1
00:00:48,327 --> 00:00:49,533
Hmm?

2
00:00:51,739 --> 00:00:53,987
Well, well...

3
00:00:54,112 --> 00:00:56,444
Who's that hiding there?

4
00:00:59,149 --> 00:01:02,438
Don't worry, I'm not
calling the gendarmes.

5
00:01:08,764 --> 00:01:12,178
Ah! That's interesting.

6
00:01:12,303 --> 00:01:15,341
Of all the treasures
in this entire room,

7
00:01:15,507 --> 00:01:18,255
can you guess which
is most precious?

8
00:01:18,422 --> 00:01:19,296
Mm-mmm.

9
00:01:19,296 --> 00:01:20,420
No?

10
00:01:21,377 --> 00:01:25,081
Actually,
it's a very tiny object.

11
00:01:25,081 --> 00:01:29,535
Fits right in the palm
of your hand.

12
00:01:30,575 --> 00:01:34,946
It would seem someone
has discovered my secret.

13
00:01:35,113 --> 00:01:37,403
What secret, Grandpa?

14
00:01:37,568 --> 00:01:39,775
Oh, my dear.

15
00:01:39,775 --> 00:01:42,855
It's a very old story

16
00:01:42,855 --> 00:01:46,352
going way,
way back in time...

17
00:01:48,392 --> 00:01:53,387
to when I was a boy
in Montreal, where I was born.

18
00:01:56,342 --> 00:02:00,046
By day, I prowled the docks,
waiting for a box to drop.

19
00:02:00,213 --> 00:02:01,878
Then we'd steal what we could

20
00:02:01,878 --> 00:02:03,834
till the boom
of the foreman's rifle

21
00:02:04,001 --> 00:02:06,374
would scatter us like flies.

22
00:02:07,331 --> 00:02:10,494
In the summer,
I slept in the streets.

23
00:02:10,660 --> 00:02:12,658
And when it got cold,

24
00:02:12,783 --> 00:02:14,781
I'd find an abandoned apartment

25
00:02:14,948 --> 00:02:17,196
next to where
someone already lived.

26
00:02:17,196 --> 00:02:20,235
That way, if you slept on
the other side of their kitchen,

27
00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,397
you might feel
the heat from their stove.

28
00:02:34,137 --> 00:02:38,092
In the apartment across from me
lived a family.

29
00:02:38,966 --> 00:02:41,671
The woman was always in a rage.

30
00:02:41,671 --> 00:02:43,337
Her husband was a sickly fellow

31
00:02:43,461 --> 00:02:45,667
with a daughter
from his first wife

32
00:02:45,792 --> 00:02:47,582
who died in childbirth.

33
00:02:47,748 --> 00:02:48,831
You spied on them?

34
00:02:49,039 --> 00:02:52,827
Well, we didn't have
television back then.

35
00:02:52,827 --> 00:02:53,867
Should I stop?

36
00:02:53,992 --> 00:02:55,574
No, no.
What happened next?

37
00:02:57,073 --> 00:03:00,153
I'm afraid
it's not a happy story.

38
00:03:00,944 --> 00:03:02,068
Every day, she'd yell:

39
00:03:02,234 --> 00:03:04,731
"You and your father
are good for nothing.

40
00:03:04,898 --> 00:03:06,563
I should throw you
into the streets."

41
00:03:20,008 --> 00:03:23,005
Her father did
what he could to comfort her.

42
00:03:23,005 --> 00:03:25,794
"We must endure," he'd say.

43
00:03:25,794 --> 00:03:28,250
"Our reward
is in the next life."

44
00:03:31,996 --> 00:03:36,117
That night,
the night everything changed...

45
00:03:37,199 --> 00:03:42,278
I witnessed something
extraordinary, magical.

46
00:04:14,370 --> 00:04:17,201
I watched over her
the entire night.

47
00:04:17,325 --> 00:04:21,404
I wanted to take her away
from that dreadful place.

