"( I'd Iike to get you )" "( On a slow boat to China )" "( All to myself )" "( alone )" "( Get you and keep you )" "( In my arms evermore )" "( Leave all your lovers )" "( Weeping on a faraway shore... )" "We agreed to discharge your debts, in return for your Japanese assets." "real estate?" " No!" " Insurance companies?" " No!" " gambling parlors?" "No!" "No!" "No!" "( Out on the briny )" "( With the moon big and shiny... )" "He said that the gambling parlors belonged to his mother and that she would be very angry to see them sold." "Then I think you have a choice." "please your mother, or face criminal charges." "well, to a man of honor, that is no choice." "Then he may go to jail." "please sign here." "( melting your heart )" "( Of stone... )" "That was physical!" "I haven't had a physical confrontation like that since I was your age, Storey." "His mother is very angry." "well, his mother packs a powerful punch." "( I'd love to get you )" "( On a slow boat to China... )" "It's a contract with-- with blood on it." "My blood." " Let me get a new copy." " No, no, no." "I Iike the drama, and I sort of respect the gesture." "I hope you would punch a foreigner who bought your mother's property, Storey." "Perhaps I would check if he would punch me back." "( AII to myself )" "( alone... )" "well, the split blood might help to remove his shame." "You should now make the three monkeys." "What?" "You should invoke the three monkeys every time you make a deal." "Hmm." "The Pachinko parlors are not small change." "They are big business." "And you deeply offended his honor." " You were rude." " I wasn't rude." "And whose side are you on?" " You should sell them quickly." " No." "If they can arouse such passion-- keep them." "I do not think, Mr. Storey, that that is wise." "And I have your best interests at heart." "They're not mine, but they have my blood on them." "well... we'II keep them for a year." "Fresh assessment next april." "Though you must manage them, Storey." "Maybe by next year they'll have your blood on them." "Ear, chin, time one, time two, prick, foot, hand, and God." "Sic fatur Iacrimans immitit-que." "The luck of a man without a woman." ""The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."" "Simato." "Simato." "The luck of a woman with a man." "Hello, Storey, it's me." "What are you doing in Geneva?" "You're supposed to be here tomorrow." "Dad, are you still there?" "Do you want me to call you back?" " lt's your mother." " Oh, how is she?" "Put her on." "She's not well." " What's the matter?" " She's very ill." "In fact, she's so ill she's not moving anymore." "What are you talking about?" "She's not breathing anymore." "She's not living anymore." "In fact... she's dead." "What?" "l-- l can't talk anymore just now." "Hey, wait, Dad?" "When you've thought about it, Storey, ring me." "10 minutes, five minutes." "I won't go away." "Ear, chin, heart-- heart, prick, foot, and God." "Benedictus, benedicap... benedancien..." "Christian dominum nostrum... ad infinitum." "I lived most of my Iife with my wife in this bed." "You make it sound as though you never got up." "I Iike sleeping." "You were conceived in this bed." "You weren't asleep then." "No, but I've a feeling your mother was." "Read to me." "Your mother did." "What shall I read?" "Something grand and... significant." "The Constitution of America?" "No." "Your mother wasn't an American, and she never needed it." "The Lord's Prayer?" "No." "I never needed that, either." "Something in Latin?" "You don't understand Latin." "Benedictus benedicap benedancien," "Christian dominum nostrum, amen." "You see?" "MangIed rubbish." "I Iove Latin." "But for some reason, I was very bad at it." "ShamefuIIy and blushingly bad at it." " You were bad at maths." " well, that was different." "In moments of stress the embarrassment of how bad I was at Latin really hit me." "Like being laughed at by somebody you desperately loved." "Where are you going?" "Maybe I want to see that maid," "CIothiIde, again with a coffee pot." "Or maybe I wish I wanted to see her." "How come that she can be alive pouring coffee and not your mother!" "?" "You aren't-- gay, are you?" "No." "well, I Iike my own cock well enough, but I've never been able to work up much enthusiasm for anyone else's." "You've had all this re-decorated." "It was your mother's idea." "She was spring cleaning." "Don't change the subject." "How come you haven't got plans to marry?" "Perhaps because I'm too much in love with my own prick to share it permanently." "It's probably your fault." "My fault?" "Ever since I was eight, and you put that fuII-Iength mirror in my wardrobe door, and I wanted to be doubIe-jointed so I couId kiss my cock good night before I went to sleep." "AII this narcissism's rather boring, isn't it?" "Find yourself a woman." "Get someone else to kiss your cock for you." "Let's go to a hotel." "No." "It's too far away from her and she might want me." "How's that possible?" "I might want her." "You've never slept with a corpse, I take it?" "( I'd Iike to get you )" "( On a slow boat to China )" "( AII to myself )" "( alone )" "( Get you and keep you )" "( In my arms )" "( Evermore )" "( Leave all your lovers )" "( Weeping on a faraway shore. )" "When I was young I hated my body, because it was so thin." "Now I try not to look at it too much because it's so old." "Perhaps there was just six months when I felt comfortable with it." "When I discovered alcohol for the first time, and I'd learned to drive, and was fattening up when I just met your mother." "What was that noise?" "It's an owl." "Sounds like your mother singing in the loo." "She sang to let you know she was in there." "It's a funny thing to do, don't you think?" "If you were oversensitive about bodily functions, you'd have thought she'd have kept very quiet about it, wouldn't you?" "It's no good." "This is too uncomfortable, and you make me feel guilty." "Why?" "You should have had brothers and sisters." "Then you could have discussed sex with them." "But you're my father." "Why can't I discuss sex with you?" "Your interest in sex got me here." "Why do you keep saying things like that?" "I'm bonding." "Did you ever do it in the back of a rolls?" "Shut up." "I'm too miserable to think about sex." "Look at all these wasted empty bedrooms, all set up with beds and bathrooms." "It looks like a hotel without people." "There used to be people here enough in the summer when I was a child." "You should fill the rooms up again." "What the hell with-- concubines?" "Let's go take a look at your room." "You know... you're my nearest surviving relative." "I'll always be nearer you than your wife." "Shh!" "She'II hear us." "She didn't like to be discussed." "So, this is the infamous mirror that saw so much of my son's nakedness?" "You're a great deal fIeshier than me when I was your age." "Where do you get it from?" "certainly not your mother." "You've a nice backside." " I can sit on it." " You could say that." "You look a stranger to me, naked." "It works both ways." "Get out of bed." "I want to see what I'II look like when I'm 57." "55." "And there's a corpse in the house." "She's not a corpse." "She's my mother." "well, I don't know what to say, really, except you look immortal and I Iook bereft." "That's not true." "There's only one pair." "You can have the trousers." "Oh my God." "My God, my God, Storey." "Who is ever gonna hold me closely again?" "You're a rich man" "I couId think of hundreds." "Money?" "That's no good." "That's