Showing posts with label Lucius. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lucius. Show all posts

Sunday 16 May 2021

In Truth, Prosperity tries The Soul even of The Wise.



SALLUST(IUS CRISPUS)

THE WAR AGAINST CATILINE

tr. J. C. Rolfe (Loeb, 1921)

 

(5) Lucius Catilina, member of a noble family, had great vigour both of mind and of body, but an evil and depraved nature. From youth up he revelled in civil wars, murder, pillage, and political dissension, and amid these he spent his early manhood. His body could endure hunger, cold, and want of sleep to an incredible degree; his mind was reckless, cunning, treacherous, capable of any form of pretence or concealment. Covetous of others' possessions, he was prodigal of his own. He was violent in his passions. He possessed a certain amount of eloquence, but little discretion. His disordered mind ever craved the monstrous, incredible, gigantic.

After the domination of Sulla the man had been seized with a mighty desire of getting control of the government, caring little by what manner he should achieve it, provided he made himself supreme. His haughty spirit was goaded more and more every day by poverty and a sense of guilt, both of which he had augmented by the practices of which I have already spoken. He was spurred on, also, by the corruption of the public morals, which were being ruined by two great evils of an opposite character, extravagance and avarice . . .

 

(8) Beyond question Fortune holds sway everywhere. It is she that makes all events famous or obscure according to her caprice rather than in accordance with the truth. The acts of the Athenians, in my judgement, were indeed great and glorious enough, but nevertheless somewhat less important than fame represents them. But because Athens produced writers of exceptional talent, the exploits of the men of Athens are heralded throughout the world as unsurpassed. Thus the merit of those who did the deeds is rated as high as brilliant minds have been able to exalt the deeds themselves by words of praise.

But the Roman people never ha that advantage, since their ablest men were always most engaged with affairs. Their minds were never employed apart from their bodies. The best citizen preferred action to words, and thought that his own brave deeds should be lauded by others rather than that theirs should be recounted by him.

(9) Accordingly, good morals were cultivated at home and in the field. There was the greatest harmony and little or no avarice. Justice and probity prevailed among them, thanks not so much to laws as to nature. Quarrels, discord, and strife were reserved for their enemies. Citizen vied with citizen only for the prize of merit. They were lavish in their offerings to the gods, frugal in the home, loyal to their friends. By practising these two qualities, boldness in warfare and justice when peace came, they watched over themselves and their country. In proof of these statements I present this convincing evidence: first, in time of war punishment was more often inflicted for attacking the enemy contrary to orders, or for withdrawing too tardily when recalled from the field, than for venturing to abandon the standards or to give ground under stress; and secondly, in time of peace they ruled by kindness rather than fear, and when wronged preferred forgiveness to vengeance.

(10) But when our country had grown great through toil and the practice of justice, when great kings had been vanquished in war, savage tribes and mighty peoples subdued by force of arms, when Carthage, the rival of Rome's sway, had perished utterly, and all seas and lands were open, then Fortune began to grow cruel and to bring confusion into all our affairs. Those who had found it easy to bear hardship and dangers, anxiety and adversity, found leisure and wealth--so desirable under the circumstances--a burden and a curse. Hence the lust for power first, then for money, grew upon them. These were, I may say, the root of all evils. For avarice destroyed honour, integrity, and all other noble qualities; taught in their place insolence, cruelty, to neglect the gods, to set a price on everything. Ambition drove many men to become false; to have one thought locked in the breast, another ready on the tongue; to value friendships and enmities not on their merits but by the standard of self-interest, and to show a good front rather than a good heart. At first these vices grew slowly, from time to time they were punished. Finally, when the disease had spread like a deadly plague, the State was changed and a government second to none in equity and excellence became cruel and intolerable.

(11) But at first men's souls were actuated less by avarice than by ambition--a fault, it is true, but not so far removed from virtue; for the noble and the base alike long for glory, honour, and power, but the former mount by the true path, whereas the latter, being destitute of noble qualities, rely upon craft and deception. Avarice implies a desire for money, which no wise man covets: as though steeped with noxious poisons, it renders the most manly body and soul effeminate. It is ever unbounded and insatiable, nor can either plenty or want make it less. But after Sulla, having gained control of the State by arms, brought everything to a bad end from a good beginning, all men began to rob and pillage. One coveted a house, another lands. The victors showed neither moderation nor restraint, but shamefully and cruelly wronged their fellow citizens. Besides all this, Sulla, in order to secure the loyalty of the army which he led into Asia, had allowed it a luxury and licence foreign to the habits of our forefathers; and in the intervals of leisure those charming and voluptuous lands had easily demoralized the warlike spirit of his soldiers. There is was that an army of the Roman people first learned to indulge in women and drink; to admire statues, paintings, and chased vases, to steal them from private houses and public places, to pillage shrines, and to desecrate everything, both sacred and profane. These soldiers, therefore, after they had won the victory, left nothing to the vanquished. In truth, prosperity tries the soul even of the wise. How then should men of depraved character like these make a moderate use of victory?

