"Before the dawn of history, even since the first man discovered his soul, he has struggled against the forces that sought to enslave him." "He saw the awful power of nature arrayed against him." "The evil eye of the lightning, the terrifying voice of the thunder, the shrieking, wind-filled darkness enslaving his mind with shackles of fear." "Fear bred superstition, blinding his reason." "He was ridden by a host of devil gods." "Human dignity perished on the altar of idolatry." "And tyranny arose, grinding the human spirit beneath the conqueror's heel." "But deep in man's heart still burned the unquenchable will for freedom." "When this divine spark flames in the soul of some mortal... whether priest or soldier, artist or patriot, lover or statesman... his deeds have changed the course of human events, and his name survives the ages." "In the village of Zorah, in the land of Dan," "1,000 years before the birth of Christ, lived such a man." "In him, the elements had fused greatness and weakness, strength and folly." "But with these, was a bold dream..." "Liberty for his nation." "The man's name was Samson." "For 40 years, the philistines had held his people in bondage." "# I drove three score goats to Zorah seeking for a wife, # # but her father said: "Get more or you'll lead a lonely life..." #" "And he said," ""When you return to Egypt, see that you do all the wonders which I have put in your hand."" "And the Lord said unto Moses," ""Get you up unto Pharaoh and bring forth my people out of Egypt."" "Pharaoh ruled the Egyptians as the Saran rules the Philistines here..." "And the philistines rule us." "Saul, let him tell it." "Pharaoh said to Moses," ""Who is this Lord?" "I know him not." "Your people are my slaves, and I will not let them go."" "But they got away through the Red Sea." "And someday, we'll show the Saran that stone can fly just as straight as Philistine spears." "Saul, tell him what that slingshot's for." "Yes, tell him." "Guard your tongue, Saul." "Some thoughts must not be spoken." "May I fill my pitcher, Miriam?" "We'll fill it together, little Samaritan." "And the Lord spoke unto Moses and to Aaron, saying, "When Pharaoh shall say unto you..." "'Show a miracle for you...', then you shall..."" "You shall swallow your tongue, old goat." "Now, here's something for you to learn..." "Bow when a Philistine passes!" "We are a conquered people." "We bow only to the invisible Lord." "Every Philistine is your Lord." "Bow!" "Look, you scum of Dan, here's how to greet your masters." "Brave Philistines... showing your courage against children and old men." "Well..." "Here's a jug of Danite wine we haven't tasted." "If you come near Miriam," "Samson will crack your head like a walnut." "Samson!" "He saves his strength for the wenches!" "The power of the Lord is in Samson's arm, and, one day, you shall feel it." "Croak in the mud, old frog." "Ha ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha ha!" "Run!" "Get off the street!" "Let the old mud turtle, yell for Samson!" "Ha ha ha ha!" " Go on, Saul, throw it." " Aim for the big one." "No, Saul, no." "I'll stop one of them." "You will bring death to the village." "Samson is our warrior." "A leader... you?" "Ha." "Certainly, I know where you were." "Lesh Lakish told me." "You were brawling through the streets of Timnath with the Philistines, drinking and dice-throwing with our enemies." "I was learning their ways." "You'd better learn the ways of the Lord." "Mm-mmm." "You're the best cook in Zorah." "And you're the worst son." "You, the leader of Dan, chosen judge of your people." "And what would you do?" "Marry a daughter of our enemies." "A philistine woman to be the mother of Samson's children." "I ought to turn you over my knees the way I used to, and not so many years ago." "Run along, or your mother will tan your hide, too." "Yeah, that's the truth." "Now look what you've done." "Oh, you're a stubborn, witless ox." "I'm your son." "Oh, Samson, why can't you be like our neighbors' sons... content to watch their fathers' flocks and choose a wife from our own village?" "Forbidden figs are sweeter." "But the sweetest figs grow right in your own garden." "And from morning to night, Miriam's hands are never idle." "No cross words ever pass her lips." "And you would harness this angel to a stubborn, witless ox?" "You're not all bad, Samson." "But your eyes always find what they shouldn't." "Why, a wife like Miriam would bring out the good in you." "A man must marry where his heart leads him, little mother." "A man's heart can be blind, son." "Samson, Samson!" "Some philistine soldiers at the well." "Who this time, father?" "The old storyteller." "The soldiers have gone, the trouble has passed." "Well, the trouble with him isn't passed." "Tell Miriam what you just told me." "Now, Hazell." "You wait until you hear what this fine son of yours is about." "Go on." "Tell her." "Go on." "This time, you must have done something really terrible." "Miriam, you're further above me than the moon." "But not as hard to reach." "Only stretch out your hand." "I don't want to hurt you, Miriam." "You're like a sparrow, so gentle and..." "That's a very gentle way of telling me... that you're in love with someone else?" "You always see through people as... if they were cobwebs." "I hear you saw a woman in Timnath." "Yes..." "And I can't forget her." "It is the same with me." "I can't forget you." "Miriam." "I'll always be here." "What did I tell you?" "He wants to marry a philistine." "Samson..." "You would not bring this shame upon us." "There's no shame in marriage, father." "To a philistine woman?" "Father, Semadar pleases me." "Go to Tubal of Timnath, and say I will take his daughter to wife." "The law forbids it." "A philistine law?" "Samson." "Oh, Samson, what will come to you on the road you're traveling?" "A golden-haired wife, little mother, who won't beat me with wooden spoons." "Ohh..." "Oh, Samson, Samson," "You're blind." "You turn away from Mirian, from everything that's good in your life!" "Just because he's seen a woman at Timnath..." "A woman in silks and jewels." "Ohh..." "Magnificent." "Ooh, your rich gifts rob me of words, Ahtur." "They'll rob you of a daughter, Tubal, and enrich me with a wife." "The military governor of Dan does my house great honor." "Semadar is a fit mate for a soldier." "Now, here's a new weave from the looms of Gaza." "They call it gauze." "Oh, beautiful..." "Beautiful!" "Take it over to the light." "Semadar." "Semad—..." "But you haven't even shown..." "She can throw the javelin like the goddess Dictynna." "I'm taking her with me on the Saran's lion hunt today..." "Oh, with your permission." "Oh, yes, of... of course, of course." "You know, I have another daughter..." "Semadar's younger sister." "Oh, unbelievable beauty." "That's a good throw." "But the lion's heart's at the other end." "Have you lost your senses?" "The whole hunting party will be there, and the Saran himself is coming from Gaza." "I know." "I came to help him kill the lion." "You'd rather help the lion kill the Saran." "Not until he gives permission for our marriage." "Our marriage?" "You have lost your senses." "And my heart." "You've whispered that in a lot of pretty ears." "None as pretty as yours." "My sister does her lion hunting with plum pits." "Be good, now, or the game may eat the hunter." "I can't really blame her for hunting you." "Samson, you are rather like a lion." "Then you should learn more about lion hunting." "Proud and strong and fearless." "But not very wise." "Ahtur." "Here." "I brought a thorn for a rose." "Oh, thank you, Ahtur." "Balances perfectly." "There's only one Danite fool enough to climb this wall." "The governor of Dan has a hunter's eye." "I just told Semadar..." "Yes, I heard you." "You'll hunt from my chariot today, Semadar." "Samson thinks he can help us kill the lion." "We're very grateful, but the lord of the five cities, whose conquests reach from the Nile to Babylon, may succeed without the assistance of a judge of shepherds." "A shepherd needs to know more about lions than a king." "His life depends upon it." "A shepherd obeys the law." "His life depends on that." "The first law your fathers learned was to bow before philistine spears." "You like to have people bow to the might of spears." "I like to have spears... bow to people." "Especially beautiful women." "You destroy a weapon that you lack the skill to use." "Perhaps Semadar will teach me... after our marriage." "Marriage to..." "Your humor is even greater than your strength." "The Saran." "The judge of Dan would do well to leave the way he came... and seek a bride in some other pasture." "Ahtur!" "Ahtur!" "Hail, great majesty." "Hail!" "I don't like Ahtur either." "Water for the horses!" "Hunt your lion with that, Nimrod." "If you killed the lion, they'd call you great." "I can bend their spears, but I can't outrun their horses." "I could get you there first." "We have stables." "What's your price?" "Take me with you." "You're a bold little monkey." "What's your name?" "Delilah." "Come on." "Faster, Samson, faster!" " Hold tight to the railing!" " I'll hold tight to you!" "Be careful, you'll fall out!" "No, I won't!" "Semadar doesn't love your strength like I do." "I'd love to feel the power of your arms." "I'd rather feel a wildcat on my back!" "Will you tame me, Samson?" "I'll use you for lion bait!" "I don't see any lion!" "Aah!" "Here!" "Kill him before they get here." "I won't need it." "He's a young lion." "Samson!" " You're more trouble than..." " I'm afraid!" "Get up on that rock and don't move." "Look out!" "Samson!" "You killed him with your hands." "Oh, Samson!" "Hey, one cat at a time." "What's the matter with you?" "I love you." "That's what's the matter with me..." "I love you!" "Lion ho!" "Halt the hunt!" " The beast is slain." " Who killed it?" "The Saran!" "Delilah!" "Semadar, the Saran!" "Who is this girl?" "My sister, lord Saran." "I don't know how she came here with this..." "Danite, isn't he?" "Perhaps this little blossom from the Tubal's garden can enlighten us." "Oh, yes, majesty, I can." "Samson killed the lion with his bare hands." "Never has there been such power in any man." "Your sister has a lively imagination." "So you're Samson, the brawling troublemaker." "The Saran knows me." "Yes, and no good of you." "Come here, girl." "You say he used no weapon?" "Just his two hands, lord Saran." "He was magnificent." "Only a god could do what he did." "Well, Danite, you have one worshiper." "Ahtur, examine the beast, and find the mark of the javelin." "But I..." "Delilah, get down of the wheel." "Have you no respect?" "There's no blood." "The wound must be on the other side." "The body's warm." " There is no mark upon the skin." " What?" "I said there wasn't." "No mark?" "Would you have us believe the beast dropped dead from fear?" "The girl told you the truth." "What you believe is your affair." "I should like to see this strength." "Garmiskar!" " Now you'll see fur fly." " You'll see some blood flow." "Break this boaster's bones." "I have no quarrel with your warrior." "What kind of courage claims to face a lion and fears my wrestler?" "The man has done me no harm." "Fight him, Samson." "Fight him." "Like all boasters, he's a coward." "Garmiskar..." "let him feel the whip." "Now watch." "Heh heh heh." "Garmiskar's down!" "Get up, Garmiskar!" "Get up!" "He's near 400 pounds." "He threw him like a sack of grain." "The hunter's prize is yours." "One ring for two lions." "I would like to name my own prize." "Oh, yes?" "What would you have..." "My throne?" "I would take a philistine bride." "The girl seems willing enough." "I need men like you." "If a pretty face binds you to me, your request is granted." "Choose your bride." "This is the woman I take." "But Semadar is promised to me." "I have given my word, Ahtur." "She is yours, and 100 pieces of silver." "You give me a great treasure." "Will you accept from me the skin of the lion without mark of weapon?" "As a peace offering, from one prince to another." "Is it wise to have this mad dog in our city?" "He might be tamed in our city." "Lord Saran," "Samson could make no trouble if..." "Ahtur brought 30 of his warriors to the wedding feast." "This girl has the wisdom of a serpent." "Ride home together and discuss the choice of wedding companions." "Hunt home!" "Hunt home!" "Look!" "The feather dance!" "Feather against sword." "Feather always wins." "It's nothing more than a witch's trick." "No man can kill a lion with his bare hands." "Who saw him kill the beast?" "You saw him throw Garmiskar." "Why aren't you entertaining the wedding guests?" "They hate him." "Because he's a Danite?" "Because he's a fool." "Most man are, Delilah." "There is nothing you can do about it." "Sometimes a bee can move an ox." "A man shouldn't have to reach at his own wedding feast." "The most desirable grapes are always out of reach." " Not if you reach high enough." " Or wait long enough." "You waited too long, Ahtur." " For what?" " Entertainment." "What will you choose?" "Wine..." "Beauty..." "Song?" "I have wine." "You have beauty." "And Samson has a voice." "Sing us one of your shepherd songs, Samson." "My singing sounds more like the bleating of my sheep." "But I will set you a riddle." " A riddle?" " Can he make one?" " I didn't know he should make one." " Speak up, strong man!" " What riddle?" " Tell us." "Out of the eater came forth meat." "Out of the strong came forth sweetness." "Out of the eater came forth..." "That's a fool's riddle." "Then answer it." "There's no sense to it." "Sweetness from the strong?" "He's twisting words." "Riddle?" "Why, by the seven planets, that's no riddle at all." "It's not a riddle without a wager." "Or without gold." "What gold can Samson wager?" "There are many kinds of gold." "There is the gold in Semadar's hair." "But we won't wager that." "There is the gold thread of a cloak." "That I will wager." "If you guess the riddle, I'll pay each of you a new garment." "All 30 of us?" "All 30." "30 garments?" "That's a heavy wager." "How can he pay?" "With 30 lion skins?" "We'll get all shepherd cloaks." "Where would he get 30 garments?" "One for each of us!" "Take care." "Samson is clever at trapping foxes." "You may lose." "Then we'll pay him a change of garments." "All 30?" "All 30." " Agreed!" " It's a wager!" " 30 garments." " It's a bargain!" "You'll pay!" "Leave them with your riddle, Samson, while I put on my wedding veil." "Out of the strong came forth sweetness." "Hah!" "The fruit of the date palm!" "The tree is strong, and the fruit is sweet." "What do you feed date palms to make them eaters?" "Why it's a hawk's egg." "A hawk is an eater." "And the egg is strong." "Find the answer before the wedding." "Samson will have no time for riddles afterwards." "Father, take him, but bring him back to me." "Sure I could not keep him away." "You tried hard enough to, Tubal." "Musicians, play among the guests while we prepare." "That scurvy riddle has no answer." "No!" "It's a cheat!" "He's right." "A Danite trick!" "Every riddle has an answer, only you're too stupid to find it." "Find it?" "Where?" "Not in your wine cup, Gammad." "Sharpen your wits, not your teeth." "What?" "Don't you see Samson is laughing at you?" " Laughing at me?" " Laughing?" "At us?" "He's smarter than you." "Has he told you the answer, Delilah?" "No, but..." "I know someone who can get it." " Who?" " Who?" "Tell us." "Semadar." "Semadar?" "Of course!" "Yes, by Dagon, she'll tell, or I'll wring the answer from her throat." "I'll pay no forfeit to that Danite clown." "Oh, yes, you will." "You made a wager." "Before I pay, I'll burn this house and them in it." "You don't know Samson." "Samson..." "It would be much safer if Ahtur got the answer from Semadar." "Yes." "Semadar." "Clever girl." "Women always yield to Ahtur." "Why should our guests care about a stupid game of words?" "It's no game to them." "It's Danite against Philistine." "The wine has dulled their senses." "It hasn't dulled their anger." "You're trying to frighten me because you don't want me to marry Samson." "I don't want you to marry Samson, but... there's hatred down there at your wedding feast." "They think you've joined Samson against us." "But I haven't." " Tell them I haven't." " No." "You tell them the answer to the riddle." "But I don't know it." "Unfortunate." "Ahtur, Samson has told me nothing." "Surely he'll share the answer with so lovely a bride." "But if he won't?" "Get it... or death may solve the Danite's riddle." "I mean no more to you..." "than those strangers down there." "Semadar, don't cry." "I can't stand tears." "You don't love me." "But Semadar, look..." "Don't!" "Go away." "I've told no one the answer." "Our wedding night..." "and to you I am no one." "Women." "Won't you make me happy?" "Tell me the riddle's answer." "You could please me so much." "If a honeycomb pleases you, a lion will not keep us apart." "Honeycomb!" "Is that the answer?" "Remember that lion I killed?" "The sun had bleached its bones, and wild bees had swarmed there." "Oh, Samson!" "That was the honeycomb you brought me." "What is sweeter than honey?" "What is stronger than a lion?" "Semadar, as pretty as a pearl!" "Before this company," "I give my daughter, Semadar, to Samson in marriage." "What is sweeter than honey, Samson?" "Tell us..." "What is stronger than a lion?" "Ahtur has won the Danite's wager." "Or the Danite's bride." "A clever riddle." "Cleverly answered." "Now, Samson, take the wine cup." "Pay your wager, bridegroom." "A change of garment for each!" "Before we leave." "A red cloak is what I want." "So the wine spots don't show." "A wool tunic for me to keep out the foul air of Dan." "Bring me an embroidered robe to dazzle the wenches." "I'll settle for a cloak of silver." "If you hadn't plowed with my heifer, you would not have answered my riddle." "You're a bad loser, strong man." "Pay your debt." "I'll pay my debt the same way you found the answer." "A red cloak is what I want." "You'll get your red cloak, Damac." "You'll get your shirt of wool, Targil." "With gold thread!" "And you, Bergam, your silver cloak." "You'll all be paid in full." "You cheat before our wedding's done." "The cats from the Timnath alleys could learn much from you." "She stands with us." "And you'd do well to return to your people." "Yes, go back." "I'll return." "But first I must pay the debt to your people." "Or pay your wager." "I'll be waiting for you." "Samson!" " Samson!" " Let him go, father." "But the Saran gave her to Samson." "Samson called her a cat from the alleys of Timnath." "This is terrible." "He doesn't want her now." "But Ahtur does." "Ahtur!" "And the bridal chamber is waiting for a bride." "Good sense in that pretty head." "Ahtur!" "The trouble you brew today, you'll drink tomorrow." "# I'd rather be a merchant than a captain of the fleet #" "# The Saran owns a palace #" "# The jester owns an ass #" "Oh!" "Help!" "Help!" "Mercy!" "Help, god!" "We've been robbed!" "A giant!" "Dagon, protect us!" "He'll kill us!" "Thieves!" "Mercy!" "Thieves!" "Help!" "Help!" "Help!" "Some demon fell upon me and stole my best tunic." "A demon?" "Big as a camel..." "My clothes!" "My red cloak!" "They're gone!" "I can see that." "A giant hurled me in the air..." "I tried to fight him..." "Peace!" "Peace!" "Peace!" "Wait a minute!" "Speak sense!" "My flowered robe..." "It's stolen!" "The one my wife made for me." "Oh, she'll never believe me." "I demand to make a search!" "My cloak, my red cloak!" "My coat of silver cloth!" "We came for a wedding, and, by Dagon, we had a wedding." "You're not leaving before the Danite's paid his wager?" "Ah, his debt is as bad as his riddle." " He won't come back." " Oh, yes, he will." "If he does, I'll spit him like a fatted calf." "There's your tunic with threads of gold." "Here's your fatted calf, Targil." "A red cloak, the color of your nose, Gammad." "Here, Teresh." "Wear this over your head, so the wenches can't see your face." "Hey!" "Wait!" "And you, Gergam, you want a silver cloak?" "Find it yourself, there's 30 to choose from." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "Where did he get such garments?" "Now you're paid." "The lot of you." "Where's Semadar?" " Where's Semadar?" " Oh, wait, wait, Samson." " Where's my wife?" " But she isn't yours." "Your said..." "Never mind what I said." "Where is she?" "No, no." "You said you were done with her." "You said it yourself." "I thought you hated her." "So I gave her to your companion, Ahtur." "You..." "Ahtur!" "He wanted to marry her." "What could I do?" "You wanted no Danite for a son-in-law." "I?" "Look, look!" "Here!" "Samson." "My other daughter." "Take her." "She'll make you a much better wife." "She's fairer than Semadar." "And much, much more beautiful." "You give me a turnip for..." "Wait, wait, Samson." "This one is a queen among women." "Samson, look, look!" "Have you ever seen eyes like that?" "So full of love for you?" "See the whiteness of her skin, smooth as a young dove's." "Oh, she will grow into a rare blossom." "She'll grow into a thornbush." "Did a thornbush steal the chariot that took you to the lion?" "Did a thornbush tell the Saran how you killed it with your bare hands?" "No, I did." "And he believed me." "Then you chose Semadar." " Take your claws out of me." " You'll never get them out of you." "I made Ahtur steal the secret of the riddle from Semadar." "I lied to stop you from marrying her." "I'd kill for keep you." "You're the only thing in the world I want." "Hold this fork-tongued adder before I step on her." "If you crush the life out of me, I'll kiss you with my dying breath." "And you want me to marry this wild cat?" "Let him destroy himself!" "Oh!" "Samson!" "You'll die for this, you fool!" "Look!" "Ahtur is down!" "Give me a javelin!" "Let me out!" "Targil!" "Gammad!" "My sword!" "He's not armed." "Charge him!" "I'll split that shield!" "Javelin!" " Semadar!" " Here's a thorn for his ribs." " Kill him!" " Inside, Semadar!" "Come, Samson, they'll kill us." "Look out!" "He's throwing!" "Lock shields!" "Death to her!" "No, no, Targil!" "Hide, Semadar." "Hide!" "And death to her father!" "Father!" "Semadar!" "No!" "Targil!" "Targ—" "Aah!" "My daughter!" "Burn her and her father with fire." "Carge him!" "He has the strength of hell." "He'll bleed like any man!" "You came to this house as wedding guests." "Fire and death are your gifts to my bride." "For all that I do against you now," "I shall be blameless." "I'll give you back fire for fire!" "And death for death." "What invisible power strikes through his arm?" "Turn away, little mistress." "Don't look anymore." "All you have in the world is ashes and death." "Samson lives." "May his flesh rot from his bones." "Be still, old fool." "If it takes all my life," "I'll make him curse the day he was born." "He called you a forked-tongue adder." "He's going to feel its sting." "What strength can these hands have against him?" "Perhaps greater than a lion's and softer than a dove's." "I'll find strength, Hisham." "Strength to destroy him." "Samson!" "Samson!" "Samson!" "Every Danite sheepherder knows where to find him, yet the man's invisible." "I know the Danites worship an invisible god, Ahtur." "But an invisible leader!" "I've wasted a year chasing lies and rumors." "I've flogged Danites, hung them in chains, burned them, but they won't give him up." "Apparently they love Samson more than they fear you." "Give me 10,000 men, and I'll shake 'em fear." "Like all soldiers, when you fail by the sword, you ask for more swords." "You should study the ant." " The ant?" " Yes." "The Babylonians called them "zerbabu"." "The Danites call them "nemalah"." "We call them ants." "See how these master ants collect food from their slaves." "You might call them tax collectors." "We need soldiers to destroy this Danite." "You think so, Ahtur?" "I think one tax collector is worth a thousand soldiers." "A third of every herd." "But our flocks mean our lives." "Their skins clothe us." "Their milk feeds our children." "One out of three, that's the Saran's tax." "One out of three?" "We can't pay such a tax." "You'll pay it until you give us Samson tied up like this." "And next time, I'll take your goats." "Come on, soldier." "No!" "No!" "Stop!" "You tax collectors feed on us like vultures." "I'll have nothing left to sell." "Sell Samson to us, bound." "Bind him?" "We can't even find him." "You know where he is." "Barbers know all the gossip." "My purse!" "My purse!" "We'll keep this until you give up Samson." "You'll get Samson... when the light of the Lord goes out." "You take even the light by which we pray." "You won't pray much longer, old man." "Unless you bring us Samson out of the wilderness." "He'll come back to drive you from our land." "Then it will be a hungry land, big eyes." "You can starve us with taxes, strip our houses, plunder, burn, and steal, but we'll never betray Samson." "One rock isn't a mountain, Miriam." "And one man is not a nation." "Can Samson bring back the grain to our fields by burning the fields of the Philistines?" "Can Samson feed our children when they cry for food with the gates of Gaza?" "He has done to the Philistines what they did to him." "Who else has stood against them?" "He stood against them for his Philistine wife." " Not for us." " His strength is our shield, Lesh Lakish." "He has not shielded us." "Must we all suffer for what one man has done?" "We will never give him up." "We'll bind him and deliver him into the hands of the Philistines." "You deliver him to death." "While the strength of the Lord is in him, no man can bind Samson." "He will not raise his hand against us, grandfather." "He will let himself be bound." "Why will men always betray the strongest among them?" "His name will be written in the Book of Judges." "Bellow, you blustering ox, so the Saran can hear you in Gaza." "Even a ruby loses luster besides your lips." "It will take a sapphire and an emerald together to match your blue-green eyes." "I have known the ways of many women who fill the veins with fire... but only one Delilah." "My lord has given me many gifts, but none more precious than his favor." "Little mistress!" "Little mistress!" "You're forbidden to disturb me when our lord of Gaza is here." "It's a messenger for him from the lord general." "He says it mustn't wait!" "We'll see no one." "Delilah, what a dimpled dragon you can be, flashing fire and smoke." "But even your anger charms me as long as it's directed at someone else." "The poor Hisham." "Let the man in." " Majesty!" " Speak." "Lord Ahtur, military governor of Dan, prince of Philistia, sends greetings to the Saran of Gaza," " Majestic..." " Yes, yes." "Get on with the message." "Samson is our prisoner." "Prisoner?" "What have they done with him?" "Would you mind if I ask the questions?" "Pardon, my lord, but this man..." "Yes, I know, but just leave it to me." "Continue." "The lord Ahtur is leading Samson, bound, toward Gaza." "They're but a short distance away." "I've waited a long time to hear those words." "Such news deserves reward." "Withdraw." "That was a very costly jewel." "What will you do with Samson, my lord?" "Well, we might hang him by his heels from your balcony." "Or what would your suggestion be, Delilah?" "Make him turn the gristmill, whipped and driven like an animal, where all Gaza can mock him and laugh at him." "Humble him." "Bring him to his knees." "But I thought you once admired this Danite." "As I admire the gutter-rats of Gaza." "I'm jealous of your hatred." "Don't share even that with anyone else." "We'll chain this lion-killer to the millstone if that is your wish, and perhaps arrange a few other little sports for him." "Anything." "Only let me be there to watch it." "Unconquerable leader of Danites, defender of the invisible god." "You're very silent, Samson." "I thought you liked the company of Philistines." "He prefers the company of an ass, lord general." "They have much in common." "An ass is wise enough to obey his master." "Your feet must be tired, Samson." "Why don't you try walking on your knees?" "Ho ho ho!" "Ha ha ha!" "Stand all, stand all!" "Water bearers, to the ranks." "Ha ha ha!" "Ha ha ha!" "Hee haw, hee haw!" "Let us hear you pray, Samson." "Hee haw, hee haw!" "I doubt if prayers would be much help to him now." "His real strength lies in riddles." "Excellent, your excellence." "Riddles are the sport of fools." "Then answer this one, Samson." "Out of Dan came a killer of beasts... whose head will pay for his wedding feast?" "Ha ha!" "Has the pledge of my people been fulfilled?" "Yes, but that's not the answer to the riddle." "Am I truly delivered into your hands?" "As truly as you're bound by rope." "You seem to have lost your skill for riddles." "This is the place of Lehi." "Even the sky speaks against him." "Ha ha!" "O lord, my god, hear me." "Gird me for battle against the swords of my enemies." "Forsake me not, o lord, but strengthen my arm to destroy the lions who've scattered thy flocks." "Oh, great skull, hear me." "Hee haw." "Hee haw!" "Let them see thy power, o god." " They part like burning flax!" " Blood of devil!" "His god has freed him!" "Quick!" "Take him!" "Alive if you can!" "Use chains!" "Lift it, you fools." "My arm's pinned." "Son of the devil!" "Never did mortal man fight like this." "His strength was greater than any instrument of war." "And when he called upon his god, the thunder and the whirlwind and the lightning were in his blows." "A hundred killed, perhaps a thousand." "There was no counting of the slain." "But what weapon had he?" "More shame to us..." "The jawbone of an ass." "A jester's toy?" "No sword of iron ever struck such blows." "Men fell before him like wheat before the scythe." "One man?" "Can this be?" "Who is this man?" "But had we no horses, no chariots to rid him down?" "He overturned chariots with a single move." "He fought within a gorge so narrow, that we trampled on the dying to attack him." "And those behind pressed forward, and those forward were forced back upon the blades behind them." "My eyes have never seen such a storm of death." "And now vultures circle over Ramath-Lehi." "And Samson... is gone unto the hills." "Take this fool and tend his wounds." "Now where is the lord Ahtur?" "I am here, mighty Saran." "Mighty?" "In what?" "Certainly not my army." "Have you come to tell us of your triumph?" "Your messenger has given us a very thorough account." "He even told us how your warrior Zamath charged like a lion, only to have his skull crushed like an egg through his helmet." "And, uh, with what, high prince Ahtur?" "Tell this council the weapon used against you." "Well?" "Tell them." "Speak." "The jawbone of an ass." "Lord Ahtur." "military governor of Dan," "Price of Philistia," "Hakim of armies... beaten with the jawbone of an ass." "Our armies, that scattered the Hittites, that swept the amonites before them, that cut through Canaan to conquer as far as the circle of the earth, beaten with the jawbone of an ass." "Are you a solider or a clown commanding fools?" "What is the number of all the forces at our command, lord Sharif?" " Or charriots, 600 heavy, 1,000 light." " Yes..." " 500 dromedaries of the swiftest." " Mm-hmm." "2,000 horsemen, without the palace guard." "3,000 heavy armored Searmen of the elite." " 8,000..." " Yes, yes..." "And we're beaten by the jawbone of an ass." "Am I, lord of the five cities, to be laughed at before the world, before my subject peoples, because a Danite herdsman routs my armies?" "Don't set that down, you fool." "Burns my crops, pillages caravans at will, yes, even carries away the gates of my city!" "I asked for 10,000 men to crush these Danites for all time." "Instead, you gave me tax collectors." "Taxes delivered Samson into your hands, didn't they?" "It was you who couldn't hold him." "This Samson has some unknown power, some secret that gives him superhuman strength." "No man can stand against him." "Perhaps he'll fall before a woman." "Even Samson's strength must have a weakness." "There isn't a man in the world who won't share his secrets with some woman." "Most of us have shared our gold with a woman." "Ha ha ha!" "More men have been trapped by smiles than by rope." "Yes, you tried ropes, Ahtur." "Perhaps you should have smiled at him." "What is your plan, Delilah?" "Drive a tent peg through his head like Jael, the Canaanite?" "No, that was not my plan, lord Sharif." "Delilah, do you know a woman who could entice this barbarian, this killer?" "Yes, my lords, I can deliver Samson to you." " You, Delilah?" " You capture Samson?" "This devil?" " Heaven protect her." " A dove against a bull." "Bring in a woman, and you'll bring in trouble." "Such devotion is very touching, but what would you gain from his capture?" "My lord's favor." "But you have that." "Is that all you want?" "No." "Name your price, and you shall have it." "Perhaps some little bauble in the street of jewelers?" "You're very generous." "Tell me, Sohrab, what value did you set upon your last caravan" "Samson raided near Gath?" "Eleven hundred pieces of silver." "Here is the reckoning." "Then that is my price..." "Eleven hundred pieces of silver." "Eleven hundred?" "Your price is high." "A Pharaoh's ransom for a shepherd?" "Better silver than blood." "We'll pay it." "Eleven hundred pieces of silver..." "from each of you." "What?" "What?" " Eleven hundred!" " ¿Eleven hundred?" " Stand aside, please." " Eleven hundred pieces!" " I know, but this must be recorded." " Of each of us!" "Silence!" "Calm yourselves." "You drive a sharp bargain, Delilah." "From you, my lord, I ask only a promise." "A promise for a promise?" "What is yours?" "To bring you Samson bound and helpless." "Bound by these white arms?" "No." "Too high a price for me to pay." "My thoughts will be only of you." "I suggest the princes of Gaza find some other way to capture Samson." "You've tried all other ways." "When my father and sister lay dead in the ashes of our home because of Samson, he laughed at my tears." "You cannot refuse me, my lord." "What promise do you ask?" "I will learn the secret of his strength." "But when he stands captive and is weak as other men, no drop of his blood shall be shed." "No blade shall touch his skin." "By the sacred pillars of the temple, we demand his death!" "I want his life." "Chain him in the gristmill." "Let him grind our grain like a beast." "Let the people mock him and make sport of him until he draws his breath in agony and every word he speeches is a prayer for death." " I'll pay price, Delilah!" " And I!" "You'll get your silver when we get Samson." "All Gaza will praise you." "And if you succeed, no price will be too great." "The council is ended." "Think she can do it?" "Delilah can." "Well, Delilah, you have your price and your promise." "My lord is the wisest of kings and the greatest of men." "As a king, I have no choice." "As a man, I'm letting you leave because you want to." "King of my love, I go to destroy your enemy... and mine." "Delilah, Delilah..." "My love is only for you." "Mmm." "A man who could stop the heart of a lion might stir the heart of a woman." "I will deliver Samson to you before the month of harvest." "Tab tah azi!" "Looks like a rich merchant." "Looks like a Philistine plum, ripe to pick." "Ride back." "Tell Ahtur to wait with his soldiers by the scorpion's hill." "I will camp in the valley of Sorek." "Yes, mistress." "They'll camp by the pool at the temple ruins." "Why did the soldiers leave?" "Maybe they're looking for us." "Jebus will run off the camels after dark, while we shear the owners." "They might shear us." "Ha ha ha." "You worry more than my little mother." "Come on." "Don't cry out." "I won't." "Are you afraid?" "Of a woman?" "Yes." "Your caravan is rich." "Even sparrows don't travel this far from their trade routes." "Why did you?" "The jewel box is in that silver chest." "Where's your husband?" "I have no husband." "Then call your master." "I have no master." "The table's laid for two." "I'm expecting a caller." "Yes?" "Who?" "You, Samson." "You know my name?" "All Gaza knows your name." "They don't like it, I'm told." "They respected it before the mighty Samson become a common robber." "And Delilah became the great courtesan of Gaza." "I'm stupid, Samson, to think I could deceive you." "Steal what you like." "This is not stealing." "These are taxes." "Your Saran taxes us," "I tax the Philistines." "What pretty Danite girl will wear these taxes?" "They'll buy armor." "They'll buy armor to protect us against Philistine spears." "You need protection?" "The woman that rules the ruler of the five cities must have great wealth." "Where's the rest of it?" "Not far away." "I will hide nothing from you." "The oldest trick in the world..." "A silk trap baited with a woman." "You know a better bait, Samson?" "Men always respond." "Of all the women in Gaza, why did the Saran send you?" "I asked to come." "Why?" "I knew you'd yield to any other woman." "And you came here to save me." "No." "I came to betray you." "By the four winds, you have courage, Delilah." "Don't overlook this." "It's a gift from the Saran." "You could bind a man tighter than the Saran's chains." "Could I bind you?" "No, Delilah." "You're going back to the Saran the only way you can be trusted." "Oh?" "Will you kill me yourself?" "You could crush me between these two hands." "Why don't you?" "I told you once I'd kiss you with my dying breath." "Your kiss has the sting of death." "I don't believe you could kill me." "Try." "You're afraid to kill me." "I'll let the devil do that." "I know you will, but don't make me eat supper alone." "Hisham." "I'll go back to Gaza at daylight." "You'll leave tonight." "We're leaving, Hisham." "Have the men load the camels." "What camels?" "His bandits stole your camels." "Then have the drivers prepare a litter." "You have no drivers." "They ran to the hills when they saw this spawn of the devil." "How can I go, Samson?" "I'll have your camels brought back." "Why not bring them yourself tomorrow?" "Because when my back's turned, you'll send for Ahtur's soldiers." "I couldn't send for anyone if you were with me." "Hisham, pour the wine." "Pour it for one." "Have you lost your taste for wine, Samson?" "I've got that I want." "You are all I want." "You..." "Daughter of hell." "Seven green witches for our seven days, Samson." "Stop trying to be a fish!" "Let me try them on you." "The last people who tried drowning Danites ended up beneath the Red Sea." "No, no!" "No, Samson, that water's too wet!" "Come up here and help me with these." "I have my hands full with you." "What do you want with those green witches?" "Planning to snare a rabbit?" "No..." "A lion." "With those?" "I'm weaving you a crown." "A lion with lilies in his mane?" "Hold these." "This crown will have a secret power." "For its wearer or its weaver?" "Only a secret can buy a secret." "I have no secrets left to tell." "No?" "You never told me why you're stronger than other men." "Is it some herb you mix in your food, or some charmed oil you rub into your body?" "What would you do if you..." "knew the secret of my strength?" "Bind you." "Why?" "So you could never leave me." "I couldn't escape you if you..." "bound me with these seven green reeds." "Could seven little green witches hold Samson?" "These green witches are much stronger than they look." "Hold them tight." "See?" "If you bound me with these seven little witches," "I'd be as weak as any other man." "Truly?" "Try it." "Poor Samson, he'll be helpless, led on a leash, the slave of a woman." "That knot there wouldn't— That wouldn't hold a sparrow." "Tie it double." "Now you're my prisoner." "Or are you mine?" "Samson, the Philistines are upon you." "Aah!" "I ought to break this over your lying little skull." "But it was a Philistine." "You could teach the devil new tricks." "Well, you tried to cheat me." "Delilah..." "No, I will not listen." " But you asked me to..." " I don't want to hear you." "Three times you plagued me to tell you." "And three times you've lied to me." "You said new ropes that had never been used would hold you." "Who knows the strength of a rope that's never been used?" "Then you told me your strength would go if I wove your hair to the web of my loom." "Now look at my loom." "I'd rather look at you." "Oh!" "It's no use, Samson." "You'll always find a new trick to deceive me." "The night I came to the valley of Sorek, you wanted to send me away." "You were right." "It is better that I go." "Delilah." "Once your father offered you to me in marriage." "I remember what you called me." "Never mind what I said then." "Will you marry me now?" "There are too many lies between us." "You still fear me more than you love me." "I don't fear you enough." "You don't trust me enough." "I love you enough." "Then..." "Then tell me the secret of your strength." "My strength?" " My strength is..." " No, Samson, no!" "I don't want to be armed with a weapon to destroy you." "Weapon?" "It wouldn't be a weapon if you really loved me." "Oh, Samson, Samson." "How can there be any doubt left in you?" "If there is, I'll end it now." "Look about you, Delilah." "The moon that lights this oasis by night... and the sun that lights it by day are not there by chance." "In the beginning, there was only darkness, until one power created light and shaped the earth and all the things that live upon it." "Your invisible god." "My strength comes from him." "But how does his power reach you?" "Is he here with us now?" "He's everywhere." "In the wind, in the sea, in the fire." "In your heart if you believe in him." "His is the only power in the world that can break open a seed and raise it into that great tree." "And can I share this power with you?" "Anyone can share it." "It's a gift that makes men greater than themselves." "With it, some can stir the soul with music." "Others can read the truth in men's hearts and forgive." "To me, it's the strength to break any bonds that can be put upon me." "And will you always have this strength?" "As long as I keep faith with the Almighty." "A long time ago, I was dedicated to him." "Many of the vows I've broken, but one I've kept." "A vow has made you strong?" "Oh, it's much more than that." "Do you remember the lion I killed?" "I'll never forget." "The strength of the lion makes him king of beasts." "And the great ruff of his mane is the mark of his power." "Go on, Samson." "The men of the desert know that the long flowing mane of the stallion is the mark of his power." "Among my people, they say that the strongest ram has the heaviest wool." "But clip the mark of his power..." "Shear him, and he becomes a thing to laugh at." "The shield of his strength is gone." "You've seen the eagle climb the sky." "But pluck the two prime feathers from the tip of one wing, and the mighty eagle can no longer fly." "The mark of his power is gone." "The mark of his power." "Samson." "This is the mark of your power." "It's your hair." "If it were shorn from your head..." "I'd be as weak as any other man." "You believe that this great god of yours... has given you your power through your hair?" "You do believe that, don't you?" "From the beginning, my mother taught me so." "Your power is in your hair." "What a beautiful power it is." "Look how it curls around my finger." "Black as a raven's wing, and wild as a storm." "Shall I pull it out and steal your power?" "You cannot steal... what's yours already." "Come with me to Egypt." "We'll not be Danite and Philistine there." "Only Samson and Delilah." "In the valley of the Nile, the air will be sweet with myrrh, and only the flight of the ibis will darken the sky." "Will you come with me?" "My eyes... could never find more beauty than they see in you." "Through all eternity, nothing can ever take you out of my arms." "Samson." "Miriam!" "Saul!" "Miriam, you bring bad news?" "Let me talk with you alone." "Saul, fill the water bottle." "In the tent." "My mother, how did you leave her?" "Chained to a post and whipped." "Philistine swine." "Here." "My father?" "Stoned." "They are killing and burning in every village." "The firstborn in every home is put to the sword." "While this woman of Sorek makes you drunk with her kisses, the Philistines murder your people." "You are falling into Ahtur's net, Samson." "The Philistines strike against your people to get you." "Your mother cries your name, Samson." "We'll go." "I'll saddle a beast for you to ride." "Don't go, Samson." "This milk-faced girl with her cow's eyes will lead you to your death." "You love him." "Women cannot deceive each other." "It is in your face when you look at him." "You want him for yourself." "Yes, I love him." "In his face, I see all that is strong and good." "His name is like a cry of hope for us." "I've dreamed that someday Samson would take me for his wife." "But he's never looked upon me as a woman." "His face... his name..." "Shadows on the wall." "You think that is love?" "You worship him with prayers and downcast eyes." "I love him as a man of flesh and blood." "He is not leaving you for me." "There is a higher voice that speaks through him, and he will always answer its call." "Even your treacherous beauty cannot turn him from it." "I cannot fight against his god..." "But no woman will take him from me." "Miriam." "Hisham!" "Hisham." "Hisham." "Play music." " Water bottles filled?" " Yes, Samson." " Come on." " Samson..." "Samson, don't turn back." "Samson." "Go on with Saul." "I'll overtake you." "Aw, Samson." "Don't worry, Miriam." "He'll keep his word." "You called?" "The wine of parting is bitter, Samson." "Not as bitter as blood." "You cannot wipe away such love as I have given you without even a farewell." "I have a new debt to pay the Philistines." " Then I'll come to you in Egypt." " No, Samson." "I've lost you." "Drain this cup... as you have drained my heart." "You always doubt me, don't you?" "And always love you." "I'll find you, Delilah, wherever you go." "No, Samson." "You belong to Miriam." "She's the good in you." "I'm the weakness..." "The love that would enslave you." "I'll never be free of you, Delilah." "Let me feel the strength of your arms about me." "When you are gone, my arms will be empty." "My world will be empty." "Tell lord Ahtur's messenger..." "I have the secret." "Samson." "Samson, the Philistines are upon you." "I'll go out against them." "I'll..." "Look at his hair, captain." "The lion of Dan is shorn like a sheep!" "The lion?" "Without a mane?" "Clean as a new-mown field." "She must've used a sickle on him." "Delilah plucked him like a chicken." "I've taken away your strength, Samson." "Your little Danite sparrow will nest alone." " You Philistine