 Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all? We offer you Escape, starring Edmund O'Brien. 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. Today with Edmund O'Brien as Nunez, we escape to the mountains of Ecuador and to a remarkable world where sight is unknown. As H.G. Wells imagined it in his gripping story, The Country of the Blind. I'm Izibara. 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 Parascota Petal, a 20,000 foot crag, unconquered by man. It is unconquered still. 3,000 feet from the icy summit we turned 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 have 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 ragged beggar. Is it you, Senor Ibarra? My name is Ibarra. Yes. What do you want? You... you do not know me, Senor? No, I... you look like a man I knew once, but he's... He's dead. Dead on the slopes of the Parascota Petal. Nunez. Nunez. That is my name, Senor. At least that is the name I remember. But... but you fell. I saw you fall. Yes. It's impossible that you could have lived. Perhaps the guards of the mountains had some reason to spare me. Nunez, if we had any idea that you were alive, but you went down... down 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... I should not have welcomed you. At first. But then, later... What do you mean? Senor, you will not believe what I had to tell. I can hardly believe I'm seeing you, talking to you. Tell me what happened to you. You remember that night? The night I fell. 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. We can get our shelter wall up and cut off some of this wind. That'll be welcome. Yes, but first, we will rest a moment. Look at that icy devil up there. Gristening in the moonlight. There's another 3,000 feet of sheer ice wall. We'll have to cut our own holes from now on. There won't even be ledges like this for resting places. I can see why no one's ever made it. You think we ought to go on? I don't know. Nunez, what do you think? It is not my place to say, senor. I was hired to go to the top. I agreed. But what do you really think? If I believed in the gods 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, senor. It is an easy thing to believe strange things in this white loneliness. Some of the legends are fascinating. I've heard of one. There's something about a hidden valley called the country of the blind. Yes. It's supposed to be somewhere down there, see? Arbaloise. A fertile valley which was settled many centuries ago and then cut off by the great landslide of Iraq. But why the country of the blind? And even before it was cut off, the people developed a strange illness. All of them slowly went blind. After that, their children were born blind. The legend is that the valley was the home of the mountain gods. It was too beautiful for human eyes. But then it's all nonsense. Oh, yes. Yes, it's nonsense. 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 that we should ever find it. I even doubt that it exists. Of course not. I was only joking. Of course. Now, if we're arrested, you'll make the shelter wall, eh? Right. I'll give you a hand in a minute. Believe me, Barra, for two pesos I give up this climb. I never realized... Sir, you're... do it! I'm slipping! Do it! My foot slipped on the treacherous ledge and I had gone over. I slid down the icy slope for perhaps 200 yards, digging frantically with my feet with my hands for some kind of hold. And then I wound up falling far out into the icy black knight, falling down, down. 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 down, around me, over me, an 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 almost at the same moment I went over the second precipice. It was higher than the first, much higher, perhaps 4,000 feet. I fell with the snow for what seemed minutes, every second, expecting that terrible, final impact. But the impact never came. Miracle of miracles. That sheer wall blended almost imperceptibly into another slope. And again I was sliding. Gradually as the arc of the slope curbed 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. 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 had fallen. The mountain towering 8,000, 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 broken a single 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. 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 that 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. I saw them. There were men and women lying under the trees resting nearby a collection of windowless huts marked the 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 two of the men 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 shouted. Suddenly they looked up attentively in my direction. I waved wildly at them but they took no notice. Why the fools must be blind? Could it be that I had fallen into the country of the blind? In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king. I walked towards the men by the stream and I spoke to them. Hello. You needn't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I come in peace. It is a man or a spirit come down from the rocks. 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? Come hither. Let me feel of you. Certainly. My face? You see, I'm indeed a man like yourself. My lips they move with speech my eyes Careful gently on the eyes. Eyes? That is strange. Feel this courier. Yes, I feel. Careful. Do you feel my eyelids flutter? He is but imperfectly formed. Some strange bulge there unseemly. No, no, your eyes are shrunken in but mine a hole I can see. See? Pedro, he is a strange wild one. Where does he come from? Down out of the rock. No, no, from over the mountains out of the country beyond beyond 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 coarseness of his hair like a llamas. And you have come into the world. Into? No. 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. Come, let us lead him to the elder. There's no need to lead me. I can see. See? Yes, of course. I didn't see a water bucket. He stumbles and talks meaningless words. Lead him by the hand. But look, I... All right. They had been blind for centuries. They had 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 huts and I stumbled over something. A thousand pardons, Medina Soroto. It is nothing. He is a clumsy one. 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, you hear? Bogota, he uses wild words. His mind is hardly formed. He has only the beginnings of speech. Bogota? Well, I come from the great world where men have eyes and see. That must be his name, Bogota. He stumbled twice as we came, feather. He must be tall. Don't you understand? I can see, but not in the dark. To you, darkness or light, it's all the same. But to me, to us who can see, to us outside in the world beyond the mountains. Mountains? What are mountains? Very well then, beyond the rocks. There is nothing beyond the rocks. That is the end of the world. Oh, but surely you must realize that the sky above covers more than this valley. Sky? Above? There is nothing above, but the roof of rock. It is very raw, my children. He shall have to be taught from the beginnings. Take him away, feed him. It shall be done, but guide him. See that he does not stumble over my daughter again. Don't fear, Father. I shall guide him myself and feed him. Very well. Come, take my hand. Thank you. It will be a pleasure to get outside again under this darkness. Come this way. Thank you. What is your name? My name is Juan. Juan Nunes. And I... Sunlight. This is better. 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. They 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 thought me stupid. And untold, almost an idiot. Day by day, I learned their peaceful ways, but they could not learn mine. It was getting on my nerves, perhaps. Bogota, come here. Bogota, you move not. No, and I won't, you old beetle. I'll show you. I'll leave the path. Bogota, trample not on the grass. It is not allowed. How did you know I stepped on the grass? I heard, of course. Hurt? But I didn't make a sound. Why do you 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. Cease this folly. Follow the sound of my feet. My time will come. You will learn. There is much to learn in the world. Has 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 seeing. Nonsense, is it? Well, I'll show you. I've taken enough of your insults. Unformed mind got no sense yet. I'll be king here. I can see and I'll be king. Bogota, stop it. No. No, I'm through with your orders. I'll show you what an advantage I can be. I can hit you, hurt you and you can't see me to strike back. 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. Bogota, put down that spade and come off the grass. You don't understand. You're blind and I can see. I can see. Now, Bogota, you must not do... I'll hurt you. I swear. Leave me alone. I hit his arm, turned and ran over the wall outside their 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 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 admit I'm only newly made. That is better. And you still think you can see? No, no, that was folly. The word means nothing, less than nothing. And what is overhead? Rock. There's a roof above the world, a roof of rock and very smooth. Very well. And now... Look, look, before you ask me anymore give me food or I'll die. Very well. Give him food. Yes, Father. And after that, the most menial tasks in the village. Guard him well and perhaps perhaps he shall learn yet. Thank you, thank you. That's better. You're kind, Medina Sarota. 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. Something very nice. Medina Sarota, why is it you have no husband? I have a disfigurement. It's long years. Your eyelashes? But they are beautiful. They're considered a disfigurement. Well, you're the loveliest girl in the valley. But they wouldn't know, would they? And so you have no lover? No. Medina Sarota, what do you think of me? Do you think of me as an idiot like all the rest? Oh, no. You have much to learn but you will learn it, I'm sure. And you are kind and gentle and your voice is soft. You speak the words that are soft and warm. No one has ever spoken such words to me. I shall speak them often, Medina Sarota. You are the only one in this valley in this world 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 Sarota, the daughter of the elder of the village. Only to her could I open my heart without fear. Only to her could I speak of the beauty I could see around me. It's a beautiful valley, Medina. 