"The recoverers" "Hello, paisà!" " Hello, ciao." "Hey, Alpine!" "It's over, huh?" "It's over, it's over." "About time!" "Still a long way from home?" "No!" "I'm almost at the cabin." "Hey, soldier!" "Where you coming from?" "France?" "Yes!" "But I made a long detour." "Poland, Bohemia, Germany..." "Are there others, behind?" " Many, many..." "Give me a white..." "while it stops raining." "How far must you go?" "I'm there." "Once in the village, I'm home." " You're from here?" " Yes." "And who are you?" " Gianni!" "Hey, how goes it!" "Ciao!" "Don't you remember me?" "I'm Giuseppe Savento." "I was younger than you, remember?" " It's Gianni Lonigo!" "The one who was in Russia?" " Yes." " You've served long, huh?" "At first I didn't recognize you, you went away as a child, one might say." "Look there, with what face they come back!" "No, enough, thanks!" " But that's on me." " Trouble is, I'm no longer used to." "So what?" "Start getting used to it again!" "Sit down." "You'll be tired, coming all the way from Russia." "Come on, let's go this side, there's company!" "Come, come in." "Look here." "See what stuff?" "Have a seat." "Sit down there." "Here!" "Cheers." "Cheers." "As soon as the weather settles I'll go home." "Is it long you don't get news from home?" "Almost two years." "Why?" " No...nothing." "But my folks, how are they?" " Fine, fine..." "Francesco!" "Gianni!" "Francesco!" "So?" " Safe." "And you?" "Well, all in all...and dad?" " Fine." "I met Silvano, in the square." "You know, the son of Cristina." "He said you were here, so..." " Good, let's go." "Earlier, it was pouring, so I stopped a moment." "You did well, I came with an umbrella." "How much?" " Nothing, nothing, what ever?" "I'll see you." " Thanks, then." "Bye!" "Give me the backpack, I'll carry it." "And you, for the draft, how did you manage?" "When they recalled my class, I escaped here in the mountains." "By then, you could tell it was running out!" "However, it was tough here too." " Yes!" " They made some roundups!" "But, in return, every now and then you could sneak home to sleep." "What I'd have paid, for one hour in my bed!" "Even tonight, it doesn't seem true..." " You know, the house has changed though." "What you mean, changed?" " It isn't like before." " Why?" "He remarried." "Dad?" "And who with?" "Margherita, who was in Bosco district." " Margherita..." "Yes, I recall a Margherita, but she was our age!" " That one." "They have nearly 30 years of difference." "They married while I was in the mountains." "Probably he was afraid to remain alone." "Gianni!" "Gianni!" "So, Gianni." "You're here, finally!" "How goes it?" "You remember Margherita, right?" "Yes." "Say hello!" "Hello." "Hi." "Come on." "Come, sit down." "We've already prepared for you too, see?" "Put down your stuff." " I'll go upstairs to freshen up, first." " Yes, alright." "So, what do I do?" "I put on the table?" "I, for me, I've decided already." "Decided, what?" "I filed for the passport, and now I am engaged for Australia." "What?" "Australia?" "And what do I do here?" "The intruder?" "I'll find a job, and I'll go on my own." "Yeah." "You'll see how easy it is to find a job, nowadays." "I'll find as well something to do!" "Listen." "Yes?" "Why not come away you too?" "I already passed the check at the consulate, but you can do your papers quickly, so we can leave together." "You talk about leaving, and I just arrived." "Leave it here on the table." "I'll eat later, when I'm back." "Elsa." "Gianni!" "Gianni!" "Elsa!" "I've no longer had news." "But I've always written you." "We've been months without seeing a letter." "We too were worried." "Why didn't you come in?" "Because I didn't know if... if for you it was still like before." "Gianni!" "Hi!" "May I?" "Good morning." " Hello!" "Look, Bruno!" "Another one who's back!" " Hello!" "How are you?" "So, Gianni." "You too came back home!" "Yep!" "Safe and sound, but no money." "What matters is to save your skin, right?" "Sure, but now I must find something to put inside, this skin." "So I came to see if there is something to do." "My dear boy, what do you want me to say?" "You see it by yourself, right?" "We give out work days with the dropper." "Stay here, you'll see people flocking." "There's one every minute, each with his right." "We find jobs that are pretexts, more than jobs." "Fixing a road, raising a wall..." "And then, even the City, with the little money it has, can't just do more." "As for me, I'm willing to do what's to do." "And what is there to do?" "The distillery is stopped, the sawmill is closed, houses aren't being built, imagine!" "The others, then, what they do?" " What do you want them to do?" "They've just returned from war, and have the papers ready to go away again." "If you want, I'll put you on the list." "The first jobs..." "Look." "Look you too, the queue I've got here!" "But, there'll be much to wait?" "Bloody hell, you guys!" "Don't make me swearing!" "What the hell are you up to, here?" "You have all become crazy?" "Huh?" "How, what we're up to?" "We're digging stumps!" "It won't take a municipal permit to dig stumps, now?" "It's not about permits!" "It's that, digging stumps, you ruin all the seedlings, doggone it!" "So, what should we do, us, to make a living?" "We work the whole day, to eat polenta with one hand!" "I just say that if a forester sees you, it's trouble for all!" "The forester, we'll take care of it!" "Then deal with it!" "Look how many seedlings ..." "Let's push." "Come on, together!" "Come on, come on!" "Damn it, come on!" "In short, guys, I tell you:" "here are the machines." "They all work, just plug them." "In the woods there is timber, we need to work, what're we waiting for?" "The mayor said the timber is auctioned, and it takes money." "Without money, nil!" "And we cut even without money!" " And they send the guards!" "If they send the guards, we pull out the gun!" "We shot until yesterday, we can still shoot!" "Come on boys, pull that down!" "Timber!" "Timber!" "Timber!" "Timber!" "Come on beauty, go!" "Come on, go!" "Move!" "Move, move!" "Stop!" "Stop everybody!" "What are you doing?" "What are you up to, here!" "Stop!" "Stop that horse!" "Don't you know that it takes a permit to do this work?" "The permit?" "We took it by ourselves, the permit!" "But you can't do these things, if you're not authorized!" "Got it?" "And I say that we'll bring this lumber to the sawmill!" "And I say that, if you touch this lumber, you'll end up in jail." "All of you will!" "So, if we must end up in jail, we will for something!" "Come on guys!" "What pops into your brain?" "You're not all going crazy, here, huh?" "We're not crazy, we are fed up!" "Can't you see this is theft?" "We have no intention to steal anything." "We bring down this lumber, we saw it, we sell it, and we give to the City what's due." "But I'll be damned!" "What popped into your brain?" "What do you think to solve, this way?" "Well, meanwhile, we solve this way." "No, no, here's no reasoning with these guys, it's useless!" "Timber!" "And now, we can make a coop by ourselves." "The important is to stay all together, because together we can achieve more." "What matters then is work, good will, and getting along." "My dear, you say so, but the cart doesn't advance if you don't anoint the wheels!" "Without money, can't conclude anything, I tell you." "Yes." "But one must also begin, in some way." "Else, what's left to do?" "Pack up and..." "leave again, like my brother?" "My boy..." "When in 1910 I went to America, things were even worse." "And I had to wait ten years before marrying!" "Why, us haven't we waited enough?" " Marrying is not as easy as saying it." "I have confidence in this coop stuff." "One thing is to be alone, but, when you're many." "Silvano." "Silvano!" "Silvano, there's the envoy." " The envoy?" " The bailiff!" "Silvano Rodighiero." " But what's that?" "Sign here." "Here." " Thanks." ""The following citizens:" "Rodighiero, Forte, Rigoni, Lonigo, Della Betta,"" ""domiciled in this town, are warned to pay within 15 days the sum of lire"" ""525,326..."" ""equal to 140 cubic meters of lumber, by the aforementioned abusively removed."" ""Should an event occur similar to the one happened,"" ""we will be forced to take all legal measures."" ""We look forward to a prompt compliance."" "Bloody hell!" "Here." "Birth certificate, discharge papers, criminal record, vaccination, citizenship..." " And how many of you are going away?" "Well, now we're 7, 8." "Cristiano, Alberico, Strazzabossco..." "But there's a lot that must come." "Every day it comes out someone." "Tonight the recruiter will come up from Schio to reach an agreement." "We'll all meet there, at the tavern of Amabile." "And... when will you leave?" "You know anything yet?" "Tonight they will tell us something." "Anyway, it won't be long." "Bye." "Bye." "Don't want to sleep?" "What're you doing like that?" "Get under, no?" "It's him, it's him!" "There he is." "Good evening." "Hello." "So, are you all here?" "Come on, enter, I got yet a long ride tonight." " With what ship we go away?" "The birth certificate will be ready tomorrow." "It's alright." " When do we leave?" "What was wrong with you tonight?" "My brother is right." "What?" "Going away." "It's the only solution." "But, away where?" "Away, through the world, to Australia, where goes my brother." "Or anywhere else where one can earn a living." "But what's with you now?" "But, good Lord, you tell me what else can be done!" "Evidently, around here it's destiny!" "Your father, my father, and all the others, in order to get married, had to do the same." "Come on..." "Don't do so, now." "And then, it's not like going to war!" "At least, one can return here when he wants." "But when?" "Well, as soon as one saves something." "Three, four, five years." "Then, maybe, we're back where we started." "But they've gone away already?" " Yes, just now." "Also the guy with the bike?" " Oh, he's gone even earlier." " Thanks, 'night." "And you?" "Who are you?" "Want to drink a white with me?" "Huh?" "And where can you drink?" "It's all closed by now." "It's all closed?" "And I make them open!" "When one has money, everybody opens willingly." "Understood?" "Tobacco!" "There's no more tobacco here." "What?" "Got anything to smoke?" "Huh?" "But, I only have tobacco for..." " Tobacco?" "And what would you smoke, straw?" "Stop there!" "What are you doing?" "A cigarette." "But what cigarette!" "Give me here." "Give it to me, come on!" "Tobacco is not for smoking, tobacco is for chewing!" "Is nice, smoking it!" "But smoking hurts!" "Here..." "look." "Here!" "Thanks." "But you, aren't you Du?" "You still alive?" "I'll be damned!" "Should I be dead, face to you alive?" "No, I was just saying." "Since I recall you from when I was a kid..." "And you, what's your name?" "Gianni." "Of Battista." "Which Battista?" " The one of Contrada Ebene." " And who's that?" "Battista Lonigo." "Don't you know him?" "What's so funny?" "To me, look, one who marries once, is to be laughed." "But who marries twice, is to be wept!" "Goodnight." " Come here boy." "Where you going?" "It's late." "Time to go to sleep." "A man with schedules, is never free!" "Easy for you!" "For that matter, neither I have schedules." "But I'm not even free to stay in my country!" "Oh yeah?" "You're not free in your own country?" "Then, you're dealing with the police!" "What police!" "Hold on there!" "Where you going?" "Wait a minute!" "One minute!" " What do you want, still?" "# Oh migrant, cry all over him, # 'cause such crime never history wrote, # of Matteotti were left his fruits..." " Hush!" "You'll wake up everybody!" "Let them wake up!" "I never asked anything to anybody!" "I worked when I wanted," "I always slept whenever I wanted, and I sing when I want!" "Keep quiet." " What quiet!" "# On June 9th, of '24... # by the fascists..." " Come on." "Hush, be good, or someone will call the police, and they'll bring you in!" "Bring in?" "Me?" "I've always been out!" "I've never been in!" "I,..." "I've always been free, always under the stars!" "And, if you want my advice, you who are young, do as I do: away from all!" "Away from all, on your own." "With no women, with no masters." "And come away with me, up on the mountains there is a fortune!" "It's easy to say, with brandy in belly." "I wanna hear you in the morning!" "Tomorrow morning, if you come with me," "I'll show you where is hidden a great treasure, alright?" "Even a treasure?" "Come on, come on!" "Good night." " Sure!" "I'm telling you!" "On the mountains, there is everything!" "Whole crates full of gold, and there's even a battleship, complete with cannons and machine guns, brought from the sea up to the rocks!" "Good, good." "But now let's go to sleep, it's late." "And if you don't believe it, look here." "Look how much money I've in this pocket." "Look at the money I'm showing you, huh?" "Have you ever seen so much money in your life?" "Look." "Look, look, look, look, look!" "Have you ever seen what billions look like?" "If you come away with me, I'll show you a whole mine!" "A mine of money!" "That you can pick away like snails!" "Put them away." " Got it, how the world works?" " Yes, yes." "Sure I put them away." "And if you too want to have them in your pocket, come with me, so I'll teach you how to live!" "Wake up, women!" "Wake up!" "You never forget your first love!" "# In June...of '24..." "Bye." "Bye!" "So, Francesco." "This time we go far, huh?" "Yeah." "This time, yes!" " I salute you." " Bye." "Be careful, huh?" "Bye." " Bye." "Hey!" "Are you nuts?" "What're you doing?" "I enjoy doing bangers!" "Hold on there!" "Where you going?" "Stand back, let the gas get out, first." "If not, the yperite will eat your lungs!" "Come." "Come here." "But, what did you blow up, in there?" "152 Germans, loaded with gas, and 149 French." "How's that, 149 French?" "Were shooting from there, 149 French, amidst our soldiers!" "But in 15-18, weren't we allies with the French?" "We are mistaken in peace, let alone in war!" "Everything is smashed!" "And is enough!" "When one of these exploded, on our trenches, everything blew in the air!" "Italian, French, Austrians, Americans:" "all in the air!" "And all dead." "Amen!" "But you, were you here?" "I am everywhere!" "Now let's go, schnell!" "Well then, since you're here, start working." "What should be done?" "Pick up these pieces, then later we'll sort them." "Go on, young man, march!" "What's this?" " Copper." "Put it there, it's valuable." "They use it to make verdigris for vineyards." "So, we collaborate to wine making!" "And this?" "No, that's brass." "Good to make spoons." "And this iron?" "But no!" "This is cast iron!" "Worth little, but we can get something anyway." "Put there." "Someone makes axes with it." "See that everything is useful for life?" "And now, let's go eat!" "Come on!" "Since many years I hadn't hear talk of recoverers." "I remember that they all came up, after the other war." "I was still a child." "I didn't think there was still stuff." "Here, there's stuff for 2.000 years!" "Beneath the stones there is a mine!" "They shot so much, in these mountains!" "But can you earn a living?" "With leftover, too!" "But, not for me." "No leftover for me, because I eat it all, long live freedom!" "Why they call you Du?" "It means "you", in German." "Have you fought with the Austrians?" " Me?" "I am international!" "America, Austrian, Japanese, Italian,..." "Brescian!" "So much!" "I am... for taking away all borders!" "Because that's how I lived, always on my own, and without needing anyone!" "Then why did you call me?" "Because here there are recoveries that, alone, I can not do." "Big stuff!" "So..." "Sit down, come on." "Here, there's so much to recover, that we could make a partnership, us two." "Understand?" "So then?" "Sit down, you pay no rent here!" "We make a partnership together, and use those 4 shacks there..." "I don't know...it doesn't seem a trade." "This is no trade!" "It's an art!" "There!" "You see