"IN LOVE" "Welcome to Cholula!" "Welcome to this battered town!" "Oh, soldiers of the triumphant revolution!" "Welcome, oh army of liberation whose fearless paladins arrive breaking with their courage and blood the oppressing chains of a people enslaved by reaction." "Welcome, brothers of Juarez brothers of Hidalgo brothers of mine." "Bocanegra!" "Yes, General, sir?" "Seize that big mouth and keep him alive for me." "Very well, General, sir." "Oh, you beasts!" "Your father has arrived!" "Who are the rich in this town?" "Rich?" "There are no rich folk here, General." "Who are the rich folk in this town?" "What and how much do they own?" "Who are they?" "The Commander assured us that the town wouldn't succumb, and now we're at these bandit's mercy." "I wouldn't call them bandits." "They are revolutionaries." "They're all the same to me." "These so-called revolutionaries are raiding the nation and destroying trade." "Fidel!" "He's all right." "A stray bullet from a revolutionary." "Leave me alone, Rosa!" "Go with the women." "Leave us men alone." "I told you we should've stayed at the church." "With the priest." "My house is my home and it is to be respected as much as the church." "Excuse me, Father Sierra." "And remember, Mr. Fidel we must face these men with dignity and courage." "We are what we are, and they are what they are." "Right flank and straight to the hall." "Halt!" "It's them." "I'll go with you, father." "No, child." "You stay here to guard the house." "Let's go." "Father..." "What will they do to us?" "I don't' know." "But God is always fair." "Don't you worry, Beatriz." "It seems an irony of life, but the general who has taken the town General Jose Juan Reyes, and I attended the seminar together." "We were as close as brothers." "I doubt he's forgotten." "Don't you worry." "Left flank and straight to the quarters." "Don't lose your stride." " Sierra!" " Jose Juan!" "Brother, I'm so glad to see you!" "They told me you where here, but I couldn't believe it." "However, I told myself..." ""He might be in one of the 365 churches in this town"." "And well, here you are." "All the churches are closed, Jose Juan." "Except one." "Bocanegra!" "Yes, General, sir?" "Take them out and have them wait." " Yes, General, sir!" " No!" "Don't take them outside." "So, why have you come?" "Thank you, Jose Juan." "I just came to keep these men company." "Oh, I see." "I get it." "I'd forgotten." "Well, then wait for me while I take care of them." "I'll wait, Jose Juan." "I hope you don't do anything unworthy of yourself." "Sit down." "I told you to sit." "And take your "sombreros" off." "Or I'll knock them off with the end of my weapon." "Quickly!" "You'll be forced to confess to your new father." "Which of you is Carlos Penafiel?" " It's me." " Come." "I said come here!" "You know what I came here for." "Yes." "It's strange to have found you here." "Why didn't you go with them?" "Because this is my homeland." "I was born here and this is where I'm to be buried." "Besides..." "I doubt you'll stay here for long." "I'll keep a close eye on you, Mr. Penafiel." "I've always taken care of myself." "You speak harshly, my friend." "But a man needs to know how to milk a wild cow." " That's it..." " You're wasting time." "My possessions aren't where any Mr. Nobody can steal them." "Mr. Carlos!" "Who is Fidel Bernal?" "At your service, General." "I'm Fidel Bernal." "Tradesman." "At your service and of the government you represent." "You don't know how glad I am that you freed the town of Cholula." "Well, I'm glad there are reasonable people amongst you." "People... willing to cooperate with us." "It's the least I can offer, General." "My service in all and for all." "You can count on me, unconditionally." "Though I have nothing." "You can start by cooperating with 30 thousand pesos cash." "30 thousand pesos?" " Impossible!" " 30 thousand pesos." "And all the cattle you sent into hiding days ago." "I'll go bankrupt!" "And all the wheat and sugar in stock you control single-handedly right here, in Cholula." "But I have nothing, General, sr." "You're kind, you can't ruin me." "I'm nobody's enemy." "I just want to be at peace." "Can you hear me, General?" "At peace." "To be left alone and go about my business." "I'm just a salesman and know nothing about revolutions." "You don't understand, but that doesn't keep you from being abusive!" "You monopolize the stock and raise the prices." "What about the people?" "Let them pay!" "And let them starve!" "Revolutions..." "They aren't made for a few to get rich at the expense of the blood shed by those fighting for their convictions." "Any cause can have enemies." "Either all men have freedom of thought or in fact, they aren't free." "One feels respect for the enemy who fights and dies for the cause he considers just." "But