Embrace of the Serpent

---

"I can not know if the infinite

jungle has begun in me"

the process that drove so many

others to incurable madness.

If this is the case, I can only ask for

your forgiveness and understanding,

for I cannot find the words to express

the beauty and splendor

to which I bore witness

during those magical hours.

"I know only that I

returned a different man."

Theodore of Martius, Amazon, 1909.

Yukuna?

Tukano?

Wanano?

- Kobeu?

- Go away.

Go away!

Are you Karamate, the mover of worlds?

What do you want?

I am Manduca, son of

Ribukuri, from Komeilemong.

- I am a river Bara.

- I know the Baras.

They surrendered to the

white man without a fight.

Begone with this devil!

This is Theodor Von Martius,

My friend and travel companion.

He is very sick.

All the shamans have tried to

cure him but have all failed.

We were told you are the

only one who can help us.

I am not like you.

I don't help whites.

He is a wise man, who came to learn.

He will die if you do not help!

Where did you find this?

Drop it!

Where did you find this?

What?

The necklace!

It was a gift from a Cohiuano shaman.

Liar!

The Cohiuanos no longer exist!

Yes, they do.

I stayed with them a few years ago.

Liar!

Aympari.

I'm not lying. Some of them live

of the banks of the river Yari.

They are only a few, but they still exist.

The Cohiuanos no longer exist.

You killed them all.

I will not help him.

It's alright, Manduca. It's alright.

It's alright.

Only the Yakruna can save you.

If the Cohiuanos still

exist, they will have some.

Otherwise, you will die.

This plant can cure me?

My people still exist?

The jungle is fragile, and if

you attack, she retaliates.

She will let us pass

only if we show respect.

We must not eat meat or fish

until it rains again

and must ask permission from

the Master of the animals.

We must not cut any buds.

And not make love with a

woman until the new moon.

Do you agree to this?

Theo, you're in no condition to travel.

I will not die here.

Do you agree?

You better be telling the truth.

This remedy will only

alleviate the disease.

It will return with force.

It is true. I have met them.

The Serpent's Embrace.

Tukano?

Andoke?

Karihona?

Muin?

Can you see me?

40 years ago, this man,

Theodor Von Martius,

came here and wrote about the plant I seek.

I want to know if what he wrote is true.

I have dedicated my life to plants.

You have dedicated your life to plants?

It's the most sensible thing I

have ever heard a white man say.

My name is Evan.

My name was Karamakate.

I went down the river from the

village of the Wanano people.

I'm looking for a plant. The Yakruna.

What plant is this?

I know very little about it.

I am not sure it exists.

I want to study it.

Von Martius described it as a

sacred plant that cures diseases.

It grows on the rubber plant and

increases its purity level.

Is that why you seek it?

Is it mambe?

Do you like our coca?

You want to bring back the Yakruna?

I can pay you, if you help me.

It's a lot of money.

Ants like money.

I do not. It tastes bad.

I have never dreamed.

Neither in my sleep nor awake.

Even the caapi has no effect on me.

The Baras shamans, the

Tukanos, and the Sirianos

all told that only the Yakruna

can help me.

I once dreamed of a white man's spirit.

He was sick

and could only be saved

by learning to dream,

but he could not.

Your dreams, are they worth a lot of money?

Do you know where to find the Yakruna?

Do you have more mambe?

I have a little coca.

What is wrong?

I forgot about the mambe.

Now I do not know how to prepare it.

What do you know about the Yakruna?

Where can it be found?

You are not one man.

You are two.

I want to see the Yakruna.

I will go with you.

Do you know the way?

I do not remember.

Did you do all this?

What do they mean?

I do not know. I do not remember.

These stones used to talk to me.

They would answer my questions.

The line is broken, the memories are gone.

Stones, trees, animals, have fallen silent.

Now there is only the

drawings on the rocks.

Now I am an empty body. A chullachaqui.

This seems a like a drawing of the Yakruna.

These are mountains.

A mountain range.

It is the "Dwelling of the Gods".

It is there, that the Yakruna is.

How could I forget the gifts

of the Gods?

I have forgotten how to prepare mambe.

What has become of me?

We have too much weight.

We need to get rid of the boxes.

No, they are mine. I need them.

They will sink us. Throw them out.

All these things are useful.

Look, if you want.

It's not him. It's his chullachaqui.

What?

It looks like him. But it isn't.

It's a photo.

The same happened to us. We

turned into Chullachaquis.

Have you met him?

Do you know how he is?

Is he old like me?

No,

he died in this jungle.

He never returned from his expedition.

How did he give you this?

Manduca, his traveling companion,

sent his notes and letters to Germany.

They were published there.

Manduca, what do we have

to exchange for food?

Very little.

Amazing.

Come.

Are you alright?

Are you better?

Did you find the mover of worlds?

His name is Karamakate.

He has agreed to help.

I must respect the prohibitions.

You need strength to travel. You can eat.

Can I?

After Cuduyar, how did I get to Yari?

By following the Uraricoera

river to Rio Igara.

What star is that?

That which is visible at sunset there.

Over there?

What is it?

A compass.

It always points

to the star Auakaruna.

The needle is attracted by the

magnetic field of the Earth.

Why?

It always points to where the

Earth's energy indicates.

- Theo, sing your song!

- No! Not again!

Manduca, I will not sing alone.

Sing with me!

Come.

Who are you?

How can you live alone

in a jungle like this?

Manduca,

do you have the compass?

Did you forget it at the village?

Did one of you take my compass?

Give it back.

Give it back, thieves!

Which one of you took it? Give it back.

Leave it, Theo.

I will not leave a compass here, Manduca.

Tuschaua, tell them to give back.

Please Tuschaua, I need it.

I will not exchange it.

Please return it.

Please Tuschaua, I need it.

Come on.

I told you, I cannot leave my compass here.

What is it?

You're like the other whites.

They orient themselves based

on the wind and stars.

If they learn to use a compass,

this knowledge will be lost.

You can not forbid them to learn.

Knowledge belongs to all.

You are white, you do not understand.

All right?

Leave it all.

They are just things.

No.

Why do white me love their things so?

There are not just things.

They are my only connection to

my people in Germany, my city,

my wife, my children. These boxes contain

all the knowledge gathered

in four years of travel.

I must return with them, or...

no one will believe me. To leave

them is to leave everything.

You are crazy.

I know.

The Caucheros (rubber

barons) have marked you?

Yes, but now I'm a free man.

It was here that the anaconda

came down from the Milky Way.

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