"THE YEARLONG ROAD" "This is a story of one of many roads that cross the earth:" "of the pain, hopes, joys and illusions that spring from those who build them." "The authors wanted to tell it with the spirit, symbols and moral of a fable, to be able to embrace more freely a horizon of common sentiments for the majority of mankind." "You're still at this point?" "Now what?" " Next time you stop first." " Where?" "What's the rush?" "Are you trying to catch a plane?" " The road is for all, ya know." "You know that mine is a public service with the highest priority!" "Public service!" "Go throw your service in the river!" "I'd like to.. with you in it." " I'll report you!" "Our tobacco is here." "Easy, granddad, careful." "I have some." " These ones are leaves as well." "What's happening?" "Did you see.." "anything new today?" "What's there to see, Gregorije?" "It's been five months since I returned and I always see the same things." "Stones, windmills and sheep." "What's he doing?" "Among the people in all parts of the world, for every effort that improves the lives of others, someone has to pay first." "They are the men of good faith." "Their efforts should never be silenced or forgotten." "To this kind of people belong Emil and Agneza." "They also have tools." "He found work." "They're going to Baron Jacoviello." "I'm sure they're fixing his country house." "No, no, four days!" "I've already done them myself last month." "Then where's he taking his whole family?" "I get it!" "They have begun working on enlarging the cemetery." "They postponed that." "Who would've ordered it?" " Work for his kids but not us!" "He was acting very mysterious yesterday." "Why did they stop here?" "Are they watching us?" "They're talking among themselves." "But.." "You'll see.." "in a bit, they'll come down here and start working with us." "Those don't really care about anything!" "You don't know them." "In their place, I'd be doing the same thing." "Work creates envy." "When it comes out that it's all a hoax, we'll be in trouble!" "I'd be happy.." "if only twenty of them came." "Let's start!" "Ah.. they're looking for worms for the chickens." "They don't have any chickens." "This I know for sure, they live next to me." "# A lost sheep.. #" "You sing too!" "They're singing too!" "If they're singing, somebody has got to be paying them." "# A lost sheep.." "the ram has left me.. #" "Want to bet this time they're finally beginning work on the new road?" "And so, he's taken the measurements." "Ah-uh!" "That's too big a job." "They wouldn't have given it to just one man." "To save money, this country is capable of anything." "I don't want to get mixed up with this." "Let's go talk to the mayor." "The mayor left this morning." "So who's in charge then?" " The deputy mayor." "Then let's go talk to the deputy mayor." "Are you leaving me here?" "Wait for me." "Bernard!" "Oh, people, people!" "Do you see that?" "You thought they would come to work together with us." "Instead, they're going to the deputy mayor." "That one'll call the guards right away!" " Stop it!" "Even if the guards come, what does it matter, what could they do us?" "You know what the law says!" "Without permission, you can't do anything." "Nobody ordered you to do this job!" "There'll be a scandal, I'll be so ashamed!" "But I'm ashamed more to live without working!" "This is Scandinavia, you won't forget it:" "It has the shape of a dog." "What is it?" "What do you want?" "Just a word, Sir." "Dad, I'm over here!" "Silence, silence!" "But where do you think you are?" "These matters can't be dealt with here." " The mayor isn't here, he's always out." "It's useless to come to me." "I don't know anything and I don't want to know anything." "I can only tell you that the town never ordered any work." "Then, what are they doing, Sir?" "They who?" " Cosma, Emil, son of the late Nokiakova." "Tell them to bring their children to school!" "Today I'm teaching the War of Independence." "Nobody should miss it!" "Do you remember when I taught the War of Independence to you?" "I remember the war, Sir." "What I don't remember most is the last day I actually worked." "Winter has always been like this, since the world began." "And what can you do?" "It's an incurable disease, like cancer." "Come, you need to resign yourselves." "The most beautiful story I know.." "is the fable of the grasshopper and the ant." "It teaches sacrifice, good sense and reason." "We need to store in the summer.." "so we'll not starve during the winter." "Go now." "Go now, boys." "Go on, ask him." "Emil!" " Huh?" " You can tell me." "Who ordered you to do that work you're doing on the road?" "The Town." "But the deputy mayor denied it." "He said the Town had nothing to do with it." "Let him deny it." "But if he denies it, who's paying you?" "The Town, Bernard!" "What would the Town say.." "if me.." "and Angela worked with you?" "I'd say they would be pleased." " But Bernard, aren't you going to America?" "Yes, but the passport hasn't arrived." "In the meantime, I can work." "You know what this one wants to do?" "To sell my land for a ticket and leave me here." "Don't you understand Bernard can send for you later?" "Is it my fault the money from the land isn't enough for tickets for both of us?" "Emil!" "What is it?" "How much does this work pay a day?" "Forty dinars for you and eighty for Bernard." "120 dinars a day!" "What did you agree for the kids?" "But.." " For the kids, twenty." "We have no kids." "If only we had some, we'd get more money." "You see, having kids can come in handy!" "Of course, if this work lasted for.." "three or four months, then.." "What do you say, Emil, can one hope for that?" "We can make it last as long as we feel like." "If grandfather Gregorio were younger, he could earn money too." "We'll go to America." "We have it all figured out." "With the money we'll get from the land and working, we can buy the tickets." "Emil!" "Are you sure that this work will last awhile?" "Yes, it'll last." "I don't know what to think of it." "Why them and not us?" "I'm telling you, they're lying to us!" "We were here all day yesterday wasting time and they never said a word to us." "That's not how to behave!" " They've sucked up to the mayor!" "But how are they supposed to make a road with so few people?" "You do what you like, I'm going down to work!" " Me too." "Let's go see, Emil is my friend." "Good morning, Emil." " Good morning." "It's about time this road was done." " Yeah, yeah." "Hurry home, get a pickaxe!" "I'm sure they'll let me work too." "Let me help you, Agneza." "Give it here." "Let me earn some money too, Emil." "We've been unemployed for many months." " I'll sign you up." "You dig, I'll take care of the rocks." "This pole needs to be moved." "Three meters back, come on!" "Enough, enough!" "Enough?" "What about me?" " Emil, we're related!" "You're too many." "Sit down, Emil, sit down." "You mustn't, I'm tired." "I'm not giving you anything on credit." "It's been two months since you paid me!" "In a little bit, I'll be able to bury you in money." "How do they pay us?" "Once a week or every fortnight?" "Every Saturday." " Why do you ask?" "Why not?" " Is it possible to get an advance before Saturday?" "At first, you must make do for a while." "When all is settled, everyone will give you credit." "It's better so!" "They have to go by the rules." "Here's to the most beautiful road in the province!" "To your health, Emil!" "To Emil..!" "Emil, you are a friend!" "Good evening." " Come in, come, Emil." "You're here before me." " No matter, you go first." "Emil, dear Emil!" "You know, the sardines came in." "I was just waiting for you to open the box." " No, no, thanks." "I just want a kilo of bread and three ounces of cheese." "But why?" "You've eaten cheese all year round!" "You want to save money on a day like today?" "I'll put together something for you for tonight." "Hold it right there." " What is it?" "Wait a sec." "We've been looking for you for an hour, you must come with me." "No, I don't have the time." "I have to go home." "Bye." "Come on, let's go!" "Don't be afraid!" "What must I do?" " Be with us for a little while." "But my wife is waiting." "At your age, I only looked at myself in the mirror on Sundays." "If I don't do it now, I won't have any time to when I'm married." "Nice way to enter!" "How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from my daughter?" "Tell them that you've signed me up to work on the road." "Filomena, now that I have work, you must give me your daughter." "Listen, six months of engagement, then I go for one year of military service." "In the meantime, prepare the paperwork and when I return, I'll marry her." "Let's go." "If you don't give me to him, I'll take him anyway!" "Emil, I have one thing to say." "Before you begin, I have to tell you that we're already fully