Laughing Boy (1934) - full transcript

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[horsemen yelling]

[indistinct chatter]

[horsemen hooting]

[horses trotting]

[cheering]

[horsemen hooting]

[horse neighing]

[instrumental music]

[horse neighing]



[child blabbering]

[horse neighing]

[indistinct chatter]

(male #1)
'There they are, folks,
well, the Indians'

and their committee
to greet you.

- Step right out.
- Oh, aren't they cute?

- Show me the dangerous duel.
- Alright.

There's a horse with a..

Let's take a picture..
Stupid thing.

Hold up here,
we want to take your picture.

'Really, I do.
Let us stand right there.'

I do not like that, I think.

(male #2)
'Hold on here, look up.'

[speaking in foreign language]



[speaking in foreign language]

- Alaho.
- I not see you before, I think.

- Where you come from?
- Far away.

I thought so. Your face is new.

What is your name?

My milk name
is Sings Before Spears

but Laughing Boy,
that's what they call me.

I'm called Red Man.
Everybody knows me.

I am the wrestler.

[cat meowing]

You are a Paiute, I think.

How do you know that,
grandfather?

[sniffs]
My nose tells me.

Wait.

Maybe you would like to buy
some whiskey, I think.

I've heard of this whiskey.
It's not good, they say.

Yes, it's bad, they say.

- You never try it?
- No. What does it do?

It makes your heart very happy.

It makes your head crazy.

I don't think
I like a crazy head, I think.

It makes your heart very warm.

Does it make you sing and pray?

Yes, sing very much

pray very much.

Sometime I will try it,
but not now.

Now I'm hungry.

- 'Ahalani, my uncle.'
- Ahalani, Laughing Boy.

Ahalani, my beautiful aunt.

- Ahalani, my nephew.
- Ahalani, my nephew.

This is Jesting Squaw's Son,
my friend.

[indistinct chatter]

- Your father did not come?
- No!

Fifty sings he has seen.
You think that's enough?

But my mother wanted me to come.

Yeah, she was right.

It is time you came
to your first sing-dance.

I like it. It is happy here.

[sniffs]
That goat smells good

my beautiful round aunts.

They're wonderful
and it's so atmospheric.

- You give me cigarette?
- Huh? Oh, sure.

Oh, wow,
we saw an Indian smoke party.

(male #2)
'Go right ahead, boy.'

Oh, Fred, look.

It is a girl, isn't it? I think.

Look-look there,
gorgeous thing on the bark.

- What?
- That silver belt on that man.

- Oh, gee, I gotta have that..
- Oh, now.

I just want the belt.
Now, you just bargain.

Good men, big smoke,
dollar a-piece cigar.

- My present.
- Have a cigar.

Honestly, they are.

- No, no, no.
- Oh, no.

[chuckles]

- No, you have to take this off.
- See, that comes off.

- And the band comes off.
- There you are.

Yeah. Uh, uh,
that's how you smoke it.

- Oh, oh..
- You got fire?

Oh, yes. I'm sure
you have a lighter, Fred.

- Here you are.
- Yeah.

Oh, don't be afraid.
It's a lighter.

- That's alright. See?
- Yeah.

Why, Fred, they can smoke.

[chuckles]
Oh, that's cute.

My good man, your belt.

- Five dollars, here.
- Oh, yeah.

He offers you five dollars.

I heard him say five dollars,
I think.

Yes, yes, five dollars for you.

But, oh, please,
please don't put it on.

I know that's a ridiculous
price. Uh, we'll give you more.

Oh, Fred, you oughta be ashamed
of yourself.

- Now you've insulted them.
- Oh, I don't..

Why, that-that is solid silver,
duckie.

It's worth $20
of anybody's money.

Oh, come on now,
let me bargain with them.

I can do better than you can.

Hey, you. Big, big boy.

- I-I'll give you $20.
- Worth $40.

What? Forty dollars? Why--

Oh, now, please.
Just for Mabel, darling.

I've got to have it, please.

I want it for my bedroom,
please.

Ah, now..
Oh, say, give me the money.

Let me bargain with them.
I can do better than you can.

Say, here, uh, uh,
here's 20 and 20 is 40 dollars

for your belt, huh?
Oh, thanks, isn't it swell?

- Oh, just look.
- Well, you know what?

I think
maybe we got a bargain at that.

Yes, sir,
that looks like a real antique.

Well, so long, boys.

If you're ever in Cleveland,
look me up.

Alright. Goodbye, boys.

[Mabel chuckles]

[man coughs]

[indistinct chatter]

This great big smoke
certainly make it

a finer trade, grandfather.

I very much like
white man smoke.

They make you feel good,
I think.

Yeah.

[sighs]
I just thought
of something important.

What is it, grandfather?

I shall go to a quiet place.

I want to be very sick.

I, too.

[singing in foreign language]

Now, remember, you promised.

Come on, let's go.

Hi, Lily! How's business?

Hello, Lily.

[singing continues]

Move on, get out of here.
We don't want you here.

You waste your talk. I stay.

It is like a bonus.
Come here again.

We put her out last year.

But this year
I come with important friends.

Yellow Singer, his wife.
You cannot put me out.

Yellow Singer and his wife?

Yellow Singer is more important
than any of your men.

We ask him. Yellow Singer!

They won't let me dance.

Let the Slim Girl dance.

It is Chief Yellow Singer
who is speaks!

They were great people
in my father's time.

If they brought her here,
we cannot put her out.

How much did she give you
to bring her here?

When you were born,
I gave your mother sheepskins

to keep you warm.

[singing continues]

Where did she get all of that
hard stuff on her waist?

She lives in Los Palos,
they say.

- Who are her people?
- Dead.

White man put her in his school.

Yeah?

[singing in foreign language]

That Slim Girl, she makes me
feel like a bolstering.

[singing continues]

She does nothing to me.

[singing in foreign language]

[singing continues]

(Slim Girl)
Hey!

[giggling]

I love boys
who's afraid of girls.

Give me back my blanket.

What's the matter?
You don't like me?

I came here to sing,
not to dance.

But I wanna dance with you.

And I don't want to dance
with you.

- But I want you.
- But I don't want you.

But I want you. Heh.

- I won't dance.
- Hm.

Perhaps, you have the feet
of a horse.

Hm? Let's see.

Let go, foolish feather-head.

[chuckles]

Why did you run so fast?

Are you afraid of me?

I'm not afraid of you.

I can squeeze your neck
as easily

as I can squeeze a chicken's.

Sometimes that is fun, too.

What do you mean?

There are no girls like me
in north country.

Are there? Hm?

In my north country,
a girl like you

would be traded
for barren sheep.

Are you sure
you're not all empty up there?

You have never seen
anyone like me before.

Have you?

No.

I have never seen
anyone like you..

...before.

Then, perhaps,
there are other things

you do not know.

Happy things.

Will you dance with me? Hm?

I will dance one time.
That's all.

[chuckles]

[singing in foreign language]

Do you know that Paiute?
Red Man?

He only thinks he knows me.

What was it he called you? Lily?

You see, he's wrong.
My name is Slim Girl.

They used to call me
Came With War.

I like Slim Girl better.

It suits you.

I am Laughing Boy.

I have not seen
that suit you yet.

Maybe later, huh?

Come, let's dance.

[singing continues]

- What is the matter?
- That is not dancing.

- Don't you like to dance?
- No.

You move like a snake.
It is not good.

I only show you
white man's dancing.

Navajo way is better.

How much shall I pay you
to let me go?

Twenty dollars.

I name the money
you have not got

because I do not want you to go.

I'll give you the $20
because I want to go very much.

- I think.
- Go then!

I'll let you go for nothing

because you're empty
in the body, I think.

I thought you were a man

but your mother's milk
still drips from you.

You should be tied
to a baby's board.

You do not know a woman
from a steer!

Oh, you danced
with the wrestler, huh?

Why don't you pick me first?

[singing in foreign language]

Where are you going,
grandfather?

I'm going to pray.

I can't think the way
that is right.

I'm going to pray to the gods

that I may feel full
inside again.

It is not good.

- Get out!
- Why?

Your dancing is bad.

Come on, don't talk.

Yellow Singer says I stay!

No Navajo forget
what Yellow Singer was

but now, like you,
he has gone the white man's way.

I came here to be
a Navajo again, tonight.

Go! We do not want you here.

[grunts]

Hey, you come back to town
with me, Lily?

Go back to town with you,
you Paiute?

You are as bad as a white man.

[scoffs]

[singing continues]

♪ O-o-oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ O-o-oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh-oh ♪

♪ O-o-o-o-o-oh ♪

♪ O-o-oh ♪

♪ Oh oh ♪

♪ Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh-oh ♪

♪ Oh oh o-o-oh ♪♪

[chuckles]

What is he doing,
this foreign boy?

He prays, I think.

I have never heard of a prayer
at a sing-dance.

I believe that.

At a sing-dance
or any other place.

[chuckles]

He makes his face so..

And his voice so..

♪ O-o-o-o-o-oh ♪♪

What does he ask for?

What do you want here?

I don't know.

- Why did you come then?
- Heh. I don't know.

You are like tumble weed,
I think.

Always under a man's feet.

[laughing]

You wish a wind would come..

[blows]
...and blew me away.

Yes! My thoughts were good.
You have disturbed them now.

[chuckling]

What were you thoughts
before I came?

- Very beautiful thoughts.
- Oh.

- I am not beautiful then?
- No.

[laughs]

Mm.

Am I ugly?

[instrumental music]

- No.
- Mm.

[chuckles]

I'm beautiful to you.

- Your horse--
- Yes, my horse!

I wish you go away.

[chuckles]
What a funny little man you are.

