"FOR Alf Bold" "Present" "Starring" "A Film by" "SATANTANGO" "One October morning before the first drops of the long autumn rains which which fall on parched soil, which turn tracks into bog, and cut the town off," "Futaki was woken by the sound of bells." "The solitary chapel eight kilometers away, had no bell and its tower had collapsed during the war." "The town was too far away, for its sounds to carry here." "THE NEWS IS THEY ARE COMING" "What is it?" "Nothing." "Sleep." "I'll pick up my share and I'm off tonight." "Or tomorrow at the latest." "Tomorrow morning." " You had a bad dream?" " Yeah." "I was sitting in the room." "Suddenly there was a knock on the window." "I didn't dare open it." "I peeped through the curtains." "I could only see his back, he was going at the doorknob... and his mouth as he was shouting, something that I couldn't make out." "His face was unshaved..." "His eyes as made of glass." "I wanted to shout but I had no voice." "Then..." "Mrs. Halics looked in through the window, grinning" "You know what she's like when she grins..." "She was just staring in and then she disappeared." "He kept kicking the door, about to burst it open." "I rushed to the sideboard, I wanted to open the drawer." "In crashed the door." "Whoever it was was coming along the hallway." "At last I tore the drawer open and got the knife out." "And he was coming toward me." "Suddenly he was lying under the kitchen table." "He had red and blue saucepans." "They rolled all over..." "And then the ground moved under my feet." "The whole kitchen started to move like a car!" " I was woken by bells." " Where?" "Here?" "They rang twice." " We'll go mad in the end." " No." "I'm sure something's going to happen today." "It's my husband, I'm sure." "Go away!" "You do what I tell you, is that clear?" "Start packing." "Move!" "Tonight we're off." "Pack up the clothes." "The boots, the coats, the radio, everything!" "We've got to get disappear tonight!" "You understand?" " You got it?" " You're crazy!" "What are you talking about?" "I've talked to Kraner, we're off with the money tonight." "If we split it eight ways we'll never get away from here." "You think the others will let you?" "Halics, the schoolmaster and Futaki?" "You do as I say!" "I haven't worked for a year to give it away now." "I'll send them to hell." "But they won't notice anything." "We can buy the farm at last!" " You're crazy." " What the hell are you talking about?" "I left my cane outside." "Clear out!" "Schmidt, are you in?" "You wanted to get away with the money?" "I wouldn't have thought that of you." "Let me explain." " Kraner's involved too?" " Fifty-fifty." "So now what happens?" "What happens?" "You're in it too." "We wait till night and then we set off." "What do you mean?" "I mean we split three ways." "Don't skin me!" "All I'm asking is to borrow your share." "Just for a short time..." "For a year." "Till we find a place to settle." "You must be joking, man!" "You said you wouldn't move anywhere from here." "I don't want to rot here to the end of my life." "I'm not asking for a gift." "I want a loan." "I worked as much as the others." "And now you're saying "a loan"." " So you don't trust me?" " Of course I don't." "You're siding with Kraner." "You want to get away with all the money." "And I should trust you after all this?" " What about the others?" " How would I know?" "We've got to wait till dark before we leave." "We agreed the same with Kraner." "Just tell me why you have come back." "Well we only realised it on the way..." "And..." "The woman..." "Couldn't leave her..." "That's true." "She's really worth it." " And the Kraners?" " They want to go North." "Kraner's wife heard of a timberyard there..." "It's raining." "I can hear it!" "I'm going South, winters are shorter there." "I'll rent a farm." "Close to a prosperous town." "I'll soak my feet all day, in a bowl of hot water." "Or..." "I'll be a watchman in a chocolate factory." "Or a porter at a girl's boarding school." "And I'll try to forget everything." "A washbowl of hot water every night and nothing to do." "Only watch how this fuckin' life goes on." "Where the hell do we wanna go?" "We'd be caught by the police in the first town." "They wouldn't even ask us for our names." " With your pockets full of money..." " That's just the point." "Pack a suitcase and leave like beggars!" " None of your business." " Pardon?" "Nothing." "Quiet or he'll wake up." "What are we waiting for?" "Why don't we divide the money?" "Come on." "Can't it wait?" "Let's divide it now." "Don't worry you'll get your share." "Let's wait till Kraner gives us the other half." "It's all very simple." "We'll split what you have." "And we'll get what is still due to us at the Cross." "Go and get the flashlight." "The document..." "To see the money better ...so you won't say I'm cheating." "Let's count it." "It's OK." "Mrs. Schmidt!" "Are you in?" "Hide it quick." "Send her to hell!" "If she sets foot in here, I'll kill her." " Your wife's been out a long time." " I'll bust her face." " What did she want?" " She's gone crazy." "She says that Irimias and Petrina are coming down the road and that they may be in the pub already!" "They may have arrived here..." "The conductor saw them turn at the crossroads." "He also said he'd seen them in town." "They're round the corner." "The Bible's driven her mad." " But what if it's true?" " Well, if it's so..." "They died a year and a half ago, everybody knows that." "Don't fall for that, it's a trap!" "Could it be that Sanyi Horgos lied to us?" " He was the one to tell us too." " Dead for a year and a half!" "I suspected it then but nobody listened to me." "He told us a lie." "Of course he was lying." "You're out of your minds." "Everything's going to change, you'll see." "Irimias is a great wizard." "He can build a castle out of cowshit..." "If he wants to." "No way." " You won't screw up my plans." " I don't mean to." "A dead man come back to life?" "Futaki!" "You, at least, should be sensible!" "They suspect something and want to get us out." " I'm going to the pub." " It might be true." "Damn fools." "You can't run from Irimias." "You know that." "So?" "You're damn fools." " If you don't believe it..." " Just get the hell out of here!" "But you'd better leave my money here on the table." "If you don't believe it, we'll let your wife go first." "And the money?" "Well..." "let's leave it where it is." "You trust her, don't you?" "Then I'm going." "Have you heard?" "They're here." "My husband sent me to tell you." "But you must know." "We saw Mrs. Halics was here." "As for the money, my husband says fuck it." "That's not for us, hiding, being on the run." "No way!" "Irimias and Petrina you'll see..." "I've always known Horgos kid made the whole thing up." "And we all believed it from the start." " You're in it too!" " Why wouldn't you come with us?" "So, we're going?" "So Schmidt went first, Futaki staggered behind him." "He was trying to feel his way with his cane in the dark..." "And the relentless rain merged Schmidt's swearing" "Futaki's cheery, encouraging words as he repeats:" ""Never mind, old man, you'll see we'll have a great life..." "A great life!"" "WE'LL RISE FROM THE DEAD" "The two clocks show different times." "Both wrong, of course." "This one here is too slow." "Instead of telling the time, the other one seems to point at our hopeless condition." "We relate to it as twigs to the rain:" "We cannot defend ourselves." "Twigs and rain?" "You're a great poet, I tell you." " Think there's a snackbar here?" " Don't think so." "What are you waiting for?" " We got summonses." " Let me see." "Can't you read?" "What floor is this?" " The second one." " Just follow me." "Identification." "Can I have the summons and your identity cards?" "Fill this out and read what's on the back." "Follow me." " Irimias?" " Yes." "That's me." "Sit down." " You're a gipsy?" " No." "My name's Petrina." " Petrina?" "What kind of a name is that?" " Rumanian." " Did you know your mother?" " No." "Irimias." "So here... it all depends on what mood I'm in." "And why, after your release, you didn't worry about the simple question of finding a job?" "Time must've been short but you could've tried." "You were under surveillance." "And it never occurred to you to even think about trying to look for one..." "You know us, Captain." "Not that well." "But really, what about your future?" "You're a young man..." "I'm not in love with what I do either, but..." "You fancy being out of work all your life?" "Yes." "Here's this document, see, it says that you don't grant the least value to work or to those