 Bed up with the everyday grind Tired out from the summer heat Want to get away from it all we offer you escape? Escape designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure You are trapped in a remote valley in the Andes walled in by sheer rock precipices and Surrounding you closing in on you is a band of blind men who want your eyes Tonight we escape to the mountains of Ecuador and to a remarkable world where sight is unknown as Hg Wells imagined it in his gripping story the country of the blind My name is Ibarra. I'm a mining engineer in Quito, Ecuador high in the towering Andes Up until a year ago my chief sport was mountain climbing My last climb was an attempt to scale the remote and forbidding peak of Paris, Ecuador pedal a 20,000-foot crag Unconquered by man It is unconquered still 3,000 feet from the icy summit we turn back and fled for our lives All of us escaped except one a guide named Nunez who slipped over the frightful precipice And disappeared in the vast chasm Yawning 10,000 feet beneath us The horror of that man's fall has terrorized my dreams for a year Because of it, I've forsaken mountain climbing for the rest of my life and that decision still stands Even though today I Have seen Nunez He was sitting on the steps at my shack when I arrived at the mine this morning At first I didn't recognize him he was so much changed. I thought he was some weird ragged beggar Is it you senor Ibarra? My name is Ibarra. Yes, what do you want? You do not know me senor No Well, you look like a man. I knew once but he he's he is dead Dead on the slopes of Paris go to Petal. Nunez Or not couldn't be Nunez. That is my name senor At least that is the name. I remember you fell. I saw you fall. Yes It's impossible that you could have lived perhaps the gods of the mountain had some reason to spare me Nunez if we had if we had any idea that you were alive, but you went down thousand Thousands of feet we couldn't even attempt to find your body. I know I know I do not blame you You could not have reached me and if you had I should not have welcomed you at first But then later Yes, what do you mean? Senor You will not believe what I have to tell I can hardly believe that I'm seeing you Nunez and talking to you You remember that night the night I fell. Yes, we had been toiling all day Inching our way up a steep ice wall and as darkness came we found a narrow ledge barely three feet wide It's not very wide We can get our shelter wall up cut off some of this wind. Well, that will be welcome. Yes, but first we'll rest a moment Look at that icy devil up there glistening in the moonlight. Yes There's another three thousand feet of sheer ice wall We'll have to cut our own holes from now on what even be ledges like this for resting places I can see why no one's ever made it Do you think we should go on? I don't know Nunez, what do you think? It is not my place to say senior. I was hired to go to the top I agreed, but what do you really think if I believed in the guards of the mountain as the Indians do I Should be frightened now. Why? Because we have invaded the forbidden circle This part of the Andes is unmapped and almost unknown senior It is an easy thing to believe strange things in this white loneliness some of the legends Fascinating I've heard of one something about a Hidden valley called the country of the blind. Yes See it is supposed to be somewhere down there below us a Fertile valley which was settled many centuries ago and then cut off by the great landslide of a rocker Yes, but why the country of the blind even before it was cut off the people developed a strange illness All of them slowly went blind and after that their children were born blind The legend is that the valley was the home of the mountain guards. It was too beautiful for human eyes It's odd, but then of course it's all nonsense. Yes. Yes, of course. It would be pleasant to find it though You know the old proverb in the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king I doubt if we should ever find it or even doubt if it exists. Of course not. I was only joking. Yes Now if you're rested we'll make the shelter wall, right? Huh? I'll give you a hand at a moment Believe me a barra for two pesos. I'd give up this climb. I never realize Fell perhaps a thousand feet and then I felt the heavy stinging impact of snow I'd fallen onto an almost perpendicular slope and once again I was sliding down down tumbling over and over But now under me around me over me in immense avalanche of snow was rumbling sliding with me Suddenly I realized that my own motion had almost stopped and it was the snow that was moving I was riding the avalanche and at almost the same moment. I went over the second precipice It was higher than the first much higher perhaps four thousand feet I I fell with the snow for what seemed minutes every second expecting the terrible final impact, but the impact never came Miracle of