04x15 - Whisper Country

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Little House on the Prairie". Aired: September 11, 1974 - March 21, 1983.*
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Based on Laura Ingalls books series revolved around the adventures of the Ingalls family who owned a farm in Walnut Grove during the late 1800s.
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04x15 - Whisper Country

Post by bunniefuu »

Mary: pa! Pa!

Reverend says I've got
a job, a teaching job!

And miss beadle says that mary
is far and away the best qualified.

That's awful nice
of miss beadle.

You be sure to thank her, mary.

I already did.

Now, it's a two-month term.

It's the first school that
willow prairie has ever had.

The salary is $ a month

And board and room in
a good christian home.

Now, the job is
mary's if she wants it.

Oh, I do.

Now, you'd better know
what you're getting into first.

It's a small, isolated community

That's miles north and east.

There's no store.

There's no post office,

And, well, the people are...

Wary, standoffish.

They just don't
much like strangers.

But you do preach there?

Yes, once every other month

Since the church was
willed a farm up there.

Now, if you take the job, mary,

You'll be the second teacher.

The first, miss tipton,
she left after just days.

What happened?

Well, I don't really know,

But I'd guess that miss rachel
peel had a lot to do with it.

She, uh... She presides
over the prayer meetings.

A lady preacher?

She's a lady of strong opinions.

She just doesn't like school.

She doesn't see
the need of them.

Tell you, reverend,
the way you're talking,

You're making this place sound
a little bit like a battleground.

Well, it was until I
talked to the parents

And I explained to them that
the school is a church project,

And they agreed
to give it a try.

But now, that doesn't mean that
the opposition from miss peel is over.

It's mary's decision.

It would be a good experience.

If I can teach there, I expect I
can teach just about anyplace.

Mary, it seems like you
made up your mind, then.

I have.

I'll take the job.

Bless you. We'll leave
first light tomorrow.

Well, here we are.
I'll get your things.

Thank you, reverend.

Children, this is miss ingalls.

She's your new teacher.

Hello.

They're all shy.

As soon as they know
you, everything will be fine.

Mary, this is mr. Caleb fisher.

Caleb, mary ingalls.

I'm pleased to meet you.

It's very kind of you to
let me stay in your home.

It's not my idea.

Church house, church land.

I'm just farming it.

I never told you they
were very friendly.

This will be your desk.

It also serves as my
lectern when I preach here.

That should bring me luck.

It's past : . Want I
should ring the bell?

That would be very nice.

Oh, caleb, would you
be back after school

To show miss ingalls
how to find your house?

No. Got my plowing to do.

Reverend: that
creates a problem.

Nope. Katie can show her.

Your daughter. Oh, yes.

Now, if I can be any help,

I'll be happy to
spend the day here.

Oh, no, please
don't. I'll do just fine.

[Bell ringing]

Well, good luck, teacher.

[Bell rings]

Caleb: they're all here, ma'am.

Thank you very much.

My name is miss ingalls.

I'm your teacher.

Well, how is
everybody this morning?

Well, let's get to work.

Did any of you bring a slate?

Paper?

A pencil?

If I were to pass
out paper and pencil,

Um, how many of you
could write your names?

Raise your hands.

I'd like each one of you
to come up to my desk,

One at a time... Girls first.

You, in the front row,

Could you come up here, please?

You know my name.
I'd like to know yours.

I need it for my
registration book.

Katie.

[Writing] katie.

Hi, katie.

Your last name?

Fisher.

Fisher.

Fisher... Oh! I'm going to
be staying at your house.

After school, you show me
how to get there, all right?

All right.

Now, this is your name.

Between lessons,
you can practice

Writing it over and over.

Soon you'll be able to
do it without even looking.

All right, next?

Your name?

Oh, it's all right.

Won't you tell me your name?

Woman, harshly: speak up, child!

Miss peel?

Miss rachel peel.

I'm miss ingalls.

The new teacher. I heard.

Her name's sarah,

Daughter of samuel
and elizabeth miller.

Mary: thank you.

You may take your seat, sarah.

Uh... Thank you for dropping in.

