WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.170 align:middle line:90% 00:00:02.170 --> 00:00:08.920 align:middle line:84% When the Kiowas were routed in Palo Duro Canyon 00:00:08.920 --> 00:00:14.710 align:middle line:84% by the cavalry, they were herded to Fort Sill, 00:00:14.710 --> 00:00:17.830 align:middle line:84% and they were imprisoned in the old stone 00:00:17.830 --> 00:00:21.040 align:middle line:90% corral which still stands. 00:00:21.040 --> 00:00:24.940 align:middle line:84% And their ponies, their horses, the Kiowas 00:00:24.940 --> 00:00:28.720 align:middle line:84% were said to own more horses than any other-- per capita, 00:00:28.720 --> 00:00:31.600 align:middle line:84% than any other tribe on the Great Plains. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:36.940 align:middle line:84% Their horses were destroyed within their hearing. 00:00:36.940 --> 00:00:40.720 align:middle line:90% 800 ponies were killed. 00:00:40.720 --> 00:00:43.330 align:middle line:90% 00:00:43.330 --> 00:00:47.980 align:middle line:84% In The Ancient Child, which is a novel that 00:00:47.980 --> 00:00:56.880 align:middle line:84% was published in 1989, there is the story 00:00:56.880 --> 00:01:01.410 align:middle line:84% of a contemporary artist, a painter, whose name is 00:01:01.410 --> 00:01:07.300 align:middle line:90% Set, Catlin Set, Locke Setman. 00:01:07.300 --> 00:01:11.950 align:middle line:84% And he's a painter who has achieved great success. 00:01:11.950 --> 00:01:14.450 align:middle line:90% He lives in San Francisco. 00:01:14.450 --> 00:01:21.760 align:middle line:84% He was orphaned at a very young age, raised by a professor, 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:28.390 align:middle line:84% retired philosopher, a man of very great humanity 00:01:28.390 --> 00:01:31.750 align:middle line:90% whose name is Bent. 00:01:31.750 --> 00:01:35.730 align:middle line:90% And Set becomes a great painter. 00:01:35.730 --> 00:01:40.530 align:middle line:84% But the more success he achieves, the more limited 00:01:40.530 --> 00:01:45.520 align:middle line:84% he becomes in the expression of his own creativity. 00:01:45.520 --> 00:01:52.670 align:middle line:84% And I want to read first of all a passage about Set. 00:01:52.670 --> 00:01:57.530 align:middle line:84% "By the time he was 30, Locke Setman, 00:01:57.530 --> 00:02:01.790 align:middle line:84% called Set by all who knew him, had found the truest expression 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:05.290 align:middle line:90% of his spirit in painting. 00:02:05.290 --> 00:02:10.210 align:middle line:84% At 35 he had made a considerable reputation, 00:02:10.210 --> 00:02:13.600 align:middle line:84% having received several important awards 00:02:13.600 --> 00:02:17.140 align:middle line:84% and attracted the attention of critics and collectors 00:02:17.140 --> 00:02:19.510 align:middle line:90% throughout the country. 00:02:19.510 --> 00:02:25.780 align:middle line:84% It was fashionable and expensive to own one of his paintings. 00:02:25.780 --> 00:02:30.670 align:middle line:84% At 40 he was in the first rank of American artists, 00:02:30.670 --> 00:02:36.190 align:middle line:84% and he was in danger of losing his soul. 00:02:36.190 --> 00:02:39.280 align:middle line:84% Innumerable demands were made upon him. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:42.130 align:middle line:84% He came to understand that success 00:02:42.130 --> 00:02:47.290 align:middle line:84% in terms of fame and fortune was costly in other terms. 00:02:47.290 --> 00:02:52.900 align:middle line:84% More and more often he was asked to compromise his art 00:02:52.900 --> 00:02:56.950 align:middle line:84% or himself in one way or another. 00:02:56.950 --> 00:03:01.240 align:middle line:84% And more often than not, he did so. 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:04.660 align:middle line:84% For he was inclined to be passive and naive, 00:03:04.660 --> 00:03:09.070 align:middle line:84% it was difficult for him to say no. 00:03:09.070 --> 00:03:13.690 align:middle line:84% Those who exhibited his work who praised and purchased it 00:03:13.690 --> 00:03:16.180 align:middle line:84% and who demanded its proliferation 00:03:16.180 --> 00:03:18.980 align:middle line:90% began to determine it. 00:03:18.980 --> 00:03:21.400 align:middle line:90% Set went along. 00:03:21.400 --> 00:03:25.310 align:middle line:90% He enjoyed celebrity. 00:03:25.310 --> 00:03:29.480 align:middle line:84% It was wonderful to be recognized, to be sought after, 00:03:29.480 --> 00:03:32.870 align:middle line:84% to be admired and envied and imitated. 00:03:32.870 --> 00:03:36.200 align:middle line:84% Men of means invited him to their clubs, 00:03:36.200 --> 00:03:40.490 align:middle line:84% prevailed upon him to speak at their luncheons, 00:03:40.490 --> 00:03:43.010 align:middle line:90% gave parties in his honor. 00:03:43.010 --> 00:03:48.320 align:middle line:84% Women took notice of him, approached him, 00:03:48.320 --> 00:03:52.670 align:middle line:84% laid claim to him, and he went along. 00:03:52.670 --> 00:03:55.580 align:middle line:84% There were times when the disillusionment 00:03:55.580 --> 00:04:00.360 align:middle line:90% was so great that he wept. 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:05.540 align:middle line:84% It was such a fine thing to paint, to see something, 00:04:05.540 --> 00:04:09.890 align:middle line:84% a human face or an orchard or a moon rolling, 00:04:09.890 --> 00:04:13.880 align:middle line:84% and to render, to make a picture of it 00:04:13.880 --> 00:04:19.050 align:middle line:84% according to his vision which was unique, to see 00:04:19.050 --> 00:04:23.850 align:middle line:84% and to paint with excitement, with a child's excitement that 00:04:23.850 --> 00:04:26.830 align:middle line:90% is what brought him to life. 00:04:26.830 --> 00:04:31.180 align:middle line:84% The child says, here, see, this bird 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:36.220 align:middle line:84% I have painted it is what I have seen in my soul. 00:04:36.220 --> 00:04:38.800 align:middle line:90% is it not a wonderful thing? 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:42.510 align:middle line:84% Is this not a good way of seeing? 00:04:42.510 --> 00:04:45.000 align:middle line:84% Set strove to see and to image what 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:48.450 align:middle line:84% he saw as truly as he could so that others could see 00:04:48.450 --> 00:04:52.440 align:middle line:84% as he did so that they could see in a way 00:04:52.440 --> 00:04:56.630 align:middle line:90% they had not seen before. 00:04:56.630 --> 00:05:01.430 align:middle line:84% But it seemed no one cared about that, no one 00:05:01.430 --> 00:05:05.195 align:middle line:84% among his associates, his public. 00:05:05.195 --> 00:05:08.030 align:middle line:90% 00:05:08.030 --> 00:05:10.340 align:middle line:84% He wanted a child to come to his studio 00:05:10.340 --> 00:05:14.330 align:middle line:84% to look at the splatter of paint on the walls, the floor, 00:05:14.330 --> 00:05:17.360 align:middle line:84% his easel, to see the drawings on the walls, 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:22.940 align:middle line:84% to touch his or her hands to the thickly painted linen plain, 00:05:22.940 --> 00:05:28.580 align:middle line:84% to say to the child, just look at this yellow, how 00:05:28.580 --> 00:05:34.920 align:middle line:84% it vibrates, look at the blues how they make a mystery. 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:39.610 align:middle line:84% Could you have imagined a blue like this? 00:05:39.610 --> 00:05:41.800 align:middle line:84% And for a moment the child's eyes 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:45.400 align:middle line:84% would have been wide with wonder, 00:05:45.400 --> 00:05:51.250 align:middle line:84% but the dealers and critics were narrow eyed and glib 00:05:51.250 --> 00:05:57.430 align:middle line:84% and there were calculations in all their faces. 00:05:57.430 --> 00:06:02.140 align:middle line:84% Notwithstanding there was conviction in him 00:06:02.140 --> 00:06:06.580 align:middle line:84% and a commitment to be his own man. 00:06:06.580 --> 00:06:09.340 align:middle line:90% Therefore he struggled. 00:06:09.340 --> 00:06:16.120 align:middle line:84% Now at 44 he found himself in a difficult position. 00:06:16.120 --> 00:06:19.210 align:middle line:84% He had compromised more than he knew. 00:06:19.210 --> 00:06:22.210 align:middle line:84% He had squandered much of his time and talent. 00:06:22.210 --> 00:06:24.970 align:middle line:90% He had become sick and tired. 00:06:24.970 --> 00:06:27.610 align:middle line:84% He remembered a time in which he had painted 00:06:27.610 --> 00:06:34.090 align:middle line:84% for the sake of painting, out of some wild exuberance 00:06:34.090 --> 00:06:35.860 align:middle line:90% in his spirit. 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:40.270 align:middle line:84% He had been full of excitement, the excitement of learning, 00:06:40.270 --> 00:06:43.450 align:middle line:84% of experimenting, of feeling his ability 00:06:43.450 --> 00:06:47.420 align:middle line:84% and his accomplishment come close together. 00:06:47.420 --> 00:06:51.320 align:middle line:84% But he had committed his time and his work virtually all 00:06:51.320 --> 00:06:54.950 align:middle line:90% of it to his public. 00:06:54.950 --> 00:06:59.480 align:middle line:84% At every breath it seemed another painting or promise 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:02.220 align:middle line:90% came due. 00:07:02.220 --> 00:07:06.570 align:middle line:84% Moreover, he had ceased to grow in his work. 00:07:06.570 --> 00:07:09.330 align:middle line:84% He wanted to paint a tree, but he 00:07:09.330 --> 00:07:11.940 align:middle line:90% was obliged to paint a house. 00:07:11.940 --> 00:07:16.740 align:middle line:84% He wanted to paint small, but he was obliged to paint large. 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:21.150 align:middle line:84% He wanted to do something he had never done, 00:07:21.150 --> 00:07:26.910 align:middle line:84% but he was obliged to do the same thing again and again 00:07:26.910 --> 00:07:27.840 align:middle line:90% without end. 00:07:27.840 --> 00:07:32.800 align:middle line:90% 00:07:32.800 --> 00:07:38.140 align:middle line:84% He had become sick and tired, and he 00:07:38.140 --> 00:07:41.770 align:middle line:84% did the only thing he could think 00:07:41.770 --> 00:07:46.580 align:middle line:90% to do under the circumstances. 00:07:46.580 --> 00:07:56.560 align:middle line:84% He withdrew, not completely, not all at once but deliberately. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:00.610 align:middle line:84% He would fulfill his obligations to be sure. 00:08:00.610 --> 00:08:04.520 align:middle line:84% Indeed he would give the best that was in him. 00:08:04.520 --> 00:08:08.050 align:middle line:84% But he would first and last be true to himself. 00:08:08.050 --> 00:08:11.350 align:middle line:84% He would endeavor to save his soul. 00:08:11.350 --> 00:08:14.050 align:middle line:90% 00:08:14.050 --> 00:08:19.150 align:middle line:84% About the same time, he painted a self-portrait, a full length 00:08:19.150 --> 00:08:21.700 align:middle line:90% study in acrylic on paper. 00:08:21.700 --> 00:08:25.570 align:middle line:84% It was a good likeness, though Set was not a portraitist, 00:08:25.570 --> 00:08:29.650 align:middle line:84% and the likeness though close was stylized, essentially 00:08:29.650 --> 00:08:31.390 align:middle line:90% abstract. 00:08:31.390 --> 00:08:36.940 align:middle line:84% Blues and greens and an ivory predominate upon a background 00:08:36.940 --> 00:08:39.429 align:middle line:90% of brown and black. 00:08:39.429 --> 00:08:42.850 align:middle line:84% The figure faces us in a relaxed attitude, 00:08:42.850 --> 00:08:45.970 align:middle line:84% standing with feet well apart, the hands 00:08:45.970 --> 00:08:50.470 align:middle line:84% on the hips, work clothes splashed with paint 00:08:50.470 --> 00:08:52.930 align:middle line:90% hang as on a mannequin. 00:08:52.930 --> 00:08:56.650 align:middle line:84% The body appears to be that of a tall man. 00:08:56.650 --> 00:09:00.490 align:middle line:84% The torso is long though the shoulders and thighs are well 00:09:00.490 --> 00:09:04.700 align:middle line:84% rounded like the shoulders and thighs of a swimmer. 00:09:04.700 --> 00:09:06.900 align:middle line:90% The hands and feet are slim. 00:09:06.900 --> 00:09:09.920 align:middle line:84% The arms and neck disproportionately long but 00:09:09.920 --> 00:09:12.950 align:middle line:84% somehow in keeping with the general character 00:09:12.950 --> 00:09:15.140 align:middle line:90% of the portrait. 00:09:15.140 --> 00:09:18.440 align:middle line:84% The head is inclined slightly to one side. 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:23.930 align:middle line:84% The hair is blue and grey and unkempt of a length that nearly 00:09:23.930 --> 00:09:25.700 align:middle line:90% covers the ears. 00:09:25.700 --> 00:09:30.140 align:middle line:84% The face is strong with a high broad forehead, 00:09:30.140 --> 00:09:35.470 align:middle line:84% straight nose, a sturdy jaw on the chin cleanly set. 00:09:35.470 --> 00:09:42.920 align:middle line:84% The expression is inscrutable, but we take it to be benign. 00:09:42.920 --> 00:09:50.960 align:middle line:84% The mouth, which is full might describe the faintest of smile. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:55.160 align:middle line:84% The eyes are slightly narrow as if the subject 00:09:55.160 --> 00:09:57.736 align:middle line:90% is looking into the sun. 00:09:57.736 --> 00:10:02.130 align:middle line:84% The gaze is level and penetrating. 00:10:02.130 --> 00:10:05.460 align:middle line:84% The portrait is that of a thoughtful and well-meaning 00:10:05.460 --> 00:10:12.690 align:middle line:84% man, a man of intelligence, some experience, a man of sorrow, 00:10:12.690 --> 00:10:13.990 align:middle line:90% a man of deep feelings. 00:10:13.990 --> 00:10:17.330 align:middle line:90% 00:10:17.330 --> 00:10:25.400 align:middle line:84% Set imagined it was to please, but it 00:10:25.400 --> 00:10:31.510 align:middle line:84% was to astonish God that he painted. 00:10:31.510 --> 00:10:36.820 align:middle line:84% His presumption and arrogance were pronounced and dangerous 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:41.900 align:middle line:84% for they would certainly lead to the sin of despair thence 00:10:41.900 --> 00:10:45.700 align:middle line:90% to death and nothingness. 00:10:45.700 --> 00:10:50.950 align:middle line:84% Bent said so half in jest, only half. 00:10:50.950 --> 00:10:54.430 align:middle line:84% Rather as Set himself said on occasion he 00:10:54.430 --> 00:10:58.240 align:middle line:84% painted in vain in order to relieve 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:02.750 align:middle line:90% the terrible boredom of God. 00:11:02.750 --> 00:11:09.430 align:middle line:84% He expounded God's burden is infinite. 00:11:09.430 --> 00:11:17.230 align:middle line:84% Surely we humans even with our etiquette and our institutions 00:11:17.230 --> 00:11:25.430 align:middle line:84% and our mothers-in-law ceased to amuse him many ages ago. 00:11:25.430 --> 00:11:32.640 align:middle line:84% What sustains him is the satisfaction far deeper 00:11:32.640 --> 00:11:35.490 align:middle line:84% than we can know of having created 00:11:35.490 --> 00:11:47.790 align:middle line:84% a few incomparable, landscapes, waters, birds, and beasts. 00:11:47.790 --> 00:11:52.260 align:middle line:84% It takes particular pride in the stars 00:11:52.260 --> 00:11:57.940 align:middle line:84% and it pleases him to breathe havoc upon the ocean. 00:11:57.940 --> 00:12:02.920 align:middle line:84% He sighs to the music of the desert at dawn. 00:12:02.920 --> 00:12:10.760 align:middle line:84% The eagle and the whale give him still to ponder and admire. 00:12:10.760 --> 00:12:15.950 align:middle line:84% And so must he grieve for the mastodon and the archaeopteryx. 00:12:15.950 --> 00:12:18.500 align:middle line:90% 00:12:18.500 --> 00:12:26.835 align:middle line:84% But bear-- [SIGHS] he used both hands when he made the bear. 00:12:26.835 --> 00:12:29.740 align:middle line:90% 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:37.445 align:middle line:84% Imagine a bear proceeding from the hands of God." 00:12:37.445 --> 00:12:42.810 align:middle line:90% 00:12:42.810 --> 00:12:49.740 align:middle line:84% The girl Grey in the novel is half Navajo, half Kiowa. 00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:52.200 align:middle line:90% She is a medicine woman. 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:57.810 align:middle line:84% Set's destiny is to run to the edge of the world and beyond. 00:12:57.810 --> 00:12:59.670 align:middle line:90% He is the boy bear. 00:12:59.670 --> 00:13:06.620 align:middle line:84% He is the reincarnation of the boy who turned into a bear, 00:13:06.620 --> 00:13:12.060 align:middle line:84% there's a legend about this in Kiowa storytelling. 00:13:12.060 --> 00:13:16.620 align:middle line:84% So he has this bear power in him and he 00:13:16.620 --> 00:13:19.480 align:middle line:84% has to discover it in the course of the novel. 00:13:19.480 --> 00:13:20.800 align:middle line:90% He has to deal with it. 00:13:20.800 --> 00:13:26.160 align:middle line:84% And at the end he must come to a confrontation with the bear. 00:13:26.160 --> 00:13:28.890 align:middle line:90% Grey, the girl assists him. 00:13:28.890 --> 00:13:32.580 align:middle line:84% She is a medicine woman, a 19-year-old medicine 00:13:32.580 --> 00:13:35.400 align:middle line:90% woman which is fairly rare. 00:13:35.400 --> 00:13:38.040 align:middle line:84% They're generally older than that. 00:13:38.040 --> 00:13:39.660 align:middle line:90% But she's very beautiful. 00:13:39.660 --> 00:13:42.690 align:middle line:84% She's very learned and she assists 00:13:42.690 --> 00:13:44.460 align:middle line:84% him and she falls in love with him 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:48.850 align:middle line:84% and she finally becomes pregnant by him. 00:13:48.850 --> 00:13:55.290 align:middle line:84% She doesn't give birth by the time the novel is finished, 00:13:55.290 --> 00:13:59.160 align:middle line:90% but there is this in the offing. 00:13:59.160 --> 00:14:02.730 align:middle line:84% And Set comes to the confrontation. 00:14:02.730 --> 00:14:09.780 align:middle line:84% Well, Grey is a creature of great imaginative powers 00:14:09.780 --> 00:14:14.490 align:middle line:84% and she fantasizes about Billy the Kid. 00:14:14.490 --> 00:14:17.820 align:middle line:84% She knows more than other people do about Billy the Kid 00:14:17.820 --> 00:14:21.150 align:middle line:84% and she writes in the course of this novel, 00:14:21.150 --> 00:14:25.650 align:middle line:84% she writes a kind of paean to Billy, 00:14:25.650 --> 00:14:33.530 align:middle line:84% a piece of 21 parts, 21 poems and short prose pieces, 00:14:33.530 --> 00:14:36.650 align:middle line:84% one for each year of Billy the Kid's life. 00:14:36.650 --> 00:14:42.950 align:middle line:84% She imagines that she assists him in his most trying moments 00:14:42.950 --> 00:14:46.940 align:middle line:84% when he escapes, for example, from the Lincoln County 00:14:46.940 --> 00:14:47.630 align:middle line:90% courthouse. 00:14:47.630 --> 00:14:51.500 align:middle line:84% She imagines that it is she who goes to the courthouse 00:14:51.500 --> 00:14:55.730 align:middle line:84% and passes him the note on a thin strip of cigarette paper 00:14:55.730 --> 00:14:57.680 align:middle line:90% as she shakes his hand. 00:14:57.680 --> 00:15:02.030 align:middle line:84% She passes the note which reads latrine, 00:15:02.030 --> 00:15:04.580 align:middle line:84% and Billy the Kid knows at that point 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:09.890 align:middle line:84% that a gun is secreted in the latrine. 00:15:09.890 --> 00:15:18.500 align:middle line:84% And so he goes down with Bell one of his guards 00:15:18.500 --> 00:15:24.260 align:middle line:84% and there in a folded up copy of the New Mexican, which 00:15:24.260 --> 00:15:28.340 align:middle line:84% I think is entirely appropriate, is the pistol, 00:15:28.340 --> 00:15:32.600 align:middle line:84% the gun which he then places in his belt 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:37.010 align:middle line:84% and he's shackled hand and foot like Set-angya 00:15:37.010 --> 00:15:43.040 align:middle line:84% and he leads Bell up the steps, Bell his guard. 00:15:43.040 --> 00:15:46.430 align:middle line:84% And at a certain moment he turns. 00:15:46.430 --> 00:15:48.530 align:middle line:84% Having taken the gun from his belt 00:15:48.530 --> 00:15:51.680 align:middle line:84% and he turns and the gun is in Bell's face. 00:15:51.680 --> 00:15:55.110 align:middle line:90% 00:15:55.110 --> 00:15:57.420 align:middle line:84% This is the greatest escape story 00:15:57.420 --> 00:16:01.140 align:middle line:84% I think in American literature, and it's true. 00:16:01.140 --> 00:16:03.670 align:middle line:90% That's what makes it wonderful. 00:16:03.670 --> 00:16:07.120 align:middle line:84% He says to Bell, I don't want to hurt you. 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:11.830 align:middle line:84% You have been good to me unlike Olinger, the other guard, 00:16:11.830 --> 00:16:18.840 align:middle line:84% who has taunted Billy and made his life miserable. 00:16:18.840 --> 00:16:21.870 align:middle line:84% Billy says to Bell, I don't want to hurt you. 00:16:21.870 --> 00:16:25.620 align:middle line:84% For God's sake, don't do anything foolish 00:16:25.620 --> 00:16:29.740 align:middle line:84% because I'll kill you if I have to. 00:16:29.740 --> 00:16:33.220 align:middle line:84% And Bell is, of course, humiliated 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:38.310 align:middle line:84% and overcome by having the tables turned on him. 00:16:38.310 --> 00:16:40.830 align:middle line:90% And so he tries to escape. 00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:45.390 align:middle line:84% They're on the stairs and the first-- 00:16:45.390 --> 00:16:48.630 align:middle line:84% the first stairway goes down to a landing 00:16:48.630 --> 00:16:51.780 align:middle line:84% and then there's a right angle and there's another stairway 00:16:51.780 --> 00:16:55.680 align:middle line:90% down to the street. 00:16:55.680 --> 00:17:05.099 align:middle line:84% And Bell foolishly decides that he can make a break for it 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:09.050 align:middle line:84% and if he turns that blind corner he's safe, 00:17:09.050 --> 00:17:11.760 align:middle line:84% but what he doesn't take into account, of course, 00:17:11.760 --> 00:17:15.140 align:middle line:84% is that there is behind him the greatest coordination of mind 00:17:15.140 --> 00:17:18.079 align:middle line:90% and muscle in the Southwest. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:22.099 align:middle line:84% So he makes a break for it and Billy is very sad 00:17:22.099 --> 00:17:23.569 align:middle line:90% to see him do that. 00:17:23.569 --> 00:17:27.060 align:middle line:90% And there are these two shots. 00:17:27.060 --> 00:17:31.080 align:middle line:84% One strikes Bell in the back and spins him around the corner 00:17:31.080 --> 00:17:35.130 align:middle line:84% and he's dead, falls into the street. 00:17:35.130 --> 00:17:38.550 align:middle line:84% Olinger who is in the Wortley Hotel across the street 00:17:38.550 --> 00:17:40.515 align:middle line:90% in Lincoln hears a shot. 00:17:40.515 --> 00:17:43.090 align:middle line:90% 00:17:43.090 --> 00:17:44.410 align:middle line:90% He thinks. 00:17:44.410 --> 00:17:48.080 align:middle line:84% He's suddenly very alert drinking his lunch. 00:17:48.080 --> 00:17:53.510 align:middle line:90% And he said, did I hear a shot? 00:17:53.510 --> 00:17:54.770 align:middle line:90% What's going on? 00:17:54.770 --> 00:18:01.020 align:middle line:84% So he ventures out into the street, crosses the street 00:18:01.020 --> 00:18:07.680 align:middle line:84% and as he's under the window he hears Billy's familiar voice, 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:10.450 align:middle line:90% hello, Bob. 00:18:10.450 --> 00:18:15.640 align:middle line:84% And he looks up into the twin barrels of his own shotgun. 00:18:15.640 --> 00:18:19.870 align:middle line:84% His signature was a double barreled shotgun. 00:18:19.870 --> 00:18:23.590 align:middle line:84% Unfortunately, he left it in the courthouse 00:18:23.590 --> 00:18:27.770 align:middle line:84% when he went to lunch and Billy got hold of it. 00:18:27.770 --> 00:18:32.850 align:middle line:90% And so Billy shoots him. 00:18:32.850 --> 00:18:38.160 align:middle line:84% I could go into the gory details of that, but I think I won't. 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:44.710 align:middle line:84% He makes his escape and Grey fantasizes 00:18:44.710 --> 00:18:45.940 align:middle line:90% about him in this way. 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:48.640 align:middle line:84% She assists him in that great moment in his life. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:52.900 align:middle line:84% She's with him at other moments in his life. 00:18:52.900 --> 00:18:58.680 align:middle line:84% She tells him about Set-angya, chief of the Kaitsenko Society, 00:18:58.680 --> 00:19:02.760 align:middle line:84% the Kiowa chief of the Crazy Dog Society, 00:19:02.760 --> 00:19:07.320 align:middle line:84% who is the model of bravery and courage to her. 00:19:07.320 --> 00:19:12.720 align:middle line:84% And she says, Billy, all I want to tell you about this old man, 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:14.100 align:middle line:90% he was-- 00:19:14.100 --> 00:19:18.060 align:middle line:90% he was a wonderful man. 00:19:18.060 --> 00:19:22.610 align:middle line:84% He was the leader of the Kaitsenko Society. 00:19:22.610 --> 00:19:26.180 align:middle line:84% He went and gathered up the bones of his son. 00:19:26.180 --> 00:19:32.040 align:middle line:84% He orchestrated his own death, laughing, singing. 00:19:32.040 --> 00:19:38.430 align:middle line:84% At the time what a wonderfully courageous and brave man? 00:19:38.430 --> 00:19:44.100 align:middle line:84% Billy, if you had been there in that time and place, 00:19:44.100 --> 00:19:47.735 align:middle line:84% you would have been a member of the Kaitsenko Society. 00:19:47.735 --> 00:19:50.660 align:middle line:90% 00:19:50.660 --> 00:19:52.920 align:middle line:90% Billy says, mm-hmm. 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:58.300 align:middle line:90% 00:19:58.300 --> 00:20:01.630 align:middle line:84% The man you're talking about was truly brave. 00:20:01.630 --> 00:20:02.950 align:middle line:90% He did great things. 00:20:02.950 --> 00:20:06.550 align:middle line:84% To go and gather up the bones of his son in that way 00:20:06.550 --> 00:20:09.160 align:middle line:84% and to carry them around and then 00:20:09.160 --> 00:20:13.530 align:middle line:84% to die in the way he did that was brave. 00:20:13.530 --> 00:20:17.770 align:middle line:90% But I am not afraid. 00:20:17.770 --> 00:20:20.590 align:middle line:84% And she's a little put off by his protestations. 00:20:20.590 --> 00:20:22.420 align:middle line:84% And she said, oh, wait a minute, Billy, 00:20:22.420 --> 00:20:26.200 align:middle line:84% you remember the time in Lincoln when you killed Sheriff Brady? 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:27.580 align:middle line:90% Remember that? 00:20:27.580 --> 00:20:31.390 align:middle line:84% Brady had confiscated that rifle from you in February 00:20:31.390 --> 00:20:36.760 align:middle line:84% and then three months later, you shot him dead in the street 00:20:36.760 --> 00:20:39.040 align:middle line:84% and there he had lots of men with him. 00:20:39.040 --> 00:20:40.360 align:middle line:90% You had lots of men with you. 00:20:40.360 --> 00:20:42.430 align:middle line:84% There was this kind of general warfare 00:20:42.430 --> 00:20:43.480 align:middle line:90% in the street of Lincoln. 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:46.120 align:middle line:84% Bullets were flying back and forth. 00:20:46.120 --> 00:20:49.750 align:middle line:84% You went out to gather up-- to fetch your gun 00:20:49.750 --> 00:20:52.300 align:middle line:84% and you were wounded in the leg or hit the thigh. 00:20:52.300 --> 00:20:53.050 align:middle line:90% You remember that? 00:20:53.050 --> 00:20:53.800 align:middle line:90% You were crippled. 00:20:53.800 --> 00:20:56.560 align:middle line:84% You couldn't ride for days after that. 00:20:56.560 --> 00:20:58.570 align:middle line:90% That was brave. 00:20:58.570 --> 00:21:01.410 align:middle line:90% It's a brave thing to do. 00:21:01.410 --> 00:21:09.470 align:middle line:84% And Billy says, no, that wasn't brave. 00:21:09.470 --> 00:21:11.465 align:middle line:90% That was stupid. 00:21:11.465 --> 00:21:14.550 align:middle line:90% 00:21:14.550 --> 00:21:16.740 align:middle line:84% And so they go on like this for a time 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:20.490 align:middle line:84% and he says, besides, there's one other reason, 00:21:20.490 --> 00:21:24.690 align:middle line:84% there's another reason I could not belong to the Kaitsenko 00:21:24.690 --> 00:21:25.500 align:middle line:90% Society. 00:21:25.500 --> 00:21:26.580 align:middle line:90% I can't sing. 00:21:26.580 --> 00:21:30.890 align:middle line:90% 00:21:30.890 --> 00:21:35.980 align:middle line:84% So she imagines a meeting between Billy the Kid 00:21:35.980 --> 00:21:39.180 align:middle line:90% and Set-angya. 00:21:39.180 --> 00:21:43.740 align:middle line:84% "The old man sat on the ground, his head bent, 00:21:43.740 --> 00:21:45.780 align:middle line:90% his legs crossed. 00:21:45.780 --> 00:21:54.150 align:middle line:84% Within his reach was the bundle of bones, the bones of his son. 00:21:54.150 --> 00:21:58.160 align:middle line:84% There was a sound and he brought his head up sharply glaring. 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:00.380 align:middle line:84% The young man was standing a few feet 00:22:00.380 --> 00:22:04.250 align:middle line:84% away beside a pomme blanche waiting respectfully 00:22:04.250 --> 00:22:07.070 align:middle line:84% for the old man to acknowledge him. 00:22:07.070 --> 00:22:12.680 align:middle line:84% Respectfully too, he was looking not directly at the old man 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:16.550 align:middle line:84% nor at the bones of his son, but to one side where there 00:22:16.550 --> 00:22:18.190 align:middle line:90% was a small stand of willows. 00:22:18.190 --> 00:22:20.705 align:middle line:90% 00:22:20.705 --> 00:22:21.205 align:middle line:90% Haw! 00:22:21.205 --> 00:22:24.470 align:middle line:90% 00:22:24.470 --> 00:22:28.230 align:middle line:90% How long have you been-- 00:22:28.230 --> 00:22:32.610 align:middle line:84% how long have you been standing there? 00:22:32.610 --> 00:22:33.690 align:middle line:90% He said. 00:22:33.690 --> 00:22:37.200 align:middle line:84% Clearly the old man was unsettled, perhaps ashamed 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:38.580 align:middle line:90% of being taken by surprise. 