WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.420 align:middle line:90% 00:00:15.420 --> 00:00:18.340 align:middle line:84% When I moved to Arizona a few years ago from Oregon, 00:00:18.340 --> 00:00:20.550 align:middle line:84% I thought I'd left the rain behind. 00:00:20.550 --> 00:00:22.800 align:middle line:84% A few days after I got here, I went with some friends 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:25.500 align:middle line:84% up to Mount Lemmon to have a picnic. 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:27.510 align:middle line:84% Several miles from the car, we got 00:00:27.510 --> 00:00:31.480 align:middle line:84% stuck in the biggest rainstorm I have ever seen anywhere. 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:34.920 align:middle line:84% And I was as wet as I have ever been in my life. 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:37.200 align:middle line:84% The story is only relevant to tonight 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:41.070 align:middle line:84% because in my back pocket was the book by our next reader, 00:00:41.070 --> 00:00:44.150 align:middle line:90% The Way to Rainy Mountain. 00:00:44.150 --> 00:00:47.670 align:middle line:84% This prophetic title proved true in my case. 00:00:47.670 --> 00:00:51.550 align:middle line:84% Scott Momaday is a man of many accomplishments. 00:00:51.550 --> 00:00:55.680 align:middle line:84% His book-- let's get the titles right, the House Made of Dawn 00:00:55.680 --> 00:00:58.380 align:middle line:84% won the Pulitzer Prize about 20 years ago. 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:00.060 align:middle line:84% Way to Rainy Mountain is in something 00:01:00.060 --> 00:01:03.030 align:middle line:84% like its 25th printing right now and continues 00:01:03.030 --> 00:01:05.970 align:middle line:84% to keep being printed and keep going out into the world. 00:01:05.970 --> 00:01:07.840 align:middle line:84% He's the author of several other books, 00:01:07.840 --> 00:01:11.680 align:middle line:84% including The Angle of Geese and Other Poems, The Gourd 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:13.230 align:middle line:90% Dancer and The Names. 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:15.460 align:middle line:84% He has taught at numerous universities, 00:01:15.460 --> 00:01:19.480 align:middle line:84% including Princeton, Columbia, Stanford, Cal Berkeley, 00:01:19.480 --> 00:01:22.530 align:middle line:84% University of Moscow, and the University of Regensburg 00:01:22.530 --> 00:01:23.560 align:middle line:90% in Germany. 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:27.300 align:middle line:84% And he is now a professor here at the University of Arizona. 00:01:27.300 --> 00:01:29.910 align:middle line:84% We are very lucky to have him here tonight. 00:01:29.910 --> 00:01:35.020 align:middle line:84% He warns me that from time to time he turns into a bear. 00:01:35.020 --> 00:01:36.960 align:middle line:84% And when you stand up and see how big he is, 00:01:36.960 --> 00:01:38.760 align:middle line:84% you'll find this very easy to believe. 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:42.180 align:middle line:84% So if we're lucky, we might get a little transformation 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:43.720 align:middle line:90% this evening. 00:01:43.720 --> 00:01:46.200 align:middle line:90% Please welcome Scott Momaday. 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:50.040 align:middle line:90% [CLAPPING] 00:01:50.040 --> 00:01:54.840 align:middle line:90% 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:55.395 align:middle line:90% Good evening. 00:01:55.395 --> 00:02:00.600 align:middle line:90% 00:02:00.600 --> 00:02:03.960 align:middle line:84% It's interesting that Andy should mention that I 00:02:03.960 --> 00:02:05.640 align:middle line:90% do sometimes turn into a bear. 00:02:05.640 --> 00:02:07.830 align:middle line:90% It's perfectly true. 00:02:07.830 --> 00:02:12.030 align:middle line:84% And the book from the work I should 00:02:12.030 --> 00:02:17.640 align:middle line:84% say from which I'd like to read tonight, 00:02:17.640 --> 00:02:19.620 align:middle line:84% is about a man who turns into a bear. 00:02:19.620 --> 00:02:22.290 align:middle line:90% 00:02:22.290 --> 00:02:29.910 align:middle line:84% Tentatively entitled Set, which word means bear in Kiowa. 00:02:29.910 --> 00:02:34.380 align:middle line:84% I'm a member of the Kiowa tribe, a Southern plains tribe. 00:02:34.380 --> 00:02:38.730 align:middle line:84% There is a story which is included I think in the-- 00:02:38.730 --> 00:02:41.902 align:middle line:84% I don't think, I know it's included in the introduction 00:02:41.902 --> 00:02:43.110 align:middle line:90% to The Way to Rainy Mountain. 00:02:43.110 --> 00:02:46.410 align:middle line:84% An old Kiowa story about some children who 00:02:46.410 --> 00:02:48.960 align:middle line:90% are playing in the Black Hills. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:52.650 align:middle line:84% And there are seven sisters and their brother. 00:02:52.650 --> 00:02:55.920 align:middle line:84% The boy is pretending to be a bear 00:02:55.920 --> 00:02:59.490 align:middle line:84% and he chases his sisters through the trees. 00:02:59.490 --> 00:03:05.580 align:middle line:84% The little girls pretend to be frightened and so they run. 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:08.520 align:middle line:84% But in the course of this game a terrible thing happens. 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:11.520 align:middle line:84% The boy actually turns into a bear. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:14.670 align:middle line:84% And the little girls when they see this are truly terrified 00:03:14.670 --> 00:03:17.835 align:middle line:84% and they run for their lives and the bear after them. 00:03:17.835 --> 00:03:22.260 align:middle line:84% And as they're running pell-mell through the woods, 00:03:22.260 --> 00:03:25.830 align:middle line:90% they pass the stump of a tree. 00:03:25.830 --> 00:03:30.120 align:middle line:84% And the tree speaks to them and says, if you will climb upon me 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:31.800 align:middle line:90% I will save you. 00:03:31.800 --> 00:03:34.710 align:middle line:84% So the little girls scamper on top of the tree stump. 00:03:34.710 --> 00:03:40.050 align:middle line:84% And as they do so, it begins to rise into the air. 00:03:40.050 --> 00:03:44.370 align:middle line:84% The bear comes to kill them but they are beyond its reach 00:03:44.370 --> 00:03:47.310 align:middle line:84% and the bear rears up and scores the bark all 00:03:47.310 --> 00:03:49.950 align:middle line:90% around with its claws. 00:03:49.950 --> 00:03:52.530 align:middle line:90% And the story ends simply. 00:03:52.530 --> 00:03:55.950 align:middle line:84% The seven sisters were borne into the sky 00:03:55.950 --> 00:04:00.060 align:middle line:84% and they became the stars of the Big Dipper. 00:04:00.060 --> 00:04:05.730 align:middle line:84% I love that story because not only is it a great-- 00:04:05.730 --> 00:04:07.860 align:middle line:84% the tree by the way, the Rock Tree, 00:04:07.860 --> 00:04:11.520 align:middle line:84% which the Kiowas called Tsoai, rock tree, 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:14.640 align:middle line:90% is Devils Tower, Wyoming. 00:04:14.640 --> 00:04:17.310 align:middle line:84% Some of you know of that great monolith. 00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:20.040 align:middle line:84% It looks just like the stump of a tree 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:26.130 align:middle line:84% but it rises from base to summit about 900 feet, 1,200 00:04:26.130 --> 00:04:27.840 align:middle line:84% feet above the Belle Fourche River 00:04:27.840 --> 00:04:29.790 align:middle line:90% in the valley at its base. 00:04:29.790 --> 00:04:33.390 align:middle line:84% Those of you who saw Close Encounters of the Third Kind 00:04:33.390 --> 00:04:37.290 align:middle line:84% will remember that feature in the landscape 00:04:37.290 --> 00:04:40.710 align:middle line:84% was one of the principal characters in that film, 00:04:40.710 --> 00:04:43.740 align:middle line:90% if I may put it so. 00:04:43.740 --> 00:04:47.580 align:middle line:84% Well, when I was a very young, less than a year old, 00:04:47.580 --> 00:04:50.220 align:middle line:84% my parents took me to that place, that sacred place 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:51.310 align:middle line:90% in Kiowa tradition. 00:04:51.310 --> 00:04:54.780 align:middle line:84% And when I returned to Oklahoma where my grandmother lived, 00:04:54.780 --> 00:04:59.670 align:middle line:84% an old man came to the house and he gave me the name. 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:02.220 align:middle line:84% He gave me my Indian name, Tsoai-talee, 00:05:02.220 --> 00:05:05.110 align:middle line:90% which means Rock Tree Boy. 00:05:05.110 --> 00:05:11.820 align:middle line:84% And so I have a great love for and interest in that story. 00:05:11.820 --> 00:05:17.520 align:middle line:84% And what I have done is to take the story and extend it. 00:05:17.520 --> 00:05:21.720 align:middle line:90% Extend the myth into a novel. 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:23.910 align:middle line:84% The protagonist whose name is Set 00:05:23.910 --> 00:05:29.070 align:middle line:84% is an artist of contemporary times. 00:05:29.070 --> 00:05:32.310 align:middle line:84% And he is the reincarnation of the boy who turns into a bear, 00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:34.650 align:middle line:90% just as I am. 00:05:34.650 --> 00:05:37.140 align:middle line:84% By the way, if before this reading is finished 00:05:37.140 --> 00:05:45.120 align:middle line:84% I should turn into a bear, bear with me. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:45.780 align:middle line:90% Oh God. 00:05:45.780 --> 00:05:46.970 align:middle line:90% I'm sorry I said it. 00:05:46.970 --> 00:05:49.260 align:middle line:90% Oh. 00:05:49.260 --> 00:05:51.510 align:middle line:90% It gets better from-- 00:05:51.510 --> 00:05:52.575 align:middle line:90% that was the low point. 00:05:52.575 --> 00:05:56.980 align:middle line:90% 00:05:56.980 --> 00:05:59.220 align:middle line:84% So having told you that much about the novel, 00:05:59.220 --> 00:06:01.830 align:middle line:84% I want to tell you about some of the points 00:06:01.830 --> 00:06:03.420 align:middle line:84% that I'm going to touch upon tonight. 00:06:03.420 --> 00:06:07.290 align:middle line:84% I want to begin with a passage about a girl. 00:06:07.290 --> 00:06:09.060 align:middle line:84% One of the characters in the novel 00:06:09.060 --> 00:06:14.400 align:middle line:84% is a young Indian woman whose name is Grey. 00:06:14.400 --> 00:06:19.650 align:middle line:84% She's half Kiowa and half Navajo, and she's remarkable. 00:06:19.650 --> 00:06:22.080 align:middle line:84% One of the remarkable characters I 00:06:22.080 --> 00:06:26.910 align:middle line:90% think that I have ever invented. 