Third Man on the Mountain Page #3

That's all for you tonight.

Forever back in history, Frenchmen

have been climbing mountains.

Long before history told of Frenchmen,

my ancestors, the Romans,

they were at home in the Alps.

Why dwell on past glory

when we have with us the present?

Gentlemen, I give you John Winter,

conqueror of 50 mountains.

And by coincidence, an Englishman.

John Winter.

John Winter.

Thank you. Yes, by coincidence,

I am an Englishman.

But aren't all of us who climb mountains

considered a breed apart?

- Yes.

- It's true.

May I pay tribute to one who is already

a legend, yet not so far from our time?

I speak, of course,

of the great guide, Josef Matt.

- Hear, hear!

- There was a mountain man.

- There was a man.

- And may his son keep alive his name.

- Thank you.

- Now to bed.

But I'm not tired.

I could stay up all night.

Up you go, or I'll put you there.

Go on, Rudi.

You need all the sleep you can get.

Good night, Rudi.

Good night, Rudi.

Johann, where are you taking

your party tomorrow?

We're going to make a traverse along

the east face, and try to scale that chimney.

It's not been climbed before, but

I've always had the idea that if we could...

Good boy.

- No bundle of firewood here!

- So far, so good.

One moment, Franz.

This is when I'm sorry for anyone

who's never climbed a mountain.

I am, too.

That this should happen every day

and tens of millions of people never know.

Come on, Captain.

We've still got this face to climb.

Look, you can see the hut, sir,

where my father stayed that last night.

Nobody's been there since.

Come on, Rudi.

That's not what we came to see.

- That's what I came to see, Franz.

- Aren't you going to the top, Captain?

- No.

- In that case, we might as well eat.

Well, there it is. The Fortress.

That's what always stood in my way.

Tell me, friends. On Josef Matt's

attempt, did he get above the Fortress?

- No, only to the base.

- Yes, but I'm sure...

I heard that he found a route. If he did,

it must have been around the east face.

- Well...

- What do you think, Franz?

I don't think about it.

I know nothing of the Citadel.

- Wouldn't you like to know?

- No, I would not.

It's an evil mountain. A killer mountain.

It's been left alone now for 16 years.

And it's best to be left alone forever.

Rudi!

What is it?

Rudi! Stay where you are.

No, Captain! I'm coming for him.

I'm taller than you are.

It's easier for me to get back.

He's my nephew and my responsibility.

Wait, Franz.

Franz! It won't hold.

Right, I can hold you now.

I'm sorry, Uncle.

What happened, Rudi?

I thought I'd found a better route.

Hold it there.

Now!

Can you see them?

Well, yes. They're coming down

the mountain, but...

But what?

When the porter walks between the client

and the guide, does it mean something?

Yes, Lizbeth. I'm afraid it does.

Don't worry about it, son.

We all make mistakes.

What about the other day

when I walked straight into a crevasse?

Good night, Captain.

I have business in Geneva, so I thought

I'd take advantage of the bad weather.

But you are coming back?

You know I'm coming back.

Franz, you know we could climb

the Citadel together.

And you know I'd rather have you with me

than any man in the world.

Yes, I like to climb with you, too.

But not the Citadel.

Will you make this much

of a bargain with me?

Think about it while I'm gone.

When I return, we'll talk once again.

One thing more. About the boy.

Don't be too hard on him.

The boy's all right.

He's back where he belongs.

Get along there. Come on.

Good boy, Rudi.

No bundle of firewood here.

May his son

keep alive his name.

But you,

you just couldn't keep it that way!

- You had to go and...

- Rudi. It's time you were at the hotel.

Don't forget to put on a clean shirt.

- Mother! Where are they?

- Your uncle took them.

- But he had no right. They were mine.

- The ax and the knapsack he can use.

The boots he will try and sell

to another guide in the village.

The money, of course, will be yours.

Couldn't he leave me just my boots?

A clean sweep is always best, Rudi.

It would be a waste for them to lie in a

cupboard when you have no use for them.

- Good morning, Rudi.

- Where did you get them?

From your Uncle Franz.

- Why did he give them to you?

- Because he's a businessman.

And I was in a position to pay him

10 Francs more than Klaus.

Klaus? Wearing my boots!

Excuse me, they are now my boots.

Excuse me. Your boots, Fraulein Hempel.

- We saw you come down the mountain.

- Like a bundle of firewood.

- Do you know what happened?

- Not exactly. What did?

The worst. The very worst

that could happen to a guide.

I made other people risk their lives.

I shamed my uncle. Worst of all,

I lost Captain Winter's faith in me.

Well, you can change that.

After all, he's coming back.

- He is? Are you sure?

- Mm-hm.

No, I'll never climb again.

I'd make even a worse guide

than I would a dishwasher.

You talk like Klaus Wesselhoft.

Only he brags that he's the best.

You just snivel that you're the worst.

- Rudi!

- Have you something else to say?

Well, it's not very important. But should

you ever want to borrow my boots...

No, thank you.

I won't want to borrow your boots.

...you'll find them in Old Teo's wood box.

A wood box?

Do you want the rats to get them?

The wood box is where the cat has her

kittens. And I'll wrap them up carefully.

- First, see you oil them. And don't forget.

- I won't forget.

- Your day off tomorrow, isn't it?

- Yes.

Hm. Think I'll have a day off, too.

Gretchen can give them hash.

- Meet me at my house at eight o'clock.

- What do you mean? Where're we going?

The Felsberg.

You're going back to school.

- The loan of your boots, Fraulein Hempel.

- In exchange for your bundle, Herr Matt.

- Be careful, those are my good ones.

- You look how you treat my boots.

Come on, this isn't a picnic.

Ah! Now we'll see once and for all

whether you're to be a climber

or a dishwasher.

We will. Which face shall I climb?

That little thing?

It won't be so easy carrying this.

But you can't expect me to...

Let me help you, Teo.

That's going to throw me off balance.

On a real mountain,

which would you sooner be?

A little off balance or dead

from cold and starvation?

Now, go on, right up to the top.

Come on.

I'll race you to the first ledge.

A three-legged cow

could go faster than you.

That's as far as you go, Lizbeth!

No nonsense now!

Rudi! You're carrying a load, a burden.

A real guide carries his pack

as if it were part of his body.

There's a difference, you know.

Come on! Don't build a nest up there.

I'll have something else for you to do

when you come down.

Teo, I've been up and down the mountain

and I did everything you asked.

Why don't you say something?

What do you want me to say?

Did I do well on the climb?

Oh, well enough.

But it didn't really count.

Didn't count? Why not?

Because you climbed alone.

A guide doesn't climb alone.

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