Black Magic Page #2

Faculty of Medicine.

My name is Franz Anton Mesmer.

I don't need a doctor.

Do you need a doctor?

Do you need a doctor?

We don't need a doctor.

Gentlemen, if you escape

it'll cost me 200...

We don't need a doctor to escape.

- And we escape from...

- You are released.

Released on bail

on my own personal security,

and on your honor.

Honor?

Doctor, you flatter us.

Joseph Balsamo had captured

the interest of Dr. Mesmer

who was striving in vain

for the scientific recognition

of his great discovery,

the curative powers of hypnotism.

Joseph, without knowing it,

for years you have

been practicing hypnotism.

- Hypnotism?

- Yes.

I've never even heard of the word.

Very few have.

But it's an art which was forgotten

when the world grew old.

Tell me, Joseph, are there many more

amongst your people

who've got that power of...

of healing?

- My mother had it.

- Yes?

They said she was a witch,

so they hanged her.

And you loved her very deeply?

Why talk about it?

Because I think that from its strong bond

of love and sympathy

you've inherited those magnetic powers.

Now, this afternoon, that woman with fire

consuming her throat, she was in agony

until you told her that everything

was well and looked into her eyes.

And the pain passed.

It was only in her mind.

But most of the illnesses in this world

start in the mind.

Joseph, and that is where

hypnotism comes in.

I don't know how far

this power in you is developed.

But I think that you can do much more

than I ever dreamed of.

Wait.

By this time, Joseph was thinking

and wondering

if these things Dr. Mesmer

was saying could be true.

His cunning gypsy mind was already

starting to weigh the possibilities.

My dear Baron, forgive me

for having kept you waiting so long.

Please, do come into the study.

I'm very glad you have decided

to come at last.

- How are you?

- How am I?

Can't you see that by yourself?

I'm shaking to pieces

before your eyes.

The Baron von Minden

is suffering of palsy.

I say who, who, who is this fellow?

This is my new assistant,

Joseph Balsamo.

I think he can cure you.

He looks like a thief.

Yes, but you must look into his eyes.

Look into his eyes.

He's got the eyes of a thief.

Self-assured as always,

Joseph was ready

to try anything once.

What had he to lose?

What's wrong with him?

I'm shaking. Can't you see it?

I'm full of pain, full of ills.

How dare you?

Sit down, sit down.

Be quiet.

Look me in the eyes.

Forget your palsy.

Your palsy.

New life, new life.

Is coursing up your limbs,

up your arms, up your legs.

New life, new life, new life.

Your head stopped

shaking already, Baron.

You can feel new life steeling up

through your legs.

Through your arm, down your hand.

They are shaking less and less.

And less and less.

Until they are absolutely still.

Still.

See for yourself.

They are still!

They are still!

They are still.

Look at them, Mesmer.

- I'm cu red.

- Yes.

I'm cured.

Thanks to this remarkable fellow.

Here's 500 crowns in this purse.

We don't want this kind of payment.

Nonsense, nonsense.

If there is anything else you want,

just let me know.

Just let me know.

Have you convinced yourself?

If it worked on him, it might work on...

Anybody.

Is it a partnership?

What's in it for me?

The gratitude of generations unborn.

Joseph, no faculty of medicine

will give us a read.

None.

But you and I, we can conquer man's

greatest enemy, himself.

It can be hard to make such a decision.

Oh, I've made my decision.

- Good night.

- I knew I could count on you.

I must get home and show

what this remarkable fellow

has done for me.

Thank you.

Thank you, Joseph.

Joseph had decided,

and now he was thinking...

If this power could work with the Baron,

it would work with others.

And the Baron had paid 500 crowns.

A remarkable fellow.

My very best to the Baroness.

- Goodnight, Baron.

- Yes, yes, goodnight.

Joseph.

Joseph! Joseph.

Joseph!

Gitano. Gitano, it's Joseph.

Oh, Joseph.

We've been waiting for you, darling,

for hours.

Now what's happened, Joseph?

What kept you there so long?

The gypsies are going south, Joseph,

into Italy.

- We will stay or go south?

- We are not staying.

- Our necks, Joseph.

- We are not going south either.

We are starting over again.

Not with a carnival and colored water,

but with a carriage and silks

and laces

and a flood of gold coins.

- Where did you get that?

- You think I stole it?

I earned it.

- Earned it?

- Oh, is he sick, Gitano?

- Are you sick?

- No, I'm not sick, but half the world is.

What are you getting at,

Joseph Balsamo?

Joseph Balsamo, no.

That was good enough

for a gypsy carnival faker,

but not for one who will be known

as the world's greatest wonder worker.

A healer possessed

of supernatural powers.

Divine, godlike.

No. Look.

The stars, far out in space,

there is a great comet.

My mother told me of it.

The swiftest comet in the skies.

It's called Cagliostro.

That night Joseph Balsamo was dead,

because Count Cagliostro

had just been born.

Cagliostro.

The eyes that streaked across Europe

like a meteor.

Cagliostro the healer the legend.

Wherever he went, the cripples,

the maimed,

the blind would flock

in the thousands to meet him,

to speak with him, to touch the hem

of his cloak as he passed.

Soon his name had become

a byword as he traveled

through the great cities of Europe.

A magnificent charlatan playing

on hysterical faith

and emotional instability.

Taking full advantage

of his little know gift of hypnotism

to sell himself as a god.

If they cheer you or lash you to death,

it's the same emotion.

Sometimes I feel we are walking

across the world on a tightrope.

Don't worry.

I won't fall off.

I know how to keep my balance.

Imperiled by memories of his youth,

Cagliostro dared to come back again

into France.

- Doctor.

- Are you, sir, the doctor?

Get out! I said get out.

There must be a real doctor

in this filthy village.

Doctor?

- Doctor?

- But here is the doctor.

He is the famous doctor,

the Count de Cagliostro.

You are a doctor?

You look more like a fortune teller,

a mountebank.

Well, sir, appearances

are notoriously deceptive.

For example, you look rather...

Rather like a gentleman.

No offense, but my service as a doctor

is at your disposal.

Perhaps you'd like to show me

your patients.

Well, follow me.

It seemed that fate had brought about

this unexpected meeting

with this man of hated memory,

the Vicomte DeMontagne.

There she is on the bed.

She has been lying like that for hours.

Well, well, get on with your business.

What was it? Shock?

I see that's none of my business.

I must ask you to leave me alone

with my patient.

Wen,

be quick about it.

Cagliostro sensed that this lovely girl

was a victim of sudden shock and terror.

Now listen.

Listen to my voice.

You can hear nothing,

think of nothing, but my voice.

Within your sleep you will hear my voice.

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