Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade Page #7

DONOVAN:

I trust your trip down was

comfortable, Doctor Jones. My men

didn't alarm you, I hope.

He shakes hands with Indy.

DONOVAN:

My name is Donovan. Walter Donovan.

INDY:

I know who you are Mr. Donovan. Your

contributions to the museum over the

years have been extremely generous.

Some of the pieces in your collection

here are very impressive.

DONOVAN:

Well, like yourself, Doctor Jones, I

have a passion for antiquities.

(beat)

Have a look over here. This might

interest you.

Donovan goes to a table where an object is wrapped in cloth.

He throws back the cloth revealing a flat STONE TABLET --

about two feet square, inscribed with letters and symbols.

Indy looks impressed. He puts on his glasses to make a closer

examination.

INDY:

Well, it's sandstone. Christian

symbol. Early Latin text. Mid-Twelfth

Century, I should think.

DONOVAN:

That was our assessment as well.

INDY:

Where did this come from?

DONOVAN:

My engineers unearthed it in the

mountain region north of Ankara while

excavating for copper.

(beat)

Can you translate the inscription?

Translating the inscription is no easy matter, even for

someone as knowledgeable as Indy.

INDY:

(stumbling through it)

"...who drinks the water I shall

give him, says the Lord, will have a

spring inside him welling up for

eternal life. Let them bring me to

your holy mountain in the place where

you dwell.

Donovan pours champagne into several fluted glasses as Indy

reads.

INDY:

Across the desert and through the

mountain to the Canyon of the Crescent

Moon, to the Temple where the cup

that --"

Suddenly Indy stops and looks up at Donovan with a startled

expression.

INDY:

"Where the cup that holds the blood

of Jesus Christ resides forever."

DONOVAN:

(reverently)

The Holy Grail, Doctor Jones. The

chalice used by Christ during the

Last Supper. The cup that caught His

blood at the Crucifixion and was

entrusted to Joseph of Arimathaea.

Indy rubs his chin with a dubious expression as he takes the

glass of champagne Donovan now offers him.

INDY:

The Arthur Legend. I've heard this

bedtime story before.

DONOVAN:

Eternal life, Doctor Jones! The gift

of youth to whoever drinks from the

Grail.

(beat)

Oh, now that's a bedtime story I'd

like to wake up to!

INDY:

An old man's dream.

DONOVAN:

Every man's dream.

(beat)

Including your father's, I believe.

Indy stiffens slightly at the mention of his father, nods.

INDY:

Grail lore is his hobby. He's a

teacher of Medieval Literature. The

one the students hope they don't

get.

The door opens and MRS. DONOVAN steps into the room. She's a

matronly woman in an expensive evening gown.

MRS. DONOVAN

Walter, you're neglecting our guests.

DONOVAN:

Be along in a moment, dear.

He leans over and kisses her cheek. Mrs. Donovan sighs to

herself and returns to the party. Indy, meanwhile, has turned

his attention back to the Grail Tablet, obviously hooked by

its archaeological promise. He moistens his finger with

champagne and rubs it over the Tablet. Donovan steps up next

to Indy.

DONOVAN:

Hard to resist, isn't it? The Holy

Grail's final resting place described

in detail!

INDY:

What good is it? This Grail Tablet

speaks of deserts and mountains and

canyons. Pretty vague. Where do you

start looking? Maybe if the Tablet

were intact, you'd have something to

go on. But the entire top portion is

missing.

DONOVAN:

Just the same, an attempt to recover

the Grail is currently underway.

Indy has to shake his head at Donovan's apparent lack of

judgment.

DONOVAN:

Let me tell you another "bedtime

story," Doctor Jones. After the Grail

was entrusted to Joseph of Arimathaea,

it disappeared and was lost for a

thousand years before it was found

again by three Knights of the First

Crusade. Three brothers, to be exact.

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