Fergie, looks like a woman to me. What do you say?
Too far away for me to tell.
Must be suffering hot in all them clothes.
I don't know about them people.
Took yourself quite a spill, missy.
Miss, you got a sick creature here. It's carrying a disease.
There's more like this, ain't there?
A few.
We can't have our cattle infected.
Tell your people to keep their stock away from this water hole.
You do understand.
It looks like she broke that arm.
You make sure old Schultz gets that message.
Tate.
Do not be afraid. I will help you.
Other people, outsiders, they have evil habits...
...and corrupt ideas.
And if we are exposed to them...
...then soon, very soon...
...we begin to imitate their sinful ways...
...and we are lost to God and his way.
Paul.
-Gretchen, what happened? -Some men, they chased me.
They said our sheep can't use the water.
Her arm is broken. The bone must be set.
Without Lottie, how shall we help her?
I have knowledge of healing.
Thank you.
I am sorry to disturb you.
-How is Gretchen? -She is well.
I wish to do her work until she is able.
That is very Christian of you.
Very charitable.
We don't usually permit outsiders here.
-You are afraid? -For our souls.
We lead very simple, God-fearing ways of life.
Outsiders interfere.
They corrupt us and lead us from the path of righteousness.
Where I was born...
...there is a creature called the chameleon.
-Chameleon? -A small lizard.
He has the great gift to change the color of his skin...
...that he may hide from predators.
Yet he never changes himself.
He is always a chameleon.
You're an unusual man.
-You have a wife, children? -No.
Do you?
They're all my children here.
I do not understand.
Long ago, I had a call to serve God.
I never married.
I decided to serve this group of families...
...to lead them with my own example.
I, too, follow a path.
Perhaps not unlike your own.
It would be unchristian...
...uncharitable of me...
...to deny you a bed and food after all your kindness...
...you've shown Gretchen.
I am grateful.
You may stay here tonight...
...but I warn you, I'm not like that lizard of yours.
-The chameleon? -I won't change...
...and I don't want any of my family to change.
Not a single hair on the head of a man, woman or child...
...if it leads them to stray to sinful paths.
He's an outsider.
He helped with his knowledge.
Now he helps with his labor.
What does he want, sheepskins, wool?
No. He asked for nothing.
I say we should expel him now, before it's too late.
Otto, I feel obliged to repay his kindness.
Someone else may be injured or become ill.
Otto, couldn't we let him stay a little longer...
...but watch him closely?
Please, Otto.
Get them sheep out of here.
You have nothing to fear.
Sheep fever is not contagious to cattle.
We have had many years' experience with sheep.
Never has a steer caught this fever. I would not lie to you.
Turn them around, Schultz.
We have as much right to this water as you.
You're going to have sheepskin instead of sheep, mister.
The nearest water hole is three days away.
We'll have to move our camp there.
But, Otto, most of our sheep will die.
We can't raise our hands against these men.
Could you not leave the sheep in camp and bring water to them?
-Yeah. -It will provoke them.
Then we do not raise our hand.
We'll try it...
...but we won't change our ways.
-You know anything about sheep? -Nothing good.
Gotta figure a way to prove old Schultz is wrong.
We'd cut that scrawny yearling and put him in...
...with them sheep.
We don't try anything with Mr. Davidson's stock.
If he wants to risk it, that's his business.
-Is something wrong? -You were singing.
-It helps me work. -We do not approve of that.
I am sorry.
But...
...would it not make the work go faster and easier?
It isn't supposed to be easy.
Hard work is what man is destined to do on this earth.
But is it not good for the body...
...to do the best it can...
...and so give pleasure to you for doing something well?
Work is part of suffering of life...
...and suffering tempers the soul.
Otto does not believe life should be enjoyed.
It is work, not play.
Gretchen....
Master...
...I am puzzled.
Now that is the beginning of wisdom.
I have seen you laugh...
...and I have seen you cry.
And you do not?
We are taught discipline.
The purpose of discipline is to live more fully...
...not less.
But how shall I know...
...if my sorrow...
...is only the echo of self-pity?
Or my laughter...
...the preening of my own happiness?
The bird sings in the forest.
Does it seek to be admired for its song?
Let tears come when your heart tells you of its sadness.
Let joy come unasked, unplanned.
