You're tra vel/ng through another dimension
a dimension not onl y of sightand sound, but of mind
a journey into a wondrous land
whose boundaries are tha t of ima Gina t/on.
Tha t's the signpost up ahead.
Your next stop, the twilight zone.
There was a villa ge
bu/I t of orumbl/ng ola y and rott/ng wood
and it squa tted, ugl y, under a bro/ling sun
I/kea sic/(And mangyan/mal wanting to die.
This village had a virus shared by/ts people.
It was the germ of squalor, of hopelessness
of a loss of faith.
For the faithless, the hopeless, the misery-laden
there is time, ample time
to engage in one of the other pursuits of men.
They begin to destroy themselves.
Ladles and gents,
it's me, Peter Sykes
Peter Sykes, back from St. Louis,
stocked up with everything that's necessary
for kitchen and barn
and the dry throat and the swollen tongue.
Ha, ha!
Young Mr. Gallegos, I believe.
Now, this is a very special day, isn't it?
Now, let's see.
What is this special day, eh?
Ah, now I remember.
It has just this moment come back to me.
Today you gonna get hanged.
Today, young Mr. Gallegos, killer of children,
dances on the gallows.
Well, what will it be for you today, Mr. Koch?
Don't need any more rope, do you?
You ought to see the fancy, five-strand hemp
I sold the town for your party, gallegos.
It could lift five of you.
Any moreathome like you, gallegos?
Well, what will be your fancy, Mr. Koch?
What do I fancy, Sykes?
I'll tell you what I fancy.
I'd like you
to take your fat oaroass
and your I oud mouth
out into the open air.
This is a small room
and it's a hot time of the morning.
Well, what about you, gallegos?
What would your pleasure be?
Nice hacksaw, maybe?
There's going to be a funeral procession
down that street, gallegos.
You better go to the window and watch.
They're burying the little girl
that you mangled under your wagon.
You sobered up now, eh?
You remember the little girl
don't you?
You got stinking drunk
and you raced your wagon down that street
and what you did
to thatpoor I/ttle girl...
Uh-uh, gallegos.
Hey, you'll have plenty of chance
to move around this afternoon.
You'll be able to kick
and kick and kick.
You ought to take a drink of this, sheriff.
It's a good tonic.
Just the thing
to set you up fine for a hanging.
Makes you strong and firm.
Here, feel this.
I don't touch dog meat, Sykes.
You talk big behind a badge, koch.
Just sounds big to you because you're a midget, Sykes.
You know, I always had a little question about you.
You always had a thing for foreigners and strays
but you're mighty tight-lipped
when it comes to one of your own.
You're not my own, Sykes, so don't claim any kinship.
As for that boy in there
he had his trial
and today he's going to swing for it.
There's nothing in his sentence
that says he's got to be tormented
by a pig who sells trinkets at funerals.
Go on, Sykes.
Get out of here.
When this day is over, which one will you weep for, koch?
I have tears enough for both.
Mr. and Mrs. Canfield, I'm real sorry about this.
My condolences to you.
This afternoon will be
a lot more cheery.
Yes, we going to string up
the dirty little animal that done this.
She gonna be avenged.
You can set your mind to rest
on that score.
We'll string up that mangler of children
if it's the last thing we do.
Some other time, huh, Sykes?
Some other time
you act like a man with no brains
but not now.
Now you keep quiet.
Now, look at that, will you?
Ain't that the most gall
you ever seen in one place?
Gallegos' old man shows his face in town
in broad daylight
and during the funeral procession, too.
Somebody ought to take a horsewhip to that...
That"
My fa ther wishes me
to tell you that...
My father wishes for me
to tell you
that his heart is broken.
That if he could...
If he could give...
His own life in return.
His own life in return, estrelita.
His own life in return, he would.
He would do so with great willingness.
He, he understands...
Get out of the way, little girl.
Get out of the way.
Can't you see...
Can't you see
that we're burying our daughter today?
Oh, please, please.
My son did not mean to do it.
He... he's a lover of children
as you all are.
He's a lover of children.
Hey, ozee!
Va yasea la casa.
No se le neces/ta aoui.
He's not needed here.
Is that what you say to your old father?
Father, take estrelita home.
They will hurt you if you stay.
Please, go home now.
Va yasea la casa, por favor.
Luis.
My lucky coin.
It is said one can make a wish on it.
Go home, old man.
Make your prayers and make your wishes.
Luis is right.
You'll do no good here.
You never been drunk, Mr. Sheriff?
You never fel t such m/sery rising in you
that salvation seemed to look at you
from only out of a bottle?
You never felt pain?
Such pain that you had to ride through the night
and not look behind you?
My son was hungry and he felt such pain
and he drank too much.
He rode down the street
not looking, not seeing.
And he had a sadness,
deep inside.
Sadness that there was not enough to eat
sadness that he had no work
sadness the earth all around him
was growing barren in the sun.
He did not see the little girl.
He never saw her... For an instant.
Psst, little girl.
Wait.
Now, you stay here.
I won't hurt you. Don't be afraid.
You go tell your papa... You understand?
Tell your papa I want to help him.