00:06:26.910 --> 00:06:31.650 align:middle line:84% She's beautiful, she's bright, she's adventurous, 00:06:31.650 --> 00:06:36.120 align:middle line:90% she's got a mouth on her. 00:06:36.120 --> 00:06:38.970 align:middle line:90% 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:43.530 align:middle line:84% She has a horse, a wonderful stallion, 00:06:43.530 --> 00:06:49.850 align:middle line:84% one of the great horses in the world whom she has named Dog. 00:06:49.850 --> 00:06:52.330 align:middle line:90% So she has a horse named Dog. 00:06:52.330 --> 00:07:00.610 align:middle line:84% And I want to read a passage in which Grey is described. 00:07:00.610 --> 00:07:03.760 align:middle line:84% Grey considered her appearance in a small metal 00:07:03.760 --> 00:07:06.940 align:middle line:84% mirror which she had drawn from her shirt pocket 00:07:06.940 --> 00:07:10.450 align:middle line:84% and held between the tips of her right thumb and middle finger, 00:07:10.450 --> 00:07:13.540 align:middle line:84% both stained with grass and berries. 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:17.470 align:middle line:84% She concluded in a moment that she was beautiful. 00:07:17.470 --> 00:07:20.320 align:middle line:84% These grave considerations were innumerable 00:07:20.320 --> 00:07:23.500 align:middle line:84% and the conclusive revelation was always the same, 00:07:23.500 --> 00:07:25.690 align:middle line:90% she was beautiful. 00:07:25.690 --> 00:07:29.530 align:middle line:84% Once she had seen a Kiowa doll in a museum. 00:07:29.530 --> 00:07:32.560 align:middle line:84% It was very old and it startled her 00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:36.190 align:middle line:84% for it seemed to comprehend her in some personal immediate 00:07:36.190 --> 00:07:38.230 align:middle line:90% and mysterious way. 00:07:38.230 --> 00:07:42.070 align:middle line:84% And it was beautiful and fragile in its age. 00:07:42.070 --> 00:07:44.440 align:middle line:90% It was dressed in buckskin. 00:07:44.440 --> 00:07:47.440 align:middle line:84% It had long black braids of real hair 00:07:47.440 --> 00:07:51.520 align:middle line:84% and it wore tiny beaded moccasins. 00:07:51.520 --> 00:07:55.510 align:middle line:84% Again, she had seen a Navajo doll at Hubbell's Trading Post. 00:07:55.510 --> 00:07:57.310 align:middle line:84% Its hair was done up in a queue and it 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:00.700 align:middle line:84% was dressed in a velveteen blouse, dark blue, 00:08:00.700 --> 00:08:03.490 align:middle line:84% and a long pleated cream colored skirt. 00:08:03.490 --> 00:08:07.000 align:middle line:84% And it wore rich red moccasins and exquisite silver 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:08.980 align:middle line:90% and turquoise jewelry. 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:10.960 align:middle line:84% She had looked hard at these dolls, 00:08:10.960 --> 00:08:14.380 align:middle line:90% trying to see to their centers. 00:08:14.380 --> 00:08:16.030 align:middle line:84% She believed that they were somehow 00:08:16.030 --> 00:08:19.480 align:middle line:90% involved in her own being. 00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:21.970 align:middle line:84% That they were masks that stood for her 00:08:21.970 --> 00:08:27.010 align:middle line:84% in some profound, fated way and for no one else. 00:08:27.010 --> 00:08:30.520 align:middle line:90% And she began to love the masks. 00:08:30.520 --> 00:08:33.610 align:middle line:84% Her father was Kiowa and her mother Navajo. 00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:36.970 align:middle line:84% And the two cultures came together in her easily, 00:08:36.970 --> 00:08:38.740 align:middle line:90% more or less. 00:08:38.740 --> 00:08:42.580 align:middle line:84% English was the language of her childhood home at Lukachukai. 00:08:42.580 --> 00:08:46.900 align:middle line:84% But she hoarded bits of the Kiowa and Navajo languages 00:08:46.900 --> 00:08:47.860 align:middle line:90% as she could. 00:08:47.860 --> 00:08:49.810 align:middle line:90% She learned early to read. 00:08:49.810 --> 00:08:54.790 align:middle line:84% And she read voraciously through the extraordinary kindness 00:08:54.790 --> 00:08:57.130 align:middle line:84% of a third grade teacher and bibliophile 00:08:57.130 --> 00:09:00.010 align:middle line:84% at Chinle, Mrs. Switzer, who retired 00:09:00.010 --> 00:09:02.950 align:middle line:84% to a little house in Flagstaff with window boxes filled 00:09:02.950 --> 00:09:06.700 align:middle line:84% with petrified wood and every room a library. 00:09:06.700 --> 00:09:10.060 align:middle line:84% There were books at Grey's fingertips. 00:09:10.060 --> 00:09:13.900 align:middle line:84% She read Will James and Walter Noble Burns, 00:09:13.900 --> 00:09:18.100 align:middle line:84% she read Homer and Shakespeare, and the Bible. 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:21.580 align:middle line:84% She read Robert Service and Emily Dickinson. 00:09:21.580 --> 00:09:23.860 align:middle line:84% Laughing Boy affected her so deeply 00:09:23.860 --> 00:09:28.000 align:middle line:84% that she had to remain in bed for three days. 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.970 align:middle line:84% When she read the saga of Billy the Kid, 00:09:30.970 --> 00:09:35.140 align:middle line:84% she swooned and ran a temperature of 103. 00:09:35.140 --> 00:09:37.900 align:middle line:84% In her delirium, she dreamed of Billy 00:09:37.900 --> 00:09:40.630 align:middle line:84% who, as nearly as she could recall his words, 00:09:40.630 --> 00:09:45.040 align:middle line:84% told her to read Meadows of Auden by M.A. Candy, 00:09:45.040 --> 00:09:48.370 align:middle line:84% which he admired for its lyrical intensity 00:09:48.370 --> 00:09:51.695 align:middle line:90% but she was unable to find it. 00:09:51.695 --> 00:09:53.320 align:middle line:84% One of the wonderful things about Grey, 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:58.720 align:middle line:84% let me just digress for a moment, it's not a digression. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:01.390 align:middle line:84% She fantasizes about Billy the Kid. 00:10:01.390 --> 00:10:05.140 align:middle line:84% And she is perhaps one of the world's great experts 00:10:05.140 --> 00:10:08.170 align:middle line:90% on the life of Billy the Kid. 00:10:08.170 --> 00:10:10.840 align:middle line:84% Here on the Oklahoma plain with Dog, 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:14.710 align:middle line:84% she described herself in these terms, 00:10:14.710 --> 00:10:19.840 align:middle line:84% Dog, Dog, is it any wonder that I draw forth 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:23.890 align:middle line:84% such encomiums from master Billy Bonney, 00:10:23.890 --> 00:10:27.040 align:middle line:90% for I am indeed a bonnie lass. 00:10:27.040 --> 00:10:29.590 align:middle line:84% I have seen 18 summers, most of them 00:10:29.590 --> 00:10:34.780 align:middle line:84% spent in the vast well Western wilderness which is my home. 00:10:34.780 --> 00:10:39.430 align:middle line:84% I am tall and lithe and well-formed. 00:10:39.430 --> 00:10:42.370 align:middle line:84% I am graceful as a deer and I am not 00:10:42.370 --> 00:10:44.560 align:middle line:84% subject to the conventions which society 00:10:44.560 --> 00:10:48.370 align:middle line:90% imposes upon my age and sex. 00:10:48.370 --> 00:10:52.150 align:middle line:84% I have dark hair gathered in a queue behind my shell 00:10:52.150 --> 00:10:57.610 align:middle line:84% like ears, sparkling blue eyes and aquiline nose, 00:10:57.610 --> 00:11:00.880 align:middle line:84% a small delicate mouth like a cupid's bow, 00:11:00.880 --> 00:11:04.330 align:middle line:90% and a complete shapely chin. 00:11:04.330 --> 00:11:09.100 align:middle line:84% My profile is straight from the forehead down, Grecian. 00:11:09.100 --> 00:11:11.530 align:middle line:84% My face is oval and my complexion 00:11:11.530 --> 00:11:14.890 align:middle line:84% olive, almost too light and clear for a full enjoyment 00:11:14.890 --> 00:11:17.500 align:middle line:90% of health. 00:11:17.500 --> 00:11:20.950 align:middle line:84% My simple dress is a semi civilized frock 00:11:20.950 --> 00:11:24.520 align:middle line:84% consisting of a short skirt with leggings beautifully 00:11:24.520 --> 00:11:27.790 align:middle line:84% wrought and a shift similar to ones 00:11:27.790 --> 00:11:30.640 align:middle line:90% worn by the president's wife. 00:11:30.640 --> 00:11:33.100 align:middle line:84% My slender ivory feet are sheathed 00:11:33.100 --> 00:11:37.330 align:middle line:84% in tiny moccasins elaborately decorated with beads, 00:11:37.330 --> 00:11:42.695 align:middle line:84% and a string of wampum encircles my long, curved, unblemished 00:11:42.695 --> 00:11:43.195 align:middle line:90% throat. 00:11:43.195 --> 00:11:47.140 align:middle line:90% 00:11:47.140 --> 00:11:52.990 align:middle line:84% In fact, Grey was 19 but some quality of her stature 00:11:52.990 --> 00:11:55.060 align:middle line:90% made her seem taller. 00:11:55.060 --> 00:11:56.680 align:middle line:90% I'm sorry, missed that. 00:11:56.680 --> 00:11:59.800 align:middle line:84% She stood not more than 5 feet 5 inches in height 00:11:59.800 --> 00:12:02.770 align:middle line:84% but some quality of her stature made her seem taller. 00:12:02.770 --> 00:12:05.740 align:middle line:84% She was slender and supple but her body 00:12:05.740 --> 00:12:08.170 align:middle line:90% was compact and strong. 00:12:08.170 --> 00:12:11.650 align:middle line:84% Her hair was long and thick and black, so black 00:12:11.650 --> 00:12:13.960 align:middle line:90% that it bore a purple sheen. 00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:15.430 align:middle line:90% Her eyes were striking. 00:12:15.430 --> 00:12:19.060 align:middle line:84% Their color ranged from gray to green to violet. 00:12:19.060 --> 00:12:23.230 align:middle line:84% They were eyes out of an ancient myth, holy and heroic. 00:12:23.230 --> 00:12:26.410 align:middle line:84% They might have been Callisto's eyes. 00:12:26.410 --> 00:12:30.040 align:middle line:84% Her brows were heavy and black and one was habitually 00:12:30.040 --> 00:12:33.910 align:middle line:84% raised so that there was an asymmetrical aspect 00:12:33.910 --> 00:12:37.030 align:middle line:84% to her countenance, an expression of mischief 00:12:37.030 --> 00:12:40.330 align:middle line:90% and wonder and sagacity. 00:12:40.330 --> 00:12:42.340 align:middle line:84% Her cheekbones were high and pronounced, 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:46.960 align:middle line:84% her nose was not aquiline but rather short and tilted. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:51.130 align:middle line:84% Her jaw was square and precise and her mouth was full, 00:12:51.130 --> 00:12:56.440 align:middle line:90% and shapely, and lascivious. 