I mislike the feel of these woods. Creatures that live in a unicorn's forest learn a little magic of their own in time; mainly concerned with disappearing.

Unicorns? I thought they only existed in fairy tales. This is a forest, like any other - isn't it?

Then why do the leaves never fall here, or the snow? Why is it always spring here? I tell you there is one unicorn left in the world, and as long as it lives in this forest, we'll find no game to hunt here.

Let's turn around, hunt someplace else.

All right. (They turn and ride to the edge of the forest.)

(turns back and calls out)

Stay where you are, poor beast! This is no world for you. Stay in your forest and keep your trees green and your friends protected. And good luck to you, for you are the last.

(They ride away. Close-up of a white, female unicorn.)

I am the only unicorn there is? The last?

When the last eagle flies over the last crumbling mountain,
And the last lion roars at the last dusty fountain,
In the shadow of the forest, though she may be old and worn,
They will stare, unbelieving, at the last unicorn...

When the first breath of winter through the flowers is icing,
And you look to the north, and a pale moon is rising,
And it seems like all is dying, and would leave the world to mourn,
In the distance, hear the laughter of the last unicorn!

I'm Alive!
I'm Alive!


When the last moon is cast over the last star of morning,
And the future has passed without even a last desperate warning,
Then look into the stars, where through the clouds a path is torn,
Look and see her, how she sparkles, it's the last unicorn!

I'm Alive!
I'm Alive!

That cannot be. Why would I be the last? ...What do men know? Because they have seen no unicorns for a while does not mean that we have all vanished! We do not vanish! ...There has never been a time without unicorns. We live forever. We are as old as the sky, old as the moon. We can be hunted, trapped; we can even be killed if we leave our forests, but we do not vanish! ...Am I truly the last?

(Enter a butterfly singing.)

Wave the flag for Hudson Highborn, show them how we stand! ...I am a roving gambler; how do you do?

Hello, butterfly, welcome! Have you traveled very far?

How far would I travel, yessir! - to be where you are? ...Clay lies still, but blood's a-rover. Red Rover, Red Rover, let Charlie come over! ...Won't you come home, Bill Bailey, won't you come home? ...My wild Irish rose.

(Embraces her horn.)

Be a little respectful, butterfly! Do you know who I am?

Excellent well, you're a fishmonger! You're my everything, you are my sunshine, you're old and grey and full of sleep, you're my pickle- faced, consumptive Mary Jane!

Say my name, then. If you know my name, tell it to me.

Your name is a golden bell hung in my heart. I would break my body to pieces to call you once by your name!

Say it, if you know.

Rumpelstilstkin! Gotcha!

I should know better than to expect a silly butterfly to know my name.

One, two, three o'lairy!

Butterfly, in all your wanderings, have you seen others like me? Have you seen even one?

Oh, have you seen the muffin man, the muffin man, the muffin man?

Butterfly, even one? Tell me that you saw only one?

One? One alone, to be my own... [Up goes downwind, up go down!] Go and catch a falling star...

It serves me right for even asking you. All butterflies know are songs and poetry and anything else they hear. I guess you mean well. Fly away, butterfly.

Oh, I must take the A train, oh, I am a cook and a captain bold and the mate of the Nancy brig. Has anybody here seen Kelly?

I hope you hear many more songs. I must find someone who knows me, who has seen others like me.

"Unicorn". Old French, "unicorne". Latin, "unicornis". Literally, one horned: "unus", one, and "cornu", a horn. A fabulous animal resembling a horse with one horn. Visible only to those who search and trust, and generally mistaken for a white mare. Unicorn.

Oh, you do know me! Please, all I want to know is if you've seen other unicorns like me, somewhere in the world.

See you later, alligator! Close cover before striking!

Butterfly, have you seen the others? Where have they gone? Tell me which way I must go to find them!

No, no, listen. Don't listen to me, listen. You can find the others if you are brave.

(Shows unicorns running down a path, and a great red mass chasing them.)

They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footsteps.

Red Bull? What is the Red Bull?

Hold tight. Hold tight. Hold tight, hold tight. ...(same strange voice)

His firstling bull has majesty, and his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them, he shall push the unicorns, all of them, to the ends of the earth. Listen, listen, listen quickly!

I am listening! Where are the other unicorns, and what is the Red Bull?

Listen, listen!

(laughs)

The king is in the counting house, counting out, counting out, counting... It's you or me, moth! Hand to hand to hand to hand to hand to hand...

(He flies off.)

He said I could find the other unicorns. But where? Or was the story of the Red Bull just another of his songs? ...Oh, I could never leave this forest. But I must know if I am the only unicorn left in the world. Suppose they are hiding together, somewhere far away? What if they're waiting for me, in need of my help?

(A similar scene is shown.)

They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints.

(The unicorn neighs in fear and begins running. She reaches the edge of the forest, where all the animals of the wood are looking at her. She stares at them for a second, then turns and runs down the road leading away.)

I must go quickly, and come back as soon as I can.

(The unicorn runs down the road.)

You can find the others if you are brave.

(Shows unicorn running slower and slower through the seasons...)

Well, hello there, little one! Hello there, my dear! And just who might you belong to? A pretty little thing like you? Come on now, good girl! Good Bessie.

(Takes off his belt and makes it into a loop.)

Curry you up, clean you off, you'll be the prettiest old mare anywhere.

(The unicorn neighs loudly and eludes the belt.)

Mare? Mare?! I, a horse? Is that what you take me for? Is that what you see?

So, so, easy, easy, good girl. What a pretty sight you are! Feed you up, take you to the fair. Come on, horse!

(voice only) A horse, am I? A horse, indeed!

(The unicorn hooks her horn through the belt, throws it to the ground, and runs off down the road, making the farmer lose his balance and fall.)

Now there's a horse! My foot must have slipped.

(Scene The unicorn is sitting by the side of the road. A man driving a carriage passes by and all he sees is a horse.)

I had forgotten that men cannot see unicorns.

If men no longer know what they are looking at, there may well be other unicorns in the world yet, unknown and glad of it.

Horizon rising up to meet the purple dawn,
Dust demon screaming, bring an eagle to lead me on.
For in my heart, I carry such a heavy load.
Here I am, on man's road.
Walking man's road...
Walking man's road...


I'm hungry, weary, but I cannot lay me down.
The rain calls, dreary, but there's no shelter I have found.
It will be a long time till I find my abode,
Here I am, on man's road.
Walking man's road...
Walking man's road...
etc.

(Unicorn walking down the road, rain falling past a bridge.)

Well. Well, bless my old husk of a heart. And here I thought I'd seen the last of them.

(Calls to the wagons) Here, you two! (We see two men get down from the second and third wagons. One is short and hunched, with an eye patch; the other is tall; we can't see his face yet.)

If he knew... But I don't think I'll tell him. He'll think it's a horse for sure. Some wizard I hired.

Now just what in hell was that you stopped for?

What do you think it is, Rukh? What do you see lying there?

Dead horse.

You're a fool! But I knew that. What about you, wizard? What do you see with your sorcerer's sight?

(Rukh elbows the tall man and laughs. We see his face now; he has no beard, green eyes, and a pointed blue cap. He stares at the unicorn. The old woman grabs his collar and pulls his face down to her level.)

Answer me, you juggler!

I - I see a horse. Just - just a white mare.

I thought so. All right. It's a white mare. I want her for the carnival. The last cage is empty.

We'll need rope.

The rope that could hold that mare has not been woven. We'll make do with cold iron bars.

Oh, she's waking!

I'll cast a sleep on her! [Skagribbitch! Kastamangya! Nitchai! Nitchaul!]

(Something emanates from the old woman's fingers. It materializes into a solid, curved, glowing blue horn in front of the unicorn's real one.)

Now cage her. She'll sleep till sunrise.

(Scene Morning. The cages are arranged in formation. Rukh is showing a bunch of villagers around the creatures in the Midnight Carnival.)

This here is the manticore. Man's head, lion's body, tail of a scorpion.

(The villagers murmur.) Creatures of night, brought to light! Here is the dragon. Breathes fire now and then - mostly at people who poke it, little boy. Its inside is an inferno, but its skin is so cold it burns! Speaks seventeen languages badly, and is subject to gout. Creatures of night, brought to light! ...The satyr. Ladies, k

ep back! (The tall man sneaks up to the unicorn's cage.)

I shouldn't be here. But quickly, tell me what you see. Don't be afraid. Look at your fellow legends and tell me what you see.

What he calls a manticore looks to be no more than a shabby, toothless lion. And she has them believing that poor old ape with a twisted foot is a satyr! Illusions! Deceptions! Mirages! Your Mommy Fortuna cannot truly change things!

That's true; she can only disguise. And only for those eager to believe whatever comes easiest.

The Midgard Serpent. It's got the whole world in its coils.

(to the unicorn) No, she can't turn cream into butter. But she can make a lion look like a manticore to eyes that want to see a manticore. Just as she'd put a false horn on a real unicorn to make them see the unicorn. ...I know you. If I were blind I would know who you are.

Who are you?

I am called Schmendrick, the magician. You wouldn't have heard of me. ...I entertain the sightseers as they gather for the show. It's not much of a job for a real magician, but I've had worse.

That one is real. That is the harpy Celaeno.

(The harpy caws out maliciously.)

Yes. The old woman caught her by chance, asleep, just as she took you. Oh, she should never have meddled with a real harpy, or a real unicorn for that matter, because the truth melts her magic, always.

(harpy caws some more)

She's going to free herself very soon now, and she must not catch you still caged.

Go on, get away from there! You know what she told you!

Don't be afraid! Schmendrick is with you! Do nothing till you hear from me!

(runs away down past the cages)

The unicorn.

A unicorn! (murmuring)

(Scene Later in the day. Rukh is staring at the harpy; Mommy Fortuna is next to him.)

I don't care how many damn spells you've got on her. Get rid of that harpy! I thinks about it all the time - what she's going to do to us! Get rid of her, Mommy!

Fool, be still! No other witch in the world holds a harpy captive, and none ever will. I choose to keep her! I can turn her into wind if she escapes, or snow! Or into seven notes of music!

(The harpy screams and begins beating her wings. The cage shakes.)

: She's breaking through! (runs away)

No. Not yet. Not yet. You're mine. If you kill me, you're still mine.

(The harpy calms down and the cage stops shaking.)

The harpy's as real as you are, and just as immortal. And she was just as easy to capture, if you want to know.

Do not boast, old woman. Your death sits in that cage and she hears you.

Oh, she'll kill me one day or another, but she will remember forever that I caught her, that I held her prisoner. So there's my immortality, eh? (laughs) Now, you were out on the road hunting for your own death, and I know where it awaits you. I know him, that one.

Do you speak of the Red Bull? Tell me if you do, and where he is, if you know!

The Red Bull of King Haggard. So you know of the Bull. Well, he'll not have you. You belong to me.

You know better. Keep your poor shadows if you will, but let me go. And - let her go. I cannot see her caged. She is real, like me. We are two sides of the same magic. Let her go.

I'd quit show business first! Do you think I don't know what the true witchery is, just because I do what I do? There's not a witch in the world hasn't laughed at Mommy Fortuna and her homemade horrors - but there's not one of them who would have dared!

The harpy and me - we are not for you.

Who are you for then? Do you think those fools knew you without any help from me? (laughs) No! I had to give you a horn they could see! These days it takes a cheap carnival trick to make folks recognize a real unicorn. But the Red Bull will know you when he sees you; so you are safer here. You should thank me for protecting you.

Schmendrick is with you! I'm sorry, but I couldn't get away any sooner.

There has never been a spell on me before. There has never been a world in which I was not known.

Oh, I know exactly how you feel. It's a very rare person who is taken for what he truly is.

Will you help me?

If not you, no one. You're my last chance.

Can you truly set me free?

Mommy Fortuna doesn't think so. She sees me as a clumsy fraud, a trickster. But I am Schmendrick the Magician! - the last of the red-hot swamis! And I too am real, like you, like her. Yes, I will help you.

Where is the other man?

Rukh? Oh, don't worry about him. I asked him a riddle, and it always takes that lout all night to solve riddles. And now... [Shara sineverel morlin sudai! Suni numira eddi subai!]

(The unicorn sees a forest with green leaves, and her forest creatures looking at her. But the mirage soon disappears, leaving the cage behind.)

I-I'm sorry, I would have like that to be the spell that freed you. That's, uh, that's okay. Next one. Well, let's - try this one. Okay. [Urchulis sulai esumina gaminajo!] - This is a super-spell. Tha bars are now as brittle as old cheese, which I crumble and scatter, so! Whoouch!

(Schmendrick grabs the bars and they burn his hands. The hands are red and bloody. He shakes them, trying to get the pain off.)

Whoa, I must have gotten the accent wrong. It comes and it goes.

Try again. Once more. There's very little time left. Hurry!

(Schmendrick whistles three notes, then sprinkles some powder over the cage, which begins to shrink.)

[low words]

Stop the bars!

No, no, [uh, serenin perenin] - ugh!

(the bars stop moving inwards.)

I dare no more. The next time, I might not be able to-

Try again. The spell was wrong, but there was true magic in it. Try again!

My dear, you deserve the services of a great wizard, but I'm afraid you'll have to be glad of the aid of a second-rate pickpocket.

(Schmendrick procures a key ring, which he tries on the lock, which is shaped like a lion's mouth. One key turns inside.)

(laughs) Some magician! Some magician!

Ah, turn blue.

Hurry!

(The lock groans as Schmendrick opens it.)

Step down, lady! You are free!

(The spell on the unicorn disperses as she leaps out of the cage. Rukh enters.)

Okay, Schmendrick, I give up. Why is a raven like a writing desk?

(The unicorn leaps into the bushes; Rukh doesn't see her.)

The cage. You have taken my keys. Why, you thin thief. She'll string you on barbed wire to make a necklace for the harpy!

(Rukh starts walking back towards Mommy Fortuna's wagon.)

Run! (He runs at Rukh and jumps him. They struggle on the ground. The unicorn goes around to the cages and opens the doors with her horn, freeing the animals inside.)

You pile of stones! I'll set all your toenails growing in when you mess with me!

(laughs) Some magician. You couldn't turn cream into cheese, you Schmendrick you!

(Schmendrick bashes the key ring into Rukh's head. Rukh lets go and falls off in a daze. The animals are free. Only the harpy remains as the unicorn faces her.)

No, she'll kill you! Run, she'll kill you if you set her free!

Set me free. We are sisters, you and I.

(The unicorn touches her horn to the lock. The harpy breaks the cage with her wings and goes free. She lunges at the unicorn and misses. She circles around and lunges again - behind the unicorn, at Mommy Fortuna.)

(laughs) Not alone! You never could have freed yourselves alone! I held you!

(She opens her arms as if to embrace the harpy's death lunge. She is struck down and the harpy settles down to feed on her body.)

Run, run, run, run away from here, now!

No. Come with me. Come with me.

(We hear the harpy cawing and Rukh screaming for a short second. Schmendrick winces.)

Don't look back, and don't run. You must never run from anything immortal, it attracts their attention.

(The harpy circles again but doesn't see the two walking away.)

Oh, that poor old woman - I didn't want her to - I didn't know -

She chose her death long ago. It was the fate she wanted.

And you, you have no regrets, as I do?

I can never regret. I can feel sorrow, but it's not the same thing.

Where will you go now?

I am looking for others like me. Have you seen them, magician?

No, I've never seen anyone like you. Not while I was awake, anyway.

A butterfly told me of a Red Bull, who pushed all the other unicorns to the ends of the earth. And Mommy Fortuna spoke of a King Haggard. So I'm going where they are, to learn whatever they know.

Take me with you, for lucks, for laughs, for the unknown.

You may come with me if you like, though I wish you'd asked for some other reward for having freed me.

Well, I thought about it, but you could never have granted my true wish.

No. I cannot turn you into something you are not. I cannot turn you into a true magician.

That's all right, don't worry about it.

I'm not. (Scene An open road.)

What do you know of King Haggard?

I have heard that he's an old man who rules over barren country by the sea. Some say that Haggard's land was green and soft once, before he came, but the minute he touched it, it became hard and grey.
(They are crossing a river by stepping on stones. The unicorn steps across first.)

Tell me about the Red Bull.

The Red Bull? I've heard too many tales, to tell you the truth. I've heard (stumbles) - I've heard that the Bull is real, that the Bull is a ghost -

(trips over a stone and stumbles on the unicorn, who moves away quickly at his touch.)

Sorry.

I've heard that the Red Bull protects Haggard or else that he keeps him a prisoner in his own castle - there are so many stories.

(The same scene is shown as with the Butterfly.)

They passed down all the roads long ago, and the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints.

(The unicorn neighs and shakes her head wildly.)

(juggling one orange, which turns into many, which then juggle by themselves. He picks one up and offers it to the unicorn.)

Want one?

(shrugs and puts them all back into his bag.)

How much further is it?

This is the edge of Haggard's kingdom. It's very, very dangerous country. Mommy Fortuna never came within miles of here.

(The sound of hooves approaches.)

Listen! ...Oh, oh, I was afraid of that. Run, swiftly, hide yourself! We'll find each other later!

Why? Who are they?

Outlaws!

(The unicorn hides in the bushes while Schmendrick climbs a tree. The outlaws approach. One very large man with stubble stops his horse as he nears Schmendrick's tree.)

Whoa! Well, what have we here?

(The tip of Schmendrick's hat protrudes from the tree.)

Hi, lads! Mind your heads now! It's raining ninnies!

(laughs racuously and pulls Schmendrick down from the tree and onto his horse. They ride off.)

---

(A campfire at night. Several very miserable-looking men are sitting around drinking something from mugs.)

(spits out the liquid in his cup) Rat soup. Again rat soup.

At least she could use a different rat. The third night, anyway.

(The outlaws ride in. Schmendrick is draped over the large man's horse sideways.)

Put me down, you fool!

(dunks Schmendrick's head into the horse's back)

Aye, lad, quiet there. You're for Captain Cully himself, you are.

(A fat, red-haired man dressed in richer rags steps forward.)

Well, Jack Jingly! And who is it you bring us, comrade or captive?

I dunno what he is maself. What happened, Cully? We were out looking for likely travelers, like always.

(calls over his shoulder) Add some more water to the soup, love! There's company!

(A thin, middle-ages woman with wild hair the color of dead weeds pushes through the ring of men.)

I'll not have it, Cully! Not another mouth to feed! The soup's no thicker than sweat as it is!

My love, where's your greenwood hospitality?

(looking at Schmendrick)

And who's this long lout? I don't like the look of him. Slit his wizard.

("She had meant to say either weasand or gizzard, and had said both...")

(getting off the horse)

I wouldn't do that, because I am Schmendrick the Magician! And you, sir, you must be the famous Captain Cully, boldest of the bold and freest of the free!

That I am.

He's guessing, Cully, gut him, before he does you the way the last one did!

Well, that's only Molly Grue's way. But she has a good heart, a good heart. (Puts his arm on her shoulder.)

Off with you.

And this lady, don't tell me, she must be your faithful and beautiful companion.

Maybe he does know.

(laughs) Yes, splendid woman. You are welcome here, sorceror. Come to the fire and tell me what you've heard of dashing Captain Cully and his band of freemen. (Sits him down) Have a taco.

(Later that night.)

You're a lucky guest this evening, magician. My minstrel, Willy Gentle, here, was just about to inspire us by singing one of the adventures of bold Captain Cully and his men.

(General groans and complaints from the men.)

Nay, Willy! Not that thing again!

Willy! Sing us a true song! Sing us one about Robin Hood!

There is no Robin Hood! Robin Hood is a myth!

(gets up and begins murmuring over and over again)

Magic, do as you will. Magic, magic, do as you will.

(A wind starts up.)

And now, lads, with that out of the way -

Look! Oh, look there! (A tall figure dressed in green comes striding into the campsite, with an almost-as-tall maiden next to him.)

(rushes to greet them)

Sir, madam, I welcome you to my domain! My name is Captain Cully, of the greenwood!

(he bows, and they pass right through him.)

Oh, Robin! And Marian!

(Other figures come walking through the campsite.)

Friar Tuck! That's Friar Tuck there! Will Scarlett...

What is this? This is not happening! Robin Hood is a myth! We are the reality! ...Magic is magic, but the truth is us! Right?

Robin! Mr. Hood, sir! Little John! Will! Wait for me! (they all run after them) Robin! Marian!

Wait! Wait for me! Marian! (also runs after them)

(is laughing is head off on the floor) It worked! It worked! I said "Magic, do as you will", and it worked!

(holds a knife at Schmendrick's neck) That was a dangerous diversion, Sir Sorceror.

He's no hedge wizard, Cully. I don't know what he is, ta tell you the truth. Tie him up, and do you guard him tanight, Cully.

(They tie him to a large tree, with his face in its trunk.) And in the morning, we'll see what's to be done with a wizard who can call up Robin Hood! Should be worth something, eh, Cully? (laughs)

Yes indeed! We'll sell him! We'll both be gentlemen of leisure in a month's time! (laughs)

I don't even care! [Gotonius basni varsinisn basti gumtina crosti stormily hasti!]

(Weird lights; the tree comes alive.)

Oh. Oh. Oh, I love you. I love you. Love love love love love love love love love.

Oh, what have I done?

Always, always. Faithfulness beyond any man's deserving. I will keep the color in your eyes when no other in the world remembers your name. (She smushes Schmendrick's face in her trunk.) There is no immortality but a tree's love.

Oh, no, I'm engaged to a Douglas fir. (yells) Help, unicorn, where are you?!

(Lightning; the unicorn is illuminated and she begins walking toward the tree.)

Ooh, galls and fireblight! She shall never have you, the hussy! We will perish together!

(The unicorn cuts Schmendrick's rope with her horn. The tree goes dead again. Schmendrick follows her bashfully.)

Did you see me? Were you watching, did - did you see what I made?

Yes. It was true magic.

Yeah. It's gone now, but I-I had it. It had me, but it's gone. I-I couldn't hold it.

(Molly Grue is in wait ahead of them.)

Leaving us so early, magician?

(The unicorn jumps into the bushes by the side of the road; too late.)

(gasps) No. Can it truly be? Where have you been? Where have you been? (yells) Damn you, where have you been?!

Don't you talk to her that way!

I am here now.

(laughs bitterly) Oh? And where were you twenty years ago, ten years ago? Where were you when I was new? When I was one of those innocent, young maidens you always come to? How dare you, how dare you come to me now, when I am this?

(She begins crying. The unicorn puts her head in Molly's lap, and she caresses it.)

Can you really see her? Do you really know what she is?

If you had been waiting to see a unicorn as long as I have...

She's the last unicorn in the world.

It would be the last unicorn in the wourld that came to Molly Grue. (She sniffs.) It's all right. I forgive you.

Well, it's time for us to go now.

(gets up) I'm ready.

You can't come with us! We're on a quest!

Can't I? Ask her.

Never! I, Schmendrick the Magician, forbid it! And be wary of wousing a wizard's wrath - rousing a rizard's - rou - Be wary of making a-a magician angry! If I chose I could turn you into a frog -

(laughs) I should laugh myself sick. Have sense, man. What were you going to do with the last unicorn in the world - keep her in a cage?

Oh, you don't even know where we're going!

Do you think it matters to me?

We are journeying to King Haggard's country to find the Red Bull!

Well, you're going the wrong way. (Begins walking in a different direction.)

(A brown valley.)

I'm sorry, but you were going the wrong way, magician.

Well, it was a shortcut.

Haggard's fortress. We'll be there tomorrow if we walk all night.

Where does King Haggard keep the Red Bull?

I have heard that he roams at night and lies up by day in a great cavern beneath the castle - but we'll know soon enough.

Moon rising, disguising
Lonely streets in gay display
The stars fade, the nightshade
Closing makes the world afraid.
It waits in silence for the sky to explode.
Here I am, on man's road.
Walking man's road...

(Song Scenes: The party is lying down against trees. The moon gives off a fiery red light which reflects on their sleeping faces. Molly wakes.)

Schmendrick, the light!

(The Red Bull comes. The unicorn runs away in fear. He chases her across the forest, never losing ground.)

Do something!

He's driving her! He can't want to kill her or-or he would have done it by now!

(more chase scenes...)

He's driving her the way he drove the others - to the castle, to King Haggard.

Please! Please do something!

What can I do? Do you think the Red Bull likes card tricks?

(chasing... The Red Bull is winning.)

If I could I'd change her into some other creature, some beast too humble for the Bull to be concerned with. But that would take a real magician, with real magic - and I can't pretend any more.

But you do. You have magic. Maybe you can't find it, but it's there. You called Robin Hood, and there is no Robin Hood. You have all the power you need, if you dare to look for it.

(The unicorn submits to the Red Bull. She walks slowly before him.)

Please! It's not fair!

Run! Run, now! Run!

(The unicorn doesn't listen to him; she plods on, depressed.)

(Schmendrick tries to run in front of the Red Bull; he is thrown aside.)

Schmendrick!

(gets up.) Magic, magic, do as you will

(repeats in a low voice. Lines of power stream from his fingers towards the unicorn. He slowly falls onto his knees and then his face. The Red Bull noses a white shape on the ground and then walks off. Molly rushes to the side of what used to be the unicorn.)

What have you done?

(holds up the head of a human girl with a white face and white hair. A brown mark that looks like a star is on her forehead.)

What have you done? What have you done?!

(Schmendrick joins her.)

(excited) What do you mean, what have I done? Only saved her from the Red Bull by magic, that's all I've done! By magic! By my own true magic! Doubtless you are wondering how I plan to return her to her proper shape. Wonder not. The power will come to me whenever I need it. And one day, one day it will come to me when I call! You were right! You were right.

I didn't know you meant to turn her into a human girl!

The Red Bull came for a unicorn, so she had to become something else. The magic chose the shape, not I. I am a bearer! I am a dwelling! I am a messenger!

You are an idiot! Do you hear me? You lost her! You trapped her in a human body! She'll go mad!

(The girl begins to stir. She wakes up, and tries to stand.)

I can change her back. Don't worry about it. I-I can change her back.

(The girl falls, and goes on all fours.)

What have you done to me?

(begins crying) Oh, no. Oh, please, no!

(to the girl) You see, I couldn't think of anything else I could do to save you.

What have you done to me?

(She hugs herself, and her voice sounds like a neigh.)

I'm a unicorn! I'm a unicorn!

(grabs her arm) Don't! Don't you hurt yourself!

(She drapes Schmendrick's cloak around the girl's shoulders.)

Be still! The magic knew what it was doing. In this shape alone you have some hope of reaching King Haggard and finding out what has become of the other unicorns.

I wish you had let the Red Bull take me. I wish you had left me to the harpy! I can feel this body dying all around me!

But - but it's only for a little while, I promise you! Soon you'll have your true shape again, forever!

Why not now? Schmendrick, you can't let her stay like this, you can't possibly!

Why not? Unless you think you could defeat the Bull if you met him again.

No.

(She takes the cloak herself and holds it in place.)

And I'm afraid of this human body - more than I was of the Red Bull - afraid!

A man, and two women, coming here?

The young girl - she looks so strange. She has a newness to her.

(The front gate of the castle. The two sentinels await the three travelers. The pale girl has Schmendrick's cloak around her shoulders.)

(bars their way) Give your names.

I am Schmendrick, the Magician. This is Molly Grue, my helper, and this, this is - this is... the Lady Amalthea. We seek audience with King Haggard.

State your business with King Haggard.

I will, but to King Haggard himself.

(The first sentinel leads them into the castle and through a dark stairway down. The floor shakes abruptly and a roar is heard. The Lady Amalthea cries out.)

No, no, it's all right, don't be afraid. It's just the Bull.

This is King Haggard's throne room.

Throne room? This is a cell. This is a tomb. Take us to King Haggard!

(The first sentinel unlaces his helmet and takes it off. He has a grey face and a thin beard.)

I am King Haggard. This is Prince Lir, my son.

(The second sentinel takes off his helmet to reveal a friendly, red-headed face.)

Hi. Glad to meet you.

What is your concern with me?

We seek, Sire, to enter your service.

I need no servants.

Oh, but surely, Sire, a magician, a fine cook, a -

You are losing my interest, and that is very dangerous. My "court" consists of four men-at-arms.

Four? But the pleasures of the court, Sire, the music, the talk, the hunts and the balls and the great feasts -

They are nothing to me. I have known them all, and they have not made me happy. I will keep nothing near me that does not make me happy! ...I also keep one magician.

Oh, a magician, huh? What's his name?

He is called Mabruk. He is known in his trade as "the magician's magician". I can see no reason at all to replace him with some vagrant, nameless, clownish -

I can. He doesn't, this marvelous Mabruk, doesn't make you happy.

Molly, be still.

And how would you know?

Well, just look at you!

Molly! (grabs her to quiet her)

Did you hear that, Mabruk?

(In a haze of smoke, an old man with harsh eyes appears. He wears a crown and a spangled robe.)

What does your majesty wish of me? Schmendrick, my dear boy, how nice to see you! (walks over to Schmendrick)

He has come to take your place. He is now my royal magician.

See?

Shhh!

The legendary Schmendrick? "The Runeless Wonder?" I realize your majesty is a great collector of - oddities, but-

The woman is right. A master magician has not made me happy. I will see what an incompetent one can do. You may go, Mabruk.

I am not packed off as easily as that!

(A wind rises in the room. Lir steps in front of Amalthea, hand on his sword hilt. Amalthea walks past him. The mark on her forehead begins to glow. The wind dies down, and the only sound left is Mabruk's laughing.)

Come on, old man. I'll write you a reference.

(laughs) Haggard, I would not be you for all the world! You have let your doom in by the front door, but it will not depart that way! Farewell, poor Haggard! Farewell...

(He laughs and disappears the same way he appeared.)

(The Lady Amalthea is looking out the window. Haggard comes toward her.)

(turns at Haggard's approach) Don't!

I will not touch you. What are you looking at?

The sea.

Ah, yes. The sea is always good. There is nothing that I can look at for very long, except the sea.

(He stares into her eyes and sees in them her forest, with woodland animals in it.)

(shouts suddenly) What is the matter with your eyes? Why can I not see myself in your eyes?

(The Lady Amalthea does not answer.)

Who is she?!

Oh, your majesty, the Lady Amalthea is my niece -

I want to know who she is!

Father, what difference does it make? She's here!

For once, you are right. She is here. They are all here. And whether they mean my doom or not, I will look at them for a while. (To Amalthea) You may come and go as you please. My secrets guard themselves. Will yours do the same? (Walks off)

Say, I know where there's some cloth, fine satin. We could make a dress.

Please, lady, let me help you. What can I do for you? Trust me!

In the sea,
The fish have learned to fly,
On a moonlit night,
On wings of silver,
As the enchanted stars
Sail serenely by.
Do they know
Where do unicorns go?
Where winged horses fly?
Narwhals lost at sea
And never seen again.
Go, go and ask the magpie,
"Where do unicorns go?"


In the trees,
The birds have learned to speak,
Many-colored,
They keep their secrets
In a parade of clouds
Playing hide and seek.
Do they know,
Where do unicorns go?
Where winged horses fly?
Narwhals lost at sea,
And never seen again.
Does myth and mystery lie
Where the unicorns go?

(Song Scenes: Amalthea looking at the sea; Molly working as a kitchen maid, washing dishes; Prince Lir going out to battle a dragon, and offering the head to Amalthea, who is not impressed by it; a copper-and-ashes cat with an eye patch knocks Schmendrick's juggling balls out of the ring and chases it to the kitchen.)

Ow. Mm. And then, she looked at me, and I was sorry I had killed the thing. Sorry for killing a dragon. Imagine - (Nicks himself with the knife) Ow!

Cut away from yourself, not toward. You know, your highness, I really think you should try something else.

But what's left on earth that I haven't tried? Giants, ogres, black knights, terrible tasks, fatal riddles! Molly, for her sake I've become a hero, but my great deeds mean nothing to her!

Then perhaps the Lady Amalthea is not to be won by great deeds!

Who is she, Molly? Where does she come from? I don't know any more about her than I did the first day she came here.

Your highness-

Except that I wish to serve her, as you do, to help her find whatever she has come here to find. I wish to be whatever she has most need of. Will you tell her so?

I think if you told her yourself-

But she never speaks to me, Molly! Not a word, not a word in all this time!

---

(A balcony overlooking the sea. Molly Grue walks toward the Lady Alamlthea, who is staring over the balcony at the sea.)

You are cruel to him. You might give him a gentle word, at the very least. He only wishes you to think of him.

Molly? ...Who am I? Why am I here? What is it that I am seeking in this strange place, day after day? I-I knew a moment ago, but I-I have forgotten.

The unicorns. If you are not the last...

Once, I can't remember,
I was long ago,
Someone strange,
I was innocent and wise,
And full of pain.
Now that I'm a woman,
Everything is strange.

I must go to him. I must face the Bull again and discover what he has done with them, before I forget myself forever. But I don't know where to find him. And I'm lonely.

Once, when I was searching
Somewhere out of reach,
Far away,
In a place I could not find
Or heart obey,
Now that I'm a woman,
Everything has changed,
Everything has changed,
Everything has changed.

(Song scenes: A large room in the castle with unicorns on the ceiling; unicorns in the clouds.)

Schmendrick will find a way down to the Red Bull. He has been searching every day.

I hope for no help from him. He's no magician now, but the king's poor clown.

He's doing it for you! He plays the fool for Haggard, trying to divert him from wondering what you are. You do wrong to mock him.

Forgive me. (She runs away, into the castle.)

My lady!

(The castle shakes and the Bull roars. Molly gasps. The copper-and-ashes cat seen before walks down the stairs toward her.)

The Bull be going out. He goes out every sundown to hunt for the strange white beast that escaped him. You know that perfectly well, so don't be stupid. (Molly picks him up.) Har-har. So that be a unicorn! She is very beautiful.

How do you know she's a unicorn?

No cat out of its first fur can ever be deceived by appearances. Unlike human beings, who seems to enjoy it. Ye have very little time. Soon there'll be a human woman in that body and no unicorn at all ever again. It may be that she'll marry the good prince, who loves her.

(They have reached the kitchen; Molly puts the cat down on the table and rubs him between the ears. He closes his eye.) Oh. Oh, purr, purr. Do that. Yes. That be nice.

(stops rubbing him) No. No, that cannot be. She is the last.

(opens his eye with an annoyed look) Well, then, she must do what she came to do. She must take the king's way down to the Red Bull.

(Molly grabs him and picks him up. He lets out a squeak.)

Is there a way? Tell me the way. Tell me where we must go!

Avast! Hark ye closely, mum. When the wine drinks itself, when the skull speaks, when the clock strikes the right time. Only then will you find the tunnel that leads to the Red Bull's lair, har har. There be a trick to it, of course.

(He slithers out of Molly's hands and lands on his feet.)

Why won't you help me? Why must you always speak in riddles?

Because I be what I be. I would tell you what you want to know if I could, mum, but I be a cat, and no cat anywhere ever gave anyone a straight answer, har har.

(Lifts up his eye patch to reveal a perfectly good eye.)

---

(A balcony of the castle. Snow and wind predominate. King Haggard snaps his fingers to summon Schmendrick, who loses his coat trying to get his cards out. Haggard laughs silently.)

I can't do this very much longer. He had me juggling teacups for him all night long. Teacups! With tea in them!

Schmendrick, I didn't tell you. I found the skull! The one the cat was talking about. It's up on a pillar in the Great Hall. And the clock -

Molly, he knows. King Haggard knows what Lady Amalthea is, I'm sure of it.

What can we do?

Molly? I've practically got the whole poem now, if you wanted to look at it.

Oh! Yes, of course, your highness. Whatever you like.

(A confused dream involving scenes from the Midnight Carnival disaster. Lady Amalthea awakes. Lir's voice can be heard coming up the steps. He's holding a poem in his hands.)

The lift of longing, the crash of loss, the bitterness of - cross? Boss? Moss? Damn!

(Lady Amalthea, in her nightgown, comes down the other side of the steps, a mad and frightened look in her eyes.)

Good evening, my lady.

Who are you?

I'm Lir. Don't you know me? I'm Lir.

Lir. Prince Lir.

You were dreaming, my lady.

Well, I'm always dreaming, even when I'm awake. It is never finished. I-I will not trouble you, my lord prince.

(She begins to walk away hurriedly.)

Trouble me! Please, trouble me! I would court you with more grace if I knew how. I wish you wanted something.

rown out my dreams. Keep me from remembering - whatever wants me to remember it.

I've had time to write a book about
The way you act and look -
I haven't got a paragraph.
Words are always getting in my way,
Anyway, I love you,
That's all I have to tell you,
That's all I've got to say.

