A Talking Picture

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A TALKING PICTURE

"In July 2001, a little girl crosses

thousands of years of civilization,

along with her mother,

a distinguished history professor,

while on their way to meet her father. "

Look at this mist.

What a pity.

If it gets worse, you won't be able to see

the monument to the Discoveries.

We're getting closer.

Can you see it?

It was built to commemorate

the events and honor the sailors.

Can you see the man

in front of all the other figures?

- The one with the wide-brimmed hat.

- Yes, who is he?

Prince Henry, the moving force

behind the Discoveries.

- What did they do?

- What did they do?

They found new lands...

sailing hitherto unexplored waters.

An enterprise that the prince

had prepared for well.

Look.

This one is older.

It was the first monument,

built to commemorate

the glorious feat

of the discovery of

the sea route to India

by an expedition

led by Vasco da Gama.

How strange.

This mist reminds me of the myth

of King Sebastian.

What is a myth?

Myths are imaginary stories

based on certain events,

like the one of King Sebastian,

whom they called "the shrouded one. "

People believe he will return

on a misty morning like this.

Who was King Sebastian?

He was a Portuguese king

who wished to convert

the world to the Christian faith.

He began his quest

by leading his men to war

in a bid to conquer the Moors,

who had a different religion.

What war?

A war that took place

in Alcacer-Quibir in Africa

and that went down in history

as the War of the Three Kings,

for the three kings who died there.

It's assumed that one of them

was King Sebastian.

Dead or not, he did in fact disappear

after the Portuguese defeat.

The Portuguese people

continued to believe -

and this is a famous legend

and also a Muslim belief-

that one day a shrouded figure

would emerge from the mist,

riding a white horse.

And will he really?

There are those who believe he will,

but it's only a myth.

If he comes back, will he arrive

at this place that we're leaving from?

That I can't say,

but if he's on horseback,

it's likely he'll arrive by land.

Where we are leaving from

is the site from where the caravels set sail,

accompanied by mermaids.

What are mermaids?

They're another myth.

They are half fish, half women,

and they swam alongside the ships

to encourage the sailors...

to explore the great unknown.

That city we can just barely see

from here is Ceuta.

It was taken from the Moors

by the Portuguese

- more than 500 years ago.

- Why?

Because the Portuguese ships

were attacked in these waters.

- So the city is ours?

- No, not any longer.

I know why.

Because of the Revolution of April 25th?

No, no.

Ceuta was lost many centuries ago.

The Revolution of April 25th

took place only a short while ago.

And that's another story.

Shall we go?

Good morning.

Welcome to Marseille.

Just a moment.

Good morning.

Welcome to Marseille.

Look, Joana.

Undo his leash.

How much are your fish?

Thanks, and good-bye.

Hello. Is this where

the fishermen unload their fish?

This is where we sell it fresh.

- Does your little dog moor the boat?

- He helps me moor it.

He's a fisherman.

I can see that.

He is a fisherman.

- What's his name?

- Sooty.

Apart from Sooty,

do you have any more family?

I have a son and a daughter,

but my daughter lives in Paris.

- So they don't live with you?

- No, they don't.

- What about your wife?

- She died three years ago.

- So you're alone.

- With Sooty.

I see. I'm Portuguese.

I'm on a cruise.

- This is my first time in Marseille.

- Ah, your first time.

But I've already

had the bouillabaisse.

- Was it good?

- Yes. Maria Joana.

Did you like the fish soup

we had for lunch?

I loved it.

Mommy, ask him the dog's name.

Sooty.

Oh, Sooty.

And what's your name?

Me? I'm John.

That's funny.

That's my husband's name.

My daughter and I

are off to see him.

So where is he?

In Bombay.

We're going on vacation.

He's an airline pilot.

Are you going by ship?

Yes. It's a bit complicated.

Speaking of ships,

I don't see any tankers here.

Doesn't most of the oil

arrive in Marseille?

Yes, that's true.

There are lots of tankers,

but they're some nine miles off the coast.

And there are oil reserves

in case of war.

And reserves for cars,

which are a real plague.

They really are a plague, as you say.

We can't live without oil these days.

We can't turn the clock back.

Well, I must go.

- Thank you for your information.

- Not at all.

Look at what's written on the ground.

"Here, in about 600 BC,

Greek sailors landed from Phoenicia,

a Greek city in Asia Minor. "

It says here that this place

was founded by the Greeks

many years ago.

They founded Marseille,

the cradle of civilization.

That means it was the Greeks

who spread civilization

to other countries.

Delphine?

- What a surprise!

- It certainly is!

- Do you want to come aboard?

- I can't. I'm just seeing some friends off.

- Do I know them?

- No, they're just tourists.

- Have a good trip.

- Bye.

- See that castle over there?

- Yes.

- Legend has it...

- What's a legend?

Legends are like fables.

They're invented stories,

like the muses who inspired poets...

or mermaids.

Were they like the fish-women

of the Tagus?

Yes, but bird-women

were even more ancient.

Muses or mermaids

are imaginary beings,

invented to explain certain events.

- Listen to this story I'm going to tell you.

- Tell me.

- You see that castle there?

- Yes.

Many, many years ago,

there was no castle.

There was a beach where

an exhausted mermaid sought refuge

after chasing the boat

of Ulysses, the warrior king.

Before she died, she left an egg

on the site where the castle stands today.

- Can we go and see it?

- No, darling.

The egg is also a legend, and it's said

that the egg lies under the castle,

in a golden cage.

That's why it's called

the Castle of the Egg.

This story was told

by the great Latin poet Virgil,

who liked the story of King Ulysses

and said, in memory

of Ulysses' voyage,

"As long as the the egg exists,

Naples will thrive and prosper. "

And now?

Now we're going back to the taxi,

because I want to show you

Vesuvius and Pompeii.

That mountain peak is Vesuvius,

perhaps the most famous of all volcanoes.

What's a volcano?

A volcano's like that mountain

that has a hole on top

and spits out fire and ash.

- But it isn't spitting out fire now.

- No, it isn't now.

But more than 2,000 years ago,

it buried the city in ash.

What city?

Pompeii,

the city we're about to visit.

The air was so thick

with ash and poisonous gases

that the people couldn't breathe.

- Did they die?

- Yes, every one of them.

It seemed like divine punishment

for a people who had lived a sinful life.

What is a sinful life?

That's what you call it

when people do bad and wicked things.

- So it was punishment from heaven?

- Some people say so.

These are catastrophes

that man can do nothing about.

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