miracles that shear wall blended almost imperceptibly into another steep slope and again I was sliding and gradually as the arc of the slope curved away. I felt myself slow down I was whirled along on top of the avalanche and then as it subsided out onto the gentler snow upon a gentler slope And finally I rolled to a stop and lay still When I awoke it was morning and I was covered with snow. I Shook off the cold white blanket rolled over on my back and looked up My heart almost stopped as I saw from where I'd fallen the mountain tower day 10,000 feet above me Carefully I felt myself My clothes were torn. I was bruised and bleeding. I ached in every muscle, but I had not a single broken bone I lay there and offered up a prayer to the gods of the mountain Far below me lay a lush valley sparkling in the morning sunlight I could see the stately trees and green meadows fresh with dew. I started down, but it was still an arduous descent The farther down I got the more I realized the beauty of the scene Well, this was a hidden paradise I'd fallen into and I was the first man ever to see it. So I thought But I was wrong. I realized at first when I saw the cultivation in the meadows and then the walks Well-kept stone walks laid in a symmetrical pattern all over the valley and then I saw them There were men and women lying under the trees resting Nearby a collection of windowless huts marked a village and the plastering of the houses was done in a wild variety of colors. I thought to myself The plasterer who did that must have been blind as a bat Then I saw the two men who were quite close to me. They were standing on a bridge over the little stream They were dressed in odd loose clothing and there was a strange look about their faces They failed to notice me as I approached until I shout and suddenly they looked up attentively in my direction I waved wildly at them, but they took no notice Where the fools must be blind? Blind Could it be I'd fallen into the legendary country of the blind in the country of the blind a one-eyed man is king Hello there, it is a man or a spirit come down from the rocks Oh, I'm a man. All right, just like you, but I've had a miraculous escape and now I find myself here in your valley Valley Valley come hither Let me feel of you. Certainly here my My arm my face you see I'm indeed a man like yourself my my lips move with speech You feel oh careful there gently on the eyes Eyes that is strange Feel this Korean. Yes, I feel careful you you feel the eyelids flutter He is but imperfectly formed some strange bulge there Unseemly no no your eyes are shrunken in but mine are whole I can see see see Pedro he's a strange wild one where does he come from down out of the rock No from over the mountains out of the country beyond there where where men can see From Bogota where there are a hundred thousand people and the city stretches out of sight sight What strange words he uses without meaning And feel the costness of his hair like a llamas and you have come into the world into What no out of the world the big world beyond the mountains the world that stretches 12 days journey to the sea Our fathers have told us Men may be made by forces of nature It is the warmth of things and moisture and rottenness. Let us lead him to the elder. You don't have to lead me. I can see See yes, of course. I I I didn't see your water bucket his senses are still imperfect his stumbles and talks mean English words Lead him by the hand, but look I I Well, all right These people had been blind for centuries They'd forgotten even the words associated with seeing and they thought I was an idiot only half formed Especially when they led me into the pitch blackness of one of their windowless herds and I stumbled over some Thousand pardons Medina sorote. He is a clumsy one. I'm sorry. I fell down. I couldn't see in the darkness Who is this and what is he saying? He is but newly formed. He has come down from the rocks He stumbles as he walks and mingles words that mean nothing with his speech He is a wild man out of the rocks. No, I come from Bogota over the mountains. You hear Bogota He uses wild words. His mind is hardly formed. He has only the beginnings of speech Bogota Yes, I come from the great world where men have eyes and see that must be his name Bogota he stumbled twice as we came to the must be taught. No, no, don't you understand? I can see but not in the dark To you darkness or light is all the same but to me to to us outside in the world beyond the mountains What are mountains? Oh very well then beyond the rocks. There is nothing beyond the rocks That is the end of the world surely you must realize the sky above covers more than this valley There is nothing above but the roof of rock He's very raw my children. He shall have to be taught from the beginnings. Take him away feed him But guide him see that he does not stumble over my daughter again. Do not fear father. I Shall