Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945) Movie Script
Georgie's going to be a farmer
when he grows up.
Only he's going
to raise buffalo.
Buffalo have all been killed.
I know. My father
killed them all.
All the same,
they aren't all dead.
Anyway, that's what
Georgie's going to be
when he grows up.
When I grow up,
I'm going to be a soldier
and shoot all the time.
I'll be fierce.
I'm going to be a WAC.
And I'm going to shoot
more than you do
'cause I'm older.
No, you won't. You're a girl.
Girls fight just
as well as boys.
Looky.
When I'm a WAC,
I'm going to pull out my gun.
WACs don't have guns.
I'm going to pull out my gun
and go bang, just like that.
Oh.
You sure killed him, Selma.
You killed him dead.
Oh, oh, but I didn't mean to.
I didn't mean to kill you,
little squirrel.
It was just pretend.
Shucks, it's only
a red squirrel.
They're bad.
But he wasn't doing
anything bad.
He was just eating his dinner
when I picked up a rock...
A-And I almost never
hit where I aim.
And...
Hello.
You're Selma.
You're Arnold.
Shucks, we know that.
You're crying, Selma.
It's bad for children to cry.
It's worse for grown-ups.
You're grown-up, and you cry.
Let me hug you.
No.
Well, then I'll...
I'll make you
a chain of flowers.
I'll make one for each of you.
Ingeborg.
Get back to your work.
Good-bye.
I don't like her,
and I don't like her pa.
I don't like her pa the most.
Let's go down
to the river and play.
I don't feel like
playing anymore.
I want to go home.
You want to play with Shadjack?
You can.
It's Editor.
Hi, kids.
Hello, Editor.
Hi.
Hop in. I'll take you home.
I'm not going home.
I'm having dinner
at Selma's house.
Aunt Bruna's going
to fix egg pancakes.
With jelly?
No, with honey.
We just met Ingeborg Jensen.
I'm always meeting her.
Every time I meet her,
she always tries to hug me.
Ingeborg hugs all
little children.
That's because she loves them.
I'm not little children.
I'm 5.
Oh, excuse me.
I'd forgotten.
My mother says
Ingeborg Jensen
isn't quite right.
That's because she's crazy.
That means crazy in the head.
That's because her father
always beats her all the time.
He beats Mrs. Jensen, too.
Mrs. Jensen is
very sick right now,
so I guess he isn't beating her.
And Ingeborg isn't crazy.
It's just that
she's not quite as smart
as we are, that's all.
Arnold didn't know about
Ingeborg not being right
until I told him.
Maybe somebody
had to tell you, too, Selma,
before you knew.
I suppose so.
Yeah, see?
Who's that?
Hello.
Can we give you a lift?
Oh, no, thank you.
I'm really enjoying the walk.
You're new here, aren't you?
Yes.
Oh, I'm sorry.
It's not a matter of curiosity.
You see, I'm Nels Halverson,
Editor of The Spectator
here in Fuller Junction.
And when a stranger's
seen walking
in this part of the country,
well, it's news.
Oh, how do you do,
Mr. Halverson?
I'm Viola Johnson,
the new school teacher.
First to eighth grade.
Well, that's wonderful.
Meet one of your pupils,
Selma Jacobson.
How do you do, Selma?
Hello. I'm 5.
Oh?
Oh, this is Arnold Hanson.
They're cousins.
Hello, Arnold.
Hello.
Going any place in particular
or just walking?
Oh, I'm on my way
to the Faraassens
and then the Jensens.
That's quite a walk.
Better let us take you.
Do you think
there's enough room?
Oh, sure. Come on, get in.
All right, I will.
Stand up, Arnold.
Don't mind holding a young man
on your lap, do you?
I think not.
Shucks.
You know, Miss Johnson,
it always makes
a much better item
to carry a little human interest
along with our news.
Such things for example as,
well, where does
our new school teacher
come from?
Milwaukee.
And then it's always proper
to add something like this:
When asked how she
likes Fuller Junction,
Miss Johnson said...
But Miss Johnson doesn't
like Fuller Junction.
And you wouldn't quote
what she'd have to say.
Oh, that bad?
Well, among other things,
it's awfully small.
So's a diamond, Miss Johnson.
Tell me,
what is there in Milwaukee
that you can't find
right here in Fuller Junction?
Well, Milwaukee's a city.
It isn't dull.
There's concerts and
lectures and theaters.
Good magazine stands.
There's too much activity
for life to ever get dreary.
Well, if that's what you wanted,
why'd you come here?
I had to, Mr. Halverson.
It was no choice of mine.
I'm studying for
my Ph.D. in education.
One of the requirements
is a year of practical teaching.
My parents are Norwegian.
And when the university
heard I spoke the language,
I found myself on the next train
for Fuller Junction.
End of the year, I go back.
It's as simple as that.
Norwegian, eh?
Well, we do have
something in common.
Why is everybody here Norwegian?
Well, because most of the people
came here from Norway,
like Miss Johnson's folks.
But why do so many Norwegians
come right here?
Well, because Wisconsin
is a country
of green hills, pine trees,
deep lakes, and many rivers.
It reminds them
of the homes they left behind.
But they're not
Norwegians anymore.
They're Americans.
My pa calls me jente mi.
That's Norwegian.
That means "girl mine."
My pa just calls me.
This is your stop coming up,
Miss Johnson.
If you have any spare time,
I'd like to show you
some of the things
around Fuller Junction
you can't find in Milwaukee.
I'm going to have plenty of that
spare time, Mr. Halverson.
I'll be glad to accept
that invitation.
Here we are.
The Faraassens live
the first house on the left.
Thank you very much.
I've got a couple
of stops to make myself.
But if you'd like,
I'd be glad to stop
by the Jensens for you.
It's on the other side
of the Faraassens,
so it'd be your last visit.
I'll accept that
invitation, too.
I'll deliver the kids
now. Good-bye.
Good-bye.
Bye. Bye.
Everybody out
who's having egg pancakes.
Thank you very much, Editor.
You're welcome.
Good-bye.
We're home, ma.
Ring the dinner bell.
And then you and Arnold go wash.
All right, ma.
You should let me pull it.
Why?
'Cause I'm the guest.
But you always pull it
when you're here.
That's because
I'm always the guest.
Well, all right.
Whoa.
That's enough.
Come on.
I'll pump for you first.
Ok.
That's too hard.
I'm sorry.
Now you pump for me.
Your face, too, Selma.
But I didn't touch anything
with my face.
All right.
Yoo-hoo, pa.
Yoo-hoo, jente mi.
We're having pancakes
for dinner, pa.
Oh.
With honey.
Well, that's fine.
You love that, don't you?
Whoa.
Pa?
Ja.
Red squirrels are bad,
aren't they?
Oh, I don't know
if they're so bad.
But they eat crops
and steal birds eggs
and Rob farmers, don't they?
I never saw one
stealing birds eggs.
Of course, they do eat.
But then I never really minded
a red squirrel getting
himself a square meal
off my place.
Why, jente mi?
What's the matter?
Oh, pa,
but I just killed
a red squirrel.
She picked up a rock,
and she killed him dead.
Yes, but you really
didn't mean to, Selma.
But it isn't
what you mean to do, pa.
It's what you do.
Well, there's enough
trouble, jente mi,
without grieving over something
that can't be helped.
Come.
Here.
Now, I've, uh,
I've got something in the barn
that I think you'll like.
It's a... It's a present.
For me?
Mm-hmm.
What is it?
Well, it's something new.
Something that just came.
Jeepers.
Is it really my calf?
My very own?
Your very own.
And I can take care of it, too?
Well, if a girl has a calf,
she has to take care of it.
Oh, pa, I'm so happy.
It's good to be happy.
Pa, do you think when
I was killing the squirrel,
the calf might've been
born just about then?
It probably was, jente mi.
How's that calf going
to ever get dry
if she keeps on licking it?
Dinner!
Come on, Selma.
Egg pancakes, Arnold.
Sure is wet.
That's too big a bite, Arnold.
Uncle Martinius takes big bites.
Well, your uncle Martinius
has a big mouth.
Do I get to feed
my calf tonight, pa?
Well, you'll have
to wait 3 or 4 days.
And then we'll teach it
to eat out of a bucket.
Jeepers, it's nice to have
a calf all your own.
If I had a calf,
it would be bigger than yours.
Only I haven't got a calf.
Well, neither has Selma, really.
I have so.
Pa said I did.
Sure is funny how I keep on
not getting a calf.
What Selma's pa meant
was that it was just
pretend her calf.
But pa didn't say
it was pretend.
He said it was all mine.
Well, everything on the farm
is all yours, Selma,
yours and ours.
The things that keep us warm.
The food we have.
It couldn't just
belong to one of us
any more than the sunshine
or these pesky flies.
I'm sure that's
what your pa meant,
isn't it, Martinius?
Well, that may be
what I meant to say,
but I did tell her
it was all hers.
Well, maybe your mother's
right, Selma.
Maybe we ought to kind of
figure it like she said,
instead of what we spoke about.
Land sakes, Martinius,
you can't take it away from her
if you gave it to her like that.
Maybe it's a good thing.
I think your pa's right.
She needed something
to take care of.
She'll have work to do,
just like a grown-up.
I wonder if that calf
knows who he belongs to?
More pancakes, Martinius?
No, no thanks.
Well, I'm going to take a nap.
Then I'll go to town
for a load of salt.
Oh?
Might stop off on the way
to see Bjornson's new barn.
Want to go with me, jente mi?
Oh, yes.
Can Arnold come along?
I got to go home.
I'm catching rats in the barn,
and I got to take care
of my trap line.
My pa gives me 2 cents a rat.
Well, they tell me
Bjornson's new barn
is as near rat-proof
as you can build them.
Oh, Bjornson's barn.
The way you men
talk about Bjornson's barn.
And Mrs. Bjornson
wanting an inside water closet
for the last 10 years.
Well, you can't have
everything at once, Bruna.
No.
But I'll bet there are times
when she wishes she was a cow.
You know,
you'd be walking around
with your chin up to here
if we had a new barn.
Up to here in debt.
Now go on. I want to clean up.
And don't get any ideas
about barns.
Well, be mighty nice
to have a new barn.
Those were fine pancakes, Bruna.
Oh, ja.
You know what, aunt Bruna?
What, Arnold?
The traps you set like this.
And the little old rat comes
sniffing along like this
and... bang... kills him dead.
Oh.
Bye, Selma.
Bye, Arnold.
Good-bye, aunt Bruna.
Good-bye, Arnold.
But even if you are
a little larger
than some of the children,
that doesn't matter.
You and I'd be the largest.
We could work together.
Oh, I couldn't do that.
Oh, come on, Ingeborg.
Let's go over here and sit down.
Don't you want
to come to school?
I got trouble, Miss Johnson.
That's because I'm not right.
You wouldn't want me.
Oh, of course I would.
Sit down.
Tell me,
what would you really
like to do?
I see things sometimes.
Early in the morning
before anybody's up,
I see them.
You know what I see,
Miss Johnson?
Tell me.
I see colors.
Big yellows.
Right out of my window
before he's up.
They come down like clouds
and they melt.
And then blues come.
And the other colors with...
With presents in their hands.
And they're all for me.
Ingeborg, if you come to school,
I could give you
paper and paints.
And you could paint
all the things you see.
Wouldn't you like that?
Paint?
Yes. All colors.
And you could put them
on paper with a brush.
Oh, I...
I couldn't do that.
I don't know how to do that.
But you could learn.
Maybe...
Maybe I could.
Yes, I...
I could learn.
We'll do it, Ingeborg.
You'll paint beautiful pictures.
Who's making that noise?
Who are you?
Oh, I'm Miss Johnson,
the new school teacher.
I was just talking over
her work with Ingeborg.
School work?
Yes.
She ain't going to school.
She's crazy.
You ought to know that
by talking to her.
Besides, I need her.
But she wants to go to school.
No, I don't.
Now you get off of this property
and don't come back.
There's a school law
in this county.
I'm going to...
I know my rights.
Now get off the place.
Trouble, huh?
I've just had a sample
of your rural life,
and I don't like it.
You'll find plenty
of Jensens in the city,
if you just look around.
I'm afraid you're
running into life
for the first time, that's all.
It's a shock to find out they're
not all perfect, isn't it?
There it is.
Now, there's a barn, jente mi.
Jeepers.
Gud dag, Martinius.
Gud dag, Mr. Bjornson.
Gud dag, little Selma.
Gud dag, Mr. Bjornson.
Gud dag, Ganda.
Gud dag.
We're going to town
for a load of salt.
We thought we'd stop by
and have a look at
your new barn.
Oh, ja, ja. Well,
come on, come on.
Thank you.
Ah, fin, fin.
Ja.
To have a big barn, Martinius,
is a fine thing
when a man is old.
But to have it paid for...
Ah, it's hard to believe
a man could be so lucky.
Paid for it to the last truss
way up there in that hay mill.
Oh, no, it's not luck,
Mr. Bjornson.
You worked hard.
Ah, everybody works hard.
Now come on, come on.
We go inside.
Ahh.
Still smell the new wood.
No finer smell on earth.
Ja.
It's a good smell.
It makes me see home.
When I smell new wood,
I'm a boy again.
Were you a boy for very long,
Mr. Bjornson?
Not long enough, little Selma.
Not nearly long enough.
Oh.
Ja.
Sign painter came through.
Fellow from Kenosha.
Ja?
I guess it's foolish,
but I always did want to have
nameplates for each cow.
Now I got them.
Well, this place
must've cost you a lot of money.
All I had.
Mmm.
50 years.
But I got my barn.
Oh.
There's the queen.
A real champion.
She's good.
Ah, girl.
Gosh, she looks fatter
than judge Henderson.
Yes, she sure does.
She's going to calf
in the spring.
Yes?
Who's the sire?
Hannibal of Well Springs.
Hannibal of Well Sp...
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
You're going to have a cow
much better than
Wisconsin Queen.
Maybe.
But somehow I kind of hate
to have a better cow
on the place
than the queen.
Yes, I guess
I know what you mean.
Well, Selma.
This is a beautiful barn.
Hannibal of Well Springs.
Do you want a new barn, pa?
Every man wants a new barn.
Then I'll pray for one.
Oh, that's fine.
Only it'll take
considerable praying, jente mi.
Gosh, what's one
more barn to God?
Ma?
Hmm?
Why don't you want pa
to have a new barn?
I'd like him to have
a new barn, Selma.
I'd like anything
that makes your pa happy.
But new barns aren't easy.
Sometimes they take
too much out of a man
like your father.
But if you'd like him
to have a new barn,
why do you always
talk like you didn't?
Well...
What you'd like people to have
and what people
are able to have,
those are two different things.
Right now,
your pa's out in the
barn mending harness,
when he ought to be here with us
getting some rest.
With the old barn,
he works more than
any man should.
To pay for a new one,
he'd be working longer.
He'd never be able
to stop a minute.
Just growing old
and dreaming at night
of his debts.
No, it's better, Selma.
It's better never
to have a thing
than to have it and be afraid.
Some of these days,
when you're older,
you...
Shh.
It's your pa, isn't it?
Well, that's done.
Why don't you sit here,
Martinius, hmm?
No, Bruna.
This'll be all right.
Ahh.
You ever see so many stars?
Pa, do people live on the stars?
They do if you want them to.
Why is that?
Oh, 'cause nobody
can tell for sure
that they don't.
I wonder if the people
who live on the stars
have free barns.
Oh, of course, jente mi.
Up there, every man
has a big red barn
and a fine herd of cows.
It's guaranteed with
his birth certificate.
5 more minutes until bedtime.
I'll turn down your covers.
All right.
I guess that's why
they call it the milky way,
isn't it?
Naturally.
See the big Dipper?
Almost running over with milk.
Hello, Martinius.
Oh, evening, Peter.
Going to the grange
meeting tonight?
No, not tonight.
Oh, just thought
I'd pick you up.
Well, thank you.
'Night.
Good night.
Why didn't you want to go, pa?
Oh, I don't know.
On a night like this,
with a lot of people around,
I...
I get a lonesome feeling.
Can you be lonesome with people?
Sometimes.
Are you lonesome now?
No.
But I'm people.
No, jente mi,
you're my daughter.
When do I get my turn?
They were my birthday present.
You can have them after awhile.
You've been saying that
all afternoon.
Well, I have to learn,
haven't I,
if I'm going to teach you?
I can teach myself.
No, you can't. You'll fall down.
Uncle Martinius said
I could have a turn.
But he just gave them to me.
You're a big old pig.
I am not.
You're a big old piggy
who eats slop.
I was going to let you
have a turn,
but now I won't.
I want a turn!
I want a turn, you big old pig!
I want a turn!
I want a turn!
You give me a turn!
I want a turn!
Children, what's the matter?
Selma won't give me
a turn on the skates.
He called me a dirty old pig,
and he said I ate slop.
Selma, let Arnold
have the skates this minute.
Oh, all right.
Tattletale.
Why don't you go home?
'Cause I want my turn,
and if I don't get my turn,
I'm going to tell aunt Bruna.
If you do, I'll slap your face.
Here I go.
Aunt Bruna!
What's the matter, Arnold?
Selma won't give me
a turn on the skates.
Well, are you sure
she wouldn't let you?
Yes, I'm sure.
Martinius.
Yes?
I want to speak to you.
You stay right here.
Selma won't let Arnold
play with her skates.
I told her to let him,
but she won't.
Well, why don't you
spank her or something?
I think that's your job.
Oh, I can't do that, Bruna.
My hand's too big,
might hurt her.
You better
take care of it, Bruna.
But you gave her the skates,
and besides,
I'm busy making supper.
Come on.
Selma.
Yes, pa?
Why didn't you give him
a turn on your skates?
I told him he could,
but he called me
a dirty old pig,
and he said I eat slop, too.
Did you say that?
No, uncle Martinius.
Are you sure?
Cross my heart and
hope to die. I'm sure.
Liar.
Give him the skates, jente mi.
No.
Unless you give him the skates,
you'll have to go to bed now
without any supper.
I'm taking my skates,
and I'm going to bed
without any supper.
Selma.
Give me those skates.
You said if I went to bed
without any supper,
I didn't have
to give him a turn.
You don't have
to give him a turn.
Now you have to give him
the skates.
Here, little Arnold.
These are your skates.
Selma would want you
to have them as a present.
Don't you, Selma?
Yes.
That is your punishment
for selfishness.
Now go to your room
and go to bed.
She sure is selfish.
She sure is.
Go home now, Arnold.
Pa?
Pa?
What do you want?
Can't I even
kiss you good night, pa?
Go back to bed.
Where are you going?
Out to the barn.
This time of night?
I'm going to get the bathtub.
I'm going to take a bath.
Oh, first, you won't
eat your supper.
Now you're going to take a bath.
You just want to be
by yourself, don't you?
Something like that.
Well, I'll get the water going.
You can have the new soap.
I honestly don't know
which of you
is the biggest baby,
you or Selma.
Martinius.
Yes?
I wasn't going to tell you this.
What are you talking about?
Oh...
Nothing.
It's just that there's a circus
going through town tonight.
Mrs. Faraassen told me
they're stopping
at Loberg's for hay.
What time?
4 in the morning.
Well, thanks, Bruna.
Don't thank me.
It was Lars Faraassen
who thought of us.
Ohh...
Jente mi?
Jente mi.
What's the matter?
There's a circus
going through town.
I want you to see it.
I want to sleep.
But, jente mi,
there's a circus...
Lions and tigers
and clowns,
pretty ladies, elephants.
I'm going to take you to it.
But, pa...
Aw, come on now.
Wake up, wake up.
We're going to see
a circus go through.
Now...
Wake up.
I guess we're all right.
They're not here yet.
Morning, Seeger.
Morning.
Here they come.
Where are the animals, pa?
They're coming, jente mi.
They're coming.
But they're only pictures.
Yes, but, uh,
inside, there are live animals.
We're very close
to them, jente mi.
Come, uh,
w-we'll go up the road
and see... See... See it all.
Jeepers.
Looky,
an elephant.
Is the elephant
going to come out?
Oh, he is going
to come out, isn't he?
He is, isn't he?
Well, I don't know, jente mi.
I'll ask the trainer.
You stay right here.
Uh, excuse me.
What's the trouble?
Well, I, uh... Uh, brought
my little girl down
to see the circus go through.
Uh, were you figuring
to bring the elephant out?
Mmm, nope.
Oh.
Uh...
Uh, I... I... I know it's...
It's a lot of trouble,
but, uh,
uh, m-maybe I could
pay you something.
Got a sawbuck?
A what?
Have you got a fin?
Well, I'd... I'd be
willing to pay. I...
Have you got $5.00?
5?
Well, just a minute.
$5.00?
You know, I... I never
carry much money
around with me. I...
Could you, uh...
Could you do it for $4.00?
Brother,
you've almost bought
yourself an elephant.
Yeah.
What did he say?
What did he say?
He said he was always
glad to show elephants
to little girls.
Come on.
Jeepers.
All right, back her out.
All right, come on back.
Move it.
Look, pa, look!
All right, kneel.
Kneel.
Look, look!
It's skin's too big!
Oh...
Gee.
Hold it.
All right, sit.
Up.
All right, hold it.
What a beautiful elephant.
That's a good trick,
isn't it, huh?
Would you like to take
a ride on her trunk?
Well, uh,
is it all right?
Oh, sure,
she never hurts the ladies.
Get her head down.
Head down.
Come on down.
How about it, Selma?
Oh... oh, yes.
Head down.
Bend down, way down.
Now just hold on there,
little lady.
We're shoving off.
Ok.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
It's quite all right,
little lady.
Go on. Move up there, now.
Did you see him lift me?
Yes, I did. Did you like it?
Yes.
Bye.
Good-bye.
You know, you were
a very brave girl.
Jeepers, that was fun.
Come on.
Getting cold nights.
Yes, maybe we'll see some frost
before the sun comes up.
Oh, no, it's too early
in the season.
Besides, you'll be back in bed
before the sun comes up.
Pa?
Yes?
This time, when I go to bed,
may I kiss you good night?
Yes.
I'm sorry about
this afternoon, pa.
You know,
sometimes I get
a meanness inside me,
like when you get lonesome.
Yes, I know, jente mi.
This has been about
the nicest summer of my life.
Well, you'll have more,
jente mi.
They'll be nicer.
Shucks.
"This is the forest primeval..."
"The murmuring pines
"and the moss.
Mary was lost..."
"Instantly..."
Marguerite?
Marguerite Larsen,
will you stand up, please?
Yes, Miss Johnson?
Will you tell us
the joke, Marguerite
so that we can all laugh?
Must I, Miss Johnson?
Please, Marguerite.
Well...
We were talking about something
Selma Jacobson said
on the way
to school this morning.
Go on, Marguerite.
Well...
We were talking about
Ingeborg Jensen,
and Selma said
wasn't it nice
that Ingeborg got married
and had a baby
all the same day?
But it was nice.
My pa said so.
There are lots of
funny things in this world,
and it's fine to laugh at them,
but if you saw a little dog
run over in the street,
and you heard him
crying and whimpering
as he tried
to drag himself home,
you wouldn't laugh, would you?
Of course not.
Being hurt isn't funny.
Seeing people suffer
isn't funny, either.
Ingeborg Jensen
is a friend of mine.
She's just a little bit
different from us
because she's been hurt...
Hurt in her mind.
Because of this hurt,
she... she sometimes
makes mistakes,
and she suffers enough
from those mistakes
without being laughed at
by those who ought
to be her friends.
I think Selma
said a very nice thing.
And now let's get back
to Evangeline.
The fifth line, please.
Shucks.
What makes a cow belch,
uncle Martinius?
They don't belch.
They just chew their food twice.
Why do they chew
their food twice?
Because they have 2 stomachs.
Why do they have 2 stomachs?
Because, uh, when the good lord
began to make heaven
and earth in 7 days...
Pa!
I'm ready to feed my calf, pa.
You're late.
I stayed in after school
to talk to Miss Johnson.
Jeepers, I like Miss Johnson.
Well, it's good
to like the teacher.
Here.
Go feed Elizabeth.
Thank you, pa.
You shouldn't have
peeked into the window
at school today, Arnold.
Why?
Because.
Hello, Elizabeth.
Here's your supper, Elizabeth.
That's a good girl.
Why can't I go to school?
Because you're too young.
Why am I too young?
Just because you are.
But why?
Just because.
Go home now, Arnold.
Go home.
Why?
Because it's
pretty near suppertime.
Ok.
Now...
Bye.
Bye, Arnold.
Bye.
Shucks, all's I wanted
to know was why.
Whoa.
$694 net.
That's some potato crop.
That much, huh?
Another year like this,
and we'll be richer than
judge Henderson.
How much did
my potato money figure out?
Oh, let me see.
Now, uh,
you picked, uh...
104 bushels.
That's, uh,
$4.16.
I did?
Yeah, just that,
and then you got exactly
84 cents bonus coming to you.
I figured it all out,
and it comes to just 84 cents.
Oh, jeepers, pa, thanks.
Well, I never.
I'll bet you would build a barn
with your last dollar.
It's lucky the W.P.B.'s
tight on lumber.
You'd be out there
with a hammer right now.
You know, I don't know
how you guess
those things, Bruna.
What do you mean?
Well, when I went
to town Monday,
I, uh, talked to the W.P.B.
Yeah?
Yeah. They said
they could release
enough material
for a 10-cow barn
and a machine shed attached.
Oh, Martinius...
Well, don't worry yet.
I haven't found
anybody I know of
who's willing
to lend me the money,
but I may find somebody
when I go to town tomorrow.
Oh, I never.
Pa, are you going to town
before the funeral?
Yes.
Pa...
Hmm?
Why did Ingeborg
have to die, too?
Was it because she got
lonesome for her mother?
Yes, I... I suppose that was it.
But why...
Don't think about
the funeral, Selma.
That's only for grown-ups
to worry about,
not children.
Yeah.
S-e-I-m-a.
Selma.
Give me a turn.
All right.
Well, what's that?
That's a big old lion.
He's eating a tiger,
and the tiger's eating a wolf,
and the wolf is eating a fox,
and the fox is eating a rabbit.
Well, what's the rabbit doing?
Old rabbit,
he's trying to get away.
If that isn't the silliest...
That's the church bell.
My ma says we've all
got to die sometime.
How do they
ring the bell so slow?
The bell they ring like this,
only it goes a lot faster.
Maybe it just goes slow
by itself when somebody's dead.
It's a special trick.
Does the bell ring slower
for 2 dead people
than it does for one?
I don't know,
maybe a little.
Look.
Poor Ingeborg.
Why didn't you go, Nels?
Why didn't you?
Because I...
I cared for Ingeborg.
I tried to do things for her
when she was alive.
I'm not going to join
a lot of hypocrites
who think they can
square their inhumanity
by marching behind a hearse.
Maybe that's why
I'm not down there, too.
Are you agreeing with me?
No.
No, there's thoughtlessness
and cruelty
wherever a person lives.
It's just easier to find it
in a small town
like Fuller Junction.
You know why they didn't
do anything for Ingeborg.
But she was lonely, Nels.
They could have least
have been kind to her.
Is that expecting too much?
They didn't understand her.
You were kind to Ingeborg.
Why aren't you kind
to the people that
didn't understand her?
When you're demanding tolerance,
where do you draw the line
at giving it?
You're being tolerant with
me right now, aren't you?
I'm prejudiced.
I'd like to marry you.
Live here, of course.
Nels, I don't want to hurt
your feelings, but...
That's like saying
I want to put you in jail.
I want you to associate
with dull, dreary people
for all the rest of your life.
I want to deny you
all the opportunities
of a civilized world.
I thought I was saying,
"let me make you happy.
"Let's live where
human nature is real.
Let's live close to people."
Funny how different
the same words
can sound to 2 people.
Yes, it is.
Come on.
Aren't you ever going to leave
Fuller Junction, Nels?
Oh, I expect to leave
any day now.
But I thought...
Didn't you just say...
I'm going into the army.
But they rejected you.
Only once.
I've been going
to a specialist in Madison.
He thinks he can fix up
my old football back.
You see, there's a lot of men
from this town in the war.
And they're going
to come back with ideas.
Ideas I'll need to understand
if I'm going to be
of use to anybody.
They only way to understand them
is to share in the thing
that makes them.
Oh, don't go.
I'm sorry.
I shouldn't have said that.
It's all right.
It's funny.
You want to stay here,
and yet you're planning
to leave.
You want me to leave,
and yet you want me to stay.
It is funny, isn't it?
Now you come out when
you're ready, jente mi.
All right, pa.
Ma?
What?
How many days is it now
to Christmas?
For heaven sakes, Selma,
one less than it was yesterday.
Ma, can I take
the store catalog with me?
What for?
It's a secret.
Oh.
Here you are.
Thank you.
There. Now let me button you up.
You know something?
No. What?
Your pa broke his jackknife
the other day.
He did?
Mm-hmm.
He could probably use another.
Thank you, ma.
Now go on with you.
Bye.
Good-bye, dear.
Now we'll go get Arnold.
Ohh.
Now come to daddy.
Bundle yourself up well.
Wrap that around, nice and warm.
Giddy-up!
Whoa.
Now get out, you kids,
and see Editor.
Where are you going?
I'm gonna deliver the cream,
and then I've got
to talk business.
I know, I know.
It's about Christmas presents.
I want an electric train.
That's silly.
You haven't got any electricity.
Well, if I get
my electric train,
maybe I can get
electricity next year.
Meet me at Loberg's
when you're through.
All right.
Bye.
Giddy-up!
I don't believe in Santa Claus.
Shucks, I won't either
if I don't get
my electric train.
Well, hello, kids.
Hello, Editor.
Hi.
Hello, Miss Johnson.
Hello.
What brings you 2 here
this cold and snowy morning?
I'm ordering Christmas presents
for my ma and pa.
It's a secret.
Oh.
Would you make out
the order, please?
Sure.
I know you.
And I know you.
I bet you don't know
what I'm thinking about.
What are you thinking about?
Nobody knows,
and I wouldn't dare to tell.
Why?
'Cause it will scare 'em.
Ohh.
I want this for my ma.
This one here?
Yes.
"11-k."
11-k.
And this for my pa.
This one?
Yes.
All right.
Mm-hmm.
That's a very, very good choice.
Now, let's see.
Do you want this
with roses or lilies?
Roses.
All right.
One with roses.
S.E.S.
Let's see.
Mm-hmm.
Ok.
Yes.
Here's the money.
All right, I'll take
care of it personally.
Thank you.
We were just making up
the program
for the Christmas party,
and you're on it.
Honest?
Why, I've written
a story for you.
And you're gonna read the story
at the party.
At night? At the church?
Sure thing.
Well, if I'm not too scared...
Well, can I read it over
a couple of times first?
Of course.
You and I will study it
during recess and lunch period
so you'll know it by heart.
I'll put it
right in here for you.
Is it all mine?
Is the story gonna be put in
the newspapers or something?
Is it for keeps?
You bet. Yours for keeps.
Thanks.
Well, what about me?
Oh.
Oh, we have this
for you, Arnold.
All for me?
All of it.
Gosh, you must be richer
than judge Henderson.
We've got to go now.
We're meeting my pa
over at Loberg's.
Sure is a lot of money.
Sure is.
Come on, Arnold.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
Bye.
Ahem.
Now, uh, among the nicer things
we have in Fuller Junction...
That was wonderful, children.
And now Selma Jacobson
will recite a Christmas story.
Jeepers. I'm scared.
You'll be fine.
Come on.
It was tax time in Palestine,
and all the people had to go
to the county seat
to pay what they owed.
Some of them had to go
to the town of Bethlehem.
And among these
were Joseph and Mary...
Ahem...
Who lived in the town
of Nazareth.
Joseph led a donkey,
and Mary rode on the donkey,
but they were getting
very worried
because it was getting dark,
and Mary was going
to have a baby.
So when they got to Bethlehem,
they went straight to a hotel.
But the man in charge
of the hotel said,
"I'm sorry,
"but we haven't got
any rooms at all.
"We are all filled up.
You will have to go
somewhere else."
When Joseph explained
that they needed a room
very badly,
the manager thought
for a minute.
Then he said,
"you may go out into the barn.
"I'll have the hired man
throw some hay
into the manger for you."
So they went out into the barn.
Out on the hillside,
beyond Bethlehem,
a Shepherd
was lying there sleeping
when suddenly he woke up
with a light
shining in his face.
He saw a star
hanging in the sky
over Bethlehem.
And on the hillside around him,
he could see his sheep
like little lumps of silver
against the earth.
And he heard sounds on the road.
And looking off,
he saw 3 camels with 3 riders
going toward Bethlehem.
The 3 men rode their camels
straight to the hotel,
got down from them,
and went to the manger,
because it was there
that the star shone
most brightly.
There they found a man
and a woman
and a little baby.
And they gave presents
to the little baby.
And then the air was filled
with the sounds
of angels singing.
"Peace on earth,"
sang the angels.
"Good will toward men."
The mother heard it.
Joseph heard it.
And out on the hillside,
the Shepherd heard it.
The people of Bethlehem
heard it.
And in Jerusalem,
the king heard it.
Then Mary and Joseph
and the little baby
were left alone.
Suddenly, the mother looked down
at her little baby
and said to Joseph,
"why, look, there's a light
around the head of our baby,
shining soft like moonlight."
Joseph looked
and nodded.
And then he looked at Mary
and said,
"there's a light
around your head, too."
And then the mother hugged
her baby closer to her,
as if she were afraid for it.
And then the 3 of them
listened to the song
of the angels,
which filled the whole world.
And the baby cried.
Hmm. Beautiful.
Now close your eyes.
Hmm.
All right,
you can open them now.
All right. Oh, ok.
This is for you, pa.
Ahh, for me.
Well, well.
Wonder what that can be.
There.
Packed beautifully,
too, isn't it?
Ahh.
My, my, jente mi.
What a beautiful thing.
Yeah.
Mmm.
Just as sharp
as judge Henderson.
Do you like it?
Do you really like it?
It's the finest knife
I ever had.
I never thought
to have one so fine.
Oh, I'm glad.
Mmm.
Oh.
Mmm.
Oh!
And this is for you, ma.
Oh, no!
This is too big for me.
No, no, it's yours.
Oh, well, now I wonder
what this can be.
Oh, no, it can't be that.
The box is much too big
for that.
Nope, can't be that, either.
Well, maybe you better open it.
All right, I will.
Oh, I'm so excited.
Ohh...
A lamp.
Oh, Selma tula...
How beautiful.
It's a bedroom lamp.
It's for the bedroom.
Mmm. Not this lamp.
The other one's good enough
for the bedroom,
but this lamp ain't
gonna leave my sight.
Oh, ma.
Thank you, dear.
There. Now get this one.
This one.
It's your turn to get one now.
A plush coat!
Put it on now.
There.
There you are.
Put it on.
Oh.
Oh, jeepers, ma!
Oh, jeepers!
Jeepers!
Jeepers, pa!
Gee!
Oh, that must be Pete and Kola
and all the rest of them.
And Arnold!
Hi, Arnold.
Hi, everybody.
Merry Christmas.
Just look at my new coat!
Come on.
Merry Christmas.
Thank you.
Merry Christmas.
Oh, thank you.
I'll save that for after dinner.
Merry Christmas.
Well, we've got to have wine
on Christmas morning.
Yes.
Make yourselves at home now.
Oh, what a pretty lamp, Bruna.
Cider for the children.
I bet you don't know
what I got here for Selma.
I couldn't even begin to guess.
Selma's roller skates.
Well, Arnold...
That's a very, very nice thing.
It's pretty nice of my pa
to make me do it, too.
Well, it is.
It is, indeed.
Now, uh, you scoot along,
and we'll give Selma the skates
after I've served the wine.
Here we are! Here we are!
Now come on, help yourselves.
Thank you, Kola.
Thank you, dear.
Come and help yourselves.
Here, Kola.
Ja?
Mrs. Jensen,
have some vingretal?
Ja. she wants it.
Even the little children now.
Oh, yes, cider for the children.
Here, Selma.
Arnold.
Is that the same batch
as last year?
Oh, a little bit of it.
Don't spill it,
Arnold. Be careful.
Well, merry Christmas.
To all of you.
And a happy
and a prosperous new year.
Oh, that it'll be.
Oh, I have some news to tell.
I talked to the bank,
and, uh, they think we should
put up a new barn here.
Well.
When?
Soon as the winter breaks.
Then we drink
to a merry Christmas
and a new barn.
Well, especially the new barn.
We already have the Christmas.
Oh, jeepers, pa.
What are you gonna do
with the old barn?
Use it for storage space.
Ja, you always need
more storage space
around a farm.
And the debt?
What shall we do with the debt?
We'll drink to it, too.
Skol.
Hello.
I might've known.
All right, young man,
you just bring that
bean-shooter up here.
Aw, teacher!
Can I have it back after school?
No.
Hey, put that stuff away,
will you?
I'm taking you to Aurora
for dinner and a show.
Aurora?
Why do you want
to drive over there?
I won't be need gas much longer.
May as well celebrate and use
all my a-tickets at one time.
What do you mean by that?
I'm not a civilian anymore.
Got my papers this morning
and a 2-weeks furlough.
Come on, hurry up, will you?
What are you going to do
with The Spectator?
Close it up for
the duration, I guess.
Of course, if I had a wife
to keep it going
until I got back...
Will you put those things down?
Come on!
Let me get my things.
School's out.
Well...
Another thaw.
Spring's coming.
Time to kiss the teacher.
Oh, Nels, not here.
Nels, there's something
I think you ought to know.
What's that?
I'm leaving here as soon
as the school turns over.
Oh.
I couldn't spend
my life here, Nels.
I'd suffocate. Honestly.
There are so many things
I wanna do.
Well...
We'll have a double celebration.
We're both going away.
Did we scare you, Elizabeth?
We didn't mean to scare her,
did we, Arnold?
I meant to.
We did, too!
Oh, he's just teasing.
I know...
You like barley.
Come on, Elizabeth.
Here. Here you go. Here.
Come on, Elizabeth.
Oh, good girl.
You come and get your barley.
Barley's good.
Come on, Elizabeth. Good girl.
Good girl.
Good.
I'm gonna learn to ride her
one of these days.
Ok. She'll pitch you
up in the haymow.
Go ahead, try.
I said one of these days,
not now.
Oh.
Well, what'll we do now?
We could play school.
No. You're always the teacher.
Let's play boat.
We can't play boat
'cause we haven't got a boat.
Well, we can play
the bathtub's a boat.
We can go rowing in a bathtub.
It wouldn't work.
Come on, let's try.
All right, but it won't work.
I know.
See? It floats.
But when we get in,
it'll go down. I know.
We need some boards
to paddle with.
You get in first.
See? What did I tell you?
We can push ourselves.
There's Mr. Faraassen.
Hello.
Hello, Mr. Faraassen.
We're playing boat.
About all there is to do
in weather like this.
Can't even use a truck.
Chk chk. Giddy-up.
Bye!
Bye.
We could be explorers.
I'll be Leif Ericson.
And I am...
I am...
No, I'll be Leif Ericson.
But you're a girl.
But you're only 5 years old,
and I'm 7.
It doesn't matter
how old you are,
but you're still a girl.
But you're not old.
I can catch up, Selma.
I can catch up.
I'll tell you what.
You be Leif Ericson.
Ok.
And now we're going to paddle.
Ok.
Oh.
Will you answer that, Martinius?
I'm covered with dough.
All right.
All right, all right.
All right!
Hello.
Oh.
Yeah, all right. I'll tell him.
It's, uh, Kola.
She wants Arnold to come home.
Ja?
Selma!
Arnold!
Arnold!
Selma, where are you?
They aren't out there.
Well, they can't go far
in this mud.
Well, maybe they went over
to the Faraassen's. I'll call.
Oh, uh, uh, give me,
uh, 1-n-3, Emily.
Oh, hello, hello.
Uh, Mrs. Faraassen?
Well, this is
Martinius Jacobson.
Uh, have you got
a couple of kids there
name of, uh, Selma and Arnold?
Oh?
In the bathtub?
All right, thanks.
Selma?
Selma?
Selma?!
What's all the hollering for?
The kids went rowing
in the bathtub.
You call some people in town,
tell them to be on the bridge.
Tell them to grab the tub
before it goes under.
Oh, Martinius.
A thing like that. Wait till
I get my hands on him.
He won't sit for a week.
Well?
They couldn't have passed under
before you got here, could they?
I don't think so.
We came the minute
we got your call.
Why didn't you watch them?
Why'd you let them
get away like that?
I didn't know.
I just didn't know. I...
I'm sorry, Martinius.
It wasn't your fault,
no more than it was mine.
Look! There it is!
It's empty.
There they are! See 'em?
Yeah.
I'll do it, Martinius.
I'll get them.
Pete, Dave.
Ready with the hook, Joe.
Ok.
Why did you do that?
Here's another one.
That's 13 nests... No, 14.
I'd rather do it while
you're cutting hay.
Then you find mice nests
with little baby mice in them.
I wonder what would happen
to all the meadowlarks
if they didn't have anybody
to get their nests
out of the way
during plowing?
They'd all be killed,
killed dead.
Wild geese coming back.
Just like airplanes,
only they don't drop bombs.
They're friendly planes.
Why do airplanes drop bombs?
To kill bad people.
Editor's going
to kill bad people.
I bet he kills them all.
What do you mean about Editor?
He's going to be a solider.
He's not. He's got a sore back.
Yes, he is. My pa said so.
Whoa!
Better skedaddle
back to the barn, kids.
Storm's coming.
I'll race ya.
You know what would
happen to a fish
if he was out in all that rain?
No, what?
He'd be drown, drown dead.
Pa, Editor
isn't going to be
a soldier, is he?
Arnold says he is,
but he isn't, is he?
Yes.
But won't he get hurt
if he's a soldier?
Shucks, they won't hurt Editor.
Why, he can run faster
than judge Henderson.
Will he?
Well, you can't tell, jente mi.
It's just whatever happens.
Well, why is he going?
Because he thinks he ought to.
But why?
I don't think it's true
about peace on earth,
goodwill toward men
if... if Editor's going
to get hurt maybe.
Well, uh, look, jente mi,
uh...
You know, these things,
they're... they're awful
hard to explain.
Now, uh, now, you take milk.
Now, milk's a good thing,
isn't it?
Well, it's good for calves,
for children, for grown-ups,
for... for everybody,
isn't that so?
Yes.
Well, just because it's good
is no reason we get it free.
We have to work for it.
Now, does that make any sense?
Yes.
Well, uh,
the way I look at it,
it's the same thing
with peace on earth,
goodwill toward men.
It's good for everybody
and it don't come free, either.
You have to work for it.
And, uh...
Somebody comes along,
tries to take it away from us,
well, we've got to fight for it.
It's that good, jente mi.
So I guess, uh, that's
why Editor's going.
Does that help you
to understand?
Does understand
mean I've got be glad about it?
No.
Well, then I guess I understand.
Good.
Well, it looks like
I'll have to drive you
home tonight, Arnold.
Look at it come down.
Know what kind of weather
this is, jente mi?
No. What?
Chucker weather.
Come on, get under.
That's it.
Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.
Ohh.
Did you ever notice
how your mother always
gets her knitting done
when there's a thunderstorm?
Oh, you.
Your move, pa.
Yeah, my move.
You have me in
a bad spot, jente mi.
Awful bad spot.
You're getting
too fierce for me.
I don't think I've got a move.
Oh, sure you have, right there.
Now you're getting fierce.
Ha ha ha ha.
Land sakes, now
who do you suppose...
Hello?
Oh?
Oh, sure, he will.
Bjornson's new barn,
it's struck. It's on fire.
They'll need men to help.
Oh, merciful, merciful, look.
I'll go get the truck started.
Come on.
Here's your coat, Selma.
We'll go over, too.
It's too late.
It's too late
to do anything now.
See it shoot up?
Yes.
All that hay burning,
and horses and cattle.
It stopped raining.
They'll never put it out now.
Ooh!
Come back here! Come to me!
Come with me.
Come on, please!
Where's Bjornson?
In the barn.
He's an old man. We've
got to get him out.
Bjornson!
Get out of here!
Quick, give me the gun.
Got any shells?
All right, now get out of here.
Come on.
Such a pity.
What was that, ma?
They're shooting the cattle.
No insurance at all?
No.
Bjorn was going to get some,
but the insurance man
said he wouldn't allow hay
in the loft above the stock.
Bjorn said no insurance
company could tell him
where to store his hay.
So now everything's gone.
Barn, stock, hay.
Everything.
Hey, Selma! Selma!
The poor little thing's fainted.
Selma. Selma.
Oh, Selma.
On my lap, please.
Oh. Oh, Selma, baby.
You'll be all right.
Easy does it.
21. That must be all of them.
She'll be all right.
She's asleep.
You ought to get
some sleep yourself.
I just killed
21 pure-bred jerseys.
I can't sleep on that.
You did what was best.
Feel better, Martinius?
Yeah.
You know,
I've been thinking.
Yeah?
When the war is over,
things open up again...
I want to do some
things to the house:
Pipe water in,
fix up a bathroom.
See if we can't get
a little electric plant.
These lamps ain't
so good on Selma's eyes.
You could do with
a new stove, too,
the kind that works on rock gas.
Where you figure
on getting the money?
We've got it.
But you... You'll need
that and a lot more
for the new barn.
I don't figure
to build a barn, Bruna.
I thought you had
your heart set on it?
Yeah, I guess I did.
Guess every man
kind of figures
way down in his heart
the one thing he really
wants is a new barn.
Hmm.
That's mostly foolishness.
I'm not so sure, Martinius.
Maybe...
Maybe if a man wants
a barn as bad as you do,
maybe he ought to have it.
No. Not if it costs a price
a man ain't willing to pay.
I've got you,
I've got Selma.
Now, if I had a barn,
I'd have everything.
There wouldn't be
anything else I'd want.
I don't know, Bruna.
Maybe it's a good thing
for a man to want something,
something he ain't
ever going to get.
Just to keep his interest up.
You know, help him take
care of things he has.
Here, now. Now, Bruna...
Land sakes.
Look at me.
Well, I don't know about you,
but I'm going to bed.
Well, it's nice to see who's
waiting for who this morning.
Here, Elizabeth.
Come on, pretty girl.
That's a nice girl.
You're a good girl.
Come on, come on.
You're a pretty girl.
That's a good girl.
Hay is good as
anything, Elizabeth.
You got to work for it.
You're gonna
like this, Elizabeth.
Oh, I love you so, Elizabeth.
Selma?
Oh, oh, coming, pa.
Selma, we're ready for church.
Bye, Elizabeth.
And make his face
shine unto thee and bless thee
while we are absent,
one from another.
Amen.
That concludes
our service for today.
But there is another
matter to be taken up.
And I'm going to ask
our good friend Nels Halverson
to tell us about it.
This is going to
be about Mr. Bjornson.
As if I didn't know.
Most of you here remember
that my father
began publishing The Spectator
in Fuller Junction 37 years ago.
Fortunately, we've
never missed an issue.
But next week, that
record will be spoiled.
I won't be here.
I have here a copy of
my father's first issue,
published in the fall of 1907,
the year of the great panic.
In it,
he stressed the pooling
of crops and supplies
in order that no one
in the community
might suffer from want.
I'd like to read you
the last part of his
first Editorial.
Ahem.
"We are all children
"by adoption of the land
in which we live.
"The earth is here,
"and the water and the sunlight
"and the labor to make it yield.
"The only thing which
can make a land evil
"is the people who inhabit it.
"If we have within
ourselves a nobility
"to share in times
of stress and need
"with those who are destitute,
"then we can raise
our heads with dignity
"among the princes of the earth.
"Then we can say with verity:
"This is a good land,
"and the men who live in it
have no fear."
Ahem.
All of you here know
what has happened
to our good friend
Bjorn Bjornson.
Everything's been
taken from him.
He needs our help.
Pa, where's Mr. Bjornson?
Oh, Mr. Bjornson would
be ashamed to be here.
He's a very proud man.
Everybody's dropping coins.
Hmm.
Look, it's nothing.
Editor?
Yes, Selma?
If we don't have
any money to give,
can we give something else?
You can give anything you wish.
Then I give my
9-month-old heifer calf.
But she's pure-bred Jersey.
I've got papers.
Martinius Jacobson,
is it all right for your
daughter to make this gift?
Well, it's, uh,
it's her calf to do
with as she wishes.
She says she gives it,
then she gives it.
Thank you, Selma.
Mr. Editor, uh, I give 2 pigs.
Thank you, Pete.
2 pigs.
A Holstein cow.
2 ton of prime clover hay.
Uh, I'll give, uh,
half my silage.
The damn's broke.
Uh, we'd be glad
to give 2 calves.
5 ton of hay.
One Holstein cow,
3 years old.
30 bushel of corn.
I'll give one calf.
5 ton of Timothy hay.
100 bushel of oats.
I give my goat.
I give my goat,
and its name is Henry.
Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.
Uh, 11 cows, 6 calves,
15 loads of silage,
and 26 tons of hay.
Nels?
Hmm?
Do you think if I asked
the school board
that they'd reconsider
my resignation?
They might, if the reasons
were good enough.
Ha.
It's going to be
a little bit difficult
to explain to them
that I've fallen in love
with a whole town.
I'm afraid they wouldn't
understand that.
But, uh...
Now, for example,
if you'd fallen in love
with one person in the town,
that might be
good enough reason.
If it were true.
Oh, it's true, Nels.
I guess it's been true
for a long while.
But it wasn't until this morning
that I understood why.
Well...
It looks like I'm going
to keep right on publishing.
Arnold?
Yeah, I'm coming.
Well, hurry up.
Shucks.
Ha ha ha ha.
Ha ha ha ha.
We're all proud of her,
Mrs. Jacobson.
Just as proud as you are.
Yes.
Thank you.
Pa?
Yes?
Do you still have that
lonesome feeling inside of you?
Hmm, no.
Didn't you even
have a lonesome feeling
when all the people were around?
No, jente mi.
Trees are blossoming.
Pussy Willow, too.
Grass is growing.
Pa, I'm growing, too.
Yes, jente mi.
