"I can feel it." "There's a ghost." "Bound to this house." "Who?" "Who are you?" "Yes." "It's a woman." "No." "No." "I don't want you." "Go away." "Go!" " It's my poor DanieIa." " Don't move." "An evil spirit." "No." "Go away!" "I don't want you." "Go away, you're hurting me." "No, go away." "You're frightening me." "You're frightening me." " What's going on?" " Be quiet." "Leave me alone." "I don't want to." "Get out of my body." "Swine." "You're nothing but a bunch of domesticated swine." "Stop staring at me with that idiotic expression." "This is not her voice." "This is not DanieIa." "You disgrace the good name of our family." "You disgust me!" "Perverts, hypocrites, sluts." "You hide behind your respectability but behind your masks you're rotten." "Rotten and corrupt." "Good gracious!" "Somebody is touching me." "Where?" " Between my legs." " Don't be silly." "Whore." "What's going on?" "Stop it!" "Andrea, do something!" "Stop, stop it now." "Enough of this farce!" "No." "That girl worries me." "Maybe it was a mistake to keep her isolated in this sort of monastery." "At her age she needs to be with other people." "We've never let her go any further than the castle gardens." "She may grow up to be insufferable, full of complexes." "You should be proud of your daughter, my dear." "I didn't expect to have a granddaughter like her." "She's going through a difficult phase in a woman's life." "We've all been there." "At times like these the paternal figure can be very important." "She should, however, get used to living modestly." "I'm going to sell the castle." "You can't do it!" "I'm your mother and won't allow it." "15 generations of KaroIis have lived here." "What about the payments?" "How will we make them this year?" "We have time to think about it." "Be reasonable!" "You don't realize how bad things are." "You're still living in the past and you don't want to accept reality." " Leave it to me, Mother." " You've always been a weak man." "You won't sell this house, your brother will help us." "He has plenty of money." "AdoIfo is a mere shell of a man." "How can you rely on him?" "AII he owns is in his wife's hands, as you well know." "unfortunately his so-caIIed administrator knows it as well." "They won't spend a penny on this place." "Why don't you marry her?" "What?" "Why shouldn't you marry Nais?" "AdoIfo's money would still be property of the KaroIi family." "Mother, you don't know what you're saying." "AdoIfo is paralyzed but he's still alive." "Do you understand he's alive?" "Not for much longer." "Sad, but true." "You never cease to astound me." "How can you say that about AdoIfo?" "He is your son." "And it's our family and our castle." "We've lived here for three centuries and will continue to do so for as long as I Iive." "AII right, but don't count on me." "I'm sorry, Mother." "I would not marry again even if I had the chance." "I won't change my mind." "Why is my idea so absurd?" "It's simple enough, Mother." "daniela is dead but she hasn't left my Iife." "I don't intend to fill the void she's left." "Not for the time being." "And your suggestion to marry my brother's wife is inappropriate." "She's all right for him, he's always loved Iow-grade sluts." "You know I can't bear such vulgarity." "We shall talk about it again in a manner that befits your upbringing." "You were talking about me, weren't you?" "Sometimes mother is unreasonable." "You're in trouble." "Your mother is more lucid than you may think." "She's a very practical woman." "But you haven't answered my question yet." "Since when have you become so curious?" "Do you think it was the spirit of one of your ancestors last night?" "I don't believe in such things." "She seems to know you very well and she wasn't very kind to the KaroIis." "But she was even more explicit with you." "She said I'm a whore." "She was absolutely right." "But all women are whores, more or less." "And you, more or less?" "I leave it to you to judge." "So?" "I don't know enough to judge you." "Perhaps your lawyer could help me." "Ask him, if you Iike." "Or get information straight from the source." "I will keep no secrets from you." "help!" "Dad!" "You've always been different from your brother." "Sometimes I wonder how you can bear the dusty, gloomy atmosphere of this castle." "You live here as well, though." "Not for much longer, that's for sure." "Dad!" "Dad!" " Dad!" " What is it?" "What's wrong?" "I was walking in the park and I heard noises." "It's to be expected." "It must have been the wind