"Calais, France" "Hey, you!" "You going up there?" "I'm headed for the jailoo of Tarass." "Must be that way." "Tie your bag on!" "ls it far?" "No, not very!" "You run as fast as my horse!" "You've still got sea legs on dry land!" "Yourjailoo must be that way." "I'm going this way." "Hi!" "What are you looking for?" "Nothing. ls the jailoo still far?" "Depends which jailoo!" "The one where Tarass lives." "I don't know any Tarass!" "But there's the jailoo of Arkjouze." "You go up that way for about 20 minutes." "Hello!" "Hello!" "I'm looking for Tarass." "Go over there." "Good afternoon." "I'm looking for Tarass." "Tarass?" "He's no longer here." "He left this world long ago." "Tarass was my father." "True, you look like him." "Jamila's son..." "How is she?" "She died in Novokazalinsk, 10 years ago." "So you're a sailor?" "Not anymore." "Amira!" "Come look!" "Where are you from?" "The West." "Who are you running from?" "From no one." "Did you kill anyone?" "Not yet!" "Do you have kids?" "Are you going to stay?" "Here's the boss of the jailoo, Mansur, my husband." "What's going on here?" "He's the son of Tarass!" "Help him." "If you want you can work here." "We need strong arms right now." "Thanks." "I'll be back." "Uljan, go home!" "Your man is drunk." "He's screaming that he'll gut you!" "Where's my dinner?" "I'm starving!" "That bitch spends all day reciting her damn poems!" "He can go to hell!" "Are you crazy?" "You'll see!" "When your husband comes back, I'll tell him everything." "You'll get thrashed." "You dirty rat!" "Poisonous snake!" "Scram!" "You with your beady fish-eyes!" "Stop flapping your useless fins!" "Come!" "Don't resist me!" "Get a taste of a real man!" "Stop it, Askar!" "Or I'll tell Shamshi!" "Out of the way!" "Get going!" "That wretch doesn't scare me!" "In the morning, when I see Uljan, I pity her!" "Even a sparrow would honor her more!" "Uljan." "Who goes there?" "is it you, Mansur?" "is that you, the bastard son?" "Really, who is it?" "Another one?" "l'm fine." "Look, foxgloves ..." "Pure poison." "Someone'll die!" "How could I have married such a wicked tyrant?" "Not a day goes by that he's not drunk!" "O heavens, free me from that angry husband!" "I shake when I hear his voice." "If only the day could have no sundown." "Heavens, if you have pity on me." "Send him to his eternal rest!" "If you wish to keep my love for you, shoot that bad husband, or I shall renounce you?" "Don't cry." "I'm sick of it. I'm sick of this life." "I can't take it anymore!" "I must leave this place!" "Shamshi!" "What a nice surprise!" "Today we are celebrating my new baby." "Nothing changes here." "Who hit you, this time?" "Tell me." "When I'm better, I'll take care of that bastard!" "You bet he will!" "How is everything, Father?" "How is everything, my son?" "My nephew is becoming a real tribesman!" "The young foal has grown tall!" "Soon it'll be time to send you to Koranic school!" "We wish you lots of happiness." "Show her to us." "May God bring herjoy, and good health to you." "Be blessed." "Here's the lamb!" "Shamshi, we don't see you often at a feast!" "It looks nice and fat." "Even paid, I wouldn't fight in that war." "I'd rather do business." "Here!" "You're offending us!" "What's the matter with you?" "Allah doesn't listen to those who drink vodka." "Enough!" "Leave Allah alone today." "If you don't drink, Allah won't hear you!" "Today is a feast day!" "Come on, just one!" "My husband is tired." "He needs rest." "Who asked you?" "Give me one!" "Another!" "Shamshi doesn't even look at you any more." "Can't you see?" "He has changed!" "He only thinks of that war." "Their dirty money isn't happiness!" "He only loves Allah." "Now his life is over there." "But I'm his wife!" "He doesn't want me, I'm ashamed." "That's why you're so sad!" "Look around you." "There are nice young men everywhere." "I wish you were the eagle from the sacred mountain." ""lf you'd mark me with the seal of your love"." ""Oh how fine my fate would be"." ""And I'd love you. until sunrise..."" ""until sunrise..."" "Can't you shut up, you viper!" "Can't someone else sing instead of her?" "I hear that everyday at home." "Spare me that on this feast day!" "Shut up!" "Stop bothering us!" "Your wife amuses me." "She's also very cute." "Whereas you, you chatter like an old wild boar." "Temur, come help us!" "Don'tjust stand there." "Shamshi can't even raise his head." "Get up!" "I've got things to do." "Come along!" "Wake up!" "Everything's fine." "Wet wood doesn't burn." "He drank too much vodka." "Don't count on him." "We'll see." "Leave us." "Shamshi..." "Shamshi..." "Shamshi..." "My bad boy." "You hear me?" "Make a woman of me!" "Go on." "Go