"All present and accounted for, sir." "Thank you, Captain." "As of this moment you are the property of the Penal Administration of French Guiana." "After serving your full terms in prison those of you with sentences of eight years or more will remain in Guiana as workers and colonists for a period equal to that of your original sentences." "As for France the nation has disposed of you." "France has rid herself of you altogether." "Forget France and put your clothes on." "Papillon!" "Papi!" "You'll be back, Papillon." "Don't worry, you'll be back." "No, you won't." "You, that way." "Down there." "You, too." "Next, over here." "Come along." "Come on." "Come in here." "You, too." "Over there." "Come along, up there." "Hurry up." "You, too." "Down." "Down. ln there." "ln there." "Come along, now." "Down." "Come on down." "Down there." "Come on, up there." "ln there." "We're really something, aren't we?" "The only animals in the world that shove things up their ass for survival." "The first time I shoved one up my gut it infected me so bad the camp doctor had to cut it out." "He doesn't have any ether so he knocks me out with rum." "Then you know what he did?" "He stole it." "A butterfly." "You're Papillon, aren't you?" "Yeah." "The bastards gave you life." "Right to the end of the line, they think." "It may not be as long as you think." "Forty percent of us will die the first year out." "They gave him life, too." "The kid's only 18." "Look at him." "No wonder he dreams." "He'll never make it." "But a man like you could make it if you have enough money." "How long were you there?" "Nine years of work camp nine years a colonist." "You were outside the walls." "Why didn't you run?" "There's no place to run to." "You're out in the middle of a swamp, 1,000 miles from no place." "Now, if you've got a lot of money that's a different thing." "I mean, you take somebody like Dega there." "Back there." "Louis Dega." "The best counterfeiter in France." "National Defense Bonds." "Series of 1928." "Right." "Now, if you've got money like he has, there's a chance to buy your way out." "That is unless somebody cuts his guts open first to get at all that cash." "Everybody up!" "Let's go!" "Everybody up!" "Come on, everybody up!" "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "Mind if I sit down here?" "If you wish." "You're Dega, aren't ya?" "Louis Dega?" "Sorry to see you here." "I presume most of us have earned our passage." "You're Papillon." "You got life for killing a pimp." "Then you had the bad taste to tell the prosecutor you were going to escape and kill him, too." "I was framed." "I'm innocent." "No one is innocent." "I'm no pimp killer, for Christ's sake." "I'm a safecracker." "And that's a profession of which I thoroughly disapprove." "I put almost everything I had into National Defense Bonds." "Series of 1928." "1928?" "Your instincts were sound." "How much did you lose?" "I wouldn't put my money on those bonds." "Not any more than you would." "I'm relieved to hear that." "If that's true, why are we having this little chat?" "Every convict on this ship knows who you are." "Any of them would slit you open to reach inside and get what you're carrying." "So?" "You need protection." "From you?" "Remember what the chicken said to the weasel?" "If he was a healthy weasel, the chicken didn't get a chance to say anything." "Think about that." "Hose down!" "Come on, off your asses!" "Hose down!" "Come on, you've got a fever." "Do what I tell ya." "Come on." "Julot!" "I've got a question." "If I wanted to get a boat when I got there, a small boat, maybe a 15-footer how much would it cost?" "I don't know." "Fr 3,500, Fr 4,500, maybe." "It all depends." "What if I could pick up the money to buy one?" "Then I guess you'd have yourself a boat." "You know the country." "You and I could make it out of there." "Huh?" "The answer is no." "Nothing against you, but the answer is no." "If I've gotta go to solitary for some half-assed escape that didn't work I want the mistake to be mine, not anybody else's." "You understand?" "So the answer is no." "How'd it feel, kid?" "Good." "All right." "Come on, move it!" "Move it a little." "Let's go!" "Let's move!" "What do you want?" "Almost unbearable, isn't it?" "What?" "The heat." "It's not too bad." "Of course, you're closer to it than I am." "Oh, yes." "You're referring to last night, aren't you?" "Well, aren't you?" "May I tell you something?" "At first glance I'm afraid that I regarded you with rather a large degree of unworthy suspicion." "Am I clear?" "No." "Well, it now seems quite possible that until we get to a decent jail with bribeable guards, I may stand in some need of rather close physical protection." "It depends on how long you want to live." "Oh, a long time." "Then you got a problem." "Well, I presume that you have some goals, some particular need that outweighs all others." "I mean, if so, may I ask what it is?" "Money." "For what?" "Escape." "Very good." "You keep me alive until we land in Guiana and I will underwrite any escape you care to arrange." "Escape for me." "Not for us." "Of course." "I have no intention of even attempting an escape." "Ever." "Done." "Thank you." "Leave him alone or I'll cut your head off!" "Hide this!" "Over there is Saint Joseph." "The other island is Royale." "The one on the right is Devil's." "Julot, why is it so hard to escape from there?" "A man could almost swim to the mainland." "No, there must be a better way than swimming." "No, no, swimming's not the way." "The current is so strong it'll push you right back where you started from." "You know, when you're on those islands you're there for keeps." "Where do we go?" "We go up the Moroni River." "Then we dock at Saint Laurent." "That's where they decide whether to send you to the work camps or to the islands." "You see those two on the dock with the guns?" "Right over there." "They served their time." "Now they're colonists." "They've turned man hunter." "Man hunter?" "Yeah, you escape, they hunt." "For money, I presume, a reward." "Jesus!" "Get ready to move!" "Line up to disembark." "I'm going to have an accident going down that gangplank and it's gotta look good so lend me your shiv." "What the hell for?" "Because I'm a two-time loser." "No matter what happens, I'll be sent to the islands on the next transport." "I have to get in the hospital to give me time to think." "Now give me that shiv!" "You're crazy, Julot." "Single file down the gangplank." "March." "Hold it!" "Hold it!" "Let's go!" "Single file!" "Move!" "Let's go!" "Bring a stretcher." "Single file, single file." "Take him away!" "All right, move!" "Move!" "Let's go!" "Move it!" "Come on, move 'em!" "Let's go!" "Come on!" "Column, march!" "Keep moving." "You two, pick him up, quickly!" "Attention!" "Welcome to the Penal Colony of French Guiana whose prisoners you are and from which there is no escape." "First attempts at escape add two years in solitary to existing sentences." "Second attempts, add five more." "Of course, more serious offenses are dealt with in this fashion." "Make the best of what we offer you and you will suffer less than you deserve." "Dismissed." "ln the bunkhouse." "One, two, three, four." "Go on!" "Go on!" "Get a move on!" "Mr. Dega?" "Yes, indeed." "I know all about you, Mr. Dega." "Very intelligent man." "Thank you." "I seem to be known in all the wrong places." "Well, I have a friend who is a guard." "For very" "Yes, go ahead." "For very little money he can arrange for certain people to stay here instead of being sent to a work camp or one of the islands." "Can he get us a job here so we can walk around the place?" "Perhaps a selection from which we may choose?" "Oh, yes." "That is, my friend can." "You take our money, and you put your life on the line." "Of course." "How much will it cost?" "Well, my friend has a very large family." "Many little children, you understand?" "And his sergeant has a mother, heart trouble." "He was asking you how much, not how many." "If you don't mind, I'll do the negotiating." "How much?" "For you, Fr 500." "For him, Fr 1,500." "He made trouble." "Yes, indeed he did." "Nevertheless, I'll give you Fr 1,250 for the both of us." "Now, you take it or leave it as you wish." "Try again." "Very well." "I want two pairs of comfortable shoes for the both of us and you, you get the Fr 2,000." "Don't you have to go to the toilet?" "Oh, yes, of course." "Would you excuse me a moment?" "You don't need to, Mr. Dega." "Unless, of course, you want to." "I can pick it up in the morning." "Get moving, white men!" "Let's go!" "Come on, move it!" "Let's go!" "Come on, move it!" "On your feet!" "Attention!" "Present arms!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Mr. Dega, did you get the money?" "Move it!" "Move it!" "Move it!" "Get going!" "Move it!" "Fischer, what the hell's wrong?" "Someone broke out of the hospital compound." "All right, break it up." "We'll get him." "Next." "Next." "You're fine." "Next." "I must be better than I feel." "You're in wonderful shape." "How do you fail an examination like this?" "Next." "7551." "Dega?" "Yes, sir, Louis Dega." "It was suggested that I speak to you, sir" "I have it right here." "We'll just keep you on here in the cleaning squad." "Thank you, sir." "There's also my friend." "You're Louis Dega?" "I am, sir." "And this is my friend, Papillon." "We have a great deal in common, Mr. Dega." "I'm extremely glad to see you." "Why, thank you, sir." "Of course, if the circumstances were" "My family lost everything they had in counterfeit National Defense Bonds." "Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that, sir." "Even so, buying them was a tribute to their patriotism, wouldn't you say?" "And you're Mr. Dega's friend?" "Well" "There's one thing about Saint Laurent you'll like:" "We never separate old friends." "Kilo 40." "Both of them." "Today's transport." "What is Kilo 40?" "Don't touch him." "You'll wind up worse off than he is." "Move!" "Get moving!" "Duck!" "Get up, you lazy bastards!" "You get that crock and you bring him along!" "You!" "Pick another man and grab that crock." "Come on, move!" "Move!" "The son of a bitch isn't dead, they just irritated him!" "Get his tail." "You get his tail." "Where's his tail?" "Over there." "Are you ready?" "Yeah." "So am I." "Go ahead." "Okay." "Ready?" "ls that the tail?" "No." "I'd better go over to this side." "You get the head." "The head?" "Yeah." "You try the tail." "Okay, now you try the head." "Grab him!" "He's dead." "He's still talking." "He's dead!" "He's dead?" "Move it!" "Come on." "Come on, hands up." "Next!" "Move!" "Next!" "Bring it around here." "Just lay the crock right there." "Just drop it." "Hold it." "Move out." "He's pretty big." "This skin's worth some money." "Move it!" "What the hell are you looking at?" "You're Louis Dega." "Yes, sir." "I'm Clusiot." "How come you ended up in a place like this?" "Favoritism." "Friend's kind of quiet, isn't he?" "He's dead." "He jammed a piece of wood down his throat and choked himself to death." "Three-way split.... lt's fair, isn't it?" "Quinine." "Worst country in the world for malaria." "Here, take them." "Go ahead, I've got some left." "Well, if I'm going to get my sleep I'll have to take this poor bastard with me." "A decent man." "Dega...." "The man hunters." "The ones we saw down at the dock." "Son of a bitches." "Butterflies?" "Yeah, that's right." "Some guy named Richter." "He works every camp on the river buying the damn things." "We catch them, he buys them, the guards get the big payoff." "It's called the Blue Morphus butterfly." "It's wings are used for dye in making American currency." "How often does he come up here?" "A couple of times a month." "Boat?" "No other way." "Why?" "Thinking." "I handle a boat pretty good myself, you know?" "Yeah?" "You're supposed to catch them, you clumsy bastard." "Where do you send these bugs, sir?" "The United States." "How much would you charge to send this one to Panama?" "Guard, come here a minute." "Don't turn me in, for Christ's sake." "I got Fr 1,000." "I didn't hear you." "I said I got Fr 2,000 on me." "Right now." "What's the trouble?" "This man just brought me the finest Morphus I've ever seen." "Why don't you get him a net?" "Right away, sir." "I want a seaworthy boat, new sails." "It'll cost you Fr 4,000, my friend." "Half now, half on delivery." "When will that be?" "One week from tonight." "Where will the boat be?" "Half a mile down river." "About 300 yards this side of the river there's a big tree." "You can't miss it." "I'll be there." "You bring me the rest of the money." "I'll take you to your boat." "You're a goddamn burglar and that proves it." "Are you asleep?" "No." "I've been thinking...." "When you decide to go I'd very much appreciate going with you." "What?" "Can you handle a boat?" "No." "Well, can you even see a boat without your glasses?" "I can help." "Jesus Christ!" "You're the one that didn't want to risk it." "I didn't." "Now I have no choice." "If I stay here in this place I'll die." "Well, it's your money." "You two, I've got a job for you." "You load a stiff into the boat, you load him right now." "Julot!" "Pick him up." "Dega!" "Don't puke here!" "Hey, Sarge!" "Sarge!" "He didn't mean it, sir." "He's sick." "I'll take care of him." "Stop that, you pig!" "You just leave him to me." "I'll take care of him, sir." "Stop, you bastard!" "Do you realize that the first man who carved a wheel out of stone used it as an ornament?" "I've always admired him for that." "There's one search party that gave up." "Instead of trying to make the orifice fit the lens I made the lens fit the orifice." "What do you think?" "Did he make it or didn't he?" "I'd say his chances are very poor, wouldn't you?" "Jesus!" "ls that all you've got to say?" "What do you expect me to say?" "That man risked his life to save mine." "For me that's a new experience." "These may work better than I had hoped." "I told you, you couldn't miss it." "The only trouble is, you're a week early." "It's up to you." "You're worth just as much dead as you are alive." "The rule here is total silence." "We make no pretense of rehabilitation here." "We're not priests, we're processors." "A meatpacker processes live animals into edible ones." "We process dangerous men into harmless ones." "This we accomplish by breaking you." "Breaking you physically, spiritually, and here." "Strange things happen to the head here." "Put all hope out of your mind and masturbate as little as possible." "It drains the strength." "That's all, take him away." "One, two three, four, five." "One, two, three, four, five." "Oh, Jesus!" "No." "You'll eat everything they give you." "I'm going to be fine." "I'm going to be fine." "I'm going to be fine." "One, two, three, four, five." "I'm Jo-Jo." "Papillon." "How do I look?" "I feel pretty good but I need somebody to tell me how I look." "Fine." "You look fine." ""Chew the coconut well..." ""...then swallow the pulp." ""One each day, for strength." ""My thoughts are with you." ""Squinter."" "Dega." "I'll be a son of a bitch!" "Dega." "I'm still here, you bastards!" "Prisoner, show yourself." "You've been receiving coconuts." "Unless you tell us who sent them, your rations will be cut in half." "Well, how can I tell you who sent me stuff I didn't get?" "What stuff?" "Well, I don't know." "You you said coconut." "I want that name and I want it now." "Put him on half rations and screen his cell for six months." "Darkness does wonders for a bad memory." "You know the charge." "I'm innocent." "I didn't kill that pimp." "You couldn't get anything on me and you framed me." "That is quite true." "But your real crime has nothing to do with a pimp's death." "Well then?" "What is it?" "Yours is the most terrible crime a human being can commit." "I accuse you of a wasted life." "Guilty." "The penalty for that is death." "Guilty." "Guilty." "Guilty." "They know." "How did you hear?" "Trusty works on the launch between here and Saint Joseph." "That's all that he said?" "Then it's only a matter of time." "You think so?" "He's on half rations now." "He can't exist on that." "Forced to choose between starvation and telling, what would you do?" "We're not talking about me." "What would you do?" "I'd tell." "I'd have to." "You get weak, you get delirious, you lose control and you talk." "Then you won't blame him, huh?" "Blame is for God and small children." "Look at me!" "I eat bugs!" "I don't..." "I don't have enough sense to get out of the rain." "Prisoner, show yourself." "Give me the name and you're back on full rations." "Just one name." "Well, I don't get that hungry." "You'll starve." "You should see yourself." "I was born skinny." "Then you'll die." "One, two...." "I'm Papillon." "Francisco." "How do I look?" "Do I look okay?" "You look swell." "That's 30 days more pimp killer!" "I want to see the warden." "I want to talk to him." "I have something I want to tell him." "Who gave you the food?" "I...." "Jesus, Warden I had it." "I had the name, honest to God...." "I must be light" "I must be lightheaded or something because I'm trying." "I'm trying." "I can..." "I can't remember." "Honest to God, I can't." "I can't, I can't remember." "It's not there, Mr. Prosecutor." "I don't know, it's not, it's not there." "No." "It's gone." "He's dying." "You're dead." "Your term is completed." "One, two, three, four five six." "Oh, you son of a bitch." "Welcome to the Penal Colony of French Guiana whose prisoners you are and from which there is no escape." "First attempts at escape add two years in solitary to existing sentences." "Second attempts, add five more." "Of course, more serious offenses are dealt with in this fashion." "Hello, Papi!" "Don't take advantage." "I'm in handcuffs." "Make the best of what we offer you and you will suffer less than you deserve." "Dismissed." "Move!" "ln the bunkhouse!" "I have hot soup, with real meat in it." "Dega sent it to you." "My name is Maturette." "How are you?" "Pretty good." "You'd be in much better health, you know, if you'd given them my name." "I almost did." "Someone once said that temptation resisted is the true measure of character." "How'd you get out of Kilo 40?" "It was the rankest sort of corruption." "Suffice it to say the warden now has a new house and I've become his chief clerk." "Papi, look...." "My wife and lawyer have convinced certain members in the Ministry of Justice that my sentence was a bit harsh." "Some months back I asked them to look into your case and they've made some headway." "One of the principle witnesses against you may be willing to change his story for a price." "If this happened, when would it be?" "You could be out in perhaps three years." "Too long." "No, it isn't." "And with a good job, the time will pass very quickly." "Listen, my friend." "You owe me nothing." "Tell me what you want." "A boat." "I should have known." "Papi, don't you remember me?" "Clusiot." "Yeah." "What happened to your eyes?" "I put some ground-up castor beans in 'em, so I'd look sick enough to get in here." "Why?" "I'm going with you." "What?" "Yeah." "Listen...." "Dega's got you on the x-ray list for tomorrow." "The x-ray doctor, he's a convict." "Some kind of Hindu or something." "He's got somebody on the outside who can sell you a boat if the price is right." "When do we run, Papi?" "Soon." "I'll talk to that doctor tomorrow." "The last boat I obtained was for a sex murderer." "They shot him to pieces six miles down the river, poor man." "But the boat stood up very well." "You have the heart of an ox." "What kind of a boat?" "Fourteen feet, complete with compass, sails, tools, clothes." "The generator begins." "Science takes over!" "You know, x-rays are quite worthless." "They always have been." "Lie down, please, on the back." "How much would it cost?" "Fr 3,000 in advance, which you pay to me and I pay to Pascal, who provides everything." "Draw a deep breath, please, and hold completely still." "Another Fr 3,000 you must pay directly to Pascal when he delivers the boat." "Exhale, please, and turn over." "If I decide to make a deal, how do we handle it?" "Have no fear." "Ways will be found." "Trust me for everything." "The last time I did that cost me two years in solitary." "So, you have been cheated, eh?" "Well, happily for you, money doesn't tempt me." "I'm after bigger game." "Draw a deep breath." "You see I killed my whole family." "All of them." "My wife and four little ones." "Exhale, if you haven't already." "You double-cross me, I'll kill ya." "Of course I would consider that a favor." "A very great favor." "One of these nights I might ask you to take that Turnkey into the toilet." "Show him a good time." "When you come out you'll get Fr 1,000." "Why?" "That's my business." "Your business is to make him happy for ten minutes." "Fr 1,000." "He's filthy." "All right, Fr 2,000." "Does that make him any cleaner?" "You think I'm a whore, don't you?" "Easy." "Well, you're wrong." "Next." "I'll do what you ask, on one condition:" "You keep your money and you take me with you." "No." "I'm the only one who can get you out of here." "You're" "I know." "I'm a queer, a fairy, a pouf, huh?" "But there's one thing you forgot." "You may have been framed, as you say you were but I wasn't." "Between the two of us I'm the one who's killed a man, not you." "Okay." "It's tonight during the concert." "I'll be there." "I have to." "I'm serving refreshments." "I think you ought to go with us, Louis." "You ought to." "Thank you." "But my wife is arranging for my release." "The letter from her is overdue." "Listen to me." "If your wife was here and you were in Paris with all that money how much would you pay to get her back?" "Everything I have." "And how much would she pay to get you back?" "That's why you should run." "Now, Louis, while you've got a chance." "But I have a chance without running." "Me, they can kill you, they own." "Goodbye." "Good luck." "Clusiot!" "Clusiot!" "Halt!" "Dega, you bastard!" "Guard!" "Shut up!" "Guard!" "Guard!" "Guard!" "Pull!" "Pull!" "Pull!" "Let's go." "Where's Clusiot?" "A guard got him." "Let's go." "Here!" "Here!" "Where's the other one?" "Right here." "Just a little twist." "Come on, come on." "There's your boat over there." "Fr 3,000." "You'd better check her out, see if she's okay." "Come on." "I'm in a hurry." "Let's go!" "Let's go!" "I wouldn't use those guns if you don't want the man hunters down on you." "I put two gallons of rum aboard." "Send me a postcard when you get to Honduras." "Let's have a drink of that rum." "Why, this goddamn boat's no good." "Look at it!" "I'll kill that bastard!" "The son of a bitch is made of kindling." "So is my leg." "I didn't twist my ankle, I fractured it." "You broke your leg?" "Why didn't you say something?" "I had the unworthy suspicion you might leave me behind." "You're goddamn right I would have." "It's broken, all right." "We've got to set this." "I need your help." "I presume it'll be painful." "You bet it will." "I ask you to remember that that's my money that's sinking and that I'm here out of an act of unnatural heroism which prevented a guard from shooting you." "He probably would have missed me anyway." "Now relax." "What?" "Relax." "You're at the wrong end." "It'll only last a couple minutes." "Jesus!" "Hold him above the knee." "Ready?" "That finishes it." "How'd you do that?" "We've all got our sensitive spots." "What happened?" "He found a sensitive spot you didn't know you had." "Move and you're dead." "Turn around." "Throw that gun out in front of you." "You know I get Fr 200 for one of these." "I wouldn't want to lose it." "Turn around." "You and two others broke out of Saint Laurent last night, didn't you?" "That's right." "The others are at the boat?" "That's right." "And the boat's no good." "Not worth a damn." "Been expecting you." "Come on." "Don't shoot. lt's okay." "Caught these two man hunters asleep just before sunup." "They've been hanging around for two days waiting on ya." "Each time he sells that boat, it's in worse shape than the last time." "You like this?" "Oh, very much." "I did too, at the time, but I was drunk." "Here, take this." "Cut yourself some bamboo from around here and lash it together with sailcloth." "I'll be back around sunset." "I'll tow you up river to Pigeon Island." "You can get a boat there, if you've got enough money." "If you haven't got enough money they'll probably kill ya." "It doesn't matter much to them." "They're all lepers." "Noisy son of a bitch." "Do dogs carry leprosy?" "Well the hell with it." "You better take this" "I don't want to fight these people." "I just want to try to talk them out of a boat." "Who are you?" "Escaped prisoner, Papillon." "Where are the other two?" "They're down on the beach." "One's got a broken ankle." "Come in." "You have two rifles." "That's right." "And you want a boat." "That's right." "But you're short of money." "That's right, too." "Why don't you have the courtesy to look at me when you speak?" "We do a lot of smuggling here." "We raid the mainland." "We steal boats." "When an outsider comes in we generally kill him, as a security measure." "That makes sense." "Well a man of Christian understanding." "Do you like cigars?" "When I can get 'em." "Try this one." "How did you know I have dry leprosy, that it isn't contagious?" "I didn't." "ln normal weather you should sight Honduras in three and a half maybe four weeks." "When you get there, you'll need some money." "We passed the hat." "Take it, it's disinfected." "If you're going to catch leprosy, it's better to catch it from money than from people." "Take it." "All we use it for is gambling bringing in women lepers from Albina." "We've always got enough for that." "Hurry up." "Get on board, you'll miss the tide." "Goodbye." "Honduras." "My leg!" "Get it off my leg!" "It's on my leg!" "Goddamn it!" "All right, come on." "Come on, one more." "I'm already so drunk I can't think." "Yeah." "That's what I want." "I want you to put this between your teeth." "It's going to hurt you, Louis." "If you want to yell, yell." "I certainly will." "I fooled you." "What?" "I fooled you, didn't I?" "One moment, please, señores." "What do you want, Sergeant?" "Identification." "Who are you?" "We're fishermen." "Our friend here" "Goddamn it, we we made it!" "Amigo." "Por favor." "Those bastards trussed me up like a pig." "Trackers!" "Show your papers, please." "Por favor." "Señor..." "Dinero, por favor." "What was your crime?" "Murder." "I wasn't guilty." "I've never killed anybody in my life." "If you did regain your freedom, what would you do with it?" "I haven't had much time to think about that." "If you are a thief or a murderer, by morning you might have stolen everything we have." "These are mine." "They were a gift." "You keep 'em, until I leave." "Are you awake?" "Yes, ma'am." "If you are sinful, you have made amends by feeding half the poor in Santa Marta." "If you are truly not sinful, you have nothing to fear." "God will watch over you." "Your five years in solitary confinement are at an end." "You've paid part of your debt to France." "Papi." "I'm free." "That's the only way off Devil's Island." "We try to take things easy here." "The sharks and the tide do the real guard work so it's live and let live unless you make trouble." "That one's empty." "You might as well take it." "But watch yourself around the other huts." "Someone might take you for a poacher and kill you." "How dare you sit there!" "This bench belongs to Captain Dreyfus!" "Who are you to sit on that bench?" "Nobody." "That's right." "Nobody." "Do you know who I am?" "Dega?" "Dega!" "Dega." "Dega!" "Louis." "Louis." "I wish you hadn't come here." "Are you fond of crayfish?" "Good." "You really think so?" "Best I've had in years." "Did you hear about my wife?" "She married my attorney, or else he married her although actually, it doesn't really matter." "I mean, it all works out to the same thing, don't you think?" "Well, I have not heard from her in about-- lt is nice here, isn't it?" "You've made it nice, Louis." "Really nice." "It's funny you and me ending up here." "We're the only ones left." "Do you ever wonder about it?" "No." "I do." "Get away!" "Get away!" "Get away!" "That's enough!" "They come in, steal from my garden." "Who does?" "Maybe I'd better go." "Yes." "I know your house." "There's no ghost in it." "My thoughts are with you." "Jesus!" "Louis!" "Come look." "Remember those seeds that Sergeant Santini gave me last month?" "They've come up." "We'll have carrots." "It said six weeks on the packet but it's only taken four." "If I could find a way to get off this island, would you like to come with me?" "Oh, yes, of course." "Get away!" "Freddie, you know better than that." "I've got no money." "They took it all." "Forget about that." "You can't buy your way out of here." "Then how?" "I don't know yet." "Then, then we don't have to discuss it." "Tell me, do you like tomatoes?" "I have some extra seeds." "You might like to start your own garden." "You see, it's a horseshoe." "When the waves break they have no place else to go except go back out again." "Well, you can't launch a boat from here." "ln fact, there's no place on the entire island where you can launch a boat." "Bags of coconuts tied together, just throw 'em over float out on a wave." "Then what happens?" "The mainland's only 24 miles." "You just drift with the current." "Only two days." "You're certain?" "Yeah." "It seems so, so desperate." "Yeah." "You think it will work?" "Does it matter?" "Get!" "Now, that's not yours." "Now, you get away." "I'm not going to tell you again." "Here you are, Freddie." "Freddie's not feeling well today and you should appreciate that fact." "Here we are." "Okay, little one." "All right." "Freddie!" "Freddie, that's not for you, that's Adam's." "Come here, Adam." "Let's take a walk." "Certainly. lsn't that a little small?" "lt's just to try it with." "Certainly." "You know, I've been thinking of building a porch." "There's not a home on the entire island with a porch." "Not even Sergeant Santini has a porch." "What do you think, huh?" "Come on." "It was the wrong wave." "Oh, yeah." "They come in a series of seven." "And the seventh wave is big enough to take us both out beyond the point of return." "Are you certain?" "Yeah." "Excellent." "Oh, if we're going I'd better pick those carrots." "Fourth wave." "Ready?" "I must tell you something." "Louis, you don't have to say anything." "I meant to." "I'm sorry." "I know." "You'll be killed." "You know that?" "Maybe." "Please, don't do it." "Hey, you bastards, I'm still here!" "Papillon made it to freedom." "And for the remaining years of his life he lived a free man." "This, the infamous penal system in French Guiana did not survive him."