We're all growing.
when he grows up.
Only he's going
to raise buffalo.
Buffalo have all been killed.
I know. My father
killed them all.
All the same,
they aren't all dead.
Anyway, that's what
Georgie's going to be
when he grows up.
When I grow up,
I'm going to be a soldier
and shoot all the time.
I'll be fierce.
I'm going to be a WAC.
And I'm going to shoot
more than you do
'cause I'm older.
No, you won't. You're a girl.
Girls fight just
as well as boys.
Looky.
When I'm a WAC,
I'm going to pull out my gun.
WACs don't have guns.
I'm going to pull out my gun
and go bang, just like that.
Oh.
You sure killed him, Selma.
You killed him dead.
Oh, oh, but I didn't mean to.
I didn't mean to kill you,
little squirrel.
It was just pretend.
Shucks, it's only
a red squirrel.
They're bad.
But he wasn't doing
anything bad.
He was just eating his dinner
when I picked up a rock...
A-And I almost never
hit where I aim.
And...
Hello.
You're Selma.
You're Arnold.
Shucks, we know that.
You're crying, Selma.
It's bad for children to cry.
It's worse for grown-ups.
You're grown-up, and you cry.
Let me hug you.
No.
Well, then I'll...
I'll make you
a chain of flowers.
I'll make one for each of you.
Ingeborg.
Get back to your work.
Good-bye.
I don't like her,
and I don't like her pa.
I don't like her pa the most.
Let's go down
to the river and play.
I don't feel like
playing anymore.
I want to go home.
You want to play with Shadjack?
You can.
It's Editor.
Hi, kids.
Hello, Editor.
Hi.
Hop in. I'll take you home.
I'm not going home.
I'm having dinner
at Selma's house.
Aunt Bruna's going
to fix egg pancakes.
With jelly?
No, with honey.
We just met Ingeborg Jensen.
I'm always meeting her.
Every time I meet her,
she always tries to hug me.
Ingeborg hugs all
little children.
That's because she loves them.
I'm not little children.
I'm 5.
Oh, excuse me.
I'd forgotten.
My mother says
Ingeborg Jensen
isn't quite right.
That's because she's crazy.
That means crazy in the head.
That's because her father
always beats her all the time.
He beats Mrs. Jensen, too.
Mrs. Jensen is
very sick right now,
so I guess he isn't beating her.
And Ingeborg isn't crazy.
It's just that
she's not quite as smart
as we are, that's all.
Arnold didn't know about
Ingeborg not being right
until I told him.
Maybe somebody
had to tell you, too, Selma,
before you knew.
I suppose so.
Yeah, see?
Who's that?
Hello.
Can we give you a lift?
Oh, no, thank you.
I'm really enjoying the walk.
You're new here, aren't you?
Yes.
Oh, I'm sorry.
It's not a matter of curiosity.
You see, I'm Nels Halverson,
Editor of The Spectator
here in Fuller Junction.
And when a stranger's
seen walking
in this part of the country,
well, it's news.
Oh, how do you do,
Mr. Halverson?
I'm Viola Johnson,
the new school teacher.
First to eighth grade.
Well, that's wonderful.
Meet one of your pupils,
Selma Jacobson.
How do you do, Selma?
Hello. I'm 5.
Oh?
Oh, this is Arnold Hanson.
They're cousins.
Hello, Arnold.
Hello.
Going any place in particular
or just walking?
Oh, I'm on my way
to the Faraassens
and then the Jensens.
That's quite a walk.
Better let us take you.
Do you think
there's enough room?
Oh, sure. Come on, get in.
All right, I will.
Stand up, Arnold.
Don't mind holding a young man
on your lap, do you?
I think not.
Shucks.
You know, Miss Johnson,
it always makes
a much better item
to carry a little human interest
along with our news.
Such things for example as,
well, where does
our new school teacher
come from?
Milwaukee.
And then it's always proper
to add something like this:
When asked how she
likes Fuller Junction,
Miss Johnson said...
But Miss Johnson doesn't
like Fuller Junction.
And you wouldn't quote
what she'd have to say.
Oh, that bad?
Well, among other things,
it's awfully small.
So's a diamond, Miss Johnson.
Tell me,
what is there in Milwaukee
that you can't find
right here in Fuller Junction?
Well, Milwaukee's a city.
It isn't dull.
There's concerts and
lectures and theaters.
Good magazine stands.
There's too much activity
for life to ever get dreary.
Well, if that's what you wanted,
why'd you come here?
I had to, Mr. Halverson.
It was no choice of mine.
I'm studying for
my Ph.D. in education.
One of the requirements
is a year of practical teaching.
My parents are Norwegian.
And when the university
heard I spoke the language,
I found myself on the next train
for Fuller Junction.
End of the year, I go back.
It's as simple as that.
Norwegian, eh?
Well, we do have
something in common.
Why is everybody here Norwegian?
Well, because most of the people
came here from Norway,
like Miss Johnson's folks.
But why do so many Norwegians
come right here?
Well, because Wisconsin
is a country
of green hills, pine trees,
deep lakes, and many rivers.
It reminds them
of the homes they left behind.
But they're not
Norwegians anymore.
They're Americans.
My pa calls me jente mi.
That's Norwegian.
That means "girl mine."
My pa just calls me.
This is your stop coming up,
Miss Johnson.
If you have any spare time,
I'd like to show you
some of the things
around Fuller Junction
you can't find in Milwaukee.
I'm going to have plenty of that
spare time, Mr. Halverson.
I'll be glad to accept
that invitation.
Here we are.
The Faraassens live
the first house on the left.
Thank you very much.
I've got a couple
of stops to make myself.
But if you'd like,
I'd be glad to stop
by the Jensens for you.
It's on the other side
of the Faraassens,
so it'd be your last visit.
I'll accept that
invitation, too.
I'll deliver the kids
now. Good-bye.
Good-bye.
Bye. Bye.
Everybody out
who's having egg pancakes.
Thank you very much, Editor.
You're welcome.
Good-bye.
We're home, ma.
Ring the dinner bell.
And then you and Arnold go wash.
All right, ma.
You should let me pull it.
Why?
'Cause I'm the guest.
But you always pull it
when you're here.
That's because
I'm always the guest.
Well, all right.
Whoa.
That's enough.
Come on.
I'll pump for you first.
Ok.
That's too hard.
I'm sorry.
Now you pump for me.
Your face, too, Selma.
But I didn't touch anything
with my face.
All right.
Yoo-hoo, pa.
Yoo-hoo, jente mi.
We're having pancakes
for dinner, pa.
Oh.
With honey.
Well, that's fine.
You love that, don't you?
Whoa.
Pa?
Ja.
Red squirrels are bad,
aren't they?
Oh, I don't know
if they're so bad.
But they eat crops
and steal birds eggs
and Rob farmers, don't they?
I never saw one
stealing birds eggs.
Of course, they do eat.
But then I never really minded
a red squirrel getting
himself a square meal
off my place.
Why, jente mi?
What's the matter?
Oh, pa,
but I just killed
a red squirrel.
She picked up a rock,
and she killed him dead.
Yes, but you really
didn't mean to, Selma.
But it isn't
what you mean to do, pa.
It's what you do.
Well, there's enough
trouble, jente mi,
without grieving over something
that can't be helped.
Come.
Here.
Now, I've, uh,
I've got something in the barn
that I think you'll like.
It's a... It's a present.
For me?
Mm-hmm.
What is it?
Well, it's something new.
Something that just came.
Jeepers.
Is it really my calf?
My very own?
Your very own.
And I can take care of it, too?
Well, if a girl has a calf,
she has to take care of it.
Oh, pa, I'm so happy.
It's good to be happy.
Pa, do you think when
I was killing the squirrel,
the calf might've been
born just about then?
It probably was, jente mi.
How's that calf going
to ever get dry
if she keeps on licking it?
Dinner!
Come on, Selma.
Egg pancakes, Arnold.
Sure is wet.
That's too big a bite, Arnold.
Uncle Martinius takes big bites.
Well, your uncle Martinius
has a big mouth.
Do I get to feed
my calf tonight, pa?
Well, you'll have
to wait 3 or 4 days.
And then we'll teach it
to eat out of a bucket.
Jeepers, it's nice to have
a calf all your own.
If I had a calf,
it would be bigger than yours.
Only I haven't got a calf.
Well, neither has Selma, really.
I have so.
Pa said I did.
Sure is funny how I keep on
not getting a calf.
What Selma's pa meant
was that it was just
pretend her calf.
But pa didn't say
it was pretend.
He said it was all mine.
Well, everything on the farm
is all yours, Selma,
yours and ours.
The things that keep us warm.
The food we have.
It couldn't just
belong to one of us
any more than the sunshine
or these pesky flies.
I'm sure that's
what your pa meant,
isn't it, Martinius?
Well, that may be
what I meant to say,
but I did tell her
it was all hers.
Well, maybe your mother's
right, Selma.
Maybe we ought to kind of
figure it like she said,
instead of what we spoke about.
Land sakes, Martinius,
you can't take it away from her
if you gave it to her like that.
Maybe it's a good thing.
I think your pa's right.
She needed something
to take care of.
She'll have work to do,
just like a grown-up.
I wonder if that calf
knows who he belongs to?
More pancakes, Martinius?
No, no thanks.
Well, I'm going to take a nap.
Then I'll go to town
for a load of salt.
Oh?
Might stop off on the way
to see Bjornson's new barn.
Want to go with me, jente mi?
Oh, yes.
Can Arnold come along?
I got to go home.
I'm catching rats in the barn,
and I got to take care
of my trap line.
My pa gives me 2 cents a rat.
Well, they tell me
Bjornson's new barn
is as near rat-proof
as you can build them.
Oh, Bjornson's barn.
The way you men
talk about Bjornson's barn.
And Mrs. Bjornson
wanting an inside water closet
for the last 10 years.
Well, you can't have
everything at once, Bruna.
No.
But I'll bet there are times
when she wishes she was a cow.
You know,
you'd be walking around
with your chin up to here
if we had a new barn.
Up to here in debt.
Now go on. I want to clean up.
And don't get any ideas
about barns.
Well, be mighty nice
to have a new barn.
Those were fine pancakes, Bruna.
Oh, ja.
You know what, aunt Bruna?
What, Arnold?
The traps you set like this.
And the little old rat comes
sniffing along like this
and... bang... kills him dead.
Oh.
Bye, Selma.
Bye, Arnold.
Good-bye, aunt Bruna.
Good-bye, Arnold.
But even if you are
a little larger
than some of the children,
that doesn't matter.
You and I'd be the largest.
We could work together.
Oh, I couldn't do that.
Oh, come on, Ingeborg.
Let's go over here and sit down.
Don't you want
to come to school?
I got trouble, Miss Johnson.
That's because I'm not right.
You wouldn't want me.
Oh, of course I would.
Sit down.
Tell me,
what would you really
like to do?
I see things sometimes.
Early in the morning
before anybody's up,
I see them.
You know what I see,
Miss Johnson?
Tell me.
I see colors.
Big yellows.
Right out of my window
before he's up.
They come down like clouds
and they melt.
And then blues come.
And the other colors with...
With presents in their hands.
And they're all for me.
Ingeborg, if you come to school,
I could give you
paper and paints.
And you could paint
all the things you see.
Wouldn't you like that?
Paint?
Yes. All colors.
And you could put them
on paper with a brush.
Oh, I...
I couldn't do that.
I don't know how to do that.
But you could learn.
Maybe...
Maybe I could.
Yes, I...
I could learn.
We'll do it, Ingeborg.
You'll paint beautiful pictures.
Who's making that noise?
Who are you?
Oh, I'm Miss Johnson,
the new school teacher.
I was just talking over
her work with Ingeborg.
School work?
Yes.
She ain't going to school.
She's crazy.
You ought to know that
by talking to her.
Besides, I need her.
But she wants to go to school.
No, I don't.
Now you get off of this property
and don't come back.
There's a school law
in this county.
I'm going to...
I know my rights.
Now get off the place.
Trouble, huh?
I've just had a sample
of your rural life,
and I don't like it.
You'll find plenty
of Jensens in the city,
if you just look around.
I'm afraid you're
running into life
for the first time, that's all.
It's a shock to find out they're
not all perfect, isn't it?
There it is.
Now, there's a barn, jente mi.
Jeepers.
Gud dag, Martinius.
Gud dag, Mr. Bjornson.
Gud dag, little Selma.
Gud dag, Mr. Bjornson.
Gud dag, Ganda.
Gud dag.
We're going to town
for a load of salt.
We thought we'd stop by
and have a look at
your new barn.
Oh, ja, ja. Well,
come on, come on.
Thank you.
Ah, fin, fin.
Ja.