or a squirrel." "No, I saw snakes." "What are you talking about?" "There are no snakes around here," " certainly not in our park." "calm down." " Bimba, Bimba." "Excuse me." "I heard Bimba calling, so..." "Nothing to worry about." "She heard noises in the park and was scared." "Take her upstairs, please." "Have a rest, my dear." " You have to study today, you know." " You don't believe me, but I..." "Let's go to your room and you can tell me everything." "Don't you know that the Lord doesn't want us to lie?" "well, I see you're not in the mood for talking." " We have nothing to talk about." " We do, Andrea." "You'd better listen to me one of these days." "See you later." "Good evening, everybody." "Good evening, Granny." "Dad, Nais, Giorgio." "Good evening, madam." "The rest did you good." "You look very pretty tonight." "Thank you." "Maria, what's for dinner?" "Soup, chicken and vegetables." "No soup for me." "I'II have the main course." "You should have some soup, it's very nice." "When I was your age, I ate loads of it." "When you were my age, you were already fucking all your father's friends." "Isn't that true, Granny?" "What did you say?" "Bimba, how dare you!" "I say what I want, don't fuck with me!" "Understood?" "apologize to your grandmother right now!" "No." "please, miss, don't." "I'II drop the tray." "And when will you stop banging Maria with this?" " Swine!" " Enough, Bimba!" "Go back to your room, rude girl!" "Sister Sofia, please." "I'II be with her soon, Countess." "It's preposterous." "Who could have taught her such vulgar language?" "Come on, speak up." " You're talking about me, aren't you?" " Nais, please." "Stuff your face as usual and shut up." "Like it or not, I belong to this honorable family and I'm fed up with your insinuations." "She certainly didn't learn that language from me, much less from my mother." "Nor from AdoIfo." "Why haven't you mentioned him?" "You think the world is divided into two halves." "On one side the KaroIis and a few chosen, on the other the hoi polloi." "If Lucrezia's spirit hadn't disgraced you, you'd be on sure ground." "To you AdoIfo is just a KaroIi gone astray, who married a whore, right?" "But this whore has the bad habit of saying what she thinks." "To offload your responsibility for her upbringing you're blaming me for Bimba's obscene language." "You don't care whether she's going through a crisis." "You'd disown yourselves for the sake of... the good name of the family." "Isn't that true?" "I won't have you speaking to me like this." "You're not only offending my mother and myself but your husband as well." "My husband..." "I haven't had a husband for five years." "It's as if he already had his place in the ancestors' gallery." "How dare you tell me how to treat him?" "I heard how you respect him this afternoon." "For you AdoIfo is a living corpse." "His only quality is to have trebled his patrimony." "That's the only thing that matters to you, but I..." "I won't let you have a penny." "We'II see if you will still be able to say that a KaroIi is always a KaroIi." "They want me to marry your brother, you know, AdoIfo?" "To keep the money in the family." "And I'm the immoral person, the whore?" "You're a bunch of hypocrites." "That's what you are." "And you, stop guIping it down like a pig." "Where are you going?" "To see my daughter." "Excuse me." "Why?" "Why have you done this?" "To put you to shame, whore!" "Bimba, listen to me." "I'm sorry I slapped you." "I didn't mean to but I lost my temper." "please." "Let's forget about it, all right?" "Dad, please forgive me." "Of course, darling, of course." " calm down, you'II get over it." " I'm sorry, Dad." "hello." "What do you want?" "You're being rude." "Are you going to keep up these poor manners?" "A man's bedroom is not the right place to Iearn the rules of etiquette." "You could be right." "But it looks to me like a way of regarding life with moralistic and puritanical disdain." "AII right, I'II change the question." "How can I help you?" "Do you have a sleeping pill?" "I can't sleep." "You'II agree it wasn't a very nice day." "Indeed." "I'II see if I still have some pills in the bathroom." " Sorry, I don't have any left." " I'II make do with a Scotch." "I'm sure you have some." "Here you go." " Do you need anything else?" " I need to drink it." "You may as well drink it in your room." "Aren't you exaggerating a bit?" "After all you're my brother-in-Iaw, I'm not a stranger." "Or are you afraid it will end up as your mother suggested?" "Mother has nothing to do with it." " Who does then?" "Her?" " Leave DanieIa alone." " And cover your legs." " Don't be silly." "Just my legs?" "And my breasts?" "You forgot them." "Both." "You noticed." "I thought you were not interested in such things any more." "Get dressed, I said." "First, take a good look at me." "Don't you want to touch me?" "Don't just stand there." "Take your whisky and leave." "When was the Iast time a woman entered this room?" " That's none of your business." " No." "It's everybody's business." "You're as tight as a string." "You need to relax, don't you think?" "And you'd be willing to make the sacrifice." "I would do it with pleasure." "What do you say?" "No." "Enough." "Get out." "You are either impotent or crazy." "Who do you think you are, Andrea?" "Tonight you'II think of me, whether you Iike it or not." "Your eyes are full of my body." "You won't be able to avoid thinking of it once you're alone." "Look at my body." "Long for it." "It's yours if you want it and if you get aroused alone in your bed, try not to masturbate." "You'd make me feel guilty." "Goodnight." " Where have you been?" " None of your business." "Who said you could come into my bedroom?" "You went to see that spineless wretch Andrea." "Why are you so worried if he's spineless?" "Are you jealous?" "You're a bitch." "It's true, and you love it." "Come on!" "How much are you offering?" "Tonight I'm for sale." "slut!" "That's a little cheap to fuck me." "bloody masochist!" "You want more, don't you?" "Hit me!" "More." "Shirker." "You're the spineless one, not Andrea." "You need the preliminaries, don't you?" "Do you Iike it?" "Shut up." "Your virility is already gone, gone with a scream." "You see, you are a drip, nothing but a wreck." "You have nothing left now but to suffer my nails." "Who's the masochist now?" "Yes, yes, I Iike it." " Like this?" " Yes, yes." "Stop it, please." "You're all the same." "You're all cowards." "You're already satisfied, aren't you?" "What should I do now?" "My orgasm is far away." "I want to cum too, bastard." "Where did you learn to make love?" "selfish bastard." "Give me your hand." "Let me cum." "Like this." "I know this is what you Iike most." "Like this." "Like this." "Like this." "More, more." "Are you cuming?" "Come on, cum, cum." "If you go on like this, I'II start again too." "You're the best whore in the world." "Whore." "Again." "Again." "Again." "Nice, isn't it?" "What are you doing here?" "Why are you spying on me?" "Spying?" "Me?" "I would never do that." "Spy, spy, you're a damn spy." "Go away." "Go away, spy." "It's monstrous." "I think you're making a drama out of natural development." "You probably don't remember your youth." "Nobody was a saint." "Bimba has a delayed puberty which causes some sexual morbidity, that's all." "Don't you agree?" "Nais is probably right, Iet's not worry too much." "It's not easy to pretend nothing's happened." "Bimba knows that we have her teddy bear and she probably knows we're spying on her." "Andrea, are you listening?" "I'II go and talk to her." "I want to know what the hell is going on in her mind." "It's the least I can do." "I agree." "Where are you, little monkey?" "What are you doing?" "I'm listening to the plants breathing, can't you hear it?" "So you're not afraid of being alone in the garden any more." "You said there were snakes in the bush." "I made it up, there weren't any snakes here." "Yes?" " Do you want to have a little chat?" " I know what you want to talk about." "You're absolutely right." "I'm a very bad daughter and I give you lots of things to worry about." "I do strange things." "I don't know what happens to me sometimes." " Bimba, you see, I..." " You..." "You're the best father in the whole world, the only person I Iove." "will you forgive me?" "please." " Of course, I've already forgiven you." " I won't believe until you kiss me." "AII right." "I have to say, Bimba is a bit..." "Swine!" "You're a bunch of dirty swine." "Bimba, what are you doing here?" "I told you to stay in your room." "Hypocrites!" "Look!" "Look!" "Bimba, get dressed immediately!" "No reason to worry at all." "Your daughter is going through normal physical development." "Some psychological decompensation linked to the first sexual experiences is typical of puberty." "She's 16 after all, don't forget it." "And she's in excellent health." "But these exhibitions of herself..." "You haven't seen those." "She seems a different person." "She speaks with the voice of a middIe-aged