"During the Restauration" "We are ready, Your Excellency." "Read me the notes again" "To His Excellency, the Minister of..." "Enough." "Tell me about the prisoner." "lmbriani Fulvio, aristocratic family..." "Get him!" "...an officer under Robespierre, exiled, a jacobin, charged with planning the revival of the Sublime Brothers sect with Govoni Filippo, Grand Master of the sect." "During his interrogation, he refused to tell where Govoni is hiding" "We thought it more useful to free him so that he might lead us to the last members of the sect." "We spread the rumor that lmbriani had betrayed the Grand Master." "You are a free man." "lmbriani Fulvio, you can go freely." "I?" "This being a Te Deum day, His Excellency shows magnanimity." "Be thankful and join the general rejoicing." "You can go now." "Rejoice." "Is that you..." "Lionello?" "It's you all!" "God, how silly I am..." "Forgive..." "I have been feverish this past three days." "Traitor!" "Louder!" "I can't hear you!" "I can't hear you!" "Traitor!" "This 23rd day of the month of brumaire in the 28th year of Robespierre's Revolution, the tribunal of the Sublime Brothers is meeting here." "You, Fulvio," "Fulvio lmbriani, have been arrested on the 7th of this month." "Your arrest appeared to our Grand Master like a sign of his own downfall." "Since that day, we have not heard from him." "Some people say that you have..." "that you possibly have... under torture, revealed where he is hiding." "You are telling this to me?" "To me who..." "It must be the fever." "I will close my eyes, and that nightmare will vanish." "There... don't be silly!" "How dare you?" "I taught you everything you know!" "You betrayed us." "What did you tell them?" "Who spread that tale?" "We are falling into the police's trap." "Tell these idiots!" "It's me, Fulvio." "I don't believe you betrayed us." "Let's follow the trial's rules!" "What trial?" "Let him talk!" "Did you look under the wisteria?" "What wisteria?" "Filippo used to spend hours there all alone." "What is that?" "I don't have my glasses." "Giovanna, come here." "Giovanna, read this." " I?" " Read." ""To my Sublime brothers..." ""I consider this year, which end I will not see," ""and which is my forty-fifth," ""to have been negative overall" ""and I have no idea how to remedy that situation." ""I only have courage left..." ""enough to end my days." ""I forgive no one and ask forgiveness to no one." ""If ever there is a world different from ours, peaceful and happy," ""what will be thought of all this?" ""Probably what we ourselves think about cannibals," ""witchhunts..." ""and human sacrifices." ""Farewell." "Filippo."" "This can't be Filippo." "It's not him." "We are the same age and this man is an old man." "Truly, that is him." "Eh you!" "Please, just a moment." "Run and get the police." "No, don't run." "don't look at him." "You will always hate me for having accused you." "don't go without having forgiven me!" "Let's go!" "Let's hide for a few days." "Count me out!" "Now, I'm home." "You want to get arrested?" "Your family lives here!" "My sister asked me to come home, I lived here all my life." "Your father did not disinherit you when you fled for Paris?" "He has been dead for seven years." "Your brother inherited his position in government." "You idiot!" "That's precisely why the police wont look for me here!" "Forgive, I really need to get a rest." "Don't trust them." "They will betray you." "Who can I trust?" "I'll introduce myself as one of Fulvio's friends." "Then, I'll see." "And they wont recognize you?" "It's been years since they last saw me." "And I am a good actor too." "Fulvio!" "Is that your sister?" "That is not Esther's voice." "That's her." "Fulvio!" "My little Fulvio!" "My little bird!" "I am here, Esther..." "I am here, mother." "He is my nephew." "He was given my name." "Fulvio, come here!" "Coming!" "My little bird, you are going to catch a cold!" "Come, get inside!" "I'll go with you." "Better like that." "My dog...still alive..." "I am sure he heard me." "Go." "Never take that off, or they will recognize you." "Tell them you have a fever." "If I am not back in an hour, it means I am staying." "Eat... good." "Father, don't you think that children have lost their table manners in these days?" "What where you looking at, Fulvio?" "Mother." "She is all orange colored." "Should I have the curtains closed, Esther?" "No, the sun is setting." "The light does not annoy me." "And my color is not orange, as Fulvio said earlier." "What do you mean, your color?" "When he was a child, Fulvio used to say:" ""Let's close our eyes and imagine what color everyone is."" "He saw me as being violet colored." "And father was black." "And you, Costantino, what color were you?" "I forgot." "I would like to know, Father, if..." "You can't have forgotten!" "Sky blue!" "I see Costantino as being sky blue!" "No, not sky blue!" "That is the color of happiness, Fulvio used to say." "And for him, nobody was that color." "He saw him as being green, just like a cabbage." "And my uncle, what color did he see himself?" "Gold." "Always had an eye for grand things, he." "Yellow, you mean." "No, gold." "I want my brother back." "May he come back." "We will obtain a pardon for him." "We need everyone to rebuild the peace." "We even need musicians." "And Fulvio played the violin quite well, apparently." "Perhaps this time he will be a success." "Can he also bring his child?" "I want the child too." "So, I have a cousin?" "Why was I never told?" "Where is he?" "Far from here." "With my uncle?" "Far from him too." "You see, Fulvio, people like him had to give up, because of their ideas, that you will know and judge later, the joy of staying with their child." "What's the matter, Concetta?" "Speak." "Close that door." "If the revered friend of my Fulvio is feverish then, he must drink this." "Pour." "Made in the year that Fulvio was born." "Drink, revered Father." "Drink, my little bird." "What is he doing?" "Praying?" "You are tired and feverish." "Your room is ready." "Who is he?" "Esther's husband." "He is a friend of Fulvio." "Perhaps, Fulvio will come back here." "He is being reasonable again, then?" "Are you happy?" "Your brother learned that it is easy to leave everything behind when you are 20...." "Learned?" "And from whom exactly?" "From a guy like you?" "Excuse me..." "Where you talking to me?" "Father!" "Nobody insulted you." "Why are you insulting my husband?" "All too easy to bring back memories of Fulvio right now." "He was often remembered these past years, believe me." "When shame made our father lose his mind and we had to..." "No, enough with that..." "Cowards!" "I was about to forget something that is not very important for you, anyway." "I came here to tell you that your brother died three days ago, not far from here." "He hung himself from a tree, out of dispair, because all his friends had deserted him!" "Left alone, like a dog..." "You, dirty German!" "Coward!" "Ask him where he is." "Please, where is the body?" "Where is he?" "I am getting the coach ready." "Fulvio!" "Fulvio, your uncle is dead." "It's me, children!" "It's me..." "Esther, it's me..." "Esther, Costantino!" "It's me." "It's me..." "Of course, it's you." "Children, I am dying..." "Prop him up." "Open his mouth." "Take it away." "We need peace and quiet here." "You are almost well again, my little bird." "Make me handsome." "You remember that?" "Oh, how sweet the grapes on the vine" "And how good to harvest the grapes" "And make love to my darling one/i" "Yes, make love in the fields.." "That's what it was?" "Teresina, my sweet, I don't want to work..." "You sang it better when you were a girl, you even mimicked the words." "Do it again!" "Oh come!" "Teresina, my sweet, I don't want to work" "You took off your petticoat" "If you want me, you will have to pay me" "Oh how sweet the grapes on the vine" "How good to harvest the grapes" "And make love to my darling one" "Yes, make love in the fields..." "Signora, forgive me, but this stranger wanted to come over here, and would not listen to me." "She is Charlotte." "Come, let me introduce you." " Is that necessary?" " Yes." " I don't want to go." " Yeah, I know." "Do they understand Hungarian?" "Tell them I speak Hungarian only." "Charlotte is sorry, she does not speak Italian." "Your well-known little sister wearing her beautiful flowered shawl!" "She wont let go of my hand." "What shall I do?" "She has sweaty hands." "You are making mine sweaty too!" "She says she crossed the border clandestinely." "Is that the heir?" "And now comes the stallion!" "My husband." "Exactly, the stallion." "Your brother is greeting me into your rotten family - with quite a look!" "And here is an endearing bitch." "You would surely like to change clothes, I think." "Out of my way!" "She says you are lovely and beautiful." "Let's go to your room." "I am tired." "Here is the best place for a gathering of all our Brothers." "Speak Italian." "I can't understand you." "Here is the best place for a gathering of all our Brothers." " Here?" " Here." "If your sister knew about this!" "Tito wrote me that he was able to convene a meeting of the Brothers." "You know what?" "Tito has always been in love with me, saintly as he is!" "The peasants in the south are rising, because of the cholera outbreak." "Now is the right time to go there." "What do you think?" "Trecase, that is near Côma?" "Trecase?" "Isn't it where the peasants who take care of our son live?" "Massimiliano?" "Yes, but why are you asking?" "How old is he now?" "Massimiliano is now six." "Why are you asking?" "And when will "Dirindindin" send us some food?" "Who?" ""Dirindindin", your sister." "I saw very well how she wiggled." "Do I have it right?" "Illness did you good, you know." "You are more..." "Well, more..." "So, you thought I had put on weight?" "The money we collected in England." "We did rather well, no?" "We also got sterling pounds." "Soon, the Brothers will come, disguised as hunters." "Your family won't see a thing." " Come in." " Cover up." "Why?" "Come in!" "Good night, my little birds..." "Forgive me, but I have been very ill... don't get mad at me." "Why get mad?" "If you can't make love, too bad for you." "As for me, I am hungry." "You know very well that I don't drink wine." "Forgive me." "What are you saying?" "Oh, nothing..." " Let's go and fetch him." " Who?" "Massimiliano." "We can bring him here." "Massimiliano, here?" "Yes, or..in America." "Me, you and Massimiliano in America?" "Yes." "We had sworn never to talk about him." "Tito and the Brothers are coming." "We will leave with them." "Why did she come for me?" "Why are you all coming for me?" "Where are you going thus disguised?" "For twenty years, you have been coming and going under disguises, have been chasing sparks that are nothing but ashes." "How you bore me!" "You have become nothing more than terrifying habits!" "Just the way your ride, I know it is you, Gioacchino." "Just the way you walk, Ugo..." "your arthritic way..." "The way you are jumping, Lionello." "I know why you are jumping..." "You are trying to hide you want to die." "You idiot!" "You do that again, and I shoot you!" "You should have drowned me, Lionello..." "You all should have let me die instead of bringing me back to life." "Now, I am well again." "And I have changed." "I feel well here where everybody loves me." "Tito, my dear Tito, I no longer have the faith..." "And you can't even bring me solace because it is I who am now taking pity on you." "You are not living, Tito." "You are merely surviving a thing of the past which might well start again when we will be old men." "Don't ask me what I want." "I know what I no longer want." "What are you looking at, Massimo?" "Better look where you are going, or you will trip." "I can no longer bear to see your eyes turned towards the future." "I only have a life to live and I can't wait for universal happiness to dawn on us." "Who among you loves me enough to protect me from death?" "Don't look at me with such eyes." "It is not my despair that you must fear, but my happiness." "You cannot imagine what more can be asked from life." "It is me..." "It is me who denounced them.." " I did it for you." " For me?" "That is what you want, I know it." "You are now free, at long last." "If you miss this opportunity, you are lost." "Don't do anything!" "You only have to let things go!" "Don't look, let us not look." "I too am afraid..." "Help me." "I am counting till 10, and if nothing happens, I will stop them." "Wait!" "Stop!" "It's me!" "I knew it." "How shameful!" "You should have done it without telling me, Esther!" "Let's go." "All is over!" "Not here!" "No such thing here!" "Get up!" "Fulvio, help!" "don't let them get me!" "Help!" "Get in!" "Take this." "Brothers' money." "Remigio, Costantino!" "Stop the soldiers!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "You idiot!" "Get away!" "Traitor!" "Traitor!" ""Glow-worm, glow-worm, come to me" ""I will give you the bread of the king" ""The bread of the king and of the queen." ""Glow-worm, glow-worm, come closer" ""Glow-worm, glow-worm, come to me" ""I will give you the bread of the king" ""The bread of the king and of the queen" ""If you will leave me a penny for my work!"" "Massimiliano!" "Out of the way!" "Charlotte!" "I found him, he is here!" "Why you pushing me?" "I shouldn't pass this room." "I should pass the other." "Tell him that too!" "Dress him." "I am taking him with me." "Who will pay for that?" "Your mother is praying for you in heaven." " Can we close?" " Yes." "Beautiful child." "Is he yours?" "Yes." "I find him beautiful too." "Here we meet again." "Thanks to her." "Let's leave for the South." "That is the only consolation she will get." "Allonsanfan, Filippo's son.." "He heard that you were here." "He will sail with us." "Giulio and Riccardo have gone to Genoa to buy a boat." "Alas, there are only 20 of us left." "It will be easier to organize our trip." "Do you agree?" "She would." "How lucky that we can bury her here." "Such a peaceful place!" "With the money she collected, we can buy guns." " Wait!" " Trust us, don't worry." "Come, let's go." "First, the burial rites, children." "Get lost!" "Wait!" "One moment!" " You want to see her?" " Yes." "I thank you for Charlotte." "You have come to her funeral but you are neither interested in her, me or our son." "Tito talks nothing but money, expeditions and guns." "Things that should not even be mentioned in this moment." "But you are thankful all the same, eh, Charlotte?" "Only one thing can bring you solace:" "that your mission be kept alive." "I am coming back to you all." "I will buy the guns, even if it is dangerous." "You see, Charlotte?" "I too now speak guns, expeditions and money, and I am going to leave you all alone here." "That is what you want, i know it... that we go on with the mission, and right now." "But you knew me better than them:" "You would never have entrusted me with the purse." "Sing something." "Yes, but what?" "Anything but a church song." "The grass no longer grows" "The bee no longer flies" "The mouth no longer kisses" "But I would like" "But I would like to lie" "with you!" "High above, very high is the sky" "In the far away sky" "The sun..." "There is water around the cask!" "Did you see that?" "can't you have it removed?" "Leave him alone." " Ask someone..." " Stop it!" "You idiot!" "I am sorry." "Farewell, children" "I shall no longer see you." "Yes, go south and lose your life among peasants who don't even know your name." "I am taking a different path." "Who knows if in America I will ever learn about your fate." "Let's leave!" "Eat." "It's for you, Massimiliano." "Come..." "Drink." "Drink." "Who is being applauded?" " Who is being applauded?" " This boy!" "What is his name?" "Massimiliano." "Long live Massimiliano!" "Best wishes, mon amour!" "Best wishes, mon amour!" "Best wishes, Massimiliano!" "Please, let me have it for a moment." " If you wish." " Thank you." "Ice cream!" "Ice cream!" "Eh!" "Ice cream man!" "And what does he choose, this sweet child?" "Vanilla ice cream." "How did you find me?" "Somehow, I managed." "I am trying to win your trust back." "Ice cream!" "Ice cream!" "You want a nice one too?" "And so, did you buy the guns?" "Yes..." "They will bring them sunday, at six, at the lake of Orta." "I paid in advance." "I'll be waiting for you there." "Ice cream!" "Ice cream!" "Vanilla!" "Lemon!" "In case I'd be late..." "Here is Massimiliano's fee for the next three years." "Agreed." "You can spend the night here." "What does that mean : "Mon amour"?" "That someone loves someone else a great deal." "Get away!" "What?" "Get away from me!" "Out!" "You are feverish." " Get away." " Massimiliano!" "It's me..." "Take me home!" "What are you saying?" "Come near me." "No, wait!" "don't open that door." "A toad is hiding behind." "There once was a child who had left his papa and had ran off to hide in the little house in the woods." "Dark was the night..." "The child heard a sudden snap among the leaves..." ""Who is there?"" ""I am the toad, and I am going to eat you."" "The child locked the door... but then he heard the floor creaking." ""I am the toad, and I hopped through the window."" "The child ran to hide in the basement." ""I am the toad, and I sit right at the top of the stairs."" "The child closed his eyes." ""I am the toad, and I am hiding right behind you!"" "He is there, behind you." "No, Massimiliano, don't be afraid." "There is no toad." "Take me back home!" "Help me, Massimiliano." "Look at me!" "Look." "The toad is grabbing me." "He is dragging me to the bed." "Come, Massimiliano." "Help me." "Enough with that." "I can see you are well alive." "Yes, I am alive." "I am the toad!" "I ate your papa and before he is digested, only a child can still save him." "A child who would be bold enough to kiss me on the mouth." "It's me, Massimiliano, stop..." "It's all over, now, I am there..." "It's now four, Sir." "Time to go." "It's only the keeper." "Why are you doing this?" "Why?" "Poor Lionello, you are so naive that I will get rid of you easily." "No one in sight." "What are you doing?" "Nothing." "Since my illness, I see things." " They wont come." " I'll keep waiting." "They robbed us!" "Without the guns, no expedition." "Nothing is possible." "No use to look for them." "I can't just stand there and wait!" "What are you doing?" "I want to end it all, Lionello." "I have made my decision." "What do you mean?" "You showed me how." "I?" "Yes, Lionello." "You are the best of us all and we never knew it." "You were right, you are right." "Before the others get rid of us..." "Let's take our lives togethere, you and I." "Right now?" "Yes." "In broad daylight?" "I feel better now I have made my decision." "I'll go first." "Wait!" "It is you who are doing it, who always wanted... to do it!" "Look at me, I pray you." "Now, don't say a word!" "You made fun of me!" "You are making fun of me!" "You never wanted to kill yourself." "Just wanted to test me." "Yes, I made fun of you." "Curse you!" "You were alone?" "Yes, I was alone." "We'll take him to the villa." "He can rest there." "But you... who are you?" "Your dive almost made us forget that Carnival just began." "What's the matter?" "You are shaking even harder than him." "Our little brother is going to do it for the first time." "Isn't it so, Henriette?" "Faster, faster!" "My Lord, we were not expecting you..." "Have dinner and rooms made ready." "But your father did not leave me orders..." "He is going to take it on me." "I am afraid so, Giovanni." "But do it all the same." "For him too." "For him and for her." "In the same bed, you won't forget, Giovanni?" "I saw everything!" "You let him drown." "I will have you killed." "Yes." "I did that." "You really let him drown?" "I did it for you, Francesca." "What do you mean?" "I did it for you." "For you, I would betray all of our Brothers." "And not only Lionello." "He took advantage of you." "He dragged you into a life that you had not chosen." "And he beated you, is that not?" "I am sure of it." "You were no longer sleeping together." "I did for you what no one would have been strong enough to do." "I let my friend die." "My best and dearest friend." "Now, if you can bear it, compare my love with his." "I want to save you, Francesca." "Can you imagine the life that lies before you?" "Can you imagine that you will grow old?" "You will lose your beauty..." "If you don't stay with me, I'll tell you what your life will be." "You will only find one lost soul after another." "Will live alone, in exile." "Might even go to jail, for subversive activities." "Worse, to an asylum." "Since you could not even, poor Francesca, explain your reasons to the judges." "And you will get sick in jail." "And ugly." "At 25, you will look 50." "And wont have any child, on top of it all." "I can save you." "We have a lot of money." "We had almost forgotten about it." "We will go to America." "Who can find us there?" "I feel stronger, just thinking about it." "I hate you!" "How I hate you!" "I am tormenting you, but you know the reason." "You understand me because you too are in love with me." "And I know it." "That's a lie!" "You would never have listened if you had not loved me." "You can go." "And denounce me." "You could do that, not I." "Then, I'll do it, if that is what you want me to." "I already said so!" "But that was before you knew about me." "If only I could read your heart..." "You are no longer a child, you know?" "What would you like me to do you?" "You have to tell me." "Kiss me for real." "I cannot help loving you." "Once more?" "Tell me what you want me to do you." "But I, I would like..." "But I, I would like to lie with you!" "Very high is the sky." "In the sky very far, the sun..." "Wait." "Look straight in my eyes." "I am wet." "And cold." "I love Francesca." "I was lying before." "But no more." " You believe me?" " Yes." "Three times, eh?" "In a single night." "Poor Fulvio, who had forgotten that love could be so beautiful." "Why are you so gentle with me, Lionello?" "You read my mind." "You idiot!" "You drowned simply because you could not swim." "You are merely a vision." "I am talking to myself." "And yet, how I would like to believe you." "Believe in everything I can no longer believe in." "You are too clever to believe anymore." "You already understood what Tito himself dares not to think." "We came too late, or too early." "And you rebelled." "But one does not rebel for worse." "You left a rock for an even harder place!" "Are you going to hurt me, Lionello?" "Our other Brothers certainly will." "If you are not faster than them." "If you don't finish your work." "As for me, how could I hurt you now?" "I had never seen myself from head to toe." "I never had such a big mirror." "I will never betray you!" "What were you afraid of?" "I knew everything was lost." "We leave for Genoa tonight." "We will go and meet our Brothers." "But I must be wounded." "We will tell them that we've been attacked and robbed by the smugglers." "Lionello drowned, and I was wounded." "Without guns, they will renounce their trip, so you and I..." "I'll shoot." "Enough!" "Let's go now!" "Lower your hood!" "What is so funny?" "As soon as they get here with the guns, we will board." "We are here, in Genoa, we will land there, where the peasants cannot bear misery and cholera anymore." "We have guns for 200 men at the least." "We will then attack the garrison and gather more and more people." "We will then go up." "How far?" "Here is Vanni." "He will guide us." "He is a native of that land, and the police are after him." "He will explain why." "Vanni, tell them your story." "He deserves a monument." "He fixed the last details for our expedition." "He wants to be back in his land, which he knows inside out." "It can't be true..." "Lionello... the guns... the money..." "Gioacchino surely misunderstood..." "I am sorry." "I will tell you all." "Tell them." "Not me." "I should do it." "But, this time, I just can't." "Really." "Cholera was all over the country." "My wife was working with us, in front of our house." "She sat." "Was a hot day, but she was cold." "We took a look at her and stepped back, all of us." "Was dangerous to touch her." "I wanted to help her, but the others would not let me." "For if I caught cholera, my family would die of hunger." "Who would work our land?" "My wife herself was imploring me not to touch her." "But I..." "I laid her on our bed and ran to fetch a cart to bring her at the doctor's so that he cures her." "When I came back, the soldiers were nailing the doors of our house shut." "My wife was still lying on our bed, not even screaming anymore." "I implored the soldiers to let me get inside our house, near her." ""Cholera", they kept repeating." "Tell that southerner to stop." "He gets our Brothers all excited, and all for nothing." "What are you giving me?" "Rhum mixed with opium." "You will be able to sleep." "But I don't want to sleep!" "don't listen to him." ""We are nine', I told them, "and there are only four soldiers." ""We can overtake them."" "But they just stayed there, doing nothing." ""She is crying", I told them." "And my wife was crying, softly." "Just like a child." " Shall I go on?" " Yes." " Tell him to stop!" " Calm down." "Calm down, Fulvio." "When I came back, my wife was lying dead on our bed." "So, I went to the places of all those who had just stood there, doing nothing." "And I shot them, right between the eyes." "I came back home, set the place ablaze, and just stood there, staring." "You really shot your friends?" "We must leave all the same, Fulvio." "They need us." "He does not hear you." "The drink... don't tell the others." "We will take our old guns." "And see later what to do about the money." "Friends are waiting for us there." "What are you saying?" "We are leaving." "Fulvio's boxes are already on board." "Who is there?" "A woman in pain, about to give birth!" "You did not find that funny?" "And you, what are you doing here?" "We were practicing a southern dance." "Vanni, you know that dance, you can show us." "Come on, Vanni." "Take him with you." "yes, Francesca." "You are right." "His wound is not deep." "Sea air will cure him." "He would hate us if we left him behind." "Take him with you." "We are sailing for America..." "We are sailing for the South, Fulvio." "Good news, no?" "Bastards!" "You tricked me!" "He tricked you all!" "You are delirious!" "You are delirious." "Where is Tito?" "Take me to Tito!" "don't you recognize us?" "Your friends." "Fulvio, your friends!" "Who did you think we were?" "Doctor, what did you give him?" "I must have made a mistake, mixing the drink." "Might be side effects." "That's why you turned to subversion." "Had no future as a doctor!" "Fulvio spoke the truth." "Even when delirious, one can speak the truth." "We have no guns, and no money." "These are our old hunting guns..." "These are the uniforms..." "Where are the guns?" "Must be some joke." "The guns are hidden somewhere." "No use to look for them." "There are no guns." "Fulvio already told me, but I did not want to cancel our expedition." "Who gave you the right to decide for me?" "You see, Allonsanfan, I.." "You say 'I ' far too often!" "I wont allow you..." "I wont allow you to speak in such a manner to me!" "Don't look at me that way." "I am ashamed of myself." "Allonsanfan is right." "I often tell myself that I act out of sheer pride, refusing to admit that these days, patience is needed." "Were I not 40, Giulio, I would act otherwise." "But I have turned 40 this very month of may." "I can no longer learn to do otherwise than I have always done." "That is the only way I can live in a world where everybody seems asleep and we are the only ones awake." " Drink this." " Thank you." "Happy birthday." "Wish we were one year from now." "We would know if all this had some meaning." "If you turn back," "I am getting off at the first landing." "I'll go on all alone." " Can I come with you?" " What?" "What would I do?" "I don't even know where to go." "Land!" "Land!" "I see land!" "Ah bah!" "It's only an island." "Still one day of sailing." "Christopher Columbus!" "Get down or you could fall!" "We have reached the South!" "What's your name?" "Vanni Gavina, as you know." " You had a nickname after what you have done?" " Vanni The Plague." "How do you know?" "I know, is all." "If I land with you all, you think they will call me by my true name again?" "Do they know you are nicknamed Vanni The Plague?" "No." "Bastards!" "I feel well." "Thanks for having taken me with you." ""For the people!"" "Keep calling." "Our liaison agent is somewhere ici." " And what will he answer?" " "People with us!"" ""For the people!"" "I'll go with you." "No." "Keep calling that way." ""For the people!"" "Nobody there." " Can you understand anything?" " No." "Welcome." "Come into the sacristy." "You are sent by the Town Council?" "By the Healh Office?" "No." "Must be the bishop, then, sending you to check on the diocese." "His Eminence has proscribed flagellant processions." "But I am unable to restrain them." "See for yourself." "Be sure to report." "But add this:" "Better flagellating than rebelling against authorities." "Yesterday, they took over the communal oven!" "I must confess." "Cholera?" "I think I have it, but I will cover my mouth." "Twenty men have come from the north to make trouble here." "Warn the garrison." "The nearest one is 5 hours away." "God!" "Just a spark could set the whole place ablaze!" "Vanni Gavina is guiding them, out of vengeance." "Vanni the Plague?" "Vanni the Plague, leading twenty thugs." "Heaven itself sent you." "Thank you!" "don't thank me." "Absolve me!" "Absolve you?" "I am one of those thugs and I am betraying them." "No doubt, with a good intent, my son." "No, just to save my skin." "You will bear testimony for me." " That is the least I can do." " But, secretly." "The soldiers will take me prisoner." "But how will they recognize you?" "I will take off that red shirt, our...their uniform." "Understood." "You will be the only one shirtless." "They wont shoot you." "If you are remorseful for what you just did, your suffering redeems you in the eyes of the Lord." "I would do it again." "They are waiting for us." "Fulvio told them." "One moment!" "Let me put my boots on." "I must tell you something else." "Everything can be told among us, no?" "Who knows what awaits us, things might go wrong." "Let us promise, if we stay alive, to never forget that moment where, boots still in hand, we are united by the same hope." "These last days, my words are not very clear." "But if a single one among us can remember that day," "he will be forgiven, for sure." "Perhaps, we will be separated from one another." "Maybe that 10, or 20 years from now, we will have become evil, too." "That can very well happen." "When we will remember this morning, perhaps we will laugh about it..." "But I am sure that, soon after, we will regret having laughed, for one does not laugh about such things." "I am saying this because I am afraid that things will go wrong." "But why should they go wrong?" "Why indeed?" "Come, let's go." "Gioacchino, you got lead in your pants, or what?" " Me?" " Yes, you!" "Who are they?" "What do they want with us?" "What are they bringing us?" "Water, remedies, flour?" "Godless strangers." "They are bringing guns and misery." "They are bringing cholera." "I know it." "They are responsible for bringing us cholera." "And you know who is leading them?" "Vanni the Plague!" "Yes, Vanni the Plague!" "They are coming." "Fulvio must already be among them." "They are coming to kill us." "Let's get out of here!" "Let's get out!" "That one too!" "Fulvio!" "They have finally joined us!" "Who?" "The peasants." " Joined who?" " Us." "What are you saying, idiot that you are?" "They are coming." "A crowd." "You've been hit on the head!" "I fell..." "Pity you missed it all!" "You are delirious!" "I saw it all." "Saw what, idiot?" "I wil tell you..." " You are mad!" " Wait..." "Wait." "They all came together." "We were waiting." "They saw us from a distance." "Too far to hear us." "So Gioacchino showed up our flag." "And Tito read our proclamation, in their dialect, he tried, so that they would understand us." "And they did understand us." "Some started to applaud, others greeted us, and applauded." "There was a little girl, and she greeted us too." "Pity you were not there." "We started to run, and they started to run too, laughing while they came towards us..." "We met..." "We all embraced..." "It's not true!" "It's not true..." " I..." " Not true." "..am going back there." "Wait!" "Allonsanfan, so...it was all true?" "Allonsanfan!" "It was all true?" "Adaptation :" "Luciana Berini Correction: sp"