm not afraid.

You want me, don't you?

Yes, you do.

And you are like your father.

He will never kill what he wants.

Look at your eyes, they are burning up.

Look at your lips. They're trembling

and longing to kiss me.

I'm going to make this house my own.

One room is not mine yet.

But it's going to be mine now.

Will you come courting me

in the parlour, Mr Cabot?

I will expect you before long, Eben.

Eben, I sit here so frightened

you will not come.

I'm a bad woman, I lie to you.

I tell you it is because you're here,

because I'm tired of old men.

It isn't true, Eben, it isn't true. I love you.

For so long I've wanted to say that.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes