All language subtitles for Justine de Sade aka The Violation of Justine (1972) ENG. subs [SubtitleTools.com]

How old are you?

I'll be fifteen in a few days.

And by what name are you known?

Juliette.

And never has any man?

Oh no, Madame!
I swear it!

Ah yes!

Well, you know,
often in those convents,

there's a confessor,
or a nun or a companion -

I must have proof.

You have only to look,
and you will find it, Madame.

All you have to do is stay here.

Pay attention
to what I tell you,

with compliance and submissiveness

to my practices.

You will be clean and thrifty

and utterly frank with me;

you will be cautious
with your companions,

and with men, deceitful -

And within ten years,
I promise you.

You will retire.

And the art you will have
acquired, thanks to me.

Will endow you with the power

to procure everything else.

The masterpiece of philosophy

would be to use the same means

Providence uses on man,

and, from this construction,
to deduce rules of conduct.

If, full of respect
for social conventions,

in spite of all our care.

We happen to meet
only with briars

while the wicked tread upon roses.

Won't people with little virtue
think it is preferable

to abandon oneself to the tide,

rather than to resist it?

It is important to anticipate
these sophistries -

essential to show that examples

of afflicted virtue

presented to a corrupted soul,

can bring it back to righteousness

just as if it were presented
with the path m virtue,

ornate with the most flattering rewards.

Such are the sentiments
directing our labors,

hence, we ask your indulgence

for the erroneous doctrines
placed in the mouths

of our characters.

And for the sometimes
difficult situations

which, out of love for truth,

we have been obliged to
address before your eyes.

What can this poor
unhappy child have done

to be bound and guarded like this?

She is accused of three crimes:

the charges are murder,
theft and arson.

According to the law,
she's being taken to Paris

for confirmation of her sentence.

My dear, for some reason,
that girl moves me.

I would have her
tell me her unhappy tale.

This creature, though she may be innocent,

is treated like a criminal,

while everybody unjustly prospers.

I who am soiled
with crimes and horrors!

Tell me how it's possible that you,

with a face as sweet
and beautiful as yours.

Have found yourself
in so dreadful a situation?

Were I to recount
the story of my life, Madame,

I would offer an awesome
example of oppressed virtue

and innocence,

accuse the hand of Heaven -

You'll permit me to conceal
my name and origins.

Thérése is what I call myself.

As a young infant, I lost my family.

I thought that with the small
legacy I had been granted,

I might find an adequate post
to keep me alive,

and, refusing those
that were not suitable,

I managed to get back to my native Paris,

and soon spent the little bit
which I possessed.

Of all the severities to which

I've been forced to expose myself,

since my woeful career began,

amongst all the loathsome proposals

that were made me,

I will only cite to you
what befall me

at the home of Monsieur Dubourg.

One of the capital's richest tradesmen -

What can I do for you?

Alas Monsieur, l am but a poor orphan girl

already well acquainted with ill fortune.

I implore your commiseration.

Hmm!

Take pity on me. I beseech you!

Have you always
watched your conduct?

I think that I should not now be so poor

nor so embarrassed, Monsieur,

had I wished to go astray.

Please, no claims you have no right to!

Why expect the wealthy to relieve you

if you're in no way useful to them?

Is there then no more
honesty nor benevolence

in the hearts of men?

You bewail your fate.

Yet, you and you alone
are able to remedy it.

Great heavens!
At what price?

Mmm - nothing of much weight,

one which is of value only as
a token of your own pride.

Remove your clothes
this instant!

Oh! Oh, Monsieur!

Let yourself be swayed.
I beseech you!

Be so generous as to come to my aid

without asking of me
what would be so costly

that I would rather offer up
my very life than submit!

Cause me to perish,

but never will I
violate the principles

I've received in my childhood!

Oh, Monsieur, please don't
coerce me or constrain me!

May pleasure even be imagined

attended by disgust and shame?

Dare you expect happiness
where you see naught

but loathing?

No sooner will you have
consummated your crime

than my despair will
overwhelm you with remorse-

I went away terribly humiliated.

And I heaped all malediction
on this satyr

capable of making such
cruel sport of my misery.

Alas, my imprecations.

Instead of calling down
God's wrath on that villain,

only gave him further blessings.

I was then received as a servant

in the house of an old usurer,
Monsieur Du Harpin.

After having delivered
a long speech

upon the indifference of robbery,

upon, indeed,
its usefulness in the world,

since it re-establishes
a sort of equilibrium

which totally confounds
the inequalities of property,

he enjoined me
to go and steal a gold box

in the lodgings
of the man above him.

You will bring me that gold box,

and for a service as simple as that,

I will give you,
for the next two years,

one ecru a year more as wages.

Oh, Monsieur, how is it possible

that a master dare corrupt
an innocent domestic?

Who'd stop me if I were to turn on you

the very weapons
that you place in my hands?

And, what if someday.
my actions convert you

into a victim of
your very own principles?

Ha-ha, my little rascal!

Splendid reply you there!

You are lucky to have
spurned my advances.

It was a trial by fire.

Because you were dead if
you had snapped at that bait!

Hal

But malefactors do not like
to meet resistance

in those they seek to seduce

One night, Monsieur Du Harpin

appeared by my bed.

He ordered a search -

and the miserable ring this bad man

accused me of stealing --

- Here it is!
- Was found...

...in my mattress.
- Aha!

- The little thief!
- Take her out of my sight!

Little good did my defense do.

I was condemned
and taken to the prison

of the Conciergerie,

where I was on the brink of
having to pay with my life

for refusing to participate in a crime.

There, near me, was La Dubois.

As celebrated for her beauty

as for the variety
and number of her villainies.

This woman became interested in me,

being moved by a desire
to make a disciple of me.

Yes, nature has made us
all equal, Thérése.

It's amusing to hear
these rich ones,

these magistrates and priests

who are forever preaching virtue!

It's not very difficult
to forswear theft

when one has three times
more than one needs to live.

One is hard put never to think of murder

when one is surrounded
only by slaves.

You would have us shun crime

when its hand alone opens up
unto us the doors of life?

We who are viewed only with
disdain for we are weak.

We whose lips are wetted
with venom, whose

stockinged-legs are torn by thorns.

And yet we must defend
ourselves from the crime --

when his hand alone can
open up the doors of life.

There are pious principles I adhere to.

And, God willing,
they will never desert me.

The only reason Providence is making

my career on earth so difficult,

is that I may be compensated
in a better world.

Those are absurd doctrines!

Believe me, Therese;
you can forget God's justice

and future rewards.

All those platitudes

lead only to death from starvation.

Don't lie down to sleep tonight.

Stay by my side near the door.

During the night,
the Conciergerie will burn;

I have seen to it.

Many people will no doubt die.

But what of it?

When what is at stake
is our welfare,

the lives of all others
count for nothing.

The hand of God.

Which had just punished my innocence,

served the crime of my protectress.

Twenty-one persons
were consumed in the fire,

but we made a successful escape.

We reached the cottage
of the chief of her band,

who went by the name of Coéur-de-Fer.

Here's our decision, Thérése.

You must submit to us immediately,

and satisfy the desires
of all three of us.

Oh! Oh, Madame.
I beseech you.

Once again be my protectress!

Oh, you poor girl!

You poor, unhappy creature!

What?

You tremble at the obligation

of doing service.
One at a time.

To three big, tall,
handsome boys like these?

Are you aware there are
ten thousand women in Paris

who would give half of their gold,

or half of their jewels,
to be in your place?

I shall follow you, Madame.

I'll go anyplace with you, I promise!

Spare me the awful fury of these men,

and never will I leave your side!

Children, this girl is one of the company.

l am taking her into it,
and I ask you to do her no ill.

She has got to submit!

Does she think she must
give proof of her virginity

to be admitted among thieves?

Though used, she'll as readily be turned

to prophet as any virgin!

One moment, friends!

It's possible to content everybody!

Behold how much this
lime girl prizes her virtue.

Since such is the case,
let us leave it to her!

But, we've got to have
our senses appeased.

Let Thérése strip at once,

and stand naked
as the day she was born,

and adopt for our delight,
each one in turn,

all the positions which
it shall please us to require.

Meanwhile, our little Dubois
can appease our hungers,

and cause our incense
to burn on the altar.

The entrance to which
is refused us by this creature!

Strip!

Oh, what are you asking,
Monsieur?

The instant you set eyes
upon such a vision as that,

Heaven help my virtue!

- Ouch!
- Shut up, you bitch!

Come, I'm in no mood
to suspend my desires!

I must say, in her place.

I'd much rather offer an open door

than have the gate battered like this.

But that she forbade.

We're verging upon the capitulation.

Vigorously!
Vigorously, Dubois!

That is what I suffered.

But at least my honor was respected,

even though my modesty was not.

I felt in need of Dubois' support.

And wanted to pass the night
by her side,

but she had planned to
employ it otherwise

than in shielding my virtue
from the attacks I dreaded.

Ah, Therese, aren't you being
exceedingly foolish

in acting so pretentiously with us.

In wanting to safeguard your purity?

No matter, dear girl-

I shall not touch that phantom

whose possession causes all you delight.

I'll have you know
there is more than one favor

a girl can grant.

Offerings to Venus can be tendered

in more than one single temple.

I will be content
with the most mediocre.

You know, my dear,
near the Cyprian altar,

there's an obscure grotto
into which love retires,

the more energetically, to seduce us.

Such will be the altar
where I'll burn my incense.

Not the slightest disadvantage there,

if pregnancies frighten you.

It's not, in this manner;
they will come about.

Never will your pretty figure
be deformed.

Oh Monsieur, I have no experience

of the thing in question.

But I hear this monstrous
aberration you suggest-

outrages a woman, and yet,
more unpleasant a manner!

Blinded by the wicked man's seductions,

content by yielding a little

to save what seemed to me
to be the more essential,

reflecting not upon
what I was about to risk,

since the dishonest fellow

possessing gigantic proportions

hadn't even the possibility
of taking a woman

in the most permissible place.

And had no other object
but to maim me.

My eyes, as I see, had been
blinded to all that;

I was about to abandon myself,

and become criminal to a virtue.

Who are you, Monsieur,

and what singular lack of prudence

has prompted you to ride alone

in the middle of the night,
in these desolate regions?

My name is St. Florin.

I now return from Flandres.

It's to avoid the heat
I'm traveling at night.

I guess I was overtaken by sleep.

There you are,
it's everything I possess.

Spare me, and you can have it.

Look friend, you will understand

that after such a robbery,
we can't possibly let you live.

Oh, Monsieur!

Monsieur, I beseech you.

Don't present upon my reception

herein your group

the horrible spectacle

of this poor gentleman's death.

And this favor, since it is the first,

you must not refuse it to me!

You know upon what conditions

I shall be able to grant the kindness

you've just begged of me, Thérése.

You know very well,

you're aware of
what I'm asking of you.

I will do everything!

Yes, everything!
Let him go!

He lives, but he must join us;

this last clause is indispensable.

Thérése, I'd have you
keep your sweet promise.

But I'm very weary tonight,
so rest -

Simply rest beside me;

and I will awaken you
as the day breaks anew.

And I swear that knave's death,

if you but hesitate, Thérése.

Will avenge your deceit toward me.

Sleep well, Monsieur, sleep well,

and rest assured that I,

who have only boundless gratitude.

Have no other desire than to acquit it.

It is to you, Thérése,
that I owe fortune and life.

What better can I do

than to lay them both at your feet?

Such generosity is beyond my ken, Monsieur.

I only ask you to take pity on me.

Deign to respect my honor,
'tis my only treasure.

I only beg. as my sole recompense.

To accompany you to Lyon,

and be placed
in an honorable household.

No man's in a nicer position
than I, my dear,

to render you this service.

I have kin aplenty
in the city of Lyon.

I will introduce you tomorrow.

Trust me, please, Thérése,
and as we walk,

you'll tell me of your troubles

and what you've gone through.

I am but a poor orphan girl,

already well acquainted

with every shade of ill fortune.

I was scarcely twelve years old -

Are these obscure trails

really the ones we should be taking?

When shall we be there?

We're already there.
Whore!

Huh - ha!

I have no idea
what that man did or said.

But the state I was in when
I returned to my senses,

advised me only too well

to what point I had been his victim.

Dishonored!

Such had been the reward

of all I had just done
for the unlucky man.

There is no one
who deep in his heart

does not feel
the most vehement desire

to be rid of those

whose death may be
of some advantage to him.

If these impressions
come to us from nature.

Can it be presumed
that they irritate her?

Since it is proven
that she cannot reproduce

without destructions.

Is it not to act in harmony
with her wishes

to multiply these destructions?

This location will suit us
admirably, dear friend.

The cruel and fatal presence
of an aunt I abhor

won't prevent me from
tasting a moment with you

the pleasures which I cherish.

Is it possible that Destiny
has placed me

in none but situations so critical

that it becomes
quite as difficult for virtue

to hear them recited.

As for modesty to describe them?

The act was scandalous and prolonged.

The domestic, filled with ardor,

was ready to immolate his master

with a spear more awful
and more colossal

than the one wherewith

Coéur-de-Fer had menaced me.

Aroused by these criminal caresses,

the infamous creature
writhed under the iron,

and seemed to regret
it was not yet more terrible.

A tender couple, lawfully wedded.

Would not have caressed
more passionately.

Their mouths were pressed together,

their sighs intermingled,

their tongues entwined.

And I witnessed the both
of them, drunk with lust.

Bring their perfidious horrors
to completion

in the very vortex of delight.

Jasmin!
We have been discovered!

Some girl has spied on us.

Come on, quickly!
Let's flush the slut out!

Oh, gentlemen!

Deign to have pity
upon an unhappy creature

whose fate deserves more compassion

than you can imagine!

I am but a poor orphan girl

already well acquainted with ill fortune.

I was scarcely twelve years old

when I was abandoned by my protectors.

Delivered quite defenseless
to the world --

Ha, ha, ha!
Come, undress her!

We'll undress her and tie
each of her limbs to a tree.

That's enough.

For the moment, we shall
let her off with a fright.

Be clever and come with us.

It happens that a second chambermaid

is needed at my aunt's;

so I will present you to her.

However, my girl, should you
abuse my confidence.

If you refuse to submit
to the plans and demands

that I have --

see those trees
to which you were bound?

Upon the least provocation.

You'll be brought back
to them at once.

Your candor and charming naiveté

do not permit me to believe

that you could in any way, be false;

and I knew your father:

another reason that moves me

to become interested in your fate.

Unfortunately, that dishonest Du Harpin

has just fled to England.

Alas, Madame!

Is there then no justice in this world?

There now, you mustn't fret.

Soon, all unhappiness and
travail will be over for you.

But, whatever the foul treatment

to which Count de Bressac
had exposed me

the first day I had met him,

it was all the same
impossible to see him

as frequently as I was seeing him,

without feeling drawn toward him

by an insuperable
and instinctive tenderness.

Despite all my thoughts
upon his cruelty.

His disinclination toward women,

the depravity of his tastes,

nothing in the world
was capable of extinguishing

this nascent passion.

And had the Count called
upon me to lay down my life,

I'd have done it
a thousand times over.

He was far from
suspecting my sentiments.

You see how far I go
to please you, Monsieur:

even to the point of
serving your errors

and deceiving your aunt.

But if decency cannot
prompt you to moderation,

you should think about the affect

it has on your health!

Ah, Thérése!

If only you knew the charms
of this fantasy.

The depth of the emotion
caused by the sweet illusion

that one is, like a woman, giving up!

Incredible inconsistency of the mind!

One abhors that sex,
yet one wishes to imitate it!

And, how sweet it is
to succeed in this,

how delicious it is
to be a whore to everyone

who would have to do with you!

If you are able to imagine
the physical delights

of this divine whimsy,
there's no withstanding it!

The sensations produce delirium;

the titillations so voluptuous,

so piquant that one goes
out of one's mind!

You mustn't believe, Therese,

that we are made the same
as other men.

The structure is entirely different.

And that membrane
that is so sensitive,

and lines your temple of Venus,

is the same which ornaments the altar

at which our Celadons sacrifice.

In that place, we are women
as absolutely as you are

in the sanctuary of procreation.

How odious of you, my nephew.

To impose such paradoxes
on a poor young girl!

Don't you fear lest the Being
to whom you owe all

take revenge upon your libertine ways?

Come, my aunt!

It is indeed enough
to bear your presence.

You'd only make things worse

in attempting to thwart my appetites.

I might convince you of their charm

by practicing them before your eyes!

Oh! Oh!

Listen to me, Thérése;

I have things of the utmost
consequence to tell you.

Swear to me that you'll never
tell a soul about them.

Oh, Monsieur!

How could you believe

that I could possibly
abuse your trust in me?

Come here.

I have decided to do away
with my aunt.

And it is by your hand
that I shall carry it out.

By my hand!

Madame, there's something
of the utmost importance

I must reveal,

but though it's a matter
that touches you closely,

I will not reveal it

unless you give me
your solemn word of honor

that you won't bear
the slightest resentment

toward your nephew

for what he has dared to plan.

Alright!

I swear it, my child.

But what extravagance
is he now indulging in?

Dear lady, it's your death
which he is plotting --

and it is my hand he has
charged with the mission.

The monster!

I've done everything
for that boy's well being!

Thérése!

Thérése, prove my nephew
is plotting, my dear!

Prove it in such a way
as to remove all doubt!

Oh, God!

But what proof is this?

My life's been saved;
I'm most grateful.

Run along; don't attract attention.

I will dispatch somebody
at once, a courier,

to the Duke of Sonzeval, my cousin.

Therese, there is
a much better method

than the one that I proposed
to proceed with our project.

Await me at the far end of the park.

I'll explain it to you.

Do you recognize that bush
whence I dragged you.

Only to spare a life
which you deserved to lose?

Why did you agree to carry
out the tasks I demanded,

if your intent was
to betray me to my aunt?

Of necessity, placed between two crimes,

why have you chosen
the more abominable?

Alas! Did I not choose the lesser one?

You should have refused.
yes, certainly, refused.

But you consented.
only to betray me.

You have risked your life

without having saved my aunt's.

Now, the die is cast,
but you must perish --

and before you expire,

you must learn that the path of virtue

is not always the safest.

And that there are
circumstances in this world

when complicity in crime
is preferable to informing!

Oh, no! Oh! Oh!

Please, don't!
Oh, no! Oh! Oh!

Mercy, please!

Ah, nice buttocks!
Really superb flesh!

An excellent luncheon for my dogs!

Let us free the animals,
the time's come!

No, please! No!

That's enough!

Tie up the dogs.

And let us abandon
this creature to her fate.

You see, Thérése, one often
has to pay dearly for virtue.

So, would not a pension
of two thousand ecu

have been preferable to the bites

you are now covered with?

It's most generous of me
to save your life;

take good care how you use this favor!

Tormented by my still bleeding wounds,

overwhelmed by the anxieties of my mind

and the sorrows of my heart,

I dragged myself along as best I could

to the house of the surgeon
of the village of Saint Marcel,

a man named Rodin --

Only superficial wounds --

But you will have to stay here
for at least a month,

until there's not a single trace

of their cruel treatment left on you.

I'm not to be thanked, please.

Since surgery is an art

that I love more than you can know.

You'll remain till you're well.

After a month had passed,
I was completely cured.

Monsieur Rodin bade me
remain in his service.

But there was something about him

that did not appear to
conform to ordinary conduct.

His servants were all very pretty --

and he also ran a boarding school

for boys and girls.

I expressed my astonishment
to his daughter, Rosalie.

This is no laughing matter!

Tell me everything;
I beseech you, dear girl!

To you, Therese, I will tell everything.

You're obviously not able to betray the secret

I'm about to confide to you.

My father passes for the most

experienced surgeon in all of France.

If he has come to these rustic haunts,

it's for his own pleasure.

The official practitioner in Saint Marcel

is one named Rombeau.

This man, once a protégé of Father's,

is now his collaborator.

You know why Father wanted
to run a boarding school?

Libertinage,
only libertinage!

A passion he carries to its extremes.

My father looks upon his pupils,

regardless of sex.

As objects submitted to his perversity.

And he takes advantage --
But there, listen.

It's in fact today Friday,

one of the three days of the week.

When he punishes those
who have made mistakes.

And it is in these
forms of punishment

that he finds pleasure.

Oh god, how can one give
oneself up to such excess?

How may one ever find any pleasure

in the torments one inflicts?

There's something else
you have not been told.

Even me, my dear!

He bent even me to his ways,

even me; even me!

I was but eleven years old,
and already his victim!

But, see for yourself, my dear Thérése.

You may observe from his closet,

this one right here.

Classes are over now --

the hour when he is filled
with visual preliminaries,

and quite ready to compensate

for the constraint

sometimes imposed upon him
by his prudence.

Let me examine you a last time.

I want to be sure that there
are no longer any traces

from your wounds.

Therese, you are back
to health, my dear.

You can now show me
some of the thanks

of which your heart is filled.

Your manner is easy.

If I must know.

Yes, that is my reward.

I never demand this of women.

But this is one of the most
beautiful I have ever seen

in my life.

What curves, what elasticity.

Perfection in flesh.

Oh I absolutely want to come.

Monsieur, I wish you to be
sure that there is nothing

in the world that would
oblige me to satisfy the desire

you would seem to wish.

My thanks to you are due, I agree.

But I will commit no crime.

Here is the little money I possess.

Take it, and let me leave this house.

It is quite unfortunate that
you take this stand with me.

I have, it seems to me, a certain right

to your indulgence.

However, keep your money,
but do not leave me.

Stay with me, Therese.

I'll look after you with great joy.

Amid the vice that sweeps me away.

At least I will have the consolation

of a virtuous soul

near me and near my daughter.

It's with Rosalie that I shall place you.

And I will give you 300
livres as salary.

As it is so, I will accept your offer, monsieur,

for Rosalie's sake.

In spite of all this, I instructed Rosalie,

giving her a taste
for virtue and religion.

But, all of a sudden.
she vanished from the house.

All my efforts to discover
where she was, failed.

I questioned repeatedly.

And was told she had gone
to spend the summer months

with a relative
who lived ten leagues away.

Was it possible that Rosalie,

whose affection for me was so great,

could have consented to leave me

without so much as a word?

I resolved to employ every device

to learn what had become of her.

And to find this out.

Every means appeared justifiable.

Rosalie!

Rosalie!

Rosalie!

Anatomy will never reach its
ultimate state of perfection

Hill" fill examination
has been performed

on the canal of a 14 or 15 year old youth

who has expired from a cruel death.

The same holds true for the membrane

which secures virginity -

and for that purpose, a fine subject

is that pretty daughter of yours.

The manner in which
we have enjoyed her

has done no damage
to that membrane,

and we shall be able to do
what we will with it.

So happy that you have
made your mind up!

Considering the ties attaching you

to that creature,

I entertained certain fears
that you might hesitate.

Why?

Because she is my daughter?

Fine reason, indeed!

I place the same value
upon a bit of seed

that has hatched.

As I do upon the seed
lam pleased to waste

while enjoying myself.

We've the power to take back
that which we give.

Never was the right
to dispose of the children

one has fathered

been denied, in the history of populations!

Oh, but I approve, my friend!

Yet your indifference astonishes me!

I believed you to be in love.

Me!
You mean of a girl!

Ah, Rombeau!

I employ those creatures only
when there is nothing better!

Chilpéric, the most voluptuous

of the kings of France.

Said that only in emergencies

did he make use
of the services of women,

but on the sole
and express condition

that they be destroyed

when we have done with them.

Rosalie!

Thérése!
Oh, Thérése!

Is it you?

Yes, Rosalie, dear friend,

it is I heaven sent to rescue you!

Six years, this slut has been on hand

to serve my pleasure.

She shall redeem

my no longer wanting her flesh

by no longer existing.

There's not a moment to lose!

Come on! The monsters!
It's planned for tonight!

They're on their way!

You wretch!

Where are you going?

And this little rascal
was helping you to escape.

Thérése!

Behold the effect
of your great principles

of virtue!

You kidnap a daughter
from her father!

Of course!

It was my duty,
because her barbarous father

was plotting against
his daughter's life!

Aha! That's espionage
and seduction tool

The most dangerous
and vicious traits in a maid!

Get up here!
Upstairs!

We have to judge this affair now!

What shall we do with that slut?

I suggest we uncover her heart.

To measure its beating and
blood flow with our own eyes,

and carry out on this organ

all observations impractical
on a cadaver.

But, first of all, I would say

we should take by storm

that fortress your temperate proceedings
respected.

I have never seen so superb a virgin.

Virgin!

Why yes, almost -

Once, in spite of herself,

when she'd been stunned,
she was violated.

Leave her to me for now.

Since you're not a virgin,
what does it matter?

For no guilt may be added!

We're going to rape you
as you already have been,

and so, not the least peccadillo

shall sit on your conscience.

No! No!

We mustn't waste our powers
on that creature.

We now have other labors
we've postponed.

And they are to punish Rosalie,

and a lot of vigor will be needed

to make her pay her debt.

Let's mete out
another sort of punishment

for this wretch.

No! No!
Oh, no!

She shall be branded!

Yes, branded for life as thieves are!

This disgrace, combined with those

which previously scarred her figure,

will get her hanged if she
doesn't first starve to death.

No! No!

The whore had best not
attempt to show herself now!

Is that a monastery over there?

Yes, there are four Benedictines there.

Holy men bent on solitude.

Indeed, throughout this land,

they are renowned for
their continence and sobriety.

I would be happy to go there.

Will you come and pray with me?

I'm expected back at the house, but go,

the superior is the most saintly of men.

His name is Don Severino.

He is related to the Pope.

You'll find satisfaction there, Mademoiselle,

go and improve yourself
in that sacred solitude.

What do you want?

Is this a suitable hour
to come to a church?

You've every appearance
of an adventuress!

Holy Father, I thought
all hours were fitting

to present oneself at God's door.

I only ask to confess my sins, if I may.

But the hour is past!

And where would you sleep after confession?

We do not keep a hospice.

You should have come tomorrow morning!

Well, my daughter,

you've come at a quite unreasonable hour;

we're not used to receiving this late.

All the same.
I'll hear your confession.

Afterward, we'll see
if we can find some way

of keeping you with us overnight.

l am listening, my child.

I am but a poor orphan girl,

already well acquainted
with ill fortune -

What you've been relating
is most extraordinary.

You were born in Paris,

and in infancy, you lost your parents.

Every word is true, Father.

And you have neither kin nor friends,

nor anybody to protect you?

Nobody you can write to
for help, or solace.

Alas no, nobody in the world.

No one, save the shepherdess.

Knows that you are visiting us?

But you are meeting with her afterward?

No, I'm not!

No other man's known you
since your one misadventure?

And are you sure that the
last cheat who abused you

really went at it both ways.

On the side which nature condemns,

and the one she permits?

But did anyone see you
winding your way

to our domain?

I'm sure no one did.

The shepherdess
was the only person I saw,

and no one else saw me, I'm sure.

Come with me, my daughter.

I promise that you'll enjoy
the sweet satisfaction

of taking communion tomorrow,

but let us begin by providing
for your primary needs.

What is this, Father?
We're going inside?

Where else, charming pilgrim?

Do you fear a night spent
with four saintly hermits?

I'm sure we shall find means
of entertainment, dear angel.

And should we not provide you

with many pleasures;

at least you may serve our pleasures

to their most extreme extent.

Keep going, slut.

Try neither complaint
nor resistance with me.

All will be useless.

Oh god, must I be once again
the victim of my good sense.

And the desire to fasten
onto all that is most

respectable in religion
be punished like a crime?

Brothers, allow me to present
a veritable phenomenon!

A saintly creature.

Who simultaneously bears
on her body.

The brand of girls of evil repute,

and, in her conscience,

the utter candor of a virgin,

almost Vestal.

I add that her best part is- ah, Clément,

wait till you feast your senses

on this splendid flesh.

Such elasticity!

And colored like the rose!

How poetic, damn!

The encounter is amusing!

I have to verify the facts!

It can be easily imagined
that resistance to our designs

is entirely useless
in this impenetrable retreat.

Look, around you;
you see fair companions

who like yourself, upon entering here

thought to resist.

And who, as prudence
will also bid you to do.

Ended by submitting.

Indeed, I shall be very explicit, Therese.

There are a few ways we have.

Of coping with unmanageable girls.

Furthermore, what can you
expect to find here?

Justice?

Just what does that mean?

Humanity?

Our sole pleasure
is to violate its every law.

Religion?

It is as nothing to us.

As we become better acquainted

with its secrets,

our contempt for it increases.

You will discover only rank egotism,

and cruelty, and debauchery,
and impiety beyond belief.

So, unquestioning submission
is your lot;

you may have none other.

Hurry up, strumpet!
Undress!

Let your flesh undergo our lecheries.

Let us soil it at once;

else evil deeds of the utmost cruelty

will soon prove what hazards are incurred

by the hapless female

who would attempt disobedience.

Oh! Have mercy on me!
I beseech you!

Do not take my most
cherished possession!

Take my life,
but leave me my honor!

You must understand, my child,

you must understand
that what we want of you

is to see you stripped instantly!

Just look at that!

Look brothers, how lovely!

Let's get undressed.
let's get undressed!

Not a shred of clothing left on.

What is this?

That slut, Clemence, must be
nude in a minute and must

learn that, here amongst us,
pity cannot refrain nature.

Now, there's a splendid creature!

Come, you know our formula
for welcoming newcomers!

Let her submit to every single act,

omitting none!

And meanwhile, let the other four women

stand all around us,

for gratification of our wants

after exciting us.

Never was a prize more difficult to win.

Well!

I thought that my ship
for the first time

would be wrecked
ere I could put into port.

Ah, how torrid are the narrows!

Like the lovely cupbearer
of the Gods!

She who brings you suffering
shall be punished.

I'm wise to the ways

of teaching the obstinate goose

not to resist the taking
of your pleasure.

Ah, my good friends.
is it possible to resist

thrashing a schoolgirl

who exposes to us
an arse so beauteous!

Look at that virtue so pure

damaged by just
one assault.

It must hardly show, I imagine.

I must lead her back to the sex

that you're just soiled.

There's more than one breach
in the ramparts!

And now, you'll give her some food

that she may find
her strength renewed.

Oh! Oh!

Kill me, I beseech you!

Life fills me with horror!

I never saw
a more beautiful spectacle.

Behold, my good friends.

The state of excitement it puts me into!

It is extraordinary how much
I can be stirred

by feminine agony.

Let us go back to work.

And teach her to scream properly!

In this second assault.

Let us handle the bitch
even more brutally!

One moment.

While your zeal is being
spent on the posterior

of this beautiful girl,
I can, it seems to me,

"praise" another of her divinities.

We will put her between us.

The Father Superior
had me led to a chamber

with three other girls,

whose fate I was henceforth to share.

I could not dispel the thought

of the execrations I had suffered.

Alas, if at certain times,

those pleasures had occurred
to my wandering imagination,

I had thought them chaste

as is the God who inspires them.

I'd fancied them the product
of love and delicacy.

I'd been very far
from believing that man,

after the example of savage beats,

could only relish them
by causing his companion

to shudder.

The superintendent of the chamber, Ursule.

Had a taste for women.

After all the horrors
to which I'd been subjected.

I thought of nothing
but to capture a little rest.

But I had to bend myself to her too.

Her impure mouth sought to
attach itself to mine,

as her fingers labored
to determine sensations

she was far from obtaining.

For not being awake on time
in the morning, 30 lashes.

For presenting a part of the body

other than the one desired, 50 lashes.

For not warning that
one had her period.

60 lashes.

The day that the doctor
confirms you're pregnant,

100 lashes.

Negligence, impossibility, or refusal

to carry our
sensual demands, 200 lashes.

An attempt to escape.
nine days in the dungeon

completely nude.

No one has ever
succeeded in escaping?

No one ever gets out of here?

No one has ever been able.

As soon as a new girl arrives
in this impure cesspit,

as soon as she is hidden
forever from the universe,

we capture another.

The cruelest words we may
have are ignored

in this terrible and worrying place.

What is sure is that of
those who have got out.

The promise that they have made

to make formal complaints

against those who hold us here.

None have kept their word.

What then becomes of
these unfortunate souls?

Would murder then be --

Be quiet!

We must flee, we must absolutely.

These abominable ideas
remind me of how

we had to quit that terrible place.

If you find it acceptable, madame,

I will confine myself

to explaining a short history
of my first months

passed here in this convent.

Tales of the monotony
of the days spent here

will spoil my successes.
and I will pass immediately

to the event that allowed me
to leave this impure cesspool.

This time, we've done it.

Hide yourself well, dear girl.

It is nine o'clock,
the urgency of the moment

is upon us.

Come.

As children of honor,
we defer to his superiority.

His merits have
been recognized.

He has just been named
General of the Order.

My greatest desire is that

this does not stop our pleasure.

Come, let us go.

It has been six months that
you have been here, Therese.

How have you found these adventures?

She will get used to it.

There is no house in France

where girls are better educated than here.

Come.

Sit on the edge of the bed.

Ursula, lift her petticoats.

Unlace her bodice and show her chest.

That's nothing.

We treat others worse here.

A salad of thorns, peppered.
or dipped in vinegar,

pushed in with the point of the knife.

That's what suits these sluts.

We must tame her.

Let her serve as an altar in her turn.

How can you indulge in such infamies?

Take heed lest Heaven strike
you down for your sins!

Without a doubt.

The most stupid thing in the world,

my dear Thérése.

Is to dispute the tastes

that men may be endowed with.

Liking what everyone else likes

simply proves that the organs are similar.

It does not favor the beloved object.

If then there exists in our world,

persons whose tastes run counter

to the prejudices of men,

not only must we not be surprised.

But they must receive
our aid, satisfaction,

one should annihilate
all obstacles in their path,

because they are
no more responsible

for having their bizarre taste

than you are responsible
for being either bright,

or born a hopeless imbecile.

Indeed, it is in the mother's womb

that are fashioned the organs

which will render us susceptible

to a particular fantasy;

after birth, the very first sights.

The very first sounds and touches,

determine this or that pattern,

once and for all.

And once they're formed.
nothing in the world

can possibly destroy them.

But such opinions are abominable!

They excuse and encourage
cruelty, and corruption.

What is most curious is

that when it is only a question of trifles,

the differences in taste
in no way surprises.

But when lechery is the issue,
what a great to-do about it!

You women, forever jealously guarding

your rights.

Tremble at the thought
that there is something

you could lose.

You may, of course, invoke
your own moral principles

against us.

But a woman is only
an instrument to gratify man.

She is an unreliable witness

in question pertinent to her body.

She knows nothing of pleasure.

There is no other sensation on earth

that can compare with pain,
in acuteness.

Its delights are sure.

It can never be
as disappointing as pleasure,

perpetually pursued by women

but so seldom truly experienced.

Is it not obvious that woman
shares nothing with us

without also taking?

That she robs us?

And what necessity is there,
if you please.

That a woman have pleasure
when we do?

The man of whom you're
speaking, is monstrous!

He of whom I speak
is in tune with nature!

Like the beasts of the jungle!

It's a very different thing
to love and to come.

The proof: to come everyday
and to come more and more

often can be without love.

Good God!
You make me tremble.

May the man who cannot
reform his tastes and who

would be like any other man,

does he not single himself out?

A man given these tastes is sick.

What happens to your desire?

Your morals?

Your religion?

Your heaven?

Your justice? Your hell?

When he will be shown to be sick

in every fibre of his body.
in his very blood.

Do not make of this kind of man

the object of your labor.

You have said too well.

I would never accept this
destructive sensuality.

Because you fear to become its object!

Now that's egoism.

If you are stronger by some
atrociously cruel principle,

and if you only like to
please yourself through

pain, you will only produce
an effect on the object or

person who serves you, a
degree of violence that may

shorten her days.

So be it!

I will have served
her Nature's design.

That is to say, with an
oblong I will have made 3 or

4,000 circles or squares.

Where is the crime in that?

The love for others is a
chimera that we owe to

Christianity and not to Nature.

The Nazarean is an unhappy
fool, who in a moment of

weakness, cried for
tolerance towards humanity.

He wanted to create that
ridiculous rapport between

one person and another.

He hung onto his life by
making us succeed in this.

Nevertheless, you do not
eternally retain your

unfortunate victims.

You release them from here, no doubt.

Of course, Therese.

You have only entered this
house for a certain time

before leaving it once again.

Do you not fear that the
girls who have left, those

younger and less discreet.
would reveal what has

happened here?

Impossible.

Impossible?

Absolutely.

Could you explain?

NO!

That is our secret.

But what I may assure you of
is this: discreet or not,

it will be perfectly impossible
for you to say a single word

about what has happened here

when you have been
completely reformed.

That evening, all of our chamber had left

for the monks' supper.

I chose that moment for my escape.

The monks, being occupied.
would pay no attention to me.

For two months,
with a dull knife I had found,

I had been sawing through the bars

of my window.

Dear heaven.

It is surely this cemetery
where the executioners throw

their victim.

But it must be through
virtue that I avenge this

affair.

Wait for me, courage!

Let us not be beaten.

Let us continue.

It is essential that the
universe be rid of villains

as dangerous as these.

Before daybreak,
I was near that same brook,

the very place

whence six long months before.

I had to my sorrow,

My first thought
was to fall on my knees.

And to beg God once again
to forgive the sins

I had unwillingly committed

in that odious asylum of crime,

and to thank Him for
having allowed me to escape.

Your age, little one?

Twenty-three, Monsieur.

Where were you before coming here?

Oh, I am only a poor orphan girl,

already well acquainted
with ill fortune -

I've no kinsmen to help me.

That is how the monks
were treating you?

Have you not passed over
any stray details?

No, Monsieur, I've told you all.

Splendid!

You're going to be asked
to repeat to me

all these deeds of valor,
now and then.

Have you been bled already, child?

Yes, Monsieur, I've been bled twice.

I must insist on a perfect figure;

no flaws are allowed if you
occupy the important position

we'll have you occupy.

So come, take off your clothes!

You're warned against
attempting to act

prudish with me!

I have means that are sure to bring

every woman to her senses.

What you have related

truly wouldn't point
to any great virtue in you.

Thus, any resistance
is actually quite out of place.

And utterly ludicrous.

What a beautiful thing
a girl is, my friends!

But such a pity
they have a cavity there!

And, while my front was
the subject of their sarcasms,

the Count, an intimate
partisan of the behind,

alas, like every libertine,

was examining mine
with the keenest interest.

It was in the course
of this inspection

that he solicited many details

concerning what had been done

to me at the monastery.

And I, without noticing
that my account of it

only doubled his ardor,

was candid enough
to give all the details,

in all naiveté.

That was how this libertine

exhausted the unfortunate youths

he kept in his house.

The hommage which the Count

had rendered me had been long,

but without a trace of infidelity

to his chosen temple.

We will show you our way.

Our way of getting things done.

Narcisse, my lancets!

Thérése, I won't put you
through the trials

that you've just been
subjected to, very often,

but it was essential
that you know a few things,

such as the manner
in which you will end

if you betray me one of these days.

If you were to let yourself
be suborned by the woman

in whose society you are to be placed.

She's my wife by law, Thérése.

Nor must you surmise
that 'tis vengeance

that has made me treat her thus.

It is indeed strange
what a passion can do.

I like to shed blood;

nothing can provide
a pleasure equal to it.

It's quite simple;

I've enjoyed this woman
only in this manner.

Sit down, Madame.

You have my permission to listen to us.

I merely wished to introduce the maid

I've at last found for you.

I hope that you have not
forgotten the fate

which through your fault,
befall all the others.

And that you will not attempt
to plunge this girl

into the same misfortune.

I won't attempt anything

that would put you in a position

such as that, Mademoiselle.

I only want your care.

It will be yours entirely, Madame.

Here we have the terrace,
but its elevation should,

I'm sure, preclude any idea
of measuring its walls -

When were you bled
the last time, Madame?

Just three days ago,
and it will be tomorrow again.

Tomorrow, Mademoiselle,

you are going to witness
that pretty scene.

Does madame not feel weak?

Dear God, I am not twenty.

l am sure that we
are not weaker at ten.

I will weaken, I am only flattering myself.

It is perfectly impossible
that I live long like this.

I will go find my father.

I will look in the arms
of the Supreme Creator.

Ah, peace -- that men have
so cruelly refused me

in this world.

Are you ready?

l am, Monsieur, for I've remained

your favorite victim.

You need just give the order.

Strip her naked, Thérése.
and bring her to me.

And now, spread them.
Madame, at once!

It was then that I noticed,
not without astonishment,

that this gargantus,
the sight of whom alone

was enough to strike terror,

nevertheless, hardly appeared to be a man.

What one might find in a child of three

was all that one could discover

upon this otherwise so sizable

and full-fledged individual.

And now, Thérése, come;

change places with the Countess!

Oh, Monsieur!

I beg you not to
demand that of me!

This is pointless.

This is not what I need!

It's pointless, pointless!

No matter how pitiable
my state may seem.

I can stand no more!

Come, Countess, your arms!

For my part, certain that the instant

in which the hoped-for crisis
would occur

would bring an end
to the Countess' torments,

I bent all my efforts toward

precipitating the denouement -

And I became a whore
out of kindness.

And a libertine out of virtue.

I pumped the last drop from him.

His need of me made him respect me.

At last, I brought him
to his senses

by ridding him of his fiery liquid.

Seven or eight tablespoons

would scarcely have contained it,

and the thickest gruel

would hardly give a notion
of its consistency.

I wonder, Monsieur,

how you can possibly treat a woman

in this manner,

even if we overlook
the close ties between you.

Condescend to reflect
on the gracious weakness

of her sex!

Why should it be
a man's duty endlessly

to abet a woman's happiness

when weakness is all
she is famed for?

Had it not been
the intention of nature

that one of the sexes
should tyrannize the other,

would they not have been
created of equal strength?

Now, what do we see?

A creature, puny compared to man,

one who is always inferior to him,

and far less beautiful
than man in every way,

less ingenious.

Built gruesomely in odious taste,

an unhealthy being, who
three-quarters of her life,

is incapable of satisfying her mate

during the entire period

nature constrains her
to childbearing;

a creature so utterly
perverse, in a word,

that this question
was soberly discussed

at the Council of Macon;

can indeed this man-like thing

who really is as unlike man,

as distinct from man as is the ape,

have any pretension to
the appellation human being?

In Rome, I hear wise Cam's
words ring in my ears:

"Man, were he to be without woman,

would be conversing with the Gods!"

I hear the poets of ancient Greece:

"Oh Zeus, pray why?

Oh Zeus, why woman?

Thy ways I cannot fathom!

Couldst not have given
being to humankind

by better devices and wiser, by schemes

which would have spared us
this female pestilence?"

And, because unhappily,
I live amidst a people

who are still so inelegant
as not to have dared abolish

the most ridiculous of prejudices.

You'd forbid the rights which
nature has accorded me

over the other sex?

No, Thérése.

I shall treat my wife by rules
that are laid down

in every code in the universe,

engraved in my heart.
and sealed in nature.

Oh Monsieur, your conversion
is truly impossible?

So, I would advise you

not to make the attempt, Thérése.

Are you sure, Thérése.

That you wish to run
this risk for my sake?

There can be no other way
at present, Madame.

I have made every attempt

to convert your fearsome husband.

Oh no, give me the letter.

I shall deliver it to your mother.

As soon as my mother's eyes
are at last opened

to the Count's infamous conduct,

she'll come and break my
chains, I know she will.

Go, my child!

My life is in your hands!

What are you doing there, Therese?

Oh, monsieur, punish me.

I am guilty and cannot say why.

Did the countess give you
a letter for her mother?

No, monsieur.

Give it to me!

But I swear.

Follow me.

Imprudent girl!

I warned you that the crime
you have just committed

is punishable by death.

You should indeed wonder
what kind of death

you will suffer.

You will be bled three times a day.

I want to see how long you
might live in this way.

It is an experiment
I have always wanted to try.

I thank you for
offering me this chance.

Monsieur, monsieur, come quickly,

Madame wants to talk to you

before she renders up her spirit.

Determined to reach

the unfortunate Countess' mother,

I directed my steps
toward the town of Vienna.

By dawn, I was far
from the castle of Gernande.

But other adventures were to
distract me from my purpose.

Oh! And who is the benevolent angel

come to my rescue?

Monsieur, I am but a poor orphan girl

already well acquainted
with ill fortune -

Still having the simplicity
to believe

that a soul
enchained by indebtedness

ought to be eternally
beholden to me,

I instructed him
of my numerous reverses.

He listened to me with interest.

And to betoken his gratitude,

he invited me to follow him
to his castle near Grenoble,

thereto wait upon his sister,

of whom he was passionately fond.

Absolutely resolved to profit

from the aid Heaven
seemed to have sent me,

and since Roland - such was
my new patron's name -

consented to take care of
the Countess' letter for me,

I followed him.

During the entire journey,

he showed me
the utmost consideration,

and plied me
will all manner of attention.

This is where I live.

Is it possible to live
in such great solitude?

It suits me best -

you may take the horses back.

What's the trouble, Thérése?

We haven't left France!

The castle's on the border of Dauphiné,

in the county of Grenoble.

So be it, Monsieur,
but what motive had you

for choosing a place only fit to shelter

outlaws and brigands?

Don't you see, the inhabitants of my castle

are none too honest;

it's possible you will not be
edified by their activities.

You've set me trembling.

Where're you taking me now?

Inside, to bathe servant of counterfeiters,

of whom I am the chief.

Do you see that wheel?

Such will be your task.

Those are your companions.

On the condition
that you labor ten hours daily

at turning the wheel,
and that you satisfy,

like the women before you,

the caprices which l'll
be pleased to submit you to,

you'll receive
six ounces of black bread.

And a plate of beans daily.

As for your freedom, forget it,

you'll never recover it.

Oh, great God!

Deign to remember, Monsieur,

that I've saved your life!

Doesn't what you're doing shock you?

Does not remorse already bring

thoughts of my salvation

to the depths of your heart?

What do you mean by these sentiments,

this gratitude with which
I'm presumably captivated?

Between the possibilities
of going on your way

and coming to me,

did you not choose in the latter

an impulse prompted by your heart?

You were simply yielding
to an enjoyable urge.

On what vapid pretext
can you claim a reward

for a pleasure you indulge in?

Let people do it for me
what they wish

if they find joy in it,

but why ask a reward
for having enjoyed it?

Just wait!
This is nothing!

You're not at the end
of your troubles yet.

For I want to acquaint you
with the most barbaric

refinements of misery!

As you can easily surmise.
the villain's caprices

were as ferocious as were
all his ways of proceeding.

But I am abusing the kind
patience you have shown me.

Should I broach new horrors?

Am I not just befouling
your refined imagination

with my infamous tales?

Dare I hazard additional ones?

You must, Thérése, you must.

We ask you to give these details.

You've related these acts
with such decency

that it blunts their horror,

leaving only what we need

to add to our comprehension of humanity.

And one must comprehend
how badly such tableaux

are lacking in the
development of our spirit.

There are branches
of human knowledge

of which our great ignorance
can only be due to

the stupid restraint of those
who write upon such matters.

Chained by an absurd terror,
they only make us yawn

with the puerilities
known to the dullest clod.

And don't dare
explore the human heart

in a courageous manner,

and offer its huge

idiosyncrasies to our judgments.

Very well, Monsieur, I'm going to obey.

I shall proceed
as I've been doing so far.

I shall try to
offer up my sketches

under the least repulsive colors.

Roland was a solid,
strapping, strong man;

his vigor was simply incredible.

His mien was somber
and his gaze ferocious.

A thick, bushy beard, very long nose.

And that part that differentiated him

from those of our sex

was of such length
and exorbitant circumference

that not only had I never
looked upon an object

that was comparable to it,
in its every measure.

But I can claim I'm absolutely certain

that Mother Nature
never had fashioned one

quite so prodigious.

Both of my hands
couldn't encompass it,

and it was equal in length
to half of my arm.

Have you ever beheld its peer?

No!

Such as you've seen it, slut,

you'll have to submit its introduction

into the part of you that's narrowest.

Even if it should
split you in half!

My sister, very much younger than you,

sustains it in the same sector.

I've never enjoyed a woman
in a different manner!

It will therefore
have to cleave you in twain.

Take that frippery off!

Oh, Monsieur!
Have mercy!

