Capitu (2008–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode #1.1 - full transcript
One evening as I was coming from
town to Engenho Novo...
on the Central train, I met a young
man from the neighborhood...
whom I know by sight
and tip my hat to.
He greeted me and sat down,
spoke of the moon and ministers...
and ended up reciting poetry to me.
The journey was short and the verses...
may not have been entirely bad.
But it so happened that...
being weary...
I closed my eyes three or four
times.
Go on.
I've finished.
They're very nice.
Dom Casmurro!
Life can be an opera...
or a sea voyage.
Or a battle.
OPERA
The following day, the young poet
insulted me with ugly names...
and ended up nicknaming me
Dom Casmurro.
My dear Dom Casmurro, you must come
to the theater with us tomorrow.
Come and stay here in town.
You can have my theater box,
my tea, my bed...
but no girls.
The neighbors, who don't like
my reclusive, silent habits...
gave the nickname wings
and it caught on.
It didn't bother me.
I told my friends, they were amused
so that is what they now call me.
Don't consult your dictionaries.
Casmurro here is not meant
in the sense given,
All because of a nap!
Nor could I find a better title for
my narrative.
If I come across no other
by the time
I finish the book that's
what it shall be.
he can say it's his work.
Some books contain only
this much of their authors...
others, less still.
THE BOOK
Before writing my book,
let me put down my reasons for
taking pen to hand.
I live alone, with a servant.
The house where I live is my own.
I built it reproducing the house
where I grew up,
on what was Matacavalos Street,
Come ye again, restless shadows.
Cousin Gl?ria!
Of course, my aim was to tie
the two ends of my life...
and in old age restore
my youth.
Well, sir, I was unable to recover
what was...
nor who I was.
But in all this, if the face is the
same, the physiognomy is different.
If only I truly missed the others,
oh well...
a man consoles himself more or
less with the people he loses.
But myself are missing...
and this oversight is everything.
My few remaining friends
I acquired recently.
The rest went to study geology
in consecrated ground.
However, a different life does not
mean a worse life, but something else.
I eat well and don't sleep badly.
In some ways my old life now
seems lacking...
in many delights...
But since everything grows tiresome...
this monotony has also finally
exhausted me.
But, this monotony is so tiresome.
It let me worn out too.
I wanted something different and
thought of writing a book...
about jurisprudence, or philosophy,
or politics.
Then I thought about writing a
"History of the Suburbs"...
but that demanded documents and
dates and I hadn't the energy.
Yes, Nero, Augustus, Masinissa
and you, great Caesar...
I thank you for your counsel.
I shall put down on paper
any reminiscences...
which spring to mind.
Thus shall I once again
live my life.
We begin with a great November
afternoon...
one which I have never forgotten.
There were many others,
better and worse...
but that one...
has never died out in my spirit.
Reading this you will understand.
THE ACCUSATION
Dona Gl?ria, will you persist
in this idea...
of sending little Bento
to the seminary?
It's high time. And now
there may be a difficulty.
What difficulty?
The difficulty is right there next door.
Those P?duas.
The P?duas?
Jos? Dias had been our
houseguest for many years.
THE HOUSEGUEST
My parents were still
at the ranch in Itagua?,
just after I was born.
One day he came introducing
himself as a homeopathic doctor.
And cured a foreman
and a slave...
without accepting anything
in return.
My father suggested he
stay on, with a small wage.
Jos? Dias refused.
He returned a fortnight later.
When my father became a congressman
and moved to Rio de Janeiro
with the family,
he came with us.
Uncle Cosme, who was a lawyer,
entrusted him with copying legal papers.
Jos? Dias...
The P?duas?
I've been meaning to tell you for
some time but I hadn't the courage.
It doesn't seem right that
little Bento loiters about so much
with Tartaruga's daughter.
That's the difficulty.
If they fall in love, you'll
have a terrible fight
separating them.
I doubt it.
Loitering about?
Just in a manner of speaking.
Being secretive, always together.
Bento hardly ever goes anywhere else.
