cares to start an argument with your father. (He looks at Leif thoughtfully ) Or with you, either.
LEIF My father rules the country well, without violence; men are happy under him.
KING OLAF (Laughing) All right; I'll take your word for it. What did he send you to say to me?
LEIF King, he sent me to ask if you would accept our country as a formal colony. We cannot carry on upon our own. We have used up the few manufactured things we brought with us from Iceland, sir; we need your support. We need iron goods, ploughshares, nails, axe heads, and things like that, and we need timber, for our country grows no trees. We can give you in exchange furs of every sort, and walrus hides, and sea ivory, and sometimes we find ambergris. I have samples of these things here with me. May I show them to you?
KING OLAF Have them unwrapped.
(Leif motions to Tyrker, who begins to undo the parcels with the men from the ship.)
—You have stated your case clearly and well, Ericsson. Are you an educated person? Can you read and write?
LEIF No. We can none of us do that in Greenland.
( King Olaf gets up and crosses over to the goods which are being unpacked. )
KING OLAF Why do you call your country Greenland? Is it so green and fertile?
LEIF Well, as a matter of fact, it's not. Most of it is covered in snow all the year round, and although it's not particularly mountainous the middle of it is certainly very high. We can just rub along by hunting and farming in the corner where we are; it would be easier if we had more people. My father says that Iceland was called by a bad name, because nobody wants to go to a place where it's all ice and snow. He said that we should call our country Greenland, so that people would want to come and settle there.
KING OLAF ( Laughing ) Well, that makes sense. You are more intelligent than most of my subjects.
LEIF I am honoured, sir.
KING OLAF (Examining the goods) These things are quite good quality. We can take all that you can send us of these—and we can sell these for you in France, and get good prices. It's all quite useful stuff, if you can make delivery in big enough quantities to make it worth while. What exactly do you want me to do?
LEIF We want you to send out a ship each year loaded with iron goods and timber in exchange for a cargo of these things.
KING OLAF (Thoughtfully) I see. (He muses for a moment, and then looks at Leif.) And I suppose you want me to cancel your outlawry, and to confirm you as the rulers of your Greenland?
LEIF Yes, King.
KING OLAF I will think it over and discuss it with my council. What are your plans? Can you get back this year?
LEIF No. I shall have to stay in this country now until the wind blows east in the spring.
KING OLAF You may stay in my court as my guest. You are an intelligent, fellow; I shall want to have more talk with you during the winter.
LEIF You are gracious to an outlaw, sir.
KING OLAF I'll do something about that, anyway.
[FADE TO:
A Room in a Shipwright's House
(Little need be shown of this room except a table with a bench or two. Leif is sitting deep in study with a master shipwright; there are parchment drawings on the table, and a model of a knorr, or merchant ship; there may be one or two samples of woollen sail fabric, and cordage. )
LEIF (Handling the model) Our difficulty will be with the keel; we shall never have timber of that length. Can we joint it?
SHIPWRIGHT I have a drawing here; you can joint it only in this way. If you join keel members any other way than this, your ship will break in a rough sea.
( They bend together over the design. A Man comes in at the door behind them; his clothing is lightly powdered with snow.)
MAN Is Leif Ericsson here?
LEIF I am Ericsson.
MAN King Olaf wants you. He is in the Great Hall.
[DISSOLVE TO:
King Olaf's Hall
( The King is sitting by the fire; there is a vacant chair beside him. There are no other people near at hand, though the hall is busy as before. Leif comes in wearing
LEIF My father rules the country well, without violence; men are happy under him.
KING OLAF (Laughing) All right; I'll take your word for it. What did he send you to say to me?
LEIF King, he sent me to ask if you would accept our country as a formal colony. We cannot carry on upon our own. We have used up the few manufactured things we brought with us from Iceland, sir; we need your support. We need iron goods, ploughshares, nails, axe heads, and things like that, and we need timber, for our country grows no trees. We can give you in exchange furs of every sort, and walrus hides, and sea ivory, and sometimes we find ambergris. I have samples of these things here with me. May I show them to you?
KING OLAF Have them unwrapped.
(Leif motions to Tyrker, who begins to undo the parcels with the men from the ship.)
—You have stated your case clearly and well, Ericsson. Are you an educated person? Can you read and write?
LEIF No. We can none of us do that in Greenland.
( King Olaf gets up and crosses over to the goods which are being unpacked. )
KING OLAF Why do you call your country Greenland? Is it so green and fertile?
LEIF Well, as a matter of fact, it's not. Most of it is covered in snow all the year round, and although it's not particularly mountainous the middle of it is certainly very high. We can just rub along by hunting and farming in the corner where we are; it would be easier if we had more people. My father says that Iceland was called by a bad name, because nobody wants to go to a place where it's all ice and snow. He said that we should call our country Greenland, so that people would want to come and settle there.
KING OLAF ( Laughing ) Well, that makes sense. You are more intelligent than most of my subjects.
LEIF I am honoured, sir.
KING OLAF (Examining the goods) These things are quite good quality. We can take all that you can send us of these—and we can sell these for you in France, and get good prices. It's all quite useful stuff, if you can make delivery in big enough quantities to make it worth while. What exactly do you want me to do?
LEIF We want you to send out a ship each year loaded with iron goods and timber in exchange for a cargo of these things.
KING OLAF (Thoughtfully) I see. (He muses for a moment, and then looks at Leif.) And I suppose you want me to cancel your outlawry, and to confirm you as the rulers of your Greenland?
LEIF Yes, King.
KING OLAF I will think it over and discuss it with my council. What are your plans? Can you get back this year?
LEIF No. I shall have to stay in this country now until the wind blows east in the spring.
KING OLAF You may stay in my court as my guest. You are an intelligent, fellow; I shall want to have more talk with you during the winter.
LEIF You are gracious to an outlaw, sir.
KING OLAF I'll do something about that, anyway.
[FADE TO:
A Room in a Shipwright's House
(Little need be shown of this room except a table with a bench or two. Leif is sitting deep in study with a master shipwright; there are parchment drawings on the table, and a model of a knorr, or merchant ship; there may be one or two samples of woollen sail fabric, and cordage. )
LEIF (Handling the model) Our difficulty will be with the keel; we shall never have timber of that length. Can we joint it?
SHIPWRIGHT I have a drawing here; you can joint it only in this way. If you join keel members any other way than this, your ship will break in a rough sea.
( They bend together over the design. A Man comes in at the door behind them; his clothing is lightly powdered with snow.)
MAN Is Leif Ericsson here?
LEIF I am Ericsson.
MAN King Olaf wants you. He is in the Great Hall.
[DISSOLVE TO:
King Olaf's Hall
( The King is sitting by the fire; there is a vacant chair beside him. There are no other people near at hand, though the hall is busy as before. Leif comes in wearing
Similar Books
