To Kill a Mockingbird Page #3

Did you hear me? Now hurry!

Hey, everybody.

Look at Scout!

Come on in here.

Have your breakfast.

I thinkyour dress

is mighty becomin', honey.

Now don't go tuggin' at that dress.

You wanna have it all wrinkled

before you even get to school?

I still don't see why

l have to wear a darn old dress.

- You'll get used to it.

- I'm ready!

It's half an hour

before school starts.

Sit back down

and wait for your sister.

- Hurry up!

- I'm tryin' to.

Come on! lt's your first day.

You wanna be late?

- I'm ready.

- Let's go!

Bye!

Darn you, Walter Cunningham!

Cut that out!

What do you think you're doin'?

He made me start off

on the wrong foot!

I was tryin' to explain

to that darn lady teacher...

why he didn't have no money

for his lunch, and she got sore at me!

Stop it!

Your daddy Mr Walter Cunningham

from Old Sarum?

Come home and have dinner with us.

We'd be glad to have you.

Our daddy is a friend

ofyour daddy's.

Scout here is crazy.

She won't fight you no more.

I hope that's a dinner

that you enjoy.

Yes, sir. I don't know when

l've had a roast.

We've been having squirrels

and rabbits lately.

My pa and I go hunting

in our spare time.

You got a gun ofyour own?

- How long you had a gun?

- Ayear or so.

- Can I have the syrup, please?

- Certainly, son.

Will you bring in

the syrup dish, please?

Yes, sir.

How old were you

when you got your first gun?

Thirteen or fourteen.

I remember when my daddy

gave me that gun.

He told me that I should never

point at anything in the house...

and that he'd rather

l shoot at tin cans in the backyard.

But he said that soon the temptation

to go after birds would be too much...

and that I could shoot

all the bluejays I wanted...

if I could hit 'em.

But to remember it was a sin

to kill a mockingbird.

Why?

I reckon 'cause mockingbirds

don't do anything...

but make music for us to enjoy.

Don't eat people's gardens.

Don't nest in the corn cribs.

They don't do one thing

butjust sing their hearts out for us.

How'd you like school?

All right.

Thankyou, Cal.

That's for Walter.

What in the sam hill

are you doin'--

But Atticus, he's gone

and drowned his dinner in syrup...

and now he's pourin' it

all over.

- What?

- Come out here. I wanna talk to you.

That boy is your company...

and if he wants to eat up

that tablecloth, you let him, you hear?

And ifyou can't act fit

to eat like folks...

you can just sit here

and eat in the kitchen.

What in the world

has got into you?

- Now, now.

- I'm not goin' back.

I'm not goin' back

to school anymore.

Now, Scout.

It's just the first day.

I don't care.

Everything went wrong.

The teacher got mad

as the devil at me...

and said you were teaching me

to read all wrong...

and to stop it.

and then acted like a fool and tried

to give Walter Cunningham a quarter...

when everybody knows Cunninghams

won't take nothin' from nobody.

Any fool

could have told her that.

Maybe she'sjust nervous.

After all, it's her first day

teachin' school and bein' new here.

Now wait a minute.

Ifyou learn this single trick...

you'll get along a lot better

with all kinds of folks.

You never really

understand a person...

until you consider things

from his point ofview.

Sir?

Till you climb inside of his skin

and walk around in it.

But if I keep goin' to school,

we can't ever read anymore.

Do you know

what a compromise is?

Bendin' the law?

No, it's an agreement

reached by mutual consent.

Now here's the way it works.

You concede the necessity

of goin' to school...

we'll keep right on readin'

the same every night...

just as we always have.

Is that a bargain?

Therejust didn 'tseem to be...

anyone oranything

Atticus couldn 't explain.

Though it wasn 't a talent that would

arouse the admiration of ourfriends...

Jem and I had to admit

he was very good at that.

But that was all he was good at...

we thought.

See? There he is.

Come on inside.

Come on. Get in.

Mr Finch? This is Cal.

I swear to God, there's a mad dog

down the street a piece.

He's comin' this way!

There he is.

He's got it, all right, Mr Finch.

Stay inside, son.

Keep him in there, Cal.

He's within range, Heck.

- Take him, Mr Finch.

- No, Mr Tate.

- He can't shoot!

- Don't waste time.

For God's sake,

he's got to be killed right away.

Look where he is. I can't shoot

that well, and you know it.

- I haven't shot a gun in years.

- I'd feel mighty comfortable...

ifyou did now.

Don't go near that dog.

He'sjust as dangerous dead as alive.

Yes, sir.

Yes, son.

- Nothin'.

- What's the matter, boy?

Can't you talk? Didn't you know your

daddy's the best shot in this county?

Hush, Heck.

Let's get back to town.

- Remember, now. Don't go near that dog.

- Yes, sir.

I'll send Zeebo out right away

to pick him up.

Can we go with you?

- Can we? Please?

- Huh? Can we?

No. I have to go to the country

on business, and you'll just get tired.

No, not me!

l won't get tired.

Well, promise to stay in the car

while I talk to Helen Robinson.

And not nag me about leavin'

ifyou do get tired.

All right. Climb in.

- Who's Helen Robinson?

- The wife ofthe man I'm defending.

- Good evening, David.

- Good evening.

- Good evening, Helen.

- Evening, Mr Finch.

I came over to tell you

about my visit with Tom.

- Yes, sir.

- And to let you know...

that I got a postponement

ofthe trial.

Would you tell my daddy

to come out here, please?

You n*gger lover.

There's no need to be afraid of him,

son. He's all bluff.

N*gger lover!

There's a lot of ugly things

in this world, son.

I wish I could keep 'em all

away from you.

That's never possible.

Ifyou wait till I get Scout in bed,

l'll drive you home.

Yes, sir.

Do you mind stayin' here with Scout

till I get Cal home?

- No, sir.

- Night,Jem.

Night, Cal.

Atticus had promised me

he would wear me out...

ifhe ever heard

ofme fightin' anymore.

I was far too old and too big

for such childish things.

And the sooner

I learned to holdin...

the better off

everybody would be.

I soon forgot.

Cecil Jacobs made me forget.

What is it?

Atticus, do you defend n*ggers?

- Don't say "n*gger."

- I didn't say it.

Cecil Jacobs did.

That's why I had to fight him.

Scout, I don't want you fightin'.

- I had to. He--

- I don't care what the reasons are.

- I forbid you to fight.

- Yes, sir.

Anyway, I'm simply defending

a Negro. Tom Robinson.

There are some things...

that you're not old enough

to understand just yet.

There's been some high talk

around town...

to the effect that I shouldn't do much

about defending this man.

Ifyou shouldn't be defending him,

then why are you doing it?

For a number of reasons.

The main one is,

that if I didn't...

I couldn't hold my head up in town.

I couldn't even

tell you orJem...

not to do somethin' again.

You're gonna hear some ugly talk

about this in school.

But I want you

to promise me one thing:

that you won't get

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