"THE MAN WHO LIES" "My name is Robin." "Jean Robin." "I'm going to tell you my story." "...or at least, I'm going to try." "This how it began, in a forest, a big forest..." "There was a kind of path, you couldn't quite tell." "Before, there had been a stream, a stone in the current, dead branches..." "No, that's not it..." "It was actually a field, a huge field with thistle seeds floating in the wind." "It must have been near a small town..." "or a big village." "Where was I?" "Oh, yes!" "My name is Boris." "But usually people call me Jean." "And sometimes "the Ukrainian"." "I've never known why." "But to the beginning." "The first time I came to the village I strolled the streets anonymously." "Jean..." "Of course I have to speak about Jean." "He was my friend, my ally, my comrade in arms." "Yes, the streets were empty, of course." "It was during the war and people stayed at home." "They didn't like fraternizing with the occupation troops... or having to show their papers at every intersection." "Yes, that's it: barricades and sentries stopping you at street-corners." "Have I already told you about the girl in the pharmacy... and the control-point set up in the street?" "So when I came to the village..." "I went straight to the inn, also empty at that time of the day." "I'd like... a glass of wine... and a slice of bread, please." "They'll treat him like a hero." "Jean Robin." "There was a man." "If I ever caught the bastard who..." "Remember, he once said..." "I'll be back in the spring." "Yes, I remember." "That was two years ago." "Three!" "That was three years ago." "If he is alive, then what's happened to him?" "He'll just turn up some day." "And all of a sudden he'll be here!" "What about his wife and sister at the castle?" "No one has seen them for months." "That's enough about..." "Jean Robin." "He'll come out of nowhere, from the mountains... and all of a sudden he'll be here!" "Jean Robin wouldn't come back." "Of course Jean Robin will come back!" "He's dead... dead.. dead!" "At the castle they're still waiting for him." "He'd be how old now?" "Thirty-three, thirty-four..." "Thirty-five!" "That young lady who's waiting, the one who's so lovely..." "Who are you?" "Jean sent me." "Where is he?" "My name is Boris..." "Boris Varissa." "You must have seen me in the village... you don't recognize me... probably." "I used to have a beard... and glasses to hide my face." "Everyone had to go into hiding." "You remember?" "There was barbed-wire across the streets." "You had to show your papers." "You might be on a list of suspects." "That meant police, jail and so on..." "We all had fake papers, of course." "But that wasn't enough." "Jean was my only friend... my comrade in arms and in hope." "We trusted each other completely..." "unquestioningly... as if we shared the same mind, the same memory, the same goal, the same body." "But I had to keep out of sight." "I was too easy to spot." "I lived mostly in the forests, in huts or in caves or under borrowed faces." "That day, I had to show myself." "The situation was too serious." "When I met Jean at the inn... he didn't know he was done for." "He made up his mind then and there." "I got here in time." "He followed me without hesitation." "I have to go and find a doctor." "I will be back in two hours." "Then we'll go on." "I know how to find someone on our side." "And then?" "Did you find a doctor?" "Yes, of course!" "Who was it?" "Doctor Muller." "There are no villages between here and the border." "No..." "I had to come back here." "There's no Doctor Muller around here." "Muller was what we called him." "We all had code names." "Muller, that meant the doctor." "Yes, we all had nicknames in these days." "They called me "the Ukrainian"." "The doctor's real name was..." "No, I've forgotten." "Don't you believe me?" "I don't know all these stories." "When I came here, Monsieur Jean had already gone away." "Didn't you know him?" "No, I came here from the lowlands." "Madame must have mentioned her husband to you." "No, never." "Well, I can tell you about him." "I worked with him constantly, day and night." "Jean was an amazing person." "One day, I remember... some General had come to inspect the fortifications in the woods." "Who is that old man?" "You should know if you know this house so well!" "I didn't come here much." "Once should be enough!" "It's Monsieur Jean's father." "Excuse me, Monsieur, could I have..." "I'd like a glass of wine." "And a slice of bread, please." "You must have known Jean Robin..." "No, of course, you're too young." "I knew him well." "I worked with him, here in the mountains." "You must have heard about me." "My name is Boris." ""The Ukrainian" they called me." "Have you heard how I got him out of jail?" "No, it wasn't the real jail..." "It was a police station that was used... for the most honorable suspects." "Jean had been picked up in the mountains." "We didn't know if they had anything on him." "We had to get him out of here... before they found out something." "I made my plan and got word to Jean... by a note hidden in an apple." "His sister could bring him fruits." "At the right moment..." "Jean had to be at a certain window." "Meanwhile, he kept an eye out for anyone coming." "The cells have bars over the windows... but not the window of the central corridor." "Since it overlooked the courtyard, there was no guard." "And he gets into the corridor... all you needed to do was to get up onto... the inside ceiling... crawl around the building over the sacks of flour." "until you reached the inner façade." "Then, you just jump down into the inner corridor." "The only way out..." "It's the hay for the Command." "The hay!" "It's supposed to be for the Command." "I was asking if you had any room." "How many?" "How many what?" "How many rooms?" "Well, one, obviously." "It's not obvious." "You asked about rooms." "Just go upstairs, third floor on the left down the corridor." "To the end of the second floor." "You know Maria, the girl who works in the castle?" "Yes." "Is she a friend of yours?" "She said you had lost something there." "Like what?" "If you want it back, she'll be over at the ruined tower in the morning." "Now you're breaking my glasses!" "I was trying to help her." "No one needs any help breaking them." "Monsieur is staying here long?" "Well, actually... don't know yet." "I might have another room, or else I may have to leave." "You better find out." " But the hotel is empty." " Mind you own business!" "We may be expecting someone." "You said I forgot something." " Yes, Monsieur." " My raincoat?" "Did I have a raincoat?" "No, you forgot to tell what happened with that general." "General?" "The one who was inspecting the fortifications." "What fortifications?" "How should I know?" "I wasn't in the war with Mr. Jean." "Oh, yes, the war!" "But the war didn't have any fortifications." " Is it yours?" " Do you like it?" "This is Mademoiselle Sylvia's." "You remind me of a girl who had the same voice." "Long time ago..." "Oh, yes, during the war!" "Why not during the war?" "Women fought there too." "Jean knew her too, the girl who looks like you." "Her name was..." "Her name was Eva." "The liaison agents hid out in her place." "We had our suspicions." "Either she was giving us away." "...strange coincidences." "One day, in any case, she was found strangled on her bed." "Listen, Maria..." "I can't stand these lies anymore." "I must tell you a horrible thing." "You must know the truth." "Follow me." "Jean Robin isn't the hero you think." "He's a traitor, a coward." "You've heard about the hay wagon?" "Jean was picked up by a mountain patrol." "By they didn't have anything on him.." "He had to keep from talking." "But he was afraid." "He sent us a message.." "supposedly to organize his escape." "Our two best men, Joseph and Vladimir... were to go into the prison with a tractor." "It was a huge risk." "She doesn't want to hear." "No one wants to hear." "They'd rather think Jean was a hero." "And the other two caught by accident." "Actually, Jean Robin is in hiding..." "across the border." "And doesn't dare come back now on account of Joseph... who managed to escape, who's still here." "and who won't say anything." "But no one knows you in the village." "They all... know me." "All of them." "But they pretend not to see me." "It upsets them to hear what I have to say... because they all know or they guess... that the local hero is an impostor." "And does Madame know that her husband..." "Why is she waiting for him when everyone says he's dead?" "Maybe he's even written to her." "And she doesn't dare show herself now, as his sister, because everyone knows." "And they all hate me." "You saw how the innkeeper tried to get rid of me." "I'm under a curse." "I carry a secret that's too heavy." "Don't give up, I'll help you." "There must be something we can do." "You're a nice girl, Maria." "Yes, you are, you're kind." "But you can't beat your head against a wall." "I'm fighting in the dark, and every turn I take is a blind alley." "Is Mlle. Maria done with her work?" "She's daydreaming all by herself." "Is that Jean's father?" "No, that's only Franz." "Who's he?" "They called him the steward." "He's always lived here, you know." "That's Franz... how he's aged!" "It must be all the suffering." " He didn't seem to know you." " Of course..." "As if he didn't see me." "He might have asked what I was doing here." "And now you're leaving... you're deserting me too." "No, I have a work to do." "After dinner you could come to the graveyard." "I'll be waiting for you." "You weren't expecting to meet me here." "Yes, why shouldn't I be?" "You were in collusion with Maria." "I knew all along that you would come." "You told her filthy lies about my brother." "Forgive me." "I wanted to talk to you alone." "It was the best way to make you come." "You have no right to speak of Jean." "Why do you need to lie about him that way?" "Yes, you're right." "I'm done for." "That's I wanted to tell you." "Done for?" "Why?" "Because no one believes your stories about my brother?" "Because no one can believe my lies..." "not even me... especially me." "I know well that I'm the coward and the traitor Varissa Boris." "Let me tell you my sad story." "You, alone, can understand me and release me." "No, of course there's no Doctor Muller around here." "Muller was the police chief." "He was the one I told where Jean was held." "I wanted to get rid of him." "He was the leader and I couldn't bear that." "You see, I'm not looking for excuses." "He was smarter than I was." "He had read the treachery in my eyes." "That wound of his must have been a bluff." "When the police got to the hut," "Jean