who work hard." "Nice words." "But time goes by." "Do you have a wife and kids?" "You expect your son to support you?" "Or what?" "When your leg is broken, or your spine, your skull fractured when you can't look after yourself any more." "We're on the side of the law, like yourself." "We know the law and we haven't broken it so far whatever you may think." "According to this document all you've ever done is break it." " No..." " And with respectable effort." "That's only appearance." "So!" "And what is the reality beyond it?" "Law abiding." "And why start abiding it only now?" "We haven't only started now." "You've respected the law from your early childhood?" " That's it." " My grandfather already held respect for the law." "That was your grandfather, not you." "Talk about yourself, not about your grandfather." "We're loyal citizens of this country, Captain." "I would like to point out that our services have been used for a good few years." "How did it all happen?" "Don't call your lifes a tragedy." "Be modest about it, no tragedy at all." " You know us, Captain." " Yes, I do." "But this is no tragedy, it's plain villainy." "Why can't things just remain as they used to be?" "As they used to be..." "Won't you ever change?" "Not that human life was so highly valued." "Keeping order appears to be the business of the authorities" "But in fact it's the business of all." "Order." "Freedom, however, has nothing human." "It's something divine, something... our lives are too short for us to know properly." "If you're looking for a link, think of Pericles, order and freedom are linked by passion." "We have to believe in both, we suffer from both." "Both from order and freedom." "But human life is meaningful, rich, beautiful and filthy." "It links everything." "It mistreats freedom only..." "wasting it, as if it was junk." "People don't like freedom, they are afraid of it." "The strange thing is there is nothing to fear about freedom... order, on the other hand, can often be frightening." "I must call your attention to certain points." "In actual fact you have no choice but collaborate." "If you really respect the law, then I'm just a little ahead of you in this." "Practically I have... offered it." "We do respect you a lot, Captain..." "Not the Captain." "Respect the law!" "You're the law itself, Captain." "Oh, no." "The law, that's all of us together." " Why don't we leave things as they used to be?" " Right now for instance, you are outlaws." "But you know very well why." "I don't suppose I have to read out the lot." "I won't say this again." "From now on either you work for me or I must say you have no choice." "Mr. Irimias..." "You can go now." "Two rum and brandy... and a pack of cigarettes." " I meant large ones." " Sorry." "Come on, make a move." "May I remind you of the cigarettes?" "Sorry, I forgot." "Could you tell us what's so funny?" "Nothing." "Sorry." "Can you hear that?" "What is it?" "Some machine?" "The lights?" "Someone singing?" "Who dares to sing here?" "Quiet!" "We'll blow everything up." " Lets call the police?" " There's no need." "We'll blow them all up." "We'll plant it in their jackets..." "or in their ears." "We'll stick the dynamite up their noses." "We'll have to stop this somehow, what do you say?" "Sure, why complicate things?" "We'll blow them up one by one." "We'll do them all in." "In a very short time." "How do you know they're still there?" "They ran away a long time ago..." "They have that much sense." "Them?" "They were servants and they will be servants all their lives." "They sit in the kitchen, shit in the corner and look out the window now and then." "I know them inside out." "What makes you so sure?" "I feel there's nobody there, Houses empty, the tiles all stolen." "One or two rats in the mill, all skin and bone..." "They just sit on the same dirty stools." "Stuff themselves with potatoes and don't know what happened." "They eye each other suspiciously belch away in the silence, and wait, because they think they've been cheated." "Slaves that lost their master, but they can't live without pride, dignity and courage." "Yet deep down they feel it doesn't come from them." "For they only like living in their shadow." " Cut it out, will you." " They follow that shadow like a herd." "For they can't live without splendor and illusion." "Yet don't take them away from them or they'll go mad and destroy the lot." "What they need is a heated room and a steaming paprika stew, they're happy if at night under the warm quilt they find the neighbor's chubby wife." " Are you listening at all?" " Of course, I am!" " I've been waiting for you." " How did you know we were coming?" " From the conductor." " What conductor?" " Kelemen." " Why?" "Kelemen is a conductor now?" "Yeah." "Since last spring." "But the coach doesn't run now" "So he has got time to roam here and there." "You promised that if I spread the news that you died, you'd put me in touch with Mrs Schmidt" " I always keep my promises." "And you've promised Mrs. Kraner." "She has nice big tits too." "That'll happen too, Sanyi..." "Since you left here nothing's changed." "The schoolmaster's still at home alone..." "Mrs. Schmidt with Futaki..." "You know, with the cripple." "My sister's nuts, she spies on everybody..." "Mum beats her, but they still say she'll be nuts all her life." "The Doctor keeps brooding at home..." "He sits in his armchair, leaves the lights on day and night" "There are times he sleeps in his chair..." "His place smells like hell, he smokes his good cigarettes... drinks his fruit brandy." "Ask Mrs Kraner, she gets it for him." "Schmidt and Kraner are bringing the money for the cattle today..." "Everyone's been doing that since February, except Mum." "Those bastards didn't take her, so they have money now." "The bar owner's sold his good Pannonia and bought an old banger you have to push to get started." "He uses it to go to town to see his wife once a month, though now he lives at my sister's as we owe him money..." "In the east the sky is clearing as fast as a memory." "At dawn, it leans all red on the shimmering horizon." "Like the morning beggar trudges up the back steps to the church, the sun rises to givebirth to shade, so that earth and sky, man and animal emerge from the disturbing and confused unity in which they became inextricably intertwined." "He saw the fleeing night on the other side, its terrifying elements in turn diving on the western horizon, like a desperate, defeated, confused army." "KNOWING SOMETHING" "...Futaki... it seems is afraid... of something." "In the early... morning..." "he was looking... out... of the window... startled..." "Futaki... is terrified... he's afraid of death." "They'll kick off anyway." "You too, Futaki, you'll kick off!" "Schmidt... is coming out through..." "the back door... and stops... at the top of..." "the path to the meadow." "Futaki... carefully... slips out of..." "the house..." "Crosses... to the stables..." "and hides... by the wall." "F. Doesn't move..." "He waits... for a moment, then... he too... dashes... to the door," "knocks, and... quickly enters..." "after Schmidt." "What a... hustle." "It has... started... to rain..." "It won't... stop... till... spring." "It is fascinating to watch... the erosion caused by water and wind at the edge of the" "Ponticum, when the sea on the Great Plain receded." "It looked like a shallow lake, like Lake Balaton does now." "Good morning, Doctor." "Come, Doctor, don't let it go cold." "Take it away from here." "You see, it's raining, we'll soon have snow, too." "My husband says you might talk to the publican." "He has a car, he'd bring you all that stuff." "You mean you won't do it anymore?" "I would, of course, but I can't walk to town in this rain." "Besides he could do your shopping for two or three weeks." "The buses only start in spring." "It's all right, Mrs. Kraner, you can go." "Then you'll talk to the publican?" "I'll talk to whoever I want to!" " Where shall I put the keys?" " Wherever you like." "Goodbye." "K. Has quit..." "She can't do it any longer." "Last autumn... she didn't... mind... the rain..." "Nor that... she had to... walk..." "K. Has... a plan..." "She's thinking over... something." "It seems I got pretty drunk." "Today I ran out... of the last drop..." "of fruit brandy." "It looks like I need... to leave... the house..." "Come on, cut that out." "You hear me?" "Stop that." "Look after the fire instead, I'm cold." "I'll look after my ass!" "I've just looked after it..." "You're next." " You hear me?" " Alright, alright." "We're going to freeze again." " How long are we to wait?" " How do I know?" "Leave me alone." "To hell with the whole thing." "Stop whining." "Someone's coming." "Good evening." "Haven't seen you for ages, Doc." "Feel like a nice little screw?" "I'd like to warm up a bit if you don't mind." " Only warm up, Doc?" " Yes." " And what about a good fuck like in the old days?" "Come on, Doctor." "It's doesn't cost much." "For such an old friend." "Could I have a cigarette?" " Right there, at your feet." " Thank you." " How's business going?" " Bad." "We sit here day after day and nothing ever happens..." "We're all nerves, sometimes we nearly go at each other." "What's going to become of us, Doc?" "That's how one just loses heart in everything." "What do you think we live on?" "We have Sanyi and crazy Estike on our hands, and Mum too." "They keep asking, where's the money?" "Give it to them." "The money this, the money that, but who cares?" "Anyway, we're leaving from here." "We'll move to town." "Cut the crap out." "Either go or stay." "It'd make you happy if I cleared off, would it?" "Today, when they finally get the money?" "They're not coming." "They should've arrived ages go." "They'll come." "I know them." "When they've got money, they run after their dicks." "You think Kraner admits to the whole amount at home?" "There'll be loads of money here today!" " Can I have a cigarette for the road?" " Sure." " Matches?" " Take them." "You won't change your mind, Doctor?" "No." "Good luck." "Good luck to you too." "He hasn't got a lot of time left." "You'd hardly recognize him." "What the hell does he do here in the rain?" "He hardly ever leaves the house." "Now he comes out in this rain?" "Idiot." "Didn't you see the bottle?" "Goes to pick up his brandy." "He doesn't even have the money to pay Mrs. Kraner." " Doctor!" " What do you want?" " Doctor!" " What are you doing?" "Let me go." " Leave me, go now, you brat." " Doctor." "Leave me alone, you idiot!" "Fucking hell!" "Where're you going now?" "Wait." "Where're you going?" "Stop!" "I won't hurt you." "Stop now!" "Where're you running?" "Wait!" "Hello!" "Hello..." "Hue!" "Avancez!" "My heart - he thought again and again." "He longed to lie in a warm room, sipping hot soup, being taken care of by sweet little nurses, and then turn towards the wall." "He felt light and easy and the conductor's scolding words echoed in his ears for a long time:" ""You shouldn't have done it, Doctor." "You shouldn't have done it..."" "PAUSE" "SPIDER JOB I." "Could you light a fire." "I could." "I said could you light a fire." "Stop pointing." "A liter." "Pick up the hundred for me too." "You only got the denomination wrong." "Don't worry, pinhead!" "I won't do you any harm." "Just you quit pointing." "It's raining." "Awful weather." "Yeah." "It destroys everything." "Look at the state of this coat!" "It used to be as soft as butter" "and now... it's so dried out, if I want to sit, I have to break it." "Look!" "Here, at the groin, with the edge of my hand... that's how I do it..." "Its softness, you know, that's what's gone..." "Totally gone..." "Then the wind..." "it can't keep that out either..." "The whole thing's cracked." "The leather's falling apart." "You go here and there..." "can't sit at home all the time... and it gets soaked inside and outside..." "Yet that's not the worst but that, here, inside." "You haven't heard of inside rains, of course." "You've been saying this for years!" "They wash your organs night and day." "They come from the heart... and wash the heart, the liver, the spleen and the kidneys." "I am soaking wet..." "If it were not for this coat, I don't know what'd happen..." "I don't even dare unbutton it." "A glass of wine would help." "Then there's the endless demand from the liver, the stomach, the spleen and the kidneys." "They have to work all the time." "Without a break." "Then this constant flood would turn... into sudden drought." "Which could soon turn fatal." "Listen, give me a glass." "Schmidt and Kraner will be here soon, they'll count what I'm supposed to get." "Fine." "Nice little wine." "Lets have another." "He's fallen asleep." "How much you think this one's supposed to eat?" "He doesn't eat, he wolfs it down." "He can eat half a pig at one go." "Would you believe that?" "I would." "This was very close." "Irimias and Petrina are coming toward the yard." " It can't be true!" " Of course, it is!" "As true as I am here!" "The driver from the lumber-yard..." "was there... and two packers... the headmaster of school 101, the PE teacher... the night barman from the station bar, and I sat there, just sat there... and couldn't believe my eyes." "And..." "there they were, in the flesh!" "Irimias and Petrina, drinking rum and brandy!" "Then I waited till they drank up... went up to them..." "Irimias gave me a hug and said..." "Kelemen!" "How's it going?" "Then he told me everything." "Then off we went." "I had to see Hochan, the butcher... and... then I met young Toth who... used to be my neighbor in Postanya... and he told me that Irimias and Petrina... had been at the Steigerwalds' and... mentioned gunpowder!" "The Steigerwald kids were talking about it in the street." "And when I was on my way... back and left the road... at the Elek crossroad..." "I caught sight of them." "And then I understood... what, which way, and why..." "Irimias!" "Petrina!" "I'll kick them out, the drunken pigs!" "I'll switch all the lights off and nail the door up!" "Irimias and Petrina!" "They can't take away what's mine!" "Because everything here is mine!" "Mine!" "Irimias!" "Petrina!" "Mine!" "Mine!" "Mine!" "Petrina!" "Then I went up to them, Irimias hugged me and said warmly:" ""Kelemen!" "How's it going?"" "And right away he got a round." "The waitresses smiled and bounced to it like grasshoppers." "And then he told me everything." "So then tell me:" ""Have you learnt the lesson?"" "What lesson?" "Leave me alone." "I've learnt it all." "You just keep drinking." "Listen, you old witch, I have learnt everything." "Go mind your own business!" "In your books though..." "this resurrection is written..." " Don't give me that nonsense." " But you just go on boozing." "Boozing, sure I'm boozing." "Listen here, you old witch, that's what I came here for - booze!" "I'm no rosebud on your spotted ass." " Do you know what happens to the like of you?" " No one happens to be waiting for me." " Go to the blackest fire of hell." " You may have seen a fucking black ass but not a black fire, so fuck the black ass and the black fire and go to fuckin' hell." " You think they'll stand this for ever up there?" " No!" "Think they sit up there and just ignore this Sodom and Gomorrah?" "That's exactly it." "There'll be weeping and mourning, as the prophet says." "No Genesis!" "Spritzer!" "Genesis is a spritzer." " None of your business." " She's always like that, sorry." "A hell of a witch." "Old cobwebbed cunt." "You'd better read this." "Leave the poor thing alone." "Get him a spritzer instead." "Spritzer withdrawal is a kind of murder." "Don't read Genesis, pinhead..." " That's a mystery." " ...read the Apocalypse." "You know what we're all waiting for?" "In case you didn't know - for you to go to hell." "But there's no use waiting, doesn't matter if you go away... even if we don't see you..." "and can't hear you... you leave your stench behind." "Your indelible stench." "It's no use opening a window and airing the room... it still remains." "Mrs. Schmidt." "Halics can't imagine what happened to your husband..." "You see, this lousy weather." "What can I get you?" " Some cherry brandy?" " Don't know." "A small one." " Did you hear that?" " Sure that's them?" "Sure." "They'll be here before morning." "They'll be here by midnight." "Takes three hours to get here..." " It's not three hours." " Why isn't it three hours?" "Because it takes much longer." "No one will arrive yet, maybe in the morning." "Why the morning?" "If the three hours took me three hours, the three hours will take them four hours." "They can still be here by midnight." "In the morning..." "That road's all potholes and ruts." "They'll go round the potholes." "They'll avoid the ruts." "They won't get into the potholes, or the ruts you're right, so they won't be here by midnight, but in the morning." "In the morning if they use the road." "I'm a local." "They can only use the road, because they care about their shoes." " Their shoes?" " That road meanders a lot." " By the time they reached the crossroad, they were soaked." "Never mind the shoes." "The thing is that they'll be here by midnight." " They weren't soaking wet..." " Have you been here?" "Are you from here?" "I saw them, I was plodding