(12) As soon as riches came to be held in honour, when glory, political control, and economic power followed in their train, virtue began to lose its lustre, poverty to be considered a disgrace, blamelessness to be termed malevolence. There -- as the result of riches -- luxury and greed, united with insolence, took possession of our young manhood.

 

(36) . . . At no other time has the condition of imperial Rome, as it seems to me, been more pitiable. The whole world, from the rising of the sun to its setting, subdued by her arms, rendered obedience to her; at home there was peace and an abundance of wealth, which mortal men deem the greatest of blessings. Yet there were citizens who from sheer perversity were bent upon their own ruin and that of their country. For in spite of the two decrees of the Senate, not one man of all that great number was led by the promised reward to betray the conspiracy, and not a single one deserted Catiline's camp. Such was the potency of the malady which like a plague had infected the minds of many of our countrymen.

(37) This insanity was not confined to those who were implicated in the plot, but the whole body of the commons through desire for change favoured the designs of Catiline. In this very particular they seemed to act as the populace usually does. For in every community those who have no means envy the good, exalt the base, hate what is old and established, long for something new, and from disgust with their own lot desire a general upheaval. Amid turmoil and rebellion they maintain themselves without difficulty, since poverty is easily provided for and can suffer no loss. But the city populace in particular acted with desperation for many reasons. To begin with, all who were especially conspicuous for their shamelessness and impudence, those too who had squandered their patrimony in riotous living, finally all whom disgrace or crime had forced to leave home, had all flowed into Rome as into a cesspool. Many, too, recalled Sulla's victory. They had seen common soldiers risen to the rank of senator, and others become so rich that they feasted and lived like kings, and now every man hoped that his fruits of victory would be the same, if he took the field. Besides this the young men who had maintained a wretched existence by manual labour in the country, tempted by governmental and private aid had come to prefer idleness in the city to their hateful toil; these, like all the others, profited while the nation suffered. Therefore it is not surprising that men who were beggars and without character, with illimitable hopes, should respect their country as little as they respected themselves. Moreover, those to whom Sulla's victory had mean the proscription of their parents, loss of property, and curtailment of their rights, looked forward in a similar spirit to the issue of a war. Finally, all who belonged to another party than that of the Senate preferred to see the government overthrown rather than be out of power themselves.


Such, then, was the evil which after many years had returned upon the State.

Saturday 10 October 2020

We are All Policemen : Cops are The Chosen People





HOBBES, on TV News :
The criminals don't accept consequences. They kill. 
“It's not their fault.” This is the consequence of what I do. 

JONESY :
Look who made it. 
How'd it go?
Mr. Consequence. 


HOBBES :
He died. 

LOU :
I told you. 
Get one more. 

HOBBES :
Nice to see you. 
How you doing, Gracie? 

LOU :
Don't tempt me with that. 

GRACE :
Sorry. 

LOU :
What's your poison? 
We got some Becks. We got some Guinness. We got some Bass.

HOBBES :
Budweiser's good for me. 

LOU :
Budweiser? 


HOBBES :
Yeah. 

GRACE :
Good. 



LOU :
No, we're going imported here. 
If you can't afford it, I'll buy. 


HOBBES :
I can afford it. 
Budweiser. 

LOU :
At least have a Bud-Ice or a Bud-Dry or something. 


HOBBES :
It is just a Bud, okay? 

GRACE :
You guys want anything? 


JONESY :
No. 

GRACE :
Here's your Bud. 



"He was one of the most notorious inmates...." 

GRACE :
Here you go. 


HOBBES :
Thank you, sweetheart. 

LOU :
You're an unusual cop, Hobbes. 

HOBBES :
Really? 

LOU :
I've been in this precinct about what, five, six months? 
Everybody says, "Hobbes don't take no cream." 
"Hobbes don't take no cream." 
Now is that True, or what? 

