Gee, aunt bee,
what does
He always have
to wear this for?
Opie, when people come
to the justice of the peace
In the middle of the night
to get married,
They expect him
to look like this.
It makes for good
talking afterwards.
Come along, andy.
[ Doorbell buzzing ]
Here you are.
Coming!
Just a minute.
[ Clears throat ]
[ Sighs ]
Howdy.
Evening, ma'am.
I'm sorry
to be so late.
I, uh...i mean, she...
We want to
get married.
Oh, are you sure?
Are you absolutely,
positively sure?
We're dead sure,
ma'am.
Here's the license.
Mm-hmm.
Come along, then.
Andy, these young people
want to get married.
Evening, sheriff.
Evening.
You want to get
married, do you?
Well, this license...
Josh...
Josh and hannah.
Well...
Well, just join
hands, then.
No, right hands.
Both right hands.
That's right.
Uh, aunt bee,
you ready?
All ready.
[ "Wedding march" plays ]
Dearly beloved,
We are gathered
together here
In the sight
of this company
To join together
this man and woman
In holy matrimony.
Hannah!
Pa!
If you've just become
this here fella's wife,
You better
take a look at him
'Cause just about
a second, you're
gonna be his widow.
Pa!
Sheriff.
Well, somehow
I get the impression
That you don't take
too favorable
To this fine-lookin' young fella
here for a son-in-law.
Favorable? Do you know
who this fine-lookin', lowdown,
Sneaking varmint is, sheriff?
Sheriff!
If you've
said the words
that hitched 'em
You'd better up
and find some words
To unhitch 'em
right now.
I don't know
why I just get the feelin'
This ain't
a very popular marriage here.
Now look here, mr. Wakefield,
As justice of the peace,
it's my duty...
Wakefield and carter!
Great jumping
gosh almighty!
Now I don't want
no feuding in here.
I love her
real bad, pa.
Love her?
I'm gonna hit you
right in the mouth.
Us wakefields been feudin'
them carters for 87 years.
You want to go
messing it up now?
Hannah, you forgettin'
you're a carter?
What are you trying to do?
I'm tryin' to get married
and have a nice family.
That's what I'm tryin'
to do.
You hush up, hannah!
It ain't the duty
of the carters
To bring any more wakefields
into this world.
It's our duty to send as many
of them as we can out of it.
Now let's git.
Sheriff, it don't matter
what her name is--
Wakefield or carter.
We're both
more than 18.
It's your bound
and duty to marry us
If we ask you to.
Well, now the boy's got
hisself a point there...
But you all have got
a better point.
Come on.
Come on.
Well, that was
a whole lot of fun.
I declare, I better
get out of this outfit.
I'm beginning to feel
like dopey the dwarf.
Mornin', opie.
Mornin', aunt bee.
I says, uh--
I says, mornin', opie,
and mornin', aunt bee.
Well, now...
Being a sheriff,
Which is a kind
of a detective,
Let me see
if I can deduce
Why I'm gettin' the cold
shoulder this mornin'.
Now, you was
friendly enough
'Fore we went
to bed last night,
But you're mighty unfriendly
this morning.
So it must be somethin'
that happened
Between goin' to bed
and gettin' up, is that right?
You let them scare you, pa.
Who?
Oh, wakefield and carter?
Is that what you think?
Oh, andy, what
can a body think?
You lettin' those
stubborn old fools
Bluff you out
of marrying
Those two lovin'
youngsters.
If they wanted hitchin', then it
was up to you to hitch 'em.
Why didn't you hitch 'em, pa?
Well, I guess
I could've hitched 'em
But I just got to studyin'
What might happen
after the hitchin'.
Huh?
You see, this ain't
the first time
That despisin' families
had their young 'uns
To take to one another.
It ain't?
No. Why, I guess
about the worse
That ever happened
was in a tale
That was wrote
a long time ago
By a fella named
william shakespeare
That lived over
in the old country.
You wouldn't want
to hear about that
Early this mornin',
would you?
Yeah!
You would?
Well, now, let's see
If I can figure
how it went.
Now, let's see.
Well, now, it's about--
It's about this
boy and girl
Named romeo and juliet
That was in love
of one another
Just like josh and hannah,
Only their daddies
didn't get along either,
And what romeo used
to do to see juliet--
He'd put on a disguise
And go on over
to her house
And he was over
there this night.
He was over there standin'
around the punch bowl
And havin' a good time
And he seen--
He seen juliet come
down these high steps
And he was so struck by her
That he give a soliloquy
right there.
What's a soliloquy, pa?
Well, a soliloquy is
where you kind of look
Away off and kind
of talk to yourself.
Oh.
They used to do that
a whole lot back then.