those who wobble between two factions and want to please them both..." "Who have no enemies when there's a war where the future fate of the nation is at stake..." "Those!" "Are the true traitors!" "Those bastards!" "Those leeches that suck the blood of their kinsmen!" "Bocanegra!" "At your service, General." " Shoot him." " Yes, General, sir." "No." "No." "No, General." "No, please, General." "Don't kill me." "I'll give you the money and the cattle but don't kill me, General!" "Don't kill me, General!" "Don't kill me." "General, I beg you..." "I'll give you 100 thousand." "Jewels." "But don't kill me." "I said I'd give you everything." "Everything." "My wife who is young and very beautiful." "But don't kill me, General." " What did he say?" " My wife!" "I assure you she's lovely." "Take him out already!" "No, for God's sake!" "Virgin, please..." "Virgin Mary, no." "Holy Mother of God!" "No, for God's sake!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Forgive me, General." "I couldn't help it." "I felt disgusted." "Bocanegra." "Yes, General, sir?" "The rings?" "How clever, General." "Nothing gets by you." "It's so nice to have such a boss." "Though I don't even get the scraps." "And, who are you?" "I'm Mr. Roberts." "What brought you here?" "I'm the engineer building the dam." "I need a safe conduct to Mexico City and back." "To Mexico City?" "What business do you have there?" "No politics, I can assure you." "I'm telling you the truth." "I must go and buy a wedding gown." "Soon, I hope to marry in this town Carlos Penafiel's daughter whom you already know." "You're a foreigner, I can't stop you." "At your service, General!" "Make sure the mister gets a safe conduct." "Yes, General, sir." "I appreciate it, General." "Only a fellow like him would get married in times of war." "I'm Apolonio Sanchez, the town teacher, General, sir." "I'm from the north, from Sinaloa." "Why were you brought here?" "I was brought with the rest." "Well, go on." "Go and open the school." "Yes, General, sir." "Not back there!" "Didn't you hear me?" "What is it, Professor?" "What's wrong?" "No offense intended, but I'd like you to know, General that I haven't been paid by the government for seven fortnights and, well I shut down the school last week." "And what does it amount to?" "Excuse me?" "How much do you earn daily?" "1.75 a day, General, sir." "I used to make two pesos but now they take 25 cents off, God knows why." "And how many kids do you teach?" "Almost every child in town." "Sorry I didn't count, they are too many for such a small school." "Seven fortnights." "Yes, sir." "1.75 a day." "Yes, sir." "Here's 200 pesos, Professor." "We'll pay you what you're owed later." "And as of tomorrow you earn twice as much." "Thank you very much, General, sir." "Thank you so much, General, sir." "All right, go on." "Open the school." "Excuse me." "Come in!" "O.K., Bocanegra." "Take this list and bring them out." "They are to give you what's listed." "If they refuse you know what to do." "And the four old men they are beating up outside?" "Keep it up until they weep." "O.K., General." "Turn!" "Conversion to the stairs." "March." "March!" "Come on, come on!" "Thank you very much, Jose Juan." "I don't drink." "Listen, Adelita..." "Go and play outside, O.K.?" "Yes, Daddy." "How much did your friends give you for safekeeping?" "I have no money." "You're the town priest." "They trust you." "Where did you hide it?" "I have no rich men's money." "Only a few coins from the poor." "Only a year's worth of alms." "But I doubt it would interest you." "It's not even two hundred pesos." "Personally, money doesn't interest me." "But no matter how little it is, it interests me for the cause." "Is that all you have?" "It's all." "I mean there were lots of valuables as many churches used to have." "Candelabra." "Sacred cups, chasubles." "There's not much left." "What happened to them?" "They've served as contribution to other causes, Jose Juan." "However there's a picture sacristy." ""The Wise Men's Adoration", by N. Rodriguez Juarez." "It was painted on the late 17th century." "You should know how much it's worth." "It's a great painting." "He painted it in 1698, if I'm correct." "And it had to be a great painting if a Juarez painted it." "But it was Nicolas Rodriguez Juarez." "Forget the Rodriguez, it's a Juarez all the same." "Listen you're so naive I bet you haven't even noticed that, somehow you and I are alike." "Alike?" "We are alike as all men are equal to God's eyes." "No, Rafael, not to God's eyes." "I don't believe in that too much." "Down here." "Yes, here on Earth." "Listen you preach and fight your own way for an eternal future world where goodness has its rewards and evil its punishment." "A far away land, to which all men aspire for they believe that world will give them eternal bliss." "And they'll have it, if they are faithful in life." "Nonsense!" "You must have faith in life and forget about death." "I fight for our world this world of life of flesh and earth to be a place where men can live better." "For the man who lives well is usually a good man." "And those good men are the good souls that will get the prize you promised." "Our souls and our means are different, it's true." "But I, I mean we plow the land and you drop the seed in these open furrows." "I only aspire to serve God, Jose Juan." "If you say so." "But there's more than one way and you can't deny that serving men is serving God too." "The flock belongs to the Lord." ""The flock belongs to the Lord" And it also belongs to us!" "That's why the day when the men of war and contemplative men who take care of the souls our brothers on earth would be better men." "And the Nation, which is Heaven on Earth would be a better Nation." "And the Heavens, your Heaven would have more pure souls which somehow would make it an eternal homeland that would serve as inspiration to the generations of tomorrow." "What you say is quite true, Jose Juan." "But that restlessness that preoccupation for men's well-being that swells within you we've also felt it and still feel it." "Just think about what missionaries did on the 15th century." "No one can deny they didn't just worry about men's material and spiritual well-being." "But many of them lost their lives seeking such well-being." "And if they did that why haven't you continued doing it?" "Brother, have you dealt with the priest?" "No, Adelita, not yet." " Go and play with the horses." " Yes, Daddy." "This child is she yours?" "No, but as if she were." "Her father fought with me, almost like a brother." "His mother was a soldier." "They died blowing up a train." "And why is she with you?" "This is no life for a child." "I had left her with relatives but I soon realized people don't love other people's children." "They mistreated her." "What was I to do?" "I have no other home than my saddle, but the brat loves me and she's better off with me." "You know, Jose Juan?" "You would've been a great priest." "Only God knows." "But you've become good generals." "I tell you this in case you've forgotten." "All right and..." "Can I still say mass?" "While I'm here, you can do as you please." "And you can start doing it right now." "I mean if you follow the path built by missionaries in the 15th century." "Thank you very much, Jose Juan." "Well, if you'll excuse me." "I'll go back to my church of other causes." "Come in!" "Thank you very much, General." "General, sir..." "I'm preoccupied." "You're what?" "I'm preoccupied." "And I don't know how to tell you." "Well, speak up." "General have you ever been in love?" "No." "Then you'll find it difficult to understand, sir." "Why?" "Because, when you love a woman you also love all that surrounds her." "And you are in love?" "Yes, precisely." "Quite in love." "And that Mr. Penafiel, you've arrested is my girlfriend's dad." "I know you consider him an enemy of the revolution and, somehow, he is." "His ideas are old." "But he won't change." "Listen, General, sir." "I'll speak to you with my heart in my palm as you Mexicans say." "I love my girlfriend very much and she is why I dare to ask this from you." "Her father doesn't believe in the revolution." "But I do." "Allow me to help you all and set him free." "It's for the love of a woman, General, sir." "I was just with the General." "And don't worry, Beatriz." "I assure you your dad will suffer no harm." "If they hurt my father I'll blow their brains off, all of them." "Beatriz!" "Contain yourself." "One day, your temper will get you into trouble." "You should take thinks calmly." "They're capable of any kind of barbarity, Father." "Listen, Beatriz, you'd better go back home." "I'm sure Mr. Carlos is already waiting for you." "I hope so, Father." "Beatriz..." " Yes, Father?" " I'll beg you once more not to go out to the street." "Especially in these days." "It's for the best." "And why shouldn't I go out, Father?" "You yourself just said they are capable of anything." "I'm a woman, but I know how to take care of myself." "Precisely, Beatriz." "But you should know you're not like other women." "Wow!" "Look at those legs!" "And that body!" "A tempting body with a scarecrow's face." "I bet just to see those legs again I'd let her slap me." "And if you're a man, you'll take the other slap for you looked at both my legs." "You bastard!" "She's got a heavy blow." "She almost made you spin, General." "Sorry I laughed but things are changing aren't they?" "That's the woman I'll marry." " My horse!" " Yes, General, sir." "Well, come in." "Give me your hat." "Don't follow me." "Hey, I'm not following you." "I'm escorting you." "Well, don't