Original subtitles

This then? This is a not a movie

This is a libel, slander, defamation of character

A prolonged insult

A godless spit in the face of art

A kick in the pants to God, man, destiny,

time, love, beauty, what you will.

I'm going to sing for you

A little off-key, perhaps, but I will sing

I will sing while you croak

I will dance over your dirty corpse.

Have you seen Boris?

He's meeting someone who may rent the apartment

Could you loan me 5 Francs to take a taxi to Saint Lazare?

Now, you know Mona. If I'm not there to meet the boat train

she's allowed to turn right 'round and go back

Oh, Henry!

Ok, it's too late already, forget it

Oh, for god's sake, here

She rises up out of a sea of faces and embraces me

embraces me, passionately

A thousand eyes, noses, fingers, legs

bottles, windows, purses, saucers all glaring at us

And we in each other's arms, oblivious.

I sit down beside her, and she talks, a flood of talk

Wild, consumptive notes of hysteria

Perversion, leprosy.

I hear not a word, because she's beautiful and I love her.

And now I'm happy and willing to die.

The hotel, where is it?

Can we go to the hotel right now?

Nah, I've gotta find Boris

I thought I'd never get here

When you weren't at the station, I...

Hey! Boris!

Henry, how are you? Nice to see you

Hey, glad to see you!

Here's Mona, my wife

Hello

Oh no

My cheque didn't come, I haven't got it

20 francs?!

It's all I've got, it's all I got on me, fella!

Here, I'll give you half what I got. Go on

Come on, Boris

Just... just once?

Ah, alright

Take it

-Thanks -Yeah

- Really appreciate it. - Yeah, yeah, sure.

- Thanks a lot! - Yeah, yeah, sure, swell.

Oh, yeah. A pleasure.

- I see you Boris. - So long, Henry!

May I take my dress off?

No

Oh, I forgot to tell you

I had a, um...

...reading for a play, just before I left New York

It was for Charlie Morton's new play

He liked me, he really did

But, of course, they gave the part to the producer's new girlfriend

They're idiots

Anyway, this...

...you know, she's probably gonna have to wear a wig

Or if they try to colour that hair one more time, it'll turn green

I need a Kleenex

You have a Kleenex? No, you don't have a Kleenex

What do you ask for in French, I don't know what to ask. Well, I guess Kleenex

They always understand Coca-Cola

- Baby? - Hm?

I don't wanna alarm you, but...

-You're covered with bugs -What!!

You bastard!!

Deux caf�, s'il vous pla�t

It's out of order and it stinks

I must have a bath

I've got to have a bath

It's a little bit cold

Get my clothes hung up

Get 'em pressed. Look at the state they're in

We look like a couple of tramps

We must find another hotel. And a clean one

I want to find a good hotel as soon as they're open.

-What time are they open around here, anyway? -Seven or eight.

How much money have you got left?

What the hell are you doing? You trying to get us thrown out of here?

Thank you, tr�s bien, merci.

Wait, I have to take a bath.

Wait.

- Oh yeah. - Uh uh! Your bath is running.

Isn't it good to be clean again?

How much money have you got left?

Oh, I've got enough for tonight.

Oh no!

Uh uh, no.

Oh, no.

When I realise that she's gone, perhaps gone forever

a great void opens up, and I feel that I'm falling into deep, black space

And this is worse than tears, deeper than regret, or pain, sorrow

It is the abyss into which Satan was plunged.

There's no climbing back, no ray of light

no sound or human voice, or human touch of hand

How many thousand times walking through the streets at night

have I wondered if a day would ever come again

when she would be at my side?

All those yearning looks I bestowed on the buildings and statues

I'd looked at them so hungrily, so desperately, that by now

my thoughts must've become a part of the very buildings and statues.

They must be saturated with my anguish.

I could not help but reflect, also, that when we'd walked side by side

through these mournful dingy streets now saturated with my dream and longing

that she's observed nothing, felt nothing.

They were like any streets to her, a little more sordid, perhaps, and that is all.

I became reconciled to this life without her

and yet if I thought about her only for a minute

it was enough to pierce the bone and marrow of my contentment

and shove me back again

into the agonising gutter of my wretched past.

Somehow...

...the realisation that nothing was to be hoped for

had a salutary effect on me

And then it occurred to me, like a flash,

that no-one would refuse a man a meal if only he had the courage to demand it.

I went immediately to a caf� and wrote a dozen letters

"Would you let me have dinner with you once a week?"

"Tell me what day is most convenient for you."

It worked like a charm! I was not only fed, I was feasted.

Every night I went home drunk.

And now I could afford to scratch off the ones who were a pain the ass.

You see? I calculated your share of the actual cost of last Tuesday's meal.

Not counting the half bottle of wine you knocked off the table.

- Won't you be late for class? - It comes to 12 francs, 63 centimes.

bringing the total to 1,340.01 exactly.

- We're not asking him to pay us back. - I know, I know, but it's just very interesting!

Hey!

Hi, come on in!

One by one I fucked myself out of all those free dinners

The wives turned against me

Or the husbands.

Tania, darling? When's dinner?

I'm just finishing my practise, darling.

We'll have to stop this now, he's home again.

- Darling, I think the potatoes are burning. - I'll be there in just a second, darling!

