Dragon Seed Page #10

What use to speak to you of pride

when we use the same word...

...but mean different things by it?

Of all men on earth,

you are least like a man.

- Do not worry about that one.

- Yes.

He will follow me, or answer to me.

We will always be glad to see you,

kinswoman.

Another time? Another quiet little talk

such as this one has been.

Yes. Yes, as soon as we have

fresh news.

My poor father and his household

walk on a rope above a pit.

I have forgotten

the things we have heard.

Have you, my husband?

No, I have a mind that lets go of nothing.

Captain Sato calls for you.

- He says, bring the work you have finished.

- Oh, yes, yes. Yes, at once.

The Chinese people

welcome their good neighbor...

...who gives them food,

peace and safety.

- It is a clever work.

- Thank you.

And perhaps it will help us

to put an end to all these killings.

I will put the poster

in all the usual places.

Chinaman!

Come here.

Did I not instruct you

to obtain information for me...

...about the disappearance of our soldiers?

- Sir, I...

I have found nothing as yet.

Do you think that one village

is the center of this rebellion?

And if it is, how can we find it?

Perhaps we should burn all the villages

and shoot all the farmers.

Will that end this stupid resistance?

Perhaps, sir. Perhaps, but then...

...who would plant and harvest

the crop next year if you did that?

And if there was no crop,

how could your army here be fed?

- How would you yourselves eat, great ones?

- We thought of that, Chinaman.

We only wondered if you had also.

- And so we are all agreed.

- Yes, great one.

We are agreed

that we must find that center.

- And destroy it.

- Yes, great one.

- And it will be your privilege to help us.

- Thank you.

I will have information soon.

If it is possible, very soon.

Thank you.

How could we conquer a country

without its traitors?

They order me to broaden the smile

on the face of the soldier.

Do they not know a broader smile will only

make him resemble a shark the more?

You did not speak

of your new knowledge?

I did not.

Will you ever speak of it?

As long as I am able, I will not.

But when you are no longer able,

what then?

How can I tell that?

How does a man know today

what he must do tomorrow?

You are afraid. You are in danger here.

Where am I not in danger?

In these times, one chooses to live

in the den of the tiger or the lion.

There is no other place.

And I am a man in the middle.

How can a man in the middle stay there

without splitting himself?

And if he does that,

he is only half a man.

Half. Can half a man still live?

Here is our third cousin.

How are you, cousin?

What is it?

I should have killed her

even as she spoke.

Who would you kill then?

The female I call my wife.

Has that woman been snapping

at your heels again?

Had I killed her,

I myself would have been killed...

...but at least our village

would now be safe...

...and all our kinsmen.

What is this, cousin?

This is not easy for me to say

but I must.

My wife is a traitor.

She has told Wu Lien all she knows

of what happens here.

Of the secret room

and your sons and the resistance.

Wu Lien, the running dog.

He must be silenced.

But he may not speak.

There is another who has already spoken

and may do so again...

...the wife of our cousin here.

I can say only this.

She will speak no more.

You have killed her.

No, no, I did not kill her.

Although there was a moment...

...when I thought she no longer breathed.

I beat her.

I beat her until she leaned

against the wall to keep from falling.

What then of Wu Lien?

We must remember this:

he is of our family.

Our sons return

from the hills tonight.

They will know how to deal with him.

There is but one way.

I know my husband will see it as I see it

and be willing to do what must be done.

Would you have him

kill his brother-in-law?

Rather than have

his brother-in-law kill him.

I cannot decide this alone.

Come, cousin.

It concerns us all in the village.

Can anything ever be the same again

even though peace comes?

Some small good has come of this.

Out of it, I am born a man again.

I must go to the city.

I read what you would do in your eyes.

- You are with me on this, Mother?

- I am with you, Daughter.

Women ever must act

while men waste time in talk.

The great power of this...

...is that a grain kills in a second

and is as tasteless as flour.

Many women buy this poison

in these times.

Some for themselves

and some for others.

How much will you need?

I may not need any at all.

I hope I do not.

But I will take as much

as I have money to buy.

Wu Lien?

Jade. It cannot be.

How are you, sister-in-law?

This house is well-guarded.

But when I told them I was your relative,

the gate opened like magic.

Yes, they guard themselves,

but not against my husband.

Why do you stare so at me?

Are you not glad to see me?

Yes. Yes, I am glad.

You look well, if not fat.

I have not rested yet. I returned

from the free land only yesterday.

- Only yesterday?

- Where's my silk coat, l...

Here is Jade to see us. She tells me

she returned but yesterday.

Together with my husband and son.

And today, they still sleep.

Welcome, sister-in-law,

we're glad you are home again.

The old ones have been too long alone.

- Now, where is my coat?

- Here it is. Ready for you to wear.

My husband will be honored tonight

at a banquet for the conquerors.

Yes, and now I must dress for it.

Will not our women's prattle disturb him?

Oh, no, no. I will not hear it.

As I came through the city,

I found many changes.

My husband says

the conqueror prides himself...

...on the public improvements

he has made.

Improvements?

Today, I saw enemy soldiers

pasting up a picture...

...which showed another enemy soldier

smiling and giving food to our people...

...who knelt before him.

That is my husband's handiwork.

Is it not good to look upon?

Very.

Beneath the picture and looking up at it

stood hungry people.

And they brought bowls

and crept close...

...and scooped up some of the paste

that the soldiers were using.

And then they ran away

and hid and ate it.

Ate the paste?

Even that is better than nothing.

But the conqueror does give food.

He gives it to us

and there must be others.

Yes, there are others.

The enemy sometimes gives sweets,

and often to children.

Well, then, you must admit

that giving sweets to children is not evil.

Is it not? In the sweets is opium.

When once the children eat it, they have

the hunger that is fire in their veins.

And so they are spoiled forever.

Your own children look well.

He has learned the tongue of the enemy

very quickly.

Who knows what

he may grow up to say in it.

We will remember

our own things to tell him.

Then do not forget

to tell him of the other children.

And the mothers and fathers

of those children...

...all tied together and soaked with oil.

And burned alive

while they cried for mercy.

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