00:12:56.440 --> 00:12:58.810 align:middle line:84% Her lower front teeth were slightly crooked 00:12:58.810 --> 00:13:02.290 align:middle line:84% and there was a mole under the left corner of her mouth. 00:13:02.290 --> 00:13:05.110 align:middle line:84% Her throat was indeed long and curved 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:07.570 align:middle line:84% with a down upon it that seemed in certain lights 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:09.880 align:middle line:90% a coppery aura. 00:13:09.880 --> 00:13:13.180 align:middle line:84% Her shoulders were round and rather narrow. 00:13:13.180 --> 00:13:16.630 align:middle line:84% Her arms were long and expressive and downy too 00:13:16.630 --> 00:13:20.020 align:middle line:84% but her hands were small and shapely. 00:13:20.020 --> 00:13:23.740 align:middle line:84% Her breasts were full and jutting high on her body, 00:13:23.740 --> 00:13:26.920 align:middle line:84% her waist narrow, her legs full at the thighs and calves 00:13:26.920 --> 00:13:29.980 align:middle line:84% like a dancer's legs, her ankles small, 00:13:29.980 --> 00:13:34.420 align:middle line:84% and her feet firm and arched with long articulate toes. 00:13:34.420 --> 00:13:40.330 align:middle line:84% Her skin was dark and smooth and taut. 00:13:40.330 --> 00:13:45.880 align:middle line:84% Her movements especially in the presence of men and horses 00:13:45.880 --> 00:13:49.720 align:middle line:90% were athletic and animalistic. 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.270 align:middle line:90% The nape of her neck-- 00:13:52.270 --> 00:13:55.150 align:middle line:84% At the nape of her neck and under her arms at the lower 00:13:55.150 --> 00:13:59.530 align:middle line:84% curve of her belly and along her inner thighs, 00:13:59.530 --> 00:14:03.430 align:middle line:84% there emanated a scent like musk and mace 00:14:03.430 --> 00:14:07.000 align:middle line:90% and the rinds of limes. 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:09.970 align:middle line:84% Except on special occasions when she dressed 00:14:09.970 --> 00:14:13.390 align:middle line:84% in the fashion of one or the other doll, 00:14:13.390 --> 00:14:16.600 align:middle line:84% she wore rolled jeans and a shirt 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:18.310 align:middle line:90% knotted under her breasts. 00:14:18.310 --> 00:14:21.610 align:middle line:84% And sometimes a floppy hat with an eagle 00:14:21.610 --> 00:14:28.180 align:middle line:84% feather in the band, and nothing else. 00:14:28.180 --> 00:14:34.630 align:middle line:84% On the whole, she was beautiful beyond the telling. 00:14:34.630 --> 00:14:39.070 align:middle line:90% 00:14:39.070 --> 00:14:43.330 align:middle line:90% OK, that's Grey. 00:14:43.330 --> 00:14:49.660 align:middle line:84% And she fantasizes about Billy the Kid. 00:14:49.660 --> 00:14:51.820 align:middle line:84% And she knows a lot about Billy the Kid 00:14:51.820 --> 00:15:00.760 align:middle line:84% and some of her fantasies are wonderful and accurate stories 00:15:00.760 --> 00:15:03.310 align:middle line:90% of Billy the Kid. 00:15:03.310 --> 00:15:08.860 align:middle line:84% This next passage is such a fantasy. 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:12.730 align:middle line:84% Grey imagines that she helps Billy the Kid 00:15:12.730 --> 00:15:18.010 align:middle line:84% escape from the Lincoln County Courthouse on April 28, 1881. 00:15:18.010 --> 00:15:20.800 align:middle line:84% One of the Great Escapes, of course, 00:15:20.800 --> 00:15:22.345 align:middle line:90% in the history of the Wild West. 00:15:22.345 --> 00:15:25.240 align:middle line:90% 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:28.360 align:middle line:84% It was time-- oh, maybe I should say that Billy the Kid 00:15:28.360 --> 00:15:30.370 align:middle line:90% is shackled hand and foot. 00:15:30.370 --> 00:15:33.040 align:middle line:84% He's imprisoned in a room of the Lincoln County Courthouse, 00:15:33.040 --> 00:15:36.340 align:middle line:84% an upstairs room, a corner room overlooking the only street 00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:37.840 align:middle line:90% in the town. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:43.480 align:middle line:84% He is guarded by two men, Bell and Olinger. 00:15:43.480 --> 00:15:45.850 align:middle line:84% And the two men are very different from each other. 00:15:45.850 --> 00:15:50.320 align:middle line:84% Olinger hates Billy the Kid and taunts him consistently. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:54.250 align:middle line:90% Bell befriends Billy the Kid. 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:57.580 align:middle line:84% It was time for Olinger to go to lunch. 00:15:57.580 --> 00:16:00.490 align:middle line:84% He said something to Bell, placed his shotgun 00:16:00.490 --> 00:16:04.240 align:middle line:84% in a room that served as an armory, a closet on the stairs, 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:06.670 align:middle line:90% and went out. 00:16:06.670 --> 00:16:08.650 align:middle line:84% Billy turned to the window again. 00:16:08.650 --> 00:16:11.140 align:middle line:84% He counted Olinger's steps as he crossed 00:16:11.140 --> 00:16:13.600 align:middle line:84% the street diagonally northeastward to the Wortley 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:17.470 align:middle line:90% Hotel, 105 steps. 00:16:17.470 --> 00:16:19.540 align:middle line:84% On a chair in front of the hotel, 00:16:19.540 --> 00:16:22.370 align:middle line:90% Grey sat in a white dress. 00:16:22.370 --> 00:16:24.970 align:middle line:90% She was the picture of repose. 00:16:24.970 --> 00:16:27.130 align:middle line:90% She was a girl in a magazine. 00:16:27.130 --> 00:16:30.310 align:middle line:84% She was his mother on that day in early spring 00:16:30.310 --> 00:16:34.270 align:middle line:84% 1873 in Santa Fe when he and his brother Joe 00:16:34.270 --> 00:16:37.360 align:middle line:84% witnessed her marriage to William H. Antrim. 00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.570 align:middle line:84% She was in his heroic and chivalrous intelligence 00:16:40.570 --> 00:16:43.720 align:middle line:84% a woman to admire, to serve, to stand for, 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:48.130 align:middle line:84% to protect, to cherish, to die for. 00:16:48.130 --> 00:16:50.650 align:middle line:84% Such women are very delicate, very 00:16:50.650 --> 00:16:53.590 align:middle line:84% beautiful, he thought to himself really. 00:16:53.590 --> 00:16:56.390 align:middle line:84% Women of taste and breeding and refinement. 00:16:56.390 --> 00:17:01.000 align:middle line:84% So far beyond him that he could only stand in awe of them. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.060 align:middle line:84% Suddenly he thought of a nun, Sister Blandina, 00:17:04.060 --> 00:17:06.760 align:middle line:84% whom he had met in Trinidad, Colorado, 00:17:06.760 --> 00:17:08.770 align:middle line:84% and who had prevailed upon him to spare 00:17:08.770 --> 00:17:11.260 align:middle line:90% the physicians of the town. 00:17:11.260 --> 00:17:15.910 align:middle line:84% There was a woman of mercy and charity and grace. 00:17:15.910 --> 00:17:18.339 align:middle line:90% A woman of perfect virtue. 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:22.599 align:middle line:84% This Italian woman, this woman of God. 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:26.170 align:middle line:84% He could not have imagined beneath her habit. 00:17:26.170 --> 00:17:29.710 align:middle line:84% He could not have imagined that she moved her bowels 00:17:29.710 --> 00:17:32.980 align:middle line:84% or that her breath was ever sour. 00:17:32.980 --> 00:17:37.720 align:middle line:84% In front of the Wortley Hotel, Grey belched. 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:41.230 align:middle line:90% There had been a shot. 00:17:41.230 --> 00:17:44.110 align:middle line:84% The scents of lilacs and roses had faded 00:17:44.110 --> 00:17:47.890 align:middle line:84% and again there was a little stench of death in the room. 00:17:47.890 --> 00:17:51.250 align:middle line:84% Billy, facing the window, unfolded the note. 00:17:51.250 --> 00:17:54.520 align:middle line:84% In her fantasy she has passed him a note. 00:17:54.520 --> 00:17:56.330 align:middle line:90% It read: "Outhouse." 00:17:56.330 --> 00:17:59.170 align:middle line:90% 00:17:59.170 --> 00:18:01.720 align:middle line:90% There had been a shot. 00:18:01.720 --> 00:18:02.980 align:middle line:90% Billy turned. 00:18:02.980 --> 00:18:06.910 align:middle line:84% All of his instincts came to bear upon his next step. 00:18:06.910 --> 00:18:08.800 align:middle line:84% In a moment he became the creature 00:18:08.800 --> 00:18:12.820 align:middle line:84% he was best at being, an organism of inexorable purpose. 00:18:12.820 --> 00:18:17.170 align:middle line:84% His concentration was so great as to be irresistible. 00:18:17.170 --> 00:18:21.250 align:middle line:84% It was as if he already had the gun in his hand. 00:18:21.250 --> 00:18:25.240 align:middle line:84% Remote as the stars were his sentiments just now. 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:28.840 align:middle line:84% Grey, Pauletta, his mother in her wedding dress, 00:18:28.840 --> 00:18:31.000 align:middle line:90% remote beyond reckoning. 00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:35.470 align:middle line:84% He would have put bullets in the eyes of Sister Blandina 00:18:35.470 --> 00:18:39.640 align:middle line:90% had she stood in his way. 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:41.620 align:middle line:90% Hell, I'm sorry Bell. 00:18:41.620 --> 00:18:44.590 align:middle line:90% I got to take a leak. 00:18:44.590 --> 00:18:48.760 align:middle line:84% J.W. Bell led Billy the Kid, straining against his chains, 00:18:48.760 --> 00:18:52.100 align:middle line:84% down the stairs and into the yard. 00:18:52.100 --> 00:18:55.240 align:middle line:84% He watched him enter the outhouse. 00:18:55.240 --> 00:18:59.290 align:middle line:84% Don't take too long, he said, and was sorry he had said it. 00:18:59.290 --> 00:19:01.600 align:middle line:90% There was no need. 00:19:01.600 --> 00:19:05.830 align:middle line:84% He stood close by cleaning his nails with a pocket knife. 00:19:05.830 --> 00:19:07.030 align:middle line:90% All was well. 00:19:07.030 --> 00:19:08.800 align:middle line:84% Everything was proceeding according 00:19:08.800 --> 00:19:12.460 align:middle line:84% to the established order, except for the girl. 00:19:12.460 --> 00:19:15.130 align:middle line:84% This was a day like yesterday in the day before 00:19:15.130 --> 00:19:16.660 align:middle line:90% and the day before that. 00:19:16.660 --> 00:19:20.440 align:middle line:84% He was not one to be bored by orders of the day. 00:19:20.440 --> 00:19:23.740 align:middle line:90% He liked everything in place. 00:19:23.740 --> 00:19:26.800 align:middle line:84% Bell, like so many others, had developed 00:19:26.800 --> 00:19:29.320 align:middle line:90% an affection for Billy the Kid. 00:19:29.320 --> 00:19:31.870 align:middle line:84% Billy was always ready to laugh, to joke, to pass 00:19:31.870 --> 00:19:34.000 align:middle line:90% the time in an agreeable way. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:37.020 align:middle line:84% He was in fact an attractive man. 00:19:37.020 --> 00:19:39.610 align:middle line:84% He gave a good account of himself. 00:19:39.610 --> 00:19:41.640 align:middle line:90% He was unassuming. 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:44.070 align:middle line:90% The famous or infamous. 00:19:44.070 --> 00:19:47.070 align:middle line:84% He did not put on airs, as Bell said. 00:19:47.070 --> 00:19:50.430 align:middle line:84% He seemed always to expect the best in people. 00:19:50.430 --> 00:19:53.640 align:middle line:84% He was well-spoken, he liked, or was 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:56.910 align:middle line:84% prepared to like everyone, especially women, 00:19:56.910 --> 00:20:00.600 align:middle line:84% in whom he seemed to awaken the maternal instinct. 00:20:00.600 --> 00:20:02.580 align:middle line:90% He played a fair hand. 00:20:02.580 --> 00:20:06.240 align:middle line:84% Bell had nothing against the Kid personally. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:10.260 align:middle line:84% Billy was a man scarcely more than a boy 00:20:10.260 --> 00:20:13.140 align:middle line:84% with whom Bell could be comfortable. 00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:18.840 align:middle line:84% More than that, giving, loyal, compassionate. 00:20:18.840 --> 00:20:21.970 align:middle line:84% Bell neither condoned nor understood 00:20:21.970 --> 00:20:25.200 align:middle line:84% Olinger's vicious behavior towards Billy. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:28.050 align:middle line:84% It was a vague and fatal notion in Bell's mind 00:20:28.050 --> 00:20:30.420 align:middle line:84% that Billy the Kid was less dangerous 00:20:30.420 --> 00:20:33.600 align:middle line:90% than he was said to be. 00:20:33.600 --> 00:20:36.420 align:middle line:90% There had been a shot. 00:20:36.420 --> 00:20:40.080 align:middle line:84% The gun was a Colt .44 single action. 00:20:40.080 --> 00:20:43.650 align:middle line:84% Billy, urinating for Bell's sake, 00:20:43.650 --> 00:20:46.440 align:middle line:84% checked to see that it was fully loaded. 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:50.190 align:middle line:84% It felt like a heavy bird in his hands, then later 00:20:50.190 --> 00:20:51.930 align:middle line:84% a goose that was mounting on the wind, 00:20:51.930 --> 00:20:54.300 align:middle line:84% streaking off into a distance that reached 00:20:54.300 --> 00:20:57.390 align:middle line:90% beyond the rim of the world. 00:20:57.390 --> 00:21:01.140 align:middle line:84% With his small white hands, he handled it 00:21:01.140 --> 00:21:04.410 align:middle line:84% as a bear might handle a fish, with some sense 00:21:04.410 --> 00:21:08.850 align:middle line:84% of ancient respect, playfully and skillfully. 00:21:08.850 --> 00:21:14.610 align:middle line:84% Then he placed it inside his belt under his shirt. 00:21:14.610 --> 00:21:16.830 align:middle line:84% With difficulty, he mounted the stairs 00:21:16.830 --> 00:21:21.570 align:middle line:84% to the level of the armory, Bell just behind him. 00:21:21.570 --> 00:21:25.290 align:middle line:84% There Billy drew the gun, turned, 00:21:25.290 --> 00:21:30.000 align:middle line:90% and leveled it at Bell's face. 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.610 align:middle line:84% Billy waited for a long moment, letting 00:21:32.610 --> 00:21:36.750 align:middle line:84% Bell take stock of the situation then he said, 00:21:36.750 --> 00:21:39.990 align:middle line:90% I've got the upper hand, Bell. 00:21:39.990 --> 00:21:42.690 align:middle line:90% The whole show is mine. 00:21:42.690 --> 00:21:49.260 align:middle line:84% I want you to do exactly as I say. 00:21:49.260 --> 00:21:52.140 align:middle line:84% Lord knows I don't want to kill you. 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:56.730 align:middle line:84% His voice was low even, almost a whisper. 00:21:56.730 --> 00:22:02.830 align:middle line:84% And he spoke slowly, enunciated, carefully. 00:22:02.830 --> 00:22:06.130 align:middle line:90% Oh God, Bell said. 00:22:06.130 --> 00:22:09.070 align:middle line:84% He tried desperately to restore order to his mind, 00:22:09.070 --> 00:22:12.160 align:middle line:84% he could not, and he was then beside himself. 00:22:12.160 --> 00:22:14.080 align:middle line:90% His impulse was to run. 00:22:14.080 --> 00:22:15.880 align:middle line:90% He struggled with his belief. 00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:17.530 align:middle line:84% In the foreground of his awareness 00:22:17.530 --> 00:22:21.820 align:middle line:84% he realized that he had made a grave mistake. 00:22:21.820 --> 00:22:25.090 align:middle line:90% Unspeakably grave. 00:22:25.090 --> 00:22:31.000 align:middle line:84% He had allowed Billy the Kid to turn the tables on him. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:22:32.800 align:middle line:84% For a fraction of a moment he heard 00:22:32.800 --> 00:22:35.590 align:middle line:84% his own hysterical laughter in his ear. 00:22:35.590 --> 00:22:38.680 align:middle line:84% No one in the history of the world 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:41.380 align:middle line:90% had done what he had just done. 00:22:41.380 --> 00:22:44.470 align:middle line:84% No one had ever forfeited his advantage, 00:22:44.470 --> 00:22:49.540 align:middle line:84% his mortal advantages so suddenly, so decisively. 00:22:49.540 --> 00:22:54.730 align:middle line:84% Beyond the mask of his station and age he began to cry. 00:22:54.730 --> 00:22:56.770 align:middle line:90% His own gun was of no use. 00:22:56.770 --> 00:22:59.920 align:middle line:84% There was no one else on the stair, in the building 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:01.120 align:middle line:90% as far as he knew. 00:23:01.120 --> 00:23:06.970 align:middle line:84% He was absolutely alone with this man, this dangerous man, 00:23:06.970 --> 00:23:11.530 align:middle line:84% this cold blooded killer, this most wanted outlaw. 00:23:11.530 --> 00:23:14.410 align:middle line:90% He wanted to vomit. 00:23:14.410 --> 00:23:16.210 align:middle line:90% None of this was real to him. 00:23:16.210 --> 00:23:19.060 align:middle line:84% It was like a dream, a nightmare. 00:23:19.060 --> 00:23:22.700 align:middle line:84% His surprise and shame and confusion were overwhelming. 00:23:22.700 --> 00:23:24.520 align:middle line:90% He spun and bolted. 00:23:24.520 --> 00:23:27.070 align:middle line:84% His boot struck the stair four steps below. 00:23:27.070 --> 00:23:28.990 align:middle line:84% His next step would strike the landing. 00:23:28.990 --> 00:23:30.220 align:middle line:90% There was a blind corner. 00:23:30.220 --> 00:23:33.250 align:middle line:84% The first flight descended at a 90-degree angle. 00:23:33.250 --> 00:23:37.390 align:middle line:84% If he could only turn the corner he would be safe. 00:23:37.390 --> 00:23:40.810 align:middle line:84% The kid could not negotiate the stairs easily in his chains. 00:23:40.810 --> 00:23:44.530 align:middle line:84% He could not possibly pursue, Bell must have thought. 00:23:44.530 --> 00:23:48.190 align:middle line:84% But if indeed these considerations 00:23:48.190 --> 00:23:52.150 align:middle line:84% did happen upon Bell's stricken mind in the last moment 00:23:52.150 --> 00:23:56.140 align:middle line:90% of his life, they were idle. 00:23:56.140 --> 00:24:01.090 align:middle line:84% As Bell lurched, Billy said to himself, don't do it 00:24:01.090 --> 00:24:03.430 align:middle line:90% Bell, please. 00:24:03.430 --> 00:24:06.220 align:middle line:84% And in that same instant he pulled the trigger. 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:09.820 align:middle line:84% The gun but and Bell's body slammed against the wall, 00:24:09.820 --> 00:24:12.970 align:middle line:84% slumped on the landing, then tumbled out of sight. 00:24:12.970 --> 00:24:17.665 align:middle line:84% He was somewhere in that infinite series of motions, 00:24:17.665 --> 00:24:18.165 align:middle line:90% dead. 00:24:18.165 --> 00:24:21.550 align:middle line:90% 00:24:21.550 --> 00:24:24.430 align:middle line:84% Billy hobbled to the body, took the keys, 00:24:24.430 --> 00:24:27.640 align:middle line:84% and made his way awkwardly to the armory, 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:32.590 align:middle line:84% opened it and withdrew Olinger's shotgun. 00:24:32.590 --> 00:24:34.720 align:middle line:84% Bob Olinger's signature was his shotgun. 00:24:34.720 --> 00:24:37.450 align:middle line:84% He carried always a double barrel shotgun 00:24:37.450 --> 00:24:38.905 align:middle line:90% except when he went to lunch. 00:24:38.905 --> 00:24:41.740 align:middle line:90% 00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:43.030 align:middle line:90% There was no hurry. 00:24:43.030 --> 00:24:46.150 align:middle line:84% He set the next few events to his own clock. 00:24:46.150 --> 00:24:47.260 align:middle line:90% He was on time. 00:24:47.260 --> 00:24:52.120 align:middle line:84% All the motion of the town of Lincoln at midday on 28 April, 00:24:52.120 --> 00:24:55.810 align:middle line:90% 1881, was on time. 00:24:55.810 --> 00:25:00.490 align:middle line:84% He made his way to the window overlooking the Main Street, 00:25:00.490 --> 00:25:06.310 align:middle line:84% the only street in the town there had been a shot. 00:25:06.310 --> 00:25:07.990 align:middle line:90% Olinger looked up. 00:25:07.990 --> 00:25:09.850 align:middle line:90% There had been a shot. 00:25:09.850 --> 00:25:11.920 align:middle line:84% He brought his sleeve quickly to his mouth 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:13.720 align:middle line:90% and moved his chair backwards. 00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:15.970 align:middle line:84% Others in the dining room had heard it too; 00:25:15.970 --> 00:25:17.380 align:middle line:90% they cocked their heads. 00:25:17.380 --> 00:25:21.040 align:middle line:84% For a moment there was a stasis, a silence thick and unwieldy, 00:25:21.040 --> 00:25:22.840 align:middle line:90% strange. 00:25:22.840 --> 00:25:25.480 align:middle line:84% Then everyone returned to his meal. 00:25:25.480 --> 00:25:32.860 align:middle line:84% In that silence, Olinger was confounded. 00:25:32.860 --> 00:25:34.690 align:middle line:90% There had been a shot. 00:25:34.690 --> 00:25:36.880 align:middle line:84% He got up and went out into the street. 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:39.490 align:middle line:84% A girl in a white dress sat in a chair 00:25:39.490 --> 00:25:42.820 align:middle line:90% in front of the Wortley Hotel. 00:25:42.820 --> 00:25:48.820 align:middle line:84% He took notice of her and nodded but she was looking away. 00:25:48.820 --> 00:25:52.670 align:middle line:84% She was in repose, a seated woman in a white dress. 