gutter rat." " Hey." "Hey." "Throw your spears." "The shield of my god is gone from me." "What do you fear?" "My blood will flow as red as yours." "All Gaza will honor the man who brings back my head." "We are not going to kill you, Samson." "You Danites need a living reminder of the price of revolt." "Bind him." "Call on your god, Samson." "I've betrayed him." "He would not hear me." "Are you not stronger than a hundred men?" "You cannot carry away the gates of Gaza again." "You cannot kill a lion now." "You're weak as any other man." "Stand him against that pole." "Hisham, we leave for Gaza." "You've done well, Delilah." "No blade shall touch his skin." "No drop of his blood shall be shed." "Courier." "Take word to the lord of the five cities that Delilah has kept her bargain." "Yes, my lord." "The princes of Gaza will keep theirs." "You shall have your payment." "Payment." "Your arms were quicksand." "Your kiss was death." "The name Delilah will be an everlasting curse on the lips of men." "Bah." "I could have love you with a fire to make all other loves seem like ice." "I would have gone with you to Egypt, left everything behind, lived only for you." "But one call from the milk-faced Danite lily, and you run whining at her heels." "No man leaves Delilah." "Look at her, Samson." "Look well and remember the perfume of her hair, the softness of her lips, the fire of her embrace." "Satan himself taught her all the arts of deception." "It's easier to catch the moonlight than to hold such a woman." "With all your strength, you're a fool, Samson." "You trusted Delilah." "Remember her beauty... and never forget her treachery." "Burn her image into your memory, Samson." "She's the last thing you'll ever see." "Bind his head to the pole." "Set it here." "If you cannot see us, you cannot harm us." "If I have no strength to fight you," "I will need no eyes to find you." "O Lord..." "My eyes did turn away from you to look upon the flesh pots of my enemies." "Now you take away my sight that I may see again more clearly." "Blessed be the name of the Lord." "Don't let the blade touch his skin." "Eleven hundred." "Eleven hundred pieces of silver and my gratitude." "You gratitude matches your generosity." "Thank you." "The blessing of Dagon." "I hope the count is correct." "Oh, it is, it is." "If you still have the same shears, Delilah, my hair's rather long." "Sometime you might bait a trap for me, Delilah." "Can you believe Samson's strength was in his hair?" "Wherever it was, he hasn't got it now." "Virtue is not often so well rewarded." "Hmm." "My greatest reward was in serving my king." "While you were learning the secret of Samson's streng did he perhaps learn the secret of your love?" "Would I have betrayed him then?" "Men have been betrayed by love." "Love and hate are but two sides of the same coin." "My thoughts were only of you." "No man with eyes could resist you, Delilah." "But only a fool would trust you." "Why should you doubt me?" "You've not seen Samson grinding at the millstone?" "No." "Then come to the prison house." "No." "Suppose we go together." "Garmiskar will guard your fortune." "Come on, come on!" "Grindstone for you." "He's milling flour for her." "And for the lion killer." "Delilah's put a millstone around his neck." "Grind his body with the grain!" "Beat him with the jawbone of an ass!" "He burned our crops!" "Hang him!" "Hang him!" "Behold the lion of Dan!" "He's magnificent, even in chains." "Bend your back, you two-legged mule!" "Make him sweat!" "Break those chains, Danite!" "Samson was tamed by a woman." "And probably worth it." "He still looks strong as an ox." "He'd look a whole lot stronger if he hadn't met Delilah." "By their yelps, you'd think they felled the lion themselves." "He has not dared to look at me." "He cannot see you." "I'll make him see me." "He's blind." "He can never see me again." "Does that disturb you?" "I had your promise." "No blade has touched his skin." "No drop of his blood was shed." "You... you played with words to rob him of his eyes." "It was you who betrayed him, not I." "He was captive, in chains..." "Yet the lord of the five cities could not show him mercy?" "Did you show him mercy, Delilah?" "You wanted vengeance." "You have it." "Your Majesty." "Your enemies fall at your feet." "Get up!" "Oh, let me leave!" "Water." "Water." "Here's your water." "Beg for it." "Thirsty, Samson?" "Let him drink from a trough!" "Water." "Here's drink for a jackass." "How did you lose your hair, Samson?" "Water." "Lap it up." "Now, turn that wheel." "I will not see him thirst." "Give him water." "There can be only one master in a kingdom or a woman's heart." "Until you saw him like this, you could not forget him." "Forget him?" "Here's your water." "Every cup of water, every morsel of food must be guided into his hands." "The mighty Samson, betrayed by a woman." "No." "Blinded, ridiculed, pitied." "No, I did not blind him!" "Are you going to be as big a fool as you've made of him?" "He'd kill you." "You cannot undo what has been done." "You cannot undo what has been done." "My eyes could never find more beauty than they see in you." "You cannot undo what has been done." "I can!" "I can!" "Round and round, day after day, month after month." "He never stops!" "I'm being crushed like the grain beneath the stone." "This night must end sometime." "O god of Samson, help me." "He said you are everywhere." "That you are almighty." "Hear me." "Give back the light to his eyes." "Take my sight for his." "O god of Samson..." "Help me." "Last watch of the night." "All's quiet within the city gates." "Samson lies chained in the prison house." "All is well." "How long will your forget me, o Lord?" "How long will your hand be set against me?" "I call out through the long nights, but you do not hear me." "O Lord, God of my fathers, they called unto you and were delivered." "Do not forsake me, o Lord." "Hisham, wait outside with the guard." "Let no one come in." "Don't go near him, mistress." "He'll tear you to pieces." "O Lord, God of my fathers..." "O Lord, I'm despised by all men." "They mock me, saying, "He trust his god to deliver him."" "You are my God." "Be not far from me, for there is no other help." "My strength has melted like wax." "My heart is dry of hope." "I'm blinded and among enemies." "O Lord, o my strength, send me your sign." "Are you flesh and blood, or an angel of the Lord?" "Who are you?" "I heard your prayer." "I prayed for an angel of the Lord, and the devil sent me you." "All I want is to comfort you." "Let me come near you." "You were near in the valley of Sorek, trading my love for Philistine silver." "Won't you believe I would give my life to undo what I've done?" "I believed you once." "You sold my sight." "I would endure your hatred, Samson, if it would bring back your sight." "Let me be your eyes." "Through my eyes, you will see again." "Through all the long darkness," "I prayed you'd be delivered into my hands." "I'm here." "I will not cry out." "God has not forsaken me." "His will be done." "Samson!" "Samson!" "Your chains..." "They're broken." "Merciful God." "Your strength has come back." "Your god has answered you." "He's heard my voice in the darkness." "He's made you free." "No chains can bind you again." "Hisham will find the swiftest camels in Gaza." "My silver will open the gates that bar your way." "By night fall we'll be in the land of the Pharaohs." "The almighty didn't return my strength to run from my enemies." "You cannot fight what you cannot see." "I'll go out against them as I did before." "A hundred spears will cut you down before you reach the gate." "I would hunt down their king when I cannot even find the door." "Let me be the lamp that goes before you in the night." "O Lord, my God, show me the way wherein