"The home stitch, the love knot, the front mast throw the strangle knot, the slipping half-stitch, the lobster the witch's knot, the Dutch escape." "Even an ordinary knot with eight crossings can be tied 366 different ways." "Change one thing and you have a completely new knot." "Or no knot at all." "With stories it's just the same, my father said." "What do you see?" "Just clouds." "They're sailing away." "After he came back ashore, I saw my father every Sunday." "And every Sunday he had invented a new knot." "And a new story." "Yes, good." "Look." "Up high." "There, look." "Can you see the ships?" "The keel, the ribs." "You can only see the bottom." "There, a jib boom." "A propeller, an anchor shank." "Now and then the mariners drop the anchor." "Then they climb down the chain to have a look at things down here." "But they can't breath here." "Our air is much too heavy." "They can't live here." "Too heavy." "They would like to, but they can't." "They have to go back, or they'll suffocate." "And they climb aboard in a frenzy." "They are safe again." "Safe, yes, but all hope has vanished." "All his stories were different and yet they all had the same message." "One piece of rope can be tied into an infinite number of knots." "Dad?" "When hope vanishes, where does it go?" "There was a time..." "When birds on their way south stopped in our village just to listen to Abdul Abdurduran." "Abdul Abdurduran." "Abdul Abdurduran, our muezzin." "Abdul Abdurduran." "When Abdul sang, the wolves came down from the mountains as meek as lambs." "As children we were told that his call to prayer sounded so lovely that the women in the bathhouse quickly covered themselves." "Alarmed as they were by the thoughts his voice was evoking." "In those days the house of prayer was always full." "People were living by the Word." "Our village was a jewel to Mohammed." "But we only know this from hearsay." "It's Hadas." "Welcome, Hadas." "Nobody there?" "Same as usual." "Some hadjis, just returned from Mecca where they kissed the Black Stone seven times have yet renounced their faith at the sound of Abdul's voice." "When the Prophet said that Allah would be served by sounding a call to prayer he didn't reckon with the voice of our muezzin." "Abdul deserves our respect because of his attitude and his spirit in thought and in deed." "We love him as we love a wise, strict father." "Nobody is more loved than he who will soon depart." "But this singing of his provides the disbelievers with a powerful argument." "I told you that they always try to sell you all sorts of junk at this fair." "And Memed bought some." "Has it got any use?" "Aren't you cold?" "Not with your arms around me." "He wouldn't eat today." "He has devoted his life to just one thing." "And now it's over." "My parents said that Abdul had received his voice from heaven." "I have always thought that one day he would be lifted to his home." "He should leave on wings." "Don't worry." "I have something that might restore some of his former strength." "I owe my life to him." "I owe my love to him." "He's alone." "Aren't we all?" "Hadas?" "Illeknur..." "I'm afraid it can't go on like this any..." "We have to tell him the truth." "He knows very well." "Tell him that if he stops now, before everything..." "It'll be the death of him." "Sometimes..." "Sometimes you have to let go of what is dearest to you." "Even people?" "If itis out of love." "Illeknur, please...?" "I thought, why not keep these beautiful songs." "What are you doing?" "It's of no use to Hadas anyway." "It's of no use to Hadas anyway." "Can you feel this, Abdul?" "Memed is such a good lad." "Don't you agree?" "Everybody's wondering what your plans are for Illeknur, Abdul." "When the stars fall, and when the hills are moved and when the camels big with young are abandoned and when wild beasts are herded together and when the seas rise then every soul will know what it hath made ready." "All the words he needed for his life, he knows by heart." "He's started with the first of the one hundred and fourteen surahs and he will not rest before his lips have tasted all 6200 verses of the Holy Book of Islam." "But surely a man has to eat?" "A man has to drink also." "But you know what Abdul is like." "Two days and nights?" "It took the angel Gabriel 20 years to pass God's Word on to Mohammed but our Abdul will need a mere two days and two nights." "Oh, this wind..." "No wind carries further than the storm from the throats