"Don't take it so seriously." "It's only a film." "Why don't you fix it?" "It's too dark to see anything." "Do you want to let me try?" "Look, this isn't a toy." "I think some of these Pictures are more trouble than they're worth." "I know I'm not the first to say that." "Well, as I recall, it was your idea." "Not one of my best." "I thought I'd let you say that." "Why don't we just forget the whole thing?" " It's not a very good one, anyway." " You don't care for it?" "Not especially." " A bit strong for your taste, perhaps?" " A bit crude for my taste." "Well, one day you'll find out that crudity is in the eye of the beholder." "Ah, there, that's more like it." "I wonder if they're really enjoying it or if they're just faking." "It must be distracting, knowing People are watching, that People are going to watch." "I'd like to know how many times he had to do it before they got a good take." "This one seems to be Putting everything he has into the Part." "A method actor." "I don't know what you get out of this." "What's this now?" "A double feature?" "Ah, intermission." "Now, this one looks familiar." "Familiar?" "You could even say intimate." "No, really." "I mean it." "Oh, this whole Picture is ridiculous." "Are you sure you started in the right Place?" "It's all out of order." "There we are again." "Hello, Blondie." "There's another one." "Oh, this one looks like she's been around." "I wonder where they find the girls to act in these things." "Wouldn't you?" "What?" "Do those things?" "Not in front of a camera." "Huh!" "One never knows." "Never." "What's so amusing?" "What are you laughing at?" "Nothing." "I was just thinking of something." " Well?" " Remember the caterpillar." " What?" " I don't get it." "These two caterpillars were crawling across a fig leaf when one of them noticed a butterfly flying Past above them." "'"Progress is wonderful,\x22 one said." "'"Yes,\x22 the other one answered." "\x22But you'll never get me up in one of those things.\x22" "Well, I wouldn't." "Who knows?" "It might be exciting." "It certainly doesn't seem to bother them." "I'd say they were Pretty enthusiastic if you ask me, like they were enjoying their work." "I suppose it would have fringe benefits." "This film's a bargain." "This Picture looks like something they made during WW2." "Prostitutes, Probably." " What are you talking about?" " The girls in the Picture." "They're Probably Prostitutes." "Such a variety." "Therese and Isabelle." "My money's on Therese." "So is Isabelle's, I think." "I suppose girls like that aren't especially Particular." "Hey." "And what have we here?" "A multiple number." "Group therapy." "They haven't left anything out of this Picture, have they?" "Something for everybody." " I've had enough." " Where are you going?" " Out someplace." " Are you not enjoying the film?" " I've seen it before." " You couldn't have." "We just got it." "When it's over I'll Put it on high speed in reverse." " You always do." " It has to rewind anyway." " That isn't why." " Oh, Please!" "Don't deprive me of the benefit of his opinion." "It must be a comfort to know you can control things with nothing more than a quick flip of the switch." "Oh, Please!" " I'm leaving." " Wait, I'll come with you." "I don't think I can stand it any longer." "We'll let him stay here and enjoy himself in Private." "Surely you don't think I'd continue running this for myself." "Why ever not?" "I gave up that sort of thing after a depressingly graphic lecture by the leader of my scout troop." "Very funny." " Where are we going?" " Who knows?" "Another of his secrets, I guess." "A surprise." "You never know the end until you're there." " Suppose I don't like it?" " You can run it backwards, at high speed, like your film." "Look, a genuine freak of nature." " What's a freak of nature?" " What isn't?" "'This way to the wall of death." "'Don't miss it." "'The last complete Performance is beginning immediately." "'This is the most extraordinary attraction of the carnival." "'See them fearlessly kiss death 'and defy the laws of gravity in the most amazing...'" "'And now, ladies and gentlemen," "'Presenting the only girl in the world 'to defy the notorious wall of death 'simultaneously with another rider.'" "'And now, in the most spectacular display of courage 'that you will ever witness, 'the Troupe Nino climaxes their Performance with three riders