All language subtitles for AGADAH_cont

See over yonder, friend Sanco,

where thirty giants appear

What giants, Your Grace?
They are not giants but windmills…

Don Quixote of the Mancha

The old gypsy replied:

Ladies,

and gentlemen,
try to add up my stories...

and don't put them in a row
one after another,

as if they were part of
a single large story

that contains them all
and as if they were all contained

in the mind of a single narrator

who moves the thread of his characters

and in fact...

recounts only himself.

My lord, your tea.

"Ten Days in the Life
of Alphonse van Worden"

He told me that these environs are infested

with horrendous empousai and lamiai

who appear in womanly guise

and seduce and kill men

to feed on their flesh and blood.

There are also abandoned farmhouses.

That's enough, Lopez!

I put up with your whining

because I promised your
father not to leave you.

You know I don't believe
in these silly superstitions.

The road to the sea, you say?

This choice may sit well with the troops,

but since King Don Carlo

has seen fit to nominate me
captain of the Walloon Guards,

the sacred laws of honor impose

that I travel to Naples
by the shortest route.

Your Grace will pardon me if I observe

that if the King honored you

with a company of the guard

before age honored your lordship's chin

with any white hair,

it would be opportune
to exercize prudence...

Alas, why did I not listen

to Brother Geronimo de la Trinidad,

the confessor and oracle of our family?

And brother-in-law of the son-in-law

of the father-in-law of my mother-in-law.

First Day

Lopez!

Sir Knight,

we were waiting for you...

Would you be so kind as to keep us company,
accept a morsel to eat?

We believe you may need it.

Sir Knight, here you will find dishes
with every kind of meat.

Except one. For we are believers,

I mean Muslims...

Beautiful ladies, be so kind
as to satisfy my curiosity

before my appetite, tell me who you are.

I am Emina.

I am Zubeide.

We live in Tunis

but our family
is originally from Palermo.

Someone out relatives are hiding in Puglia

where they secretly profess
the religion of the Fathers.

We disembarked secretly
at Taranto eight days ago.

We came to this place
to change our clothes

and take the necessary measures
for our security.

As you can see our journey is a secret,
we have entrusted you with it.

Our fate is in your hands...

Fair ladies. Nothing in the world
could induce me to reveal your secret.

You are disturbed,

but the cross disturbs
only the spirits of darkness...

Sir Knight, you know we are Muslims.

You must not be surprised by the pain
my sister has shown.

We are very sorry to see that you,
our closest relative, are

a Christian.

Does this talk surprise you?

But is your mother not a Gomelez?

We belong to the same family

which is none other than
a branch of the Abencerrages.

Dear Alphonse...
there is no point in hiding it,

we are not here by chance.

We have been waiting for you

and if you had taken another route
you'd have lost our esteem forever.

You flatter me, but I do not understand
your interest in me.

Who are you? How do you know
my mother was a Gomelez?

We are the daughters of Casir Gomelez,
maternal aunt of the Dey of Tunis.

We have never had any brothers
and never known our father,

so closed in the seraglio
we had no idea of your sex.

When I was around eighteen, our mother
forgot a book that attracted our attention.

It was:
'The Loves of Medgenoun and Leille.'

O you of the face of pink
and the tunic of pink,

with your garments of fire
you burned us in the flames.

The stars surrender to your beauty

and among humankind
no one is like you, unfaithful maiden.

It would seem that you were born
of the sun and the shining moon.

One day our mother brought
Princess Elksamia of Tafilalt

and descendant
of Moulay Chérif Ben Ali,

who had decided to grant one of us as
a bride to her eldest son.

The despair of living separately
was painted in our eyes.

We tore our hair and filled
the seraglio with our cries.

Our frightened mother promised
she would allow us to stay unmarried

or marry the same man as long as

he was of Gomelez blood.

Dear Alphonse,

why are you not a Muslim?

What joy it would be
to see you in Emina's arms,

to add to your delights,
to join in your embraces.

Because you know

in our family the daughters have
the same rights as the male heirs.

It would only depend on you,
to become the head of our house,

which is on the point of dying out.

All you need do is open your eyes
to the holy truths of our law.

My dear cousins, the sacred laws
of honor do not allow me...

Second Day

Come in, son,
do not spend the night outside.

Beware of the Tempter.

The Lord has removed his hand
from our heads.

Share with me this frugal meal
as you would expect from a hermit.

Father, my body and my soul

do need to be refreshed.

Go away.

This man is possessed
and I am exorcizing him.

His story...

could be useful
for the salvation of your soul.

Pacheco! In the name of the Savior,
I order you to tell your story.

I was born in Naples,

where my father,
a Spaniard from Seville,

led a comfortable life as a notary.

My mother died three years ago

and after a few months my father
returned from a journey to Spain

to visit relatives
with his second wife, Camilla,

and her sister, Inersilla.