of those who had to choose between loyalty and love." "This is a favourable wind." "Such a favourable wind." "It would be a pity to waste it." "No, please, not yet." "It's time." "It really is time." "My father said he could snare the winds." "And I pretended I believed him." "One of those games we played." "Look." "One for a breeze." "Two for a trade wind." "Three for a gale and four..." "Four knots were strictly forbidden on board." "Far too dangerous." "That's how it is." "You have to catch things before you can let them go." "Let's have a look." "Where does it untie?" "Can you see?" "When the farmers were harvesting near Lyons they saw a great ship appear in the sky above them with its sails taut and flags flying." "The anchor was lowered and got caught in the rail of a bridge." "Three men and a woman slid down along the heavy iron chain to pick fresh fruit and collect fresh water." "But soon the heaviness of our existence weighed down upon them." "They were gasping for breath like fish." "They cannot live in our atmosphere, said the bishop Agobardus." "They will drown, unless we help them to return." "To regain their freedom." "And at a speed of nine knots the three men and the woman sailed away from the unbelievable that they had experienced." "Dad." "Daddy." "Easy, my boy, easy now." "I thought you'd gone." "This is an island." "Where would I go?" "You're not leaving?" "No." "Maybe when you've got that far." "But not before." "How far?" "Far enough." "What do you mean far enough?" "To understand." "Can you get that far?" "Oh yes, sure, the farther the better." "Enough, Sam." "We're going." "I think it's a scarecrow." "Quite effective, by the looks of things." "It looks like an old man, but it's not moving." "It's just standing there, in front of that hut." "Doing nothing." "Its features are human though." "Perhaps it's a sculpture." "Carved out of an old branch." "As a warning." "A kind of memento mori." "If it wasn't quite so unwieldy I'd say:" "Let's buy it and chuck it in the boot." "You coming?" "Zoe." "From the Greek." "Maxwell." "Foreign Office." "Diplomatic service and all that." "In short, Zoe Maxwell, woman in distress." "Our car has broken down." "It's broken down, the car." "We're looking for help." "This is my husband, so you see..." "Not exactly your AA-man, is he?" "You don't look like you're good with cars." "That's a bit of a letdown." "But you are a man and you are strong." "We could prop up the car." "If you..." "Are there any other men like you around here?" "Good heavens, here comes our memento mori." "Think he's still able to lift anything?" "Did you see the look on his face?" "It took him by surprise." "It would have surprised them in the salon diplomatique too." "That's your problem, Sam, you can't enjoy having nothing." "Yes, do check." "They might have expired these last few hours." "If you had just booked a package holiday, we wouldn't be here now." "They would simply have given us a new car." "I'm not a tourist, Sam." "I'm a traveller." "I wonder if he's ever seen a woman in the flesh before." "I don't think you two ever made him worry about being dirty." "This heat." "I'd like to roll around in the sand stark naked." "Do you know the feeling?" "Twenty years ago I wouldn't have hesitated for a second." "And now I'm supposed to be too old?" "He doesn't understand me." "Everything I say falls into a bottomless pit." "What the hell." "This is real travelling." "When I first met my husband..." "I used to think diplomats travelled a lot." "I didn't have a clue." "A man who had to travel for his work seemed ideal." "Not that that was the reason I..." "It was love all right." "A real case of coup de foudre." "A marriage of convenience starts here and the passion comes later." "If it comes." "But start off madly in love and there's nothing to look forward to." "And looking back poisons the mind." "Hmm?" "Old man." "I loved travelling because it was something I could do on my own." "Poor Sam." "Doing all this just to please me." "But sitting at home sulking is better for your illusions than pursuing them." "The last thing you want is to catch up with them." "You people here can still do that." "Fantastic." "Be alone with yourself and yet keep hoping." "Hoping?" "For what?" "Hope is the last to die." "Authentic..." "This really is so authentic." "But no, the video camera was absolutely banned." "This is Zen, this is Zarathustra." "And all completely authentic." "Damnation, the one time you really want it." "Typical." "What a nightmare." "Hardship, Sam, that's what travelling is all about." "Yeah..." "I'll just go inside for a moment." "Style never creases." "Oh God, I'm carrying on like the madwoman of the mountains." "The home stitch." "The love knot..." "The front mast throw..." "The strangle knot..." "The slipping half-stitch..." "The lobster..." "The witch's knot..." "The Dutch escape..." "People think that you have to be a lightweight to fly high." "But the opposite is true." "You better be big and strong." "You need broad wings." "Light enough?" "Light enough to leave the ground, but is it strong enough to bear the weight?" "How do you know?" "How strong the reeds are?" "How broad your wings have to be." "You only know when you've tried it." "So we'll try it out next week?" "Perhaps." "If I'm far enough." "We'll try it out together." "Won't we?" "Yes." "Some things are much too dangerous." "They are strictly for grown-ups." "And why do people want to grow up?" "To try out their dreams before passing them on to their children." "Precisely." "See you next week?" "Next week." "When a northern gale blasts all your hope..." "When the fire..."" "...of your sweetheart's love burns for another hoist the sail, hoist it now." "We still have clouds." "Sail on thin air and set course for the clouds." "Follow the first sigh and let yourself go on new wings one last time." "You sing, but what you hear is the wrong song." "You know you feel the right tone but it escapes you." "Hoist the sail, hoist it now." "We still have clouds." "Sail on thin air and set course for the clouds." "Follow the first sigh and let yourself go on new wings one last time." "Each tear was once a smile before it died away." "Each dream gives way to day hope for a new shore." "So hoist the sail, hoist it now." "We still have clouds." "Sail on thin air and set course for the clouds." "Follow the first sigh and let yourself go on new wings one last time." "Sail on the first sigh." "Dare to fly one last time." "So hoist the sail, hoist it now." "Been at the breakwater, Arend?" "Does it look bad?" "The wind is turning." "You hear that, Josse?" "There's a northern storm coming." "Nearly, my boy." "Nearly." "Oh, no." "Give me a double, too." "What have you got to celebrate?" "Just one thing." "That thick skull of yours, I'll bet." "Here's to hope." "See what I mean?" "Hope must fly." "Just forget it, Arend." "Bill Ramsey was her first lover." "To a woman that means a lot." "She'll never forget him." "Not for you anyway." "They think the first one is the only one." "Especially after Bill Ramsey." "You were only a little boy then." "Do you remember him?" "Yes." "Of course." "Olle." "The wind carried him in." "The door blew open and there he stood, wreathed in a fog from the sea." "How long ago was it?" "Six years, seven?" "This one's on me." "Strong drop, this." "Don't have to tell us that." "In one hand he held his knapsack in the other the knots for holding back the winds." "On one arm he carried the east, on the other the west." "Nothing as dangerous as memory." "Olle." "Tonight I'll make another ship." "Just tell me how you want it." "We can all dream." "Goodnight then..." "May I?" "If you could, you wouldn't have to ask." "Do you think he will take me along too?" "Life at sea is hard." "You will ask him, when he comes, whether I can come along..." "Once he was in a storm that went on for three weeks, day and night." "I don't care about storms." "Not if we're with Ramsey." "He knows all the storms." "He rides them, one after the other." "He takes them on with one hand on the helm." "And one arm around our shoulders." "Did he say that?" "So we don't get hurt." "Do you believe such a person exists?" "I've heard so much about him." "No-one else can compete." "I close my eyes, and I see him." "But do you believe that he really exists?" "I've been hearing these stories for so long now." "It must be true." "Why are you doing this?" "What do you want?" "Look at me." "This is what I am." "Here." "Just this." "What use are big ideas to me?" "They offer protection." "You don't know what you're talking about." "I'll show you a man who knows how to protect a woman." "Salt tar and wet ropes." "When will you stop all this?" "Can't you smell it, Arend?" "He's nearby." "Again?" "Not far away." "That'll be the third time this winter." "This winter it's going to happen." "And tomorrow I'll comfort you again." "With one of