Ah, there we are, darlings

Now, give Henry a large helping, Sylvester, he's building up

- How was New York? - Oh, terrible

New York is dreadful, you know that

All those phonies

But we're set for a February opening

And Craig St.Que will direct

It's good. Jolly good

What's next?

Well, there's a work-in-progress, naturally

I like to call it that

You know, if he finishes a play in the morning

and there's still an hour or two before lunch

He puts a new sheet of paper in the typewriter

and starts right off on a new one

That's how to be a writer

More Henry, or you've had enough?

I think I can take a little more

Give Henry some more, Sylvester

But, you know, he's fantastic!

He never talks about it

But when he sits down to write, it just rolls out of him

I believe it

You smile at me so confidently, so calculatingly

I'm flattering the ass off you, can't you tell?

And I believe...

...this wine is corky

I thought that was only supposed to happen in the States

While I listen to your crap, she's got her hand on me

But you don't see that

Yeah, it's in the kitchen.

Henry? Why don't you nip out, and bring in a couple of bottles, huh?

It's on the top...

...shelf

Henry, you fool

So now I'm the only one left who'll cough up the weekly dinner

Two cognacs, please

Yeah, well, uh...

I didn't know Sylvester was so hyper-sensitive

Ah, Tania!

It was worth it!

- So, what're you gonna do now? - Jeez, I don't know

Yeah, that's Fillmore

-Maybe he's got a spare bed -Doesn't look like it tonight

Princess, princess, don't be mad

I won't move my hips any more

You speak too much. Too loud

And you speak nonsense!

My nervous, my nervous!

Please give me some champagne

It's the only thing for my temperament

A champagne, please

Oh, hi Joe, hi Joe

Hi Joe

Fellas?

I want you to meet the Princess Macha

She's royal, you know

Fillmore? Can I use your sofa tonight?

No, you cannot use the sofa tonight

What are you whispering for?

You want me not to hear?

Why should your friend not sleep at your apartment tonight?

The poor fellow

You think he gets me there to make love?

I don't blame you

You should see me when I'm undressed

I'm very beautiful

But a princess of the blood royale is not to be bought

for a few miserable bottles of champagne

-And the caviar -Oh la la

It's, uh... the royal temperament, huh?

But you won't enjoy it

I warn you

Oh, Princess

You let me be the judge of that, huh?

Alright

Princess

Did I tell you I have the clap?

The clap?!

And what are you making a fuss for?

It's only gonorrhoea

Only gonorrhoea?!

Oh, Americans

They have no manners at all!

What's that?

It's me, Henry

Joe from the bar

Joe from the bar

These blankets are no good. I'm so cold

Come here and warm me a little

Right away, your Highness

I wouldn't, if I were you

- You didn't give her a key, did you? - Yes

Alright

You poor shy boys

I go to take a little coffee now

So, you can get dressed

Money!

Just a little 10 franc note

I see you later

But...

...what a charming place you have

I'm going to like it here

Bye bye

You grab the door

I'm going to get the lock changed

Peckover! You live around here?

No, I work days, too

Didn't you know?

Dentist office up the street

To pay off this set of teeth they made for me

Hey, don't you read proof the paper any more?

Why? What have you heard?

About what?

Well, I know you're hanging around with Carl and Van Norden

Did they say anything?

They didn't say anything

That boss of mine

He balls the piss out of me if I miss a semi-colon

Yeah? Maybe he needs more help

I'm a great semi-colon spotter

Well, uh, is there a list I can put my name on?

For future consideration

Yeah, put it on there

I'll see it gets on the applications list

Thanks

Thanks a lot

Well, here...

...take a look at these ads, maybe you'll find something good on there

If you do, you'll be way ahead of everybody else in Paris

Hey. How about this one?

American needed for teaching in Dijon

under international exchange agreement

Room and board

What's the salary?

There's no mention of money. It's, uh...

"Your contribution to Franco- American amity."

It's a roof over the head, and food

Bonsoir, Monsieur. Je suis le professor American

Entrez

Oh, brother!

Good night, Monsieur Miller

Ah, good night, Monsieur Le Censeur

Pray, consider yourself welcomed among our walls.

I observe you're astounded, to be listen of English spoke

It is myself that have 'til now instruct the pupils in this language

But a man occupied as myself have no more for such

You, Monsieur Miller, henceforth shall talk the English conversation to the boys

I, uh, my best will do to follow up your good work

Monsieur Le Censeur

It is a class in the morning

at eight of the clock

You are speaking French, I hope?

Well, a little. Un tout petit peu

Un tout petit peu

Un tout petit peu

Peu

Peu

Excellent

Your predecessor was not gifted with the tongue

He was not capable to follow my work

Also he did not exercise himself to...

...inform us about his departure

He go, uh...

...over the wall

Couldn't he have just gone through the door?

The door is locked by key

Each night, at ten

To avoid the infiltration of women

A contingency at all costs to be avoided

Exactement

Now, back to our businesses

Thus, your personal fire for a week

Also, there is in supplementation two measures of coal, in bucket

Paper must by yourself be found

I for it will start looking at once

Yes. In times you do not converse with the boys, you are at liberty

The town of Dijon is yours

Amuse yourself goodly

A tout-�-l'heure, Monsieur Miller

Your continuing good health, Monsieur Le Censeur

Oh, Tania...

Where now is that warm cunt of yours?