woman." "It's disturbing." "My dear KaroIi, her mother's death must have affected her badly." "She's probably trying to identify herself with an adult to regain some sort of confidence." "Keep close to her and have her spend time with people her own age." "Everything will be all right, you'II see." " Goodbye." " Goodbye." "What a shame." "You looked better before." "please." "Men usually look better with their clothes on." "You're the exception that proves the rule." "Mine is a purely feminine opinion." "I'm not in the mood for humor." "But you should be!" "Since DanieIa's death you're a shadow of your former self." "But can't you see..." "What I see is that nobody admits to it but you all think that Bimba is Lucrezia's reincarnation." "If you don't stop it everybody will get hurt." "Stop thinking about her puberty." "Think of yourself, it will be better for her as well." "Look." "And tell me frankly what you think." "What do you think about my body?" "Focus on this and nothing else." "You are always teasing me." "You're wrong if you think you leave me cold." "There's an empty space in my Iife." "You're very beautiful." "Why don't you want me then?" "Nais, please." "You must not..." "We can't." "Why not, Andrea?" "This is nothing but hypocrisy." "You know the story of my Iife." "I can't cope any more, I'm going crazy." "But AdoIfo is my brother." "I Ioved your brother but he's been in this state for five years already." "Do you what five years mean?" "I'm a woman, don't you understand?" "We've been looking at each other for months." "We spy on each other, we want each other." "We'II lose our cool sooner or later." "We can't go on like this." "But Nais..." "we haven't got the right." "We do have the right!" "The right to love each other, to live." "I want to live, Andrea, with you." "Look." "You like it, don't you?" "Look." "You like it, don't you?" "Take a good look at it." "It's yours." "uncle AdoIfo." " uncle AdoIfo, answer me." " Bimba, what's going on?" "Whore, you're a dirty whore." "Oh, no." "My God." "Put them at the foot of the bed." "I still don't understand how this could happen." "She must have noticed he was feeling bad and wanted to keep him company." "I heard her screaming and ran... but he had already passed away." "Stay with your son and don't worry." "I'II see to everything." "Thank you, Sister Sofia, you are a dear." "well, once the paperwork for the patrimony is seen to," "I hope you'II be leaving this house at last." "I don't know yet, I'II think about it." "What do you mean?" "You don't want to rot in this catacomb, do you?" "I'm a grown-up, in case you haven't noticed." "I have no doubt about this." "But I don't think you're very mature in your sexual behavior." "What do you mean?" "You know it very well, dear Nais." "You fucked that idiot who's only interested in AdoIfo's patrimony." "You fell for it like a fool, don't you see?" "What did you say?" "I won't allow such insinuations." "What are you doing?" " Stop it, now!" " Hands off!" "At least show some respect for the corpse of that poor man." "Besides, you have no say in this matter." "Nais knows full well what she wants." "And if, as I hope, she intends to stand by her family, we will obviously welcome her." "Her family?" "Don't be ridiculous!" "You're nothing but a motley crew of sharks, all after AdoIfo's patrimony." "This is the only truth." "Leave this house right now, please." "You don't belong to this pack of sharks as you call it, therefore, leave!" "I will." "and with great pleasure." "But you will have to pay my services to the Iast penny." "Excuse me." "It may seem inopportune but..." "I feel bound to remind you of a more important problem." "I think your daughter is very ill." "It's clear her nerves have been frayed further by recent events." "We must look after her." "Doctor SaIvi said that Bimba is in excellent health." "Why should we be worried?" "There's more that just the body." "Sometimes the soul can be sick." "What do you mean, are you saying she's crazy?" "I said her soul, not her mind." "And we all have to hold ourselves responsible for it, for being negligent and for the bad example we set." "Bad example?" "How dare you?" "!" "Our family is utterly respectable." "calm down, Mother." "Maybe Sofia is right." "What would your advice be?" "unfortunately my duty as a nurse has come to an end." "In a few months I'II take the veil, if Jesus accepts me." "until then I'd Iike to devote myself to caring for your daughter's soul." " If you agree." " How do