your little drawings?" "Don't make me laugh." "Mister shipbuilder." "You say you don't like dreaming but when someone tells you a few stories, you believe them." "At least Ramsey has something to tell." "He's a real man." "To hear you talk, he must be." "He'll keep his word." "You'll see." "Sure." "I can smell him already." "He won't just be dreaming." "He's seen things." "Lousy weather." "A double." "We haven't had anything like this in years." "A storm like this." "Such a bad one." "North." "A storm from the north." "Dead north." "Seven years since we've had weather this bad." "It's a long time." "Seven years." "When you're waiting." "Yes, lad, seven years of waiting, who could keep that up?" "Arend." "Blue." "Eyes a blue as the sea." "On one arm the east, on the other the west." "He's here." "What's wrong?" "Don't you ever get customers in this bar?" "We think you're someone..." "Good." "I think so too." "Someone in particular." "Someone who's been here before." "I visit lots of ports." "Is your name Ramsey?" "Ramsey?" "Bill Ramsey?" "Yes, it has to be." "It must be, Josse." "I don't know." "Josse?" "Josse." "A storm from the north." "Just like you said." "I knew it, from the first." "It's been so long." "Josse, after all these years." "Ramsey." "Bill Ramsey." "Just like she always said." "I cursed my fate for not bringing me to you any sooner, Josse." "My Josse." "No gale could scare me." "The only thing I feared was the idea that you would forget me." "I was scared, scared because I don't deserve to be remembered by someone like you." "I'd say it's clear that people would remember you well enough." "A man like you who can ride any storm." "That's what Josse said." "That you command the winds at sea." "She should know." "I wonder how you do that." "You know very well how he does it." "With knots, of course." "With knots?" "Please explain, Ramsey." "I don't get it." "You had that coming, going on like that." "Ramsey has given me these knots." "As you very well know." "He doesn't seem to remember them." "He bridles the storms with them." "I do the same." "I've saved it all up." "Rage, sadness, pleasure, disappointment." "Bruises." "All saved up for the day I need them." "Then I'll let everthing loose at once." "On that day you won't believe your eyes." "Are you sure today's the day?" "I'm sorry." "Ramsey's from Magonia." "It's not on any map, because real places are never marked anywhere." "How do you know?" "It's a story." "A story you can read anywhere." "That's all it is." "Settle up first, please Ramsey." "Are you crazy?" "That girl is so hot, I'm the one who should get paid." "The money's not for her." "It's for me." "Where do I strike sail tonight if I let you enter my ship." "One hundred." "For that?" "I can find better down the road for half the money." "Half then." "May I?" "What's the matter?" "I remembered so much, but I'd forgotten that." "You knocking and asking if you may." "Just sit here with me." "Sit here a while." "I'll get to see the world, won't I, Ramsey?" "I'll see the world as it is as you've told me it is." "As you've said it is." "On the open seas where there is nobody "so nobody can hurt you"." "And you'll take me to the gates of Magonia where the earth and the heavens meet." "High expectations bring deep disappointments." "But you promised." "Lie down." "Just lie down a bit." "Please." "Do you always struggle like this?" "Spread them, damn it." "Spread them, for fuck's sake." "What are you looking at?" "I want to see the clouds." "I love the clouds." "The clouds drifting by up there." "Glorious clouds." "Arend will come back." "He's a real man." "He won't leave me alone." "You'll see." "One day he'll come back for me." "In his own boat." "It really was Ramsey, wasn't it?" "Yes, it was." "That man last night, that was him." "Definitely." "So we're not going with him?" "No." "The Dutch escape..." "The witch's knot..." "The lobster..." "The slipping half-stitch..." "The strangle knot..." "The front mast throw..." "The love knot..." "The tidal knot..." "He hasn't touched food or water for two days." "Hello, how are you?" "Very well, and you?" "Me too." "I would like an apple." "What about you?" "No, I don't like apples." "Then I'll eat it." "You people here can still do that." "Fantastic." "Be alone with yourself and yet keep hoping." "Dad?" "Daddy." "The Dutch escape..." "The front mast throw..." "The tidal knot, the love knot..." "The witch's knot, the slipping half-stitch."