here?" "These are the German lines." "These are all works done by the Bosniaks." "These galleries were all Bosniak." "They were all hidden there underneath." "And when the Italian artillery fired, all ran under there, like moles." "There!" "Halt!" "Hold on there!" "Don't you see anything?" "But what's there to see?" "Stones and holes." "First rule: to learn to see." "I sniff at a distance everything that's underground." "These eyes here, can see everywhere, even underneath the rocks." "My dear, when you'll have been so many years in these mountains, like me, you will learn how you too!" "To see... as I see!" "I, now, am the best of all recoverers, here." "Once... once, there was another, as good as me." "And now, what has become of?" " And now, there's no more." "Will be dead." "But dead my foot!" "He became a great lord!" "And lives in a five-story palace." "At Brescia." "Is full of cars, and served by beautiful maids." "All baloney!" " Oh, yeah?" "And I tell you that I spoke with an Austrian Admiral." "He had come up here looking for something." "He told me... that he sought a battleship full of cannons!" "A battleship in the mountains?" " Suuure!" "They've taken it apart in pieces, and concealed it here beneath the rocks!" "A battleship complete with everything:" "cannons, aiming systems, machine guns... millions, billions!" "Understand?" "Yes, yes!" "And I'm even listening, blessed you!" "Let me go, come on!" "Where you going?" " Down, to fetch wood." "And then you're a coward, traitor and a no-word!" "What's has to do?" " Damn, what you mean, what has to do?" "It has to do that we agreed that we'd split in half!" "When you're partners, you're partners!" "I even fed you, today." "But partners of what, if we have nothing?" "What, nothing?" "Look here, look here, how much stuff!" "Here we find everything!" "Copper, lead, iron, cannons!" "I'll show you, how is recovered!" "Where you think I've found all this money, huh?" "I found it under these rocks!" "Hi." "Hi." "Maybe, there would be a chance." "What chance?" " To stay here, to not go away." "There would also be a way to raise some money." "And what job is it?" " Well, a job..." "it wouldn't really be a job at workdays, it would be more like a job at luck." " At luck?" "It's about digging up war materials." " Bombs?" "Well, what you find..." " And you call it a job?" "That's stuff for desperates." " Why, us, what are we?" "More desperate than this..." "Now, stop!" "One moment!" "Look here, huh?" "Go on, dig!" "Come on." "No!" "Not at the sides, where it's hard." "At the center, that is softer!" "Go on, young man, go on." "There won't be danger of blowing up?" "But what blow up!" "What you want to blow!" "That one is a 105, which they fired from Valsugana here on this fort." "From Valsugana, the Austrians had brought here a "Long George"." "A beast of cannon that they transported by train." "Gianni!" "What?" "Come here!" "Look, look!" "Black color, means there's lead, underneath." "Green is copper, yellow is brass, and red is iron." "I dig here?" " Hold it!" "This is still alive!" "Give me the pick." "And stand away." "Watch, and learn." "Look." "Look here, what cookies they used to kill men!" "You've seen, huh, what stuff!" "No!" "Not those!" "First of all, the bombs must all be the same." "And then, another thing to keep in mind, that the soil must be hard, or they'll get in tune and will blow everything up in the air!" "Understand?" "Cause, if they explode, you won't find anything anymore." "Pass me a stone." "Here." "One here, one there, to keep them still." "Above, is the fuze with the detonator, woe to touch that, and under the fuze is the charge." "Pass me some soil." "That's it." "Now, pay close attention." "We must make a channel with the soil at this height." "in the most fragile spot of the bomb." "Give me the powder." "Move!" "Here, look." "The art lays in dosing it well." "Too little, doesn't solve anything." "Too much, everything blows up." "But if it's right, is like a blade: zack!" "Now, cut the fuse." "Not so much!" "You send the company down the drain!" "30 cm suffice!" "Give it here!" "Come on...a match." "It's burning!" "Back, back!" " Well, where we hide?" "Where you wanna hide?" "Under granny's bed?" "Walk on, dummy!" "How much smoke!" " Don't worry, this doesn't hurt." "Look at this!" "Huh?" "Cut like polenta!" "Look how much money can make lead and a bundle of powder!" "Hands off the scale!" "105 francs." "How much, the brass?" "How much, you think?" "80 francs!" "The usual, right?" "Eight kilos of copper, at 300 francs, gives, 5,400." "How much money you're getting this time!" "Hey, Turk!" " What do you want?" "Weigh right and pay more, don't forget!" " Yeah, sure..." "The Turk always pays as man of honor!" " Sure!" "Honest people, I've met many of." "But that pay all, I've met few!" "Hi!" " Hi." "Have you seen Elsa?" " No, not yet." " Thanks, bye." "Why don't you sleep at home anymore?" " Who told you?" "Your dad came." "He gave me this postcard, it's for you." "It's from the Military district." "It'll be the settlement for the captivity." "And where do you sleep, now?" " I sleep where I work." "Up in the mountains, in some shack, with the beasts?" " Look." "Three days of work, and we have already shopped for a week." "I, and the one who works with me." "It's the first money we can put away for us two." "Keep it." "I don't want that money." " Why you don't?" "It isn't stolen!" "But that's not the way to begin to set up house." " But what talk is that?" "One has to look to his own interest, no?" "My interest is that you stay alive and whole." "I don't want a husband around in the mountains, doing a job that's not a job." "What should I do, in your opinion?" "They begin to build here in town, for the districts." "I heard that firms are coming up from the plain, they'll need workers." "And I should start as hodman?" " You start as hodman and go forward." "Yes, and wait 3 years to become a worker!" "But if you'd gone to Australia, you'd wait longer than 3 years!" "At last, what must do a poor man?" "I do it to stay here, to be together!" "Rather than this life, it was better if you went away." "Then, from this moment, pretend that I'm in Australia." "So then, how goes it?" " It goes my foot!" "One can't disappear like that, when there's a partnership!" "If you want to be on your own, say it!" "It's two days that I wait for you, damn it!" "But look!" "It's not the way to deal among partners!" "This device here, is a mine detector." "I bought it in the plain, an American surplus." "American!" "Other than American!" "And what would it be, this wreck?" "This wreck feels all metals 2 meters underground." "Why, don't I feel them maybe?" "What have we found so far, shit, huh?" "You mean?" "Want to contend with a modern machine?" "But you know how much it costs?" "How much?" " I've spent my entire pay of 2 years of service!" "A macaque, you are!" "Big and grownups, and still buy toys!" "Here, you see?" "These are the batteries connected to the wires that go down to this disc." "When the disc feels ferric, the headphone starts whistling." "Take off your hat." "Try it, bend down." "Well, can you hear whistling?" "I hear nothing!" "And now you hear, right?" "I still don't hear anything!" "Then, you'll hear better later." " Later when?" "When the disc feels iron, and the more the iron, the more it whistles!" "To me, as whistle, is enough the blackbird's one!" "And it's enough!" "Yet, when it will be running, you'll hear it perfectly!" "Here, take this..." "Even machines to hear one playing, now!" "Well!" "Instead of buying a bedroom, I spend all my money for the company!" "For my part, if you meant to hold up the company, better off with a couple of bottles of Creme Marsala." "But tell me, that machine there, it whistles songs as well?" "Be good!" "Whistles the wind, whistles the storm, whistles the blackbird, whistle all !" "And now, they make the whistle machines!" "So, young man?" "It won't be like that guy?" " Which guy?" "The one who, with a step, a jump and a whistle, arrived all the way to Brescia!" "Well then, do you hear anything?" "Dig!" "Dig here!" "Dig here!" "?" "Are you sure about digging here?" "Alright!" "Is this the stuff that your machine pulls up?" "Huh?" "But, are we kidding?" "Come on, macaque!" "One thing is playing, another is to get serious!" "No baloney!" "Dig here, dig there!" "Where you wanna dig!" " There will be a fault!" "Come on, a fault!" "What fault!" "And I lost half a day following your whims!" "To be made fun of by a wreck of a machine!" "Go to a carousel, you and your whistles!" "Here he is!" "Outbound!" "Forward, march!" "Left..." "Left, left..." "# Soldiers of Switzerland, rice, potatoes and coffee... #" "# Soldiers of Switzerland, rice, potatoes and coffee... #" "# Soldiers of Switzerland, rice, potatoes and coffee... #" "About-face!" "Into the barrack, march!" "So then?" "That wreck of a machine, does it work or not?" "Evidently there is something wrong." "Like all machines!" "What reasoning!" "What does that mean?" "It means that my needle never fails." "And my nose neither." "And I, I'll show you that I fix it!" "Just to prove it to you, and to put some modernity into your head." "Modernity...!" "Roman baloney!" "You know what's the best modernity, huh?" "A polenta like this!" "Whistles?" "Listen to that music!" "Who knows what's beneath here!" "There..." "Let's put this thing here, so it won't fall, the ground is all full of mud." "Come on." "Pass me the pickaxe." "Take here..." "What's this?" "There's boards here!" " What boards?" "You crazy?" "These are boxes!" "Dig, dig, dig!" "Doggone!" "This time we found a depot!" "This is a machine-gun post!" "Have you seen, this wreck?" "I told you so." "Nose and eyes, better that a person." "And you, with your nose, you find only bomb pits, and that's it." "With this special machine here, we'll find everything, even buttons!" "Pass it to me." "These are Austrian!" "Mauser cartridges!" "Here we have lead, brass, powder, nice and dry." "All stuff that makes money!" "Let's close the box." "And now, let's go through this gallery, it's more handy." "Come on." "Down at the end there's a hole, and we throw them on the meadow, huh?" "Hey," "I'll go out then." "You just have to hand them to me one at a time." "Hey there!" "Take heart, young man!" "Come on, throw them out here." "And one!" "How many could be, in all?" "At least ten." "There's of all kinds." "This time yes, we found the right place!" "It will take the cart to carry down all this stuff." "Wow!" "Look at this!" "Will be ten boxes of thirty kilos!" "All in all, are around three quintals." "It takes two trips, here!" "What did I