LAWRENCE OF ARABIA Columbia Pictures presents the SAM SPIEGEL - DAVID LEAN Production Lawrence of Arabia With ALEC GUINNESS - ANTHONY QUINN - JACK HAWKINS JOSE FERRER - ANTHONY QUAYLE - CLAUDE RAINS ARTHUR KENNEDY and OMAR SHARIF as Ali PETER O'TOOLE as Lawrence SCREENPLAY BY: ROBERT BOLT PRODUCED BY: SAM SPIEGEL DIRECTED BY: DAVID LEAN A HORIZON FILM IN TECHNICOLOR PHOTOGRAPHY IN SUPER PANAVISION 70 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA THIS TRANSCRIPTION BY KENNETH MOONEY (thekey@altavista.net) based on the 211' restored version Lawrence of Arabia was the first film I saw that made me want to be a movie-maker: it was overwhelming. - Steven Spielberg (Westminster Cathedral) BRIGHTON He was the most extraordinary man I ever knew. VICAR Did you know him well? BRIGHTON I knew him. VICAR Well, 'nil nais ibonam', but did he really deserve a place in here? REPORTER Lord Allenby, could you give me a few words about Colonel Lawrence? ALLENBY What, more words? The revolt in the desert played a decisive part in the Middle-Eastern Campaign. REPORTER Yes, sir. But about Colonel Lawrence himself? ALLENBY No, I didn't know him well, you know. REPORTER Eh, Mr Bentley. You must know as much about Colonel Lawrence as anybody does. BENTLEY Yes. It was my privilege to know him, and to make him known to the world. He was a poet, a scholar, and a mighty warrior. REPORTER Thank you. BENTLEY He was also the most shameless exhibitionist since Barnum and Bailey. MAN You, sir. Who are you? BENTLEY My name is Jackson Bentley. MAN Well, whoever you are, I overheard your last remark and I take the gravest possible exception. He was a very great man. BENTLEY Did you know him? MAN No, sir. I can't claim to have known him. I once had the honour to shake his hand in Damascus. MURRAY Knew him? No, I never knew him. He had some minor function on my staff in Cairo. (Cairo) LAWRENCE Michael George Hartley. This is a nasty, dark little room. HARTLEY That's right. LAWRENCE We are not happy in it. HARTLEY I am. It's better than a nasty, dark little trench. LAWRENCE Then, you're a big noble fellow. HARTLEY That's right. LAWRENCE Ah! Here is William Potter with my newspaper. POTTER Here you are, Tosh! LAWRENCE Thanks. Would you care for one of Corporal Hartley's cigarettes? POTTER Ta. Is it there? LAWRENCE Of course. Headlines, but I bet it isn't mentioned in The Times. "Bedouin tribes attack Turkish stronghold", and I bet that no one in this whole headquarters even knows it happened, or cared if it did. Allow me to ignite your cigarette. MESSENGER Sir. Mr Lawrence? LAWRENCE Yes? FLIMSEY Flimsey, sir. LAWRENCE Thank you. HARTLEY You'll do that once too often; it's only flesh and blood! LAWRENCE Michael George Hartley, you're a philosopher. HARTLEY And you're balmy! POTTER Ow! It damn well hurts. LAWRENCE Certainly, it hurts! POTTER Well, what's the trick then? LAWRENCE The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts. LAWRENCE Oh, by the way. If Captain Gibbon should inquire for me, tell him I've gone for a chat with the General. POTTER He's balmy! HARTLEY He's all right. FREDDY Lawrence! LAWRENCE Yes? FREDDY You're supposed to be... Do you usually wear your cap in the mess? LAWRENCE Oh, yes. FREDDY You're supposed to be on duty, aren't you? Where are you going? LAWRENCE Mustn't talk shop, Freddy. Not in the mess. Matter of fact I'm going for a 'powwow' with the General. FREDDY I'm not asking as a superior; I'm asking as the secretary of this mess. We don't want chaps in here who should be on duty. ORDERLY Where are you going, please? FREDDY I must say! Lawrence! LAWRENCE Sorry! FREDDY You're a clown, Lawrence. LAWRENCE Ah well, we can't all be lion-tamers... Sorry! MURRAY It's an intrigue, Dryden, and I do not propose to let an over-wheeling, finicking, crass lieutenant thumb his nose at his general officer commanding and get away with it. DRYDEN He doesn't sound as though he'd be any great loss, sir. MURRAY Now, don't try that, Dryden. There's a principle involved. DRYDEN There is, indeed. He's of no use here in Cairo; he might be in Arabia. He knows his stuff, sir. MURRAY Knows the books, you mean. I've already sent out Colonel Brighton, who's a soldier, and if Brighton thinks we should send them some small arms, then we will. What more do you want? DRYDEN There would be no question of Lieutenant Lawrence giving military advice, sir. MURRAY By God, I should hope not! DRYDEN It's just that the Arab Bureau would like its own man on the spot, sir, to eh... MURRAY To what? DRYDEN ...to make our own appraisal of the situation. MURRAY I may as well tell you it's my considered opinion, and that of my staff, that any time spent on the Bedouin will be time wasted. They're a nation of sheep- stealers. DRYDEN They did attack Medina. MURRAY Well, the Turks made mincemeat of them. DRYDEN We don't know that, sir. MURRAY We know they didn't take it. A storm in a tea-cup, Dryden; a side-show. Do you want my own opinion? This whole theatre of operations is a side-show. The real war's being fought against the Germans, not the Turks, and not here but on the Western Front, in the trenches. Your Bedouin army, or whatever it calls itself, would be a side-show of a side-show. DRYDEN Big things have small beginnings, sir. MURRAY Does the Arab Bureau want a 'big thing' in Arabia? If they rise against the Turks, does the Bureau think they're going to sit down quietly under us when they're asked until this war's over? DRYDEN The Bureau thinks the job at the moment, sir, is to win the war. MURRAY Don't tell me my duties, Dryden! OFFSCREEN Lawrence, sir. MURRAY Send him in! LAWRENCE Good morning, sir. MURRAY Salute! If you're insubordinate of me, Lawrence, I shall put you under arrest. LAWRENCE It's my manner, sir. MURRAY Your what? LAWRENCE My manner, sir. It looks insubordinate, but it isn't really. MURRAY No, I can't make out whether you're bloody bad-mannered, or just half-witted. LAWRENCE I have the same problem, sir. MURRAY Shut up! LAWRENCE Yes, sir. MURRAY Now, the Arab Bureau seem to think you would be of some use to them in Arabia. Why? I can't imagine! You don't seem able to perform your present duties properly. LAWRENCE I cannot fiddle, but I can make a great state from a little city. MURRAY What! LAWRENCE Themistocles, sir. A Greek philosopher. MURRAY I know you've been well educated, Lawrence. It says so in your dossier. You're the kind of creature I can't stand, Lawrence, but I suppose I could be wrong. All right, Dryden, you can have him for six weeks. Who knows? Might even make a man of him. Come in. Yes? What is it, Hallon? HALLON Navy signal, sir. the convoy will be in Port Said tomorrow night. MURRAY Is that certain? HALLON Yes, sir. There doesn't seem to be any artillery, sir. MURRAY But there must be artillery! DRYDEN Sir, this is something of an expedition. He has to get to Yenbo, find a guide, find the Arabs, and then get back. He can't do that in six weeks. MURRAY Two months, then. DRYDEN Three. MURRAY All right. Three. Now, will you let me do some work, Mr Dryden. DRYDEN Thank you, sir. LAWRENCE I'd like to say, sir, that I am grateful for this... MURRAY Shut up and get out! LAWRENCE Sir! MURRAY How can I fight a bloody war without bloody artillery! LAWRENCE How did you do it. sir? DRYDEN You might better ask why I bothered to. LAWRENCE Because I'm the man for the job. DRYDEN I just wonder about that LAWRENCE Of course I'm the man for the job. What is the job, by the way? DRYDEN Find Prince Feisal. LAWRENCE Good. And when I've found him? DRYDEN Find out what kind of man he is; find out what his intentions are. I don't mean his immediate intentions. That's of Colonel Brighton's business, not yours. I mean, his intentions in Arabia altogether. LAWRENCE Oh! That's new. Where are they now? DRYDEN Anywhere within three hundred miles of Medina. They're Hasami Bedouins. They can cross sixty miles of desert in a day. LAWRENCE Oh, thanks, Dryden. This is going to be fun. DRYDEN Lawrence, only two kinds of creature get fun of the desert: Bedouins and gods, and you're neither. Take it from me; for ordinary men, it's a burning, fiery furnace. LAWRENCE No, Dryden. It's going to be fun. DRYDEN It is recognised that you have a funny sense of fun. TAFAS Here, you may drink. One cup. LAWRENCE You do not drink? TAFAS No. LAWRENCE I'll drink when you do. TAFAS I am Bedu. TAFAS Truly, now, you are a British Officer? LAWRENCE Yes. TAFAS From Cairo? LAWRENCE Yes. TAFAS You did not ride from Cairo? LAWRENCE No. Thank Heavens. It's nine hundred miles; I came by boat. TAFAS And before? From Britain? LAWRENCE Yes. TAFAS Truly? LAWRENCE From Oxfordshire. TAFAS Is that a desert country? LAWRENCE No; a fat country; fat people. TAFAS You are not fat? LAWRENCE No. I'm different... Here, take it. TAFAS First, I take you to Lord Feisal, then you give it to me. LAWRENCE Take it now. TAFAS Bedu food. LAWRENCE Good. TAFAS More...Bedu! LAWRENCE