booked." "Nothing doing, not even for a friend like you." "What are you thinking?" "Like I want to get back to bricklaying!" "Water under the bridge, I don't do that anymore." "Come, I have a surprise for you." "Let's see for a second.." "These are really good: they keep the the feet warm and last forever." ""Special quality"." "What size shoe do you wear?" " The biggest." "Now that you are working, they'll be more useful than bread." "Can we get anything on credit too?" "Come on, come over here." "Susanna!" "Susanna!" "Mario, go call your mother." "She reads.." "reads all day long." "What you see is at your disposal!" "And if you don't like any of this, I have some new stuff down in the city." "We just want American stuff." " Original!" "What is it?" "Don't you see?" "See to what they want." "You could help me sometimes." "And throw away that cigarette!" "She smokes more than me." "I always keep them out for you, in the kitchen or under the bed." "Emil, sit down, try on the shoes." "Here's a cigarette." "Let's celebrate the new road." "I like a woman who smokes." " Did you see the way she stares?" "Who's she staring at?" "At me, dummy." "Can I try these pants on here?" "No." "But over there's a mirror." "I'll get undressed here, I'm not shy." "Do I embarrass you, ma'am?" "There, we're done." "Why don't you ever show yourself?" " But how can I?" "I have so many worries." "What worries?" "Now with the new road everything'll get better, you'll see." "It suits you." "Susanna!" "Bring Emil a glass of wine." "Do you feel like another?" "If the price is good, I'll buy this." "Do you answer for those guys?" "You never know, they're young." "How do I look?" " You look like an American." "If you could get the other workers to come to me," "I'll give you some stuff for free." "Get home, get home.." "My dear Emil.., tonight you're staying with your Agneza, upsadaisy!" "Antonio!" "Don Antó!" "Antonio, listen to me." "I made it all up!" "Excuse me." "Bless you!" "Don Antó!" "The mayor didn't order anything!" "I fooled everyone!" "Big Mouth!" "You're always with easy girls." " You're a real gem, don't forget me!" "# J'ai deux amours, mon pays et Paris.." "Par eux toujours.. #" "Emil!" "You must believe me, Big Mouth, I thought it'd be something else entirely." "I thought.." "that after me there'd be a dozen at most." "It's true, we are many, but I'm better than everyone!" "Parlez vous français?" " Me?" "Quatre années in France, four years in France." "Marseille, Toulon, Bordeaux." "I did everything," "I've even been a sailor." "What a life, always in the middle of the fish!" "# Paris, je t'aime.. #" " This one I don't know." "# Je t'aime, je t'aime.." "avec ivresse.. #" "It's not true that the Town gave the work." "I had a moment of despair, understand?" "Women suffer when they see that the husband has no work." "Les femmes!" "You're telling me!" "I've had twenty women." "Not one of them stayed with me." "Now in Marseille, I had a black woman." "Really!" " But how could I take her with me?" "Can you imagine a black woman here!" "No, never." " She would've suffered." "Bless you, Emil.." "you get to go home." "There your wife waits for you, who loves you very much." "Emil, one of these nights I might die." "Dead!" "But who would even notice?" "Do you understand?" "To die like a dog!" "I want to cry, Emil." "Let me cry, Emil." " Go ahead, cry." "You have to cry, cry!" "You know what, if I were a woman," "I'd work for you." "No, no." " Yeah, yeah!" "The Mayor!" " Oh, God!" "You're back at last!" "Viva the Mayor!" " Let's go to sleep!" "Hurray for the Mayor, hurray!" "I never voted for you!" "Jamais!" "And I'll never vote, jamais!" "Je suis Anarchiste, moi!" "I never vote on principle." "But you.., you're a saint!" "I kiss your hands." "Long live the road!" "We've already done 20 meters." "What is he saying?" "Twenty meters of what?" "Go!" "Emil!" "Emil!" "What were you doing?" "Why have you come back so late?" "The mayor's back." "Tomorrow the bomb goes off." "Aren't you happy?" "It's what you wanted." "Don't leave me alone now, if you do, I'll lose heart." "Did they eat?" " Yes." "Look at how many things I brought." "Come, eat something." " I don't want anything." "There are.. there are sardines." " No, leave me alone." ""Leave me alone.."" "The chisel?" "Where did it get off to?" "How many times must I tell you, that Ivo can't play with it." "How long it was since I used these tools?" "I even forgot how heavy the pickaxe is." "It's no use: when you're working, you feel like a different man." "There we go!" "Behave yourself!" "You know what?" "Sometimes we imagine things are uglier than they are." "It may be that things will work out." "I bet the mayor will consent." "Deep down, he's a good man." "You think everybody's good." "He'll send for me, find the money.." "and even thank me." "That's fine." "Let me sleep now." "My Agneza.." "Just think of it.." "at least we'll have peace for one year." "Yes." "But remember, this is last time I believe you." "Tonight, you turn me on so much!" " Take it easy, we'll wake the kids." "Here, take it, Mr. Mayor." "Long live Louis Salinas, Mayor of the new road!" "Hooray, hooray!" "Hooray!" "Mr. Mayor, my son thanks you for the construction of the new road." "But no, what are you doing?" "My son-in-law, Mario Dago, was for months out of work." "He kept me company, but I give him to you as a gift all the same." "Assistant!" " Yes, sir!" " Come here!" "Gather all this stuff.." "and follow me!" "Did he get offended?" "The Town did not order anything!" "You did this on your own initiative!" "If the Town had the money, it would've done the road a long time ago." "This would take millions!" "You must understand!" "What can I do about it?" "I tried all I can, but if the government has taken measures and won't help us, we must forget about the road!" "You sent your elderly to give me gifts." "Well, you can take them back!" "I never took gifts from anybody, and this you should already know!" "Whose is this?" "Take it!" " It's mine!" "And these?" "Even you, Donato, who's always had a good head on your shoulders!" "You wanted to send us to jail?" " I should've stayed home!" "Were you laughing at us behind our backs?" " Con artist!" "I wanted to show you how to live!" "This is a cuckoo's nest." "You think only of yourselves!" "Only of yourselves!" "Tremble over your poverty, for fear that someone touches it!" "When one is alone, one can crack a walnut." "But if we want to build a road, we must be many!" "Only if we're able to come together, can we achieve something." "Do you see where we're at now?" "It's not over, if we keep on working." "And who can stop us from continuing?" "Emil is right!" " We mustn't be afraid!" "I want to work!" " Me too!" "You hear that?" "And if you don't think so, it means you prefer to do nothing!" "You say that to me?" "I've worked all my life, con artist!" "I'll kill you!" "Emil!" "Dad!" "Ivo!" "Dad!" "Ivo!" "Ivo!" "Doctor, tell me the truth." "Will he become an invalid?" "It's a bad fracture." "He broke his femur, he must be brought down to the city right away." "I can't operate on him here." "Thank you." "Go slow!" "Go slowly, please." "Dad!" "You have a fever." "We have to keep on with the road, now more than ever before." "TOWN OF ZAGORA, ROAD CONSTRUCTION" "In the mountains, the winter is very hard and when it arrives, men have still more need to huddle together to find warmth." "Here we tell you how they lit a great fire to warm themselves:" "Big Mouth and Katarina." "Are you all here?" "Now, first team on the right." "Second on the left!" "Third team at the end!" "I'm against discipline." "However, when you need it, you need it." "See, now we're being smart." "By God!" "When news of this gets to the city, who gets dragged in the middle?" "Me." "They send an inspection, they hold me responsible and I get kicked out!" "A stroke of charity would suffice.." " Yes, and we make up the congregation!" "Don Remi, you've received enough charity from us." "Fine, but why don't you employ someone in your warehouse?" "Or in the office?" " They're all illiterate." "My work is very delicate." "My brother is right, we've already given way too much charity." "Every month, 1,000 lire for the Daughters of Mary, another 3,000 for the Orphans of St. Anthony, and 12,000 for the fund parish." "Couldn't you have work done on your building that's falling apart?" "Who said it's falling apart?" "And even if it is, nobody's touching it." "It's a national monument." "The Town must think about the citizens." "It's not our business." "The Town?" "Want me to tell you what the Town's budget is?" "Here you are:" "Revenue: 7 and a half million." "5 million for the duty contract that benefits you." "Aside from your business." "2 million for the rent of the woods that benefits you, dear baron." "Half a million for the family