tell you?" "I was right or not?" "Oh, you, young man!" "With that wreck, we'll find even the battleship!" "Understand?" "Happy today, huh?" "For men with money, life is always funny!" "If it goes on like this,..." "Who knows what you would do with all that money." "You'll buy a five-story palace, too?" " But no!" " What will you buy, then?" "I'll buy the brass band of Bersaglieri!" "Trumpets, trombones and euphoniums!" "And I'll make dance for a whole month the whole town!" "Mayor in the lead!" "What is it?" "Whistles, whistles!" "So, it sounds?" "Let's dig!" "A shoe of some poor devil." "Hold this." "This here is a 105 Shrapnel!" "Hey!" "What's the idea?" "Are you crazy?" "Each bomb has its way, and this one must be treated this way." "Bring the sack, come on!" "It's stuff that can explode in your hand!" "Just give the right blow, and it won't explode." "Come here." "Get here, I'll show you." "You must beat strong here, on the edge." "And pull off that finger, back there." "Why?" " Why, after I tell you!" "Now beat here, on this rock." " And if it bursts?" "Freeze there!" "Take away your knees first." "Why?" "Because, if the bomb explodes, the fuze goes forward, the chamber goes backward, and takes you away legs, hands and all that finds." "Understand now?" "Why are so many recoverers missing their fingers?" "Go ahead." "Hey there!" "Bravo!" "Have you seen?" "Freeze there!" "This is touchy!" "It has a mercury fulminate fuze." " So what?" "So, if it sleeps, it sleeps..." "But if it's dozing..." "Meanwhile, let's free it from the dirt, then we pull it out." "Doggone, there are sheep here!" "Right now they had to come!" "Away, away!" "Send them all there!" "Fool!" "Why, it's not the same by there?" "No, it's not the same!" "Want to kill them all?" "But what's the scare, good heavens!" "It's not a matter of sheep, it's a matter of bombs, macaque!" "Come on, little sheep!" "Go ahead, go and make milk." "Here you go." "Careful, wait!" "Now we tie the beast well, and we take it out." "Pass it under there." "Slip it right in the middle..." "Come on, both of us together, without shocks." "There it is." "Here, give me back the belt." "If not I lose my breeches." "Up on the shoulder." "Good, leave it." "It's okay." "Watch your step!" "How's it going, is it sleeping?" "It sleeps, it sleeps...it's sleeping." "Put it down, Gianni." "Give to me." "There!" "Look, Gianni, look." "There, on that flange there, there were the Austrian machine guns." "And here, the Italian trench." "From this walkway, the soldiers would come out." "On one side, there were the Carabinieri, on the other, the chaplain, who gave the absolution." "There." "The machine guns were shooting day and night!" "And the soldiers who went to the assault rolled down the mountain!" "They went to the assault, battalions and battalions, one after another." "In that small valley there, three thousand dead." "You see that grass over there, all green, down there?" "You know why it's so green?" "It's grown on human flesh." "Eh, my dear, war is a nasty beast!" "Goes round and round the world." "And never stops." "Oil, flour, canned goods, lard, cheese,... candles." " Oh, wait!" "Also two bottles of Creme marsala." "Very well, two bottles of Creme Marsala." "Anything else, boys?" "Twenty years less, cute blonde." "Oh, but you're on the ball, still a young man!" " Oh, a young man..." "Once yes, I was!" "Hi!" " Hey, look here, what a cute gal!" "Remember when I came for a fill?" " You're still the same!" "You saw, Gianni?" "That one sure was a cute gal!" "But was always afraid to commit sin!" "Hey there, you guys!" "Listen here." "What is it?" "Hello." " Hello." " Hi." " Got recoveries, up in the shack?" "Well, we got something aside." " Then keep it there." " Why?" "Cause in a few days there'll be news." "What news?" " The iron will go from 25 lire to 44." "Lead, to 250." "The brass from 320 to 500, and maybe more." "And the copper, even 600!" "But, you sure?" " Sure!" " And who told you this?" "Albino, was in Cadore, and these are the prices there." "They passed the word." "My dear, the Turk has been sly too long!" "Now he can wait!" "Who buys?" " They come straight from Treviso, with trucks." "Friday, Saturday at the latest." "They take all there is." "But, it's serious talk, or blackbird's chatter?" "When they come up, you'll see them well." "Bye." " Bye." "Look." "Copper, we've got some 30 kilos." "Lead, 50." "Of iron, a mountain." "Cartridges and powder, we got a warehouse." "Today, since it rains, you know what we do?" "We go and slaughter the pig!" "What?" " The bomb!" "We slaughter the bomb!" "Come on, give me a hand." "Come on, together." "Gently!" "Let's put it on these two boards, so it stays nice and stable." "There!" "And now, on with it." "First thing, we need rags and petroleum." "Cleaning it well, so to take off the first layer of rust." "Now pass me the cock feather." "It's all dry..." "There!" "And now, we let the petroleum penetrate very well into crevices." "Right here it had to drip?" "!" "Where you going?" " To put on it a board." "Rain and snow, outside." "Sure...so, let it snow!" "We have polenta and wine." "What a weather, at this season!" "So, we go on?" " Quiet, calm, or it wakes up." "Meanwhile, use the feather." "Some bombs, my dear, are as touchy as women." "There." "Enough!" "The secret of this