The Quiet American Page #5

He might marry you. I can't. You know why.

Are you going to leave me?

- No.

- Never?

Seems to me she understands

about the future very well.

Nobody can promise that, Phuong.

Even he can't. Marriages break.

Often they break easier

than relationships like ours.

- I do not want to leave.

- But?

Shouldn't you whip out

your bank balance at this point?

I haven't got one.

It's you she's waiting to be reassured by.

Go ahead, make her feel wanted and secure.

She's had that from me for two years.

It's made her happy.

How would she get it married to you?

From your chauffeur

when your away at the office?

Tell Phuong. When you decide to move on,

what will you leave her with?

Or does she get passed on

with the furniture?

Actually, the furniture isn't mine.

Actually, neither is she.

Will you marry me?

Say it in French and say it for yourself.

-- Will you marry me, Phuong?

- Tell your dog to stop barking.

- Come with me now.

No.

Now, all at once,

I do not understand.

She faces situations in her own way.

She's getting the supper.

Would you like to stay?

No, thanks.

You know, I wish you could marry her.

Do you really?

Those girls at the Rendezvous,

don't be too sure it wouldn't matter to her.

Goodbye, Phuong.

-"Dear Helen, " I wrote.

"I'm coming back to England soon

to take the job of foreign editor.

"You can imagine

I'm not really happy about it.

"England is to me the scene of my failure.

"I had intended our marriage

to last quite as much as

"if I had shared your Christian beliefs. "

You write about the fight in the north?

No.

This is about an old war.

"Before we were married

you warned me that

"there can never be a divorce.

"I accepted the risk.

I have nothing to complain of

"At the same time, I'm asking for one now.

"For more than two years,

"someone has been very loyal to me.

"It's stupid of me to tell you this.

"I'm putting a reply into your mouth.

"But please believe me,

to lose her will be for me

"the beginning of death. "

- Finish?

- Finished.

I just asked my wife to divorce me.

Never asked before.

There's a chance?

A small one.

- He's young.

- Who?

The American.

It is not important.

I lied to you, Phuong.

My paper is sending me home soon.

I could come with you.

I would like to see London.

It would be very uncomfortable for you

if we were not married.

I could come with you anyway.

Are skyscrapers in London?

No, America.

And the Statue of Liberty?

That's America, too.

The Cao Dai religion

was invented in 1926

by a Vietnamese civil servant.

It's a combination of Buddhism, Christianity

and Confucianism.

There is a pope.

There are both male and female cardinals.

By 1951, there were more than two million

faithful in its congregation.

At least once a year,

the Cao Dai hold a festival

at their holy see in Tay Ninh,

which lies 80 kilometers

to the northwest of Saigon.

The attendance at these celebrations

was good.

The chief attraction being, not so much

the vigorous young religion,

as the vigorous young Caodist army

of 25,000 men.

They were neutral at the moment.

But one could always hope.

Most important of all was the urgency

of getting back to Saigon before sunset.

The lonely road through the rice fields

was protected during the day.

At night, together with all other roads,

it belonged to the communists.

The shadows had already reached

the holy mountain,

where General The held out,

up to recently the Cao Dai Chief of Staff.

He was no longer neutral.

But no one spoke of him much that day.

By now, everyone had seen the show

and wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

The stampede back to Saigon had begun.

While the eye of God

looked down upon a few of us

who were trying to get a last-minute story

out of the Pope's deputy.

Your Eminence, is it true that General The

is getting your men to join him in the hills

to fight both the French

and the communists?

They will return. We are neutral.

We are a religious faith.

We do not recognize war.

With an army of 25,000 men?

Is it true that General The

has asked for your support

of a national democratic government that

is neither pro-French nor pro-communist?

Um, a third force government.

Love is the one true force,

which in time, will unite the world.

Let me know how it all turns out.

Your Eminence,

we know how you feel about love.

How do you feel about General The?

We are neutral,

we do not recognize war.

I recognized

the Caodist commandant.

He'd been one of General The's

closest assistants,

before The took to the hills.

They stopped talking as I came over.

It seemed to me that I'd interrupted

a very private conversation.

Hello, Commandant, how is the General?

Which general?

Oh, surely in the Caodist faith

all generals are united,

even General The.

Something has gone wrong with my car.

Can't get it to start.

I have sent to the barracks for a mechanic.

He will come soon.

Oh, I hope so.

It's time to be starting back to Saigon.

Well, I'll go and cool off

in the cathedral for a bit.

I'll see you before I go.

The entire concept of the cathedral,

so the story went,

had come to its founder in a dream.

A Walt Disney Fantasia of the east.

Dragons and snakes,

no glass in the windows.

And everywhere, the eye of God upon you.

Oh, petrol.

The Cao Dais must have siphoned it out

while the eye of God watched over me.

I wonder why just your car

when there were dozens of others

with larger tanks easier to get to.

What do you suspect?

An international spy ring.

Too much coincidence, that's all.

First, my car conks out for no good reason.

You came up alone. You'd be the logical one

to give me a lift back.

And your car has just enough gas left

to run out here.

Well, in that case, Ava Gardner should be

waiting for us in the watch tower.

If not, the guards may have

a little petrol to spare.

Well, at least we reached the territory

of the Vietnamese army.

It'll be getting dark pretty soon.

Then it won't matter which flag covers us.

- Anybody look out?

- No.

I'll call out if it's all right to come up.

Not a bloody word.

Not a drop of petrol.

Now put those guns away. Sit down.

They'd be sure to spot your car.

I managed to get it off the road anyway.

You nearly managed to get

my head blown off. Come up.

Meet a couple of fellow warriors

for democracy.

They are just kids.

Now what could they be expected

to do if the communists attack?

Fire one shot possibly, and then try

and disappear into the rice paddies.

Very sensible.

Well, it's going to be a long night, I'm afraid.

Still, there are 40 of these towers

between us and Saigon.

Better odds than roulette.

If we had some cards,

we could teach them to play bridge.

Why not give them a lecture

on national democracy?

They are the perfect audience. Trapped.

You just don't believe in it at all, do you?

I believe that this wall is behind my back.

I believe that those guns are loaded.

Two beliefs.

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