I lost my mind to the point
that I threw myself at my father's feet

Son,

I forbid you to think of this marriage...
for three reasons:

firstly, decorum

does not permit you to become
your father's brother-in-law.

Secondly, the holy canons of the Church

do not sanction this type of marriage.

Thirdly,

I forbid you...

to marry... Inersilla!

The next day, my father decided
to leave for Trani,

where our family owns land

and he took his wife
and sister-in-law with him.

A few months later,
a letter came from my father

who ordered me,
he ordered me to meet him

and wait for him...
at the Masseria Bruciata.

And then... midnight rang.

Pacheco...

my dear Pacheco.

We have been here over an hour.

Your father stopped
at the hut on the river,

but since I knew you were here,

I obtained permission
to spend the night here.

My sister is disposed
to refuse you nothing.

But on one condition:
you love Inersilla

and I love you.

I demand that tonight
we sleep in one bed.

Do you agree?

I am your stepmother, sweetheart.

Keep me warm.

I am Inersilla, my love.
Give me a kiss.

Young man,

tonight you shall sleep under
the Cross that wards off demons.

Who goes there?
We are your wives.

Let us in, we are cold.

Damned hanged men!

Go back to the gallows
and leave me alone.

You mock us
because you are in a chapel...

Come outside if you have the nerve.

Open up!

Do you hear me, you cursed souls?

Third Day

Son, last night strange things happened.

Tell me the truth, did you sleep
at the Masseria Bruciata?

Did demons possess you?

There is a solution.

Confess your sins...
Father...

I confessed before I left Bitonto.

Since then, I believe I have
committed no sins, except in dreams.

It is true that I slept at the Masseria.

But if I saw anything,
I have good reason not to speak of it.

So you are not afraid of ghosts?

Your courage surprises me.
Tell me who you are.

I am Alphonse van Worden,

I come from an ancient
family which, however...

enjoyed little glory and even less wealth.

My father fought throughout
the whole war of succession

and when he was discharged,
King Philip V

bestowed upon him the rank of
lieutenant colonel of the Walloon Guard.

In the Spanish army there reigned
the Point of Honor,

which was often taken to extremes

and my father took
these excesses even further.

There was not a duel in Madrid
whose etiquette he did not enforce.

If by chance someone was not satisfied

he had to contend with him directly.

Sir Knight,

I ask leave to confer with you.

Sir Knight, your carriage

overtook mine to arrive
at the post house before me.

Now, this behavior, in itself,
does not constitute an insult.

Nonetheless, it has something
ill-mannered about it

for which I feel obliged
to ask for an explanation.

First blood will suffice.

I do not believe my postilion
overtook your postilion,

rather your postilion was tarrying
and fell behind.

I believe you are right.

Well, had you made this objection
before I unsheathed my sword,

probably we would not have fought.
But given the point we are at,

you must realize
a little blood must be drawn.

You are right, sir.

Good. That being so,
I believe the matter settled is settled.

Colonel...

With such a father you must have learned
the strictest rules of military life.

At three, I already possessed
a little foil.

At six, I could already fire a pistol
without blinking.

When I was of age, my father sent me
off to the finest military colleges.

Very good, very good.

Very good, my son.

Reverend Don Inigo.
Read one of your stories.

Once in a city called Venice, there was

a young man named Trivulzio.

He was handsome, rich
and thought very highly of himself.

But all his pride could not hold out

against the graces
of the beautiful Nina dei Gieraci.

Trivulzio declared his love to her

by she replied that she loved
only her cousin Tebaldo.

Eight days later,

Trivulzio followed the two sweethearts
into the church of Saint Rocco

A priest rose to the pulpit and said,

Brethren, I am here to publish

the wedding banns
of Nina dei Gieraci and Tebaldo.

Does anyone here
oppose this marriage?

I oppose it! exclaimed Trivulzio,

he stabbed the betrothed couple
twenty times,

killing them.

He fled, plagued by remorse.

Until, many years later,

his family settled the matter
and he was able to return to Venice,

but he was no longer the same Trivulzio.

From the day he returned,

every evening he went
to the church of Saint Rocco

where the two unfortunates were buried

and he stayed there in prayer."

Brethren, I am here to read

the wedding banns
of Nina dei Gieraci and Tebaldo.

Does anyone here oppose
this marriage?

Alphonse, my son,

in Trivulzio's place
would you have been afraid?

Yes, Father, I would have been afraid.
- Degenerate son!

Your... cowardice

is an insult to the Walloon Guards

in which I had intended to enter you.

My Lord, if I were to dare
express my opinion,

I would say to demonstrate to your son
there is no such thing as

ghosts or specters who say mass,
nor can there be.

Lopez... you are forgetting

that only yesterday I had
the honor of showing you

a text on ghosts

penned by my ancestor
in his own hand!

Sir, I do not wish to contradict
Your Excellency's ancestor.

