Original subtitles

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 , grass-tuft, nor bush . . .

Only the heavens were there .

l nvisible 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 council 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 . . .

''l n 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 splendor 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 instanter.

And Cucumatz rejoiced . . .

. . . ''lt 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 , rattle-snake , 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 council 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.

l n 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 .

l n 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 clamor 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 .

l n 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 .

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.

l n Paradise you cross the sand without seeing your shadow.

There is a landscape even without deeper meaning .

Paradise is available to everybody.

l n 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 .

l only have 1 6 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 .

l've already been away from Germany for 1 5 years.

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

How's life in the hot country?

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

When are you coming back?

Yes, l 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 1 22°F and 1 40°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.

l ndividual 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.

lt's not fun .

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

l n Paradise roasted pigeons fly directly into your mouth .

There you enjoy yourself without being forced to .

There , enjoyment means obligation .

l n enjoyment, man finds himself in Paradise .

The ''Blitzkrieg'' is insanity.

l n Paradise even gentiles move mountains.

There , wars are prevented by mothers.

There you expect herons from the left.

l n Paradise ruins mean happiness.

There you find gates without borders.

l n Paradise plane-wrecks have been distributed in the desert in advance .

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

l n Paradise you call ''hello'' without seeing anybody.

There you quarrel with strangers to avoid having friends.

l n 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 .

l n 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.

Weight-lifting , too , is rewarding .

Unforgettable , however, remains a jump from the light-house .

l n the Golden Age traces of Paradise can still be discerned .

Here , for example , a boat once landed .

Furiously the waves beat against the shore .

l n the background , smoke is rising , that is to say. . .

. . . not even worse than you expected .

Stones that were cast do not return by themselves.

l n 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 .

lts thriving brings pain as well as joy to the field-workers.

lt'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 .

l'm going to get her again .

There is nothing like the Peace of the Golden Age . . .

War is proclaimed dead by Peace .

Nothing is great as the sand . . .

Nothing is great as the Peace .