Pirates of the Caribbean – the Curse of the Black Pearl – Page 5

Pirates of the Caribbean – the Curse of the Black Pearl

Jack Well, then I’d say it’s a very good thing I’m not a fool then, eh?

Gibbs Prove me wrong. What makes ye think Barbossa will give up his ship to you?

Jack Let’s just say it’s a matter of leverage, eh? [nods at Will ]

Gibbs The kid?

Jack That is the child of Bootstrap Bill Turner. His only child, savvy?

Gibbs Is he, now?” Leverage,” says you. “I think I feel a change in the wind,” says I. I’ll find us a crew. There’s bound to be some sailors on this rock crazy as you.

Jack One can only hope. Take what you can… [toasts Gibbs ]

Gibbs [they clink their tankards] …Give nothing back. [drain their drinks]

Scene 12: (The origin of the curse)

Pintel You’ll be dinin’ with the captain. And he requests you wear this. [gives her a dress]

Elizabeth Well, you may tell the captain that I am disinclined to acquiesce to his request.

Pintel He said you’d say that. He also said if that be the case, you’ll be dinin’ with the crew…and you’ll be naked. [she snatches the dress] Fine.

[in the Captain’s cabin, the food is laid out] Barbossa: [ Elizabeth eats daintily] There’s no need to stand on ceremony, nor call to impress anyone. You must be hungry. [gives her a goblet with wine] Try the wine. And the apples? [offers her one] One of those next.

Elizabeth It’s poisoned.

Barbossa There would be no sense to be killing ye, Miss Turner .

Elizabeth Then release me, you have your trinket; I’m of no further value to you.

Barbossa [takes out the medallion] You don’t know what this is, do ye?

Elizabeth It’s a pirate medallion.

Barbossa This is Aztec gold… one of 882 identical pieces they delivered in a stone chest to Cortez himself. Blood money paid to stem the slaughter he wreaked upon them with his armies. But the greed of Cortez was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold…a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a single piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity.

Elizabeth I hardly believe in ghost stories anymore, Captain Barbossa .

Barbossa Aye. That’s exactly what I thought when we were first told the tale. Buried on an Island of Dead what cannot be found except for those who know where it is. Find it, we did. There be the chest. Inside be the gold. And we took ’em all. We spent ’em and traded ’em and frittered ’em away on drink and food and pleasurable company. The more we gave ’em away, the more we came to realize…the drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths, and all the pleasurable company in the world could not slake our lust. We are cursed men, Miss Turner . Compelled by greed, we were, but now we are consumed by it. [ Elizabeth takes a butter knife and hides it] There is one way we can end our curse. All the scattered pieces of the Aztec gold must be restored and the blood repaid. Thanks to ye, we have the final piece.

Elizabeth And the blood to be repaid?

Barbossa That’s why there’s no sense to be killin’ ye…yet. [offers her an apple] Apple? Arr. [she stabs him with the knife; he takes it out] I’m curious – after killin’ me what was it you plannin’ on doing next? [she runs out and sees the pirates, all decaying skeletons] Look! The moonlight shows us for what we really are. We are not among the living, and so we cannot die, but neither are we dead. For too long I’ve been parched with thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I’ve been starving to death and haven’t died. I feel nothing – not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea, nor the warmth of a woman’s flesh. [walks out into the moonlight and reveals a skeleton] You best start believing in ghost stories Miss Turner . You’re in one! [drinks and it pours over his ribs, laughs and the crew laughs with him] What are ye looking at? Back to work!

Pirates You heard the Captain. Back to work.

Scene 13: ( Jack ‘s crew)

Gibbs Feast your eyes, Captain. All of them, faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot.

Will So this is your able-bodied crew?

Jack You, sailor!

Gibbs Cotton, sir.

Jack Mr. Cotton … do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of danger and almost certain death? Mr. Cotton ! Answer, man!

Gibbs He’s a mute, sir. Poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No one’s yet figured how.

Jack Mr. Cotton ‘s… parrot. Same question.

Parrot Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!

Gibbs Mostly, we figure, that means “yes.'”

Jack O’course it does. [to Will ] Satisfied?

Will Well, you’ve proved they’re mad.

Anamaria And what’s the benefit for us?

Jack [comes over to the voice and takes off the sailors hat, revealing a woman] Anamaria. [she slaps him]

Will I suppose you didn’t deserve that one either.

Jack No, that one I deserved.

Anamaria You stole my boat!

Jack Actually [she slaps him again] borrowed. Borrowed without permission. But with every intention of bringing it back to you.

Anamaria But you didn’t!

Jack You’ll get another one.

Anamaria [points her forefinger at him] I will.

Will A better one.

Jack A better one!

Will That one. [points to the Interceptor]

Jack What one? That one?! Aye, that one. What say you?

Crew Aye!

Cotton’s Parrot Anchors aweigh.

Gibbs No, no, no, no, no, it’s frightful bad luck to bring a woman aboard, sir.

Jack It’d be far worse not to have her.

[a storm breaks upon them at sea] Will : How can we sail to an island that nobody can find with a compass that doesn’t work?

Gibbs Aye, the compass doesn’t point north but we’re not trying to find north, are we? [to Jack ] We should drop canvas, sir.

Jack She can hold a bit longer.

Gibbs What’s in your head that’s put you in such a fine mood, Captain?

Jack We’re catching up.

Scene 14: ( Jack ‘s past revealed)

[on the Pearl ] Pintel: Time to go, Poppet. [Barbossa latches the medallion around Elizabeth ‘s neck and they all sail to the cave]

Parrot [singing as they enter a lagoon] Dead men tell no tales.

Gibbs [the whole crew is looking at the wrecks strewn everywhere in the water] Puts a chill in the bones how many honest sailors have been claimed by this passage.

Will [watches as Jack closes the compass when Cotton stares at him too much] How is it that Jack came by that compass?

Gibbs Not a lot’s known about Jack Sparrow before he showed up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Muerta . That was before I met him, back when he was Captain of the Black Pearl.

Will What? He failed to mention that.

Gibbs Well, he plays things closer to the vest now. And a hard-learned lesson it was. See three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says everything’s an equal share. That should mean the location of the treasure, too, so Jack gives up the bearings. That night there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die but not before he’d gone mad with the heat.

Will Ah. So that’s the reason for all the… [acts like Jack ]

Gibbs Reason’s got nothing to do with it. Now Will , when a man is marooned he is a given a pistol with a single shot – one shot. Well it won’t do much good hunting or to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starvin’ belly and thirst, that pistol will start to look real friendly. But Jack – he escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won’t use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate.

Will Barbossa.

Gibbs Aye.

Will How did Jack get off the island?

Gibbs Well, I’ll tell ye. He waded out into the shallows and there he waited three days and three nights till all manner of sea creature ‘came and acclimated to his presence. And on the fourth morning, he roped himself a couple of sea turtles, lashed ’em together and made a raft.

Will He roped a couple of sea turtles?

Gibbs Aye, sea turtles.

Will What did he use for rope?

Jack [ Jack comes up] Human hair…from my back. Let go of the anchor!

Crew Let go of the anchor, sir!

Jack Young Mr. Turner and I are to go ashore.

Gibbs Captain! What if the worst should happen?

Jack Keep to the code.

Gibbs Aye, the code.

Scene 15: (The blood ritual and Jack ‘s not dead)

Pintel Ten years of hoarding swag.

Ragetti And now we finally get to spend it. [they empty a trunk and it turns out to be full of ladies’ clothes; they both pick up parasols]