"THE BAD ROAD" "Tell me a story." "Merry or sad?" "As merry as you will." "There was once a cemetery..." "Florence 1885" "Ghigo!" "Ghigo!" "You came with the idea, once I'm dead, to split the land among yourselves, huh?" "Stefano," "I'm short of breath." "You tell them what's what, to these here!" "Dad sent for you to remind you that La Viaccia always belonged to the Casamonti." "It's he who made it, he redeemed it with tooth and nail." "He spent in it money, blood, sweat, the whole life." "Ever since the masters wore a ponytail." "The homestead must not be divided nor sold." "Ever!" "It's his will." "That's why he called you over." "To make you sign a paper where it's written that all of you waive your share." "And that it's me the heir." " And if someone has anything against," "I get out of bed and I knock him flat!" "We should wait for Nando." "The land remains to Stefano." "Shut up, you!" "Stefano!" "Where is your boy?" "I'll flush him out, dad, don't worry." "Have you found him?" " No." "But you, take it easy on the boy." "Amerigo can't be tamed the way you were by him." "Ghigo!" "Luckily there's Nando." "Now we'll clarify everything." "Hello, Nando." " Good morning." "We awaited you since last night." "Well, I must deal with my heart." "I know you awaited me, but unfortunately I've had a mild attack in the night." "Well, how's things?" "I know that he's still..." "Yes, still alive, luckily." "But before closing his eyes, he should forget certain things." "Calm down." " There is nothing actually written." "But it's as if it were, no?" "As if it were?" "There are no witnesses!" "You tell him, Quintina." "They want to deprive us, Nando!" " Calm down." "Let's sit down." "Nobody's been wronged, it's dad's will." "All according to justice, you'll realize." "With fairness, Nando, you'll hear." "Justice!" "And they let him die without a priest!" "That too is his will." "His, or yours?" "If you were reasonable for a moment..." "Well, we're brothers, right?" "Spread out a bit, I can't breathe!" "Hey you, Ghigo!" "Hi." "I think that you handle Ghigo badly." "We need to talk it over." "Go and heat up another brick." "Come on, hurry up!" "Where were you hiding?" "I was in the fields." "Doing what?" "There's no grapes to look after." "Too many people." "People?" "Swines!" "Come near." "I'm not infected." "I'm dying naturally." "Come here." "What, am I scaring you, now that I'm about to die?" "You've never scared me, but now you do" "I don't like to see you dying." "I can't see anybody die." "You must get used to it." "Us Casamonti, death never frightened us." "One dies when it's time." "When one stops, like the clocks, and when one is no longer good at working the soil, nor at beating people." "Beware, rather, if I lose consciousness, that they don't bring priests to anoint my feet." "And remember:" "brains... and fists!" "And if those downstairs... involve the lawyers..." "And how much you think the farmers would offer you?" "A pittance!" " So?" "Well, it's clear that dad's will to let Stefano as sole heir, is a reverie." "It has no legal foundation." "Be clear, don't turn it over so much." "I might buy La Viaccia myself." "And this would allow Stefano to remain here." "And instead of the farmers, he would have me as landowner." "I'm bachelor, I have neither wife nor children." "Upon my death, you'll find again La Viaccia to be split." "Twice, you'll inherit it!" "Before, and after." "Agreed, Nando." "If he says so!" " We'll content ourselves." "So then?" "Okay." "You see that, if one reasons..." "Later I'll give you a down payment, and tomorrow we'll all go to the notary." "Tomorrow..." "When dad will have left us." "He's already left you!" "Your Amerigo is useful to me." "I do need a quick-witted boy who looks after my interests." "Send him to me soon." "I'll give him to eat, and he'll sleep in the store." "Well, let's go see dad now, huh?" "Poor dad!" "I remember of once, when I was a kid..." "Well!" "I would have never believed it would have been me to give him a burial." "How many times we've chatted about it, right there on that low wall." "And he used to say:" ""It's an advantage that La Viaccia borders with the graveyard." "Humours seep under ground, and the bones of the dead fertilize my fields."" "May God forgive him!" "Now, he fertilizes his furrows!" "Ghigo!" "Come." "Well?" "What's that look?" "Even if he didn't want the priest, it didn't hurt him." "It refreshed him." "Remember to be obedient." "And soon as you have a free minute, come see us." "You, for sure." "I felt fine, here." "Maybe, some times," "I thought of going around in the world, but not so near." "Down in Florence, closed into a store," "I'll be without air." "Farewell, Ghigo." "Lucky you, becoming a city dweller!" "Climb, quick." " I'm not going to America." "Florence is here behind." "Bye." "Goodbye, sonny." "Did you see how we risked to end up, after grandfather's death?" "Your uncle is sick, how long can he live?" "When his time will come, La Viaccia must be ours." "Listen well, Ghigo, rather than looking at the sky." "You don't have wings!" "I say it for the last time, Ghigo, now that we buried grandpa, and Ferdinando is the owner, enter into his graces." "And should he say "Cut off your hand", then you must be ready to cut off both." "And eyes wide open, huh?" "See, our risk doesn't come from our relatives, our bogeyman is Beppa and her son." "Beppa is in his house since over 30 years, since her husband was still alive, and she always claimed that Gustavo was uncle's child." "I make myself clear?" "Nando!" "Do your interests, for once." "I've never been venal, you know me." "Now I arrived to lose dignity, and to ask you with hands joined." "Well, but... if you intend to quarrel, there is no need." "Rather, go warm the bed, go." "And dim the lamp!" "You know how much oil is consumed." "Yeah, change the subject!" "If truly there's justice..!" " There is, there is!" "But leave me alone now." "The youth..." "The prime of life!" "Everything, I gave you!" "Not to mention the honor!" "I know, Beppina, I know this station." "Stations of the Cross." "Bravo!" "You took the words out of my mouth!" "And you, to me?" "What did you give me?" "I don't do it for me, you know." "I do it for that poor creature." "Who's grown up now, and will end up in shame!" "Like his father." "Creature?" "That beanpole?" "But really, Nando, why treat us like that?" "Why put us on a par with peasants, and let them get here, in the shop?" "Who's next of kin, us or them?" "Cut it out, Beppina!" "I won't shell you out the money anyway." "Nice show!" "But, you imagine us two, rather, us three, before the altar?" "As well, I won't open you an account." "Where I keep my money, I'll never tell you." "I'll tell you in point of death, if you'll deserve it." "Who knows, I might really leave everything to my brothers and nephews." "At least they are true Casamonti!" "Yes ma'am!" "Tomorrow, I'll register La Viaccia in Stefano's name!" "There!" "I can't breathe!" "You happy?" "You lead me to a stroke." "But now, help me." "I'm suffocating." "The worst thing is treating badly!" "Paring down the penny!" "But then, who cares for pennies?" "Skimping on affection for who covers you with devotion." "Like me and your sonny." "Beppa!" "Be good, Beppa, I feel bad!" "Beppa..!" "Come on!" "Today you didn't put in anything." "You'll deprive me even of this tradition?" "I say and say, and then," "I let you bleed me dry drop by drop." "Amerigo!" "Especially by that monkey in Via delle Terme, by her in particular, you must be paid immediately, understand?" "And I wanna see how you do!" "When she tears the bill from your hand and says: "I'll drop by!"" "You mind the broom!" "And pick it up all, this sawdust!" "You understood well, huh?" "Start from the nearest, turn on the left, Via della Spada..." "You know how to read, right?" "In case, ask... and you won't get lost." "Here." "Go, Casamonti!" "Don't forget anything!" "And come back with all the money!" "Ladies..." "May we keep you a little company?" "How dare you?" " But over there is..." " What's this familiarity?" "But we know, we know you well!" "Come on!" "Who do you think we are?" "Look at that!" "One can't even walk in peace!" "Let's go away." "Hey, wake up!" "Those are real!" "In the Street of Love, you undress them with 2 lire!" "You see them without hat, and without something else too!" "Come in, come in." "Are you afraid?" "Well?" "What're you doing there?" "Well, come in or get out, sonny." "You cannot stand at the door!" "Ladies?" "Ladies!" "To the salon!" "Hey, kid!" "Hello, blond." "At this hour?" "Well?" "Are you stunned?" "What is it?" "I'm impressing you so much?" "Yes, for how beautiful you are." "Then buy me!" "Bianca doesn't cost much anyway." "Come on, let's go." "Money, how much you got?" "What's your name?" "Ghigo." "This much, Ghigo?" "Don't worry." " And what else should I worry about?" "Those guys, were they friends of yours?" "No, I'm in town since a short time." "So you recognized me." " Why, don't you know that we're worse than cops?" "Close the door." "Come." "So you're from the countryside, you said." "You aren't yet a city dweller." "But you're not like those boors who come down on Sunday." "Only a few come here." "But in return come the stewards." "They're bastards with you peasants, huh?" "I work at Florence." "Neither the land nor the shop are mine." "But sooner or later I'll be the heir." "It's not a lie." "Oh, for me!" "I tell so many, myself." "And then, it was clear that you don't swim in gold." "Wait." "I want to kiss you." "Dim the lamp." "Hey, come on." "Out, out!" "Here, time is gold." "Come back some other day." "Possibly in the morning." "You're really funny, you know?" ""You're beautiful, but I got no money."" "You really seem cultured." "Tell me, you know how to sign?" "The curate taught you to read and write?" "And to count, did he teach you?" "Come on, pay up." "Do come back!" "I go out on Thursdays." "Like the soldiers." "That one is the colonel." "And this, the orderly." "Hi, Tognaccio." "Pass by here." "You don't feel shame yet, but to show by where to enter when you return." "Ask for me right away, to the woman just say "Bianca"." "Amerigo!" "Be careful when you handle glass!" "So, young love, you made yourself wait." "This morning I couldn't." "Oh, for me, by morning or by night..." "You told me in the morning." "Because there's more respite." "But you made yourself wait anyway." "One day." "Only?" "You know, with all this in and out, the day never ends." "And when it ends, it's as if it were a month." "You told me "Enter by the back door"." "You're the first to whom I told so." "If you had come this morning, you'd have been in bad luck." "There was a guy... if the keeper hadn't thrown him out, had pulled out his knife." "Were you scared?" "No." "I can defend myself, even unarmed." "But these things