Mikra Anglia Page #2

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Cypress green.

I'm leaving tomorrow.

When I return I'll be a captain.

And we'll get married

the very same day.

And what revelry there'll be...

...with dulcimers and lutes...

The cave in the rock...

The cypress trees...

...the little bridge...

The Maltabes Circle!

That's what I named it.

For as long as you're away I'll come

to our places alone and remember.

No jasmine today?

Their fragrance is best suited

to the dusk...

...the night...

I'll plant ten in our flowerbeds.

We'll stay awake all night

and breathe them in.

We'll stay awake all night

and breathe them in.

Wait for me, eh?

Wait for me!

- The valerian root didn't work.

- No good for you either?

Then, my dear, let's try something

more potent... Veronal.

Have you ever prescribed Salvarsan

for Nikos Vatokouzis?

No.

Bismuth! Mercury? lodine?

No.

No.

Tell me, Resvanis...

...this isn't a matter

of doctor-patient confidentiality?

No, Mina, because I realize

what it's all about.

I'm not a venereologist. I'm a GP.

But based on timelines

and the records I keep...

...I believe Vatokouzis' son

was conceived...

...2 years before the old man, God

rest his soul, contracted the disease.

Music lovers of Andros.

This evening Miss Hexadaktylou

will be giving a piano recital.

Don't miss the musical feast

with European melodies!

165 postcards.

My pupils don't forget me.

And Mikes' pupils loved him.

Your attention please!

At 9:
00 this evening...

I'm a literature teacher

by profession.

I'm still a schoolgirl

by disposition.

Go on, tell me...

Who is he?

Like an avalanche in the Alps!

Ah! An off-topic answer.

I'll give you a D!

He gave me an A.

But what am I saying?

He must be a seaman. What else?

Voyages, oceans,

thousands of miles...

The blue flows

and we flow with it.

So, who is he?

Name and surname.

- I'd rather not say.

- He isn't married, is he?

No!

No!

You've always been such

a one for secrets...

You feed on them,

you're bewitched by them.

I felt my heart burst open

like a pomegranate...

...without a sound...

...and the little rubies

forming arcs in the air...

...stumbling over my shoulders...

...leaping on the cobbled streets

like fireflies.

Go on...

He looks at me and I'm on fire...

...like a little piece of coal

in an incense burner.

He just looks at you?

Nana...

...a man's fingers are heavy.

They just touch you

and you turn to stone.

He must be sailing the Cape Verde

as we speak.

And you came at his behest

ask for the hand of my Orsa...

...who is, by general consent...

...10-15 kilos short of

being a true Aphrodite!

See here Emilios, your nephew

has yet to make his fortune.

He's a second mate.

There are captains who have asked me

for her hand in marriage.

Spyros will be a captain too,

before he turns 30.

Will be...

He doesn't even have his own house.

- He will have.

- Will have...

He's a hard worker.

Quick on the uptake.

Outgoing...

I raised him...

...since he was five.

A governess.

Knee deep in pigeon sh*t.

Captain Savvas respects those

who make a living at sea.

He values good seamen.

You should ask his opinion.

He commands his ship.

I command the household.

You never know what the future

holds for a seaman, Emilios.

I must ensure my daughter's security.

A life without money

is a life without joy.

Don't tell me...

Don't tell me they have feelings

for each other!

Don't tell me your charmer nephew

has mistaken my daughter...

...for a harbor whore?

We're adults now.

We know the sorrows every house has.

Mina... a heavy purse

isn't everything.

There are a lot of sacred things

involved. My hands are tied.

I owe a soul a debt of gratitude.

And!

Katina, Kiki, Moscha and Marie!

The 4-member KKMM sorority!

Katina, Kiki, Moscha, Marie...

We'll be together for all eternity!

Here's a new one.

Oh Andros, my little island

in the sea...

A musty, dismal prison

you are to me.

Great and famous you'll never be.

An empty fart for all eternity!

Such a tiny place and they went and

christened it "Little England"!

"Little England" indeed! No relation

to the real England I'm sure.

- Well there are a lot of boats!

- And two-bit snobs...

...who put on lordly airs and

dream of riches and sea empires.

But there are also

good-looking shipwrights.

What are you supposed to do

with a shipwright? Frame him?

Neither captain, nor engineer,

nor boatswain. Never!

- Orsa!

- Where?

- Over there!

- Not a word about David.

Only you lot know about it and

Katerina, the embroiderer...

...who won't breathe a word.

- Your sister?

She doesn't let me in on her secrets,

I don't let her in on mine.

She's always hiding behind the tulle

of her mosquito net...

...or talking to herself

under the jasmine.

My, my what's the matter

with Daddy's pet?

- Jealous again?

- I get so furious!

In every one of his letters

he writes.

"Don't let Orsa have her hair cut".

It's always Orsa this and Orsa that.

Spyros...

...my dear boy.

I don't have the heart

to upset you.

But the news is not good.

I failed to get

her mother to say "yes".

Madame Mina is after wealth

and riches.

Spyros, my lad...

Her mother's reply was a curt "No".

Our poverty is to blame.

Clench your heart and don't let your

bitterness get the better of you.

Orsa!

Did you see the Wassermann Test?

Stamped and certified.

And he's ordered your bridal gown

from a Parisian fashion house!

- He can give it to someone else!

- Generous! A gentleman.

You're the lucky one and you don't

throw away such good fortune.

When did you plan everything?

First I investigated.

I thought of everything.

- Except for one thing!

- What?

Why did you say "yes"

without asking me?

I know what I'm doing.

What if I have feelings

for someone else?

Do you?

What am I to you?

A field... to be sold

on St Savvas Day?

It's all settled.

We're not going to lose face.

You're hard...

...as hard as stone.

Come on, my boy.

I'd watch her from a distance.

She hesitated...

- I thought she'd refuse because of...

- Hush!

Here, here!

Here's where you should live.

It will happen eventually.

For now it's whatever Orsa wants.

I'll wait on your lady all day.

But at night I'll come back here.

I want my own walls.

Congratulations!

May you live to a ripe old age,

healthy and in love!

And to our little Moschoula's.

What an aristocratic bridegroom!

Hexadaktylou!

Start playing.

David Bradley, English teacher.

If only my son were here,

he would be so proud of you!

Well, he's not here...

Granny...

Ah, the sea...

Andros, 27 December 1930.

It's better you weren't here, Daddy.

The island was covered with

a blanket of snow...

...and it looked aristocratic and rare

like the postcards you sent us...

...from frozen Archangel.

Congratulations!

May it be your turn next, girls!

It's much better for women...

...not to marry the man they love...

...because then when he starts

straying...

...the pain won't be so great.

Don't touch me tonight.

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