along and I came this way." "I saw them - they'll be here by midnight." "They won't be here before morning." " Don't you give me any of that!" " They can only come by the road." "And it bends as much as if they had the sea to go round." "Don't give me that, I'm a local." "What's wrong with this fucking' stove?" "This is a pub, not a waiting room." " What time is it?" " Eleven... at least... eleven or twelve." "Who's nicked my wine?" "You've spilt it." " You're a liar, pinhead." " You have spilt it." "Then get me another one." "What's the smell?" "It wasn't here before." "It's only the spiders..." "or the coal..." "No." "It's the earth." "COMES UNSTITCHED" "Come on." "Give me the money." "See, with the knot upwards..." " Are you sure the moneystalk starts sprouting in four days?" "Sure." "But only if you give it enough water every day." " We're going to be rich?" " Sure." " Everyone's going to envy us?" " Of course." " I can sleep in the best room that night?" " Yes." "Here, take that home." "Hi..." "Come on in." "What's up?" "Where're your place?" "Stay right there." "Behave yourself." "You crapped!" "How did you dare?" "I can do whatever I want to you." "I'm stronger than you are." "Come on, get at me!" "Come on!" "You're dead!" "I won't feel sorry for you." "So come on, then." "Come on." "See you!" "We'll meet again." "Sanyi!" "Sanyi, come here!" "The moneystalk's been searched." " Fuck off!" " The money's been stolen, too." "It wasn't stolen, I needed it." "It was for me anyway." " It was my money, too." " Oh, go to hell!" " Why?" "Did you know?" " Get your hands off me!" "Beat it!" "I said beat it!" "I won't say it again." "Come back here." "I said, come back!" "I said, come here!" "Come on, move!" "Rat-poison." "You stole it, didn't you?" "And everyone at home is upside down, right?" "Now, here, but be careful, I'll have my eye on you." "And now clear off!" "I said, clear off!" " Doctor!" " What do you want?" " Doctor!" " What are you doing here?" "Let me go." "Stupid brat!" "Fucking hell!" "What the hell do you want?" "Come on, tell me." "What do you want?" "Where are you going?" "Stop!" "I won't do you any harm." "Yes, she said to herself softly." "The angels see this and understand." "She felt peaceful inside and the trees, the road, the rain and the night all radiated peace." "Everything that happens is good, she thought." "Everything was becoming simple in the end." "She recalled the events of the previous day and she smiled as she realized how things connect together." "She felt that those events aren't connected by accident, but there's an unspeakable and beautiful meaning linking them." "And she knew she wasn't alone, for all things and people, her father upstairs, her mother, her brothers, the doctor, the cat, the acacias, this muddy road, the sky, the night down here depend on her." "Just as she herself depends on everything." "She had no reason to be worried." "She knew that her angels had already set out for her." "SPIDER JOB II (the devil's nipples, satantango)" "I was plodding and plodding, just plodding along." "The Steigerwald kids and Hochan, the butcher, the girls, as they jumped like grasshoppers when Irimias hugged me and asked "How's it going, Kelemen?"" "And bought a round and told me everything and they were drinking rum and brandy." "Even then I was plodding and plodding and plodding and plodding along." "They'll be here!" "They'll be here at the farm!" "They'll be here." "The Toth kid..." "Irimias and Petrina... and they've been at the Steigerwalds..." "And as I was plodding along, when it became clear" "they were leaving for the farm, then I knew enerything." "Irimias and Petrina are coming toward the farm." "I met Hochan, the butcher and I bumped into the Toth kid..." "And as I was plodding along... for I had to plod," "I saw them by the road, revelation... which way... why... where to... and the plodding, the why, the where to and the which way, the Toth kid, the Steigerwald kids..." "Irimias and Petrina and the gunpowder at the Steigerwalds'..." "And the Steigerwald kids talking of gunpowder, and me plodding..." "And the Steigerwald kids were talking of gunpowder And the Steigerwald kids..." "were talking of gunpowder..." "But the Toth kid... he was there..." "at the silo." " Put some soda in it." " I've already put some in." " ..." "And the Steigerwald kids..." " A bottle of wine!" "...Gunpowder's not gun-powder." "They were talking about gunpowder." "Careful or it goes to your head." "...No gun-powder, gunpowder." "I was plodding, plodding along..." "Gunpowder's not gun-powder!" "Gunpowder!" "It's no gun-powder!" "He hugged me..." "The waitresses jumped like grasshoppers..." "They were drinking rum and brandy..." "I know I shouldn't have any more for it all goes to my head." "You're offering it so invitingly." "Just goes straight to your head!" "You're pissed to your eyeballs." "...As you plod along you learn everything..." "Don't fucking give her another!" "Can't you see the state of her!" "I shouldn't drink." "When I do I keep thinking of coffins." "...the Steigerwalds and Irimias hugged me, the girls jumped like grasshoppers, and bought a round, drinking rum and brandy... and he told me everything and I'm plodding, plodding... plodding, plodding, and plodding along... but there's a huge difference between plodding and plodding." "I knew exactly when I saw them at the junction, why, how which way, why and how..." "I'm plodding, plodding..." "and how am I plodding?" "How am I plodding?" "The gunpowder, the Steigerwalds, the Toth kid..." "The whole street was talking about them hiding gunpowder." "Why did they do that?" "Why are they coming Toward the farm?" "I know..." "I had a revelation..." "This heat is unbearable!" "Janos, please do something!" "You don't begrudge the coal from her?" "...He's coming at the road junction." "I know exactly why." "Why, why and why they're coming and why they're coming." "And I'm plodding..." " It's nice and warm in here..." " You let him, dickhead?" "What's the matter with you?" "At least, there's something good left for the others." "...For I was plodding and plodding and plodding along..." " This is no whore-house." " What is it then?" "...They have stopped, but they're coming!" "Let's go to the mill." "...They'll be here in no time!" "Where the hell are you going?" " Nowhere, honey-pot, nowhere." " Don't you honey-pot me..." " ...just get sober by tomorrow morning." " Nothing, nothing, nothing." "...They're coming!" "I saw them on the road..." "Give me a shot." "...And they're coming..." "Irimias and Petrina are coming toward the farm." "Gunpowder, Steigerwald..." "They're coming toward the farm!" "...Yeah, they're coming!" "It's only a matter of minutes!" "We were plodding along..." "My man is a good man..." "but it's the liqueur, you know... if it wasn't for that, he'd be so gentle..." "He can be a blessed good man if he wants to." "He's a hard worker." "You know that." "He can do the work of two." "Only that little failing that he has." "Who doesn't have one?" "Who?" "Someone's coming!" "I was plodding, plodding, plodding along." "They didn't say much." "Irimias and Petrina..." "Good evening." "A bottle of beer, please." "...The girls bounced around like grasshoppers." "Irimias hugged me..." "Wow!" "Hell is burning hot!" "...The girls jumped around like grasshoppers..." "And I was plodding, plodding and plodding along..." "Have you seen my daughter?" " Which one?" " The little one." "Estike." "She hasn't been here." "...When they started toward the farm at the junction, I knew everything." "Irimias and Petrina are coming toward the farm." "I met Hochan, the butcher and bumped into the Toth kid at the silo..." "You know what happened?" "A little trouble with Halics." "Now he doesn't even say "Hello", the shithead." "...Revelation..." "Which way, why, where to... and the plodding, the why and the where to, the which way..." "I slept all day." "I wake up tonight:" "No one anywhere." "The house is empty." "No Mari, no Juli, no Sanyika." "...And plodding, plodding and plodding..." "The Steigerwald kids were talking about gunpowder..." "But that doesn't matter." "It's the little one who wandered away somewhere." " If she turns up, I'll beat her up." " Of course, she'll turn up." "She's not the wandering type." "Certainly not." "...the gunpowder's no gun-powder..." "I wandered in this rain all night long." "No wonder I have to stick to bed for days." "...The waitresses jumped like grasshoppers." "They were drinking rum and brandy..." "That's good for my stomach." "Wouldn't you like some coffee?" "No, it would make me toss and turn