"How long have you been deaf in this ear?" "Since as long as I can remember." "Shut up!" "Keep still while the doctor is examining you." "I need a fish-hook... about the right size for a mullet... with a long shank, and a hammer." "A fish-hook?" "A hammer?" "Here's a fish-hook..." "and a hammer." "Right." "Now keep still." "A pea." "It is very papilionaceous, is it not?" "He must have stuck it in his ear when he was a child." "Oh, my God, it's loud." "I mean, everything is loud." "My own voice is loud." "Your deafness is cured." "A very satisfactory operation." "I've had an operation?" "I'm the only person I know who's had an operation." "It feels as if my whole head... has filled up with spring water, all cold and clear." "Talk some sense when the doctor... has been kind enough to cure you." "All these years thinking you are deaf." "But now there will be no excuses when I ask you to remember... to collect something on your way home." "Or to stoke up the fire before we go to church." "Perhaps now you will hear me... when I say to you, "Mend the chair, Stamatis." ""Fix the leaking roof, Stamatis."" "And now I won't have to speak so loud..." "Antonio, do you remember our island?" "It does not change." "On the feast day of Saint Gerasimos... we still bring our sick to the holy place... and pray that their suffering may cease." "When Pelagia was a child, I promised her... that I would write a history of Cephallonia... but somehow I still have not found the time." "I wanted her to understand how a land so peaceful... could be shattered by earthquakes and war." "I wanted her to understand why sometimes the gods bless us... and why they sometimes become angry... and shake us, and fill our lives with pain." "I want her to learn the lesson that nature teaches us." "That we should not ask why we are wounded... only if the wound can be healed." "A purely psychological phenomenon." "How do you explain the miracle?" "Can Lenin cure the mad?" "Can Stalin heal the afflicted?" "It's obvious." "It's a set-up!" "To keep people enslaved to religion." "You don't have to shout." "I'm not deaf." "I want to see the cannon again." "Cannon!" "All right." "I will need stones from the street." "As many as you can find." "Be right back." "Ready, children?" "Cover your ears." "That hurts!" "Will he die?" "Eventually, one of these days, like all of us." "Turn over." "Good, strong gluteals." "Pelagia." "Tell us about the gluteals." "Please, come closer." "Have a good look." "Fetch your friends." "Everybody's welcome." "Gluteals." "Maximus, medius, minimus." "The maximus is the external surface of the ilium... between anterior and interior gluteal lines..." "Mandras!" "latre..." "He'll be fine." "They told me you were shot." "I thought I was going to die." "I don't know why you can't keep out of trouble!" "I don't know!" "latre, you should count yourself lucky you don't have a son." "Boys, they never grow up." "Look at me." "Old before my time." "It's too hot." "The fish are all hiding in the rocks... or keeping cool at the bottom of the sea." "No!" "Put me down!" "that a Greek battleship, the Eli... has been torpedoed by an Italian submarine... despite the fact that Greece is not yet involved in the war." "Prime Minister Metaxas has protested strongly... to Mussolini's government in Rome... which has denied responsibility for the attack." "And there are continued reports of fighting... between Greek and Italian soldiers... on the Greek-Albanian border." "But in Athens this morning... the Italian ambassador once again denied..." "What are they saying?" "The Italians are in Albania, close to the border." "They have reported some fighting." "There!" "You hear that?" "They are saying they are not about to declare war." "There." "What did I say?" "They want to catch us sleeping." "They want to creep up on us in the dead of night!" "You filthy liar!" "Your father was a goat!" "Shut up!" "If you two don't stop trading insults... I'm going to start taking coffee at home." "Mandras wants to marry me." "I told him he'd have to ask you." "I don't want to marry him." "You don't like him." "You are both too young." "Everyone is too young when they marry." "I have often thought that you would... only ever be able to marry happily... with a foreigner." "A dentist from Norway or something." "Mandras is not your equal, and he would expect... to be better than his wife." "He is a man, after all." "I will tell you now what I will say to him." "I am not giving away a dowry." "Who marries without a dowry?" "You should marry for love." "I love Mandras." "So what am I supposed to do?" "Go off to Mandras's mother's house... with nothing but a bag of clothes?" "Oh, and my goat." "I'll never be able to show my face." "I'll be the laughing stock of Cephallonia." "You can imagine how people will talk." "I don't know how you will bear the shame." "There is going to be a war." "Terrible things happen in wars." "Use this to defend yourself." "And, if necessary, use it against yourself." "Your marriage will have to wait." "I look around me." "I see fishermen." "I see farmers." "I see strong, healthy men who are born free." "But today your freedom is in danger." "The Italian Army sweeps through Albania... and her troops get ready to cross the frontiers of Greece." "If you care about your country... then you must fight to defend her." "Join the war in Albania." "Fight for your mothers, your sweethearts... your wives, your children." "Fight for the freedom for all Greek people... to live their lives with dignity and respect!" "When I come back from the war... we will get married." "And I will build a house for Pelagia... on the land that belonged to my father." "I know we are different." "I don't know about the world." "Where have I been?" "What could I know?" "I don't know how to say what I feel inside." "I don't know how to tell you... what is in here." "But I think... I know..." "Pelagia... I love you." "Tomorrow I leave for the war." "Pelagia, come and dance with me." "I'll write. I promise." "And promise that you will write to me." ""My darling, you have not written..." ""since that day I saw you off." ""And I am so terrified..." ""that I am not getting any letters from you..." ""because you have been wounded or taken prisoner." ""And I have nightmares that you are dead."" ""Summer has turned to winter..." ""and I am writing my hundredth letter to you." ""The wounded who have returned..." ""bring news of terrible conditions." ""Freezing cold, no food." ""But they bring no news from you."" ""Every day I wait for the mail from Argostoli..." ""and every day there is nothing." ""And I feel as if I am going mad..." ""with worry and fear." "I try not to lose hope..." ""but I long to feel something, even if it is only pain."" "We won!" "It's over!" "We've beaten them in Albania." "Look!" "8,000 of us against 14,000 Italians... and we forced them to withdraw." "What?" "Hitler will never let his lapdog be humiliated." "He will come to Mussolini's aid." ""l have written this letter a dozen times..." ""and a dozen times I have thrown it away." ""l don't know how to describe my feelings." ""lt's as if I've been waiting a hundred years..." ""to hear from you." ""Waiting a hundred years for you to return."" "This is hopeless." "It's all wrong!" "Following the great defeat... of the Italians in Albania..." "Hitler's bombers have counterattacked... and the German Army has driven a path... through to the Greek capital, Athens." "A large number of Greek ships were destroyed... in the bombing of the nearby Port of Piraeus." "On April 27, the Athenian Military Commissioner..." "General Calvacos, officially handed over the keys... of the ancient city to his German counterpart..." "Lieutenant Colonel Von Zephyr... and preparations are underway for a carve-up of the territory." "Hitler retains direct control... of much of northern Greece, including Salonica... and the southern island of Crete." "The rest of Greece will be under the control... of Hitler's ally, Mussolini... though the Germans will retain the final authority." "Bella bambina at two o'clock!" "Captain Corelli." ""Fuck off."" "Have him tell the mayor that unless we receive... the surrender of the town's authorities in five minutes... we'll mobilise our troops and storm the building." "The mayor says if you don't know what "fuck off' means... then come inside and we'll show you." ""We refuse to surrender to a nation..." ""that we have defeated in Albania..." ""and we reserve the right to surrender..." ""to a German officer of significant rank." ""So fuck off."" "Who is this?" "Who are you?" "Captain Gunter Weber." "Liaison officer with the Grenadiers at Lixouri." ""Captain" is not what we would call a significant rank." "There are only 200 Germans... on the island, and Captain Weber... is the highest ranking officer amongst them." "Our decision is that surrendering... to Captain Weber's dog is more appropriate... than surrendering to an Italian." "Carlo Guercio reporting for duty, sir." "Carlo, where have you served?" "Albania." "Albania?" "None of us have seen any action yet." "I was with the Julia Division." "Then you have fought enough for all of us." "Carlo, can you sing?" "Let's hear you sing." "No matter." "Everyone in our battery is a member of the opera society." "These are the rules of engagement." "One, all those called to regular musical fatigues... shall be obliged to play a musical instrument." "Spoons, the helmet... comb, paper, and so on." "Two, anyone who says... that Donizetti is better than Verdi shall be required... to sing "Funiculi Funicula" and other songs about railways." "Three..." "This is an outrage!" "Quite impossible." "It's out of the question." "Sir, the fact is, I'm sorry to say... and with great regret, that my orders are... to billet an officer in your home." "I am a doctor." "This is my surgery." "I don't have room for guests!" "Sir, these are my orders!" "l don't care!" "I don't recognise your authority!" "Wait a minute." "What is wrong with your feet?" "I have terrible corns." "My boots are killing me." "You are a quartermaster." "You