You do it today
And somebody'll
take you away.
But that's what
he was a-doin'
And this
fellow tybalt,
A cousin of juliet's,
Come upon him
with his sword drawed
Ready to pick a fight
with him right there.
But juliet's daddy,
he didn't want no bloodshed
Right there
in his living room,
So all he done,
he run romeo off...
But romeo didn't go
straight home.
He didn't?
No.
He went out
And hid in the yard
And after while,
he seen this light
Come on over yonder,
and he says--
He says, "hark.
They said "hark" a
whole lot back then.
He says, "hark, what light
by yonder winder shines?"
Well, juliet,
she stepped out
Onto this stoop right then,
and s give a soliloquy,
And somewhere
in it she says...
She says, "romeo, romeo..."
She says, "wherefore
art thou, romeo?"
Well, he popped up and
says, "I'm right here."
And that's
where they had
That balcony scene.
And she got to
talkin' to him.
She says, uh,
she says, "hon..."
She says, "hon, why--
"Why don't you
deny your daddy
And change your name?"
And he answered
her right back.
He says, "you can change
the name of a rose
But you can't do
nothing about the smell."
Well, they decided
right then
They'd get married
And they went over to
friar laurence's house.
He was the justice
of the peace
In the town in that day.
Well, he married 'em,
and he told romeo
That he ought to
go off and lay low
Till he could explain
things to their daddies
And romeo did--
he went off.
And before that
friar laurence
could do that
Why, juliet's mama
took a great notion
That juliet ought
to get married
To this other fellow
and kind of forget
about romeo.
And then juliet
was in a bind
And she went over
to friar laurence,
And he mixed her up
a drink and she drunk it
And it put her to sleep
And everybody
thought she was dead.
Oh, they had
The prettiest
funeral for her--
Phew, folks cryin'
and carryin' on
And they laid her out
in this family tomb.
And before friar laurence
could get word to romeo
That she wasn't really dead,
some of them mean boys
That lived in that
town told him
That she was dead
And romeo, he figured life
Didn't hold
nothin' for him
And he went out
and he got him
This big can
of lye to drink
And he went over there
To where juliet
was laid out
And he kissed her.
Let me tell you
That boy kissed her
flat on the mouth.
He says,
"with this kiss
I die."
And he drunk the lye
And he fell out
across her there.
And, uh, he was--
he was a big boy for his age
And the impact
Of him a-fallin' on her
woke juliet up,
And she woke up and seen romeo
a-layin' dead there
And she took
his pocketknife
And run it into herself
And she expired.
And, you see,
their daddies
Could have saved
theirselves
The expense of
a double funeral
If they would have
Just let them had
a cheap wedding.
You see, they
didn't know that
Till it was too late
And so before I marry
these two young 'uns
I wanna be sure that
everything's all right
With everybody
all the way around.
Now, you understand that,
do you?
Boy, that romeo and juliet
would sure make a good tv show.
Yeah, I reckon
it would at that.
Aunt bee: well, it breaks
my heart
To see those two
lovin' youngsters kept apart.
Yeah.
I tell you the truth.
If I'd have been
friar laurence,
I believe I'd have
done things different.
How?
Instead of marryin'
them two young 'uns
Hopin' that that
would end the feud
I believe I would
have tried to end
The feud first and
then a-married 'em.
Of course.
How you goin' to do it, andy?
Well, now, if
friar laurence
had knowed
What started the feud
in the first place...
Anyhow, I's a-thinkin'
that's somethin'
Friar andy ought to
look into and right now.
Andy, you haven't had
your breakfast yet.
Goodbye, goodbye.
Partin'
is such sweet sorrow
That I would say goodbye
till it be morrow.
What's that mean?
Well, that means I'd love
To set and jaw with you
a while longer,
But I got to be
a-movin' on.
[ g*nshots ]
Mr. Wakefield!
Howdy, sheriff.
Are you doin' feudin'-sh**t'
Or huntin'-sh**t'?
Feudin'-sh**t'.
Well, now, you
must have a pair
Of mighty sharp
eyes there.
I don't see
no carters.
You don't?
No, I don't.
I was afraid of that.
Pull ya up a chair.
Have ya a drink of water.
All right.
Sorry about puttin' the g*n
on you last night, sheriff,
But a fella's got
a responsibility
To see that his young 'uns
is brung up right, ain't he?
Of course, he does.
Don't worry a
thing about it.
At times a fella gets
mighty discouraged.
You tries and you tries
to teach 'em right from wrong
But this late generation
Just plain ain't got no respect
for their elders.
Well, now, I don't know, now.
Maybe your reason
for feudin' with the carters
Just don't seem strong enough
to young josh.
No, it ain't that.
How you know
it ain't?
'Cause he don't know the reason.
He don't? You mean,
you ain't never told him?
Nope.
Well, how come?
'Cause I don't know
The reason.
You mean your pa
never did tell you?
Nope.
Well, why?
It could be 'cause he didn't
know the reason neither.
Well, who was the last wakefield
that did know the reason?
Well, must have been
his grandpa.
Well, then,
how come
He didn't pass
along the reason?
Well, it could be
The time his young 'un got
old enough to join the feudin'
That my great-grandpa
just clear-like forgot it.
Well, I'll be dogged.
Now, do you mean to tell me
That you've been a-carryin' on
a feud for four generations
Without knowing why?
Why not?
Well, I don't know.
It just seems to me
If I was gonna take
a shot at a fella
It'd pass my mind
to ask what for.
I'll be danged if I know
where you young folks
Get all them
new-fangled ideas.
Reason, sheriff?
'Course I know the reason
I'm sh**t' at him.
Well, how come?
'Cause he's a wakefield.
Well, what does
that mean to you?
Well, it means
I got to sh**t at him.
Well, why do you
have to sh**t at him?
'Cause he's a wakefield.
Well, why do you
have to sh**t
At the wakefields?
'Cause we're feudin'.
Well, why are
you feudin'?
'Cause he's a wakefield.
You know, I don't believe
you're understandin' me.
Now, let's start all over again.
I want to know why you're
feudin' with the wakefields.
Ohh. 'Cause we're sh**t'
at each other.
Why are you sh**t'
at each other?
'Cause he's a wakefield.
Ohh. Oh.
'Course.
I'm beginnin' to see what you
was up against, friar laurence.
Wait a minute!
Josh, you
and hannah wait a minute.
I want to talk
to you.
It ain't gonna do
you no good, sheriff.
You can drag
us back
But we just gonna
run off again.
One of these days we're gonna
find us a marryin' fella
Who ain't afraid
of our pas.
But don't you think
it might be a pretty good idea
If you wait
just a little while
And see if I can do anything
about ending the feud?
No. Waitin's dangerous.
Well, how's it dangerous?
'Cause one of these days
When a carter hurts a wakefield
or a wakefield a carter,
Then josh and me
is maybe gonna feel
A little less lovin'
for one another.
It don't seem
to have stopped you yet.
That's 'cause it ain't
happened yet.
You mean...?
Well, yeah.
Come to think of it, in all
the time I've been a-sheriffin',
I can't remember a single case
Where a wakefield or a carter
was done in or-- or anything.
Yeah.
Come on.
Where to?
Well, I just
got a hunch.
And if friar laurence
had a-had that same idea
Why, romeo and juliet
would have been
A happy married couple
right today.
Huh?
Come on.
Y'all findin' anything?
There's nothing here,
sheriff.
Here's something,
sheriff.
What is it?
September 14, 1908,
Jedidiah wakefield admitted
to hospital, wounded.
Wounded?
How?
Bit in the --
a certain place.
Who bit him?
His mule, emmy.
Good.
Huh?
Well, just as long
as it wasn't a carter
That shot him or bit him.
Is there
anything else, now?
No.
All right.
Now you all just let friar andy
take the next step.
And if things work out
the way I think they will,
You two young 'uns
will be married
Quicker than you can say,
"william shakespeare."
Your deputy told me to come up
here and meet you, sheriff.
What's up, and what's
he doin' here?
Ain't you heard
we was feudin'?
Yeah. That's what I wanted
to talk to you about--
Your feud.
Now I looked up
the records--
Old sheriff's records
and hospital records
And such as that
for the past 87 years,
And do you know what?
What?
They're ain't never been
nary a wakefield nor a carter
That was so much
as even hit.
It ain't
because we wasn't trying.
Dang wakefields
keep movin' around.
Well, now I got studying
about that thing.
Now you know how folks
in these parts feel
About their feudin'.
Now what if it was to get out
that we had a 87-year-old feud
Goin' on here with nary
a killin' to show for it?
Why, we'd be the laughingstock
of the state.
Yeah. Now I believe--
I believe that we can get done
In just a few minutes
What you boys ain't been able
to get done in 87 years.
All right?
Now just stand
back-to-back here like that.
What kind of
feudin's that?
Well, now, that's the way
The french folks
used to settle their arguments.
See, the umpire--
now, that's me;
I'll be the umpire--
Would count off to ten,
and the contestants--
Now that'll be you boys--
would start walkin'.
And when I get to ten,
why, the contestants--
Now, that's you--
Why, you swing around
and start a-poppin'
At one another, all right?
Ten, huh?
That's pretty far away.