HOBBES :
No, I don't like cream. 

LOU :
That means "no"? 

HOBBES :
Yeah, it means "no." 

LOU :
Now, is that "No." as in "Never.", "No.", as in "Sometimes."... ...or "No." as in "I do, but I don't like to talk about it."? 


HOBBES :
"No." as in "Never." 


LOU :
This is a Big City, Hobbesy. 
We got a Tradition to uphold. 


JONESY :
Got something wrong with your ears? 
When The Man Says something, He Says it. 


LOU :
This is hypothetical : 
A Cop who's trying to make ends meet wants a little something on the side.... 

HOBBES :
I don't like cream... 
and I Don't Judge. 

LOU :
You don't judge? 
He's a fucking saint, huh? 
So you're telling me, that under NO circumstances, would a Holy Man like you ever, you know... 
...break The Law or do something.... 


HOBBES :
Look, Lou... I could jump across the table, snatch your heart out of your chest, squeeze the blood out, and stick it in your front pocket. 

LOU :
Oh, yeah? 

HOBBES :
If I lost Control. 
But if I did... I'd be no different than the people we bust. 




Now, as to your general question.... 
You take any cop on The Force, cream or no... ninety-nine percent of the time they're doing their job, aren't they? 

JONESY :
Ninety-nine five. 

HOBBES :
Point five. 
So he or she, cream or no... is doing more good out there every day... than any lawyer or a stockbroker or President of the United States can ever do in their lifetime. 
Cops are The Chosen People. 

JONESY :
Amen. 

LOU :
...guess I'm switching to Bud...!
Gracie, come here and get this foreign shit off my table and bring me three Buds.




 Harvey Dent: 
This is where they brought her, Gordon, after your men handed her over. This is where she died.
 

Gordon: 

I know, I was here... trying to save her. 

Harvey Dent: 

But you didn't

Gordon: 

I couldn't

Harvey Dent: 

Yes, you could've. If you'd listened to me. If you stood up against corruption, instead of doing your deal with The Devil. 

Gordon: 

I was trying to fight the Mob! 

Harvey Dent: 

You wouldn't dare try to justify yourself if you knew what I'd lost. 

Have you ever had to talk to the person you loved most... tell them it's gonna be all right, when you know it's not? 

Well, you're about to know what that feels like, Gordon. 

And then you can look me in the eye and tell me you're sorry. 

Gordon: 

You're not going to hurt my family. 

Harvey Dent: 

No. Just the person you love most. 

So... Is it your wife? 

Gordon: 

Put the gun down, Harvey. 

Gordon: 

Harvey, put down the gun. 

Gordon:

Please. Please, Harvey. Please. 

Oh, goddamn it. 

Will you stop pointing that gun at my family?! 

Barbara: 

No! 

Harvey Dent: 

We have a winner. 

Barbara: 

No, Jim, stop him! 

Gordon: 

Harvey. 

Barbara: 

Don't let him... 

Harvey! I'm sorry! For everything. Please don't hurt my son. 

Harvey Dent: 

You brought your cops? 

Gordon: 

All they know is there's a situation. 

They don't know who or what. 

They're just creating a perimeter. 


Harvey Dent: 

You think I wanna escape from this?! 

There is no escape from this! 

[Then another voice rips through the darkness] 

Batman: 

You don't wanna hurt the boy, Harvey. 

Harvey Dent: 

It's not about what I want, it's about what's fair! 

You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time. 

But you were wrong. 

The World is cruel. 

And the only morality in a Cruel World... 

(lifting his lucky coin) is chance. 

Unbiased. Unprejudiced. Fair. 

His son's got the same chance she had. 

Fifty-fifty. 

Batman: 

What happened to Rachel wasn't chance. 

We decided to act. We three. 

Harvey Dent: 

Then why was it me who was the only one who lost everything? 

Batman: (sad

It wasn't... 

Harvey Dent:

The Joker chose me

Batman: 

Because you were the best of us. 

He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall. 

Harvey Dent: 

(a broken man) 

And he was right. 

Batman: 

You're the one pointing the gun, Harvey. 

So point it at the people responsible. 

Harvey Dent: 

Fair enough. You first. 

Harvey Dent: 

My turn. 

Gordon: 

Harvey, you're right. 

Rachel's death was my fault. 

Please don't punish the boy. 

Please, punish me. 