Where? TAFAS From here to Lord Feisal's camp is Harif country. LAWRENCE Yes, I know. TAFAS I am not Harif. LAWRENCE No. Hasimi of the Beni Salim. TAFAS Put the right foot in tight. Lock it with your left foot. Then, when you're ready to go, hit her on the shoulder and say, 'Hut, hut, hut!' LAWRENCE Hut, hut, hut! TAFAS Ah, today will be difficult, but tomorrow good riding... I think we reach Mastura Well tomorrow. Yes? And from Mastura Well to Lord Feisal's camp one day more. Now! At the Harif Well TAFAS Good? LAWRENCE It's all right. TAFAS This is a Harif well. The Harif are a dirty people. LAWRENCE Turks? TAFAS Bedu! LAWRENCE Who is he?... Tafas! ALI He's dead. LAWRENCE Yes. Why? ALI This is my well. LAWRENCE I have drunk from it. ALI You are welcome. LAWRENCE He was my friend. ALI That! LAWRENCE Yes. That. ALI This pistol yours? LAWRENCE No, his. ALI His? LAWRENCE Mine. ALI Then I will use it. Your friend was a Hasami of the Beni Salim. LAWRENCE I know. ALI I am Ali of El Karish. LAWRENCE I've heard of you. ALI So, what was a Hasami doing here? LAWRENCE He was taking me to help Prince Feisal. ALI You have been sent from Cairo. LAWRENCE Yes. ALI I have been in Cairo for my schooling. I can both read and write. My Lord Feisal already has an Englishman. LAWRENCE Yes. ALI What is your name? LAWRENCE My name is for my friends. None of my friends is a murderer. ALI You are angry, English. He was nothing. The well is everything. The Hasami may not drink at our wells. He knew that. Salaam. Hut, hut, hut. LAWRENCE Sherif Ali. So long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people; a silly people; greedy, barbarous, and cruel, as you are. ALI Come. I will take you to Feisal. LAWRENCE I do not want your company, Sherif. ALI Wadi Safra is another day from here. You will not find it, and not finding it, you will die. LAWRENCE I will find it with this. ALI Good army compass. How if I take it? LAWRENCE Then you would be a thief. ALI Have you no fear, English? LAWRENCE My fear is my concern. ALI Truly. God be with you, English. LAWRENCE As I walk along the Bois Bou-long, With an independent air, You can here the girls declare, 'He must be a millionaire, You can rum-ti-tum-ti-tum-ti-tum, Ti-tuddely-tun-ti-tun-ti-tun, I'm the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo. BRIGHTON Hey! You!... I've been waiting for you. LAWRENCE Did you know I was coming? BRIGHTON I knew someone was coming; Feisal told me. LAWRENCE How did he know? BRIGHTON Not much happens within fifty miles of Feisal that Feisal doesn't know, I'll give him that. No escort? LAWRENCE My guide was killed at the Matsra well. BRIGHTON Turks? LAWRENCE No. An Arab. BRIGHTON Bloody savages! LAWRENCE This is Wadi Safra, isn't it? BRIGHTON Yes, they're over there; now, just a minute. What's your name and who sent you? LAWRENCE Lawrence. I've been seconded to the Arab Bureau. BRIGHTON Oh. and what are you to do for the Arab Bureau? LAWRENCE Well, it's rather vague, sir. I'm to appreciate the situation. BRIGHTON Well, that won't be difficult. The situation's bloody awful. The morale, if ever they had any, which I doubt, the Turks knocked out of them in front of Medina with howitzers. They're fading away by dozens every night. What I want to say to you is this; that wherever you are and whoever you're with, you're a British serving officer, and here's an order; when we get into that camp you're to keep your mouth shut. Do you understand what I'm saying? LAWRENCE Yes, sir. I understand what you're saying. BRIGHTON You'll make your appreciation and get back to...Oh my God; not again!... I've told him; God knows I've told him. 'Move south', I've said, 'You're still in range'. They simply will not understand what modern weapons do. FEISAL Stand and fight! Stand and fight! Fire back at them!... Who are you? BRIGHTON Lieutenant Lawrence, sir. Seconded to the Arab Bureau. This is a bloody mess, sir, we'll have to move south. FEISAL Yes, yes, Colonel; fifty miles south. You were right and I was wrong. We must take some thought for the wounded. BRIGHTON Well, we can take care of them at Yenbo, sir. FEISAL If they get to Yenbo. BRIGHTON Well, they can hardly come with us, sir. FEISAL No, they must try to reach Yenbo. Lieutenant, eh.. LAWRENCE Lawrence. FEISAL You understand, Lieutenant Lawrence, my people are unused to explosives and machines. First the guns, and now this. DAUD Cigarette? LAWRENCE I'm sorry. SOLDIER Eh? DAUD Cigarette, Your Excellency? SOLDIER Hump off! DAUD Please, Your Excellency. Just one for two? BRIGHTON Hold it, Jenkins! Jenkins! Jenk...! Jenkins! MAJID 'Aurens? LAWRENCE 'Aurens! MAJID 'Aurens, you have no servant. LAWRENCE I don't need a servant. DAUD No? We can do everything. Light fires; cook food; wash clothes. FERRAJ Yes, everything. LAWRENCE I don't doubt it. DAUD It will be very nice for you... LAWRENCE I can't afford it. SILIAM Recite, then, as much of the Koran as may be easy to you. God knoweth that there be some among you sick while others travel through the Earth in quest for the bounties of God; others do battle in his cause; recite, therefore, as much as may be easy and observe the prayers; this will be best and richest in the recompense. Seek ye the forgiveness of God; verily, God is forgiving, merciful. FEISAL Greetings, Ali. ALI My lord. BRIGHTON Sherif Ali. FEISAL Lieutenant Lawrence, you have met Sherif Ali, I think. LAWRENCE Yes, my lord. FEISAL And now, Siliam, the brightness. SILIAM By the noon-day brightness, by the light when it darkeneth; thy Lord hath not forsaken thee; neither hath he been displeased... FEISAL ...and surely the future will be better for thee than the past... LAWRENCE ...And in the end shall your Lord be bounteous to thee and thou be satisfied. FEISAL So...? Yes, Colonel? BRIGHTON I want a decision, sir. FEISAL You want me to fall back on Yenbo. BRIGHTON Well, you're not doing much good here, sir. I'm sorry to rub it in, sir, but we can't supply you here. FEISAL You could supply us through Aqaba. BRIGHTON Aqaba! Well, if you can get hold of Aqaba, sir, of course we can supply you, but you can't. FEISAL You could. BRIGHTON You mean the Navy? The Turks have twelve- inch guns at Aqaba, sir; can you imagine what that means? FEISAL Yes, I can imagine. BRIGHTON Well, put that out of your mind, sir. The Navy's got other things to do. FEISAL Oh, yes. Protecting the Suez Canal. BRIGHTON The one essential sector of this front is and must be the Canal. You can see that, sir, surely. FEISAL I see that the Canal is an essential British interest; it is of little consequence to us. BRIGHTON I must ask you not to speak like that, sir. British and Arab interests are one and the same. FEISAL Possibly. ALI Ha! Ha! BRIGHTON Upon my word, sir, you're ungrateful. Fall back on Yenbo and we will give you equipment; give you arms, advice, training, everything! FEISAL Guns? BRIGHTON A modern rifle for every man. FEISAL No, guns! Artillery! Guns like the Turkish guns at Medina. ALI Yes. Give us guns and keep the training. BRIGHTON Your men need training far more then guns, sir. ALI The English will teach the Bedu to fight? BRIGHTON We will teach them, Sherif Ali, to fight a modern, mechanised army. FEISAL Yes, Lieutenant? What do you think about Yenbo? LAWRENCE I think it is far from Damascus. BRIGHTON We'll have you in Damascus and never fear. FEISAL Have you been in Damascus, Mr Lawrence? LAWRENCE Yes, my lord. FEISAL It is beautiful, is it not? LAWRENCE Very. BRIGHTON That'll do, Lawrence. Dreaming won't get you to Damascus, sir, but discipline will. Look, sir, Great Britain is a small country; it's much smaller than yours; a small population compared with some; it's small but it's great, and why? ALI Because it has guns! BRIGHTON Because it has discipline! FEISAL Because it has a navy; because of this, the English go where they please and strike where they please and this makes them great. LAWRENCE Right. BRIGHTON Mr Lawrence, that will do! Lieutenant Lawrence, sir, is not your military adviser. FEISAL But I would like to hear his opinion. BRIGHTON Damn it, Lawrence! Who do you take your orders from? SILIAM From Lord Feisal in Feisal's tent. ALI Old fool! Why turn from him to him; they are master and man! LAWRENCE My lord, I think... I think your book is right. The desert is an ocean in which no oar is dipped and on this ocean the Bedu go where they please and strike where they please. This is the way the Bedu have always fought. You're famed throughout the world for fighting in this way and this is the way you should fight now! BRIGHTON Well, I don't know. LAWRENCE I'm sorry, sir, but you're wrong. Fall back on Yenbo, sir, and the Arab Rising become's one poor unit in the British Army. FEISAL What is this to you? BRIGHTON Lawrence, do you know you're a traitor? FEISAL No, no, Colonel, eh... he is a young man and young men are passionate, but they must say their say, but wiser people