The girl's a wild one. The father
pretends he doesn't notice.
He'd like things to progress
so that...
Please!
l understand your gesture.
You don't believe in such
calculating minds.
You think everyone's soul
is pure.
Jos? Dias, I have watched
the children playing...
and have never seen anything
to make me suspicious.
Bento is hardly fifteen.
Capitu was fourteen last week,
they're both little children.
And anyway, remember they've
been brought up together...
since the great flood ten
years ago...
in which the P?dua family lost
so much.
That is how we know them.
Brother Cosme, what do you
think?
UNCLE COSME
Uncle Cosme had lived with
my mother since her widowhood.
He was already a widower,
as was cousin Justina.
Ours was the house
of the three widows.
He was a lawyer.
Criminal cases.
They say as a lad
he was a ladies' man,
as well as highly eligible.
But the years sapped
his political and sexual ardor...
and his flab finished off the rest
of his public and specific
ideas.
Now he simply carried out
his work obligations,
with no love.
Brother Cosme, what do you
think?
Where's the backgammon?
l think you're mistaken,
Jos? Dias.
l only hope you're right.
But be sure l wouldn't have spoken
without examining things closely.
In any case...
In any case, it's high time.
I'll see he's sent to the seminary
as soon as possible.
Oh, if you insist on him becoming
a priest...
Bento will have to satisfy
his mother's wishes..
Furthermore, the Brazilian Church
is destined for great things.
Don't let's forget that a bishop
presided over the Constitution...
and the Father Feij? governed
the Empire.
And governed dreadfully, at that!
Forgive me, sir, I wasn't
defending anyone,
just citing.
What I'm trying to say is the clergy
still plays an important role in Brazil.
What you need is a return game.
Go on, fetch the backgammon.
Regarding Bento, if he really must
become a priest...
he shouldn't keep holding mass
behind closed doors.
Listen here, sister Gl?ria...
is it really necessary
to make him a priest?
It's a vow. l must fulfill it.
l know it's a vow.
But that sort of vow...
well, you know...
What do you think, cousin Justina?
Me?!
Yes! Oh, the truth is, we each know
what's best for oneself.
But God knows for everyone.
What's wrong, Gl?ria?
Are you crying?
Come on, is this a matter
for tears?
Cousin Gl?ria!
If I'd known, l wouldn't
have spoken.
l spoke out of veneration,
esteem, affection...
to fulfill a bitter duty.
An extremely
bitter duty!
Jos? Dias loved
superlatives.
It was a way of giving
ideas a monumental air.
And in the absence of ideas he was at
least able to prolong his sentences.
But to return to that
afternoon in November...
which was when my life began.
Everything which came
before was like a rehearsal.
This was where my opera would begin.
ON THE VERANDA
There, on the veranda,
was the best part of the crisis.
The sensation of a new pleasure
wrapping itself around me...
made me shudder and poured forth
l know not which inner balm.
Capitu!
Will there be mass today?
Handsome boy!
Flower.
Your hair is so lovely.
Yours is much lovelier.
You're crazy!
Did you dream about me last night?
No.
Well I dreamed we went up
Corcovado in the air...
then we danced on the moon and
some angels came and asked...
our names to give them to other
angels who had just been born.
My dreams are lovelier
than yours.
They were.
Your dreams are as lovely as you.
She blushed bright red.
So does that mean I loved Capitu
and Capitu loved me?
THE INSCRIPTION
Capitu!
Yes, mother!
Come here!
What is it, mother?
Stop picking holes in the wall,
dear. Come here!
BENTO
CAPITOLINA
What's the matter?
Me? Nothing.
Yes there is, something is wrong.
What's the matter?
Some news.
News? Of what?
l thought of telling her
l was going to the seminary...
and look closely at her reaction.
Well?
You know.
If she was disappointed,
it meant she really liked me.
If not, then she didn't.
Bento Capitolina...
We said nothing.
The wall spoke for us.
l knew the rules of writing,
without suspecting those of love.
l had orgies of Latin and was
a virgin regarding women.
Are you playing the staring game?
Capitu!
I'm here, father!
Don't ruin the plaster
on the wall.
Your portrait, father.
Playing the staring game,
were you?
Yes, indeed, but Bento laughs
so quickly, he can't help it.
When I came to the door
he wasn't laughing.
He'd laughed other times.
He can't help it.
Want to see?
It's because you're here, father.
Who'd have thought this little
thing was 14.
She looks 17.
THE REPLACEMENT ADMINISTRATOR
P?dua was employed
at a government office.
He didn't earn much,
but life was cheap.
Also, the house where
he lived was his property.
One day, the administrator
at the office where P?dua worked...
had to go up north
on business.
P?dua became
the administrator's replacement...
with the respective
salary.
This change in habits rather
went to his head.
Not content with reforming
his clothing and the kitchen...
he launched into making superfluous
purchases, gave his wife jewelry,
was seen at the theater
shiny shoes here we come!
He lived like that for 22 months
imagining it an Eternal Substitution.
The office administrator has
returned from the North.
I'll have to return the post,
the wages...
I'll just be a simple government
employee again!
P?dua! P?dua!
Oh my God! P?dua!
I'll not bear such
a disgrace.
What will the neighbors say?
Our friends? The general public?
What general public, P?dua?
Come on, get up!
You must be a man, the head of a family...
you must emulate your wife,
your daughter.
She looks 17.
Is your mother well?
Yes.
I haven't seen her for days.
I've been doing office work
at home.
I have to write reports
every night.
Have you seen my euphonia bird?
Come and see, Bento!
Come and see, come on!
I sensed I couldn't speak
clearly.
My sight was now baffling me.
BIBLE-BASHER GOD-LOVER
CHURCH-ADDICT
This vow goes back to before
I was born.
Since her first baby was stillborn,
my mother picked a quarrel with God.
and promised that if I survived
she'd make a priest of me.
Perhaps she expected a girl.
Not even my father knew.
She was going to tell him when I started
school, but was widowed before.
And she's so devout...
but I don't want to!
l don't want to go to a seminary!
l won't go, it's no use
insisting.
l won't go!
l swear I don't want to become a priest.
May l find no light at death's
door if I go to the seminary!
Bible-basher! God-lover!
Church-addict!
When her husband died
she might have returned to Itagua?.
She didn't want to,
preferring to stay close to the church
where my father was buried.
She sold the little ranch
and was allowed to remain
at the Matacavalos house.
In that year of grace of 1857...
Dona Maria da Gl?ria Fernandes
Santiago was 42 years old.
She was still pretty,
but insisted on hiding what remained
of her youthfulness,
that l'II not go to the seminary
for anything in the world.
You?
You'll go.
No I won't.
Capitu liked my mother so much,
and my mother liked her...
l couldn't understand such
an outburst.
It is true that she also liked me...
and more, naturally.
But the impropriety...
how to understand that she
call her such ugly names?
She also attended mass, and three or
four times my mother took her.
And she gave her a rosary
and a gold cross.
So why would Jos? Dias remind
her of it?
For no reason.
Just to make trouble.
He's a bad sort.
But let it be, Capitu,
I'll get my own back.
When I'm head of the house
he'll be out on the street...
you'll see, Capitu!
And I made other threats.
Youth and childhood aren't ridiculous...
in such moments,
it is one of their privileges.
At 15, there is a certain delight
in threatening a great deal...
and carrying out nothing.
Coconut candy! Coconut candy!
Coconut candy!
Weep, little girl, weep
For you haven't a cent
Coconut candy! Coconut candy!
- Any candy today, miss?
- No.
- It's delicious.
- Go away.
I'll have some.
Weep, little girl, weep
For you haven't a cent
Weep, little girl, weep
A PLAN
If I were rich, you'd run away,
take a steamer to Europe.
We have to consider the people
we can rely on.
-Uncle Cosme.
-No. He's living it up.
He may not approve
of your taking vows,
but he's not capable of doing
anything against her.
Yes, but that would be too obvious.