you intend to heal her?" "With hall Marys?" "With love and piety, two qualities rarely seen in this house." "I agree." "Bimba is in your hands from now on." "Open the door, it's Sofia." "Open the door." "What are you doing?" "Are you ill?" "Open, Bimba." "Bimba, what's wrong?" " Why are you crying?" " I'm not well." " I don't know what is happening to me." " Come on, here's the pillow." "I don't feel well." "Cover yourself or you'II catch a cold." "calm down now." " help me, help me." " I won't leave you." "I'm here to help you feel better." "You can trust me." "We will always be together, you'II see." "You will able to get over this illness." "Try to sleep now." "close your eyes." "Don't think about it." "sleep, little one." "That's it." "Yes." "sleep." "sleep." "Where are you?" " Come away immediately." " No." "Take a look as well." " Have you gone crazy?" " Not at all." "I Iove looking." "How can you say you don't like it unless you try?" "Come on." "Just for a little while, you'II like it." "Come on." "Come on!" "Look." " No." "I don't want to, I don't want to." " You have to look." "You have to." "Isn't that wonderful?" "It's all inside her." "No." "No, Iet's go." "It'II be better for everyone." "Let's go, Bimba." "Try to forget what you saw." "Now you know why I always spy on them." "No, never." "You shouldn't have." "I shouldn't have let you." "Don't be silly." "We won't tell anybody." "It will be our little secret." "Don't you want to be my friend?" "Don't you want to?" "Yes, I do. it's the thing closest too my heart now." "I want to be close to you as you free yourself from these strange obsessions." " Do you really worry about me?" " Of course." "You are the only friend I have." "Don't ever leave me." "Never." "We will always be together, I promise." " You can count on me." " Come here, then, beside me." "I'm afraid of sleeping alone." "please." " AII right, I'II stay with you." " Thank you." "Why don't you take off your veil?" "AII right." "Take off the cap as well, it's warm." "I want to see your hair." "You look so nice like this." "If only my hair were like yours!" "How soft!" "What a nice skin, Iike a peach!" "It's sweet." "No." "You shouldn't tell me such things." "Why not?" "well, it's embarrassing." "Why is it embarrassing?" "I don't know." "I don't know." "So you don't know?" "You have breasts too." "tell me, are they like mine?" "Of course, I'm a woman and we are all the same." "I've never seen your legs." "Can you show them to me?" "Why do you want to see them?" "Because with these clothes it looks like you have small wheels." "What an idea." "Look at them." "You're soft." "You like it, don't you?" "No!" "No!" "Enough!" "Enough!" "Who's there?" "I've heard this wind once before." "You rejected me, remember?" "But now you know you can't save yourself." "Your patron has abandoned you because I showed you the truth at last." "It's not true." "I didn't sin." "I threw you out." " I threw you out." " And you broke your oath." "You promised to help Bimba instead you left her languishing alone in her bed." "Why do you say such things?" "With this voice." "You are not Bimba." "You are Lucrezia." "That makes no difference as long as I'm in this body." "You are the only one who can free me." "No, don't tempt me." "I don't want to sin, I don't want to." "No!" "The only way to save Bimba's soul is by losing yours." "I wanted to damn you forever but you were too damn strong." "Now you can't avoid me any more." "You are in my power now." "You promised Bimba..." "Stand up... and undress." "Right now." "Undress." "Bitch." "Yes." "Yes." "I'm inside you at last." "I'm in your blood... in your breath." "It's as if you were born in this very moment." "AII of you belongs to me - your mind... your soul... your body." "I gave you the knowledge and now you know what love is." "The torment and Ianguor of the senses, the subtle pleasure of ecstasy, the unbridled joys of sexual pleasure." "You won't be able to get rid of me for as long as you live." " hello, Dad." " hello." " How are you?" " I'm fine." "You look very pretty today." "Let me take a good look at you." "Someone broke my teddy bear." "Can you have it fixed?" "I'm very fond of it." "Of course, I'II see to it." " Don't worry." " Thank you, Dad." "I'm glad you feel fine, we were all so worried." "Sister Sofia really helped you, didn't she?" "Enjoy life, your body, your senses." "No, don't!" "Stop!" "No!" "Don't!" "No, don't go there." "Don't go." "Now you're safe, my child." "Come away, darling."