to walk." "Show me the thing I must do." "In the valley of the Nile, we'll be safe." "We'll be together." "O judge of the earth, do not let me forgive her." "My arms will hold you again." "And put the food in my mouth?" "The cup to my lips?" "When your heart is light, I'll share your laughter." "When you despair, my eyes will shed your tears." "When I curse you for my darkness?" "I will kneel and ask your forgiveness." "Vengeance is yours, o Lord." "Strike her." "Destroy her..." "For I cannot." "My love, my love." "Delilah." "Delilah." "When my eyes could see, I was blind." "Oh, Samson." "We must hurry." "They're coming to take you to the temple." "The temple?" "Is it today?" "Yes." "In a few hours, they will come for you." "All Gaza will be there." "Thousands of people." "Mind the steps." "The great idol Dagon will be a fiery furnace." "They'll humble you before him." "They'll bind you between the two sacred columns and scourge you." "Two columns?" "Does the house of the temple stand on two columns?" "Oh, hurry, Samson." "Egypt has a thousand temples, each more beautiful..." "Two columns... so close I may be bound between them?" "Yes, and scourged." "Come." "By midday, we can be at the spring of Yumis with Egypt almost in sight." "I will stay here, Delilah." "They'll drag you down, make you kneel before their idol." "Oh, Samson, why?" "The power of the Lord is in my strength, Delilah." "Do not enter their temple today." "Miriam, look." "It's their god Dagon." "We shouldn't look at him." "We came to see their king, not their idol." "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "With a queen like you in Akron, I could master the earth." " If you could master Delilah." " Ha ha ha ha." "My lord of Gaza, we have dancers in Ashkelon." "I came to see Samson." "Yes, let this Danite clown make sport for us." "What sport can you find in the stumbling of a blind man?" "This is your day of triumph, Delilah." "All Gaza has come to see Samson humbled at your feet." "Bring him." "They look like Danites." "They are Danites." "Danites come to worship Dagon, eh?" "No." "We've come to speak with your king." "Let go of us." "Let go." "Dagon has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands." "Call him forth that he may feel the might of Dagon." "Let us at him." "Where is he?" "Where is he?" "There he is." "Where's your god now, Samson?" "He left his god for a peacock." "Humble him!" "Make the blind ox dance!" "By the horns of Nannar, he's a man of iron." "He still looks strong enough to kill a lion." "I wish I'd captured him." "Samson." "Samson!" "After him!" "Stay here!" "Samson!" "Let the hopping toad lead the blind bear." "Little shepherd still following his lost sheep." "Lead him, boy." "Yes." "Let me feel the pillars upon which the temple stands." "No." "Get out where they can see you." "We've come to take you home." " Miriam is..." " No, Saul." "There's no home for a leader who fails his people." "They'll always follow you, Samson." "I've led them a crooked path." "A blind man cannot travel by the stars." "Perhaps someday you will guide them, Saul." "Join them together and be their first king." "Me?" "A king?" "Get on with the sport!" "I hear many voices." "Is the temple filled?" "Packed like wheat in a shock." "Then go." "I've got my sling on my head." "We could fight our way out." "No, Saul." "Take Miriam and leave the temple." "But, Samson..." " Let the sport begin." " Lord Saran!" "Majesty, hear me!" "Free the girl." "Let her come." "Majesty..." "You are a king, a conqueror." "I ask mercy." "Mercy?" "What have you done?" "I ask mercy for a blind and helpless man." "Look at him." "He cannot harm you now." "He has lost everything but the love of his people." "Let me take him back to them." "Have mercy, great king." "For this strength, I admire Samson." "For his revolt, I punish him." "For the love of his people, I envy him." "But, unfortunately, he's not my prisoner." "He was not captured by force of arms, but by their softness." "His conqueror is here." "If she wishes to give him to you, she has my permission." "Once in the valley of Sorek, you said you loved him." "Then set him free." "If there's love in you, let me take him back to his people." "What whimpering lies do you tell our king?" "You want him for yourself." "You want to feel the strength of his arms about you, to hold him close and comfort him." "You want to bear him children." "I'd rather see him dead than in your arms." "Take her away." "Guard." "Have mercy, great king." "Mercy for Samson!" "Your mercy is like your love, Delilah." "Ruthless." "Where's your jawbone, Samson?" "He'll get no honey from those bees." "Oh, the monkey men will cut him down." "They are devils." "No, they're very human." "The weak always band together to pull down the strong." "Your lion has become a mouse." "Changed by the magic of love." "Garmiskar!" "Garmiskar!" "Garmiskar!" "Garmiskar!" "Garmiskar!" "Garmiskar!" "Make him beg for mercy!" "Whip him to the god's feet." "He will never kneel to Dagon." "There's great persuasion at the end of a whip." "No whip will break his spirit." "Either he kneel to Dagon or he dies before him." " Yes." " Is this religious zeal, Ahtur?" "No, High Majesty." "Satisfaction." "What are they doing now?" "Little spiders weave their web." "The little fish have caught a whale." "Look." "Look at Delilah." "I will go to him." "If you go to him, you cannot come back to me." "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "He is mine to punish." "Go." "Delilah." "I must hurt you, my love, that all may see." "Forgive me." "I warned you to stay away from the temple." "When I strike, catch hold of the lash." "Lead me to the house of the temple." "I will." "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "Delilah!" "He stole my cloak, Delilah." "Let him wear the mark of your whip." "He leads like a goat." "Why can't I lead you like that?" "You're not Delilah." "Make him crawl, Delilah." "Put a ring through his nose!" "Your peacock makes sport with an ox." "She is mocking us, not Samson." "Lord of the harvest, conqueror of death, now shall Samson be humble at your feet." "Make him bow!" "Bend his neck before Dagon!" "Look, Delilah made him bow!" "I'm weary, Delilah." "Let me feel the pillars hat I may lean upon them." "Only a little further, my love." "Humble yourself before their god, Samson." "Kneel." "The house of this temple stands on these columns?" "Yes, kneel." "The stone is cool." "I will rest here." "Let him be scourged until he turns from his god." "Go, Delilah." "Run." "Into the courtyard." "No." "Death will come into this temple." "The hand of the lord will strike." "I will not be afraid." "You must leave now." "Wherever you are, my love is with you." "Go." "Make him kneel to Dagon!" "Yes!" "Make him kneel!" "He'll not kneel to any god but his own." "The edge of a sword will bend his knees." "Delilah." "Have you gone?" "Delilah!" "I pray thee, strengthen me, o god." "Strengthen me only this once." "He thinks they're too close together!" "What's he doing?" "He's holding up the temple." "Scourge Samson to his knees beneath the feet of Dagon." "This is better than I'd bargained for." "Why, the man's crazed." "He's the funniest clown I've ever seen." "Look!" "It moved." "The column's moving." "He's split the stone." "The man has the strength of a devil." "No, the strength of a god." "Dagon, be more powerful than Samson." "Forward!" "Run him through!" "My eyes have seen thy glory, o god." "Now let me die with my enemies." "Kill him!" "Cut him down!" "Run, lord Saran." "Save yourself." "Save yourself." "No!" "Oh!" "Delilah." "Mercy!" "Aah!" "Lift it off!" "Help me!" "He was so strong!" "Why did he have to die?" "His strength will never die, Saul." "Men will tell his story for a thousand years."