no good at all." "How can you say that?" "Who is gonna hold me and love me for me?" "For my body as it is now?" "For me as I am now, Iike she did?" "I thought you said she was very passive in bed." "Did I?" "You've got too many clothes on." "I've never slept naked." "I hate pajamas." "I didn't know you could do this." "You can do anything." "Besides, you're my father." "And you're very, very, very unhappy." "Lift your arm and lie on your back." " I'm unhappy, too." " Mmm?" "Sort of." "But not as unhappy as you are, of course." " We'II just have to sort it all out." " Mmm." "Be patient." "Grieve properly." "Remember, I'm your nearest relative." "And besides we couldn't make babies even if we tried." "I want to wear white to EmiIia's funeral." " She didn't like black." " You can't." "They won't like it." "It's a reputable cemetery." "I have been contributing to this town for 35 years." "I am a respectable Genevan citizen." "They can honor my wife through me with this little request!" "Okay, okay, okay." "So" "let's do this properly." "obviously, the underwear must go, too!" "If you insist on black," "let's bloody well go through with it!" "So-- who's wearing black underwear?" "Hmm?" "Hmm?" "Do I go to my wife's funeral naked?" "She never once, in her whole lifetime saw me completely naked." "well, now's her chance, eh?" "Father, don't be so bloody stupid." "Nobody's going to see your underwear." "Everybody's probably wearing white underwear anyway." "But, you idiot, that is just the point." "Just to show you how bloody stupid all this etiquette is." "You want me in black?" "Okay, okay, okay." "So I'II wear black." "Don't make such a fuss, philip." " I'm wearing a black T-shirt." " Okay, get it off." "I've got black underwear on." "Is that usual for a man in your age?" "It looks like swimming trunks." "I can go swimming in the lake afterwards." "What was EmiIia to you?" "An excuse for a quick dip?" "charlie, lend me your suit." "Go and sit in the car." "Come on, hurry up!" "clean on this morning." "Oh, don't worry." "You'II get 'em back" "And they'II be washed and pressed." " 60 francs for your shirt." " What?" " 80 francs?" " No." "100 francs." "No, it's new." "Okay, 150 francs?" "God!" "Whoever paid that for a black shirt?" " It's a collector's item." " bloody is, now." "Benedictus, benedicap, benedancien," "Christian dominum nostrum, Amen." "You know, to make his rigid, tedious, boring painting seem at least a little human, the Mondrian enthusiasts keep insisting that Mondrian was a great tango dancer." "Art is supposed to help in times of crisis." "I'm sure that food, alcohol, and sex are a better distraction." "Food only makes me retch." "alcohol only makes me scared." "And sex?" "Your mother's dead." "And with her everything that's compatible with my prick." "What an extraordinary thing to say." "Why?" "It's true." "I know I'm a prude, but I'm also a good dancer." "( I saw a man who danced with his wife )" "( In Chicago )" "( Chicago is my home town. )" "Or I used to be." "I used to have a wife." "I'm taking you to the cinema." " I never go to the cinema." " A great escapist medium." "I can't stand sitting in the dark with strangers." "harmless." "AII of us obliged to share the same emotional experiences." " It's too intimate." " Two hours of forgetfulness." "I Iike to be emotional in private." "I haven't noticed." "You know, Storey, I haven't been truthful with you." "When I was a young man-- this is going to shock you" "I, too, often wanted to sleep with my father." "Is that strange?" "The other night-- it was, on my part, an unpremeditated act." "I was hoping to console you." "And I thought I did." "At least I distracted you." "well, you've heard of young men wishing to sleep with their mothers, but not with their fathers, surely?" "I mean, there's a name for sleeping with your mother" " but not with your father." " Shut up, Father." "Not now." "Don't call me Father." "He was like a Iarge piIIow-- my father." "He took me swimming in the lake practically every day in the summer." "I watched him closely." "A large man with a Iarge cock." "Big, purple, rubbery." "My mother must have been delighted, she'd had two husbands already." "AII the servants came down to watch." "I was pleased that they looked, because after all, that's where I came from." "You see?" "You too, are interested in sexual continuity." "Remember, I was only 10, perhaps... 13." "Now, contemplating my father's prick," "I often think that that's what got me interested in engineering." "What?" "Watching his eiffel Tower, his Empire State building... perhaps made me a good engineer." "Shut up, Father, and watch the film." "The penis, if you think about it, is the most enterprising engineering feat imaginable." "hydraulics, compression, propulsion, heat sensitive." "practically every engineering characteristic." "Towers, drawbridges, rocket ships." "No man-made engineering structure to match it." "My father's involuntary anatomy instructed my career prospects." "Do I have that much influence on your career?" "What's the matter?" "You must excuse me." "I was disturbed by your frankness." "You are obviously on a voyage of discovery." "Oh, dear, oh, dear." "talking sex again." "What else is there to talk about?" "Give me another subject." "Death?" "Death?" "That is not a decent subject matter to discuss." "Watch the film." " Money?" " Money's not interesting." "Too easy to get hold of." "Too many stupid people have it." "Money can easily be buried in the other two." "Buried." "I don't want to talk about burials." "Why do you think FeIIini kept inventing all these exciting women?" "Do you think he loved them all?" "Did he sleep with them all?" "Did he sleep with any of them?" "Or did he get Mastroianni to do it for him?" "Dad, I have to go back to Kyoto." "Oh, stay another week." "I need you here." "Why don't you come with me?" "A change of place will do you good." "I'II see." "How many film directors make films to satisfy their... sexual fantasies?" "I would imagine most of them." "If you don't come to Kyoto this week, come for your birthday." "Those women." "AII nationalities." "Every shape and size, every age." "He was just an old italian pimp." "We know how Iecherous the italians are supposed to be." "But it's probably an undeserved reputation." "What's going on?" "This woman has been caught stealing." "Then call the police." "The father won't do it." "He says it is a family matter." "You run a temptation shop." "He's very angry." "She's sold his car and mortgaged his house," " to play your machines." " How could she have done that?" " She forged his signature." " Whose signature?" "The brother's and the father's and now the fiance's." "This place is a trap for weak-minded women with nothing better to do." "They want to beat her" "And they want you to pay them." "She's very simple-minded." "Ask her why on earth she does it." "She's stupid." "What did I tell you?" " tell her she's beautiful." " You are beautiful." " She says you must give her credit." " No." "You'II end up in jail, and they don't have these machines in jail." " They do." " They do?" "The jailers take credit for sex." "Then maybe I should do the same." "Ask her if she'll sleep with me, then I'II give her credit." " She agrees." " You didn't ask her." "She'll accept." "WouIdn't that disgrace her more than stealing?" "Not necessarily." " You see, her family suggested it." " They what?" "What about her fiance?" "Buy him a car, and he'll forget her." "What am I getting into