You work all day long, so hard...
...yet take no pleasure in what you do.
Well, I must confess...
...yesterday, when two of my brethren and I...
...were building a lambing pen in the field...
...we notched our logs just so.
When the last one was pounded into place...
...a feeling rose in me...
...that I had done something good.
Otto Schultz says...
...it is bad to allow such feelings.
Do you think it is bad?
Otto is wise.
I am a farmer. I have not studied such things.
Father, I have to take the butter to the kitchen tent.
Wait, I will help you. It is too heavy.
It's alright. I can manage. I'm not helpless.
Be careful with your arm.
-She's a good daughter. -Yeah.
Sometimes I...
...wonder that she needs more than I can give her...
...with my Lottie gone.
-Your Lottie, wise? -Oh, yes.
-Like Otto Schultz? -She was wise...
...and she was good. Different from Otto.
You know, when I was a boy...
...I watched a small boat on a lake in a storm.
The wind yelled its anger...
...and the rain pounded like armies of hammers.
The boat...
...clung to the anchor, it was safe.
Lottie...
...she....
She was my anchor.
Hi, Jim.
You and the boys ready for another lesson...
...in the fine art of poker?
If you are, I'll oblige as soon as I finish soaking my corns.
Jordy, those Hoots are letting diseased sheep wander...
...loose around the water.
Is that so?
I saw the sheep myself, sheriff.
What disease they got?
Whatever it is, it makes them fall down...
...because I've seen it too.
You boys know as much about sheep as you do about poker...
...which ain't saying a lot.
Well, I know about cattle.
I'm not letting those Hoot sheep infect the water hole.
I'm not partial to Hoots, and I'm not against them.
But I don't want to start crowding the graveyard up...
...with them either.
No problem.
Move the sheep out.
Now, Jim, them Hoots don't carry guns.
If one of them gets shot, none of you can say...
it was self-defense, understand?
What is that?
A flute.
Have you not heard one before?
Otto Schultz says things like that are frivolous...
...and waste time.
They make you lazy.
Is that part of your religion?
It is what Otto Schultz says.
But I haven't found it in a Bible.
Our ways are based on the book of Acts, Chapter 2,
Verses 44 and 45.
"And all that believed were together...
...and had all things in common."
That is a beautiful way to live.
Do you know the Bible?
I have heard...
...it is filled with beauty.
With songs of sadness...
-...and also of joy. -Yes.
I've read the Song of Solomon and the Psalms many times.
But Otto Schultz says not to let others know you are in pain...
...that you not be accused of self-pity.
And not to laugh.
That you do not make others envious that you are so happy.
He permits no music so we will not be tempted...
...to cry or to laugh.
But...
...have you not heard...
...the wind crying through the leaves?
And the rain laughing and dancing...
...on the roof of your tent?
Yes.
But we never speak of it.
I am sorry if my music has offended you.
You didn't know I was here...
...and I couldn't leave.
It was so beautiful.
Do you play your music often?
Yes.
It heals the wounds of loneliness.
You are the only person I've ever known who wasn't one of us.
If I have disturbed your peace, I will go away.
No.
You can't.
It is written, shape clay into a vessel.
It is the space within that gives it value.
Place doors and windows in a house.
It is the opening that brings light within.
Set spokes within a wheel.
It is the emptiness of the hub that makes them useful.
Therefore, be the space at the center.
Be nothing, and you will have everything to give to others.
Don't!
Our sheep have to have water.
We're not taking any chances with Mr. Davidson's herd.
The sickness that a few of our sheep have is not...
...contagious to cattle. It never has been.
If we bring the water back--
All Davidson's got is his cattle.
Now, some of your sheep stray off, like that little lamb.
It happened once, and it'll happen again.
Then we got a plague on our hands.
You're gonna have to clear out, Schultz.
That's the way it's got to be.
You people are sure hard to learn.
We will break camp tomorrow and search for new land...
...new water.
But, Otto, the water is too far away.
I will not resist.
If your sheep are no danger...
...will you not defend yourselves?
If a man strikes me with a stick, I have three choices:
I can strike him back...
...I can stand still and be injured or killed...
...or I can walk away. Schroeder.
There is another choice.
What other choice?
You can take the stick away from him.
I will not raise my hand against any man for any reason.
That is my faith, my life.
You are the image of your mother and strong like her.
I miss her.
Your father too.
I think he needed her even more than I did.
What is it like?
The towns and the people away from us?
You have never seen them?
Ever since I can remember, we moved from place to place...
...looking for peace.
We would ride out in big wagons from Ohio.
I remember once, I was very frightened.
I saw my father get beaten, Otto Schultz and some others.
Why?
My mother said it was because we are Hutterites.
"Hoots," they call us.
There are many things in the town...
...that you have not seen.
There are people who are kind and good.
Like your father and Otto Schultz.
There are others...
...who are like those who attacked you.
There will be a lot of work.
Building, clearing the land...
...starting all over again.
It seems we are always starting over.
Why can't they leave us alone?
My mother made her.
Otto Schultz says we must not have toys or dolls...
...or frivolous things.
I thought she'd burnt this.
She could not.
Maybe...
...in our new home, Otto Schultz will change his mind.
I could give her to my daughter.
Otto Schultz says we must leave as soon as possible.
The sheep need water.
Father, is there no other way but to leave our home?
Oh, Gretchen, not a way.
-Mother would know what to do. -Yes, she would.
She would.
Tell me what to do. Please.
You know these outsiders. Why can't they leave us in peace?
Otto is wise but where will we find land and water...
...where the others will not bother us?
Is there no place we can live just as we choose?
I do not know if there is such a place.
This was.
And it could be again.
If they would let us have the water.
Father, I do not want to go.
I know, I know.
These cattlemen, are they not men like me?
Do they not fear God like us? Do they not need to eat like...
...us to work like us? Love their family like we do?
-How are they so different? -I do not know.
I cannot believe I am so different than other men.
If they could understand how much it means to us...
...then they would let us stay.
Father, in that other town, those men, they beat you.
They did not know us.
Do these men know you?
No.
No, they....
They don't even speak to us...
...nor we to them.
Schroeder's wagon needs a new wheel.
I....
I could go to town, trade sheepskins for it.
I could talk to the sheriff. Explain...
...our sheep will not make their cattle sick.
Uh...
...I'm afraid.
I'm afraid to go to town...
...alone.
Your feet tread heavily on the ground.
Have you a burden, Grasshopper?
It is my thoughts that carry the weight, master.
I have been in the marketplace.
All the men there argue and fight.
There is no peace.
Why does that trouble you when your home is here?
I want all men to know peace.
It is written in the Tao Te Ching.
Under heaven, all can see beauty as beauty...
...only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Therefore, having and not having arise together.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
High and low rest upon each other.
Front and back...
...follow one another.
But, master...
...do we not want all men...
...to know our peace, our joy?
Would you make the whole world a temple?
Be like the sun...
...and what is within you will warm the Earth.
Sheriff?
Yep.
That's what they call me when I'm working.
I have come here...
...with a Hutterite man who needs your help.
Odd people, them Hoots.
-Down in there! -Humanize him!
-You lather him up. -That's right. You got it now.
You know something I don't understand?
People that won't stand up for what's theirs.
You know what I mean?
Is it not your duty...
...to seek justice for everyone?
Nice and clean!
Ain't he gonna be a pretty one?
We're gonna make a human being out of you.
Right up in there. Now, that's it.
Let that Hoot up, man. Let him up!
Now you look like a human instead of a goat.
Ain't he something?
I'm fining your boys $2 apiece for disturbing the peace.
It's worth it.
Tell your people to bring their sheep...
...to the water hole every day at noon.
Understand?
Yeah.
I'll have deputies out there watching.
And if any of your people try to scare them off...
...or do anything... they'll be locked up.
Those sheep are diseased!
If those sheep had a disease that was bad for cattle...
...Jim Davidson...you'd have been burying steers long ago.
Now get on home.
The Hutterites will be grateful to you.
Did my beard offend them?
Hair on the chin is as natural as hair on the head.
Then why did it concern them?
Why does it concern you?
You have been true to yourself.
You did not raise your hand against them.
I wanted them to know me...
...and I wanted to know them.
Perhaps they wanted you to look like them.
Well, now I do.
Why did they laugh?
They enjoyed my shame.
Otto Schultz was right.
They are different from me.
Gretchen, Emma, life is a vale of tears.