Lopez, may heaven preserve you
from making excuses

for these excuses imply an insult!

I shall submit to the punishment
Your Excellency

wishes to inflict
in the name of his ancestor.

I only ask that it be meted out
to me by Don Inigo

so that I may consider it,

for my honor,
as an ecclesiastical penance.

That is not a bad idea.

I myself have written a small treatise
on the admissible satisfactions.

Ladies and gentlemen,
I suggest we continue with our reading

so that His Excellency
may reflect on the matter.

Once there lived in Bergamo

Messer Thibaud de la Jacquiere.

A vile soldier of fortune,

a great seducer of maidens.

Dice player,
blasphemer and perjurer.

Another one!

Holy death of the great devil!

I am so randy that if that great she-devil
of your daughter passed by

I would offer her my love.

Messer Thibaud,
what you said is bad luck.

I swear on my soul,
so I have said and so I shall do!

The Devil has granted your wish.

Look over there.

It is not prudent to walk the streets
at this hour without an escort.

I hope you will do me the honor

of allowing me to escort you
wherever you wish to go, mademoiselle.

Beautiful errant star,

since my star contrived
that I met you tonight,

tell me who you are and where you live.

My name is Dariolette,

or at least... that is what
I was called by the few people

who lived with me in the castle
in Sombre in the Pyrenees.

There, I saw no other human being
than my servant,

who was deaf...

My governess,

who stuttered to the point
of being considered mute

and an old porter who was blind.

Then... my only pastime

was looking out the window and

trying to imagine
what life was like in the world.

No, I'm wrong.

I had another pastime.

On my eighteenth birthday...

my protector sent for me
and had me brought here to Bergamo.

And then this evening
he had me brought to his house

to speak to me about my future and...

and that is where we are coming from.

Lucky I met you,

my handsome knight.

My handsome knight,

how do you wish to spend this evening?

I've got an idea!

I want to discover...

if I am different from you.

Your neck...

is almost the same as mine.

And your shoulders...

...too.

Only your chest...

how different it is.

Mine was like that last year and then...

and then I got so fat that...

I hardly recognize myself anymore.

Dariolette...
you make me the happiest of men.

I am not Dariolette,

but she whom you invoked
the other night.

Alphonse, my son,

in Thibaud's place
would you have been afraid?

No, father,
I would not have been afraid.

Very good, my son.
At last I recognize you!

Fourth Day

Let go of me! Damn you! Help!

Dear, sweet boy,

give thanks to heaven
that has brought you to this dungeon.

Tell me, what are you doing here?

What sins have you committed?
Confess.

Shed your tears... on my breast.

Father?

Tell me at least
what you want to know from me?

We let the culprit

accuse himself.

This confession,
albeit somewhat forced,

is not without merit.

Especially when the culprit
denounces his accomplices.

You say nothing?

So much the worse.

Do you know
the two princesses from Tunis?

Or rather, the two infamous witches

or execrable vampires
or demons incarnate?

Did you have carnal congress
with them?

Well...

my boy...

you still say nothing?

Do not be alarmed
by what I am about to say.

Do you see these wedges?

They will put them between your legs
and hammer them in.

First, your feet will swell,
then...

blood will spurt from your big toe
and all your toenails will fall out.

You won't answer?

Come! Begin with the wedges.

Do you know
the two princesses from Tunis?

Raise the hammers.

Gentlemen, I owe you my life
and my honor.

I believe I have seen you before.

You probably saw us hanging
from the gallows.

Those you saw, in reality,
are only two wretches

whose only fault was to resemble us.

Señor, go now, they're expecting you.

Alphonse.

Cousin, how are you?

Did they hurt you because of us?

My dear cousins,

I have no complaint about
the night at the Masseria Bruciata,

but I confess how it ended displeased me.

Alphonse, blame us only for
the beautiful parts of your dreams.

What do you have to complain about?

Did you not have a chance to...

to prove your courage?

Does anyone doubt my courage?
No.

But there are things we cannot tell you.

And things that even we do not know.

We know the indifference you showed
to the preparations for your torture.

And that you did not betray your word.

Alphonse...

you are greater than
all the heroes of our race.

Our admiration for your virtues is such

that we now belong to you.

If this is another test of my virtue,

I believe I will not do very well.

We have told you that we belong to you.

The Great Sheikh will forgive us.

We might not see you again,

but we want you to remember us forever.

But...
You shall take it back tomorrow.

Fifth Day

- Great Sheikh of the Gomelez!
#NAME?

Cursed Nazarene!

You must become Mohammedan
or you shall die!

Father...

in my place you would have done the same.

I must say that study of the kabbalah
can lead to regrettable contretemps.

You are young to be a kabbalist.

No, you are decidedly not one of ours.

Who are you?