And now, I'd like to make a speech about
The love that touches each,
But, stumbling, I would make you laugh.
I feel as though my tongue were made of clay,
Anyway, I love you,
That's all I have to tell you.

I'm not a man of poetry,
Music isn't one with me,
It runs from me,
Runs from me.

And I would like to write a symphony

Once, when I was searching

I lost the melody. Alas, I only finished half.

Somewhere out of reach, far away,

And finish I suppose I never may, Anyway, I love you.

In a place I could not find, or heart obey.

That's all I have to tell you.

Now that I'm a woman,

That's all I've got to say.

Now I know the way.

That's all I've got to say.

Now I know the way.

That's all I've got to say.

(Song Scenes: Normal love stuff involving doves and unicorns and pools with ripples.)

Great. Just what I need. Riddles. When the wine drinks itself, when the skull speaks, when the clock strikes the right time. As if I didn't have enough troubles. I wonder what time it is.

(We hear the voices of Lir and Amalthea descending the staircase. Schmendrick hides in a corner.)

Well, of course you're of noble birth; anybody can see that. I mean, you can't really be that ridiculous magician's niece. That's out of the question.

Your majesty?

(laughs) Love is slowing you down, my lady. (Walks toward her.) I will catch you at last if you love much more.

Look, your son is coming home.

(looks disdainfully out to the road) Lir? He's none of mine. I picked him up on a doorstep where some peasant had left him. I was thinking that I had never been happy, and never had a son. It was pleasant at first, but it died quickly. There is only one thing that has ever made me happy.

What is that?

Do not mock me. I know very well what you have come for, and you know very well that I have them; try to take them if you can, but do not mock me! (He shakes her by the shoulder.)

My lord, in all your castle, in all your realm, there is nothing of yours that I desire. Good day, your majesty. (She turns to leave.)

I know you! I almost knew you as soon as I saw you coming on the road, with your cook and your clown; since then, there is no movement of yours that has not betrayed you! A pace, a glance, a turn of the head, the flash of your throat as you breathe, even your way of standing perfectly still, they were all my spies! ...You made me wonder for a while. But your time is done.

(He looks out to sea. His voice fills with wonder. The tide is turning.)

Come and see. Come here.

(She obeys.)

There.

(He points to the sea.)

There they are. There they are! They are mine! They belong to me! The Red Bull gathered them for me one by one, and I bade him drive each one into the sea! Now, they live there. And every tide carries them within an easy step of the land, but they dare not come out of the water! They are afraid of the Red Bull. ...I like to watch them. They fill me with joy. ...The first time I felt it I thought I was going to die.

I said to the Red Bull, "I must have them. I must have all of them, all there are, for nothing makes me happy, but their shining, and their grace." So the Red Bull caught them.

Each time I see the unicorns, my unicorns, it is like that morning in the woods, and I am truly young, in spite of myself!

You are the last.

My lord, I-I do not understand. I see nothing at all in the water!

Do you still deny yourself? Do you dare still pretend to be human? I'll hurl you down to the others with my own hands if you dare deny yourself!

What are you saying?!

It must be so; I cannot be mistaken. Yet - your eyes. Your eyes have become empty, as Lir's - as any eyes that - never saw unicorns.

(He looks deeply into her eyes, and he sees only his reflection.)

It makes no difference. I can wait. The end will be the same. I can wait.

(He leaves.)

He is mad! Mad!

(walks up and comforts her) Shhh, don't, don't, don't. It's all right. We'll find them. Come on, come to me. Oh, please, please don't cry. If you've become human enough to cry then no magic in the world can change you back. Just come with me. Shh, don't cry. I promise you we'll find them.

Shut up, you pretentious kneecap! How would you like a punch in the eye?

Schmendrick, you made it laugh anyway. Maybe that's all you need for the riddle.

It isn't. (laughs some more)

Oh! You can speak! Schmendrick, it worked!

(laughs) Come on. Ask me how to find the Red Bull. Even Prince Lir doesn't know the secret way, but I do. (laughs)

So you do, eh? Answer the riddle, then. Tell us the way.

Say please.

Please.

No. No!

Why not? What kind of game is this?

(giggles) Oh, it's so nice to have someone to play with! Try me tomorrow; maybe I'll tell you tomorrow! (laughs)

But we have no time! We may be too late now!

I have time. I've got time enough for all of us. (laughs)

Never mind him. Give me the wine; let me see what I can do with the wine.

(interested) Wine?

I couldn't find any. I looked everywhere, but I don't think there's a drop in the castle. (Schmendrick glares at her.)

I LOOKED.

Well, that's it, then. If we can't find the wine -

I thought, maybe if you had some water to start with - (Molly takes out a flask of water.)

(laughs) Him? Turn water into wine? (laughs)

Keep quiet! (to Molly) Let me have it; I'll give it a try. (takes the flask and opens it) Now you understand, it's not going to be very good wine. Vin ordinaire, if that. And it'll be too sweet and... Well, here goes. (Turns his back to the skull and mutters some words in a low voice.)

What are you doing? Hey, do it over here, I can't see a thing!

(holds up the flask, back still to the skull.) It's weak at best, no nose, no body. Hardly any boquet at all. Well, that's done it, that's finally done it! (turns the flask upside down. It's empty. Makes a move to throw it away.)

No, wait, hey, don't! Don't do that! Give it to me if you don't want it, but don't throw it away! (strains toward it)

But you're dead! You can't smell wine, can't taste it!

But I remember...

Well, if you should happen to remember the entrance to the Red Bull's lair as well as you remember wine -

Done! Give me one drink now and I'll tell you anything you want to know.

You can have all of it - after you tell us the way.

The way is through the clock.

Through that?

You mean, when the clock strikes the right time it opens, and there's a secret stair?

That clock will never strike the right time. You just walk through it and the Red Bull is on the other side. Give me the wine.

Walk through a clock? What am I, a magician?

To meet the Red Bull, you have to walk through time. A clock isn't time, it's just numbers and springs. Pay it no mind, just walk right on through. About that wine now...

(Schmendrick gives it the empty bottle and it drinks it lustily. An alcoholic tinge lends itself to its cheeks when it's finished.)

Ah, that was the real stuff. That was WINE. You're more of a magician than I thought.

Let's go.

My lady, it's time. We're going to find the others now.