must decide, I know you are right. BRIGHTON Very well, sir, once we move; the sooner the better, you'll lose another fifty men tonight. FEISAL You tread heavily, but you speak the truth. I will give you my answer tomorrow, now it is late... Colonel Brighton means to put my men under European officers, does he not? LAWRENCE In effect, my lord, yes. FEISAL And I must do it because the Turks have European guns, but I fear to do it; upon my soul, I do. The English have a great hunger for desolate places. I fear they hunger for Arabia FEISAL Then you must deny it to them. FEISAL You are an Englishman. Are you not loyal to England? LAWRENCE To England and to other things. FEISAL To England and Arabia, both? And is that possible? I think you are another of these desert-loving English. Gordon of Khartoum. No Arab loves the desert. We love water and green trees. There's nothing in the desert. No man needs nothing. Or is it that you think we are something you can play with? Because we are little people; a silly people; greedy, and barbarous, and cruel. Do you know, Lieutenant, in the Arab city of C¢rdoba were two miles of public lighting in the streets when London was a village? LAWRENCE Yes, you were great. FEISAL Nine centuries ago. LAWRENCE Time to be great again, my lord. FEISAL Which is why my father made this war upon the Turks. My father, Mr Lawrence, not the English. But my father is old and I...I long for the vanished gardens of Cordoba. However, before the gardens must come the fighting. To be great again, it seems that we need the English, or... LAWRENCE ...Or? FEISAL What no man can provide, Mr Lawrence. We need a miracle. LAWRENCE Aqaba! Aqaba...from the land! ALI You are mad! To come to Aqaba by land we should have to cross the Nefud Desert. LAWRENCE That's right. ALI The Nefud cannot be crossed. LAWRENCE I'll cross it if you will. ALI You! It takes more than a compass, Englishman. The Nefud is the worst place God created. LAWRENCE I can't answer for the place, only for myself. Fifty men? ALI Fifty! Against Aqaba? LAWRENCE If fifty men came out of the Nefud, they would be fifty men other men might join. The Howitat are there, I hear. ALI The Howitat are brigands; they will sell themselves to anyone. LAWRENCE Good fighters, though. ALI Good? Yes. There are guns at Aqaba. LAWRENCE They face the sea, Sherif Ali, and cannot be turned round. From the landward side there are no guns at Aqaba. ALI With good reason. It cannot be approached from the landward side! LAWRENCE Certainly the Turks don't dream of it. Aqaba is over there. It's only a matter of going. ALI You are mad! FEISAL And where are you going, lieutenant, with fifty of my men? LAWRENCE To work your miracle. FEISAL Blasphemy is a bad beginning for such a journey. LAWRENCE Who told you? FEISAL Ali did. Why not you? LAWRENCE You are falling back on Yenbo, sir? ALI Yes. Yes, I must. But I will spare these to you. Did Ali break confidence to tell me? LAWRENCE Sherif Ali owes you his allegiance, my lord. FEISAL Yet, you did not tell Colonel Brighton. LAWRENCE No. But since you do know, we can claim to ride in the name of Feisal of Mecca. FEISAL Yes, Lieutenant Lawrence, you may claim it, but in whose name do you ride? GASIM Sherif! I caught them. They had tracked us. They were here. I caught them. ALI Why are you here? Boy! DOUD To serve lord Aurens, Sherif. GASIM This is true, Aurens. They do wish it. ALI You have been tracking us. You were told to stay. DOUD No, Sherif. Our camel strayed; we followed her. FERRAJ She led us here to be lord Aurens' servants. It is the Will of Allah. ALI Blasphemy! LAWRENCE Don't do that! GASIM No, no! Aurens. These are not servants. These are outcasts. Parentless! ALI Be warned! They are not suitable. LAWRENCE They sound very suitable. You can ride with the baggage. ALI These are not servants. These are worshippers! FERRAJ Aurens? LAWRENCE Hm? FERRAJ One shilling...every week. GASIM That is fair. FERRAJ Each. GASIM NO! That is too much! LAWRENCE Alright. GASIM They will be lucky for you. Allah favours the compassionate. ALI There is the railway...and that is the desert. From here until the other side; no water but what we carry: for the camels; no water at all. If the camels die, we die. And in twenty days they will start to die. LAWRENCE There's no time to waste, then, is there? LAWRENCE I was thinking. ALI You were drifting. LAWRENCE Yes. It will not happen again. ALI Be warned! You were drifting. LAWRENCE It will not happen again! ALI That water is wasted. From now on we must travel by night and rest while it is too hot to travel. A few hours each day. LAWRENCE Why don't we start now? ALI No. We will rest now. Three hours. LAWRENCE Fine. I'll wake you. LAWRENCE Do we rest here? ALI There is no rest, now, short of water, Aurens. On the other side of that. LAWRENCE And how much of that is there? ALI I'm not sure, but however much it must be crossed before tomorrow's sun gets up. This is the Sun's Anvil. LAWRENCE Have we done it? SILIAM No! But we're off the Anvil. LAWRENCE Thank God for that, anyway! SILIAM Yes. Thank Him! Aurens, I do not think you know how you have tempted him. LAWRENCE I know. We've done it. ALI God willing. LAWRENCE When do we reach the wells? ALI God willing, midday. LAWRENCE Then we've done it. SILIAM Thank Him, Aurens. Thank Him. DOUD Aurens! ALI Gasim's! LAWRENCE What's happened to him? ALI God knows! LAWRENCE Why don't you stop? ALI For what? He will be dead by midday! LAWRENCE We must go back. ALI What for? To die with Gasim? In one hour comes the sun. In God's name, understand! We cannot go back! LAWRENCE I can! Take the boy! ALI If you go back, you kill yourself, is all! Gasim you have killed already. LAWRENCE Get out of my way! ALI Gasim's time is come, Aurens. It is written. LAWRENCE Nothing is written! ALI Go back, then! What did you bring us here for with your blasphemous conceit! Hey? English blasphemer! Aqaba? Was it Aqaba? You will not be at Aqaba, English! Go back, blasphemer, but you will not be at Aqaba! LAWRENCE I shall be at Aqaba; that is written...in here. ALI English!!! English!!! LAWRENCE Nothing is written. GASIM Aurens? GASIM Aurens? ALI El Aurens? LAWRENCE Ferraj. Wash! ALI Ferraj. El Aurens, truly for some men nothing is written unless they write it. LAWRENCE Not 'El' Aurens; just Aurens. ALI El Aurens is better LAWRENCE True. ALI Your father, too, just Mr Lawrence. LAWRENCE My father is Sir Thomas Chapman. ALI Is that a lord? LAWRENCE A kind of lord. ALI And when he dies, you too will be a lord. LAWRENCE No. ALI Ah, you have an elder brother. LAWRENCE No. ALI But, then? I do not understand this. Your father's name is Chapman... LAWRENCE Ali, he didn't marry my mother. ALI I see. LAWRENCE I'm sorry. ALI It seems to me that you are free to choose your own name, then. LAWRENCE Yes. I suppose I am. ALI El Aurens is best. LAWRENCE Alright. I'll settle for 'El Aurens'. ALI They are the robes of a Sherif of the Beni Wadji. LAWRENCE Very fine. A great honour. ONLOOKER The honour is to us. Salaam, Sherif. LAWRENCE Is it permitted? ALI Surely. LAWRENCE Salaam. CROWD Salaam. SILIAM He for whom nothing is written may write himself a , salaam. ALI They are good for riding. Try! AUDAR What are you doing, Englishman? LAWRENCE As you see. Are you alone? AUDAR Almost. Are you with that party of dogs who are drinking at my well? LAWRENCE Yours? AUDAR I am Audar Abu Tayi. LAWRENCE I've heard of another man of that name. AUDAR Other? What other? LAWRENCE The Audar I'd heard of wouldn't need someone's help to look after his wells. AUDAR Ah. He must be a great hero. LAWRENCE He is. He wouldn't refuse water to men coming out of the great Nefud Desert. AUDAR Now, would he not? Hm. No, that must be some other man. Here is my help. Son, what fashion is this? SON Harif, father. AUDAR What manner of Harif? SON A Beni Wadji Sherif. AUDAR And is he Harif? SON No, father. English! AUDAR Son! They are stealing our water; tell them we're coming. Tell them!... Empty that! ALI Do not!! AUDAR It is Audar of the Howitat who speaks. ALI It is Ali of the Harif who answers. AUDAR Harif? Ali, does your father still steal? ALI No. Does Audar take me for one of his own bastards? AUDAR No, there is no resemblance. Alas, you resemble your father. ALI Audar flatters me. AUDAR You're easily flattered. I knew your father well. ALI Did you know your own? LAWRENCE Auda! We are fifty, you are two. How if we shot you down? AUDAR Why, then you have a blood feud with the Howitat. Do you desire it? LAWRENCE Not the generals in Cairo, nor the Sultan himself desire that. Call off your men. AUDAR No, no, boy. This honours the unworthy. I've only just begun to teach him. LAWRENCE And what are you teaching him today? Howitat hospitality? AUDAR Be not clever with me, English! Who is he? LAWRENCE A friend of Prince Feisal's. AUDAR Oh. So, you desire my hospitality. LAWRENCE Yes. AUDAR Is he your tongue? ALI We do