on." "Go on!" "I beg you!" "He should have been on his knees for her!" "She took his hand so sweetly." "Even the animals held their breath." "That smelly scumbag, impotent and deaf!" "That blind donkey, he noticed nothing!" "That's what I told you, you've fallen in love." "But remember, she's another man's wife." "The Sea of Aral ate up your brain, comrade." "Shut up!" "Come on, Temur." "Leave me alone!" "That asshole." "So, is it done?" "I must milk the mares." "You won't make me drink again!" "You're all impure!" "No more vodka here again!" "Never!" "Fear the wrath of Allah!" "Shame on you!" "You're the drunkard!" "What did you say?" "Drunkard!" "Drunkard!" "Drunkard!" "He was the leader of our sworn enemies!" "The greatest tyrant of all times!" "On our way to reach Almabet from the top of the mountain we saw him as we paid a last tribute to Anake!" "Then our enemies came down the hill." "Our valiant Kirghizes decided to face them!" "The battle raged against those vile barbarians." "When our heroic Manas smote the proud tyrant" "Konourbai fell like a stone and bit the dust!" "Your turn!" "On this legend was our nation founded!" "By singing it, our future is safe, unless we hand it down, our nation will lose its soul!" "Sit down, you fool!" "Respect Manas!" "Don't do that!" "Do what I do, slowly." "Look into the distance." "Because Manas was like a roaring lion." "Don't flap around!" "Want some tea, yes or no?" "Behave!" "Just serve me!" "Here!" "Leave!" "Get out!" "Get out!" "You strike your mother!" "Just like your father!" "You're only a woman!" "You must respect your son!" "And you too, no doubt?" "I'd like to bury you alive." "I'm ashamed that you're the father of my children!" "Let go of me!" "No!" "Help!" "Mansur, help!" "Mother!" "Mother!" "Mother, don't leave us!" "Run." "Run away!" "Uljan?" "Uljan?" "Uljan!" "Mother!" "Open the roof, so your mother's soul can escape!" "Uljan, my sister!" "My star, you have gone out." "No longer will you see the vast wonders of the world." "Let a woman go with her!" "Take me along!" "She's like my sister!" "My sister!" "My sister!" "My sister!" "Don't leave me at their mercy." "You hear me?" "Don't leave me!" "Don't abandon me." "I'm lost without your sweetness." "I beg you!" ""Men with a heart of stone are the most cowardly." "They fear not banishing us from this earth."" "Where is the lover who'll come for me and sweeten my life?" "O my love, from beyond the mountains." "Look up at the moon and you'll see and you'll see that I await you standing on the roof." "You whore, don't touch my children!" "I know it was you who turned me in!" "You're just like that witch Uljan!" "Mansur, make my sister take my kids far from this cursed place!" "I'll catch up with you!" "Let go of me!" "Temur!" "Temur, how are you?" "You and Amira will take our goods to town." "Askar and Erofei used to do it." "Take the milk to the market, and the medicinal herbs, the carpets, and the dried felt, and sell all of it." "If you go to Balatchi market, that's further, ask Erofei to take you in his truck." "Father, I don't want to leave Taib behind." "Why?" "Taib has grown." "He can be useful to us." "He'll learn things, and I hardly know the big town." "My husband's always away at war, they'll think he's my son." "This request honors you!" "Taib!" "Listen to me." "You'll always obey Amira." "From now on, she'll be your father and mother." "Where's Taib?" "Taib?" "Your endless shriek tears the silence." "A sunbeam reveals a devastated land." "Soldiers haunt your dreams and hold you in their arms and come back every spring after bidding you farewell." "Yesterday you were still among us, today, all trace of you is gone, and you who burn in the flames, beg God to forgive you." "Forgive you." "You fought in Afghanistan?" "Yes." "For a few months, then I deserted." "It wasn't my war." "For two years I roamed all over this earth and wound up here." "And you?" "Were you in the war?" "From your eyes, I can tell you weren't." "They show a different weariness." "Temur!" "Temur!" "In Naryn, there's Internet." "I can surf!" "You know, my teacher is hoping" "that next year we'll have it at school." "Internet is like the Tengri." "It's a giant spider's web where people can see and talk to each other." "Come here!" "We have the best eggs, the best milk, the best butter!" "Just for you!" "Milk, butter, kumis ... lt's all delicious!" "Ma'am, how much is the kumis?" "15 soms for this one, that one is 10." "We have the best kumis." "All the others are undrinkable!" "Hello, how are you?" "Fine!" "You came to sell your fresh kumis?" "How is your wife?" "Fine. ls your baby due soon?" "My nephew!" "Good boy, you're helping your