Lilith Page #2

- That's the greatest gift.

- I didn't invent it.

- It was taught to me by my people.

- You actually hear it, then?

I mean, you actually

hear them speaking it?

Oh, I'd love to hear it. I'm fascinated

by languages, you know.

Do you think they would

speak it to me?

Perhaps you would teach me.

I wouldn't be allowed to teach you

without approval.

It's a language very few

are permitted to speak.

But what would I have to do?

I'm sure I could persuade them.

You would have to demonstrate great

courage and a great capacity for joy.

But I can. But I can.

You don't understand me.

Eat this, then.

They might make me sick.

They could be poisonous.

Don't do that. Spit it out.

- Have I made you angry, Mr. Bruce?

- He was right. It might be poisonous.

It wouldn't hurt me if it is.

- You worry about me, then?

- I'm responsible for you.

Yes, then I'll be very good.

I promise not to get sick.

I wouldn't want to embarrass you.

You hurt my hand.

Let me see.

You have exquisite hands.

I bite my nails.

If I learned to trust my hands...

...would they really lead me

to the things I love?

Vincent, come on. We're leaving.

Mr. Bruce, you haven't said anything

about my painting.

- Do you know what you almost did?

- What?

You almost killed a boy.

How can you let a paintbrush...

...fall 15 yards in front of you?

- I was shaking the paint out of it.

- Why'd you make him go after it?

- Because he's a fool.

If he's a fool,

why do you lead him on?

Because I'm mad.

Perhaps she was testing him.

Demanding a

demonstration of courage from him.

- Or an act of worship.

- I don't know what she was doing.

If she wanted to kill him, why didn't

she simply push him off the cliff?

All I know is, I shouldn't have

left him alone.

Look, that was my mistake, not yours.

I gave you the assignment. You

didn't have enough experience yet.

I thought it would be

good training for you.

The hard way, huh?

When I brought her back,

I tried to get her to admit what she did.

It was like trying to get her

to admit she's insane.

- She makes you forget she's a patient.

- Yes, she does.

She's very clever.

You still want to resign?

Could it be that you're

afraid of failing?

Do you remember I told you

we never issue a set of keys...

...to a worker untiI we think

he's ready?

If you didn't feel so deeply, I wouldn't

have this much respect for you.

- Hi.

- Hi.

Have you seen her? Is she all right?

Did she ask about me?

- She say anything about last week?

- I haven't seen her.

I haven't either,

or heard her playing either.

- You don't suppose she's ill?

- No, no, I don't think so.

You ought to realize it wouldn't be

right for me to act as a go-between.

I understand, yes, of course.

I beg your pardon.

I thought you'd understand

my being anxious.

I do. And when I see her,

I'll tell her that you asked about her.

Will you? That's very kind of you.

I don't mean to embarrass you,

but it means a great deal to me.

- I know.

- I suppose you think it's foolish...

...rather absurd,

this attachment of mine.

I don't think there's anything

foolish about it.

- You don't?

- No.

Not even under

these grotesque conditions?

No.

Well, still, it's possible to think of it

as a rather foolish thing.

She's so proud, you know?

Such a delicate creature.

And yet she allowed me to touch

her hair for a moment. You saw that.

You see, I really have

nothing else to live for.

Fourteen.

So many of these people

have such extraordinary minds.

Such extraordinary sensibilities.

Too extraordinary, I think, sometimes.

This is not a scientific theory.

Maybe it's romantic, but I often

compare them to fine crystal...

...which has been shattered by the

shock of some intolerable revelation.

I have the feeling when I talk

with them, they have seen too much...

...with too fine an instrument.

That they have been close

to some extreme...

...to something absolute

and been blasted by it.

That they have been destroyed, one

might say, by their own excellence.

Regarded in this way,

they are the heroes of the universe.

Its finest product

and its noblest casualty.

Schizophrenia, however, is far

from an exclusive affliction...

...of the superior mind.

As a matter of fact, by using a

substance from the blood of humans...

...schizophrenia has been

induced in dogs...

...spiders, as well as men.

As you will note, the web

of most normal spider species...

...is as distinctive and invariable

as their coloring.

But the mad ones spin out

fantastic, asymmetrical...

...and rather nightmarish designs.

A most unsettling fact.

What's that...?

What language is that?

It's mine.

What do you mean,

your own language?

Why did you come here?

I needed a job.

You could get a job in a butcher shop.

Grocery store, gas station.

You were in the Army?

Were you a hero?

I didn't think so.

Did you come here for excitement?

Excitement?

Adventure?

I'm not an adventurer.

I think you are.

Why?

You're ill at ease. Adventurous people

are always a little ill at ease.

They're shy. They aren't bold

the way people think they are.

They go stumbling around,

breaking things, being scolded.

Always looking for a place

they feel they'll belong.

They have that crooked look.

The crooked look?

Of not really matching anything.

I'd like to go for a walk now.

I didn't think they'd let me go on

any more trips after the picnic.

Well, there's some

pretty smart people here.

My people punished me.

How?

What'd they do to you?

They wept.

That's how they always punish me.

They come and kneel at my bed

and sob.

Have you ever heard someone

that you loved weeping?

Sometimes I hear my mother cry.

Do you?

Is she unhappy?

Not now.

At least, I hope not.

What was your mother like?

Hands lie so still in death.

You've killed with these hands. Why?

That's the business of a soldier.

You must love your god a lot to

kill for him and still go on loving him.

I'd never ask that of a lover.

I'd only ask his joy.

Look at her. She wants to be like me.

She's lovely.

My kisses kill her.

She's like all of them.

Destroys them to be loved.

Can I go farther?

Lilith?

Lilith?

You call me "Lilith."

Well, at least that'll be

a very unusual kind of cloth, huh?

- You think it's beautiful?

- Yes.

You gonna cut your hair?

There are scissors there on the table.

Will you hand them to me?

Nope.

You won't?

What'll you do? Leave me

chained here by my hair untiI I starve?

Gonna set you free.

That'll be difficult.

This was to be a present for you.

A throw for your bed.

I made it especially for you.

To make you dream.

You're very gentle.

I'm glad you're not leaving.

I think you do a great deal of good

here. I think the patients trust you.

It'd be very foolish

if you were to leave.

These reports of mine

are not completely accurate.

They're factual, but they

don't express what really happens.

The atmosphere of your relationship

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes