SOME YEARS AGO I came upon the historical story of the discovery of America by Leif Ericsson in A (13 page)

LEIF This is probably the place that Bjarni came to last. I never saw a worse country. It's no good to us.

TYRKER Ice, and snow, and rocks—we've got all those at home.

LEIF I don't see any point in staying here. We'll get to sea again, and go on down the coast.

TYRKER Lord, though this land is useless, yet it ought to have a name.

LEIF All right. What shall we call it?

TYRKER I don't know. You think of something. You're the Chief.

LEIF (Looking
round)
Well, I don't know. There's nothing decent to call it after—the wretched place is all stones. We'd better call it Stoneland.

TYRKER That's as good as anything.

LEIF Let's see, now. Bjarni sailed north along the coast to get to this place, didn't he?

TYRKER Yes. If we sail south for a few days from here, we ought to come to the place where he saw the woods.

LEIF All right. Let's get going.

(
They get back into the boat, which rows out to the ship. The ship takes the boat on board, weighs anchor, and leaves the fiord.
)

(A
shot of the ship sailing down a rocky coast. There may be small lumps of ice in the sea, and a grey sky.
)

(
Up to this point the film has been a picture of a bleak life of hardships, of men struggling to exist and make a living against a background of ice and snow, rough grey seas, and barren, windswept, stony land. But from this point onwards the scenes must grow sunnier and more beautiful as they get further south. There are to be no more rough seas and ice. The whole montage should be designed to show them entering into a softer and more gracious land than any they had known before. This should not be a sudden change but should grow, culminating in the final scenes in the district of Plymouth, Mass., at midsummer.
)

[ DISSOLVE TO:

The Ship—Dawn Scene

(
The light grows slowly, and the ship is seen to be cruising off the wooded coast that
Bjarni
visited before.
Leif
and
Tyrker
are at the steering oar; in the body of the ship every one is looking at the land.)

TYRKER Lord, this must be the place that Bjarni saw. We were nearly on the latitude at our noon sight yesterday, and we sailed slowly all the night. I think this is the place, all right.

LEIF I think so, too. We will go in here and beach the ship upon those sands. (
Shouts
) Out bow oars, men; I'm going to put her up into the wind to lower sail. Stand by the vangs, and heave in on the lee sheet. Get your halliard cleared away, and be ready for it.

(
The ship comes up into the wind and the sail is lowered. The rest of the oars are put out, and she begins to row into the beach.
)

[DISSOLVE TO:

The Beach

(
The ship strands on the beach; men jump out into the shallow water and carry anchors and cables on shore.
Leif
follows them.)

(A
shot of
Leif
standing with
Haki
and
Haekia
on the head of the beach.
)

LEIF You two. Go up onto that hill there quickly. Look carefully what lies beyond it. Then make a sweep round there—
(points)—
and come back here within two hours. Tell me if you see any signs of men in this place. If you see men, do not go near them; run back quickly here and tell me.

(
The
Scots
set off running.
)

(A shot of the
Scots
standing together on the hilltop, looking out over a thickly wooded country.)

(A
shot of the
Scots
running through a forest glade.
Haekia
stops for a moment beside a stream to pick a flower, and then runs on.)

[ DISSOLVE TO:

Camp on the Beach

(
The ship is high and dry, and the Norsemen have made a fire and a rudimentary camp at the head of the beach. The
Scots
come running into camp, and go to
Leif.
)

LEIF Well, what did you see?

HAKI Lord, we have seen no signs of any men in this place. There is much forest here; from the hilltop you can only see the tops of trees, right over to the far horizon. We saw many deer. There is a good stream of fresh water running to the sea beyond that point.

LEIF Good.

HAEKIA We found flowers, Lord.
(She shows them;
Leif
and
Tyrker
examine them curiously.
)

LEIF I have never seen flowers like these before. So big, and such bright colours!

TYRKER I remember seeing flowers as big and bright as these when I was a small boy in Germany. I have never seen them in these northern countries.

HAEKIA They are lovely. May I keep them, Lord?

LEIF Yes, if you want them.

[ DISSOLVE TO:

The Camp—Later

(
The men have had a meal and are sitting round the fire after it.
Leif
is standing with
Tyrker
by his side; he is addressing them.)

LEIF Well, men, we've found the timber that we came to get. We could load up now and get away straight back to Greenland. But now we're here, I think it would be a pity not to sail around a bit and find out what this place is like. It looks to me to be a better country than our own. I know my father will be very much interested in it. Some of us might want to come here someday and make a settlement.

A MAN What are you going to call this place?

LEIF Well, I don't know. We don't know very much about it

yet, except that it's all woods. Suppose we call it Woodland?

MAN Woodland. That's a good name for it.

LEIF What do you men say about going on a bit, and seeing

what else we can find? It's early in the summer to go home.

A MAN Your father's order was that we should bring back wood.

LEIF We can get the wood when we come back past here in a month's time, on our way home. It was the King's order that we should seek new lands towards the west and south, and that is what I mean to do, if you will follow me.

