Jean De Florette Page #2

it was as thin as my finger!

Do you think a spring

like that can dry up?

Springs are like pretty girls.

Neglect them

and they leave you high and dry.

I saw a fig tree there last year.

So there's water there!

- There was water!

- But there are new shoots!

Just tend to your bar!

What do you know about springs?

I say this one's dry!

I say those trees are dead,

and that soil is rotten!

And I say I wouldn't take that land

if you gave it to me!

I haven't written for years.

Who are you writing to?

To Grafignette.

Who's that?

You don't know her.

She left before you were born.

When the boys tried to kiss her,

she'd scratch their faces.

She sharpened her nails to a point.

That's how she wound up an old maid.

Later on, she left to work

for the priest in Crespin.

She was Florette's best friend.

She can tell me all about her.

I've got an idea:

I'll go to see Florette in Crespin.

No, you won't!

If she knows you want her land,

she'll ask three times the price.

Besides... if she knows it's for us,

she'll say no.

Why?

That's the way she is.

What can we do then?

Nothing.

Florette won't come back.

As a young woman, she loved money.

She's probably worse now.

So she'll sell,

but no local farmer will buy.

They have too much land already.

A stranger might buy it.

What the hell for?

To grow vegetables or flowers,

like me!

- Without water?

- There's a spring.

- What if there was no spring?

- But there is one!

You poor fool.

Listen to my plan.

It's already half buried.

An accident could block it up.

What accident?

Let's say you pass by

with a load of cement.

You trip, you fall, and bang!

Your cement plugs up the opening!

Here it is!

Good God, it's ice cold!

- It's cold.

- Hurry up, you idiot!

Here's the hole!

Hand me the plug!

No, the little one!

A root is stuck here.

That's enough.

Remember I have to unblock it later!

- I heard a noise.

- Where?

In the house.

It's not Bouffigue's ghost,

just rats!

"Dear Csar,

"Will wonders never cease?

"After some 30 years,

you write to me about Florette

"and the postman delivers your letter

on the very day she died.

"I'd just finished laying her out.

"That's why I didn't answer sooner.

"I don't think she left much money.

Her husband died six years ago,

"and she lived on what he left.

"In any case, her son will inherit.

"His name is Jean Cadoret

and he must be about 35.

"He's a tax collector,

but I don't know where.

"The notary will surely locate him.

"Tax collectors

are never hard to find.

"He's married,

"but unfortunately, by God's will,

"he's a hunchback."

What if a villager

tells him about the spring?

Don't worry.

The villagers here don't meddle

in other people's business.

The way you wrecked that house,

any farmer seeing it

will just sit down and cry.

You're right!

He'll sell it.

A pen causes less blisters

than a pickaxe.

A farmer may grow a hump, but

a hunchback rarely becomes a farmer.

Who'd have thought that Florette

would give birth to a hunchback?

What do you think?

Look at the huge brambles.

The olive trees, the wild rosemary!

My God, it's beautiful!

What did I tell you?

Ancient Provence.

Zola's paradise!

Even lovelier than paradise!

Try sliding it down.

Hello, folks!

- Hello!

- Could you use some help?

Sure! We're trying to get it down

without dismantling it.

- You're very kind.

- Let's see what we can do.

Thank you.

Are you from Aubagne?

From Bastides, but I live nearby.

- You passed my house on the way up.

- So we're neighbours.

- Almost. I'm Ugolin Soubeyran.

- Delighted.

This one needs at least four men!

How'd you lift it?

We loaded the crate,

then put the tools in.

And now we'll do the reverse.

I've got enough tools here

to set up a real workshop.

Your wife sings beautifully,

even better than in church!

She's charmed many a listener.

She sang operas.

- In public?

- Yes, in concert halls.

My voice now is nothing like

what it was back then!

It must have been fantastic!

Glorious! Her best role was Manon.

That's why we've called

our daughter Manon.

It's a fine spot.

A tough climb,

but it's worth it. The air's pure.

Heaven on earth!

So you rented this old farm?

- I didn't rent it.

- You bought it?

I didn't buy it either,

but it's all mine.

Are you Jean de Florette?

I'm Jean, and my mother was Florette.

But my name is Jean Cadoret.

If you'd been born here,

it would be Jean de Florette.

What a lovely title for a song,

or even an opera!

You knew my mother?

No, but her brother Bouffigue

and I were good friends.

I drink to Mother Nature,

to these fragrant hills.

I drink to the crickets,

to the breeze.

To the ancient rocks.

I drink to the clear blue sky.

Good health!

Damn! They always do that!

So you're all here

on a little holiday...

A holiday that'll last until I die.

I want to live in peace

amongst these pine trees, happily,

as long as the Lord grants me life.

That's fine,

but what'll you do for water?

We have a cistern here!

It's small.

Unless it rains, it'll empty out.

I also own a spring.

What spring? Where?

It's marked on the land register.

Come and see.

Perhaps you can help me locate it.

See? This little circle is a well,

or a spring.

Where's Romarins?

Here.

The spring is about

a mile away,

at the end of the Plantier valley.

It belongs to us, too.

I know the place!

It's over that hill.

It's a big climb to the spring.

The water's good,

but it's just a trickle.

Is it far from here?

About an hour's walk.

We'd only need to go once a week.

Our Sunday walk!

A Piedmontese woodcutter

and his wife live in the grotto.

The wife, Baptistine,

is a sort of witch.

But they're nice, and keep it clean.

But you can throw them out.

God forbid! If they're happy there,

let them stay.

We'll go there soon:

this water problem is serious.

No need to hurry.

For now, my well is full

and you're welcome

to a few buckets a day.

I accept your generous offer.

You may be wondering

why I decided to settle here.

Yes, why did you?

It's because I'm convinced

I can only be truly happy

if I return to nature.

I'm here to cultivate the authentic!

The Othentic?

I want to grow my own vegetables,

savour oil from my olive trees,

swallow eggs from my hens

and wine from my own vines!

That'll take time!

Those olive trees are growing wild.

It'll take three years to revive them.

The same for the vines.

But vegetables

can't grow without water.

We'll see!

Thanks to the legacy

my thrifty mother left me,

we have enough to live on

for at least three years!

Three years!

In the meantime, I have big plans!

Thanks again.

I must get to work at once.

I noticed the roof leaks

in several spots.

Good luck then!

We've got energy to spare.

What's he like?

Like a city hunchback.

- A city type?

- And how!

Watch your step.

He may be a city chump,

but hunchbacks

are often smarter than us.

What'll he grow?

"Othentics". Lots of Othentics!

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