This hardship will strengthen us.
Oh, Papa.
You went to the outsiders.
Your mistake is as plain to see as the nakedness on your face.
The sheriff...
...has promised to protect your right
to the water every day at noon...
...and to put in jail anyone who would stop you.
-It will change nothing. -At great cost to himself.
He has succeeded, has he not?
-You do not have to leave. -We have provoked them.
If harm came to any man because of this
it would be on our heads.
-May I help with the loading? -Come.
Emma.
Poor, papa.
I am ashamed.
If this is what outsiders are like...
...I never want to be near them.
No.
Mr. Caine is an outsider.
Are we wrong to stay as we are?
Are we the ones who are wrong?
If I could find a place...
...without meanness...
...where I could choose new things...
...I know to be good....
All we want is peace.
Do you not find this peace...
...only within you?
What's your trouble, pard?
Taking the stone out of his foot and he started foaming.
He shuddered, and he shook and, boom, he just fell over dead.
J.D., Smitty, you go get Davidson.
Fergie, I tell you what.
I'll bet you this will be...
...all the proof Mr. Davidson needs.
I was...
...sitting here a while, thinking.
My mind is slow.
It is not quick and wise like Otto Schultz.
What troubles you?
My arms are strong.
I went to help them load the heavy tools on the wagon.
They turn away from me.
They would not see your face.
They treat me like an outsider.
If I could, without harm...
...to any of those men in town, like you said...
...take away the stick...
...I would do that.
-Is a beard so much? -No.
The beard, beard can grow back.
My brethren...
...have done more violence to my heart with their turning away...
...than those men in town did with a razor.
Oh, Jacob.
Now, you can't just stay here.
You've got to come out sometime.
Now, won't you do it now, for me?
Your mama and papa will find you before long.
They'll be angry with you, Jacob.
Now, come on.
Jacob.
He just doesn't want to leave.
I don't blame him. This is home.
We worked hard to make it a good home.
Now all our work is lost.
Is it not better to think...
...of what you will find than what you will lose?
There will be new sights to see, new sounds to hear.
It will be an adventure.
Once, I came upon a rabbit...
...who was caught in a trap.
A fat rabbit with shiny hair and a wet nose.
His sadness was so great that he could not endure it...
...and he lay flat with his head on the ground...
...dreading what would happen when the hunter came.
His heart beat very fast, and his breath came short.
And I knew his heart would burst if I did not free him.
I opened the trap!
I said, "Run away, little rabbit. Run for your life!"
But he was so frightened he couldn't move.
I heard the hunter coming through the forest.
I heard his footsteps.
And suddenly, the rabbit jumped to his feet...
...and rolled over and over and over and over.
-Where did he go? -What?
Do you know how to hop like a rabbit?
Come on.
Got you.
Schultz.
This is what your sheep fever does to my cattle.
-I've got to destroy your sheep. -They're all we have.
They keep us alive.
They are our food, our clothing.
I'm gonna stamp out this plague before
you spread it all over the country.
Get on with it.
Papa, they're burning our wagon!
No! You have no right!
I must stop them.
Hey, Shorty?
This lamb's got bluetongue. It ain't contagious to cattle.
As we told them.
If it's any satisfaction to you, Mr. Davidson and his boys...
...are going straight to jail.
We do not wish that they be put in jail.
What?
We have no room in our hearts for vengeance.
Well, you're the ones been wronged. Guess it's up to you.
Alright, you Davidson boys, up on your feet.
Take them home, Tyler.
It's over.
You are not troubled now?
No. I was true to myself...
...but I took away the stick.
We'll move on as we intended.
We'll look for a peaceful place.
I hope you find it.
You know you are right?
It is best for Gretchen and me to stay.
I've always respected your opinion, Paul.
Don't stay, Paul. Come with us.
We will let you have a ram and two ewes.
Oh, that is very kind...
...but what of forgiveness...
...for all the things I have done?
God was not generous when he granted me forgiveness.
If you'll accept its meagerness.
Yes, I forgive you.
God bless you, Gretchen.
I made this flute from a willow tree, which grew nearby.
May I give it to Gretchen?
Papa.
It makes sounds like crying and like laughter.
And those are the sounds of children?
We are all God's children.
When I hear the sound of it...
...I will remember the gift of your friendship.