desire it. AUDAR Ugh. Then, it is given, if you will take it. I am at my summer camp; a poor place. Well, to me it seems a poor place. Some men find it marvellous. Tomorrow, maybe, I will allow the Turks to buy you, friends of Feisal. But, dine with me. Dine with Auda, English; dine with the Howitat, Harif. It is my pleasure that you dine with me in Wadi Ram. In Auda's tent AUDAR This thing you work against Aqaba, what profit do you hope from it? ALI We work it for Feisal of Mecca. The Harif do not work for profit. AUDAR Well, if a man was meant to be a servant, Ali, he could find worse masters than Feisal, but I...I cannot serve. LAWRENCE You permit the Turks to stay in Aqaba. AUDAR Yes, it is my pleasure. LAWRENCE We do not work this thing for Feisal. AUDAR No? For the English, then? LAWRENCE For the Arabs. AUDAR The Arabs. The Howitat, Ajili, Rala, Beni Saha; these I know, I have even heard of the Harif, but the Arabs! What tribe is that? LAWRENCE They're a tribe of slaves; they serve the Turks. AUDAR Well, they are nothing to me. My tribe is the Howitat... ALI Who work only for profit. AUDAR Who work at Auda's pleasure. LAWRENCE And Auda's pleasure is to serve the Turks. AUDAR Serve. I serve? LAWRENCE It is the servant who takes money. AUDAR I am Audar Abu Tayi! Does Audar serve? CROWD No! AUDAR Does Audar Abu Tayi serve? CROWD No!! Ha! Ha! Ha! AUDAR I carry twenty-three great wounds, all got in battle. Seventy-five men have I killed with my own hands in battle. I scatter, I burn my enemies tents. I take away their flocks and herds. The Turks pay me a golden treasure. Yet, I am poor, because I am a river to my people! Is that service? LAWRENCE No. SILIAM And yet now it seems Audar has grown old and lost his taste for fighting. AUDAR It is well you say it in my tent, thou old tulip! ALI Yet, this is a tulip that the Turks could not buy. AUDAR Why should they wish to? Now! I will tell you what they pay me, and you will tell me if this is a servant's wages. They pay me, month by month, one hundred golden guineas. LAWRENCE One hundred and fifty, Auda. AUDAR Who told you that? LAWRENCE I have long ears. AUDAR And a long tongue between them. LAWRENCE A hundred; a hundred and fifty; what matters? It's a trifle...a trifle which they take from a great box they have... ALI In Aqaba. AUDAR In Aqaba! LAWRENCE Where else? AUDAR You trouble me like women. LAWRENCE Friends, we have been foolish. Audar will not come to Aqaba. AUDAR No. LAWRENCE For money. AUDAR No. LAWRENCE For Feisal? AUDAR No. LAWRENCE Nor to drive away the Turks. He will come because it is his pleasure. AUDAR Thy mother mated with a scorpion. AUDAR Make God your agent! Aqaba! CROWD Aqaba! AUDAR God be with you. ALI Yes, Aqaba. Tomorrow, we will go and get it. LAWRENCE Do you think we shall? ALI Yes. If you're right about the guns. AUDAR He killed: he dies. ALI This is the end of Aqaba. SILIAM One of our men murdered one of Auda's men. LAWRENCE Why? SILIAM Theft? Blood-feud? It makes no matter why. LAWRENCE Ali! ALI It is an ancient wound. LAWRENCE I didn't come here to watch a tribal bloodbath. AUDAR It is the law, Aurens. LAWRENCE The Law says the man must die. AUDAR Hm! LAWRENCE It he dies, would that content the Howitat? AUDAR Yes. LAWRENCE Sherif Ali. If none of lord Auda's men harms any of yours, will that content the Harif? ALI Yes. LAWRENCE Then, I will execute the Law. I have no tribe and no one is offended. Gasim! Did you do it? AUDAR Well. Aurens. What ails the Englishman? ALI That man he killed was the man he brought out of the Nefud. AUDAR Ah, it was written, then. Better to have left him. ALI It was execution, Aurens: no shame in that. Besides, it was necessary. You gave life and you took it. The writing is still yours. On the beach at Aqaba ALI The miracle is accomplished. Garlands for the conqueror. Tribute for the prince; flowers for the man. LAWRENCE I'm none of those things, Ali. ALI What, then? LAWRENCE Don't know. Thanks. My God I love this country. What! AUDAR No gold in Aqaba! MAN I've found it! LAWRENCE That's a pity. Ali. You get a message down the coast to Yenbo. Tell Feisal to find boats...any boats, and bring the Arab army here to Aqaba quickly. ALI And you? LAWRENCE I'm going to tell the generals in Cairo. Yes, cross Sinai. Come on! ALI Sinai!? LAWRENCE Yes! ALI With these? LAWRENCE They'll be alright with me. Look, Ali. If any of your Bedouin arrived in Cairo and said, 'We've taken Aqaba. the generals would laugh. ALI I see. In Cairo you will put off these funny clothes. You will wear trousers and tell stories of our quaintness and barbarity, and then, they will believe you. LAWRENCE You're an ignorant man. AUDAR Paper! Paper! There is no gold in Aqaba. No gold! No great box! LAWRENCE Did Audar come to Aqaba for gold? AUDAR For my pleasure as you said, but gold is honourable, and Aurens promised gold. Aurens lied. LAWRENCE See, Auda. The Crown of England promises to pay five thousand golden guineas to Audar Abu Tayi, signed in His Majesty's absence, by...me. In ten days, I'll be back with the gold. With gold, with guns, ...with everything. AUDAR Ten days. You'll cross Sinai? LAWRENCE Why not? Moses did. AUDAR And you will take the children? LAWRENCE Moses did! AUDAR Moses was a prophet and beloved of God. He said there was gold here: he lied. He is not perfect. FERRAJ Lord, can we not rest? LAWRENCE I told you, 'No rest till they know I hold Aqaba'. Have you two slept in beds? Ferraj? Doud? With sheets. Tomorrow the finest sheets in the finest room in the finest hotel in Cairo, I promise. MAJID Then it shall be so, lord. LAWRENCE Look! a pillar of fire. DOUD No, lord. Dust. LAWRENCE My compass! No matter. If we ride west, we must strike the Canal... LAWRENCE Come on! DOUD Aurens!! Aurens!! FERRAJ Aurens! LAWRENCE Ferraj! Ferraj! Don't! Don't! Don't! FERRAJ Aurens? Why do you walk? But why, lord? Aurens! But why, lord? There's room for both. It serves no purpose... Aurens! Look! Aurens! LAWRENCE It's all right, Ferraj. It's all right. FERRAJ Hey! MOTORCYCLIST Who are you? Who are you? Cairo FERRAJ Doud! SOLDIER We're here, sir. You taking him in there, sir? LAWRENCE Yes. SOLDIER Here! Here! You! And where the hell do you think you're going to, Mister? LAWRENCE Eh, we're thirsty. SOLDIER Mr Lawrence, is it? LAWRENCE Yes. SOLDIER Are you going to the officer's bar, sir? LAWRENCE Yes. SOLDIER You can't take him in there, sir. OFFICER What do you think you look like? BAR MAN No, no, you mustn't! Not another! Go effendi! Go! Get out! You must get out! Get out! LAWRENCE We want two large glasses of lemonade! BAR MAN This is a bar for British Officers. LAWRENCE That's alright; we're not particular FREDDY Lawrence! Are you off your head? LAWRENCE No. Oddly enough, I'm not. OFFICER Now, look here, Lawrence, just clear out of here, will you? CROWD Go on, Lawrence, clear off! Get that boy out of here! OFFICER Pogo! We'll have this one out, anyway. CROWD Get out! Get that wog out of here! Yes, clear off! Go on, get the little wog out! BRIGHTON What's going on? OFFICER It's Lawrence, sir. LAWRENCE Lemonade with ice. BRIGHTON Well, explain yourself. LAWRENCE We've taken Aqaba. BRIGHTON Taken Aqaba? Who has? LAWRENCE We have. Our side in this war have. The wogs have. We have. He likes your lemonade. BRIGHTON You mean the Turks have gone? LAWRENCE No, they're still there, but they've no boots. Prisoners, sir. We took them prisoners; the entire garrison. No, that's not true. We killed some; too many really. I'll manage it better next time. There's been a lot of killing, one way or another. Cross my heart and hope to die, it's all perfectly true. BRIGHTON It isn't possible. LAWRENCE Yes, it is. I did it. BRIGHTON You'd better talk to Allenby. LAWRENCE General Allenby? BRIGHTON Yes, He's in command now Murray's gone. LAWRENCE Well, that's a step in the right direction. First I want a room, with a bed, with sheets. BRIGHTON Yes, yes, of course. LAWRENCE It's for him. BRIGHTON Right! You want a bed yourself, don't you? LAWRENCE See Allenby first, though. Will he see me? BRIGHTON I think so. LAWRENCE Do that then. I'd better shave BRIGHTON Yes, you had. You'd better get into some trousers too. ALLENBY Undisciplined...unpunctual...untidy...sev eral languages...knowledge of music...literature...knowledge of...knowledge of...you're an interesting man, there's no doubt about it. Who told you to take Aqaba? LAWRENCE Nobody. ALLENBY Sir. LAWRENCE Sir. ALLENBY Then, why did you? LAWRENCE Aqaba's important. ALLENBY Why is it important? LAWRENCE It's the Turkish route to the Canal. ALLENBY Not any more. They're coming through Bethsheda. LAWRENCE I know, but we've gone forward to Gaza. ALLENBY So? LAWRENCE So that left Aqaba behind your right. ALLENBY True. LAWRENCE And it will be further behind your right when you go for Jerusalem. ALLENBY Am I going for Jerusalem? LAWRENCE Yes. ALLENBY Very well. Aqaba behind my right. LAWRENCE It