wasn't there anymore." "Thank God!" "He might have killed me right away." "But Jean is too honest to condemn someone on suspicion alone." "He wanted to be sure." "And now I know he's looking for me." "That's why he hasn't come home yet." "He wants to kill all the traitors first." "He's on my trail." "Every night I sleep in a different bed." "All I have left is his house." "But he'll find me even here." "I hear him coming closer, and as soon as he sees me he'll shoot me down." "Like a dog." "You're crazy!" "Did you hear that noise?" "What noise?" "There wasn't any noise." "The noise of a man running through the woods." "No, there's no one there." "And there are no woods." "But if someone was coming..." "Wait for me a minute." "Don't go get Doctor Muller!" "Well, Maria, tell us who this man is." "I don't know, Monsieur." "The girl is making a fool of you!" "Some things are none of our business." "Then what is our business?" "The room will have to be cleaned." "The vermin in the mattress." "Explain yourself, Monsieur." "Let me introduce myself, Boris Varissa." "I haven't had the honor." "Your son sent me." "Into my servant's bed!" "All right, who is he?" "I don't know, Monsieur." "You see people nowadays" "even in your own house." "Who knows where they come from!" "I'm going to tell you my story." "Do you have to?" "Let's see, I knew Jean in the Resistance." "Where is he now?" "What's he doing?" "When will he come home." "Listen, it's not so simple." "I can't tell everything right away." "Then what are you doing here?" "Do you have a message for us?" "Message?" "Let me tell you my story..." "No, get out!" "Now, be quick about it!" "We'll have to..." "air the whole place out." "They turn me away from here, too." "Goodbye, Sylvia." "Now I have nowhere to go." "Sylvia, that's not all." "You must know the whole truth." " I can't leave you without..." " Hide for now." "But come tonight." "Here's the key to the little gate." "They're crazy you know." "Al three of them." "They pretend to have a brother or a husband." "But no one's ever seen them!" "One day, Laura claimed that her husband was cheating on her." "With whom?" "The lady in the pharmacy." "She told me the story." "It was during the war, just before they were all arrested." "Jean Robin would go there to see Ivan, the pharmacist who carried the messages." "Which pharmacy?" "There's only one here on the other side of the square." "I'd like a bottle of mercury chrome." " Is Ivan here?" " No, he hasn't come yet." "I'm afraid for him." "Do you have sleeping pills?" "Only by prescription." "And we're out of them." "Do you want us to order some?" "No, thank you." "Never mind." "Something was happening." "That man suspects us." "They could get anything in their infirmary." "Ever seen him before?" "No." "There are policemen getting out of trucks near the church." "I'll tell Laura." "Go home, then wait for a sign." "Ivan has disappeared." "Jean has escaped." "He'll be away for a time." "We don't know who they're after." "I'll wait." "And then what did they do?" "Well, Sylvia must be waiting for me now." "I have to go back there." "And if you meet the father?" "No, the father's in bed." "He's sick." "He'll die soon." "I'd like a small bottle of mercury chrome, please." "Did you know Jean Robin?" "Of course." "Everyone knows him here." "I dashed down, at the risk of breaking my neck to help him." "But it was too late." "Jean died on the spot." "I don't know how long I stayed there beside his lifeless body." "And then, what did you do?" "Well, then I went to tell the others... and we came back to look for the body." "Which was sheer madness!" "We could have fallen into a trap." "What others?" "Can you remember some names?" "Where is he?" "Answer me, Maria!" "Where is he hiding now?" "That's your father." "I have to go and explain... and also tell him the sad news." "Now that I've told you this horrible thing... and it's out of my heart." "I have nothing left hide." "He's dead." "I came too late." "We have to go get the doctor..." "do the paperwork." "A terrible accident, wasn't it?" "Beautiful... mysterious..." "desirable, disturbing." "And that's the reason I'm drawn here... by this house full of ghosts and forebodings." "You can't stay here alone with that crazy servant." "Sylvia, my poor orphan, I'd like to help you." "Doubt that the sky is blue, Sylvia... doubt that the truth hates a lie... doubt that the sun is shining... but don't doubt that I love you." "Now that your father has left us..." "I can't leave you alone with this crazy servant." "I'll move in here." "That Frantz is a false witness." "A liar!" "A Judas!" "During the war they called him Judas... we all had nicknames." "He was Judas, and I was the Ukr..." "No, I've already told you all that." "Believe me, he could crawl in those days!" "Judas, my boots..." "But Monsieur Boris..." ""Call me the Ukrainian or I'll have you shot!"" "I should have had him shot..." "Your poor father would still be alive." "Murderer!" "The railing, you saw how it came off all in one piece... obviously sawed through at both ends!" "Murderer!" "When I think." "Oh, it's terrible." "when I think... that you could have – you yourself – leaned on it!" "But I would have followed you." "I'd have punished the traitor and jumped after you, my Julietta, down to earth!" "Boris and Sylvia..." "Foreign