Something else.
Jos? Dias!
- What of Jos? Dias?
- He could be a good ally.
But it was he who said...
No matter, now he'll say
something else.
He really likes you.
Don't be so shy with him.
You shouldn't be scared.
Capitu insisted that I ask
him politely, as if asking...
a glass of water from someone
who's duty it was to bring it.
Show him who's going to be
head of the household.
Suggest that it is not a favor
and flatter him, he loves that.
Dona Gl?ria pays attention
to what he says,
and since he must serve you, he'll
speak with far more warmth...
than anyone else.
I'm not sure, Capitu.
-Then go to the seminary.
-No, not that.
There's no harm in trying.
Go on, ask, order!
Look, tell him you're ready to study
Law in São Paulo.
I trembled with pleasure.
São Paulo was a fragile partition
to be removed one day,
instead of a thick
spiritual and eternal wall.
l promised to speak to
Jos? Dias as proposed.
A THOUSAND LORD'S PRAYERS AND
A THOUSAND HAIL MARY'S
l promised to pray a thousand Lord's
Prayers and a thousand Hail Mary's...
if Jos? Dias managed to prevent
my being sent to the seminary.
It was an enormous sum.
l keep accumulating
unfulfilled vows.
Ever since l was littie I always
asked the heavens for favors...
in exchange for reciting prayers
should they come true.
l recited the first ones, then put off
the others and as they piled up
they were gradually forgotten.
So l arrived at the numbers
twenty, thirty, fifty...
l arrived at hundreds
and now thousands.
A thousand.
I lost count.
The stakes were now enormous
nothing less than salvation...
or the shipwreck of
my whole existence.
A thousand, a thousand,
a thousand!
An amount was needed
to pay for all those in arrears.
Order a hundred masses.
Or climb the hill at Gl?ria
on my knees.
Go to the Holy Land.
All the famous vows the old slave
women told me about.
Hail Mary, full of grace...
...anything to save me.
COUSIN JUSTINA
The life of a priest is a fine one.
It's fine, but what I ask you is
whether you'd like to be a priest.
I want what mother
wants.
Cousin Gl?ria wishes very much
for you to take your vows.
But even if she didn't there's
someone here at the house...
who has put it into her head.
Who?
Who?! Who do you think?!
Not Cousin Cosme,
who doesn't care.
And it's not me.
Jos? Dias?
Of course. Only today he
reminded her of the vow.
With time, Cousin Gl?ria may end up
forgetting the vow.
But how to forget with
someone always going on about
the seminary to you?
And the lectures he gives her,
praising the Church...
the life of the priest is this
and that...
with all those words only he knows,
all those mannerisms.
Mark my words, he's up to no good
because he's about as religious as...
that lamp.
Jos? Dias is a schemer, a flatterer,
a speculator...
and in spite of that polite shell,
uncouth.
Cousin Justina, would you be able
to do something?
Of what?
Would you be able... supposing
I didn't wish to become a priest...
could you ask mother...
Not that! This matter is firmly in
Cousin Gl?ria's mind...
and nothing in the world can
change her resolve,
only time.
When you were tiny she was
already telling everyone.
l won't remind her, l don't like
contributing...
to the misfortune of others.
OTHERS' FEELINGS
I got no further, and afterwards
regretted asking her.
l should have followed
Capitu's advice,
Justina detained me a little, talked
about the heat...
and the upcoming Conception
celebrations and, finally, Capitu.
She didn't speak ill of her,
she insinuated...
that she might become a pretty
young woman, praised her manners.
l think cousin Justina found in
the spectacle of strange feelings...
the vague resurrection of her own.
Pleasure can be derived by
the lips doing the narrating.
Come ye again,
restless shadows.
THE TIME IS SET
l must speak to you tomorrow, without
fail. Choose where and let me know.
Tomorrow I have some shopping
to do, you may go with me...
I'll ask your mother.
Do you have your class?
Class was today.
I see.
I won't ask what it is, it appears
to be a serious matter.
Yes, sir.
Till tomorrow.
