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Summary of Scenes: 1. A young man carrying a pack on his back walks across a vast landscape. In the distance are the vague forms of mountains. He recalls, "Many years ago I set out on a walking tour, high in the alps, in a region quite unknown to travelers." He adds, "If found myself in a wasteland. He camps among same ruins. He looks for a well. When he finds one, it is dry. All around him are abandoned houses. The animated images flow across the screen like watercolors. The next morning the young man leaves. 2. After five hours walking, he still has found no water. In the distance the landscape appears desolate. Then the young man sees in the distance a dark shape, like a tree stump. The shape is revealed to be an old shepherd and his dog. A herd of sheep rests nearby. The old man has a weathered face, and he wears a handlebar mustache. He wears a wide-brimmed hat and a flowing cape. The old man offers the youth a drink of water. At the old man's sheepfold, the shepherd draws water from a deep well. 3. The shepherd lives in a stone house, a former ruin he has repaired. The youth notices the shepherd is freshly shaved and all his buttons sewed on. The shepherd shares a meal with the youth and offers shelter for the night. Several family portraits are hung on the walls. The old man opens a sack of acorns and spreads them on the table. He separates the good from the bad. He counts out 100 perfect acorns. Then he prepares for sleep. The young man concludes, "Being with this man brought a great sense of peace." 4. The next day the youth follows the old man as he releases the sheep from their fold. The shepherd takes the bag of acorns and drops them into a pail of water. His walking staff is an iron rod. The old man climbs the hills. Suddenly he stops, drives his iron rod into the ground, makes a hole, and plants an acorn. "He was planting oak trees. With infinite care he planted his hundred acorns." Suddenly the screen is filled with acorns and oak leaves.
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