"You shall see a cow..."

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Everett makes a sudden hushing gesture and all listen.

The baying of hounds is louder now, but through it we hear a
distant scrape of metal against metal, like the workings of
a rusty pump. The men turn in unison to look up the track.

A small, distant form is moving slowly up the track toward
them.

As it draws closer it resolves into a human-propelled flatcar.
An ancient black man rhythmically pumps its long seesaw
handle.

The three convicts look out at the swampland which begins to
show movement, the bowing grass trampled by men and dogs.

The flatcar draws even and slows.

EVERETT
Mind if we join you, ol' timer?

OLD MAN
Join me, my sons.

The three men clamber aboard and the old man resumes pumping.

The three men exchange glances; Delmar waves a clanking hand
before the old man's milky eyes. No reaction.

DELMAR
You work for the railroad, grandpa?

OLD MAN
I work for no man.

PETE
Got a name, do ya?

OLD MAN
I have no name.

EVERETT
Well, that right there may be why
you've had difficulty finding gainful
employment. Ya see, in the mart of
competitive commerce, the-

OLD MAN
You seek a great fortune, you three
who are now in chains...

The men fall silent.

OLD MAN
And you will find a fortune - though
it will not be the fortune you seek...

The three convicts, faces upturned, listen raptly to the
blind prophet.

OLD MAN
...But first, first you must travel
a long and difficult road - a road
fraught with peril, uh-huh, and
pregnant with adventure. You shall
see things wonderful to tell. You
shall see a cow on the roof of a
cottonhouse, uh-huh, and oh, so many
startlements...

The cloudy eyes of the old man stare sightlessly down the
track as the seesaw handle rises and falls through frame.

OLD MAN
...I cannot say how long this road
shall be. But fear not the obstacles
in your path, for Fate has vouchsafed
your reward. And though the road
may wind, and yea, your hearts grow
weary, still shall ye foller the
way, even unto your salvation.

The old man pumps - reek-a reek-a reek-a - as all contemplate
his words.

Loud and sudden:

OLD MAN
IZZAT CLEAR?

The men start, then mumble polite acknowledgement.

The railroad tracks wind to the setting sun. Reek-a reek-a
reek-a - the flatcar rolls, in wide shot, toward the golden
horizon.

FADE OUT

O Brother.....
J