in an unprecedented Parallel class four times around the summit of the wall of death.'" " It couldn't be." " You're right." " But I don't see why not." " Of course it's the same girl." "Or her twin." " That's crazy." " Don't be too sure." "Do you really think you can walk out and find this same girl on your doorstep?" "The world's full of stories of lost rings found in the bellies of fish by the daughter or the second cousin of the owner." "People turn up where you least expect them." " I wonder where she comes from." " Who knows?" "Before the revolution they made a lot of these films in Cuba." "She doesn't look very Cuban." "Or Mexico, maybe, or Hong Kong." "It's Pretty much the same all over." " Hey, you were terrific." " Thank you." "Why not wait for me at the main gate, huh?" "What are you up to?" "Wouldn't it be fun to take her back with us and show her the film?" "You wouldn't want to miss an opportunity like that?" " Naturally not." " A Private showing." "With the star Present, like one of those film festivals." "Forget it." "It isn't the same girl." "He's going to make a fool of himself up there." "At first, I agree, I thought there was a resemblance." " But look closely..." " Don't fret." "I'm certain she's said yes to a lot of invitations." "Besides, it will be fun." "Excuse me, I hate to intrude but I did want to tell you how much we, my wife and I, enjoyed your Performance." "It's one of the most exciting acts we've seen anywhere." "Really?" "It's nice of you to say so." "Do you do this every night?" "Almost." "Two nights a week I help out at the shooting gallery." "It must have taken a lot of work to Perfect the act, to make it run so smoothly." "Oh, it's fun." "We enjoy it." "But your timing must be so Precise." "Yes, timing's important." "In any undertaking." "You sound as if you speak from experience." "I've never ridden a motorbike in a thrill show." "But you've done lots of other very interesting and dangerous things." "What makes you say that?" "You look like a man who's had adventures." " Here and there." " It shows in your face." " From time to time." " And in your eyes." "On my way to this adventure." " I'm not an adventure." " Are you sure?" " I don't think I am." " Why not hold that decision until we've had a chance to explore that Possibility?" "I have a feeling you're leading up to something." "And I have a suspicion that you know what it is." "Actually, my Place isn't far from here and my wife and I..." " Wanted to know if I..." " Would care to come back with us." "For a few drinks, perhaps?" "Nothing very special, just a small informal..." "Party?" "Precisely." " Will you wait while I change?" " Why bother to change?" "If you say so." "I've won!" "We've both won." "Please make yourself at home." "Let's have some drinks, huh?" "You know..." "It's getting very chilly in the evenings this time of year." "It's odd, but as my wife remarked," "I can't quite say what it is but... it's just something about you is familiar." " Could we Possibly have met...?" " At Acapulco?" " No." " No?" "Thanks." " We go there as often as we can." " No, it wasn't Acapulco." " Or Saint Tropez?" " I've never been there." "It was a good Place not to be during the war." "You wouldn't believe the extent of the destruction." "It must have been someplace." " Rio, perhaps?" " I don't think so." " Or Palm Springs?" " Palm Beach?" "Palma de Majorca?" "Have you always been with the carnival?" " All my life." " Surely it can't be all that long." "Oh, don't you listen to him." "Men, they are terrible when it comes to ages." "Are you really?" "Why?" "The reason is that from time to time I feel about 150." "You're lucky, because I'm 155." "Good, I like older women." "And I'm attracted to younger men." "I suppose you've been all over the world." " You must like travelling." " Not too much." "Wherever you are it's about the same." "Wait a moment." "Perhaps I misunderstood but I thought you said a Party." "I believe the one who said that was you." "Party?" "Did I really?" "Besides, it isn't a great crowd of People, you know, that makes up a Party." "Of course not." "This, in its own way, is an occasion." "A celebration, an..." "Adventure?" "The crowd concept of fun is terribly overrated." "Too many People can be even worse than too few." "Don't you agree?" "Yes, besides, here we are." "Who has the gun?" " What gun?" " To do the shooting." " There isn't going to be any shooting." " There isn't?" "Of course there is." "Of course there isn't." "We have Planned some entertainment." "I'm sure you'll find it amusing." "Yes, that's what we need." "Some entertainment." "You'll have your Picture show, the wonderful magic lantern, but first comes the stage show, the jugglers, the Performing dogs, the trained seals, a little diversion to help the night along." "Don't do anything foolish." "Remember we have a guest." "Really, Mother!" "You must be joking." "I'm surprised a beautiful girl like you hasn't gone into films." "It just didn't happen, I guess." "Are you sure?" "Maybe you're like that famous Hollywood star who in her entire career which covered 30 years in Pictures and seven Oscar nominations never once saw herself on screen." " I just didn't have any talent for it." " With your looks and that body?" " Really?" " What do you know about my body?" "Don't tell me it hasn't occurred to you." "You don't expect us to believe that you never gave the movies a thought." " Are you People in the movies?" " Isn't everyone?" " Well, not exactly." " But we're very interested in Pictures." "Yes, I think with a little experience, a girl with your natural abilities could go a long way if she wanted to." "Perhaps you'd enjoy seeing one of our films." "Yes, it's a very unusual Picture." "You might even call it an educational film." "A modern study in realism." "I'm sure you'll find it interesting." "We could run it now if you like." "But first comes the live entertainment, right?" "Oh, for God's sake." "What's all this for?" "Why, for laughs, Mother, like everything else." "That was very, very good." "How did you do it?" "It's a trick, a simple one really." "All the best magic is essentially easy." "We know." "Reality is what's hard." "Yes, ladies and gentlemen, all the best magic is essentially easy." "Everything's easy when you know how." "I have 52 cards, all of them different." " Pick one, anyone you like." " Oh, come on, now!" "And now tear off a corner." "Do you know many tricks?" "Thousands." "He'd go on all night if we'd let him." "He was a very Precocious child, always into something." "I could never let him out of my sight for a moment." "You know how demanding special talents can be." "The finest schools," "Private tutors, the best that money could buy." "Couldn't have done more for him if he were my own son." "You seem a little beside yourself tonight." "Is that where I am?" "Do some more magic, something spectacular." "Maybe I could." "However, I need a Partner." " Haven't we had enough?" " Will you help me?" "Avec Plaisir." "Now, ladies and gentlemen, a trick you haven't seen before." "a startling, mind-boggling revelation, based on the secrets of the ancient eastern mystics." "Start the Projection at any Point, without preparation, without rehearsal." "What?" "Where is she?" "Turn on the lights." "All right." "Enough is enough!" " Come on!" " Where did you hide her?" " How should I know?" " We'd better look for her." "God knows where she is!" "Yes." "You go that way." "Where is she?" "She has to be here somewhere." "This has gone far enough." "It isn't funny anymore." "Most of the Passages are blind alleys that take you back where you started." "Are you out there?" "Are you out there?" "Oh, there you are." "Come on out." "I've found you." "I was afraid this would happen." "Once that kid gets started..." "We know you're here." "Do you hear me?" "Come on out!" "It's dangerous up here in the dark." "If this is a joke, it's in very bad taste." "No one knows how many rooms there are." "Oh." "Where were you?" " We turned this Place upside down." " I was here all the time." "For a minute there, I thought I was back at the carnival." "We were worried about you." "It's so big here, even we get lost sometimes." "We couldn't imagine what had happened." "When he gets started..." "You shouldn't encourage him." "We should have warned you." "Now that we are all together again, why don't we get on with the film?" " I'm looking forward to it." " No, it's filth." "Disgusting!" "Something they use to get themselves worked up because they can't, don't, do anything else." " That's not true." " Isn't it?" "Don't Pay any attention to those two." "They always fight." "It's nothing." "Jealousy." "My son is very highly strung, you know." "Sensitive." "When he was three he had