tax." "Outputs: 8 million, that are for the salaries of the town employees, the school, medicines and surgery." "Of course, if everyone paid their taxes as they should!" "Why bring up taxes?" "We didn't come here to be insulted!" "Everyone knows that with the taxes, you do as you please!" "Who is it?" "Have you finished?" "It's been an hour." "But don't you see we're still talking?" "What's that?" "Stuff for the town." "They are the construction records." "It's all there: hours of work, attendance, absences, family allowances, contributions, overtime, all." "Take it away, I won't touch it!" "Louts!" "They go, they come, they enter, they leave." "They were the same in school." "This is anarchy." "But what is happening?" "This was always a peaceful village." "Nobody ever complained." "Who could've put them up to this?" "This can't go on like this." "I already gave 120 kilos of pasta, 3 sacks of flour, 400 kilos of bread." "And who told you to give it to them?" "But who has the heart to leave his town without food?" "I couldn't deny them credit just right now." "You had no trouble denying it before." "Why don't you admit that the road would help your business!" "You too." "That's why you gave them the stones." "If I didn't give it to them, they'd go on my land and take it for free!" "It's been two years since my quarry closed!" "The government will have to pay." "They helped us so many times before, why shouldn't they help us now?" "Yes, for the cost of a public toilet, but this is the construction of a road!" "They're doing it in defiance of the law." "And all of you.." "are supporting them." "That's not fair!" " One moment, I didn't say that there mustn't be a road, but in compliance with the law." "There's only one way out:" "Call the police!" " No.. no.. no, never that!" "There'll be a scandal!" "I want to avoid a scandal." "You are weak!" "You don't want to lose your positions, but things will get worse." "You only look after your own interests." "Hypocrites!" "Sooner or later, they'll give up." "There's no need for the police." "They won't be able to deal with all the difficulties they'll have to face." "Here we go." "We are here." "Tomorrow we'll attack this curve, then there's this level part." "In a couple of days we'll have it fixed." "The Town announces that it will not pay for any expropriation to farmers in the case that their land is expropriated, or other properties of any kind." "It declares officially that it will take no responsibility for any expense that concerns the road." "Because this construction is both an abuse and illegal and done completely without the authorities' permission." "Work, keep on working!" "Now what?" "Now we go on like before." "Now even the stones know that nobody's paying us." "But how will we handle the farmers?" "When they come, I'll talk with them." "What is this X here?" "That's the cemetery." "Look, it's over there." "OK, but who's this in front of the cemetery?" "It's the house of one whose husband's in America." "For about five or six years." "A certain Katarina Pancrazi." " Ah, her." "That house has to go." " But.." "But how do you go to one and say:" ""Please, may I blow up your house?"" "Katarina would've heard the announcement." " You think so?" "The crier was loud and clear:" "lands, farms and all other property." "Then let's move the cemetery." "Now you want the dead to be against us too?" "No way, the dead shouldn't be touched." "If we take the land from the living, why can't we take it from the dead?" "That damn Emil really has left us in a heap of trouble!" "But when has a worker ever been sick for a week straight?" "Why, am I not good enough to fix our problems?" "If you didn't trust me, why did you make me boss?" "You made yourself boss, we didn't do it!" " That's right." "But there's Emil!" "Morning, Emil!" " Morning." " Morning." "Emil!" " Thank goodness you're back!" "That Big Mouth is terrible." "He wants to move the cemetery and blow up Katarina's house." "We can't work with him." "If you don't come back, we're leaving!" "You should've stayed at home, you'll just get sicker here." "I couldn't stay in that bed anymore." "Do you see how good the road's going?" "And look what I'm doing here." "See." "With these the ground'll be as smooth as a billiard table." "Where did you get all this wood?" "Angela!" "Dad!" "You could at least shave!" "Mom has written." "They put Ivo in a cast." "The doctors say it'll be a long recovery." "But will he heal?" "We don't know." "Mom says she's found work at the hospital." "That way, we can pay for the treatment." "Take it." "Make her understand that it's for her benefit." "She can make a profit." "The price of her land will rise with the new road." "If she brings up the announcement?" " Tell her that it's not true." "But.. this is crazy." "Yesterday, the mayor came to offer me jobs for 20 people." "Ah, then there is work!" "Yeah." "But only if we forget about the road." "Are you crazy?" "We won't be able to do it." "You heard the announcement." "They say that the farmers want to come here to kick us out." "Let them come, let them come!" "Today an announcement, tomorrow something else.." "and when will we finish it?" "You think we should refuse those twenty jobs?" "That's money." "At least those 20 will be able to keep going until Easter." "And who said, you have to refuse?" "Let 20 go there and let the rest work on the road." "Yeah, but it wouldn't suit the mayor." "Did it suit the Town when you started working on the road?" "And you see, they've already found twenty jobs." "I don't understand anything." " Yes, you do, Emil!" "If they offer us 20 jobs, then now is the time to continue." "Today it's 20 places, tomorrow it's everything and bing, bang, boom, they pay us for the road!" "Attention, attention!" "Listen to me!" "You should know that we've already achieved something." "And this is thanks to Emil." "He spoke with the mayor." "He's offering work for 20 people, pay upfront." "What kind of work?" " For how long?" "It'll last for a few months." "You'll have to do a little of everything:" "Repair our bell tower, go into the vineyards, clean the rows.." "Draw your names together and give them to Emil." "And so?" " She says we're crazy." "She says that the house is hers and she won't give it away to anybody." "But did you explain it clearly?" "Make her understand it all?" " Yes." "The Town crier explained it much better than we." "Want to know the truth?" "I think Katarina is right." "You'd blow up her house?" " With nothing in return?" "Nothing in return?" "Then you agree with the Town." "They won't give money to us and yet they'll give it for a house!" "I know who I'll send to her." "I'm always at the same place." "If there were only two stones alike!" "They're all different from each other!" " Don't get discouraged." "I'll never be able to learn a trade." "Look how Dad does it." "He's been doing it for 20 years and you think you'll learn it in a few days?" "With stones, one can read them like a book." "Here, look." "They also have their veins, like Christians." "To split a stone well, you must strike the largest vein." "Just like that." "An art is an art." "I've got a job for Lorenzo." "Come here a sec." "Listen.." "Do you see the vein?" " I don't see anything." "It's been six years since she's seen her husband." "You understand ?" "Fine." "Did you really have to send him to her?" "Who else then?" "Those ones." "But have you seen their faces?" "They look embalmed!" "See what can happen to a woman alone when her husband goes off to America?" "What are you looking at?" "Where you taking me?" "Hush." "Come on." " What's got in your head?" "Tonight, not now." "I'm tired at night." "As soon as I eat a piece of bread, I fall dead on the bed." "How beautiful you are!" "Beautiful!" "Let's have a baby." "You know that we can't afford it." "But if we don't have children now.." "How can we feed them?" "How?" "What's a woman without a child?" "Let's have a child, Bernard." "Just one!" "So, if you do go to America and I can't come at least I'll have someone." "Mom, Dad's come back!" "Dad, stop!" "Dad, wait!" "What did you bring me?" "I came here to see if anybody would give me some money, but they still can't pay." "You were beaten?" "Who had time to talk?" "She's a tiger!" "If you got hurt, that's a sign you should leave her be!" "I barely even saw her!" "Big Mouth!" "Big Mouth!" "Here comes the farmers!" " What, where?" " Down there." "Work, come on, work!" "Stop!" "Let's talk first!" "Don't do it!" "Let's reason this out!" "Stay calm, don't move!" "This is our land and nobody's to touch it!" "You want to ruin us?" "A half a meter of land never ruined anybody!" "You can't bully us!" "Do you know what the land means to those who work it?" "A piece like that produces at least 200 kilos of potatoes in November and 300 in October." "Look!" "I'm