Bravo!
Bravo! Bravo!
town to Engenho Novo...
on the Central train, I met a young
man from the neighborhood...
whom I know by sight
and tip my hat to.
He greeted me and sat down,
spoke of the moon and ministers...
and ended up reciting poetry to me.
The journey was short and the verses...
may not have been entirely bad.
But it so happened that...
being weary...
I closed my eyes three or four
times.
Go on.
I've finished.
They're very nice.
Dom Casmurro!
Life can be an opera...
or a sea voyage.
Or a battle.
OPERA
The following day, the young poet
insulted me with ugly names...
and ended up nicknaming me
Dom Casmurro.
My dear Dom Casmurro, you must come
to the theater with us tomorrow.
Come and stay here in town.
You can have my theater box,
my tea, my bed...
but no girls.
The neighbors, who don't like
my reclusive, silent habits...
gave the nickname wings
and it caught on.
It didn't bother me.
I told my friends, they were amused
so that is what they now call me.
Don't consult your dictionaries.
Casmurro here is not meant
in the sense given,
All because of a nap!
Nor could I find a better title for
my narrative.
If I come across no other
by the time
I finish the book that's
what it shall be.
he can say it's his work.
Some books contain only
this much of their authors...
others, less still.
THE BOOK
Before writing my book,
let me put down my reasons for
taking pen to hand.
I live alone, with a servant.
The house where I live is my own.
I built it reproducing the house
where I grew up,
on what was Matacavalos Street,
Come ye again, restless shadows.
Cousin Gl?ria!
Of course, my aim was to tie
the two ends of my life...
and in old age restore
my youth.
Well, sir, I was unable to recover
what was...
nor who I was.
But in all this, if the face is the
same, the physiognomy is different.
If only I truly missed the others,
oh well...
a man consoles himself more or
less with the people he loses.
But myself are missing...
and this oversight is everything.
My few remaining friends
I acquired recently.
The rest went to study geology
in consecrated ground.
However, a different life does not
mean a worse life, but something else.
I eat well and don't sleep badly.
In some ways my old life now
seems lacking...
in many delights...
But since everything grows tiresome...
this monotony has also finally
exhausted me.
But, this monotony is so tiresome.
It let me worn out too.
I wanted something different and
thought of writing a book...
about jurisprudence, or philosophy,
or politics.
Then I thought about writing a
"History of the Suburbs"...
but that demanded documents and
dates and I hadn't the energy.
Yes, Nero, Augustus, Masinissa
and you, great Caesar...
I thank you for your counsel.
I shall put down on paper
any reminiscences...
which spring to mind.
Thus shall I once again
live my life.
We begin with a great November
afternoon...
one which I have never forgotten.
There were many others,
better and worse...
but that one...
has never died out in my spirit.
Reading this you will understand.
THE ACCUSATION
Dona Gl?ria, will you persist
in this idea...
of sending little Bento
to the seminary?
It's high time. And now
there may be a difficulty.
What difficulty?
The difficulty is right there next door.
Those P?duas.
The P?duas?
Jos? Dias had been our
houseguest for many years.
THE HOUSEGUEST
My parents were still
at the ranch in Itagua?,
just after I was born.
One day he came introducing
himself as a homeopathic doctor.
And cured a foreman
and a slave...
without accepting anything
in return.
My father suggested he
stay on, with a small wage.
Jos? Dias refused.
He returned a fortnight later.
When my father became a congressman
and moved to Rio de Janeiro
with the family,
he came with us.
Uncle Cosme, who was a lawyer,
entrusted him with copying legal papers.
Jos? Dias...
The P?duas?
I've been meaning to tell you for
some time but I hadn't the courage.
It doesn't seem right that
little Bento loiters about so much
with Tartaruga's daughter.
That's the difficulty.
If they fall in love, you'll
have a terrible fight
separating them.
I doubt it.
Loitering about?
Just in a manner of speaking.
Being secretive, always together.
Bento hardly ever goes anywhere else.
The girl's a wild one. The father
pretends he doesn't notice.