00:22:38.580 --> 00:22:41.240 align:middle line:90% 00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:45.100 align:middle line:90% Not long, Billy said. 00:22:45.100 --> 00:22:53.720 align:middle line:84% Well, well, what-- what do you want? 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:56.360 align:middle line:90% I come to pay my respects. 00:22:56.360 --> 00:22:59.630 align:middle line:84% I come to visit you and your son. 00:22:59.630 --> 00:23:00.455 align:middle line:90% Here's tobacco. 00:23:00.455 --> 00:23:04.050 align:middle line:90% 00:23:04.050 --> 00:23:04.770 align:middle line:90% Haw! 00:23:04.770 --> 00:23:09.626 align:middle line:90% 00:23:09.626 --> 00:23:12.060 align:middle line:90% Ahó. 00:23:12.060 --> 00:23:14.715 align:middle line:90% You know my son? 00:23:14.715 --> 00:23:18.130 align:middle line:90% 00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:18.775 align:middle line:90% In a way. 00:23:18.775 --> 00:23:22.910 align:middle line:90% 00:23:22.910 --> 00:23:26.770 align:middle line:90% In a way? 00:23:26.770 --> 00:23:28.960 align:middle line:84% There was a pause in which the old man seemed 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:32.050 align:middle line:90% to ponder this "in a way." 00:23:32.050 --> 00:23:34.540 align:middle line:84% He looked down at the bundle of bones, 00:23:34.540 --> 00:23:39.100 align:middle line:84% crushing a pinch of the tobacco in his fingers then up again. 00:23:39.100 --> 00:23:44.370 align:middle line:90% 00:23:44.370 --> 00:23:50.910 align:middle line:84% You are about the same age I think. 00:23:50.910 --> 00:23:51.410 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:23:51.410 --> 00:23:54.920 align:middle line:90% 00:23:54.920 --> 00:24:03.065 align:middle line:84% And do you-- do you know me too in a way? 00:24:03.065 --> 00:24:05.980 align:middle line:90% 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:15.770 align:middle line:84% You are Set-angya, Sitting Bear, a warrior and chief 00:24:15.770 --> 00:24:20.190 align:middle line:90% as great as his name. 00:24:20.190 --> 00:24:24.750 align:middle line:84% Over all the prairies you are famous for your bravery 00:24:24.750 --> 00:24:26.190 align:middle line:90% and your deeds. 00:24:26.190 --> 00:24:30.180 align:middle line:84% Your mind is true, your words are true, 00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:33.180 align:middle line:90% and your heart is true. 00:24:33.180 --> 00:24:36.720 align:middle line:90% The eagle knows your name. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:40.630 align:middle line:90% The buffalo knows your name. 00:24:40.630 --> 00:24:44.320 align:middle line:90% The bear knows your name. 00:24:44.320 --> 00:24:47.290 align:middle line:90% The white man knows your name. 00:24:47.290 --> 00:24:52.000 align:middle line:84% You are Set-angya, chief of the Kaitsenko Society, 00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:56.470 align:middle line:84% chief of the Crazy Dogs, chief of the dog soldiers. 00:24:56.470 --> 00:25:02.860 align:middle line:84% Yours are the best of warriors, yours are the best of battles, 00:25:02.860 --> 00:25:06.520 align:middle line:90% yours are the best of enemies. 00:25:06.520 --> 00:25:12.950 align:middle line:84% You are Set-angya, who does not surrender his son to death, 00:25:12.950 --> 00:25:15.410 align:middle line:84% who dares to withhold victory from even 00:25:15.410 --> 00:25:17.570 align:middle line:84% the greatest of all enemies, hear 00:25:17.570 --> 00:25:21.200 align:middle line:90% me, old man brave to madness. 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:28.480 align:middle line:84% Oh my warrior, you and your son great chief, 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:32.380 align:middle line:84% you are worthy of each other in your courage and loyalty 00:25:32.380 --> 00:25:35.860 align:middle line:90% and love and bigness of spirit. 00:25:35.860 --> 00:25:41.830 align:middle line:84% Your son in his bones and you and your flesh and blood 00:25:41.830 --> 00:25:48.440 align:middle line:84% are of the same sacred mystery, the same medicine 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:49.520 align:middle line:90% most powerful. 00:25:49.520 --> 00:25:52.130 align:middle line:90% 00:25:52.130 --> 00:25:54.180 align:middle line:90% Hear me. 00:25:54.180 --> 00:25:59.850 align:middle line:84% I am honored to make you this speech, 00:25:59.850 --> 00:26:03.960 align:middle line:84% to make you this respectful visit, 00:26:03.960 --> 00:26:12.590 align:middle line:84% to stand here in your company, oh Sitting Bear, yours 00:26:12.590 --> 00:26:13.430 align:middle line:90% and your son. 00:26:13.430 --> 00:26:16.230 align:middle line:90% 00:26:16.230 --> 00:26:17.895 align:middle line:90% I have spoken. 00:26:17.895 --> 00:26:22.050 align:middle line:90% 00:26:22.050 --> 00:26:33.030 align:middle line:84% Oh, you have spoken well, said the old man. 00:26:33.030 --> 00:26:39.230 align:middle line:84% Gravely, after the appropriate silence, now-- 00:26:39.230 --> 00:26:43.360 align:middle line:90% now, I know you. 00:26:43.360 --> 00:26:44.452 align:middle line:90% I know you. 00:26:44.452 --> 00:26:47.224 align:middle line:90% 00:26:47.224 --> 00:26:52.610 align:middle line:84% You are surely a famous orator among your people. 