"The times were hard, but they were modern." "Italian proverb" "Hello Mr. Milos." "How are you this morning?" "It's OK." "You look well, don't you?" "It looks like summer suits you." "Do you want me to read for you?" "There's your tea." "This morning we came across fresh human tracks, they were all pointing in the same direction we were taking in the Brazilian virgin jungle, in the western sector of the Amazon river basin." "In front of me, the guide walks on a plane with a fast pace." "A pleasant change after the steep hill sides by which we have advanced with difficulty during days." ""Surely, we are the only people who have passed this way, " he says." ""Us, and the Indians. "" "Our column of 34 men advances in silence in a row that gets lost in the forest." "You can only see one or two men at a time." "The rest of the committee has been swallowed by a curtain of branches that, as a heavy anaconda, hangs thirty meters..." "Hey, tuck your legs in, man." "Are you sad?" "Yes." "Don't be sad." "It is sad." "It doesn't have to be sad." "There are things which are sad." "They don't have to be." "Some things have to be sad." "I love artichokes." "They're flowers, aren't they?" "No, they're buds." "The flower comes afterwards, it is a kind of monster..." "a violet monster." "In fact, Pliny, the Elder considered them a monstrosity of nature." "He ate them anyway." "All the Romans ate them because they believed them to be aphrodisiac." "Last night I dreamt of a piece of butter melting in the sun." "That doesn't mean anything." "I have to go." "You haven't finished your artichoke." "I don't have time." "You're leaving the best part." "You eat it, OK?" "Yes?" "Jimenez, I'm on my way." "Have you heard the news?" "No, what new s?" "Your company doesn't want to accept our conditions." "There you have it." "I didn't know." "I'm not part of the company, Vargas." "I'm under contract, just like you." "No... not like us." "That's why I'm telling you, so you know." "What are you planning to do?" "We gave them an ultimatum and if they don't listen, we go on strike." "Do you feel OK?" "My wife left me." "There are worse things, Don Tristan, much worse." "See you tomorrow." "Walter?" "Walter!" "Son of a bitch." "Excuse me?" "See where we meet, Walter." "You thought you'd never see me again." "You're taking me for someone else," "I'm not Walter." "So what's your name now?" "Tristan, it's always been my name." "Tristan." "Tristan." "Dressed so fancy, good outfit, good shoes." "You've been doing well, haven't you, Walter?" "Who would have thought, motherfucker!" "Excuse me mister..." "Mister, mister..." "you take me for an idiot?" "Who do you think you are talking to?" "I'm the poet, asshole, don't you forget that." "And the poet sees... beyond." "You don't know who you are, Walter." "That's your problem." "Don't touch that!" "That belongs to Walter, give it back!" "Within this area of the rain forest live no more than 1350 noncontacted natives." "The majority of them descend from the survivors of the massacres perpetrated during centuries by white foreigners." "The Indians took refuge later in the steep territory where the sources of the rivers lye and avoid all contact with the outer world." "But violent confrontations only represent a part of the deaths that the native communities have undergone because of the foreigners." "Most of them died because of epidemics like common flu which they had no defenses against." ""They all coughed, they all died", he remembers." "Many Matis died, we never knew why." "Hello mother." "Fine and you?" "How are my cousins?" "Is auntie going to sell, then?" "But she needs the money." "You can't fight over that." "It's your decision." "The old man is well." "He's sleeping now." "Why do you say that?" "How could he die if I take care of him?" "But you dream nonsense." "Remember when you dreamt I gave birth to a chicken?" "I like Santiago, mom." "When are you going to understand?" "I wouldn't be of any help there." "I don't know how to do anything." "Next week I'll send a bit more." "You can buy presents for my cousin's children." "I've got things to do here." "I'll call you another time." "Hey!" "What's your name?" "Hey!" "What?" "What's your name?" "Manuel Candia." "I have seen you before." "At the downtown's arcades." "Yes, maybe..." "I go there sometimes." "And what's your name?" "Cristina." "Cristina what else?" "Cristina Llancaleo." "Nobody know s you, ah?" "No... almost nobody knows me." "I live here, in that building." "In which floor?" "The 5th." "Ah!" "You take care of that German old man." "I think I saw you once." "He is Hungarian." "But he looks German!" "I haven't seen him for so long I thought he was dead." "He is sick and he can't come outside anymore." "Before, I used to take him for walks." "But now he stays in bed, he doesn't even speak." "He doesn't say a word?" "Sometimes he makes like a weird noise." "Before, he