a divine vision of Saint Margaret." "Saw her as clear and real as if it were a movie, he said." "Saw the dragon swallow her, her resurrection." "Felt, he said, all the Pain, the fire, the executioner's blade." "After that he cried and trembled for days." "He's never been quite the same since." "He couldn't be comforted." "Ran a terrible fever." "For years I took him all over." "Got the finest advice." "My husband doesn't understand." " It's difficult, I guess." " Let's get on with the film." "Ah, this is it." "Did your son really see Saint Margaret?" "I don't know." "Maybe it was just an overdose of Little Red Riding Hood." "I mean, after all, it was his vision." "I did see Saint Margaret that morning." "It was very early." "Devoured by filth." "Like once at the zoo" "I saw a Python swallow a baby Pig whole." "And I could see the body, the shape of it going down the long, slimy length of him, swelling it out, inch by inch, as the snake gradually crushed it." "But the loving gentleness of her nature was so strong and Pure that it could not be destroyed." "It could not be spoiled by the ugliness that was all around it." "And so, even when I saw her tormented, tortured," "I knew that she had miraculously remained safe, like Jonah kept alive inside the belly of the whale." "People cried when I told them about it." "Some laughed and didn't believe me and said it was evil to make up things like that." "But I did see her, so real I could reach out and touch, feel his hairy scales," "hear her screaming as the dragon swallowed her and she was overcome by the sulphurous fumes as the monster snorted and belched ashes and fire." "But she was unharmed by the flames and came up out of them, unblemished and unsoiled, more beautiful, somehow, than ever." "And I saw her ordeal and felt his hot, stinking breath on my body and the smell of charred flesh and burning hair was in my nostrils." "And I could see where his claws had ripped open the flesh of her breasts and his teeth had torn into her." "But she was restored to life and I saw her as she was later, before she was condemned to death." "The executioner came and I could feel the cold metal blade as it sliced through the delicate flesh of her neck," "leaving a thin circle of blood there, like a narrow band of rubies." "And I felt the Pain when she was killed finally and the executioner tore off her head." "There was nothing but this great ugly gaping hole where her head had been." "And then I felt the warmth of her blood, like rain," "blessing my trembling hands." "Who knows what he saw?" "Probably just made the whole thing up to get attention." "I never believed a word of it myself." "I don't understand this film." " Who does?" " He must have been fooling around." "Did you change these reels, huh?" "As you said, utterly realistic." "The best is yet to come." "Where do they get the girls to make those films?" "I was wondering that myself." "This can't be the same film." "Remember you were running it backwards before we left." "Maybe he Put it on at the wrong Place." "It happens." " I ought to be getting back, really." " Er... no, stay." "I'll get this straightened out, you'll see." " This Picture's interesting." " A revelation." " I can't figure it out." " Some other time." "No, I'll get this right if it kills me." "Well, I'll be damned!" "I've never seen a film like this before." "Oh, it's different all right." "Oh, shut it off." "It's hopeless." "This Picture isn't as good as we thought it was going to be." "Maybe we were mistaken." "Maybe we were." "Is there a second feature or shall I go now?" "It isn't as if we didn't have Plenty of room." "After all, it isn't every night you get a chance to stay in a Place 700 years old where the toilets really flush." "Anything you can't find or need, just ring." " Good night." " Good night." " Good morning." " So there you are." "I wasn't hiding." "Maybe not but I was looking." "You're different this morning?" " I am?" "How?" " It's your hair." " I was hoping you wouldn't notice." " I'd have to be blind." "Or that if you did, at least you wouldn't mention it." "Good morning." " So there you are." " I wasn't hiding." "Maybe not but I was looking." "This Place is beautiful." " Do you always stay here." " How about you?" "This looks like something out of an Italian movie." "You know, you're the first guest we've ever had here." "Will the carnival stay long?" "If there's business." "And if there isn't?" "What happens to you then, huh?" "We fold and move along where there is." "So you're... buffeted about by the tides of commerce, hm?" "It's a gypsy's life." "Have you really read them all?" "No, not quite all." "But since I own them, I don't have to read them, do I?" "Some of them I couldn't read if I tried." "Obscure languages and forgotten alphabets." "Like most collectors," "I'm afraid Pride of ownership has rather gotten the upper hand." "They're overwhelming." "Er... to overwhelm, to... weigh upon overpoweringly, to crush, to cover," "to bury beneath, to en... to engulf, to submerge." "What are those?" "Ahh!" "Who needs so many books, anyway?" "That's right!" "That's right." "I can't even read some of them." "You don't have to." " That's right." " That's right." "You own them." "It's never wise to have too many ideas." "One gets confused." "They cancel each other out." "Look at him." "Look at him!" "Who?" "Her son." "His head is..." "His head is crammed full of ideas but what does he know?" "What?" "Nothing!" "You saw the way he behaves." "Magic tricks and childhood visions." "At his age." "I told him it was time to give up all that nonsense about seeing Saint Margaret." "Last year even the Church eliminated her name from the calendar of holy days because they said it was doubtful that the lady in question ever existed." "It was in all the papers." "But he sticks to his story, even though he knows it can't Possibly be real." "He doesn't even know how good it feels to overwhelm to crush, to cover, to bury beneath his body the sweet, tantalising, submissive, responsive, fresh, warm, yielding body" "of a beautiful and exciting young..." "I knew when I saw you in the film that you'd be like this." "But I told you, I never made any films." "Are you sure?" "Well, sometimes I'm not even sure that I ride a motorcycle." "It's hard to remember exactly what happened such a long time ago." "It couldn't be that long ago." "You're still...terribly young." "I'm 155, remember?" "You're remarkably well Preserved." "And I'm still a virgin, you know." "Do you want me to believe that?" "Believe what you want." "Don't you want me to be a virgin?" "Don't you want to be the first man?" "She says I'm impotent." "I know I'm not." "But when she says it, I start to believe it must be true." "I don't think you're impotent." "I have a heart condition." "It isn't serious." "I tend to overdo it, you know." "I drive myself too hard, I mean..." "Who needs it?" "Did you come up here because you thought I wouldn't find you, huh?" "Because I knew you would." "Then it's lucky that from all the blind alleys and secret Passages" "I happened to choose the right stairway." "I left a thread of hope to guide you through the labyrinth." "I should have known." "I thought it was only cobwebs." "That's Probably all it was." "And I thought you were avoiding me." " Why should I want to do that?" " You shouldn't, but I thought you did." " You were mistaken." " All right." "I thought we understood each other better." "And don't we still?" "We were... mistaken." "This isn't the same girl." "But last night you were so certain." "This girl's a virgin, I tell you." " Is?" " Was." "The library's a mess." "Her virginity is as imaginary as your virility." "You can get blood out of an illusion." " Don't be too sure." " I tell you, it's the same girl." "I recognised her the very moment I saw her." "Do you think that it is?" "I think that it can't be." " I don't know what to think any more." " But that's only a girl in a film." "And what a girl in a film does isn't really happening, not to her." " Not to me." " But to me." "When you watch it." "But when I am watching it, it seems too real." "That's the best Part." "She's just a carnival tramp." "If you say so." "I don't know why we are making such a fuss over a common whore." "Well, as they always say, it takes one to know one." "I'm not now, nor have I ever been, a common whore." " No?" "Then tell me where I met you." " Are you sure we're ready for that?" "Oh, yes." "I remember very distinctly the way we met." "It was at a very elegant, very select Party." "Surely you remember." "It was at Saint Tropez, just right after the war." "I remember you remarked about..." "how severely the town was damaged." "I had just come back from school." "In Switzerland." "I knew your sister." "How do you explain the boy wonder?" "I don't explain him at all." " I don't explain him at all." " I found you in a waterfront crib." "So close to the docks, I can still smell the stink of the fish in the Pitch and the disinfectant." "So we've all seen some bad times." " I never!" " You were desperate." "Sex has always been a source of great discomfort to me, but I've tried to endure it for the sake of our marriage." "Those intimacies that you felt to be your right and Privilege!" "It was with rejoicing that I greeted the onset of your impotency." "I'm not now nor have I ever been impotent." "Yes, you are." "What's worse, you have a bad heart." "You have to take it easy." "Slow and easy." " Ask her if I'm impotent." " I don't care what she says." "She'd lie just to Please you." "All whores are notorious liars." "You know that." "I found you in a whorehouse." "You were sick, eaten up with infection, and your kid was starving." "If I hadn't come along, you would have died." "It was an act of mercy." "For which you have my undying ingratitude." "No good deed goes unpunished." "Did you make it with her?" " Who?" " Your carnival virgin." "What virgin?" " I'm not like that." " No, you're not like that." "But I must admit, I have experienced few really tender moments in my life." "Tell me about yourself." "When I was 13," "I ran away from home and joined the circus." "The circus?" "A carnival." "A dinky little one-horse show where even the freaks were fake." "There are Plenty of authentic freaks around." "They could have had real ones." "And then?" "I don't know." "I wasn't especially good at anything." "For a while, I tried to make it as a dancer." "One morning I woke up and found myself Pregnant." "His?" " My husband?" " Yes." "All this was before, back at the time of the Punic Wars or something." "Well... after that things went from worse to rotten." "I mean... it was rough." "What did you do?" "It doesn't matter." "What matters, when you're really up against it, is to get by, somehow." "Who are you, anyway?" "I'm the girl from the carnival." "Oh, yes." "Remember?" "You brought me here for a Party." "Life from time to time has dealt harshly with most of us." "And that kid of yours." "Pale and scared and already crazy." "Science has established the importance of a balanced diet in cases suggestive of mental retardation but if we don't have vitamins... there's always fantasy." "God knows who his father was." "Yes." "Who has the gun?" "I wonder what happened to her." "When she was 13 she ran away with the circus." " The circus?" " Carnival." "A dinky little one-horse show." "Even the freaks weren't real." " And God knows, there are Plenty..." " Unless... you believe in freaks." "That makes the difference." " I wonder..." " What?" "If we went back to the carnival." "People don't stay the same from one moment to the next." "Things change." "That's the only thing you can count on." "Like Saint Margaret." "Cast among the doubtful saints." "So where does that leave us?" "In the dark." "That's where we start and that's where we finish, hm?" "In between it's just a game of..." "hide and seek." "I must say, I find this Picture rather crude." "One day you'll learn that crudity is in the eye of the beholder." "I wonder if they're enjoying it or if they're only Pretending, faking." "Why would anyone let herself be photographed like that?" "Like what?" "One of those things." "The return of Therese and Isabelle." "Wouldn't you do those things?" "I might but certainly not in front of a camera." "Don't be too sure." "Don't take it so seriously." "It's only a film." "A double feature at that." " Like it?" " Not much." "It's just like all the others." "No, this one's different." "You'll see." "I wonder where they find the girls to make these things." "Hmm." "Prostitutes, Probably." "The girls in the Picture, they're Probably just Prostitutes." "We've seen enough." "What's the matter?" "Aren't you enjoying the film?" "If you want I could switch it onto high speed." "I thought maybe later we'd run it backwards." "Have you seen these Pictures in reverse?" "Only about a thousand times." " Come on." " We don't want to be late." " The last time it goes on is midnight." " Let's go." " OK, where to?" " You'll see." " It will be a surprise." " Oh, good." "I love surprises." "As long as they're good surprises." "Can you guarantee it?"