He'd like things to progress
so that...
Please!
l understand your gesture.
You don't believe in such
calculating minds.
You think everyone's soul
is pure.
Jos? Dias, I have watched
the children playing...
and have never seen anything
to make me suspicious.
Bento is hardly fifteen.
Capitu was fourteen last week,
they're both little children.
And anyway, remember they've
been brought up together...
since the great flood ten
years ago...
in which the P?dua family lost
so much.
That is how we know them.
Brother Cosme, what do you
think?
UNCLE COSME
Uncle Cosme had lived with
my mother since her widowhood.
He was already a widower,
as was cousin Justina.
Ours was the house
of the three widows.
He was a lawyer.
Criminal cases.
They say as a lad
he was a ladies' man,
as well as highly eligible.
But the years sapped
his political and sexual ardor...
and his flab finished off the rest
of his public and specific
ideas.
Now he simply carried out
his work obligations,
with no love.
Brother Cosme, what do you
think?
Where's the backgammon?
l think you're mistaken,
Jos? Dias.
l only hope you're right.
But be sure l wouldn't have spoken
without examining things closely.
In any case...
In any case, it's high time.
I'll see he's sent to the seminary
as soon as possible.
Oh, if you insist on him becoming
a priest...
Bento will have to satisfy
his mother's wishes..
Furthermore, the Brazilian Church
is destined for great things.
Don't let's forget that a bishop
presided over the Constitution...
and the Father Feij? governed
the Empire.
And governed dreadfully, at that!
Forgive me, sir, I wasn't
defending anyone,
just citing.
What I'm trying to say is the clergy
still plays an important role in Brazil.
What you need is a return game.
Go on, fetch the backgammon.
Regarding Bento, if he really must
become a priest...
he shouldn't keep holding mass
behind closed doors.
Listen here, sister Gl?ria...
is it really necessary
to make him a priest?
It's a vow. l must fulfill it.
l know it's a vow.
But that sort of vow...
well, you know...
What do you think, cousin Justina?
Me?!
Yes! Oh, the truth is, we each know
what's best for oneself.
But God knows for everyone.
What's wrong, Gl?ria?
Are you crying?
Come on, is this a matter
for tears?
Cousin Gl?ria!
If I'd known, l wouldn't
have spoken.
l spoke out of veneration,
esteem, affection...
to fulfill a bitter duty.
An extremely
bitter duty!
Jos? Dias loved
superlatives.
It was a way of giving
ideas a monumental air.
And in the absence of ideas he was at
least able to prolong his sentences.
But to return to that
afternoon in November...
which was when my life began.
Everything which came
before was like a rehearsal.
This was where my opera would begin.
ON THE VERANDA
There, on the veranda,
was the best part of the crisis.
The sensation of a new pleasure
wrapping itself around me...
made me shudder and poured forth
l know not which inner balm.
Capitu!
Will there be mass today?
Handsome boy!
Flower.
Your hair is so lovely.
Yours is much lovelier.
You're crazy!
Did you dream about me last night?
No.
Well I dreamed we went up
Corcovado in the air...
then we danced on the moon and
some angels came and asked...
our names to give them to other
angels who had just been born.
My dreams are lovelier
than yours.
They were.
Your dreams are as lovely as you.
She blushed bright red.
So does that mean I loved Capitu
and Capitu loved me?
THE INSCRIPTION
Capitu!
Yes, mother!
Come here!
What is it, mother?
Stop picking holes in the wall,
dear. Come here!
BENTO
CAPITOLINA
What's the matter?
Me? Nothing.
Yes there is, something is wrong.
What's the matter?
Some news.
News? Of what?
l thought of telling her
l was going to the seminary...
and look closely at her reaction.
Well?
You know.
If she was disappointed,
it meant she really liked me.
If not, then she didn't.
Bento Capitolina...
We said nothing.
The wall spoke for us.
l knew the rules of writing,
without suspecting those of love.
l had orgies of Latin and was
a virgin regarding women.
Are you playing the staring game?
Capitu!
