we are but poor, lost circus performers. is there a village nearby?
then there will be no one to hear you scream-
it's fabric from the uniform of an army officer of guilder.
the country across the sea. the sworn enemy of florin. go!
once the horse reaches the castle, the fabric will make the prince suspect the guilderians have abducted his love. when he finds her body dead on the guilder frontier, his suspicions will be totally confirmed.
i've hired you to help me start a war. that's a prestigious line of work with a long and glorious tradition.
am i going mad or did the word "think" escape your lips? you were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic land mass.
oh. the sot has spoken. what happens to her is not truly your concern -- i will kill her -- and remember this -- never forget this --
-- when i found you, you were so slobbering drunk you couldn't buy brandy -- -- and you -- friendless, brainless, helpless, hopeless -- do you want me to send you back to where you were, unemployed in greenland?
enough of that.
no more rhymes now, i mean it.
we'll reach the cliffs by dawn.
why are you doing that?
that would be inconceivable.
of all the necks on this boat, highness, the one you should be worrying about is your own.
stop doing that. we can all relax, it's almost over-
as i told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways, inconceivable. no one in guilder knows what we've done. and no one in florin could have gotten here so fast. out of curiosity, why do you ask?
what?
probably some local fisherman out for a pleasure cruise at night through eel-infested waters.
go in, get after her!
veer left. left. left!
do you know what that sound is, highness? those are the shrieking eels -- if you doubt me, just wait. they always grow louder when they're about to feed on human flesh.
if you swim back now, i promise, no harm will come to you. i doubt you will get such an offer from the eels.
we're back in the boat.
those are the shrieking eels.
put her down. just put her down.
he's no concern of ours. sail on! i suppose you think you're brave, don't you?
whoever he is, he's too late -- -- see? the cliffs of insanity.
hurry up. move the thing! um .  that other thing. move it! we're safe -- only fezzik is strong enough to go up our way -- he'll have to sail around for hours 'til he finds a harbor.
inconceivable!
faster!
you were supposed to be this colossus. you were this great, legendary thing. and yet he gains.
-- i do not accept excuses. i'm just going to have to find myself a new giant, that's all.
did i make it clear that your job is at stake?
cutting through the last of the rope and
stunned, turning to the others, looking down.
he didn't fall? inconceivable!!
whoever he is, he's obviously seen us with the princess, and must therefore die. you, carry her. we'll head straight for the guilder frontier. catch up when he's dead. if he falls, fine. if not, the sword.
you know what a hurry we're in.
oh, have it your way.
i'm waiting!
inconceivable!
give her to me. catch up with us quickly.
finish him, finish him. your way.
pick up one of those rocks, get behind the boulder, and in a few minutes, the man in black will come running around the bend. the minute his head is in view, hit it with the rock!
so, it is down to you. and it is down to me.
if you wish her dead, by all means keep moving forward.
-- there's nothing to explain. you're trying to kidnap what i've rightfully stolen.
there will be no arrangement -- -- and you're killing her!
i'm afraid so -- i can't compete with you physically. and you're no match for my brains.
let me put it this way: have you ever heard of plato, aristotle, socrates?
morons.
for the princess?
to the death?
i accept.
i smell nothing.
hmm.
watching excitedly as the man in black takes the goblets, turns his back. a moment later, he turns again, faces vizzini, drops the iocane packet. it is now empty.
but it's so simple. all i have to do is divine from what i know of you. are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet, or his enemy's?
now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. i'm not a great fool, so i can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. but you must have known i was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so i can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.
not remotely. because iocane comes from australia, as everyone knows. and australia is entirely peopled with criminals. and criminals are used to having people not trust them, as you are not trusted by me. so i can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.
wait till i get going! where was i?
yes -- australia, and you must have suspected i would have known the powder's origin, so i can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.
you'd like to think that, wouldn't you? you've beaten my giant, which means you're exceptionally strong. so, you could have put the poison in your own goblet, trusting on your strength to save you. so i can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. but, you've also bested my spaniard which means you must have studied. and in studying, you must have learned that man is mortal so you would have put the poison as far from yourself as possible, so i can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.
it has worked -- you've given everything away -- i know where the poison is.
i will. and i choose --
-- what in the world can that be?
busily switching the goblets while the man in black has his head turned.
oh, well, i-i could have sworn i saw something. no matter.
i'll tell you in a minute. first, let's drink -- me from my glass, and you from yours.
you only think i guessed wrong -- -- that's what's so funny! i switched glasses when your back was turned. you fool.
watching him.
you fell victim to one of the classic blunders. the most famous is "never get involved in a land war in asia." but only slightly less well known is this: "never go in against a sicilian when death is on the line."