00:25:52.670 --> 00:25:55.270 align:middle line:84% She was like nothing else in Lincoln. 00:25:55.270 --> 00:25:58.300 align:middle line:84% She was like a painting by Renoir, 00:25:58.300 --> 00:26:00.790 align:middle line:84% a very soft and lovely composition 00:26:00.790 --> 00:26:04.270 align:middle line:84% against the landscape with its dry Earth colors. 00:26:04.270 --> 00:26:09.670 align:middle line:84% It was strange to Olinger that he, a brittle man, more nearly 00:26:09.670 --> 00:26:13.420 align:middle line:84% an animal than a man without the least advantage or sensitivity 00:26:13.420 --> 00:26:15.730 align:middle line:84% where the beautiful was concerned, 00:26:15.730 --> 00:26:21.220 align:middle line:84% should somehow be moved by the girl in the white dress. 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:23.290 align:middle line:90% But he hadn't time to ponder. 00:26:23.290 --> 00:26:26.740 align:middle line:84% He hurried across the street, 89 steps. 00:26:26.740 --> 00:26:29.620 align:middle line:84% The voice in the window above stopped him in his tracks. 00:26:29.620 --> 00:26:32.260 align:middle line:90% 00:26:32.260 --> 00:26:34.810 align:middle line:90% Hello, Bob. 00:26:34.810 --> 00:26:39.130 align:middle line:84% It was familiar, reassuring, everything 00:26:39.130 --> 00:26:40.990 align:middle line:90% was as it ought to be. 00:26:40.990 --> 00:26:45.550 align:middle line:84% Olinger looked up into the twin muzzles of his own shotgun. 00:26:45.550 --> 00:26:49.840 align:middle line:84% In that moment, Olinger saw Billy the Kid 00:26:49.840 --> 00:26:52.690 align:middle line:90% in extraordinary detail. 00:26:52.690 --> 00:26:56.860 align:middle line:84% Saw into his blue expressionless eyes, 00:26:56.860 --> 00:27:01.450 align:middle line:84% saw the dark brows and the long curly hair with definition, 00:27:01.450 --> 00:27:05.230 align:middle line:84% saw the mouth barely open and the teeth protruding, 00:27:05.230 --> 00:27:09.400 align:middle line:84% saw the fine articulate hands on the gun perfectly still, 00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:13.060 align:middle line:84% saw the little bony wrists roar with the work of trying 00:27:13.060 --> 00:27:16.630 align:middle line:84% to slip the handcuffs, and the black eyes of the gun peering 00:27:16.630 --> 00:27:17.980 align:middle line:90% into his soul. 00:27:17.980 --> 00:27:23.170 align:middle line:84% There was no depth to them, or there was depth unending. 00:27:23.170 --> 00:27:27.130 align:middle line:84% They were the blackness of the void beyond the stars. 00:27:27.130 --> 00:27:31.090 align:middle line:84% In them, Olinger could see eternity. 00:27:31.090 --> 00:27:35.080 align:middle line:84% Had the girl seen him walking to his death. 00:27:35.080 --> 00:27:39.250 align:middle line:84% He could not be sure nor did it matter really. 00:27:39.250 --> 00:27:42.040 align:middle line:90% He had seen her. 00:27:42.040 --> 00:27:45.700 align:middle line:84% Even at this most extreme moment of his life 00:27:45.700 --> 00:27:49.370 align:middle line:84% he was acutely aware of having seen her. 00:27:49.370 --> 00:27:51.670 align:middle line:90% She was something to see. 00:27:51.670 --> 00:27:55.210 align:middle line:84% And now looking up at the man who was going to take his life 00:27:55.210 --> 00:27:58.630 align:middle line:84% he held on to the vision of the girl. 00:27:58.630 --> 00:28:02.260 align:middle line:84% He felt nothing for her, nothing that-- nothing to which 00:28:02.260 --> 00:28:03.850 align:middle line:90% he could give a name. 00:28:03.850 --> 00:28:08.110 align:middle line:84% It was only that she in her unattainable attitude, 00:28:08.110 --> 00:28:11.260 align:middle line:84% in her remote loveliness, stood for some cipher 00:28:11.260 --> 00:28:12.970 align:middle line:90% in the sum of his life. 00:28:12.970 --> 00:28:16.540 align:middle line:84% He had never imagined what his last vision of the world 00:28:16.540 --> 00:28:17.950 align:middle line:90% might be. 00:28:17.950 --> 00:28:20.950 align:middle line:90% His life had been meager. 00:28:20.950 --> 00:28:25.060 align:middle line:84% It surprised him that in his mind's eye 00:28:25.060 --> 00:28:30.130 align:middle line:84% at the ultimate moment he should see a girl in a white dress. 00:28:30.130 --> 00:28:33.160 align:middle line:90% 00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:36.430 align:middle line:90% Billy pulled the trigger. 00:28:36.430 --> 00:28:38.830 align:middle line:90% The first trigger. 00:28:38.830 --> 00:28:41.320 align:middle line:84% The load struck Olinger in the middle, 00:28:41.320 --> 00:28:43.690 align:middle line:90% dividing him nearly in two. 00:28:43.690 --> 00:28:46.390 align:middle line:84% His body was blown into the street face 00:28:46.390 --> 00:28:49.780 align:middle line:90% down, bent at a hideous angle. 00:28:49.780 --> 00:28:53.470 align:middle line:84% Billy pulled the second trigger and the other load 00:28:53.470 --> 00:28:56.440 align:middle line:90% exploded into Olinger's back. 00:28:56.440 --> 00:28:59.560 align:middle line:90% The body jerked violently. 00:28:59.560 --> 00:29:02.110 align:middle line:84% Billy slammed the smoking shotgun down 00:29:02.110 --> 00:29:04.780 align:middle line:84% on the windowsill with all his strength. 00:29:04.780 --> 00:29:07.570 align:middle line:84% The stock splintered at the slender grip. 00:29:07.570 --> 00:29:11.140 align:middle line:84% Billy hurled the broken weapon down upon Olinger's body. 00:29:11.140 --> 00:29:14.860 align:middle line:90% 00:29:14.860 --> 00:29:16.780 align:middle line:90% Tock. 00:29:16.780 --> 00:29:20.380 align:middle line:84% A hectic murmur was coming up from the street now. 00:29:20.380 --> 00:29:23.170 align:middle line:84% Billy made his way down to the yard behind the courthouse. 00:29:23.170 --> 00:29:26.020 align:middle line:84% There was Godfrey Goss, the caretaker. 00:29:26.020 --> 00:29:29.380 align:middle line:84% Billy instructed the old man to bring him a horse. 00:29:29.380 --> 00:29:31.540 align:middle line:84% For a long time the old German man 00:29:31.540 --> 00:29:34.870 align:middle line:84% labored to catch a horse in the adjacent pasture. 00:29:34.870 --> 00:29:36.550 align:middle line:90% At last he succeeded. 00:29:36.550 --> 00:29:40.990 align:middle line:84% The horse was a skittish mare that belonged to Billy Burt. 00:29:40.990 --> 00:29:44.260 align:middle line:84% Tell Mr. Burt I'll return the horse, Billy said. 00:29:44.260 --> 00:29:47.830 align:middle line:84% Goss saddled the mare and tied it to a fence post. 00:29:47.830 --> 00:29:51.730 align:middle line:84% Billy had been trying to remove the leg irons but he could not. 00:29:51.730 --> 00:29:55.750 align:middle line:84% At gunpoint, old man Goss chopped the chain in two 00:29:55.750 --> 00:29:57.340 align:middle line:90% with an ax. 00:29:57.340 --> 00:30:01.630 align:middle line:84% Billy tied the loose ends of the chain to his belt. 00:30:01.630 --> 00:30:05.290 align:middle line:84% At last, in the bright spring afternoon, 00:30:05.290 --> 00:30:08.590 align:middle line:84% Billy the Kid led the mare out into the main street 00:30:08.590 --> 00:30:12.790 align:middle line:84% where the residents of Lincoln had been gathered since midday. 00:30:12.790 --> 00:30:16.030 align:middle line:84% Billy had taken his time, he had armed himself, 00:30:16.030 --> 00:30:18.520 align:middle line:84% he had secured a horse and broken his shackles, 00:30:18.520 --> 00:30:20.950 align:middle line:90% he had left two men dead. 00:30:20.950 --> 00:30:23.860 align:middle line:90% All in all, it was a day's work. 00:30:23.860 --> 00:30:27.760 align:middle line:84% The good citizens of Lincoln, New Mexico Territory, 00:30:27.760 --> 00:30:32.020 align:middle line:84% respectfully awaited the appearance of El Chivato. 00:30:32.020 --> 00:30:33.640 align:middle line:90% Bets were laid. 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:37.630 align:middle line:84% He had been wounded and could not ride, he had been killed, 00:30:37.630 --> 00:30:40.570 align:middle line:84% he was searching the courthouse for money. 00:30:40.570 --> 00:30:44.320 align:middle line:84% He was praying for the soul of Bob Olinger. 00:30:44.320 --> 00:30:47.590 align:middle line:84% He was composing a letter to Lew Wallace, governor 00:30:47.590 --> 00:30:51.910 align:middle line:90% of the territory, asking pardon. 00:30:51.910 --> 00:30:54.770 align:middle line:84% Shortly after Olinger had been shot down in the street, 00:30:54.770 --> 00:30:56.620 align:middle line:90% there was a brief commotion. 00:30:56.620 --> 00:31:00.430 align:middle line:84% In front of the Wortley Hotel a girl in a white dress 00:31:00.430 --> 00:31:04.390 align:middle line:84% leaped upon a large sorrel stallion and raced away, 00:31:04.390 --> 00:31:07.540 align:middle line:84% her long hair flying and her immaculate 00:31:07.540 --> 00:31:12.460 align:middle line:84% dress whipping up like meringue high on her dark thighs. 00:31:12.460 --> 00:31:18.610 align:middle line:84% Collectively, the townspeople caught their breath. 00:31:18.610 --> 00:31:20.350 align:middle line:90% Billy appeared at last. 00:31:20.350 --> 00:31:24.400 align:middle line:84% He bade a small boy to step forward and hold his horse. 00:31:24.400 --> 00:31:26.470 align:middle line:84% Then he walked up one side of the street 00:31:26.470 --> 00:31:28.810 align:middle line:84% and down the other shaking hands. 00:31:28.810 --> 00:31:32.220 align:middle line:84% Gracias, gracias, he said again and again. 00:31:32.220 --> 00:31:33.670 align:middle line:90% Adios. 00:31:33.670 --> 00:31:37.690 align:middle line:84% And there was bestowed upon him the best wishes of the people. 00:31:37.690 --> 00:31:40.330 align:middle line:90% Hasta luego, Billy. 00:31:40.330 --> 00:31:40.980 align:middle line:90% Vaya con Dios. 00:31:40.980 --> 00:31:42.360 align:middle line:90% Bravo, bravo. 00:31:42.360 --> 00:31:43.730 align:middle line:90% Bien hecho, Billy. 00:31:43.730 --> 00:31:52.210 align:middle line:90% 00:31:52.210 --> 00:31:54.190 align:middle line:90% One more passage. 00:31:54.190 --> 00:31:59.290 align:middle line:84% I don't want to go too long but it's very recent, 00:31:59.290 --> 00:32:01.450 align:middle line:90% it's late in the book. 00:32:01.450 --> 00:32:08.500 align:middle line:84% And I thought I would like to read you at least a part of it. 00:32:08.500 --> 00:32:11.800 align:middle line:84% Set and Grey have been in Oklahoma 00:32:11.800 --> 00:32:15.880 align:middle line:84% where she, in the process of becoming a medicine woman, 00:32:15.880 --> 00:32:20.290 align:middle line:90% has been treating him. 00:32:20.290 --> 00:32:23.140 align:middle line:84% He has almost been destroyed by his bear power. 00:32:23.140 --> 00:32:25.070 align:middle line:84% The confrontation is already within him, 00:32:25.070 --> 00:32:26.950 align:middle line:90% he doesn't know what it is. 00:32:26.950 --> 00:32:28.450 align:middle line:90% But he becomes gravely ill. 00:32:28.450 --> 00:32:32.020 align:middle line:84% She knows what it is and so through a kind of witchcraft 00:32:32.020 --> 00:32:35.260 align:middle line:84% she entices him to come to Oklahoma. 