a farmer like you." "Here we found only stones, no potatoes." "And suppose I give you the land, what can you give me in return?" "The Town will pay." " What Town?" "Didn't you hear the crier?" "Sooner or later they'll have to pay us and you." "Liar!" "You just want to cheat us!" "Don't you understand that the road'll be good for you too?" "That when it's built, the trucks can come to the fields to load the olives?" "No one gives away land!" "If we extend the road, each of you will lose half a meter of land." "But how much do you gain if the trucks come to load up here?" "You're spared labor, time, effort!" "If we continue to do the math, it'll wind up with you paying us!" "The foremen inform the entire population and the town authorities that the farmers, instead of keeping the land, have given it to us as a gift to enlarge the road." "For this reason, the foremen express their deep gratitude to these deserving people." "# So many people," "I sent to you." "I received no answer." "In your bosom, lady, a heart of Judas." "In your bosom, lady, a heart of Judas." "You've deceived me and made me cry. #" "Katarina." "Mrs. Katarina!" "A good nap, eh?" "You're another one of those." "You come at this hour?" "Take off your hat!" "You're not at home." "This morning an infant and now one with a mustache." "The building must stop because of your stubbornness?" "Don't yell, you'll wake the baby!" "Today you've made a procession." "In any case, I'm not giving you the house!" "It may be a hovel but it's my home and I've nothing else." "Now, get out!" "I won't move from here till you hear me." " But how could you even imagine it?" "You, that look like a family man, go and explain what a home means to those bums." "They are not bums." "They're doing a good job for all as well as for you." "For me?" "Nobody has ever done anything good for me." "Beginning with my husband, who gave me two children and then went to America." "Forget about America, we're talking of the road." "I like the road the way it is." " What do you mean?" "So much so, that I'm going to walk on it now." "Wait!" "Stay and hear me for a moment." "They call me Big Mouth, but you won't let me talk." "I have no time." "What are you going to do with that?" " I'm going to cut wood." "Hurry, hurry up, it's late." "Just at this time, you must cut wood?" "I have other things to do later." " Let's rest for a moment." "I can't take another step." "I didn't ask you to come." "How much will you get for all this work?" "250, plus an extra 30 now that it's winter." "How do you manage to get by?" " I don't know." "At first, he sent me something." "Ten dollars a month." "It's been two years now since I received a penny." "Meanwhile, the children grow up, you have to feed them, clothe them, send them to school." "And who knows where he is." "The last letter he sent was from Detroit." "That's the advantage of being born now." "They want to leave.." "leave." "Leave your wife, leave your family." "I have no one." "I'm an orphan." "When I can do no more, I get up and look for work far away." "Do you know I speak French too?" "I have two sons, but I'm happy all the same." "I may be poorer than St. Francis, but I'll always find money to raise my kids." "Who knows how I'll do it?" "Yeah." "Who knows?" "There's the road." "It's twice as it was before." "Come on, let's go!" "For years, I wasn't so happy to be working." "Do you know, if it wasn't for the road, at this time, I would've already went away to other parts." "I think you're really nice." "Katarina!" "Why don't you come to work on the road as well?" "Women get 600 lire a day." "When do they give it to you?" " Soon, soon." "And for you, for you we'd pay for the house as well.." "in other words if.." "I must be sure of the money, I can't put myself at risk." "Wait, I'll take the ball." " Let's go there, on the grass!" "Come on, hurry!" "Today, I'm really hungry." "Shall we eat together?" "No.. if I'm not alone, I can't eat in peace." "May I?" " Who is it?" "A little surprise." "Morning." " Morning." "I have two eggs to be cooked." "May I come in?" "Please do." "Give it to me, I'll cook them." " Just give me a pan, I can do it." "There it is." "Filipo, Mariza!" "A little bit of oil, eh?" " Go ahead." "The other night you left your guitar." "I didn't know where to bring it." "The kids might break it." "For heaven's sake, without a guitar I'd feel naked!" "Écoutez.." "French." "I wanted to come to pick it up, but I don't like bothering people." "Eat if you like." "I look like an old maid!" "Let's go." "Since my mom died, I haven't been able to eat a good broth as it should be made." "What's the big deal?" "Just heat up a bit of water and the meat jumps right off." "I have no patience." "Do you know who that is?" " No." " That's the one that sets off bombs." "How come I've never seen him before?" "What class was your husband?" "He was of the 18th." " Oh, I see!" "When I got back, he was leaving." "Then the war broke out and goodnight!" "Eh, we're old, the years go by." "Do you know that.. do you know that I don't even remember you?" "What an idiot I am!" "When I was grown up, you were still a girl." "Do you always drink like that?" " Yeah, I beat everyone at it!" "A man who drinks too much for me is not a man." "What, you don't like a man that drinks?" "No." "When he drank, there was thunder in the house, everything went flying." "I don't!" "When I drink," "I fall in love." "Big Mouth!" "Big Mouth!" "Shoo, shoo!" "Big Mouth." "Hey, Big Mouth!" "The others have already started to work." "You had to choose my bed to rest on?" "Excuse me." "I haven't slept so well in ten years." "Katarina listen:" "I dreamt that your husband was dead." "Bad grass never dies." "Katarina, I.." "Yeah, yeah, go on, they're calling you." "Tonight, I'd like to show you my house." "I have an idea.." " Fine, fine." "Let's meet later in the field." "My house has many advantages over yours, Katarina." "As busy as I am, sometimes I don't even sleep here." "Houses are made to live in." " That's why I don't want to knock down mine." "But you would make this into a real house." "Look here." "Here you can put your animals." " I don't just have animals." "The children over there." "Here's where you can sleep." " Oh, you have wine there instead of saints." "It'd be too much of a sacrifice for you." " What sacrifice?" "Sooner or later the Town pays." "I give you my house and you give me the bond that's due to your home." "When the Town pays, I'll grab some money and go abroad." "I've gotten very bored staying here.." "alone." "Did you have to wake me up at this hour?" "If we don't do this now, she'll change her mind and stop the road." "A la guerre comme a la guerre." "We'll settle later, eh?" "Get out of the barn and take away the beasts!" "Oh, my husband!" "Have we forgotten anything?" "Not a thing, don't worry!" "You won't need the wood and straw." "Here, however, will be a blaze the whole countryside will see." "All will know of your great sacrifice!" "May God forgive me!" "Was this madness really necessary?" "Aren't you glad, we're changing house?" "You hush!" "I told you I let you stay only if you were quiet." "Oh!" "Let's go ahead." "Here's fine." "You two hide behind the wagon and don't move!" "It can be dangerous." "For heaven's sake, stand still." "Couldn't you do it with a pickaxe and ropes?" " You'll barely notice it." "Only one blast and no more worries." "How many things have happened here." "The marriage, children.." "I got it." "There." "But, where will you stay?" "I told you, I'll sleep at Emil's until his wife returns." "Go!" "Just like that." "God!" "Let's go." " No." " Let's run away now!" "Come on, let's run!" " No!" "Don't think about it anymore." "Why?" "Attention, attention!" "The complaint is clear." "Starting public works without permission from the Town authorities." "Illegal removal by means of mines of a house located near the cemetery." "The house was blown up with my consent." "I'll do as I see fit with my things." "With your things, yes, but not with a mine!" "You could've hurt some poor person." " We did everything responsibly!" "Nothing happened to anybody!" "You need a permit to use mines, and you neither had one to own or use them." "Nor did David Lena who gave them to you." "I built it myself." "I have here a list of those who have caused these disturbances:" "Cosma, Emil." "Lena, David." "Garri, Bernard." "Paternost, Donato." "Prast, Frano." "Bocca, Antonio." "Vertin, Carlo." "Come with us!" "What about me?" " You're a boy!" "Come on, hurry up." "Renata!" "Go to sleep at Angela's, don't stay by yourself." "It's my fault, I shouldn't have listened to you." "No." "Wait for me, Katarina, wait for me." "What will they do to you, Bernard, what will they do?" "It's probably a mistake, you'll see, they'll release us tonight." "Already, spring announces