[chuckles]

I thought there was something
the matter with your head.

Now I'm sure of it.

[chuckling]

You gonna race your horse
tomorrow, little man?

Yes, I'm going to race my horse.

Oh. Then, I shall watch you.

Hm. If you do, if you don't,
my luck will be the same.

I bet you lose.

I bet you this
and this and this against that

that you lose.

I'll bet my horse,
everything I have.

- Anything but this.
- Why?

Because my father beat
his prayers into this silver.

- It's a holy thing.
- That's just why I want it.

And I shall have it, too.

I shall never bet it.

And you shall never have it.

Ha-ha-ha! Huh!

Yoo-hoo-hoo.
Now I know it. Now I know it.

You should be tied
to a baby board.

[laughs]

[horsemen yelling]

[indistinct chatter]

What do you bet, bush boy?

[indistinct chatter]

My horse, my silver

and $40 that a fat white woman

gave me for a bad belt.

- Is that a bet?
- Yes, I'd take it.

You're making a foolish bet
because of that girl.

I bet to win that girl, heh,
that stick.

Get ready!

[cheering]

Start!

[horses trotting]

[dramatic music]

[music continues]

[crowd cheering]

[music continues]

[horse snorting]

[crowd cheering]

Are you hurt, grandfather?

No! There is dust in my mouth.

Now I'll put dust
in that wrestler's liver.

[crowd cheering]

[indistinct chatter]

Good race. You win, Red Man.

That was a bad trick, I think.

My horse shy,
his horse got scared.

[indistinct chatter]

There is your horse, Paiute.

Quiet Hunter.

Give him his belt and his money.

Your horse can't stand up,
grandfather.

Maybe I can sell him
for dog food.

You say you're a wrestler,
Paiute?

Many know that. Why?

Will you bet everything
that you just won from me

that I cannot throw you
in two straight falls?

[laughs]
I break you to pieces,
grandfather.

- I'll break your neck, Paiute.
- Done, then. What do you bet?

You got nothing to bet.

My saddle and blanket.

[chuckles]

This silver. And my bowguard.

(Red Man)
'Ha-ha.
You bet the bowguard, huh?'

It's a safe bet, Paiute.

Jesting Squaw's Son, come here.

[horses neighing]

[indistinct chatter]

[crowd cheering]

[whistle blowing]

[crowd cheering]

And that throw
is for my horse, Paiute.

[crowd cheering]

Choke him down, Laughing Boy!

[crowd cheering]

And that throw is for me,
Paiute.

That was a good trick,
grandfather.

Oh, yeah.

[crowd cheering]

[speaking in foreign language]

[instrumental music]

[water splashing]

Move over, wrestler.

Why do you stare at me
like that?

Why do you follow me?

Perhaps, you're a pet goat.

I only come
to fill this water basket.

You better fill it then,
I think.

Perhaps, you would do it for me.

You would do it quicker.

That is woman's work.

You want me to go?

Go or stay,
my life will be the same.

I just found out about you.

'I saw you throw that Red Man.'

I was wrong about you
last night.

You're not a boy.

You're a man.

What will you do
after this is over?

Will you go back
to the north country?

You're like an old wife.

Trying to find out everything
about a man.

I'm not like an old wife.

No.

You are not like an old wife.

You will never be like that.

You are different..

...from anyone.

To be different
may be a good thing.

How can I know?

Is it different for a man
to feel about a girl..

...than what you feel
about me now?

I do not know.

I only know
that you're very beautiful.

To be near you like this

is like breathing in
the desert flowers.

I'm here, wrestler.

Do you want me?

To look once into your eyes..

...is like walking through
a lifetime of beauty.

And yet you said

"Go or stay,
my life will be the same."

That was a lie.

I am glad it was a lie.

My life will never be the same.

I never want it
to be the same again.

Come.

Where are we going, wrestler?

Oh. Have you got
your horse and saddlebags?

Yes.

Bring them and wait for me here.

- Ah.
- We're leaving this place.

Alright.

My uncle.

I have been thinking
about a wife.

That is good.

The Earth should sow its seed.

Young men should marry.

You're my nearest relative here

and I wanted to ask
your permission.

That is good.

Do you know this, uh,
Slim Girl?

The one we stopped from dancing?

Oh, that's nothing.

We like each other.

We want to marry.

I have heard of her.

Her people are dead.
She's not of us anymore.

She lives by the railroad
in Las Palos.

And she does bad things.

You say she's bad
and I say she's different.

To be different
is not always a bad thing.

It is true that she knows
of white men's ways.

But why should that
always be bad?

You need not marry her.
All she wants is your silver.

You have let a toad
jump out of your mouth.

I hope
it will follow you always.

It doesn't matter.

I shall marry her, anyway.

[horses trotting]

[humming]

♪ Ah-ah ah-ah ♪

♪ Ah-ah ah-ah ah-ah ah-ah ♪

Laughing Boy.

I have never heard
that song before.

Is it about a girl?

It's about you.

No one ever sang it before.

The gods have taught it to me

I think.

♪ Summer breeze ♪

♪ And taller trees ♪

♪ Awake ♪

♪ This is the call of love ♪

♪ On the way ♪

♪ The songbirds sing ♪

♪ Awake ♪

♪ This is the call of love ♪

♪ Blue skies ♪

♪ Whisper my secret to her ♪

♪ Blue waters ♪

♪ Sing of you ♪

♪ My heart is gay ♪

♪ It sings today ♪

♪ Awake ♪

♪ This is ♪

♪ My call of love ♪♪

You speak to the gods
very easily, Laughing Boy.

Yes. I speak to the gods.

I have no gods.

The Navajo gods
and the white men God

they did not mix for me.

[chuckles]
It does not matter.

Haven't we gone far enough?

Do we camp...here?

For tonight?

No, there is water
in the next canyon.

We shall stop there.

[instrumental music]

In my house in Las Palos,
I have a stove.

None of that trouble.

You couldn't carry a stove
on a horse, I think.

Oh. Oh, no.

I don't want to.

Have you ever seen a house,
wrestler?

- Uh-huh.
- 'A house with windows?'

Uh-huh.

I have seen the trading post.

[laughs]
Aw, you should see my house.

I have curtains in the windows.
I have a box with music.

I have a string that you pull

and it makes daylight
in a glass bowl

hanging in the ceiling. So..

I have heard
about all those things.

Oh, uh, by your house

have you seen one of those, uh,
iron-fire drives?

Oh, a train?

- With engine and cars?
- Uh-huh.

One goes by
in back of my house every day.

It goes, whoo, whoo..

[imitates train chugging]

And it spits out smoke. Yes.

We going to see
all those things together, huh?

I should like to see
all of them with you.

I will show you many things.

And I will show you much
of the north country, too.

In three more days,
my father and mother

will greet you in their hogan.

We shall find a singer
to make prayers for us.

And in four more days
we can get married.

A singer?

Praying for us?

You speak about marriage?

Yes.

Perhaps, you have forgotten,
but that's the Navajo way.

It's a very beautiful way,
I think.

Why do you look at me like that?

Three days..

Then four days..

A night.

Oh, Laughing Boy..

...it's a long time to wait.

Um, I-I, I think I'll-I'll sleep
on the other side of the tree

so if you call me,
I can hear you.

Oh, wait, wait. Wrestler, wait.

Well, but you'll be
so far away from the fire.

I give you something
to keep you warmer.

Come here, come on.
Sit here, sit here, come on.

No, no. Sit here, sit here.
Come on.

No, no. Put your leg this side.
Here, that's it. Come on.

[chuckles]

Here. This will keep you warm.

Here, drink it.

Come on, drink it. It's good.

Come on, drink it.

[burps]

Take more, take more.

More.

[sighs]

How do you think, wrestler, huh?

It's whiskey, I think.

- Moonshine.
- From the moon?

[chuckles]

A man must find that out,
those things, by himself.

Come on, drink more.

That is true.

[clears throat]

It isn't the moon.

It's the desert sun
that-that crawl into my belly.

[chuckles]

It is nice, the desert sun.

It is a soft flame

sometimes at night.

It's strange, this whiskey.

Makes me feel funny up here.

[sighs]
But it's good.

[chuckles]

If that puts craziness
into the head..

...I like craziness, I think.

It put happiness in the body.

- Make me some more.
- No.

For now you've had enough.

Come.

Come over and rest here.

- Come on, lay down.
- Oh, n-no, I have to sleep on--

Oh, but you must.
After you have a drink..

- I'm warm now.
- You must rest.

But you must rest. Come on.

Come over and rest
and I'll fix you another one.

Hm? Come on.

Oh, I fix you up.

Now put your head here. Come on.

[sighs]

Oh. I want to sing.

I want to sing nice songs.

Let's sing nice songs together.

Mm-hmm.

♪ My heart is gay ♪

♪ It sings today ♪

♪ Awake ♪

♪ This is my call of love ♪♪

Is that better than the whiskey?

What is that?

It is white man's way
when they're in love.

It is called kiss.

Now you kiss me, hm?

[instrumental music]

[birds chirping]

[birds chirping]

[birds chirping]

Wrestler!

Wrestler!

[birds chirping]

Laughing Boy.

Laughing Boy.

Laughing Boy!

Laughing Boy!

Laughing Boy!

[grunts]

[birds chirping]

Go! Go, you brush Indian!

[grunts]

[spits]

[spits]
You..

You, you fool!

You think I care?

[laughing]

Oh.

[laughing]

[laughing]

[bird chirping]

[sobbing]

[instrumental music]

[sobbing]

[sobbing]

Laughing Boy.

Laughing Boy.

[sobbing]

[bird chirping]

[train horn blaring]

[train chugging]

[train horn blaring]

[train horn blaring]

[train chugging]

[instrumental music]

[cheering]

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

You know very well
these children

are not allowed any candy.

Sure, I know.
No candy after supper.

No candy before supper.
I know all the rules.

Oh, uh, duh..
Cecilia, put down that candy.

- Don't put it down.
- Keep it down, Cecilia.

Don't put it down. Go..

- Don't you dare..
- Come on..

- There!
- You get away from here.

[indistinct chatter]

Here comes! Come on! Take!

Oh, you shameless girl.

After all we did for you..

I forbid you
to come around here anymore.

I come wherever I like,
I go wherever I want!

I'm not behind
your wired fence anymore!

- And try to stop me!
- Oh!

[indistinct chatter]

Hey, what's the matter?
You tired of sheep?

How would you like a nice cowboy
for a change?

[sniffs]

Boys, did she wiggle them hips,
huh?

Hey, what are you lookin' at?
Get busy.

[indistinct chatter]

A three-cents stamp, please.

Lily, who do you find
to write to?

- You never get any mail.
- Maybe I write to you.

- Hey, don't do that.
- Well, I gotta be going.

I've gotta leave for the ranch
as soon as the horses

are showered.
I'll be seein' you.

And get this,
you slant-eyed little squaw.

Don't you ever go hoppin' off
to a dance again

when you know I'm in town.

Your glass is empty again.

And if you ever leave me
standin' around this dirty town

in and out of that post office

there's gonna be one mighty,
sick, little Indian girl.

Your glass is full again.

'I should have been back
at the ranch two days ago.'

'Got a bunch
of weevil-faced sheepherders'

'you can't trust
the length of your arm.'

Well, why don't you go?

'It's been three long weeks'

'since I've seen you, Lily.'

Say, what's the matter with you?

Oh, I don't know.

Maybe I feel tired.

'Say, you've been that way
all afternoon.'

'I'm getting sick of it.'

You know,
you're acting mighty changed

since you went to that dance.

Don't think you're the only girl
in Los Palos.

There are lots of girls
who'd be glad to be nice to me.

Well, go to them.
Go to them and leave me alone.

You know, I've, I've sent for

three nice, new silk dresses
for you

and lots of other things.

Oh, please.

Say, what's eating you?

Don't I always give you
everything you want?

I pay for this house, don't I?
Ain't I good to you?

Don't I give you
all the money you want?

Oh, leave me alone
and go to the other girls.

I hate you!

Ow!

[sobbing]

[sobbing]

Lily. Lily.

[sobbing]

Lily. I didn't mean that.

You made me mad
the way you acted.

Lily, I want to do everything
to make you happy.

Oh, George, do as you like.

What is the difference?

[instrumental music]

[music continues]

[music continues]

[sighs]

Oh.

My Slim Girl.

♪ Blue skies ♪

♪ Whisper my love to you ♪

♪ Blue waters ♪

♪ Sing of you ♪

♪ My heart is gay ♪

♪ It sings today ♪

♪ Awake ♪

♪ This is my call ♪

♪ Of love ♪♪

[instrumental music]

Laughing Boy.

This is magic.

I am not magic.

I..

I had to come.

If you send me away,
I shall die.

But it does not matter.

To have seen you again...
is good.

Shall I go?

No.

No, my Slim Girl.

No.

You were right
when you ran away from me.

I was bad.

I didn't care.

I was glad to be bad.

It was my way.

But you have made me
want to be good again.

Have I been so bad..

...I never can be good again?

[sighs]

Look.

The new moon.

Our badness died
with the old moon.

Come.

I'll take you to my people now.

Oh, no. No, please.

I'm afraid.

I'm afraid they have heard
the bad things about me.

It doesn't matter.

We will be married.

My mother will take you
as a daughter

because I say you are good.

[cow bells chiming]

[instrumental music]

[grunting]

Hey ya, Slim Girl.

Come and see
the horses we've caught.

How are you, my mother?

It has been a good week.
Many horses.

So I see, my son.

Where is Slim Girl?

She is not here.

She has not gone
while I've been away?

- No, not far.
- But where?

She won't be here today.

Your mother told her
she must kill the next goat.

She is never here when
there's a goat to be killed.

Where is the goat?
I will kill it.

That's woman's work. Slim Girl
has been married three months.

It's time for her
to learn these things.

- I have told her so.
- She does many things well.

You have said so yourself,
my mother.

Some things she does well.

Does she stay away when there,
there are skins to beat

water to fetch,
wood to gather, corn to plant?

No, she tries to do these things

but, my son, you married a woman

who can never weave a blanket.

Slim Girl's hands and thoughts
are not ours.

- They can never be.
- You are wrong.

She can do anything, that girl.

Wait till I find her
and I'll show you.

Move over, wrestler.

Oh. Heh.

Why are you crying?

Oh.

It is nothing.

[sniffles]

I have been trying to pray.

But now you're here..

...I don't have to pray.

[sniffles]

You pray for me, Laughing Boy.

I want to be a good Navajo.

I do.

If you try to weave a blanket

it would please my mother.

Will that make you happy, too,
my husband?

Even if it isn't so good?

It will come in time,
my Slim Girl.

I have tried.

- You have?
- Yes.

Come, I will show you.

[instrumental music]

Soon after our marriage

I set up a loom
in the cedars here.

I couldn't work with eyes on me.

[sighs]
I said to myself

"It is in my blood
to make a blanket.

Came With War
can make a blanket as anyone."

Each day you went to the mesa

I came here.

And now look at this thing.

Where are your wool cards?

Here.

Then..
Oh, then..

[chuckles]

See, all it needed was a strong
hand to pull it together.

Mm-hmm. It is like my life,
this blanket.

Then it is a good life.
It is a good blanket.

I've never seen
this design before.

Did you make it up yourself?

[giggling]
Mm-hmm.

This design is like you.

It breaks all rules

but it is beautiful.

Come, let's show it
to my mother.

Oh.

[goat bleating]

[speaking in foreign language]

(Laughing Boy)
See, my mother?

Did you say my wife
couldn't weave a blanket?

- No woman wove this blanket.
- This woman did.

(Laughing Boy)
'Is it a good blanket
or is it not, my mother?'

(Laughing Boy's mother)
'It is good
for a first blanket.'

But it is as a man thinks,
not as a woman.

The blanket is bold.

[goat bleating]

Why do you fear to kill goat?

I...I do not fear to do it.

- Then, here is the knife.
- Oh, no, no.

(Slim Girl)
'Oh, please,
please don't ask me to do it.'

(Laughing Boy's mother)
'It is all in the work
of a hogan.'

[goat bleating]

[goat bleating]

I can't do it.

I just can't do it!

I will remember the killing!

I'm sick,
every day of watching a goat

going to the pond
where this blood is still fresh!

I just can't do it!

You have lived the life
of a white woman too long.

Our ways
will never be your ways.

Well, why don't you let me do
other work?

Clean the hogan,
hang the blankets in the sun.

Let me dig all the soft weed.

Let me fetch all the water,
anything you want

but just that, I can't do it.

Oh.

This is your marriage, my son.

Take the meat to my hogan.

I will kill it.

[goat bleating]

[goat bleating]

[sobbing]

I'm sorry, Laughing Boy.

I have tried.

There are some things..

...I cannot do yet.

I know. I know.

Oh, Laughing Boy,
let's go far away.

Build a hogan of our own.

Then it might be, we could
keep our happiness always.

We must wait before we can build
a hogan of our own.

At least two years

before I can ask my share
of my father's sheep.

- Laughing Boy.
- What?

- Laughing Boy.
- What is it?

I will get us sheep.

We cannot get sheep
without silver.

- And I have very little of it.
- I have silver.

Much silver and turquoise.
You have seen it.

It doesn't mean
to me anything now.

In Los Palos, I will trade it
for money to buy sheep.

- In Los Palos?
- Uh-huh.

Now is the season
for white visitors.

I will make them pay very big
prices for my silver stuff.

Oh, I never heard
of a wife who traded.

I am a different wife.
You have said so once.

You have said, "To be different
is not a bad thing to be."

Yes. I said that once.

Oh, let me be that way always.

Let our happiness
be different, too.

If we stay here,
soon there'll be no difference

between me
and any Navajo squaw.

And I wanted that people
shall always say

"That Laughing Boy,
he must have magic.

His wife does not grow old
and fat like other squaws."

And, Laughing Boy, in two years

we shall have more horses,
more sheep, more silver

than anyone
in the north Blue country.

We shall build
a white-man house, if we like

with a stove to cook on
and a bed to sleep in, huh?

[laughing]

Why do you laugh?

It'd be very strange, I think,
to sleep on a bed.

Beds are soft, my hair is soft.

The night breeze is soft.

You like 'em both.

Was there ever
such a woman like you?

I..
Heh.

I may go, huh? Tomorrow?

If you think it best to go..

...go.

Yes. It is best
for our life together.

You will see, my husband.
It is best.

[chuckles]

Oh.

[knocking on door]

[speaking in foreign language]

- 'Takora!'
- Eh?

(Slim Girl)
'Open the door.'

'Come on.'

[Yellow Singer snoring]

Drunk again, huh?

Well,
here I am in Los Palos again.

- Hm.
- Give me a cigarette.

I thought you would
come back again one day.

You're a town Indian.

Life out there's
too hard for you, eh?

Once it was the right life
for an Indian.

For him, for you, for me.

But the white man
spoiled that life.

We three are alike.

There's a mountain
between us and our people.

Look at him.

(Slim Girl)
'Chief of a great race.'

He learned the white man's way.

He ate the white man's bread.
And look at him.

And look at me!