Those fat heavy garters, those soft bulging thighs

There's a bone in my prick, six inches long

Hell, I'll ream out every wrinkle in your cunt, Tania

Big with seed, I'll send you home to your Sylvester

with an ache in your belly and your womb turned inside out

Your Sylvester, yes he knows how to build a fire

but I know how to inflame a cunt

Tania, I make your ovaries incandescent

Sylvester's a little jealous now. He feels something

He feels the remnants of my big prick

But I've set the shores a little wider

Ironed out the wrinkles

After me you can take on stallions

Bulls, rams, drakes, St. Bernards

You can stuff toads, bats, lizards up your rectum

You can shit arpeggios if you like

Or string a zither across your navel

I am fucking you, Tania, so that you'll stay fucked

And if you're afraid of being fucked publicly, I'll fuck you privately

I'll tear off a few hairs from your cunt

and paste them on Boris's chin

I will bite into your clitoris and spit out two franc pieces.

Good morning, boys, I'm your new professor

Good morning, Monsieur Professor

Now what shall we talk about?

Anybody have anything they want to talk about?

Poor kids!

Our first subject is the physiology of...

Love

Let's consider how the elephants make love

Pachyderms

Although they're pretty heavily built

They get pretty spry when a male gets a bone on

A bone?

Uh, some animals have bones in their penis

Hence this expression...

A... bone... on.

Now, happily, according to Gourmont

This bony structure is lost in man

Now, think

what would happen if you had

half the human race walking around with a bone on

Good morning, boys

Good morning, Monsieur Professor

Right. Sit down

Today, we agreed, was "question day"

Fire away, ask anything at all

We'll answer all questions, but one at a time

Yesterday, you was telling us about the whale

Yeah.

This noble beast

Has a penis two metres long

That's quite true my boy, and that's only in repose

And the kangaroo have two?

That's quite right.

It's a double penis

It's one for weekdays and one for Sundays

Music was the least of my worries

I didn't even think of cunt

so dismal, so chill, so barren, so grey was it all

Un telegram, Monsieur

Paris

Indian pearl merchant wants lowlife guide to Paris. Stop.

How about it, Fillmore!

When's the next train to Paris?

- Monsieur? - Le prochain train, oh never mind

Merci, merci

No, he go... over the wall

In the fullness of night he disappeared

Fillmore, my all, my saviour

Get in here and sit down

Well, where's the pearl merchant?

Am I ready to take him to the haunts

of coot, fern, and fornication?

Well, it's not the old merchant himself

It's his only nephew

What's he looking for in Paris?

Well as far as I can tell, his wants are simple

Don't you worry though, the old boy's paying for his "education"

For God's sake, Ranjid, you can't jump them in the street.

Let's wait 'til we get to Miss Hamilton

This is it, let me tell you

this is really a refined, high-class joint

Hello, baby

Hello?

Take your pick, you get your choice

You'll feel better when you've had a drink

Ladies?

I'll take this one

You have good taste, Monsieur

I am sure you will be very happy together

What?

No, you can't, they'll be offended

If you wish.

- Let us have rooms next door, huh? - If you must

Yes?!

Henry?

The young lady has gone for her toilet

but where can I go?

Quick, quick!

Tell me before she comes back!

Use the bidet, for Christ's sake!

Thank you!

Oh Madam, I do beg of you

Have you no shame?

You are responsible, to bring a savage to Miss Hamilton!

One of the most distinguished bordel of Paris

Hey man, what'd you do?

What did he do?!

Honey, I show you what he do. Come with me!

Voila! R�gale your eyes on that!

Oh, brother

You shouldn't have told me to

I didn't know it wouldn't go down

I asked you where to go and you told me to use that

Come along. Let us get out of here

For the femme de chambre

I would like to get out of here

Would you like to try another place?

Oh, no, no.

For some reason or other, man looks for the miracle

And to accomplish it he will wade through blood

He will debauch himself with ideas

he will reduce himself to a shadow

If only for one second of his life he can close his eyes

to the hideousness of reality

Everything is endured

Disgrace, humiliation

Poverty, war, crime, ennui

And the belief that, overnight

something will occur

A miracle which will render life tolerable

So I think what a miracle it would be if at the last moment

when the banquet table is set, and the cymbals clash

there should appear, suddenly, and wholly without warning

a silver platter, on which even the blind could see

that there's nothing more and nothing less

than two enormous lumps of shit

When I look down into this fucked-out cunt of a whore

I feel the whole world beneath me

a world tottering and crumbling

A world used up and polished

like a leper's skull

If there were a man who dared to say all that he thought of this world

There would not be left him a square foot of ground to stand on

When a man appears

the world bears down on him and breaks his back

There are always too many rotten pillars left standing

for man to bloom

The superstructure is a lie

And the foundation is a huge, quaking fear

And if at intervals of centuries

there does appear a man with a desperate, hungry look in his eyes

A man who would turn the world upside down

in order to create a new race

The love that he brings to the world is turned to bile.

Wait, wait! I found them, I found them!

What the hell are you doing? What's going on?

Stupid bastards wouldn't stop. Look.

Poor old Peckover fell down the elevator shaft

Eight storeys

They found him crawling around, crying, looking for these

He couldn't think about anything else

He hasn't finished paying for them yet

And they're quarrelling about who's going to write the obituary

I think you're next in line for his job!

Hey hey, get up here!

-What's all this? -Don't worry, my dear, they're friends of mine

First paycheck in four months

Here's to Peckover, he'd have liked this

Thanks to us, he died with his teeth in

To Peckover

To Peckover

Now, let's have another bottle of wine!

Oh no! Look at my dress, you stupid

Now you know not to laugh at French women!

Spirited girl

Yeah

I'd better follow her

But why?

Because I gave her the key to my place, that's why

And if I don't apologise

she'll be waiting with a broken bottle

See you later, Joe

You know what I love most about Fillmore?

His absolute refusal to learn from experience

Llona, now, she had a cunt

I know because she sent us some hairs from down below

Llona

a wild ass snuffing pleasure out of the wind

On every high hill, she played the harlot

And sometimes in telephone booths, and toilets

She used candles

Roman candles and doorknobs

Not a prick in the land big enough for her, not one

Men went inside her and curled up

She wanted extension pricks, self-exploding rockets...

...hot boiling oil made of wax and creosote

She'd cut off your prick and keep it inside her forever...

...if you gave her permission

One cunt out of a million

Llona

All cunt, and a glass ass

in which you could read the history of the Middle Ages

How lucky you are to be able to afford the good things of life

All the bad things happen to me

First, my little baby...

...and now my mother is at home, very ill

And there's a doctor to pay, medicines to be bought

I'm always in difficulties for money

Why don't you come over to my hotel, and you can tell me all about it

Oh, I couldn't do that. I have to look after my mother

You could come home with me

I have an apartment to myself

It will be peaceful

Ok, let's go

I gotta warn you, I only got 50 francs

50 francs! Come on, you're surely joking with me

Bye. I made a mistake

You certainly have made a mistake

Ecoutez ch�rie

Be reasonable

Ok. I'll be nice to you, you'll see

You were lying to me, then

Yeah, I was just lying to you

Taxi!

My god, this place is in such a state, this mother... has been sick

I can't find anything when I want it

No, don't sit there

Come over here, ch�rie

Oh, this dress. The zip always sticks

Can you?

Never mind. I've done it myself

Now, what are you waiting there for?

Hurry up and get undressed

Have you seen my diploma on the wall?

First-class honours. Mama had it framed for me

Come on, get undressed, I think you should hurry, you know

Where's my... mother disappeared to?

I must go to see mother, just a moment

You can have a bath, if you like, I'll be back in a few minutes

She's going to die! She's going to die!

Oh dear, dear!

If only I had the money for the doctor

Oh yeah, the money

Will you please take this for your mother? -You're very kind

But... the doctor is very expensive

-Yes, things are rough all over -Ah, you're right

Come on, move over

Oh, darling!

I'm dying for you

I warn you

Yes, again, it's so beautiful

- Will you slow down? Where's the fire? - Here, here!

Take it easy

Where's your mother? Is she downstairs?

I must go and see mother!

Germaine was different

There was nothing to tell me so from her appearance

But I'd noticed her verging toward me

with that curious trot-about air of a whore

and the run-down heels

cheap jewellery and the pasty look of their kind

In a few minutes, we were in a 5 franc room on the Rue Amelot

the curtains drawn and the covers thrown back

But she didn�t rush things, Germaine

She sat on the bidet

soaping herself and talked to me pleasantly about this and that

As she stood up to dry herself

still talking to me pleasantly

suddenly, she dropped her towel

and advancing toward me leisurely

she commenced rubbing her pussy affectionately

stroking it with her two hands, caressing it, patting it

There was something about her eloquence at that moment

in the way she thrust that rosebush under my nose

which remains unforgettable

she spoke of it as if it were some extraneous object

which she had acquired at great cost

an object whose value had increased with time

and which now she prized above everything in the world

Her words imbued it with a peculiar fragrance

It was no longer just her private organ, but a treasure

a magic, potent treasure, a God-given thing

and none the less so because she traded it

day in, day out, for a few pieces of silver

As she flung herself on the bed, with legs spread wide apart

she cupped it with her hands and stroked it some more

murmuring all the while in that hoarse, cracked voice of hers

that it was good

Beautiful

A treasure, a little treasure

And it was good, that little pussy of hers

That Sunday afternoon, with its poisonous breath of spring in the air

everything clicked again

As we stepped out of the hotel

I looked her over again in the harsh light of day

and I saw clearly what a whore she was

the gold teeth, the rundown heels, etc., etc.

Even the fact that she had wormed a dinner out of me...

...and cigarettes and taxi hadn�t the least disturbing effect upon me

I encouraged it, in fact

I liked her so well

that after dinner we went back to the hotel again

and took another shot at it

�For love,� this time

And again that big, bushy thing of hers

worked its bloom and magic

It began to have an independent existence - for me, too

There was Germaine...

...and there was that rosebush of hers

I liked them separately and I liked them together

I don't think this earthy stuff is going over too well with Irene

I think she's kind of an ethereal cunt

Ethereal or not she's rich, she should be

worth a little effort at letter writing

Go on, now, where were we?

Rabelais...

"You send me golden apples, Irene, dear..."

"...and gifts of shaggy chestnuts, too"

She hasn't given you anything, has she?

No

But I like that word: "shaggy"

"But if you follow them..."

"...the choicest gift you brought would be just you"

You know, you say that like you mean it?

Let's hit her with a little dash of Keats

"Irene! Peerless nymph!"

"Why fear such tenderness as mine?"