itself with its perfumes and its sudden downpours." "The men, cast down by what had happened, and the threat of jail over their heads, hardly leave their houses." "The land seemed inhabited only by women." "I take advantage of her father's absence and have her leave." "What else could I do?" "At least, she can put aside a few coins for her trousseau when she marries." "It's not shameful to be a maid in the city." "Now you come?" " I had stuff to do." "I'm sorry to leave, but five or six months will pass quickly." "You'll wait for me, right?" " But what will I do?" "When you come back, I'll already have left to be a soldier." "Then we won't see each other again?" "If I leave you free, who knows, you may find in the city one more serious than me." "One that has a job.." "I'm not good for anything." "Don't you see, they should've put me in prison?" "You talk like this ever since she has come around you." "You think I don't notice?" "Speak quieter, they can hear you." "I don't care if you go with her, even though she already has a husband." "Just be careful." "If David realizes it.." "What do I have to do with it?" "It's she who looks at me." "Don't cry." "Else, they'll think I've beaten you." "I'd like to leave you, because I don't want you to suffer." "I'd suffer more, if you let me." "But in the city there are so many!" "But I can only think of you." "Damn!" "Why was I made like this?" "At least, I could come to the city to find a job too." "Listen." "When you are a soldier, couldn't they send you to where I am?" "Heaven knows where they'll haul me." "Here, wear it on Sundays." "I recognize this, you know?" "It's your father's." "Really, have you forgotten the Hail Mary too?" "We can't pray anymore, our minds are elsewhere." "Come with us, you must help us!" "Let our men go free." "Our houses are empty, we no longer live in peace." "What have they done wrong?" "Is it a sin to work?" "We've always been good Christians, you can't abandon us now." "Let them come home!" "Good morning." "I'll have a little fun here." "Let me borrow it, so I can play with my friends." "You can keep it." "Go on." "He gave me the ball!" "The game made me thirsty, do you have some water?" "Stop it, let me go." " Wait till I tell you.." "With the door open, I can't drink." "Now's your time to learn." "Fine." "Don't you get jealous thinking of Rosa and all the young men in the city?" "Not at all!" "I only became engaged to Rosa on a bet." "Why?" " In order to spite her mother who didn't want it" "Your water is good." "Maybe because you drink from it too." "Where do you get it?" "Can I come too?" "At the bottom of the well." "When do you go?" "When there is none." "Before sunset, around five, six." "I don't like waiting in line." "He's good, leave him alone!" "Wait, what are you doing?" "They're children of prisoners, what can they learn?" "They'll come back to school, when you release our husbands." "We'll become an ignorant people, if you don't help us." "Let's go." "No.. not the children!" "It's about time you showed up!" "Did you forget you're our mayor?" "When you needed our votes, we were your children!" "If you don't release them, we're leaving this land right away." "Let's all go, this very day!" "We won't stay in a land where nobody wants to help us!" "Here we'll leave only the dead." "You'll be the mayor of a town of ghosts!" "We didn't put you in office to arrest our husbands." "Please withdraw the complaint, Mayor." "At least do it for our children." "It hasn't even been a week since Rosa left, and I'm already here with you." "Is she doing the same in the city?" "But you told me, you didn't care at all." "I have a weakness for women, you wouldn't understand." "I feel bad for her." "That's all." "But I do understand you." "Come here!" "We'd better leave." "Someone can come by any minute." "Wait." "Only now, you decide to be worried?" "If your husband ever finds out, he'll stab us." "Who knows when they'll release him?" "It's exactly that I can't deal with." "Him there and us here." "He wouldn't have such scruples." "I mean nothing to him now." "You don't know what he's made me suffer." "One time, he went away for six months with another woman." "One from the city, like me." "And you?" "At certain moments, I think I love him very much still." "But he changed when he brought me to the country." "Before, when we were engaged, he was a fine man like you." "He was working, he wasn't like this." "I shouldn't talk to you of these things, but.." "I'm fine with you here, believe me, but.." "I don't even know how to explain this." "Think about Rosa." "Don't worry." "Even in the city, girls like Rosa don't compromise themselves." "It's not just Rosa, it's everything." "What do you expect from me?" "I have neither skills nor talents." "I might become just like your husband." "Let's go." "Don't think about anything." "Do like I do." "Guess what, Bernard?" "I'm pregnant." "And now?" "Dad!" "Where's the baby?" " Waiting for you at home." "Did you sleep well at my house?" "Yes, but what about tonight?" "Where will you sleep?" "Tonight?" "Tonight, I'm grabbing myself one of those hangovers!" "Where's Mom?" "She didn't know you were coming home." "Look at the ball Lorenzo gave me." "Did they treat you badly?" "No, Mayor, indeed they ate every day!" "We didn't do this out of malice." "But you started blowing up houses!" "The Town should have blown them up." " Quiet." "That bend over there, shouldn't have been done that way." "It's too narrow." "He's right!" "The Mayor knows his roads." "I always said that he should be directing the work!" "The bend can always be corrected." "It just needs to go a bit on Baron Jacoviello's land." "Yeah.." "But you'd have to expropriate it." " Fine, we'll expropriate it." "But when you get to the river, there's also the bridge." "It'll be a tough job." "For us, nothing is tough." " And for the bridge we have him." "What about him?" "If David gives us a hand, the bridge'll be just like any other job." "At one time, he was in demand by the best companies." "The bridge is not a problem." "By this time, the road should've been done." "It'd be very easy for the government now." "We already finished almost half of it." "And they couldn't say no now!" "One more drink!" "And you, if you drink, will get taller." "I tell you that we must hurry instead." "In a couple of months, they'll finish the road and somebody else will get there before us." "But who?" "Look around you." "Who?" "They're all dying of hunger!" "Yeah." "But the wholesalers may come from the city." "And they'll organize for you the sale of olives, potatoes, fruit." "Look!" "Dad made it." "There, that's where I fell." "Yes, but now it is no longer dangerous." "Do you see how big and beautiful it is?" "We should go." "The train departs early tomorrow." "Will you come to me, Dad, when they take off my cast?" "But Dad must first finish the road." "Yes, yes, of course." "As soon as they give me my first pay, I'll come." "I'll pay the hospital and you can give up that job." "You're like a child." "Don't be so trusting, Emil." "We're poor, they roll over us as they like." "Wouldn't it be safer for you to go work in the country?" "The season will be good now." "The Mayor is with us now, at least you have to trust him." "I cannot resist you," "I have suffered too much." "I just get here and you.." "barely out of prison, start it up again." "As if we hadn't had enough trouble." "Did you come on purpose to fight?" "Let's not ruin this night we are together then." "Let's go home." "Now we need to get him a passport too." "Couldn't you have waited?" "If he's born on the ship, we won't have to worry." "Wait, wait!" "Are you crazy?" "Cover up." "I'll take that ladder and smash it." "Now you have to be careful." "If I fell down and died, what would you do?" "Should I leave?" "Yeah, go." "Now you can't go and work on the road anymore." "You have to be careful, and the work is way too hard." "Be we need the money, and it's for the ticket to America." "The baby's hope chest." " The hope chest already!" "But you see how many new worries are coming in all at once!" "Why get mad about it?" "I'm so happy." "How come we can't see anything yet?" "What are you doing?" " You're OK, right?" "You know, I would've waited for you even if you were in jail for 30 years." "I have to tell you something." "When we married, I didn't like you so much." "I only liked you when you laughed." "My Angela," "I only took you for that piece of land that was in your dowry." "But now.." "No, no!" "I want to see how my house looks with a woman inside." "Please leave, they saw you come in." "Do you want to compromise me?" "Katarina.., I would've liked you when I was twenty." "We'll have time to talk tomorrow." "It's late, go away!" "In prison, I thought only of you." "Be good, for heaven's sake!" "Please, get out, get out, please get out!" "Katarina.., where were you twenty years ago?" "Why didn't I meet you earlier?" "Would you have married me when I was twenty?" "I would've never let you go without." "If you want, I'll marry you then, as soon as I get the money for the road." "Don't say these things to me." "It only makes me despair." "Don't you think.." "your husband hasn't already taken another woman in America?" "Farmers are all alike." "As soon as they go abroad, they find another woman." "And that's why he doesn't write you." "If I'd left.." "I'd send you a telegram a day." "The years are passing, why do you want to waste them?" "When you take away love from a life like ours, what do we have left?" "All right, I get it." "Give me the guitar and I'll leave." "I can't talk with this wood in front of my face as if I were at confession." "Let me in for a moment." "I have to tell you something urgent." "If not I'll forget it." "I can't open it." "You know I can't!" "Who did you used to play with when you were a kid?" "How is it that we never never played together?" "What beautiful hair you have!" "Give me one of them." "# Katarina, Katarina.." "You are the heart of my soul.. #" "They released you?" "You're a bitch!" "You forget, don't you?" "For ten years you were the most envied woman here." "I gave you all, all!" "What more could I do than I've already done?" "What did you do?" "You've always taken all the lovers you wanted, yes!" "You've always done as you liked!" " Shut up, shut up!" "I want to leave, OK." "Let me!" "I stole!" "I stole for you!" "For me?" "You stole for yourself!" "You didn't go to work!" "Look at the others, look at Emil, look at Big Mouth: they're just as poor as you!" "Did they ever go and steal?" "Come on, come on, that's all you know!" "Mom, Mom!" "It's nothing, honey, it's nothing." "I'll stay here in the country because I've given my word." "But you watch out, don't let me see you again." "As if you've never seen me or known me." "Remaking the old bridge was the largest obstacle before arriving in the plain." "It was also the great attempt that all had been expecting from David." "Here come the leaders." "Good one, huh?" "Later, tell me another one!" "Big Mouth, is it true Katarina kicked you out of the house?" " Hello." "Morning, David." " We must level everything here." "We'll need to form a team of carpenters." "Me and Donato will start on the road after the bridge." "You can take the stones." " How come I get the stones?" "Only yesterday, I was your boss, you shouldn't treat me like this." "I've done everything myself so far." "What's this ingratitude?" "Emil!" " I'm right here." "I come on behalf of all the farmers." "There's not enough for the harvest, you need to give us a hand." "We can't pay you now, but we'll give you something." "Take twenty men." "Could you send us too?" " No, I need you." "We're going to need some young men." "He's right." " We'll begin right away." " Go, go." "If they make a monument to the road, they should put you lying just so." "I need to apologize for the other night." "I won't annoy you anymore." "It's the wine that puts bad thoughts in your head." "You shouldn't drink." "It's not the wine." "I'm always like that." "When will you return the key?" "What key?" " The key to my house, no?" "Seeing that things are this way." "I gave you the house cause I like you, but seeing that you don't want to.." "You're used to whores!" "What kind of job is this?" "I know how to do the other work." "A builder must be able to do everything, not only break rocks." "For the first day, you've done wonders." "Come on, by God, it's nothing." "We didn't need him." "I could've done it all by myself, you know." "Tonight I need a team to do a rush job." "OK, I'm there." " Me too." " What kind of job is it?" "I can't.." "I'm tired." "If Lorenzo's not going.." " Let's go." "See you tomorrow." "David!" " Huh?" "Don't you want to go to town?" " No." "With the streams one is never sure." "The scaffolding is still too weak." "I'll sleep down at the old mill." "If I'm not bothering you, I'll stay too." "I'm tired of sleeping at Emil's." "He's boring:" "He only speaks of his wife and work." "You're full of it like me, but you traveled too!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "What are you doing?" " No, Dad, don't!" "Go ahead." "What happened?" " Nothing, nothing." "He knows?" "He knows." "Go away, go away." " Go away, go away!" "What did he do to you?" "I want to know what he did!" " Go away!" "Nothing." " Leave my mom alone!" "I'll see you tonight?" " No." "But we need to talk." "I won't come back to the site." "Believe me, I won't anymore." "Look how unjust it is." "Two men, like you and me.." "to end up like this.." "without a home.." "like two orphans." "Old age!" "How do you like marriage?" "Does it suit you?" "I've never done it because the women need to be looked after." "But if I look after a woman, who's going to look after me?" "I'm spoiled!" "Eh, since she said that I mustn't drink, nothing, the wine stops here." "Let's go to sleep, go!" " I don't sleep." "Be it work on the bridge or love.." "I'm ready to drop from sleep." "Good night." " Good night." "Lorenzo!" " Lorenzo!" "We thought it over, we'll do that work." "Why not?" "What else can we do in the country?" "Fine." "Let's go." "We'd be cool if there wasn't a moon." "Even the moon looks like a stone." "Antonio says that it's inhabited." "He read it in the newspaper." " There'll also be military service." "If it's true that it's inhabited, then it'll have everything." "Just like us." "Cars, roads, bridges, wine." "Even women!" "Lorenzo!" "Would you like the strength to be able to split the moon with a hammer?" "Think how many women would fall on me!" "You cannot split the moon, but the earth, yes." "Seriously." "With the atomic bomb." "My boy, all it takes when they're testing it is to mistake the dose and everything goes back to before." "How was it before?" " What don't you know?" "Before the sea and the volcanoes were where they are now." "Emil explained it to me." " Why, where were they before?" "Somewhere else." "We lived under water." "He says that we weren't men." "What do you mean?" " We were fish." "Big Mouth told me that." "He heard it abroad." "If the war is being waged like before, you know how much work we'll have in this country?" " Why?" "We could manufacture cannon balls." "They say they're made of stone." " You've been hit too hard." "I think they won't call us to be soldiers anymore." "If they use bombs, what use would we be?" "Who knows how they make a million?" "Once, a friend of mine saw it." "He says it's paper." "I'm through." "A year ago we didn't even know how to hold a hammer." "When I come back from being a soldier, I'll make my own house." "Let's go." "Do you see?" "The farmers sent it to us." "And the wine?" "Is there no wine?" "David, take this." " I don't want anything from you." "Leave her alone!" "Lorenzo!" "Lorenzo!" "What happened?" " Leave me alone!" "Explain!" "I don't want fights at work." "It's his fault his wife gave him horns!" "Up until now, he's been a thief and now he comes here to play the hero." "Come on, Big Mouth, scrub it!" "I'm doing the laundry tomorrow, want to help?" "Get married, so you won't get pooped!" "I'd marry you, if you did my laundry every week!" "Where did you learn to wash like that?" "France?" "Be careful, you don't spoil your hands!" "Where are your women?" "If Katarina saw you, she would cry, poor thing!" "Do you know how to cook too, little lady?" "Tomorrow, I'll bring you an apron." "Trim your mustache, it doesn't look good on a lady!" "Show us that you are a man!" "What are you doing, are you hiding?" "How ugly you are!" "Ugly like a monkey!" "Wait, I want to sneak a look." " You crazy?" "Run, run!" "David, I'm telling you too, if she comes to work tomorrow, I'm out of here." "You didn't want the child earlier." "Don't you know something could happen to the baby?" "But what did your mother do?" "And mine?" "And his?" "They didn't stay at home." "They went to wash clothes, to pick olives." "They cut wood until the last day." "And we were born." "You must be the son of a lord, Bernard." " You see?" "You're old fashioned." "Has Rosa written you?" " She wrote yesterday." "I wonder why she doesn't write to me." "Do you write her?" " But I'm busy." "She's probably busy too." "Does she ask anything about me?" "Not even one word." "How am I, how I'm doing." "If the call from the army arrived." "What should I do?" "Write to her?" "You're asking me?" "You know what you gotta do." "Let's eat together." "Do it for the child." "You think he doesn't understand?" " Dad, I'm hungry!" "Sit down, I'll serve you." "It doesn't matter that you treat me like you did before." "I know that you suffer much, that's why I endure it all." "How's the bridge?" " I can't wait for it to be