Original subtitles

This is the day.

- Yes, yes, Lo. - I'm up.

Quiet. Quiet.

Will you wake Father?

Here, friend.

And eat a little bit more for once.

Good morning, friend, Lee.

Good morning, Wang Lung, good morning.

So this is the day.

The day.

Tomorrow another will draw the waters.

Another.

I know, I know.

Who doesn't?

Good morning.

Now, then!

Where is my hot water?

My-- My lungs are cold.

It's ready, Father.

I'm too old to wait for my food like this.

Tomorrow a woman will bring food to us both.

Yeah, and she'll need food too.

And there's little enough for any of us until the harvest.

And if the rains don't come, there won't be a harvest.

Tea? Have you lost your mind?

Tea is like eating silver.

But this is the day, Father.

If the woman brings us luck...

...we may never go hungry again.

Tea. Waste.

Do you think she'll be an ugly woman?

If things go on like this...

...some day the bridegrooms will want to see the brides before they marry them.

Well, then, I won't have a pockmarked woman.

Or one with a split lip!

Now then, are you a farmer's son or not?

Your woman must work as your mother did...

...and bear children as she did.

- Six sons like mine. - Your tea will be cold.

True, true.

And five sons died in the years of flood and famine.

But your mother worked on with me until she died.

Now, I know that she was the one. The best a man could have.

But I'll tell you one thing. Your woman is not deformed.

Thank you, Father.

Now, there it is, water enough to bring a crop to fruit!

Must you waste it?

I haven't washed my body all at once since the New Year.

It won't do, starting a woman like this.

Tea in the morning, water and all this washing.

- Father. - Well, what is it? What is it?

I would be grateful to you if it would please you...

...to ask some friends to a feast tonight.

- A very small feast. - Now, then!

- It's only this once. - No, no, no!

Spend for a feast, make way for a famine.

Good morning, Father Wang. It's going to rain.

It is unlucky to mention it.

I haven't said it would rain. I haven't said it.

Here is some very bad wine for the bridegroom.

This gift is much too good for my son.

Oh, it's miserable wine.

Where's the bridegroom?

He's washing his whole body.

- Is that my friend, Wang Lung? - Ching!

That's my son...

...wasting good water before the rains come.

Ah, but the rains will come.

And what's a tub full of water to you...

...a man who will live to see grandsons?

Young men and fools are alike, until the gods teach them wisdom.

I'm asking a few friends for a feast tonight.

A very small feast.

If you will come, my son will be honored.

You were boys together.

Ching!

This is the day!

Peaches. Buy. Eat!

Purge your blood and clear your liver.

Peaches, six for two coppers.

Now, then, what?

- I'm Wang Lung, the farmer. - Well, and Wang Lung, the farmer, what?

I'm come. I'm come.

I can see that. I can see you're a fool.

There's... There's a woman to be...

So you're he. You're the bridegroom.

I thought you were a peddler. Why do you bring a basket?

Are you going to carry her home in it?

The bridegroom!

He comes.

The bridegroom. He comes.

The bridegroom.

- O-Lan! Here's the bridegroom! - Come here, O-Lan.

He's here. The bridegroom.

He's here. The bridegroom.

You fool.

Get up!

Your farmer's come. He smells like a stable.

Stop your cackles!

Is this old rattrap yours?

Open it. Open it! We'll see what's in it.

There's a thief in every kitchen.

When did you steal these?

My mother gave them to me.

Save them for your own brats!

Pick up your rags. Hurry!

Mistress. The kitchen slave.

This woman came into my house when she was a child.

Her parents were farmers...

...but during the famine they sold her to me for food.

She has a strong body...

...and will work well for you in your house and your fields.

Take her and use her well.

O-Lan, obey him.

And bring him many sons.

Bring the first son for me to see.

Well, go, go, go.

Take the box.

Peaches. Fresh peaches. First peaches of the spring.

Purge your blood and clear your liver.

Peaches. Fresh peaches. Thank you. Peaches. Fresh...

They're yours to eat for yourself.

A tree will grow from this seed.

Please. Please.

Hey, let him be. But this I'll say, she's a good cook.

An excellent cook.

I am an old man, and I have never tasted such food before.

Oh, no, it's very poor food. Very badly prepared.

The woman can't cook at all.

My friends...

...my poor farm barely produces enough...

...to keep my family alive.

But tonight I rejoice that my brother's son has been favored by heaven.

Ah, youth, youth! How beautiful it is...

...and how fleeting.

Nephew?

Oh, forgive me.

Poor fellow, he's bathed and shaved and hoping we'll go home.

No, no, no. Your presence delights him.

Then we'll all stay here till cockcrow.

May you have many grandsons.