must have access to medical supplies." "To treat your corns, I will need morphine... hypodermic syringes, sulphur ointment... surgical spirit, neosalvarsan." "Iodine, scalpels, cullodian... bandages, lint." "Perhaps your officer could bring supplies... when he comes." "My father is not here." "He'll be home this evening." "You don't even know who I am." "I walked all the way..." "from Epirus." "No boots." "I wrote to you every day." "A hundred letters." "And not a single reply." "I never learned... to read or write." "Oh, Lord, what a stench." "It's worse than pigs." "You see, Pelagia, what a state these men get into... when there are no women to look after them." "And I don't care if he's been to war." "If we catch his fleas and lice, I'm going to skin him alive." "Ammonia, oil of sassafras, and zinc for scabies." "You're a woman, and you know so many things." "At least you can see what you are getting." "Not much of a bargain, is he?" "You fall in love with the person, not the body." "Love enters by the eyes and also leaves by the eyes." "Take it from me." "We beat the Italians." "We had them running." "But we couldn't fight the Germans." "If I could cook... I would exchange jobs with you." "In fact, I might retire." "Forgive me." "I don't mean to embarrass you." "I'm Captain Antonio Corelli... and that man is one of our heroes." "He has a hundred medals for saving life... and none for taking it." "A brave Italian is a freak of nature." "Said like a true Greek patriot." "Captain Corelli?" "I want a word with you." "Now." "I want an explanation." "I want to know why you have defaced the monument." "What monument?" "You have changed the inscription to Latin." "Do you think you can so easily erase our history?" "is this how you wage war?" "By the chipping away of letters?" "I must protest." "You cannot protest." "There is no excuse." "I was about to protest because I was not responsible for it." "Pathetic." "If you could tell me where l'm going to sleep... ln my daughter's room." "But where will your daughter sleep?" "It's none of your business where l sleep." "Tonight I'll sleep in the yard." "Tomorrow I'll request alternative accommodation." "I have made an arrangement with your quartermaster." "You are staying here whether you like it or not." "But your daughter's bed, I feel it would not be-- l don't care how you feel." "That is not my problem." "I am not the aggressor." "You understand me?" "This is very good." "This is Cephallonian meat pie." "Except that, thanks to you people... it doesn't have any meat in it." "I could bring some food." "A little wine, perhaps some panettone." "We don't accept food from the enemy." "Maybe a little panettone." "I am going for a walk." "The curfew starts in one hour's time." "I was born here." "This is my island." "Aren't you going to go and arrest him?" "He's defying you, ignoring the curfew." "You're absolutely right." "Quick, get the gun." "Somebody shoot him." "Capitano Antonio Corelli." "Now you try." "Capitano Antonio Corelli." "Lemoni!" "Babibaba Finono Kalikali." "What?" "Babibaba?" "Go home." "Go on." "You can come back later." "In times of war, we have to make the most... of what little innocent pleasure there is." ""l have started to make a waistcoat for you." ""Eagles and flowers, embroidered with gold thread." ""But I can't seem to get them to match up." ""One flower is much bigger." ""One eagle is in a different place from the other." ""And when I try to make them more even, it gets worse." ""l just can't get it right."" "You could kill him, you know." "He's the enemy." "You could poison him." "No one would ever know how he died." "Dimitris and Spiros have both left to join the partisans." "They've gone by boat to Patra." "And who knows where from there." "I should be with them." "You're not going anywhere until you are strong again." "Read the last one." "The last letter you wrote before I came home." ""My darling, I've heard nothing from you..." ""for such a long time..." ""and I feel desperate and helpless..." ""and I am burning my brains with worry." ""Yesterday I wrote you such a long letter..." ""that said everything perfectly..." ""and believe it--"" "Listen." "I can't stay here." "You are drunk." "Yes, I confess." "We have been drinking, singing... generally misbehaving." "I thought you were a soldier." "Captain Antonio Corelli, 33rd Regiment, Artillery... reporting for duty!" "is everything a joke to you?" "No." "Not everything." "Captain Corelli, I think this would be... a good time to hear you play the mandolin." "What on earth are you doing?" "I was just about to start." "Well, about time, too, I should think." "The first 45 1/2 bars are for the orchestra." "You have to imagine the orchestra." "I'm damned if I can sit through all that tapping again." "Just play your part." "If I do that, I'll start getting confused... about when I'm supposed to come in... and that, in a concert hall, would be a disaster." "I apologise for disrupting the concert." "I apologise to each and every one of you." "To those in the cheapest