My name is Came With War.

They make two of me.

I bring two beds.

Think two ways.

[sighs]
How can I walk in beauty?

How can I?

They pay those white men
for what they done to me.

What are you going to do?

That house I had

does that Hartshorne
still lives there?

When he's in town,
he stays there.

He's very rich now,
that Hartshorne.

He sold much land
to the railroad.

That Rosie stays with him.

She was in the American school
where you were, you remember?

Oh, Rose. Hmph!

They quarrel always.

He remembers you, I think.

[sighs]
He shall remember me..

...always.

[train chugging]

Get away, will you?

Or maybe you'd like
I make you a drink?

Well, I wish you'd do something.

[train horn blaring]

Hello, Rosie.

Hello, Georgie.

[chuckles]

Well..

You got it fixed up pretty good.

Yes. Pretty good.

Cost a lot, Georgie, eh?

What the devil
are you doing here?

Why am I here?

Maybe I got lonesome for you,
George.

I don't know.

Beat it, Rosie.

Beat it!

[chuckles]

If you spoke to me that way

I will kill you.

But you wouldn't speak to Lily
that way, would you, George?

Hm.

You don't look so good.

Too much whiskey, I think.
You have missed me?

You've got a nerve coming back
here after the way you left me.

Sure, I got nerve, but I'm back.

I know by your eyes
that you're glad to see me.

But I must hear you say it.

They tell me you got married.
Is that right?

Yes. Slim Girl is married.

But Lily's here.

Oh, come on, say it.
Say you're glad to see me.

Come on. Say it.

Please.

I got to admit it to you.

Alaho to my father.

Alaho to my mother.

- Alaho to my mother.
- Alaho to my son.

It's been 12 months
since I've seen you.

How is everything
in the north country, my father?

Well, well.

You did not come to see us,
my son.

I thought
that trouble had come to you.

Trouble, my mother?
Look at my horses.

Our fat sheep, our big corral.

Does it look
as if we are in trouble?

But come, my mother,
let me help you.

But you did not come to see us,
my son.

I couldn't, my mother.
My wife has been away.

I had to take care of the sheep
and the horses.

- Where is your wife?
- In Los Palos.

She's a different wife,
that one. She comes and goes.

- Why, my son?
- She goes there to trade.

Go in to the hogan and see
what her trading has given us.

Here, my mother, sit.

See all the new things
that Slim Girl has brought.

A chair.

[sighs]

No, my son.
The earth is more gentle.

Yes, my mother. Um..

An-an-and, uh, here is a bed
with four legs. Like a horse.

And soft, too.

And the other blanket's white,
soft as wool.

- Do you sleep on it?
- Oh, no.

It squeaks sometimes
when you turn and wakes you up.

And besides,
it sinks in the middle, too.

But it looks pretty
in the hogan, I think.

Um, the earth is more gentle.

Hey, yeah,
we're all too sad, I think.

Out of that box with music

I'm going to play you
a funny chant.

It's all about a boy
who is half man and half horse.

[chuckles]

[music on record]

♪ Pony Boy Pony Boy ♪

♪ Won't you be my Tony Boy? ♪

[laughing]

♪ Off across the plains ♪

♪ Marry me carry me
right away with you ♪

♪ Giddy-up giddy-up
giddy-up whoa ♪

♪ My Pony Boy ♪

♪ Giddy-up giddy-up
giddy-up whoa ♪

♪ My Pony Boy ♪

♪ Pony Boy Pony Boy ♪

♪ Won't you be my Tony Boy?
Don't say no ♪

♪ Here we go
off across the plains ♪♪

Isn't that funny?

It sounds like the voice
of a hen crow.

Sounds like crow fighting.

Let's see your horses and sheep.

Yes, my uncle.

Come, father.

Come, grandfather.

- See?
- Hm.

They are all fat.

There is no sickness among them.

You have too many sheep
for one year, I think.

Your sheep must have a lamb
every moon

for you to have so many.

Oh, no, I bought them
from the white trader

with the money that Slim Girl
brings back from Los Palos

for the silver work I make.

- She must be a good trader.
- Uh-huh.

A man should raise
his own sheep.

You dream trouble, grandfather?

Every time she goes away,
I miss her so.

And when she comes back

I want to speak with her
about all these things

but she does not want to listen
to the serious word.

She only wants
to whisper and laugh

and be a young wife.

And I cannot help
but whisper and laugh with her

because every time
I miss her so.

But this time
she stays away too long.

Maybe she stays
for the Fourth of July

for the big thing.

I should like to go there

and bring her back with me

but I cannot leave
the horses and the sheep.

Well, I'm here. I'll take care
of the horses and sheep.

My friend.

That girl and I

we have never had a holiday
together.

If I speak with her
about all these things

away from the hogan

maybe everything
will be well again.

Uh? Oh.

