Jean De Florette

1

Papet!

Papet, it's me... Ugolin!

It's Ugolin!

It's me!

It's you, Galinette!

You're back!

I'll come down!

No, just throw me the key!

I'll be right down.

What a surprise!

- You're out of the army!

- At last!

- Come in and eat.

- Not now.

I was boozing all night!

Come back for supper.

Ok, I'll see you later!

No, that's enough.

She's asking if you want more.

Thanks.

When I die, you'll live here.

The Soubeyran farm will be yours.

Meanwhile, you must fix up

your place on the hill.

Later, you can rent it to a farmer

or leave it to your kids.

- For that, I'd need a wife.

- Why not?

Lots of girls around here

would love to marry a Soubeyran.

There's Chabert's daughter.

I bet if you tried...

I've no mule:
I use yours.

I've no hens or goats:

they're too much trouble.

I don't wear socks: they itch.

So what do I want a wife for?

What about love?

Whenever I'm in Aubagne,

I step into the Bird Cage.

For 15 francs a month,

I can choose any girl I like.

That's enough for me.

You don't want to wind up

a bachelor like me.

I want to see your kids before I die.

Why didn't you ever get married?

I have to make some money

before I take on a wife.

Do you have any plans?

Maybe.

I have an idea for you.

I've figured it all out.

The plans and what it'll cost.

What is it?

Restoring the Soubeyran orchard.

The whole Solitaire plateau.

Like it was in my father's day:

200 fig trees, 200 plum trees,

200 almond trees.

1,000 trees in all.

In rows, ten yards apart!

As beautiful as a church.

All the farmers passing by

will cross themselves.

We already have

so much excess fruit,

we often feed it to the pigs.

I have another idea.

You're my only kin, boy.

I'll help you if I can.

Tell me, what's your idea?

It's a secret.

Is that you, Papet?

You can't go on like this!

You live like a caveman.

I haven't seen you in a fortnight.

This house is a pigsty.

Look at this place!

It stinks to high heaven!

What do you do all day?

Tell me!

Just calm down.

I want to show you something.

Is this your big secret?

Fooling around with flowers?

What do you say?

Very nice!

They're Imperials.

Good stems.

What's your offer?

Well, if this was February,

I might have given you...

50 cents.

But the season's almost over.

So let's say...

20 cents.

All right?

All right!

You were right

about the flowers, boy.

But why the big secret?

I wanted to see

if the soil was right first.

I knew you'd understand

on seeing them.

It's not the flowers I understood,

but what the florist paid!

- What'll a real set-up cost?

- 15,000.

- You've got it.

- You're too generous!

Not really. It's not just for you,

but for all Soubeyrans,

including those to come.

If her nose was her ass,

she'd drop dead!

So would we!

There's one problem.

What's that?

- The water.

- What water?

Carnations need a lot of water.

My hands are raw

from hauling up the water bucket.

We can install a cistern.

If we water 500 plants,

it'll be empty in 4 days.

That's a real problem.

We could dig a big reservoir

that would store all the rainwater.

What if it doesn't rain?

We need to find a field

near a natural water source.

How about buying

Bouffigue's field and spring

up at Romarins?

Is that spring still alive?

My father told me it'd dried up.

It's blocked up with rubble.

Years ago,

a nice stream flowed from it.

Old man Camoins grew

loads of vegetables there.

I bet we could unblock it

with a pickaxe.

Think he'd sell his farm?

Not the house,

but maybe the field and spring.

He never uses them.

Maybe if we offer him money...

How are you, Marius?

None of your damn business!

Why be nasty?

Are you mad at me?

Neither mad nor glad.

I've got no use for you!

You may feel that way but I don't,

since I'm here to see you.

You're here because

you want something from me!

Right, but I also want

to give you something.

I don't need anything.

Not even to talk:

it gets on my nerves!

Just hear me out, Marius.

If you'll sell me your property,

not the house,

just the field and the hill,

I'll pay you well.

What a nerve!

D'you think I'd sell my property?

Look at these thousand-franc bills!

Go to hell!

Goddamn you Soubeyran rats!

Don't yell like that or you'll choke.

And don't insult the Soubeyrans,

or I'll get real mad!

He's just kidding!

Shut up, you halfwit punk!

I'll show you what I think

of the Soubeyrans!

Lousy bastards! Pigs! Lying crooks!

Come down here!

- Let's hope he's not dead!

- Why not?

Falling out of a tree can kill a man.

So much for my carnations.

Too bad. It was a perfect spot.

But if he croaks,

his heirs will sell the farm.

We could buy it for peanuts.

- Let's finish him off!

- No! Someone might have seen us.

You see, boy?

Never lose faith in miracles!

Why not shave him in his bed?

I never shave anyone lying down.

Not even a corpse.

Where are those two going?

It's over here.

See?

The spring was by the fig tree.

Don't look back!

Old man Camoins had dug a trench

that went down

to the end of the field there.

That way,

the water just ran downhill.

Understand?

Look at my foot.

See how soggy the ground is?

The water's blocked,

but it'd be easy to release it.

That fool let it all go to waste!

Wait a minute!

When we were hunting once,

before he went nuts, he said:

"My gun is my only friend.

I want it buried with me."

A dead man's wishes are sacred!

Do you know if it's loaded?

I didn't look.

You can't tell with a Hammerless.

I bet it's loaded with buckshot.

He kept it loaded

on account of the wild boars.

It could be dangerous.

It's got a hair trigger.

A jolt could set it off!

- Maybe he set the safety catch?

- Not him!

- So you're the heir.

- No. We were only distant cousins.

But you'll get something.

No, it'll all go

to his sister, Florette.

Is she still alive?

Why not?

She's younger than you!

But I heard her husband died.

Who's this Florette?

Florette de Berengre,

old Camoins' daughter.

The pretty one.

Your uncle knew her well.

Isn't that so, Csar?

Where is she?

In Crespin. She married Lionel,

the blacksmith there.

Did you go to her wedding?

No. I was in a military hospital

in Africa.

I came back too late.

I'll write to tell her

her brother's dead.

If she's alive,

she'll claim the estate.

Yes, she's the heiress.

Some inheritance!

I don't agree.

The house is still in good shape.

- It has plenty of olive trees.

- They're rotting away!

They just need a tickle with a pickaxe.

Sure, that way they'll die laughing!

It never rains on that land.

You hear the storm coming close,

but, at the ridge,

the clouds split in two

and it rains on the other side.

The valley side

just gets a few drops.

Maybe so,

but it so happens there's

a spring on Bouffigue's land.

- There was a tiny spring.

- No, it was a big one.

My pa showed it to me

when I was a little kid.

It was a really big stream.

You were either a baby,

or it had just rained...

When I saw it 30 years ago,

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