I'm saving my bed for the first one. He'll warm my old bones.

Rest well. Rest well.

Brother, your joy is mine.

Nephew...

...now that the woman will work in the house...

...you might help your old uncle in the fields.

Alas, I--

- Good night. - Good night.

- Good night. - Good night.

- Good night, cousin. - Good night, cousin.

- Good night. - Good night.

Good night.

- May the night be long. - Good night.

It will grow.

This is good land.

And old.

My ancestors came here long ago.

And they sleep in it.

My father plowed it, and it's mine.

The best a man can have.

Now, it belongs to us both.

It's raining.

Why did you put up your hand?

Were you afraid?

Afraid of me?

Were they cruel to you in the Great House?

No one will be cruel to you here.

I am with child.

Enough for today.

We'll tell Old Father.

Why have you left the fields?

She is with child already.

So I'm to be a grandfather, eh?

I shall prepare food now.

Yes, food, food, food!

I know nothing of these things.

When the child is born, you'll need a woman.

Perhaps there's a woman in the Great House.

- Someone you knew in the kitchen. - None in that house.

Well, we're only two men here. There must be someone in the Great House.

When I go back in that house...

...it will be with my son in my arms.

I'll have a red coat on him and red-flowered trousers...

...and a hat with a gilded Buddha and tiger-faced shoes.

And I'll go into the kitchen where I spent my days as a slave...

...and into the great hall where the old mistress sits with her pipe.

And I'll show myself and my son to all of them.

Well!

Now, I...

I haven't heard you speak so many words...

...since you came to this house.

Now, then! Why are you not in the fields today?

The wheat must be cut!

Today, I shall not go into the fields.

Look, storm clouds.

Rain?

We'll lose the harvest.

We'll starve this winter.

Bring the ox.

Hurry, load the wheat!

There is hail in that storm! Faster! Faster!

Help Father load the cart!

What is it? Is it the child?

I get a woman.

No.

Go back to the wheat.

But I played my game correctly.

So you did. You lost every game correctly.

Of course.

How did I know what he had?

You might have looked over his shoulder.

But I did.

Then you gave me the wrong sign.

There. What did I tell you?

And you made me play another game while this was happening!

- Is it a man? Is it a man? - A man!

A man-child has been born.

Behold, we have a son.

A man-child.

A man-child! I'm a father!

And...

...and you're a grandfather!

Yes. Yes.

I never could get my wife to work the way that woman did...

...with a child about to be born.

If it weren't undignified, I'd tell her that she's a good wife.

Nephew, I rejoice with you.

It's nothing that I lost my own wheat, helping with the child.

Nothing.

Hear him!

I get eggs and dye them red for the whole village.

Everyone must know I have a son.

My son is very pleased.

It was a dismal noise.

No, no, very good noise.

Now, then!

Those cakes are not to be eaten.

Well.

And I am poor, but I can at least be honest.

My dear nephew...

...please add this fowl to the little colored cakes...

...which you haven't offered me.

But they're a gift for the Great House.

Very bad for the stomach.

Only fit for rich people...

...if they're not too rich to accept them.

Those people are not as rich as you think.

They're feeling a pinch this year.

I've heard that they're selling land.

Selling land?

I heard it yesterday from their agent at the gambling-- At the tea house.

Well, am I asked to fill my cup in this house of prosperity?

Please, please.

What have I not thought of?

A good New Year, my prosperous nephew.

- Good fortune to you. Goodbye. - Goodbye.

We could buy land...

...from the Great House.

Rice land.

Now, then, if we lost our wheat, we'd have no money.

- But we haven't. - But how close it was...

...between this money and nothing, not even food.

But when a man has two fields or three fields...

...he can lose his wheat and still have food.

That rice land is sure.

And to be sure again next year...

...I'd even go to the Great House and buy it.

Do you think they'd kill me?

Well, well, I'm not afraid.

I'd go to the Great House and say:

"Tell them I have important business. Money is concerned.

What is a fair price? I have it in my hand.”

Well, it was a good thought.

But what use is a good thought if no one agrees with it?

And the child, a beautiful child. A beautiful boy.

Here is the son of Wang Lung.

Here is the son of Wang Lung, the farmer.

He is a man-child.

He is a man-child.

Here is O-Lan, wife of Wang the farmer, and her son.

You will announce them to the ancient one.

And you said her child would be a female.

- A female. - Be quiet!

Or crow for your own hen.

He has a sickly look, very pale and green.

Let's hope he won't die before spring.

Stop your cackles!

Hurry, woman! Must I waste the whole day?

He's a beautiful child.

He's a beautiful child.

The old mistress laughed and said, "He's a beautiful child.”

She said those words. "A beautiful child.”