all night." "Then what is it good for?" "Nothing." "...In a little while..." "I was plodding and plodding..." "The Toth kid, the Steigerwalds..." "and Irimias hugged me..." "The girls jumped like grasshoppers... he bought us a round, they had rum and brandy." "He told me everything." "And I keep plodding..." "Well, good night." "If you happen to see them, tell them to hit the road home." "I can't loiter here all night." "Here's the bill." "...why, how, which way, why and how..." "Plodding and plodding and plodding." "And how am I plodding?" "The gunpowder, Hochan, the butcher, Steigerwald, Toth..." "Everybody was talking about the Steigerwald kids hiding gunpowder." "Why?" "And why are Irimias and Petrina coming toward the farm?" "I know why they're coming." "Because I had a revelation." "A revelation." "I know why they're coming." "Because I had a revelation." "They're coming at the junction." "I know exactly why." "They have stopped, yet they're coming." "Futaki, you stupid ass," "You roll in the mud like a pig, then you go out in the rain like a lost sheep." "Are you out of your mind?" "Don't you know you're not supposed to get pissed in here?" "And without eating, too." "Wash your face." "Dry yourself." "Do you have anything to grub?" "Milk chocolate... or cheese rolls." "Give me two cheese rolls." "Bloody hell!" "What can't be removed, they soil and foul, everything." "I could spend my whole life following them with a cloth." "The legs of the table, the window, the stove... the crates." "The worst is that you can't see them do it." "If I start to watch them, they can feel it" "and they vanish." "That damn Swabian did me in," "he never talked about spiders." "Nothing will come out of this." "No." "The real threat comes from under the ground." "Suddenly one's frightened by the silence" "He doesn't move, crouches down in the corner where he feels safe." "Chewing becomes pain, swallowing agony." "Then all slows down and finally... comes the most terrible thing, a standstill." "There's no way out." "Who can understand?" "I could live till the end of time, but I have to bolt from here down to that stinking hell of dark mud..." " But there's Irimias coming..." " Irimias?" "He's been drinking on the house for a fortnight and he has the bloody nerve to come back here." "Because, okay, he said, plant onions everywhere." "And it worked." "Great ideas are always simple." "But it's a bit too much that afterwards he says I owe him everything!" "And for a fortnight he's been boozing free!" "And he has the nerve to come back to take what's mine!" "Everything here is mine!" "I have done everything here." "Do they think they can do whatever they like?" "They come in from the street and say it all amounts to the same..." "There will be law and order in this country, my good friend!" "There will be order here one day!" "You see, that's Halics!" "May I have a tango?" "Dancing is my weakness." "You're not like the others." "You need a settled, sober man, not a Schmidt," "whose roughness doesn't suit your pure tenderness." "Listen," "if those most excellent people can occupy again the positions they deserve again," "and I am headmaster again," "I would take you to the city..." "Tango is my life." "Tango, tango, tango..." "My mother's the sea..." "My father's the earth, my name is tango... tango... tango..." "My father's the sea... is my life... the tango..." "My father's the sea," "My mother's the earth..." "Never mind." "Is my life..." "Tango..." "Tango... tango is my life!" "The tango..." "My mother's the sea and my father's the earth..." "No sea, no earth either..." "Fuck you." "What have you done to the sea, to the earth?" "My life is" "Tango..." "Tango, tango..." "My mother's the sea," "That was it." "And to the sweet sound of an accordion, the pub spiders launched their last attack." "They wove loose webs on top of the glasses, the cups, the ashtrays, around the legs of the tables and the chairs." "Then they bound them together with secret threads, as if it was crucial that from their hidden corners, they should notice every little move and every little stir, as long as this almost invisible perfect web was not damaged." "They wove webs around the sleepers faces, their feet, their hands." "Then hurried back to their hiding-place, waiting for one of their ethereal threads to quiver to start it all over again." "PAUSE" "IRIMIAS GIVES A SPEECH" "I am in a state of deep emotion, you can imagine, I am confused." "I am bewildered and shocked." "Yet I must pull myself together." "Though right now all I can say is that" "I share in this broken-hearted mother's misery in a mother's never-ending mourning and sorrow is the grief of losing the one who is dearest to our hearts." "This tragic event weighs us all down with sadness." "I don't think there's anyone who would disagree with me." "And now the hardest thing is with our teeth clenched, to get our minds over the heartbreak, to defy our tears when our voices fail us." "For, and I would like to call your attention to this:" "Before the police start investigating, nothing can be more important for us than to reconstruct the shocking events, which led to the terrible death of an innocent child." "You'd better expect the inspectors from town to come and make us responsible for this terrible event." "Yes, my friends, they're going to ask us." "For, to be quite honest, with a little caution, care and attention we could have prevented it." "Just imagine this vulnerable creature wandering all night long in the pouring rain, at the mercy of the first passer-by, of the first tramp, of anybody." "She was whipped by the wind, she fell an easy prey to the elements, and she must have been around here." "She may have looked in through this window and seen that you were all drunk and dancing around." "Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to accuse anyone personally," "I am not accusing the mother, who is never going to forgive herself for getting up too late in the morning of that awful day" "I am not accusing the victim's brother nor other members of the family." "I am not accusing anyone." "But let me ask you the question:" "Aren't we all guilty?" "You will, of course, answer we are innocent." "But then, what do we call this poor child?" "The victim of the innocent?" "The martyr to the pure?" "The prey of the blameless?" "No, she's the only innocent one." "I spent the night turning in my bed till I realized that not only we do not know how the tragic event happened, but we have no knowledge whatsoever of what happened exactly." "I am quite convinced that this tragedy was to happen." "Now you seem to suspect that." "It is not enough, however, to suspect something... things are to be understood." "And said with no delay." "You didn't dare mention it to each other, but deep down, you knew before coming here that the farm was doomed." "From now on, you'll have to let your fate slowly unfold." "You are slouching around in this decay, far away from everything that means life." "Your plans come to nothing, your dreams, still blind, are shattered." "You expect some miracle which will never come." "But what kind of fate are you the victims of?" "Is it the crumbling plaster... the roofs without tiles..." "the crumbling walls, the sour taste our friend Futaki keeps talking about?" "Isn't it the shattered prospects, the broken dreams, that bends our knees that wears us numb?" "I'm speaking harshly but let us be honest." "If you felt the farm was ruled by misfortune why didn't you try to do something about it?" "You thought a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." "But this is a coward's way, it is disgraceful and careless and it has serious consequences." "This is called impotence, sinful impotence." "This is weakness, sinful weakness." "This is cowardice, sinful cowardice." "Because, and keep that in your minds - it's not just to others we can do unforgivable things but also to ourselves." "And this, my friends, is even more serious." "Yes, if I think about it, all kinds of sins are sins against ourselves." "But, you know, my friends, if I think back and see you lying half dead on the chairs and tables, on top of each other, dribbling, exhausted, my heart sinks and I cannot judge you for I will never be able to forget this." "From your panting, snoring and groaning" "I heard your cry for help which I have to answer." "We know each other well." "I have been keeping my eyes wide open for decades," "I bitterly observe that under the thick veil of trickery and deception, nothing has changed." "Misery has remained misery." "The two extra spoonfuls of food we can have only