A MAN
(Laughing)
All right. Have it your own way.

[DISSOLVE TO:

The Ship

(
The ship is seen sailing past wooded, rocky coasts in fine, calm weather.)

(A
shot of the ship on an open sea crossing.)

[DISSOLVE TO:

The Classroom

CALLENDER They turned the corner of the land at Cape Race, here (
indicates on the map),
and then cut over to the coast of Nova Scotia, sailing south and west. And each day as they sailed the weather grew finer, and the sea grew calmer, and the sun grew stronger. From Nova Scotia, here, they sailed on, here, across the sea until they hit the tip of Cape Cod, here. And they were very much amazed.

[DISSOLVE TO:

The Ship

(She is off the north tip of Cape Cod and all the crew are staring at the beach, which extends unbroken to the southeast as far as they can see. This beach is quite even and regular and exactly the same in appearance for about forty miles, unbroken by any reef or promontory. It must be almost unique in the world for its regularity. Beyond it the land is low-lying.
)

TYRKER Lord, here is yet another land, and this one is all beach. There is no end to the new places we have seen.

LEIF We'll land and have a look at it as soon as we can, but I'm not going to put a boat on shore through that surf. We'll follow the beach southwards till we find an opening.

(
The ship turns and begins to coast along the beach, perhaps a quarter of a mile offshore.
)

[ DISSOLVE TO:

The Ship—Later

(
The ship is still sailing down this endless beach.
)

TYRKER Lord, there is no beach in the World like this. We've been sailing along it now for over six hours, and it's been exactly the same all the way. You just can't tell the difference between any two parts of it.

LEIF I know. It's a great wonder.

TYRKER So strange a place as this ought to have a name. It is a

landmark that men coming from the sea will recognize. What shall

we call it, Lord?

LEIF Well, I don't know. It's a great wonder, and that's all about

it. We'd better call it Wonderstrands.

TYRKER (
Calling out
) Listen to this, everybody. This long beach

that we have sailed along all day is to be called Wonderstrands.

(
There is a murmur of assent.
)

[DISSOLVE TO:

The Island

(
This is an evening scene. The ship is coming in to beach on a low, sandy island covered with trees, lying half a mile or so off the long beach of Wonderstrands. This island, Nauset Island, has now disappeared entirely by erosion; it used to lie off the beach opposite Orleans. It is a warm, sunny evening, nearly sunset; the island is a fairyland, covered with trees and flowers.
)

[DISSOLVE TO:

The Beach

(
The ship is stranded on the beach, and the men are spreading out along the foreshore and the beach head. It is sunset and most beautiful, as beautiful as can be
contrived
. The men are moving quietly, looking around them in wonder and in awe at such a lovely place.)

(Presently one of them stoops to pick a flower. His finger strikes something sticky on a leaf; he licks it and exclaims. Presently several of the men are picking leaves and licking them.)

A MAN Lord, there is honey on the leaves in this island.

(
Leif
and
Tyrker
pick leaves and try them.)

TYRKER
(In awe)
Lord, this is honey dew. In my country, in the old stories that old people tell around the fireside in the winter, they say that in the Happy Land honey falls like dew from heaven in the night.

LEIF
[Thoughtfully)
The Happy Land . . .

(He looks around. Through a thin screen of a few trees he sees the sunset, bright and rosy in the west. Between the trees he sees
Haki
walking with
Haekia;
they are laughing together at some private joke of their own. This scene must be as beautiful as can be contrived.
)

LEIF
(Quietly)
I heard once of the Happy Land, which some men call Hy Breasail. No thief, no robber, and no enemy pursues one there; there is no violence, and no winter snow. In that place it is always spring. No flower or lily is wanting, no rose or violet but you will find them there.

(
During this speech the camera should pick up these features one by one, verifying them visually.)

—There apple trees bear flowers and fruit on the same branch, all the year round. There young men live in quiet happiness with their girls (
the camera picks up
Haki
and
Haekia,
engrossed in each other);
there is no old age and no sickness and no sorrow there. All is full of joy.

TYRKER
(Uneasily)
Lord, do you think that this place is Hy Breasail?

LEIF
(Rousing)
I don't know. I know only this; it is so beautiful

that it might well be we have found the Happy Land. I will not

spend the night here; we may be bewitched. We will anchor off

shore for the night and sleep in the ship.

[DISSOLVE TO:

The Anchorage

(
It is a late evening scene, almost night. The ship is anchored off the beach; it is cloudless, and dead calm. The island lies silhouetted against the faint remnants of the sunset, very beautiful. In the ship the dim forms of men are seen staring at the beauty of the scene, silent and in wonder.
)

[FADE TO:

The Classroom

CALLENDER Next morning they set sail again towards the south. (
Indicates on the map.
) They turned the corner of the land by Chatham, here, and sailed along the south shore of Cape Cod into Nantucket Sound. And on the south shore of the Cape they landed, setting foot for the first time on the American continent.