All language subtitles for Fata Morgana.1971.720p.BluRay.AVC-mfcorrea.eng

A Film by Werner Herzog

I. Creation

And it is told how once,

the earth swayed in deep quiet,

swayed in deep silence,
rested in stillness,

softly rocking,

and lay there, lonely and void.

And this is the first testimony,

the first word.

There was no man,

nor beast, fowl, fish, crab, tree,

stone, cave, gorge,
tuft of grass, nor bush.

Only the heavens were there.

Invisible was the face of the earth.

Only the seas gathered
under the firmament.

That was all.

Nothing was there to take form

or become audible,

nothing to move, trickle,

or rush under the firmament.

There was only the nothingness.

Only the waters gathered together,

only the sea lay calmly there,
one single surging sea.

Truly nothing was there,
which might otherwise have existed.

Only the creatress was there
and the creator,

the Mighty and Cucumatz,

Herself, the child-bearer
and the begetter of sons,

were there upon
the unfathomable waters.

Omniscient and omnipotent
was their essence.

And likewise there truly was Heaven,

and also the Heart of Heaven.

This is the name of the God.

This is how He is named.

And His word came thither

unto the Mighty
and to Cucumatz,

where there was darkness and night,

and talked to the Mighty
and to Cucumatz.

And they talked
and bethought themselves,

and considered carefully,
took counsel among themselves

and brought their words
and considerations into accord.

There emerged from their plans
the dawning of a light

and the conception of man.

And then they pondered the sprouting,
the growing of trees and creepers.

The springing up of life

and the creation of mankind
in darkness and night.

On the strength of Him,
who is the Heart of Heaven

and whose name is Huracan.

Huracan-Flash-Of-Lightning
is his first appearance,

the second is Tom-Thumb-Lightning,

the third, at last,
is Green-Lightning.

By these three is
the Heart of Heaven encompassed.

And they came to the Mighty
and to Cucumatz

and considered light and life.

In what manner shall life be sown

and how shall light shine?

Who shall be our ward and keeper?

O that it may come to pass!

This thou shalt ponder!

Recede, O ye waters,
abate ye from the earth!

Let there be earth and her union

and she shall become level

so that life can be sown,

so that light shall be
in heaven and on earth.

For there is no splendour,
nor renown, nor glory

in this, our work, our creation,

lest man be built, man be created.

Thus spake they.

And earth was created by them.

Yes, indeed, thus it came forth.

So that earth might come forth,
they said,

Earth, and at once it appeared.

Merely like a cloud, like unto a haze
when it first took shape,

in its first manifestation.

Then the mountains were heard
rising out of the waters

and they were majestic, instantly.

And Cucumatz rejoiced.

It was good that
thou camest down unto us,

thou Heart of Heaven, thou Huracan,

thou Tom-Thumb-Lightning,
thou Green-Lightning!

Our creation and our work
will be well-made, spake they.

Earth, the mountains,
the plains thus came forth.

And everywhere the courses
of the rivers were set.

They meandered and wound

at the foot of the mountains
and between them.

Well-parted the rivers were

after the high mountains
had come forth into light.

Thus came this earth into being.

And further, they now thought
out the beasts of the mountains,

the keepers of all forests,
the inhabitants of the mountains,

the stag, fowl, puma, and jaguar,

the snake, rattlesnake, and viper,
the wards of the creepers.

And the child-bearer
and the begetter of the sons spake.

Shall it be all void?

Shall it be all still
under the trees and creepers?

Would not it be wise now to have
somebody watch over them? spake they,

bethinking themselves
and taking counsel the one with the other.

At once the stag and the fowl
were shaped

and now they showed the stag
and the fowl their habitation.

Thou, stag, shalt sleep near
the course of the river, in the gorges,

here thou shalt dwell,
betwixt grass-bushels and herbs.

In the forests shalt thou multiply!

Let it be so! they said unto them.

Then the small birds and the big birds
received their abode.

Ye birds of the tree tops
and the creepers,

may ye dwell and nest here!

Here may ye breed and multiply
on the branches of the trees

and on the tendrils and creepers.

So it was told
to the stags and the fowl.

Thus was the earth haunted by them

and each was given his bed
and his resting place.

In this manner, the child-bearer
and begetter of sons

gave the beasts of the earth
their habitation.

Thus all the stags and fowl
became alive.

And the stags and fowl were told
by the creatress and the creator,

by the child-bearer
and the begetter of sons,

Speak orderly.

Do not clamour
or shout without sense.

Speak coherently,

everyone in his manner,

everyone after his family,

everyone after his kind.

However, it came to pass
that they spake

not as human beings would.

When the creatress and creator heard

that they failed to speak
as human beings do,

they said to each other,

They have not in the least mastered
the calling of our names,

although we are their constructors
and their creators.

That is not in order.

Therefore the creatress
and the creator

essayed once more

to build living beings,
to make moving creatures.

Without fail, let us try anew!

Time drew near for the dissemination
of man and for the illumination.

Let us build ourselves a keeper!

The flesh of man was made
of tzite wood,

but when woman was carved
by the creatress and the creator,

the flesh of woman was made
of reed grass marrow.

But still the creatures
were without sense.

They spake not before the face
of their creatress and their creator,

who made them,
who formed them.

And so were they destroyed, drowned.