Deign not to forget
how I once saved your life!

And now, you must perish!

I've had enough
of your hypocritical sanctity.

Come, Thérése.
it's time to say your prayers.

The instant of violations

shall be the instant I cast you
into that sepulcher.

Ah, when I plunge you
into the eternal abyss

that awaits you!

Ah, Thérése --

Well, were you frightened?

Oh, Monsieur!

That is how you'll perish;
you can be sure, Thérése.

It was a pleasure
to accustom you to it!

Let us conclude our sport

with a little game of 'cut the cord.'

Use this sickle.

'Tis a torture that's sweeter
than one imagines.

One feels death only through

inexpressible sensations of pleasure.

Well, Thérése, if you will tell the truth.

I'll wager that you felt only pleasure.

Only horror, Monsieur,
only anguish and disgust!

Only despair!

Grant me the favor

of accompanying you to Venice.

Perhaps there, I won't find
so many hearts of stone

as in my native land.

I'll give you no help whatever.

Even if I were much richer,

there would not be one penny

in aid to the poor of this world.

The poor in the natural order.

I have principles on that score!

I'm not giving them up!

These principles are terribly harsh.

Pray tell, would you speak thus

had you not always been
as wealthy as you are?

It could be, Thérése.

They complain of beggars in France.

If one wished, there'd soon be no more.

String up even seven
or eight thousand beggars.

And that infamous kind
would soon disappear.

Would a man being devoured by vermin

allow them to feed upon him
out of commiseration?

But there's religion,
and benevolence, humanity.

All obstacles on the path of
those who pursue happiness!

It is only on the debris
of all those hateful prejudices

that haunt man,

only through ruining the poor
and robbing the rich

that one may reach the temple

on the mountain of the God I honor.

Imitate me!

The narrow road to this shrine

is open to everyone
as it was open to me.

Have those ideals you've preferred

brought you comfort for your sacrifices?

And now, poor wretch,
what can you do.

But shed tears over your sins?

Suffer!

And try to find,

in the depths of the ethereal
phantoms that you so prize,

all that you've been losing,

thanks to your reverent blindness.

Before setting out.
the scoundrel presented us

with a new scene
of cruelty and barbarity.

Everyone at the chéteau
supposed Roland's sister

would leave with him,
but just before he left -

I've got to try my pistols out
on one of those little hussies.

Then, on the pretext Suzanne and I

were not shouldering the wheel

with sufficient vigor;

he dragged us down to the cellars.

You see that prosperity
is the child of vice, Thérése,

and misfortune that of virtue.

But regardless of favors
that I owe to good luck.

I may be abandoned by Fate one day.

If this happens to me.

I will have but one end, Thérése; hanging.

l am convinced that death by hanging

is a very pleasant one.

But women I've subjected
to trials to prove it,

have given me
very evasive replies.

So I shall perform an experiment

upon my own person.

Let us proceed.

I'll excite myself a moment,
but when I have reached

what you might call
a certain consistency,

jerk the stool out

but keep your hands off my noose.

Let me hang
until you've assured yourself

that I'm truly emitting my seed,

or that I'm on the point of death.

In the second case, Thérése.

See that you cut the cord at once.

Otherwise, you'll let nature
take her course.

And when I'm finished, untie me.

You realize that I'll be putting my life

into your hands.

Oh, Monsieur!

How extravagant is such a proposal!

Liberty and fortune!

Those two great prizes
shall be your reward.

To my utter amazement,

nothing but symptoms of pleasure

ornamented his countenance.

And at very nearly the same instant,

rapid jets of his seed
sprang nigh to the vault,

without any assistance
whatsoever from me.

Ah, Thérése, one simply can't imagine

such sensations!

Now men may do
what they wish to me,

I defy the sword of justice!

No sooner had Roland departed

after assuring himself
of a safe journey to Venice.

That a troop of horsemen
of the Constabulary

arrived to storm the counterfeiters lair

before our men had a moment's opportunity

to look to their defenses.

The court did not tarry long
over the counterfeiter's case.

They were all sentenced to be hanged.

When the mark that
branded me was detected.

They scarcely gave themselves

the trouble of interrogating me.

How is it possible
that our glorious providence.

Worshipped by all who adore justice,

had me punished for my virtue

yet moved up to mighty places

those who'd spattered me
with their crimes?

But a thousand pardons, Madame.

A thousand pardons for
having sullied your spirit

with such a host of obscenities.

And for taking long and undue
advantage of your patience!

Adieu, Madame!
Adieu!

My guards bid me join them.

I'll see what fate
has kept in store for me.

Mademoiselle, you've
concealed who you are.

You've hidden the secret of your birth.

I entreat you to tell me that secret at once!

Oh, great God!

Could the suspicion
I have really --?

Oh, Thérése!

If you were Justine!
If you were my sister!

Justine, Madame?

Then you --?

Today, she would be your age.

Juliette!

Yes!

You really are my sister!

It is you I hear!

Oh, I may die now;

my mind at peace now

because I may embrace
you once again!

Justine! Justine! Justine!

Come, poor creature.
target of such misfortunes.

Come, Justine, now everything

shall improve for you.

It shall not be said that your virtues

will always stay unrecompensed.

It shan't be claimed
that the beautiful soul

that is yours

has encountered naught
but souls of rock.

Stay, dear girl, since I'm answerable now,

I will protect you.

I have spoken for you to both of your guards.

And I'll write a letter

that they will take to the Chancellor.

Beloved man, you've done
the most splendid thing

of which I've ever heard.

Come, Justine, come and kneel down

before this man who is so equitable!

This time, you'll not be abandoned.

Oh, Monsieur, if I've cherished

the beautiful ties we've had.

How much more these bonds
will now be cherished,

strengthened by the most tender esteem!

The storm is raging!

As though the heavens
have been stirred up

to fete your deliverance!

Dear Justine, I'm frightened.

Could you please close the window?

You may take the poor creature out.

No one in the world could help her.

No, let her stay so I may look at her.

I must gaze upon her,
to make me firmer

in the resolve which I have now adopted.

Listen to me, Corville,

and do not oppose
the project I have in mind.

Nothing on earth could keep me

from accomplishing it at present.

The absolutely unheard of
misfortunes she suffered -

though she had always
respected her duties -

really are so uncommon;

they've opened my own eyes
on how I've lived myself.

What punishment
should I dread.

When the worst libertinage, irreligion

and abandon of all principles
marked each hour I've lived?

Let's separate now, Corville.

No tie keeps you.

Do forget me.

And approve my decision
to do penance eternal,

abjuring before the Supreme Being

the infamies with which
I've soiled myself.

Oh, you who have wept
upon hearing

of the misery in Virtue,

you who have been moved
by the fate of poor Justine,

forgive us for what
have perhaps at times

been too-heavy strokes of the brush

we've been compelled to employ.

May you be convinced with her

that true happiness is to be found

in the womb of Virtue.

And that, if in keeping with designs,

that it is not for us to fathom,

God permits that virtue
to be persecuted on earth.

It is so that it may be compensated

by heaven's most dazzling rewards.