48
00:04:25,942 --> 00:04:28,606
Then, before anyone was awake,

49
00:04:28,606 --> 00:04:32,643
she cleaned the floor
as though nothing had happened.

50
00:04:32,643 --> 00:04:35,390
It was like she was ashamed.

51
00:04:40,220 --> 00:04:41,343
Maybe.

52
00:04:42,717 --> 00:04:45,048
Maybe I could reach them.

53
00:04:57,161 --> 00:05:02,073
They glowed, perfect and round.

54
00:05:02,198 --> 00:05:04,029
They tasted...

55
00:05:04,778 --> 00:05:07,026
like salt...

56
00:05:07,775 --> 00:05:09,066
like tears.

57
00:05:09,066 --> 00:05:10,897
So you stole
the girl's pearls?

58
00:05:11,022 --> 00:05:12,978
Don't judge, my love.

59
00:05:13,103 --> 00:05:15,684
Remember, I was just a child.

60
00:05:15,684 --> 00:05:17,141
What did you do with them?

61
00:05:17,265 --> 00:05:20,470
What I tried to do
with anything I found.

62
00:05:23,301 --> 00:05:25,299
There was a man
in the neighbourhood

63
00:05:25,424 --> 00:05:27,755
who was known
to give you a few cents

64
00:05:27,755 --> 00:05:30,086
if you brought him
something of value.

65
00:05:35,165 --> 00:05:38,994
When I appeared with a pearl,
he was sceptical.

66
00:05:41,491 --> 00:05:43,989
It was not the largest
he'd seen,

67
00:05:44,114 --> 00:05:47,277
but the colour, the lustre,
the luminescence...

68
00:05:48,401 --> 00:05:51,024
"Where did you steal it,
you little rat?" he asked me.

69
00:05:51,024 --> 00:05:52,813
"I didn't steal it," I said.

70
00:05:52,813 --> 00:05:54,270
I told him the whole story.

71
00:05:54,436 --> 00:05:55,810
He didn't believe a word of it.

72
00:05:55,935 --> 00:05:58,391
I pulled out the second pearl.

73
00:05:58,391 --> 00:06:00,305
"I'm not lying," I said.

74
00:06:00,430 --> 00:06:03,511
I could see the wheels turning.

75
00:06:03,511 --> 00:06:05,842
"A matching pair. Hmm...

76
00:06:05,842 --> 00:06:07,590
Very, very rare."

77
00:06:07,590 --> 00:06:10,545
"Are you going to
buy them or not?" I asked.

78
00:06:10,545 --> 00:06:13,834
"Easy now. Silence!

79
00:06:13,834 --> 00:06:16,456
I need to get these checked."

80
00:06:16,581 --> 00:06:17,705
"What does that mean?"

81
00:06:17,705 --> 00:06:20,494
"It means get out!

82
00:06:20,494 --> 00:06:22,034
"Come back tomorrow.

83
00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,655
"Or maybe you'd prefer
we went to the cops

84
00:06:25,655 --> 00:06:27,487
"with your little fairy tale.

85
00:06:27,487 --> 00:06:28,736
Out!"

86
00:06:34,146 --> 00:06:37,393
There was a specialist
in the old port,

87
00:06:37,393 --> 00:06:40,058
a jeweller famed
for his integrity.

88
00:06:40,224 --> 00:06:42,972
He examined
the pearls thoroughly,

89
00:06:43,097 --> 00:06:46,759
amazed at their shimmer
and iridescence.

90
00:06:46,759 --> 00:06:51,379
"The lustre, the shape,
the colour!

91
00:06:51,379 --> 00:06:53,336
Perfection."

92
00:06:54,460 --> 00:06:57,207
He speculated
as to their origin.

93
00:06:58,581 --> 00:07:00,704
"From the South Seas?

94
00:07:01,703 --> 00:07:03,326
"Perhaps...

95
00:07:03,451 --> 00:07:04,908
"No.

96
00:07:04,908 --> 00:07:07,738
"I've never seen
pearls like these.

97
00:07:07,738 --> 00:07:10,652
"They smell like the sea,

98
00:07:10,819 --> 00:07:12,983
"but they're not
from any mollusk.

99
00:07:12,983 --> 00:07:14,940
Tell me,
where did you get them?"

100
00:07:15,065 --> 00:07:17,645
"Oh, well,
it's a very strange story,"

101
00:07:17,645 --> 00:07:18,727
said the pawnbroker.

102
00:07:18,894 --> 00:07:20,060
"You won't believe me."

103
00:07:20,225 --> 00:07:22,098
But the jeweller
didn't smile or scoff

104
00:07:22,265 --> 00:07:24,888
when he heard the tale
of the thieving boy

105
00:07:25,055 --> 00:07:27,011
and the girl who cried pearls.

106
00:07:27,135 --> 00:07:30,340
Instead, his face grew serious.

107
00:07:31,631 --> 00:07:32,922
"Hold on.

108
00:07:33,047 --> 00:07:35,460
Hold on a moment,"
said the jeweller.

109
00:07:35,460 --> 00:07:37,043
"Wait right there."

110
00:07:37,043 --> 00:07:41,039
The jeweller was a deeply
learned and religious man

111
00:07:41,039 --> 00:07:43,077
with a collection
of ancient books

112
00:07:43,077 --> 00:07:46,199
that would be the envy
of any museum.

113
00:07:47,323 --> 00:07:50,987
"After Adam and Eve were
banished from the garden,"

114
00:07:50,987 --> 00:07:53,234
he said,
"Adam shed so many tears

115
00:07:53,359 --> 00:07:56,398
"that birds and beasts alike
came to drink from them,

116
00:07:56,523 --> 00:08:00,185
and the tears of Eve
turned into pearls."

117
00:08:00,185 --> 00:08:02,767
"But that's--that's
a Sunday school story,"

118
00:08:02,933 --> 00:08:04,056
said the pawnbroker.

119
00:08:04,056 --> 00:08:05,972
"You believe in this nonsense?"

120
00:08:05,972 --> 00:08:08,677
"With God, who's to say
what's possible,"

121
00:08:08,677 --> 00:08:10,717
said the jeweller.

122
00:08:10,717 --> 00:08:12,048
"I put my faith in money.

123
00:08:12,048 --> 00:08:13,839
Question is,
what are they worth?"

124
00:08:13,839 --> 00:08:15,795
"Pearls of sorrow?

125
00:08:15,795 --> 00:08:18,709
They're priceless,"
said the jeweller.

126
00:08:18,709 --> 00:08:21,039
"But I can offer you this.

127
00:08:21,039 --> 00:08:24,620
Share it with the young girl,
or may God help you."

128
00:08:24,620 --> 00:08:27,575
"I'm not running at charity,"
said the pawnbroker.

129
00:08:27,575 --> 00:08:28,824
"I know your type.

130
00:08:35,109 --> 00:08:36,983
Good day to you, sir."

131
00:08:40,604 --> 00:08:43,101
"We have a d deal,"
said the pawnbroker.

132
00:08:43,101 --> 00:08:45,099
"They're not worth much.

133
00:08:45,099 --> 00:08:47,805
I'll give you a dollar apiece."

134
00:08:50,094 --> 00:08:51,968
I'd never seen so much money.

135
00:08:52,092 --> 00:08:54,465
"Can you bring more tomorrow?"
he asked.

136
00:08:55,255 --> 00:08:57,670
I promised I could.

137
00:08:57,670 --> 00:09:01,791
But instead, I bought an
enormous box of chocolates.

138
00:09:37,630 --> 00:09:41,834
it was the first time
I'd seen her smile,

139
00:09:41,958 --> 00:09:45,080
maybe the first time
she ever had.

140
00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,906
That night, she did not cry

141
00:09:53,906 --> 00:09:57,568
and there were no pearls.

142
00:09:59,316 --> 00:10:02,563
The next morning, the pawnbroker
was prepared to be generous,

143
00:10:02,688 --> 00:10:04,186
but I refused the money.

144
00:10:04,186 --> 00:10:05,602
"Because I love her," I said.

145
00:10:05,769 --> 00:10:07,142
"I don't want her to be sad."

146
00:10:07,308 --> 00:10:09,431
"What?

147
00:10:09,556 --> 00:10:11,928
"You idiot! You fool!

148
00:10:11,928 --> 00:10:14,385
"Life gives you one shot,
just one!

149
00:10:14,510 --> 00:10:17,673
"You don't marry
the first girl you see.

150
00:10:17,673 --> 00:10:21,794
"She'll bleed you dry
like a vampire to the bones!

151
00:10:21,918 --> 00:10:23,792
You have a choice," he said.

152
00:10:23,792 --> 00:10:26,498
"Either she cries,
and you get rich,

153
00:10:26,498 --> 00:10:30,035
or she smiles and you stay
in your hole forever!"

154
00:10:37,445 --> 00:10:40,025
The girl waited
at the window all day,

155
00:10:40,192 --> 00:10:41,774
as if she thought some prince

156
00:10:41,898 --> 00:10:43,772
would come knocking
at any moment.

157
00:10:44,979 --> 00:10:46,061
I was scared.

158
00:10:46,353 --> 00:10:49,433
The pawnbroker had planted
a worm of doubt in me.

159
00:10:49,433 --> 00:10:53,012
It was just as he said.
I was nothing.

160
00:10:56,718 --> 00:10:58,507
She did not cry that night...

161
00:10:59,590 --> 00:11:03,002
or the next, or the next.

162
00:11:03,002 --> 00:11:05,417
But on the seventh night...

163
00:11:13,866 --> 00:11:18,529
It felt like my soul
had split from my body

164
00:11:18,529 --> 00:11:23,024
and was floating
farther and farther away.

165
00:11:24,855 --> 00:11:28,686
"Bravo, bravo,"
said the pawnbroker.

166
00:11:28,686 --> 00:11:31,973
This calls
for something special."

167
00:11:33,681 --> 00:11:36,219
"No. No, it's not enough.

168
00:11:36,219 --> 00:11:38,176
I broke her heart," I said.

169
00:11:38,301 --> 00:11:39,591
"Yes, OK.

170
00:11:39,591 --> 00:11:41,631
"But she's not dead.

171
00:11:41,631 --> 00:11:42,921
"Here.

172
00:11:42,921 --> 00:11:45,585
It's ten times more
than the last time."

173
00:11:45,752 --> 00:11:47,583
Enough to change my life.

174
00:11:47,708 --> 00:11:49,165
"Well done, my boy.

175
00:11:49,290 --> 00:11:52,328
"A man must
look after himself alone.

176
00:11:52,453 --> 00:11:53,744
"You won't regret it.

177
00:11:53,744 --> 00:11:55,659
"You did what had to be done.

178
00:11:55,784 --> 00:11:59,155
"We'll make some good deals,
you and I.

179
00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:01,569
We're cut from the same cloth."

180
00:12:01,694 --> 00:12:03,983
I lived like a king that day.

181
00:12:03,983 --> 00:12:06,106
I bought fancy new clothes

182
00:12:06,106 --> 00:12:09,977
and a third-class ticket
to Paris on a steamliner.

183
00:12:09,977 --> 00:12:14,181
But as I approached her house
for that last time...

184
00:12:49,438 --> 00:12:53,142
The next day,
everything was silent.

185
00:12:53,309 --> 00:12:56,473
They had packed up
and disappeared.

186
00:12:59,303 --> 00:13:02,633
She was gone.
What could I do now?

187
00:13:04,673 --> 00:13:06,962
I had one thought.

188
00:13:24,819 --> 00:13:28,566
I could hear his heart
beating in his chest.

189
00:13:29,648 --> 00:13:32,603
"Whoa, kid!
What did you do?"

190
00:13:32,727 --> 00:13:34,643
I got down to business.