Well, and she said no more than the truth.

And I saw not one slave in all that house with a new coat like mine.

And why should you go about like the wife of a common fellow?

I can afford a piece of cloth, I think.

Now, I have two fields.

I bought it today from the Great House.

The land?

They said it was less than an inch...

...and took all that silver as if it were nothing.

And the foolish clerks, who don't own a foot of land...

...laughed a goose cackle at me, because I couldn't write my name.

But I'll buy again and again until my land is more than an inch...

...even in the house of a prince.

Look, young farmer, some day all this will belong to you.

And you'll be a prince too.

And I'll buy more land and more land

What a pity. We are so poor. We have nothing. And the child is nothing.

Yes, yes, it's less than nothing, and it's only a female...

...and it's covered with smallpox, as well.

Yes, yes, only a female. And covered with smallpox, as well.

You're mighty gods. You're wise gods.

You've been good to me.

For many years, you've been good to this humble person.

I had only one field, now I have five.

I had only one child, now I have three.

My elder son planted his first rice today.

My youngest son is big enough to lead the ox.

My third child is only a female...

...but I won't reproach you for that.

Excuse me.

And we haven't forgotten you.

We bought you fine new robes of red paper...

...so you won't forget me.

You'll send me rich harvest this year also.

And you'll persuade my uncle to work a little now and then...

...and not ask for money so often.

And if he does, please allow my husband to refuse him.

I'll do that anyway.

Very gracefully.

- Wang Lung, come up. - Wang Lung, come up here. Wang Lung!

Wang Lung will know. He'll know what it is.

Wang Lung. How would he know? He's as slow-witted as my old woman.

- Here he is. - Well, and what now, neighbors?

Look. Look.

An army.

- No. - Merchants, perhaps?

- So many? - People from the north.

- But why? - There must be famine in the north.

They're going south, where there's food.

Famine? What ideas you have.

The woman is right. I've seen it before.

That's what happens when a man has only one field.

But I have five. We must thank the gods for giving me so much foresight.

What talk is this? Forgive my son!

He's young and stupid and talks too much!

It was famine that made me a slave.

It dries even as we carry it.

Well, and if the vines starve, we'll all starve.

The wheat's gone, and the rice.

From all my fields, I have only this handful of beans.

Father! Father!

Father. Father. Father!

You know we're not thieves.

- But the ox is mine. - We're hungry.

Our children are hungry. You should help us.

If I had money, I would help you.

My nephew.

You can sell your land.

- Sell my land? - Yes.

But when the money is gone... And the land?

At least we could live well through the famine.

What good is this land now?

You're young, you don't know what a famine is like.

My father knew years of famine, but he kept the land.

I must keep it for my sons.

The earth is good. If we work, it will feed us.

But how am I to live? How am I to live?

Work, as I do!

I'll not rob my sons to feed you, who are idle.

You...! You...!

Must we go hungry, while you have land?

This land that you won't sell!

I'll not sell my land.

It's my life. It's mine.

I'll never sell it.

I'll dig up the earth first, and feed it to my children.

Yes, and you'll bury them in it.

He is my friend.

My friend.

We're not hungry.

Mercy on me, O powerful ones.

I starve and my women starve...

...and there is no one to give me a handful of rice.

There is one who has plenty...

...but he's a rich man, and riches harden the heart.

Soften his heart, O powerful ones...

...that he may give me a little out of his abundance.

Would not a man sell his lands, unless he had food to give his children?

He has food, and I starve!

He has food, and these good men starve!

Well?

What?

- You have food. - We are starving.

You have food. Food.

I have nothing.

I dig for roots for my children.

You have food hidden. Food and silver.

Food?

Find it.

She's cooking! She's cooking! Wang Lung has food!

I told you! He has food!

But...

...it's earth.

It stays hunger...

...and it's warm.

Ching.

Hunger makes men mad.

Come, come.

You're little men now.

You won't cry.

Look.

Your sister doesn't cry.

Little one...

...she never cries now.

What is it?

Why?

If you could have a little food, you'd have strength to bring the child.

I'll find it.

- Tomorrow, I-- - When have you had food?

There's a thing in me that hurts.

And not hunger.

But a man has no words.

No words...

...but I know.

O-Lan...

...the earth has forgotten us.

The earth.

I hate it.

I hate it! I'll sell it!

- No. - The cursed land!

No! No, not the land.

Not the land.

We are ready, nephew.

Are you safe?

Yes.

Safe.

Another mouth to feed.

My poor man, for the sake of your children...

...we'll give you a better price for your land...

...than you can get anywhere else in these times.

- We'll give you-- - Twelve pieces of silver.

What? Twelve pieces?

For all my land?

I paid a hundred times that much.

But who was starving then?

Thieves!

Thieves!

And well you know I must sell.

No.

Not the land.

We'll not sell the land.

We'll keep it.

We'll go south.

And when we'll return, we still have the land.

But I've arranged it. I brought these men here.

- You must sell. - Is it your land?

Did you buy it, bit by bit?

The land is our life.

And it's better to go south...

...or die walking...

...than to give it to you for nothing.

What a pity. What a pity.

How can you walk anywhere...

...with a child?

The child is dead.

Dead?

But I heard him crying.

The child is dead.

What do you say, Father? Shall we ride in this fire wagon?

I'd feel safer on your back.

They say it crawls on these iron poles.

Grandfather says it's the god of fire.

It's wagons chained together.

Do we get inside the thing?

We sit in it while it walks south.

With these mats, we can build a home.

Well, then, get to work. Get to work, all of you.

No, look at me. And listen.

Take the bowl in your right hand, so, and hold it out...

...to everybody that passes. And cry out to them.

A heart, good sir, a heart, good lady.

A good deed and you shall prosper. The small cash.

A coin you throw away, feed a starving child.

Have a kind heart. A good deed that bring you fortune.

The small cash. The coin you throw away.

Give, or the child dies.

Have a kind heart. A good deed to bring you fortune.

The small cash, feed a starving child.

Please, have a kind fortune. Bring you a good heart.

The small cash is starving. Put a little child in my bowl.

Have a kind fortune, bring you a good heart. The small cash is starving.

Have a kind heart, good sir. A good...

Well, now...

Well, and today?

Nothing. No work of any kind.

For things a beast should do, there were a hundred men. Fighting.

It would have been better to starve on our own land...

...than to come to this great city where there's no work for a man's hands.

It will come.

Now, then...must I wait for my meat any longer?

Meat?

It's the first we've had since we killed the ox.

You must have begged from a prince today.

It's mine.

- Where did you get meat? - I took it from an old woman.

You stole it?

You thief!

Thief!

Thief!

Meat is meat.

Do we have to steal or beg for it to live?

A man can't stand it here...

...with land of his own in the north.

In times like this...

...my parents found a way to go back.

They sold me to the old mistress in the Big House.

You could sell the little one?

I would sell her.

To take you back to the land.

If it wasn't for me, you would die before you'd sell her.

We won't sell her.

Not if I spend my life in this wilderness.

What is it? What happened?

What happened?

He was pulling timber.

He fell and died in the harness.

Where did he work?

Where did he work?

The Great Market.

Come on.

Where are all these soldiers going?

They say there's a revolution coming.

Revolution?

What is revolution?

I don't know. But it has something to do with food.

Things are growing again.

You were a farmer?

I own land in the north.

So did I. Ten years ago.

Why didn't you go back?

You've got to have an ox. You've got to buy seed.

You've got to live until you make a crop.

I tried to save enough for 10 years.

I'll never get back.

- Neither will you. - I'll get back.

If I can pull that thing, I can pull a plow. Ox or no ox.

Listen, my brothers, before the tyrants close my mouth.

In a few days, China will be a free country.

The day of the Manchu tyranny is over.

The revolutionary army is on its way.

They've been marching 30 miles a day...

...in spite of the rains in the north.

Did you hear him?

Yes, but what does it all mean?

It's raining in the north.

Every city in the south has joined the revolution.

All China will soon be free.

Don't let them drag you from your homes and families...

...to fight against your cause.

Soldiers! Soldiers!

Run! Soldiers!

Who do you think you are?

What is it? What are you shouting?

China's free!

The revolutionary are here! China is a republic!

A republic? What is a republic?

What do they want? Where are they going?

Into the Great House to rob. It's so all over the city.

A man may take what he likes.

Aim!

Fire!

No! No! I was hungry!

Mercy! No!

I was hungry! Hungry!

Hungry! No!

- No! - Aim!

Fire!

Captain.

Prepare to march.

Fall in!

Let them be a warning to you.

We're republicans, not bandits.

Order must be maintained throughout the city.

You may go. But remember, anyone caught looting will be shot.

What have I not seen?

What have I not seen?

I could never tell you.

Such things.

Crowds. How I got through.

The city's mad. They're robbing the rich, killing., burning.

Now soldiers have come from the north.

It's well you were here.

It's well you were here.

Look.

We can go back.

We can go back to the land.

Home.

We are home!

- Home. - Home.

Come.

Down with you.

Run to Uncle's home. Tell him Wang is home.

Tell all our friends. Tell them I have grain.

Run. Away with you!

- We're home! - We're home! We're home!

- This is yours. - Thank you.

Take what you need. Lee, take it all.

The sack. All.

- There's food for all until the harvest. - Thank you.

- May you have good crops. - Thank you, Wang. Goodbye.

- Goodbye. - Thank you.

- Thank you. - Goodbye.

You need more, come back. We have plenty.

- Good seed. - Thank you.

- Ching. - Wang Lung.

I saw no face in the city like yours, my friend.

These belong to you. I kept them in my house.

Kept them?

And starving?

Why didn't you sell them?

I have your plow too.

But keep it.

Tomorrow, I'll bring my oxen and help plow your field.

I have no field. I had to sell it.

Sell the...?

Well, you shall come and work for me.

I've had luck in the south.

I have it in mind to buy more land.

Will you come?

I'll come, and gladly.

Nephew. Brother.

My loved ones. I predicted it. I predicted it.

I always said, if those southerners had anything...

...my nephew would bring it home with him.

But it's too late to help me.

I've had to sell my daughters.

Well, Uncle, anything you want, and I have--

Nothing, nothing.

Still, if you could let me have a few pieces of silver...

...two or three? Say, four?

Four? Why, take 10, 15, 20.

Twenty?

Why not? I have this and more. I have jewels.

- Jewels? - A handful, all colors.

Red ones, white ones.

Come. I want to feel my toes in the earth again.

- But there is something. - Well?

Are you going to sell the jewels to buy the land?

Sell them? Why, of course.

And what else would I do with them?

If I could have two...

...only two small ones, the two white ones.

The pearls? You?

I wouldn't wear them.

I'm much too plain-looking.

I never noticed it.

But I could hold them in my hands.

Sometimes.

Thank you.

It's nothing, nothing. After all, you helped find them.

And you must wear them.

Yes, and you must dress in a way becoming to them.

- Not as a poor farmer's wife. - We'll see to that.

We'll look after you.

We'll come and live with you. We'll rebuild the house.

No. This house is enough.

But no, we'll make it bigger.

We must have room for a household.

No, no, we were happy here.

We'll be happier. We'll have men in the fields...

- ...and slaves in the house. - No slaves. Nothing.

But you must have a slave until you're well again.

I'm well now.

See? It's cured me, coming home.

But you shall rest and have everything.

We'll live well and in comfort.

We'll be safe from hunger as long as we live.

Longer. Longer. Why, nephew, you're rich.

You can live like a great lord.

Why, you can even take a second wife.

Listen to him. Listen to him.

But why not? You have two oxen.

No, no!

But come along, huh?

Second wife.

It is further agreed that the above named seller, Wang Lung...

...shall deliver to the respected merchant, Liu Fung Kee...

...the said wheat, as and when same is harvested.

Cost of transportation to be borne by the seller.

It is agreed between the above mentioned parties...

...that the price of this wheat is to be as follows:

For each bushel of wheat, four pieces of silver.

In the event of damage to the crop from storm, pest or other cause...

...the worthy purchaser, Liu Fung Kee...

...shall be held free of any liability to accept this wheat.

Read that last paragraph.

Mr. Wang, I'm delighted to pay you such a high price for your wheat...

...even though my profit might be slight.

It's very kind of you to buy my wretched grain.

The contract's ready, Father.

Well, and it's time.

But this contract is wrong. This is the radical for wood.

- It should be the radical for water. - Change it, then.

We'll not put our name to anything wrongly written.

Mr. Wang, two clever sons like these are the better half of your wealth.

They're stupid, worthless creatures.

If anything was driven into their thick, brass skulls, it was by beating them.

I told their teacher to beat them.

He beat them so well that this one's going to the university.

- Indeed. - If I'm not too unworthy...

...I hope to win a degree in agriculture.

Degree? Agriculture?

That's some kind of paper that will make it rain just enough...

...but not too much.

And you, are you going too?

No, sir. I'll stay on my father's land.

When my brother returns, he'll show me...

...what more can be done with it.

Now, then, that's talk enough. Take the money home.

My ignorant daughter.

A beautiful girl.

She has a wretched appearance.

Now, you two might mix your blood in one bowl.

But your daughter is much too good for my son.

Oh, no, but you would never condescend to such a marriage.

But I couldn't presume to look so high.

It's impossible, quite impossible. But it might be done.

Yes, indeed, if you would be good enough to consider it in due time.

I shall think of it night and day.

- Goodbye. - It would be immodest of me to say...

...that this idea was mine. Goodbye.

What a beautiful day.

That music, it seems to draw me in spite of myself.

I'm not used to these places.

I have no clothes.

I'm only a farmer. I have work to do.

Work? Work.

You must learn to enjoy yourself.

There's more in the world than earth and crops.

There are songs and dancing...

...and girls who do these things elegantly.

Watch.

- That must be the stairway. - Yes.

- Shall we see what it feels like? - No, no, no.

I've never been off the ground in my life.

She's like a dream person.

Stop it, stop it, stop it!

Quiet!

I told the thing not to wake me till feast time.

- Another feast? - The Dragon Feast, woman.

It's my duty to observe the old customs.

My nephew insists on it.

Old customs, indeed. There's more than that with your nephew.

When a farmer buys silk robes and washes his whole body every day...

- ...there's a woman, that's sure. - But a rich man may have two wives...

...but the wife must cling to her husband.

That is as it should be.

That's right. A woman is allowed but one mistake.

Of course. Now, then, it is said, you may see a teapot with four teacups...

...but have you seen a teacup with four teapots?

It is also said, do you ever see two spoons in one bowl...

...that do not knock against each other?

Well, what is it, what is it?

Excuse me, Father, but you look like the lord of a great house.

Well...

...and that is not as strange as you think.

I've just...

- Tell your mother I wish to see her. - Yes, Father.

Can you spare me a moment?

I must know what seed to prepare for the summer planting.

Why trouble me about it? Prepare the seed my son gives you.

These flowers are dead, little one.

Your sister knows only happiness.

Mother.

- Is it a letter from your brother? - No, Mother.

Father wishes to see you.

He'll want his shaving water.

Are you well? The old pain. Is it bad?

No, no, it's nothing.

You sent for me?

Well, there's a thing I've done.

I've bought the Great House. The house of Loo.

Courts and land.

I'm the new lord there.

Well?

Have you no thanks?

I thought it would please you to be mistress in that house...

...where you lived as a slave.

Our sons were born here.

They must have wives. We'll have grandchildren.

There's room in that house for all.

You'll have the high place with money to spare for slaves.

You must make yourself becoming to it.

Look at your hair, your clothes.

You disgrace me.

One would think you're still the wife of a common laborer.

Where are the pearls you had?

The pearls?

I have them.

You never wear them.

I look at them sometimes.

I need them.

Give them to me.

I know that I'm ugly...

...and not to be loved.

All that we have now came from you.

That is the truth, and I say it.

- But-- But now-- - But now?

There's a woman.

Not such a one as you.

Not as good as you.

It's like a sickness.

When I'm with her...

...it's not enough.

When I'm not with her, there's nothing.

Even the land is nothing.

Then it will be better when she is in your house.

You will say that?

Is it your wish?

Let it be, then.

O-Lan...

What is there more to say?

Nothing.

Who is it?

Who was that man going out the gate?

He looked something like my son, Lung.

Now, then, what?

I'm Ching, the farmer.

Well, Ching, the farmer, what?

I have business with Wang, the farmer.

Wang, the farmer? This is the Great House of Wang!

He is the lord here.

There's a bad woman in the house.

There's a bad woman in the house.

Bad woman!

Father, hush.

It's but the second wife.

I say it's a bad woman.

I had but one woman, and my father had but one woman...

- ...and we farmed the land. - Come, Father.

It's but the second wife.

I'm tired.

I want my tea.

The old man is childish. Nobody listens to him.

But he shall be kept away.

I'm hated in this house. How can I be happy here?

But what can I do?

I have to sit here, shut in all day.

If I stir out, they whisper and look at me, hatefully.

Where can I walk in the evening?

If I had a garden...

If I had a garden, all mine...

...with singing birds and a pavilion...

...a fountain, too, with fish.

But the money.

- Then it's money that you love. - No, no, little flower.

But it will not be easy until the harvest.

I must see. I must see.

My younger son keeps the accounts.

But these few little things.

If you love me...

...if I please you...

It shall be done.

Anything.

- Anything. - Be careful.

My pearls.

I may come in?

Does my music disturb you?

No. No, I-- I like it.

I listen sometimes.

I play because I'm lonely.

I want so much to talk and laugh.

But there is no one.

I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. You must excuse me. I--

I have some business at the grain merchant's.

If you please, I must go.

Then you'll pass by the cobbler's shop?

Yes.

Would you mind having him regild this buckle with silver?

Well, I... Well, yes. Yes.

But you won't misunderstand.

Why should I?

When a woman gives her slipper to a man...

But I shouldn't tell you.

But please.

Well, then...

...it means he's taken her fancy.

But you asked me to have it gilded.

But the buckle doesn't need gilding.

It's pure silver.

Here's a letter from your brother. Will you read it to me?

Of course, Mother.

Now, then, we'll hear what our scholar has to say.

"First, I am ashamed of my ignorance.

But I am not ashamed to inquire of my teachers.

Each day I learn new ways of bringing about nature's effects...