aunt." "Don't forget!" "School starts again September 1 ." "Be ready, OK?" "Sure." "I have to move on." "What's wrong, Amira?" "Why do your eyes pierce me like daggers?" "How dare you speak to me?" "You're here to work, so work!" "You know I only stayed for you." "For me?" "What a liar!" "You sailors are all alike!" "A woman in every port!" "Go back to your Natalia." "Disappear from my life!" "Natalia was my wife." "We had a child." "Go back to her!" "Hurry!" "lmpossible." "And why is that?" "They're dead, Amira." "Three years ago." "Killed by the Sea of Aral fever." "First, my son, then Natalia." "I buried her with my own hands." "The whole village died." "And I ... became a sailor without a sea or a ship." "But Tengri didn't want me." "I traveled far and wide. ln Europe." "Forgive me!" "You made me want to live again, Amira." "Taib?" "You love Amira like a sister?" "Then keep what you saw, to yourself!" "Don't tell anyone." "What do you mean?" "I saw nothing." "Drink." "Love flows from my heart like a stream of gold." "Flows my love like a stream of gold." "So does it flow, that it overwhelms me." "This new fellow is not so bad, huh?" "He knows many things, right?" "He tells me about the Sea of Aral, about oceans, Asia, Europe ..." "He speaks French, even sings in it." "That's what you like about him?" "Of course." "Knowing other countries, other people, must be wonderful." "Be careful, Amira." "Don't move!" "I'll be right back. I'm fast." "I don't get it." "What are you doing here?" "Come!" "Fast!" "Fast!" "Let's go!" "Sit down!" "What's going on?" "This wasn't the deal, guys!" "We'll be OK." "I got the money." "No problem." "The Chinese stuck a whore on me." "I didn't fall for it." "Can you take us?" "Get in, we'll all snuggle up." "OK, acrobats, get in fast!" "Aunt, do we stay outside?" "Yes, my puppies." "Mom's gone forever." "Put him under his mother, I'll get the other." "What?" "Do you know who I am?" "Out of my way, brat!" "Hey, little brat!" "What's all this?" "Scram!" "Hey, Taib!" "Why are you here?" "Askar will rat on Temur." "He's become suspicious." "Don't worry." "Askar is a coward." "He'll do nothing." "He's afraid of his own shadow." "I'm scared too." "Little mother, come back from up there." "Mother!" "Mother, come back!" "Go to sleep." "Sleep, my little orphan." "Get out of our way!" "Go away!" "Where are you going?" "To bring in the animals." "Come here." "Come beside me." "Want some milk?" "I won't leave again." "My war is over." "You'll never be alone again." "Are you pleased?" "l must get the animals." "Come closer!" "Never alone again." "Understand?" "Are you pleased?" "Now you'll wear the veil!" "So you're only mine!" "My beauty, where are you going?" "Shamshi!" "Shamshi." "Let go of me!" "Move!" "Let go of me!" "Shamshi!" "Go get your son!" "We'll calm down this bitch in heat!" "Shamshi." "Shamshi." "Raissa, save me from your son!" "The song may have a pretty tune, but the lyrics aren't right." "Shamshi shouldn't be my son." "You shouldn't have been his wife." "Taib shouldn't be an orphan." "Temur should have been a lord, not a vagabond." "We must write new lyrics for the song." "What do you think?" "Thanks." "Thanks, little mother-in-law." "There's a fire over there!" "It's Temur's hut, Mansur!" "Since you're headed that way, take these to your parents, they'll need them in winter." "And this pipe for their stove, it was mine." "There are none up in the mountains." "Take care of yourselves." "Good luck!" "Don't get lost on the way!" "Bye!" "Amira!" "Who's he?" "You're mad to come here with a stranger!" "He works with me in the jailoo." "Really?" "And he strokes your hair?" "And kisses you?" "What will people say?" "Where's your husband?" "He died in the war?" "No, he's alive!" "This is for you." "That's very good!" "It's just what we needed." "This'll be handy." "I want no part of it!" "It's a gift from Erofei." "Ourjailoo wants to buy horses from you." "My in-laws are counting on you." "Amira, how can we believe you?" "You want horses to flee with him!" "You'll run away and then both our families will quarrel." "We can't repay your dowry!" "I'm your daughter." "Have you forgotten?" "Amira!" "We're alone, without children." "Or grandchildren." "You left to get married with our blessing." "We're not rich!" "Here, I worked as hard as ten people!" "You forgotten that?" "It was you who sold me!" "My daughter, at the time, life was hard." "Father, you haven't offered kumis to your visitor!" "We want two horses." "I can pay, I have money." "Two good horses." "We'll sleep here tonight." "The steppes are vast, no?" "They belong to everyone." "What's gotten into you?" "My parents never denied me