In Italy they call me Pietro di Oria,

and under that name I own
a castle a league from here,

but my real name
is Zadok Ben Mamoun,

a descendant of Shabbethai Donnolo

who was the first archiater
and astrologist of his time.

My father Mamoun taught me all
the secrets of the sephiroth kabbalah

while my sister Rebecca
grew up in Saragossa

under the dictates of Bahya ben Asher

In Hebrew each letter is a number,

each word a scholarly combination,
each phrase an appalling formula.

Words strike the air.
They act on the senses and the soul.

My father called my sister back from
Spain and summoned us to this study.

Before this sand has run out,
I shall be no more.

Do not forget my words.

My son, I have chosen
heavenly brides for you,

daughters of Solomon
and the Queen of Sheba.

Who, being of the ranks of the Elohim,

have the power to pass on
the gift of immortality

to those they choose
as their common spouse.

To you, Rebecca, my daughter, I assign
an even more beautiful marriage:

the celestial Gemini,

whom the Greeks called the Dioscuri.

Even though I fear a mortal man...

You can imagine the idea of becoming
immortal infused me with new ardor.

I applied myself to Shir Hashirim
with passion.

I flattered myself that those little feet
belonged to my celestial brides,

but I was never able to go further
until last night,

returning from Taranto, the discussions
had with a famous adept of that city,

showed me what my error had been.

I had left late and decided to spend
the night at the Masseria Bruciata.

The inn was abandoned because
of the ghosts, but I do not fear them.

Until then I recited the verses backwards,

that is why my celestial brides
always appeared feet first.

Burning with impatience
I completed my work.

The daughters of Solomon led me
to a bed resplendent with glory

and inflamed with love.

Ah, but I have to tell you I came up
against very evil spirits

whose nature I did not know, since
I awoke with you under the gallows.

You are Captain Alphonse van Worden,
are you not?

I have a letter for you.

If you tell him who I
am you will regret it!

That man is the Wandering Jew.

In one night he can cover sixty leagues.

Good news, I hope.

It is from His Excellency José Carrillo
de Albornoz, Minister for War.

He orders me to stay away from Naples

until a certain matter is settled
with the Holy Inquisition.

Then you will do me the honor
of being my guest in my castle.

I have been worried about you.

Last night I had no news of you.

I shall tell you everything, but for now,
please welcome our guest.

Alphonse, my sister Rebecca.

This young man is a Gomelez.
How do You do?

I hope, for your sake,
you are not one of us.

I shall entrust you to her.
I have urgent matters to attend to.

The dancing of those women seems
to interest you a lot, my dear sir.

Even though there is nothing

that can be explained with reason...

I believe I am under a spell.

Now I must go. Soon the sun
will enter the sign of Virgo...

and there will be no more time.

Sixth Day

Rebecca?

What happened to you?

Last night, seeing the state of prostration
my brother had fallen into

I decided to do something to help him.

I wanted to spend a night
at the Masseria Bruciata

to discover the nature of the two beings

who had appeared in the guise
of Solomon's daughters...

My will-o'-the-wisp lit up very well.

It took the shortest route to the Masseria.

I asked them if they were Turks,
born in Morea.

They replied they were Greeks,
hatched from an egg.

Then I recognized the Celestial Gemini,
who lifted me up into the air...

Luckily I was inspired
to pronounce a certain formula

that only we kabbalists know.

Instantly, I was thrown back to earth

and I lost consciousness
until you found me.

My sister and I have cast
the most shocking spells

to conjure up the spirits I met
in the Masseria, but to no avail.

We believe I was tricked by some Baalim,
over whom we have no power.

It would be very useful for us
if you told us everything you know about

your encounters at the Masseria.

You are not the first person
to ask this of me, Don Pietro.

However, I have sworn on my honor
never to speak of it.

But how can you believe

that the word given to two demons
can be binding?

Now we know who they are:
Emina and Zubeida,

two female demons.

But we do not know their nature
nor how to fight them.

If I were to speak I should betray the
principles on which I have based my life.

I gave my word.
Please do not speak of it anymore.

You are lucky to have principles
that guide your actions

and appease your conscience.

Our fate is different.

We wanted to see
what humans are not given to see,

and know that which reason
cannot grasp.

I was not made for such knowledge.
Vain dominion over demons is not for me.

I would have been content to reign
over the heart of a husband,

but my father wished it so
and I must submit to my destiny.

Please excuse me.

My sister is very saddened

by her lack of success
in meeting the Celestial Gemini.

But she will soon recover.

Seventh Day

The sky had filled with clouds

and a terrible storm bore down
on our heads.

Signor Romati,

The Princess of Monte Salerno wants
you to see the attractions of the castle.

In truth, it is enough
to see her lady-in-waiting

to form a high opinion of the princess.

Pray, tell me about this princess

who owns so many marvels.

First you must admire the whole palace,

Signor Romati.

Madam, paradise
cannot be a more beautiful abode.

Paradise!
Who spoke of paradise?

Signor Romati...

do not express yourself
in that way again.

I beseech you...

Signor Romati, we are almost there.

I must introduce you to my... servants.

So, you are
the Princess of Monte Salerno.

Romati...

you shall remember what you will see
here for the rest of your life.

You seem very shocked
by what you are reading, my friend.

You are wrong, Rebecca.

There is nothing that can shock me
in these agreeable tales of fantasy.

Do not underestimate that which
you do not know, Alphonse.

Actually,

I think I am beginning to see
recent events more clearly,

without recourse to supernatural beings,
and only with the use of reason.

By the brook under the castle, you will
find someone you will be happy to meet.

Cousins!

What?

She says you have much love,
but for demons.

Sir Knight, are you aware you are
in the midst of a band

that is spoken ill of in this region?

Are you not a little.... afraid of us?

No, I did not wish to offend you.

So far is that from my intention that...

I offer you my hospitality for a few days.

Señor Alphonse van Worden,
this tent shall be your abode

for as long as
you choose to stay with us.

I shall sleep here nearby
all the better to keep vigil over you.

Sir, as I have the honor to be
a captain in the Walloon Guards,

I have need of no other protection
than my sword.

Our bandits' muskets will kill
a captain as easily as any other man.

At least, until I warn them not to.

Sir, I do not know
how you know my name...

whilst I still do not know yours.

Furthermore...
you do not look like a real gypsy.

Quite so, all the gypsies in the
Viceroyalty call me name Pandesowna,

which in their argot is the translation
of my family name, Avadoro...

and as you can tell from my accent,
I am Spanish.

Although now I have forgotten
my mother tongue.

My father was Don Felipe d'Avadoro

and was renowned as the most serious
and methodical man of his time.

He was also renowned as the most
important ink producer

of all Toledo and its environs,

which is why he was known
as Don Felipe del Tintero Largo

His only care at that time was me,
his only child.

Nature had placed between us the
greatest difference in temperament...

I was capricious, restless...

as they say my mother was,
who died bringing me into the world.

My father, did not know
what to do with a son

who ruined his tranquility.

He had me closed away
in a terrible college of the Theatines,

from which I escaped
six months later.

My little brain had decided
I would never return

to the boring way of life
in my father's house.

Together with my band at the inns

we always found a way of scraping together
some money.

I cannot describe the allure
of those places to my young mind.

People gathered to listen
to the stories of travelers and pilgrims...

who stopped here briefly on their way
to Santiago di Compostela...

For many days,
he had been hounding me.

I found him wherever I went,

even when I prayed at...
the altar of Saint Mary,

he would suddenly appear
from the side aisles

and observe me
in the most dreadful way.

That man introduced himself
as Blas Hervas, son of Diego Hervas

and said he could recognize
the mark of infamy

on the forehead...
of sinners.

Señor if you continue to hound me,
I shall complain to Alcade.

Hound you?

You are hounded by your sins,
Cornandez!

Who are you?

I am a reprobate...

who seeks God's mercy by leading
sinners back to the righteous path.

You... have you ever heard
of the learned Diego Hervas?

My name is Blas Hervas,
my father is Diego Hervas,

a cobbler's son from Madrid, sent very
young to the University of Salamanca,

where he soon shone thanks to
his extraordinary diligence.

Before long, he knew more
than all the professors

and he conceived the ambitious
hope of becoming one of the immortals...

and gaining fame among his
contemporaries through his knowledge.

Having obtained the post of Contador
at the Ministry of Finance in Madrid,

he spent the rest of his time
on the immense project of writing...

a book on each
of the hundred human sciences.

At the age of thirty-nine,
he reached the end of his labors

and was ready to bring the fruit
of his feverish work to be printed.

Observing that words constituted
man's most distinctive attribute,

he dedicated the first volume to grammar,

the second to natural history,

the third to zoology,
the fourth to ornithology,

the fifth to ichthyology
the sixth to entomology,

the seventh to scolecology...

He dedicated the thirty-third volume
to general physics...

the thirty-ninth to alchemy...

The forty-fifth dealt with ballistics,

the fifty-ninth heraldry and then...

idiomatology
and then the sixty-ninth, theosophy

and then logic and asceticism
in the seventy-seventh.

And then in the eighty-first, kabbalah...

and in the ninetieth he moved
on to mechanics and optics...

and finally, in the ninety-ninth volume,
differential calculus.

Señor Hervas.

Here is the hundredth volume.

The science of sciences.

The extreme limit of the human mind

and the great of all my efforts:
mathematical analysis.

What will you do now?

I feel the need for some distraction.

I have not left Madrid for fifteen years.

I shall return to Asturias for a few weeks

to visit certain relatives
before presenting my manuscripts

to the censors for printing.

My father returned after a month

and his first thought was
to check his volumes in the library.