tourists would have wept over our grave." "And we would be here, the two of us, forever... as they stare on, marveling... young, beautiful, naked... wrapped in each other arms, mouth to mouth." "What do you want?" "What do you want with me now?" "Haven't you persecuted me enough?" "You're the leader..." "Yes, you're the leader..." "that should be enough for you." "Get out!" "I knew you would follow me here." "Get out, Jean Robin!" "There's no room for you." "Explain!" "What do you want me to do?" "Yes, I'm still alive... but I'm innocent..." "I'm innocent!" "Haven't you done enough to spoil... the world... for me, to waste my time?" "Leave me alone now." "Who are you talking to?" "There is no one here." "No, of course there isn't." "Who could be here?" "Don't be frightened." "I'm not crazy." "I was playing on an act." "I'm an actor, that's my profession." "Boris Varissa... maybe you've heard of me." "I was rehearsing a part..." "I'm sorry, under these sad conditions to have alarmed you." "But you mustn't be afraid, you know, you have nothing to fear with me." "But I wasn't afraid." "I'd like to help you." "I'd so much like to do something for you." "But you act as if I were your enemy." "You're suspicious of me." "I'm the doctor you sent for." "I'm here to sign the burial permit." "Let me introduce myself." "I was the first to touch our poor father's body." "Boris Varissa!" "Doctor Muller." "Are you ill?" "No, thank you." "Feeling fine." "We've already met, haven't we?" "No, we couldn't have." "I came to the district only yesterday." "All right, quick now!" "Don't touch me, you get on my nerves." "The days of slipshod service are over." "Now, I'm giving the orders." "Pass the bread." "You're funny." "All three of you make me laugh." "I enjoy laughing." "I'm a simple man." "During the war, I as the one who... all right, enough!" "Enough of those miserable old stories." "The only thing I want now is to live here in peace... happy, the way I was before... the way I was before..." "That man won't last long here." "I loathe your crazy stories.." "all your pretensions." "When Jean was arrested during the... oh, enough... enough of that." "Yes, Jean is dead." "I saw his dead body... as plain as I can seen you... alive... and beautiful." "I myself nailed up the pine coffin that we buried in a clearing... without a cross, without an epitaph... without leaving the slightest trace... that might reveal the spot to the enemy soldiers." "But Jean isn't the kind to be forgotten so quickly." "The traces we were so careful to rub out reappeared the next day... fresh... and obvious." "Jean Robin was here, asking to come out." "He'll come back." "I'm sure of that." "His power couldn't vanish because of a routine raid." "He'll come back." "I know it, I feel he's already on the way." "His footsteps echo in my ears." "He's already reincarnated..." "in another body." "And it's me, Boris." "I'm the face he has chosen." "This power that draws me to you... is his power." "My eyes that see your beauty are his eyes." "My hands are his hands that try to grasp your life." "I'm the one who killed your brother... an impotent, frightened man." "He had to be eliminated." "I handled the job myself with pleasure." "I had some personal accounts to settle with him." "Then I promised myself to come here..." "I wanted to strip him too of that fool Laura... too beautiful for him." "That way I would utterly destroy him." "As for you, I never knew you existed." "But you were good enough to take in passing... until something better turned up." "Besides, you didn't keep me waiting long." "Every girl's a whore." "All you need is a little more experience." "Maria does it much better than you do." "How beautiful it is." "My body is light." "You're pretending to have some washing, and I'm putting on an act too." "You know why?" "Because I'm already dead." "I died a long time ago." "In the war?" "Yes, in the war." "You must have heard the story." "The morning of the liberation, the police lined us up and shot us in the cellars." "You'll find my name carved on the monument, along with the rest..." "Ivan, Joseph, Vladimir..." "Jean Robin, Mathias, Manneret and dozens of others..." "In alphabetical order." "My body was left there, mixed with their corpses." "Apparently, I was only wounded." "A head-wound..." "But everyone said I was dead, so I said it too... why not?" "I thought it was a head-wound." "Yes, the head-wound." "That's why I lost my memory." "And I think of a bullet in the heart." "You can wash this too." "And you, lovely, empty head, phantom of flesh... do you suppose you can resist me much longer?" "By fair means or foul." "Who will come to your rescue?" "And if by foul..." "I'll kill you afterwards." "An accident happens so quickly... death comes quickly." "Mine too now... thank you... thank you for giving me this joy." "Your body, the body of a mad, virgin bride... all our long night together..." "Remember..." "No, stop!" "Just a minute..." "I have one more thing to say." "Now I'm going to tell you my real story... or at least I'm going to try." "In the Resistance, I was called Jean Robin." "But my name is Boris." "Boris Varissa." "After the war, I returned to my family's house... here my sister Sylvia was waiting for me, along with my cousin Laura whom I married... and who became Laura Varissa."