Night Train to Lisbon Page #2

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of a life-determining experience..."

"are often unbelievable low-key."

"When it unfolds

its revolutionary effect..."

"and make sure that life that it revealed

in a brand-new light."

"It does that silently."

"And in this wonderful silence

resides its special nobility."

Now you wonder if

the old pair were better.

- Yes.

- But they are not, are they?

No, they feel very light.

Getting used to them

will take some time.

- You take credit cards?

- You can sort all that out with my receptionist.

Before you go...

I have an uncle.

He lives in a nursing home

across the Tejo (river Tagus).

I called him last night

and told him about you and the book.

He knew Amadeu de Prado well.

I told him you want to know about Amadeu

and he said he'll talk to you.

He was in the resistance.

I must warn you,

my uncle can be difficult.

In what way?

The generation that

lived under the dictator Salazar

is still battling to come to terms

with what happened.

When the resistance began,

the Secret Police were extremely brutal.

To this day,

people don't like talking about it,

The block of jail

as well as their victims.

Uncle Joo, how are you?

What you doing here?

This is the man I was telling you about,

Raimund Gregorius.

- I brought him.

- I said I talk to him, not you.

- But...

- You can wait in reception.

We go to the lounge.

So, you are interested

in Amadeu de Prado?

Yes.

Mariana tells me

you have a book of him?

Would you like to see it?

I can imagine what it is like.

A godless priest.

That's a good description.

He was the only visitor there

allowed in prison.

Every week he visits,

with books and medicines,

and cigarettes...

which of course, they take away

the moment he leaves.

Yeah, he had privileges.

- What sort of privileges?

- The kind you don't want in life.

- Do you have cigarette?

- No, sorry, I don't smoke.

Pity.

Mariana tells me that

you and Amadeu were in the resistance.

- And Jorge, his best friend.

- Oh yes, he wrote a lot about Jorge.

Oh, they were joined

at the heart and the soul.

For a time...

But Amadeu, he was too soft

for the resistance.

He only joined

because he feel quilt.

Mariana tells me

you are from Switzerland?

Yes, Bern.

There was never a revolution

in Switzerland, was there?

No. Somehow they always

managed to avoid such things.

They wouldn't know what it's like

to live without trusting.

No one to trust,

no friends, no family.

I met his sister, Adriana.

She...

She acts as if he is still alive.

And she wears black

as is in mourning.

Looking at only fill

my cup halfway?

No one has ever done that

for me before.

Yeah, it burns.

A gift from PIDE, the Portuguese Secret Police.

[Polcia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado]

Rui Lus Mendes was his name.

["Butcher of Lisbon"]

1973,

in the spring time...

I'm home.

Who are you?

Where's my wife?

She kindly

took your children for a walk.

This woman that knows all the names.

Where do I find her?

I do not know...

I do not know

what you are talking about.

Your wife tells me

you are an excellent pianist...

Will you play for me?

And my friend?

Please.

Can I see you hands?

Please.

- What should I play?

- Play as your favorite.

They say she has

a photographic memory.

Is that true?

I ask you once more,

where is she?

What made it

all that more terrible

was that someone said yeah

Amadeu, he saved Mendes' life.

Dinnertime. They-- they serve us

early here, like in prison.

Not for the inmates, you understand,

but for the staff.

I'm glad he finally been

able to tell someone about it.

I just wish it had been me.

It is ofter easier

to speak with strangers.

With my family it's a bit different.

Pain is something we pretend

happens to other people.

When Uncle Joo disappeared,

our parent told us

he had gone to Brazil to work.

Then after the Revolution,

when he was released,

they told us he had an accident

with his hands.

- He is very fond of you.

- He is?

He said you are the only one

from the family who ever visited.

He is always so grumpy,

I don't blame the others.

- What else did he say?

- He said he wish you are married.

I hate him!

Then when you visited,

there'll be children.

He actually said that?

And he is fond of me?

Do you have children?

No.

I have my students...

but the faces change every year,

so I try not to too fond of them.

I think now

you are staying another day?

Yes, I might have to.

Beautiful glasses.

Father Bartolomeu?

Yes.

Joo Ea tells me that you

buried Amadeu de Prado.

I would prefer to be

remembered in this manner:

who taught Amadeu,

not the one who buried him.

Amadeu was 12 years old

when he first came to the school.

He came with no bag, no books...

and read them all, you think.

Everything was in his head.

What does he say about the school,

in his book?

"For 1922 days,..."

"I attended the 'Liceu (school)'

where my Father sent me,..."

"the strictest school

in the whole country."

"By the third day I realized

I had to count the days,..."

"so as not to be crushed by it."

He hated it that much?

Were Jorge and Amadeu

in the same class?

Uh, no. Not at first.

Amadeu skipped 2 grades.

He was that bright, you see.

And for 2 years,

they were in the same class.

Or I should say,

they were in a class of their own.

Amadeu, the aristocrat,

and Jorge, the working class boy.

They had a very noted curiosity

in those two.

They would lie to their mothers

that they were going to spend

the night at the friend's house.

Instead, they came here.

How did you find them, Jorge?

I was sleeping here

and I found the floor was loosen.

- Jean-Paul Sartre (French philosopher)...

- Karl Marx (German philosopher)...

Henry Miller (American writer)...

My God, if we found these books...

We would end up in Tarrafal ("Camp of the Slow Death")

along with all the other political prisoners.

But your father would never

allow that, would he? Amadeu.

He would get Grand Minister Salazar

personally intervene

and have the case thrown out of court.

You think it is a joke

my father is a judge.

I think it is a joke that

the son of a green grocer

has friended with

the son of a judge.

That is funny.

You have to admit.

Amadeu would have been

unhappy wherever he was.

He never played games with the other boys.

He never let himself go...

except one time.

No body forgot that time.

Make room there boys.

Make room.

- My father is here.

- Of course he is. What do you expect?

You should read this, Jorge.

You wrote most of them anyway.

They are your words.

I only helped to choose them.

- Amadeu, which is our religion?

- Loyalty.

What are our values?

Truth, above all else.

Exactly. Just keep your eyes on me

and you'll be fine.

As is traditional,

we end our ceremony with

a grade 12 graduation speech.

In this year,

that honor will be bestow

to Amadeu de Almeida Prado.

I would not like to live

in a world without cathedrals.

I need their beauty

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