" Hi, Aunt Eller!" " Don't scare me to death." " What you doin' around here?" " I come a-singin' to you." " What you doin' around here?" " I come a-singin' to you." "If I wasn't an old woman, and if you wasn't so young and smart-alecky... why, I'd marry you and get you to sit around at night and sing to me." "No, you wouldn't neither, 'cause I wouldn't marry you nor none of your kinfolk." " If I could help it." " Oh, none of my kinfolks, huh?" "And you can tell 'em that too." "All of 'em." "Including that niece of your'n, Miss Laurey Williams." "Who you takin' to the box social tonight?" "I ain't thought much about it yet." " Bet you come over to ask Laurey." " What if I did?" "You askin' me too?" "I'll wear my fascinator." " Yeah, you too." " Yeah, yeah." " Yeah, you too." " Yeah, yeah." "I thought you were somebody." "Is this all that's come a-callin' at already 8:00 this Saturday morning?" "You knowed it was me before you opened the door." " No such of a thing." " Well, you did too." "You heared my voice." "You knowed it was me." "I heared someone singing like a bullfrog in a pond." "You knowed it was me, so you set in there, thinkin' up something mean to say." "I'm a good mind not to ask you to the box social." " Oh, you two." " If you asked me, I wouldn't go with you." "Besides, how'd you take me?" "You ain't bought a new buggy with red wheels onto it, have you?" " No, I ain't." " A spanking' team with their bridles all a-jinglin'?" " No." " Expect me to ride on behind ol' Blue I guess." "You better ask that old Cummings girl you took such a shine to." "If I was to ask you, Miss Laurey smarty, there'd be a way to take ya." "Oh, there would?" "How'd we get there?" "How'd we get there?" "You'd sure feel like a queen setting' up in that carriage." "Only she talked to me so mean a while back..." " I'm a good mind not to take her." " I ain't said I was goin'." " Well, I ain't asked ya." " Where'd you get such a rig at?" "I'll bet he's went and hired a rig over at Claremore, thinkin' I'd go with him." "I did not hire it." "I made the whole thing up out of my head." " What?" "Made it up?" " Dashboard and all." "Get off the place, you!" "Aunt Eller, make him get hisself out of here!" "Tellin' me lies." "Now hold on." "Makin' up a few "purties" ain't aging no law I know of." "Besides, don't you wish there was such a rig though?" "You could go to the play party and do a hoedown till morning if you was a mind to." "Then when you was all wore out, why, I'd just lift you onto the surrey... jump up alongside you, and we'd just point the horses home." "I can just picture the whole thing." " Only" " Only there ain't no such rig." " Well, uh" "Why'd you come around here with your stories and your lies, gettin' me all worked up?" "Who'd wanna ride alongside of you anyway?" "Why don't you grab her and kiss her when she acts that a-way, Curly?" " She's just aching for you to, I bet." " I won't even speak to him... let alone allow him to kiss me... the bragging', bowlegged, wished-he'd-had-a-sweetheart bum!" "She likes you quite a lot." "She liked me any more, she'd sic the dogs onto me." " Hello, Jud." " Hello, yourself." "Listen, who's the low filthy sneak Laurey's got her cap set for?" " You." " Never mind that." "There must be plenty of men a-tryin' to spark her." " Plenty." " What about him?" "Oh, she wouldn't take up with a fella like that... that bullet-colored, growly hired hand." "Now, don't you go say nothin' agin Jud." "Best hired hand I ever had." "Just about runs the farm by hisself." "Well, two women couldn't do it." "You oughta know 'at." "He's around all the time, ain't he?" "Takes his meals with you and sleeps down in the smokehouse." "I changed my mind about cleaning the henhouse today." "I gotta quit early 'cause I'm driving Laurey to the party tonight." " You're driving Laurey?" " I asked her." "Well, wouldn't that just make you bawl?" "Don't forget, Aunt Eller." "You and me still got a date together." "How we going, Curly, in that rig you made up?" "That there ain't no made-up rig, you hear?" "I done hired it over to Claremore." " Why don't you go with him?" " I can't." "I promised Jud." " Why ever did you?" " 'Cause Curly's too fresh and too bigheaded... waitin' till the last minute to ask me." "Aunt Eller, are you really going with Curly tonight?" "I sure am." "You didn't want him." "But you could go with me and Jud." "You picked your feller, I picked mine." "That's the way you want it, ain't it?" "You're sure a pair." "Crazy young'uns." "Time I started for the station." "Hey, Curly." "Tell all the folks to stop by here... on their way to the Skidmore party to freshen up." "I will, Aunt Eller." "You see you got your beauty spots fastened on proper... so as you won't lose them off, you hear?" "That's a right smart turnout." "That's a right smart turnout." "Aunt Eller!" "Lookin' for me?" "Gonna be a nice evenin' for the party." " Jud." " What?" "I don't think I can" "You ain't figuring' on goin' with someone else, are you?" "Well, I" "Laurey!" "I'll come by for you along around about sundown." "What'd you do up at the fair, Will?" "Bust any bones?" "Aw, too smart for that." "Just made sure I landed on my head." " Will Parker." " Hi, Aunt Eller." "If you ain't got them fancy lanterns for the Skidmore party... get back on that train." " Here you are." " You do any good in the steer roping', Will?" "Oh, I did pretty good." "I won prize money." " That's my boy." " I've got to get over to Ado Annie's." "Her pa said I could have her if'n I was ever worth $50." "And I got that $50." "If Annie's pa keeps his promise... we'll be dancin' at your wedding." "If'n he don't, I'll take her right from under his nose." "Besides which, I won't give him the present I brung for him." "Lookee here, fellas, what I got for Ado Annie's pa." "Excuse us, Aunt Eller." "You hold it up to your eye like this, see." "Then when you get a good look, you turn it around at the top and the picture changes." " Well, I'll be "sidegated."" " They call it the Little Wonder." "Silly goats!" "The hussy!" "Ought to be ashamed of herself." "You too." "How do you turn the thing to see the other picture?" " Right at the top, Aunt Eller." " Wait, I'm gettin' it." "I'm a good mind to tell Annie on you." "Bet you carried on plenty in Kansas City." "Well, I sure did see a lot of things I never did see before." "Well, I sure did see a lot of things I never did see before." " What you doin', Will?" " Well, this is called a two-step." "That's all they're dancing nowadays." "Why, the waltz is through." "Of course, they don't do it alone." "Come on, Aunt Eller!" " What you doing now, Will?" " Well, this here's called ragtime." "I seen a couple actors doin' it." " Don't like it." " Oh, Will, I do!" "Still don't like it." "Come on, Aunt Eller, do-si-do!" "Hey, ha, pick it up!" "Hey!" "Ha ha!" " Hyah!" " Ho!" " Ha!" " Yahoo!" "Hey there, Will Parker!" "Come back here!" "Oh!" "Ado Annie, I could ride with you like this to the end of the world." "Please, Mr. Hakim, don't start talkin' purty." "Laurey!" "Yoo-hoo!" "Laurey!" "Whoa!" "Laurey!" " Hello, Laurey." " What you doing with that peddler-man?" " Will Parker gets back today." " Will Parker." "Oh, foot." " I didn't count on today being Saturday." " I can see that." "My, oh, my, Miss Laurey!" ""Jippity" crickets." "Last time I come through here, you was teeny like a shrimp with freckles." "Now look on you." "Quit a-bitin' me!" "If you ain't had no breakfast, go eat yourself a green apple." "Are you coming in or going out?" "Standing still while you're here." "Go up to the house and wait." "It'll be no trouble at all to wait right here." "So much water." "Why don't we all take a swim together?" "In Persia, where I come from, bathing is a social event." " Well, this ain't Persia!" " I can already see you two young ladies... in those beautiful Persian bathing suits." "What do they wear when they bathe socially in Persia?" " Nothing." " Nothing." "Ooh!" "The peddler-man's gonna drive me to the box social." "I got up sort of a tasty lunch." "But you're promised to Will Parker, ain't ya?" "Oh, ain't what you might say, promised." "I just told him maybe." "Don't you like Will no more?" "Of course I do." "There won't never be nobody like Will." "Then what about this peddler-man?" "Oh, there won't never be nobody like him neither." "Well, you gotta make up your mind." "Which one do you like the best?" " Well, whatever one I'm with." " Well, you are a silly." "Well, now, Laurey, you know that nobody paid me no mind up till this year... on account I was scrawny and flat as a beanpole." "But then I kinda rounded up a little..." " and now the boys act different to me." " What's wrong with that?" "Nothing's wrong." "I like it!" "I like it so much when a fella talks pretty to me..." "I get all shaky from horn to hoof." " Don't you?" " Can't think what you're talking about." "Don't you feel kinda sorry for a fella when he looks like he wants to kiss ya?" "Well, you can't just go around kissing every man that asks ya." "Didn't anyone tell you that?" "Yeah, they told me." "Yeah, they told me." "It's like I told you, Laurey, I get sorry for 'em." "And now that old Will has to come home." "First thing you know, he'll start talking pretty to me and changing my mind back." " But Will wants to marry you." " So does Ali Hakim." " Did he ask you about marrying'?" " Not directly." "But how I know this, he said this morning... that he wanted for me to ride with him to the end of the world." "Well, if we drove only as far as "Catoosy," he couldn't bring me home till morning... and that means a wedding, don't it?" "Not to a peddler, it don't." "I've been waiting for you to show your face again, old peddler-man." "Remember what you told me?" "You said that eggbeater you sold me would beat up eggs... wring out dishrags, turn the ice cream freezer and I don't know what all." " Now, Aunt Eller, just listen." " Don't you Aunt Eller me, you little wart." "I'm mad." "If the eggbeater don't work, I give you something just as good." "A present." "I wouldn't have it." " What is it?" " Real silk." "Made in Persia." "What would I do with an old Persian garter?" "It looks pretty." "Now gimme the other one." "Which one?" "Oh, you want to buy this one to match that one?" "What do you mean do I wanna buy it?" "I can let you have it for 50 cents." "Do you want me to get that eggbeater and ram it down your windpipe?" " Gimme that." " Howdy, Aunt Eller." " Hi, yourself." " Now that all the ladies are here... let me show you some pretty "doodaddles."" "Lace around the bottom and there are bows running in and out." "Well, I never wear 'em myself, but I sure do like to look at 'em." " How about these?" " Yeah, they's all right if you ain't goin' no place." "Don't nobody want to buy something?" "How about you, Miss Laurey?" "You must be wanting something... a pretty young girl like you." "Me?" "Of course I want something." "I want a buckle made out of shiny silver to fasten onto my shoes." "I want a dress with lace." "I want perfume." "I want to be purty." " I wanna smell like a honeysuckle vine." " Give her a cake of soap." "I want things I can't tell you about." "Not only things to look at and hold in your hand... but things to happen to you... things so nice that if they ever did happen to you, your heart would quit beating." "I got a-just the thing." "The elixir of Egypt." "A secret formula, belong to pharaoh's daughter." " Smellin' salts." " But a special kind of smelling salts." "Here, read what it says on the label." "You take a deep breath, and you see everything clear." "That's what pharaoh's daughter used to do when she had to decide what dress to wear... or which prince she ought to marry." "She would take a whiff of this." " I'll take a bottle of that, Mr. Peddler." " Oh, precious stuff." " How much?" " Two bits." " Throwin' away your money." " Helps you decide what to do." "Put your trappings away and come inside." "Come along, Laurey." "Maybe we can find him something to eat and drink." "Ali, Laurey and me been having an argument." " About what, baby?" " About what you meant... when you said that about driving' with me to the end of the world." "Well, I didn't really mean to the end of the world." "Well, then how far did you wanna go?" "About as far as say..." "Claremore." " What's at Claremore?" " The hotel." "In front is a veranda, inside is the lobby... and upstairs, baby, might be paradise." "I thought they's just bedrooms." "For you and me, baby, paradise." "You see, I knowsed I was right." "You do wanna marry me." " Don'tcha?" " Oh, Ado Annie-What did you say?" "I said you do wanna marry me, don'tcha?" "What'd you say?" "I didn't say nothing." "Ya-hoo!" "Oh, foot, just when- That's Will Parker." "Promise me you won't fight him!" "Ado Annie!" "How's my honey bunch?" "How's the sweetest little 120 pounds of sugar in the territory?" "Will, this is Ali Hakim." "Hiya, Hak!" "Don't mind the way I talk." "It's all right." "I'm gonna marry her." " Marry her?" "On purpose?" " No such other thing!" "Uh, it's a wonderful thing to be married." " I got a brother in Persia got six wife." " Six wives all at once?" "Why sure." "That's the way they do it in them countries." "Not always." "I got another brother in Persia only got one wife." "He's a bachelor." "You know what I got for first prize at the fair?" " Fifty dollars." " Oh, well, that was good." " Fifty dollars." " You catch on?" "Your pa promised I could marry you if'n I could ever get $50 together all at one time." "That's right." "He did." "Your pa's like all the rest of them farmers." "Don't think us cowboys got much sense." "Well, this'll show him." "You know what I done with the $50?" " I spent it all on presents for you." " Oh!" "But if you spent it, you ain't got no cash." "What I got's worth more than cash." "The fella that sold me the stuff told me." " But, Will" " Stop saying "But, Will."" "When do I get a little kiss?" "Oh, Ado Annie, honey, you ain't been off my mind since I left... all the time at the fairgrounds even when I was chasing them steers." "I'd rope one under the hoofs, and I'd pull him up real sharp... and he'd land on his little old rump and then I'd think of you." "Don't start talkin' purty." "See'd a lot of pretty girls in Kansas City." "I didn't give one a look." "How could you see 'em if you didn't give 'em a look?" "I mean, I didn't look lovin' at them... the way I look at you." "The way I look at you." "Oh, Will, please don't look like that." "I cain't bear it." "I won't stop looking like this till you give me a little ol' kiss." "Oh, well, what's a little old kiss?" "Nothin', less'n it comes from you." "Oh, you-you do talk purty." "No!" "I won't!" "No!" "I won't!" "Must be the folks stopping on their way to Skidmore's." "Oh!" "Oh, you're all welcome!" "Glad you could all come." "Everybody come in and have a good time." "Curly!" "I've been 'bout behind you the whole way." "I know." "I heared you." "Oh, welcome." "Everybody's welcome." "Girls, come on in the house and freshen up." "You boys, better drive your wagons down to the trough... and give your horses some water." "Hi, Laurey." "Hey, Curly, don't you reckon you better take care of your horses too?" "Thanks, Aunt Eller." "I reckon I better." "Oh, can't I come too, Curly?" "I just love to watch the way you handle horses." "It's about all I can handle, I guess." "Another mile in that buggy with that Perkins boy, and I'd have lost my mind." "I'll take Wilbur if you don't want him." "Looks like Curly's took up with that Cummings girl." "What do I care about that?" "Maurice, time we got out of here." "Back to the open road." "Ali." "Ali, I'm sure sorry to see you lookin' so happy... 'cause what I got to say will make you miserable." " I gotta marry Will." " Oh, well, that sure is sad news for me." "Well, he's a fine fellow." "Don't hide your feelings, Ali!" "I can't bear it." "I'd rather have you come right out and say your heart's busted in two." " Are you positive you got to marry Will?" " Sure as shootin'!" " There's no chance for you to change your mind?" " No chance." "All right then." "My heart is busted in two." " Hello, Pa." "What you been shootin'?" " Rabbits." "That true what I hear about Will Parker getting $50?" "That's right, Pa." "He wants to hold you to your promise." "Too bad." "Still in all, I can't go back on my word." "Listen to me, Annie I advise you to get that money before he loses it all." "Put it in your stocking or inside your corset... where he can't get at it- Or can he?" "But, Pa, he ain't exactly kept it." "He spent it all on presents." "See, what did I tell ya?" "Well, now he can't have you." " I said it had to be $50 cash!" " Is that fair, Mr. Carnes?" " Who the devil are you?" " Oh, Pa, that's Ali Hakim." "Well, shut your face, or I'll fill your behind so full of buckshot... you'll be walking around like a duck the rest of your life." "Ali, if I don't have to marry Will... maybe your heart don't have to be busted in two like you said." " I did not say that." " Oh, yes, you did." " No, no, I did not." " Are you trying to make my daughter out to be a liar?" "No, I'm only trying to make clear to you what a liar I am, if she is telling the truth." " What else you been sayin' to my daughter?" " Oh!" "An awful lot." " When?" " Last night in the moonlight." " Where?" " Alongside a haystack." " Oh, listen, Mr. Carnes." " I'm listenin'." "What else did you say?" " He called me his Persian kitten." " What'd you call her that fer?" " I don't remember." " I do." "He said I's like a Persian kitten... 'cause they is the cats with the soft, round tails." "That's enough." "In this country, that better be a proposal of marriage." " That's what I thought." " That what you think?" " Look, Mr. Carnes" " I'm lookin'." "I'm lookin'." "I'm no good." "I'm a peddler!" "A peddler has to travel up and down and all around." "You'd hardly ever see your daughter no more." "That'd be all right." "Just take care of her, son." " Just take care of my little rosebud." " Oh, Pa, 'at's purty." "Uh, you sure for certain you can bear to let me go?" " Are you sure, Mr. Carnes?" " You just try to change my mind." "Aw, Ali, ain't it wonderful, Pa making up our minds for us?" "And he won't change neither." "Once he gives his word that you can have me, you've got me!" "I know I got you." "Mrs. Ali Hakim, the peddler's bride!" "Oh, wait till I tell those girls!" "Laurey!" "Laurey!" "The peddler-man and me's gonna get married!" "Congratulations." "I hope we'll be very happy." "Hi, Laurey." "What you doin'?" "Gonna pick peaches." "What you doin'?" "I peeked in your basket up at the house." "I see you got gooseberry tarts too." "I wonder if they's as light as mine." "Mine would like to float away if you blew on them." "I just did blow on one of mine, and it broke into a million pieces." "Ain't she funny?" "Oh!" "Stop that!" " Stop it!" " Gertie!" "Go on up the house and cool off!" "Get along!" "Mind!" "Don't forget tonight at the auction, Curly, mine's the biggest hamper!" "So that's that old Cummings gal I heared so much talk of." " You seen her before, ain't ya?" " But not since she got so old." "Never did see anybody get so peaked-lookin' in such a short time." "Yeah." "Says she's 18." "Ha!" "Bet she's 19." "Are you really gonna drive to the box social with that Jud fella?" " I reckon so." "Why?" " Oh, nothing." "It's just that everybody seems to expect me to take you." "Then maybe it's just as well you ain't!" "We don't want people talkin' about us, do we?" "Do you think people really do talk about us?" "Well, you know how they are, like a swarm of mud wasps... always gotta be buzzing about something." "What are they saying, that you're stuck on me?" "Uh-uh." "Most of the talk is that you're stuck on me." "Can't imagine how these ugly rumors start." "Me, neither." "Me, neither." "Who laughs at your jokes?" "Don't you think you could tell that Jud fella you'd rather go with me tonight?" "Curly" "No, I couldn't." "Oh, you couldn't." "Think I'll go down to the smokehouse where Jud's at." "See what's so elegant about him, makes all the girls want to go to parties with him." " Curly!" " What?" "Nothin'." "Well, open it, can't you?" "Well, what do you want?" "Oh, I" " I done got through with my business up there at the house." "I just thought I'd pay a call." " You got a gun, I see." " That's right." "It's a Colt.45." "Oh." "Say, now." "That there pink picture- That's a naked woman, ain't it?" "Plumb stark naked as a jaybird." "Shucks, that ain't a thing to what I could show you." "Well, that's a good-lookin' rope." "Feels good too." "That's a good, strong hook you got there, Jud." "You know what?" "You could hang yourself on that." " I could what?" " You could hang yourself." "Yes, sir." "Easy as rolling' off a log." "Why, in five minutes or less, with good luck..." " you could be dead as a doornail." " What do you mean by that?" "Oh, then folks would come to your funeral." "And they'd sing sad songs." "Why, they would." "You never know how many people like you till you're dead." "You'd be laid out in a parlor." "All decked out in your best suit." "Your hair combed down slick, high starched collar." "Lots of pretty flowers all around you." "Would there be flowers, you think?" "And palms too- all around your coffin." "Folks would gather round, and men would bare their heads." "Women would sniffle softly." "Some probably even faint- ones that took a shine to you whilst you was alive." "Now, what women ever took a shine to me?" "Why, lots of women." "Only they never come right out and tell you how they feel... unless you die first." "I guess maybe you're right." "They'd sure sing loud, though, when the singing' would start." "Sing like their hearts would break." "Sing like their hearts would break." "And then the preacher'd get up, and he'd say" "Folks, we are gathered here to moan and groan over our brother Jud Fry... who hung hisself up by a rope in a smokehouse." "And then there'd be weeping' and wailin' from some of those women." "And then he'd say" "Jud was the most misunderstood man in this territory." "People used to think he was a mean, ugly fella." "And call him a dirty skunk and ornery pig stealer." "Knowed that beneath them two dirty shirts he always wore" "He loved the birds of the forests... and the beasts of the field." "He loved the mice and the vermin in the barn." "And he treated the rats like equals." "Which was right." "He loved all the little children." "He loved everything and everybody in the world." "Only" "Only he never let on." "So nobody ever knowed it." "Yes, sir." "That sure will be an interesting funeral." "I wouldn't like to miss it." "Well, maybe you will." "Maybe you'll go first." "Well... let's see now." "Where'd you work at before you come up here?" "Was up by, uh, Quapaw, wasn't it?" "That's right." "Lousy they was to me too." "Always making' out they were better than I was." "Always treating me like I was dirt." "So, uh, what'd you do?" "Get even?" "Who said anything about getting even?" "No one I recollect." "Just come into my head." "If it come to gettin' even with somebody, I'd know how to do it." "You remember the fire in the Bartlett farm over by Sweetwater?" "I sure do." "It was about five years ago." "Burned up the father and the mother and the daughter." "It was a terrible accident." "That weren't no accident." "Fella told me." "Said that the hired hand was stuck on the Bartlett girl... and one day he found her in the hayloft with another fella." "And 'twas him that burned the place?" "Took him weeks to get the kerosene, buying it at different times." "Fella that told me... he made out like it happened in Missouri... but I knew all the time it was the Bartlett farm." "What a liar he was." "Get a little air in here." "You ain't told me yet what business you had here." "We got no cattle to sell and no cow ponies." "Could be only one other thing on this farm you could want... and it better not be that." " That's just what it is." " You keep away from her, you hear?" "You know, somebody ought to tell Laurey... just what kind of a man you are." "And for that matter, somebody ought to tell you once about yourself." "Curly, you better get out of here." "In this country, there's just two things you can do if you're a man." "You can live outdoors is one... and you can live in a hole is the other." "I set by my horse in the brush somewheres... and I heared a rattlesnake many a time." "He'd go" "Scared to death somebody gonna step on him." " Got his old fangs all ready." " Curly, you better get out of here!" "How did you get to be the way you are anyhow?" "Sittin' in here in this filthy hole." "Why don't you do something healthy once in a while... 'stead of staying' shut up here, a-crawlin' and festering'?" "Well." "You ought to feel better now." "I wish you'd let me show you something." "There's a knothole over there..." "About as big as a dime." "You see it a-winkin'?" "Right through the knothole." "Slick as a whistle." "Who fired off a gun?" "Was that you, Curly?" "Well, I, uh" " I shot once." "Well, what was you shooting at?" " Knotholes." " Well, ain't you a pair of pretty nothings... a-peckin' away at knotholes and scaring' everybody to death." "Well!" "What happened, Aunt Eller?" "What happened?" "Nobody hurt." "Just a pair of fools swapping' noises." "Oh, excuse." "Excuse." "Mind if I visit with you gents?" "I got a few pretties to show you." "Uh, private knickknacks, special for the menfolk." "Not me." "I gotta shine up that surrey I done hired for tonight." "Laurey promised to go with me... and she better not change her mind." "She better not!" "Now, take a look at those." "Straight from Paris." " You got a frog-sticker?" " You mean one of them long knives?" "I tell you what I'd like better." "You know them things called a Little Wonder?" "You hold it up to your eye." "You look through it." "You see pictures." "You say to a fella, "Come here." "Look through here."" "And when he's lookin' through it, you press a little jigger on the end... and out snaps a blade, and then bang." "Down you come." "Ugh." "A good joke to play on a friend." "No, I don't have no things like that." "Too dangerous." "Here, take a look at these postcards." "I'm sick of them things." "I want me a real woman." "I'm tired of all these pictures of women." "Well, throw them away." "Buy some new ones." "If you get tired of a woman, what can you do?" "Nothing." "You just keep getting tireder and tireder." "I've made up my mind." "Oh, say, you know a girl named Ado Annie?" " I don't want her." " I don't want her either, but I got her." "Ain't you done your basket yet?" "Lands, you ain't even dressed." "I believe you got something worryin' on your mind." "Aunt Eller, I want everything to stay just the way it is." "Well, won't it?" "I like living the way we do." "I like the looks of the prairie outside my window... and the thicket where the possums live... and the way we set round in the evenings in thrashing time... eatin' mush melons and a-singin', and" " Oh, lots of things." " Why should any of that have to change, Laurey, honey?" " What if something happened?" " What could happen?" "We got money in the bank... and it's gonna be another good year for corn and oats." "You are a silly." ""Hold bottle two inches from nostril." ""Close your eyes and inhale." ""Ask your heart what you really want... and wait for the answer."" "Elixir of Egypt, make up my mind for me." "I'm waitin' for the answer." "Laurey?" "Laurey?" "Time to go to the party." "Crawlin' along like this, we'll get there when the party's over." "Last time I saw you alone was in the winter." "I was sick... and I remember you brung me some hot soup... out to the smokehouse... and you give it to me." "Me in bed." "And you asked me if I had a fever." "Put your hand on my head to see." " I remember." " Do you?" "Bet you don't remember as much as me." "I remember everything you ever done... every word you ever said." "I can't get it out of my mind." "You see how it is?" "Whoa, boy!" "Whoa!" "Whoa there!" "Whoa there!" "Whoa!" "Whoa now." "Whoa there!" "Whoa, boy." "Whoa, boy." "Quiet, everyone." "No, no, no." "Well, say it." "Yeah!" "Why don't dirt scratchers go back to Missouri where they belong?" "He's thrifty, all right." "Quiet, everybody." "Oh, you would, would you?" "Who wants an old farm woman anyhow?" "Notice you married one so's you could get a square meal." " You can't talk that-a-way about our women." " He can say what he wants." "Ain't nobody gonna slug out anything'." "This here's a party." "Sing it, Andrew." "Good, but louder." "Sing it." "Sing it." "Sing." "Come on, now, sing." "Come on." "You hear?" "Sing." "Sing!" "Yeah!" "Quiet, everybody." "Quiet." "It's time to start the auction." "Who's gonna be the auctioneer, Mr. Skidmore?" "Why, Aunt Eller, of course." " Say, Aunt Eller?" " Huh?" "Laurey ain't here yet." "What do you reckon's happened?" "Oh, they're just pokey." "Loosen up your pockets, fellas." "You've been pounding the floor of the new schoolhouse." "Now let's get money enough to raise the roof." "Mr. Skidmore's been generous enough to give us the land." "He's got more kids than the rest of us." "Now, you know the rules, gentlemen." "You ain't supposed to know what girl goes with what hamper." "Of course, if your sweetheart has told you that hers... will be done up in a certain kind of way, with a certain kind of ribbon... that ain't my fault." "I can't hardly lift this one." "Wonder what's in there." "I'm bound there's a mince pie in here." " Is there any rum in it?" " Well, come and sniff for yourself." "Is there?" " I'll vote two bits." " Two bits!" "Whoa." " Hi, Laurey." " Where's Aunt Eller?" "And Curly?" "Well, up the house, I think." "Sold to Pete Larkin for six bits." "Well, Pete, you sure got a purty gal to go with your supper." "Well, let's go ahead." "Now, what am I offered for this one?" "Anybody just et?" " I'll give two bits." " Two bits." " Four bits." " Four bits." "I've heard enough bits." "Let's hear a mouthful." "Hello, young fella." "Well, Mr. Hakim, I hear you got yourself engaged to Ado Annie." " Well, I-I" " Well, nothing." "I don't know what to call you." "Ain't pretty enough for a skunk." "Ain't skinny enough for a snake." "Too low to be a man, and too big to be a mouse." " I reckon you're a rat." " Hmm." "That's logical." " Answer me one question." "Do you really love her?" " Well, I-I-I" "'Cause if'n I thought you didn't..." "I'd tie you up in that there bag and drop you in the river." " Are you serious about her?" " Yes, I'm serious." "Do you worship the ground she walks on, like I do?" "You'd better say yes." "Y-Yes." "Yes." "Would you spend every cent you had for her?" "That's what I did." "See the bag?" "Full of presents." "Cost 50 bucks- all I had in the world." " If you had that $50" " I'd have Ado Annie and you'd lose her." "Oh, yeah." "I'd lose her." "Uh, let's see what you got in the bag." "Might wanting to buy something." "What would you want with it?" "I'm a peddler, ain't I?" "Oh, hi!" "What a beautiful hot-water bag." "Looks French." "It must have cost you plenty." " I give you eight dollar for it." " Eight dollars?" " That wouldn't be honest." "I only paid 3.50" " All right." "I said I give you eight." "I will." " Oh, that's a crackerjack." " Take your hands off that." "That was for our wedding night." "It don't fit you so good." "I give you $22." " Well, what" " All right, 22.50." "Not a cent more." "Oh, mighty dainty." "Fifteen dollar." "Let's see now." "Twenty-two and eight is 30... and 15 is 45, and 50 is 45.50." "Forty-five fifty." "Say, that's almost" " Uh, you wanna buy some more?" " Might." "You ever see one of these things?" " How much you give me for this here thing?" " Oh, no." " I don't handle things like that." " It's just a girl in a pink" " No, it's more than that." " Hey." "Either of you two see'd Laurey?" "Up to the house, lookin' for Curly." " How much you give me for this thing?" " I tell you, I don't" " What do you want for it?" " Uh" "Well, let's see." " Three dollars and fifty cents." " Sold." "Now, 3.50 from him, 45.50 from you." "That makes $50, don't it?" "No." "One dollar short." "Oh, darn it." "I must have figured wrong." "Well, how much for the rest of the stuff in this here bag?" " One dollar." " Done." "Now I got the $50, ain't I?" "Know what that means?" "Means I'm gonna take Ado Annie back from you." " You wouldn't do a thing like that to me." " Wouldn't I?" "When I tell Ado Annie's pa who I got most of the money off of..." "Maybe he'll change his mind... about who's smart and who's dumb." "Say, young fella, you certainly buncoed me." "Ooh." "Ah." "Now here's the last two hampers." "Whose they are, I ain't got no idy." "The big one's mine, and the next one to it is Laurey's." "That's the end of that secret." "Now, what am I bid for Annie's hamper?" "Two bits." " Four." " Who says six?" "You?" "Ain't nobody hungry no more?" "What about you, peddler-man?" "Six bits?" "Uh, no, no." "I don't care." " Bid 'em up." " Six bits!" "Oh, six bits ain't enough for a lunch like Annie can make." "Let's hear a dollar." "How about you?" "You won her last year." "Hey, Annie, you still got the same sweet potato pie like last year?" " You bet!" " Same old sweet potato pie." "What do you say?" "I say it gimme a three-day bellyache." "Never mind about that." "Who bids a dollar?" "Come on, bid." "Mine was the last bid." "I got her for six bits." " Bid a dollar." " Ninety cents." "Ninety cents." "We're gettin' rich." "Another desk for the schoolhouse." "Do I hear more?" "You hear $50." " Fifty dollars!" " Hey!" "Nobody ever bid $50 for a lunch." "Nobody ever bid 10." " He ain't got $50." " Oh, yes, I have." "If you're a man of honor, you'll say Annie belong to me like you said she would." " Where's your money?" " Right here in my hand." "That ain't yours." "You just bid it, didn't you?" "Give it to the schoolhouse." "I still say the peddler gets my daughter's hand." " Now, wait a minute!" "That ain't fair!" " Going for $50." " Going, going" " Fifty-one." " You crazy?" " Fifty" "Wait a minute." "Hold on." "Aunt Eller, if'n I don't bid no more..." " I can keep my money, can't I?" " You sure can." "Then I still got $50, and this is mine." " You simple-minded shag poke." " Going, going... gone for $51, and that means Annie'll get the prize, I guess." " Ooh!" "Ooh!" " And I'll get Annie, I guess." "And what are you getting for your $51?" "A three-day bellyache." "Now" " Now, here's my niece's hamper." "I took a peek inside a while ago... and I must say it looks mighty tasty." " What do I hear, gents?" " Two bits." " Four bits." " What you say, six?" " One dollar." " More like it." "Do I hear two?" "A dollar and a quarter." "Two dollars." "Two-fifty." " Three dollars." " And two bits." "Three dollars and four bits." " Four dollars." " And two bits." "Four dollars and a quarter." "Ain't I gonna hear any more?" "Curly?" "I got a bid of four and a quarter from Jud Fry." "You gonna let him have it?" "Andrew." " Four and a half." " Four and a half!" "Going for" "Four seventy-five." "Four seventy-five." "Come on, gentlemen." "Schoolhouse ain't built yet." "Got to get a nice "chimbley."" " Five dollars." " Five dollars!" "Going for" " And two bits." "Too rich for my blood." "Can't afford no more." "Five and a quarter." "Ain't got nearly enough yet." "Not for cold duck and stuffing..." " and that lemon meringue pie." " Six dollars." " Six dollars!" " And two bits." "And two bits." "My, you're stubborn, Jud." "Mr. Carnes is a richer man than you- and I know he likes custard with raspberry syrup." " Oh, let it go." " Anybody gonna bid any more?" "No, they all dropped out." "Can't you see?" " You got enough, Aunt Eller." " Yeah, let's get on." " I got the money." " Hold on, you." " I ain't said "going, going"" " Say it!" "Going to Jud... for six dollars and two bits." "Going." "Going." " Who'd you say was getting Laurey?" " Jud Fry." " And for how much?" " Six and a quarter." "I don't reckon that's quite enough, do you, Aunt Eller?" "More than you got." "Got a saddle here." "Cost me $30." "You can't bid saddles." "You gotta bid cash." "Thirty-dollar saddle must be worth something to somebody." "I'll give you 10 dollars." "Don't be a fool, boy." "You can't earn a living without a saddle." " You got cash?" " Right in my pocket." "Let's don't waste time." "How high you going?" "Higher than you, no matter what." " Aunt Eller, I'm bidding all of this 10 dollars." " Ten dollars!" "Going, going" "Ten dollars and two bits." "Curly?" "Most of you boys know my horse, Blue." "He's kind of a nice horse." "He's gentle." "He's well broke." "Don't sell Blue, Curly." "It ain't worth it." "I'll give you $25 for him." "Sold." "Aunt Eller, that makes the bid 35." "Curly, you're crazy." "But it's all for the schoolhouse, ain't it?" " Going for 35" " Hold on." "Hold on now." "I'm not finished bidding yet." "You just sold everything you got in the world, didn't you?" "You can't sell your clothes 'cause they ain't worth nothin'." "You can't sell your gun 'cause you're gonna need it." "Yes, sir, you're gonna need it bad." "Well, I'm just as good as Curly at gettin' what I want." "I'm gonna bid everything I got in the world." "Forty-two dollars and 31 cents." "Anybody want to buy a gun?" "I bought it brand-new last Thanksgiving." "It's worth a lot." " Curly" " Give you 18 for it, Curly." "Sold." "Aunt Eller, that makes the bid $53." "Anybody going any higher?" "Sold!" "Going, going, gone." "Well, what's the matter with you folks?" "Ain't nobody gonna cheer or nothin'?" "Ah, ah, ah, ah." "Now, come on, you two." "Shake hands." "That's better." " Curly?" " What?" "Can I show you something?" "Excuse us, Laurey?" "You ever seen one of these?" "Just what is it?" "It's something special." "You just put it up to your eye and you look through it, like that." "Curly!" "Curly!" " What you doing?" " Nothin'." "What do you want to squeal at a man like that for?" "You scared the livin' lights out of me." "Well, then stop lookin' at them old French pictures." "And ask me for a dance." "You brung me to the party, didn't you?" "All right, all right, you silly old woman." "I'll dance with you." "Sam, pick that banjo to pieces." "Now that I got that $50, you name the day." " August 15." " Why August 15?" "'Cause that was the first day I was kissed." "Was it?" "I didn't remember that." "You wasn't there." "Now, lookee here." "We gotta have a serious talk." "Now that you're engaged to me, you gotta stop having' fun." "I mean, with other fellas." "I mean, with other fellas." "No!" "Foot!" "Uh-uh." "Why'd you drive off and leave me like that?" "Like I said, didn't want to be late for the party." "You didn't want to be with me, you mean, not a minute more than you had to." "I ain't good enough for you, am I?" "I'm a hired hand." "I got dirt on my hands." "Pig slime." "I ain't fit to touch, am I?" "You're better." "Oh, you're so much better." "Well, we'll see how much better you are, Miss Laurey... and you won't be so free and easy and highfalutin with your airs." " You such a fine lady!" " Are you makin' threats to me?" "Are you trying to tell me if I don't allow you to slobber over me like a hog... why, you're gonna do something about it?" "Well, you ain't a hired hand for me no more." "You can just pack up your duds and scoot." "Don't you as much as set foot inside the pasture gate... or I'll sic the dogs on to you!" "You said your say." "You brought it on yourself." "I can't help it." "I can't never rest." "I told you how it was." "You wouldn't listen." "You ain't never gonna get rid of me." "Never." "Hey, Laurey, have you seen Annie?" " She's gone again." " Will, will you do something for me?" "Will you find Curly and tell him I'm here?" "I wanna see Curly awful bad." "I gotta see him." "Why don't you turn around and look, you crazy woman?" "Oh, Curly!" "Well, you found yours." "I'm still lookin' for mine." "What on earth is ailing the belle of Claremore?" "Well, by gum, if you ain't cryin'." "Oh, Curly, I'm afraid- afraid for my life." " Jumpin' toadstools." " Don't you leave me!" " Gosh a-mighty." " Don't mind me cryin'." "I can't help it." " You can cry your eyes out." " I don't know what to do." "Well, here." "I'll show ya." "That's about all a man can stand in public." "You go away from me, you." "Oh." "You don't like me, Curly?" "Like you?" "You get away from me, I tell ya." "Plumb away from me." "Curly, you're sittin' on the stove!" "It's cold as a hunk of ice." "Wished it had burned a hole in your pants." " You do, do ya?" " You heared me." "Now, look, Laurey, you stand right there where you at... and I'll sit right over here." "Now, you can tell me what you wanted with me." "Well, Jud was here." "He scared me." "He talked wild, and he threatened me, so I" " I fired him." "I wished I hadn't." "There ain't no tellin' what he might do now." "You fired him?" "Well, then, that's all there is to it." "I'll stay in the place myself tonight, if you're nervous about that hound dog." "Look, you quit your worrying', or I'll spank ya." "Hey... while I think of it... how about marrying me?" "Gracious." "What'd I wanna marry you for?" "Well, couldn't you maybe think of some reason why you might?" "I can't think of nothin' right now, hardly." "Laurey... please, ma'am, marry me?" "I don't know what I'm gonna do if you don't." "Curly, why, I'll marry ya if you want me to." "I'll be the happiest man alive as soon as we're married." "Well, I gotta learn to be a farmer." "I can see that." "Quit thinkin' about throwin' that rope... and start gettin' my hands blistered a new way." "Things is changin', Laurey, right and left." "Buy up mowing' machines and cut down prairies... shoe your horses and drag them plows under the sod." "They gonna make a state out of this." "They gonna put it in the Union." "Country's a-changin'." "I gotta change with it." " Bring up a pair of boys." " Curly!" "Well, new stock to keep up with the way things is goin' in this here crazy country." "Now I got you to help me, I'll amount to somethin' yet." "I remember the first time I ever see'd ya." "It was at the fair, and you was ridin' that gray filly of Blue Stars." "I says, "Who's that skinny little thing sittin' up there with the bang on her forehead?"" "Yeah, I remember." "And you was ridin' broncs that day." " That's right." " And one of 'em throwed ya." "Yeah." "It did not throw me." " Guess ya jumped off then." " Why, sure I jumped off." "Yeah, you sure did." "Hey, if there's anybody out and around this shout who can hear my voice..." "I want 'em to know that Laurey Williams is my girl!" " Curly!" " Ha-ha!" "And she went and got me to ask her to marry me." "They'll hear you all the way to Catoosy." "Let 'em." "Let 'em." "Well, I'll say good-bye here, baby." "Time for the lonely gypsy to go back to the open road." "I wished I was goin'." "Then you wouldn't be so lonely." "Look, Annie, there is a man who loves you like nothing never loved nobody." "That is the man for you- Will Parker." "Oh, yeah." "Well, I like Will a lot." "Sure." "He's a fine fellow." "He's strong like an ox." "He's young and handsome." "Oh, I love him, all right, I guess." "Of course you do." "And you love those clear blue eyes of his... and the way his mouth wrinklies up when he smiles." "Do you love him too?" " I love him because he'll make my Ado Annie happy." " Oh." "Good-bye, baby." "I will show you how we say good-bye in Persia." "That was good-bye?" "We have an old song in Persia." "It says" "Hello, Will." "Ali Hakim's saying good-bye." "Ah, Will, I wanna say good-bye to you too." "No, you don't." "I just saw the last one." "Aw, be good to her, Will, and you be good to him, baby." " Oh, friend of the family." " Did you say you was goin'?" "I show you how we say good-bye in my country." "Oh, friend of the family." "Oh, lucky fellow." "I wish it was me she was marrying instead of you." "It don't seem to make much difference." "Well, back to the open road, the lonely gypsy!" "Giddyap, boys!" "You ain't gonna think of that old peddler-man anymore, are ya?" "Of course not." "I never think of no one less'n he's with me." "Then I'll never leave your side." "Well, even if you never go away, can't you once in awhile... give me one of them Persian good-byes?" "Persian good-bye?" "Why, that ain't nothin' compared to Oklahoma hello." "Hello, Will!" " Sleepin' in the saddle?" " Worse than that." "I got to thinkin'." "Last time for me, Mr. Skidmore." "No more roundups." "Not no more." "Think you're gonna like being a farmer?" "If Laurey can marry a good-for-nothing cowhand... without a red cent in his britches, I gotta love farming'." "I reckon you'll be a good enough husband." "Can't say about the farmin' I don't like farming'." "Never did." "That ain't gonna keep you from the weddin', is it?" "Wouldn't miss it for anything." "After all, the farmer and the cowman should be friends." "With this ring, I thee wed." "I pronounce you man and wife." "Let's give three cheers for the happy couple!" " Hip, hip!" "Hip, hip!" " Hooray!" "Hooray!" " Hip, hip!" " Hooray!" "Say, you better hurry and get in that other dress." "We gotta get goin'." " You hurry and pack your own duds and lean on over my" "Come on now." "You girls" " I wanna go!" " Me too!" "What you gonna do, Pa, give Laurey and Curly a shivaree?" " That's right." " I wished you wouldn't." "It's a good, old-fashioned custom never hurt nobody." "Wait." "You ladies just stay right here now." "Vamoose!" "Go on!" "Scat!" "Seems like there's times when men ain't got no need for women." "There's times when women ain't got no need for men." "Yeah, but who wants to be dead?" " Thought you's in Bushyhead." " Just come from there." "Too bad you missed Laurey's weddin'." "Been havin' one of my own." "Lands, who'd you marry?" "Where is he?" " There he is." " Oh." " Is that him?" " That's him." "Oh, hello, Ado Annie." "Did you see my ring, girls?" " How long you been married?" " Four days." "Four days with that laugh should count like a golden wedding." "But if you married her, you must have wanted to." "Oh, sure, I wanted to." "I wanted to marry her when I saw the moonlight... shining on the barrel of her father's shotgun." "I thought it would be better to be alive." "Now I ain't so sure." "Hey, Will, did you hear the news?" "Gertie married the peddler." "Mighty glad to hear that, peddler-man." "I think I oughta kiss the bride." "Oh." "Oh, friend of the family, remember?" " Hey, Gertie, you ever had an Oklahoma hello?" " Uh-uh." "No, you don't!" " Hey, hey!" "What are you doing?" " I'm gonna keep Ado Annie from killin' your wife." "Mind your own business." "Shh!" "Shh!" "Somebody'll hear ya." "They ain't listening to anybody but theirselves." "Shh!" "Shh!" "Go on out of here, you bunch of pig stealers!" " Why don't you go on back home where you belong?" " Up the ladder with ya, pretty thing!" " Boost her up!" "Put your foot in the right place, boy!" "Go on, Mr. Bridegroom." "There's your bride." "Maybewe'llletyou down in time to catch your train!" "Hey, Laurey, here's a girl baby for ya!" "Fire!" "Haystack's a-fire!" "Get some water!" "Get water!" "Hurry up!" "Get the water!" "Curly, I got a present for ya!" "I didn't get to kiss the bride, but I got a present for you!" "There's a present for you!" "Come on!" "Come on!" " Ike!" "Slim!" "Quick!" " Come on!" " What'd you do to him?" " I knowed this was gonna happen." "They've been feuding' for quite a spell." " What happened?" " He fell on his own knife." " Stuck clean through the ribs." " He's still breathing, ain't he?" "Let me look at him." "Can't do a thing here." "Better get him to a doctor." "Carry him over to my rig." "We'll take him to Doc Tyler's." "I don't see why this had to happen... just when everything was so fine." "Don't let your mind run on it." "I can't forget it, I tell you." "I never will." "Don't try, honey." "You got to get used to havin' all kinds of things happenin' to you." "You got to look at all the good on one side... and all the bad on the other side... and say, "Well, all right then," to both of them." "Lots of things happen to a woman- sickness or being poor and hungry even... being left alone in your old age... being afeared to die- and you can stand it." "There's one way." "You gotta be hardy." "Ya gotta be!" "Oh, I wished I was the way you are." "Oh, fiddlesticks!" "Scrawny and old?" "You couldn't hire me to be the way I am." "Oh, what'd I do without you?" "You're such a crazy." "Sure as you're born." "Jud's over to Doc Tyler's." "They'll take care of everything." "Is he alive?" "Laurey, honey, Cord Elam here... he being federal marshal and all..." " thinks I oughta give myself up, and right now." " Oh, no!" "Their train leaves Claremore in less than an hour." "It's their honeymoon." "The best thing is for Curly to go of his own accord and tell the judge." " Why, you're the judge, ain't you, Andrew?" " Yeah." "Then tell him now and get it over with." "It wouldn't be proper." "It's gotta be done in court." "Oh, fiddlesticks." "Let's do it here and say we done it in court." " Can't do that." "That's breakin' the law." " Let's not break the law." "Let's just bend it a little." "Come on, Andrew." "Start the trial." " We ain't got but a few minutes." " Sure." " Andrew, I got to protest." " Aw, shut your trap." "We can give the boy a fair trial without locking' him up on his honeymoon." "All right." "Here's the long and the short of it." "What's your plea?" "That means, why'd you do it?" "Well, Jud's been pestering' Laurey." " And I always swore" " Just a minute." "Don't let your tongue wobble around in your head." "Listen to my question." "What happened last night that made you do it?" "Why, he tried to burn us to death, and he come at me with a knife." " And you had to defend yourself, didn't ya?" " Yes." "Furthermore" "Never mind the "furthermores."" "The plea is self-defense." "All right." "Order." "Wait." "Is there a witness" "Wait a minute- who's seen this happen?" " Absolutely." " All right." "Order." "I feel funny about it." "I feel funny." "You'll feel funny when I tell your wife you're carrying on with another woman." "I ain't carrying on with no one!" "Maybe not, but you'll sure feel funny when I tell your wife you are." "Laugh all you like, but as federal marshal" "Aw, shut up about being federal marshal." "If we get to be a state, we're gonna elect ourselves a sheriff." "If you don't keep your mouth shut, ain't nobody gonna vote for ya." " Come on!" " Yeah, let's get movin' and get the happy couple on the train!" "Wait a minute!" "I ain't said the verdict yet." " The verdict's not guilty, ain't it?" " 'Course, but I gotta say it." " Then say it." " Not guilty!" "Court's adjourned!" "Got the rice?" "Ado Annie, where you been?" "You missed all the excitement." "Oh, no, we didn't." "Hello, Will." "Gotta get the young'uns on that train, or they'll miss it." "Hey, there, bride and groom, ya ready?" "Here we come!" "Oh, my crazy young'uns!" "I don't know what I'm gonna do without you!" " All right." " Take care." " Good luck, Curly!" " Thank you!" "Bye!"