To have a big barn, Martinius,
is a fine thing
when a man is old.
But to have it paid for...
Ah, it's hard to believe
a man could be so lucky.
Paid for it to the last truss
way up there in that hay mill.
Oh, no, it's not luck,
Mr. Bjornson.
You worked hard.
Ah, everybody works hard.
Now come on, come on.
We go inside.
Ahh.
Still smell the new wood.
No finer smell on earth.
Ja.
It's a good smell.
It makes me see home.
When I smell new wood,
I'm a boy again.
Were you a boy for very long,
Mr. Bjornson?
Not long enough, little Selma.
Not nearly long enough.
Oh.
Ja.
Sign painter came through.
Fellow from Kenosha.
Ja?
I guess it's foolish,
but I always did want to have
nameplates for each cow.
Now I got them.
Well, this place
must've cost you a lot of money.
All I had.
Mmm.
50 years.
But I got my barn.
Oh.
There's the queen.
A real champion.
She's good.
Ah, girl.
Gosh, she looks fatter
than judge Henderson.
Yes, she sure does.
She's going to calf
in the spring.
Yes?
Who's the sire?
Hannibal of Well Springs.
Hannibal of Well Sp...
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
You're going to have a cow
much better than
Wisconsin Queen.
Maybe.
But somehow I kind of hate
to have a better cow
on the place
than the queen.
Yes, I guess
I know what you mean.
Well, Selma.
This is a beautiful barn.
Hannibal of Well Springs.
Do you want a new barn, pa?
Every man wants a new barn.
Then I'll pray for one.
Oh, that's fine.
Only it'll take
considerable praying, jente mi.
Gosh, what's one
more barn to God?
Ma?
Hmm?
Why don't you want pa
to have a new barn?
I'd like him to have
a new barn, Selma.
I'd like anything
that makes your pa happy.
But new barns aren't easy.
Sometimes they take
too much out of a man
like your father.
But if you'd like him
to have a new barn,
why do you always
talk like you didn't?
Well...
What you'd like people to have
and what people
are able to have,
those are two different things.
Right now,
your pa's out in the
barn mending harness,
when he ought to be here with us
getting some rest.
With the old barn,
he works more than
any man should.
To pay for a new one,
he'd be working longer.
He'd never be able
to stop a minute.
Just growing old
and dreaming at night
of his debts.
No, it's better, Selma.
It's better never
to have a thing
than to have it and be afraid.
Some of these days,
when you're older,
you...
Shh.
It's your pa, isn't it?
Well, that's done.
Why don't you sit here,
Martinius, hmm?
No, Bruna.
This'll be all right.
Ahh.
You ever see so many stars?
Pa, do people live on the stars?
They do if you want them to.
Why is that?
Oh, 'cause nobody
can tell for sure
that they don't.
I wonder if the people
who live on the stars
have free barns.
Oh, of course, jente mi.
Up there, every man
has a big red barn
and a fine herd of cows.
It's guaranteed with
his birth certificate.
5 more minutes until bedtime.
I'll turn down your covers.
All right.
I guess that's why
they call it the milky way,
isn't it?
Naturally.
See the big Dipper?
Almost running over with milk.
Hello, Martinius.
Oh, evening, Peter.
Going to the grange
meeting tonight?
No, not tonight.
Oh, just thought
I'd pick you up.
Well, thank you.
'Night.
Good night.
Why didn't you want to go, pa?
Oh, I don't know.
On a night like this,
with a lot of people around,
I...
I get a lonesome feeling.
Can you be lonesome with people?
Sometimes.
Are you lonesome now?
No.
But I'm people.
No, jente mi,
you're my daughter.
When do I get my turn?
They were my birthday present.
You can have them after awhile.
You've been saying that
all afternoon.
Well, I have to learn,
haven't I,
if I'm going to teach you?
I can teach myself.
No, you can't. You'll fall down.
Uncle Martinius said
I could have a turn.
But he just gave them to me.
You're a big old pig.
I am not.
You're a big old piggy
who eats slop.
I was going to let you
have a turn,
but now I won't.
I want a turn!
I want a turn, you big old pig!
I want a turn!
I want a turn!
You give me a turn!
I want a turn!
Children, what's the matter?
Selma won't give me
a turn on the skates.
He called me a dirty old pig,
and he said I ate slop.
Selma, let Arnold
have the skates this minute.
Oh, all right.
Tattletale.
Why don't you go home?
'Cause I want my turn,
and if I don't get my turn,
I'm going to tell aunt Bruna.
If you do, I'll slap your face.
Here I go.
Aunt Bruna!
What's the matter, Arnold?
Selma won't give me
a turn on the skates.
Well, are you sure
she wouldn't let you?
Yes, I'm sure.
Martinius.
Yes?
I want to speak to you.
You stay right here.
Selma won't let Arnold
play with her skates.
I told her to let him,
but she won't.
Well, why don't you
spank her or something?
I think that's your job.
Oh, I can't do that, Bruna.
My hand's too big,
might hurt her.
You better
take care of it, Bruna.
But you gave her the skates,
and besides,
I'm busy making supper.
Come on.
Selma.
Yes, pa?
Why didn't you give him
a turn on your skates?
I told him he could,
but he called me
a dirty old pig,
and he said I eat slop, too.
Did you say that?
No, uncle Martinius.
Are you sure?
Cross my heart and
hope to die. I'm sure.
Liar.
Give him the skates, jente mi.
No.
Unless you give him the skates,
you'll have to go to bed now
without any supper.
I'm taking my skates,
and I'm going to bed
without any supper.
Selma.
Give me those skates.
You said if I went to bed
without any supper,
I didn't have
to give him a turn.
You don't have
to give him a turn.
Now you have to give him
the skates.
Here, little Arnold.
These are your skates.
Selma would want you
to have them as a present.
Don't you, Selma?
Yes.
That is your punishment
for selfishness.
Now go to your room
and go to bed.
She sure is selfish.
She sure is.
Go home now, Arnold.
Pa?
Pa?
What do you want?
Can't I even
kiss you good night, pa?
Go back to bed.
Where are you going?
Out to the barn.
This time of night?
I'm going to get the bathtub.
I'm going to take a bath.
Oh, first, you won't
eat your supper.
Now you're going to take a bath.
You just want to be
by yourself, don't you?
Something like that.
Well, I'll get the water going.
You can have the new soap.
I honestly don't know
which of you
is the biggest baby,
you or Selma.
Martinius.
Yes?
I wasn't going to tell you this.
What are you talking about?
Oh...
Nothing.
It's just that there's a circus
going through town tonight.
Mrs. Faraassen told me
they're stopping
at Loberg's for hay.
What time?
4 in the morning.
Well, thanks, Bruna.
Don't thank me.
It was Lars Faraassen
who thought of us.
Ohh...
Jente mi?
Jente mi.
What's the matter?
There's a circus
going through town.
I want you to see it.
I want to sleep.
But, jente mi,
there's a circus...
Lions and tigers
and clowns,
pretty ladies, elephants.
I'm going to take you to it.
But, pa...
Aw, come on now.
Wake up, wake up.
We're going to see
a circus go through.
Now...
Wake up.
I guess we're all right.
They're not here yet.
Morning, Seeger.
Morning.
Here they come.
Where are the animals, pa?
They're coming, jente mi.
They're coming.
But they're only pictures.
Yes, but, uh,
inside, there are live animals.
We're very close
to them, jente mi.
Come, uh,
w-we'll go up the road
and see... See... See it all.
Jeepers.
Looky,
an elephant.
Is the elephant
going to come out?
Oh, he is going
to come out, isn't he?
He is, isn't he?
Well, I don't know, jente mi.
I'll ask the trainer.
You stay right here.
Uh, excuse me.
What's the trouble?
Well, I, uh... Uh, brought
my little girl down
to see the circus go through.
Uh, were you figuring
to bring the elephant out?
Mmm, nope.
Oh.
Uh...
Uh, I... I... I know it's...
It's a lot of trouble,
but, uh,
uh, m-maybe I could
pay you something.
Got a sawbuck?
A what?
Have you got a fin?
Well, I'd... I'd be
willing to pay. I...
Have you got $5.00?
5?
Well, just a minute.
$5.00?
You know, I... I never
carry much money
around with me. I...
Could you, uh...
Could you do it for $4.00?
Brother,
you've almost bought
yourself an elephant.
Yeah.
What did he say?
What did he say?
He said he was always
glad to show elephants
to little girls.
Come on.
Jeepers.
All right, back her out.
All right, come on back.
Move it.
Look, pa, look!
All right, kneel.
Kneel.
Look, look!
It's skin's too big!
Oh...
Gee.
Hold it.
All right, sit.
Up.
All right, hold it.
What a beautiful elephant.
That's a good trick,
isn't it, huh?
Would you like to take
a ride on her trunk?
Well, uh,
is it all right?
Oh, sure,
she never hurts the ladies.
Get her head down.
Head down.
Come on down.
How about it, Selma?
Oh... oh, yes.
Head down.
Bend down, way down.
Now just hold on there,
little lady.
We're shoving off.
Ok.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
It's quite all right,
little lady.
Go on. Move up there, now.
Did you see him lift me?
Yes, I did. Did you like it?
Yes.
Bye.
Good-bye.
You know, you were
a very brave girl.
Jeepers, that was fun.
Come on.
Getting cold nights.
Yes, maybe we'll see some frost
before the sun comes up.
Oh, no, it's too early
in the season.
Besides, you'll be back in bed
before the sun comes up.
Pa?
Yes?
This time, when I go to bed,
may I kiss you good night?
Yes.
I'm sorry about
this afternoon, pa.
You know,
sometimes I get
a meanness inside me,
like when you get lonesome.
Yes, I know, jente mi.
This has been about
the nicest summer of my life.
Well, you'll have more,
jente mi.
They'll be nicer.
Shucks.
"This is the forest primeval..."
"The murmuring pines
"and the moss.
Mary was lost..."
"Instantly..."
Marguerite?
Marguerite Larsen,
will you stand up, please?
Yes, Miss Johnson?
Will you tell us
the joke, Marguerite
so that we can all laugh?
Must I, Miss Johnson?
Please, Marguerite.
Well...
We were talking about something
Selma Jacobson said
on the way
to school this morning.
Go on, Marguerite.
Well...
We were talking about
Ingeborg Jensen,
and Selma said
wasn't it nice
that Ingeborg got married
and had a baby
all the same day?
But it was nice.
My pa said so.
There are lots of
funny things in this world,
and it's fine to laugh at them,
but if you saw a little dog
run over in the street,
and you heard him
crying and whimpering
as he tried
to drag himself home,
you wouldn't laugh, would you?
Of course not.
Being hurt isn't funny.
Seeing people suffer
isn't funny, either.
Ingeborg Jensen
is a friend of mine.
She's just a little bit
different from us
because she's been hurt...
Hurt in her mind.
Because of this hurt,
she... she sometimes
makes mistakes,
and she suffers enough
from those mistakes
without being laughed at
by those who ought
to be her friends.
I think Selma
said a very nice thing.
And now let's get back
to Evangeline.
The fifth line, please.
Shucks.
What makes a cow belch,
uncle Martinius?
They don't belch.
They just chew their food twice.
Why do they chew
their food twice?
Because they have 2 stomachs.
Why do they have 2 stomachs?
Because, uh, when the good lord
began to make heaven
and earth in 7 days...
Pa!
I'm ready to feed my calf, pa.
You're late.
I stayed in after school
to talk to Miss Johnson.
Jeepers, I like Miss Johnson.
Well, it's good
to like the teacher.
Here.
Go feed Elizabeth.
Thank you, pa.
You shouldn't have
peeked into the window
at school today, Arnold.
Why?
Because.
Hello, Elizabeth.
Here's your supper, Elizabeth.
That's a good girl.
Why can't I go to school?
Because you're too young.
Why am I too young?
Just because you are.
But why?
Just because.
Go home now, Arnold.
Go home.
Why?
Because it's
pretty near suppertime.
Ok.
Now...
Bye.
Bye, Arnold.
Bye.
Shucks, all's I wanted
to know was why.
Whoa.
$694 net.
That's some potato crop.
That much, huh?
Another year like this,
and we'll be richer than
judge Henderson.
How much did
my potato money figure out?
Oh, let me see.
Now, uh,
you picked, uh...
104 bushels.
That's, uh,
$4.16.
I did?
Yeah, just that,
and then you got exactly
84 cents bonus coming to you.
I figured it all out,
and it comes to just 84 cents.
Oh, jeepers, pa, thanks.
Well, I never.
I'll bet you would build a barn
with your last dollar.
It's lucky the W.P.B.'s
tight on lumber.
You'd be out there
with a hammer right now.
You know, I don't know
how you guess
those things, Bruna.
What do you mean?
Well, when I went
to town Monday,
I, uh, talked to the W.P.B.
Yeah?
Yeah. They said
they could release
enough material
for a 10-cow barn
and a machine shed attached.
Oh, Martinius...
Well, don't worry yet.
I haven't found
anybody I know of
who's willing
to lend me the money,
but I may find somebody
when I go to town tomorrow.
Oh, I never.
Pa, are you going to town
before the funeral?
Yes.
Pa...
Hmm?
Why did Ingeborg
have to die, too?
Was it because she got
lonesome for her mother?
Yes, I... I suppose that was it.
But why...
Don't think about
the funeral, Selma.
That's only for grown-ups
to worry about,
not children.
Yeah.
S-e-I-m-a.
Selma.
Give me a turn.
All right.
Well, what's that?
That's a big old lion.
He's eating a tiger,
and the tiger's eating a wolf,
and the wolf is eating a fox,
and the fox is eating a rabbit.
Well, what's the rabbit doing?
Old rabbit,
he's trying to get away.
If that isn't the silliest...
That's the church bell.
My ma says we've all
got to die sometime.
How do they
ring the bell so slow?
The bell they ring like this,
only it goes a lot faster.
Maybe it just goes slow
by itself when somebody's dead.
It's a special trick.
Does the bell ring slower
for 2 dead people
than it does for one?
I don't know,
maybe a little.
Look.
Poor Ingeborg.
Why didn't you go, Nels?
Why didn't you?
Because I...
I cared for Ingeborg.
I tried to do things for her
when she was alive.
I'm not going to join
a lot of hypocrites
who think they can
square their inhumanity
by marching behind a hearse.
Maybe that's why
I'm not down there, too.
Are you agreeing with me?
No.
No, there's thoughtlessness
and cruelty
wherever a person lives.
It's just easier to find it
in a small town
like Fuller Junction.
You know why they didn't
do anything for Ingeborg.
But she was lonely, Nels.
They could have least
have been kind to her.
Is that expecting too much?
They didn't understand her.
You were kind to Ingeborg.
Why aren't you kind
to the people that
didn't understand her?
When you're demanding tolerance,
where do you draw the line
at giving it?
You're being tolerant with
me right now, aren't you?
I'm prejudiced.
I'd like to marry you.
Live here, of course.
Nels, I don't want to hurt
your feelings, but...
That's like saying
I want to put you in jail.
I want you to associate
with dull, dreary people
for all the rest of your life.
I want to deny you
all the opportunities
of a civilized world.
I thought I was saying,
"let me make you happy.
"Let's live where
human nature is real.
Let's live close to people."
Funny how different
the same words
can sound to 2 people.
Yes, it is.
Come on.
Aren't you ever going to leave
Fuller Junction, Nels?
Oh, I expect to leave
any day now.
But I thought...
Didn't you just say...
I'm going into the army.
But they rejected you.
Only once.
I've been going
to a specialist in Madison.
He thinks he can fix up
my old football back.
You see, there's a lot of men
from this town in the war.
And they're going
to come back with ideas.
Ideas I'll need to understand
if I'm going to be
of use to anybody.
They only way to understand them
is to share in the thing
that makes them.
Oh, don't go.
I'm sorry.
I shouldn't have said that.
It's all right.
It's funny.
You want to stay here,
and yet you're planning
to leave.
You want me to leave,
and yet you want me to stay.
It is funny, isn't it?
Now you come out when
you're ready, jente mi.
All right, pa.
Ma?
What?
How many days is it now
to Christmas?
For heaven sakes, Selma,
one less than it was yesterday.
Ma, can I take
the store catalog with me?
What for?
It's a secret.
Oh.
Here you are.
Thank you.
There. Now let me button you up.
You know something?
No. What?
Your pa broke his jackknife
the other day.
He did?
Mm-hmm.
He could probably use another.
Thank you, ma.
Now go on with you.
Bye.
Good-bye, dear.
Now we'll go get Arnold.
Ohh.
Now come to daddy.
Bundle yourself up well.
Wrap that around, nice and warm.
Giddy-up!
Whoa.
Now get out, you kids,
and see Editor.
Where are you going?
I'm gonna deliver the cream,
and then I've got
to talk business.
I know, I know.
It's about Christmas presents.
I want an electric train.
That's silly.
You haven't got any electricity.
Well, if I get
my electric train,
maybe I can get
electricity next year.
Meet me at Loberg's
when you're through.
All right.
Bye.
Giddy-up!
I don't believe in Santa Claus.
Shucks, I won't either
if I don't get
my electric train.
Well, hello, kids.
Hello, Editor.
Hi.
Hello, Miss Johnson.
Hello.
What brings you 2 here
this cold and snowy morning?
I'm ordering Christmas presents
for my ma and pa.
It's a secret.
Oh.
Would you make out
the order, please?
Sure.
I know you.
And I know you.
I bet you don't know
what I'm thinking about.
What are you thinking about?
Nobody knows,
and I wouldn't dare to tell.
Why?
'Cause it will scare 'em.
Ohh.
I want this for my ma.
This one here?
Yes.
"11-k."
11-k.
And this for my pa.
This one?
Yes.
All right.
Mm-hmm.
That's a very, very good choice.
Now, let's see.
Do you want this
with roses or lilies?
Roses.
All right.
One with roses.
S.E.S.
Let's see.
Mm-hmm.
Ok.
Yes.
Here's the money.
All right, I'll take
care of it personally.
Thank you.
We were just making up
the program
for the Christmas party,
and you're on it.
Honest?
Why, I've written
a story for you.
And you're gonna read the story
at the party.
At night? At the church?
Sure thing.
Well, if I'm not too scared...
Well, can I read it over
a couple of times first?
Of course.
You and I will study it
during recess and lunch period
so you'll know it by heart.
I'll put it
right in here for you.
Is it all mine?
Is the story gonna be put in
the newspapers or something?
Is it for keeps?
You bet. Yours for keeps.
Thanks.
Well, what about me?
Oh.
Oh, we have this
for you, Arnold.
All for me?
All of it.
Gosh, you must be richer
than judge Henderson.
We've got to go now.
We're meeting my pa
over at Loberg's.
Sure is a lot of money.
Sure is.
Come on, Arnold.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Thanks.
You're welcome.
Bye.
Ahem.
Now, uh, among the nicer things
we have in Fuller Junction...
That was wonderful, children.
And now Selma Jacobson
will recite a Christmas story.
Jeepers. I'm scared.
You'll be fine.
Come on.
It was tax time in Palestine,
and all the people had to go
to the county seat
to pay what they owed.
Some of them had to go
to the town of Bethlehem.
And among these
were Joseph and Mary...
Ahem...
Who lived in the town
of Nazareth.
Joseph led a donkey,
and Mary rode on the donkey,
but they were getting
very worried
because it was getting dark,
and Mary was going
to have a baby.
So when they got to Bethlehem,
they went straight to a hotel.
But the man in charge
of the hotel said,
"I'm sorry,
"but we haven't got
any rooms at all.
"We are all filled up.
You will have to go
somewhere else."
When Joseph explained
that they needed a room
very badly,
the manager thought
for a minute.
Then he said,
"you may go out into the barn.
"I'll have the hired man
throw some hay
into the manger for you."
So they went out into the barn.
Out on the hillside,
beyond Bethlehem,
a Shepherd
was lying there sleeping
when suddenly he woke up
with a light
shining in his face.
He saw a star
hanging in the sky
over Bethlehem.
And on the hillside around him,
he could see his sheep
like little lumps of silver
against the earth.
And he heard sounds on the road.
And looking off,
he saw 3 camels with 3 riders
going toward Bethlehem.
The 3 men rode their camels
straight to the hotel,
got down from them,
and went to the manger,
because it was there
that the star shone
most brightly.
There they found a man
and a woman
and a little baby.
And they gave presents
to the little baby.
And then the air was filled
with the sounds
of angels singing.
"Peace on earth,"
sang the angels.
"Good will toward men."
The mother heard it.
Joseph heard it.
And out on the hillside,
the Shepherd heard it.
The people of Bethlehem
heard it.
And in Jerusalem,
the king heard it.
Then Mary and Joseph
and the little baby
were left alone.
Suddenly, the mother looked down
at her little baby
and said to Joseph,
"why, look, there's a light
around the head of our baby,
shining soft like moonlight."
Joseph looked
and nodded.
And then he looked at Mary
and said,
"there's a light
around your head, too."
And then the mother hugged
her baby closer to her,
as if she were afraid for it.
And then the 3 of them
listened to the song
of the angels,
which filled the whole world.
And the baby cried.
Hmm. Beautiful.
Now close your eyes.
Hmm.
All right,
you can open them now.
All right. Oh, ok.
This is for you, pa.
Ahh, for me.
Well, well.
Wonder what that can be.
There.
Packed beautifully,
too, isn't it?
Ahh.
My, my, jente mi.
What a beautiful thing.
Yeah.
Mmm.
Just as sharp
as judge Henderson.
Do you like it?
Do you really like it?
It's the finest knife
I ever had.
I never thought
to have one so fine.
Oh, I'm glad.
Mmm.
Oh.
Mmm.
Oh!
And this is for you, ma.
Oh, no!
This is too big for me.
No, no, it's yours.
Oh, well, now I wonder
what this can be.
Oh, no, it can't be that.
The box is much too big
for that.
Nope, can't be that, either.
Well, maybe you better open it.
All right, I will.
Oh, I'm so excited.
Ohh...
A lamp.
Oh, Selma tula...
How beautiful.
It's a bedroom lamp.
It's for the bedroom.
Mmm. Not this lamp.
The other one's good enough
for the bedroom,
but this lamp ain't
gonna leave my sight.
Oh, ma.
Thank you, dear.
There. Now get this one.
This one.
It's your turn to get one now.
A plush coat!
Put it on now.
There.
There you are.
Put it on.
Oh.
Oh, jeepers, ma!
Oh, jeepers!
Jeepers!
Jeepers, pa!
Gee!
Oh, that must be Pete and Kola
and all the rest of them.
And Arnold!
Hi, Arnold.
Hi, everybody.
Merry Christmas.
Just look at my new coat!
Come on.
Merry Christmas.
Thank you.
Merry Christmas.
Oh, thank you.
I'll save that for after dinner.
Merry Christmas.
Well, we've got to have wine
on Christmas morning.
Yes.
Make yourselves at home now.
Oh, what a pretty lamp, Bruna.
Cider for the children.
I bet you don't know
what I got here for Selma.
I couldn't even begin to guess.
Selma's roller skates.
Well, Arnold...
That's a very, very nice thing.
It's pretty nice of my pa
to make me do it, too.
Well, it is.
It is, indeed.
Now, uh, you scoot along,
and we'll give Selma the skates
after I've served the wine.
Here we are! Here we are!
Now come on, help yourselves.
Thank you, Kola.
Thank you, dear.
Come and help yourselves.
Here, Kola.
Ja?
Mrs. Jensen,
have some vingretal?
Ja. she wants it.
Even the little children now.
Oh, yes, cider for the children.
Here, Selma.
Arnold.
Is that the same batch
as last year?
Oh, a little bit of it.
Don't spill it,
Arnold. Be careful.
Well, merry Christmas.
To all of you.
And a happy
and a prosperous new year.
Oh, that it'll be.
Oh, I have some news to tell.
I talked to the bank,
and, uh, they think we should
put up a new barn here.
Well.
When?
Soon as the winter breaks.
Then we drink
to a merry Christmas
and a new barn.
Well, especially the new barn.
We already have the Christmas.
Oh, jeepers, pa.
What are you gonna do
with the old barn?
Use it for storage space.
Ja, you always need
more storage space
around a farm.
And the debt?
What shall we do with the debt?
We'll drink to it, too.
Skol.
Hello.
I might've known.
All right, young man,
you just bring that
bean-shooter up here.
Aw, teacher!
Can I have it back after school?
No.
Hey, put that stuff away,
will you?
I'm taking you to Aurora
for dinner and a show.
Aurora?
Why do you want
to drive over there?
I won't be need gas much longer.
May as well celebrate and use
all my a-tickets at one time.
What do you mean by that?
I'm not a civilian anymore.
Got my papers this morning
and a 2-weeks furlough.
Come on, hurry up, will you?
What are you going to do
with The Spectator?
Close it up for
the duration, I guess.
Of course, if I had a wife
to keep it going
until I got back...
Will you put those things down?
Come on!
Let me get my things.
School's out.
Well...
Another thaw.
Spring's coming.
Time to kiss the teacher.
Oh, Nels, not here.
Nels, there's something
I think you ought to know.
What's that?
I'm leaving here as soon
as the school turns over.
Oh.
I couldn't spend
my life here, Nels.
I'd suffocate. Honestly.
There are so many things
I wanna do.
Well...
We'll have a double celebration.
We're both going away.
Did we scare you, Elizabeth?
We didn't mean to scare her,
did we, Arnold?
I meant to.
We did, too!
Oh, he's just teasing.
I know...
You like barley.
Come on, Elizabeth.
Here. Here you go. Here.
Come on, Elizabeth.
Oh, good girl.
You come and get your barley.
Barley's good.
Come on, Elizabeth. Good girl.
Good girl.
Good.
I'm gonna learn to ride her
one of these days.
Ok. She'll pitch you
up in the haymow.
Go ahead, try.
I said one of these days,
not now.
Oh.
Well, what'll we do now?
We could play school.
No. You're always the teacher.
Let's play boat.
We can't play boat
'cause we haven't got a boat.
Well, we can play
the bathtub's a boat.
We can go rowing in a bathtub.
It wouldn't work.
Come on, let's try.
All right, but it won't work.
I know.
See? It floats.
But when we get in,
it'll go down. I know.
We need some boards
to paddle with.
You get in first.
See? What did I tell you?
We can push ourselves.
There's Mr. Faraassen.
Hello.
Hello, Mr. Faraassen.
We're playing boat.
About all there is to do
in weather like this.
Can't even use a truck.
Chk chk. Giddy-up.
Bye!
Bye.
We could be explorers.
I'll be Leif Ericson.
And I am...
I am...
No, I'll be Leif Ericson.
But you're a girl.
But you're only 5 years old,
and I'm 7.
It doesn't matter
how old you are,
but you're still a girl.
But you're not old.
I can catch up, Selma.
I can catch up.
I'll tell you what.
You be Leif Ericson.
Ok.
And now we're going to paddle.
Ok.
Oh.
Will you answer that, Martinius?
I'm covered with dough.
All right.
All right, all right.
All right!
Hello.
Oh.
Yeah, all right. I'll tell him.
It's, uh, Kola.
She wants Arnold to come home.
Ja?
Selma!
Arnold!
Arnold!
Selma, where are you?
They aren't out there.
Well, they can't go far
in this mud.
Well, maybe they went over
to the Faraassen's. I'll call.
Oh, uh, uh, give me,
uh, 1-n-3, Emily.
Oh, hello, hello.
Uh, Mrs. Faraassen?
Well, this is
Martinius Jacobson.
Uh, have you got
a couple of kids there
name of, uh, Selma and Arnold?
Oh?
In the bathtub?
All right, thanks.
Selma?
Selma?
Selma?!
What's all the hollering for?
The kids went rowing
in the bathtub.
You call some people in town,
tell them to be on the bridge.
Tell them to grab the tub
before it goes under.
Oh, Martinius.
A thing like that. Wait till
I get my hands on him.
He won't sit for a week.
Well?
They couldn't have passed under
before you got here, could they?
I don't think so.
We came the minute
we got your call.
Why didn't you watch them?
Why'd you let them
get away like that?
I didn't know.
I just didn't know. I...
I'm sorry, Martinius.
It wasn't your fault,
no more than it was mine.
Look! There it is!
It's empty.
There they are! See 'em?
Yeah.
I'll do it, Martinius.
I'll get them.
Pete, Dave.
Ready with the hook, Joe.
Ok.
Why did you do that?
Here's another one.
That's 13 nests... No, 14.
I'd rather do it while
you're cutting hay.
Then you find mice nests
with little baby mice in them.
I wonder what would happen
to all the meadowlarks
if they didn't have anybody
to get their nests
out of the way
during plowing?
They'd all be killed,
killed dead.
Wild geese coming back.
Just like airplanes,
only they don't drop bombs.
They're friendly planes.
Why do airplanes drop bombs?
To kill bad people.
Editor's going
to kill bad people.
I bet he kills them all.
What do you mean about Editor?
He's going to be a solider.
He's not. He's got a sore back.
Yes, he is. My pa said so.
Whoa!
Better skedaddle
back to the barn, kids.
Storm's coming.
I'll race ya.
You know what would
happen to a fish
if he was out in all that rain?
No, what?
He'd be drown, drown dead.
Pa, Editor
isn't going to be
a soldier, is he?
Arnold says he is,
but he isn't, is he?
Yes.
But won't he get hurt
if he's a soldier?
Shucks, they won't hurt Editor.
Why, he can run faster
than judge Henderson.
Will he?
Well, you can't tell, jente mi.
It's just whatever happens.
Well, why is he going?
Because he thinks he ought to.
But why?
I don't think it's true
about peace on earth,
goodwill toward men
if... if Editor's going
to get hurt maybe.
Well, uh, look, jente mi,
uh...
You know, these things,
they're... they're awful
hard to explain.
Now, uh, now, you take milk.
Now, milk's a good thing,
isn't it?
Well, it's good for calves,
for children, for grown-ups,
for... for everybody,
isn't that so?
Yes.
Well, just because it's good
is no reason we get it free.
We have to work for it.
Now, does that make any sense?
Yes.
Well, uh,
the way I look at it,
it's the same thing
with peace on earth,
goodwill toward men.
It's good for everybody
and it don't come free, either.
You have to work for it.
And, uh...
Somebody comes along,
tries to take it away from us,
well, we've got to fight for it.
It's that good, jente mi.
So I guess, uh, that's
why Editor's going.
Does that help you
to understand?
Does understand
mean I've got be glad about it?
No.
Well, then I guess I understand.
Good.
Well, it looks like
I'll have to drive you
home tonight, Arnold.
Look at it come down.
Know what kind of weather
this is, jente mi?
No. What?
Chucker weather.
Come on, get under.
That's it.
Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.
Ohh.
Did you ever notice
how your mother always
gets her knitting done
when there's a thunderstorm?
Oh, you.
Your move, pa.
Yeah, my move.
You have me in
a bad spot, jente mi.
Awful bad spot.
You're getting
too fierce for me.
I don't think I've got a move.
Oh, sure you have, right there.
Now you're getting fierce.
Ha ha ha ha.
Land sakes, now
who do you suppose...
Hello?
Oh?
Oh, sure, he will.
Bjornson's new barn,
it's struck. It's on fire.
They'll need men to help.
Oh, merciful, merciful, look.
I'll go get the truck started.
Come on.
Here's your coat, Selma.
We'll go over, too.
It's too late.
It's too late
to do anything now.
See it shoot up?
Yes.
All that hay burning,
and horses and cattle.
It stopped raining.
They'll never put it out now.
Ooh!
Come back here! Come to me!
Come with me.
Come on, please!
Where's Bjornson?
In the barn.
He's an old man. We've
got to get him out.
Bjornson!
Get out of here!
Quick, give me the gun.
Got any shells?
All right, now get out of here.
Come on.
Such a pity.
What was that, ma?
They're shooting the cattle.
No insurance at all?
No.
Bjorn was going to get some,
but the insurance man
said he wouldn't allow hay
in the loft above the stock.
Bjorn said no insurance
company could tell him
where to store his hay.
So now everything's gone.
Barn, stock, hay.
Everything.
Hey, Selma! Selma!
The poor little thing's fainted.
Selma. Selma.
Oh, Selma.
On my lap, please.
Oh. Oh, Selma, baby.
You'll be all right.
Easy does it.
21. That must be all of them.
She'll be all right.
She's asleep.
You ought to get
some sleep yourself.
I just killed
21 pure-bred jerseys.
I can't sleep on that.
You did what was best.
Feel better, Martinius?
Yeah.
You know,
I've been thinking.
Yeah?
When the war is over,
things open up again...
I want to do some
things to the house:
Pipe water in,
fix up a bathroom.
See if we can't get
a little electric plant.
These lamps ain't
so good on Selma's eyes.
You could do with
a new stove, too,
the kind that works on rock gas.
Where you figure
on getting the money?
We've got it.
But you... You'll need
that and a lot more
for the new barn.
I don't figure
to build a barn, Bruna.
I thought you had
your heart set on it?
Yeah, I guess I did.
Guess every man
kind of figures
way down in his heart
the one thing he really
wants is a new barn.
Hmm.
That's mostly foolishness.
I'm not so sure, Martinius.
Maybe...
Maybe if a man wants
a barn as bad as you do,
maybe he ought to have it.
No. Not if it costs a price
a man ain't willing to pay.
I've got you,
I've got Selma.
Now, if I had a barn,
I'd have everything.
There wouldn't be
anything else I'd want.
I don't know, Bruna.
Maybe it's a good thing
for a man to want something,
something he ain't
ever going to get.
Just to keep his interest up.
You know, help him take
care of things he has.
Here, now. Now, Bruna...
Land sakes.
Look at me.
Well, I don't know about you,
but I'm going to bed.
Well, it's nice to see who's
waiting for who this morning.
Here, Elizabeth.
Come on, pretty girl.
That's a nice girl.
You're a good girl.
Come on, come on.
You're a pretty girl.
That's a good girl.
Hay is good as
anything, Elizabeth.
You got to work for it.
You're gonna
like this, Elizabeth.
Oh, I love you so, Elizabeth.
Selma?
Oh, oh, coming, pa.
Selma, we're ready for church.
Bye, Elizabeth.
And make his face
shine unto thee and bless thee
while we are absent,
one from another.
Amen.
That concludes
our service for today.
But there is another
matter to be taken up.
And I'm going to ask
our good friend Nels Halverson
to tell us about it.
This is going to
be about Mr. Bjornson.
As if I didn't know.
Most of you here remember
that my father
began publishing The Spectator
in Fuller Junction 37 years ago.
Fortunately, we've
never missed an issue.
But next week, that
record will be spoiled.
I won't be here.
I have here a copy of
my father's first issue,
published in the fall of 1907,
the year of the great panic.
In it,
he stressed the pooling
of crops and supplies
in order that no one
in the community
might suffer from want.
I'd like to read you
the last part of his
first Editorial.
Ahem.
"We are all children
"by adoption of the land
in which we live.
"The earth is here,
"and the water and the sunlight
"and the labor to make it yield.
"The only thing which
can make a land evil
"is the people who inhabit it.
"If we have within
ourselves a nobility
"to share in times
of stress and need
"with those who are destitute,
"then we can raise
our heads with dignity
"among the princes of the earth.
"Then we can say with verity:
"This is a good land,
"and the men who live in it
have no fear."
Ahem.
All of you here know
what has happened
to our good friend
Bjorn Bjornson.
Everything's been
taken from him.
He needs our help.
Pa, where's Mr. Bjornson?
Oh, Mr. Bjornson would
be ashamed to be here.
He's a very proud man.
Everybody's dropping coins.
Hmm.
Look, it's nothing.
Editor?
Yes, Selma?
If we don't have
any money to give,
can we give something else?
You can give anything you wish.
Then I give my
9-month-old heifer calf.
But she's pure-bred Jersey.
I've got papers.
Martinius Jacobson,
is it all right for your
daughter to make this gift?
Well, it's, uh,
it's her calf to do
with as she wishes.
She says she gives it,
then she gives it.
Thank you, Selma.
Mr. Editor, uh, I give 2 pigs.
Thank you, Pete.
2 pigs.
A Holstein cow.
2 ton of prime clover hay.
Uh, I'll give, uh,
half my silage.
The damn's broke.
Uh, we'd be glad
to give 2 calves.
5 ton of hay.
One Holstein cow,
3 years old.
30 bushel of corn.
I'll give one calf.
5 ton of Timothy hay.
100 bushel of oats.
I give my goat.
I give my goat,
and its name is Henry.
Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha.
Uh, 11 cows, 6 calves,
15 loads of silage,
and 26 tons of hay.
Nels?
Hmm?
Do you think if I asked
the school board
that they'd reconsider
my resignation?
They might, if the reasons
were good enough.
Ha.
It's going to be
a little bit difficult
to explain to them
that I've fallen in love
with a whole town.
I'm afraid they wouldn't
understand that.
But, uh...
Now, for example,
if you'd fallen in love
with one person in the town,
that might be
good enough reason.
If it were true.
Oh, it's true, Nels.
I guess it's been true
for a long while.
But it wasn't until this morning
that I understood why.
Well...
It looks like I'm going
to keep right on publishing.
Arnold?
Yeah, I'm coming.
Well, hurry up.
Shucks.
Ha ha ha ha.
Ha ha ha ha.
We're all proud of her,
Mrs. Jacobson.
Just as proud as you are.
Yes.
Thank you.
Pa?
Yes?
Do you still have that
lonesome feeling inside of you?
Hmm, no.
Didn't you even
have a lonesome feeling
when all the people were around?
No, jente mi.
Trees are blossoming.
Pussy Willow, too.
Grass is growing.
Pa, I'm growing, too.
Yes, jente mi.
We're all growing.