Now, wait a minute, this is the real clincher

"Oh, let me have thee whole, all, all be mine..."

"...those hands, those eyes, divine..."

"...that warm, white, lucent, million-pleasured breast."

Jesus, that'll do it!

Let's pepper it up a bit

No, no, that's too morbid

"Breathes there, man..."

"...with soul so dead..."

"...who to himself hath never said..."

"...when I see Irene, I think of bed."

Oh, it's not the same class!

Besides, it's too pushy

We've got to bring this to a delicate conclusion

Well, not too delicate, it's about getting laid, you know

If the lady's any good at all it's never far from her mind

All you have to do is let her know

that you know what she's thinking about

Did you pay your rent?

It's from her

It's from Irene

Well?

A rendezvous

Christ, you think she's watching us?

Come on, Carl, she's not gonna eat you

Wish you hadn't said that. Crude bastard

I can't go in yet! What's the time?

I'm two minutes early!

Alright, alright, let's take a walk around the block

Press button '2'

"The rescue team's been working throughout the night..."

"...in an effort to reach the 12 miners trapped since last Tuesday..."

"...in the Alsatian mining disaster."

"Investigation in the cause of disaster has revealed..."

"...that the collapse was due to faulty... tit props?"

"...Pit props."

"Messages of consolation have arrived from the government..."

I'll bet

Yeah

Henry, it's Carl

Look, Henry... Fill in for me at the office, will you?

Tell the bastard I'm... anything

Tell him I'm dying!

Ok, Carl

- What's happening? - Hello?

Are you Henry Miller?

How are you?

You sound so nice

Hello, Joe? She likes you

I told her all about you

How we call each other "Joe"

She wants us to call her "Joe" too

Talk to you later, Henry

Ah, you...

...son of a bitch

Help me read through these stock prices

What happened to Carl?

He says he's dying

Oh, so he's dying, is he, the little prick?

Come on, give me the low-down on this whole thing, huh?

He went to visit his rich cunt

He actually went to call her?

Where's she live?

Come on, you seem like a decent guy. Let me in on this racket!

-It's not a racket -What do you mean?

A little prick like that slips off to lay a rich, beautiful

hungry cunt, and you say there's no racket?

Come on, come on!

Will you calm down, I'll tell you everything

as soon as Carl gives me the details, ok?

I like Van Norden but I don't agree with his opinion of himself

He's not a writer, he's just cunt-struck, that's all

Come on, Carl, you're hanging me up. Don't torture me, do it later

Now, tell me, was it good or was it bad?

Wait. I'm gonna tell you everything

That means it was a failure

No. It wasn't a failure

And it wasn't a success, either

You know? It's pretty strange

To think of all those letters we wrote her

And then to find that...

Well... she was in her dressing gown

There was a bottle of champagne on the dresser

The room was pretty dark

Curtains drawn, not much light

But her voice was lovely

I know that, go on!

It must've been 9 o'clock...

...because I remember I looked at my watch to check

Well, the next time I looked at my watch it was 10 o'clock

She was lying on the divan with her boobies in her hands

At 11 o'clock it was all settled

We were going to run away, to Borneo!

Didn't she have a husband or something?

Ah, fuck the husband, she never loved him anyway

She never would've written that first letter

if the husband hadn't been old and passionless

And when she says to me...

"...but listen dear"

"How do I know you won't grow tired of me?"

Ah, what'd you say?

What do you expect me to say?

"How could anyone ever grow tired of you?"

Carl, you're the cutest, what happened then?

I don't know...

Oh, I kissed her breasts a lot, she seemed to go for that

But then I got sort of tired of them staring me in the face

So I stuffed them back in her corsage, or whatever they call those things

Wasn't that a step backwards?

No!

They get hotter if they think you're cooling off

So, then we had another coupe of champagne

Ah, there I was, all the time

sitting with my semi-colons wondering whether I could...

...afford to go the can for five minutes

And I'm dying to take a leak!

I had one hard-on

But it faded out

I grab hold of her hand

I pull her to her feet, and I start walking her to the door

I tell her I love her, I adore her

I'll go anywhere she says, Istanbul, Singapore, you name it

...only just now I must go, it's getting late

Carl, you didn't even tell me whether she's beautiful

A woman with a voice like that?

When I talked to her on the phone, I was stunned

I wanted to say one true thing to her, no matter how silly

after all that crap we wrote her

Was she beautiful?

She had a streak of grey hair across her forehead

I remember that

You see, I'd almost forgotten it

But it was her arms

They were thin

They were thin, and...

...brittle

If she wrote me ten years younger, I might overlook the streak of grey hair

And even the brittle arms

But she's too old

You see...

...with a cunt like that every year counts now

She won't just be one year older next year

she'll be ten years older

In another year, she'll be twenty years older

I'll be getting younger looking all the time

At least for another five years

How did it end?

That's just it, it didn't end

I promised to meet her Tuesday

Oh, and that's not all

I promised to write her a letter in the meantime

How am I going to write her a letter now? I haven't got anything to say

Oh, shit

If she were only ten years younger

Listen...

Do you think I ought to go with her?

To Borneo, or wherever it is she wants to take me?

I don't know how to shoot

I'm afraid of guns and all that sort of thing

Besides, she'll want me to fuck her night and day

Nothing but humping and fucking all the time

I can't do it!

She said she was turning forty

That means fifty

Or sixty

It'd be like fucking your own mother

Well, she must've had something, you were kissing her breasts, for Christ's sake

Kissing her breasts, what's that?

Besides it was dark, I'm telling you

Look at that. It's coming apart, the goddamn suit

I'm coming apart

Irene is certainly coming apart

You can forgive a young cunt anything

She doesn't have to have any brains

They're better off without any brains

But an old cunt...

See, an old cunt, even if she's brilliant

Even if she's the most charming woman in the world

nothing makes any difference

A young cunt is an investment

An old cunt is a dead loss

All they can do for you is buy you things

With you, it's different

You don't have to lay her, you can afford to like her

Maybe you would like her!

Listen, if she's rich I'll like her, I don't care how old she is

As long as she's not a hag

She's not a hag

What are you talking about?

If that's how it is, I'll fuck her

Ah, if you don't want to. Tell her that.

You be subtle about it, though

Perhaps...

We'll go to Borneo together

I don't know how to shoot either, that doesn't matter, we'll-

We'll drive, we'll hunt, wear nice things

You know if we go to Borneo

I won't have haemorrhoids any more

Maybe I'll develop something else

Something worse

Cholera, do you think?

Ah listen, it's better to die of a good disease like that, than to

piss your life away on a newspaper, with grapes up your ass

and buttons falling off your pants

What would you rather do? Be a cripple all your life or have a job?

Or marry a rich cunt?

Ah, you'd rather marry a rich cunt, I can see that

Supposing you married her

and then you couldn't get a hard-on any more?

Oh, that happens sometimes!

What would you do then?

No, the best thing would be to marry her

and then get a good disease right away

You wouldn't have to worry about laying her

and you wouldn't have to worry about the rent either!

That's the best solution for a writer

Listen...

All I want is a good wheelchair and three meals a day

Then I'd give them something to read, those pricks

Well. What happened to you?

You should've stayed around for a Pernod

Carl talked about that dame, Irene, for two solid hours

I could use a Pernod now

I was out looking for Fillmore

Fillmore's been taken to a funny farm outside Paris

I wonder if that guy's putting us on?

That girlfriend of his gave me the address

It's around somewhere

But Carl now

That guy's an artist

He described every detail, minutely

He gave it to me with such accuracy

I know the whole goddamn thing is a lie

But I can't get it out of my mind

You know how my mind works

He told you the whole story, didn't he?

What do you think, you think he made it up?

I think he invented the whole thing just to torture me

I don't care about that

I don't care if the whole thing is a lie from start to finish

it's the images that get me

I didn't sleep a wink for thinking of it. -No?

Yeah

Just like that guy to tell me he put it to her six or seven times

Yeah, well that's a lot of shit

The way he tells me, that she rented a carriage and drove him to the Bois

and used her husband's fur coat for a blanket?

That's too much!

I suppose he told you about the chauffeur

how the chauffeur waited patiently?

And, listen...

...did he tell about how the motor purred all the time?

He's such a cute little liar, you can't walk away from him

You know, I don't understand how a guy writes letters like that

I don't get the mentality behind it

I think it's a kind of masturbation, what do you think?

I suppose he told you the whole thing, huh?

Did he tell you about, how he stood in the moonlight on the balcony

and he kissed her?

-Yeah -But the way that boy described it

I can just see that little prick standing there with his arms around a woman

And already he's writing her another one of those letters

About the rooftops and all that crap he steals from his French authors

That guy never said a thing that's original, I found that out

But you have to get a clue to whom he's been reading lately

And that's damn hard to do because he's so damn secretive

It's the way he tells it to me

You know how he embroiders things

After that scene on the balcony, you know

he sort of gives me that like an hors d'oeuvres

Well, after that scene on the balcony

so he says, they went inside and he unbuttoned her pyjamas

What're you smiling for, was he shitting me about that?

No, he told me just the same way you're telling me

Oh. Well, after that, he says

She sitting in a chair, with her legs up, not a stitch on

He's down on the floor looking up at her

and telling her how beautiful she is

Did he tell you how she looked like a Matisse?

What I'm getting at, is that moment when he said he was down on his knees

and with his two skinny little fingers

he spreads her cunt open. Remember that?

He said she was sitting there in the chair

with her legs dangling over the edge

when he suddenly gets this inspiration

You know, that's after he's already given her a couple of lays

and given her a little spiel about the Matisse, but

now, get this

with these two fingers, just the tips of them, mind you

he spread the little petals open

Squish, squish

Just like that, a little sticky sound, almost inaudible

Squish, squish

Jesus, I've been hearing it all day

And then, if that wasn't enough for me, he said he buried his head in her muff

And then, by Christ, if she doesn't swing her legs around his neck!

When he told me that, oh boy, that finished me

Can you imagine?

A fine sensitive woman like that swinging her legs around his neck

It's poisonous!

It's so fantastic it's almost believable

Sounds pretty incredible

Still, you never can tell with a little prick like that

I suppose anything can happen

Maybe he didn't fuck her at all

Maybe she just let him diddle her?

Well, you never can tell with these rich cunts

you know, what they might expect you to do

Well, I better go see Fillmore

It's all over, Joe

They say I'm crazy

Fuck 'em

They say I may have syphilis too

They say I've got delusions of grandeur

What did they put me in this expensive room for, huh?

Why don't they put me in the ward?