(drops the flask and becomes very angry.) Oh no. No you don't. Not that one. (An alarm goes off.) Unicorn! Unicorn!
Haggard! Haggard!
Unicorn! Unicorn!

Run! (They head for the clock ASAP.)

Haggard! There they go! Down to the Red Bull! The clock, Haggard! There they go! Unicorn! Unicorn!

(They reach the clock.)

Come on. Go on through.

(Amalthea enters the clock and disappears.)

Schmendrick! I don't think-

Go on! (Molly also goes in. Haggard appears and tries to skewer Schmendrick. Schmendrick tries to dodge him.)

It worked!

Prince Lir!

(He comes out of the mists.)

You would have gone without me?

I would have come back. I don't know why I'm here or who I am, but I would have come back.

No, you would never have come back.

Never mind all that! Where's Schmendrick?

(Haggard is still trying to get Schmendrick. He nicks him on the head but Schmendrick ducks through him into the clock.)

(Back in the clock.)

Where is he? I'll go back myself if you won't!

(Schmendrick walks out of the mists. One hand is on his head.)

Schmendrick!

It's all right, it's not deep. (He sees Lir.) How did you know how to get in?

What was there to know? I saw where she had gone and I followed. (Haggard begins striking at the clock. It tumbles down.)

(The mists dissipate into a dark cavern.)

Haggard has destroyed the clock. Now there's no way back and no way out but through the Red Bull's passage.

(They begin walking.)

Slightly later. Schmendrick is talking to Lir.

And the rest you know. We came here seeking unicorns and we have possibly found them, at last.

I used to have a dream, over and over, about standing at my window in the middle of the night and seeing the Bull, the Red Bull-

Yes. Driving unicorns into the sea. It was no dream. Haggard has them all now, drifting in and out on the tide for his delight, all but one. That one is the Lady Amalthea.

Unicorn, mermaid, sorceress, no name you would give her would surprise or frighten me. I love whom I love.

Well, that's a very nice sentiment. But when I change her back into her true self-

I love whom I love.

(comes from the front of the party.) I heard what you said. I will go no further.

There's no choice. We have to go on.

(to Lir) Don't let him change me. The Red Bull has no care for human beings. We may walk out past him and get away.

If we do that, all the unicorns in the world will remain prisoner forever except one, and she will grow old and die.

(to Lir) Everything dies. I want to die when you die. I'm no unicorn, no magical creature! I'm human, and I love you. Don't let him! Lir, I will not love you when I am a unicorn.

Amalthea, don't.

Then let the quest end here. I don't think I could change her back even if you wished it. Marry the prince and live happily ever after.

Yes. That is my wish.

No. Lady, I am a hero, and heroes know that things must happen when it is time for them to happen. A quest may not simply be abandoned. Unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.

(They walk ahead.)

But what if there isn't a happy ending at all?

There are no happy endings, because nothing ends.

Schmendrick, let her stay the way she is. Let her be.

That's not in the story. Lir knows that, and so does she.

You don't care! You don't care what happens to her, or to the others, just so you become a real magician at last. You don't care!

I wish I didn't! I wish to God I didn't care about anything but my magic! But I do! I do.

Schmendrick!

(The Red Bull comes. He runs straight for the Lady Amalthea.)

Molly, he knows! He knows!

(Amalthea starts running, but she trips on a rock.)

My ankle! Help!

Amalthea!

(He jumps in front of her, sword out. It burns up in his hands.)

Don't move!

(The Red Bull crashes by him; he is thrown to the side. The Bull turns again to Amalthea, who is again running.)

She'll be killed!

(Schmendrick stares at her. Then he stands up straight.)

[Agu coganu mutariti copona! Copona!]

(The power goes toward Lady Amalthea. She begins changing back to a unicorn.)

Lir!

Amalthea!

(The change is complete; the unicorn begins running. They are out on the seashore. The Red Bull chases her.)

Look!

(The Red Bull is winning again. We see King Haggard looking down from a balcony atop the castle.)

Do something! You have the power! I will kill you if you don't do something!

I cannot! Not all the magic in the world can help her now.

Then what is magic for? What is the use of wizardry, if it cannot even save a unicorn?

That's what heroes are for.

Of course, that's exactly what heroes are for.

(He jumps into the Red Bull's path. The Bull does not stop.)

No!

(Lir's body is face down in the ground. It does not move.)

(The unicorn looks at Lir's body and screams. Her horn lights up and she begins attacking the Red Bull.)

She's attacking!

She's fighting back!

(The Red Bull's hoof touches the water. He turns around and begins walking into the sea. He is covered by water, and on the waves coming back in, the unicorns ride. There are hundreds of them, coming in on the tide. They begin running out to shore, and they circumvent Schmendrick and Molly, standing by Lir's body. They go around the castle, which begins to crumble. The floor breaks from under King Haggard's feet.)

The last! I knew you were the last!

(He gives a final laugh as he falls down to the sea. Some of the castle's pieces shrink and disappear in midair; others fall into the sea.)

(The seashore. The unicorns have passed; only one remains, who puts her head in Molly's tear-streaked face.)

Oh, you stayed. You stayed.

(The unicorn looks at Lir's body. She touches him with her horn. Lir awakes.)

Father? Father, I had that same dream... No. No, I was dead!

(The unicorn watches Molly and Schmendrick help him up from a mountainside.)

I remember you. I remember.

(Lir sees her run away from them.)

I will miss you. I never had any friends before. (Hugs each one.)

We will come back.

I wish I could see her just once more, to - to tell her all that's in my heart. She will never know what I really meant to say.

She will remember your heart when men are fairy tales in books written by rabbits. Of all unicorns, she is the only one who knows what regret is - and love.

(Lir gets on his horse and rides away.)

You are a true wizard now, as you always wished. Does it make you happy?

Well, men don't always know when they're happy, but I-I think so. And you?

I am a little afraid to go home. I have been mortal, and some part of me is mortal yet. I am no longer like the others; for no unicorn was ever born who could regret. But now I do. I regret.

I am sorry, I have done you evil and I cannot undo it.

No. Unicorns are in the world again. No sorrow will live in me as long as that joy - save one, and I thank you for that part too. Farewell, good magician. I will try to go home.

(Schmendrick nods. He wakes up Molly and they both see the unicorn shining before she dashes away...)