My Side of the Mountain (1969) Movie Script
Sonny, did you come to buy
the flint and steel?
- Yes, sir.
- You got a dollar?
Dear Mom and Dad:
I'm going to tell you something,
and I hope you'll try to understand.
Thoreau once said,
"It takes two to speak the truth.
"One to speak and another to hear."
I hope you'll hear me,
because what I'm going to tell you
is the biggest truth
in the whole world to me.
It's that I've got to go out
and live by myself,
all alone, off the land,
like Thoreau.
Steel and flint, check.
Map of area, check.
Microscope and slides, check.
Binoculars, check.
My notebook, check.
Hand ax, check.
Canteen.
Canteen. Canteen.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Tory Peterson's Field Guide to Birds.
Edible Plants of the Forest.
Gus? Gus, where are you?
Come on, Gus. Come on.
Get in your box.
Boy, come on.
OK. Here we go.
If I'm ever going to be a naturalist,
I've got to start now.
I want to do the work
on my algae project.
Study algae in its natural
growing places.
I've decided I'm going to be gone
for a whole year.
I know more about wildlife and living
off the land than most men,
so please don't worry about me
and don't try to find me.
Trust me to take care of myself,
and I will write to you sometime.
Love, Sam.
Sorry about the bad news.
I can't even take the time
to go to the cottage.
Dad can take you camping
next year, Sam.
But you promised, Dad.
You promised.
I can go up to the mountains alone.
You and I have packed in
plenty of times, Dad.
I know how to do it.
Whoa, there. You're not that big yet.
Dad knows I can do it.
What about the algae experiments
I planned?
They'll wait. By hook or by crook,
we'll do it for sure next summer.
Next summer.
Next summer.
- Where are you going?
- Oh, on a camping trip.
- All by yourself?
- Sure, that's the only way.
- All alone, like Thoreau.
- Who's Thoreau?
He's a man who lived a long time ago
in the woods and fields.
He studied all
that grows and breathes,
and he believed that a man could
live alone and find his own food
and be a lot happier that way,
learning things from nature.
Birds would come to his call
and woodchucks.
What's that?
Oh, that's my pet raccoon.
And that man wrote a book.
- You gonna write a book too?
- Yeah, I'm gonna do that too.
Sort of.
About all that I do
and about my algae experiments.
What's algae?
Oh, green-growing little plants in the
streams and ponds and moist places.
Green-growing little plants that man
hasn't begun to learn about.
When I grow up,
I'm gonna be a spaceman,
and I'm gonna travel
to Mars and Venus.
Well, Gus,
this seems like a good time
to get rid of that old box.
Here we are, Gus.
See? Open spaces.
Home of your forefathers.
I guess it will take you a while
to get used to it.
Come on, you can ride up there
on my back.
That's a good boy.
Laurentians, here we come.
Hey, Gus, look.
Here we are.
Come on, Gus.
Let's have us a drink.
Let's go, Gus.
I'm gonna catch us a fish.
Dinner, here we come.
Food!
Best kind of food, Gus.
In the streams, in the woods,
just waiting to be taken.
I can do it.
I can do it.
All by myself.
Come on.
Rats.
I can't do it.
I just can't do it.
Samuel Gribley's journal.
August 10th, 1968.
My first night in the Laurentian
Mountains of Quebec.
This is to be my first entry
in my journal.
From this night on,
I will keep it religiously,
just as Thoreau did his,
writing down all the things that I do,
all that I learn, all that I can see.
Gus and I had s wonderful trip
from that hot old Toronto.
The air here seems so clear
and thin it makes us gasp.
I caught a beautiful mountain trout,
using my flint and steel.
The village near here is pretty quiet,
but I've got to get higher up in the
mountains so we won't be found.
I'm hungrier than I've ever been
and too tired to write any more.
Go on, you old bear.
Keep moving.
That's it, keep moving.
Keep moving.
Keep moving.
And so I spent my first night
in the mountains in a tree.
Next morning,
knowing I had to light a fire,
I tried again with my flint and steel.
Come on.
Beautiful.
Gus, I did it.
We got us a fire now
and fish in the stream.
Everything we need.
The only thing we don't need, Gus,
is that bear.
Today I went deeper
into the mountains
in search of a permanent camp.
Everything is beautiful,
and the fish are plentiful.
I need never be hungry,
I'm sure of that.
The important thing is to get
so far away from civilization
that my fires will not be seen.
And to where I can be certain
that I will be completely alone.
A peregrine falcon.
Hey, Gus, look at this.
What have we got here?
This could be it.
"Dogtooth violets,
"bulbs good for eating."
Oh, mint.
Milkweed for medicine.
Watercress.
Dog tongue.
I can eat the seeds later on.
Wild blueberries.
Wow, Gus.
What a feast, right before our eyes.
I'll bet you that tree started growing
when the world began.
Huh, Gus?
Gus?
Gus, where are you?
You goof.
Hey, what do you got there, Gus?
Gus, you found us a home.
It's perfect.
A stream to fish in
and a little lake to swim in out there
and plants to eat,
and I can dam up that stream
for a still pond to grow my algae in.
And these trees will protect us
when winter comes.
Nobody can ever find us here, Gus.
Gus had found us the beginnings
of a home.
The idea of living inside a tree
was perfect.
But we needed more room.
So I spent the next few days
trying to hollow out more space.
It was very hard work.
Hi, Gus.
What have you got there, Gus?
I found a dead tree
to serve as my calendar pole
and put a niche in it
for each day I've been here.
No one will ever find me.
The tree is coming along fine,
but it's awful slow going
trying to hack the inside out so it's
big enough for me to stand up in.
I suppose I could try burning it out,
the way the Indians
used to do their canoes.
Like in Last of the Mohicans.
Yes, I really could try that.
Yes, I really could.
The fire will do our work
for us now, Gus.
We can go scrounge up
some dinner. Come on, boy.
Rats.
Boy, I'd like to know
where his nest is.
No.
This is Aerial Check Bravo
calling Fire Tower Echo. Over.
- Your position?
- I'm in section one-six.
Map coordinated with Tango Seven.
No sign of smoke or fire
this area now.
There are signs someone
has been here recently.
- Continue patrol.
- Roger. Wilco.
I vow never again
to be careless with fire.
I swear to it
by this holy hemlock branch.
If that forest ranger
would have ever caught us,
it'd be back to the city.
And we don't need that.
OK. Come on,
let's move in.
I spent the next few days putting up
stores in my tree and making it snug.
Meantime, I have to keep
my journal up to date
with the things I must do.
One, dry algae
to make flour from it.
Two,
try to make salt
from hickory limbs.
Three,
try to find out where
the peregrine falcon nests.
Four, make new algae slides
so I can continue my experiments.
Rats.
What are you doing up here?
- You lost, boy?
- Oh, no, ma'am.
But you're alone.
Young boys shouldn't be alone
on this haunted mountain.
- Haunted?
- Oh, yes, indeedy.
An old story says
there are little men up here
that play ninepins in the twilight
right down there in that gorge.
- You one of them?
- Oh, no, ma'am.
Well, come on,
make some use of yourself.
Fill the basket with my apples.
- Is this your land?
- Much as it is anybody's.
Come on!
Where do you live, boy?
I'm gonna get me a baby falcon
or die trying.
So you see,
I've just got to go into town, Gus,
to see if I can read up on falcons,
on how we can catch ourselves one
so he can hunt for us.
I want to find out what kind
of equipment I'll need, OK?
And I need you to stay here
and guard things.
See you later, Gus.
Keep in touch.
Excuse me, sir.
Which way to the library?
- Straight down that way, on the left.
- Thank you.
Hello.
Why, hello.
- Do you have any books on falcons?
- Falcons?
Especially the peregrine falcon.
Peregrine falcons.
Peregrine falcons were famous
in England, I do believe.
As a matter of fact, they were known
as hunters for kings,
if my memory serves me right,
and it usually does.
- Thank you.
- Now, here's another one
that might be of help.
The only trouble is you can't take these
books out. They're just for reference.
Oh, that's OK.
I can sit here and use them.
Well, have fun.
- Could I borrow a pencil?
- Of course.
My name's Miss Turner.
If you want anything, just call out.
Thank you.
What's your name?
- Sam.
- Sam.
Training.
Training.
I guess I got everything I'll need.
Those birds sure are interesting.
If I could only catch me one.
"Surely in vain the net is spread
in the sight of any bird."
Yeah, I guess so.
- Those birds are darn smart.
- Yes, they are, Sam.
I go up on McCracken's Hill and
watch them soar over the mountains.
I'm an old bird-watcher
from way back.
I guess that's how you knew
about peregrine falcons right off.
Well, goodbye.
Sam...
...you'll need a leather glove.
And so I bought some gloves.
Hi, Gus.
What should we call her?
How about Frightful?
Frightful it is.
Come on, Frightful.
I'm gonna teach her
to catch our dinner for us.
And so my training of Frightful began.
Come on, come on.
Come on, little one.
Come on, come on.
The first thing I had to teach her
was not to be afraid of me
and to feel secure
on my gloved hand.
Come on, little one. Come on.
That's it.
There. Come on, now.
You've got to learn
not to be afraid of my hand.
That's it.
Good girl.
Good girl, Frightful.
I'm the one who feeds you now.
You eat only when you're on my hand.
Here, Frightful, see it?
Come on. Come on, girl.
Here, Frightful.
Come on. Come on.
See it, Frightful? Come on.
Come and get it.
Good girl.
Come on, come on.
Good girl, Frightful.
- I know I hit him.
- Where is it?
A big buck was by the stream.
He just took off. Let's find him.
Maybe you missed him.
I had him in my sights, and the way
he jumped, I know I got him.
I don't see any blood spots here.
You could've missed him.
- Must've been somebody's campsite.
- There's the old fire.
Maybe there's a game warden
around here.
When deer season's closed,
they're checking on the fishermen.
Yeah.
Well, come on.
No use wasting time
looking for one that got away.
There's plenty more deer higher up.
Come on.
Man, I thought we'd have
a buck's liver for lunch.
Yeah. Maybe at the time
the season opens,
you'll have that BB gun of yours
zeroed in...
I guess there's justice in killing
an animal if you need it for food.
It was such an awful thing, though,
finding the dead deer
that the poachers had killed,
though I'm grateful in s way
to them for it.
I smoked the venison to preserve it,
doing it at night
so the smoke would not be spotted.
I scraped the hair from the hide.
Oak chips and water
make tannic acid,
so I hollowed out an old oak tree
stump, filled it with water,
and had a place to tan
the deer hide.
I made some new clothes.
First, I had to chew and best the skin
before it was soft enough to sew,
then I made s needle
out of s piece of bone,
and with the remaining skin,
a windbreak for the entrance
of my tree.
Now I'm really getting prepared
for the colder weather.
I've now trained Frightful
to fly to and from my hand,
but she has not yet learned
to come to the lure.
Good girl, Frightful.
Good girl.
Frightful was not s hunter yet,
so I was still experimenting
with natural food sources.
Algae soup, here we come.
That is awful.
Hey, Gus, you got a friend.
Hey, you guys,
how about some algae soup?
At least somebody likes it.
Finally, the day came
to test Frightful as s hunter.
OK, Frightful, you're on your own.
No, Frightful.
No.
If I let you eat what you catch,
you'll turn wild on me again.
Stop squawking, Frightful.
I'm gonna share this with you.
Testemondia.
I sleep by a campfire
that looks as if a Boy Scout built it,
and I awaken in the middle
of the 18th century.
And who's that ferocious-looking
creature, huh?
Look, name is Bando.
Let's be friends, huh?
There's not another
human hereabouts.
Night's coming on, and I tell you
the truth, I feel hungry.
How about you?
Well...
Hey.
I'm just a musician.
I collect songs.
Folk songs.
And I record them.
I came up hunting mountain songs,
but so far I've only found
wild critters.
Come on, let's be friends, huh?
Look, I'm not interested
in your business,
and I'm not interested in telling other
people tales, so stop worrying.
I'm a folksinger, a collector
of folk songs, that's it.
OK?
OK.
My name is Sam.
I'm mighty glad to meet you.
Well, let's see,
our first job is dinner.
You look like
you know where to find it.
OK,
take me to your leader.
Do you always go out alone?
- The only way.
- I agree.
Well, what do you think of it, Bando?
I mean, really?
Interesting. What is it?
This is cattail tubers
wrapped in leaves.
This is dogtooth violet bulbs,
and these are two
of some brown puffballs
that I cooked in deer fat
with wild garlic,
and you can eat the whole thing.
And the meat there, that's venison.
Who doth ambition shun
And loves to live in the sun
Seeking the food that he gets
And pleased with what
And pleased with what
And pleased with what he eats
William Shakespeare, my boy.
Say, Sam...
...would you mind if I stayed
the night here around the fire?
No, Bando, I wouldn't.
I'd like to have you,
but Gus and I have a shelter
where we sleep.
Oh, fine.
But this is more luxurious
than I'm used to.
Well, I would like
to show you my house.
Great. Love to see it.
Come on.
It's over here.
Well, I'll be...
These here are my food niches.
And here's some algae.
I'm experimenting with it,
trying to grow it
and trying to find out which species
are the most edible and all.
Quite a pad you have here, Sam.
Un Canadian errant
Banni de ses foyers
Un Canadian errant
Banni de ses foyers
Psrcoursit en pleurant
Les paya etrangers
Psrcoursit en pleurant
Les paya etrangers
Bando.
Bando?
Bando!
Bando!
You going to a fire or something?
I had to stretch my legs.
That's a fine little bed you've got,
but it doesn't quite
accommodate my legs.
You really think
you'll last out the winter?
Oh, I know I will.
I can do everything myself,
and I'm happier this way.
I just don't need anybody.
Let's stop here, Bando.
This is a good place to fly Frightful.
What's that?
How about these experiments
of yours?
Well, the algae's coming along
pretty good.
I've got quite a few different species,
and I'm learning to transplant them.
They aren't too edible.
I've got some algae flour.
Say, would you like to try
some pancakes from it?
Why don't we?
I once knew how to make syrup
from the bark of the birch tree.
We could have algae pancakes
with birch syrup.
Won't that be a lark.
Why don't we try it?
I could hike into town tomorrow
for some sugar.
I've led an interesting life, Sam.
Guitarist, teacher,
dishwasher in some of the best
restaurants in Europe.
Right now, all this seems pretty dull.
Hey, Sam,
would you mind if I stayed with you
for a little while?
Well, no, Bando.
No, I wouldn't.
I'd like to have you.
But I'd...
...like it better if you wouldn't go
into town for any sugar tomorrow.
Oh.
Hey, come on,
you can trust me.
I've proved that to you by now,
haven't I, Sam?
You know I'm not
gonna give you away.
Yeah, I guess so.
OK then,
we're gonna make us some syrup.
I used to make clay pots.
If I can find some good, slick clay
there along the riverbed,
I'll make you some, and you
can store this for the winter.
That would be great, Bando.
- Hey, what a lunch we're gonna have.
- Yeah.
I read someplace that scientists
are working on this algae stuff
as a source of oxygen
for spaceships.
They're using it to purify the air
in spaceships.
Algae gives off oxygen
as a waste product, you know.
A couple of days
before you came up here,
I found a turtle there by the stream,
and he had algae all over his back.
It was a new species for me,
so I scraped it off. And I'm growing it
down by the flat rock.
I have some experiments
that I'm doing with lichen
on a couple of trees
in the forest.
Hey, get ready.
Here comes your first pancake.
Lichen is algae
and a fungus growing together,
you know.
A symbiotic relationship.
What's that mean?
It's two different species
living together in close harmony.
Not too many of those kind
among people nowadays.
Tastes a little like sawdust.
Well, eat the rest of it.
Maybe you'll get used to it.
Here, you try.
Again.
Banda has been with me
for three weeks now.
In the beginning, it was strange
to hear another human voice
after all that time alone.
He's shown me s lot of things
that I'd only read about before,
but now I was doing them myself.
- Hey, look at him.
- Yeah, he's quite a character.
Begone, begone
To warm and distant shores
Who knows if we shall meet
Under the sun?
Will I escape the wrath of men
And you the hunter's gun?
And you the hunter's gun?
Fly away, little blackbird
Fly away
Spread your wings and fly away
If I should live to see another spring
Then we shall meet another day
Yes, we shall meet another day
And when you are safe
From winter's chilly sir
Where rivers flow
In gentler pace
Think of my side of the mountain
Turning bare
And of dead leaves giving chase
And of dead leaves giving chase
Fly away, little blackbird
Fly away
Spread your wings and fly away
If I should live to see another spring
Then we shall meet another day
Yes, we shall meet another day
Better start figuring on how
to heat that little home of yours.
Yeah, I guess I'd better.
Say, I could make some kind
of a fireplace thing.
You could make one out of clay,
the way I did the pots.
Yeah, you just could,
I do believe.
It should stand up well to heat.
Would you...
Would you want me to give you
a hand with it, Sam, before I go?
When are you going, Bando?
Oh, any day now.
I've got to get up on those
mountains before snow flies.
Find me some new
strumming music, Sam.
How about it?
Shall we build you a fireplace?
No, Bando. I can do it myself.
I know how to get the clay just
right now, and I can do it myself.
Well, you know, that's part
of everything, doing it all myself.
Bando?
- Would you do me a favor?
- Sure, Sam.
Mail a letter for me?
Be sure you mail it far away
from Knowlton, OK?
Certainly.
You mean there's
still some need in you
to reach out to your fellow men?
You're afraid it might tip your
folks as to your whereabouts?
Yeah.
I don't want them to know
exactly where I am,
but I want them to know how well I am.
You know, and how happy.
I do feel crummy about running
away and hurting them and all,
but, you know, I had to do it.
And now I... Well, I can let them
know I'm doing fine and all OK.
I know.
"As cool water to the thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country."
You know,
sometimes when you get like that,
when you start quoting something
that you read in a book,
- you remind me of someone else.
- Oh, who's that?
Oh, it's this library lady down
in the village.
- She's that way.
- My, oh, my.
I didn't think you'd ever communicate
with any human animal.
Apart from myself, of course.
Well, I only went down there once,
to read up on falcons.
She knew quite a lot about them too.
She belongs to some kind
of bird-watcher's club and all.
She's a great lady.
You'd like her, Bando. I did.
I even trusted her.
And I almost told her my plan and all.
Do you feel as strongly about it
as you did when you came?
Oh, sure.
Well, stronger, even.
I mean, I know I can do it now.
Then, I was just guessing
about myself.
I'm gonna put in a lot
of stores here for the winter.
I've got to learn what happens
to this algae,
if I can keep it alive here in my house.
Say, and I want to watch
the whole change
that's gonna come over this place.
Well, you take care now, Sam.
You've got a great thing going
for you up here.
Well...
I'll mail that letter for you,
in four or five days from now, when
I'm out of this part of the country.
Thanks, Bando.
I hope you find some new songs.
I hope you find some new songs.
There's always songs.
Well, so long now.
Keep in touch.
Everybody's leaving us, Frightful.
It seems strange now
with Bando gone,
being alone again, I mean.
But that was really part
of the whole thing,
being alone, doing it myself.
Hello, Mr. Otter.
Come on.
Come on.
Dried algae for your dinner today?
How about that?
Here you go, Mr. Otter.
We're gonna make it, Mr. Otter.
Just you wait and see.
We're gonna make it.
and the inside of my tree
is getting damp.
Bando was right
about building that fireplace.
Hi, Gus.
Hey, Gus, stop eating
up our old fireplace.
For s few days I worked
on the chimney,
and then I got the ides
of reinforcing it with grasses
and with the shells of the diatom
algae I'd been drying since I got here.
Anyway, I finally got something
that looks like s fireplace.
Now, if the clay only holds up,
we'll have us s nice, warm home.
You'll need s leather glove.
You'll need s leather glove.
You'll need s leather glove.
Next summer.
Next summer.
Symbiotic relationship.
Symbiotic relationship.
- Next summer.
- Symbiotic...
Next summer.
Next summer.
Next summer.
You lost, boy?
You lost, boy?
You lost, boy?
You lost, boy?
Air.
Air.
Let's get you out of here.
The fireplace is using
up all our oxygen, Gus.
And so I carved two openings
through the base of the tree
to serve as ventilators.
Well, that should do it.
Now we won't suffocate.
I'm going to Knowlton, Frightful.
Even Thoreau left his retreat
at Walden Pond
to go into Concord sometimes.
Honest, he did.
I won't be gone long.
Hi.
- Hello.
- Hello.
I was just on the trail
of a beautiful speckled grouse,
but I think it got away
from me somehow.
- Do you remember me?
- Yes. I think I do.
Aren't you the peregrine falcon boy?
You do look different.
Your hair's so long now.
Oh, yes.
Did you manage to observe
those falcons at close range?
I was only wondering because I found
another very good book on them.
- I mean, if you're interested.
- Oh, yes.
You see, I caught one.
Oh, I take the best care of it.
I've even got it out here
with me now.
- Say, would you like to see it?
- Of course I would.
Then come on.
You should see her go
after food for me.
- She's a beautiful bird, Sam.
- Wait till you see her in the sky.
Oh, she's glorious.
- She loves you too.
- Oh, sure.
Had her since she was tiny.
Come on and take a look
at the new book I found.
Well, I don't get into town much,
and I like to be alone.
- Well...
- In any case,
if you ever want to,
come and see me, please.
As Cicero said, "We are never less
alone than when completely alone."
- Goodbye, Sam.
- Goodbye, Miss Turner.
I walked down the mountain today,
when who did I meet on the outskirts,
but Miss Turner, out on s hike.
I showed her Frightful.
It was good talking to her.
I guess the truth is,
I've been missing Bando,
and I was glad to talk to someone.
And I guess there are times
when I miss s lot of things
that I enjoyed at home.
Can I have
a double chocolate scoop, please?
- Well, now, if it isn't Daniel Boone.
- And his pet raccoon.
- Chew the hide yourself, partner?
- Well, no, I had to beat it on a rock.
I had to chew
around the neck where it got itchy.
My kid brother's got one
that looks more real.
- What do you have it on for anyway?
- I'd rip anything like you have on
- to pieces in about a week.
- Well, where do you come from?
- Oh, around.
- Is that the latest gang getup?
Is that what the guys
are wearing these days?
I don't belong to any gang.
I'm alone, living off the land,
doing research.
- Oh, sure.
- I am.
It's a project.
You know, like Thoreau.
It's important to know
about the land and how to live off it.
It's dying.
Frightful.
She's dead.
I didn't even see...
I was drawing a bead
on that pheasant and I...
- You killed her.
- I pulled the trigger at the same time.
I didn't know your bird
was around till it flew into my sights.
- That's why I...
- You murderer.
Hey, wait a minute, kid.
I'm trying to tell you.
- You shot Frightful just for sport.
- Who?
- You killed my falcon.
- Listen, kid...
- Don't call me kid.
- What's the matter?
- You crazy or something?
- Why did you kill her?
Now, listen to me.
I tried to tell you, I was shooting
at that pheasant, not the hawk.
They came together
when I pulled the trigger.
Why shoot either one? Why shoot
anything? You don't have to.
Who are you to decide?
Frightful and I only hunted
because we need the meat.
Good thing you
didn't bust my shotgun.
Who are you
to criticize me for hunting,
when you've been using that hawk
to do your killing for you?
She was my pet.
I trained her.
Yes, to be as deadly as any gun.
Then winter came,
and with it came the snow.
The whiteness all around
makes my whole home here
look so different,
so bare and desolate.
I don't know how I'm going
to get along without Frightful.
I really loved her, and I need her.
The deer have pressed in
all around me.
They're hungry.
They come into the hemlock grove
to hide and sleep for the day.
They manage the snow
so well on their slender hooves.
If I was to know
that a million years from today,
my children's children were to live
as I am living in these mountains,
I would marry me a wife
with slender feet
and begin immediately
to breed a race with hooves,
so the mountain children
of the future
might run through the snows
and meadows
and mountains and marshes,
as easily as the deer.
I must be pretty lonely
to be having such daydreams.
I guess I sm.
The whiteness all around makes my
whole home here look so different.
So bare and desolate.
Gus?
Gus?
Gus?
Gus?
Gus?
Gu...
Gus.
You gave me such a scare.
I thought you'd run off or something.
Wonder what algae tastes
like after it's been frozen.
Hey, Gus,
want an algae ice cream cone?
Well, let's go up and thaw it out.
Hi, you guys, having fun?
Eww!
I'm not getting anywhere
with the algae tests.
It decays as soon as the ice
is melted away from it.
It's impossible to control the
temperature inside the tree
well enough to govern
any worthwhile experiments,
even if I knew how to do them.
the microscope successfully,
because my breath fogs
up the mirror and the eyepiece.
Wonder what Pasteur
would have done.
It's just about four days
to Christmas now,
and my whole world is s white
and very still place,
where I sometimes think I can
hear sounds, millions of miles away.
Most of the animals
are hiding out from us.
We're snowed in.
We've gotta save our oxygen, Gus.
Sam? Sam?
Sam, where are you?
Sam? Sam, where are you?
- Sam, you in there?
- I'm snowed in, Bando.
I'm snowed in. Here. Here.
You keep digging up.
I'm digging down to you.
That's right, you keep digging up.
Testemondia.
Oh, Bando,
am I ever glad to see you.
"A traveler by his faithful hound,
half buried in the snow was found."
I'll be right back.
Come on. Come on there, Gus.
Come on. Come on there, Gus.
Oh, Sam.
Are you all right?
Yeah. I think so.
- Got any of my syrup left?
- Just a little.
The pots are absorbing most
of the moisture though.
Well, here is something better.
Merry Christmas, Sam.
- Is today Christmas, Bando?
- It sure is.
I was in that old tree for two days.
Oh, Bando.
Most of my algae
experiments failed, Bando.
Oh, that's too bad.
It was just that the temperature
inside my tree,
it couldn't be regulated enough
to keep it growing after it got cold.
I have another surprise for you.
- What's that?
- It's a friend of yours.
Now, Sam,
what did I tell you about trusting me?
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
And the snow lay 'round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When s poor msn came in sight
Gathering winter fuel
That was the best
Christmas dinner I ever had.
I couldn't get you out of my mind.
I kept thinking how to get up
to see you after the big storm.
Then I showed up.
I'd remembered about the library lady.
- And I invited myself along.
- I'm glad you did, Miss Turner.
By the way, Sam, you got quite
a few people worried about you.
Thanks, Bando.
You know, you've done
some amazing things here, Sam.
Hollowed out a whole little world
for yourself.
I bet there's not a boy in the civilized
world who's done anything like it.
- Yeah, but that's not why I came.
- Why did you come, Sam?
Well, I came because I thought
the only way to know nature
was to live with it. Like Thoreau.
You know?
And I came because
of my experiments.
I learned all about algae
under the conditions of nature.
And I learned about survival.
And I learned about myself.
That's quite a lot.
What now, Sam?
I'm going home.
I've learned all I can here.
Oh, I'm not running away.
It's just time to go home.
Sire, it is s good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right beside the forest fence
By Saint Agnes fountain
Bando, would you mind
going on ahead?
Oh, I'll be right along.
Sure thing, Sam.
So long, Mr. Otter. Keep in touch.
Let's go, Thoreau.
5@y3
the flint and steel?
- Yes, sir.
- You got a dollar?
Dear Mom and Dad:
I'm going to tell you something,
and I hope you'll try to understand.
Thoreau once said,
"It takes two to speak the truth.
"One to speak and another to hear."
I hope you'll hear me,
because what I'm going to tell you
is the biggest truth
in the whole world to me.
It's that I've got to go out
and live by myself,
all alone, off the land,
like Thoreau.
Steel and flint, check.
Map of area, check.
Microscope and slides, check.
Binoculars, check.
My notebook, check.
Hand ax, check.
Canteen.
Canteen. Canteen.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Tory Peterson's Field Guide to Birds.
Edible Plants of the Forest.
Gus? Gus, where are you?
Come on, Gus. Come on.
Get in your box.
Boy, come on.
OK. Here we go.
If I'm ever going to be a naturalist,
I've got to start now.
I want to do the work
on my algae project.
Study algae in its natural
growing places.
I've decided I'm going to be gone
for a whole year.
I know more about wildlife and living
off the land than most men,
so please don't worry about me
and don't try to find me.
Trust me to take care of myself,
and I will write to you sometime.
Love, Sam.
Sorry about the bad news.
I can't even take the time
to go to the cottage.
Dad can take you camping
next year, Sam.
But you promised, Dad.
You promised.
I can go up to the mountains alone.
You and I have packed in
plenty of times, Dad.
I know how to do it.
Whoa, there. You're not that big yet.
Dad knows I can do it.
What about the algae experiments
I planned?
They'll wait. By hook or by crook,
we'll do it for sure next summer.
Next summer.
Next summer.
- Where are you going?
- Oh, on a camping trip.
- All by yourself?
- Sure, that's the only way.
- All alone, like Thoreau.
- Who's Thoreau?
He's a man who lived a long time ago
in the woods and fields.
He studied all
that grows and breathes,
and he believed that a man could
live alone and find his own food
and be a lot happier that way,
learning things from nature.
Birds would come to his call
and woodchucks.
What's that?
Oh, that's my pet raccoon.
And that man wrote a book.
- You gonna write a book too?
- Yeah, I'm gonna do that too.
Sort of.
About all that I do
and about my algae experiments.
What's algae?
Oh, green-growing little plants in the
streams and ponds and moist places.
Green-growing little plants that man
hasn't begun to learn about.
When I grow up,
I'm gonna be a spaceman,
and I'm gonna travel
to Mars and Venus.
Well, Gus,
this seems like a good time
to get rid of that old box.
Here we are, Gus.
See? Open spaces.
Home of your forefathers.
I guess it will take you a while
to get used to it.
Come on, you can ride up there
on my back.
That's a good boy.
Laurentians, here we come.
Hey, Gus, look.
Here we are.
Come on, Gus.
Let's have us a drink.
Let's go, Gus.
I'm gonna catch us a fish.
Dinner, here we come.
Food!
Best kind of food, Gus.
In the streams, in the woods,
just waiting to be taken.
I can do it.
I can do it.
All by myself.
Come on.
Rats.
I can't do it.
I just can't do it.
Samuel Gribley's journal.
August 10th, 1968.
My first night in the Laurentian
Mountains of Quebec.
This is to be my first entry
in my journal.
From this night on,
I will keep it religiously,
just as Thoreau did his,
writing down all the things that I do,
all that I learn, all that I can see.
Gus and I had s wonderful trip
from that hot old Toronto.
The air here seems so clear
and thin it makes us gasp.
I caught a beautiful mountain trout,
using my flint and steel.
The village near here is pretty quiet,
but I've got to get higher up in the
mountains so we won't be found.
I'm hungrier than I've ever been
and too tired to write any more.
Go on, you old bear.
Keep moving.
That's it, keep moving.
Keep moving.
Keep moving.
And so I spent my first night
in the mountains in a tree.
Next morning,
knowing I had to light a fire,
I tried again with my flint and steel.
Come on.
Beautiful.
Gus, I did it.
We got us a fire now
and fish in the stream.
Everything we need.
The only thing we don't need, Gus,
is that bear.
Today I went deeper
into the mountains
in search of a permanent camp.
Everything is beautiful,
and the fish are plentiful.
I need never be hungry,
I'm sure of that.
The important thing is to get
so far away from civilization
that my fires will not be seen.
And to where I can be certain
that I will be completely alone.
A peregrine falcon.
Hey, Gus, look at this.
What have we got here?
This could be it.
"Dogtooth violets,
"bulbs good for eating."
Oh, mint.
Milkweed for medicine.
Watercress.
Dog tongue.
I can eat the seeds later on.
Wild blueberries.
Wow, Gus.
What a feast, right before our eyes.
I'll bet you that tree started growing
when the world began.
Huh, Gus?
Gus?
Gus, where are you?
You goof.
Hey, what do you got there, Gus?
Gus, you found us a home.
It's perfect.
A stream to fish in
and a little lake to swim in out there
and plants to eat,
and I can dam up that stream
for a still pond to grow my algae in.
And these trees will protect us
when winter comes.
Nobody can ever find us here, Gus.
Gus had found us the beginnings
of a home.
The idea of living inside a tree
was perfect.
But we needed more room.
So I spent the next few days
trying to hollow out more space.
It was very hard work.
Hi, Gus.
What have you got there, Gus?
I found a dead tree
to serve as my calendar pole
and put a niche in it
for each day I've been here.
No one will ever find me.
The tree is coming along fine,
but it's awful slow going
trying to hack the inside out so it's
big enough for me to stand up in.
I suppose I could try burning it out,
the way the Indians
used to do their canoes.
Like in Last of the Mohicans.
Yes, I really could try that.
Yes, I really could.
The fire will do our work
for us now, Gus.
We can go scrounge up
some dinner. Come on, boy.
Rats.
Boy, I'd like to know
where his nest is.
No.
This is Aerial Check Bravo
calling Fire Tower Echo. Over.
- Your position?
- I'm in section one-six.
Map coordinated with Tango Seven.
No sign of smoke or fire
this area now.
There are signs someone
has been here recently.
- Continue patrol.
- Roger. Wilco.
I vow never again
to be careless with fire.
I swear to it
by this holy hemlock branch.
If that forest ranger
would have ever caught us,
it'd be back to the city.
And we don't need that.
OK. Come on,
let's move in.
I spent the next few days putting up
stores in my tree and making it snug.
Meantime, I have to keep
my journal up to date
with the things I must do.
One, dry algae
to make flour from it.
Two,
try to make salt
from hickory limbs.
Three,
try to find out where
the peregrine falcon nests.
Four, make new algae slides
so I can continue my experiments.
Rats.
What are you doing up here?
- You lost, boy?
- Oh, no, ma'am.
But you're alone.
Young boys shouldn't be alone
on this haunted mountain.
- Haunted?
- Oh, yes, indeedy.
An old story says
there are little men up here
that play ninepins in the twilight
right down there in that gorge.
- You one of them?
- Oh, no, ma'am.
Well, come on,
make some use of yourself.
Fill the basket with my apples.
- Is this your land?
- Much as it is anybody's.
Come on!
Where do you live, boy?
I'm gonna get me a baby falcon
or die trying.
So you see,
I've just got to go into town, Gus,
to see if I can read up on falcons,
on how we can catch ourselves one
so he can hunt for us.
I want to find out what kind
of equipment I'll need, OK?
And I need you to stay here
and guard things.
See you later, Gus.
Keep in touch.
Excuse me, sir.
Which way to the library?
- Straight down that way, on the left.
- Thank you.
Hello.
Why, hello.
- Do you have any books on falcons?
- Falcons?
Especially the peregrine falcon.
Peregrine falcons.
Peregrine falcons were famous
in England, I do believe.
As a matter of fact, they were known
as hunters for kings,
if my memory serves me right,
and it usually does.
- Thank you.
- Now, here's another one
that might be of help.
The only trouble is you can't take these
books out. They're just for reference.
Oh, that's OK.
I can sit here and use them.
Well, have fun.
- Could I borrow a pencil?
- Of course.
My name's Miss Turner.
If you want anything, just call out.
Thank you.
What's your name?
- Sam.
- Sam.
Training.
Training.
I guess I got everything I'll need.
Those birds sure are interesting.
If I could only catch me one.
"Surely in vain the net is spread
in the sight of any bird."
Yeah, I guess so.
- Those birds are darn smart.
- Yes, they are, Sam.
I go up on McCracken's Hill and
watch them soar over the mountains.
I'm an old bird-watcher
from way back.
I guess that's how you knew
about peregrine falcons right off.
Well, goodbye.
Sam...
...you'll need a leather glove.
And so I bought some gloves.
Hi, Gus.
What should we call her?
How about Frightful?
Frightful it is.
Come on, Frightful.
I'm gonna teach her
to catch our dinner for us.
And so my training of Frightful began.
Come on, come on.
Come on, little one.
Come on, come on.
The first thing I had to teach her
was not to be afraid of me
and to feel secure
on my gloved hand.
Come on, little one. Come on.
That's it.
There. Come on, now.
You've got to learn
not to be afraid of my hand.
That's it.
Good girl.
Good girl, Frightful.
I'm the one who feeds you now.
You eat only when you're on my hand.
Here, Frightful, see it?
Come on. Come on, girl.
Here, Frightful.
Come on. Come on.
See it, Frightful? Come on.
Come and get it.
Good girl.
Come on, come on.
Good girl, Frightful.
- I know I hit him.
- Where is it?
A big buck was by the stream.
He just took off. Let's find him.
Maybe you missed him.
I had him in my sights, and the way
he jumped, I know I got him.
I don't see any blood spots here.
You could've missed him.
- Must've been somebody's campsite.
- There's the old fire.
Maybe there's a game warden
around here.
When deer season's closed,
they're checking on the fishermen.
Yeah.
Well, come on.
No use wasting time
looking for one that got away.
There's plenty more deer higher up.
Come on.
Man, I thought we'd have
a buck's liver for lunch.
Yeah. Maybe at the time
the season opens,
you'll have that BB gun of yours
zeroed in...
I guess there's justice in killing
an animal if you need it for food.
It was such an awful thing, though,
finding the dead deer
that the poachers had killed,
though I'm grateful in s way
to them for it.
I smoked the venison to preserve it,
doing it at night
so the smoke would not be spotted.
I scraped the hair from the hide.
Oak chips and water
make tannic acid,
so I hollowed out an old oak tree
stump, filled it with water,
and had a place to tan
the deer hide.
I made some new clothes.
First, I had to chew and best the skin
before it was soft enough to sew,
then I made s needle
out of s piece of bone,
and with the remaining skin,
a windbreak for the entrance
of my tree.
Now I'm really getting prepared
for the colder weather.
I've now trained Frightful
to fly to and from my hand,
but she has not yet learned
to come to the lure.
Good girl, Frightful.
Good girl.
Frightful was not s hunter yet,
so I was still experimenting
with natural food sources.
Algae soup, here we come.
That is awful.
Hey, Gus, you got a friend.
Hey, you guys,
how about some algae soup?
At least somebody likes it.
Finally, the day came
to test Frightful as s hunter.
OK, Frightful, you're on your own.
No, Frightful.
No.
If I let you eat what you catch,
you'll turn wild on me again.
Stop squawking, Frightful.
I'm gonna share this with you.
Testemondia.
I sleep by a campfire
that looks as if a Boy Scout built it,
and I awaken in the middle
of the 18th century.
And who's that ferocious-looking
creature, huh?
Look, name is Bando.
Let's be friends, huh?
There's not another
human hereabouts.
Night's coming on, and I tell you
the truth, I feel hungry.
How about you?
Well...
Hey.
I'm just a musician.
I collect songs.
Folk songs.
And I record them.
I came up hunting mountain songs,
but so far I've only found
wild critters.
Come on, let's be friends, huh?
Look, I'm not interested
in your business,
and I'm not interested in telling other
people tales, so stop worrying.
I'm a folksinger, a collector
of folk songs, that's it.
OK?
OK.
My name is Sam.
I'm mighty glad to meet you.
Well, let's see,
our first job is dinner.
You look like
you know where to find it.
OK,
take me to your leader.
Do you always go out alone?
- The only way.
- I agree.
Well, what do you think of it, Bando?
I mean, really?
Interesting. What is it?
This is cattail tubers
wrapped in leaves.
This is dogtooth violet bulbs,
and these are two
of some brown puffballs
that I cooked in deer fat
with wild garlic,
and you can eat the whole thing.
And the meat there, that's venison.
Who doth ambition shun
And loves to live in the sun
Seeking the food that he gets
And pleased with what
And pleased with what
And pleased with what he eats
William Shakespeare, my boy.
Say, Sam...
...would you mind if I stayed
the night here around the fire?
No, Bando, I wouldn't.
I'd like to have you,
but Gus and I have a shelter
where we sleep.
Oh, fine.
But this is more luxurious
than I'm used to.
Well, I would like
to show you my house.
Great. Love to see it.
Come on.
It's over here.
Well, I'll be...
These here are my food niches.
And here's some algae.
I'm experimenting with it,
trying to grow it
and trying to find out which species
are the most edible and all.
Quite a pad you have here, Sam.
Un Canadian errant
Banni de ses foyers
Un Canadian errant
Banni de ses foyers
Psrcoursit en pleurant
Les paya etrangers
Psrcoursit en pleurant
Les paya etrangers
Bando.
Bando?
Bando!
Bando!
You going to a fire or something?
I had to stretch my legs.
That's a fine little bed you've got,
but it doesn't quite
accommodate my legs.
You really think
you'll last out the winter?
Oh, I know I will.
I can do everything myself,
and I'm happier this way.
I just don't need anybody.
Let's stop here, Bando.