finished." "Then I'm leaving." "Dad!" "Mom wrote." " Really?" "Read it." ""My dear husband, I'm writing to let you know that in a few days our little Ivo will have his cast removed." "Hopefully he'll walk as well as before." "The doctors neither say yes or no." "My dear husband, if you were here, I would be more happy." "I'm worried for you, but I will always love you very much."" "Does she say so?" " Yes." ""I will always love you very much."" "Continue." ""When I receive a letter from you, I'm truly happy." "I feel like a girl again." "Write again, Emil." "And when you return home, let's not fight anymore, please." "Let's hope that all our greatest troubles end well for once." "Much health and kisses, Agneza your wife."" "She said, "Health and kisses"?" "No.." "Come on, let me see." "You're cold, I'll get some dry clothes." " No." "I'm going." "Dad, I'm coming with you." " Come on." "David!" "Go ahead." "Don't think I'm a coward." "I'm sorry for what happened, but I can't take this anymore." "Here!" "Kill me!" "Have you ever been to jail?" "I have." "I've been there, but always for little things." "It's easy, however, to stay there the rest of your life." "You see?" "Only a moment." "Then you go for twenty, thirty years." "And then.." "how do you kill another man?" "A little boy.." "like you, that still doesn't know what he wants." "Lorenzo!" "Lorenzo!" " Rosa!" "Rosa!" "Watch out for the boards!" "You mustn't return to the city." " I won't." "What did you do to your hair?" "Do you like it?" " No." "You look like a boy." "It's your fault." "You were always talking about city women." "All this time, I thought of you the way you were before." "And Susanna?" "I want to get married right away." " But you have to leave." "I will, but first I'll marry you." "They told me that you're leaving after the bridge is tested." " Yes." "But before I do, I come to speak to you to reach an agreement on all this." "I want to be at peace with you." "Where will you go?" "Far?" "Up north.., there's a friend of mine who has a business." "I wrote to him, he wrote back." "He said that he has a place for me." "A little work." "Enough to begin with." "Come on." "Don't cry." "You must find someone else." "I'll come every so often to see Mario." "You'll be better off." "These things happen and it wasn't your fault." "He's going to know whose to blame." "Is the testing dangerous?" "I hope not." "Good night." " Good night." "I'll tell you again, that thresher cost me two million." "Don't you forget that." " Be careful." "Nothing must happen to my oxen." " But what could happen?" "Nothing!" "It's a bureaucratic formality." "Hey, are you going alone?" "Yes." "Will the trucks be able to pass?" "If it holds a thresher, it may well hold a truck." "The critical point is in the middle." "It's going through right now." "My God, let's hope it holds." "Bravo David, you were just like Julius Caesar!" "Make way!" "Let's go." "Come and say hello to your wife." "Go on, David, embrace your wife, look how happy she is." "He still loves you." "The river was won." "David and Susanna left together for a more honest future." "But what fruits were brought by the summer sun to the men of our land?" "Here you'll see that to approach the sea, how necessary the goodness of one man is." "The state budget for this year has already been approved." "In the province, the whole country, there are so many other roads to do." "And then the government has the problems of pensions, war damage." "Speak out!" "Are they paying us or not?" "Tell us about the road!" "But the government has formally committed for the next year." "More couldn't be obtained." "Traitor!" "Cochon!" "Now we've finished the road, you're telling us there's no money?" "You knew there wasn't and you had us work anyway!" "That's how you look after us!" "You and the government wanted us to build the roads for free?" "I think it'd be good to resign." "We're fed up, go away!" "Never set foot here again!" "I ask the council here to please accept my resignation." "And what about me?" "Who'll give me back my house, huh?" "Who'll give it back?" "On behalf of the Town Council, I accept the resignation of the Mayor." "I declare the removal of his seat." " He should've been kicked out earlier!" "I think it was it all fixed!" "Surely, he was paid to act so." "It can't end like this!" "Open the door!" "They won't eat until the Town has found the money." "Who kicked them in the head?" "Where do they think they are, India?" "Sure, they're overdoing it, but put yourself in their place." "The few jobs of the season have already been taken by others." "If you take away the road from them, they go back to sitting on the bench." "Take it away, it's hot." " Doctor's orders:" "It must be hot." "Emil told me:" "they'll will die all together but at least you'll know why." "They really hope by making some noise, their actions will make the newspapers." "They want a scandal." "They are desperate." "Desperation has never done anyone any good." "Why do you go on so?" "My brother has nothing to do with it." "It's not your fault." "You mustn't worry." "Go to them, talk to them." "Today, you're no longer just their teacher, but their new mayor." "Bernard, Bernard, where are you?" "Are you crazy?" "Where's Big Mouth?" "Why isn't he here?" "Dad!" "Dad, why don't you answer?" "Antonio, get out now!" "Your daughter is getting married tomorrow." "Dad, I'm not getting married without you!" "Lorenzo is waiting for you to sign the papers." "If we want money, we must continue to work." "And if you don't come out, we'll have to go it alone!" "Open, open!" "Do you intend to stay down here much longer?" "Until the problem with the road is resolved, Mayor." "We need to make a scandal!" "Take it to the newspapers!" "This is the only way we can be heard!" "If it's in the papers, the government must give way." "Then I'm staying here too." "I will fast like you." "We'll see who has the harder head:" "You or me!" "My God, what are you doing?" "You're sick, you can't!" "Go, Matilda." "Go." "What are you doing on my land?" "I'm rebuilding your house." "I'm putting it back." "I was sure that the money was coming." " You found a good excuse." "You wouldn't know what to do without food and drink." "I'm fasting." "I drink water and nothing else." "Wine, I eliminated altogether." "There's Angela." " You see angels everywhere." "Agneza!" "You're back." "Must I always find you behind bars?" "And Ivo?" "Dad, I can run too." " Really?" "Go on!" "Come out." "Come home." "Let's see if you can listen to me at least once." "You can't leave them there." "Go there, convince them it's crazy and that.." "But think, Matilda, they're right." "They're right to want the scandal." "You can't work for glory." "I gave them the stones, the earth." " Millions and millions." "And I've fed them all these months." "I swear, if I didn't have this dilation of the stomach," "I'd be down there as well." "But you can't leave my brother there." "He's old, at least do it for him." "What do I care about the others?" "They can do what they want." "But him, he's very ill." "You know it!" "Who knows those that built this country how many days of work they got from us?" "Centuries." " But how?" "Centuries to make four houses?" "They weren't made all at the same time." "The first of our families.." "made the castle." "Those who came after made the church, and your grandparents.." "made the Municipality." "Even in ancient times, there were four pennies to.." "to make something in this country." "Eh, it's an ancient evil." "Then what are we doing in here?" "He didn't say that evil must always go on." "Donato, are you awake?" "Let's talk a little." "I'm really hungry." "How about you?" "You know what I'm thinking?" "When we are dead the two of us," "Julio from Philadelphia and Stipe, the priest, there won't be anybody in the country who knows how to put up a wall in a professional way." "You remember how much time it took us to put up that skyscraper in New York?" "It was never finished." " How time flies." "It seems like yesterday." "Just a little.." "and then we must die." "And Antò, do you still remember your American?" "A few words." "Work." "Woman." "Money." "Eat." "Love." "Shoes." "Marry." "Strike." "I also knew shirt, but I have forgotten it." "Hey, Antonio!" "Is it true the Americans drive to work?" "Yeah, probably." "But I always went on foot." "Where are you going?" "I need to.." "I must go in a hurry." "Hey!" "Catch me!" "Quiet, they'll hear you!" "How did you get in here?" "You've been here for two days and yet you haven't noticed the other door!" "Did you recognize the whistle?" " I'm no idiot!" "Look what I brought you." "What's in there?" "Are you hungry?" " Yes, I'm hungry." "Come on, eat." "No, I can't." "Nobody'll see you." "If you shouldn't do something, then you shouldn't do it." "Even if nobody