threatened El Herish and Gaza. ALLENBY Anything else? LAWRENCE Yes. Aqaba's linked with Medina. ALLENBY Do you think we should shift them out of Medina now? LAWRENCE No. I think you should leave them there. ALLENBY You acted without orders, you know? LAWRENCE Shouldn't officers use their initiative at all times? ALLENBY Not really. It's awfully dangerous, Lawrence. LAWRENCE Yes. I know. ALLENBY Already? LAWRENCE Yes. ALLENBY I'm promoting you major. LAWRENCE I don't think that's a very good idea. ALLENBY I didn't ask you; I want you to go back...and carry on the good work. LAWRENCE No, thank you, sir. ALLENBY Why not? LAWRENCE Well, I...eh, let me see...I killed two people. I mean two Arabs; one was a boy. that was... yesterday! I led him into quicksand. The other was a man; that was before Aqaba, anyway. I had to execute him with my pistol. There was something about it I didn't like. ALLENBY Well, naturally... LAWRENCE No, something else... ALLENBY I see, well, that's all right. We'll give you a warning. LAWRENCE No. Something else. ALLENBY What then? LAWRENCE I enjoyed it. ALLENBY Rubbish! Rubbish! You know that you're tired. What do you mean by coming here dressed like that? Amateur theatricals? LAWRENCE Oh, yes. Entirely. ALLENBY Let me see that hat-thing, or whatever it is. Fascinating gear they wear. How do you think I would look in this hat, Harry? BRIGHTON Damn ridiculous, sir. ALLENBY Here, you keep it. LAWRENCE What I'm trying to say is I don't think I'm fit for it. ALLENBY Really!? What do you think, Dryden? DRYDEN Before he did it, sir, I'd have said it couldn't be done. ALLENBY Brighton? LAWRENCE I know what he thinks. BRIGHTON I think you should recommend a decoration, sir. I don't think it matters what his motives were; 'twas a brilliant bit of soldiering. ALLENBY Mr Perkins! PERKINS Sah! ALLENBY Let's have a drink, gentlemen. PERKINS Sah! ALLENBY You've heard about this, Mr Perkins. PERKINS Yes, sir. ALLENBY What do you think about it? PERKINS Bloody marvellous, sir. Well done, sir. ALLENBY Thank you, Mr Perkins. PERKINS Sah! ALLENBY Come on, then. LAWRENCE You're a clever man, sir. ALLENBY No, but I know a good thing when I see one. That's fair, surely. Look here, lad. If I'm going to break through to Jerusalem, I must concentrate not discipline... LAWRENCE Guns. ALLENBY Do you know of better?... LAWRENCE We shall do very well, indeed, sir. ALLENBY Easy, gentlemen, please. Will you give us something to drink? Waiter Of course, sir. ALLENBY I'm here at the invitation of Major Lawrence. Tracy. Shall we go outside? So, you'll hold down the Turkish desert army. LAWRENCE Yes. ALLENBY With a thousand Arabs? LAWRENCE A thousand Arabs means a thousand knives, delivered anywhere, day or night...means a thousand camels; that means a thousand packs of high explosive and a thousand crack rifles. We can cross Arabia while Johnny Turk is still turning round. I'll smash his railways, and while he's mending them I'll smash them somewhere else. In thirteen weeks I can have Arabia in chaos. ALLENBY You are going back then? LAWRENCE Yes, of course I'm going back. ALLENBY Well, if we can see it, so can the Turk. If he finds he's using four divisions to fend off a handful of bandits, he'll withdraw. LAWRENCE He daren't withdraw. Arabia's part of his empire: if he gets out now, he knows he'll never get back again. BRIGHTON I wonder who will. LAWRENCE No one will. Arabia's for the Arabs now. That's what I've told them, anyway. That's what they think: that's why they're fighting. ALLENBY Oh, surely. LAWRENCE They've only one suspicion, if we'll let them drive the Turks out and then move in ourselves. I've told them that that's false: that we've no ambitions in Arabia, have we? ALLENBY I'm not a politician, thank God. have we any ambition in Arabia, Dryden? DRYDEN Difficult question, sir. LAWRENCE I want to know, sir, if I can tell them in your name that we have no ambitions in Arabia. ALLENBY Certainly. LAWRENCE Two thousand small arms is not enough: I need five. ALLENBY Right. LAWRENCE Money. It'll have to be sovereigns: they don't like paper. ALLENBY Right. LAWRENCE Instructors for the Lewis guns. ALLENBY Right. LAWRENCE More money. ALLENBY How much more? LAWRENCE Twenty-five thousand now: a lot more later. ALLENBY Dryden? DRYDEN It can be done, sir. LAWRENCE A couple of armoured cars. ALLENBY Right. LAWRENCE Field artillery. ALLENBY Right. I'm going to give you every blessed thing I can, Major Lawrence, because I know you'll use it. Congratulations and thank you. Thank you for your hospitality, gentlemen. CROWD Congratulations. DRYDEN Are you really going to give them artillery, sir? BRIGHTON I was wondering that, sir. It might be deuced difficult to get it back again. DRYDEN Give them artillery and you've made them independent. ALLENBY Then, I can't give them artillery, can I? DRYDEN For you to say, sir. ALLENBY No, it's not. I've got orders to obey, thank God. Not like that poor devil. He's riding the whirlwind. DRYDEN Let's hope we're... BENTLEY Excuse me, friend. Who do these bags belong to? SILIAM To Prince Feisal. BENTLEY You're not Prince Feisal, by any chance. SILIAM No. BENTLEY You know him, though. SILIAM He is my master. I am his servant. BENTLEY Em. Can you read? The Chicago Courier is my own particular paper, but my work is syndicated throughout America. FEISAL I understood so from your letter, Mr Bentley. Now? BENTLEY Where can I find Major Lawrence? FEISAL Is that what you've come for? BENTLEY Not all together, sir, no. FEISAL Well, Mr Bentley, you will find Major Lawrence with my army. BENTLEY Well, that's what I meant, sir. Where can I find your army? FEISAL I don't know. Last week they were near El Hira. BENTLEY Gira! FEISAL Oh, yes. I fear you have a long journey. Can you ride a camel? BENTLEY I've never tried. FEISAL Take a mule. Avoid Malal. The Turks are there. BENTLEY In Malal, now? They move fast. FEISAL They do, but not so fast as we do, you will find. FEISAL Myself? I am going to Cairo, as you know. BENTLEY Yes. FEISAL There is work for me there of a different kind. BENTLEY Yes. I understand you've been given no artillery. FEISAL That is so. BENTLEY You're handicapped. FEISAL It restricts us to small things. BENTLEY It's intended to. FEISAL Do you know General Allenby? BENTLEY Watch out for Allenby. He's a 'slim customer'. FEISAL Excuse me? BENTLEY A clever man. FEISAL 'Slim customer'. Very good. I will certainly watch out for him. You're being very sympathetic, Mr Bentley. BENTLEY Your Highness, we Americans were once a colonial people and we naturally feel sympathetic to any people, anywhere, who are struggling for their freedom. FEISAL Very gratifying. BENTLEY Also, my interests are the same as yours. You want your story told: I badly want a story to tell. FEISAL Ah, now you are 'talking turkey', are you not? BENTLEY Ha! Ha! FEISAL Well, Mr Bentley, I will give you a guide and a letter, and before I leave here...Ah, which must be presently, I will have some facts and figures put on paper for you. You know, of course, that we are destroying the Turkish railways? BENTLEY I do, sir. Major Lawrence is in charge of all this, is he? FEISAL My army is made up of tribes. The tribes are led by the tribal leaders. FEISAL Well, your people do think very highly of Major Lawrence, though. FEISAL Oh, yes. And rightly. In this country, Mr Bentley, the man who gives victory in battle is prized beyond every other man. One figure I can give you from my head because it never leaves my head. Since starting this campaign four months ago, we have lost thirty-seven wounded, one hundred and fifty-six dead. You remark that this proportion between our dead and wounded. BENTLEY Yeah. Four times as many. FEISAL That's because those too badly wounded to bring away we ourselves kill. We leave no wounded for the Turks. BENTLEY You mean... FEISAL I mean we leave no wounded for the Turks. In their eyes we are not soldiers, but rebels, and rebels wounded or whole are not protected by the Geneva Code and are treated harshly. BENTLEY How harshly? FEISAL More harshly than I hope you can imagine. BENTLEY I see. FEISAL Our own prisoners, Mr Bentley, are taken care of until the British can relieve us of them according to the Code. I should like you to notice that. BENTLEY Yes, sir. Is that the influence of Major Lawrence? FEISAL Why should you suppose so? BENTLEY Well, it's just I heard in Cairo that Major Lawrence has a horror of bloodshed. FEISAL That is exactly so. with Major Lawrence, mercy is a passion: with me it is merely good manners. You may judge which motive is the more reliable. And now, perhaps... BENTLEY Oh, sure. Sure. Thank you, sir. Do you think you'd be able to manage the letter? FEISAL I'll do everything I have said, Mr Bentley, if you will tell me truly the nature of your interest in my people and Major Lawrence. BENTLEY It's very simple, sir. I'm looking for a hero. FEISAL Indeed? You