Ivanhoe Page #5

---

- Are you recovered?

- Yes, yes.

And much beholden to you

for your kindness, sire.

Yet there is one question I would ask.

- What is it?

- I heard the jester call you "lvanhoe."

But lvanhoe is Cedric's son,

and Cedric called him dead.

Who are you, then?

I am King Richard's envoy.

Does that make us friends or foes?

It does not make you my foe, sire...

...but then, I am allowed no king.

- Why not?

- Because I am allowed no country.

I am deeply in your debt, sire.

Tell me how I can repay you.

I seek 150,000 marks of silver...

...the price of Richard's ransom

from Leopold of Austria.

Glance around you, sire.

What you see is all we've saved...

...from every home we tried to make.

A toy or two from every land

that cast us out.

I am not a rich man, Sir lvanhoe.

No, but you are the patriarch

of your tribe.

Tell your people Richard must be ransomed.

They will find the wealth.

I see you love Richard, sire...

...but he was no friend to my people.

Our synagogues were looted

to send him on his crusades.

Do you prefer the persecution

of his brother, John?

There is little to choose between Black John

and Richard, yea and nay, if you are a Jew.

Then I pledge you this, Isaac.

You're a race without a home or a country.

Deliver Richard, and he will deliver

your people from persecution.

My friend, you ask for more

than we can give.

- And you offer more than Richard can give.

- Do you doubt my word?

Write down whatever terms you want.

I shall sign them in King Richard's name.

We shall need no pledge on paper,

you and I.

Let Richard promise this instead.

Let him promise justice to each man...

...whether he be Saxon

or Norman or Jew...

...for justice belongs to all men...

...or it belongs to none.

But that is a Christian teaching.

Strange as it may be, sire,

we are taught it too.

What you ask shall be done.

So be it, then. Whatever money

you cannot find among your own people...

...I shall try to find it for you.

Does that fulfill our pact?

Not quite.

This combat at arms at Ashby

is a weather vane...

...to test the strength of John.

If his knights were to sweep the field,

how would it go with Richard's cause?

Badly, sire. Money takes fright

when might conquers right.

My worldly goods are what I stand in.

I have no armor and no warhorse.

But I must ride against John's knights

at Ashby, or they will win.

A horse and gear would borrow

from the ransom.

Then I'll seek them elsewhere.

You'll find me at the sign

of the longbow.

Here is my hand,

in token of my pledge to you.

Why do you look at me thus, Isaac?

This is the first time I touch a Saxon hand

in friendship, Sir lvanhoe.

It is Richard's hand you touch.

Rate this script:3.0 / 1 vote