work is that you should never be in a hurry!" "Just think..." "Once, in winter, it snowed outside, and I was there sleeping." "And there, in that corner there, I heard scratching." "But who will be... that scratches this way?" "Could it ever be that there's someone, with all this snow high as the house?" "I wait a while... and I hear scratching again." "And right there, in that corner there," "I see two red eyes that stare fixedly at me, like two burning coals." "Goddammit!" "But what there will be in that corner, inside that hole there, huh?" "Who will ever be?" "With those two eyes large as the devil, that stare at me?" "Huh?" "Are perhaps the spirits goblins?" "Or an elephant as fat as a horse?" "But what they doing here these African beasts, with all the snow that's here?" "Huh?" "So then?" "The eyes?" "So then, it was a fox!" "Big and fat as a calf!" "The head was here, and the tail was still in the hole!" "Shiny coat, and flaky tail." "And I, still... not even breathed." "More petroleum, so that dissolves well the rust." "So, the fox?" "Oh, the fox..." "It was not at all in a hurry, the fox." "It's been quite a while in waiting, then slowly moved." "It roamed, looked around, all over the room..." "Then, looked up at the ceiling right where I had hung a piece of lard, beautiful, with a red vein!" "Just right to pass the winter!" "So then, this beast, jumps over here, on this here bench, and then, very slowly, noiselessly, mounts on the table, and, from the table, this nasty malignant, sets on its hind legs, stretches, looks up," "has seen the lard, and makes a leap, and jumps to grip the lard, ... aaahhhg!" "Turns its head and sees me, who am in bed to sleep." "So, I am still, and still is the fox too." "And I looked at the lard and at the fox, and the fox looked at the lard and looked at me." "Fixed, like a stuffed animal!" "And me too, there, fixed, still, without even breathing." "My dear...the fox..." "One must know it, the fox!" "It has even the nerve to stay still for entire days, waiting for the right moment to make an assault!" "Understand?" "Pour more petroleum here." "There..." "And now get the mallet and the rag, and strike here, very gently here on the pincers, a few blows." "Gently!" "Gently, gently, gently!" "Enough that moves a little!" "Enough." "It moved." "More petroleum to the bomb, and a drop of Creme Marsala to humans." "Here." "Give me the rag." "A few more turns... and it should come out." "That's it." "There we are." "Beware, when it disengages from the screw... a net detachment." "Still half a turn." "Go for broke!" "There she is!" "This one has stopped killing men!" "Go on, with Cream Marsala, come on!" "Goddammit!" "So then?" "How did it end, then, with the story of the lard?" "Well, it ended that I ate it myself, all of it!" " And the fox?" "The fox?" "I ate that too!" "There are the trucks!" "They're coming!" "Look here how many people!" "Looks like the fair of St. Mathew!" "You've seen, Turk?" "This time yes, they pay right!" " It's not legal!" "Go, crook!" " You know nothing!" "I pay the regular price!" "There is only one company that has the authorization of recovery!" "These are unlicensed!" "I have a regular contract!" "These, you see them today, and not anymore!" "Well, meanwhile we get their money, and that's it!" "Hey, Turk, you're done going to women with our money!" " Go to hell!" "Ungrateful!" "Pigs!" "Keep joking, you!" "I want to see to whom you'll sell, next week!" "Forget it!" "35 kilos." " Times 600, gives 21,000." "This time we're rich for real!" "Look at this pill, look!" "They're dead!" "Guys!" "All dead!" "Where?" "What happened?" "The bomb blew up, at the Carli's!" "The bomb!" "What happened?" " What happened?" "Who is there with the Carli?" "But where you going?" " I'm going to call a doctor!" "Stop!" "Don't go to the Carabinieri, please!" "Stop, castrated!" "They always blame me!" "Who's coming up with me?" "But where you going?" "Come here!" "Don't go, you!" "Stop!" "Hush!" "Don't you hear?" "Look there!" "Angelo!" "Angelo!" "Stop!" "Let's go." "My God, what was it?" " Look!" "Look in what state!" "So, Eugenio, what happened?" "I told him, leave the bomb alone, we don't know it well..." "But how did it happen?" "A small grenade..." "I had never seen it." "Enrico gave it on with a hammer..." "And I told him..." "Leave it alone..." "One more blow..." "Leave it alone." "Where were you?" " Up in the shack." "And who else got hurt?" "I don't know..." "I was by the door." "And I no longer saw anything." "Here's the doctor." "Calm Eugenio, he's arrived..." " Doctor!" "Doctor!" "Come at once." "My God, what a misfortune!" "Come and see." "Poor boys, what happened!" "It's not severe." "Take him to the hospital." "They'll medicate him there." "Does it hurt somewhere else?" " No, just... just the leg." "Go now." "We go up to see the others." " I'll go up with the doctor." "You stay here with them." "Escort him to the hospital." "You're here." "Thank goodness..." "You have arrived." "My brother..." "Go..." "Yes." "Go and check my brother." "When the bomb blew up..." "I saw him fly away." "Go down there..." "My brother..." "My God, what a pile of rags!" "Poor soul!" "Let's rather send away the wounded." " Forget it..." "He's just as gone as this one." "Does it hurt much?" "The head..." "My head hurts!" "It was a double