Wouldn't surprise me
a fella'd miss at that distance.
Yeah.
Yeah. That's why I'm changin' it
to a count of three.
Three?!
Three?!
Yeah, now just let me go
over here and check your arms
To be sure that both of them's
all right.
Wouldn't do for one of you
to get a shot
And the other one not get one.
[ Chuckles ]
Yeah, that one's in good shape.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
Yeah, you all each, each have
a equal chance at this thing.
Yeah, just nice.
Just nice, all right?
Good luck now, fellas
And, uh, goodbye.
I reckon you all
will see one another
In that great feudin'
country beyond.
Ready?
One...
Fellas, you're
supposed to walk
When I start countin'.
Well, a fella's legs
gets mighty heavy.
Yeah. Everybody knows
a fella gets our age,
First thing that goes
is his legs.
Well, it's just a short walk,
And it's the last time
you'll be a-usin' 'em.
All right.
Now here we go.
One...
Two...
Wait!
Now what is it
this time, carter?
Well, uh, the rules say
a ten step and a ten count,
And I think we ought
to stick to the rules.
We don't want to
go against the law.
We might get in trouble
with the french government.
We better play it safe
and stick to the ten.
Or to be sure, 20.
To make it real sure, 50.
Well, now, fellas,
I wouldn't worry about the law,
Seein' as how I'm the law
in these parts.
Well, I wouldn't concern myself
too much
With the french government
either
Because I got me a feelin'
that the impact of the blast
Will take care of them
extra seven steps.
All right.
Now...
Let's start
right off in step.
Ready?
One...two...
Hold it!
Hold it, sheriff!
I'll tell you the truth.
If a body didn't know better,
he'd get the feelin'
That you two
feud-happy fellas
Wasn't so all-fired hot
about feudin'.
No, it ain't
that, sheriff.
I just had
a thought.
This being one
of them frenchy affairs,
It might be fittin'
if you counted in french.
Yeah. And if'n you don't know
how to count in french,
We'd oblige you by waiting
until you learn.
Well, now,
I appreciate that,
But it just happens
that I learned some french
When I was over there
during the w*r.
All right.
Now step right off.
Ready?
Un...
Deux...
What's the matter?
We don't
understand french.
Now lookie here...
If you two fellas want to call
off the feud, that's fine by me,
But if it's gonna be a-feudin',
there better be some sh**t'.
Now what's it
gonna be?
All right,
it'll be a feud.
Now this time, step off,
And when you turn around,
go to sh**t'.
You ready?
One...
Two...
What do you reckon your
young 'uns would have thought
If they'd a-seen you?
They'd a-thought
you was cowards.
Might even change their minds
about wantin' to get married
Bein' the young 'uns
of such cowards.
If the wakefields
and the carters
are such cowards,
Maybe it's good they
don't get married.
Yeah. If what you say
is true,
If the carters'
and the wakefields' blood
Ever got together,
they'd turn out a coward
Like this world
ain't never seen!
A coward's coward.
I got a feelin' you may
be wrong about that thing.
How's that?
Let me show
you something.
Josh, you and hannah
come on out here.
Josh, I been talkin' and
talkin' to hannah's pa here,
But I ain't got
nowhere with him.
He still claims that
if you marry hannah,
Why, he's gonna fill
you full of lead.
Now, you go ahead
And tell him
what your answer is
And let's get this thing over
with, one way or the other.
You might as well go ahead
and sh**t now, mr. Carter.
That's the only way
you're gonna keep me
from marrying hannah.
And you better
sh**t me, too, mr. Wakefield,
'Cause that's
the only thing
That's gonna keep me
from bein' your son's wife.
Well, I wish
you'd lookie yonder.
Josh, he's standing
right up
To you there, mr. Carter
And hannah's standing
up to you, mr. Wakefield.
Now, if that ain't courage,
I don't know
what courage is.
Why, you mix these
two fine bloods
together here,
And you two old
buzzards are liable
To get you a grandson
that can't be nothing
In this world but
a natural-born hero.
Why, yes, sir.
Why, you let these
two young 'uns...
Now what is it?
You just stop
the blabbering, sheriff,
And get on with
the marryin'.
Fellas, please.
But we want it
done right.
But it's
broad daylight.
That don't matter.
We're gonna see that that
little hero gets a right start
Right at the beginning.
But --
[ "Wedding march" plays ]
[ Whistling sprightly tune ]
01x09 - A Feud is A Feud
Moderator: Lindaballou
Watch on Amazon Merchandise Collectibles
Andy Taylor who is a widowed sheriff raises his son in Mayberry, N.C.
Andy Taylor who is a widowed sheriff raises his son in Mayberry, N.C.