.in case nature herself should fail us.”

Well, what does he say?

He says he's learning many things to help us.

But is he happy there? Does he say if he needs anything?

No, Mother.

"I miss my beloved father and mother deeply.

And I'm eager to share the happiness of our new home."

Mother, I want to go away too.

- Go away? - To the wars.

- I'll be a soldier. - Now, then, what madness is this?

Well, but I've heard stories of war and plunder and battle.

And I hate this house! And I'll go.

I wish she'd stop that music!

Now this house is full of silences.

I was reading my mother a letter from older brother.

- Would you like to hear it? - If he's well, it can wait.

But there's more in your face than the letter.

He will be a soldier.

A soldier?

Now, then...

...men don't take good iron to make a nail...

...nor a good man to make a soldier.

It would be a disgrace to me, a man of silver and land...

...to have a son who's a soldier.

But I'm nothing in this house.

If you're lost in this house, go back to the land.

Help Ching until the harvest.

Rub a little earth on yourself. That's good for any man.

Well, if the land isn't fit for you anymore, it isn't fit for me.

Now, what all this stuff is, I don't know.

He's come to the age...

...of tempers and weeping.

When I was a lad, I had no such tempers.

You worked on the land.

But he's like a young lord.

And he's been alone here.

When you were his age, you had a bride.

But I was given a slave--

My marriage cost my father nothing.

The boy is our son.

He would be better dead...

...than here with this woman.

What?

You dream!

Even she hears it...

...who hears nothing else.

It fills all this house.

The woman calls, and she's bold.

- And your son is young-- - Enough!

Gossip. Kitchen gossip.

That's where you came from...

...where you wish to live. Live there, then!

Eat and sleep where you will...

...but between you and me there's nothing.

Nothing!

A man is alone here.

What are you doing in the house?

There's work to be done in the fields.

What...?

What is it?

Why, you're...

...you're weeping.

When you must do it, a man can be sorry.

But why do you weep?

There's food for every day now...

...and a fire.

Sometimes a man gets a longing for his fields.

Well, if it pleases you to come out again and work in them, they're yours.

No, it's better for my son to come.

In the house he pulls against the yoke.

He has all the freedom here he wants.

Where is he today?

He comes and goes.

Sometimes one day, sometimes two.

I thought you knew.

I knew nothing. I've spent my time in town.

Why didn't you tell me, you slow-witted ox?

Why should I tell you what everyone's been saying for weeks?

Saying?

- What? - Well...

Well, speak.

If you had eyes and ears you would know.

Know? Know what?

- That the second wife and your son-- - Liar!

Get off my land.

Well...

...it's been a long time with us.

Take what belongs to you and go.

I came to you with nothing.

I'll go with nothing.

Good day, master, good day.

Father!

Out.

Out of my sight.

Goodbye, Mother.

Mother.

Mother, you're ill. You should have a doctor.

It's nothing.

Wherever you go...

...you ought to tell me.

They say there's a war in the north.

Sometimes in wars...

...there are those who die.

Well, if that's best, let it be.

When I'm gone, you must see to the harvest.

We owe most of it already. The clerk will tell you how much.

I will see to it.

If you must go...

...there's a thing to be done.

Speak to your father.

- No, no, I can't. - You are his youngest son.

Father.

Father?

I'm-- I'm going away.

I only want to tell you that I... How I...

If you could forgive me...

But go.

Nephew. We're ruined. Everything's gone!

And I predicted it. I predicted it.

- What's happened? - I knew it. I ran miles to tell you.

- What is it? - I forgive everybody.

What is it?

This.

- Locusts! - The flying plague.

Well...

- ...let them come. - But the land, the harvest.

What can we do against the gods?

It's not the gods. It's a thing of nature. We can fight it.

Have you ever seen a plague of locusts?

- No, but-- - I have.

They come in millions.

The air is black with them, and stinking.

And where they come down there's nothing left.

Not a grain of wheat, not a blade of grass, not a leaf or flower.

- Nothing. - And can you fight that with your books?

Forgive me. I mean no disrespect to my elders.

But I speak of what I heard at school. And I heard this:

"That a man is a slave to the earth or its master.

And when it turns against him, he must fight it!"

We can fight these creeping things! If we save but one field...

...it will be a new thing in all this land. And the best in a thousand years!

If this thing can be done...

- ...show us how to do it. - If it please you, come into the fields.

Now, look. The locusts will come down here.

The wind blows between these hills. There, like a whirlpool.

It'll blow the locusts as through a hole.

They'll come down there, no other place.

I saw it as a boy. They came down there...

...and they were gone with a change of wind.

- But the crops were gone with them. - But that's the thing.

We hold them off until the wind changes.