you escort me I don't need a fool to walk around." "THE EXPLOSION WAXCHANDLER'S AND FIREWORKS" "More candles, Beatriz?" "No, Mr. Chonito." "Mr. Chonito, give me some fireworks." "Small or big?" "Big ones." " A 16th of September?" " A 16th of September!" " It's going to blow up." " That's what I want." " O.K., let it blow up." " Let it blow up." "A match?" "Match." "But throw it quickly, for it's death, Miss Beatriz." " Death?" " Death." "Run away, you bastards!" "Manuela, is Dad home?" "Not yet, Miss Beatriz." "Since this morning when they took them all away." "God Almighty, my child." "What do you think they'll do to them?" "Don't worry, Manuela." "Father Sierra says he'll be alright." "What they want is the Master's money." "Why doesn't he give it to them to avoid problems?" "Not a cent to those bandits." "They should work!" "Where's Faustina?" "She went to the quarters to take food for the Master." "She won't be long." " It must be Dad." " I hope so, child." "Eduardo." "Where's Dad?" "He's still under arrest, but he'll be all right." "Don't worry." "And how do you know he'll be all right?" "I spoke with the General." "Don't worry so much." " Why haven't they released him?" " That's why I came." "Your Dad refused to help The revolutionaries." "He did well!" "Maybe, but General Reyes thinks otherwise and he's not a man who changes his mind easily." "I'll go and see him." "It would be useless." "Your dad will be released when he delivers the money he asked from him." "He asked money from my Dad?" "He's worse than a thief, but Dad will never give it to him." " I'm sure he won't." " Neither will I!" "But we must give it to him." "I must go and see that bandit." " No, Beatriz, sit down." " While Dad is still incarcerated?" "Sit down." "It's all been arranged, I could almost say you arranged it." "Me?" "Yes." "I said I was in love with you." "And that your Dad will never change." "I offered him the money, but he refused." "I just don't get you Mexicans." "I'm the one who doesn't get it, Eduardo." "You're crazy." "You're confused." "I just don't understand you!" "I don't know what we'll do after that." "You were saying?" "I just don't get you Mexicans." "He's a man who had a fellow killed because he was disgusted." "Disgusted, that's the reason?" "To save his money and life, he offered him his wife." " Who was it?" " Mr. Fidel." "No wonder." "Poor Rosita." "But he wasn't a Mexican, Eduardo." "You'll see." "He had Mr. Fidel killed and almost at the same time, he accepted my plea." "And he spared another man's life, an enemy of the revolution just because I asked him to for the love of a woman." "For my love for you, Beatriz and he doesn't even know you." "But he was going to have my Dad killed." " But he didn't." " But he wanted to have him killed." "He's a strange man." "I don't know if he's good or bad but you can tell it in his eyes that he keeps his word." "What I don't understand is, being so Mexican he's never been in love." "How can he be in love if he has no heart?" "He's a revolutionary." "Ave Maria" "Gratia plena" "Maria, gratia plena" "Maria, gratia plena" "Ave, ave dominus" "Dominus tecum" "Benedicta tu in mulieribus" "Et benedictus" "Et benedictus fructus ventris" "Ventris tuae, Jesus." "Ave Maria" "Ave Maria" "Mater Dei" "Ora pro nobis peccatoribus" "Ora ora pro nobis" "Ora ora pro nobis peccatoribus" "Nunc et in hora mortis" "Et in hora mortis nostrae" "In hora mortis mortis nostrae" "In hora mortis nostrae" "Ave Maria" "Ave Maria" "I didn't know you were busy." "I'd better leave." " I just came to say hello." " I'm never too busy for you." "They can go on rehearsing on their own." "Besides, I know you too well not to guess that something bigger than saying hello brought you here." "What can I do for you?" "I want you to tell me all about a girl." "Me?" " A girl?" " Yes." "I want you to tell me who she is." "All right, come on." "Let's get out of here." "It's odd of you to come and ask me me, about a girl." "I could almost take it as disrespectful." "No." "Please don't think that." "I beg you." "I come seeking for my friend, talk to me as a friend." "Here's the picture we talked about." "The one that Juarez painted." "The Wiise Men's Adoration." "Nicolas Rodriguez Juarez." "Date:" "Year 1698." "Three Wise Men." "The Three Wise Men." "Symbols of power wealth and oppression." "In a manger." "How ironic." "Kneeling before the boy who brought love in birth to human kind." "...and when he spilled his blood on the cross at the Calvary he made the nail wounds sprout charity purity and kindness." "What an huge symbol for men." "It's more than a symbol, Jose Juan." "I'm sure it is." "But now no one remembers that symbol." "That's why the World is in such bad condition." "Yes." "There." "Let's see." "Walk this way, please." "I don't understand, Jose