00:32:35.260 --> 00:32:42.970 align:middle line:84% All part of a plan that is irrevocable and inexorable. 00:32:42.970 --> 00:32:48.280 align:middle line:84% And she treats him and gradually begins bringing him to strength 00:32:48.280 --> 00:32:54.830 align:middle line:84% because he must at the end of the story confront the bear. 00:32:54.830 --> 00:32:57.970 align:middle line:84% And so she begins to prepare him for this. 00:32:57.970 --> 00:33:02.680 align:middle line:84% And she and Set drive in a pickup with a horse trailer 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:08.920 align:middle line:84% bearing Dog from Oklahoma to Lukachukai. 00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:12.620 align:middle line:84% And when they come to Lukachukai or when-- 00:33:12.620 --> 00:33:16.360 align:middle line:84% I'm sorry, on the way when they come to Dulce, 00:33:16.360 --> 00:33:25.540 align:middle line:84% she and Set meet Perfecto Atole, who was her first lover. 00:33:25.540 --> 00:33:28.150 align:middle line:84% And he's an interesting man and she 00:33:28.150 --> 00:33:32.800 align:middle line:84% knows that she can depend upon him to help in this plan 00:33:32.800 --> 00:33:37.470 align:middle line:90% to restore Set to strength. 00:33:37.470 --> 00:33:41.260 align:middle line:90% Perfecto Atole is a cowboy. 00:33:41.260 --> 00:33:44.050 align:middle line:90% It was a centaur dancing. 00:33:44.050 --> 00:33:47.350 align:middle line:84% The man was so concentrated upon the dance 00:33:47.350 --> 00:33:49.780 align:middle line:84% that he took no notice of the truck and trailer which 00:33:49.780 --> 00:33:51.880 align:middle line:90% pulled up beyond the rails. 00:33:51.880 --> 00:33:55.060 align:middle line:84% His head was set, his eyes were downcast, 00:33:55.060 --> 00:33:59.800 align:middle line:84% moving laterally with the mare's eyes on the same axis. 00:33:59.800 --> 00:34:02.020 align:middle line:84% His face was rather long and narrow, 00:34:02.020 --> 00:34:05.350 align:middle line:84% his flesh hard on the bone, his mouth was wide and straight 00:34:05.350 --> 00:34:09.370 align:middle line:84% with thin lips slightly parted over teeth as white as chalk. 00:34:09.370 --> 00:34:12.400 align:middle line:84% His narrow eyes were very black and bright, 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:15.219 align:middle line:84% his cheekbones were high and prominent, 00:34:15.219 --> 00:34:18.159 align:middle line:84% his hair was long and straight and coal black, 00:34:18.159 --> 00:34:21.639 align:middle line:84% knotted at the back of his head under a dusty black hat. 00:34:21.639 --> 00:34:23.830 align:middle line:84% The hat was caught low on the forehead 00:34:23.830 --> 00:34:26.080 align:middle line:90% and it was a particular thing. 00:34:26.080 --> 00:34:29.409 align:middle line:84% A Stetson 10X Beaver with a red snakeskin band 00:34:29.409 --> 00:34:33.489 align:middle line:84% and a pinched crown, a 3 and 1/2 inch brim slightly turned down, 00:34:33.489 --> 00:34:36.670 align:middle line:84% front and back slightly rolled at the sides. 00:34:36.670 --> 00:34:38.889 align:middle line:84% The blue satin lining had long since 00:34:38.889 --> 00:34:41.620 align:middle line:84% been removed, along with the sweatband which 00:34:41.620 --> 00:34:45.790 align:middle line:84% bore the legend "Whiteman's Boots and Saddles, 00:34:45.790 --> 00:34:48.400 align:middle line:90% Calgary, Alberta." 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:52.420 align:middle line:84% He wore a shearling jacket, Levi's and Stewart work boots 00:34:52.420 --> 00:34:55.960 align:middle line:84% made of horse hide and taped around the insteps. 00:34:55.960 --> 00:34:58.450 align:middle line:84% He was not tall, but he appeared to be tall, 00:34:58.450 --> 00:35:02.320 align:middle line:84% for he was wiry and compact like a lightweight or welterweight 00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:05.290 align:middle line:90% boxer with no fat on his body. 00:35:05.290 --> 00:35:07.900 align:middle line:84% His hands were long and narrow with pronounced veins 00:35:07.900 --> 00:35:10.810 align:middle line:84% and knuckles, and he held them just above the pommel 00:35:10.810 --> 00:35:13.660 align:middle line:84% and centered on the horn, nearly together. 00:35:13.660 --> 00:35:17.770 align:middle line:84% The thumbs up but not rigid, the tips of the four fingers barely 00:35:17.770 --> 00:35:20.110 align:middle line:84% an inch apart, the other fingers slightly 00:35:20.110 --> 00:35:22.840 align:middle line:84% curved and articulated like the legs 00:35:22.840 --> 00:35:26.800 align:middle line:84% of a crab inward to the center of the man 00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:30.220 align:middle line:84% above the ornate sand cast buckle. 00:35:30.220 --> 00:35:34.360 align:middle line:84% The hands, sunburned and calloused and scarred, 00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:37.930 align:middle line:84% held so lightly, tentatively, so much invested 00:35:37.930 --> 00:35:39.880 align:middle line:84% in the motion of the dance that they seem 00:35:39.880 --> 00:35:42.340 align:middle line:90% to float on an air of music. 00:35:42.340 --> 00:35:45.430 align:middle line:90% An intricate undulant melody. 00:35:45.430 --> 00:35:47.620 align:middle line:84% Lying lightly on the middle fingers 00:35:47.620 --> 00:35:51.010 align:middle line:84% might have been reins, which would have been perfectly 00:35:51.010 --> 00:35:54.610 align:middle line:84% appropriate to the attitude of the hands, which would have 00:35:54.610 --> 00:35:57.820 align:middle line:84% been drawn to no visible tension, which would have been 00:35:57.820 --> 00:36:00.190 align:middle line:84% rolled, rippled, played out precisely 00:36:00.190 --> 00:36:06.160 align:middle line:84% to the tempo of the dance, which would have strung as delicately 00:36:06.160 --> 00:36:08.920 align:middle line:90% as a spider to its website. 00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:12.250 align:middle line:90% The man to the mare. 00:36:12.250 --> 00:36:15.400 align:middle line:90% But there were no reins. 00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:16.980 align:middle line:90% The mare was unbridled. 00:36:16.980 --> 00:36:19.750 align:middle line:90% 00:36:19.750 --> 00:36:25.480 align:middle line:84% The mare, a rangy black animal named Swastika, 00:36:25.480 --> 00:36:32.650 align:middle line:84% moved slowly, meticulously, with infinite stealth and cunning. 00:36:32.650 --> 00:36:35.230 align:middle line:84% Nothing about her was disturbing, not 00:36:35.230 --> 00:36:40.150 align:middle line:84% a step, not an attitude, not even her inexorable advance 00:36:40.150 --> 00:36:42.190 align:middle line:90% into the herd. 00:36:42.190 --> 00:36:46.690 align:middle line:84% The man, Perfecto Atole, shifted his weight imperceptibly, 00:36:46.690 --> 00:36:51.250 align:middle line:84% bringing the barest pressure of a knee to bear upon the mare. 00:36:51.250 --> 00:36:55.270 align:middle line:84% And in that instant the object of the dance was realized. 00:36:55.270 --> 00:36:59.260 align:middle line:84% Swastika then knew her charge and the purpose 00:36:59.260 --> 00:37:01.270 align:middle line:90% to which she had been foaled. 00:37:01.270 --> 00:37:06.490 align:middle line:84% And she crept into the herd and chipped her calf. 00:37:06.490 --> 00:37:09.640 align:middle line:84% The calf sprang away full of agitation and excitement. 00:37:09.640 --> 00:37:13.840 align:middle line:84% The mare, her head low, followed but only a step or two, 00:37:13.840 --> 00:37:16.420 align:middle line:84% only enough to place herself, to come 00:37:16.420 --> 00:37:19.090 align:middle line:90% upon the center of a strategy. 00:37:19.090 --> 00:37:20.890 align:middle line:90% The calf circled wide. 00:37:20.890 --> 00:37:25.120 align:middle line:84% The mare sidestepped, prancing, full of grace, only so far 00:37:25.120 --> 00:37:28.240 align:middle line:84% as to gain the ground between the calf and the herd. 00:37:28.240 --> 00:37:31.360 align:middle line:84% The man sat upright in the saddle, always perpendicular 00:37:31.360 --> 00:37:33.370 align:middle line:90% to the spine of the horse. 00:37:33.370 --> 00:37:36.430 align:middle line:84% The calf lunged, its nostrils distended extremely, 00:37:36.430 --> 00:37:39.370 align:middle line:84% its blowing audible, showing the whites of its eyes. 00:37:39.370 --> 00:37:44.410 align:middle line:84% And the mare wheeled, keeping her head low like a snake. 00:37:44.410 --> 00:37:48.070 align:middle line:84% Her hooves cracked upon the ground, popping like gunfire. 00:37:48.070 --> 00:37:52.660 align:middle line:84% She kept exactly in the calf's way, beautiful and fastidious, 00:37:52.660 --> 00:37:56.530 align:middle line:90% imperturbable and discreet. 00:37:56.530 --> 00:37:58.990 align:middle line:84% In an ultimate desperate motion, the calf 00:37:58.990 --> 00:38:02.950 align:middle line:84% lunged and pivoted, turning sharply around in its skin. 00:38:02.950 --> 00:38:06.880 align:middle line:84% And the mare lurched somehow without desperation 00:38:06.880 --> 00:38:12.280 align:middle line:84% as in slow motion, in some ineffable expression 00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:17.470 align:middle line:84% of serenity, barely touching her teeth to the calf's flank, 00:38:17.470 --> 00:38:22.060 align:middle line:84% turning it out of the corral, into the holding pen. 00:38:22.060 --> 00:38:25.630 align:middle line:90% 00:38:25.630 --> 00:38:29.890 align:middle line:84% The man gave no sign of satisfaction 00:38:29.890 --> 00:38:33.070 align:middle line:84% unless it was given by some barest touch or breath 00:38:33.070 --> 00:38:38.700 align:middle line:84% or shift of posture to the mare, but it was well done. 00:38:38.700 --> 00:38:41.275 align:middle line:84% The dance was finished in beauty. 00:38:41.275 --> 00:38:44.890 align:middle line:90% 00:38:44.890 --> 00:38:49.480 align:middle line:84% Chiquita, you bring me a hale horse and a broken down man, 00:38:49.480 --> 00:38:51.160 align:middle line:90% Perfecto said. 00:38:51.160 --> 00:38:52.360 align:middle line:90% I'll take the horse. 00:38:52.360 --> 00:38:55.370 align:middle line:90% It's as simple as that. 00:38:55.370 --> 00:38:58.570 align:middle line:84% The horse isn't negotiable, Grey said. 00:38:58.570 --> 00:39:03.880 align:middle line:84% But I wanted you to see him, he's one in 100, 1,000 I guess. 00:39:03.880 --> 00:39:08.590 align:middle line:84% And the man you brought along, is he negotiable? 00:39:08.590 --> 00:39:10.600 align:middle line:84% You know what I told you, you know 00:39:10.600 --> 00:39:14.110 align:middle line:90% who he is, you can help him. 00:39:14.110 --> 00:39:15.760 align:middle line:90% Help? 