seats in the gods... to Your Majesties in your royal boxes... draped in your jewellery and your fine furs." "But I'm damned if I can imagine an orchestra." "I am going to bed." "is this where the captain sleeps?" "I was coming to see you." "I'm leaving, Pelagia." "In the morning." "I'll take my boat to Astakos." "lt's not safe." "l'm a fisherman." "I know those waters like the back of my hand." "I don't want you to go." "If I die, I won't have died for nothing." "And if I live, I'll walk with my head held high... for the rest of my life, and everyone will say..." ""That's Mandras, who fought for his country in the war."" "I finished your waistcoat." "You can take it now if you want." "The two sides... they are not the same." "The Italian captain." "14,000 of you against 8,000 of us." "You could have driven us into the sea." "If it weren't for your German friends, we would have." "My friends are the men in my battery." "People I grew up with." "People of my home town." "So, what do you think of our island, Captain?" "I like your island." "And what do you think of our girls?" "What do you think of my Pelagia?" "Good-bye, Pelagia." "My beautiful Pelagia." "Heil Hitler." "Heil Puccini." "I saw your party." "I thought I would come and introduce myself." "You mean, you saw the naked women... and want to come and get a closer look." "We've met before." "The surrender at the town hall." "You are much better at having parties... than you are at negotiating surrender." "Well, we're Italian." "Famous for singing, eating, making love." "What's your name?" "You Germans always have the best tobacco, huh?" "How many of you are here now?" "Approximately 1 ,200." "Under Colonel Barge." "Here to keep an eye on us." "Doesn't it feel good to have your allies here?" "I thought all you Nazis had blond hair." "I come from the Tyrol." "Grew up in the Austrian mountains." "All my family, and my family before them... going back as far as we can remember, have dark hair." "Like Adolf Hilter?" "You neglected to tell me your rank." "I am the breve." "Maximilliano here is the semibreve." "He is the minim." "Those boys are the crotchets and the quavers." "Piero here is the semiquaver." "And Carlo is the rest." "The pause between the notes." "In the opera club, we have our own ranking system... but otherwise I am a captain." "33rd Regiment of Artillery." "Do you sing?" "No, not really." "Well, maybe, you know." "On my own. ln the bath." "Well, have a drink." "Be happy." "But just remember... if you ever express admiration for Wagner... you will be shot, without trial... and without leave of appeal." "From the top!" "Come on." "Are you going to shoot me?" "It wasn't loaded." "I've never aimed a gun at anybody." "Never in my life." "It must be very difficult... for you to have to put up with us." "It must be very difficult... for you to have to live with yourself." "You lie in the sun and swim in the sea... and flirt with your prostitutes." "And there are people I know, people I grew up with... who are fighting for their lives... and dying for what they believe in." "And all you do is sing." "What's there to sing about?" "We are in the middle of a war, not an opera house." "And you, you think you are so cultured... with your pasta and your panettone... and your puffed-up opera." "Why don't you take your holiday on somebody else's island?" "What is there to sing about?" "There is singing when babies are baptised... when you celebrate a marriage." "Men sing as they work." "Soldiers sing as they march into battle... and there is singing when people die." "I have always found something in life worth singing about... and for that I cannot apologise." "For the fact that I've caused you pain... I cannot apologise enough." "I have not been able to imagine, until now... the offence I have given." "What are those?" "My things." "I can see that." "Why?" "I'm going to stay in the encampment with my men." "I think it will be best." "But you must understand... I made an arrangement with your quartermaster." "We agreed the terms." "I would not feel comfortable... letting him down." "Therefore, I think you should stay." "I don't think your daughter would agree." "My daughter understands the importance... of honouring an arrangement." "I'll speak to the quartermaster." "Make sure you continue to get your medical supplies." "I've enjoyed meeting you." "I'm only sorry about the circumstances." ""Citizens of Cephallonia." ""ln these unfortunate and difficult times..." ""let us show the world..." ""how two ancient cultures can coexist..." ""and behave in a civilised manner towards one another." ""Please join us in an evening of relaxation..." ""as we extend the hand of friendship to you all."" "I'll be back in a moment." "My friend thinks you are very pretty." "Why doesn't he tell me himself?" "He's too shy." "He wants to know if you'll dance with him." "No, I can't-- not with a German." "But tell him thank you." "Tell him I don't mean to be rude." "Don't stay up too late." "It's Turkish." "From the Great War." "We should explode it." "The explosive must have decayed." "It's been floating for about twenty years." "We could have put on a good show." "We are going to explode the bomb." "It will be a fantastic explosion... and when the time comes... nobody must come down to the beach." "You must watch from where you are." "You must be one of the most stupid people I've ever met." "You wanted to show off so you nearly get us all killed." "I can see your lips moving... but I can't hear a word you're saying." "It should pass-- in a day or two." "Your father says it will pass in a day or two." "Does he?" "is that what the great doctor says?" "What are you saying?" "Are you saying how beautiful life is... since the Italians arrived?" "All my life I've been waiting." "I don't know how I survived before you came." "Are you saying how much you missed having me around?" "I miss you so much I can't sleep at night." "The other night when you were dancing... the way you were moving..." "The turn of your head." "I thought I could watch you forever." "You think you can come here... and turn my whole world upside-down?" "Iodine." "Bandages." "Dressings." "This is all I have." "I can't give you any morphine." "And we need all the quinine we have." "12,000 of our men on the mainland... are sick with malaria." "Supplies are not getting through." "Nobody knows why, nobody knows what is happening... and I'm going to eat." "You know, when I met Pelagia's mother... she was betrothed to somebody else." "He nearly killed me." "I had to leave the island." "I had to lie low for a while." "She wants to train to be a doctor, you know." "You think she'd make a good doctor?" "I think she'd make a very good doctor." "Another thing." "This is a very ancient land... and we have had nothing but earthquakes... and slaughter for 2,000 years." "We've had massacres at Sami and Fiskardo... and God knows where else." "There will be more." "It's only a question of time." "So don't make any plans." "Bravo!" "After the war, I'll leave it with you." "You're very sweet." "The Allies have landed in Italy." "We can all go home then." "I can't believe it." "You really want this war to be over?" "What is wrong with you Italians?" "We don't have your advantages, Gunther." "Advantages?" "The advantage of thinking that... other races are inferior to yours." "It's a question of science." "You can't alter a scientific fact." "I don't care about science." "It's morality that counts." "What is your morality?" "If I were to see a man... being set upon by others..." "I would think that man was my brother." "That is my morality." "I would make myself believe it's personal." "For me, too, the war is personal." "I lost both my grandfathers in the Great War." "A war that you started." "And my father's brother, two of my mother's brothers." "I grew up in a country where it was hard to survive." "We were hungry all the time." "All we ever knew about was defeat." "But now" "Sometimes it is better... to lose than to have so much blood on your hands." "It's a beautiful night, and everything is peaceful... and we should think about falling in love." "That's beautiful." "What is it?" "It's "Pelagia's Song."" "I wrote you that song because I love you." "I don't care if the world knows it." "I couldn't care less... if I never pick up the mandolin again." "When I was playing, it felt like my hands were lumps of wood." "It felt as if every note was sour, stale." "And then I realised-- it's useless." "It's hopeless." "It can't begin to express the way I feel about you." "Next time you see him... tell him I have got his mandolin." "He left it in the square." "Four more boys from the village have left to join Mandras." "Constantine's boys." "Kostas's brother, what's his name?" "George." "He's only fifteen." "He always worshipped Mandras." "Do you love him?" "We are engaged to be married." "I am not talking about Mandras." "When you fall in love... it is a temporary madness." "It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides." "And when it subsides, you have to make a decision." "You have to work out whether your roots... have become so entwined together... that it is inconceivable... that you should ever part." "Because this is what love is." "Love is not breathlessness." "It is not excitement." "It's not the desire to mate every second of the day." "It is not lying awake at night... imagining that he is kissing every part of your body." "No, don't blush." "I'm telling you some truths." "That is just being in love... which any of us can convince ourselves we are." "Love itself is what is left over... when being in love has burned away." "Doesn't sound very exciting, does it?" "But it is." "Do you think that you could begin to imagine... that that is how you will come to feel with Captain Corelli?" "You must act honourably... with respect to Mandras and his mother." "And... pray for the liberation of the island... because then everything becomes possible." "Drosoula." "All night I've been thinking about Mandras." "About me and Mandras." "Thinking about how long we've been apart." "When did you arrive?" "Where is your ring?" "My fingers got too thin." "I thought I would lose it." "Where will you stay?" "I want to ask you something." "We need to see the Italian captain." "I want you to ask him to meet with us." "As soon as you can." "In Germany, the port of Hamburg... suffered a second day of continuous air raids... from nearly 800 British aircraft..." "leaving much of the city in ruin." "While, in Italy, Rome has finally fallen... to the Allied advance after weeks of fierce fighting... and a huge bombing campaign on the capital." "Allied commandos... are closely watching the Mediterranean countries... occupied by German and Italian forces." "It's not yet clear what the German attitude... to an Italian withdrawal might be... but Germany will assume sole command... of many strategic territories." "Hitler is expected to send massive reinforcements... through the Balkans and into Greece... as the Nazis struggle to maintain supply routes... to northern Africa." "Mandras is back." "He wants to see you." "It's over!" "It's all over!" "Mussolini has fallen!" "We're going home!" "Colonel Barge and I have agreed the date for the surrender... of our heavy weapons and machine guns-- the fifteenth of September." "That's in five days time." "Why should we lay down our arms?" "They were our allies." "Why should they be dictating terms to us?" "We have surrendered." "Mussolini has surrendered to the British and the Americans... not to the Germans." "Colonel Barge and I have agreed." "If we surrender our arms, do we have confirmation... that they will not use force against us?" "I have a personal undertaking... from Colonel Barge and his officers... that our troops will be allowed safe passage." "My men will never agree to return home... without their weapons." "If you surrender your arms in times of war... then you are no longer a man." "If you were in their position, if you were German... you would want to be certain for your own security... that the weapons will not be passed on... to the Allied forces or to the Greek partisans." "Or turned against you." "Or turned against you." "You must be looking forward to going home." "There'll be people happy to see you again, I'm sure." "Your family, your mother, your wife." "Your girlfriend?" "You wanted to see me?" "We need arms." "Machine guns, ammunition, land mines... anything you can spare." "How can I give you weapons?" "You know I can't do that." "You've surrendered." "If you don't intend to fight... you won't be needing your weapons." "We have a country to defend." "There is a massive buildup... of German troops on the mainland." "The 1 1 7th Jaeger Division is nearing the Corinth Canal." "The 104th is moving south from Yugoslavia." "Then you are not in any position to resist." "Unless we act now." "Do you know, Captain, on Lefkada Island... all the Italians who surrendered... have been sent to prison camps in the north." "We heard they went home." "The trains were diverted in Albania." "In this war, Captain... it's hard to know who you can trust." "But one thing is certain-- you can't trust the Germans." "Last night I dreamed I was sitting... in a restaurant in Piazza Navona... eating zuppe di cozze piccante... then a plate of tagliarini al boscaiolo." "Colonel Barge has requested..." "I withdraw your battery from Antisamos Beach." "If they wanted to bring in heavy reinforcements... this is where they would do it." "Is this an order?" "Captain... don't you want to go home?" "Are you going to let us through?" "My orders are to supervise... the surrender of your arms and weapons." "The deadline for the hand-over is at noon tomorrow." "This order comes from Colonel Barge." "He has asked me personally... to assure you that if you surrender your arms... you will be guaranteed safe passage." "Like the Italian garrison at Lefkada?" "Lefkada?" "But they laid down their weapons." "They went home." "You must be looking forward to seeing Italy again." "Do you think we could keep in touch?" "I mean, after the war, of course." "You can have my gun when I've finished my cigarette." "Get your hands off me, you ba" "I understand your concern." "If I were in your shoes, I would be asking questions, too." "Of course, we will investigate what happened" "I can tell you what happened." "My men are dead!" "...take the appropriate action." "What does that mean?" "Does it mean that I can write to the families of these men... and tell them that their murderers will be charged... that justice will prevail?" "You force us at gunpoint to line up and surrender our arms." "You impound our weapons." "We're supposed to be allies!" "Captain Corelli, please!" "We need some kind of assurance." "I can assure you that the order to disarm... did not come from my headquarters." "We have agreed to the surrender of our arms by noon tomorrow." "We would like your assurance that no more of our troops... will be forcibly disarmed before that deadline." "Herr General, by noon tomorrow..." "I guarantee you'll be on your way home." "This is not our