Juan." "Yes, yes." "Walk this way and climb there." "Higher." "That's it." "Under the light." "Hang this Juarez here where it is well illuminated." "Listen." "I saw her a few hours ago." "Just a few hours ago." "And I want to marry her." "And does she know that?" "No." "And you don't know who she is?" "No." "Well, yes." "I saw her, but don't know who she is." "And you're the only one who can tell me." "I don't know how." "You must tell me who she is." "Listen." "She's the prettiest woman I've seen and her face is a dream." "Her eyes..." "Her eyes are two almonds of shadow and heaven." "When they look at you, you forget everything." "Even her to see those eyes." "Just her eyes." "Her forehead is high, clean." "And all you want is to caress her with your lips as a soft stroke more than as a kiss and touch her cheeks with your dry lips." "And her mouth those lips as two red thunders when she gets angry 'cause I warn you she has her temper." "You say she has her temper?" "I mean..." "You can't marry that woman!" " Do you know her?" " Of course, it's Beatriz." "I mean, Mr. Carlos Penafiel's daughter." "Is she married?" "No." "But she's engaged." "To whom?" "To Mr. Roberts." " The one with the safe passage?" " Yes." "He's a good man." "I assure you he'll come back for her." "That we'll have to see." "After what you've told me and the way you said it I don't know what to tell you to make you see and make you change your mind." "Why should I change my mind?" "I love that woman." "I've never loved before and now I've found her I won't lose her." "And it's evident by how you speak she could easily be yours." "You have the strength and you take by force what you can't have any other way." "But forcing her, you'd surely lose her." "Being mine I'd never lose her." "Understand this well." "I want to marry her!" "You've no right, you're unworthy." "Beatriz isn't just the woman you saw." "She is kind, and deep inside she's simple." "She is a home girl." "A home, Jose Juan..." "What do you have?" "Nothing." "Just an ideal that makes you fight and will surely drag you to your death." "An ideal that destroys all she stands for." "How can you aspire to another life if your life isn't yours?" "You are led through paths of uncertainty and she stands for safety staying at home, on your land, that which doesn't change." "What isn't conquered the way you fight." "All right." "I understand this." "But tell me is she in love?" "I don't know." "Miss Beatriz..." "I swear it's true." "He's to be shot right now." "Hey, Bocanegra, come!" "What are you doing?" "The General told me to kill this old man." "If you kill him, he'll wring my neck." "You know him." "Orders are orders, my friend." "And if I don't shoot this old man right now, I'm dead." "Well, this is a conundrum." "If you don't kill the old man, they'll kill you..." "And if you kill the old man, they'll kill me." "This is going to burst worse than firecrackers." "What do you think?" "Well, he who has fire on the rear and front should bear it, and withstand the heat." "Someone has to serve as Judas and that idiot won't be me." "Straight ahead, march!" "Ready!" "Arms!" "Steady!" "Stop!" "Bocanegra, stop this execution!" "Take Mr. Penafiel to my office." "All right, General." "Arms down!" "Oh, God, you were just about to have it." "Forgive what just happened." "I had ordered your liberation but they didn't understand my orders." "You are free to go." " I'm free?" " Absolutely free, Mr. Penafiel." "Free... without conditions?" "No conditions." "I don't understand you, sir." "Nor do I understand what compelled you to do this." "I must get through, I tell you I must get trough." "I tell you I must see my Father." "I must see my Father." "Let me through, bandits." "Or I'll slap you." "I'm sorry, Mr. Penafiel." "I'm sorry, Miss Penafiel." "Let's go, Dad." "Mr. Penafiel!" "I truly regret what has happened." "Believe me." "I wish you'd honor me allowing me to speak with you at your home." "No one has dared insult my father like you entering my home." "Let's go, Dad." "Beatriz, when will you stop doing that?" "You have reason enough not to receive him, Mr. Carlos." "I know, I regret having to tell you this." "But, what did you expect me to do?" "He's my friend my best and almost only friend." "I have no choice but to come and tell you he'll come here today to speak with you." "To speak with me?" "He wouldn't dare in my home." "I think he would." "He said he'd come at eight." "At eight." "In 13 minutes, Dad." " Let him come, we'll speak." " No, I'll talk to him." " Beatriz!" " Forget about Beatriz!" " Not you." " Yes, me." "I am the one who's right." "Forgive me for shouting at you." "But there are things women do better than men." "Right, Dad?" "That's true, Mr. Carlos." "Remember." "Beatriz!" "Mr. Carlos." "He's in love with your daughter." "So in love I'm astonished and worried." "That's why he's incapable of harming you or her, for he loves her." "I bet he's capable!" "Even more being in love!" "I, being a decent man, had to steal my wife." "Imagine what a nobody like him is capable of doing." "Did you steal Mom?" "You never told me." "How was I to tell you if it was a scandal in town?" "And my grandparents didn't like you?" "It wasn't like that." "Well, your mother's parents wanted what was best for her and they didn't like me for being short." "They opposed as all Parents do, Beatriz." "But you stole Mom?" "Naturally." "And did she love you?" "We both agreed and loved each other." "All parents disagree with their daughters." " But you married her, right?" "Of course I did." "I was short but I married her!" "I'm a gentleman!" "It's him." "He's punctual." "Right, Dad?" "Me?" "No." "You won't use foul language." "Every word I know, Dad." "Who is it?" "It's me, ma'am." " And who is me?" " General Jose Juan Reyes." "And what do you want?" "To speak to your Dad, Miss Penafiel." " What about?" " I also want to speak with you." "You have no one to speak to in this house." "Go away and stop bothering us." "I came to speak to your father, not with you, ma'am." "Don't you get it?" "I said go away." "How dare you come to my house?" "Besides, I forbid you to walk on my street." "Do you think you're irresistible, or what?" "Besides, you're ridiculous, a clown, disgusting." "A cow thief." "A monkey." "You hairy ape." "Robber." "In rags." "Besides, you're too ugly." "Clown." " What?" " What?" "Are you deaf?" " No" " Didn't you hear anything?" "No, I didn't hear you." "Well, come closer." "I don't want them to hear me." " Are you close now?" " Yes." "Come closer." "Put your ear on the door, please." "Done?" "Done." "Hey, how's your ear?" "This will show you not to trust your grandmother." "And how about that?" "This will teach you that women are like mice they always fall into the trap because they're curious." "Miss Penafiel, good night." "Good night, know it all." "Come and see my Father." "Come on." "Really?" "Yes, I'm dying for you to come in." " O.K., but first let go of that." " Of what?" "Of what?" "That thing in your hands." "You think I'll put it down?" " I'm not a fool!" " You won't?" " No!" " Then I won't come in." "I'm not that stupid." "Men are battered alter marriage, not before." "You think that will do the trick?" "I put it down." "What do you think of that?" "Come in, General." "You did dress well." " Come on in." " Really?" "Yes, darling." "Come on in." "You..." "Oh my..." "This is the second time I beat that scoundrel up." "And I hope he comes a third time to knock all his teeth out even if I knock down the gate." "That's my General Juan Jose Reyes!" "Hail my General!" "Yes, sir?" "To your horses." "Madame please." "Don't touch me!" "Forgive me, ma'am but I must speak with you though it's here, on the street." "You have nothing to say to me." "If you wish to speak, talk to your lady soldiers." "Maybe you're right, ma'am, but unfortunately the heart doesn't choose." "I couldn't care less." "Do you think that I must bear with you just because your heart chose?" "You're wrong!" "You are who you are and we..." "Why not say it?" "We are decent people." "And you're an adventurer, a nobody." "Leave me alone and go with your whores, or your lady soldiers..." "Or however you call them!" "Madame forgive a nobody." "For I'm a nobody to you for reminding you that, if we're different I'm not to blame, and it's no thanks to your merits." "And those lady soldiers aren't whores." "You despise them 'cause you don't know them." "But I do know them." "They are humble and selfless and they know how to work, suffer and die expecting nothing in exchange." "Only the love of the man they love." "Maybe you're right to despise them." "Maybe they are too different from you." "After all people aren't all the same for a simple accident of birth." "That's all." "And if you'd been born with no advantage as many of those women were what kina of woman would you be?" "A... slut?" "Jose Juan." "Don't be a coward." "Don't hit a woman." "Hit a man!" "What a bastard and a coward!" "He's not a coward." "Forgive me Jose Juan." "Let's go, Beatriz." "I've never seen such a brute." "Hitting a woman!" "Hitting you, a priest!" "That has no name, Father." "I'm to blame." "I forgot what I am confronting him as a man." "That's it!" "That's what I'd like to be." "A man!" "To drag him and kick him." "I wish he was here." "To slip him and take away that cynical smile he flaunts about." "And those eyes, Father." "Beatriz." "Don't talk like that." "Why not?" "I'd like to rip him open." " That's what you'd like?" " And more." "I see why you provoked him." "What did you tell him?" "Nothing." "Nothing?" "Nothing?" "What would I tell that nobody that bum, that he's way beneath me?" " Beneath you, Beatriz?" " Beneath and deep down under." "I can't even bear to remember him." "God should punish him." "His like shouldn't even exist." "I don't know why all those useless people don't die." "Beatriz..." "Please." "Jose Juan was here and he saw this Picture there, almost in darkness." "And he hung it so it would be well illuminated." "For him, the Three Wise Men symbolize the powerful." "Those who are or believe are superior to others." "And that boy is one of the underprivileged." "Because he is charity Iove and humility." "And there you have the powerful." "Knelt and humble." "As if they wanted to come down to be equal to their fellows." "Did he say that?" "He saw beyond the men on the canvas." "He saw a huge symbol for men." "And his had an expression of almost bitterness for no one remembers that symbol any more." "As if he wanted to make all men equal again." "And that's that's what revolutionaries pursue, Father?" "I don't know." "But that's what he told me." "And he was here?" "Yes, he was here." "To talk about you." "About me?" "Yes." "And I've never heard a man talk about a woman as he spoke about you, Beatriz." "Excuse me, General." "May I sit with you?" "Sit, Mayor." "I'm old, General that's why I dare to meddle." "I know you'd rather be alone right now." " But we know what happened." " Listen, Mayor no one meddles in my affairs." "Neither young nor old." "I'm sorry, General." "And..." "May I, General?" "Mr. Joaquin." "Please, sit." "Excuse me." "Listen, General." "I care for you." "I've always fought beside you and why say more?" "As you see me all old and wrinkled I once was young, as you are." "Yes, General." "Though it doesn't seem so." "And I fell in love with a girl." "But she and I did come to an understanding." "But we had a fight." "There's always fights when you're in love." "But that quarrel wasn't like others that as is natural we'd had before." "She was bitten by pride, General." "And I felt too macho." "And she went her way." "And I went mine." "With one teardrop I'd seen in those eyes so lovely." "I'd knelt, macho and all and I'd asked her forgiveness, General." "But there are women who don't cry." "And I well, that's why I am who I am, General." "I know what troubles you, General." "And believe me I know how it feels inside." "But it takes a real macho to ask for forgiveness." "And I wasn't." "And here I am." "Drinking." "And drinking." "Forgive me." "I've said too much and I don't want to bother you." "Excuse me General." "I come to ask Beatriz to forgive me." "But you might not want to listen." "I ask for your forgiveness..." "And I always will." "Without expecting you to grant it to me." "Maybe my words will be lost before they reach your ears." "For they have to climb so high and your balcony is always closed." "That's why other voices will have to tell you what you won't let me tell you." "Oh, what beautiful eyes under those eyebrows under those eyebrows what beautiful eyes you have." "They want to look at me but if you don't let them but if you don't let them not even let them blink." "Gracious lovely woman" "I'd like to kiss your lips" "I'd like to kiss your lips" "Gracious lovely woman, and tell you beautiful girl." "You are lovely and charming you are lovely and charming as the candor of a rose and tell you beautiful girl you are lovely and charming you are lovely and charming as the candor of a rose." "If you reject me for being poor" "I'd say you're right" "I'd say you're right if you reject me for being poor." "I don't offer you riches" "I offer you my heart" "I offer you my heart in Exchange for my poverty" "Gracious lovely woman" "I'd like to kiss your lips" "I'd like to kiss your lips" "Gracious lovely woman and tell you beautiful girl you are lovely and charming you are lovely and charming as the candor of a rose and tell you beautiful girl you are lovely and charming you are lovely and charming as the candor of a rose." "As the candor of a rose." "No." "Don't go." "Please." "I won't bother you again." "Ever." "I promise." "But, please listen." "Here in this very spot I want to ask you to forgive me." "For everything." "Please for loving you but it's not my fault to feel what I feel for you." "I've told I've no right to fall in love." "And least of all with someone like you for I am what I am." "And even I don't know how I'll end up." "But the heart doesn't know of those things." "It's peaceful calm and suddenly it stops as if life itself stopped for a moment in anguish of not knowing if this is where life ends or will keep on going." "And that anguish never leaves the heart." "But I've dreamt feeling capable of making you happy and God knows that all my hopes can only have one end in my life:" "To continue dreaming of that." "That maybe I could've made you happy you." "I know some day I'll have to leave this town." "Maybe very soon." "And I'll never see you again but I want you to know I'll take you hear in my heart for ever." "You'll be here with me as that figure is on that altar." "That's how much I love you." "And that's how I'll keep on loving you for ever." "I suffer a terrible absence for an ungrateful woman who abandoned me." "I ask pity from Heaven so it may let me forget the pain I've gone through." "What a terrible feeling, when I spend the night awake thinking of you." "I want to forget you, but ever more and more" "I feel you ever closer." "I don't' want to see you and I..." "General, we were looking for you." "The messenger arrived with news, the federal forces are three miles away." "How many are there?" "Two infantry battalions." "Two cavalry regiments and besides two fire-gun sections, General." "They come well armed with weapons and ammunition and they'll be here in 5 hours." "And they've been ordered to destroy you if captured." "Dead or alive, General." "At your service, General." "I don't know." "I'll tell you your orders later." " Quarter all the men." " Yes, General." "I live sad, forgotten, with nothing in life but an illusion." "You were the flame burning in my heart that faded away too soon" "I'll take my chances, with the cards" "You gave me a safe passage, didn't you, General?" "Safe passage or not, things have changed." "What should we do with him, General?" "Kill him?" "He's pared to come back with a wedding dress." "Do I kill him?" "I don't ever want to see you or to speak to you again ungrateful woman." "You'll pay for it before God." "You may leave, Bocanegra." "Yes, General." "When you first spoke with me I didn't understand what you meant." "Now I understand." "Go to her and make her very happy." "Rogelio!" "General." " Go with him." " Yes, sir." "I had come to plea again but I see it won' be necessary." "Thank you, Jose Juan." "You've always sought good lighting for others not knowing you're always left in the dark." "Tonight tonight they'll be legally wed." "And tomorrow tomorrow I your friend, Jose Juan will have to wed them at the altar." "General." "The enemy is in sight." "In formation and ready to attack." "Their artillery has been placed." "Prepare the men to evacuate the siege immediately." "Without fighting, General?" "Without fighting, Mayor." "As you command, General." "Excuse me." "I'm glad you decided not to fight." "Sometimes we ought not to fight." "It's more dignified to withdraw in time than to fight and fight until you are beaten." "All right, Sierrita goodbye." "And forgive me for everything." "Goodbye, Jose Juan." "God bless you." "General." "Here's the lady who wouldn't accept back her money and jewelry so I brought her." " You?" " Rosa Bernal." "Fidel Bernal's widow." "I'm so sorry they bothered you, ma'am." "And I beg you to accept this money back for it's yours and so are the rings." "And I want you to know that, though I don't regret having sent your husband to die I've felt a great pain for you." "I know everything, sir." " And I don't hold any grudges." " Thank you, ma'am." "Quinones!" "Take her home and give her that." "Yes, General." "The judge who will marry us is in there with all your acquaintances." "And I want to ask you this." "Are you sure you want to marry me?" "Yes." "Are you sure you love no other?" "Are you sure you love me?" "Yes." "I ask you this for that other man loves you as much much as I could love you." "So, are you sure you're willing to be my wife?" "I'm sure." "Well, before we go in allow me to give you your wedding present." " Hail to the bride and groom!" " Hail!" " Hail to the bride and groom!" " Hail!" "The witnesses from both sides be so kind as to take your places." "I'd like to take this moment to tell you it's a great honor to be the judge in this marriage." "For it's Carlos Penafiel's daughter, my goddaughter and you, Beatriz whom I carried to the baptism waters." "Whose name I wrote on the records..." "I'd like to tell you in such a significant moment to you for your father, and for all of us what the law expects of a husband and his wife." "And I'll start by expressing how glad I am you're marrying a foreigner Mr. Roberts." "For this proves that among us there isn't and never has been racial prejudice and thus, your responsibility as a Mexican woman is greater." "Beatriz Penafiel as of today, your name will be..." "Beatriz Penafiel Roberts." "Sign." "Don't be alarmed." "It's the federal forces that have come to attack." "But General Jose Juan Reyes won't fight." "He's defeated." "And has judged it more honorable to retreat." "At your service, General." "When they reach the town skirts tell the men to be in line formation." "At you orders, General." "THE END"