Original subtitles

What is it?

Fox.

These two and the one the fox got away with

while you were sittin' here with your nose

stuck in that book.

I'm sorry, Pa.

Sorry don't mean nothin' to them dead chickens

and it don't mean nothin' to me when I keep hearin' you say it so often.

Now, bend over that barrel.

But, Pa.

Do like I tell you, boy.

- Bye, Ma. - Bye.

- Bye, Pa. - You won't be going, son.

Well, I gotta go.

Mr. Decory is having a test today and...

well, it's awful important.

There's work to be done here.

I'll work with you after school, Pa, I promise.

There's no more discussin' it, boy.

Now get back in the house and change into your work clothes.

Go on.

- But. - Go on.

You take these to the teacher, honey.

Tell them Tommy won't be needing them anymore.

Never?

Tell 'em I need Tommy here on the farm.

He won't be going to school anymore.

Bye-bye.

Yes, Pa.

Oliver, he couldn't just work after school?

No school at all, it'll break his heart.

He's our only son.

We built this for him to give him roots.

But he's drifted from us and the land.

He's dreamin' dreams that have nothing to do

with you and me or the farm.

And that's gonna leave empty everything we worked for.

Good morning, class.

Good morning, Mr. Decory.

History books, please.

You're late, Sallie.

I'm sorry, Mr. Decory.

Page 86.

Where's Tommy this morning?

He's home, Mr. Decory.

Pa says he needs him working on the farm.

Hm-mm, for how long?

Pa said he may never come back to school no more.

I don't understand, Sallie.

When did your father decide this?

Fox got in our chicken coop last night.

You know Tommy's supposed to be keeping watch.

Pa caught him reading.

Told me to give you these back.

Come and get it.

Ow, ooh.

Here, let me see that.

You know, I know you don't like being taken out of school, Tommy.

When a man works with his hands

and something good comes of it,

well, it's a feelin' you can't get out of any books.

That's my teacher, Pa. That's Mr. Decory.

You'd better go inside now.

Go on.

Go on.

Hot day. Afternoon, Mr. Harker.

Afternoon.

I understand you're keeping your son out of school.

That's right.

Mr. Harker, I'm sure you believe you have valid reasons

for that decision, but Tommy's become a fine student.

He's gonna be a farmer.

He knows how to cipher, read and write.

That's all a man of the land needs to know.

And I thank you for teaching him that.

Right now, he's needed here.

Good afternoon to you, Mr. Decory.

Mr. Harker, I'd be willing to come here every night to tutor him.

It's plain, Mr. Decory, that you... never worked a farm before.

After a hard day's work,

you're lucky if you stay awake through supper.

It's time for a man to rest,

look back on the day...

and ready himself for the next.

No time for books.

Mr. Harker, there's got to be time for books and learning.

Time must be made for it.

I'll decide what time must be made for, Mr. Decory,

in my house.

Now, get off my land.

But, Mr. Harker...

I don't know, you'd think he'd be proud

and he'd do anything to see the boy develop.

How's Tommy feel about it?

Oh, he loves school.

You know, in all my time of teaching I've never run into a boy with his intellect.

When you realize when I first came here

he couldn't even read.

Marshall, maybe if you talk to Mr. Harker.

Mr. Decory, you haven't been around Dodge all that long,

but most of the people here abouts are farmers

and that's all they're really interested in.

Don't they understand there's more in the world

than just turnips and squash?

Marshall, isn't there something you can do?

The best thing either of us can do is mind our own business.

Now, when you start telling a man how to raise his own son,

that's buttin' in...

and I don't think he's gonna like it very well.

I mean, it's just so frustrating.

Once in a lifetime of a teacher, a boy like Tommy comes along.

And when he does, to deny him an education,

it's an appalling waste.

Well, Mr. Decory, you see back East where you come from

you have compulsory education laws.

And we just haven't quite got that far yet here.

Maybe it's time you did.

Good day, gentlemen.

Well... I think I know how he feels, Matt.

Kind of like I do when I lose a patient, you know? Somebody special.

Why in thunder is it that some people regard an education

as a waste of time or even a threat?

Now why's that?

I don't know, Doc.

But I'll tell you one thing,

being educated does have some advantages.

What's that supposed to mean?

The teacher here forgot to pay his bill.

But, I'm sure he'll thank you for it next time he sees ya.

I'll see you later.

Tommy, Tommy come in.

Come on in.

Me and my ma had to come in to do some shoppin'.

Sorry about having to leave school, Mr. Decory.

No more than I am, son.

It's good to see you, though.

How are you getting along?

Pa's real pleased with me working on the farm.

Hm-hm, what about you?

It's all right, but I don't know. It's...

You miss school?

Yes, sir.

Well, maybe your father will change his mind.

- Mr. Decory? - Hm?

Could I borrow a book from you?

Tommy, Tommy there's nothing in the world

I'd like more to do than to loan you a book.

But under the circumstances, do you think it would be wise?

Well, Pa don't have to know.

Perhaps not, but you and I, we both know.

We know how he feels.

And right now...

But I just can't stop reading for the rest of my life.

I'll read after my chores or in between, anything.

But, please.

All right.

All right.

The Odyssey.

Well, you liked The Iliad so much.

I think you'll like this even better.

After you've read it perhaps we can talk, huh?

Yes, sir.

Mr. Decory, thank you.

Sir.

Tommy, let's just keep this as our secret

between you and me.

I don't want you to get in any more trouble with your father.

Yes, sir.

Well, I'd better be going.

Ma will be waitin'.

Waiting, -ing, hmm?

Ing, thanks.

So, what's happened is they've landed on this island

where Circe lives.

And Circe's a goddess and she can do magic.

Real magic?

Mm-hm, she turned Ulysses' men into pigs.

- Pigs? That's terrible. - Yeah.

Here, I'll read it.

"To hogs transform them in the starry seas.

No more was seen the human form divine.

Head, face and members bristle into swine."

So there...

Hi, Pa.

What are you two doing up so late?

We were just talking, Pa.

About what?

About nothing, just talkin'.

You get to your own bed now, girl.

It's only a book, Pa. No harm in readin' it.

I heard what you was readin'.

You read all night, you're not worth a darn the next day.

But I've been workin' real good.

You said so yourself.

This book's only part of it, son.

The fact is you disobeyed me.

Well, did you or didn't you?

Yes Pa, I did.

You don't understand now,

but I'm doing this for your own good.

These fanciful books, they got no meaning,

leastwise for farm folks.

These books are, are only good to...

to turn a man into a dreamer.

But there's nothing wrong with dreams, Pa.

There is, if they take your mind off your work.

Now you come with me.

His chores are done, Oliver, what harm can it do?

I'll handle this.

Please, not another whippin'.

It seems like whipping's are useless.

Throw it in the fire.

No.

Well it's not mine, it's Mr. Decory's.

Do like I say.

No Pa, I can't.

Now get to bed.

There's work to be done tomorrow.

You had no right to do that.

I would have rather that you whipped me, Pa.

No one has the right to do that,

not no one, no one.

Oliver!

Let him go.

Tommy, people have been burning books for one reason

or another for centuries now.

But books have outlived them all.

So, you can only destroy the paper the words are written on,

not the thoughts behind them.

What am I gonna do, Mr. Decory?

I don't know, Tommy.

All we can do is try to reach him, open his eyes.

And running away will only make it worse.

I don't care what you say!

I can't go back there.

All right, Tommy, you can stay here tonight.

Tomorrow morning we're going to talk it out.

Couch is yours.

Yes, sir.

Tommy!

What happened to your back?

That's where Pa whipped me.

When?

The night the fox got into the chicken coop.

He whip you like that often?

No sir, only when I done something real bad.

Go to sleep, Tommy.

See you in the morning.

Do I still have to go home?

Yes you do, Tommy.

First thing in the morning.

There's no other way.

Hello, Mr. Decory.

Join us here.

Thank you.

Stopped over to your office first, Marshal.

Festus told me you were here.

Something wrong?

Last night Tommy Harker ran away and came to my place.

Where is he now?

Reluctantly, I sent him home this morning.

But I'd wish you'd take a look at him, Marshall.

You too, Doc.

Boy's been whipped by this father.

The marks are still on his back.

Mr. Decory, you're from Massachusetts.

Don't fathers discipline their boys there?

Perhaps, but that doesn't make it right.

Oh, Matt, just a minute. There are folks that, you know,

still deplore this kind of treatment, and I'm one of them.

Now, you can punish a child,

you don't have to beat him, you know?

Let me tell you something.

I've known Oliver Harker a good many years.

Well I have, too.

All right, he's a good man, isn't he?

- Well, yes. - Maybe he's a little old fashioned,

or maybe he's stubborn,

but that man has a right to discipline his son

any way he wants to.

And I'm not gonna interfere with it,

not until there's a law that says so.

I don't buy that, Marshall, not one iota.

That boy isn't an ox pulling a plow

and there must be somebody who can do something about it.

Doc, I'll tell ya something.

He's just gonna make things worse for that boy.

Well he cares, there's something to be said for that.

Well sure, Doc, but I still don't believe

that a man's got a right

to come between a father and his own boy, Doc.

Not unless that boy's being badly abused or something.

That's not the case here.

You can abuse a mind too, Matt, as well as a body.

Matt, for 20 years you and I

have seen eye-to-eye on just about everything.

But on this, I'm afraid we're gonna cross swords.

And this time, you can pay the check.

All right, what is the name of this city?

Jackie?

Jac...?

Lucy?

Berlin, and it's in Germany.

Very good.

"We hold these truths to...

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men

are created equal.

That they are endowed by their Creator

with certain unalienable rights.

That among these are life, liberty,

and the pursuit of happiness."

Now in the Consti...

Stand up, boy, we're going home.

Stand up.

I'm not gonna tell you again.

You stand like you're told... or I'll drag you to your feet.

You'd better go on home, son.

Keep out of this.

Mr. Harker, this is my classroom.

Please wait outside, I'll send Tommy out to you.

He's coming out with me.

Nobody's gonna send him anywhere.

No, no, I don't wanna go.

It's not necessary to use force.

- Pa! - Come on, Sallie.

I believe we've all learned enough for one day.

Class dismissed.

I don't blame you for being upset, Mr. Decory.

But as I told you before,

you're interfering between a father and his son.

Now a schoolhouse is community property.

A parent has a right to go in there any time.

And strike the teacher?

If you want to file assault charges, I'll carry them out.

But I can't guarantee you what'll happen after that.

Well, then we'll just have to see, won't we Marshall?

Everybody rise.

Order in the court, please.

Who's representing the defendant?

I am, Your Honor.

Mr. Decory, I understand

you've requested to act as your own counsel.

That's right, Your Honor.

If that is your wish.

Now Mr. Harker, on the morning of the 14th

you came to the schoolhouse to take your son

away from the school.

Now he didn't want to leave, did he?

No, he didn't.

In fact he resisted you, didn't he?

That's right.

And when I tried to intervene you hit me, didn't you?

Because you were buttin' in your big nose where it didn't belong.

Then you admit you assaulted me.

I never denied it and I'd do it again if I had the chance.

Thank you, no more questions, Your Honor.

Bruce, any cross examination?

Mr. Harker, you said Mr. Decory was butting in.

Would you explain that?

Well, even after I took the boy out of school,

he still tried to keep his hold on him.

Even came to my farm and tried to argue with me about it.

Finally, I had to order him off my land.

Any other occasions?

He gave the boy a book, even knowin' I told the boy

I want no more books in the house.

Would you say it was Mr. Decory's influence

that caused Tommy to return to school that day?

That's what I've been saying.

The boy even run away

and stayed at his house all night.

Me and the missus sick with worry.

So you'd say Mr. Decory came between you and your son?

That's what I've been saying, yes.

No more questions, Your Honor.

You're excused, Mr. Harker.

Mr. Decory, you have another witness?

Dr. Adams, Your Honor.

Now tell me, Dr. Adams,

after the assault you were the one who treated me.

Now what was the extent of my injuries?

Well, you had a bruise on your right cheek

and one on your shoulder.

What's your background, Doctor?

I mean, I know you have a shingle outside your office

which says you're a doctor of medicine.

What exactly gave you the right to put that sign up?

I studied Medicine.

Your Honor, the defense acknowledges

Dr. Adams qualifications and that he's an excellent doctor.

Now, Your Honor, it's not his qualifications I'm getting at.

It's how he got them and why.

Your Honor, I have a feeling Mr. Decory intends

to make schooling and education an issue here.

Now, I realize the prosecutor isn't exactly a seasoned attorney.

However, I feel obliged to remind him that this is an assault trial.

If he continues in this line, I must object.

I'm sorry. I...

Your Honor, with all due respect,

Mr. Harker's attack on me

was prompted by the issue of his child's education.

Now it would seem to me that Mr. Harker's views

on education and the assault

are very definitely closely related.

It's a reasonable assumption.

Objection overruled.

- Continue, Mr. Decory. - Yes, sir.

Is your father a doctor?

No no, no.

And it was just your decision to become one.

- Oh, yes. - Now, Dr. Adams,

don't you feel that Tommy Harker and every other child

deserves that same right of decision?

Objection, Your Honor, Mr. Decory's managed

to twist his line of questioning again.

You've ruled that Mr. Harker's views on education may be relevant,

I'll accept the court's judgment on that issue.

However, a child's right to an education is not relevant.

Mr. Decory, I'm afraid counsel is correct.

You don't have to answer that, Dr. Adams.

Well, I insist on answering that.

I think every child has a right to an education

right up to the limit of his capacity.

- Objection, Your Honor. - Sustained.

Now wait a minute, don't be so danged high and mighty, Caleb.

Listen to me.

You know as well as I do, the real issue here is an education.

All of this other folderol is hogwash.

Objection!

Dr. Adams, I must remind you where you are.

Oh, I know where I am.

Your Honor, I'll try to make my questions

a bit more relevant.

Please do.

Dr. Adams, Mr. Harker attacked me because he believes

he has the right to force his child to quit school

whenever it suits him.

Now, do you believe Doctor, a father has that right?

That's more relevant?

Objection, Your Honor.

I believe that it's possible for a child to work

and pursue an education at the same time.

Your Honor, how many objections do I have to make before I get a ruling?

Mr. Bruce, despite Dr. Adams unnecessary and unprofessional outburst,

I believe that there is more on trial in this courtroom than simple assault.

Overruled.

As I said before, Your Honor,

if education becomes an issue in this trial,

- I take exception. - Noted.

Proceed, Mr. Decory.

Doctor, do you believe that it's as important

for a child to go to school as it is for him

to work in the fields with his father?

- Objection. - You shut up.

- Overruled. - Yes.

Where do you think you would be today, Doctor,

without an education?

Well I shudder to think of it.

- Objection. - Overruled.

- Exception. - Noted.

Is it a fact, Doctor, that you owe everything

in your life to the fact that you have an education?

- Objection! - Overruled!

- Exception! - Noted!

Order, order in this courtroom!

Order, order in this court.

Order in this courtroom!

We will have order.

Nobody's gonna tell me how to treat my boy.

That Decory's got no right to interfere.

They're gonna take over when I'm gone?

Oliver should have hit him harder.

Nobody's gonna tell me how to raise my kids.

He's got no right. He's only a schoolteacher.

Decory doesn't know anything about this part of the country.

- This isn't the East, this is Kansas. - That's right.

Folks out here depend upon their crops

and they depend upon their kids to help 'em.

You tell 'em Burke.

How many kids you got, Burke?

Now that's got nothing to do with it.

I think it does.

Burke, you know you're always sticking your nose

into something that doesn't concern you.

Now, you listen to me, Doc.

Frankly Burke, I'm tired of listening to you.

Well, I didn't get up on the stand and defend him like you did.

Burke, I said what I said on the stand because I was under oath.

Now, in case you don't know what that means,

that means I had to tell the truth.

A man don't need all that schoolin' to be somethin'.

I didn't have much.

Shows, too.

Here, Floyd.

- Doc? - No thanks, let's go, Festus.

Well, I just now got here.

Festus, you never went to school, did you?

No.

Well, you feel the sorrier for it?

No, excepting some once in a while,

I get to thinkin' a whole mess of things could have been made

a whole heap simpler if I had.

Floyd, give Festus a beer on me.

Matter of fact, give him all the beer he can drink.

Old scutter's went plumb crazy.

Mr. Decory do you have any other witnesses?

Your Honor, I'd like to call back Oliver Harker to the stand.

Mr. Harker will you take the stand please?

And may I remind you, Mr. Harker, you are still under oath.

Why'd you hit me, Mr. Harker?

I already told ya.

You were coming between me and my son.

You mean just in the classroom?

All along you've been filling his head

full of fool notions that he's something special.

Did you object to the books he read?

For a schoolteacher, it sure takes you a long time

to figure things out.

We'll have no more sarcasm, Mr. Harker.

You burned one of those books didn't you, Mr. Harker?

That's right.

What was it called?

It doesn't matter.

Any book is harmful, then?

I didn't say that.

There are lots of good books.

The Bible, for one.

But they are bad when that's all they've got time for.

Mr. Harker, don't you want your son to know more

than just to work in the fields from sun up to sundown?

And to pray to God for rain when there is none?

Or for it to stop when there's too much?

I always figured God knows what he's doing.

And I've never seen a man dying from hard work before.

And what if Tommy did go to school all the time

like you say, reading and learning?

What's he gonna do when he's learned all there is to know?

Become a schoolteacher like you?

Tell him, Oliver.

I am only a schoolteacher and I don't make very much.

But I'm as proud of my work as you are.

Well, I'm a good father

and no one can say I ain't.

And I do what I think is best for my son.

I believe you, sir.

Mr. Harker, I understand some years ago you had

- the best corn crop in Ford County. - That's right.

Then the yields began to diminish.

How was your crop last year?

Fair.

- This year it's worse? - Yes.

Plant the same ground every year, sir?

Yes.

Isn't it possible, Mr. Harker, that the ground is worn out?

I mean, have you ever heard of erosion, Mr. Harker?

No.

- Have you ever heard of rotation of crops? - No.

Mr. Harker this book, this book is called the Farmer's Almanac.

- Have you ever read it? - No!

Your son has. It carries astronomical data,

weather forecasts, even new farming techniques.

I got no time to read!

Why do you think your son read this book?

'Cause he run out of fairytale books, I suppose.

No, your son read this book because he thought

it could improve your corn crops, sir.

And I might add the farmers who have read it

and followed it in the past have improved their corn crop

and far surpassed your yield, sir.

The value of learning, Mr. Harker.

No further questions, Your Honor.

You're excused, Mr. Harker.

Mr. Bruce.

Your Honor, I'd like to call Henry Decory to the stand, please.

Mr. Decory.

Farmer's Almanac.

Erosion, crop rotation...

Tell me, Mr. Decory, where did you grow up?

In Massachusetts.

On a farm, I suppose.

No, in a town.

Oh, well as a boy did you have a garden?

- Plant your own vegetables? - No.

Then how do you know that what's in this book

isn't all hogwash?

Have you ever put into practice any of the farming

techniques written in this book?

Or any other book on farming?

- No. - No.

And I wager to say, Mr. Decory,

that you've never had an aching back from pushing a plow

or digging a post hole,

or dirt under your fingernails, or calluses.

Yes, Mr. Decory may be an expert on books,

but farming?

The defense rests, Your Honor.

Mr. Bruce...

Mr. Bruce, I've never farmed,

just as most of these people in this courtroom

have never taught in a classroom.

Each man to his own choosing.

But, in order to do that to its utmost, you must be taught, educated.

Objection, Your Honor.

Mr. Decory happens to be my witness

and I'm through questioning him.

Since Mr. Decory is acting as his own counsel

I would assume that he has the privilege of cross examining himself.

Overruled.

- Exception. - Noted.

Continue, Mr. Decory.

Your Honor, one of the first acts of our forefathers

when they first landed on Plymouth Rock

was to pass a law demanding compulsory education for every child.

- Objection. - Overruled.

And then Massachusetts, where I come from, Mr. Bruce,

Massachusetts passed that into law in 1852.

And since that time, Michigan, Vermont, New Hampshire,

Washington, D.C., Connecticut, they've all passed it into law.

And maybe, Your Honor, because of what happens today

in this courtroom,

perhaps it won't be long before" compulsory education comes to Kansas.

Objection!

Quiet, quiet!

We will have order in this court!

Court is adjourned until eight o'clock tomorrow.

Everybody rise.

Quiet please, quiet.

Quiet in the court.

Where's Mr. Decory?

Judge, Your Honor.

Mr. Decory was assaulted last night by four men

and they warned him, they told him if he showed up here

they'd do it again.

What were the extent of his injuries?

Cuts and bruises, numerous cont...

- You needn't be here. - I'll make it, Doc.

Are you all right?

I fell just fine, Your Honor.

Sorry I'm late today,

but I just had to ensure the presence of an additional witness.

- Your Honor... - Thank you, Doc.

The defense wants it plainly known

that it deplores what happened to Mr. Decory last night,

- and it condemns it. - Well said, Mr. Bruce.

Court is now in session.

Mr. Decory, the defense has rested its case.

You said you have an additional witness?

Yes, sir, Tommy Harker.

Your Honor, we object to the calling of the defendant's son.

The prosecution can hardly expect a boy to testify

against his own father.

Tommy, no one is forcing you to take the stand.

You can step down if you want.

No sir, I'll stay.

Mr. Decory.

Tommy, can your father read and write?

Yes, sir.

Could his father?

No, sir.

So your father's had some schooling?

Yes sir, he had some.

So he learned how to read and write.

His own father could neither read nor write,

but he saw to it that his son did.

Tommy, when you first came to me in school,

you were almost 10 years old.

You got a very late start in school.

Could you read at that time?

Uh no, sir.

- Could you write? - No, sir.

Add or subtract?

No, sir.

Now, Your Honor, with your permission

I would like you to just call out some numbers,

two or three digits and Doc, if you will,

will you write those numbers down on here

and add them up as quickly as possible.

Tommy, I want you to listen to the judge very carefully,

and when he's through please give us your total.

Your Honor, I'd like you to call the numbers out rapidly, please.

All right, 24, 35... sixteen, 44,

61, 52, 77, is that enough?

Yes sir, what's your total Tommy?

Three hundred and nine.

And you, Doc?

Just a minute.

Three hundred and nine.

You have all just seen an example

of what can be achieved by education.

Potential is limitless.

If it were not for the great minds of this nation,

the Benjamin Franklins, the Lincolns, the Thoreaus,

this country would not be where it is

and we would not be gathered here today.

All of these men were great men because they were educated.

And despite Mr. Harker's determination

to keep the son out of school,

he understands very well the value of learning

because he too is a teacher.

You are all teachers.

You teach your children how to milk cows...

and how to stack wheat,

because you realize without that knowledge they are helpless.

Now, all of you want your children to become farmers.

There's nothing wrong with a boy becoming a farmer.

Farming is an ancient and honorable trade.

But must a farmer be only a farmer

because he knows nothing else?

George Washington was a farmer.

Thomas Jefferson was a farmer.

Many of our greatest leaders, they all grew up on farms

just like your children.

Now the difference between our teachings

is that I teach from a book because I learned from books.

Because the sum total of all human knowledge

is passed down in books.

I told Tommy Harker that burning a book

can't stop a child's hunger for knowledge.

But a child's parent can.

He can stifle it or kill it...

just as you can kill a plant if you deny it light and rain.

You take your children out of school,

you tell them long enough and hard enough that teaching

and schooling is unnecessary

the ultimate tragedy, then, is that they will come to accept that as fact.

And once they do,

once they believe that schooling is a waste,

from that very moment on

the luster of these bright, agile, young minds

will be tarnished forever.

And we will be the poorer for it,

because by robbing our children, we also rob ourselves

and all our future generations

of the priceless gift of knowledge.

I'm through, Your Honor.

Well, Mr. Decory is quite a speaker.

It's plain his education was thorough.

But that doesn't necessarily make him right.

But, you are not here to decide this issue.

I feel obliged to remind the jury

that you sit here in judgment

not on a child's right to an education,

but on assault... assault.

And you are here to decide... whether or not

Mr. Oliver Harker is guilty and should be punished

for striking a man who came knowingly and deliberately

between him and his son.

And that, not education...

is the subject of this trial.

And I hope and trust that every member of this jury

will agree that a father's right to protect his child

is the most sacred right every parent has.

You didn't expect to win that case, did ya?

Not at first.

But as we got deeper and deeper into the trial

I hoped that...

No, I guess not.

You didn't want Oliver Harker to go to jail, did you?

No, no I didn't.

But that wasn't what was on trial, Doc.

Henry, are you familiar with the old saying,

"He who fights and runs away..."?

I am. You didn't finish it.

"He who fights and runs away may turn to fight another day."

"He that's in the battle slain will never rise to fight again."

Well, maybe I'm tired of the battle.

Henry, I'm afraid you may have lost something

besides just blood.

Now look, Doc, I thought a town like Dodge

would welcome education.

I thought that all men wanted better for their sons.

There wasn't a word that I said

that made any difference to these people, nothing!

Standing still, that's all they want for themselves.

That's all they're going to pass onto their children.

- They might as well hibernate. - Henry...

Doc, I tried to keep one child,

just one child with extraordinary ability in school and I failed!

What about the other children?

How am I going to help them now?

You made a point today.

Yes, I made a point.

I got everybody in this whole town against me.

You reached a couple people today.

Tomorrow maybe a couple more.

Henry, it takes time.

I started teaching when I was 23, Doc.

I'm 43 now.

I don't have much time to wait,

at least not here.

Henry, let me tell you something about time.

A few years ago this was a wilderness.

Somebody came along and built a cabin.

Others came and Dodge became a town.

Cost a lot of blood, but it's here.

There was no medicine here before I came.

There was no law until Matt Dillon came.

And no education, not the kind we're talking about until right now.

And in that regard, it's still a wilderness.

Any time anybody comes into town and wants to change anything

they've always been met by ignorance, suspicion, even violence.

Henry, all you can do is plant a seed and hope it grows.

Henry, if you stay,

that boy and a lot of others have a chance.

Now, if you leave, they don't.

I'm not sure I care anymore, Doc.

You don't?