Or in the bughouse!

I can't afford this

I'm down to my last 500 dollars

That's why they got you here, pal

When you run out of dough, they'll

move you out of here quick enough, don't worry about it

Here, hold onto these for me

They'll rob me of everything I've got

I know

I know you think I'm crazy, but I want to atone for what I did

I want to get married

I didn't know I had the clap!

See, I gave her the clap, and I knocked her up

I don't care what happens, but I'm going to marry her first

He keeps telling me to wait until I get better

But I'm not going to get better, Joe, this is the end

Come on, Joe

I'm dying, Joe

And Ginette?

Who's gonna take care of her?

Who's gonna take care of her after I'm gone?

After you're gone?

You can take care of her

You're healthy

Joe? Would you take care of her?

Ah, easy boy, easy

Would you? For me

Where does she live?

You're a good guy, Joe

That's right, I am. Where's she living?

Somewhere in the sixth floor

Everyone in Paris lives on the sixth or seventh floor

so by the time you get up there, you're incapable

They're all in on it

Yeah

Sixth floor. Where?

365 Rue La Bos

Ok, look

I'll find the girl, hold her hand, explain everything

Now don't worry about anything.

just lay back, eat your oranges

you know they might be charging you rent for them

Ginette?

Sit down, please

And you think he keeps his position when he leaves hospital?

Oh, his job you mean. I suppose so

You speak good English, Ginette

We were pulled together by common tongues

That must've been nice

But I beg of you, tell me what you think

Jo-Jo want to marry me, he say that

But if he does not...

...you know, a young girl, in a delicate condition

And with the other thing, besides

If he leaves me, what I'm going to do?

There

Fillmore is a perfect gentleman

He's thinking about you all the time

I'm certain he's gonna stand by you

I'll be the godfather to the child, how's that?

Oh, you are so good

All the same...

...are you certain you want this child?

If you have this condition you spoke of, it might be born blind

Don't say such things!

It doesn't make any difference to me

I want a child of my Jo-Jo

Are you alright?

Oh yes

I was thinking of Jo-Jo and me in the bed

How we did fight

You know, he likes to fight with me

He was a brute!

Oh, do you want some cheese?

Here is my friend, Yvette

-Monsieur Henry, the friend of Jo-Jo -Enchant�, monsieur

Yvette makes a job of national importance

She is a spy for the police

Oh god

Come on, what does she actually do?

I regulate the inspection of the ladies

Sounds like pretty essential work

I take you to work in taxi

I just change my robe, and I come with you

Ginette is a whore

And she has no baby, neither

Maybe she has the clap, yes, but she isn't pregnant

Well why the hell does she want to marry him? Does she love him?

She wants someone to take care of her

No frenchman would marry her, she has a long police record

But if she can marry a rich American...!

Henry? You write your address and leave it on the table

I'm with you in a moment

There's the address. I've got a bed at Boris's

Good morning

Who are you?

Hands off, Joe. Elsa's staying a few days to lend tone to the business

She's gonna show people in when they come to see the apartment

You want some breakfast?

I have some hot croissant and jam

Now, don't give him breakfast, it'll encourage him to stay

He's been here long enough

Why don't you move in with Fillmore again?

I hear they let him out of the nut-hatch

Fillmore will probably be living with Ginette

and I wouldn't want to disturb a happy couple

That hasn't worried you up 'til now

Straighten the place up a little

Artistic disorder is ok but this is ridiculous

He needs a woman

"My..."

"...dear..."

"...Walter"

"Today..."

"...my heart..."

"...is filled..."

"...with sorrow"

Lieber Got!

What's happened to the world?

Aw, let me help

I have no luck, no luck never

I try to write to my lover, so far away

and what's happened?

The typewriter jams

Oh, poor girl, poor Elsa

I am so sad. So sad

Ah, the Germans!

They take you all over like an omnibus

They give you indigestion

In the same night, one cannot visit the morgue, the infirmary...

...the zoo, the signs of the zodiac...

...the limbos of philosophy, the caves of epistemology...

...the arcana of Freud and Stekel.

On the merry-go-round one doesn't get anywhere...

...whereas with the Germans, one can go from Vega to Lope de Vega

all in one night and come away as foolish as Parsifal.

Always the same

Always

Men use me...

...and cast me aside

You know, if you can play the piano like this

you should have better sense than to let yourself be tripped up

by every guy with a big putz who just happened to come along

But what can I do?

I like it

And this is the living room

I can see that

Henry

Hey Fillmore, you old nut!

They let him out, huh?

-Yeah, I'm fine now -He looks good now, eh, my fiance?

I see you're on the move again, huh?

Yeah, Boris kicked me out

I've gotta find a hotel tonight

You know, unless I can find someplace to stay

Ginette, why don't you go do some shopping. Yeah, it'll be alright

We'll be right there at the cafe, ok?

Come on

Have another, I don't care

It's her father's money

My job's gone and we're supposed to get married in a month or so

Oh, once they get me properly in their clutches

I'll be nothing but a slave

Ok

First you get married, then you get divorced

Meanwhile she'll be dropping the kid

Who's gonna take care of it, huh?

Hey fella, some girls are naturally fat around the middle

Yvette told me that Ginette's not pregnant

What do you mean?

I know she's gonna have a kid alright, I felt it kicking around inside of her

That Yvette's a dirty little slut

You see, Joe, I didn't want to admit this to you, but...