used to talk a lot." "Now, he just listens." "How do you know he can listen?" "Maybe he is dead and you have been talking to a dead man." "He is more alive than I am." "He even laughs sometimes." "You can tell he thinks a lot." "And that noise he makes" "I think it comes from his head." "Don't you ever go out?" "Yes, I go out." "With your boyfriend?" "No, by myself." "And where do you go?" "Downtown, to the arcade," "Or to walk around." "You are a very weird girl." "I know." "How do you know?" "I have been told so before." "What are you having?" "Don't know... a vodka." "How would you like it?" "With tonic, ice...?" "Plain... no, with ice." "There's no vodka here." "Sorry, your..." "You like it?" "My husband has one just like it here, on his arse." "It's a promise." "You don't have to leave so soon, it's also your house." "Where do you plan to go?" "To my mother's." "I thought you didn't get along." "That was before." "Before what?" "Just before." "You feel all right?" "Sure?" "Does your head hurt?" "No, nothing hurts." "You're weird." "I feel weird." "I quit smoking." "Now?" "Yes, just now." "I don't feel like it anymore." "That's good." "Can you give me money for the bus." "Yes?" "Mom, it's me Tristan." "And your keys?" "You had keys." "Yes." "Ten years ago." "Have we met?" "Does it hurt?" "A bit." "You didn't fight back?" "No." "Why?" "Because you were afraid or you didn't want to hurt anyone?" "What's the difference?" "Was it a matter of principles or cowardice?" "Cowardice." "You were always a wimp." "You would cry over anything." "When you saw someone else fighting you would cry." "It's true!" "When his brother argued with me," "Tristan would cry." "What an asshole!" "Why do you think your girlfriend left you?" "She says we're stuck because I don't like change." "She's right." "You never liked change." "She says I'm not enthusiastic and I am negative." "No, not true." "You were always a happy and curious boy." "And she fell in love with someone else, a Russian." "A Russian?" "Nonsense, there are no Russians here." "Mom?" "Can I stay here tonight?" "Here, here where?" "My room is still here, isn't it?" "Yes, yes of course you have your room and you can stay, my love." "I'm OK with this, but at least you could ask." " Ricardo!" "Fantastic!" "I love family life." "Mom, where did you get that guy from?" "What do you think?" "Gross!" "Don't tell me what to do!" "That, I won't accept." "Mom, he's drunk!" "Still, he takes care of me, makes me laugh." "And he's handsome." "We'll have to see him sober." "We all have our own vices, my love." "Are you from the South?" "Yes." "A real country girl?" "A real country girl." "Is it nice there?" "No." "What do you mean "no"?" "Have you been there?" "No, but everyone loves the country." "Because they don't live there." "It is beautiful if you go for the weekend." "But you don't want to be there in winter," "Locked in, waiting for the rain to stop." "It is horrible." "It is not horrible!" "There are trees and... all that shit." "There are trees here too, it's full of trees." "These ones are just small shitty ones." "don't believe you don't like the South." "You're just pretending to be weird." "I like the food and I like horses." "But that's it." "And you're from here?" "From La Cisterna." "And you like it?" "No." "See?" "It is not the same!" "Everyone know s the South is prettier than La Cisterna." "I don't care what you say." "I have always wanted to go to the South." "And I will keep wanting to, but really south." "There... in the middle of the forest." "What are you gonna do in the South?" "Santiago's beautiful." "If you go there, you'll end up poor and cold and with that smell, like smoke, or wet wool." "Everybody gets the same smell there." "What do I smell like?" "You smell like here, like Santiago." "Nice." "Like deodorant, soap, cream..." "like plastic and also like a car." "You mean like a bus." "You fucking really like smoking." "Is that your pet?" "No, my work." "Are you a vet?" "No, a magician." "A magician?" "Yes, a magician." "Give me your hand." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Hi!" "This is for you." "How caring..." "Last night I dreamt of the giraffes in the zoo." "I think the last time I saw them w as about 30 years ago." "Do you know that they are quite stupid animals?" "Who said that?" "I saw it in a documentary." "No!" "They are so calm..." "I find them so pretty." "Tristan, what would you prefer to be:" "a giraffe or a panther?" "A giraffe." "The giraffe is not very strategic." "You can see it from anywhere in Africa." "try to hide with that neck..." "But they have a panoramic view." "From up there they spot the enemy sooner." "I would prefer to be a panther." "I prefer that diet." "A panther, a giraffe... and me?" "What would I be?" "A tree." "Evergreen or deciduous?" "Deciduous." "Which are those?" "The ones that loose their leaves?" "But they grow back again." "But half the year leafless, ugly and cold!" "Wearing the same clothes the whole year is boring." "Always green..." "No." "besides, green doesn't suit me." "Laura... you are wearing green." "Oh!" "I didn't see myself." "Adjective or verb?" "Adjective." "Why?" "What is an adjective?" "It's just a detail, a side note." "Is not a thing, nor an action." "Not good." "The essence isn't there." "Pass me the bread." "Where is the adjective there?" "Non existent, you see?" "Pass me the fucking bread." "Well, there we have the adjective: fucking." "Pass me the fucking bread." "Hi, I'm sorry." "So late..." "That's the Chilean way." "How old are you, Tristan?" "I don't remember." "Seriously, I'm curious." "Why?" "I was watching you swim, like a son..." "Then I thought..." "this guy must be my age." "Younger." "But not that younger." "So?" "Nothing." "I just thought... it has to be difficult, living with one's mother..." "I couldn't live with my mother." "I couldn't live with your mother, either." "You're clever, kid..." "Thanks." "That's fine, it's good for nothing, but it's fine." "What could it be good for?" "Nothing." "Clearly that attitude is not useful for life." "Just look at you." "Your mother always told me how brilliant you were and for what?" "Unemployed, alone." "Obviously it 's not working." "So what works?" "What works, Tristan, is strength." "Endurance." "Guts." "All the rest is just decoration." "They can save you in the short run." "But this... this is the long run." "And you know who gets there?" "The strong ones, we get there." "We get where?" "Wherever we're going, damn it!" "Forward, we're always moving forward." "A cruel world has condemned me" "Without compassion it has sentenced me" "But I don't fear" "To die of love" "And as my life is being judged" "I only see one way out" "Against my heart" "To die of love" "To die of love" "It's to die alone in the dark" "Face to face with loneliness" "And cannot beg for mercy or compassion" "You are the light and inside me it is getting dark" "Your love is a flower and I am falling" "My life is worthless" "To die of love" "You taste like beets." "My wife left me this week." "Was she pretty?" "She was pretty, intelligent, a good talker, a good cook," "she told good jokes, multiorgasmic," "good memory, good voice, good teeth, she beats me at ping pong and at chess." "She know s all the capitals, even the African ones." "She makes her own clothes and cuts her hair." "Wonderwoman..." "These girls, they are reducing us." "Consuming us." "They want us to be small." "Fragile." "Like you, asshole." "Look at you." "Are you Walter?" "You are just like him." "Sometimes, when I've drank a lot, or at sunrise." "I feel like the top of my head is melting." "Here, on the crown, I get a soft spot like babies have." "Look, touch." "And I think I could scratch inside my head with my fingers." "Then, my head starts to itch inside." "It's a strong itch, deep inside my brain." "Does it itch now?" "A bit." "Why do you look so awful?" "This is my true face" "Are you all right?" "Better than ever." "Do you want to talk?" "Yes." "About us?" "No... about anything but us." "OK, tell me something." "Last night, a moth got into my mouth." "Did you swallow it?" "No, I still have it inside." "Show it to me!" "If I show it, it will fly aw ay." "If you don't, it will starve to death." "Do you want me to let it free?" "I'll do whatever you want." "You have changed." "Yes, I don't have a moustache anymore." "Hi." "Look, look." "Did you see that dog over there?" "Yes" "He's eating his own shit." "How do you know?" "I can see it." "No, dummy, how do you know it's his own shit?" "You're right... it could perfectly be another dog's shit." "Or human shit." "Could be." "What would you prefer?" "To eat your own shit or someone else's?" "Let's say... mine." "None." "But if you had to choose." "None." "Just imagine two piles of shit, you have to eat one otherwise you're killed." "Which one you choose?" "Yours?" "Or mine?" "The one that looks better, less disgusting, dryer." "If both are creamy and liquid?" "Then I would eat mine." "You see?" "You see?" "What?" "Nothing." "Bye." "People would mold their skulls in diverse manners throughout the Tiawanaku territory," "Blom explains." "They would wrap their baby's heads with rope or would tie them to a piece of wood to give them a particular shape." "Later, as adults, they would use hats adjusted to the particular shape of their skull." "One of Blom's skulls has a long tubular shape, reminding us of a volcano peak, maybe altered to look that way." "Happy Birthday to you!" "Happy Birthday to you!" "Happy Birthday, dear Laurita." "Happy Birthday to you!" "Moses and Samuel, go to the rabbi." "Moses says:" ""Rabbi, can I ask you a question?"" ""Yes, go ahead, Moses"" ""Is black a color?"" ""Yes, it is."" ""Is white a color?"" ""Yes, it is."" ""See Samuel that I sold you a color TV!"" "I want to introduce you to my partner." "The rabbit." "That's so nice of Eduardo to come to my birthday." "Ricardo!" "You were here?" "What are you doing?" "I was resting a little." "Ah!" "parties..." "They are so beautiful inside and horrible outside." "As soon as you get aw ay a little, they seem ridiculous, don't they?" "To be honest, your friends exhaust me, inside and outside." "Don't you exaggerate," "I heard you quite fine with that humpbacked girl." "Which humpbacked girl?" "The one who came with my fat cousin." "You were talking about the reconquest of Chile by the Spanish companies." "How do you know she was humpbacked?" "I don't know, I just guessed." "Was she?" "Yes, a little bit." "She was so boring" "I had to come here to rest." "What about you, Tristan?" "Social life also tires you?" "I wanted to show Tristan all my presents." "You can show me later, I think the door bell is ringing." "Stay Laura!" "Hello!" "Hello!" "You got up, Mr. Milos?" "Mr. Milos?" "Your breakfast." "Mom?" "It's over, Mr. Tristan." "They won." "You must be glad." "I wasn't against the strike, Vargas." "There was no reason for you to support us." "It's not your fault." "What happened?" "People are tired." "Without a job you think too much, and things get complicated." "You know, Mr. Tristan, thinking is exhausting." "When you work there's no time for that." "Days go by fast, even badly paid." "People prefer it, it's a shame." "I'm also tired of thinking, Vargas." "Then... tomorrow you get up early and come straight here, to rest all day." "Last night..." "I dreamt with these chickens eating out of my shoes." "They were tiny." "Strange." "Go home, Mr. Tristan." "See you tomorrow." "Bye, Vargas." "Hi." "I'm late." "It doesn't matter." "How are you?" "Don't know." "How did he look?" "I've never seen a dead man." "He looked like someone else." "Older, smaller... and sort of dry." "What are you going to do now?" "I am not sure." "You can stay with me if you want." "No." "The lady let me stay a few days in the house." "And after that?" "Find another job, I don't know ." "Lets go south." "Really, let's go south." "To see your mom." "No, I can't." "Why not?" "I would go with you straight aw ay." "Looks like you don't love me at all." "It's not that." "I have some other things to do here." "I thought we could live together, in the country." "Have children." "Yeah, poor children." "It doesn't have to be like that." "I'm not lazy." "That's how it is." "Things are not that complicated." "Yes they are." "Hello." "Hello?" "Yes?" "I'm looking for Tristan Grimberg." "He is not here." "This is his mother's house." "He doesn't live here." "Who is it?" "Does anyone know him?" "Me, I know him" "Name?" "Tristan Grimberg" "Age?" "33" "Marital Status?" "Single" "Address?" "Amapolas 2029, Las Condes." "Your relationship with the injured patient?" "Friend." "I mean, acquaintance." "Do you think he is going to die?" "No, but that's what I think." "The name of a person that is about to die looks different." "I can feel it when I fill in the forms." "But you'll have to wait for the doctor to check him." "Any contact number of a relative or friend we should call?" "No... no" "Excuse me" "Yes?" "I found a telephone number" "It is his girlfriend's." "Her name is Irene" "As you wish." "Am I dead?" "I don't think so." "Who are you?" "Cristina" "Do I know you?" "I don't think so," "Almost nobody know s me." "But now I know you." "Hello Cristina" "Hello Tristan" "Maybe," "I walk a lot." "Me too," "I like walking around in Santiago." "I like it too." "Maybe we have seen each other in the streets." "Are you a nurse?" "Yes, I am your nurse." "That's good." "I have been needing a nurse for so long." "I know." "How do you know?" "It show s." "Are you going to stay with me?" "I don't think so." "I don't want to be alone." "I'm not going to leave you alone." "Sleep now, you have to rest." "Are you sure he's OK?" "I didn't say OK, I said not in danger." "Is it true what they're saying?" "They say so many things..." "That it was his fault, that he jumped." "All I know is that he was up and then he was down." "I don't think so," "Tristan is not like that." "Like what?" "Like that... self destructive." "You never know that..." "until you know it." "What do you mean?" "Nothing, I mean nothing." "Tristan!" "Didn't you quit smoking?" "How do you feel?" "Do you feel well?" "Why isn't he speaking?" "Ah!" "I forgot to tell you." "The patient does not speak yet." "And nobody know s anything?" "Why don't you ask her?" "She brought him in." "Excuse me, are you the girl who brought him?" "No, it's not me." "You are taking me for someone else I came with the gentleman here." "What was she like?" "She was... a pretty girl who came alone, but she left without notice." "Is this the patient's suitcase?" "Yes," "thank you." "Don't forget that visiting hours end at 7:30" "And that it is forbidden to smoke in here."