do not seem a romantic man. BENTLEY Oh, no. But certain influential men back home believe that the time has come for America to lend her weight to the patriotic struggle against Germany...and Turkey. Now, I've been sent to find material which will show our people that his war is... FEISAL Enjoyable? BENTLEY Hardly that, sir. But to show it in its more adventurous aspects. FEISAL You are looking for a figure who will draw your country towards war. BENTLEY Alright. Yes. FEISAL Aurens is your man. LAWRENCE Stop! Stop it! Stop it! Come on, men! AUDAR Aurens! LAWRENCE Oh, good God! BENTLEY Jimeny! Never seen a man killed with a sword before. LAWRENCE Why don't you take a picture? BENTLEY Wish I had. AUDAR How is it with thee, Aurens? No! Am I in this? LAWRENCE Did you take his picture? BENTLEY Yeah. AUDAR You are using up your nine lives very quickly. BENTLEY Charming company you keep. LAWRENCE Auda? he's a bit old fashioned. He thinks these things will steal his virtue. He thinks you're a kind of thief. BENTLEY Is it alright if I take your picture? LAWRENCE All right. BENTLEY OK. Just walk. CROWD Aurens! Aurens! BENTLEY Major Lawrence? Yes, sir, that's my baby. BRIGHTON This looting has got to stop. ALI It is customary. BRIGHTON It's theft, and theft makes thieves. ALI I would not say that to Auda. It is their payment, Colonel. BRIGHTON Payment! ALI Truly, are not British soldiers paid? BRIGHTON They don't go home when they're paid. ALI They are not free to. BRIGHTON Well, there's another lot you've seen the last of. LAWRENCE They'll come back. BRIGHTON He says they'll come back. Will they? ALI Not this year, Aurens. BRIGHTON Look, Lawrence. How many men do you think you'll have left? Two hundred? LAWRENCE Less. BRIGHTON Well, then. LAWRENCE I said they'll come back. BRIGHTON You badly hurt? LAWRENCE Not hurt at all. Didn't you know? They can only kill me with a golden bullet. ALI It is for children. I have set myself to learn again. BENTLEY What are you learning from this? ALI Politics. BENTLEY You gonna be a democracy in this country? You gonna have a parliament? ALI I will tell you that when I have a country. BENTLEY Ha! Ha!... ALI Did I answer well? BENTLEY You answered without saying anything. That's politics. You learn quickly. ALI I have a good teacher. BENTLEY Yeah. Yeah. How's your hurt? LAWRENCE Fine. BENTLEY Before I return to the flesh-pots, which I shall be very glad to do, may I put two questions to you? Straight? LAWRENCE I'd be interested to hear you put a question straight, Mr Bentley. BENTLEY One: What, in your opinion, do these people hope to gain from this war? LAWRENCE They hope to gain their freedom. Freedom. BENTLEY They hope to gain their freedom. There's one born every minute. LAWRENCE They're going to get it, Mr Bentley. I'm going to give it to them. The second question? BENTLEY Oh. Well, I was going to ask...eh; what is it, Major Lawrence, that attracts you personally to the desert? LAWRENCE It's clean. BENTLEY Well, now. That's a very illuminating answer. May I take one farewell picture? AUDAR I gave Math Budad two lamps for it. One clock for two lamps. BRIGHTON A fair bargain. AUDAR I robbed him. I must find something honourable. BRIGHTON Honourable? AUDAR Yes, the year is running out, Brighton. I must find something honourable. AUDAR Now, you may blow up my train. BRIGHTON And what will you do now? AUDAR Oh, now I go home. They will carry my toys. They will carry my toys, too, do you see? BRIGHTON Major Lawrence will campaign this winter, but you've got what you wanted so you're going home. Is that it? AUDAR Of course! When Aurens has got what he wants, he will go home. When you have got what you want, you will go home. BRIGHTON Oh, no, I shan't, Auda. AUDAR Then you are a fool. BRIGHTON Maybe. I am not a deserter. AUDAR Give thanks to God, Brighton, that when he made you a fool, he gave you a fool's face. BRIGHTON You are an impudent rascal! AUDAR I must go, Aurens, before I soil myself with a fool's blood. BRIGHTON It's like talking to a brick wall. So, what'll you do now? What can you do? LAWRENCE I'll go north. That's what Allenby wants, isn't it? BRIGHTON Allenby wanted the Arab army behind Dar'a. LAWRENCE Then that's where I'll take it. LAWRENCE Tell Allenby to hurry up; that we'll be in Dar'a before he's in Jerusalem, won't we? LAWRENCE Train! Ferraj. FERRAJ Ya! Aurens. Bedouin Aii! LAWRENCE Hide yourself, my friend. Detonator. Alright, fetch another. FERRAJ Pardon, Aurens, I put it in... LAWRENCE There's plenty of time; fetch another! Ferraj? Ferraj! ALI What happened? LAWRENCE Detonator. A detonator. BEDOUIN He cannot ride, Aurens. Look. ALI If they take him alive, you know what they will do to him. FERRAJ Daud will be angry with you. LAWRENCE Salute him for me. ALI What will you do now? LAWRENCE Go north. ALI With twenty? LAWRENCE What would you recommend me to do, Ali? What would you recommend? BRIGHTON Well, he hasn't one-tenth so many men, sir. ALLENBY He's lied, in fact. BRIGHTON Yes and no. He doesn't claim to have done anything he hasn't done. ALLENBY Then there is an Arab north army? BRIGHTON No, sir, he has lied about that. ALLENBY Any idea why? BRIGHTON It's his army, I suppose. ALLENBY It's Prince Feisal's army. Do you think he's gone native, Harry? BRIGHTON No. He would if he could, I think. Not my line of country this, sir. ALLENBY Oh, it doesn't matter; I'm just curious. What matters is I believed it. The Turks believe it. They're offering twenty thousand pounds for him. BRIGHTON Good Heavens! ALLENBY No. Shouldn't say he'd long to live, would you? BRIGHTON Well, whatever else, sir, he's a brave man. ALLENBY Oh, surely, surely. If he's still going north with fifty men, he doesn't lack 'guts'. I wonder if they'd offer that much for me. What about next year? Will they still come back? BRIGHTON I wouldn't be surprised. They think he's a kind of prophet. ALLENBY They do or he does? ALI Now, may I speak? LAWRENCE Yes. ALI Aurens. One more failure, and you will find yourself alone. I do not include myself. LAWRENCE I do not include the others. ALI So, say they love you: the more reason to be thrifty with them. give them something to do that can be done. But you? No, no, they must move mountains for you: they must walk on water. LAWRENCE That's right. That's right! Who are you to know what can be done. If we'd done what you thought could be done, we'd be back in Yenbo now, and nowhere. Whatever I ask them to do, can be done, that's all. They know that if you don't. Do you think I'm just anybody, Ali? Do you? My friends. Who will walk on water with me? Who will come with me into Dar'a? BEDOUIN Dar'a is garrisoned. Will you take twenty against two thousand? LAWRENCE I'll go by myself if I have to. BEDOUIN Why? LAWRENCE Because I told the English generals the Arab revolt will be in Dar'a when they would be in Jerusalem. BEDOUIN Or perhaps you are here for the English generals. LAWRENCE Who says this? ALI Rumour. BEDOUIN That is not an argument. LAWRENCE No argument. This afternoon, I will take the Arab revolt into Dar'a while the Arabs argue. BEDOUIN Aurens! Can you pass for an Arab in an Arab town? LAWRENCE Yes, if one of you would lend me some dirty clothes. Dar'a ALI This is madness! What are you looking for? LAWRENCE Some way to announce myself. ALI Be patient with him, God. ALI Do you not see how they look at you? Come! LAWRENCE Please, Ali. I am invisible. TURK Halt! LAWRENCE Walk on. TURK Halt! LAWRENCE Walk on. TURK You! And You! BEY You. You have blue eyes? I say you have blue eyes. LAWRENCE Yes, efendi. BEY Are you Sicasian? LAWRENCE Yes, efendi. BEY How old are you? LAWRENCE Twenty-seven, efendi. I think. BEY You look older. You have had a lot of experience. It's an interesting face. I'm surrounded by cattle. He wouldn't know an interesting face from a sow's belly. I have been in Dar'a now for three and a half years. If they'd posted me to the dark side of the moon, I could not be more isolated. You haven't the least idea of what I'm talking about, have you? LAWRENCE No, efendi. BEY Have you? No. That would be too lucky. Where did you get that? LAWRENCE Oh, eh, it's old, efendi. BEY No, no. This is recent. You are a deserter. LAWRENCE No, efendi. BEY Yes, you're a deserter, but from which army? Not that it matters at all. A man cannot be always in uniform. Your skin is very fair. Beat him. ALI Sleep. Sleep! Eat. Eat! You have a body like other men. Good. Then sleep. ALI Better? LAWRENCE Much better. You were right. ALI Rest, rest. Can you not learn? LAWRENCE Oh, I've learned alright. I'm going, Ali. ALI Why? LAWRENCE Why? Heavens! ALI Why? LAWRENCE I've come to the end of myself, I suppose. ALI And the end of the Arab revolt? LAWRENCE I'm not the Arab revolt, Ali. I'm not even Arab. ALI A man can be whatever he wants, you said. LAWRENCE I'm sorry. I thought it was, too. ALI You proved it. LAWRENCE Look, Ali. Look! That's me. What colour