I'm here, father!
Don't ruin the plaster
on the wall.
Your portrait, father.
Playing the staring game,
were you?
Yes, indeed, but Bento laughs
so quickly, he can't help it.
When I came to the door
he wasn't laughing.
He'd laughed other times.
He can't help it.
Want to see?
It's because you're here, father.
Who'd have thought this little
thing was 14.
She looks 17.
THE REPLACEMENT ADMINISTRATOR
P?dua was employed
at a government office.
He didn't earn much,
but life was cheap.
Also, the house where
he lived was his property.
One day, the administrator
at the office where P?dua worked...
had to go up north
on business.
P?dua became
the administrator's replacement...
with the respective
salary.
This change in habits rather
went to his head.
Not content with reforming
his clothing and the kitchen...
he launched into making superfluous
purchases, gave his wife jewelry,
was seen at the theater
shiny shoes here we come!
He lived like that for 22 months
imagining it an Eternal Substitution.
The office administrator has
returned from the North.
I'll have to return the post,
the wages...
I'll just be a simple government
employee again!
P?dua! P?dua!
Oh my God! P?dua!
I'll not bear such
a disgrace.
What will the neighbors say?
Our friends? The general public?
What general public, P?dua?
Come on, get up!
You must be a man, the head of a family...
you must emulate your wife,
your daughter.
She looks 17.
Is your mother well?
Yes.
I haven't seen her for days.
I've been doing office work
at home.
I have to write reports
every night.
Have you seen my euphonia bird?
Come and see, Bento!
Come and see, come on!
I sensed I couldn't speak
clearly.
My sight was now baffling me.
BIBLE-BASHER GOD-LOVER
CHURCH-ADDICT
This vow goes back to before
I was born.
Since her first baby was stillborn,
my mother picked a quarrel with God.
and promised that if I survived
she'd make a priest of me.
Perhaps she expected a girl.
Not even my father knew.
She was going to tell him when I started
school, but was widowed before.
And she's so devout...
but I don't want to!
l don't want to go to a seminary!
l won't go, it's no use
insisting.
l won't go!
l swear I don't want to become a priest.
May l find no light at death's
door if I go to the seminary!
Bible-basher! God-lover!
Church-addict!
When her husband died
she might have returned to Itagua?.
She didn't want to,
preferring to stay close to the church
where my father was buried.
She sold the little ranch
and was allowed to remain
at the Matacavalos house.
In that year of grace of 1857...
Dona Maria da Gl?ria Fernandes
Santiago was 42 years old.
She was still pretty,
but insisted on hiding what remained
of her youthfulness,
that l'II not go to the seminary
for anything in the world.
You?
You'll go.
No I won't.
Capitu liked my mother so much,
and my mother liked her...
l couldn't understand such
an outburst.
It is true that she also liked me...
and more, naturally.
But the impropriety...
how to understand that she
call her such ugly names?
She also attended mass, and three or
four times my mother took her.
And she gave her a rosary
and a gold cross.
So why would Jos? Dias remind
her of it?
For no reason.
Just to make trouble.
He's a bad sort.
But let it be, Capitu,
I'll get my own back.
When I'm head of the house
he'll be out on the street...
you'll see, Capitu!
And I made other threats.
Youth and childhood aren't ridiculous...
in such moments,
it is one of their privileges.
At 15, there is a certain delight
in threatening a great deal...
and carrying out nothing.
Coconut candy! Coconut candy!
Coconut candy!
Weep, little girl, weep
For you haven't a cent
Coconut candy! Coconut candy!
- Any candy today, miss?
- No.
- It's delicious.
- Go away.
I'll have some.
Weep, little girl, weep
For you haven't a cent
Weep, little girl, weep
A PLAN
If I were rich, you'd run away,
take a steamer to Europe.
We have to consider the people
we can rely on.
-Uncle Cosme.
-No. He's living it up.
He may not approve
of your taking vows,
but he's not capable of doing
anything against her.
Yes, but that would be too obvious.
Something else.
Jos? Dias!