here?" "You make it sound all sewn up." "She says she's staying the night, unless you want to hear she's been beaten." "And your pachinko parlor will be held responsible." "You might lose your license, and it might affect your other premises." " Where's she going?" " I told her you live upstairs." "Jesus!" "That's an unrecognizable blasphemy in Japan." "Do you need an interpreter in the bedroom?" "No, thank you." "unless you'd Iike to participate." " If it helps to get rid of her." " God, I always thought the Japanese had an overdeveloped sense of shame." "only from our point of view, not yours." "And you are a foreigner, so, in this case, shame doesn't enter into it, unless we want it to." "Kito, what is she saying?" "She says, she doesn't use contraceptives." "Send her away." "She's a lesbian." " What?" "You speak?" " l am not a lesbian." "Of course, I speak english." "But you whispered." "It's an old routine." "I've known her too long." "She's always been a misery." "Kiss me." "I can't believe she's female." "She is a man." "She couldn't hide it." "At Ieast-- how would she know where" "Training, observation, fulfilling all the female stereotypes invented by men." "You're too cynical." "Can she-- he, be married?" "possibly." "Though you'd never see his wife." "He wouldn't much either" "Work and rehearsal, dedication." "Are you all right?" "What did she say?" " She says, impossible." " What's impossible?" "She says she wants to be a female impersonator." "Whatever for?" "She wants to be more female than she is." "Strange ambition." "Isn't she female enough?" "He has to act." "She is." "tell her she's beautiful." "tell her." "Is that always the way you start a courtship?" "It's the truth." "Kito said you are interested in her body." "Watch out, Kito." "What are we paying you?" "Watch out, Storey, I am jealous." "You have no right to be jealous of a woman who wants to be more of a woman by watching a man dressed up as a woman." "complicated, eh?" "What we need now is an earthquake to clear the air." " My God!" " How the hell did you do that?" " Coincidence." " Oh, you bring bad luck." "Call up an earthquake and he will follow you all the days of your life." "Teach me... all about kabuki... and I-- we... will help you become more like him." "Her." "To be more female than you think you are." "Watch out, kabuki lover, you are in for some sexual experiment." "Shut up, Simato!" "What are we watching but sexual experiment!" "My feet ache." "I'm not used to so much walking." "Do I have to walk anymore?" "What are you doing?" "Doing?" "I'm not doing anything." "I'm watering my coffee." "I can't make it taste any worse than it does." "You can't sit there being miserable." "I can't walk any more." "I've seen too many shrines, and they're no comfort" " 'cause they're not my religion." " Oh God, Father." "Why don't you go and lie down?" "You're using the word God an awful lot these days." "is it significant for you?" "I hoped it was gonna be significant for me, but alas no, for me it is only etymoIogicaIIy interesting as dog backwards." "Dad, stop being petulant." "Come, Mr. EmmenthaI, watch TV with us." "TV?" "I don't watch it in Europe, why should I want to watch it here?" "I didn't know you could do it like that." "But outside of novels and Swedish cinema" "Dad, where have you been all these years?" "With your mother." "She was passionate enough, but... I can see now, perhaps a little unadventurous." "I bet it was your fault." "You were probably very lazy." "Come to think of it perhaps with your mother" "I was too easily satisfied." "I need some help." "Do you think some re-training?" "Is that what you're doing?" "Is that the Japanese" "Do you have to be Japane-- excuse me, Simato." "How on earth could you believe that?" "I gave it a great deal of thought." "It sort of excited me, but anatomically, I was worried." "well I think we're gonna have to put you out of your racist misery." "Is she really Japanese?" "And there are some 100 million Japanese woman who are no Ionger Japanese." "because" "I don't want your mother's prejudices broadcast around." "But I am delighted to find that your mother was wro" "Oh God, I'm gonna be sick." "That's not very complimentary." "I show you my girlfriend's private parts and you rush off to be sick." "I'm sorry, I was suddenly filled with such intense and desperate longing that all my insides heaved." "Do you know, I am amazed, in a way, to think that you can get sick with grief." "Perhaps it was too much in-fIight alcohol." "That was four days ago." "slow stomach." "Oh my God!" "What's happening!" "?" "It's an earthquake." "The third-- third for me." "It's the best yet." "Asa nisi masa!" "Good God, there's no one about." "The street's empty." "Can't see much damage." ""All day long, the noise of battle rolled amongst the mountains down to the winter sea."" ""Lucy in the sky with diamonds."" ""Nebuchadnezzar ate grass "smells like teen spirit!"" ""Oh, yellow 'catchie' come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!"" "Get into bed." "We must celebrate my third earthquake success." "Success?" "I've survived my third earthquake." "What makes you think they're yours exclusively?" "You, Father, have a Iot to Iearn." "We must make the earth shake and quake for you." " Have you shaved?" " I don't need to shave." "Her skin is very delicate." "My beard has hardly grown since your mother died." "Okay, we'II show you what to do." "What do you mean?" "could I have a light less bright, do you think?" " Let's lose those slippery sheets." " No, Iet's not!" "Suppose there's another earthquake?" "We'd be exposed." "With the experiences you're about to have, you're not supposed to know the difference." " How can we do it again?" " Find your own woman." "It was a special earthquake anniversary." "I got carried away." "Simato got carried away." "Don't earthquakes make you feel very excited, indeed?" "No-- emphaticaIIy not." "The ultimate chance event." "In this country, you know they are coming." "But nobody, absolutely nobody-- no expert, no geologist, no public relations men, no poIitician-- knows when." "No predictions, no givabIe odds." "Amazing." "And besides, what about mother?" "Yes." "well, that's a very brief answer for you." "Just what are you doing, Storey?" "You said you wanted to educate me." "You keep giving me the most delightful presents, and then you take them away." "Think of all those empty bedrooms you've got in Geneva-- and you once carelessly mentioned concubines." "I suspect there are quite a few Japanese ladies who would Iike to come to Europe." "But what would your mother think?" "Don't tell her." "Look out for me." "I want somebody warm-- with a good body temperature." "Did you know that male temperatures are higher than female temperatures?" "No cold feet." "literally, or metaphorically." "There's a woman in the Ocean Fire Insurance Office Company" "I've always been intrigued about." "Wears a great deal of plaid, though I'm certain she's not Scottish." "I'm sure she's Norwegian." "Do you know any Norse?" "Most Scandinavians speak very good english." "Norse probably disappeared over a thousand years ago." "Look." "We're under surveillance." "Do I Iook guilty of anything?" "This Norwegian, Scottish woman was under surveillance for embezzlement." "Theresa's her name." "Or GriseIda." "If it wasn't GriseIda it ought to have been." "She was good." "Fine fingers." "One day she put a poultice on my forehead and my feet in a basin of cold water with salt." "I wasn't