don't happen often here, it's a quiet house." "Sometimes it's the keeper who, instead of pacifying people, provokes them." "The one who's down at the entry?" "Anyway, throwing out bullies is his duty." "He'd like to get fresh with some of us, but never succeeded." "He's too decayed." "When one ends up as keeper, he's like a servant." "Stay a while longer." "You got three lire?" "I too have lived in the countryside." "Just like you." "But then the shovel gets heavy." "You too chose to come to the city." "I wonder how you were at 15." "As I'm now, I assure you." "Already developed." "Don't you like me as I am?" "Is your town far from here?" "No, and then now there's the train." "You ever been on a train?" "No, but I know it." "The countryside at your place, is like at ours?" "At our place now it's feast." "Have you heard about it?" "It would be nice to take a trip together." "If I'm lucky and I draw a low number at the call-up," "I can avoid the military." " Which means?" "I talk to myself." "Bianca?" "Bianca!" " There we go!" " Hurry up, there's people!" "Just now that I was past the bad mood!" "After the one of the knife, and another who waits, you're the third in a day." "How come that you too don't tell me to quit this life?" "What would you offer me?" "Your share of land when your father croaks?" "The youth like you, if anything, say these things for laugh." "Or to get five more minutes." "But you seem to be talking seriously, even if we've met three times." "You make me laugh." " You mustn't laugh." "I'm sincere." "I told you a lie, the other day." "I will inherit, true." "But who knows when." "It's all in the hands of my uncle." "But now that I know you... when I go away from here... until I come back again..." "I do not live." "I don't like that, you know?" "If you wish to return, do it with other ideas." "Come on, out!" "Nobody trifles with Bianca!" "Come on, out!" "I'm sincere, I told you." "I don't live anymore." "Moreover, I leave the shop." "I become a football player." "I'm strong, I got the stuff, they'll pay me well." "Don't laugh!" "Beware, I'll call the keeper." " He wouldn't scare me." "He could hurt you!" "You may not know the hospital, but you may get to know the jail." "I know you exit from jail as from the hospital." "I understand you." "Maybe I'm the first woman you've dealt with." "Yes and no." "I don't mean girlfriends, you may have had some." "But, when you came to town, have you ever been with women like me?" "Tell the truth." "Maybe I'm the first, luxury girl, that you've known." "But what luxury?" "It's a room like any other, Amerigo." "Take it." "Come." "You see him?" "He's waiting for me." "He too would like to redeem me." "He would set me up home and all." "And I should put up with him alone." "I prefer to be paid well where I am, and that he waits a whole evening." "He gives me what I want." "What you would earn in a month, I bet." "Look at him." "He sleeps." "I'd rather endure one hundred like him than just one." "One cancels the other." "If I were his kept woman, you know the scenes whenever I wished an Amerigo?" "Go." "Go away." "What're you doing here?" "None of your business." " Why are you hiding?" " Hands off!" "What's going on here?" "Thief!" "What thief!" "It's Bianca's friend." "Please, come down." "I've had enough with you!" "Instead of maintaining order here, you make a mess!" "Did he pay?" "Hadn't he paid, imagine if Bianca would let him go!" "Full bull's eye, huh?" "Sorry." "Come forward, thief!" "How long did you steal?" "Give me back what's mine!" "Speak up!" "Come on, speak!" "You see?" "You see it was him?" "He doesn't deny it!" "He'll get worse now!" "Damned relatives!" "You'll make him die!" "Hush!" "It's something that now I'll settle with him." "And tomorrow with his father." "Come forward!" "Speak, Ghigo." "Put the money back." "Put back at least what you took tonight, thief!" "Stay there." "Don't move." "We can talk at a distance." "Good evening." "Amerigo?" "And you?" "Well?" "What're you doing here?" "Uncle Nando gave me half a day off." "And I should buy that?" "Why don't you believe it?" "After over a month, half a day off." "And you, how're you doing?" "Spinning, begetting children, or stitching up." "But you're tired?" " And of what, should he be tired?" "Linda's guessed, I came on foot." "Tired!" "What does it mean?" "You said it to your uncle too, by chance?" "No." "It was him to tell me to take half a day off." "Speak clearly, I've been even too patient." "Speak up!" "Speak, I said!" "I've asked uncle if he could lend me some money." "And he said no." "So I took it myself." "As advance on next pay." "We'll talk about it tomorrow." "Eat now." "Ferdinando, look who's here!" "So, Ferdinando, I would have a thieving son." "There he is." "I see he informed you." "Thief!" "Ungrateful you!" "He sure has some slut!" "Come here!" "Rascal!" "Thief!" "I'll kill you!" "You nasty wretch!" "Come here." "C'mere, you!" "And you are my father!" " I'll kill you!" "As long as I breathe, he'll never again set foot in here, guaranteed!" "A Casamonti, thieving." "From an uncle that he should ingratiate!" "Your mom sends you this." "Here." "How are you?" "Not well." " Drink." "So?" "I keep them all to myself?" "Oh, at last!" "Please come in!" "Come, come forward." "Bianca comes right away, don't fear." "She said "Hey, should he come, don't let him escape!"" "Please forgive me, huh?" "Sorry again for the scene the other night." "You have done very... well, throwing that animal down the stairs." "He thinks he's putting order, but discredits my house." "Oh, I sent him away, you know?" "I was only expecting the chance." "Too bad!" "Now I'm left alone." "I'm sorry." " No, you did well!" "Actually, Bianca feared that, due to this fact, you wouldn't come back." "She couldn't resign herself." "Indeed..." "Wait here." "Hey, there is Amerigo." " Oh, he's back." "Let's hope he's in different mood." "Bye." " Bye." "We meet again!" "What a face!" "Too bad I'm broke." "And you, you make no loans." " You guessed it!" "Are you nervous?" "Like you the other night." "If you promise not to tell me your troubles, let's go." "I would like to, but..." "I'm in the same fix as him." "Without even one?" "Well, then come another day, when you strike it rich." "What do you think you've done?" "You've done well." "At times I need that someone makes me understand how disgusting I am." "Amerigo!" "Dante!" "Come here." "Ghigo..." "I need you, maybe you can help me." " Yes." "Listen..." "Are you able to keep a secret?" "What is it about?" "I have little choice, but I trust you." " Boccaccini, come here!" " Listen, we had to meet here in Florence with others from outside." "Come with us!" " Let go!" "I come by myself." " To jail!" "Anarchists?" "Not priests, for sure." "The police blocked the meeting place and has surrounded the station." "They caught a few." "But we managed to stop the most before they got there." "If nobody warns them, they won't know where to go, easy prey of the cops." "What should I do?" "Lead them to the Santini farm." "Yes, agreed." "Go, I'll join you." "I trust you." "And then, I've compromised you now!" "It's great, you know, to live in this ideal." "Scram now!" "Listen, tell your brother to give you a hand to dump the manure." "And to not sow it along the way, or he'll pick it up with his tongue!" "Since days he doesn't sleep, and eats little." "It means that he was already sated before!" " Yeah!" "Easy to say, for you!" "The other day, when I was in Florence to bring eggs to uncle Nando, you know what he said?" ""Get out of my way, I've got to work!" He will never atone enough!" "Where is he?" "Must be locked in the shed, to sleep." "Well, just as long as I don't see him." "Good evening!" "Good evening, sir!" "Why, you're not a gentleman?" "Here, all alone..." "Three days that I don't see you!" "Your fault." "Yes sir, my fault." "Monday, Wednesday, Thursday." "The other days, above all on holidays, we can't, it's prohibited." "The colonel is inflexible." "Give me a kiss." "Are you tired?" "All that road..." "I always find a lift on a cart." "Then it's a sacrifice?" "I'm on everybody's mouth in here." "But you, don't grow attached." "I detach easily." "The colonel, that nagging spinster, says I'm a fool to waste time with you." "Hey!" "Climb on." "Nice youth!" "Women, have this faintness!" "Come on, let's go." "Sonny!" "What happened to him?" "Well?" "You here?" "What did you think?" "That I wouldn't come anymore?" "That I had forgotten?" "You've miscalculated." "Indeed, it is to settle the accounts, that I came." "Months have passed, and this inventory doesn't convince me at all." "In a house where grew up a thief, from someone he must well have learned to steal." "Do not say these words." "Take them back!" "No!" "They'd get stuck in my craw." "You're the master, okay." "But at least you'll let us keep a pot on the fire, no?" "From now on you'll see me more often at the farm." "They were right, the old people!" "Under the eye of the master..." "Meanwhile, let's settle at least... that other matter." "Which one?" "I mean, on which column do I put the money that your son stole from me?" "I didn't get him arrested, your Amerigo." "And why didn't I get him arrested?" "Because he bears my name!" "And because he's your son." "But what Ghigo stole, you'll refund it to me!" "No, you can't write it, is not even a large sum." "Oh, not a large sum?" "More or less, fifty lire." "What?" "Fifty?" "Maybe more." "Who can tell?" "But he swears 3 !" "And not even!" "And you, what do you say?" "Why don't you speak?" "You lost the power of speech?" "Either you believe me or him." "The truth, I've already told you." "The truth?" "Do you want to know the truth?" "He's been in the shop a couple of months." "Assume he started a week after he arrived." "Even one lira per day..." "It's cold in here, you think?" "Take a seat there, I'll close the door." "He weighs on you, this baby, huh?" "He's sleepy." "He's hungry, instead." "I never keep count of time." "He doesn't cry, y'know, when he's hungry." "He yawns." "What a nice baby, huh?" "Well, did I bother you?" "The hand of an old man... is innocent." "Why are you ashamed?" "You're ashamed of uncle, who could be your father." "Father..." "Grandfather!" "Let's do this way, look..." "I've got a thieving son, alright." "But... but you mustn't rivet nails on my feet and hands." "I'm on the cross already, he couldn't take so much!" "Let's make it ten." "You mark it and..." " No, no." "Let's make it ten." "He couldn't take more than that." "Amerigo is taken by the devil, but I know that, even in evil, is sincere." "If he said three is because..." "Just to please you, at most I can get down to fourty." "Where you off to?" "Isn't this a good place, by the fire?" "For the baby." "Stay here." "Nando..." "let's make ten." "And think of us who break our backs here all day, for..." "For!" "For!" "For!" "For what everyone does!" "Working for eating!" "And I?" "Am I not nailed, year after year, in my shop?" "You still need a helper, right?" "Instead of a stranger, reconsider if it could be one of us to give you a hand." "I don't say Amerigo." "Her, for example." "She was born among the fields but, she always wears a smile." "The baby, now that she weans him, could be left with his grandmother." "And maybe you'd send her once a week to see her children." "And you believe that Beppa would let her get in?" "And then, not even she would come willingly." "Of course!" "No, but...if you want, we can arrange." "Let's close this affair, huh?" "Let's make ten, and..." "Get it out of your mind, do not rave." "Keep your daughter in law." "The 50 lire, well, I'll deduct them by season." "Look at him!" "Look how he's watching us in disgust!" "Let's go out to do this inventory." "I want to check everything." "Animals, plants, fig trees, walnut trees, plum trees ..." "Each asset!" "Aren't they already written here?" "Haven't they been counted already?" "You, you counted them!" "Not you and I together." "Come." "That hawk, not even the frost pushes him away." "We should put a leghold trap when he descends for mice in the ditches." "The other day it attacked a rabbit, instead." "So... you're healed or not?" "That hawk, see, is giving us a lesson." "If we don't sharpen our wits, nothing more will be ours!" "Poor Dad!" "He talked to you alone before dying, what did he say?" "Did he recommend you to do those exploits?" "May I say a few words?" "I think it's best that I go away." "I'll go to Florence." "No, not to do my exploits." "Yesterday I had a faintness." "But my shoulders are still good." "I'll find a job." "You already were a city dweller." "The job, you had it." "I know." "But you listen to me." "I was born here." "I owe you devotion." "But I can no longer stay." "Remaining here, I'd go lower and lower." "I don't have your malady." "The land." "You who look at the land as if it were the light of the eyes." "But for all the rest, you're blind." "Because we are in misery." "More in misery than all, at reckoning." "You already got grandfather's legacy, with this malady that oppresses you." "For a mound of land you would enslave the world." "Me..." "Mom," "Carmelinda..." "like last night." "You like to steal, rather." "Huh?" "I'm not a thief." "And I can no longer stay with you." "Because I despise you." "If you cross that door, don't ever come back!" "To me you're dead!" "I regret I didn't get rid of you with my own hands." "Ghigo!" "No, Amerigo." "You wish only a change of scenery." "And instead, you need to realize what it means to follow this path, what you're going to face." " Dante, it's late." "Coming!" " Let's go." "You see those?" "One of them is seventeen." "It doesn't scare them, the idea of becoming outlaws." "And you?" "I already was." " Yes, I know." "Yeah." "It's gone amiss, but now we try again." "See, we don't have generals, and if there is a Garibaldi among us, it is Cafiero." "You'll meet him, he's in jail now, they caught him this morning." "The command is in turn, one day each." "So then, it could happen to you also." "Are you aware?" "For this, Amerigo, it is hard for us to rely on people desperate for love, as you in this way." "Indeed, they're a burden." "I am alone." "The girl I grew attached to, is a bad lot." "And you... you believe to be honest?" "What have you done for her?" "You ever thought about it, Ghigo?" "Listen to me." "If she still has a light within, it's up to you, to make it a blaze." "At any rate, if you decide, be tonight at nine at riverbank S. Giorgio." "We're meeting there to then go in dribs and drabs to the destination." "But take my advice." "Before deciding, go back to her, and try to understand, Ghigo, up to which point you can do without her." "Be quick." "Coming, coming..." "Amerigo?" "How nice!" "I didn't expect you." "You see?" "I'm sick." "What's wrong?" " Nothing." "Come in." "Sit down." "I told the colonel that I was sick, because this morning I didn't feel like getting up." "What's wrong?" " Nothing..." "Something serious?" "With your father?" "Why don't you leave the countryside, and come here to town?" "Then, something, you can do." "So we'll be closer, we'll meet more often." "And on Thursdays we'd go out together." "You hold me a pout?" "Why?" "As if I wouldn't expect you, always." "A decision, I already took it." "I will never return to La Viaccia." "But you will have to understand." " What?" "That now we'll meet more often?" "Miss?" "I brought food." "You want it?" " Come in." "Where do I put it?" " There." "I brought for two, did I do well?" "Actually, it was madam's idea." "OK, good, thank her." "Tell her to mark it." "This, I believe there's no need to remind her." "Do you eat?" "No, not now." " And when, then?" "It's past two o'clock." "It means that I must go away?" " Sure." "Alright, I'm going." "No need immediately." "I first have to paint me, and then eat." "Because I eat, I!" "Only a month ago you had no such ideas." "You grew up quickly!" "Don't use these words." "Why?" "Aren't as clear as yours?" "You want me to get out of here, to go with you, hand in hand, in open air, in the sun..." "Is not how you told me?" "I didn't say so." "Of course you said so!" "Far more poetically." "Who taught you?" "Maybe I've money set aside, maybe even much." "Is that what you thought?" "And when it's finished?" "You'd take care to rule my life?" "You'd show me the sidewalk that's suited to me?" "Answer!" "It's with me that you'll start your life as pimp, or you've had experience?" "Don't touch me, or I'll scream." "The keeper's not there, but the police is here below." "Calm down, I've no more peace." "You'll regain it, but far from me." "For this you wanted to make love." "For then saying "We'll go together through the world, we'll work, we'll love each other." "Do you feel how much I love you?"" "You make me feel filthier than I've ever been!" "Is it me, filthy?" "Listen." "I was a young girl, with skirts below the knees, and braids over my shoulders." "As we were too many, they sent me to town, as maid." "The land gave us too little bread." "I liked making love ever since then." "Only close to a man I felt alive." "In town, I found neither the son of an owner, nor a rich pig, but someone like you." "His name was Mario, and he was, when he felt like, a whitewasher." "It was he who found me an old man, while he depicted me the pink of life." "After a couple of times I understood that the money the old man put in my bosom, I had earned it myself!" "I alone!" "The first thing I did when Mario asked me that money, as proof of my love, I went to report him!" "Isn't it a nice story to tell the customers who want to hear me talk?" "In jail, he rebelled, and died tight in a straitjacket." "He was a handsome man." "Like you, with your eyes, with your youth." "I felt some remorse." "But it passed soon." "I had freed myself!" "Don't you think so?" "You are..." "You're not able to say it." "I'm a slut." "But a slut with brains." " Why do you provoke me so?" "So that some ideas get out of your head!" "I suffered too much." "I know how these things end up." "I've seen too many examples." "I'm not good, Amerigo, I never was." "And anyway, I no longer want to be it." "In life, it's only money that matters." "For when I won't be more able to earn it." "Money..." "It's the only thing that matters, huh?" "I never thought of that." "I was sincere." "I'm ready to forget about everything." "A bit of love, doesn't matter?" " No!" "You know why we love each other?" "Because we're well together." "Nothing to do with heart." "I don't know what it is, the heart." "When I think of you, it's for desire." "Desire, understand?" "You must like me for what I am." "Because you have the same desire." "Which comes and goes." "It doesn't involve sentiment." "Nothing." "So, what should I do?" "Oh God, he didn't get it!" "Lie down beside me, as before." "I seemed to touch the sky, so much I wanted you." "There, together." "Without paying, without being paid." "Is there something more honest?" "We are beasts." "Not humans." "We are beasts." "For this they seek us." "For this we have a value." "We are out of the world, what do you believe?" "So far out, that, seven days a week, I'm a prisoner within these walls." "And I'm fine with it." "I'm not." "I want to be free." "I still am a human being." "When I am beside you..." "You're right..." "When I am beside you, I become a beast." "What's up?" "What is it?" "Madam, come quick!" " Bianca, what's up?" " Bianca!" "What have you done?" " Nothing!" "You too, however..." "You provoked him too much." "But I'll report him." "Yes!" "I'll report him, I will!" "And you'll tell the police where he lives." "You won't report anyone!" "Or I'll go away from this house." "It doesn't pay!" "When he comes back, welcome him." "He won't touch me again!" "I wanna see him end up!" "I wanna see him end up to the bottom!" "It's late." "By now Amerigo no longer comes." "It's no use to wait." "He thought it over." "Let's go." "What nerve!" "Ada?" "Remember to tell Serafina to buy me some Magnesium citrate when you go out." "Okay, I'll be back shortly." "Also my shoes from the shoemaker!" "Uh, I got it!" "Come with me." "Bianca makes herself waiting, huh?" "It's a long morning!" "Of course!" "Once a week, she has the right to take a breath of fresh air, right?" "There you go!" "For these hair it takes a hairdresser." "They're all my wealth!" "Hi Ada." "I brought you the anise." " Good." "Hey, he's come back." "Watch out!" "Have you been waiting long?" "Maybe I made you miss a day, making you come in the morning." "No, as I work at night." "I'm a baker, right?" "I'd forgotten." "You came back." "By the look, I don't think you've made a fortune." "Let's go upstairs." "Help me remove the corset." "It squeezes that I can't breathe." "Again making the statue?" "Oh no!" "Oh no, my dear!" "Don't frighten her this time!" "Now we know each other." "Come here." "Come here with me, come on." "Let's have a chat together." "You are out of work, I guess right?" "Well, I'll offer you one myself." "You'll see we'll reach an agreement." "You are just the kind I was looking for." "# Hey, you guy, why are you wasting time?" "#" "# What do you want,... #" "Ouch!" "Our Amerigo!" "There you go!" "There!" "You're handsome, like that!" "Go!" "Get out!" "Rogue, bastard!" " What's wrong?" "Who annoyed you?" "Who?" "Go play your tricks on someone else!" " But who are you?" "Amerigo, throw him out, this bastard!" "Son of a..." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Hey, hands off!" "Take it easy!" "I go on my own!" "Damn me and when I came here!" "Thank goodness we now have Amerigo!" "You're surely doing your best!" "At last!" "You showed up!" "Hi." "I've been waiting for an hour!" "It's gotten late, Amerigo..." "Let's go to the market." "Come on, let's go!" "Quick!" "Hold this." "Look, Ghigo, I'll repeat it at a step from home, so it stays imprinted." "You know that I took the risk of taking you as keeper rather than lose Bianca." "And also to give you a chance to win her back, isn't it?" "Why, am I not doing my duty?" " Yes, you do it." "But with people, not with the girls." "This part that you represent, the heartache, no, my dear, not good!" "You annoy more Bianca, and... and you lose prestige in front of the other girls." "Ghigo!" "Look, either be a man, without need to beat up, or be the laughingstock of the house." "Got it?" "That someone tames Bianca, it's good for me." "These were the terms, right?" "Yes, they were these." "Then stick to them!" "Otherwise, just as I've covered you, I'll strip you." "Remember!" "I'll write it on my cuffs." "Good!" "I bought them starched on purpose." "I have to tell you something later, don't forget." "What's there?" "How good!" "Nothing but broth!" "It smells like mess rations." "Come on, hurry up!" "Itala, will you stop reading at the table?" "Oh God, I forgot to pick up my watch." "Serafina will go get it." "Oh, no!" "I can't stay without!" "The whole day will go wrong." "Serafina can not now, she's got to do." "She must serve." "But he can!" "Do us this favor." "You go." "I'll keep the pot warm." "Moreover, it's a few steps, what it takes?" "I wish I could come and go!" "Since our beau goes out, you need anything?" "You?" " No." " And you?" "Cut it out!" " And you, your magnesia?" "Buy me for a penny's worth?" "I'll give it back later." "And at the pharmacy, get something for my cold." " Say hi to the pharmacist for me!" "Look, you're at it, get me "Love Illustrated", if came out." "Anyone else wants something?" "And don't forget anything, Amerigo!" "So?" "You think you're acting well?" "Ghigo!" "Sonny..." " Mom!" "What did you come here for?" "Come away." "How did you find me?" " At the village, you know..." "They came to tell..." " I knew from your brother." "So, Dad knows it too." "They're all informed, huh?" "But you, how are you?" "Since when you left, I had no more peace!" "Now you've seen me." "I'm fine." "Tell it to dad:" ""Amerigo lives like a king!"" "And tell those of the baths, those who played with me and who grew up with me." "When they come, on Sundays, that they come to see me." "A bit expensive for them, but it's worth it." " Ghigo!" "If you knew how many pretend to be unaware, not to displease me." "You speak as if you didn't care, as if I weren't your mother." "I gave you birth, I brought you up!" "You don't know what it costs me to see you as you are now." "You've become another, I can't even look at you!" "Help me, rather!" "What can I do?" "If you return home, you restore us life!" "Come away, Ghigo, come away!" "But you did not come just to see me." "Dad wouldn't have sent you." "Yes, it was just dad who sent me." "Uncle Ferdinando, last night, had a heart attack." "grave this time, that will take him away." "This is really good news." "As soon as we knew, we came here, to Florence, at his home." "Dad urges you to come there right away, uncle is about to pass away." "Say the truth: can you picture me?" "Dad hopes that, if you ask him forgiveness on his deathbed, we can recover uncle's liking." "And leaves you La Viaccia." "Hasn't it always been yours?" "Let it be given to you!" "I'm no longer of the family." "Indeed, it's me who compromised the legacy." "Don't you think that I'm enough dishonored?" "What uncle's interest that I repent?" "Even if he'd believe it, Beppa wouldn't." "But if you wish, if it pleases you..." "It's not for me, father, but for that poor boy over there." "You know it." "It's his son." "For long you wanted this situation settled." "Calm down, my child, calm down." "Beppa..." "Is it true that it will pass now?" " Yeah yeah, don't worry." "It's thirty years that we live in sin." "But now..." "Now, say it, say it!" "As you've repeated through the night, seeking the comfort of religion." "Say it!" "Say it!" "Listen son, what burdens more your conscience?" "Tell me openly if you want to atone." "Tell me: "Yes, I do"." "And I shall unite you, for life and for death." "Father." "The witnesses." "He's making his confession, you can't go in." "And your mother why is inside, he's confessing with her?" "She's inside because she acts as his nurse." "Nando..." "Hey." "The priest left, now comes the doctor." "Where did you put the money?" "Huh?" "Hey!" "You never wanted to tell me, but now I'm your wife!" "Tell me!" "Where is your money?" "Come on, now all those people will take it away!" "Tell me, where is the money?" "I'm your wife, I've the right to know." "Wife..." "I've no wife, I." "Will you leave him alone?" "Nando!" "We're here." "There's also Amerigo." "This lady prevents us from entering." "Well, what do you want?" "What?" "Am I or am I not his brother?" "I too have a right to see him!" "Don't disturb him." "He's dozing off, now." "Maybe he'll recover." "Pray for him, rather!" "I'm here too, Nando!" " We're all here!" " We want to greet you." "This woman prevents us from entering." " Nando!" " Nando!" "Enough!" "And to think that I've swept it upon for thirty years." "Tell your mother to open." "Soon I'll knock down the door, I warn you." "He passed away, and I'm the widow." " What?" "We got married half hour ago." "He was fully conscious." "And with all sacraments!" "It is what was expected." "But there's always hope!" "Perhaps, in his will, he has remembered you." "Maybe he's left you the shed." "I built it myself, that one." "I give it to you." "You can load it on your shoulders, changing homestead." "Very good, Casamontis!" "Bravo Carmelinda!" "Bravo uncle Cesare." "You're all here, huh?" "Nobody's missing." "Oh, God willing, seeing you with those faces, one by one!" "I'm the only one who took away something from this house." "Lousy as it may be," "I'm going back to my work." "Hello love!" "What now?" "You're not coming?" " I'm sick." "You really have a fever, or because he's not back?" "He'll return, don't doubt." "You won't lose him, for sure!" "Come on, stop it, come." "It's carnival, come on!" "The watch made you wait?" "Is it true you have a fever?" "If you're asking me as keeper, I'm in order." "Your Mistress gave me a rest certificate." "Where have you been?" "To see someone dying." "It's not a nice show." "Although the death of a wine merchant may amuse." " Your uncle?" "Finally, right?" " Sure." "It came for you too the time to become heir." "There's only your father, to die, and the land will be yours." "Ghigo!" "Come." "Ghigo." "Stay here." "Stay." "Come." "All this time...how did you resist?" "Who comforted you?" "Who?" " No one." " No one?" "There's still, in the world, those streets where one can stroll holding hands?" "Don't start again." "Staying alone, I convinced myself that, next to you, I might at least try to get out of this gloom." "Maybe even love can be saved, when you adapt to live properly." "Maybe it counts, being good people." "But you must reassure me." "You say so now." "And tomorrow?" "Tomorrow more so." "I've told you." "It's up to you to persuade me." "We must not lose this moment," "Amerigo." "I know myself." "If I decide, no turning back." "There are days like this one, when you seem to die, like my uncle, and to relive, little by little." "Open up!" "Amerigo!" "Come down!" "I have to go, it's the mistress." "No, stay." "Amerigo!" "Amerigo!" "Amerigo!" "Come down immediately!" "There are some drunks, I really must go." "Be careful." "What're you doing?" "Slowly, careful." "One moment!" "One..." "Oh!" "There you are at last!" "Let them enter now, or they'll wreck the house." "Serafina, run!" "Get the first cop you meet and bring him here." "Quick, quick!" "Hey, where you going?" "Ghigo." "I'm happy." "Don't ever leave me." "So, at least, I've spoiled him!" "Get off me!" "I meant it!" "I meant it!" "As soon as you'll be healed." "Ghigo!" "Feel better?" "Today I'd go away more relieved." "I too would like to come away." "Only this way you would see me healed." "Why didn't you find her?" "Why Bianca is not here with you?" "Oh, Ghigo, Ghigo!" "What more can a mother do?" "I've shut my eyes, for the shame, but don't get mad," "I went there," "To tell me it was closed." "But it's the truth." "They looked at me in a way, Amerigo, when I returned to that street to ask..." "I just want to get out of here." "I cannot stay without her." "I die before time." "I'm not like you." "I am not of your kind." "I have the appearance of Casamonti." "That is, I had it." "But inside, I'm made of glass." "If it is you who've made me, you should understand me." "I need to see her." "Out!" "The meal is over." "Out the relatives!" "See, Ghigo, I must go." "Please, ladies, gents." "Be calm, Ghigo, you promise me?" "You'd be calm, if they tore your heart?" "Please, ladies and gentlemen, out!" "Out, ladies and gents." "Amerigo!" "No, no, stay, stay there." "How are you?" "Are you well?" "Huh?" "I believed you still in the hospital." "When did you get out?" "Are you healed?" "And Bianca?" "Oh, if you knew, Amerigo!" "A disaster was followed by a disaster." "As you see, the police closed my house, and who knows for how long." "And her?" " Her?" "She's gone." "Without a second thought!" "She didn't even leave her address." "Listen to me, get her out of your mind!" "It is she who doesn't want to see me?" "Tell the truth." "What if it is?" "Wouldn't it be better for you?" "Did she maybe ever come see you?" "Huh?" "Tell the truth." "You might have died!" "But she didn't worry about." "She's not wicked, you know..." "Well, she's always been like that." "She has never tolerated ties, with anyone." "You know her, no?" "Tell me the truth." "I must see her." "Have no fear, I won't hit her." "I badly need her!" "Amerigo... this life turns you nasty." "Soon I'll reopen the house." "And if Bianca returns here, she wouldn't want to see you." "And here... she won't return." " Tell me where she is!" "But I've told you, that I don't know!" "Nobody knows." "Hey..." "You know it, the beasts are three." "And one should give birth at Christmas." "You can trust." "We're family, right?" "What a slog you made me do!" "My God, this dog!" "But it's you who want to check everything." "Each and every thing." "I want to know if I should sell." "Listen to me, it isn't worthwhile." "Ferdinando would never sell." "He always said it." "We know this land." "Since I was born I've been working on it." "La Viaccia has always been of Casamonti, we've spent a lifetime working it, you can not send us away!" " Well, that's to be seen." "I'll see you, Stefano." "You left the lamp on!" "Turn it off, will you?" "It's us who pay." "Why, don't you know the way?" "Are you new here, like our mistress?" "THE END" "English subs by Edam17@KG November 2012"