The glue with which
the books had been bound

had attracted the rats

which had eaten and gnawed
through most of his work.

For many days,
he seemed on the point of death.

And then a new strength
arose from his soul.

In eight years,
he had reordered and rewritten

everything the rats had destroyed.

His health had suffered from the effort

and he often fell ill.

And on top of that, in the meantime,

the sciences had made many advances
in many fields of knowledge,

and he had to add the new discoveries
to every science.

And this cost him
another eight years of labor.

Your father would have been...

very proud to publish

a work that contains
all human knowledge.

For myself, I ask nothing.

Be so kind as to print
it so it is not lost...

Sir, my father is old now and blind and...

enjoying the rest he deserves at this age.

I can print the work, but you must
reduce it to twenty-five volumes.

No one today would dream
of buying such a weighty work.

Go!

Go!

Go!

Go! Go! go!

These days,

all that is printed are trifling novels
and the most wretched things...

It is the shame of Spain.

My son, in the end, has no blame...

the world turns that way.

This I know...

but my life is...

lost, annihilated.

I now have nothing left
to ask of men or of printers.

My good friend,

I see you are very dejected and I fear...
for your soul.

Always remember that...

even though now you see
more evil than good everywhere,

you shall never see evil anywhere

that is not mixed with a little goodness.

His mind... accustomed as it is to
penetrating all the mysteries of nature...

was unfortunately turned
to the depths of human misery.

In measuring the depth...

he saw evil everywhere.

Nothing but evil...

evil and suffering

and in his heart he asked:

author of evil, who are you?

He wanted to understand if evil,
in order to exist.

Must necessarily be created.

He clung to the forces of nature,

ascribing energy to it that could explain
everything without appealing to creation.

Learned as he was, he had no difficulty
finding support for his theory.

He had observed that when crystals form

they were denser in the most
illuminated parts of the vases...

while they had difficulty
in the darkness,

and since light
is also favorable to vegetation,

he considered luminous fluid
as one of the elements

that makes up the universal acid
which animates nature.

He had read that in the dawn of the world,
the beings destined to live

had been awoken to life
by violent thunder

and that the material of lightning may
have helped develop the universal acid.

Led astray by the pride in his knowledge,

Diego Hervas excluded the Creator from
the mysteries of nature...

And in so doing, condemned himself...

to that fall which,
in the dawn of the world,

had already condemned Lucifer,

the proudest of the Angels.

Sun...

Sun...

who with your final rays

have lit up

for the last time, my eyes.

Why did you light the day of my birth?

Did I, perchance,

ask to be born?

And why...?

Why was I born?

Men have told me

that I have a soul,

and I...

I did not tend to it.
I cultivated my mind.

But...

the rats...

devoured it.

Men...

men...

...scorned it.

I die altogether,

nothing shall remain of me.

Obscure...

As if I had never been born.

Nothing...

Receive, therefore...

your...

prey.

Father?

Father?

Who are you? What do you want?

My son.

I call you that as I consider...

that you already belong to me.

God and men

have abandoned you

and they shall reject
the remains of this wise man.

But...

We... we shall not abandon you.

Sir, it is true that men shall refuse

to accept this suicide, but...
can God abandon one of his creatures?

Your observation is correct
in a certain sense.

But to show you our devotion...

take these thousand pistoles.

The young have passions

and they must have
the means to satisfy them.

Do not refuse... gold

and count on us.

Go now. Go!

We shall take care of everything.

Go!

In the morning we shall ride together
over the lands under my control.

We shall see whether the Zoto brothers
are still in their place.

#NAME?
- Of course,

they are, as am I, in the service
of the Great Sheikh Gomelez.

It seems a fine red thread
unites you all.

How dare this infidel threaten
two princesses from Tunis?

Perhaps he wishes
to take possession of our treasures...

If he put his sword down
we could get closer to him.

Well, is it a pleasure to see us?

Eighth Day

Alphonse, I shall tell you a secret
that will not leave you indifferent.

I have just renounced the kabbalah.

Last night I reflected on everything.

What is this vain immortality that
my father wanted to bestow upon me?

Are we not all immortal?

Are we not all bound
for the abode of the righteous?

I want to live this brief life.

I want to spend it with a husband
and not among the stars.

I want to be a mother.
I was to see my children

and then, tired and appeased
with my existence,

I want to fall asleep in their arms

and fly to Abraham's bosom.

What do you think of our plan?

You are right to prefer
material human pleasures

to speculations about an ideal world,

to which we shall all soon belong.

Look around you... does it not seem
that the world down here

offers us a sufficient variety
of pleasant sensations

to keep us busy our whole, brief lives?

Last night again, the Zoto brothers
visited someone's dream.

So, Sir Knight, was it not you
who threw this man in the river?

Of course not! I chased him,

but the harder I tried to catch him,
the harder he fled.

That is why he fell in the river.

Sir, you do not express yourself well.

You must have been instilled
with bad principles.

Unknown gentleman,
I dare to assure you

that since childhood I have been instilled
with the best principles.

Which are necessary
as I am a captain of the Walloon Guards.

But I meant the principles governing
the acceleration of bodies

as occurs on inclined planes.

If I run along an inclined plane

which we could define as the hypotenuse
of a right-angled triangle,

whose base is parallel to the horizon.

There, you could have said...

that it was my acceleration
on an inclined plane...

and not the doubling of speed
determined by my desire to escape

that caused my fall.

But that does not prevent you from
being a captain of the Walloon Guards.

This gentleman understands
much about geometry,

but he needs to rest.

So, if you will allow it, Sir Knight,

I shall resume my story
from yesterday.

Please, Avadoro,
your stories are always engaging

even if, at times,
they are so complex that I get lost.

Do not place my stories
in a row one after another,

but try to add them up as if they were

all part of a single, great story
that contains them all

and they were all contained
in the mind of a single narrator

who moves the threads of his characters
and, in fact, recounts himself.

It could therefore be defined as
summation sigma for K

that goes from N to M of f,
where N and M are...

the minimum number
and the maximum number of stories told,

but could we could even

place an infinite number of stories
instead of N.

So, if our geometrician will allow,
I shall continue my story.

We had left Blas Hervas,
the son of the learned Diego Hervas,

sleeping on a bench
with a purse of coins given to him

by an unknown man.

Celia, Zorilla!
What are you doing?

Mother, you always told us
to perform good deeds.

And this boy looks like he has spent
a terrible night.

Do you not think he has a sweet face?

Yes, he has a very sweet face.

Now come along, set this young man's
head down gently and let us go.

Celia, Zorilla...

and you who seem to be their mother
only because your grace is more perfect,

grant me a moment more
so I may admire you.

Sir Knight, if you were not sleeping,

you ought to be convinced
of my daughters' innocence.

Never was innocence more sincere.

So...

you will not think less of us
if I ask you to escort us home.

This house is a little more luxurious
than what we can afford

in our present situation.

And I should like to rent out part of it,
but I have never had the courage.

Madam, I have my reasons
for living in seclusion and...

if it were agreeable to you,

I would gladly take lodgings
in the apartment.

Please, accept.

Sir Knight,

We thought this could be
useful for your writing table.

I am obliged to you.

Zorilla! Celia!

Do not bore our gentleman further.

Excuse the exuberance of my daughters.

Madam, your attention and that of your
daughters is an immense pleasure.

I have brought you some Holland sheets

so tonight you shall sleep like a king.

Madam, what is it?
Is something troubling you?

Excuse me, I don't think.

You came to live here
without knowing who we are.

I thought it only fitting
to tell you about us.

Please, yes, please.

My name is Ines Santarez, I am
the widow of Don Juan de Santarez.

He accepted me without a fortune...

and he left me in the same condition,

with the daughters you know.

After my husband's death...

I received a letter from my father

asking me to join him with,
a remittance of two thousand pistoles.

I came...

but only to discover that in the meantime
he, he was the treasurer for war,

had been accused of extortion

and imprisoned.

Meanwhile, this house
had been rented for us

and we live here as recluses,
without receiving anyone.

With the exception of a young man,

a young man employed in the war office
whom you shall meet this evening,

who comes now and then to bring us...

to bring us news of the prisoner.

Madam, Madam, never fear,

all things must end.

And so must your troubles.

I don't know why...

but since you have been here,

I feel that our solitude is less sad.

Sir, you are a noble from Asturias?

At your service, Don Cristoforo.

Since the death of the shoemaker Maranon,

in Madrid it is impossible
to have a pair of well-made shoes.

Sir, I demand satisfaction for your
insolence regarding my grandfather.

Shoemakers should only handle the tools
of their own trade.

That the way of the world,
Señor Hervas.

Nature has endowed some with
the strength of eight hundred pounds,

others sixty.

Luckily, treachery seems
to restore the balance.

You again?
Who are you?

Don Belial da Geenna, my dear friend.

Put this in your belt.

The tip is finer than a hair.

And...

please accept this bonbonniere as a gift.

It will help you make the most
of your amorous adventure.

Please, I'd be monster
if I abused your mother's trust

and the innocence of her daughters.
I am not as perverse as you think.

I believe you neither better nor worse
than other men.

You have scruples

before committing a crime
and remorse afterwards.

But what is virtue,

if not prejudice accepted
without discussion.

According to my father, prejudice is not

an opinion accepted without discussion,

but an onion accepted
before we were born.

Ah, yes... If prejudices

are judgments accepted
without discussion...

nothing prevents discussion later,
having reached the age of reason.

To think that legal order seems
to have been conceived only

for the benefit of those
cold characters who expect

pleasure only from marriage
and well-being only from work.

