"Before the beginning, after the Great War between Heaven and Hell," "God created the Earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called Man;" "And to each generation was born a creature of light" "and a creature of darkness;" "And great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between Good and Evil." "There was magic then, nobility, and unimaginable cruelty;" "And so it was until the day that a false sun exploded over Trinity," "and Man forever traded away wonder for reason." "Momma..." " Momma, please..." " No..." "No." "I'm gonna run you down, boy." "Law says I can do that." "Your choice, boy." "What the hell's going on up there?" "Get a move on!" " You're trespassing'." " This is my place." "This place is the property of First Merchants Trust." "Now you've been warned." "Law's on its way." " They're set to squash him." " Nah, they won't squash him." "Wager two bits." "You're on!" "Hey..." "I didn't say you could stick your nose in it!" "You didn't say I couldn't." "How much it worth to get that hayseed off your back?" "Hell." "I'll just roll over him." "You don't want to do that." "It'll gum up your works, make a mess of your rig." "All right, all right, all right!" "Make it quick." "Fair enough." "No time for planting, son." "Easy." "I ain't got all day!" "Mister, you tell that son-bitch better shut his pie-hole, or I swear to Christ, I'ma take this shovel to his head." "Shut your hole!" "Oh, great." "This your place?" "My ma's." "It's ours." " It's mine, you son-bitch!" " No, it ain't!" "Son, where's your ma?" "That's her." "Hey, I got work to do here." " Oh, swell." " You got shovels?" "Okay, children, let's shake some dust!" "Can't just leave him." "The boy ran rabbit from a chain gang." "He's still sporting ankle-iron." "Nothing but trouble." "Yeah, that's what I said about you." "C'mon, Ruthie, don't do this." "We've gotnothing open." "We're down to tater-shucks." "He can have my tater-shucks." "Just to Milfay." "Let's get him the hell out of here." "Latter day versions of the vile plagues that rained on Egypt, the fires that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah," "scourges of the Old Testament, yes, but even now brothers and sisters, even now, droughts and pestilence fester in the very heart of this great land." "Titanic sandstorms, the likes of which man has not seen since the days of the prophets." "And I ask myself, what are these things?" "What are they if not evidence of God's fury?" "What are they if not harbingers of the Apocalypse?" "And yet..." "And yet... as I walked to church today," "these troubled thoughts were soothed by a balmy wind." "And as I looked out upon the endless acres of rich, untilled earth," "I realized brothers and sisters, that this is truly the Promised Land," "and that we are indeed blessed." "But let us not forget the less fortunate." "Let us not forget that they too were once blessed." "And let us not forget that the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away." "May I offer you something?" "My sister can get you some tea." "No, thank you." "Texas?" "Oklahoma?" "Tulsa." "We come up for the cantaloupes." "No need for pickers, though." "Maybe one out of a hundred that shows up, so..." " we're up at the camp." " By the highway." "It's a big one." "But we ain't got no preacher, so I've been coming up here the last three Sundays." "A lady's got a right to worship." "Of course you do." "And you're welcome here any time." "Helen." "Helen McGill." "I didn't mean to take it." "I see you in my sermons." "And you pray so hard, you break my heart." "But my words, they wash over you like water over a stone." "We all, each of us, carry within us the seeds of our own salvation, and our own damnation." "You do believe that, don't you?" "Eleanor?" "Kneel." "Now." "Pray with me," "Kneel and pray!" "Please, dear Lord, I have sinned." "I have sinned!" "I have sinned!" "Merciful Father, forgive me." "Enough, enough!" "Sister, you mustn't be afraid, you mustn't be afraid..." "Talk to Management about the hick?" "Yeah, I talked to him." "Thirty-four dollars and eighty-seven cents in the kitty, we're already choking on the nut." "The last thing we need is another belly to wash." " You know what he says?" " What?" ""He was expected."" "Expected?" "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" "I stopped asking that question a long time ago." "I told you they'd come." "Fine looking boy." "You have a singularly, prurient mind." "What would you know about it?" "More than I care to, believe me." "Incidentally, dear, you should discard that Jack of Clubs." "He's doing you no good and it would only come back tohaunt you." "Gin!" "You old fraud." "Poor baby..." "What do you suppose he's dreaming about, anyway?" "None of your business, dear." "Aw, Lodz." "Tell me what he's dreaming about." "Pretty please." "Mm-hm." "Very well." "Lodz?" "Lodz, Lodz!" "Lodz..." "Mother, please." "Every time we pick up a new-Well," "he's just a boy." "I don't suppose you're going to pick that up." "What are you, some kind of freak?" "Hey, watch it!" "Come." "You wanted to see me?" "Is the stranger still with us?" "Yeah, as far as I know." "He's dangerous, Samson." "Aw, hell." "He's a rube." "Last night, Lila asked me to read his dreams." "A little parlor trick to keep the boredom at bay." "A harmless curiosity, really." "It almost destroyed me." "Like nothing I've experienced before." "I barely survived." "Hogwash." "Samson..." "Is that so?" "Have you talked to Management about his presence here?" " Yeah." "Yeah, I talked to him." " And?" "He told me to take him on full time if I could." "Look, if the kid were a threat, Management would know about it." "Would he?" " Want a ride?" " No." " Where you going?" " It's none of your damn business." "What's got you so bothered?" "I don't appreciate getting shanghaied by a pack of freaks who steal my duds." "Fine." "It ain't right." "That child deserves a decent burial." "She won't give him up." "Hey." "Ain't that a pretty baby you got?" "Ssh." "He's sleeping." "What's his name?" "Michael." "Like the archangel." "He's dead." "Isn't he?" "Yes, ma'am." "He is." "It's okay." "It's okay..." "If you could fill these two cans back there, I'd be obliged." "Yes, ma'am." "You with them carnies, ain't ya?" "Yeah." "Your fault..." "It's your fault..." "C'mon!" "What you waiting for?" "Huh?" "C'mon!" "You son of a bitch!" "What are you looking at?" "Oh, nothin'." "Here..." "Thanks." "Put this on." "Thank you." "Let me have a screwdriver." "What happened?" "Nothin'." "Did he do that?" "No." "No." "It was some men in town." "So how'd the hick get in the picture?" "Just happened by." "Stopped it." "C'mon, Jonesy." "It was nothing." "How many times you been told?" "I know, I know." "I can't buy a dress." "I can't buy a magazine." "I certainly can't sit in a beauty shop and read it." " Is there anything I can do?" " There's plenty." "But one thing you cannot do is prance into these towns without asking for trouble." " So it was my fault?" " Yeah, it was." " I was asking for it?" " Yeah!" "The only thing I was asking for was a tank a gas and a soda, and maybe ten minutes to myself!" "The rest of it was them!" "Get out." " Sofie" " Get out!" "Go, please!" "Would you please shut up?" "!" "Kid." "Hey, kid!" "I heard Jonesy gave you the business about the kimono." "Real card, that Jonesy." " Always poking fun." " Yeah, he's real comical." "Now you see, there you go." "I admire a fellow who can take a joke." "A measure of a man is his sense of humor." " Do you know who said that?" " I don't care, how 'bout that?" "It was his honor, Will Rogers." "Or maybe it was Mark Twain." "The point is, kid," " I'm about to make you the offer of a lifetime." " Hey, stop calling me kid!" "My name is Ben Hawkins." "Well, Ben Hawkins." "How would you like a career in show business?" " What's the wages?" " Nothing at first." "Offer comes straight from the boss man." "That's right." "That's right, boy, walk!" "Goddamnit!" "Nice straight beeline to that dirt farm of yours." "And when you get there, well you be sure to give John Law a big "Hi-dee-ho" for me!" "Are you listening to me, boy?" "!" "Well, you ask them what kind of wages they pay for breaking rocks!" "You know, I remember when I was a whelp." "My daddy worked in the stockyards." "Big hands." "Spoke German at home." "I don't remember much of the Deutsch now, but..." "You're not real big on small talk, now are you, Hawkins?" "What do you want to know?" "What's your story?" "I was born on a farm." "I was raised there." "Started working it." "Then the bank come, they run me off." "That's the end of story." "You satisfied now?" "Do I look simple to you, Hawkins?" " No." " Well, that's good because I'm not." "I'vebeen to New York City." "I've Chi-town and The Big Easy." "I met Caruso and Dempsey." "I made eyes with Theda Bera." "On a bad day, I've cracked tougher nuts than you." " So?" " I know there's more to you than plowing and planting." "What's the matter?" "You don't like steak?" "Oh, meat's fine." "It don't ask questions." "Come one, come all." "Come see Lila, The Bearded Woman of Brussels witness two beauties born united tragically at the hip the brute strength and the spiritual fortitude to best my boy Gabriel in the ring." "Many have tried, none have succeeded..." "Ladies, and gentlemen, a sight never before seen anywhere in the world." "I will swallow this long blade of solid steel down my throat and into my stomach." "Well, let's put our hands together for these two lovely buttercups." "Move along, move along..." "All right, darlin'." "There you go." "You give this man right here your ticket?" "Here's two more and two for brother." "Your money's no good here, sunshine." "You hang on and say "Hi" to the man in the moon for me." "This here is an informative, ed-u-cational demonstration of the European muscle dancing!" "Of course, she's a very busy woman." " We have a number of performances" " I got money." " It's not about money, my friend" " I got $20." " As I was saying- - $25." "So how about that?" "Hey, she's a-she's a whore." "Rita Sue didn't do nothin' to that chump that the First Merchants Trust didn't do to you." "You think on that." " Thought you might want this back." " Oh, thanks." "I appreciate what you did earlier." "Thank you." " It was nothin'." " It was stupid." "Should've seen it coming." "Some fortune-teller, huh?" "There's talk of you coming on permanent." "No... no." "That'll be the day." "I'm just." "I'm no carny." "The people in these towns, they're asleep." "All day at work, at home." "Sleepwalkers." "We wake them up." "Come on." "I'll read your cards." "My what?" "Your cards." "You know, past, present, future." " That's okay." " What's the matter?" " I'm broke." " C'est gratuit." "No charge." "No, I'm fine." "I'm..." "Maybe later." "Okay." "Later." " Hey?" "What's your name?" " Sofie." " Hawkins..." " Ben Hawkins, I know." "Hello, handsome." "Are you lonely?" "One of us?" "Last chance for that card reading." "Past, present or future?" "What's the difference?" "Very well... the past." "Shuffle." "The Moon." "It indicates confusion and exposure." "Oh, good Lord!" "Boy, you can't dig that up." "She's three days in the ground." "Give it to me!" "Give it to me!" "What've you done?" "Are you all right?" "Yeah." " Would you like me to stop?" " No." "Go on." "Death-." "You got no right." "The Lord takes what's his, man don't take it back." "Not a harbinger of bad fortune, but of transformation." "No!" "No!" "Go, go!" "You're marked, boy." "You're marked by The Beast." "What do you see?" "Ben?" "Nothin'." "Nothin'." "What?" "What?" "The Magician, reversed-." "You filth." "You've got a great talent or ability." "What's the... reversed?" "Upside down." "It means it's been wasted, unfulfilled." "A gift you've hidden from others." "Don't touch me!" "Get out." "You filth!" "Keep your hands off me." "You filth!" "You filth!" "Ben, what are you hiding?" "Tell me!" "Why are you crying?" "Gremmie says y'all are marked." "They ain't marked." "They're just people, that's all." "How long you been like that?" "Forever." "Does it hurt?" "Hey, Hawkins!" "You riding with us, boy?" "!" "Ah, hell with it..." "Let's shake some dust!"