- What of Jos? Dias?
- He could be a good ally.
But it was he who said...
No matter, now he'll say
something else.
He really likes you.
Don't be so shy with him.
You shouldn't be scared.
Capitu insisted that I ask
him politely, as if asking...
a glass of water from someone
who's duty it was to bring it.
Show him who's going to be
head of the household.
Suggest that it is not a favor
and flatter him, he loves that.
Dona Gl?ria pays attention
to what he says,
and since he must serve you, he'll
speak with far more warmth...
than anyone else.
I'm not sure, Capitu.
-Then go to the seminary.
-No, not that.
There's no harm in trying.
Go on, ask, order!
Look, tell him you're ready to study
Law in São Paulo.
I trembled with pleasure.
São Paulo was a fragile partition
to be removed one day,
instead of a thick
spiritual and eternal wall.
l promised to speak to
Jos? Dias as proposed.
A THOUSAND LORD'S PRAYERS AND
A THOUSAND HAIL MARY'S
l promised to pray a thousand Lord's
Prayers and a thousand Hail Mary's...
if Jos? Dias managed to prevent
my being sent to the seminary.
It was an enormous sum.
l keep accumulating
unfulfilled vows.
Ever since l was littie I always
asked the heavens for favors...
in exchange for reciting prayers
should they come true.
l recited the first ones, then put off
the others and as they piled up
they were gradually forgotten.
So l arrived at the numbers
twenty, thirty, fifty...
l arrived at hundreds
and now thousands.
A thousand.
I lost count.
The stakes were now enormous
nothing less than salvation...
or the shipwreck of
my whole existence.
A thousand, a thousand,
a thousand!
An amount was needed
to pay for all those in arrears.
Order a hundred masses.
Or climb the hill at Gl?ria
on my knees.
Go to the Holy Land.
All the famous vows the old slave
women told me about.
Hail Mary, full of grace...
...anything to save me.
COUSIN JUSTINA
The life of a priest is a fine one.
It's fine, but what I ask you is
whether you'd like to be a priest.
I want what mother
wants.
Cousin Gl?ria wishes very much
for you to take your vows.
But even if she didn't there's
someone here at the house...
who has put it into her head.
Who?
Who?! Who do you think?!
Not Cousin Cosme,
who doesn't care.
And it's not me.
Jos? Dias?
Of course. Only today he
reminded her of the vow.
With time, Cousin Gl?ria may end up
forgetting the vow.
But how to forget with
someone always going on about
the seminary to you?
And the lectures he gives her,
praising the Church...
the life of the priest is this
and that...
with all those words only he knows,
all those mannerisms.
Mark my words, he's up to no good
because he's about as religious as...
that lamp.
Jos? Dias is a schemer, a flatterer,
a speculator...
and in spite of that polite shell,
uncouth.
Cousin Justina, would you be able
to do something?
Of what?
Would you be able... supposing
I didn't wish to become a priest...
could you ask mother...
Not that! This matter is firmly in
Cousin Gl?ria's mind...
and nothing in the world can
change her resolve,
only time.
When you were tiny she was
already telling everyone.
l won't remind her, l don't like
contributing...
to the misfortune of others.
OTHERS' FEELINGS
I got no further, and afterwards
regretted asking her.
l should have followed
Capitu's advice,
Justina detained me a little, talked
about the heat...
and the upcoming Conception
celebrations and, finally, Capitu.
She didn't speak ill of her,
she insinuated...
that she might become a pretty
young woman, praised her manners.
l think cousin Justina found in
the spectacle of strange feelings...
the vague resurrection of her own.
Pleasure can be derived by
the lips doing the narrating.
Come ye again,
restless shadows.
THE TIME IS SET
l must speak to you tomorrow, without
fail. Choose where and let me know.
Tomorrow I have some shopping
to do, you may go with me...
I'll ask your mother.
Do you have your class?
Class was today.
I see.
I won't ask what it is, it appears
to be a serious matter.
Yes, sir.
Till tomorrow.
Bravo!
Bravo! Bravo!