Tomorrow May Be Judgment Day (1950s)

[Music] [Music] It is the twilight hour. A few birds hop after crumbs in the quiet street. [Music] The school boys end their games and run home for [Music] supper. It is a peaceful hour. Aendi Hamid has hung himself. No, Borhan, look closely. He is playing a trick. Hamid's sense of humor is almost as distorted as his sense of justice. What a horrible sight. Hamid is showing the boys what happened to officials of a country that rebelled against being a satellite to a great foreign power. The leaders of the rebellion were ruthlessly hung. A fate no less than they deserved. Defindy, they had broken the peace of their country. deserved. You and your comrades disturbed the peace of our country every day. If the members of your party were so much as put in jail for every riot or act of violence they got involved in, they would never see their homes. Jail? That would be persecution. The end of political freedom. The end of justice. Justice. Freedom. You make a mockery of those words, Hamid. You want them to mean one thing when they apply to you and your comrades, and something completely different when they apply to the men who were hung or anybody else opposed to what your party believes in. How foolish. That is your opinion, Nendi? My opinion? Oh, no. As a matter of fact, I was thinking of a story about Nasaredine Hoocha, whose wisdom has come down to us over 500 years and cannot be so easily dismissed. It shows how foolish men are who cannot live by the rules they set for others. The story is called Tomorrow may be judgment day. [Music] [Music] Disco. [Music] [Applause] [Music] There was a time in the life of Naseredine Hochar when he was quite lonely. His first wife had died and his house was empty. Empty except for one small white and woolly pet who lightened many of the lonely hours. [Music] One night as he pettied his little companion and gazed up at the star-filled sky, the hoocher told some visitors, "I remember that my mother said I was born under the sign of the lamb." "Nonsense, Hoocher. A lamb is not a constellation. You must mean the ram. Well, it is 40 years since mother cast my horoscope. Surely that is enough time for the lamb to grow into a [Music] ram. Now, at this moment, Naseredine Hocha was not the only one with a lamb on his mind. Two villagers thought the lamb pretty as a picture, although the Hocher didn't know how they were picturing the lamb. One way or another, they were determined to have a feast with that lamb. Their plot began with the Hocha's superstitions about the stars. Hocha, the dust of a star fell on me today. That means the world is coming to an end tomorrow or the next day. At first the Hocha scoffed at what he heard, but the two jokers were very clever. And if water should fall from the sky tonight where there are no clouds, it will be a sure [Music] sign there. It's a sure sign the world is coming to an end. Horcha, we cannot say goodbye without a farewell feast. Tomorrow, let us roast your lamb and have one last outing together in the countryside. And so into the night, the two jokers worked on the hocha to agree to roast his lamb for a farewell dinner. for it because we got to sell you this thing and there's no other thing but out because we got to do this thing now and I thought and I want you very much you want Nasine became exhausted as the hours grew later but the arguments to convince him that the end of the world was at hand never stopped you I want you to do this for me [Music] but out cuz we got to do this thing now. What's up? [Music] By the next afternoon, the hocher's pet was roasting over an open fire. The two villagers who had tricked Naseredin took off their best cloaks and turbons and went to play games until the lamb should be done to a turn. For the first time since they had started to work on him the night before, Naseradinho was left alone to collect his thoughts. He looked up to see the sun shining brightly as ever. He knelt to feel the earth, warm, rich, and fertile. He heard the songs of birds, never sweeter than on this day, and smelled the green perfume of the countryside, mixed with the steam of roast lamb. The juice of his pet tasted bitter to him. After a while, the two villagers, hungry for dinner, came back from their play, only to see their best clothes smoldering in the fire. Oh, that. How did this terrible thing happen? Now it was the hocher's turn to be very calm. Why, my lads, what a fuss you are making. Tomorrow may be the end of the world, remember? What will you do with your fine clothes then? [Music] There are some people today, Hamid, who don't want to live by the standards they set for others. Like you think little of a man being hung for opposing what your party believes in, but cry persecution if anyone tries to control your own disturbing of the peace. As the Hocha taught Buhan, we have to beware of those among us who have such double standards for what is right and just. For whether or not tomorrow may be judgment day, today we must all try to live together in peace. [Music]