Evangeline

1
"Ye who believe in affection that hopes, 
   and endures, and is patient,
 Ye who believe in the beauty and
   strength of woman’s devotion,
 List to the mournful tradition, still
   sung by the pines of the forest;
 List to a Tale of Love in Acadie,
   home of the happy."

2
"This is the forest primeval.
  The murmuring pines and 
     the hemlocks ..."

3
Loud from its rocky caverns, 
the deep-voiced neighboring 
ocean answered the wail of 
the forest.

4
In the land of Acadie, on 
the shores of the Basin 
of Minas, nestled the little 
village of Grand-Pré

5
At peace with God and man 
dwelt these simple Acadians,
with neither locks to their 
doors nor bars to their 
windows.

6
Father Felician ...

  The good priest of the 
  parish.

7
Basil ... the blacksmith.

  "A mighty man in the village
     and honored of all men."

8
Michael ... the fiddler.

  "His jolly face glowed like a
      living coal when the ashes
      are blown from the embers."

9
Rene Leblanc ... the notary.

  "Bent like a laboring oar that
     toils in the surf of the 
     ocean."

10
On a hillside overlooking
 the sea, lived Benedict
 Bellefontaine, the wealth-
 iest farmer of Grand-Pré.

11
Benedict Bellefontaine ...

  "Hearty and hale was he, 
   an oak covered with snowflakes."

12
Evangeline ...

"Black were her eyes as the berry
  that grows on the thorn by the wayside,
 Black, yet how softly they gleamed
  beneath the brown shade of her tresses."

13
Baptiste ... son of the notary.

 "He knew not which beat the 
     louder, his heart or the 
     knocker of iron."

14
"I have always loved
 you, Evangeline ....
 ever since we were
     children."

15
"There is room in my
 heart for only one
  love, Baptiste ...."

16
"....and that love is
     for another."

17
"I wish you happiness,
 Evangeline .... always."

18
Gabriel ...  son of the blacksmith.

  "A valiant youth with a face 
     like the face of the morning."

19
"Bless me, Father ....
       quick!"

20
"Do you love me very
   much, Gabriel?"

21
"Would you love me if 
 I looked like this?"

22
"Silently one by one, in the infinite
      meadows of heaven,
 Blossomed the lovely stars, the
     forget-me-nots of the angels."

23
"Why are you sad, my
 child? You should be
 happy, for tonight Rene
 Leblanc is coming with
 your marriage contract."

24
"You will not love me
 less, father, because I
 shall soon leave you
    for Gabriel?"

25
"Every day I shall see
 you, and I shall share 
  in your happiness."

26
"Long life and happiness
 to Gabriel and Evangeline!"

27
"Over running water,
 my life I pledge to
     thee ...."

28
"My love shall never
 forsake thee ... as long
    as water runs."

29
"... as long as water runs."

30
"Please sing the song 
       I love."

31
"This proclamation is a
 violation of our rights ...
      our liberty!"

32
"Let us go to Halifax
 and petition the
 Governor General!"

33
"It may mean war, Gabriel
 ....our separation....your
          death!"

34
At Halifax... Headquarters
 of the British Governor
 General.

35
"Bring in the petitioners."

36
"We have come to petition 
 your Excellency on behalf
    of the Acadians."

37
"We are peaceable people,
 bound to England by oaths
 of allegiance and to France
 by sacred ties of blood."

38
"In the impending war
 between England and
 France for possession
 of the American
 colonies, we refuse to
    take up arms!"

39
"You are British subjects.
 You will sign new oaths
 pledging yourselves to
 fight against France!"

40
"Always we have reserved
 the right not to fight against
 our own flesh and blood!"

41
"And we will not fight
  against them now!"

42
"Go back and tell
 your people I will
 take their petition
 under advisement."

43
"I warn your Excellency
 that we Acadians will
 never fight against 
      France!"

44
"Colonel Winslow, I am
 trusting you with the
 command of this secret
      expedition."

45
"Are you not taking a 
 drastic step, your
 Excellency, without
 the knowledge or 
 consent of the Crown?"

46
"It is my policy to act
 first and to advise my
 government afterward!"

47
"Would not consideration
 for the rights of the
 Acadians be more
 humane and tactful?"

48
"I am a soldier....not a
 diplomat. You will carry
     out my orders!"

49
Under the open sky was spread
  the betrothal feast of
  Evangeline and Gabriel.

50
"Long life and happiness
 to Gabriel and Evangeline!"

51
"Let us sing the song
  of our homeland!"

52
"Men of Grand-Pré,
 you are commanded
 to assemble in the
  village church!"

53
"The Governor General's
 orders must be obeyed!"

54
"Let us obey. We have
 nothing to fear in the
     house of God."

55
"You are convened
 this day to hear the
 Governor General's
 answer to your 
    petition."

56
"For your refusal to take
 up arms against France,
 all your lands and cattle
 are forfeited to the 
        Crown!"

57
"Your homes shall be
 burned, and you and
 your families shall be
 deported to other
      lands!"

58
"I now declare you
 prisoners in the name
   of the Crown!"

59
"Defiance to the Governor
       General!"

