DUNE Page #23

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EXTERIOR:
ROCKS AND DESERT - NIGHT.

The forty Fremen, Jessica, and Paul reach the edge of the rocky area. A flat desert stretches in front of them. Two Fremen set up an automatic hammer.

Chani sticks Paul against her back and fastens him to her waist with a belt. Stilgar binds his body to Jessica’s. The hammer starts ringing out rhythmically.

STILGAR:

Woman, if you make a mistake, our lives are lost. Adapt your body to mine, and we’re saved.

The forty Fremen take hooks off their belts and hold them up in their hands.

They kneel down and stick their foreheads on the sand, putting the hooks in front of them. Only Chani and Stilgar remain standing, together with Paul and Jessica.

In the distance, a hill of sand can be seen moving and the worms whistle can be heard.

STILGAR:

Shai-Hulud, Father of the desert.

THE FREMEN:

Shai-Hulud, father of the desert.

STILGAR:

You will carry your people.

THE FREMEN:

You will carry your people.

STILGAR:

Through death.

THE FREMEN:

Through death.

STILGAR:

Till the end of the universe.

THE FREMEN:

Till the end of the universe.

STILGAR:

There where life begins.

THE FREMEN:

There where life begins.

A gigantic worm draws near.

The Fremen run towards a strategic point and while the monster, attracted by its noise, moves towards the hammer, Stilgar, of necessity followed by Jessica, rushes towards the worm.

The other Fremen follow him.

The entirely ringed side of the worm can be seen. Stilgar sinks the hooks into the edge of one of the rings and throws up a sort of blanket, giving his feet a grip on the worm’s body. The other Fremen do likewise. So as not to feel the sand on its sensitive skin, under the ring’s scales, the worm turns over. This way all the Fremen are on its back.

The worm goes off into the desert, carrying the Fremen who are directing it.

EXTERIOR:
DESERT AND ROCKS - DAWN.

The worm, together with the Fremen, is approaching some rocky hills. Dawn begins to break. Both moons, one green and the other orange, are still in the sky but a huge white sun begins to emerge on the horizon.

EXTERIOR:
SIETCH TABR – DESERT - DAYLIGHT.

Printed Title:
THE SIETCH TABR.

View of the Sietch: plantations in the dunes. Two or three large gardens. Rocks and caves. Clumps of flowers covered with canvases. A large oasis in the middle of the desert.

INTERIOR:
THE CAVES AT SIETCH.

The forty Fremen, Jessica, and Paul close off the entrance to the grotto with a plastic slab. The Fremen take off their distilling devices, as do Paul and Jessica.

Fremen women - a large number of them - men and children run to welcome them.

They are in a large cave, from where tunnels lead off in different directions. The inhabitants of these caves look suspiciously at Jessica and Paul, and rush towards Stilgar, who talks to them in a dialect which Jessica and Paul do not understand. They can only pick out the words “Lisan Al Gaib” and “Mahdi, Mahdi” murmured by the Fremen.

The group, led by Stilgar and followed by the fremen people, takes a tunnel. In this tunnel, a number of entrances covered with tapestries lead into the rooms where Fremen live. They come out to the doorstep to watch the group pass by. These are dry, stout men, savagely beautiful women. Chani accompanies Paul. They pass by the entrance to a large room where children are studying. In another room, machines are producing blue blades made out of plastic. There are also women filling cases with blue dust, an explosive spice by-product.

They all arrive in a large cave which is round-shaped. The Fremen, who now number several hundred, sit down on the stands arranged in a circle. In the middle of a closed circle, Stilgar, Jessica and Paul remain standing.

STILGAR:

Pardot Kynes has asked us to accept these strangers into our people. The woman possesses a strange art which enabled her to defeat me.

The fremen people react admiringly.

STILGAR:

She will teach us her fighting techniques. Kynes says that the child could be the Kwisatz Haderach. His mother is Bene Guesserit, as the legend goes...

The fremen people again react.

STILGAR:

We haven’t had the time to put them to the test.

Jamis gets up, mad with rage.

JAMIS:

The time has come. You know the Law, Stilgar, I demand proof. I defy this woman. The legend says that she’ll choose a non-fremen champion: her own son.

STILGAR:

Jamis, he’s only a child.

JESSICA:

I choose a champion who’s not a fremen: myself. I shall fight against you. That doesn’t go against the legend.

JAMIS:

No foreign woman will change our customs. I demand that the Law be carried out. I demand evidence.

STILGAR:

Woman, he’s a mean man. Your son got the better of him.

JAMIS:

That was an accident. Witchcraft. I demand the fight!

JESSICA:

(to Jamis, in the VOICE)

Listen!

Jamis moans with pain and, motionless, he listens.

JESSICA:

When you fight, your suffering will be such that...

JAMIS:

(escaping her power)

She’s trying to bewitch me! (he blocks both his ears with his fists) I demand silence!

STILGAR:

Let it be so! Carry out the Law. Woman, if you speak again, we shall expel you from the sietch and you will die in the desert.

The Fremen group together in a ring, leaving a large round space in the middle. Jamis is naked from the waist up and grabs a knife in his right hand. Chani helps Paul to get undressed and hands him a Krys. She whispers in his ear:

CHANI:

(to Paul)

Jamis fights with both hands. Look out for the moment when he puts the Krys into his left hand...

Slowly, Paul and Jamis draw near the center of the circle.

JAMIS:

Let my Krys bathe in your blood!

He attacks Paul, and gives him a stab-wound, but Paul dodges and, from behind Jamis, tries to stab him while he has him at his mercy. But Paul’s aversion to killing prevents him from doing so.

He stops his knife not far from Jamis’ back. Jamis turns round furiously and stabs forward again. Paul again dodges and, again, stops his Krys short of Jamis’ back. This happens four more times.

STILGAR:

(to Jessica)

Your son is playing with Jamis. There’s nothing honorable about cruelty!

Jamis attacks once again. This time Paul, instead of dodging, disarms him and puts the point of his knife to Jamis’ chest.

PAUL:

Do you give up?

Jamis groans with shame and despair. The Fremen are yelling hysterically.

STILGAR:

Calm down! The child doesn’t know our laws. (to Paul) Nobody can surrender during the ultimate test. One of you must die.

Paul moves away from Jamis, letting him take up his krys again. Jamis, who is more cautious than before, now that he has recognized Paul’s superiority, trembles in panic.

STILGAR:

(to Paul)

Finish him off quickly. Don’t play with him.

Paul hesitantly begins to turn, following Jamis who is now almost mad with terror. Unable to decide whether to kill Jamis, Paul does not attack.

An angry and scornful murmur, directed against Paul, rises from the audience. Jamis attacks Paul, who wards off this assault. The crowd roars excitedly.

Jamis attacks once again and, at the last minute, passes his krys into his left hand. Paul does likewise, counter-attacks with his left hand and sinks the krys into Jamis’ heart. Jamis collapses, having died instantaneously.

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