Gorobei Katayama Quotes in Seven Samurai (1954)

Kambei Shimada: Go to the north. The decisive battle will be fought there.

Gorobei Katayama: Why didn't you build a fence there?

Kambei Shimada: A good fort needs a gap. The enemy must be lured in. So we can attack them. If we only defend, we lose the war.

Heihachi Hayashida: Haven't you ever seen anyone cut firewood before?

Gorobei Katayama: You seem to enjoy it.

Heihachi Hayashida: That's just the way I am. Yah!

[he chops another log]

Gorobei Katayama: You're good!

Heihachi Hayashida: Not really. It's a lot harder than killing enemies. Yah!

[he splits another log]

Gorobei Katayama: Have you killed many?

Heihachi Hayashida: Since it's impossible to kill them all - yah!

[he splits another log]

Heihachi Hayashida: I usually run away.

Gorobei Katayama: A splendid principle.

Heihachi Hayashida: Thank you. Yah!

[Gorobei is watching Heihachi, who is methodically splitting logs]

Gorobei Katayama: How'd you like to kill thirty bandits?

Heihachi Hayashida: [Spins around in surprise as his axe swings wide]

Gorobei Katayama: I'm with you. But I have to say that although I understand the farmers' suffering and understand why you would take up their cause, it's your character that I find most compelling. In life one finds friends in the strangest places.

Gorobei Katayama: How did you fare?

Kambei Shimada: We let a good fish get away. An excellent swordsman.

Gorobei Katayama: [laughs] They say the fish that gets away looks bigger than it really is.

Gorobei Katayama: The threshing's done and still no bandits. Everyone's saying they might not come after all.

Kambei Shimada: A tempting thought. But when you think you're safe is precisely when you're most vulnerable.

Gorobei Katayama: Where shall we start our patrol?

Kambei Shimada: The spot that worries us the most, of course.

[Kambei and Gorobei arrive at a campfire near one of the roads, and find Kikuchiyo lying on the ground, his head propped up against a log and his feet resting on another log. He is supposed to be on guard, but is sound asleep. His sword is stuck upright in a pile of logs. Softly Kambei comes forward and takes the sword away. The two hide behind a straw hut. Gorobei throws a rock, which wakes Kikuchiyo with a start. Kikuchiyo scrambles to the pile where his sword had been]

Kikuchiyo: Who's there?

[He feels around for the sword, only to find it gone. He grabs a log from the pile and brandishes it]

Kikuchiyo: Who's there? Come on out!

Kambei Shimada: Kikuchiyo.

[Kikuchiyo whirls around to see Kambei and Gorobei standing behind him]

Kambei Shimada: You're lucky it was us. If it had been the bandits...

[He tosses Kikuchiyo his confiscated Nodachi]

Kambei Shimada: ... You'd be looking for your head.

[Kikuchiyo sinks down to his knees by the fire. He is so ashamed he can't speak]