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:18.010 align:middle line:84% You know what I mean, you know the story, 00:39:18.010 --> 00:39:21.310 align:middle line:90% you know your part in it. 00:39:21.310 --> 00:39:23.740 align:middle line:84% Yeah, it's all right I will play my-- 00:39:23.740 --> 00:39:25.360 align:middle line:90% I will play my part. 00:39:25.360 --> 00:39:27.580 align:middle line:90% Thanks. 00:39:27.580 --> 00:39:29.890 align:middle line:84% But remind me, what's in it for me? 00:39:29.890 --> 00:39:32.140 align:middle line:90% Perfecto said. 00:39:32.140 --> 00:39:36.310 align:middle line:84% Satisfaction, a sense of accomplishment, the knowledge 00:39:36.310 --> 00:39:39.790 align:middle line:84% that you have fulfilled your moral responsibility, 00:39:39.790 --> 00:39:43.100 align:middle line:90% stuff like that. 00:39:43.100 --> 00:39:47.450 align:middle line:84% I'm a cowboy and an Indian, he said. 00:39:47.450 --> 00:39:50.960 align:middle line:84% I can't be confused by talk like that. 00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:53.780 align:middle line:90% Tell you what. 00:39:53.780 --> 00:39:59.300 align:middle line:84% Tomorrow, leave the horse, take the man out to Horse Lake, 00:39:59.300 --> 00:40:03.560 align:middle line:84% walk around, talk to the man about bears. 00:40:03.560 --> 00:40:04.700 align:middle line:90% I'll find you there. 00:40:04.700 --> 00:40:05.630 align:middle line:90% Do something. 00:40:05.630 --> 00:40:09.920 align:middle line:84% Tell you what, I'll help that man along. 00:40:09.920 --> 00:40:11.520 align:middle line:90% Thanks, she said. 00:40:11.520 --> 00:40:13.700 align:middle line:90% I need your help, he does too. 00:40:13.700 --> 00:40:16.130 align:middle line:84% She looked down for a long moment. 00:40:16.130 --> 00:40:18.980 align:middle line:90% What will it cost, your help? 00:40:18.980 --> 00:40:22.790 align:middle line:90% Arm and a leg, piece of ass. 00:40:22.790 --> 00:40:25.230 align:middle line:84% No, she said, looking evenly into his eyes. 00:40:25.230 --> 00:40:28.040 align:middle line:84% Now we're talking about bears really. 00:40:28.040 --> 00:40:30.260 align:middle line:84% I mean to be true to this man now. 00:40:30.260 --> 00:40:33.080 align:middle line:90% It has to be so. 00:40:33.080 --> 00:40:36.020 align:middle line:90% I remember your body, he said. 00:40:36.020 --> 00:40:38.720 align:middle line:90% I remember yours, she said. 00:40:38.720 --> 00:40:41.370 align:middle line:90% He looked her up and down. 00:40:41.370 --> 00:40:44.630 align:middle line:84% That first time, that first time, 00:40:44.630 --> 00:40:50.180 align:middle line:84% the boots I gave you that day, the snakeskins, why aren't you 00:40:50.180 --> 00:40:53.210 align:middle line:90% wearing them? 00:40:53.210 --> 00:40:56.930 align:middle line:84% Oh, those boots, she sighed, smiling. 00:40:56.930 --> 00:40:59.090 align:middle line:84% There's something about red shoes 00:40:59.090 --> 00:41:03.110 align:middle line:84% or red boots that has to do with the loss of innocence, 00:41:03.110 --> 00:41:06.380 align:middle line:90% the loss of virginity, I think. 00:41:06.380 --> 00:41:10.340 align:middle line:84% Yellow ribbons and green M&Ms too, he said. 00:41:10.340 --> 00:41:15.050 align:middle line:84% Those boots though, Grey, I don't know if you truly 00:41:15.050 --> 00:41:19.040 align:middle line:90% appreciate those boots. 00:41:19.040 --> 00:41:20.900 align:middle line:90% Oh, I appreciated them. 00:41:20.900 --> 00:41:21.860 align:middle line:90% How could I not? 00:41:21.860 --> 00:41:24.980 align:middle line:84% Red snakeskin Alamos, antelope tops, 00:41:24.980 --> 00:41:29.120 align:middle line:84% wingtips and counter foxing on those soft snakeskin 00:41:29.120 --> 00:41:32.240 align:middle line:90% vamps, the scales like mirrors. 00:41:32.240 --> 00:41:35.750 align:middle line:90% God, they felt good on my feet. 00:41:35.750 --> 00:41:38.840 align:middle line:84% And they look like a million dollars, Atole said, 00:41:38.840 --> 00:41:40.250 align:middle line:90% Perfecto said. 00:41:40.250 --> 00:41:43.430 align:middle line:84% And they looked like a million dollars, she said. 00:41:43.430 --> 00:41:47.090 align:middle line:84% Black medallions, black beading and piping, three color flame 00:41:47.090 --> 00:41:48.660 align:middle line:90% stitching. 00:41:48.660 --> 00:41:53.880 align:middle line:84% They were the most beautiful boots I have ever seen. 00:41:53.880 --> 00:41:57.530 align:middle line:84% He nodded, savoring the recollection of an image. 00:41:57.530 --> 00:42:00.890 align:middle line:84% A lithe beautiful girl in that most bittersweet moment 00:42:00.890 --> 00:42:03.230 align:middle line:90% after she had been deflowered. 00:42:03.230 --> 00:42:05.750 align:middle line:84% At the moment she became a woman once 00:42:05.750 --> 00:42:09.350 align:middle line:84% and for all, after the discreet spotting, the darkening 00:42:09.350 --> 00:42:12.920 align:middle line:84% badge like stain, her belly and thighs quivering 00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:17.450 align:middle line:84% late and reflexively, pulling on the beautiful red boots 00:42:17.450 --> 00:42:20.015 align:middle line:84% with tears running down her cheeks. 00:42:20.015 --> 00:42:22.760 align:middle line:90% 00:42:22.760 --> 00:42:24.485 align:middle line:90% I cut the tops off, she said. 00:42:24.485 --> 00:42:27.230 align:middle line:90% 00:42:27.230 --> 00:42:30.410 align:middle line:90% There was a silence. 00:42:30.410 --> 00:42:31.280 align:middle line:90% What? 00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:33.710 align:middle line:90% You did what? 00:42:33.710 --> 00:42:35.840 align:middle line:90% I cut the tops off. 00:42:35.840 --> 00:42:38.720 align:middle line:84% Well, I had worn those boots hard 00:42:38.720 --> 00:42:40.520 align:middle line:90% and the points were scuffed. 00:42:40.520 --> 00:42:44.030 align:middle line:84% One of them was gouged almost through, I cut the tops off. 00:42:44.030 --> 00:42:47.450 align:middle line:84% You-- I cut the tops off and made shakers out 00:42:47.450 --> 00:42:52.460 align:middle line:84% of them, tortoiseshell shakers, stomped down shakers, you know? 00:42:52.460 --> 00:42:54.140 align:middle line:90% You cut the top-- 00:42:54.140 --> 00:42:58.730 align:middle line:84% off clean, flat off, clip snipped, zip. 00:42:58.730 --> 00:43:01.760 align:middle line:90% Shit, Perfecto said. 00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:05.480 align:middle line:84% Loan you the shakers sometime, Grey said. 00:43:05.480 --> 00:43:09.920 align:middle line:84% Shit, Perfecto said again spitting. 00:43:09.920 --> 00:43:11.030 align:middle line:90% Tell you what. 00:43:11.030 --> 00:43:12.680 align:middle line:84% I've got a good mind to put him out 00:43:12.680 --> 00:43:14.630 align:middle line:90% of his misery, your boyfriend. 00:43:14.630 --> 00:43:17.300 align:middle line:84% I've got some big loads; he wouldn't feel a thing. 00:43:17.300 --> 00:43:18.930 align:middle line:84% Yeah, hunting accident, you know? 00:43:18.930 --> 00:43:22.130 align:middle line:90% You know how I can be. 00:43:22.130 --> 00:43:24.260 align:middle line:84% I know, Grey said, sparks in her eyes. 00:43:24.260 --> 00:43:28.580 align:middle line:84% Now look, you son of a bitch, you will know how to be. 00:43:28.580 --> 00:43:30.170 align:middle line:90% Take my horse if you want. 00:43:30.170 --> 00:43:32.850 align:middle line:84% We will be out there early on the side of the lake. 00:43:32.850 --> 00:43:36.930 align:middle line:84% You find us there at dawn, we are talking about bears. 00:43:36.930 --> 00:43:40.740 align:middle line:90% 00:43:40.740 --> 00:43:43.820 align:middle line:84% Perfecto Atole spat again and laughed. 00:43:43.820 --> 00:43:44.660 align:middle line:90% Yes, he said. 00:43:44.660 --> 00:43:47.450 align:middle line:84% I will borrow you a pretty good looking horse maybe, 00:43:47.450 --> 00:43:50.540 align:middle line:84% and if I like him I will keep him. 00:43:50.540 --> 00:43:54.140 align:middle line:90% Over my dead body, Grey said. 00:43:54.140 --> 00:43:56.600 align:middle line:90% ¡Madre de Dios! he exclaimed. 00:43:56.600 --> 00:44:00.380 align:middle line:84% Two hunting accidents before breakfast! 00:44:00.380 --> 00:44:02.730 align:middle line:90% And he laughed again. 00:44:02.730 --> 00:44:05.120 align:middle line:84% Even when he taunted her, he appealed. 00:44:05.120 --> 00:44:07.370 align:middle line:84% The verbal dueling was a kind of courtship, 00:44:07.370 --> 00:44:09.500 align:middle line:90% the syllables of seduction. 00:44:09.500 --> 00:44:11.540 align:middle line:84% She thought of his hard pointed weight 00:44:11.540 --> 00:44:13.910 align:middle line:84% upon her, his heart, mouth, and hard hands, 00:44:13.910 --> 00:44:16.670 align:middle line:90% his thighs as hard as rock. 00:44:16.670 --> 00:44:19.520 align:middle line:84% Had Billy the Kid lived to be 40, 00:44:19.520 --> 00:44:22.580 align:middle line:84% he would certainly have been a man like this, she thought, 00:44:22.580 --> 00:44:25.490 align:middle line:84% whose teasing and jealousy were formalities. 00:44:25.490 --> 00:44:27.590 align:middle line:84% She knew that she could count on him 00:44:27.590 --> 00:44:30.725 align:middle line:84% and Perfecto Atole was the keeper of a bear's paw. 00:44:30.725 --> 00:44:33.590 align:middle line:90% 00:44:33.590 --> 00:44:35.600 align:middle line:90% There was a raw wind. 00:44:35.600 --> 00:44:40.263 align:middle line:84% The sky in the East was gray and luminous, like smoky quartz. 00:44:40.263 --> 00:44:41.930 align:middle line:84% And in the next minute, it began to take 00:44:41.930 --> 00:44:45.650 align:middle line:84% on the colors of the sun, red, and yellow, and orange, 00:44:45.650 --> 00:44:47.210 align:middle line:90% and gold. 00:44:47.210 --> 00:44:50.270 align:middle line:84% The man and the woman, he inappropriately 00:44:50.270 --> 00:44:52.790 align:middle line:84% in a camel overcoat and street shoes, 00:44:52.790 --> 00:44:56.420 align:middle line:84% she in a long white dress, moccasins, 00:44:56.420 --> 00:44:59.210 align:middle line:84% and a Pendleton chief's blanket, red and black, 00:44:59.210 --> 00:45:01.610 align:middle line:84% walked on the marshy apron of the lake 00:45:01.610 --> 00:45:04.610 align:middle line:84% in shadows that dissolved at their feet. 00:45:04.610 --> 00:45:08.030 align:middle line:84% The wind bore and creaked upon the silence of the dawn 00:45:08.030 --> 00:45:12.740 align:middle line:84% but the silence held even as a flock of ducks beat upward-- 00:45:12.740 --> 00:45:14.900 align:middle line:84% beat about in the reeds of the lake. 00:45:14.900 --> 00:45:17.360 align:middle line:90% Set shivered. 00:45:17.360 --> 00:45:20.180 align:middle line:84% Bears do not suffer cold, I think, he said, 00:45:20.180 --> 00:45:21.770 align:middle line:90% his teeth rattling. 00:45:21.770 --> 00:45:25.880 align:middle line:84% The bear takes the warmth from my body. 00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:29.840 align:middle line:84% He had turned to her and seen that she was looking past him, 00:45:29.840 --> 00:45:33.890 align:middle line:84% her expression solemn, her eyes squinting almost. 00:45:33.890 --> 00:45:36.260 align:middle line:90% He turned searching. 