You tell him that his coin is no good. It's worthless.
But that I have a magic dust
that turns hate into love
but it is very, very precious
very expensive, comprende?
Understand? Now,
now, you tell your papa
to bring 100 pesos to my room
in one hour
and I will sell him the magic dust
that makes people love and forgive.
You understand, eh?
Tell your papa, comprende?
Good, now you go.
Magic dust.
100 pesos of worth of magic dust.
It should be a good attendance today.
When was it god made people?
Was it the sixth day?
He should have stopped on the fifth.
They're tired of hating this place.
The sun,
the ground that is dead under your feet.
They must go out and find something else to hate.
This isn't a carnival, Rogers.
It's a hanging.
You mean the kids?
They ain't never seen a hanging.
I figured it was time.
Why?
Why not? They'll learna lesson.
They'll see what happens to drunks that kill kids.
I guess that's pretty vital.
How do you teach them pain, Rogers?
Shoot one of them in the arm?
All right, you kids.
Get down and stay together.
Is that the man they're going to put the rope on?
Si, little one.
I am the man.
Will it hurt?
If god wills it.
Go on, boy.
Get ready, Luis.
It's about that time.
I'm ready, sheriff.
Come on, let's get it over with.
Should've done that in the jail,
hang him!
What are we waiting for? Let's get to it.
Come on, sheriff, do your duty.
Get it over with.
The little girl told you?
Yes, she told me.
She said that you had the dust.
Dust with magic properties.
That's the idea, old man.
Little of this sprinkled over the heads in the crowd
will make them feel sympathy for your son.
It's very rare. Magic, you know.
You brought money with you?
Yes.
Gold pieces?
Where did you get them?
All my friends.
All my friends went into the city.
One sold a wagon, another sold a horse,
some borrowed.
We got many pesos and we converted them.
It will work, Mr. Sykes?
The magic dust, it will work?
Yes.
You sold the rope to hang my son.
Now you sell me that which will save him?
Well, I'm a businessman, Mr. Gallegos.
I sell that which is needed.
I make no distinctions.
This will work.
I told you, it's magic.
Luis!
I'm coming, my son.
I'm coming!
Throw some over their heads!
And then watch the magic.
Yeah, that's right. Then watch the magic!
String him up. We waited long enough.
Let's not stall it.
Get it over with.
What are we waiting for?
Hurry it up, sheriff.
Wait!
Wait! Wait!
You must pay heed to the magic now.
You must stop all of this and pay heed to the magic.
Magic. Magic!
You must pa y heed to the ma g/c.
All of you!
Magic. For love.
For compa ss/ on,
magically so, that my son can live.
As you yourselves you once used to live.
Magic. Magic.
You... you must pay heed to the... to the magic.
It's onl yfor love.
The magic is for love.
The magic is for the love.
Magic...
Magic.
You must pay heed to the magic.
Magic.
It is for love.
The magic. Is for love!
N o!
N o.
But it was a new rope.
Fl ve-s trand hemp.
Nobody could have broken it.
It couldn't have gotten broken.
Whataboutii mr. Canheld, mrs. Canheld?
Oh, pl ea se, pl ea se.
It's the magic.
You cannot try to defeat the magic.
Let's try itaga/n.
There are only two people here
who have the right to ask for an eye for an eye.
What about it, Mrs. Canfield?
No more today, John.
No more.
He killed our child.
And part of himself while doing it.
And he's suffered enough.
Sheriff koch, there must be...
There must be another hand in all of this
for the rope to break like tha t.
Ano ther hand.
Ma ybe
maybe the hand of Providence.
You want to stop it then, Mr. Canfield?
John?
We leave it like this?
We leave it like this.
One victim is enough.
I think we should all go home now.
I'm free.
Are any of us free, Luis?
Well, you can go home now,
you have that much freedom.
Luis, it was magic.
It was magic dust.
It brought back love to the people.
Yes, father, it was magic.
It's time to go home now.
Please, let's go home now.
New rope.
Brand-new rope.
Go ahead. Take 'em.
They're yours.
Why?
Don't understand.
Why?
That's what she is, magic.
It was a very small, misery-laden village
on the da y of a hanging
and of little historical consequence
and if there's anymoral to itatall
let's say that in any quest for mag/c
in any search for sorcery, witchery, legerdemain
first check the human heart.
For inside this deep place there's a wizardry
tha t costs far more thana few pieces of gold.
Tonight's case in point in the twilight zone.
Rod serl/ng, the creator oftwilight zone
will tell you about next week's story
after this word from our al terna te sponsor.
And now, Mr. Serling.
In this rather posh club, you'll see a group of men
argue a somewhat metaphysical subject like time travel.
One of them maintains it's possible to go back in time
make a few changes in history, and, as a result
do quite a job on the present
in this case, the assassination of one Abraham Lincoln.
Next week, a story called "back there."
I'd like you all to come with us.
I think you'll find it a most exciting journey.
Thank you and good night.
See the new Andy Griffith show each week
over most of these sta t/ons.
Consul t local listings.
the twilight zone brought to you tonight
- - isn't it wonderful how the beautiful ladies on TV