Thought I'd see for myself.

Fancy raiment.

And books.

I need them to teach.

Teach what?

Writing, spelling, reading...

Ciphering?

Ciphering?

Old ways are best.

Ciphering and the lord's
word is all any man ever needs.

Well, it's a start, but...

If a man can cipher,

He can trade in
the marketplace...

Sell his crop for a fair price,

Buy what he needs,

Get back where he belongs...

Back home in the
bosom of his family,

Away from sin and temptation.

Well, yes, I will
teach arithmetic...

And reading...

And also history and geography.

Ciphering.

The rest is sin and a waste.

Mary: hey, katie, what's
the matter? Wait for me!

Hey, katie, wait up. Please?

Oh, hello, miss peel.

Beautiful day, isn't it?

Well, have a nice day.

Child, how many times have...

New teacher, mama.

Yes.

Miss...

Mary ingalls.

Of course. Miss ingalls.

My caleb told me about you.

I don't know where my mind is.

He told me you'd be
here... For supper.

I just plain forgot.

Oh, it doesn't matter.

Maybe not to some.

My caleb, he... He don't
hold with forgetting.

Katie will show
you where you sleep.

Oh, you don't have to do that.

It's supposed to be tidy.

Ma said.

There, you see?

You can talk to me,
and it didn't hurt a bit.

[Door opens]

Pa's home. We'd best hurry.

I'll be along in a minute. I
just want to wash and change.

You'd best hurry.

Mary: I'm sorry I'm late.

Katie told you how mother
was taking up the supper.

She said we should hurry, but
I wanted to wash and change.

The other dress was good enough.

This one is... Is...

Well, I would not
call it a proper dress.

My sunday dress? The
one I wear to church?

Not here.

Enough talk. Sit.

Eat.

You don't have to. It's my work.

I want to. At home,
I always do dishes.

Suit yourself.

You know, we had a
lot of things we did

To make kitchen
chores go faster.

At election time, pa read
to us out of the newspaper

How the troops went to florida
and oregon to help count the votes

To decide who was
going to be president.

And other times, he'd play the fiddle
till the dishes in the cupboards danced.

Who is the president?

What?

U.s. Grant.

He was. Rutherford b.
Hayes is president now.

She told you she don't
need help. She don't.

Your room's upstairs.

You can sleep in the bed.
Katie will sleep on the floor.

She doesn't have to
do that. I'd be happy...

You'll sleep in the bed!

We'll call you in plenty
of time for breakfast.

Oh... And that's
no fitting dress

To be teaching
our young ones in.

You'd best wear something else.

Good night, mrs. Fisher.

Mary: land's sakes, what
happened to that barn?

Katie: miss peel done it.

Mr. Simpkin made her
mad, so she done it.

Oh, katie. You don't
really believe that.

Sure I do. Miss peel,
she can do anything.

All right, hazel. You
now have one apple.

Now how many do you have?

Two.

Very good. You
see? You did know.

All right. Another problem.

I want one of the
boys to do this one.

Two plus two. What's the answer?

Come on. You know the answer.

I have two apples.

There's two on my desk.

How many apples do I have?

Boy: three.

Who are you?

Joshua bond.

My pa sent me.

He said you was handing out
learning and I needed some.

Listened at the door... Didn't
hear nothing but apples.

All right. You have two apples.

A friend gives you two more.

How many apples do you have?

I told you. Three.

I ate one.

Mary: go home.

My pa said...

I don't care what your pa said!

I said go home and stay home

Until you can behave properly
and politely in this classroom.

- Ma'am, I didn't say anything...
- Look!

We're not here so
you can come in late

And make silly jokes.

I'm here to teach, and these
children are here to learn.

You come back when you're
ready to learn and not before.

And be here when the bell
rings or don't come at all!

But, ma'am, my pa said...

You tell your pa to come see me.

I'll be glad to tell him
why I sent you home.

Go on, now. Get!

[Exhales]

Enoch, you have two apples.

I give you two more.
How many do you have?

Mrs. Fisher: this
here tele... Tele...

Telephone.

This thing is on the wall?

Or a table or a desk.

Why, he could even put one
in the barn if he wanted to.

'Course, cows wouldn't
have much need.

You talk into this thing,

And somebody hears you?

- Mm-hmm.
- How far away?

Next door or miles and miles.

Before long, there'll
be thousands of them.

People will be able to
talk to their neighbors

Or clear across the country.

America will be a lot
smaller, thanks to mr. Bell.

Who?

Alexander graham bell, the
inventor of the telephone.

You can put one in the barn.

People can talk across miles.

That is a lie.

No, sir, it is not.

The telephone was exhibited
at the philadelphia exposition.

There were lots of
stories in the newspapers.

Stories. Lies.

Good thing I was
working out in the mud,

Had to leave my boots on the
porch, or I wouldn't have heard

All this stuff you're
making up in your head.

I did not make it up.

Ellen, I'm hungry.

It's ready. I'll take it up.

So...

You sent joshua bond home, eh?

Yes, sir.

Well, his father didn't like it.

You do it again,

He's going to have
a talk with miss peel.

I told joshua I'd be happy
to talk to his father.

If he can behave, he
can attend school.

If he doesn't, I'll
send him home again!

And I do not lie.

There is such a
thing as a telephone.

Here you go.

If you'd give me more warning,

I could have packed
a better lunch.

It ain't the lunch.

It's the corn price
I'm worried about.

Hyah! Get up there!

Uh, that dress...

Caleb don't think it's
proper for teaching.

I know, but I happen to like it.

[Clucking]

Miss ingalls, no!

Oh, he can't hurt anybody.
He's just a chicken.

How you doing, there? Huh?

There you go.

Katie?

Katie!

Mary: reuben bracken is absent.

Does anyone know why?

Child: whooping.

What?

Joshua: he's whooping.

Reuben's got whooping cough.

Can I come to school?

You may, if you behave,

For as long as you behave.

If you got the whoopers, sugar
and coal oil is the only cure.

If you ain't got them, well,
this will keep them away.

Uh, thank you, but
the odor is so strong,

I'm afraid it would
make me sick to wear it.

Got to be strong,
or it don't do no good.

And you only smell
it right at first.

Yeah. Why don't you just...

Put it on the end of
the desk over there,

And I'll think about it.

Ain't just whooping cough.

Miss peel says if you
wear it next to your skin,

You don't get pox
or mumps or measles.

Miss peel?

She's the one that makes them.

Onliest people get
sick around here

Are them that give her
cause to want them to.

Yeah. Well, uh, thank you.

Now, if you'll take your seat,

We'll see if we can get
some schoolwork done.

Did you turn loose
my little rooster?

You mean the one that was
tangled up in the string?

Oh... I told you.

It had to be her.

What are you? Some
kind of little fool?

When a rooster
is tied up that way,

Don't you know what it means?

[Yelling] well, don't you?

No! No, I don't.

A rooster who
is tied up that way

Means good luck.

It means I'm going
to be coming home

With a pocket full of money,

Anybody who knows
anything knows that.

Just like you know that
dried spiders cure the ague,

And wolf droppings
cure the colic.

Anybody who knows
anything knows that!

But you, you turn my
little rooster loose.

And that brought bad
luck. The worst kind.

One hour before I
reached the feed and grain,

The bottom fell clean
out of the corn price.

Oh, I sold,

But I didn't get half
what the sacks was worth.

- Caleb...
- Just shut up! Mind you!

And you. Don't you ever

Touch anything
around here again.

And I'd take it kindly

If you'd wear a proper
dress for supper.

It'll be a few minutes

If you want to wash up.

Thank you.

I could've done that.

Oh, that's all right.
It's almost done.

I can empty the bucket.

If you like.

I been having trouble
timing sixes and nines.

I was hoping that you might...

Tomorrow, joshua.

Like nine times six.

You can do it by
yourself if you really try.

I've been trying. I can't
figure it in my head,

And I don't have a
slate or a slate pencil

Or any paper and pencil.

You don't need pencil or paper.

Soft dirt like this
and a sharp stick,

And you've got a perfect slate.

You can sure think
circles around me.

Can I just show you
what I'm trying to figure?

All right if you hurry.

There.

No. That's wrong.

You've got the numbers
in the answer reversed.

This is how it should be.

You know... You're
mighty pretty.

I think that will be the end
of our lesson for today.

Why? I'm a fast learner if
you just give me a chance.

Miss peel: joshua!

You devil's disciple!

I never thought
I'd see this day!

When your pa hears,
he'll rip your soul clean!

Get to home!

Jezebel!

Flaunting your flesh
in temptation's raiment.

You will burn!

Oh, you will burn!

You should always take your hair

Out of braids
before you go to bed

And brush it really good.

Then it'll stay
really healthy, ok?

Ok.

You've got pretty hair.

Thanks.

Man: I come to see her,
and I'm going see her.

Mrs. Fisher: miss ingalls?

Company to see you... Mr. Bond.

I'll be right down.

Miss peel knowed.

She come told me,
and she was right.


You a jezebel and worse.

Mr. Bond, i...

I come to talk, not listen!

You like to k*lled my boy.

He come home struck down sick.

Would have d*ed, too,

If miss peel hadn't knowed
to come to my house.

If you'll just give me
a chance to explain...

Oh, no. You'll cast
no spell on me.

I'm too strong for you.

You should be down on
your knees praying, girl,

In thanks that miss peel able
to pull my boy joshua through.

I didn't do anything to joshua.

He come home, his eyes
'most swollen shut.

You did something to him.

You ever do it again,

You'll be the most sorry
person ever leave these parts.

You understand?

Katie's not feeling good.

She won't be going
to school tomorrow.

Must be a good book.

Oh, it is. It's alice garvey's.

I promised faithfully
I'd return it on sunday,

And I'm not even
halfway through yet.

What's it about?

Dresses... Styles, patterns.

[Carriage approaching]

Dr. Baker looking for
a free cup of coffee.

Mary!

Oh, mama! Mama.

Oh, baby.

Baby.

Mama, mama.

Oh!

Ma said you didn't
eat any breakfast.

No. I...

I slept late, and
I wasn't hungry.

My first real teaching job,

And I really messed it up.

Well, you had plenty of help.

That miss peel...

People up there, they
think she can cast spells or...

Or point a finger
and burn down a barn.

They think she's
some kind of witch.

She hates schools...

Books.

I know she hates me.

You were right. You
had reason to leave.

She went around
telling lies about me

So the parents would
keep their children home.

It's over now. It
doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter?
Of course it matters!

You wouldn't like it if
people... People believed

Terrible things
somebody said about you.

The children were...

Were shy and
scared at first, but...

But after a little while,

They were studying,

And they were learning,

And they really enjoyed it.

It's as if we'd opened a door

And she slammed it shut.

She ruined our school.

That she did.

Sometimes I think...

I think bigots are just
there, like the mountains...

Just as hard to change.

Well, somebody
ought to do something.

Well, it'd take
somebody pretty strong.

Well, I don't like people
telling lies about me.

I think I'll go back there and
tell the folks up there the truth.

Would you mind if I did?

That's what I've
been waiting to hear.

The reverend alden won't be
preaching there for about a month.

He said that miss peel presides
over the services every sunday.

That's right.

How about you and I
dropping in on that meeting?

Pa, I'd like it a lot if you
took me up there, but...

But I'm the one she
told the lies about.

It's my fight, pa.

I want you to promise me you'll
let me say whatever needs saying.

That's a promise.

Now, go on, tell your ma.

Yes, sir.

You know something?

She's gonna be sorry
she got my dander up.

Today's lesson: the lord's word,

As given to us in his
ten commandments...

We shall worship only one god.

We do not adore graven images.

We do not profane the sabbath.

We...

What are you doing here?

We came to attend the meeting.

Most of you don't know me.

My name is mary ingalls.

This is my father.

You're not welcome.

I'm not surprised, but
that doesn't matter.

We're going to have
a talk, miss peel,

And we can start now
or after the meeting.

I got nothing to say to you...

Jezebel.

