"Ma." "I'm going now, Ma." "When the child is born, I'll bring it for your blessing." "God prevent you having a daughter." "I'll be back, Ma." "One day I'll come back." "Don't bother." " Long time no see." " You're telling me." "This is Dimas." "Hi, Mr. Linhares." "Sweeping the floor of our house?" "Nice place you've got, Mr. Linhares." "Been doing well for yourself!" "." "Piling up all that wealth all these years." "You came back?" "No, Mr. Linhares, I'm still there." "This here's my ghost." "Me, my flesh and bones, are away in the city." " Off already?" " Yeah." "I'm taking the boy for his grandmother's blessing." "See you soon." "So heavy!" "What the hell's in it?" "Old junk." "Might need something." "Put it here, on the stove." "Won't it get scratched?" "Nice new house like this, and all this old junk." "Put that in my room, the one in the back." "It's my hammock." "Get a bit of fresh air." "That's better." "Osias could take Mother to live with him." "Osias doesn't know how to take care of her." "Unless he took me along." "But he hasn't invited me, and it doesn't look like he's going to." "And leave me here alone?" " Be right back." " What the hell, Osias!" "Why are you dressed like that?" "Let's sleep a bit now, Dimas." "Jesus, Mr. Linhares, you scared me!" "Going around frightening people." "Getting married, Mr. Linhares?" "I could build faster." "If you like, the house is yours." "As far as I'm concerned, it's a deal." "What's your answer?" " Answer to what?" " You liked the house, didn'tyou?" "If you marry me, the house is as good as yours." "You misunderstood me." "I was only kidding." "Just a joke, Mr. Linhares." " I don't see what's funny." "Marry me." "I like you, you're pretty, I like your ways." "But pretty soon you'll be old." "You've already got the boy, no father." "That's none of your business." "But you've no place of your own." "I've a house and animals for the boy, for you and all the other children." "Other children?" "You got one on your own, didn't you?" "Marry me." "As far as I'm concerned, it's a deal." " Tomorrow." " No, not tomorrow." "The house won't be ready yet." "No, tomorrow I'll give you an answer." "I don't go around smiling at just anyone, you know." "Hey, Osias!" "What's wrong with the door?" "It's stuck." "It'd be stranger if it opened." "I locked it from the inside." "Open the door." "I want to put away the presents." "No way." "I don't want any strangers in my house." "Have you gone mad?" "I thought you said the house was mine." "The house was in exchange for getting married." "But now you're mine." "The house is mine again and stays locked." " What are you talking about?" " Don't worry about it." "Let's just find a way to break up the party." "This racket is keeping my goats awake." "Who gives a damn about the goats?" "Go and dance!" "It's as if you were nailed to that chair." "Get up!" "Shall we dance, Zezinho?" "I've never danced with a lady before." "So what have you danced with?" "What have I danced with?" "I've never danced with anything, not with a woman nor anything else." "Doesn't matter." "I'll dance for both of us." "Zezinho has bad legs." "Yeah, my legs aren't too good." "But mine are both great." "Don't be scared, Zezinho." "Come on." "Just follow me." "I'll lead." "This thought goes out to you... my dear friend and faithful brother all these years... my listener, Carlos Tenio." "Tenio, overat the Texaco gas station... where you had the joy to watch your first grandson be born." "Congratulations from all of us on the program." "May God givehealth, my brother Tenio... to you and your grandson... and may there be many others to follow." "Hold on." "Hang in there." "I know it's been difficult for you." "But I'll stop by to greet you personally... and for now, I send you this song from the program." "Darlene!" "Get me something to eat." "I haven't eaten since breakfast." "My belly's hurting." "And another thing, woman, there's hardly any water." "You'll have to go and get water from the water hole." "Go!" "No, honey." "Not like this." "Throw farther." "Come on." "That female will be giving birth soon, Ederaldo." "You're getting two for the price of one." "She really is very heavy." "That's not very manly of you." "Every man has his own specialty." "His is the hammock." "It's no