Jeff Cooper credited as playing...
Cord
- [Cord repeatedly steps in a stream]
- The Blind Man: It can't be done!
- [after pausing, Cord continues to step in the stream]
- The Blind Man: You can't do it!
- Cord: Can't do what?
- The Blind Man: You can't step on the same piece of water twice.
- Cord: How long have you been blind?
- Blind Man: How long have you been blind?
- Cord: I'm not blind.
- Blind Man: Am I?
- Cord: Do you answer every question with a question?
- Blind Man: Do you question every answer?
- Cord: Aww, talking to you is like talking to a wall.
- Blind Man: Buddha once sat before a wall, and when he arose he was enlightened.
- Cord: Do you compare yourself with Buddha?
- Blind Man: (chuckles) No. Only to the wall.
- Cord: Oh, you are obviously mentally disturbed. You should have seen a doctor.
- Man-in-Oil: I AM a doctor.
- [Cord finds a man in a barrel of oil, resting. He tries touching the man's hand, but the man swats it away. He shakes the man's hand and his eyes open]
- Cord: Can I help you?
- Man-in-Oil: To do what?
- Cord: To get out of this...
- Man-in-Oil: Why?
- Cord: Who's torturing you this way?
- Man-in-Oil: No-one.
- [Cord peers over into the barrel]
- Cord: Isn't that barrel filled with oil?
- Man-in-Oil: Of course. I filled it myself.
- Cord: You?
- Man-in-Oil: I filled it myself and I got in it myself. I've been in here ten years.
- Cord: But why?
- Man-in-Oil: [candidly] To rid myself of the bottom half of me. There's very little left of it now.
- Cord: Your legs look like seaweed.
- Man-in-Oil: I hope so. Tha-that thing, that terrible thing between my legs? It's almost gone now, isn't it?
- Cord: A mere pimple.
- Man-in-Oil: Good
- [His tone becomes anxious]
- Man-in-Oil: It'll go altogether soon, I hope.
- Cord: Ten years! How do you live without eating?
- Man-in-Oil: My-my family! They bring me a little rice, a little water...
- Cord: Your family? They know you're dissolving yourself in oil?
- Man-in-Oil: They weren't too happy about it at first. Especially my wife. Now, she understands.
- Cord: But why would you want to...? Ha! You could have taken a vow of chastity, like I have!
- Man-in-Oil: I took a vow of chastity! I took ten vows, a hundred! How-how-how can a man be a holy man when that terrible thing attaches him to the Earth? I got rid of my money, I shed my clothes, I ate a spoonful of rice each day... and, my mind became to soar! I felt the Universe... I was the Universe! And then... that terrible thing summoned me! "Hello!", it cried. "Think of the pleasure!" Several times I grabbed a knife, I attempted to rid myself of it, once and for all!
- [He buries his face in his hands and sobs]
- Man-in-Oil: I-I-I was- I was a coward!
- [He soon stops crying as he continues his story]
- Man-in-Oil: Then... I felt a way. I would dissolve it away... and the legs that carried it along!
- Cord: Well, you're obviously mentally disturbed.
- [the man nods happily]
- Cord: You should have seen a doctor.
- Man-in-Oil: I am a doctor!
- [pause]
- Man-in-Oil: You took a vow of chastity.
- Cord: Yes.
- Man-in-Oil: [smugly] You won't keep it.
- [He gestures desperately to the barrel]
- Man-in-Oil: Come in here with me. The-there-there's plenty of room. We'll-we'll keep each other company.
- Cord: I'm sorry, but I must go. I'm looking for someone.
- Man-in-Oil: Who?
- Cord: Zetan.
- Man-in-Oil: Again, Zetan! They all come around asking about Zetan! There is no answer in Zetan!
- [Cord laughs and walks away]
- Chang-sha: Have you eaten? Where's your drink? Your hand is empty.
- Cord: Peace.
- Chang-sha: [laughs] Don't wish it on me. The whole world is in commotion and you wish me peace! I don't know what peace is, I don't want it. Don't you listen to the desert? Even when there's no wind the sand sings.
- Cord: My name is Cord.
- Chang-sha: Ha! You see? Cord!
- [laughs]
- Chang-sha: Play a Cord, strike a Cord? Even your name is a noise! What do you want, Cord? You want us to play on you? My wives can make your skin sing.