00:26:52.610 --> 00:26:56.430 align:middle line:90% 00:26:56.430 --> 00:26:58.935 align:middle line:90% Well, no, sir. 00:26:58.935 --> 00:27:03.540 align:middle line:90% 00:27:03.540 --> 00:27:08.090 align:middle line:84% My son, my son I do not admire modesty. 00:27:08.090 --> 00:27:11.960 align:middle line:90% 00:27:11.960 --> 00:27:16.260 align:middle line:90% I like boasting. 00:27:16.260 --> 00:27:22.950 align:middle line:84% I love to boast and I love others 00:27:22.950 --> 00:27:30.160 align:middle line:84% to boast if they have something to boast about. 00:27:30.160 --> 00:27:37.980 align:middle line:84% You have very pretty words about you. 00:27:37.980 --> 00:27:41.220 align:middle line:90% Why don't you boast of them? 00:27:41.220 --> 00:27:44.640 align:middle line:90% 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:48.240 align:middle line:84% Well, I'm right proud you like my speech, sir. 00:27:48.240 --> 00:27:53.840 align:middle line:84% But to tell you the truth, it ain't mine. 00:27:53.840 --> 00:27:58.025 align:middle line:84% You see my girlfriend wrote it up and I learnt it. 00:27:58.025 --> 00:28:03.140 align:middle line:90% 00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:07.990 align:middle line:90% I cannot read. 00:28:07.990 --> 00:28:11.390 align:middle line:90% I cannot read myself. 00:28:11.390 --> 00:28:14.240 align:middle line:84% I memorized it and then I declaimed it. 00:28:14.240 --> 00:28:16.865 align:middle line:90% 00:28:16.865 --> 00:28:17.365 align:middle line:90% Why? 00:28:17.365 --> 00:28:20.090 align:middle line:90% 00:28:20.090 --> 00:28:21.455 align:middle line:90% I wanted you to like me. 00:28:21.455 --> 00:28:24.110 align:middle line:90% 00:28:24.110 --> 00:28:26.170 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:28:26.170 --> 00:28:29.320 align:middle line:84% I wanted to talk to you about death, 00:28:29.320 --> 00:28:34.100 align:middle line:90% but I'm a man of few words. 00:28:34.100 --> 00:28:39.420 align:middle line:90% 00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:42.660 align:middle line:84% Yeah, yes, there is something about you. 00:28:42.660 --> 00:28:47.070 align:middle line:84% There is a sign, a mark upon you. 00:28:47.070 --> 00:28:52.970 align:middle line:84% And there was a mark upon my son and there is a mark upon me. 00:28:52.970 --> 00:28:58.460 align:middle line:84% But I am an old man and so for me it matters very little. 00:28:58.460 --> 00:29:04.430 align:middle line:84% But my son, and you, you are young men 00:29:04.430 --> 00:29:08.705 align:middle line:90% and you are marked men. 00:29:08.705 --> 00:29:11.320 align:middle line:84% There is a thing heavy on my heart. 00:29:11.320 --> 00:29:14.360 align:middle line:90% 00:29:14.360 --> 00:29:19.010 align:middle line:84% I have so few words and I wanted you to like me. 00:29:19.010 --> 00:29:25.660 align:middle line:90% 00:29:25.660 --> 00:29:30.410 align:middle line:90% I know you in a way. 00:29:30.410 --> 00:29:32.350 align:middle line:90% I'm a dead man. 00:29:32.350 --> 00:29:34.900 align:middle line:90% Yes. 00:29:34.900 --> 00:29:41.800 align:middle line:84% Tell me, did you achieve your death in the proper way? 00:29:41.800 --> 00:29:45.310 align:middle line:90% 00:29:45.310 --> 00:29:46.920 align:middle line:90% I guess so. 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:49.890 align:middle line:84% It happened so fast and I wasn't expecting it, 00:29:49.890 --> 00:29:52.830 align:middle line:84% not at that moment though I had been 00:29:52.830 --> 00:29:55.170 align:middle line:84% looking into the shadows for a long time. 00:29:55.170 --> 00:30:03.810 align:middle line:90% 00:30:03.810 --> 00:30:06.570 align:middle line:90% My son died in the proper way. 00:30:06.570 --> 00:30:09.510 align:middle line:90% 00:30:09.510 --> 00:30:10.335 align:middle line:90% So did you. 00:30:10.335 --> 00:30:13.290 align:middle line:90% 00:30:13.290 --> 00:30:15.570 align:middle line:90% You've heard about that? 00:30:15.570 --> 00:30:18.356 align:middle line:90% Yes, so they say. 00:30:18.356 --> 00:30:26.575 align:middle line:84% You know, there was not a whimper, no pleading, no shame. 00:30:26.575 --> 00:30:30.340 align:middle line:90% 00:30:30.340 --> 00:30:34.240 align:middle line:90% I had no time for any of that. 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:37.250 align:middle line:90% Yes, yes yes. 00:30:37.250 --> 00:30:39.395 align:middle line:90% I think neither did my son. 00:30:39.395 --> 00:30:42.550 align:middle line:90% 00:30:42.550 --> 00:30:49.910 align:middle line:84% But I had time, and I neither whimpered nor pled. 00:30:49.910 --> 00:30:52.710 align:middle line:90% Rather I sang. 00:30:52.710 --> 00:30:56.370 align:middle line:90% 00:30:56.370 --> 00:30:57.360 align:middle line:90% I can't sing." 00:30:57.360 --> 00:31:00.340 align:middle line:90% 00:31:00.340 --> 00:31:01.150 align:middle line:90% Well, 00:31:01.150 --> 00:31:02.401 align:middle line:90% that's enough. 00:31:02.401 --> 00:31:04.070 align:middle line:90% [APPLAUSE] 00:31:04.070 --> 00:31:18.000 align:middle line:90%