makes the air thinner in front of our mouths." "But I realized what I have done so far is nothing." "A much deeper solution is needed." "So, using the opportunity," "I decided to get some people together and set up a model farm which will ensure a stable living... and bind this tiny group of the dispossessed together." "I am creating an island where no one is powerless, where everyone will live in peace and will feel safe." "That is why I left for the estate in Almas." "The main building is in good condition, the contract is a simple matter." "There's one problem... no use to try and keep it a secret, money." "Without a penny the thing is dead." "Capital is needed for production but this is a bit complicated, there's no point in going into details." "And you'll understand that the circumstances of our meeting made me feel uncertain, whether you would be able to do it." "Whether you would be able to part from your little money, the result of hard work and much difficulty, to realize a sudden plan." "Think about it..." "Do not decide straightaway." "But if fate decides that from now on we stay together, inseparable:" "Do remember the price that has been paid." "Do not forget the child... who may have had to perish to make our star rise." "Who knows, my friends?" "If it is so... life is very hard upon us." "PERSPECTIVE FROM FRONT" "I told you she shouldn't have been taken from the institution." "I don't know why you brought her out." "Friends, words fail me now that I let you go your own way." "It's hard to describe the way I feel." "For what could I say of your enthusiasm, your generosity," "for the sake of our common prosperity?" "Of that precious treasure I have been given, your confidence." "What else could I say but that all this gives me courage and lays a responsability on me which I would like to accept to the best of my ability." "Your enthusiasm and confidence makes me confident and enthusiastic." "I'm thinking of the future we'll share." "Goodbye, my friends." "See you tomorrow at 6 a.m. At the estate in Almas." "Go ahead and think of the future." "From now on you are free." "And you were screwed, you mean shitbag!" "Go fuck yourselves!" "Ungrateful pigs!" "Fuck off!" "Fuck off!" "Fuck off!" "Fuck off!" "You see?" "The stuck up person you were." " Keep your mouth shut, okay?" " There you are." "Stop crowing and go to hell." "Just go home." " Up and down." " Go home, will you?" "I've been saying you have to behave properly." "Now you're through." "You can close down." "Go home, will you?" "Leave me alone." "My husband was the same, didn't know what's right." "Then where did he end up?" "On a rope in the loft." "Stop bugging me." "Bug yourself." "Go get your daughters or they might go with them." "They'll never." "They're locked up now." " Come on, pay for your drinks and go." " They won't leave me like Estike did." " Go home now." " When them from the farm leave, they'll go and dig the ground." "Go home." "Go." "Go." "Now, come on, go." " You've finished it?" " Won't leave it for the gypsies." ""The wind is blowing the clouds, behind the sky is burning," "Give me your little hand, my darling," "God knows if I'll ever see you again" "Whether I'll close my arms around you, whether I'll kiss you, my darling?" "God only knows the day the battalion is leaving." "Whether I'll close my arms..."" ""You're lovely, you're fair, Hungary..."" "Folks." "We forgot the doctor." "Never mind the doctor." "He would certainly have come but I didn't mention it to him." "Come on, he couldn't even carry himself." "But he's going to starve now." "He can't even come to an arrangement with the publican." "Then let him starve to death." "If you miss him so much, go back for him." "I haven't seen him for months." "There's no need to cry over him." "He's fine, gets pissed every day, then goes off to snore." "I wouldn't mind feeling his mother's share in my pocket." "Are we all here?" "No one's lagging behind?" "We've done it!" "We have done it, no matter what." "Now you're well prepared for this new life." "Come on, Lajos, there will be lots more of it." "How could those poor fellows heat all this?" "Didn't I tell you?" "We should never lose heart, we have to have trust until we breathe our last." "Otherwise what would become of us?" "Tell me, what?" "I can imagine." "You've seen the out-buildings, there's about five of them." "I bet the workshops are going to be there?" "Workshops?" "What workshops?" "Please be quiet." "My husband's asleep." "He is used to silence." "All right, all right." "We're just talking." "I think it'll be the other way round:" "We'll get the outbuildings to live in and the workshops will be here." "Won't you keep quiet?" "No one can get any rest here." "Who was that?" "Leave me alone." "It wasn't me." "Nobody?" "Look," "I'll agree to anything you like, just keep quiet." "Listen, if everyone works hard, I say one month." "We have great prospects for the future." "Tomorrow we'll find out what Irimias is planning to do." "By tomorrow." "Halics was pursued by a hunchback with a glass eye." "And after all sorts of trials he ran into the river but he started to lose heart," "every time he came up for air the little man hit his head with a long stick." "And each time he shouted "Now you'll pay for it."" "The headmaster persuaded a man wearing an old suit to go with him to a place he knew." "The man agreed, like someone who can't say no." "He could hardly control himself and when they turned into a deserted park, he even pushed him to reach a bench surrounded by bushes." "He made the man lie down and he jumped on him, kissed him on the neck, but in seconds some doctors appeared on the walk dressed in white, embarrassed, he waved that he was going but he started" "to blame the confused little man, by then, he seemed to hate his guts." "The ground trembled under Schmidt's feet." "As if he was walking on the moors." "He climbed up into a tree, but he felt that it had started to sink too." "He was lying on the bed and tried to get the nightgown off his wife." "But she started to yell, he jumped after her, the nightgown was torn." "She laughed, and the nipples on her enormous breasts were like two beautiful roses." "Mrs Halics was washing Mrs Schmidt's back, the rosary on the rim of the tub slipped into the water like a snake." "Mrs Schmidt said she had enough, her skin was burning from the scrubbing but Mrs Halics pushed her back into the bath and went on scrubbing her back, she said she was afraid that Mrs Schmidt wouldn't be satisfied." "Mrs Kraner heard a noise from outside but she didn't know what it could be." "She put on a fur coat and left for the engine-shed." "She had almost reached the road when she had a bad feeling." "She turned and saw that their house was on fire." ""The chopped wood." "Christ, I left the chopped wood out," - she screamed and ran back." "Kraner was sitting at the table, as if nothing happened, quietly eating." ""Joska, are you crazy?" "The house is on fire!"" "But Kraner didn't move." "Mrs Schmidt was a bird, flying over the clouds, happily." "She saw that someone down there was waving at her." "She came down a bit and heard Schmidt shouting" ""Why didn't you cook anything, you bitch!" "Come down here."" "But she flew over him and twittered:" "Tomorrow." "You won't starve till then." "She felt the warmth of the sun on her back, she came down a bit." "She wanted to snatch a bug." "Futaki's shoulders were beaten with an iron bar." "He couldn't move, he was tied to a tree." "He stretched out and felt the rope loosen." "He looked at his shoulders and saw a long wound." "He turned his head, he couldn't stand seeing it." "He was sitting on an excavator, the grab was scooping out some earth." "A man came up to him and said" ""Hurry up, I won't give you any more petrol whatever you say." "But it was no use scooping for the earth kept falling back." "He tried again but failed." "Then he cried..." "He was sitting at the window of the engine-shed and didn't know whether it was daybreak or evening, it just had no end." "He was sitting, not knowing the time of day, nothing had changed outside, morning didn't come, night didn't fall, day was beginning to break or night was beginning to fall." "GO TO HEAVEN?" "HAVE NIGHTMARES?" "Friends." "Words fail me, now that I let you go your own way." "It's hard to describe the way I feel." "For what can I say of your enthusiasm, your generosity for the sake of our common prosperity." "That precious treasure you gave me, your confidence." "What else could I say but that all this gives me courage, lays great responsibility on me, which I would like to accept