use." "Osias doesn't get out of that hammock for anything." "He was born to be king." "I don't get up because I can do my job lying down." "With a woman spoiling me like that..." "I wouldn't get up either." "All right, we'll have to do it ourselves." "Careful not to hurt her kid." "Dimas." "Will you like if I have a baby, having a brother?" "Yeah." "Is it going to be a boy or a girl?" "Boy." "Who do you think he'll look like?" "Like me." "Have you named it?" "Edinardo." "After the singer?" "I don't know." "Was it the singer you got the name from, Osias?" "What are you frowning like that for?" "All these years nagging me about a kid." "And now the boy's here" "Black like that's no good." "The boy really is very black." "Don't worry." "He'll lighten up." "He's black like that from the effort of being born with no help." "Jose Pereira de Lacerda." "Marilene Moreira da Silva." "Francelina de Jesus." "Claudio Alves Leonel." "Gabriel Francisco dos Santos." "Darlene Lima Linhares." "Maria Lucia Serafim." "Go put these beans away in the kitchen." "The harvest is over." "And that's not even half what they owe." "Osias!" "Are you going to get up, or just watch everything fall apart?" "Ma, let's go and get water." " Don't do that." " It's no good, son." "The water's no good." "Not the water nor anything else around here." "Come on." "Near Russas the body was found... of a young woman shot dead." "The girl wasn't even 20, and the way she was killed... suggests she was a colonel's lover... ordered to be killed by the legitimate wife." "I heard this from my friend Eraldo... driver on the Juazeiro-Maciroca line... who was unfortunate enough to pass the scene of the crime" "Let's go." "Come on." "Zezinho!" "Zezinho!" "You actually got up?" "No way you'll reach Darlene on the back of a donkey." "Come out here, Zezinho." " Where did she go?" " To Fazenda do Brejinho." "If you hurry, you'll catch her halfway." "Go with your father." "You'll get used to him." "You'll learn to like him." "Go on." "Move." "Do as I say." "Thank God, you're back." "Dimas stayed." "Dimas stayed behind." "But isn't that what you wanted?" "He's with the colonel." "The boy will study." "There was no other way, was there, honey?" "My son, my little boy." "My baby boy." "Dimas will go to the city." "He'll have a better life." "Where's Zezinho?" "In the bedroom." "I made some fudge." "Look, Auntie, a present from Darlene." "She made it herself." "Wait a minute." "It's still a bit hot." "You're looking very pretty, cousin." "A little beauty's good for hiding sadness." "Just a taste to make you strong, Aunt." "Lift her up a little more, Zezinho." "Don't worry." "I'll look after her." "You can go now, Darlene." "I know there's a dance tonight." "I wasn't even thinking of going." "Osias doesn't mind you going, does he?" "Osias!" "Why should he mind?" "I should never have come back." "So go to the dance, Darlene." "Come to the dance with me, Zezinho." "For the love of God!" "If I go home, I'll only skin the old man alive." " Dance with me?" " No, thanks." "Just one." " I'm with someone." "Well, excuse me, then." "Of course." "Want to dance, honey?" " Let's dance." " Okay." " I guess we could stop now." " Want to go?" " Don'tyou want to?" " Let's go." "Darlene!" "Darlene!" "The clothes are floating away!" "Got it!" "I got one!" "They were all floating away!" "I'll get that one." "Come on out, Zezinho." " I got them all." " You'll drown." "I saved your clothes." "I slipped." "I got them all." "I saved your clothes." "You're soaking wet." "Come on." "Get that wet shirt off." "You smell so good." "Only now you arrive!" "Christ has risen." "Come on in, Zezinho." "Darlene, Raquel threw Zezinho out." "Now he lives with us." " Bye." " Bye." "How come it's so damn hot, Zezinho?" "It has to be, cousin." " Haven't you ever been to the barber's?" " No." "You should." "When you go to town for your pension... you should go to the barber's." "You'll see how good it is." "You think I go to town?" "Darlene gets the pension." "And does she do the accounts?" "It certainly isn't me." "She works hard in the field... does the housework... and now with me to look after." "She's still young." "She can handle it." "But she's a woman." "We're the ones who should be in the field." "She doesn't mind, a strong squaw like that." "The work does her good." "Now they're back working the fields." "I should sign up." "It's not right, me being a burden to her." "She doesn't mind." "And this house is mine." "Did you know I was the one who cooked at your mother's house?" "Look, Raquel is my sister, but I won't stand up for her." "She was always damned lazy." "She never even gave Zuza a kid, did she?" "Then she even had the nerve to say that you and she... living alone without the mother would raise suspicions!" "As if anyone could even look twice at her." "If Zuza did, it was only out of charity." "She sure is ugly, that sister of yours, cousin." "Was she always?" "She was born ugly." "If you like..." "I can cook for us." "Sounds good." "Great idea." "Because Darlene's food stinks." "I only eat it because I have no choice." "That's settled, then." "I'd like that." "It's a deal." "Now I've brought my bike..." "I can take lunch to Darlene in the field." "All that way?" "She takes it with her." " But she eats it cold, cousin." " All right, do as you like." "But let me tell you something:" "Watch out for Darlene." "She just loves ordering men around." "If I'd been soft, I'd have been crawling around on all fours a long time ago." "Now look." " Very nice, isn't it?" " Very." "I'll never get used to sleeping under this roof." " Come." " It's not right." "You're the best." "See if you like it." "Where's that spoon gone?" "Osias, where's Zezinho?" "Zezinho came back from the field and went to the water hole." "He takes Darlene's lunch every day, does he?" "Yes, every day." "If he didn't have that bike I doubt he'd do all his work." "He arrived from the field and went to the water hole with a bundle of clothes." "But he must be back soon." "Well, now you've a son and two wives." "One in the field and one at home." "That's exactly right." "Zezinho does everything." "He washes, cooks, sweeps... brings me coffee all the time-- He even makes a damn good cake." "Things couldn't be better, no comparison to Darlene." "Much better!" "I did you a favor." "If it weren't for people talking, I'd have kept him at my place." "I didn't see anything wrong in it, Raquel." "Honestly!" "Zezinho is your cousin... and besides, he may be a man, but he's not much of one." "That spring has lost its strength." "It doesn't fit anymore." "The cross goes there and the line" "That's what I'm doing!" "It just won't fit." "There are two colors." "It's stuck." "That boy's been fiddling with the radio... and now it won't fit." "Zezinho, go spread some salt." "I just did it." "So give them some water." "I just did." "So give them some more." "Those animals will burst if they drink all that water." "Zezinho, do as Darlene says!" "What a fuss, so stubborn!" "It's a waste of water, but I'll do it." "There, it won't fit." "It's gone bad." "No, it hasn't." "You think I don't know when a battery's gone bad?" "Wake up, Osias." "What do you mean, wake up?" "It's always worked fine... and I've had this radio since before you came here." "And it's always worked fine." "It's been like this ever since that boy came!" "Didn't I tell you I'd already given them water?" "Look at the size of that one's belly." "Look at her." "A beauty, isn't she?" "Be having her kids soon now, won't she?" "Both o us will." "Might even be born at the same time." "I'm pregnant, and it's yours." "Mine?" "It can't be!" "It must be Osias'." "Osias?" "He's of the same stock as Raquel." "He wouldn't know where to start." "I'm sure it's yours." "A boy!" "A kid of mine?" "Didn't you know that's how you got kids?" "Darlene, a boy of mine?" "Mama's little boy." "Blue little eyes, aren't they?" "Goodness me..." "Osias must be very proud." "And so he should be." "Sky blue, as pretty as can be." "We'll have to bless him, to keep away the devil eye." " He's like an angel." " Does the angel have a name?" "Edinaldo." "Like the other one?" "I'm glad it's like his brother's." "Edinaldo and Edinardo de Lima Linhares." "Darlene's very lucky, one boy after another." "I was married for over 40 years... but I've no son to carry my coffin." "Who knows, there's still time." "I won't bring another man into my house." "One husband's enough for this life." "See?" " Get up!" "Not you, her!" " Me?" " You're moving into the other room." " What