war." "This is between the Greeks and the Germans." "Would you prefer we left them to fight on their own?" "The 4th Regiment will hold Antisamos." "We'll keep the 5th in reserve at Assos... and I will take the 8th and 9th to Argostoli." "All gun lines to be in position by first light tomorrow." "If we resist now, we can beat them." "What if the Germans send planes?" "Don't go near Argostoli." "Stay away from Antisamos Beach." "I want to lie across the road so that you can't leave." "Keep a gun with you at all times." "Promise me." "Come back to me." "Promise me." "When it's over, you will come back to me." "I know what you feel." "You think if he died your world will stop." "I will look out for him." "Mama!" "Stay here!" "It's not safe!" "Drosoula!" "What are you doing?" "She's a traitor and a whore." "Help me!" "The enemy's a hundred metres away." "There's heavy armour coming." "Gunther." "Come on, move!" "Shoot me." "He's alive." "He's alive." "He was alive when I found him." "Fragments of uniform in the bullet holes." "Splinters of rib." "Just do it." "I am not a surgeon." "I have no penicillin." "Please!" "I have no sterile water." "No serum." "Please, Father, do it!" "Hold." "Four of his ribs are broken." "Papa!" "Antonio." "Don't move." "If you even try to move, you will haemorrhage to death." "No, you must lie still." "How--l don't" "You were lying under Carlo's body." "If it wasn't for him, you wouldn't be alive." "How did I get here?" "Mandras found you." "Antonio, you should try and drink something." "What would you like for lunch?" "Not that there is any choice, of course." "But if there was..." "We needed something-- steel, wire--to bind the bones." "Of course, they'll have to be removed sometime in the future." "I could try and get some new strings from somewhere." "I could ask around." "What are you doing?" "If they find me, they will shoot you both." "They'll kill you if you leave this house." "I don't belong here, Pelagia!" "I never belonged here!" "Ever since I came, look what has happened all around you." "I love you." "I had no right to make you love me... when you weren't mine to love." "No!" "Don't do that!" "Go to Doctor lannis's house." "Go now." "Go!" "Mama will be back!" "Dimitris will row you to a boat out in the bay." "You should be home by tomorrow night." "We must go." "I had to see you again." "One last time." "We must go!" "Don't say anything." "Look at me." "We must go!" "Go." "Why did you save him?" "Why didn't you leave him to die?" "I wanted you to love me again." "In Albania, I made them read every one of these to me." ""Mandras, I love you." "Mandras, I want you." ""Mandras, when are you coming back?"" "And then one day a different letter." ""l don't know how to describe my feelings." ""lt's as if I've been waiting a hundred years..." ""to hear from you." ""Waiting a hundred years for you to return." ""Once I thought my heart was overflowing..." ""with love for you." ""But now all I feel is emptiness." ""And I think all the time it was a pretence..." ""that I never loved you at all."" "I'm sorry." "I'm sorry." "The war we thought would never end is over." "And the island we thought we had lost forever is ours again." "In the doctor's house there are three of us now... the doctor, his daughter... who is training to be a doctor... and Lemoni." "It's for you." "From Italy." "What is it?" "It's a record." "We should start making supper, that's what we should do." "Antonio, I do not know... if this letter will reach you, or even if you are alive." "Perhaps someone else sent us your record... and that is why we found no note." "I would like to say that Pelagia is happy... but she is full of tears she will not let fall... and of a grief no doctor can mend." "She blames herself for the pain we have suffered... and perhaps the same is true for you." "You know I am not a religious man... but I believe this... if there is a wound, we must try to heal it... if there is someone whose pain we can cure... we must search till we find them... if the gods have chosen that we should survive... it will be for a reason." "Where is your miracle today then, eh?" "What do we have to say about that?" "Wake up." "Fetch the firewood." "Fix the roof." "Paint the house." "She's driving me mad." "When I was deaf, I couldn't hear her...nagging." "But now" "Iatre, I beg of you, help me." "Put the pea back in my ear." "I was looking for Lemoni." "She's down the road." "I went to the house." "It doesn't exist anymore." "We are building a new one." "Your father wrote you got the record." "It's a guitar." "It's different." "I tried to live without you." "I tried to make myself believe I could live without you." "The scar healed well." "Stamatis, do you love your wife?" "If you love your wife, my advice is be nice to her." "Bring in the wood before she asks you for it." "If she is cold, then put a shawl around her shoulders." "And bring her a flower... every time you come back from the field." "You won't put the pea back in my ear?" "That would be against the Hippocratic Oath."