For their sakes,
the face of the earth was darkened.

There reigned a rain-darkness,

pelting rain by day
and pelting rain by night.

Small beasts and big beasts
flocked together.

Trees and rocks cried shame upon them.

They determined to climb up the huts

but the huts made them tumble,
and they fell.

They determined to hide in the caves

but the caves closed before them.

In this manner, the second destruction
of the beings formed

or created like man took place,

of the beings which are doomed
to perish, to fall.

They were extinguished

they were all, root and branch,
destroyed.

II. Paradise

Now Flying Robert
appears small at the horizon,

umbrella in hand,
his hair teased by the wind,

wet through and shaken,

rigid and sad like no other.

In Paradise, you cross the sand
without seeing your shadow.

There is a landscape
even without deeper meaning.

Paradise is available to everybody.

In Paradise, only God is looking on.

There, you cross the sand
without seeing your face.

There is landscape
even without deeper meaning.

The gates of Paradise
are open to everybody.

There, works are inspected
which no one would do.

There, you dig holes
without stumbling on man.

There, you slake lime and
are chosen for this task by the rich.

There, men cast a shadow
in spite of the scorching sun.

Afterwards,
rare animals were seen there.

I only have 16 years left

to explore how these monitors

can endure the heat of the sun
and still find food.

They live off of the few living beings
that exist in this desert,

smaller lizards and mice

who, in the daytime, are hidden away
in their burrows in the sand.

They are generally large predators,

which you can see by the many flies
which are gathering here.

I've already been away
from Germany for 15 years.

Dear Eugen, we have received
your letter. How are you?

How's life in the hot country?

How are you? Isn't it too hot there?

When are you coming back?

Yes, I am coming back.

A dime.

A dime.

Five bucks or nothing.

Well, there are certain species

of fat-tailed sheep
which we count on a lot.

They can endure
such incredible temperatures

of approximately 122°F and 140°F.

But there are only a few.

Some birds are able to cool down

by taking flight.

But otherwise,
you hardly find any life here.

The desert doesn't make it easy
to catch these animals.

For days, you have to march
through the dunes and the wind

to find the monitors.

Individual animals run away
at incredible speeds

and try to escape into their burrows.

And then you have to dig them out
with a shovel in this heat.

It's not fun.

But then again, what wouldn't you do
to find out about these animals?

In Paradise, roasted pigeons
fly directly into your mouth.

There, you enjoy yourself
without being forced to.

There, enjoyment means obligation.

In enjoyment,
man finds himself in Paradise.

The Blitzkrieg is insanity.

In Paradise,
even gentiles move mountains.

There, wars are prevented
by mothers.

There, you expect
herons from the left.

In Paradise,
ruins mean happiness.

There, you find gates
without borders.

In Paradise, plane wrecks have been
distributed in the desert in advance.

There, the landscape is
as God has commanded it to be.

In Paradise, you call hello
without seeing anybody.

There, you quarrel with strangers
to avoid having friends.

In Paradise, man is born dead.

While you are sleeping,

acids gnaw and leeches suck
at the tuna fish.

While you are dreaming,
an apple from a tree falls onto your brow.

While you are waiting,
trains break in two.

You breathe softly,
as though you were dead.

While you recline,

carelessly strewn stars
look out into space.

While you are sleeping, God softly
walks over the fields with Maria.

III. The Golden Age

In the Golden Age,
man and wife live in harmony.

Now, for example, they appear
before the lens of the camera,

death in their eyes, a smile
on their faces, a finger in the pie.

Running, they train themselves
harder and harder.

Weightlifting, too, is rewarding.

Unforgettable, however,
remains a jump from the lighthouse.

In the Golden Age, traces of Paradise
can still be discerned.

Here, for example,
a boat once landed.

Furiously, the waves beat
against the shore.

In the background,
smoke is rising, that is to say,

not even worse than you expected.

Stones that were cast
do not return by themselves.

In the Golden Age,
man does not forget to pray,

lest God's end be uncomely.

More than by death, even,
blessing and curses,

man is perturbed
by smoke over the world.

Beneath the earth,
the children have found a fire.

And now the parents wish suddenly
to return to houses of stone.

That's enough, even one of these
thoughts would have done.

And yet, you're forcing harvests
from this mysterious soil.

Its thriving brings pain as well as joy
to the field workers.

It's difficult not to encounter a camel
on the wayside,

typically harnessed
as a pack, work, or riding animal.

Riding animal!

And here,
as soon as we turn to the right,

the visitor's joy is gone.

The view is horrifying,
and almost, silence is necessary.

Prepared for something,
we ask ourselves,

Where are we going?

And silence is the answer.

We're gliding through the landscape

and it seems as if this tragic mission
of strange beauty, yet otherwise hell,

will never end.

We cannot withstand this sight for long,

and an inner voice urges us
to look at the vigorous plant growth

that we are forcing from the earth.

What can we learn from the turtle?

She has four fins
which she uses to move forward.

She has a hard shell and a hard belly.

Here she has the head
with the mouth where she eats.

And she has a rear end
where it comes out again.

I'm going to get her again.

There is nothing like
the Peace of the Golden Age.

War is proclaimed dead by Peace.

Nothing is as great as the sand.

Nothing is as great as the Peace.

The land is entranced with Peace.