60
"We will fight for our
 rights and for our
      liberty!"

61
"Vive la liberté!"

62
"Vive la liberté!"

63
"What madness has seized
 you that you would profane
 this house of God with
       violence?"

64
"Forty years I have labored
 among you. Have you
 so soon forgotten my
 lessons of brotherly love
   and forgiveness?"

65
"In this hour when the
 wicked assail us, let us
 repeat the Master's
      prayer."

66
"O, Father, forgive them,
 for they know not what
       they do!"

67
"O, Father, forgive them!"

68
"Your father is a prisoner
 in the church. I am one
 of twenty allowed to visit 
     our loved ones."

69
"Our lands - our cattle -
 our homes - everything
 has been taken from us!"

70
"We are to be driven
 into exile! Scattered
 from Boston to New 
      Orleans!"

71
"No matter what happens,
 dear, we have each
 other and nothing shall
  ever separate us!"

72
"Somewhere in a new
 land, we shall build
 our home of love and
     happiness."

73
"Always remember, dear,
 my love shall never
 forsake thee....as long
    as water runs!"

74
Down to the sea, in the
  fog of early dawn, there
  poured a human herd.

75
"The soldiers have
 brought many prisoners,
 father, but Gabriel is
   not among them."

76
In the confusion of embarking, 
wives were torn apart from 
their husbands, mothers and
fathers separated from their 
children.

77
"My baby! Don't take
 me away without my
      baby!"

78
"We shall never see our
 homes again, my child
 ....nor our beautiful land
      of Acadie."

79
"O, Father in Heaven,
 guide my people in
 their hour of sorrow."

80
"I will get father. We
 must sail on the same
        boat!"

81
"Gabriel! Gabriel!"

82
"Evangeline!"

83
"Gabriel! Gabriel!"

84
When news of the expulsion
 of the Acadians reached
 England, public opinion was 
 inflamed, and the voice of 
 William Pitt thundered in
 the House of Commons.

85
"The forcible deportation
 of these simple people
 was a violation of human
 rights and a betrayal of
        liberty!"

86
Far to the South, at many
 ports along the Atlantic
 Coast, the exiled Acadians
 were landed ...

[dissolve to:]

87
From city to city Evangeline
 wandered, ever searching
 for Gabriel...down the Ohio...
 down the mighty Mississippi...

88
... Into the bayous of Louisiana.

89
Celebrating five years of 
 prosperity and happiness
 in a new land.

90
"It is the song of our
 homeland! Some of
 our people are near!"

91
"Perhaps I shall find
      Gabriel!"

92
"Gabriel! Where is he?"

93
"Gabriel...he...is here?"

94
"We have not seen him
  for three years."

95
"Someone saw him
 two years ago in 
    St. Louis."

96
"I followed him there,
  but he was gone!"

97
"A year ago he was seen
    in New Orleans."

98
"I was there, but he
      was gone!"

99
For many days Evangeline
 lingered at the house of
 Baptiste, her troubled heart
 lightened by the warmth of
 his welcome.

100
"It is wonderful here,
 Baptiste....so restful
     and peaceful."

101
"Why not remain with
   us....always?"

102
"I have prospered,
 Evangeline. Let
 me try to make
   you happy."

103
"I have never loved any
 one but you, and I have
 never ceased to hope."

104
"I thank you, Baptiste,
 but I must go on
 searching for Gabriel
  until I find him."

105
Urged by restless longing,
 Gabriel had wandered
 through the empty years
 in search of Evangeline.

106
"I can sing no longer,
 Father. My hope of
 finding Gabriel here
 was only a foolish
       dream."

107
Basil ... the herdsman.

 No longer the blacksmith, but
 the owner of vast herds and
 numberless acres.

108
"Gabriel .... he is here?"

109
"Only yesterday he left
   in search of you."

110
"Be of good cheer, for
 tomorrow we will follow
   and overtake him."

111
"Where is Gabriel's
       room?"

112
"Soon we shall return
 with Gabriel, and you
    will marry us."

113
Swiftly they followed in
 pursuit of Gabriel ... but
 after many days found they
 no trace of his course.

[dissolve to:]

114
Hope guided her on...into the
 Indian camps of the West...
 into the logging camps of the
 North...down the turbulent
 waters of the Ozarks.

115
"BASIL! BASIL! BASIL!"

116
"My soul is sad and
 afflicted, Father...help
  me to find peace."

117
The long, sad years glided on,
 and in many places was seen
 Evangeline, the Wanderer ...
 Like a phantom she came, and
 passed ... unremembered.

[dissolve to:]

118
Then, in the city of
 Philadelphia, a pestilence
 fell upon the people; and
 the poor and the friendless
 crept away to die.

119
"It's the little sister of
 mercy. She's here ....
 there .... everywhere ....
 tending the poor and
 the sick and the dying."

120
"Many times I have seen
 her pale face in the cold,
        gray dawn."

121
"Evangeline!"

122
"Who calls Evangeline?"

123
"Gabriel! Oh, my
    beloved!"

124
"God has been kind to
 let me find you at last."

125
"Please sing the song I
  used to sing to you."

The
   End