is it? That's me! And there's nothing I can do about it. ALI A man can do whatever he wants, you said. LAWRENCE He can, but he can't want what he wants. This is the stuff that decides what he wants. You may as well know, I would have told them anything; I would have told them who I am; I would have told them where you were; I tried to. ALI So would any man. LAWRENCE Well, any man is what I am and I'm going back to Allenby to ask him for a job that any man can do. ALI Allenby's in Jerusalem. LAWRENCE I'll make easy stages. ALI You! LAWRENCE Oh, yes. Easy stages. Look, Ali, I think I see a way of being just ordinarily happy. Can I take this? ALI It is not clean. LAWRENCE No, but it's warm. ALI And these? Having led them here! Have you no care for them? ALI You'll lead them. They're yours. Trust your own people and let me go back to mine. SOLDIER I say, don't forget those form fives. SOLDIER All right! LAWRENCE Hey? Mind if I join you? OFFICER Oh. Honoured, sir. LAWRENCE Good to be back. OFFICER We heard you were, sir. What's doing out there? LAWRENCE Where? Oh, Arabia. OFFICER Eh, yes, sir. LAWRENCE Nothing much. Wrong time of year. What's doing here? OFFICER We're settling in alright, sir. We've built a squash court. LAWRENCE Jolly good. Well, I have to go up there. It's borrowed. Someone pinched mine. OFFICER Bloody wogs! LAWRENCE Yes, probably. Jolly good about the squash court. OFFICER Lays it on a bit thick, doesn't he? LAWRENCE Morning. MP Oh, morning, sir. LAWRENCE Good to be back. MP I'll believe you, sir. LAWRENCE No, really, it is. Hello. BRIGHTON Morning. You're to go right in. FEISAL Aurens, or is it Major Lawrence? LAWRENCE Sir. FEISAL Ah. Ai. Well, General, I will leave you. Major Lawrence, doubtless, has reports to make about my people and their weakness, and the need to keep them weak in the British interest...and the French interest too, of course. We must not forget the French now... ALLENBY I've told you, sir, no such treaty exists. FEISAL Yes, General, you have lied most bravely, but not convincingly. I know this treaty does exist. LAWRENCE Treaty, sir? FEISAL He does it better than you, General, but then, of course, he is almost an Arab. DRYDEN You really don't know? ALLENBY Then what the devil's this? LAWRENCE It's my request for release from Arabia, sir. ALLENBY For what reason? Are you sure you haven't heard of the Sykes-Picot Treaty? LAWRENCE No. I can guess ALLENBY Don't guess! Tell him! DRYDEN Well, now. Mr Sykes is and English civil servant. Monsieur Picot is a French civil servant. Mr Sykes and Monsieur Picot met and they agreed that after the war, France and England would share the Turkish Empire, including Arabia. They signed an agreement, not a treaty, sir. An agreement to that effect. LAWRENCE There may be honour among thieves, but there's none in politicians. DRYDEN And let's no have displays of indignation. You may not have known, but you certainly had suspicions. If we've told lies, you've told half-lies and a man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the truth, but a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it. LAWRENCE The truth is I'm an ordinary man. You might have told me that, Dryden, and I want an ordinary job, sir. That's my reason for resigning. It's personal. ALLENBY Personal? LAWRENCE Yes, sir. ALLENBY Personal? You're a serving officer in the field, and as it happens, a damned important one. Personal? Are you mad? LAWRENCE No, and if you don't mind, I'd rather not go mad. That's my reason, too. ALLENBY Look, Lawrence. I'm making my big push on Damascus the sixteenth of next month and you are part of it. Can you understand that? You're an important part of the big push. LAWRENCE I don't want to be part of your big push! ALLENBY What about your Arab friends? What about them? LAWRENCE I have no Arab friends! I don't want Arab friends! ALLENBY What in hell do you want, Lawrence? LAWRENCE I've told you. I just want my ration of common humanity. DRYDEN Lawrence? LAWRENCE Yes? DRYDEN Nothing. Sorry I interrupted, sir. ALLENBY Oh, that's quite all right, thank you, Mr Dryden. DRYDEN Thank you, sir. ALLENBY Look. Why don't we...there's blood on your back. Do you want a doctor? LAWRENCE No. ALLENBY Tell me what happened. BENTLEY So, what goes on in there? DRYDEN Nothing. BENTLEY Oh, come on! DRYDEN No, really. Nothing at all. BENTLEY Is the man in trouble? DRYDEN I expect so. We all have troubles. Life's a vale of troubles. BENTLEY Just let me know if the man's in trouble; I've got an interest in that man; I've got a claim! DRYDEN What claim? BENTLEY You've read my stuff. I've made that boy a hero. When the war's over, that boy can be anything he wants. DRYDEN Yes. Well, at the moment he wants to be somebody else. Will you kindly allow me to pass? BENTLEY Walk away, Dryden. Walk away. Always walking away, aren't you? DRYDEN Well, I'll tell you. It's a little clash of temperament that's going on in there, inevitably. One of them's half-mad, and the other, wholly unscrupulous. ALLENBY I believe your name will be a household word when you'll have to go to the War Museum to find who Allenby was. You're the most extraordinary man I've ever met. LAWRENCE Leave me alone! ALLENBY What? LAWRENCE Leave me alone! ALLENBY Well, that's a feeble thing to say. LAWRENCE I know I'm not ordinary. ALLENBY That's not what I'm saying. LAWRENCE All right! I'm extraordinary. What of it? ALLENBY Not many people have a destiny, Lawrence. It's a terrible thing for a man to funk it if he has. LAWRENCE Are you speaking from experience? ALLENBY No. LAWRENCE You're guessing, then. Suppose you're wrong. ALLENBY Why suppose that? We both know I'm right. LAWRENCE Yes... ALLENBY ...After all... LAWRENCE I said, 'Yes'. The sixteenth? ALLENBY Can you do it? I'll give you a lot of money. LAWRENCE Artillery? ALLENBY I can't. LAWRENCE They won't be coming for money; not the best of them. They's be coming for Damascus, which I'm going to give them. ALLENBY That's all I want. LAWRENCE All you want is someone holding down the Turkish right, but I'm going to give them Damascus. We'll get there before you do, and when we've got it, we'll keep it. You can tell the politicians to burn their bit of paper, now. ALLENBY Fair enough. LAWRENCE Fair. What's 'fair' got to do with it? It's going to happen. I shall want quite a lot of money. ALLENBY All there is. LAWRENCE Not that much. The best of them won't come for money; they'll come for me. AUDAR No pictures! You take no pictures! BENTLEY It's not for you, sheika, it's for Major Lawrence. He doesn't mind having his picture taken. He doesn't mind at all. AUDAR Well, there's only one Aurens. BENTLEY Have you met Major Lawrence since he's come back, sherif? ALI Yes. BENTLEY Changed, hasn't he? ALI No! BENTLEY Oh, I'd say he had. Different man, I'd say. What did that Turkish general do to him in Dar'a? ALI He was the same man after Dar'a. The same man. Humbled. What did the English general do to him in Jerusalem? BENTLEY Search me? Ask Aurens. ALI I did. BENTLEY What did he say? ALI He laughed. He told me to gather the Harif here. He offered me money. BENTLEY Did you take it? ALI No. But many did. What is this? LAWRENCE This is my bodyguard. ALI There's not a man there without a price on his head. LAWRENCE There's a price on my head, too. ALI But these are murderers. You know the sheiks will hang these men. LAWRENCE These men are mine. ALI Aurens. These things know nothing of the Arab revolt. You! You son of a leper. GUARD Sherif? ALI Where do we ride? GUARD Damascus, sherif. ALI Aye, but for what? GUARD Sherif? For Aurens. ALI You have bought these things! LAWRENCE I bought half the men here, Ali. ALI That is different. These are not ordinary men! LAWRENCE I don't want ordinary men! Damascus!! AUDAR Aurens! ALLENBY Very well, gentlemen. The cavalry's gone through Masseriel and Dar'a. Very good, by the way. very good indeed. Now your turn. CHARLEY Well, sir, if the enemy's retreating in any kind of order, which we'd better assume,... ALLENBY Certainly. CHARLEY ...he can't be further than this Malad place. In which case I can have him within range by, eh, o-nine hundred hours tomorrow. ALLENBY Splendid! Philip. PHILIP Well, these are the last infantry supports going up now, sir, but Malad could have the Fusiliers there by Wednesday, sir. ALLENBY That'll do for now. The guns are what matter. Any questions? OFFICER This Arab army on the right, sir. What does it consist of? BRIGHTON Irregular cavalry, sir. About two thousand. OFFICER Where are they now? BENTLEY (We) Can only know that by being with them, sir. ALLENBY Then get with them, Harry. I want to know. BRIGHTON Yes, sir. ALLENBY Pound them, Charley! Pound them! ALI God help the men who lie under that! LAWRENCE They're Turks. ALI God help them! BRIGHTON Well, he's got the bit between his teeth alright. ALLENBY Cocky? BRIGHTON More than cocky, sir. He's got the bit between his