feeling at all well." "Then she made me a complicated drink that sent me to sleep at my desk." "Was this merely soIicitous, do you think?" "Or was she trying to get to the safe?" "She was charged-- and I think, indicted." "I must see what I can do." "You must help me there, Mr. Expert." "Do you think I'll ever get to see an in-flight Fellini movie?" "I would be curious about one of those" "Jane Austen women, you know?" "Long suffering, dutiful, but all right in the end." "A plump 19th Century type-- 5'4", ringIets, brown eyes, long fingers." "Raw sex is the Iast thing you're gonna encounter" " in a Jane Austen woman." " Rubbish." "absolute rubbish." "A long white dress, that starts under the breasts and travels on interminably down so the legs are entirely mysterious." "She could have one leg or two inside that dress." "A Jane Austen woman could be incredibly passionate inside that dress." "And you would never know if she had feet." "Which you could not say about Mio." "Mio, this could be your room." "You have a view of the garden and the moat." "You will feel very comfortable." "The rising sun shines directly through the window." "Dickens." "God, no." "A Dickens heroine would never let you see her sitting on the loo." "I think a Jane Austen heroine just might." "She could end up like a Thomas Hardy woman." "Victims-- start bad, finish much worse." "Lots of tears." "CIothiIde?" "Can you go to room four and ask Mio to get undressed, and take a bath?" "I don't speak the language, Mr. EmmenthaI." "Neither do we." " I must get Kito to come over." " No, we mustn't." "She'II have us all audited." "Thomas Hardy was interested in selling women." "That's auditing for you." "The ultimate audit." "Sell your wife." "I found out her name." "Georgette." "Such a modern name." "It sounds Romanian." "Sounds like someone who's had a sex change." " She's a retired nun." " Retired?" "How on earth can she be retired?" "She's bound to enjoy scrubbing." "Look at her hands." "She's must be allowed to scrub a great deal." "She's like all those nun paintings." "The starched linen, plucked brows, sharp pins in the pink flesh, and the wet eyes, the devotional glance." "And modesty that conceals the body that still has breasts and pubic hair." "The contrast is so exciting." "She's certainly a bed maker." "Clean sheets flying in the air in the sunlight." "She'd be an angel, making her bed forever." "She owes the bank 140,000 pounds." "How do you know?" "Come on." "How does a bank manager know secrets?" "Let's tempt her." "Offer her a loan-- high interest." "See how she reacts, and then more." "Make sure she doubles the debt and then offer her a way out." "Whiter, much whiter." "Like milk." "Or snow." "And make her lips very, very small." "So small, I couldn't get my little finger between them." "Are we doing this correctly, do you think?" "should we paint her entire body white, do you think?" "Let's do it anyway." "No, CIothiIde." "Not here." "It's most out of place." "I tell you what, take it to bedroom one-- no, six." "In preparation." "A token." "We must find somewhere to fit it." "Stand it at the end of the bed" "And surround it in flowers." "Poppies" " Renoir flowers." " Are poppies in season?" " No, Mr. EmmenthaI." "What are Renoir's films like?" "He was the director who said, "Every man has his reasons."" "Do we have reasons?" "No-- you just have lust." "Oh, beautiful." "It smells of canaries." "Lapsang souchong." "The smell of my watch strap after a game of squash." " Mice." " Horsehair cushions." "Brown sugar just unwrapped out of a damp paper bag." "Burnt eggs." "No orgies, Don't want to get sexual indigestion." "I can't stand more than one naked woman at a time." "It reminds me of a pig farm or a cattle market, or one of those terrible concentration camp films." "Good Lord, look at that." "would you believe it-- in the 1990s?" "What's her name?" " Caspar." " Caspar?" "Oh, no, sorry." "That's the name of the horse." "Is he... all right?" "What is the name of your horse doing on your hospital charge sheet?" "He's not my horse." " He's not your horse?" " Then whose horse is it?" "I stole him." "You stole him?" "Hey... why don't you come and convaIesce with us?" "We could provide you with a new horse." "A physiotherapist." "You could do therapy in our pool." "The horse could do therapy in our pool." "Where are you going?" " To buy some flowers." " flowers aren't gonna help." "Yes, they are." "CIothiIde says flowers always help." "Good evening." "beautiful." "Excuse me?" "You are looking so beautiful." "Thank you." "Pregnancy makes you beautiful." "Don't you think?" "You know?" "Wake up-- having babies?" "This is the sixth." "The sixth?" "You must have an understanding husband." "Tsk, tsk... no husband." "Oh!" "artificial insemination?" "No, too impersonal." "Are you offering?" "No." "I mean-- well, I couId." "I" " I'd Iike to." "Can I?" "And the children?" "Three adopted." "Two with their fathers." "You could think about it." "Nice hair." "Do you still go to church?" "No." "Do you still say your prayers?" "No." "Do you still believe in hell?" "Depends what you mean by still." "I've never believed in hell." "Then you believe you will not pay for your sins?" "Not in hell, only on Earth." "However, I've always believed in heaven." "Heaven on Earth." "And you, GriseIda, are a piece of heaven." " But" " But what?" "Now, don't take this religion too seriously." " lt's a pose." " No, it is not." "It is a way of Iife." "Come in." "GriseIda's becoming a nun in her heart as well as her body." "Then I'm already jealous of God." "jealousy?" "It'II destroy you." " "OtheIIo."" " complimentary tickets." "I'm the financial secretary of the friends of the Genevan opera." "obligations to attend." "You bored us all in Kyoto, Storey, by taking us to the kabuki." "It's my turn to bore you." "We go to the opera." "The whole firm will go." "Dress up." "The full complement." "Now, please leave us." "Devout, inestimabIe GriseIda has a higher calling to make." " I'm taking CIothiIde." " Oh, whatever for?" "It's obvious she would want to come." "I understand the thoroughbred was worth nearly half a million dollars." "Owned by a Saudi Arabian." "Now, there are some people who prize their horses above their women." "Punishments in Saudi Arabia can be harsh." " An eye for an eye." " A horse for a horse." "A horse for a woman?" "No, I don't think, we need go quite that far." "And as it happens, we were able to return it." " Caspar." " Caspar." "There were questions asked." "And the owners have a pretty shrewd idea who stole their horse." "It seems you've done it before." "They did not understand what a sensitive horse they had." "They had no idea." "He needed affection." "Perhaps." " Are they downstairs?" " Good Lord, no." "I don't think so." " At least not yet." " Not yet?" "Who are those people?" "I am accused of unethical practices." "And what may they be?" "well, I Iike having babies." "So I've noticed." "There are many people in the world who want to have babies and can't have them." "So, you perform an unusual philanthropic service?" "I'm good at having babies." "Is it so bad to make a living at what you're good at?" "I see." "This time there is a way out." "I can see it coming." "You can be my husband." "Am I to be responsible for all six?" "No." "You can be the father of just this one." "I have a proposition." "Quite frankly, Mr. EmmenthaI," "I am a modern woman." "I do not want to be deported to Saudi Arabia." "And as long as horses are involved," "I think I am prepared for all eventualities." "However, I have one important responsibility" "I cannot relinquish." " I have a pig." " A pig?" "Horses and pigs always get on well together." "They are intelligent animals and like one another's company." "Can you-- can you ride a pig?" "Hortense is far too dignified to be ridden." "However, Hortense and I have a reIationship-- which you might find unusuaI-- beyond mere affection." "I have no intention of breaking this relationship." " I see." " Neither does Hortense." "well... as long as I don't get too jealous, and you both take a bath afterwards, I can't see that I need to be difficult." "Kiss me." "That was a husband's kiss, I suppose." "You could show a little more passion." "WeII-- well, I suppose you better make you an offer." "We" " I, will pay for you to have babies." "No artificial insemination." "And you have come to collect this child." "When it's ready, of course." "I'm having no interferences." "Of course not." "In that case, could you have me moved into a nicer room?" "I think... blue walls." "I'm sure it's going to be a boy this time." "And I think I charge $25,000 for a boy." "It's time now." "Are you enjoying the music, Clothilde?" "I am enjoying Mr. EmmenthaI's smile." "He was so heartbroken at the death of his wife." "well, you could always enjoy his smile at home." "She was good to me." "I would Iike to repay her kindness trying to make her widower and his son happy." "I couId never take EmiIia's place entirely, but I would be honored to take it in part." "Which part?" "Whichever part he wishes." "I would Iike to ask if I couId be allowed to" "no, I can't say this" "Go on, say it." "to wear her hats." "My mother's hats?" "That's all?" "Just her hats?" "In bed." "Nothing else." "I know you, don't I?" "At least I know your father, philip." "These all your girlfriends?" "oriental specialities?" "Best of luck." "You're very restless." "You weren't taking them to the gents for a fuck, were you?" "That one's crying her eyes out." "What have you done to her?" "It's her birthday." "well, that explains everything." "She's sentimental." "Likes horses." "And especially pigs, apparently." "Go and get us something to drink." "I have a desperate thirst." "I really did know your father three years ago." "I held his hand at a passing-out ceremony on a very big stage." "I told him where to stand." "He was very awkward." "I always liked the way he swung his legs." "Always thought he'd do himself an injury." "I asked him to sleep with me." "I laid it all on for him." "I brought my toothbrush and a clean pair of knickers round to his hotel room in Utrecht." "Or was it Berlin?" "However, he turned me down." "AII manner of ridiculous excuses," "like, he was happily married." "Wasted a golden opportunity." "However, never say die." "I've looked forward to French kissing him ever since." "( Des--demona )" "Meet Simon-- the singing cockereI." "Simon has no shame." "He says I will always be the favorite white woman he loves to undress." "And he does it as often as he can, which is often, and everywhere." "And in the most unlikely places." "only he goes on tour, and he has a wife." "Don't you, Simon?" "And he makes me wait for the services of his big black cock, and the delights of his magnificent singing voice." "Or is it the other way around?" "So... how is your father?" "Why don't you come and see?" " But he's not black." " That's true." " And he can't sing." " Not that I remember." "We could always cork his face and pinch his backside, and he might give you a dark stare and a little scream." "He used to stroke his little round belly with a circular motion." "I'd Iike to do the same." "tell him." "What would you say if I'd Iike to share the attentions?" "Perhaps." "Are you his natural heir?" "I am his heir." "naturally and unnaturally." " financially?" " financially." "What have you got that I've never seen before?" "You're free to go, PaImira." "You are free to go." "I'll be your number four private whore-- for one year, for 75,000 US dollars." "No possible demands denied." "lmpossible ones considered." "I have a high pain tolerance, but don't abuse it." "The greater your invention, the greater mine." "I'II look after the contraception." "Never trust an old man." "unreasonable?" "If I'm sharing your prick," "I want medical checks every week with a qualified doctor." "And I want my privacy, when I need it." "And I want to sleep late." "Very late." "And I want to travel." "So, philip," "I want to see what I missed three years ago." "You can have me on approval." "Open the window, I need fresh air." "Out you go, Storey EmmenthaI." "Let's see what tune your father sings, and how he's gonna sing it with me." "It's okay, it's on expenses." "Whose goddamn expenses?" "Tax deductible." "From Kensai, or from Geneva airport?" "From Paris." "But that's hours away by helicopter." " I bought, ah" " Put her in room six." "We'II fix somewhere for her later." "Giaconda?" "Giaconda?" "My God!" "What have you done with the baby?" "What baby?" "God, who are you?" "Oh God, Kito." " But you're in Kyoto." " Oh, stop that." " Stop what?" " l'm too tired for that." "And you're drunk." "You're not supposed to be in here." "This is Giaconda's room." "I'm only staying a few nights." "I arrived from the sky." "I'll stay a few moments, just to warm you up." "I'll wait a little bit just in case Giaconda comes back." "She's probably gone for a pee." "Pregnant women spend half the night going to the loo." "Did you know that?" "Yes, I did know that." "And with a little help from you... I might be able to experience it, too." "Kito." "Oh, Kito." "You have always surprised me." "Poor thing." "They say she's only half a person." "A midget." "I've heard worse." "Much worse." "That she's a mongrel." "A mongrel?" "What do you mean?" "How come?" "If there ever was a good case for abortion..." " I don't understand." " Have you been in that room?" "No." "There's no number on the door." "They haven't even given her a proper name." "They sometimes call her Giuletta, after a film about a waif and stray, a simpleton who plays a trumpet." "You don't think for a moment that it's a child?" "God, no." "She sounds Korean." "How would you know that?" "Kito says she was born in a Pachinko parlor, and deaf because of all the noise." "Kito loves Storey to distraction." "I would never believe anything she says." "Perhaps she's Vietnamese?" "A boat person?" "What?" "Who arrived one morning on the lake from Hong Kong?" "I don't think it's a woman at all." "I'II bet it's a man." "A transsexual." "And the half refers to a haIf-man, haIf-woman." "Francois says they conceived it together" " The father and son." " CeIeste!" "For God's sake, pull the other one." "Through the backside." "ridiculous." "Who was the father, then?" "well he was, of course-- the older." "There's more spunk in him than a cage of chimpanzees." "How do you know that?" "I know." "I wanted to be a candidate once, you know?" "Clothilde made it." "But I always suspect she had an ulterior motive, being EmiIia's favorite when she was alive." "I went for an audition." "They tried me out, but they weren't too excited." "I was too willing." "I liked the prison life too much." "And I loved the clothes." "I even liked the humiliations, you know?" "No..." "I don't know." "Hot drinking chocolate, followed by the ice cubes." "You know the stuff." "Picking up handkerchiefs off the floor with your teeth when you're naked." "Gallons of hot water, string vests, and wet t-shirts, and nipple clips." "Shaved belly." "AII the cliches." "You've seen them in the cinema, and read about them in the newspapers." "Standing on your head-- milk bathing-- putting on excess weight." "Sounds like athletic nouvelle cuisine." "well, it could be-- in a way." "Goodnight, sleep tight," "Make sure the bugs don't bite." "Goodnight, sleep tight, make sure the bugs don't bite." "Goodnight, sleep tight, make sure the bugs don't bite!" "There's no wildlife in this house that's not licensed." "And stop banging the doors!" "I have to kiss everyone on the backside before I go to sleep." "It's an acknowledgement of possession." "including the pig?" "Hortense has a nice backside, but it is reserved for beryl." "Simato, GriseIda, beryl," "Giaconda, PaImira, Mio," "Kito, GiuIetta, CIothiIde." "Eight and a half women." "I bet you never kiss PaImira on the backside." "Oh, I'd Iike to." "My God, I'd Iike to." "Can't you put a word in for me?" "Oh, please?" "And she's taken to partially shaving her belly, showing evidence of the most delightful kind." "Did you ask her to do that?" "My God." "Why does she have to walk around the house naked like that?" "And in the garden." "Simato, Griselda, Beryl," "Giaconda, Mio, GiuIetta," "Kito, CIothiIde, and PaImira." "Divorced, beheaded, died." "Divorced, beheaded, survived." "Those are Henry VIII's wives." "Catherine of Aragon, Anne BoIeyn, Jane Seymour," "Anne of CIeves," "Catherine-- something," " and Catherine Parr." " Go to sleep." "You know those great passions?" "Those unbelievable sexual passions?" "Like Anthony and cleopatra, or Henry VIII and Anne BoIeyn?" "Oh, my God." "Oh, my God." "PaImira, PaImira," "PaImira, PaImira, PaImira." "Oh, PaImira, PaImira..." "I think you can say with safety that nowadays, women have finally acknowledged their position of not liking men." "We could say that women don't like men." "They acknowledge that they prefer the company... of their own kind." "I think that we can also say that most men don't like other men." "Most men prefer to like women." "So, women are the most liked by the most people." "Men love women, women love children, and children love hamsters." "It's a one-way slide." "There's little going back the other way." "Simato and Mio insist on speaking Japanese." "well, that's an improvement." "Mio normally doesn't talk at all." "We'II have to get Kito to stay here permanently." "The very threat might make them talk." "Mr. EmmenthaI," "I am offering a refuge to these ladies in need." "This is Sister Mary." "This is Sister Sophie." "This is Sister Iphigenia." "And this is Sister Fatima." "They are here to pray for the house and all who live in it." " God!" " The father of Christ." "GriseIda, this is becoming an obsession." " You started it." " But my fantasy has no God in it, just naked nuns." "The fascination of the wimple and the flesh." "God is everywhere, Mr. EmmanueI." "It's EmmenthaI-- Jesus Christ!" "The son of God." "Excuse me, sisters." "I am bound at this moment to pay certain duties to these gentlemen, my benefactors who rescued me from perfidy, and danger and temptation." "Clothilde has left the servant's quarters and taken to sleeping in room seven." "All your mother's hats have been taken." "It's a signal that she's ready." "Watch out for Clothilde, there's something creepy about her." "Far too subservient." "It's unnatural." "You were the one who was so eager to include her." "I think we should inaugurate a chapel." "I have plans for where the 12 stations of the cross should go in the garden, and along the drive." "I think we could well create a religious community." "I couId be an example to others." "An object of suffering." "She's pregnant again." "And this time she isn't certain who the father is, me, or you." "She wants to abort at once." "Simato's complaining again." "She's sitting on the top step, demanding attention." "complaining that I don't wash my prick." "Says she's frightened of cervical cancer." "Where did she get that idea from?" "PaImira?" "Good God." "My prick gets more washing" "Than a dishcloth in a laundry." "Ask GriseIda." "She fills her mouth every morning with soap." "Okay, I've heard enough." "Never used to be so crude, Father." "I'd Iike to borrow 800 francs to buy Mr. EmmenthaI a present." "Anything less would not be worthy of him." "What are you gonna buy him?" "He has everything." "I don't think he has happiness." "Goodness, who on earth has that?" "I do." "You do?" "AII right, for someone that rich, you can have a thousand francs," "At 4.5% interest over three months." "That woman's insides must be like a traffic accident." "I've never understood Beryl." "Beryl?" "Which one's Beryl?" "Number five's old room." "The one you knocked off her horse." "Why do you keep changing their names?" "I don't." "Isn't her name BeryI?" "This is very good, CIothiIde." "Thank you, Mr. EmmenthaI." "Don't be so patronizing." " She's very solicitous." " Patronizing?" "I was paying her a compliment." "Do you think CIothiIde could be trying to poison me?" "You're fantasizing." "If she kills you it will be with overfeeding." "Did you notice Kito counting her money?" "I've always noticed her spending ours." "There's a suitcase under her bed full of us bonds and large Swiss notes." "She's become a moneylender." "Charges interest." "They're moving out of EmmenthaI debt into Kito debt." "Miss?" "Miss Kito, we've come to ask for a Ioan." "Then she says, "How do you want to do it?" "From the front?" "From behind?"" "And I say, "A little from the front, and a Iot from behind."" ""Do you want to do it in the garden, or by the pool?" "Or do you want me to lie on the grass?" she says." "I say, "Yes."" ""Or do you want me perhaps to stand?" she says." ""Yes", I say." ""Or do you want me to sit with my heels in the air?"" ""Yes", I say." ""Yes to what?" she says." ""Yes to everything." I say." ""Then I will", she says." "And she does, just like that." "My God!" "Can she swim?" "Can money swim?" "Value?" "Depends how you look at it." "Metal balls-- no value at all." "To a Pachinko parlor player-- 60,000 US dollars," "400,000 French francs, or nearly eight million Japanese yen." " I'm gonna shout." " Don't." " You'II lose the stake." " She's bluffing." "Simato!" "Keeping me here, Storey, is losing your money-- hands over foot." "Oh, for God's sakes, it's "hand over fist."" "What on earth are you doing?" "Oh, bloody hell." "Can't you guess?" "I'm trying to look like that boyfriend of hers." "For Christ's sake, you're ridiculous." "I know." "I'm desperate." "She will laugh you to derision." "I know." "She mustn't leave me." " I'd be destitute." " You couldn't compete." "He's her age, has sexual charisma like a house on fire," "And no doubt, a 12 inch cock." "Wash that stuff off at once," "And be in my bed in six and a half minutes flat." "I want my bottom smacked tonight-- real hard... with a tennis racket." "Mio wants you to dress up as a female impersonator." "And then, she says, she could possibly love you with enthusiasm." "Good God." "Why all the charade?" "If you want life out of her, do it!" "She says you are a man." "well, of course I'm a man." "But she wanted you to be a woman." "complicated, eh?" "You dress as a woman." "You've been asked to act," "However badly, as a woman." " But you are a cheat." " Of course I'm a cheat." "That's the whole point of the exercise, isn't it?" "Not for Mio." "She is a disappointed lady." "Listen, listen, listen..." "She's known us both carnaIIy as men." "How can she forget so soon?" "She didn't forget." "Her ability to transform hope into truth was very strong." "You have been a huge disappointment." "She's very disturbed." "Take great care of her, or you'II lose her." "I'm thinking of making a film." "About all this." "Our experiences." "Why make a film when you can live it?" "Most films are about people longing for something they haven't got." "And what most people haven't got is sex and happiness." "And we've got both." "well, at Ieast..." "I have." "See what I mean?" "Oh hell." "Who'II give you the money, anyway?" "You would." "Do you think she's trying to tell us something?" "Okay, I've done my stint." "Now I want freedom." "I was the first." "I gave you all the inspiration." "It was my idea." "I want out." " This is what I want." " This is what I want." " No more patriarchal patronage." " No more patriarchal patronage." " No more male stereotyping." " No more male stereotyping." "God!" "I want the fever Pachinko parlor in the Kyo district of Kyoto." "And I want it tomorrow." " Today!" " Today!" "My God, she's fantastic." "I'm in love." "I don't want to hear about her." "I can't get near her, except to look." "Which is a disaster because it starts me trembling." " I am an earthquake." " Then you've got what you wanted." "AII this jealousy's wearing me out." "I used to be happy once upon a time." "We don't want PaImira to feel she's getting the upper hand." "Though now you're in love with her, she obviously has." "She was the only one we didn't choose." "And now, she's queen." "I want a plan to keep her forever." "We could always get her singing boyfriend to come and live here." "Then we'd never ever get a Iook-in." "I'm too miserable to be here anymore." "Let's go to Kyoto." "It's the earthquake season." "I want to be shook up." "I'm missing something." "Mio!" "Mio!" "Mio!" "Mio?" "Mio!" "Mio!" "It's like Shelley." "Japanese Ophelia." "beautiful oriental lady in the lake." "She was the very best." "The most submissive." " She was my first wife." " Oh, come on." "That's not true." "You forget my mother much too soon." "In the circumstances then, she was my second wife." "She was never your wife." "Everything but a license and a tax exempt form." "She was the first woman after 35 years that I consistently made love to." "She had such a beautiful opening number." "So small, so delicate." "Such a beautiful color." "It was Iike-- plum blossom." "It was Iike-- pushing your prick into a plum blossom flower." "Shut up!" "You hate flowers." "And plums repeat on you." "She looks more beautiful now than ever." "Why on earth did she do it?" "She had all she wanted." "No, she didn't." "We took away all her shoes." "Because they were rotting on the lawn." "Or was that a suicide matter?" "We'II get her some shoes." "There you are, Mio." "As many shoes as you Iike." "Get walking, Mio." "You're going in the lake." "Did you know... whatever the event, we're all supposed to react to every disappointment in exactly the same way?" "First, shock" ""Oh, my God."" "Then, seIf-pity-- "Poor me."" "Then, anger-- "You bastards!"" "Then, apathy-- "Oh, what the hell."" "Then, some sort of resurrection of the spirit" ""I'II never let the buggers grind me down."" "It's the same with Mio's death." ""Oh, my God." "Poor me." "You bastards!" "Oh, what the hell?" "I'II never let the buggers grind me down."" "Giaconda's pregnant again." "We're gonna lose her." "Take her to the airport, and put her on a plane." "Any plane." "I couldn't stand another baby problem with her again." "Father, she's just too fertile." "Sticking pins in dark corners is not for me anymore." "Stick a pin in the plane timetable." "Saarbrucken." "Oh, no." "That won't do." "Grenoble!" "That's even closer, you fool." "Venice?" "No." "She can't swim-- she doesn't like film, or art." " Bangkok?" " Not bad." "A bit obvious." "Sex capital of Asia." "No, I'm not sending her there." "Poor obstetrics." "How do you know that?" "I'm not having my child dragged out with forceps, dropped in a wok of noodles, and called Chang-Lee." "well, it may be my child." "well, are you having your child dragged out with forceps?" "You were." "I watched your little yellow face squashed up like an overripe lemon." "I swear, you even had pips." "If you're so keen on the delivery of this baby, why don't we keep it?" "Punta del foro." "well, where the hell's that?" "well, it sounds warm and South American." "She loves kiwi fruit, doesn't drink tea, suffers from asthma." "There's bound to be clean air." "Sounds right." "And they'II love children." "Everyone loves children." "Do we love children?" "Cathay Pacific." "First cIass-- $2,000 one way." "Done." "We are going on a trip to New York." "You'd Iike that." "Here's $5,000." "Buy some baby clothes." "And order a cot-- no two, in case it's twins." "And you'II need nappies." "Buy 1,000 nappies, then you won't have to do any washing," " just throw them all away." " That's not very ecological." "well, recycle them, then." "Here's another $5,000." " Buy a recycler." " What's that?" "Whatever they are, you're bound to find them in New York." "Mr. EmmenthaI." "We've been watching you." " Who are you, the vice squad?" " You sound guilty." "We understand you help women in financial trouble." "Do I?" "We too, are debt collectors like you." "Am I a debt collector?" "And we're convinced you're harboring one of our clients." "She's responsible for a series of confidence frauds." "She operates often with a black opera singer." "She has various names." " Laura Dekkar, Theresa DekIar" " Theresa van Rijn." "Her specialty is offering sexual services and sexual rewards to elderly bankers and wealthy financial people." "We understand you're the chairman of the EmmenthaI financial services, and consolidates Bank Geneva." "As debt collectors, we can offer you 2.5% of recovery costs." "I am Laura Dekkar." "Though now I call myself PaImira." " What?" "But" " No buts." "I'd Iike to do this for you, Mr. EmmenthaI." "It's a little I can do to repay your kindnesses." "To make you happy." "I have done my business here." "Drink your milkshake." "I'II go and pack and leave." "I understand where your love truly lies," "Mr. EmmenthaI." "But" " CIothiIde." "What was that about?" "What was all that about?" " CIothiIde." " What about CIothiIde?" "They've taken her away." "I was desperate, Storey." "What do you mean, they've taken her?" "should we call the police?" "well, I couldn't let them take PaImira." "It all happened so quickly." "She didn't even get her coat." "She volunteered." "I couId never let them take PaImira." "Who were they?" "What were they doing?" "Well, they" "They were filmmakers." "They were filmmakers." "They were gonna make her into a famous film star." "They were gonna make a film about Renoir called" "I don't remember." "You sold her." "You sold CIothiIde?" "All this makes my stomach churn." "To think that they might have taken Palmira." "You once told me to think about the women in Thomas Hardy." "Yes, I did." "But remember, the mayor of Casterbridge regretted selling his wife" "For the rest of his life." "Okay, here's the deal." " Kito for the Pachinko." " God, that's no deal." "Then blood on your hands." "plus, an indecency trial, then a kidnap trial, followed by a keeping-a-bawdy-house trial." "Then probably a tax exemption subpoena, and a visit by the health authorities." "The inland revenue, customs." "possible accusations of illegal consenting with minors." "Breaking ethical laws..." "sexual