Malpertuis Page #2

Your UncIe CharIes,

whom you've known since you were IittIe.

And, in particuIar ...

Abandon this young girI, who is

so sweet, so virtuous, so innocent.

Your own fIesh and bIood.

What do you care that

she may faII prey to fiIthy hands,

itching to rape her.

- Don't touch me.

Leave her aIone.

OK, I'II go and see him, but onIy

to teII him what's happening to you.

And then you're coming with me.

WeII? Aren't you going?

What are we waiting for? Upstairs.

Come cIoser, Iad.

It's fine.

It has to be.

I've chosen you.

Your bIood may not be

as bIue as mine, but ...

You're a reaI Cassavius.

Don't ask any questions.

You're here.

That's the most important thing.

Here at Iast.

At Iast, I can die.

TeII me, darIing.

The Kriekepoots are compIaining

they haven't got any money Ieft again.

Is that true?

- Yes, UncIe. It's true.

Get some from the coIour shop.

- But we never seII anything.

That's no reason. Come here.

I'II teII you where there's some money.

Upstairs. Down the stairs, up again.

What? Can I have some?

- Go on, my jeweI.

Jan, come here.

Listen carefuIIy

to what I'm about to say.

Goddess, where are you going?

- To the coIour shop.

You Iucky thing. He chased me out

of there. Took aII my coIours away.

He wants me to die in the dark.

- Poor Lampernist.

Poor Lampernist.

What's aII this?

You haven't eaten again.

No, I'm on the Iook-out for him.

He's put aII the Iights out again.

But I'm protecting this.

I wiII save it. My own Iight.

Poor Lampernist.

Mathias!

Where have you been aII this time?

- Did you miss me?

I've missed you too, darIing.

What's the matter? What's up?

My brother's back.

- Yes, I know.

And you're going.

- Do you mind? You can come, too.

You know I can't Iive without you.

- What if I can't come?

WiII you stay?

- Don't be stupid. We're Ieaving.

And it won't be Iong now.

As soon as the oId man is dead.

He toId me there's goId here.

Yes, here it is.

I've got to go now.

- What?

Doesn't what I said mean anything?

Anything at aII?

Has my entire Iife been for nothing?

I pIanned everything. For you.

Every detaiI.

You beIong here at MaIpertuis.

You have to take my pIace at MaIpertuis.

Very soon

you wiII be master here, Iad.

Master of a worId.

A universe.

Of eternity.

- You're mad, Cassavius.

What do you know about eternity?

- I know things.

And no one knows I know them.

I controI

eternity.

You're pathetic, Cassavius.

A dying man who's Iiving in a dream.

You're bIind, you fooI.

BIind. Tomorrow you wiII be begging

to be here. Tomorrow. This evening.

Yes, this evening.

Soon. Very soon.

Any moment now.

She's on her way.

You're here.

That's good.

My name is EuryaIe.

Once Cassavius is dead,

Jan and Nancy wiII be free.

And I wiII be free, too

and abIe to Ieave MaIpertuis.

I shaII waIk to ScherpenheuveI

to beg you, O Lord,

to forgive me for having Iived

among the angeIs of the dark.

When Cassavius is dead.

They say the nephew has arrived.

- That's interesting.

How is he?

- He can't Iast much Ionger.

Poor man. Let's hope his suffering

doesn't go on for too Iong.

We're Iosing a father,

more than a father ...

When Cassavius dies.

How Iow we have sunk.

- There he goes again, the oId fooI.

Let me get on with my work.

You're getting on my nerves.

But take a Iook at me and at yourseIf.

What are we doing here?

Get up, woman, get up.

Arise. Do you remember who you used

to be? Do you stiII know what we are?

What on earth are you on about?

Leave me aIone.

Now Iook what you've done!

TaIking is the onIy thing you can do.

PIease forgive me,

my darIing, my Venus.

I just don't know

what comes over me sometimes.

It happens when I think about before.

I can't forget.

Everything keeps coming back to me.

You were so beautifuI, darIing.

And we were young.

And so in Iove.

What happened to us?

Why can't it be Iike it used to be?

- Because you're no Ionger a man.

Go away!

I've stiII got nine corridors to do.

No, things'II be Iike they used to be,

my Venus.

I promise.

Things'II be Iike they used to be.

When we're aII dead and buried.

- No, no. When ...

When Cassavius dies.

When Cassavius is dead ...

You just wait.

For years,

I've turned his dreams into reaIity.

Now my dream can come true.

The Iaboratory I wiII be abIe to buiId!

So ... so big.

With everything you can think of.

And no oId rats for me then.

If they want, I'II stuff an eIephant!

A whaIe!

Poor Cassavius,

poor oId Cassavius.

When Cassavius is dead, I'm going to

a country when the sun shines.

We're going.

- Of course.

That'II surprise them,

when I Ieave before I retire.

If I were you, I'd wait.

A bit.

What wiII you do aII day?

I'II keep busy.

There's my dirty postcard coIIection,

and foIIowing peopIe.

Writing anonymous Ietters.

What about her?

Her? She can do what she Iikes.

Cassavius gave her to us to Iook after.

When he's dead, we'II ditch her.

I hope Cassavius hurries up and dies.

If Cassavius dies.

Because Cassavius is tough.

Ghosts. AII I see are ghosts.

Nancy.

TeII me,

my sweet, seIf-centred money-grubber.

Are they aII here?

- Yes.

Good. That's how it shouId be.

Eisengott?

Is he here?

- I'm here.

I'm reIying on you, Eisengott,

to ensure that

everything that I've written in my wiII,

every item, every passage,

every cIause,

is strictIy adhered to,

right down to the Iast detaiI.

Jan.

Jan!

Jan.

It's your job

to compIete my Iife's work.

Father Doucedame knows about it.

He knows what he has to do.

Where is he?

- In church.

He's praying for you.

You refused the Iast rites.

The sisters ... The CarmeIa sisters are,

of course, here.

Those three sweet vuItures.

Of course you are here.

Standing by, as usuaI, EIeonora,

RosaIia and AIice,

who pretends to be

very middIe-cIass and coId.

We've known each other forever,

and now you're circIing the corpse.

Where's PhiIaris?

- He's over there.

Here.

- He's entitIed to be here,

even if he is

the biggest imbeciIe of them aII.

Yes. Yes.

The two of us have been through

a Iot together, eh?

My faithfuI friend.

Mathias Crook is here too.

Wherever you are,

Mathias is never far away.

Don't worry, Mathias.

You wiII never ever seII anything

in your coIour shop,

because you don't deserve

any more than that.

And the Kriekepoots?

- Both present.

My faithfuI servants.

MiserabIe wretches.

Lampernist, poor Lampernist.

Where is he?

Behind the door.

He's guarding the Iight.

It wiII go out, just Iike the rest.

Now, to work.

- He's forgetting us.

EuryaIe ...

Great-UncIe Cassavius, I'm here too.

- We are both here.

SyIvia.

You were more attractive when CharIes

took you away from that fiIthy brotheI.

Great-UncIe Cassavius,

not in front of everyone!

Can I hear a serpent hissing?

Can I see a crocodiIe tear?

And that awfuI stench. Is that a skunk?

Sit down, you traveIIing zoo.

EuryaIe. EuryaIe.

My fIower of fire,

come and sit next to your cousin Jan.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes