DUNKIRK

DUNKIRK 

“The first eventful date in my army career was the eve of the final evacuation from Dunkirk, when I was sent to the O.P. at Galley Hill to help the cook. I had only been in the Army twenty-four hours when it happened. Each news bulletin from BBC told an increasingly depressing story. 

Things were indeed very grave. For days previously we could hear the distant sound of explosions and heavy gunfire from across the Channel. Sitting in a crude wood O.P. heaped with earth at two in the morning with a Ross Rifle with only five rounds made you feel so bloody useless in relation to what was going on the other side. Five rounds of ammo, and that was between the whole O.P. 

The day of the actual Dunkirk evacuation the Channel was like a piece of polished steel. I’d never seen a sea so calm. One would say it was miraculous. I presume that something like this had happened to create the “Angel of Mons” legend. 

That afternoon Bombardier Andrews and I went down for a swim. It would appear we were the only two people on the south coast having one. With the distant booms, the still sea, and just two figures on the landscape, it all seemed very very strange. We swam in silence. Occasionally, a squadron of Spitfires or Hurricanes headed out towards France. 

I remember so clearly, Bombardier Andrews standing up in the water, putting his hands on his hips, and gazing towards where the B.E.F. was fighting for its life. It was the first time I’d seen genuine concern on a British soldier’s face; “I can’t see how they’re going to get ’em out,” he said. 

We sat in the warm water for a while. We felt so helpless. 

Next day the news of the “small armada” came through on the afternoon news. As the immensity of the defeat became apparent, somehow the evacuation turned it into a strange victory. I don’t think the nation ever reached such a feeling of solidarity as in that week at any other time during the war. 

Three weeks afterwards, a Bombardier Kean, who had survived the evacuation, was posted to us. “What was it like,” I asked him.

“Like son? It was a fuck up, a highly successful fuck up.”

******

In the months to come we enlivened many a lonely military camp. We saw life. In Upper Dicker, we played for a dance-cum-orgy. Couples were disappearing into the tall grass having it off and then coming back to the dance. God knows how many Coitus Interrupti the Hesitation Waltz caused, but we heard screams from behind the trees. 

Music has strange effects on drunks : one lunatic ripped open his battle-dress, pointed to a scar on his chest, and shouted “Dunkirk! You bloody coward.” He had a face made from red plasticine by a child of three, that or his parachute didn’t open. “Do you hear me, you bloody coward. Dunkirk …” he kept saying. I’ve no idea what he meant. I confused him by giving him the ladies’ spot prize. 

A fight broke out with the Canadians. They were all massive. “How do you get such huge men?” I asked one. 

“We go in the forest, shake the trees and they fall out,” he said. 

A worried officer rushed up. 

“Can you play ‘The Maple Leaf Forever’?” 

“No sir, after an hour I get tired.” 

“You’re under arrest,” he said. 

In despair we played The King, shouted ‘Everyone back to their own beds’, and departed.

Star-One

Space-Command no-longer recognises The Authority of 

The President or of The Council.

We are the only force capable of handling the present emergency.

The President and those members of the Council who are unable to accept the realities of the situation are even now being arrested, as are those of our own people whose loyalties may be divided. At a time like this complete unity is an absolute essential.

[scene - shots of approaching space ships]

NOVA QN PILOT

Keldan Control, Keldan Control, this is Nova Queen on primary approach zero-four-zero. Request orbital entry clearance. [beep]

K CONTROL

Nova Queen, Nova Queen, this is Keldan control. Maintain zero-four-zero. Orbital entry is clear. [beep]

NOVA QN PILOT

Keldan Control, this is Nova Queen. I have an unidentified trace on zero-four-zero. [beep]

K CONTROL

Nova Queen, this is Keldan Control. Maintain zero-four-zero and switch to Computer Flight Coordination. [beep]

NOVA QN PILOT

Switching to CFC, maintaining zero-four-zero. [beep] [pause] That ship is still coming at us. [beep]

K CONTROL

Nova Queen, this is Keldan Control. The ship is an unmanned ore carier on Computer Flight Coordination. 

[beep]

NOVA QN PILOT

I hope you're sure about that, Keldan, it's still on zero-four-zero. 

[beep]

K CONTROL

Nova Queen, computer control is confirmed. No problem. [beep]

NOVA QN PILOT

You know that and I know that, but does the computer know that? [beep]

K CONTROL

It'll switch vectors any time now. Relax. [beep]

NOVA QN PILOT

I'll relax when it gets that ship off zero-four- zero. [beep]

K CONTROL

It will. [beep]

NOVA QN PILOT

Keldan control, I have four thousand passengers on this ship and that ore carrier is still on zero-four-zero. [beep]

K CONTROL

Computer flight coordination doesn't make errors. [beep]

NOVA QN PILOT

To hell with that! Do something, Keldan. That thing is coming straight at us. [beep] Keldan Control! [beep]

K CONTROL

Nova Queen, switch to manual control, engage emergency boosters and abort zero-four-zero. Confirm please. [beep]

NOVA QN PILOT

I can see it! My God, it's too late!

K CONTROL

Nova Queen, Nova Queen, this is Keldan Control, do you copy? [beep] Nova Queen, Nova Queen, come in please. [beep]

[scene - Servalan's office in Space Command]

SERVALAN

Unfortunate.

DURKIM

You do have a way with words, Supreme Commander. 

I'm sorry, that was unneccessary. 

Everyone on the Nova Queen died 

instantly of course, 

but it didn't end there. 

The ship's neutron drive unit 

broke free, survived the fall 

through the atmosphere. 

It went critical just about the time 

it hit the surface. 

Ground zero was slap 

in the middle of Keldan City. 

Half the population 

was killed outright.

SERVALAN

It was a computer malfunction, presumably.

DURKIM

Yes.

SERVALAN

These things happen, Durkim.

DURKIM

They're happening far too often, Supreme Commander. Computer Flight Coordination is breaking down on twenty different worlds and the problem is spreading.

SERVALAN

Are you saying it's 

a basic design fault?

DURKIM

No, that's not what I'm saying. Look. That's the equatorial zone 

on Palmero.

SERVALAN

Palmero?

DURKIM

Yes, and that is snow you're 

looking at, Supreme Commander. 

It'll be some time before they 

re-establish themselves as the Federation's main producer 

of tropical fruit. 

And this, the plains of Suni :

Mean temperature has gone up by twenty degrees. 

It hasn't rained anywhere 

on that planet in sixty days. 

When it does, the effect 

will be something like this... 

The planet Vilka, where it hasn't stopped raining for sixty days. 

The planet Herom... Carthenis.... 

Climate control has gone disastrously wrong on 

all the frontier worlds.

SERVALAN

And it's spreading?

DURKIM

Rapidly.

SERVALAN

Anything else?

DURKIM

Isn't that enough?

SERVALAN

No, it's impossible, Durkim.

DURKIM

You mean unthinkable, don't you? 

Look, everything you've just seen 

has one common denominator.

SERVALAN

Computers.

DURKIM

Not computers. Computer. 

Singular. Very singular indeed. 

Our unbeatable Control and 

Coordination Centre.

SERVALAN

No!

DURKIM

Servalan, by design or accident 

Star One is failing.

SERVALAN

There has to be another explanation.

DURKIM

There isn't.

SERVALAN

And if you want to keep 

your job you'll find it.

DURKIM

Why won't you face the facts?

SERVALAN

Because I'm not convinced. 

And even if I were, there would 

be nothing I could do about it.

DURKIM

Well, surely under the circumstances you could get clearance 

to put a team in.

SERVALAN

Star One is the most secure installation in The Federation.

DURKIM

I know that.

SERVALAN

Do you know why it's 

so thoroughly secure?

DURKIM

Well, presumably because knowledge 

of its location is severely restricted.

SERVALAN

No! Knowledge of it's location 

is non-existent. 

Durkim, no one knows 

where Star One is! 

No-one at all!

[scene - Servalan's office]

SERVALAN

There's no doubt in your mind that he was telling the truth? 

INTERROGATOR

None, Supreme Commander. We didn't rush him. He was telling the truth all right.

SERVALAN

Very well, interrogate the rest of his team just to make sure, and try not to kill them. [Durkim enters] Yes, Durkim, what is it?

DURKIM

I find that just a little distracting, Supreme Commander. 

What's all this about?

SERVALAN

Time to defend ourselves.

DURKIM

Against whom?

SERVALAN

Each other. Now what is it you want? Quickly, you're wasting time.

DURKIM

There's an emergency meeting of the High Council.

SERVALAN

I am aware of that.

DURKIM

I've been summoned to appear before it. You put Headquarters on full security restriction. I can't get off this satelite without your direct clearance.

SERVALAN

No.

DURKIM

Well, 'no' you agree with what I'm saying or 'no' you refuse my clearance.

SERVALAN

Both. Now get back to your work. 

I am still waiting for your theories about where Star One may be located.

DURKIM

That summons is a Presidential Order in Council. I have to go.

SERVALAN

Space Command no longer recognises the authority of the President or of The Council.

DURKIM

I don't think I understand.

SERVALAN

We are the only force capable of handling the present emergency.

DURKIM

I doubt if even we can do that.

SERVALAN

The President and those members of the Council who are unable to accept the realities of the situation are even now being arrested, as are those of our own people whose loyalties may be divided. At a time like this complete unity is an absolute essential.

DURKIM

There isn't enough data. 

I can't even guess where Star One is.

SERVALAN

Then I suggest you try harder. Or I might think you're part of the plot.

DURKIM

Plot?

SERVALAN

Obviously, someone is trying to destroy the Federation, now perhaps it's you.

DURKIM

Why would I want to do that?

SERVALAN

'Why' is always the most difficult question. At the moment I am more concerned with 'how'.

DURKIM

Is she involved?

SERVALAN

You know her?

DURKIM

Her name's Lurena, I think. Isn't it. 

Er, we were acquainted.

SERVALAN

You were more than just acquaintances.

DURKIM

That's a long time ago. 

She emigrated to one 

of the frontier worlds.

SERVALAN

She's on Star One.

DURKIM

She can't be, it's unmanned. The systems are automatic.

SERVALAN

A group of scientists and technicians elected to spend the rest of their lives refining, checking and guarding the systems.

DURKIM

Knowing they could never leave, never come home. That's appalling.

SERVALAN

Inspiring, surely. In the best tradition 

of selfless devotion to the Federation.

DURKIM

That's your answer then. Some or all of them have changed their minds.

SERVALAN

Uh-uh. They were all screened and conditioned very carefully by our best psycho-manipulation teams. 

None of the group could attempt to damage the systems, identify the location or contact anyone outside Star One without going obviously insane.

DURKIM

How can you be certain of that?

SERVALAN

The head of the psychomanipulation 

team has just finished... reassuring 

my interrogators. So whatever 

is happening on Star One 

is happening against her will.

DURKIM

There's nothing I can do.

SERVALAN

You get back to work, Durkim. She may still have a chance. If we can find her in time.

DURKIM

May I offer you my personal congratulations, and loyalty, Madame President?

INTERCOM VOICE

Supreme Commander.

SERVALAN

What is it?

INTERCOM VOICE

Blake and his crew. The strategy programs have all come up blank on the possible courses they took.

SERVALAN

Run them again.

INTERCOM VOICE

But, Supreme Commander.

SERVALAN

Run them again! [intercom off] 

I will not be President 

of a ruined empire.

The Keeper

The Köninck Portrait of Dr W.G. Grace

There are still certain points which need clearing up on the subject of the disputed portrait of The Great Doctor.

The dust of controversy has settled, by now. Yet it is amusing to recall that fifty years ago the Köninck portrait of Grace was always reproduced as a proof that the famous beard was false. 

Grace certainly used his beard like a good gamesman, and no doubt this fact, and the obvious advantages of a large black beard, gave rise to the rumour. It was said that the join of the beard to the neck (N on the picture) was faked. Mr Samuel Courtauld first came into prominence as an investigator of pictures by stepping forward to point out that at the mouth (M on the picture) the join was obviously natural.

The extraordinary success of Grace as a gamesman has led to an astounding crop of stories associated with his name. Half the cricket theorists in England have vied with each other in the invention of the unlikeliest tales.

The Gladstonian Theory 

Ridiculous theories were particularly rife in 1888 as to the 'real identity' of The Great Doctor. The Köninck portrait usually figures largely in these discussions. 

If the cap in the portrait is supposed to show the colours of the Wanderers, why the monogram? And if the monogram shown is that of the Gloucester Colts, why the button on the top of the head? Microscopic examination has shown, too, that the shirt, instead of buttoning left over right, folds right over left. Was Grace a woman?

The theory that Grace was really Gladstone became, of course, the sporting sensation of the century. The doctrine is based on the 'concealed meaning' of two words, the most important words spoken by Gladstone in the whole of his career, or at any rate, the words which he seemed to wish the world to believe the most important. This was his as-severation, when he first assumed the office of Prime Minister, that pacify Ireland was to be his mission. The theory is, of course, that when Gladstone spoke of Ireland, he was referring not to the famous country but to J. H.Ireland, the Australian fast bowler.

The one man who knew the answer to the secret - R. G. S. (Flicker') Wilson - kept his mouth - now closed for ever - firmly shut during his lifetime. It is certainly true that Gladstone, if he had in fact been Grace, would have had more reason to fear the Ireland of the cricketing world, and indeed Gladstone's suddenly assumed interest in Ireland is difficult to explain. Gladstonians have gone to fantastic lengths to read double meanings into the wordings of Gladstone's Home Rule Bills. 

They prove, to their own conviction at any rate, that it was Home Rule for England which was Gladstone's main concern, foreseeing as he undoubtedly did the menace of Australian Test Match cricket. But the whole theory breaks down, surely, on the question of dates. 

Is it true that Grace was never seen batting at Lords during the Midlothian campaign? 

What is the value of the evidence of D. Bell that his grandfather once thought he heard Grace laughing in the Long Room' during this period? 

Again, J. H. Ireland was only twenty-six when Gladstone assumed office. His play had been reported in The Times, but only three members of the M.C.C. had seen him bowl, including Price. And it is I suppose just conceivably possible that Gladstone did frequently refer to 'Price's Message', if by a simple transliteration references to Lord Rosebery can be shown to be references to Price. 

But Grace or Gladstone, who cares? As any sportsman will say, here was some magnificent cricket played by a magnificent cricketer, who gave pleasure to the world, be his name what it may.

Holdengräber says that their mutual friend, eccentric German filmmaker Werner Herzog, urged him to ask Tyson why he’s so fascinated by Clovis, the founder of the Merovingian Frankish Dynasty, and Pepin the Short, the first Carolingian king of the Franks. 

Tyson’s Answer, however halting, makes him Come Alive :

“I don’t know — it all comes from my insecurity from being poor, and not having enough — to be insecure, and being — yeah, that’s what it is : obscure. 

I never wanted to be obscure. 

I was born in obscurity and I never wanted to deal with that again, never wanted to be that. 

And they came from obscurity.”

Gambit

gambit (n.)

"chess opening in which a pawn or piece is risked for advantage later," 1650s, gambett, from Italian gambetto, literally "a tripping up" (as a trick in wrestling), from gamba "leg," from Late Latin gamba "horse's hock or leg" (see gambol (n.)).

Applied to chess openings in Spanish in 1561 by Ruy Lopez, who traced it to the Italian word, but the form in Spanish generally was gambito, which led to French gambit, which has influenced the English spelling of the word. The broader sense of "opening move meant to gain advantage" in English is recorded from 1855.

also from 1650s

gambol (n.)

"frolic, merrymaking," 1590s, earlier gambolde "a skipping, a leap or spring" (1510s), from French gambade (15c.), from Late Latin gamba "horse's hock or leg," from Greek kampē "a bending;" see jamb. The form was altered perhaps by confusion with the formerly common ending -aud, -ald (as in ribald).

ploy (n.)

1722, "anything with which one amuses oneself, a harmless frolic," Scottish and northern England dialect, possibly a shortened form of employ. 

Popularised in the sense of "move or gambit made to manipulate others and gain advantage" by British humorist Stephen Potter (1900-1969), who parodied self-help manuals in books such as 1947's "The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship : Or the Art of Winning Games Without Actually Cheating."

also from 1722

employ (v.)

early 15c., "apply or devote (something to some purpose); expend or spend," from Old French emploiier (12c.) "make use of, apply; increase; entangle; devote," from Latin implicare "enfold, involve, be connected with, unite, associate," from assimilated form of in- (from PIE root *en "in") + plicare "to fold" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait").

Imply, which is the same word, retains more of the original sense. Sense of "hire, engage" first recorded in English 1580s, from meaning "involve in a particular purpose," which arose in Late Latin. 

Related: Employed; employing; employable.

I am Klute

clout (n.)

Old English clut "lump of something," also "patch of cloth put over a hole to mend it," from Proto-Germanic *klutaz (source also of Old Norse klute "kerchief," Danish klud "rag, tatter," Frisian klut "lump," Dutch kluit "clod, lump"); perhaps related to clot (v.).

In later use "a handkerchief," also "a woman's sanitary napkin." Sense of "a blow" is from early 14c., from the verb. Slang sense of "personal influence" (especially in politics) is by 1946, American English, on the notion of "punch, force."

clout (v.)

"to beat, strike with the hand," early 14c., from clout (n.), perhaps on the notion of hitting someone with a lump of something, or from the "patch of cloth" sense of that word (compare clout (v.) "to patch, mend," mid-14c.). Related: Clouted; clouting.

also from early 14c.

Trends of clout

Entries linking to clout

clot (v.)

"to form in a coagulated mass," early 15c., from clot (n.). Of fluids (especially blood)  from 1590s. Related: Clotted; clotting. Clotted cream (1799) originally was clouted cream (1540s).

The Doldrums

Doldrums (n.)

by 1803, "low spirits, the blues, the dumps," colloquial, probably from dulled, past participle of dull (v.) in the sense of "make (someone) slow-witted," with ending perhaps patterned on Tantrum.

DEAR Girl, 

From Noise and London City,

I'm here among 

the blithe and witty;

Where young and old, 

from ev'ry clime,

Like adepts, learn to murder Time!

If you've the doldrums or ennui,

Forsake the town and come to me.

from "A Marine Picture" in 

The Spirit of the Public Journals 

for 1802, London, 1803

Transferred sense, in reference to sailing ships, "in a becalmed condition, unable to make headway" is by 1824. 

This was extended in nautical use to parts of The Sea near The Equator that abound in calms, squalls, and light, baffling winds (1848) and the weather characteristic of these parts. 

"Apparently due to a misunderstanding of the phrase 'in The Doldrums', 

The State being taken as a locality" [OED].

also from 1803

Trends of doldrums

Dull (v.)

c. 1200, "to lessen the vigor, activity, or sensitiveness of" (transitive), from dull (adj.). 

Of pointed or edged-things, "make less sharp, render blunt," from late 14c. 

Of colours, glass, etc., "remove the brightness or clearness of," late 14c. 

Intransitive sense of "lose vigour, intensity, or keenness" is from late 14c. 

Related : Dulled; Dulling.

tantrum (n.)

1714, tanterum, originally colloquial, of unknown origin.

Carl Jung - Ending Your Inner Civil War (read by Alan Watts)

Carl Jung - Ending Your Inner Civil War 

(read by Alan Watts)

"People forget that even Doctors have moral scruples, and that certain patients’ confessions are hard even for A Doctor to swallow. Yet the patient does not feel himself accepted unless the very worst in him is accepted too. No one can bring this about by mere words, it comes only through reflection and through The Doctor’s attitude towards himself and his own dark side. If The Doctor wants to guide another or even accompany him a step of the way, he must feel with that person’s psyche. He never feels it when he passes judgement. Whether he puts his judgements into words or keeps them to himself makes not the slightest difference. 

To take the opposite position and to agree with the patient offhand is also of no use. Feeling comes only through unprejudiced objectivity. This sounds almost like a scientific precept, and it could be confused with a purely intellectual abstract attitude of mind, but what I mean is something quite different. It is a human quality, a kind of deep respect for the facts. For the man who suffers from them and for the riddle of such a man’s life. The truly religious person has this attitude. He knows that God has brought all sorts of strange and inconceivable things to pass and seeks in the most curious ways to enter a man’s heart. He therefore senses in everything the unseen presence of the divine will. This is what I mean by unprejudiced objectivity. It is a moral achievement on the part of the doctor who ought not to let himself be repelled by sickness and corruption. 

We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses. I am the oppressor of the person I condemn, not his friend and fellow sufferer. I do not in the least mean to say that we must never pass judgement when we desire to help and improve. But if the doctor wishes to help a human being, he must be able to accept him as he is. And he can do this in reality, only when he has already seen and accepted himself as he is. Perhaps this sounds very simple, but simple things are always the most difficult. In actual life it requires the greatest art to be simple. And so, acceptance of oneself is the essence of the moral problem, and the acid test of one’s whole outlook on life.

That I feed the beggar, that I forgive an insult, that I love my enemy in the name of Christ, all these are undoubtedly great virtues. What I do unto the least of my brethren, that I do unto Christ. But what if I should discover that the least amongst them all, the poorest of all beggars, the most impudent of all offenders, yay the very fiend himself, that these are within me. And that I myself stand in need of the arms of my own kindness. That I myself am the enemy who must be loved, what then? Then, as a rule, the whole truth of Christianity is reversed. There is then no more talk of love and long suffering. We say to the brother within us, raca! (fool!) And condemn and rage against ourselves. We hide him from the world, we deny ever having met this least among the lowly in ourselves. And had it been God himself who drew near to us in this despicable form, we should have denied him a thousand times before a single cock had crowed. 

Healing may be called a religious problem. In the sphere of social or national relations, the state of suffering may be civil war. And this state is to be cured by the Christian virtue of forgiveness and love of one’s enemies. That which we recommend with the conviction of good Christian’s is applicable to external situations. We must also apply inwardly in the treatment of neurosis. This is why modern man has heard enough about guilt and sin. He is sorely beset by his own bad conscience. And wants rather to know how he is to reconcile himself with his own nature. How he is to love the enemy in his own heart and call the wolf his brother. 

The modern man does not want to know in what way he can imitate Christ. But in what way he can live his own individual life, however meager and uninteresting it may be. It is because every form of imitation seems to him deadening and sterile that he rebels against the force of tradition that would hold him to well-trodden ways. All such roads for him lead in the wrong direction. He may not know it, but he behaves as if his own individual life were God’s special will, which must be fulfilled at all costs. This is the source of his egoism, which is one of the most tangible evils of the neurotic state. But the person who tells him he is too egoistic has already lost his confidence and rightly so. For that person has driven him still further into his neurosis. 

If I wish to effect a cure for my patients, I am forced to acknowledge the deep significance of their egoism. I should be blind indeed if I did not recognize it as a true will of God. I must even help the patient to prevail in his egoism. If he succeeds in this, he estranges himself from other people. He drives them away. And they come to themselves as they should, for they were seeking to rob him of his sacred egoism. This must be left to him. For it is his strongest and healthiest power. It is as I have said a true will of God. Which sometimes drives him into complete isolation. However wretched this state may be, it also stands him in good stead. For in this way alone can he get to know himself and learn what an invaluable treasure is the love of his fellow beings. 

It is, moreover, only in the state of complete abandonment and aloneness, that we experience the helpful powers of our own natures. When one has several times seen this development at work, one can no longer deny that what was evil has turned to good. And that what seemed good has kept alive the forces of evil. The arch-demon of egoism leads us along the royal road to that ingathering which religious experience demands. What we observe here is a fundamental law of life. Enantiodromia, or, conversion into the opposite. And it is this that makes possible the reunion of the warring halves of the personality, and thereby, brings the civil war to an end."

- Carl G. Jung

The Lost Tribe of Ephraim

The Young Man and The Sea --

The Old Man of The Sea :

Thank Ye, lad.

A Young Man and A Fool :

Winslow.

Ephraim Winslow.

These last two weeks, I'd...

I'd like it if You'd Call Me 

by My Name.

The Old Man of The Sea :

Listen to Ye, giving orders, lad.

A Young Man and A Fool :

Winslow.

The Old Man of The Sea :

All right, all right.

Suits me just as fine,

Ephraim Winslow.

So, what brung such a one

as Ye to this damned rock?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Such as what?

The Old Man of The Sea :

Pretty as a picture.

Only joshing, lad, only josh...

A Young Man and A Fool :

Winslow.

The Old Man of The Sea :

Winslow.

What brung Ye to this rock,

Ephraim Winslow?

What were yer work afore?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Timber.

The Old Man of The Sea :

Timber?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Big timber. Up North.

Canada ways.

The Old Man of The Sea :

Hudson Bay outfit?

A Young Man and A Fool :

The same.

The Old Man of The Sea :

True what they say?

"Forest as far as the eye can see"?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Yessir. Spruce, tamarack,

white pine.

"Bush," them folk

up there call it.

The Old Man of The Sea :

Had enough of trees,

that it, then?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Yes, sir.

The Old Man of The Sea :

Can't say I blame ye.

I hearn tell about that life.

Hard goin'.

Workin' one man harder

than two hosses, they say.

No thankee.

The Sea, she's the only

situation wantin' fer me.

A Young Man and A Fool :

Miss it?

The Old Man of The Sea :

Ain't nothing what can touch it.

But I can't... be draggin'

me old stump about.

Nay. Not worth the trouble...

Now I'm a Wickie

and A Wickie I is.

And I'm damn-well wedded

to this here Light,

and she's been a finer,

truer, quieter wife

than any alive-blooded woman.

A Young Man and A Fool :

Y'ever married?

The Old Man of The Sea :

Thirteen Christmases at sea...

Little 'uns at home.

She never forgave it.

'Tis fer the better.

Since we're getting too friendly, 

Ephraim Winslow,

tell me, what's a timber man

want with being a wickie?

Not enough Quiet

for ye up North?

Sawdust itching yer nethers?

Foreman found ye

too high-tempered

for carrying an axe?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Like you said, I just had

enough of trees, I guess.

Since I left Dad,

I done every kind of work

that can pay a man.

Some I ain't near proud of.

The Old Man of The Sea :

Drifter, eh?

A Young Man and A Fool :

No, just... Can't find a post

I can take a real shine to,

so I keep movin' along.

And I ain't the kind to look back

at what's behind him, see.

The Old Man of The Sea :

On the run?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Now look here,

ain't nothin' wrong with a man

startin' fresh, startin' new,

just lookin' to earn A Living...

The Old Man of The Sea :

No...

A Young Man and A Fool :

Just like any man,

just wanna settle down

quiet-like with some earnings.

I read someplace that

a man could earn 630...

I read $1,000 a year

if he tends a light

far off shore.

The further away,

the more he earns.

I read that, and hell,

I says, “Work.”

Save my earnings.

Sometime soon

I'll raise my own roof,

somewheres up country,

with no one to tell me

"what for".

And that's all.

The Old Man of The Sea :

Same old, borin' story, eh?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Well, you asked.

Say, why is it bad luck

to kill a gull?

The Old Man of The Sea :

In 'em's the souls of sailors

what met their maker.

You a prayin' man, Winslow?

A Young Man and A Fool :

Not as often as I might.

But I'm God-fearin',

if that's what you're askin'.

The Captain's Oath

UHURA: 

Spock! Spock, stop! Stop! 

He's our only chance to Save Kirk!

(Spock stops, then throws a final punch. Blackout.)

WINONA : 

What is it?

GEORGE : 

It's a Boy. Let's 

call him ‘Jim’.

PIKE : 

Your Father was 

Captain of a Starship 

for twelve minutes. 

He Saved eight hundred Lives. 

I Dare You to Do Better.

[Starfleet Medical]

MCCOY: 

Oh, don't be so melodramatic. You were barely dead. 

It was the transfusion that 

really took its toll. 

You were out cold 

for two weeks.

KIRK: 

Transfusion?

MCCOY: 

Your cells were 

heavily irradiated. 

We had No Choice.

KIRK: 

Khan?

MCCOY: Once we caught him, 

I synthesised a serum from 

his superblood. 

Tell me, are you feeling homicidal? 

Power mad? Despotic?

KIRK: 

No more than usual. 

How'd you catch him?

MCCOY: 

I didn't.

(Spock enters.)

KIRK: 

You Saved My Life.

MCCOY: Uhura and I had something to do with it, too, you know.

SPOCK: 

You Saved My Life, Captain, 

and the lives of —

KIRK: 

Spock, just. 

Thank You.

SPOCK: 

You are Welcome, Jim.

[San Francisco Plaza]

(Khan and his seventy two superpeople in their cryo tubes are in a big vault. A big public ceremony is taking place out of doors.)

KIRK: 

There will always be those who 

mean to Do Us Harm. 

To Stop Them, We risk awakening 

the same evil within ourselves. 

Our first instinct is 

to seek Revenge 

when Those We Love 

are Taken from Us. 

But that's not 

Who We Are. 

We are Here today to rechristen 

The U.S.S. Enterprise, and to 

Honour those who lost their lives

 nearly one year ago. 

When Christopher Pike first 

gave me His Ship, he had me recite 

The Captain's Oath, words 

I didn't appreciate at the time. 

Now I see them as 

A Call for Us to Remember, 

Who We Once Were, and 

Who We Must Be again. 

And those words?

Space -- The Final Frontier :

These are The Voyages 

of The Starship, ‘Enterprise’. 

Her Five Year Mission :

To explore strange new worlds, 

To seek out new life, 

and new civilisations --

To Boldly Go,

Where no-one has 

gone before.

[Bridge]

CHEKOV: Captain on the bridge.

KIRK: It's hard to get out of it once you've had a taste, isn't that right, Mister Sulu?

SULU: Captain does have a nice ring to it. The chair's all yours, sir.

KIRK: Mister Scott.

[Engineering]

KIRK: How's our core?

SCOTT: Purring like a kitten, Captain. She's ready for a long journey.

[Bridge]

KIRK: Excellent. Come on, Bones! It's gonna be fun.

MCCOY: Five years in space. God help me.

KIRK: Doctor Marcus. I'm glad you could be a part of the family.

CAROL: It's nice to have a family.

KIRK: Spock.

SPOCK: Captain.

KIRK: Where shall we go?

SPOCK: As a mission of this duration has never been attempted, I defer to your good judgement, Captain.

KIRK: 

Mister Sulu, Take Us Out.

SULU: Aye, Captain.