anything." "But last winter was very hard, all their livestock died." "They gave you life." "I forgive them everything." "My love." "My love." "My love." "My love." "My love." "No one will give us shelter now." "We'll build a place far away from here, Amira." "They were seen near the Ak-sun pass." "I heard they headed south." "Forgive my mother, she only hears what suits her." "They headed north." "They're with her parents." "They'll spend the winter there, for sure." "They only have one horse." "We understand your pain." "This crime will not go unpunished." "Four of us can settle this fast." "You're only good at catching fish!" "Even crows make fun of you!" "Hey, crows, laugh, laugh!" "You're right." "I'm with a man who can't even catch a rabbit!" "Stop it!" "I'll stop." "Hulugu is a friend." "Who are you?" "What are you doing here?" "Hulugu, it's me, Amira, Arkjouze's daughter." "Don't you remember me?" "You can't stay here!" "Here." "You'll get hungry on the road." "Put this on your head." "If that idiot Shamshi shows up, I haven't seen you and your fake husband." "Get going!" "Watch out!" "Taib!" "Temur" "Taib!" "Temur" "How did you find us?" "Amira!" "I dreamt of Hulugu's falcon." "It led me here." "And?" "Shamshi, Askar and two men from Ulema are looking for you." "But the truth is," "Amira, I can't live without you!" "Lucky the woman who loves you when you're a man!" "Taib, you must finish school." "You can't come with us." "We can take him as far as the dam." "I don't want to return to the jailoo." "I want to travel." "Go to France, sing of my country's legends." "You're dreaming." "You'll only get to sing in the Paris metro." "Metro?" "What's the metro?" "A train that runs under the ground." "How do you know that?" "The Aral Sea dried up." "So I left for France." "For France?" "Tell us!" "I did lots of little jobs." "One day in the metro in Paris, I was arrested like a thief." "Then what?" "I ran away to Normandy." "I followed the shore, to a town called Calais." "I wanted to go through the tunnel under the Channel." "I was with Kurds, lrakis, Kazakhs." "And in the empty streets" "every night we wandered like dogs." "And then I was worn out" "and was back to square one!" "Now we must think of our future." "I want to look ahead." "Tell me what do you plan to do?" "Where to tomorrow?" "What will become of us?" "Tell me." "I don't know." "What?" "You don't know?" "You have no idea?" "No." "You want me to end up like your wife?" "Amira..." "Temur is gone!" "He's not here any more." "Tracks of horses." "Where were you?" "I looked everywhere!" "You forgot me!" "You left me all alone!" "I ran away from the jailoo, because of you, silly!" "Because of you, you hear?" "What are you looking at?" "Don't look at me like that!" "I was afraid for you." "I thought the wolves had got you." "You're silly!" "Where were you?" "I looked for you everywhere!" "I didn't know where you were!" "I looked everywhere!" "Everywhere!" "Where were you?" "Why are you silent?" "You have no heart!" "The road is long." "Be careful." "Alone, it's less risky." "Stay here, I'll go." "I can talk to horses." "They'll listen to me." ""My bad boy"!" ""l give you my heart and I take wing"." ""Temur the Great has taken my soul"!" ""He'll become the beads around my neck"!" ""l'll cradle him on..."" ""l'll cradle him on the tips of my breasts"!" ""He loves me so much that he'll devour my mouth"" ""and never be quenched"!" "You prayed!" "You drank!" "Your wife's a pain in the ass!" "Amira!" "Yuri Gagarin" "I'm freezing." "Where shall we go?" "I'm scared." "Don't worry, we'll be fine." "What happened?" "What happened?" "Where are the horses?" "We lost them." "We were attacked!" "By two dozen armed men while we slept!" "They swooped down on us like jackals!" "What's this nonsense?" "You idiot!" "Temur is too smart for you!" "Shut up!" "You'll never find them again!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Askar!" "What?" "That's enough!" "Take him far from here." "Hide him, take him to his uncle." "Let's go!" "Get out." "Hurry!" "We've reached the border, we'll leave you here." "Here?" "Where can we go?" "I want no trouble." "Go that way." "That's where all the migrants cross." "The further we go, the more the mountains recede." "You're right." "Are we there?" "Tomorrow the sun will shine." "And it will warm our hearts." "I'm not tired. I feel fine." "But I need to sleep a bit." "Come on!" "Don't lose heart, Amira." "Don't be afraid, my love." "Don't fall asleep!" "Don't be afraid, we have nothing to fear." "Amira?" "Amira?" "Amira!" "Amira!" "Don't fall asleep!" "Amira." "Amira." "Amira!" "Amira!" "Amira!" "Amira..." "Amira..." "Amira..." "The end"