the hell for, man?" "Because I say so." "Hurry, oryou and the boy will end up on the floor." " What's going on, Osias?" " What is it, Osias?" " Leave Darlene alone!" " Shut up!" "I'm the one in charge of Darlene!" "And don't forget to obey me either, since you're only here as a favor." "But you invited me." "I'll leave, if that's what you want." "No, I want you where I can keep an eye on you." "Bring your hammock." "From now on, you sleep in here with me." "And you, hurry up!" "I want to get to bed!" "And if that child starts whining in the night, you get the hell out." "I can't stand noisy kids!" "All right, finished." "Very good." "Who's my sweetie?" "The kids' food is ready." "Who's my sweetie?" "Bring those kids in to eat!" "Let's go, kid." "Your father's calling." " Where's Edinaldo?" " Go and get him." "Hurry." "I want to go to the dance." "Sit down, Edinardo." "Let's go, Zezinho!" "All right, honey." "You both going?" "What's this, Osias?" " Since when do you go to the dance?" " Since whenever I feel like it." "Want to dance, Zezinho?" "No, thanks, honey." "I'll just stay here keeping my cousin company." "I don't need company." "What I need is some liquor!" "Osias told me to get the liquor money." "Two." "And you... aren'tyou going to dance?" "Sitting or standing is the same price." "Excuse me, but I was just about to leave." "But I'm asking." "You can't refuse a lady." "The next time I'll ask you with pleasure." "But I really was just leaving." "Good night, ma'am." "It's hard work, Ciro." "From 6:00 to 5:00 with half an hour for lunch." "Did you bring your tools?" "So get to work." "Do you live down in Russas?" "I haven't a place yet, ma'am." "So where do you sleep?" "For the moment I just sleep rough." "But now you've got a job." "You'll get somewhere proper, right?" "Do you know of anywhere?" "In Russas you'll probably find a family who'll put you up." "But Russas is so far." "Too far to come every day." " That's true, much too far." " Hell of a long way." "What was your name?" "Ciro." "And yours?" "Darlene de Lima Linhares." "Hello there!" "I took you up on your offer." "Come on in." "Good evening, sir." "I work with your wife out in the field." "He just arrived and has no place to stay." "So I invited him to eat with us." "It so happens that the place is full." "More mouths to feed than pots to fill." "I'm sorry." "It was your wife who offered." "I wouldn't want to disturb anyone." "It's just that my wife's heart is greater than her possessions." "What's going on, Zezinho?" "I was just explaining to this gentleman, who's new around here..." "I was explaining that the house is full." "No problem." "Please excuse me." "You too, ma'am." "Well, you explained wrong." "The house is mine and so is the wife, and you stay!" "Osias Linhares." " Ciro Antunes." " Come inside." "That's Osias, my husband." "Come on in, please." "It's a big house." "No shortage of hammock hooks, right, Darlene?" " If you say so." " Excuse me." "Make yourself at home." "There are always plenty of people around." "Darlene doesn't mind." "She even likes it, don't you, honey?" " I only invited him to eat." " I don't want to get in the way." "I bought this, and I can cook it myself." "Great, let's see what you've got here." "There's enough for a banquet here." "Get cooking." " Who, me?" " Who do you think?" "You can stay the night." "That won't be necessary, thank you." "We've eaten your food." "I'm offering you a hammock for the night." "I hope you'll do me the favor of accepting." "It's his house." "If he's inviting you, you can accept, no problem." "Darlene, come and lie down." "Mr. Antunes, this is your hammock." "You'll please sleep in this room... with my cousin and my boys." " Most grateful." " Sleep well." "Come sleep with Daddy... son." "She already left, alone, because she knows the way perfectly well." "What are you doing, Zezinho?" "What's up, Zezinho?" "Have a bad night, did you?" "Well, I slept like a baby." "Want one of his biscuits?" "What an idea, Osias, bringing a single man into the house!" "But I brought you in, or are you married by any chance?" " That's different, isn't it?" " Is it?" "I can't see the difference." "I'm family." "We don't even know where he's from, a stranger, a young guy." "What's wrong, Zezinho?" "You think he's good-looking, doyou?" "He certainly is well-built!" "People will start talking, Osias." "About what?" "What will they talk about?" "What will people have to say?" "Tell me." "I'm listening." " You've got to get rid ofhim." " I'm not going to!" "And this house is still mine, and the guy stays." "And take him his lunch too... since we're eating what's his." "Gabriel, where's Darlene?" "Over there, somewhere." "Thanks." "The man hardly even knows the girl, and look... they marry and become one single flesh and bone." "That's how th eman starts his family." "A family associates itself with another family, and makes another generation." "And that goes on, associating... and no one ever knows where it will end." "But for listeners who, like me, believe in God..." "I recall the words of Christ.." ""Grow and multiply!"" "Zezinho." "Zezinho." "What's happened to Zezinho?" "I don't know what's got into him." "He came back from the field and went to the pen... spent the afternoon there with the goats." "Good evening, Mr. Linhares, ma'am." "Who's that?" "That's Ciro." "He's passing through." "I came to fetch my things." "This is for you." "You shouldn't have." "You shouldn't have." "Mr. Linhares, I'll be on my way." "Thank you very much." "What have you got there?" "Dried meat." "Go make it for us." "I could do with a nice piece of dried meat." "Get cooking." "Are you deaf?" "Move!" "So thank you all, Mr. Linhares." "But where will you go?" "Have you found a better place?" "Or has someone here treated you badly?" "If so, then tell me now." "I just don't want to impose on you any longer." "In that case, you'll stay... until you find something better." "And if you refuse, I'll take it as an insult." " What's that?" " Quince preserve." "Quince." "As soon as you get better, I'll give you some." "You need a little sweetening up." "What's all the noise?" "Get out ofhere." "Come with your father." "You're not an animal." "Let me play, Dad!" "Come on." "It's time to go!" "No, leave the bull, Ma!" "The bull's not here to entertain you." "The bull's got work to do." "Kids are silly things." "To them, everything's a party." " Are those your only two?" " No, I had another." "These ones are little devils." "Thanks, Zezinho." "Hey, you boys!" "Get those chicks out of here or I'll boil them alive!" "The way this was built, it should be much worse." "That's because it was built in a hurry." "Darlene was dying to get married." "You should've seen my mother's house." "It never needed any repairs." "But your mother's roofcame down in the first bit ofwind." "That's just the ramblings ofa crazy old man." "Zezinho was born with a screw loose." "You take Zezinho out of the kitchen and he gets all mixed-up." "Zezinho's an old maid, that's his problem!" "Come on." "Hurry!" "Hey, little one." "Come here." "I'm there." "That's my seat." "The fire is burning" "In celebration of Saint John" "The dance has started" "Let'sgo dance together" "That's why I go to her house" "To express my love for her" "She's waiting for meat the window" "Haven't you finished?" "Thanks, Darlene." "Good night." "Why are you still wasting your time here with me?" "What do you mean?" "You haven't been lucky with me, have you?" "You should find a woman that suits you better." "And what would suit me better?" "To start with, she should be younger." "Just being young makes women prettier." "A younger woman might be prettier... but she wouldn't know a fraction of what you do." "That's practice." "Me, the only woman I ever had in life... was just like you said." "That was the right woman for you." "No, she wasn't." "Not that you are... because I never imagined getting in a line this long... just because ofa woman." "Stop talking nonsense!" "Why didn't you stay with her?" "She had a husband." "And haven't I two?" "He was my cousin." "And what are Zezinho and Osias?" "You've no shame at all, have you?" "Not of you... nor of the things we do together." "If what you say is true... then come with me, Darlene." "Where to?" "I'm leaving, Darlene." "I want you to come with me." "You've put on quite a bit of weight." "It's taken a while, but your age finally caught up with you." "I'd forgotten what it was like." "I could only remember having you in my arms in dreams." "That's right, Zezinho." "That's good, nice and gentle." "I want you to ask Osias... to make more room... to build a room for Ciro." "He wants to leave." "Ciro wants to leave." "About time." "He should never have come in the first place." "But he wants to take me with him." "He won't, though." "Just let him try." "I'm expecting a baby." "And it's his." "He doesn't know." "I haven't told him yet." "I didn't want it." "I didn't want any more children in this life." "It's almost like a punishment." "How do you know it's his?" "It's definitely not mine, that's for sure." "But you've got yours, haven't you?" "Didn't I give you a boy?" "Couldn't sleep?" "What are you doing?" "Nothing." "I wasn't doing anything." "I couldn't sleep." "So hot." " And Zezinho?" " What about him?" "Couldn't he sleep either?" "Zezinho doesn't do anything... poor thing." "Are you jealous, Ciro?" "Me,jealous of an old man like that?" "That's just the way I see it." "Stop that, stop!" "Stop that!" "I will not." "If I don't do it with you, who am I supposed to do it with?" "Jesus, you're excited!" "I don't know what it is." "I'm pregnant, that's why." "You're what?" "Pregnant." "It's yours." "I'm going to have a child, Ciro." "You swear?" "A little child?" "Mine and yours." "My beauty." "Love." "He's taking his time, for someone who only came for the night." "I'm going to throw him out." "Like I said, he's alone in the world, stayed on and became fond of the family." "I can do without his affection." "Especially with them only ever getting back from work after dark." "People will start to talk about her." "No, they won't." "And say what?" "Who'll talk?" "In this end of the world, this emptiness?" "Too empty, too dark." "It's scary, isn't it, cousin?" "I don't like walking around on my own." "It scares me to death." "But Ciro isn't scared of anything." "And Darlene... she's not scared of a single thing." "Darlene's as brave as they come." "Which is why I've been thinking" "You're so good at building" "Don't you think you might make use of that wall... to build a room for Ciro?" "You can use that outside wall, facing that Umburana." "Look, Zezinho, we're not building a room for Ciro." "I'm getting rid of him, right now!" "And what if Darlene goes with him?" "What?" "Darlene is expecting Ciro's baby." "What?" "What do you mean?" "He doesn't know yet." "It was an accident." "She didn't want" "He forced himself on her?" "I wouldn't say that." "It was more a moment's... distraction." "Distraction in a case like this, Zezinho?" "That woman knows no shame." "I'll throw her out at knife point." "Both of them, with a knife!" "That won't make anyone happy, Osias." "Is anyone here happy?" "Look at my face and tell me whether I'm happy." "They want to leave." "Throwing them out will only be doing exactly what they want." "So they'll leave." "And leave right away." "I'm not going to support no bastard under my wing!" "We're the ones under a wing, if any one." "They're young." "They're ready to start their lives over." "They'll leave, take the boys, because they're hers anyway." "And us, old fellow... us two... we'll be left leaning up against each other... waiting to die." "Ciro, Dad is building a room." "Hey, you, stop talking nonsense and throw some mud to help your dad." "Osias is building a store for wood." " Want some help?" " We don't need any help." " I can take care of my own house." " Yes, he can." "I'm the one who needs help." "Go ahead." "I'll be right there." "That doesn't solve the problem, Darlene." "Just till the kid is born." "Please." "I swear." "When the kid is born, I don't want to be living under this roof." " You sent for me?" "What for?" " I didn't send for anyone." "Help, Raquel!" "The boy is lying sideways." "I don't know what to do!" "Leave me out of this." "Help, you useless cow." "Go on!" "Look, Zezinho, so perfect." "Is it a boy or girl?" "It's a boy, Osias." "It's a little boy." "Well, he'll be called Edivaldi." "Good, like his brothers, very good." "Edivaldi, very good." "Cuck old." "Come." "Come with Daddy." "Wait in the cart." "Climb in." "Zezinho!" "The boys!" "Osias?" "I'm going to get Ciro." "God help me!" "Good morning." "Are you the father?" "Dimas de Lima Linhares." "Edinardo de Lima Linhares." "Edinaldo de Lima Linhares." "Edivaldi de Lima Linhares." "I registered my kids."