and do the best I can." "And that your enthusiasm and confidence makes me confident and enthusiastic." "I'm thinking of the future we'll share." "Goodbye, friends." "See you tomorrow at 6 a.m. At the estate in Almas." "Go now and think of the future we'll share." "From now on you are free." "And yet you were screwed, you mean bold shitbag!" "Fuck off!" "You ungrateful pigs!" "Go fuck yourselves!" "Fuck off!" "I'm shit scared, master, how do we get out of this?" "I'd be surprised if you weren't shitting in your pants." "Do you want some paper?" "This is no fucking joke, it's bloody serious." "I wouldn't say I'm bursting with laughter." "Stop it, will you?" "Would you be surprised if I said our time has come?" "What the hell are you getting at?" "Listen to old Petrina this time." "Look, let's take the first train and get away from here." "We're going to get in big trouble if they realize what's going on." "Shut up." "Don't you see that we're partisans in this hopeless fight for human dignity?" "Petrina, our time has come." "Our time has come..." "You keep saying this, our time has come." "Our time will never come!" "I had faith and confidence..." "And here we are." "The web - don't you understand?" "Irimias's nationwide cobweb." "Is it getting clear?" "Where something stirs..." "Let's go on." "You've never seen fog before or what?" "The horses got away from the slaughterhouse again." "Who do you support?" "Myself." "What about you, then?" "Fine." "You haven't changed a bit." "What about you?" " Still the same." " I thought..." "Two rum and brandy and a glass of wine." "Here you are." "Listen, drink this up then you go see Payer and tell him I'm waiting here." "Steigerwald." "What is it now?" "We're staying here for tonight but I'd need the car tomorrow." "But then I want the money before you go." "All right." " And three bean soups." " Okay." "With ham." "I'm going to dictate." "Dear Captain," "Eternity lasts forever" "because it doesn't compare to the ephemeral, the changeable," "the temporary." "The intensity of light penetrating darkness seems to weaken." "...seems to weaken..." "There is lack of continuity, interruptions, holes... then finally the black nothingness." "Then there are myriads of stars so distant, impossible to reach... with a tiny spark in the middle... the Ego." "...A tiny spark..." "Our deeds can be rewarded or punished in eternity, and only there," "...punished... because everything has a place, a place far away from reality," "where it has its place, where it has always been, ...where it has been... where it is going to be," "where it is now." "The only authentic place." "I hope I didn't wake you." "You didn't disturb my dream and I hope you never will." " My collaborators." " My name's Petrina." " Horgos." "Very nice young man." "He can have a nice career." "Would you get me something now that..." "You got me out of bed?" "What would you like?" "Don't ask me what I'd like, they don't have it." "Get me a glass of plum brandy." "Sanyi." "Mr. Gundealer..." "Sports guns..." "I don't love this job, you know that." "We'd better call me Payer." "Mr. Payer..." "I asked you to come here so late because soon" "I will need rather a lot of explosive." "I'm going to think about it." "And decide as I see best." "And I hope you will do your best to succeed." "It's not entirely up to me." "But I need to know whether you can give more emphasis to this excellent plan with a so called good start?" "Certainly." "You are a gentleman..." "Mr. Irimias." "Let me ask you something." "This something new which is waiting for us after realizing your excellent plan..." " Well..." " Don't take me for a savior." "Regard me as a researcher who investigates why everything is as terrible as it is." "Would you like to have dinner with us?" "No, thank you." "Well then, we'll discuss the details another time?" "I'll see you at the weekend." "Well, gentlemen..." "Sleep well..." "Look... 25 years ago I could sleep five and a half hours in a row." "Since then I've been turning in my bed, half-asleep." "Thank you all the same." "Our Father who art in heaven," "Hollowed be thy name." "Thy kingdom come," "Thy will be done." "On earth" "As it is in heaven, ...Give us peace and bread too Power..." "Amen..." "PERSPECTIVE FROM REAR" "I don't understand Irimias." "He was one of us." "And now, he's like a lord." "You simply can't make out what he wants..." "All the nonsense he said..." "Bent knees and cries for help!" "Then threatening with the child..." "The way he spoke yesterday, I was beginning to believe it." "Why the hell did he stir the shit up?" "If I'd known he wanted the same as us, I'd have saved him the trouble." "It's crazy to say that it was my fault." "I had nothing to do with that little idiot." "Even her name drove me up the wall." "Estike, what's that?" "Is that a name?" "She's eaten a lot of rat poison and that's it." "Perhaps it was better for the poor thing." "But what's the whole thing to do with me?" "He lured us here, to this rundown dump." "And we acted like sheep." "Meanwhile he slipped away!" "God knows where he's drinking on our money!" "A whole year's pay!" "And I'm flat broke again!" "Still, if he's back in a minute, are you going to shout at him?" " You're the one to say that?" " Stop it for a minute!" "Whose fault is it that I was robbed?" "Who said that it would be all right?" "!" "Who said that "Irimias and Petrina..."?" "You fucker!" "Give it back to me or I'll beat you up!" "Give me my money back!" "Give me back, you prick!" "Let's give him two minutes and see what he's got to say for himself!" " Are the two minutes up now?" " Listen people." "What's this all about?" "That's not the way..." "Use your heads!" "Shut up!" "Here he is." "Your savior's here!" "Do you really think it's my fault?" "Give me my money back." "You hear me?" "Give it back!" "I can't believe my eyes!" "What do you think you're doing?" "Get lost!" "It's none of your business!" "Don't you stick your nose in it!" "Get away from here!" "I won't say it again!" "What's going on here?" "I want to know what's going on!" "We thought you wouldn't come." "You said you'd be here by 6 in the morning." "I do my best to help you." "I've had no sleep for three days," "I walked hours in the pouring rain," "I run from office to office to overcome the obstacles... and you behave like piglets when their dinner is late..." "What happened to you?" " My nose is bleeding." " I can see that." "But why?" "I never expected that from you." "From you neither." "And we've just started." "What's it going to be like later on?" "Are you gonna stab each other?" "Sad." "Very sad." "I'm willing to forget it one more time provided such a thing won't ever happen again." "OK, let's get down to it." "There is something important I have to tell you." "We must postpone our plans related to the farm for a while." "Because some people would not appreciate the creation of an enterprise on such shady bases." "Their primary objection is the fact that the farm, being almost totally isolated and a long way from town, could hardly be kept under control." "Therefore in the present situation, the only way to succeed in our plan is to scatter around the county for a while." "Until... these gentlemen get so confused" "that we can come back here and start working on it." "From now on you are special people." "For you are helping in a matter in which loyalty, devotion and prudence are absolutely necessary." "Our goals are significant beyond themselves." "Scattering is just a tactic, you may not be in touch with each other for the moment but I will keep in touch with you." "In the meantime, do not believe that we are going to remain passively in the background and wait for things to get better by themselves." "What you have to do is to listen to people around you." "Views, stories, events which are connected to the matter." "Every one of you will need to acquire the ability to distinguish between the good and the bad signs." "In other words, between right and wrong." "And how are we going to live in the meantime?" "Don't worry." "Don't worry." "Everything is prepared, everything is organized." "You will all have work to do." "And at the beginning you'll get enough money for the basics from our common capital." "But let us not waste our time asking unnecessary questions." "We are late anyway." "We have to start right now, my friends." "Go pack your things." "Hurry up!" "Take your things and go." "Take the big things first." "Come on, move!" "Kraner, what's the matter with you?" "Wait, let's stop all this!" "Give us our money back!" "You hear me?" "!" "Give the money back!" "The