“Just me and Meyer? You're kidding, sir.”
Por qué es buena
Plain disbelief, spoken honestly, deflates the whole charge in one line.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
Move it by tomorrow? You're kidding, right?
00:00 / 02:37
00:00 / 02:37
Ferol Testifies at the Court-Martial, Explained
Paths of Glory · 1957
Capítulo 9 de 17 · 2'37"
A court-martial questions Private Ferol about the failed attack. The prosecutor walks him to a conclusion — "In other words, Private Ferol, you retreated" — while Dax, defending, makes the questioning look absurd by asking whether Ferol should have stormed the Anthill alone.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:20–1:13
The Prosecutor Grills Ferol
53s - 1:30–2:05
Dax Exposes the Absurd Questioning
35s
Ferol Testifies at the Court-Martial, explained
What happens
At the court-martial, the prosecutor questions Private Ferol step by step about the attack on the Anthill. Ferol admits he advanced to the middle of no-man's-land with Private Meyer, then went back. Colonel Dax, defending the men, cross-examines him and asks sarcastically why he did not take the Anthill single-handed.
What's really going on
The scene is a lesson in how a court can turn a person's plain truth into a confession. Ferol answers honestly — yes he advanced, no he did not refuse, he reached the middle of no-man's-land, then he went back — and the prosecutor simply renames it: "In other words, Private Ferol, you retreated." Everything human in his answer, the dead friends and the machine-gun fire, is ruled out as visual experiences. Dax's defense is to expose the logic by taking it seriously: if the rest of the company was gone, why did Ferol not storm the Anthill single-handed? Ferol's baffled 'You're kidding, sir' says what the audience thinks, and Dax agrees that yes, he is kidding — that is the point.
Key lines & what they mean
- “Just me and Meyer? You're kidding, sir.”
- Ferol's honest disbelief at being asked why two men did not take a fortified position by themselves.
- “Why didn't you storm the Anthill alone?”
- Dax's cross-examination, turning the prosecution's logic against it by pushing it to an absurd extreme.
- “In other words, Private Ferol, you retreated.”
- The prosecutor recasting Ferol's account as an admission: the phrase does the work of a verdict.
- “So you freely admit, Private Ferol, that you retreated.”
- The prosecutor locking in the confession, making Ferol agree to the word 'retreated' in his own voice.
- “I knew we should've took Anthill, but we came on back.”
- Ferol's plain summary of the retreat: he knows they should have taken the Anthill, but they came back.
Theme
- Justice — A show trial converts an honest account of the attack into an admission of cowardice, with the outcome decided in advance.
- Power — The court uses procedure and official language to strip a soldier's own words of their meaning.
Qué aprendes en este capítulo
Puntos de enseñanza
Repasa justo después de verMi nivel3/7
A1–C2 es la escala MCER. Las tarjetas por encima del nivel elegido se atenúan y la reproducción no se pausa en ellas.
Puntos de lengua
Toca una tarjeta para saltar a ese momentoFrases de oro
Una gran frase en sí misma: por qué y cómo usarla“Why didn't you storm the Anthill alone?”
Por qué es buena
Pushing the charge to its extreme makes the absurdity answer itself.
Registro
Neutral
Úsala tú
Why didn't you close all fifty tickets alone?
“In other words, Private Ferol, you retreated.”
Por qué es buena
Renaming the answer is how the prosecutor turns retreat into guilt.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
In other words, we're starting over.
“So you freely admit, Private Ferol, that you retreated.”
Por qué es buena
The word freely twists a forced answer into a voluntary confession.
Registro
Formal
Úsala tú
So you freely admit the deadline was impossible?
“I knew we should've took Anthill, but we came on back.”
Por qué es buena
The grammar is wrong, yet it sounds exactly like a soldier telling the truth.
Registro
Informal
Úsala tú
I knew we should've checked, but we shipped it.
Siguiente · 10you mean to tell meLa escena: Arnaud Testifies at His Court-MartialIdeas clave
Lo que te llevas- A private's slow honesty beats a polished charge.
- The retelling of an answer can turn it into a verdict.
- Single-handed questions are meant to prove a thing impossible.
- The wrong verb tense here sounds more real than the right one.
Preguntas frecuentes
La pregunta, luego la fraseWhat is Ferol on trial for?
For cowardice, after the failed attack on the Anthill. The army wants three soldiers punished as an example, and Ferol is one of the accused.
What does Ferol actually admit on the stand?
That he advanced into no-man's-land with Private Meyer, that the rest of the company was killed or wounded, and that he then went back.
Why does Dax ask if Ferol attacked the Anthill single-handed?
To show how absurd the prosecution's logic is. If retreating proves cowardice, then the only acceptable behavior would have been for two men to take the position alone.
What does "no-man's-land" mean?
The open ground between the two armies' trenches, which neither side controls. Ferol says he got about halfway across it before turning back.
Why does the court ignore what Ferol says he saw?
The president rules that the court has no concern with his visual experiences, so evidence about the machine-gun fire and his dead comrades is kept out.