[band music]

[firecracker crackling]

[indistinct chatter]

[firecrackers crackling]

[music continues]

[whirring]

[laughs]

Popcorn, Navajo?

- What's that?
- Popcorn. It's good.

[firecrackers crackling]

- Good.
- Crazy hot?

Mm-hmm.

Do you know Slim Girl?

No, I don't know.

I thought maybe you would.

She's a good trader here.

Yeah, yeah? I don't know.
Hey, you ain't gonna pay me?

- What's the matter with you?
- Popcorn!

Come on, Lily,
let's get comfortable.

What's eating you?

Oh, it isn't late.

- Let's go back to town.
- What, again?

Didn't you see all
there was to see once tonight?

- Yes.
- What do wanna go again for?

Oh, I don't know. I just
feel like moving, that's all.

Come on, have a drink.
You'll feel better.

[chuckles]
No.

I got drunk on ice cream
tonight.

Six dishes. Three more
than you bet I could eat.

Now, three dollars, please?
Come on. Ha-ha.

You're getting to be
a mighty expensive baby.

Hm. Well,
you work hard for your money.

You should have fun.
I'm your fun, eh?

Oh, thank you.

Gee, I hate to leave you, baby.

Why don't you
go back to the ranch

with me tomorrow, Lily?

You're not afraid
for people to know

about you and me anymore?

Well I should say not.
I'm a big shot now.

When I want anything bad enough,
I don't care what people think.

- Come along?
- No.

I already stay in Los Palos
too long this time.

(Hartshorne)
'Oh, well, I'm not jealous
of every Indian husband.'

'But I often wonder.'

'Doesn't he ever
ask any questions?'

I told you,
so long as my husband

has plenty of silver
and turquoise to work with

plenty of money to buy ship

he don't ask any questions

where I go, where I come.

- Me very cold--
- Oh, keep away.

Go away. Leave me alone.

[indistinct chatter]

Now leave me alone.

[band music]

I know you.
You're Yellow Singer.

Slim Girl's friend.

[speaking in foreign language]

Uh-huh.

Can you take me to Slim Girl?

I'll give you money if you do.

Slim Girl is not in Los Palos,
she has gone.

The old blind girl, I saw her.

Tsk, tsk. You see things
from whiskey. Come.

- One dollar.
- Two dollar.

- After you show me to her.
- Come.

[music on record]

Are you gonna play that thing
all night?

- You devil.
- Hah!

[laughing]

Surprise.
Wait, that stuff is good.

I will buy some for Slim Girl.
One of those.

Yeah?

- How much?
- Ten cents.

[firecracker crackling]

[music on record]

You know it's getting late.

- What are you stalling about?
- Tsk. I'm waiting.

- Waiting? For what?
- Mm-hmm.

For you to remember something
that you forgot.

- Forgot? What?
- Mm-hmm.

Well, something. A little book.

- Book? Book?
- Mm-hmm.

- Oh, you mean bank book?
- Yes!

Huh! I didn't forget.

- Ooh!
- Oh. Mm-mm, mm-mm.

Look. Deposit and everything.

Oh! Ho!

- She lives there.
- Oh.

Oh!

Yes. Here it is.

- Here I come.
- No, no, stay there.

No, I come to you.
Wait a minute.

One, two and three.
Here I come.

Yoo-hoo! Ha-ha!

[gasps]

Hey, what's the matter with you?

Lily, what is the matter?

Lily?

What do you want? Who are you?

What are you doing here?
What are you gonna do with that?

[groans]

[clatters]

[Slim Girl groaning]

[groaning]

[groans]

Don't. Oh, don't, don't.

It was going too deep..

...I think.

I didn't mean the arrow for you.

Don't look at me like that.

Quick.

Before the darkness comes..

...would you get
a little closer?

Closer so I can see you.

What I did with him

has nothing to do
with what I did with you.

It was only
so I could make our two ways..

...work together in unity.

Now you know it.

It is a good thing I die.

No, no, my Slim Girl..

...do not die.

It is best, I think.

The white man
has spoiled the way for me.

Two gods cut me in two pieces.

Always I breathe two breaths.

I think two ways.

I knew too much..

...and too little.

I was too hard and too soft.

Too bad and too good.

I did not want you to...to know

that you have married a woman

who feared the work of a hogan.

That's why..

...I did this evil thing.

You...you cannot..

You can never understand

I think.

I think I understand.

You tried to cheat the gods
a little..

...so that
we could be happy much.

But they won't be angry
with you.

They will only think

"Poor little Slim Girl.

She missed the way."

Laughing Boy..

...kiss me, kiss me.

[sobbing]

I will..

I go to my people now.

I wait for you...there.

[instrumental music]

Oh.

Oh.

[music continues]

Yes, my Slim Girl..

...wait for me.

Wait for me there.

♪ O-o-oh oh ♪

♪ O-o-oh ♪

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh oh ♪

♪ Oh-oh oh-oh oh-oh oh ♪♪

[instrumental music]