Lawrence Of Arabia Page #8

having led them here,

have you no care for them?

You lead them. They're yours.

Trust your own people.

And let me go back to mine.

-I say, don't forget those form fives.

-All right.

Hey.

-Mind if I join you?

-Oh.

Honoured, sir.

-Good to be back.

-We heard you were, sir.

-What's doing out there?

-Where?

-Oh, Arabia?

-Well, yes, sir.

Nothing much. Wrong time of year.

What's doing here?

We're settling in all right, sir.

We built a squash court.

Jolly good.

Well, I have to go up there.

It's borrowed.

Someone pinched mine.

Bloody wogs.

Yes, probably.

Jolly good about the squash court.

Lays it on a bit thick,

doesn't he?

Morning.

-Good morning, sir.

-Good to be back.

-I'll believe you, sir.

-No, really, it is.

Hello.

Morning.

You're to go right in.

Aurens.

Or is it Major Lawrence?

-Sir.

-Ah.

Well, general,

I will leave you.

Major Lawrence doubtless

has reports to make

about my people

and their weakness

and the need to keep them

weak in the British interest.

And the French interest too, of course.

We must not forget the French.

I told you, sir,

no such treaty exists.

Yes, general, you have lied most

bravely, but not convincingly.

I know this treaty

does exist.

Treaty, sir?

He does it better

than you, general.

But then, of course,

he is almost an Arab.

You really don't know?

Then what the devil's this?

It's my request for release

from Arabia, sir.

For what reason? Are you sure you

haven't heard of the Sykes-Picot Treaty?

No.

-I can guess.

-Don't guess. Tell him.

Well, now...

Mr. Sykes is an

English civil servant.

Monsieur Picot is

a French civil servant.

Mr. Sykes and Monsieur Picot met,

and they agreed that after the war,

France and England should

share the Turkish Empire.

Including Arabia.

They signed an agreement,

not a treaty, sir.

An agreement

to that effect.

There may be honour among thieves,

but there's none in politicians.

And let's have no displays

of indignation.

You may not have known, but

you certainly had suspicions.

If we've told lies,

you've told half-lies.

And a man who tells lies,

like me, merely hides the truth.

But a man who tells half-lies

has forgotten where he put it.

The truth is, I'm an ordinary man.

You might have told me that, Dryden.

And I want an ordinary job, sir.

That's my reason

for resigning.

It's personal.

-Personal?

-Yes, sir.

Personal? You're a

serving officer in the field.

And as it happens, a damned

important one. Personal? Are you mad?

No, and if you don't mind,

I'd rather not go mad.

That's my reason too.

Look, Lawrence, I'm making my big push

on Damascus the 16th of next month,

and you are part of it.

Can you understand that? You're

an important part of the big push!

I don't want to be part

of your big push!

What about your Arab friends?

What about them?

I have no Arab friends!

I don't want Arab friends!

What in hell do you want, Lawrence?

I've told you, I just want

my ration of common humanity.

-Lawrence.

-Yes?

Nothing. Sorry

I interrupted, sir.

That's quite all right.

Thank you, Mr. Dryden.

Thank you, sir.

Why don't we?

There's blood

on your back.

-Do you want a doctor?

-No.

Tell me what happened.

Say, what goes on in there?

-Nothing.

-Oh, come on!

-No, really. Nothing at all.

-Is the man in trouble?

I expect so. We all have troubles.

Life's a vale of troubles.

Just let me know if the man's in trouble.

I've got an interest in that man. I've got a claim.

What claim?

You've read my stuff.

I've made that boy a hero.

When the war's over, that boy

can be anything he wants.

Yes. Well, at the moment

he wants to be somebody else.

Will you kindly

allow me to pass?

Walk away, Dryden,

walk away.

Always walking

away, aren't you?

Well, I'll tell you.

It's a little clash of temperament

that's going on in there.

Inevitably, one of

them's half-mad

and the other,

wholly unscrupulous.

I believe your name will

be a household word,

when you'd have to go to the war

museum to find who Allenby was.

You're the most extraordinary man

I ever met.

Leave me alone.

-Leave me alone.

-That's a feeble thing to say.

-I know I'm not ordinary.

-That's not what I'm saying.

All right,

I'm extraordinary.

What of it?

Not many people have

a destiny, Lawrence.

It's a terrible thing for a

man to flunk it if he has.

Are you speaking

from experience?

No.

You're guessing, then.

Suppose you're wrong.

Why suppose that?

We both know I'm right.

-Yes. I said, yes.

-After all...

-The 16th?

-Can you do it?

I'll give you a lot of money.

-Artillery?

-I can't.

They won't be coming for

money, not the best of them.

They'll be coming for Damascus.

Which I'm going to give them.

That's all I want.

All you want is someone

holding down the Turkish Right.

But I'm going to give them Damascus.

We'll get there before you do.

And when we've got it,

we'll keep it.

You can tell the politicians

to burn their bit of paper now.

Fair enough.

Fair? What's fair

got to do with it?

It's going to happen.

I shall want quite

a lot of money.

All there is.

Not that much.

The best of them

won't come for money.

They'll come for me.

No pictures!

You take no pictures.

It's not for you, Sheik Auda,

it's for Major Lawrence.

He doesn't mind having his picture

taken. He doesn't mind at all.

Well, there's

only one Aurens.

Have you met Major Lawrence

since he's come back, sherif?

Yes.

-Changed, hasn't he?

-No.

Oh, I'd say he had.

Different man, I'd say.

Aurens! Aurens!

What did that Turkish general

do to him in Deraa?

He was the same man after Deraa.

The same man, humbled.

What did the English general

do to him in Jerusalem?

Search me.

Ask Aurens.

-I did.

-What did he say?

He laughed.

He told me to gather

the Harith here.

He offered me money.

Did you take it?

No. But many did.

-What is this?

-This is my bodyguard.

There is not a man there

without a price on his head.

-There's a price on my head too.

-But these are murderers.

You know, the sheiks

will hang these men.

These men are mine.

Aurens, these things know

nothing of the Arab revolt.

-You, Ghitan of Aleppo.

-Sherif?

-Where do we ride?

-Damascus, sherif.

Aye, but for what?

Sherif, for Aurens.

-You have bought these things.

-I bought half the men here, Ali.

That is different.

These are not ordinary men.

I don't want

ordinary men. Hut!

Damascus!

Damascus! Damascus!

Damascus! Damascus!

Very well, gentlemen. The cavalry's

gone through Mazril and Deraa.

Very good, by the way. Very

good indeed. Now your turn.

If the enemy's retreating

in any kind of order,

which we'd better assume...

Certainly.

He can't be far from

this Mallud place...

in which case I can have him within

range by 0900 hours tomorrow.

Splendid. Philip.

Well, these are the last infantry

supports going up now, sir.

But Mallud, we could have

the fusiliers there by Wednesday.

That'll do for now.

The guns are what matter.

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