Harvey Dent: 

I'm about to. 

Tell your boy he's gonna be all right, Gordon. Lie... like I lied. 

Gordon: (whispering) 

It's going to be all right, son. 

Jimmy:  

Dad? Daddy, is he okay? 

Gordon: 

 Thank you. 

Batman: (looking down) 

You don't have to Thank me. 

Gordon: 

 Yes, I do. (also looking down) 

The Joker won. 

[Harvey Dent lies on the ground. Dead, his neck has been broken by the fall

Gordon:  

Harvey's prosecution, everything he fought for... undone. 

Whatever chance you gave us at fixing our city dies with Harvey's reputation. 

We bet it all on him. 

The Joker took the best of us and tore him down. 

People will lose hope. 

Batman:  

They won't. 

They must never know what he did. 

Gordon:  

Five dead? Two of them cops? 

You can't sweep that... 

Batman: 

 No. But the Joker cannot win. 

Gotham needs its true hero. 

Gordon:  

No. 

Batman: (panting) 

You either die a hero... or you live long enough… to see yourself become the villain. 

I can do those things, because I'm not a hero, not like Dent. 

I killed those people. 

That's what I can be. 

Gordon: 

 No, no, you can't. You're not! 

Batman: 

I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be. 

[He hands his friend a police radio

Batman: 

Call it in. 

[A montage is started: the commissioner gives a speech, an eulogy for Harvey Dent...

Gordon: 

A hero. Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed. 

Nothing less than a knight... shining. 

[...Gordon and his team, destroying the Bat Signal...] 

Gordon: 

They'll hunt you. 

Batman: 

You'll hunt me. 

You'll condemn me. 

Set the dogs on me. 

[...and Lucius Fox typing in his name on the machine he used to track the Joker, destroying it] 

Batman: 

 Because that's what needs to happen. Because sometimes... 

The Truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. 

Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded. 

Jimmy:  

Batman? Batman! 

Why's he running, Dad? 

Gordon: 

 Because we have to chase him. 

[Back at the perimeter

Cop: 

Okay, we're going in! 

Go, go! Move! 

[Gordon's son stares to where Batman has disappeared

Jimmy:  

He didn't do anything wrong. 

Gordon:  

Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. 

So we'll hunt him... 

[Batman's theme kicks back in as he makes his way to the Batpod, driving it away, chased by dogs and cops

Gordon: 

 Because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. 

He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. 

[Batman drives his Batpod up to a slope. Street lights surround him

Gordon: 

A Dark Knight. 

[Cut to black. The credits roll]


Commissioner Gordon: 

Foley? Where’s Foley, dammit?!

[Gordon heads for the door]

Blake: 

You shouldn’t be out on the streets!

[Gordon turns up at Foley’s house and bangs on the door, Foley’s wife answers]

Foley’s Wife: 

Jim, He’s not here.

[Gordon looks down the hallway behind her]

Commissioner Gordon: 

You let your wife come to the door when the city’s under occupation?!

[Foley appears behind his wife]

Foley: 

Wait in the kitchen, honey.

[Foley’s wife turns and leaves them]

Commissioner Gordon: 

What did you do? 

Bury your uniform in the backyard?

Foley: 

You saw what they did to those Special Forces.

Commissioner Gordon: 

Have you forgotten all the years we were out on patrol when every gangbanger wanted to plant one as soon as our backs were turned?

Foley: 

That was different and you know it! 

These guys run The City, The Government’s done a deal with them.

Commissioner Gordon: 

Bane’s got their balls in a vice. 

That’s not a deal.

Foley: 

You move on Bane, the triggerman is gonna hit the button.

Commissioner Gordon: 

You think he’s given control of that bomb to one of ‘the people’? 

You think this is part of some Revolution? 

There’s only one man with his finger on the button, that’s Bane.

Foley: 

Look, we’ve all gotta keep our heads down till they can fix this. 

If you still had family here…

Commissioner Gordon: 

This only gets fixed from inside The City! 

Look, Peter, I’m not asking you to walk down Grand in your dress blues, but something has to be done.

Foley: 

I’m sorry Jim. I gotta…

Commissioner Gordon: 

Keep your head down? 

What good’s that gonna do tomorrow when that thing blows?

Foley: 

You don’t know that’s gonna happen.

[Foley closes the door in Gordon’s face]

Saturday 12 September 2020

Game : The Sport of Kings


LORD: 
Welcome, Fool. 
You have come of your own Free Will to the appointed place. 
The Game is over. 

POLICEMAN :
Game? What Game? 

LORD :
The Game of The Hunted leading The Hunter. 

You came here to find Rowan Morrison, but it is WE who have found YOU and brought You Here and controlled your every thought and action since You arrived. 


“They both had a particular way of yelling. The Northern troops made a sort of hurrah — it was called by one soldier ‘the deep, generous, manly shout of the Northern soldier.’ 
The Confederates of course had what was called 
The Rebel Yell.

We don’t really know what that sounded like. One Northerner described it by describing the peculiar corkscrew sensation that goes up your backbone when you hear it. 
And he said,
If you claimed you’ve heard it and weren’t scared, that means you’ve never heard it.’

It was basically, I think, a sort of fox-hunt yip mixed up with a banshee squall, and it was used on the attack. 

An old Confederate veteran after the war was asked at a UDC meeting somewhere in Tennessee to give the Rebel Yell. 
The Ladies had never heard it. 

And he said, 
‘It can’t be done, except at a run, 
and I couldn’t do it anyhow with a mouthful of false teeth 
and a stomach full of food!'”




Dr. Zaius :

Have you forgotten your Scripture? 

The Thirteenth Scroll?

(quoting from memory)

'And Proteus brought the upright beast

into The Garden, and chained him to a tree,

and the children made sport of him.'


CORNELIUS

(impatiently)

No sir, I haven't forgotten.


ZAIUS

Well? For a time the ancients kept humans as household pets.

Until The Lawgiver proved that man could not be tamed. 

Keep digging Cornelius. 

You'll find evidence of The Master of This House: an ape.










326EXT. ARCHEOLOGICAL CAMP - ESTABLISHING SHOT - DAY


Sand bars and two narrow beaches are in evidence here. The camp itself

consists of several lean-tos against the cliff wall. Above the camp,

reached by ladders connected to scaffolding, is the mouth of a cave.

Zira is cleaning up the breakfast things; Zaius and Lucius are sorting

out equipment.


A-326CLOSER ANGLE - TAYLOR AND ZIRA


A small bowl of water rests on the ground in front of Taylor He has

nearly finished shaving himself with a sharp hunting knife. Nova

watches, a look of fascinated approval on her face. Taylor rinses off

his knife, starts to dry it. Nova reaches out, gently strokes his

smooth -- if nicked -- chin.


TAYLOR

(smiling)

You like it?


Lucius and Cornelius come up, Zira with them.


LUCIUS

(disapprovingly)

Why did you do that? Scrape off your

hair?


TAYLOR

In my world -- before I left it -

only youngsters of your age wore un-

scraped hair.


CORNELIUS

(to Taylor, quizzically)

It makes you look somehow ... less

intelligent.


Taylor grins wryly at Cornelius, picks up his rifle.


TAYLOR

When are you going to show me what's

in the cave?


CORNELIUS

Right now, if you like.


They cross the beach to the ladders, when suddenly they hear the sound

of horses. They look o.s.


B-326WHAT THEY SEE:


Dr. Zaius and five armed and mounted apes have come around the corner

of the beach and ride toward them through the rocks.


C-326MEDIUM - THE GROUP


Taylor scrambles up onto the lower scaffold. Lucius runs to a lean-to,

scoops up his rifle.


CORNELIUS

Lucius -- don't fire at them.


The party rides up.


ZAIUS

You're all under arrest!

(to Lucius)

You seditious scoundrel. Drop that

rifle.


327-OUT

348


349FLASH SHOT - LUCIUS


He wavers, lowering his piece.


350WIDER ANGLE - TO INCLUDE BOTH GROUPS


Zaius' gorillas ride forward a few paces, but halt again as Taylor

shouts:


TAYLOR

Stop right there.


ZAIUS

Don't be a fool. You're outnumbered

and outgunned.


Taylor aims at Zaius and calls out:


TAYLOR

If there's any shooting, Dr. Zaius,

you'll be the first to die. Depend

on it.


CORNELIUS

(protesting)

Taylor, you're not in command here.

Put down that gun.


TAYLOR

Shut up.


Silence.Zaius knows Taylor isn't bluffing.


ZAIUS

Very well.

(to his followers)

Lower your weapons.


They obey. Taylor calls again:


TAYLOR

(pointing)

Tell them to move around the point.

Out of range.


Zaius turns and whispers to his apes. They rein about and ride away

through the rocks. Zaius dismounts and approaches the fugitives alone.

He is unarmed.


351CLOSER ANGLE - THE GROUP


As Zaius draws nearer) Lucius lowers his rifle. But Taylor keeps his at

the ready.


CORNELIUS

(uncertainly)

How did you know we'd come here?


ZAIUS

It wasn't difficult. Only an apostate

or a lunatic would flee to the Forbidden

Zone.

(a glance at Taylor)

I see you brought along the female of

your species.

(Taylor nods)

I didn't realize a man could be monogamous.


TAYLOR

On this planet -- it's easy.


Zaius laughs derisively, then turns to the apes.


ZAIUS

(evenly)

I ask you to reconsider the rash course

you've taken. If you're convicted of heresy,

the most you'll get is two years. But if

you persist in pointing guns in my direction,

you'll hang for high treason.


CORNELIUS

(respectfully)

We've never meant to be treasonable, sir.

(pointing off)

But up there, in the face of that Cliff,

is a vast cave -- and in that cave a

fabulous treasure of fossils and artifacts.


ZAIUS

I've seen some of your fossils and artifacts.

They're worthless.


TAYLOR

(derisively)

And that's your Minister of Science. Honor-

bound to expand the frontiers of knowledge.


ZIRA

(worried)

Taylor, please --


TAYLOR

Except that he's also the Chief Defender

of the Faith.


ZAIUS

(loftily)

There is no contradiction between faith

and science. True science.


TAYLOR

(suddenly angered)

All right, let's see if you're willing

to put that statement to a test.


CORNELIUS

Taylor, I'd rather you -


TAYLOR

No. You saved me from this fanatic. Maybe

I can pay you back.


ZAIUS

(calmly)

What is your proposal?


TAYLOR

When were the Sacred Scrolls written?


ZAIUS

Twelve hundred years ago.


TAYLOR

Very well. If Zira and Cornelius can prove

that those scrolls don't tell the whole

truth of your history; if they can show you

definite evidence of another culture from an

unrecorded past -- will you exonerate them?


ZAIUS

Of course.


TAYLOR

Okay.Up to the cave.


He gestures toward the path leading to it. Zaius, Zira, and Cornelius

start upward. Lucius starts to follow them.


TAYLOR

Sorry, Lucius. You'll have to stay here

and guard the horses.


LUCIUS

Always giving orders. Just like every

other adult.


TAYLOR

Relax. You'll see it all later.


He pats the barrel of Lucius' gun, in the manner of a stern but

benevolent non-com, then starts up the trail with Nova at his heels.

Lucius, unused to taking commands from an animal, scowls after him,

then shrugs, adjusting to the Idea.


352-

355OUT


356 EXT. WESTERN WALL OF GORGE - LONG SHOT - ANGLING UP

AFTERNOON


The sun hovers over the lofty rim of the lake like a great red balloon.

The wall of the gorge, in shadow, is a darker hue.


357EXT. EASTERN WALL OF GORGE - LONG SHOT - ANGLING UP


The crenelated east wall, looking like a red cathedral, is aglow with

sunlight. So is the mouth of the cave as the three apes, Taylor and

Nova pass through it and o.s.


358INT. CAVERN - BOOM SHOT - DAY


Nature has formed a vaulted room here. It need not be enormous, but

should be as weird and fantastic as production capabilities permit.

There is an ape-made excavation in the floor of the cave, some ten feet

square and eight feet deep. Some small objects lie on the rim of the

excavation. Zaius, Cornelius, Zira, Taylor and Nova enter from the

outside.


(AUTHOR'S NOTE: The effect should be an eyeful. I wish to create an

illusion of sunlight penetrating this cave, flooding it with direct,

refracted illumination, transforming it into a kaleidoscopic cavern.)


ZAIUS

Present your evidence, Cornelius.


Cornelius clambers down into the pit, followed by Zira. Taylor bends

down, examines some of the artifacts lined along the edge of the

excavation. Nova sits beside him.


CORNELIUS

(pointing)

It was at this level I discovered traces

of an early ape creature -- stage of

primitive barbarism, really -- dating back

roughly thirteen hundred years. It was here

I found cutting tools and arrowheads of

quartz and the fossilized bones of

carnivorous gorillas.


CAMERA (ON BOOM) MOVES IN SLOWLY as Cornelius continues:


CORNELIUS

But the artifacts lying at your feet

were found here, at this level. And

that's the paradox. The more ancient

culture is the more advanced. Admittedly,

many of these objects are unidentified,

but clearly they were fashioned by beings

with a knowledge of metallurgy.


CAMERA KEEPS MOVING IN on the group in and around the excavation as

Cornelius continues:


CORNELIUS

Indeed, the very fact that these tools

are unknown to us could suggest a culture

in certain ways almost equal to our own.

Some of the evidence is uncontestable ...


ZAIUS

(interrupting)

Don't speak to me in absolutes. The

evidence is contestable.


CORNELIUS

I apologize.


ZAIUS

To begin with, your methods of dating

the past are crude, to say the least. There

are geologists on my staff who would laugh at

your speculations.


TAYLOR

Perhaps that's why they're on your staff.


Zaius flicks a hostile glance at Taylor, then looks down at the

artifacts. He nudges them with his foot.


ZAIUS

Secondly, if these 'tools' as you call

them, are unidentified, why are they

introduced as 'evidence' of anything?


ZIRA

(promptly)

But there's the doll, sir.


ZAIUS

What?


CORNELIUS

(pointing)

Right there. The human doll.


Zaius deigns to stoop and pick it up.


359CLOSE ON DOLL - IN ZAIUS' HAND


It is only a porcelain fragment, but the head is intact, and it is

unmistakably the form of a human child.


ZAIUS

What does this prove? My grand-

daughter plays with human dolls.


360FULL SHOT - THE EXCAVATION - INCLUDING TAYLOR


Exasperated, Zira turns to the man for confirmation.


ZIRA

Taylor! Tell him.


TAYLOR

He has a point. On my planet children

often play with ape dolls.


Zaius idly tosses the doll to the ground near Nova. She picks it up,

studies it.


361GROUP SHOT - THE THREE APES


Cornelius tries again.


CORNELIUS

A doll alone proves nothing. True. But

the doll was found beside the jawbone

of a man -- and no trace of simian fossils

has turned up in this deposit.


ZAIUS

Your conclusion is premature. Have you

forgotten your Scripture? The Thirteenth

Scroll?

(quoting from memory)

'And Proteus brought the upright beast

into the garden, and chained him to a tree,

and the children made sport of him.'


CORNELIUS

(impatiently)

No sir, I haven't forgotten.


ZAIUS

Well? For a time the ancients kept humans

as household pets.Until the Lawgiver

proved that man could not be tamed. Keep

digging Cornelius. You'll find evidence of

the master of this house: an ape.


A-361ANOTHER ANGLE - TO INCLUDE TAYLOR AND NOVA


As Zira again appeals to the man.


ZIRA

Are you going to let that pass without

an answer?


Taylor, who has been toying with objects in the dirt, looks up.


TAYLOR

Yes. I have to agree. From all you've

found so far, his position's as good as

yours.


CORNELIUS

(annoyed)

What are you doing there?


TAYLOR

Reconstructing a life. Care to have a

look?


Cornelius and Zira cross the pit and Zaius walks around the rim of the

excavation.


B-361MED. CLOSE SHOT - FAVORING TAYLOR AND NOVA


As the apes come close. A number of artifacts have been arranged in

front of Taylor.


TAYLOR

(to Cornelius)

These were found near the human doll,

right?

(Cornelius nods)

Well, whoever owned them was in pretty

bad shape.


He picks up the twisted fragment of a pair of spectacles.


TAYLOR

Defective eyesight..


As Taylor continues his monologue, he picks up the other objects one by

one.


TAYLOR

He wore false teeth.

(pause)

He suffered from a hernia and used

this truss to hold up his insides ...

(pause)

And toward the end, these little rings

of stainless steel enclosed a prefab-

ricated valve in his failing heart.


Taylor pauses. Zaius picks up two of the steel rings, studies them.


TAYLOR

I don't say he was a man like an Earthman,

but I'd call him a close relative, for

he was plagued by most of man's ills.

(to Zaius pointedly)

Yet, fragile as he was, he came before you

-- and was superior to you.


ZAIUS

(a calm smile)

That's lunacy. I can give an alternate

description for everyone of those objects

that's equally as inventive as yours. But

it would be conjecture, not proof.


362WIDER ANGLE - TO INCLUDE TAYLOR AND NOVA


She is poking her finger inside the decapitated head of the doll. From

it comes a distorted SOUND.


DOLL'S HEAD

Mamma! Mamma! Mamma!.


The apes stare at the doll in astonishment. Taylor snatches the doll

from Nova, brandishes it at the astonished Zaius.


TAYLOR

Dr. Zaius! Would an ape make a human

doll that talks?


Zaius looks at him, speechless. At that moment the CRACK of a distant

rifle shot reverberates through the cavern. All present freeze,

listening.


ZIRA

Lucius....


363-

364OUT


365FULL SHOT - THE CAVERN - REVERSE ANGLE


Taylor alone is armed. Raising his rifle, he glowers at Zaius.


TAYLOR

You louse!


Cornelius is already crossing the pit. He climbs out arid races toward

the mouth of the cave. Taylor runs after him. Zira and Nova hurry after

Taylor.


366MED. SHOT - ZAIUS


Expressionless, he looks down at the doll, then moves toward the mouth

of the cave.


367EXT. TRAIL FROM CAVE TO CAMP - ANGLING UP


Cornelius emerges from mouth of the cave and runs down the trail toward

CAMERA. He halts in f.g., looking down at:


368THE CAMP SITE - AS SEEN FROM THE TRAIL


Two of Zaius' gorillas have disarmed Lucius and are clubbing him with

their rifle butts. Two other mounted apes are driving the scientists'

horses back beyond the trees.


369EXT. THE TRAIL - AS SEEN FROM THE BEACH


Cornelius, Taylor, Nova and Zira (in that order) can be seen high

above, descending the trail. CAMERA PULLS BACK TO DISCLOSE A GORILLA

SNIPER in immediate f.g., crouching behind a boulder near the water. He

sights his rifle at the man on the trail. Taylor is still too distant

to make a sure target, and so the sniper waits.


370CLOSER ANGLE - TAYLOR ON THE TRAIL


This portion of the trail has no cover or concealment. Unaware of the

sniper, Taylor looks down at the camp as he makes his descent.


371LONG SHOT - TAYLOR - AS SEEN IN THE SNIPER'S SIGHTS


The gorilla fires.


372CLOSE SHOT - TAYLOR


The bullet ricochets off the rock wall a foot above his head. Taylor

scans the terrain bewlow, looking for the sniper. Nova comes to his

side, pointing at:


373THE SNIPER - FROM THEIR P.O.V.


His head is visible behind the boulder as he reloads his piece.


374FLASH SHOT


He aims and fires.


375FLASH SHOT - THE SNIPER


Taylor has missed him, but the sniper ducks behind the boulder.


376THE TRAIL - PANNING WITH TAYLOR AND NOVA


Taylor takes her hand and they race back up the trail to where Zira is

standing. Outcroppings of rock offer some cover here. Taylor pushes

Nova down behind a rock and signals for Zira to follow suit.


377CLOSE GROUP SHOT - TAYLOR, NOVA AND ZIRA


The sniper's SECOND SHOT rings out. Instead of returning the fire,

Taylor looks up the rail at:


378ZAIUS - FRO14 TAYLOR'S P.O.V.


He is standing impassively on the trail a short distance below the

mouth of the cave.


379FLASH SHOT - TAYLOR


Bent low, he comes charging up the trail toward Zaius. The sniper's

THIRD SHOT splatters rock fragments around him.


380REVERSE ANGLE - THE TRAIL - ANGLING UP


Zaius starts to retreat to the cave, but stumbles and falls on some

loose shale. No sooner has Zaius regained his feet than Taylor

overtakes him. Seizing the ape around the neck with his left arm.

Taylor drives the muzzle of his pistol into Zaius' kidney. He spins

Zaius around, using him as a shield.


381CLOSE TWO SHOT - ZAIUS AND TAYLOR


Taylor releases the pressure on Zaius' throat but keeps the gun pointed

at his back.


TAYLOR

Tell him to pull back!


ZAIUS

(a hoarse cry)

Cease fire! Withdraw!


His command echoes from the west wall of the canyon.


382LONG SHOT - THE FLOOR OF THE GORGE - FROM THEIR P.O.V.


The sniper emerges from behind a boulder near the shore, and walks off

along the beach.


383BACK TO TAYLOR AND ZAIUS


Taylor lift's the muzzle of his rifle and presses it against the back

of Zaius' head.


TAYLOR

I ought to kill you right now.

(nudging him)

Let's go.


They move off down the trail.