Night Across the Street Page #3

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from Valparaiso.

Do you want to go to the cinema?

I found some money

on my brother's bedside table.

What's on?

The Foxes of Harrow,

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

and The Boy with Green Hair.

No series?

No, not today.

Come with us.

You can see one of the great inventions

of our age.

The cinema.

Theater?

No, cinema.

Come on.

Let's go, then.

How tall these people are!

They're projected onto a screen.

They're really just special shadows,

that give out light.

What's the film about?

It's hard to explain.

Why do you come to the cinema

if you don't even know anything

about the film you've just seen?

We came to have fun,

not to learn anything.

No!

No!

No!

On the way out he went to the club,

the lunch had finished

and there were only three drunken teachers

left sleeping at a round table.

Where's Seor Belmar?

They all left a while ago.

Weren't they going to leave at 8:00?

They left early.

Ibaez for president!

A clean sweep!

My father's sleeping.

Never mind, this is life or death.

I'll get him, then.

I'm going to give the gold back.

Is it expensive?

Yes, it's all the gold of the whole term.

My father was given it

to make the jewels for the Karmy House.

My father's getting up,

you'll have to wait for him.

Thank you.

What are you doing?

I'm waiting for Seor Belmar.

Have you ever heard

of the naval battle of lquique, boy?

Yes,

and I know that this is the house

in which Carlos Condell died.

That's what I like to hear.

It's very good

when children respect their heroes.

Who discovered Chile?

That depends. Magallanes in 1520

or Diego de Almagro in 1536.

When?

Magallanes in 1520

or Diego de Almagro in 1536.

Good.

When was Santiago founded?

It's not known whether it was 1540 or 1541.

Better.

Do you know who wrote the opera La Juive?

No.

Who was it?

It must have been Verdi.

No, it was Halvy.

He's practically unknown.

So,

if you know so much,

who wrote the opera Marina?

Arrieta.

Incomplete answer.

Camprodn

wrote the libretto.

What on earth's wrong, boy?

Sir,

I came to speak to you about a problem...

Because of the grade I gave you.

What grade would you have liked?

I'd have given you an even lower one

if I could have.

It's high time for the champion

to take his maths classes seriously!

I was talking to your father yesterday,

he must be waiting for you.

A word of advice,

learn to face things like a man.

I don't like it when people are indecisive

or beat about the bush.

That's good advice for your life.

Good night, boy.

Before you go,

tell me

who discovered penicillin?

Fleming.

What?

Fleming.

Don Otto ate some beans...

They must be waiting for you at home.

I know.

I did what I could.

...then he went out on this motorbike,

and the bike began to...

The motorbike farted!

That's a good one!

Show me your grades.

The first time

this has ever happened in our family.

You've earned yourself a beating.

- But it wasn't my fault!

- Fourteen strokes!

That's not fair.

Twenty four!

Let's go outside.

Come here!

Come here, I said!

I'm going to give you a good hiding!

One.

Get down!

Get down from there!

If you don't get down I'll kill you.

I didn't raise my son to be a nazi.

Nazi!

But, Dad, if this goes on

he'll become a bohemian.

Nazi!

I'm sorry, my son.

No.

I'll never forgive you.

It hurt me more than it hurt you.

That's not the point.

I worked so hard, I studied so hard

and this is what I get!

I'll give you whatever you like.

Come down, my son,

come and eat.

Sit at the head of the table if you like.

No, I want to eat with the chickens.

No!

Not with the chickens!

They might have typhus.

I'll eat with the chickens or with no one.

Do as the boy says,

or I'll kill myself.

Half an hour later,

Celso was sitting at his desk

which had been placed

in the middle of the chicken run.

The chickens had woken up

and were running around clucking.

He had a radio next to him

and was listening to the Panorama program

with Juan Campbell and Emilio Filippi

about the discovery of the children

lost in the snow.

Lost in the snow?

Yes, they were all found dead.

Poor people.

How are you, Seora Nigilda?

I heard your program Don Celso.

Is it true that Beethoven

is your favorite historical character?

Among others.

So...

Like who else?

Listen to the program tomorrow.

Don't be silly, Don Celso.

Are you going to keep me guessing

until tomorrow?

Until tomorrow.

But

you're my favorite.

What a flatterer you are, Don Celso!

- Me.

- You.

What do the cards say?

That I'm going to die.

I see death.

The death of a loved one.

What's a loved one?

Somebody you love very much.

Like my father, you mean?

For example.

A sudden death.

That's how he died. He's already dead.

He's buried over there.

What do you mean he's dead?

Yesterday you said

he wouldn't let you go to the island with me.

That's what he said. He died a time ago.

I never knew him,

but I dream about him

and he forbids me to do things.

That must be your mother.

My mother died before he did.

He killed her.

But he was shot a while ago.

Why did he kill her?

He didn't like my brother.

The one with two heads. The bicephalous.

Are you awake?

Half.

I was having a siesta.

Forty winks, as they say where I'm from.

- Where are you from?

- It doesn't matter.

Inland.

Everything matters.

What about you?

I'm Seora Nigilda's nephew.

Rolo Pedro Pedrez. Rolo Pedro.

Rolo Pedro.

Rolo Pedro. Rolo.

Rolodedro,

Rolo, Rolodendro,

Rhododendron...

You're a poet as well.

He has ideas. He makes us laugh.

Thank you, Nigilda.

Thank you.

Excuse me.

Three feet! Three feet between you!

- Can I bring in my luggage?

- Of course.

Do you need help?

I always manage on my own.

I'm from inland as well.

From the desert.

A lot of wind there?

A lot.

That's why I like this boarding house,

it's so windy.

Sometimes, outside, there's not

even a leaf moving on a tree,

while inside there's such a wind.

It's a frequent phenomenon in the north,

having a wind at home.

I make the most of it by playing marbles.

Do you like playing marbles?

I love it.

Let's play, then.

There must have been

an earthquake somewhere.

Well,

I'm going to take up my luggage.

You know the house.

That's him.

That's who?

The man who's come to kill me.

He wouldn't hurt a fly.

He's a poet. Young Laurel. He's my nephew.

Has it been a long time

since you last saw him?

A long time.

Actually I've never seen him before.

But I knew of his existence.

Well, sort of.

And he's come to kill me?

You and your ideas, Don Celso.

Who's going to kill you?

Him.

How do you know?

It's the sort of thing you know.

Or don't know.

Normally you only know later,

when it's too late.

I should put that in the next program.

He's the one who might get killed.

There are people looking for him.

I am.

Why are you looking for him?

So that he kills me.

I'll put that in the next program as well.

But he'll be safe here.

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