But what has the social order done

for those with ardent passionate
characters like yours?

Who wish to enjoy life to the full?

Laws are barriers only for the lazy,

but the others...

can pleasurably pass over and under it.

Rogue! Did you not know
I wear a breastplate?

Well then, we shall take
the intention into account.

Here... Dry yourself.

Never fear, we shall settle this matter.

You again.

I'd be tempted to think that you...
that you are...

Me? I am one of the main members...

of an organization whose aim
is to make men happy.

I want to show you that love of oneself
is at the base of all human actions.

And that the so-called virtues
are nothing but..

Refinements of the ego.

Don Belial, you...
do you believe that just

and unjust are real qualities?

Some insects were crawling
over tall grass.

One of them said to the others:

look at that tiger,

it is the gentlest of animals,

it never steps on us.

Whereas sheep are
the most ferocious animals,

if one were to come,
it would eat all the grass.

But the tiger, who is just,
would avenge us.

As you can see,
ideas about good and evil

are relative

and not at all general.
Here.

Ines?

Ines... why are you crying?

I have received a letter from prison.

If I do not pay three thousand pistoles
by dawn tomorrow,

my father's destiny is sealed.

Oh, Blas...

why does everything
seem to be precipitating now

that Cristoforo has been murdered.

You needn't worry.

I shall take care of it.

But tonight I shall have
your three thousand pistoles.

Really? Can we really count on you?

Oh, Blas!

Don Belial!

Don Belial!

I was expecting you.

Have you already tired of the pleasures
my bonbonniere procured for you?

I think if they were to end

life would hold no further
attractions for me.

So you have come to get...

three thousand pistoles to save the life
of the beautiful Ines' father?

I know who you are.

Then...

sign the paper in front of you

and take the money.

Now you belong to me.

Ines?

Dear sir, my father was
put to death last night.

The Minister for War has sent someone
to take us away to a secret place.

Do not look for us.

Destiny is punishing us
for the sins we have committed.

We will never forget you. Farewell.

Farewell.

I have often observed despair in others

and seemed to be a sort anguish

that increased without
there being any rules for its increase.

Anyway, in general terms,

it could be defined as...

the inverse ratio
of the power of inertia squared.

The same thing could be said about
other human sensations,

that we could define as driving forces.

It seems you know the mechanisms
of the human heart precisely

and that geometry
is the surest path to happiness.

Madam, regarding your question
just now,

the pursuit of happiness is comparable
to an equation of a higher degree.

You know the last term and you know
that it is a product of all roots...

But before exhausting the divisors,
you come to many imaginary roots.

The day is passing and you have had
the pleasure of doing calculus,

There, the same applies to human life.

You attain imaginary quantities
that you take for actual values.

Meanwhile you have lived
and taken action.

There, action...
it is the universal law of nature.

At last the moment has come to reveal
the secret of the Cassar Gomelezs,

Tomorrow morning go east
for about one league,

You will find an old gold mine.

Enter it...
All will be revealed.

In this locket is a braid of our hair.

It is a keepsake.

This makes me fear
we shall not meet again.

Ninth Day

We have been waiting for
you for a long time.

Will you forgive my
curiosity, Count Potoscki.

What are you doing with a blessed marble?

Don't tell me you too
believe in certain tales...

with all your knowledge.

My knowledge has been eaten... by rats.

Rats?

Nothing...

so take your prey.

Sir? Sir Potoscki?

Welcome, dear cousin.

We knew you would come.

Sir, you recognize in me the hermit

who welcomed you to the mountain.

I am the Sheikh of the Gomelez.

And those you see are
from the same family

that you belong to.

These...

are your two brides.

Your pious embraces have been blessed.

Both are to be mothers

and they will found the dynasty
destined to continue the caliphate.

You have not disappointed us
and you have never betrayed your word.

May your forehead be damp
with the of happiness.

So, you...

Tenth day

Señor Alphonse van Worden!

At last we have found you.

What has happened?

You look like you have just come

from a battle with all the demons of Hell.

We have been looking

for you since you disappeared last night.

Last night?

Since you disappeared in the High Murge.

It must be ten days

since we got lost near the
Zoto brothers' gallows.

Ten days?

What gallows? Does Your Grace feel well?

Think well, Lopez,

have I been gone only one night?

I do not understand, My Lord...

Ask the boy...

Do you feel well, sir?

Sir, where are you going?

What are you doing?

Sir, wait...

I did tell you

that shocking encounters take place

on the High Murge.

The innkeeper in Bitonto told you

that it is infested with lamiae and empusae

who want men's blood...

Did you hear me sir?

So, just one night...

For a glance, a world.

For a smile, a sky

For a kiss I...

I do not know what I would give...
for a kiss...

Sir, wait!

"Loosely based on the novel by
Jan Potocki."

The Manuscript Found in Saragossa.

Subtitles: Issaverdens - Rome.