sees you." " Oh, come on!" "Where is it?" " In the valley." "They're always having a feast there." "You know what?" "I did the math." "If this fast goes well, we'll book the ticket for you!" "Yeah, but don't forget that this is coming in a few months." "Children, hunger, there can't be anymore of it." "Do you mind if I eat this?" "The more I eat, the bigger he gets." "Angela..," "I always fear that he'll be born with some defect." "I worry about it day and night." "Don't forget the little fingers!" " Now I'm forgetting the little fingers!" "It's not that I don't trust you, but.." "with all these terrors that you feel because of me." "Let him be all he should be." "Two eyes, a nose.., a mouth and a heart and.." "And?" "Don't give me a female or I'll kill you, OK?" "I'll do anything you want, but now you're coming home with me." "The humid air will make you sick." "Come." "If you don't come with me, I won't come anymore." "No, Angela, I must do like the others." "She's beautiful your daughter, Antonio." " Lorenzo is too." "Rest a bit." " No, I won't." "Congratulations!" " You're getting old!" " Congratulations, Antonio!" "You should go out." "Go out and come back." "No, it really wasn't anything special." "Not even a little refreshment." "How do you have the heart to stay here!" "Don't your families mean anything to you?" "Your son returns, you stay here." "You don't even go out to greet him." "Rosa gets married and you act you don't know her." "What ideas did you get in your heads?" "Who put them there?" "When you were a child, I taught you to trust." "I taught to always believe in life, in laws!" "You knew only the children and not the men." "You let go of these men ten years ago." "And the others 30?" "Or 40?" "When these left the country.., family, friends to go to America.." "you weren't with them!" "You weren't with them on the skyscrapers of New York or the mines of Belgium!" "You said that we have no heart." "Maybe." "But what do we have that's different from you?" "Look at us well." "When I and them wake up in the morning and we see the money we have isn't even enough to buy food for the day, and we go to beg for a day's work, a single day's work," "you are not there!" "You don't know us." "Then how can you judge?" "By the law, by only that I judge you!" "For you there is no law!" "No respect." "You think only about money, only about money!" "But there are other things in life." "You taught us to read and to write, we ought to be grateful." "But what use did it serve?" "If you don't have any money, you won't be able to buy even the paper." "And all in my life, I could only allow myself to read four books." "Good Luck!" "Come on, the bus is waiting for us!" "When I went into the military, there was a war." "You're more lucky." "If the money comes, put it aside." "This way, we'll have it when we come back." "We have to leave just as we were beginning to learn something." "If they put you with the engineers, they will always find a wall for you." "True." "Now go." "Listen to me:" "On Sundays, don't waste your time on girls." "Now the city builds with many new methods." "Study them well." "That's how I learned to work with concrete." "Go!" "And grow a mustache!" "If I don't like it, I'll run off." "Goodbye!" "Who destroyed the wall?" "In the evening I left it in place and now it looks like it was bombed." "What do you care?" "It was probably the spirits from the cemetery." "This place is small." "Come outside, so you're more comfortable." "Take this egg, friend." "Dad, come on, you'll die of hunger." "Mom is waiting for you." "Now listen to me well." "That part of the woods, your grandpa stole from the Town it's time to pay it back." "I also made checks on the taxes." "This time I will go all the way!" "If you still want the duty contract, you must pay the Town two years in advance." "And the taxes you'll pay up to the last penny!" "Here!" "Here is everything." "For twenty years you've cheated the Town." "You've taken advantage of government funding." "You've always trafficked with the Town's property." "You did the least you could as mayor." "The job was only a way for you to meet people." "To make you seem more important, to help improve your business." "Now you'll take the responsibility too." "I have a booklet in the bank, forty years of savings." "350 thousand lire in notes." "I put them at your disposal." "And you?" "The road.." "came almost.." "up to the end.." "with a lot of sacrifices." "There were ten months of work." "There were days in jail." "Can you abandon all that you've done, just because the money hasn't arrived yet from the government?" "We need to ask them again and this time we'll get it." "I assure you that they'll give it to us." "But in the meantime, we can't let those people die of hunger." "With all that has happened, not even one reporter came." "But it's better that way." "Better!" "Better because it would've been a shame for us, for the whole country that foreigners were to see that we weren't capable with our own efforts to lift our people up." "Let's lift this shame off our backs but let's do it now." "Because the hungry can't wait." "Everyone give what he can." "This was what I wanted to tell you." "And I told everybody, each and every one of you." "Even if I didn't use names." "Because you know who can give.." "and who cannot." "And who has already given enough." "It's you, eh?" " No, leave me alone." "Now confess!" "You want to.." "hit me?" "I knew you were capable of hitting a woman." "I rebuild your house and you knock it down." "Then you really won't see me." "You want to rebuild the house so.." "you can throw me out of yours." "Me?" "Ah, me?" "No, I'm fine where I am." "Katarina!" "Don't think that now the sacrifices are behind you." "The money is little and you have to make do." "At least until the government realizes its mistake." "The salary will be what it will be." "But the important thing is that it will be." "Now.., go and eat." "Surely, you have a big appetite by now." "Thank you." " Get some rest now." "Good night." " Good night." "Do you need me?" "Good night." " Good night." "Goodnight, Don Remigio." "Matilda, are you sure he's OK?" " Yes, yes, he's just tired." "How many people!" "Let me open this to get out a bit of smoke." "Never have so many people come since you returned from the war with that medal." "How these men smoke!" "It seems like a fog." "All those big and strong hulks!" "They can't give themselves airs with us, can they?" "We remember them when they were all so high." "The first class, then the second, the third, the fifth.." "and then afterwards.." "you lose sight of them." "But just look what they reduced this study to." "This is not the way to come into other people's houses." "Now it's better to close it." "How did you never lose courage?" "I had you and the children." " I helped you so little." "Agnes, now we are old." "Soon they'll ask to get married." "And tomorrow, if they say:" "It's not true at all." "You have to begin the road all over again." "What would you answer?" "All over again with you?" "With all that happened to me:" "the house and the rest." "Why not?" "I've restarted so many times." "You take her a while." "It's as if she were only my daughter." "I struggled for a year to feed a female." "But really, you're obsessed with your females!" "Who got you out of jail?" "Who did the road while you were playing the idiot down there?" "Give her to me!" "Tomorrow, what will I do?" " What do you mean?" "You see, the road is over." "I got used to working every day." "And now what do we do?" "It doesn't matter now we have the visa for America." "America?" "It's not like the draft which expires." "It can wait." "Town of Zagora Road Construction" "It's probably a fancy, but now the valley seems nearer to me." "Even the factories, even the sea." "If you listened to me, the road could be shortened by one kilometer." "The tobacco's here." "When the money is finished, we begin again to make cigarettes with the leaves." "At the new elections, we want you to be mayor, Emil." "But you'll have to let us earn enough money for cigarettes." "Yes, yes!" "With us you won't even have time to sleep." "What's that one doing?" "Bernard, what are you doing?" "Emil, if we make you mayor, think about it!" "There are nine roads that need to be done!" "I counted them all." "One that leads to the fountain." "One that leads to the forest." "One that leads to the pass." "And one that leads to the countryside." "In the meantime, I'll begin that one tomorrow!" "Remember, that a female is not enough." "You can't say that hope exists, and you can't even say it doesn't." "Just like the streets that cut through the earth." "At the beginning there were no roads on the earth:" "they were formed only when many men have traveled the same path." "Lu Hsun" "END Subtitles by sineintegral@KG"