00:45:36.260 --> 00:45:39.200 align:middle line:84% A dark figure was approaching from the West. 00:45:39.200 --> 00:45:42.600 align:middle line:84% It was at first a nuclear concentration of the darkness 00:45:42.600 --> 00:45:45.270 align:middle line:90% beyond, something of the night. 00:45:45.270 --> 00:45:48.740 align:middle line:84% Set watched with fascination, speechless. 00:45:48.740 --> 00:45:52.400 align:middle line:84% But as the figure approached, slowly yet quickly 00:45:52.400 --> 00:45:56.900 align:middle line:84% it began to take the shape of a man on horseback. 00:45:56.900 --> 00:46:00.110 align:middle line:84% The centaur he had seen the day before. 00:46:00.110 --> 00:46:04.130 align:middle line:84% And without knowing why he felt the goad of fear rising up 00:46:04.130 --> 00:46:04.730 align:middle line:90% in him. 00:46:04.730 --> 00:46:07.280 align:middle line:90% 00:46:07.280 --> 00:46:10.430 align:middle line:84% He had been afraid the day before but he could not 00:46:10.430 --> 00:46:12.260 align:middle line:90% understand his fear. 00:46:12.260 --> 00:46:13.880 align:middle line:84% He had watched the man on the horse 00:46:13.880 --> 00:46:16.970 align:middle line:84% and never before had he seen such relentless motion of man 00:46:16.970 --> 00:46:19.160 align:middle line:90% and beast in total concert. 00:46:19.160 --> 00:46:22.020 align:middle line:84% It was terrifying, the inexorable motion, 00:46:22.020 --> 00:46:26.450 align:middle line:84% absolute imposition, unflagging advance of the centaur. 00:46:26.450 --> 00:46:30.020 align:middle line:84% He had watched with fear and fascination. 00:46:30.020 --> 00:46:31.970 align:middle line:84% He had imagined what havoc must have 00:46:31.970 --> 00:46:38.240 align:middle line:84% been in the calf's assorted brain, what dull blind panic. 00:46:38.240 --> 00:46:41.720 align:middle line:84% Then instinctively he understood that he, Set, 00:46:41.720 --> 00:46:45.380 align:middle line:84% was the object of the unhurried irrevocable pursuit 00:46:45.380 --> 00:46:47.600 align:middle line:90% now taking place. 00:46:47.600 --> 00:46:50.870 align:middle line:90% The centaur was coming for him. 00:46:50.870 --> 00:46:52.190 align:middle line:90% It had no other purpose. 00:46:52.190 --> 00:46:58.690 align:middle line:90% 00:46:58.690 --> 00:47:03.640 align:middle line:90% You are something, he said. 00:47:03.640 --> 00:47:07.840 align:middle line:84% But por favor, I ride by black mare this morning. 00:47:07.840 --> 00:47:10.900 align:middle line:84% She and I are old with each other. 00:47:10.900 --> 00:47:18.790 align:middle line:84% If I shift my weight she shifts hers, if she turns I turn. 00:47:18.790 --> 00:47:21.520 align:middle line:84% There is something like evil in her. 00:47:21.520 --> 00:47:24.820 align:middle line:90% She inspires fear. 00:47:24.820 --> 00:47:27.820 align:middle line:84% And he saddled the mare Swastika. 00:47:27.820 --> 00:47:31.360 align:middle line:90% He was going to a dance. 00:47:31.360 --> 00:47:33.850 align:middle line:84% 100 yards away, the black figure in the dawn 00:47:33.850 --> 00:47:36.340 align:middle line:90% and paused and disintegrated. 00:47:36.340 --> 00:47:39.760 align:middle line:84% The man dismounted, worked with the saddlebags. 00:47:39.760 --> 00:47:41.800 align:middle line:84% He fixed the shakers low on his legs 00:47:41.800 --> 00:47:43.630 align:middle line:90% around the tops of his boots. 00:47:43.630 --> 00:47:45.940 align:middle line:84% He drew the bear's paw in his right hand 00:47:45.940 --> 00:47:47.590 align:middle line:84% and then he stepped in the stirrup 00:47:47.590 --> 00:47:49.930 align:middle line:84% and the image was integrated again. 00:47:49.930 --> 00:47:52.780 align:middle line:84% The centaur resumed its approach. 00:47:52.780 --> 00:47:55.120 align:middle line:90% Set stood, watching, waiting. 00:47:55.120 --> 00:47:57.490 align:middle line:84% He thought of running, at least moving away, changing 00:47:57.490 --> 00:48:00.250 align:middle line:84% his position, shifting his stance, 00:48:00.250 --> 00:48:02.200 align:middle line:90% but he was nearly paralyzed. 00:48:02.200 --> 00:48:05.500 align:middle line:90% Anyway, there was nowhere to go. 00:48:05.500 --> 00:48:09.100 align:middle line:84% The centaur drew near, the black live body of the horse 00:48:09.100 --> 00:48:13.570 align:middle line:84% creeping towards him, utterly calm, graceful, irresistible. 00:48:13.570 --> 00:48:17.080 align:middle line:84% The man as well in the shearling jacket, the black hat, 00:48:17.080 --> 00:48:21.100 align:middle line:84% the shakers rattling barely in time without menace, 00:48:21.100 --> 00:48:25.660 align:middle line:84% the right hand black and huge held across the man's middle, 00:48:25.660 --> 00:48:29.530 align:middle line:84% the eyes invisible under the black hat. 00:48:29.530 --> 00:48:33.580 align:middle line:84% The mare's breath became audible, visible. 00:48:33.580 --> 00:48:35.770 align:middle line:84% The centaur moved into the man and the woman, 00:48:35.770 --> 00:48:39.340 align:middle line:84% cleaving them apart cleanly as with the blade of a knife. 00:48:39.340 --> 00:48:42.490 align:middle line:84% And suddenly the woman was of no matter to the dance. 00:48:42.490 --> 00:48:45.880 align:middle line:84% She stood away in the mist on the frozen mud watching, 00:48:45.880 --> 00:48:48.410 align:middle line:90% catching her breath. 00:48:48.410 --> 00:48:52.840 align:middle line:84% The slow thrust of the mare's head backed Set away. 00:48:52.840 --> 00:48:55.120 align:middle line:84% Her head was pointed at his middle. 00:48:55.120 --> 00:48:57.700 align:middle line:90% Her head waved with his-- 00:48:57.700 --> 00:48:59.860 align:middle line:90% weaved with his awkward flight. 00:48:59.860 --> 00:49:02.590 align:middle line:84% She was perfectly in control of her movements. 00:49:02.590 --> 00:49:05.620 align:middle line:84% He was careless, off-balance, desperate. 00:49:05.620 --> 00:49:10.420 align:middle line:84% He tried to feint, dodge, twist away, but she was just there. 00:49:10.420 --> 00:49:13.330 align:middle line:84% Her head slung low, floating at his belt. 00:49:13.330 --> 00:49:17.890 align:middle line:84% She seemed to know better than he how and where he would move. 00:49:17.890 --> 00:49:21.190 align:middle line:84% It was not anticipation, not a matter of guesswork 00:49:21.190 --> 00:49:25.360 align:middle line:84% no matter how well-informed, it was rather the deepest instinct 00:49:25.360 --> 00:49:27.730 align:middle line:90% between predator and prey. 00:49:27.730 --> 00:49:30.730 align:middle line:84% The man on the horse and by means of the horse 00:49:30.730 --> 00:49:32.830 align:middle line:84% preyed upon the man on the ground. 00:49:32.830 --> 00:49:35.410 align:middle line:84% The black mare was his perfect instrument. 00:49:35.410 --> 00:49:39.580 align:middle line:84% She related to them, struck the keen balance between them, 00:49:39.580 --> 00:49:42.370 align:middle line:84% was the center of some ancient design in which there 00:49:42.370 --> 00:49:47.530 align:middle line:90% was placed a dance of warriors. 00:49:47.530 --> 00:49:49.580 align:middle line:90% Set ran without purpose. 00:49:49.580 --> 00:49:51.100 align:middle line:90% He was weak and disoriented. 00:49:51.100 --> 00:49:53.080 align:middle line:90% He had no breath, no strength. 00:49:53.080 --> 00:49:55.240 align:middle line:84% He turned away from the centaur at last, 00:49:55.240 --> 00:49:59.050 align:middle line:84% for the mare was drawn up, and ran in a straight line 00:49:59.050 --> 00:50:00.070 align:middle line:90% for the lake. 00:50:00.070 --> 00:50:02.320 align:middle line:84% His eyes and lungs were burning and there 00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:04.270 align:middle line:90% was no feeling in his legs. 00:50:04.270 --> 00:50:08.230 align:middle line:84% Then the hoof beats and the loud rushing rattle of the shakers 00:50:08.230 --> 00:50:09.760 align:middle line:90% came suddenly upon him. 00:50:09.760 --> 00:50:12.800 align:middle line:84% And he pivoted to the right to no avail. 00:50:12.800 --> 00:50:14.470 align:middle line:84% The mare was at his heels, her breath 00:50:14.470 --> 00:50:16.450 align:middle line:90% loud and hard upon his back. 00:50:16.450 --> 00:50:18.110 align:middle line:90% She was only inches away. 00:50:18.110 --> 00:50:19.960 align:middle line:90% He turned again, nearly falling. 00:50:19.960 --> 00:50:22.090 align:middle line:84% When he regained his balance running she 00:50:22.090 --> 00:50:25.810 align:middle line:84% moved swiftly past, not thundering but gliding 00:50:25.810 --> 00:50:28.990 align:middle line:90% with quiet understated speed. 00:50:28.990 --> 00:50:33.220 align:middle line:84% Before he could lunge away, the rider struck his shoulder 00:50:33.220 --> 00:50:36.130 align:middle line:90% with the bear's paw. 00:50:36.130 --> 00:50:40.300 align:middle line:84% It was a blow that perforated the coat and brought blood. 00:50:40.300 --> 00:50:44.950 align:middle line:84% And Set tumbled and rolled on the water's edge. 00:50:44.950 --> 00:50:49.900 align:middle line:84% Slowly, he brought himself to his hands and knees. 00:50:49.900 --> 00:50:52.660 align:middle line:90% The horse and rider stood away. 00:50:52.660 --> 00:50:54.790 align:middle line:90% The woman stood away. 00:50:54.790 --> 00:50:56.530 align:middle line:90% Set glared. 00:50:56.530 --> 00:51:02.140 align:middle line:84% A rage grew up in him so great that there was nothing else. 00:51:02.140 --> 00:51:08.020 align:middle line:84% He was beyond sickness, and pain, sorrow, and confusion, 00:51:08.020 --> 00:51:09.850 align:middle line:90% and self-pity. 00:51:09.850 --> 00:51:15.250 align:middle line:84% In that moment, he was mad with hatred, murderous. 00:51:15.250 --> 00:51:19.090 align:middle line:84% In his uttermost humiliation, something of his willpower 00:51:19.090 --> 00:51:22.030 align:middle line:84% was unaccountably restored to him. 00:51:22.030 --> 00:51:26.080 align:middle line:84% It was as if he were purged by his own distemper. 00:51:26.080 --> 00:51:29.560 align:middle line:84% In the morning light, he watched the centaur recede 00:51:29.560 --> 00:51:33.550 align:middle line:84% into the distance, memorizing the image, 00:51:33.550 --> 00:51:37.330 align:middle line:84% holding onto his anger with all his might, 00:51:37.330 --> 00:51:40.990 align:middle line:90% beginning to understand its use. 00:51:40.990 --> 00:51:43.930 align:middle line:84% He made a prayer, a morning prayer. 00:51:43.930 --> 00:51:46.760 align:middle line:90% 00:51:46.760 --> 00:51:51.230 align:middle line:84% It was your first victory over the bear, Grey said afterwards. 00:51:51.230 --> 00:51:53.930 align:middle line:90% 00:51:53.930 --> 00:51:56.030 align:middle line:90% [CLAPPING] 00:51:56.030 --> 00:52:00.230 align:middle line:90% 00:52:00.230 --> 00:52:01.130 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:52:01.130 --> 00:52:04.480 align:middle line:90% [CLAPPING] 00:52:04.480 --> 00:52:58.000 align:middle line:90%