We must dig a firebreak along these hilltops. Make a wall of fire.

- But my wheat lies outside the firewall. - And mine!

I'll pay each man for what is eaten or what is burned.

We'll get kerosene, bring it in carts. The fire stuff.

It makes a quick, high flame. We can fight for everything behind this wall.

If they break through, we'll widen the ditch behind the fire.

- Wall of water. - It will fail.

If it fails, we'll fight them with torches, with noise...

...with our hands. If we hold them off until the wind picks them up...

- ...we can save those fields. - It can't be done.

It must be done!

All you have, and all I have depends on it.

You think I'm rich, but if I lose this harvest there's nothing.

- If I save anything. I'll share it. - Yeah. yeah!

Let the men dig, and women.

Let old men and boys make torches, smoke pots.

Get all things that will make a noise. Bring the fire stuff.

Get the oxen, the plows, sickles, spades, everyone! Hurry! Hurry!

You're useless. All useless. I'll stay here and pray.

Faster.

Faster! The firebreak must be wider.

Up here! Hurry!

Hurry! Bring the fire stuff!

Come on, men. Hurry!

Torches!

There's millions.

Billions!

Plague...

See, they land in one place.

Yes, but they crawl.

Hey! Hurry with the fire stuff!

Throw the fire stuff off here! Get the--

Get the torches.

More torches!

Light the fires!

More fire stuff! They're smothering the flames!

They're breaking through, just as I predicted.

Just as I predicted.

- Bring the water! Flood the ditches! - Flood the ditches!

We're beaten. There's no doubt about it now.

No doubt about it. That ditch will never hold them.

We must fight them with our hands, with shovels, anything! Come!

Stand!

Keep fighting. Don't give up.

We must keep fighting.

We must save what we can!

Get up.

I said save the wheat!

Save it!

The wind!

The wind!

The wind!

The wind!

We've beaten the things!

We've beaten them!

We've beaten them!

Yes! We've beaten them!

Yes, we did it. We've beaten them!

Yes! Yes! They're gone! They're gone!

Victory! Victory! We've done it!

Yes, yes, they're gone. They're gone!

- Hooray! - They're gone! They're gone!

But it's magic. The young master. It's wonderful.

He did it. The son of his father.

- A son to be proud of. - A father to be proud of.

You're wiser than three generations.

But it's nothing. Just a matter of oil and fire.

Something we learned from books.

But I'm worn-out. Worn-out.

But we saved the crops.

The harvest is saved. The gods are good.

What's the matter?

I'll call your husband.

No, no.

Say nothing.

He is on the land again...

...with his sons.

And this day is his.

And must be.

You shall bring in the harvest...

...and lead the workers.

Both of you.

And Ching is my steward.

Well! There's work to be done.

- Do it again. - Do it again.

And another thing must be done.

And you must do it. Quickly.

I--? Work?

Go to the bankers.

There's a commission to be had.

And if you rob me a little, it will be yours. For old times' sake.

I will sell the Great House.

Sell? But why?

The harvest is saved. You will have money.

- You can live like a lord. - All that is finished.

I will sell the Great House.

It's a wedding again.

- But whose? - It's your grandson's wedding...

...and soon there'll be great-grandsons.

Yes, yes, many of them. Many of them.

Please, please.

Let him be, let him be.

His cheeks are as red as this excellent wine.

Excellent indeed. My stomach is very pleased.

Perhaps it's loss of memory, but I've never eaten such rice.

It's very bad rice. The worst I ever bought.

Grandchildren.

Great-grandchildren.

Have all the guests had wine?

Yes, yes.

Is the sweet rice hot, with lard and sugar, and the eight fruits?

It's just as you wished.

Mistress, your son's bride.

Well...

...and she's beautiful.

My daughter.

Look to your husband...

...and your husband's father.

And his grandfather.

And you have no duty...

...to any other.

You must rest.

Everyone be merry...

...and not less merry because of me.

Let them be...

...for the bride.

In good time.

In good time.

For you'll be well again.

Well?

This thing is waiting.

You can't speak of that...

...and please me.

I am content.

And what must be done...

...you've done.

- The bridegroom hasn't heard a word. - He's wishing we'd go home.

No, no indeed. I should be honored if you'd stay the whole evening.

Do you remember?

Yes.

If a man could speak...

...there are things...

Some are forgotten.

But now I know that you are the one...

...and the best a man could have.

O-Lan.

O-Lan?

This I cannot bear.

I'd sell all my land if I could heal you.

No.

I would not let you.

For I must die sometime.

But the land will be there...

...after me.

I beg you...

...stay here with me.

I cannot.

Forgive me.

O-Lan...

...you are the earth.

[ENGLISH]