guide him myself and feed him very well Come take my hand. Thank you It will it'll be a pleasure to get outside again out of out of this darkness come this way. Yes What is your name? Medina Sarote Medina Sarote at minus one one new nose and oh Oh Sunlight oh, this is better and now at that Senorita You're beautiful. I cannot tell what a wonderful thing you are to see please I'm afraid for you afraid. Yes If you do not learn quickly and see speaking such strange words They may not be so kind to you They might be angry Might even destroy you This thought had not occurred to me before and suddenly I had a twinge of fear Still the proverb kept running through my mind in the country of the blind a one-eyed man is king But try as I would I could not make them understand my wonderful gift of sight. They simply could not comprehend it Worse, they were not impressed. They they thought me stupid and untaught almost an idiot Day by day, I learned their peaceful ways, but they could not learn mine It was getting on my nerves and there's two perhaps Bogota come here there Bogota you move not no and I won't you old beetle. I'll show you I'll leave the path Trampol not on the grass. It's not loud. I How did you know I stepped on the grass? I heard of course heard, but I didn't make a sound Why do not come when I call you? Can you not hear the path as you walk? I can see it. There is no such word as see Seize this folly. Follow the sound of my feet. Oh my time will come You will learn it as much to learn in the world As no one ever told you in the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king Blind what is blind? Oh never mind go on Bogota? I must warn you just keep quiet and learn and stop this nonsense about Nonsense is it? I'll show you I've taken enough of your insults unformed mind got no sense I'll be king here. I can see and I'll be king. Oh God. Ah stop it. No, I'm through with your orders I'll show you what an advantage site can be I can hit you hurt you Then you can't see me to strike back Oh God, I put down that space you devil your ears are sharp aren't they? But it won't do you any good now. I'll show you. I'll strike. Oh No, I can't do it. I cannot hit a blind man Bogota pick up that spade do not leave it lying on the walk someone might stumble pick it up yourself Do as I say take your hands off me. Take them off I finally lost my temper and shoved him over and ran The next half hour was a nightmare before I reached the fields They were following me 20 or more of them armed with sticks and spades fanning out across the meadows following my trail like bloodhounds At first I wanted to laugh but on they came swift inexorable and the laugh froze in my throat They didn't need eyes. They they could smell me feel my trail On they came closer and closer and circling me closing in Bogota there must be no violence you must come peacefully by heaven. I'll hit you if you come any closer. I swear. I will You don't understand you. You are blind. I can see I can see grab him. I'll hurt you I swear. I will leave me alone I hid his arm turned and ran over the wall outside the valley back to the rocks to the precipitous cliff I'd come down but when I reached that sheer rock wall. I knew there was no place to go For two days and nights. I stayed outside the valley hungry and cold and then I I Realized the hopelessness of my position. I was trapped. I must spend the rest of my life here There was no way out So I went back I Confess I was mad. I uh, I admit. I was only newly formed that is better And do you still think you can see? No No, that was folly. The word means nothing less than nothing and what means overhead Rock is the overhead There is a roof above the world a roof of rock and very smooth very well now before you ask me anymore, please Give me food or I shall die very well. Give him food I shall and after that give him the most menial tasks in the village guard him well and perhaps Perhaps he shall learn yet. Thank you Thank you. Oh That is better You are kind Medina Cyril T. Very kind. I Am glad you came back. You are if they were all like you. I should never have run away What was that word you said I was Beautiful It means something nice or something very nice Medina Sirotaid Why is it you have no husband? I Have a disfigurement These long hairs your eyelashes. Oh, but they're beautiful. You're considered a disfigurement You're the most lovely girl in the valley, but they wouldn't know would they And so you have no lover No Medina Sirotaid What do you think of me? Do you think of me as an idiot like all the rest? Well, you have much to learn but you will learn it. I'm sure And you are kind and gentle Your voice is soft. You speak the words that are soft and warm No one has ever spoken such words to me then I shall speak them often Medina Sirotaid You are the only one in this valley in this world that I Care for and so it began I the village idiot the slave boy who