teeth. All right. I tell you, sir, I think he'll get to Damascus before we do unless... ALLENBY Unless? BENTLEY Well, there's a Turkish column in front of him. Out of Masriel. ALLENBY What do the Turks have in Masriel? I wonder where they are now. GUARD No prisoners. ALI Damascus, Aurens. Aurens. Not this. Go round. Damascus, Aurens! Damascus! GUARD No prisoners. ALI Aurens? AUDAR This was Talal's village. LAWRENCE No prisoners! No prisoners! ALI God. God! God!! Aurens! Enough! Enough! Make them stop! Aurens! BENTLEY Major! Major Lawrence! Jesus wept! Jesus wept! ALI Does it surprise you, Mr Bentley? Surely, you know the Arabs are a barbarous people. Barbarous and cruel. Who but they! Who but they! BENTLEY Oh, you rotten man. Here, let me take your rotten bloody picture for the rotten bloody newspapers. BEDOUIN These were cut last night, Aurens, in Damascus. Damascus! LAWRENCE Take them to Sherif Ali. Tell him. Remind him. Is Allenby in Damascus? BEDOUIN Near. LAWRENCE Tell Sherif Ali that. BEDOUIN They are not ripe, ha, ha. SOLDIER General salute! Present arms! Hold Arms! BRIGHTON Lawrence is behind it, sir. Lawrence. The whole town has passed onto the Arab flag. ALLENBY When? BRIGHTON A day and a night, sir. They've been here a day and a night. They've occupied the town, sir. They've done it. He's set up his own headquarters in the town hall. ALLENBY What else besides the town hall? BRIGHTON The telephone exchange, post office, power house, hospital, fire station, everything, sir. They call themselves the Arab National Council and they're in the town hall. ALLENBY Well, they're your pigeon, Harry. What do you think we should do about it? BRIGHTON Well, get them out of it, sir, quick time. ALLENBY How about that, Dryden? DRYDEN Not unless you want a full-scale rising on your hands, sir. BRIGHTON Well, what, then? DRYDEN When will Prince Feisal be in Damascus? ALLENBY By special train in two days' time. DRYDEN Two days. ALLENBY Two days is what you asked me for. I can't keep him out any longer. Isn't it enough? DRYDEN Yes, ample. I should think. BRIGHTON Look, sir, we can't just do nothing. ALLENBY Why not? It's usually best. ALLENBY Get us something to drink, Tracy. Tracy Yes, sir. ALLENBY And Tracy, all troops to remain quartered until further notice. TRACY Yes, sir. Does that apply to technical units, sir? ALLENBY Technical Units particularly. TRACY Yes, sir. BRIGHTON Medicals, too, sir? ALLENBY I'm afraid so, Harry. Medicals too. LAWRENCE We, here, are neither Harif, nor Howetat, nor any other tribe, but Arabs at the Arab Council, acting for Prince Feisal. AUDAR He insulted me. LAWRENCE Sherif Ali said that the telephones were in the care of the Howetat, and that the telephones had ceased to work, and this is true, Auda. AUDAR They will not work because they are given no electricity. The electricity is in the care of the Harif. LAWRENCE If you answer there'll be bloodshed. ALI You speak to me of bloodshed? I ask pardon of Audar Bute. AUDAR Humbly? Humbly! Harif! ALI Yes! Humbly! AUDAR This is a new trick. LAWRENCE Why is there no electricity? ALI I have been to that electrical house, Aurens. There are three large machines. LAWRENCE He means 'generators'! ALI So, one of them is burned. They are of an incredible size, but helpless. AUDAR It is so of all machines. Let them burn! What need of telephones? LAWRENCE The need is absolute. ALI Then, we need the English engineers. LAWRENCE No! Take English engineers and you take English government. Take... SOLIDER Fire has broken out. ALI Where? SOLIDER In the Gensebe district. ALI It is not a district that matters. LAWRENCE It will spread. ALI Then, in God's name, use the fire brigade! SOLIDER We have tried, Aurens, but there is force in the water. LAWRENCE Then, you must carry it. ALI The Urala do not carry water. AUDAR What else are they good for? LAWRENCE We will hear petitions this afternoon. This afternoon! ALLENBY I'm going to take this up after the war. BRIGHTON Surely, we should do something, sir. ALLENBY It's an old man's sport. DRYDEN Are you an old man, sir? ALLENBY Hmm. BRIGHTON Well, all I can say is, sir, it's a heavy responsibility. Sorry, sir. ALLENBY Maybe, it's the bulb. DRYDEN No, sir. It's the power. They're leaving, sir. ALLENBY That's it, then. Marvellous-looking beggars, aren't they? AUDAR Leave this, Aurens. Come with me! LAWRENCE Come where? AUDAR Back! I know your heart. What is it? Is it this? I tell you; this is nothing. Is it the blood? The desert has dried up more blood than you could think of. LAWRENCE I pray that I may never see the desert again. Hear me, God! AUDAR You will come. There is only the desert for you. LAWRENCE What about you, Ali? ALI No. I shall stay here and learn politics. LAWRENCE That's a very low occupation. ALI I had no thought of it when I met you. You tried very hard to give us Damascus. LAWRENCE It's what I came for. And that would be something. ALI Yes. Much. AUDAR He is your friend? ALI Take your hand away! AUDAR You love him. ALI No, I fear him. AUDAR Then, why do you weep? ALI I fear him who love him? Or must he fear himself or hate himself. Take your hand away! Howitat! AUDAR Oh, so you are not yet entirely politician. ALI Not yet. AUDAR Well, these are new tricks and I am an old dog. And Allah be thanked. I'll tell thee what, though; being an Arab will be thornier than you suppose, Harif! DOCTOR In all my years as a medical officer I've never seen anything like it. ALLENBY It comes within the jurisdiction of the Arab Council. DOCTOR I'm sorry, sir, under the circumstances I think I must take over immediately. ALLENBY Under any circumstance at all, you must obey your orders. DOCTOR No, sir, I will not. ALLENBY Control yourself. Now, go over to the Town Hall and see what they say. LAWRENCE We did what we could in the civic hospitals. DOCTOR But you forgot the Turkish military hospital. LAWRENCE Yes. DOCTOR It has six hundred beds. There are about two thousand Turkish wounded in it. all of whom are the responsibility of your precious Arab Council. LAWRENCE What's it like? OFFICER This is outrageous! Outrageous! Outrageous!! You filthy little wog! FEISAL My friend, Aurens, if I may call him that. My friend, Aurens. How many men will claim the right to use that phrase? How proudly! He longs for the greenness of his native land; he pines for the gothic cottages of, eh, Surrey? Is it not? Already, in imagination he catches trout and engages in all the activities of the English gentleman. ALLENBY That's me you're describing, sir, not Colonel Lawrence. You're promoted Colonel. LAWRENCE Yes? What for? FEISAL Take the honour, Colonel. Be a little kind. ALLENBY As a Colonel, you'll have a cabin to yourself on the boat home. LAWRENCE Then, thank you. ALLENBY Well, then, God speed. FEISAL There's nothing further here for a warrior. We drive bargains. Old men's work. Young men make wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men; courage and hope for the future. Then, old men make the peace. And the vices of peace are the vices of old men; mistrust and caution. It must be so. What I owe you is beyond evaluation. The power- house, the telephone exchange - these I concede; the pumping plant I must retain. ALLENBY If you retain the pumping-plant, there'll be no water, sir. FEISAL I shall be glad of any technical assistance. ALLENBY In fairness then, you must bring down your flag. FEISAL I shall not bring down my flag, and if your men attempt it, my men will resist it. ALLENBY Have you any men, sir? FEISAL Enough for that. It's the kind of thing that makes a very ugly incident. I'm sure you're government does not wish to appear at the peace conference in the light of an aggressor. SOLDIER I say! It's Lawrence, isn't it? Well, may I shake you're hand, sir? Just want to be able to say I'd done it, sir. LAWRENCE Haven't we met before? SOLDIER Don't think so, sir. Oh, no, sir. I should have remembered that. FEISAL It is widely known the Arab council took power in my name. ALLENBY They have no power, sir. It's illusory. FEISAL Illusions can be very powerful; particularly when they take this form. The world is delighted at the picture of Damascus liberated by the Arab army. ALLENBY Led, may I remind you, sir, by a British serving officer. FEISAL Ah, yes. But then Aurens is a sword with two edges. We are equally glad to be rid of him. Are we not? ALLENBY I thought I was a hard man, sir. FEISAL You are merely a general. I must be a king. BRIGHTON Excuse me, sir. ALLENBY Well? DRYDEN Well. It seems we're to have a British waterworks with an Arab flag on it. Do you think it was worth it? ALLENBY Not my business. Thank God I'm a soldier! DRYDEN Yes, sir. So you keep saying. FEISAL You, I suspect, are chief architect of this compromise. What do you think? DRYDEN Me? Your Highness? On the whole, I wish I'd stayed in Tunbridge Wells. SOLDIER Well, sir. Going 'ome. LAWRENCE Hmm? SOLDIER 'Ome, sir. The End