that's gold in his mouth he got no need for. we take his boots.
what about bonaparte's retreat? that's one i play.
i only know a couple of tunes.
what'd he say?
truth to tell they say you are, soldier. we'll meet again, in the better world.
get me out of this dang thing. my fist's about to drop off.
no ma'am. i'm begging you. i'm already on my knees, otherwise i'd get down on them.
ruby? god damn!
just so's you know -- i can eat while she's doing this -- in case you're holding off.
you're scarred.
your heart. scarred. i did wrong to you.
i hurt you.
i wrote fifty tunes with you in mind. ruby this, ruby that, ruby with the eyes that sparkle.
i'm changed. people change. war changes people something terrible. ruby's told you -- i've no doubt -- i wasn't always the best.
i can't disagree with that. i was.
music's changed me. i'm full of music, darling. i wish i'd brung my fiddle hey ruby! got a new fiddle -- it's got a little snake's rattle in the body -- took it off a dead federal in virginia. that's a beautiful fiddle. it's full of tunes, ruby. don't know if it's from that little rattle locked up in it, or from something untied my heart.
bless you both.
darling, i'm fine. and you just say the word, i won't come back neither. i don't want to put either you or your mistress here in any bother.
oh, okay, who is?
do you know who really needs a coat, darling, is my partner, fat boy name of pangle. we're hiding up in the caves and he feels the cold like a thin man, but ain't no coat'll fit him. i love you, ruby. in case the sky falls on our head. you're a good girl.
she can't speak. i told you.
no. don't mind him. hey ruby: what about this?
don't make that face -- you listen: c'mon georgia.
we won't.
what about next sunday? that'll be the new year. it's gonna be a better one.
miss ada. merry christmas.
that's my ruby.
you think the good lord would forgive an old cold fool if he changed his mind? ada said it herself it was bitter.
no sense setting off in snow.
you cook something long enough you can eat anything.
you hungry?
not very long.
edible.
you're all right.
thewes.
who? that's a he!
we're musicians. he picks the banjo, i got a fiddle.
discharged. took a wound at petersburg.
i guess.
the military wouldn't take him. he can't fight. he's simple. he's got a mind no bigger'n a pickled walnut.
miqhty outstanding.
which papers?
they're, they're, they're at my house.
down the mountain.
hunting. drinking.
sure. sure. hey, wake up!
he don't know what he's saying. we were talking about georgia early on -- maybe heading down there.
he don't know what he's saying.
mr. teague wants us to play.
not come to my ears.
no, sir.
right, right! he means, there is a cave, right, it's up over the other side, big cave, we played some music up there, never occurred to me they were deserters. near bearpen branch.
i call this tune: ruby's lament.
me?
come on.
he always smiles. he don't mean nothing by it. i told him this world's got nothing worth a smile.
you come up the mountain for me, darling, i'd be dead otherwise, dead and gone.
he's sweet on you, that georgia boy.
got it.
there were five. you can't reason with that man.
okay.