...before I went to the hospital, I was putting out for Yvette too

Then when the crack up came I couldn't

I mean, I felt like I'd done enough for both of them, right?

No, no, that Yvette's just... sore at me, that's all

Boy, I wish it were true

I could get out of this more easily

They've got me by the balls now

God, here she comes again

That's ok, honey

We're just having a little drink on your father

Drink, my father?

My father never drink!

No honey, that's...

He's trying to explain that the fact is your old man's paying for these drinks

So, now I'm not understanding English, eh?

Is that incredible? -Pal, how do you work yourself into these situations?

You're laughing

You make fun of me

You mock at your fianc�e with strangers

-Ginette, don't be stupid -How I stupid?!

Ginette. I want you to just-

Yeah, that'll teach you how to behave

Come on

Fuck you!

Go home!

Why?

Today I awoke from a sound sleep with curses of joy on my lips

with gibberish on my tongue, repeating to myself like a litany

�Fay �e que vouldras�

Do anything, but let it produce joy

Do anything, but let it yield ecstasy

So much crowds into my head when I say this to myself

Images, gay ones, terrible ones, maddening ones

The wolf and the goat

Syphilis with her wings outstretched

and the door of the womb always on the latch

Always open, ready, like the tomb

Lust, crime, holiness

The lives of my adored ones

The failures of my adored ones, the words they left behind them

The words they left unfinished

But... above all...

...the ecstasy

Hey!

What's the matter with you?

I have a half hour to go to the bank, and no more

She keeps tabs on me

Come on, let's have a drink. Come on.

I just don't know what to do any more

You're gonna have to do something for me, Henry, I'm helpless

She won't let me out of her sight!

The French

You know, I used to rave about them, but that was all literature

I know what they're really like

They're cruel, and mercenary, and mean

There's no sympathy, no friendship

The most selfish people on earth

They think of nothing but money, money, money

And so goddamn respectable and bourgeois, that's what drives me nuts

Oh sure, I hate those puritanical bastards back home

I hate them as much as you do, but I'm one of them myself

I don't belong here

I'm sick of it

Look here, Fillmore

What is it you really wanna do?

I'd like to be home with my people

I'd like to hear English spoken

Listen, if that's what you really want to do, why don't you do it?

Why don't you go?

I'd go today

Yes, by Jesus, I'd go today without even saying goodbye to her

That money at the bank...

Is that her Father's money or is it yours? -That's mine

My mother sent it to me

I don't want any of her goddamn money

Suppose we hop in a cab, we go right down there

you check out every last cent

This afternoon you hop a train to London

In London, you catch the first boat for America

You can't go back and get any of your things

Let her keep them

See, in that French mind of hers

she'll never suspect you scooted off without bag or baggage

No Frenchman would ever dream of doing a thing like that

unless he's as cracked as you are

Here. That's every bit of it

The closer you get to New York the more this'll seem just like a bad dream

What are you gonna tell her?

Don't worry about what I'm gonna tell her. I'm gonna tell her

The important thing is, how much you wanna give her?

All of it

Why give her anything?

-Oh Joe -Ok, let's give her this French money

That should hold her for a while

How much is it?

She has two or three thousand francs there, that's more than she deserves

Christ, will you don't say that, Joe, please!

I mean, it's a lousy, rotten deal I'm giving her, you know

She'll never be able to go back to her parents

Give it all to her, give her the whole damn thing, I don't care what it is

Stop!

Hey, you can't do that, it's too late

You know what, you're gonna go get on that train

You can't go back there now. It's settled

I just don't want her to kill herself, that's all

Kill herself?! Not her

As far as the money's concerned, don't worry

Though I hate to give it to her, I'll go right to the Post Office and I'll telegraph it

Here, send her a postcard, tell her you're sailing

Tell her you love her, go on

I'll see her tonight, don't worry, it's gonna be great, you'll see

Hurry up, the train's leaving, let's go

Henry! Bye, Henry!

Bye!

Cab!

Suddenly it occurs to me that, if I want, I can go to America myself

It's the first time the opportunity's ever presented itself

My thoughts drift out toward the sea, toward the other side

where, taking a last look back, I had seen the skyscrapers

fading out in a flurry of snowflakes

I see them looming up again, in the same ghostly way as when I left

see the lights creeping through their ribs

I see the whole city spread out, from Harlem to the Battery

The streets choked with ants, the theatres empty

I wonder, in a vague way, whatever happened to my wife

After everything quietly sifted through my head

a great peace came over me

Here, where the river gently winds through the girdle of the hills

lies a soil so saturated with the past

That however far back the mind roams, one can never detach it

from its human background

Christ

Before my eyes, there shimmers such a golden peace

that only a neurotic could dream of turning his head away

So quietly flows the Seine, that one hardly notices its presence

It is always there, quiet and unobtrusive

like a great artery running through the human body

In the wonderful peace that falls over me

it seems as if I'd climbed to the top of a high mountain

For a little while I will be able to look around me

to take in the meaning of the landscape

Human beings make a strange fauna and flora

From a distance, they appear negligible

Close up, they're apt to appear ugly and malicious

More than anything they need to be surrounded with sufficient space

Space even more than time

The sun is setting

I feel this river flowing through me

Its past, its ancient soil

The changing climate

The hills gently girdle it about

Its course is fixed.