Oh, but you have.

You're going to tell me,

And you're going
to tell my father,

And you're going to
tell all these people

How you... How you
dare to call me that.

Do you want to start now, or
do you want to finish your lesson?

I believe you were talking
about the ten commandments.

You had gotten
as far as the third.

The fourth: do not take
the name of the lord in vain.

The fifth: honor thy
father and thy mother.

The sixth: thou shalt not k*ll.

The seventh...

Do unto others as you would
have others do unto you.

That's not one of the
ten commandments.

It's the golden rule.

It's the seventh.

It's from the
sermon on the mount.

"Therefore all things

"Whosoever ye that
man would do to you,

"Do ye even so to them.

"For this is the law
and the prophets."

matthew, : .

You're wrong!

It's the seventh
commandment, you little fool.

Look, you've got a
bible in your hand.

Why don't you look and see?

Don't have to look. I know.

Do you, miss peel?

Have you read it,

Or are you just repeating
what you've heard and memorized?

I can! I live by the good book.

Thousands...

And thousands of
words in the bible.

Read us some of those
words you live by!

Why don't you read us exodus ?

That's where you'll find
the ten commandments.

I don't have to
read you anything!

Can you read?

Go away! Get out!

Why don't you read us the ninth
commandment... The one you broke?

Read it! Just read it!

You can't read.

The devil is not welcome here.

Miss peel doesn't want
anyone else to learn to read.

She hates books...

And she hates schools.

She wanted the school closed.

That's why she broke
the ninth commandment.

I am a god-fearing
christian woman.

I did not break any commandment.

Mary: the ninth:

You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor.

I did not!

You did!

You told every parent of
every child in school I was...

I was a jezebel.

You are... A sinful stench

In the nostrils
of the righteous.

Soap and water.

If I brought any odor into
this house, that's what it is...

Plain soap and water.

Are you trying to scare me?

Are you going to call
down the lightning?

Do it, miss peel! Do it!

No lightning?

What's the matter, miss peel?

I saw you enticing,

Teaching the ways of the devil!

You saw me teaching one
of my students manners.

That student you saw is here.

He can tell us all
what happened...

Unless he wants to
bear false witness

And break the ninth commandment.

Go on, son. You tell them.

Tell them, boy.

I... I scratched a
problem in the dirt

And got the answer wrong.

Miss ingalls was trying to help.

I tried to steal a kiss,
and she like to bust my ribs.

You were sick, boy.

Your eyes 'most swoll shut.

Just dust, pa. Dust and rubbing.

That's all, till
after she come...

Miss peel, I mean.

She put something in
them, and I couldn't see.

Uh, my special potion,

That's all.

Miss peel, she the
one that cured you.

She made you see good.

No, pa. Ma cured me.

She washed my eyes with
clean water, maybe times.

Woman: I did,

While he was to
the fishers' house,

Bearing false witness
against miss ingalls.

Well, miss peel?

The lesson for today
was the ten commandments,

But I think we've all
had enough of those.

Before coming
up here today, i...

I looked through the bible
for proof of god's love for man.

I think a happier lesson

Might be taken from psalm ...

"Behold, how good
and pleasant it is

"For brethren to
dwell together in unity."

God's world isn't...

Fear and... And hate.

It's love and...

And understanding.

Amen to that.

Mary: and learning is part
of that understanding.

School will be open
on monday morning

For anyone who wants to learn.

Again, amen!

♪ Jesus loves me, this I know ♪

♪ For the bible tells me so ♪

All: ♪ little ones
to him belong ♪

♪ They are weak,
but he is strong ♪

♪ Yes, jesus loves me ♪

♪ Yes, jesus loves me ♪

♪ Yes, jesus loves me ♪

♪ The bible tells me so ♪

♪ Jesus from his
throne on high ♪

♪ Came into this world to die ♪

♪ That I might
from sin be free ♪

♪ Bled and d*ed upon the tree ♪

♪ Yes, jesus loves me ♪

♪ Yes, jesus loves me ♪

♪ Yes, jesus loves me ♪

♪ The bible tells me so ♪
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