191
00:13:34,809 --> 00:13:36,308
In return for the pearls,

192
00:13:36,433 --> 00:13:39,680
I demanded he fill a shoebox
with $100 bills.

193
00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:42,427
Then we would trade box for box.

194
00:13:42,593 --> 00:13:44,550
Cash, not trinkets.

195
00:13:44,715 --> 00:13:47,712
"Yes. Uh, let me see
what I can do.

196
00:13:47,712 --> 00:13:50,335
"I can give you that. Yes."

197
00:13:51,792 --> 00:13:54,331
But of course, the store
was nothing but junk.

198
00:13:54,456 --> 00:13:56,246
Even his gold was fake.

199
00:13:56,413 --> 00:13:57,620
He was getting desperate.

200
00:13:57,786 --> 00:14:01,033
"We could be partners.
You and me, 50-50."

201
00:14:01,199 --> 00:14:02,157
"You can't pay?

202
00:14:02,157 --> 00:14:03,946
"After what
I've put myself through?

203
00:14:03,946 --> 00:14:06,069
"That box better be full
when I come back,

204
00:14:06,236 --> 00:14:08,026
or I'll sell these
somewhere else."

205
00:14:11,064 --> 00:14:12,563
"Wait, wait," he said.

206
00:14:12,563 --> 00:14:14,603
"Please come back
before I close.

207
00:14:14,727 --> 00:14:16,892
I'll give you
everything you want."

208
00:14:18,848 --> 00:14:21,138
"I need money quickly,
you understand,"

209
00:14:21,304 --> 00:14:22,470
said the pawnbroker.

210
00:14:26,216 --> 00:14:28,256
"The building's
in good condition.

211
00:14:28,256 --> 00:14:29,130
You won't regret it."

212
00:14:34,083 --> 00:14:38,786
The jeweller wondered at
the endless greed of men

213
00:14:38,953 --> 00:14:42,866
and the mysterious workings
of the divine.

214
00:14:52,731 --> 00:14:54,895
The jeweller was astonished.

215
00:14:54,895 --> 00:14:58,766
It was identical to the pearl
the pawnbroker had brought him.

216
00:14:58,766 --> 00:15:01,763
And there were
thousands of them.

217
00:15:03,596 --> 00:15:05,260
"Monsieur,"
he called to the foreman.

218
00:15:05,385 --> 00:15:06,883
"Monsieur, over here!

219
00:15:07,008 --> 00:15:09,215
Do you know what this is?"

220
00:15:09,381 --> 00:15:11,213
"These?

221
00:15:11,379 --> 00:15:13,127
"Oh, it's the newest thing.

222
00:15:13,294 --> 00:15:15,459
"It's from Japan.

223
00:15:15,459 --> 00:15:18,331
It's called plastic."

224
00:15:21,203 --> 00:15:23,741
Plastic.

225
00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:30,901
In truth, as greedy
as the pawnbroker was,

226
00:15:31,026 --> 00:15:33,606
he was just as lonely as I.

227
00:15:33,773 --> 00:15:35,938
And that was how I tricked him.

228
00:15:36,937 --> 00:15:40,309
I kept one as a souvenir.

229
00:15:40,475 --> 00:15:43,431
I prayed I'd never
see him again.

230
00:15:45,179 --> 00:15:46,802
And I never did.

231
00:15:53,337 --> 00:15:55,085
Hang on, hang on, hang on.

232
00:15:55,210 --> 00:15:57,167
You made it all up?

233
00:15:57,333 --> 00:15:58,790
That's your big secret?

234
00:15:58,790 --> 00:16:02,869
It's always the story that
gives something its value.

235
00:16:02,869 --> 00:16:06,366
Only the story,
never the object.

236
00:16:07,739 --> 00:16:12,776
And personally,
I still find it beautiful.

237
00:16:14,025 --> 00:16:16,730
But the girl,

238
00:16:16,897 --> 00:16:19,061
did she even exist?

239
00:16:25,514 --> 00:16:27,761
Closed Captions: MELS