dreamed to be king I with my eyes still whole Fell in love with Medina Sirotaid the daughter of the elder of the village Only to her could I open my heart without fear and only to her could I speak of the beauty? I could see around me It is a beautiful valley green with grass and yellow with sunlight and flowers Bright flowers dotting the hills and in the cool of night the stars gleam like diamonds in the sky Word sound lovely But what are stars stars? Why they they are but No No, you wouldn't understand and what do you mean in the cool of the night? You still get that confused one the night is warm the day is cool No, notice you here who have them backwards because the darkness means nothing to you You work in the cool of night and sleep in the heat of day teasing me. Oh, no. No, I I'm oh What does it matter? All that matters is you You here beside me Medina Sirotaid I love you I love you. I I know they still think me an idiot, but You listen to what I say and You don't think me an idiot do you? No, I like to hear you speak then will you Would you marry me? Would be very happy No, I will not have it but father is an idiot. He has delusions. He cannot do anything right But he's getting better. He's better than he was and he's strong and kind stronger and kinder than anyone in the world And he loves me And I love him. No, I will not have it a great sire if you please. Yes, what is it good doctor? I have examined Bogota and the case is clear to me I think very probably he might be cured. And how might that be done? His brain is affected by something I believe I know what it is those queer things He calls eyes where we have but an agreeable depression. He has great lumps Consequently, his brain is in a constant state of irritation But what can be done to cure him? Oh, it's a very simple surgical operation Remove the cause of the irritation. We will merely cut out his eyes But they say it will make you well But you don't understand Medina Cerote. My world is sight You would not want me to lose my most valued possession I do not know There are so many beautiful things to see the flowers the far sky with its drifting clouds the sunset the stars you Why just to see you it is good to have sight and I would never see you again I wish sometimes you would not talk like that like what I know it It's your imagination. I love it But now now you want me to do Medina Cerote If I were to consent to this if you would if only you would What else can I do? My dearest one. My dearest tender voice. I will repay you Oh Medina be brave Carry my voice in your thoughts Now I must go And tomorrow Yes Tomorrow will be forever Goodbye. Goodbye, Medina. I suppose I knew it then when I said then I Only meant to go up on the rocks and look out over the valley To spend my last day feasting my eyes and the wonderful beautiful world of light and color But when I got there it was too beautiful too lovely This valley this home of the mountain gods Beautiful and forbidden I Drank it in the green of the fields the blue of the gently curving stream The orange of the lichen in the rocky crevices I Climbed higher to see the great snow-capped peaks towering above and away to the distant sky and Higher still as the shadows turn the snow to purple and crimson and deep blue The valley was far below now and as beautiful as a painting But like a painting it looked unreal Medina Sarote was small and far away a distant dream and The world of sight was here all around me overpowering Wonderful, I turned and began to climb up that sheer rock wall How many months it took me to make my way out over those mountains over glaciers and snow fields and sheer precipices I cannot guess how I lived through the cold and hunger of it. I cannot tell you But I'm here at last Back from the country of the blind Heavens man, what an experience terrible and Wonderful, you aren't sorry you came back. Sorry I See her face clearly now It is the only thing I see Noonius Come you need food here take my hand. Thank you Where is it? senior a bar Noonius You are yes The guard of the mountains has had this revenge Those months of crawling over the snow and ice with the sun glaring down yes, I Am blind Escape is produced and directed by Norman McDonald and tonight brought you the country of the blind by HG Wells adapted for radio by John Dunkel and featuring Paul Freese as Noonius very Kroger as Ibarra and Peggy Weber as Medina Sorote with Wilms Herbert as Correa and Byron Kane as Pedro Music was conceived by Psy Fuhr with Ivan Ditmars at the organ Next week You are spurring a lathered horse through the darkened streets Trapped between two hostile armies with a bit of magic in your pocket and the American Revolution in the balance Next week we escape with Stephen Vincent Bene's delightful fantasy a tooth for Paul Revere Good night, then until this same time next week when once again we offer you escape This is CBS the Columbia broadcasting system