Dragon Seed Page #6

fled also.

But most of them stayed

and went into the fields to reap the grain.

And each man helped his neighbor...

...for the harvest was at hand,

and they were farmers.

And war or no war, they knew

they must bring their food from the earth...

...so that whatever came,

they could feed their families.

Day after day, the flying ships came...

...and then flew on and bombed the city.

The people of the valley of Ling

were afraid.

But they stopped only to look up

and then turn back to their work...

...for they'd heard

that the Japanese had taken the land...

...a hundred miles deep from the sea...

...and were even now

approaching the nearby city.

Time, too, had become their enemy.

It seemed nature itself was against them.

The rains were early that year.

And the farmers fought the wind

and the water as they always had.

Here was a thing they understood

and, understanding, could defeat.

But they could not defeat the fear

that was in them.

For always in their ears was the sound

of the bombardment.

A sound that was louder now...

...and they knew that the enemy

was storming the gates of the city.

Then the day came.

The day that Ling Tan dreaded

above all others.

The guns were silent...

...and the flying ships

were gone from the air.

I fear this quiet more

than the noise of battle.

It does not mean peace.

It means but one thing,

and we must face it.

The defenders of our city

have been overcome.

And even now as I speak to you,

the enemy is at our gates.

- Within hours, they will be upon us.

- That is true.

The enemy moves swiftly,

and we have no arms.

How can we resist him?

Are we to fight him with our hands?

I speak for myself

but you are welcome to listen.

We cannot stop the Japanese, no.

But as soon as they have

occupied a city...

...I believe we shall be able

to deal with them.

How can you say this?

I bought and sold their goods

as did my father before me...

...and I have found no great evil

in the face they turned to me.

I did find evil in my own people,

in green boys...

...who burned my goods without reason.

Wu Lien, if when they come, you are right,

I will say you are.

But even if you are not, what can we do

but take their rule for ours also?

All we want is peace

and to be left alone to live.

- Our time is short. What is the plan?

- How shall we meet them?

How can we show them

what is in our hearts?

What ways do we know but our own?

Let us do what we would do...

...for any new ruler coming to our village,

but let us keep our pride.

But they are machines.

How can you talk to machines

when they're belching smoke?

- Speak, here is the enemy.

- Do not use that word.

Sirs...

Sirs, I am come...

We are come, sirs...

Sir, we are only farmers...

...a small merchant or two,

and my cousin here the scholar.

- We are men of peace and reason...

- Where is your inn, farmer?

- Lead us there.

- But...

Waiter. Waiter. Service for my soldiers.

You there, line up against the wall.

- Steady, now. Give us no trouble.

- Let's get out of here.

Get him over here, right now.

- You are ill, my father.

- No, no, no. It's nothing.

- Wine with it.

- Wine, wine.

Over here.

- Wine.

- Bring the wine or we'll shoot you.

Tea. We want wine, not tea.

- Wine?

- Yes, wine.

We... We have no wine.

We have that only on feast days.

Oh, no wine, huh?

And where are your women?

There are other things than wine.

Women.

Bring them. Bring me a young one.

I do not care if mine is young or not.

What matters so long as they are...

Does anyone else care to run?

We have wine in our homes. Good wine.

We will have our women bring it to you.

See that they do, then.

No, do not stop.

Get to your homes.

Old woman. Old woman.

Get the household together inside

quickly. The enemy comes.

Orchid, eldest daughter, all of you.

- What?

- Bring the children.

- Lao San, my son.

- What of the speech?

Our mouths spoke

into the mouths of guns.

Come with me.

You must scatter over the lands.

Each man look after his own.

My third son, his mother.

I'll stay with the house.

- I'll stay by you.

- No, you cannot.

- I'll climb the rafters and hide there.

- Then I'll climb also.

They come by the road.

- Mother.

- Oh, no, no, wait.

No, this way.

They will see us there.

We must hide. Find the hole in the wall.

Here. My son.

Orchid. Take the baby.

Come, my son, you must be brave.

We will be soon be safe.

Safety. Where is safety?

Mother, please. Please, Mother.

She can go no further.

- Go. I will do my best for your mother.

- Yes. Yes, I...

- My mother.

- Remember...

...let each look out for those in his charge

and pay no heed to the others.

We must hide safely,

and each group to itself.

Yes, yes. Then if one is found,

only they perish.

Go. We must hide you. Quiet, quiet.

Do not move. Do not speak.

We will not be far away.

- Old man, hermit.

- The door is locked.

Our old dog. They will kill him.

Take what you want and destroy the rest.

Is there anything here worth having?

All of them are gone.

No one is in the house.

You will stay here, my eldest son,

like a man and by yourself.

Lie down,

make yourself small against the ground.

And you here, my wife.

Do not move for anything.

Where will you go?

Back a little, between you

and the evil thing there.

Yes, my husband.

You tremble.

Your nose twitches like a little rabbit.

Come, do not waste time here.

Find the farmer.

Search the courtyard.

And the first woman we find

belongs with me.

Is there a way out of this courtyard?

Here. Here's a hole in the wall.

Pull aside the vine.

Someone has crawled through here.

Come, see what I found.

Something they left behind.

No wonder. Look at it.

Here is the first woman

and she belongs to you.

No. She is old.

There are the young to think of.

Do not be afraid.

My husband.

My husband.

Come, my son,

we'll be safer in another place.

I heard a child.

Where there is a child,

there is a woman.

Remember, a little man does not cry out.

No matter what he sees.

The sounds of death are far away now.

My good red pigskin boxes...

...that I brought here as a bride.

Come, old woman.

There's worse to see in the courtyard.

Wait here.

Do not spare me what you must see.

Someone comes.

Is anybody here?

It's our third son.

Mother. Father.

- You are safe.

- Yes, yes, we are safe.

We're safe.

Where's your brother and his family?

I don't know. We lost each other

and did not come together again.

- Sit down.

- Where are the others?

We met people who told us it was safe

in the foreign school in the city.

- My sister and her children are there.

- Where then is Wu Lien?

Perhaps he stayed in safety

with our daughter.

He went back to his shop

and he will stay there, he said.

But how he can, I do not know.

The women, little children.

Streets run with their blood.

In the village, the young women

are dead in the grass.

And no one knows

how many others still live...

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