"THE CHILD AND THE CAIMAN" "I have a story, here, on the tip of my tongue." "Come closer, so the caimans don't hear." "But first, listen to this proverb:" "Don't swim in a river without knowing the inhabitants." "Back then, the region hadn't yet been eaten by sand." "In the rainy season, the savanna grass was green and taller than the children." "In the dry season, we found shade under the big trees." "We collected wood for cooking food without going far from the village." "It was the middle of the dry season." "The child walked through the tall, rustling grass." "Through the grass, the child thinks he sees a good branch." "He wants to pick it up." "It's not a branch." "It's the mouth of the caiman." "The night before, the caiman went out hunting." "Sunrise caught him off guard and it dried out his skin." "He can't crawl anymore." "Child, I beg you, carry me on your back" "to the river." "Caiman, if I carry you to the river, in return, will you carry me on your back to the other side of the river?" "I will." "Caiman's promise." "When they arrived, the child untied the caiman, who asked him to carry him further so he could drink." "The child moved forward until the water stroked his ankles." "The caiman asked him to go forward some more so his whole belly was under the water." "The child moved forward until the water reached his waist." "But the caiman told him to go further, saying his tail was still dragging on the sand." "The child moved forward again." "You're hurting me!" "Let go!" "The caiman had snatched him up in his terrible jaws." "I'm so hungry!" "I have to eat!" "Caiman, I was good to you." "Can goodness be repaid by evil?" "It certainly can, replied the caiman." "It happens all the time." "I don't believe you." "Only you can be that wicked." "If you don't believe me, ask the first three passers by." "If anyone disagrees, I'll let you go." "If not, I'll eat you!" "The cow came to drink at the river." "Cow, said the caiman." "Can you tell this boy whether goodness is repaid by goodness or evil." "I most definitely can." "Back when I was young and strong, I ate at the best pastures." "In the shady stable, my litter was freshly cut." "I was given bran and salt." "From my udders flowed perfumed milk that nourished all my master's children." "Now that my udders are all dried up, a big stick chases me each day from the enclosure." "I have to find my pittance alone." "A little dry grass among the thorns of the savanna." "That's why I can say to this boy that goodness is repaid not by goodness, but by evil." "Did you hear that?" "Isn't it time to start eating you already?" "The next one will say I'm right." "Horse, can you tell this boy that goodness is repaid by evil?" "I most definitely can." "Back in my youth, I was fiery and passionate." "When I had galloped, a groom pampered me." "Another combed my mane." "A third gave me basket of millet." "I had a six-piece bridle and a custom-made saddle." "For nine years, I carried my master and his loads." "I carried him when he chased robbers." "I carried him to all the parties." "Today, my knees sag." "My back bends under the weight of my master's son." "Each day, a big stick chases me from the enclosure and I have to cross the savanna, in search of a little thorny fodder." "That's why I can tell this boy that goodness is repaid not by goodness, but by evil." "Did you hear that?" "Let me eat you now." "I'm starving." "Wait!" "The third one will speak the truth." "The old hare came to drink at the river." "When he saw him coming, the caiman, going mad with hunger, cried out that he'd had enough, that the hare should say goodness was indeed repaid by evil, and say it clearly, with no delay" "if he didn't want to end up as the caiman's meal one day." "What did he say?" "said the old hare to the child." "Come closer, you and the caiman." "My old ears are tired." "They've heard too many lies." "Hare, the caiman asks you if goodness is repaid by goodness or evil." "Give him the right answer fast." "He's out of patience." "Why do I have to answer that stupid question?" "Explain yourself first and come closer." "I can't hear half your foolish words." "I did a good deed by carrying the caiman on my back but he won't carry me across in return." "All he wants is to eat me to appease his hunger." "Indeed..." "This boy is a fine liar." "Caiman, don't you fear you'll get ill if you eat such a boastful boy?" "He's not boasting, said the caiman." "You say, caiman, that this child carried you on his back?" "How can I believe such nonsense if I don't see it with my own eyes?" "I bound together two poles with strands of wild barley and I tied the caiman on." "Tie him on to show me." "Did you pull all the knots tight?" "Yes, so he wouldn't fall off during the ride." "Well then, pull tight the one that blocks his tail." "You say you dragged him?" "Yes." "Then drag him." "Is the caiman your totem?" "Then take him away, out to the savanna and leave him where you found him, so he learns that goodness is repaid by goodness and evil is repaid by evil." "On the way, the child felt sorry for the caiman." "The caiman was wrong." "Goodness is not repaid by evil." "But the old hare was wrong too." "Evil can be repaid by goodness." "And the caiman agreed to take the child on his back and carried him to the other side of the river, where the other country begins." "Subtitles:" "Heidi Wood" "Subtitling:" "Titra Film Paris"