This is a good place to fly Frightful.
What's that?
How about these experiments
of yours?
Well, the algae's coming along
pretty good.
I've got quite a few different species,
and I'm learning to transplant them.
They aren't too edible.
I've got some algae flour.
Say, would you like to try
some pancakes from it?
Why don't we?
I once knew how to make syrup
from the bark of the birch tree.
We could have algae pancakes
with birch syrup.
Won't that be a lark.
Why don't we try it?
I could hike into town tomorrow
for some sugar.
I've led an interesting life, Sam.
Guitarist, teacher,
dishwasher in some of the best
restaurants in Europe.
Right now, all this seems pretty dull.
Hey, Sam,
would you mind if I stayed with you
for a little while?
Well, no, Bando.
No, I wouldn't.
I'd like to have you.
But I'd...
...like it better if you wouldn't go
into town for any sugar tomorrow.
Oh.
Hey, come on,
you can trust me.
I've proved that to you by now,
haven't I, Sam?
You know I'm not
gonna give you away.
Yeah, I guess so.
OK then,
we're gonna make us some syrup.
I used to make clay pots.
If I can find some good, slick clay
there along the riverbed,
I'll make you some, and you
can store this for the winter.
That would be great, Bando.
- Hey, what a lunch we're gonna have.
- Yeah.
I read someplace that scientists
are working on this algae stuff
as a source of oxygen
for spaceships.
They're using it to purify the air
in spaceships.
Algae gives off oxygen
as a waste product, you know.
A couple of days
before you came up here,
I found a turtle there by the stream,
and he had algae all over his back.
It was a new species for me,
so I scraped it off. And I'm growing it
down by the flat rock.
I have some experiments
that I'm doing with lichen
on a couple of trees
in the forest.
Hey, get ready.
Here comes your first pancake.
Lichen is algae
and a fungus growing together,
you know.
A symbiotic relationship.
What's that mean?
It's two different species
living together in close harmony.
Not too many of those kind
among people nowadays.
Tastes a little like sawdust.
Well, eat the rest of it.
Maybe you'll get used to it.
Here, you try.
Again.
Banda has been with me
for three weeks now.
In the beginning, it was strange
to hear another human voice
after all that time alone.
He's shown me s lot of things
that I'd only read about before,
but now I was doing them myself.
- Hey, look at him.
- Yeah, he's quite a character.
Begone, begone
To warm and distant shores
Who knows if we shall meet
Under the sun?
Will I escape the wrath of men
And you the hunter's gun?
And you the hunter's gun?
Fly away, little blackbird
Fly away
Spread your wings and fly away
If I should live to see another spring
Then we shall meet another day
Yes, we shall meet another day
And when you are safe
From winter's chilly sir
Where rivers flow
In gentler pace
Think of my side of the mountain
Turning bare
And of dead leaves giving chase
And of dead leaves giving chase
Fly away, little blackbird
Fly away
Spread your wings and fly away
If I should live to see another spring
Then we shall meet another day
Yes, we shall meet another day
Better start figuring on how
to heat that little home of yours.
Yeah, I guess I'd better.
Say, I could make some kind
of a fireplace thing.
You could make one out of clay,
the way I did the pots.
Yeah, you just could,
I do believe.
It should stand up well to heat.
Would you...
Would you want me to give you
a hand with it, Sam, before I go?
When are you going, Bando?
Oh, any day now.
I've got to get up on those
mountains before snow flies.
Find me some new
strumming music, Sam.
How about it?
Shall we build you a fireplace?
No, Bando. I can do it myself.
I know how to get the clay just
right now, and I can do it myself.
Well, you know, that's part
of everything, doing it all myself.
Bando?
- Would you do me a favor?
- Sure, Sam.
Mail a letter for me?
Be sure you mail it far away
from Knowlton, OK?
Certainly.
You mean there's
still some need in you
to reach out to your fellow men?
You're afraid it might tip your
folks as to your whereabouts?
Yeah.
I don't want them to know
exactly where I am,
but I want them to know how well I am.
You know, and how happy.
I do feel crummy about running
away and hurting them and all,
but, you know, I had to do it.
And now I... Well, I can let them
know I'm doing fine and all OK.
I know.
"As cool water to the thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country."
You know,
sometimes when you get like that,
when you start quoting something
that you read in a book,
- you remind me of someone else.
- Oh, who's that?
Oh, it's this library lady down
in the village.
- She's that way.
- My, oh, my.
I didn't think you'd ever communicate
with any human animal.
Apart from myself, of course.
Well, I only went down there once,
to read up on falcons.
She knew quite a lot about them too.
She belongs to some kind
of bird-watcher's club and all.
She's a great lady.
You'd like her, Bando. I did.
I even trusted her.
And I almost told her my plan and all.
Do you feel as strongly about it
as you did when you came?
Oh, sure.
Well, stronger, even.
I mean, I know I can do it now.
Then, I was just guessing
about myself.
I'm gonna put in a lot
of stores here for the winter.
I've got to learn what happens
to this algae,
if I can keep it alive here in my house.
Say, and I want to watch
the whole change
that's gonna come over this place.
Well, you take care now, Sam.
You've got a great thing going
for you up here.
Well...
I'll mail that letter for you,
in four or five days from now, when
I'm out of this part of the country.
Thanks, Bando.
I hope you find some new songs.
I hope you find some new songs.
There's always songs.
Well, so long now.
Keep in touch.
Everybody's leaving us, Frightful.
It seems strange now
with Bando gone,
being alone again, I mean.
But that was really part
of the whole thing,
being alone, doing it myself.
Hello, Mr. Otter.
Come on.
Come on.
Dried algae for your dinner today?
How about that?
Here you go, Mr. Otter.
We're gonna make it, Mr. Otter.
Just you wait and see.
We're gonna make it.
and the inside of my tree
is getting damp.
Bando was right
about building that fireplace.
Hi, Gus.
Hey, Gus, stop eating
up our old fireplace.
For s few days I worked
on the chimney,
and then I got the ides
of reinforcing it with grasses
and with the shells of the diatom
algae I'd been drying since I got here.
Anyway, I finally got something
that looks like s fireplace.
Now, if the clay only holds up,
we'll have us s nice, warm home.
You'll need s leather glove.
You'll need s leather glove.
You'll need s leather glove.
Next summer.
Next summer.
Symbiotic relationship.
Symbiotic relationship.
- Next summer.
- Symbiotic...
Next summer.
Next summer.
Next summer.
You lost, boy?
You lost, boy?
You lost, boy?
You lost, boy?
Air.
Air.
Let's get you out of here.
The fireplace is using
up all our oxygen, Gus.
And so I carved two openings
through the base of the tree
to serve as ventilators.
Well, that should do it.
Now we won't suffocate.
I'm going to Knowlton, Frightful.
Even Thoreau left his retreat
at Walden Pond
to go into Concord sometimes.
Honest, he did.
I won't be gone long.
Hi.
- Hello.
- Hello.