money?" "Is that what you want?" "Here, here's your money." "Do what you want to do with it." "Good luck." "A year's hard work." "Joska, give the money back." "No." "Just split it between you." "Perhaps it's better." "I can see right now that you have no honor or perseverance." "Good to know from the start whom I can count on." "Your husband may be right, Mrs Kraner." "I cannot realize my plans with you." "I need people who are at least able to look after their own interests." "I've got to go now." "Wait!" "And... the farm will be working?" "I don't know." "Anyway I don't think you're interested in the any longer." "Give him the money." "I didn't mean that." "Now, take the money." "This rain, you know, and the long journey..." "And the cold at night..." "Don't be mad at us." "I don't care but the fact is that you gave up the first time problems arose." "Yet the whole thing is based on trust and perseverance." "Take the money now!" "We trust you." "Take it." "I don't feel like wasting time with your dramas!" "I'am very disappointed in you... however I'll get over it..." "I'm going to try and forget this disgraceful event." "Mind how you sit there it takes two hours even in this racing car." "Button your coats." "Put on your hoods and hats." "And just turn your backs... to the bright future, or this bloody rain will get all over your faces." "The Schmidts, Halicses, Kraners, come on!" "Futaki, Mr. Headmaster, please wait a minute." "What's the matter, you're not coming?" "Is there a pub here?" " We could have a drink." " No." "Schmidt and family, you're going to Elek." "I've written everything down, who to contact and where." "There you'll get work and a place to live." "And what work is there?" "It's a butcher's." "Plenty to do!" "You can serve the customers." "Now the Kraners." "You ask for Istvan Kalmar in Keresztur." "Listen carefully, it's not written down." "There's a street before the church." "On the right." "You go down that street until you see the Ladies fashion sign." "That's Kalmar's house." "Tell him" "D鰊ci has sent you, he may have forgotten my real name." "He has a room for laundry at the back where you'll stay." " Is that clear?" " Yes." "D鰊ci." "A street after the church and there's a sign..." "Right." "You, Halics..." "You go to the presbytery of Postelek." " Ask for Gyivicsan, the parish priest." " Gyivicsan..." "There's plenty of church wine there." "And you can clean the church and do the cooking for the three of you." "Here's a thousand forints per head if anything comes up." "But don't waste a penny." "And don't forget what you're supposed to do." "I think all's clear." "We'd like to thank you for what you've done for us." "You don't have to say thank you." "I'm only the servant of a great cause." "So remember what you have to do." "And take good care, you know we worry for you..." "Take care of yourselves." "Listen, you sit up there... and we'll take you to the Streber." "We'll pick you up in an hour and we'll talk everything over." "Okay." "Futaki." "Don't worry about me." "I know where I'm going." "I could find a job as a watchman." "You'd be better off doing something else." "What?" "No way to come to terms with you today?" "Come to Steigerwald's by eight and we'll talk it over there." "All right, I'll do it your way." "Here..." "A thousand forints." "Buy yourself some lunch at least." "Futaki is the biggest sucker I've ever met." "What did he think?" "That he'd reached the promised land?" "What did the poor devil expect?" "JUST TROUBLE AND WORK" "Leave out the part about eternity." ""Though I don't believe it's right to put such things down in writing, hovever, as a token of my willingness," "I am following your instructions." "It has never escaped my attention that you encouraged me to be open in all circumstances." "No doubts can be had on my peoples' skills." "I hope I could convince you of this yesterday." "It is important to repeat because other conclusions could be drawn from this plan." "I will be the only one to keep in touch with my people." "Anything else would lead to complete failure" etc, etc..." " I think it's alright." " Then we leave it at that." "Mrs Schmidt..." "Type it in." "Instead of a stupid female with big tits you write... mentally immature person, who mostly emphasizes her female character." "And what about "bloody whore"?" "Could be a "lady of easy virtue" or a "woman of low morals"." "We'd better write a "woman selling her body without any qualms"." "Okay." " Finished?" " Yeah." ""She went to bed with anyone and everyone, and if she didn't that was only by accident."" "She's a paragon of conjugal infidelity." "Finished?" "Instead of "a stench created by the mixing of cheap Cologne with some putrid smell"..." ""She attempts to relieve her unpleasant body odour in an unusual way."" ""Mrs Kraner..." Write it." ""A loud-mouthed gossip" should be replaced with..." ""indiscreet transmittor of rumours"." " And instead of "a fat sow"?" " Leave that in." " We shouldn't." " Then put "big"." " "Overweight"." " Okay." " Can we leave Mrs Halics?" " Sure." "And what about "wrinkled worm, filled with alcohol"?" ""Elderly alcoholic, short of stature"." ""Clumsy clown." "Dull inertia, blind stumbling around..."" " We could leave that out." " Okay." "Let's go on." "Schmidt." "What's the meaning of "a cross of crude insensitiveness and insignificant emptiness, in an abyss of uncontrollable darkness."?" ""Hopeless stupidity, inarticulate moaning, desperate existence, crippled paralysing worry..."" "OK, write this:" ""His dwarfed understanding and" "his submissive attitude to... authority... make him specially suited... to accomplish the activity in question... to a high level."" "The headmaster." "He must have been out of his mind here." "Listen to this:" ""If someone who's about to drown himself were to hesitate at the last moment whether to jump or not from the bridge," "I advise him to remember the headmaster, and he will realize there's only one option:" " To jump."" " Go on." ""He's like a withered cucumber." "In mental ability he remains below Schmidt, a definite achievement."" "Let's put "appearance:" "Worn down, no abilities"." " How did the two come together?" " That's what he wrote." ""His cowardice he compensates with narcissism and conceit." "He tends to be rather sentimental and maudlin as often is the case with onanic guys."" "Then... "weak and sentimental, perverse personality, sexually immature."" "Okay, write that." "As for Kraner, he's a "sloppy brute reminding of a buffalo..."" "Strongly-built, worked as a smith."" ""A strongly built smith?"" ""A stupid ass with dull eyes." Go on." ""The only dangereous one is Futaki, but not too much." "A rebel but more of a coward." "He could go far." "But he can't get rid of his obsessions." "He amuses me." "He's the one I can surely count on." " So?" " Leave it." "No." "Write." ""Dangerous but can be of use." "Cleverer than the others." "Lame."" " Is that all?" " Yeah." "Then sign his name." "Irimias." "Okay." " Is it still raining?" " Yes." "They shook hands outside the gate" " How are you leaving?" " Bus." "Okay." "Bye then, said the head clerk." "Nice day we had, eh?" "The other added." "Yeah, bloody good." "They shook hands again and parted." "At home, as they came in, both were asked the same question:" ""Difficult day, dear?"" "To which, shuddering and exhausted, they could only say, Nothing much, the usual, my dear." "THE CIRCLE CLOSES" "During the thirteen days..." "I spent in hospital..." "Mrs Kraner... didn't misbehave... again..." "Everything is exactly as..." "I left it." "Neither of them dares... leave the house." "They must be... lying on their beds, snoring... or staring at the ceiling." "They haven't a clue... that it is this idle... passivity... that leaves them... at the mercy of... what they fear most." "A cosmic revolution." "My hearing... is getting worse." "The Turks are coming!" "The Turks are coming!" "The Turks are coming!" "The Turks are coming!" "I must be crazy!" "I thought the bells rumbling in the sky were tolling the knell." "One morning... at the end of October... not long before... the first drops... of the insufferably long... autumn rains... fell... on the parched... cracked ground... on the western side of the farm... so that... the stinking bog... makes the tracks... impassable... until the first frosts... and it cuts off the town too..." "Futaki was woken... by the sound of bells." "The closest church was... eight kilometers to the South-West... on the old Hochmeiss field... a solitary chapel..." "But not only was no bell there... the church tower had collapsed... during the war..."