action bomb, that one." "When you are not familiar with them, leave them alone." "However, they were experienced folks, with bombs." "Oh yes." "But of these things, one never knows enough, son." "And then, one thing is practice, and another is a fatality." "Fatality as long as you want, but there are jobs, and jobs." "And doing these things for a living, is almost worse than going to war." "All jobs have their risks." "Who goes to the mine, who goes to Canada to work in the forest..." "Have you seen Italo?" "He's back home with a broken back and cannot move anymore." "And the shepherds, here?" "Outdoor...day and night, sun, storms..." "And so many were struck by lightning!" "Shepherds and sheep, all together." "Oh, my dear!" "When you're forced to work, it's always a war, here." "But you, for example, what forces you to do this work?" "You have no one to maintain, you live in the alpine, you have no worries, you won't do it to buy a bottle of Creme Marsala on Saturday?" "My dear, there's who does it to get married, and who does it to stay free!" "Each man has his head!" "And people's head you can not command!" "Woe, if all had the same head!" "I don't get it..." "It keeps on whistling." "It won't be a contact of the wires?" "Yet it's not broken." "I'll be damned!" "It won't be her, hidden beneath here?" " Her who?" "The battleship!" " Oh, indeed!" "Doggone!" "This time we found it, Gianni!" "Seek, seek, all around here." "This time it's really her!" "I'm telling you, Gianni!" "Come, come here, on these holes, let's try here." "Or maybe, a little farther..." "Indeed...no, no, wait, maybe it's better here, in this place..." "While I dig here, you go on seeking all the way down." "And listen!" "Listen always, all over!" "Sonofabitch!" "Look!" "What's up?" " Look at the world's ass!" "Come Gianni!" "Hurry and watch this!" "This time for sure we found the whale!" "Come here, come here, come here!" "Look at this, Gianni!" "Have you seen?" "What will it be?" "And if it's just her?" " We've done it this time!" "Listen to that echo!" "It is very deep..." " In here there's millions of billiooons!" "Sonofabitch!" "With all the money that we'll get, I want to do a trip around the world to sample all sorts of wine!" "What do we do, we enter?" " Yes, we enter!" "We go in and see what is there, and then we decide." "Come on, pull out a candle snot, it's at the bottom of the bag." "There you go, dammit." "He was right, the Austrian admiral!" "Here!" "Ora pro nobis!" "Wait, Gianni!" "Help me aim my feet!" "You've seen that stuff?" "!" "There are iron girders!" "Who knows what we find in here!" "Look, look, look, what sort of work soldiers used to do!" "Look how many tunnels!" "In here there has been nobody ever!" "Come, let's try this side." "The candle!" "Gianni!" "Bring the candle here!" "Brighten, brighten!" "You saw what is here?" "A machine gun and ammunition box!" "I told you so!" "But now never mind here." "Let's go ahead!" "Let's see where is the battleship!" "Careful..." "Ahead, be careful, come forward with the candle!" "Look at this, another tunnel!" "Let's go by here." "I'll be damned, this ends here." "Then it's surely on the other side." "Switch over here with the damned candle!" "I can't see where I put my feet!" "Look, there's a ladder." "This one goes up in a machine-gun post." "Here there'll be other boxes." "On, forward!" "But it goes down yet?" " Never fear!" "Just be careful not to find potholes." "My God, how deep it is!" "That's it, it ends here." "But what is there?" "God!" "Dead!" "Holy Virgin!" "Who is it?" "Gianni!" "Gianni!" "Shirkers!" "Bourgeois!" "Slaves of society!" "Look at the many clowns who work like donkeys!" "Bend your back, fools!" "Pull up homes, that the war will then knock down, and I will come here to find bombs!" "Go, drunkard!" " Go to the tavern!" "Fools, parrots!" "I'll cap your mouth with a spadeful!" "Here, eat!" "Sonofabitch!" "Come on down, that'll break your face!" "Go to the nuthouse!" " Go to the nuthouse!" "With just one hand I'll take care of you all!" "Buffoons!" "Take this!" "Hey!" " Stop, there!" "Leave him alone!" "Come on, let's go, Du!" "Come on, don't be a clown!" "Have you gone mad?" "Mad, me?" "!" "You, are mad!" "And all the others here!" " You're no child!" "Come, come away!" "Good heavens!" "What's on your mind?" "You can't leave a partnership like that, understand?" "You could even die, and I wouldn't know!" "You left me there, alone!" " But weren't you always alone?" "And that wreck of mine detector?" "You didn't even teach me how to use it!" "I thought of coming one of these days, maybe Sunday." " Oh, Sunday, right?" "Since, now, you've become a slave, seven days out of seven!" "You've found, huh, the woman who put the noose around your neck!" "And has hanged you!" "Look at him there!" "With a paper hat and a wheelbarrow, like a clown!" "Don't you see that you make everybody laugh?" " Oh, I make laugh?" "You, make laugh, with that sheep face!" "I'm telling you!" "You've become a slave!" "Give here!" "And you, go to work!" "Go back on the scaffolding there!" "On with the wheelbarrow!" "Up with the stones!" "Raus!" "Arbeiten!" "Los!" "Still there, you are?" "Move, run at once to your master!" "Put the pail on shoulder!" "Obey, big sheep!" "Go with the sheep!" "You're all sheep and mules!" "English subs by edam17@KG"