I was just on the trail
of a beautiful speckled grouse,
but I think it got away
from me somehow.
- Do you remember me?
- Yes. I think I do.
Aren't you the peregrine falcon boy?
You do look different.
Your hair's so long now.
Oh, yes.
Did you manage to observe
those falcons at close range?
I was only wondering because I found
another very good book on them.
- I mean, if you're interested.
- Oh, yes.
You see, I caught one.
Oh, I take the best care of it.
I've even got it out here
with me now.
- Say, would you like to see it?
- Of course I would.
Then come on.
You should see her go
after food for me.
- She's a beautiful bird, Sam.
- Wait till you see her in the sky.
Oh, she's glorious.
- She loves you too.
- Oh, sure.
Had her since she was tiny.
Come on and take a look
at the new book I found.
Well, I don't get into town much,
and I like to be alone.
- Well...
- In any case,
if you ever want to,
come and see me, please.
As Cicero said, "We are never less
alone than when completely alone."
- Goodbye, Sam.
- Goodbye, Miss Turner.
I walked down the mountain today,
when who did I meet on the outskirts,
but Miss Turner, out on s hike.
I showed her Frightful.
It was good talking to her.
I guess the truth is,
I've been missing Bando,
and I was glad to talk to someone.
And I guess there are times
when I miss s lot of things
that I enjoyed at home.
Can I have
a double chocolate scoop, please?
- Well, now, if it isn't Daniel Boone.
- And his pet raccoon.
- Chew the hide yourself, partner?
- Well, no, I had to beat it on a rock.
I had to chew
around the neck where it got itchy.
My kid brother's got one
that looks more real.
- What do you have it on for anyway?
- I'd rip anything like you have on
- to pieces in about a week.
- Well, where do you come from?
- Oh, around.
- Is that the latest gang getup?
Is that what the guys
are wearing these days?
I don't belong to any gang.
I'm alone, living off the land,
doing research.
- Oh, sure.
- I am.
It's a project.
You know, like Thoreau.
It's important to know
about the land and how to live off it.
It's dying.
Frightful.
She's dead.
I didn't even see...
I was drawing a bead
on that pheasant and I...
- You killed her.
- I pulled the trigger at the same time.
I didn't know your bird
was around till it flew into my sights.
- That's why I...
- You murderer.
Hey, wait a minute, kid.
I'm trying to tell you.
- You shot Frightful just for sport.
- Who?
- You killed my falcon.
- Listen, kid...
- Don't call me kid.
- What's the matter?
- You crazy or something?
- Why did you kill her?
Now, listen to me.
I tried to tell you, I was shooting
at that pheasant, not the hawk.
They came together
when I pulled the trigger.
Why shoot either one? Why shoot
anything? You don't have to.
Who are you to decide?
Frightful and I only hunted
because we need the meat.
Good thing you
didn't bust my shotgun.
Who are you
to criticize me for hunting,
when you've been using that hawk
to do your killing for you?
She was my pet.
I trained her.
Yes, to be as deadly as any gun.
Then winter came,
and with it came the snow.
The whiteness all around
makes my whole home here
look so different,
so bare and desolate.
I don't know how I'm going
to get along without Frightful.
I really loved her, and I need her.
The deer have pressed in
all around me.
They're hungry.
They come into the hemlock grove
to hide and sleep for the day.
They manage the snow
so well on their slender hooves.
If I was to know
that a million years from today,
my children's children were to live
as I am living in these mountains,
I would marry me a wife
with slender feet
and begin immediately
to breed a race with hooves,
so the mountain children
of the future
might run through the snows
and meadows
and mountains and marshes,
as easily as the deer.
I must be pretty lonely
to be having such daydreams.
I guess I sm.
The whiteness all around makes my
whole home here look so different.
So bare and desolate.
Gus?
Gus?
Gus?
Gus?
Gus?
Gu...
Gus.
You gave me such a scare.
I thought you'd run off or something.
Wonder what algae tastes
like after it's been frozen.
Hey, Gus,
want an algae ice cream cone?
Well, let's go up and thaw it out.
Hi, you guys, having fun?
Eww!
I'm not getting anywhere
with the algae tests.
It decays as soon as the ice
is melted away from it.
It's impossible to control the
temperature inside the tree
well enough to govern
any worthwhile experiments,
even if I knew how to do them.
the microscope successfully,
because my breath fogs
up the mirror and the eyepiece.
Wonder what Pasteur
would have done.
It's just about four days
to Christmas now,
and my whole world is s white
and very still place,
where I sometimes think I can
hear sounds, millions of miles away.
Most of the animals
are hiding out from us.
We're snowed in.
We've gotta save our oxygen, Gus.
Sam? Sam?
Sam, where are you?
Sam? Sam, where are you?
- Sam, you in there?
- I'm snowed in, Bando.
I'm snowed in. Here. Here.
You keep digging up.
I'm digging down to you.
That's right, you keep digging up.
Testemondia.
Oh, Bando,
am I ever glad to see you.
"A traveler by his faithful hound,
half buried in the snow was found."
I'll be right back.
Come on. Come on there, Gus.
Come on. Come on there, Gus.
Oh, Sam.
Are you all right?
Yeah. I think so.
- Got any of my syrup left?
- Just a little.
The pots are absorbing most
of the moisture though.
Well, here is something better.
Merry Christmas, Sam.
- Is today Christmas, Bando?
- It sure is.
I was in that old tree for two days.
Oh, Bando.
Most of my algae
experiments failed, Bando.
Oh, that's too bad.
It was just that the temperature
inside my tree,
it couldn't be regulated enough
to keep it growing after it got cold.
I have another surprise for you.
- What's that?
- It's a friend of yours.
Now, Sam,
what did I tell you about trusting me?
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
And the snow lay 'round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When s poor msn came in sight
Gathering winter fuel
That was the best
Christmas dinner I ever had.
I couldn't get you out of my mind.
I kept thinking how to get up
to see you after the big storm.
Then I showed up.
I'd remembered about the library lady.
- And I invited myself along.
- I'm glad you did, Miss Turner.
By the way, Sam, you got quite
a few people worried about you.
Thanks, Bando.
You know, you've done
some amazing things here, Sam.
Hollowed out a whole little world
for yourself.
I bet there's not a boy in the civilized
world who's done anything like it.
- Yeah, but that's not why I came.
- Why did you come, Sam?
Well, I came because I thought
the only way to know nature
was to live with it. Like Thoreau.
You know?
And I came because
of my experiments.
I learned all about algae
under the conditions of nature.
And I learned about survival.
And I learned about myself.
That's quite a lot.
What now, Sam?
I'm going home.
I've learned all I can here.
Oh, I'm not running away.
It's just time to go home.
Sire, it is s good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right beside the forest fence
By Saint Agnes fountain
Bando, would you mind
going on ahead?
Oh, I'll be right along.
Sure thing, Sam.
So long, Mr. Otter. Keep in touch.
Let's go, Thoreau.
5@y3