harassment." " Trading babies" " Hey, Simato." "Hey, yourself." "I want a signature, legally binding, handing over this establishment," "lock, stock, chips, machines and barrel." "What's barrel?" "For storing beer." " Kito has the papers ready." " As always." "Sign here in front of witnesses." "What witnesses?" "They're not watching." "And..." "I want a bonus." "Strip to sign." "Strip to sign?" "Whatever for?" "Naked to the negotiating table." "Naked!" "So I can see no pranks and ruses." "Quaint english." "They make an unpredictable linguistic duo." "A man in socks is vulnerable." "He probably won't play tricks." "Think of it as being the Iast time for me to see your cocks." "We go out where we came in." "I remember doing you the same favor years ago, when this little adventure started." "Bend over." "You did it voluntarily." "Bend over!" "Kito is the witness." "Thank you, Kito." "My pleasure." "Enemies unite in adversity." "Now make the three signature monkeys." "Okay, you can go." "Goodbye, philip." "Goodbye, Storey." "Good God." "I don't know that that was so bad." "It's sort of... cathartic, the naked exposure, don't you think?" "Well, you couldn't do it voluntarily, could you?" "It's under duress, so, somehow legitimate." "Circumstances beyond our control." "I think I enjoyed that." "My God!" "Struck down by an earthquake." "At least it wasn't our fault this time." "Where was she going?" "A Pachinko heaven for chartered accountants." "What's the matter?" "My God." "Are they getting closer?" "She warned me." "Never call up an earthquake." "He will follow you all the days of your life." "Head, face, chest, belly, sex," "legs, feet, and God." " Benedictus, benedicap" " What are you doing?" "I'm trying to undo her warning." "But your sympathies for Kito were never strong, Storey." "She joined us because of me, not you." "It's my fault." "I'm to blame." "She was determined to be useful." "In her little pajama suit." "Well, she loved you desperately, Storey." "What are you doing?" "I've had enough." "GriseIda must go." "She's so "mother superior" now." "She's got a mind like a sewer." "Getting me to confess impossibiIities," "Like your mother and my wife slept with priests." "Where did she get that from, I wonder, Storey?" "She starts as a novice, scrubbing convent floors, puts on a wimple, shaves her body," "Becomes a nun in appearance, then in deed." "Now she wants to become a saint." "I'm going to kill her." "She wanted a martyr's death." "She's only done what you wanted." "Taken your fantasies, and run with them to the point of logical exhaustion." " Oh, Father, for God's sake." " No, for mine." "She's not in her room." "She's gone, and she's taken the children." "Where's she gone, I wonder?" "Heaven?" "Nah, they wouldn't let her in." "We would like to establish that a friend-- an acquaintance of ours is presently there to set our minds at rest." "Because-- because this person was very dear to us." " ls it possible to speak with her?" " Sister Concordia?" "Concordia?" "She was trouble and strife." "No, this Sister Concordia is beside me now." "I have allowed her to write down her answers for you." "You are allowed three questions only." "You must keep them very short." " Okay." " Question one?" "Do you have there presently, a sister GriseIda of Fontenay, Geneva?" "We have no GriseIda here." "We have novice Sister Concordia." "And she's under a preferred vow of silence." " Question two." " That doesn't count!" "All right, all right, all right..." "Does this novice Sister Concordia have a foreign accent?" "Norwegian, Swedish, Scandinavian?" "If she is under a vow of silence, how can I know?" "Jesus!" "The son of God." "Was that a question?" "Can we be certain that Sister novice Concordia will keep her vow of silence?" ""You can provide eternal and everlasting silence with an annual donation of $25,000 to the children's charity of Santa Lucia."" "Let her go." "Let her get away." "I admire her independence-  taking nothing." " That's not true, she's taking a horse." "Perhaps she's running to Austria." "She was Austrian, wasn't she?" "I've always had severe problems with Austrians." "They're negative people." "musical, churchy, uptight authoritarian." "always insist that their dustbins are very clean." "And then there was one." "Correction-- one and a half." "How do you want to do it?" "Oh, my God!" "From the front, or from behind?" "What do you do, and how do you do it, Palmira?" "Oh, my God!" "Heaven... ecstasy... paradise..." "Monte carlo." "Monte carlo?" "In the garden, on the grass?" "In the pool?" "Or here?" "This is never going to get better." "Do you want me to sit down?" "Or stand up?" "Do you want me to lie down with my heels in the air, toes pointing east and west?" "Yes." "Yes to what?" "Yes to everything." "Then I will." "I think I'm going to quit while I'm ahead." " Would you mind very much?" " Yes, I would." "You're being selfish." "I Iove you, PaImira." "I love you." "You can't do it simply by holding your breath." "I Iove your laugh, PaImira." ""Asa nisi masa."" "Pardon?" "Fellini's spell, "8 1/2."" "Philip..." "Why did you reject me those three years ago in berlin?" "Or Paris?" "PaIermo?" "naples or somewhere else?" "Luxembourg, perhaps?" "I was always frightened of the possibility of too much pleasure." "Okay, that'II do." "A good answer." "I Iove you, PaImira." "Hey, philip..." "Stop sleeping on the job." "Okay... all right..." "I Iove you, too." "Goodbye." "Storey!" "PaImira?" "This is the first time I've been officially invited into this room." "officially?" "That means you've been here unofficiaIIy." "No matter." "It's all over now." "What's all over?" "Your father's dead." "Rubbish." "No, he isn't." "He's still sleeping." "I'm going to make breakfast, now that everybody's gone." "Father, wake up." "Your toast is burning." "Get out of bed at once, Father." "I won't tell you again." "Wake up, father." "Your bloody toast is burning." "Okay... that's breakfast." "His toast." "I ate it whilst it was still warm... and now, he's growing cold." "Now I suspect I shall get bored here, Storey." "Very bored." "Now the old man is dead." "silence." "No reason to stay anymore." "The king is dead." "Long live the king?" "I doubt it." "You don't do..." "anything I like, Storey." "Your body's too simple." "Not enough lived in." "Too straight." "Too unused." "There's no excitement in you for me..." "Mr. EmmenthaI..." "Junior." "My most favorite white woman in the world, that I would Iike to undress." "It has been one year, 72 days, four hours, and 20 minutes, since I last kissed this magnificent landscape." "And..." "Shall I sing that for you?" "No, not in front of the children." "Pachinko, Pachinko, Pachinko, Pachinko." "How are you today?" "Have you eaten enough?" "Porridge, muesli, baked beans?" "No toast?" "Okay..." "We're going to re-christen you today." "Our oriental period is over, and Giuletta no more." "No, don't worry." "It's traffic vibration." "Sit still." "It's a thunderstorm." "Yes." "We don't get earthquakes in Geneva." "At last!" "Oh, benedictus..." "benedicap... benedancien..." "Christian dominum nostrum!" "Amen!" "( I'd Iike to get you )" "( On a slow boat to China )" "( AII to myself )" "( alone )" "( Get you and keep you )" "( In my arms evermore )" "( Leave all your lovers )" "( Weeping on a faraway shore)" "( Out on the briny )" "( With the moon big and shiny )" "( melting your heart of stone )" "( I'd love to get you )" "( On a slow boat to China )" "( AII to myself )" "( alone. )"