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. Oh, the words sound lovely. But what are stars? Well, they're... 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, no, it's you here who have them backwards because the darkness means nothing to you so you work in the cool of night and sleep in the heat of day, but... No, no, I'm not. Oh, what does it matter? All that matters is you. You here beside me. Medina Sarota, I love you. And I love you. 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? Oh, I like to hear you speak. Then will you... will you marry me? I would be very happy. I will not have it. But father... He is an idiot. He has delusions. He cannot do anything right. But he is getting better. He's better than he was. And he is strong and kind. Stronger and kinder than anyone in the world. And he loves me. And I love him. I will not have it. 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? It's a very simple surgical operation. To remove the cause of the irritation we will merely cut out his eyes. They say it will make you well. You don't understand, Madina Sirota. My world is sight. You wouldn't want me to lose my most precious position. I don't know. There are so many beautiful things to see. The flowers, the far sky with its drifting clouds, sunsets, stars and you. Just to see you, it's 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's pretty. It's your imagination. I love it. But now... Now? You want me to Madina Sirota. If I were to consent to this... If you would, if only you would. What else can I do? My dearest one. My dearest with a tender voice. I will repay you. Oh, Madina. Be brave. And carry my voice in your thoughts. Now and tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow will be forever. Goodbye. Goodbye, Madina. I suppose I knew it then when I said that. I only meant to go up on the rocks and look out over the valley to spend my last day feasting my eyes on 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 and the rocky crevices. Then I climbed higher to see the great snow-capped peaks towering above and away to the distant sky and higher as the shadows turned the snow to purple and crimson and deep blue. The valley was far below and as beautiful as a painting. But like a painting it looked unreal. Madina Sirota was small and far away a distant dream and the world of sight was here here all around overpowering. Wonderful. I turned and began to climb of 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 the hunger of it I cannot tell you but I am here at last back from the country of the blind. Good heavens, man. What an experience. Terrible and wonderful. But you're not sorry you came back. Sorry? I see her face clearly now that it's the only thing I see. Nunes, come. You need food. Here, take my hand. Thank you. Where is it, Senor Ibarra? Nunes. Yes, yes, the gods of the mountains have had their revenge. Those months of crawling over the snow and ice with the sun glaring down, yes, I am blind. Escape produced and directed by Norman McDonnell has brought you Edmund O'Brien in The Country of the Blind by H. G. Wells. The radio adaptation was by John Dunkel. Featured in the cast were Barry Kroger and Peggy Weber as Medina Sorota with Harry Bartel, Byron Kane, Edgar Berrier and Wilms Herbert. The special musical score was conducted by Leith Stevens. Next week, you are prisoner in the magnificent mountain retreat of the richest man in the world. Yet in love with his beautiful daughter, while haunting you, terrifying you, is the certain knowledge that the only sure escape would be death. Next week, Escape with F. Scott Fitzgerald amazing story, The Diamond as Big as the Ritz. Good night then until this same time next week when once again CBS offers you Escape. Edmund O'Brien appeared through the courtesy of Warner Brothers, producers of Michael Curtiz Technicolor production My Dream is Yours starring Jack Carson and Doris Day. This is Roy Rowan speaking. In just a few moments, the laughs start rolling on CBS's great Sunday Night of Stars. Within the next two hours, five of America's top comedians will unroll their newest wares Lomond Abner, Amos and Andy and Jack Benny. Nowhere else in radio will you find such superb and varied comedy as in this two-hour period. Lomond Abner and Amos and Andy will be heard over most of the same CBS network stations. And now, stay tuned for the Jack Benny show which comes to you over most of these stations with the heartthrob of Warkegon facing the rivalry of Hollywood's Van Johnson. This is CBS The Columbia Broadcasting System.