Salome's Last Dance Page #2

Gold!

I love gold!

And a third, which is a Sicilian wine,

that one is as red as blood!

The gods of my country love blood.

Twice a year, we sacrifice youths

and virgins to 'em..

50 youths and a 100 virgins.

But it seems we never give 'em enough!

because they still persecute us.

In my country, there aren't any gods

now! The Romans chased them out!

There are those who say they hid in the

mountains, but I don't believe it!

I spent three nights in the hills,

looking everywhere..

but I didn't find them!

Finally, I called upon each one by name!

But they didn't appear.

I think..

they are dead!

The Jews worship a god they can't see!

Really? - In fact, they only

worship things they can't see.

Ridiculous!

After me, will come one

even more mighty!

Sometimes, he says fearful things

but we never understand him!

Can we see him?

Nooooooo! The Tetrarch forbids it!

What a bizarre prison!

It's an old well.

An old well? It must be very unhealthy.

Take the brother of the

Tetrarch, his elder brother,

Queen Herodias' first husband.

He was incarcerated down there

for 12 years and he didn't die!

In the end he had to be strangled.

- Strangled? Who dare do that?

That one..

Naamn.

Wasn't he afraid?

- Oh, no!

The Tetrarch sent him the ring?

- What ring?

The ring of death!

That way he wasn't afraid!

Even so, it's terrible

to strangle a king! - Why?

Kings have only got one neck,

just like other men!

It seem terrible to me..

Now!

The princess is getting up!

She's leaving the table.

She seems bored.

She's coming over here.

Yes, she's coming towards us!

I'm not staying!

I can't stay..

Don't look at her.

I beg you don't look at her!

It is strange that my mother's

husband looks at me so!

I don't know what it means.

Actually, I do know!

Have you just left

the banquet, Princess?

Would you like to sit down, Princess?

Why look at her? Why speak to her?

Oh, something terrible

is going to happen!

How fresh the air is here!

At last, one can breathe!

Inside, there are Jews from

Jerusalem, tearing each other to pieces,

over their ridiculous ceremonies!

Barbarians drinking and

spilling wine everywhere..

And then there are the Romans

with their brutality,

their clumsiness, their swear words!

Ooh! How I detest the Romans!

Commoners! Giving themselves

the airs and graces of royalty!

Isn't it wonderful to see the moon?

She is cold and chaste, the moon.

I am sure that she is a virgin!

She's a virgin.

She has never sullied herself.

She has never given herself to men,

like the other goddesses.

The Lord has come!

The Son of Man has come!

The centaurs have hidden

themselves in the rivers..

and the mermaids have fled to sleep

beneath the leaves in the forest.

Who said that? - It's the voice

of the prophet, Princess.

Ah, the prophet!

The one that Tetrarch fears?

We know nothing of that, Princess!

It is the Prophet John.

- The Baptist.

Shall I order your litter, Princess?

It is very beautiful in the garden.

He has said monstrous things

about my mother, hasn't he?

We never understand

what he says, Princess.

Yes, he has said appalling

things about her!

Frightfully sorry, Princess! The Tetrarch

requests that you return to the banquet.

I'm not going back!

Pardon me, Princess.

But if you don't go back

something awful could happen to you.

Is he an old man, the Prophet?

Princess! It would be best if you went

back. Permit me to accompany you.

The Prophet! Is he an old man?

No, Princess. He's a very young man.

Well, we don't know!

There are those that say he is Elijah.

Who's Elijah? - A very old prophet,

Princess, from the provinces.

Sorry! What reply should I give to

the Tetrarch on behalf of the Princess?

Do not rejoice, land of Palestine,

because the rod of your

oppressor has been broken!

From the serpent's egg

will come the basilisk..

and he who is formed from it,

will devour the birds!

What a strange voice!

I would like to speak to him!

I'm afraid that's impossible, Princess! The

Tetrarch doesn't wish us to speak to him.

He has forbidden even

the High Priest to speak to him!

I want to speak to him.

It's impossible, Princess!

- I want to!

Indeed, Princess! It would be

better to return to the banquet.

Have the Prophet brought out!

I have always been nice to you!

You will do it, won't you?

I only want to look at him,

this strange prophet.

Everyone talks about him.

I've often heard the Tetrarch

talk about him.

I think the Tetrarch is afraid of him.

I am sure he is afraid of him!

And you, Narraboth?

Are you afraid of him too?

I'm not afraid of him, Princess.

I'm afraid of no one!

But the Tetrarch has officially

forbidden us to release him from the well.

You will do this for me, Narraboth!

and tomorrow, when I pass in my litter..

under the arch of the vendors of idols,

I will drop a little flower for you,

a little green flower.

Princess, I can't!

I can't!

You will do this for me, Narraboth!

You know, you will do this for me.

and tomorrow when I pass over the

bridge of the vendors of idols,

I will look..

at you!

Through my muslin veils..

I will look at you!

We dare not, Princess!

How dark it is down there!

He must be terrible,

to be in a place so black!

It's like a tomb!

Didn't you hear me?

Let him out!

I want to see him!

I beg you, Princess,

don't ask this of us!

Don't keep me waiting!

Princess, our lives belong to you,

but we cannot do what you ask!

In any case, um.. it's not

we who you must ask.

Oh, what is going to happen? I am sure

something terrible is going to happen!

You will do it for me,

won't you, Narraboth?

You will do it.. for me.

Narraboth!

I will smile at you.. perhaps..

Look at me, Narraboth, look at me!

You know full well you will

do what I ask of you!

You know it, don't you?

Me.. I know it.

Send up the Prophet..

the Princess wishes to see him!

Send up the Prophet!

Oh, how strange the moon looks tonight!

Through the clouds of muslin,

she smiles like a little princess..

like a princess with amber eyes!

Tell him to come out! So that he may hear the

voice of he who has shouted in the deserts!

And in the palaces of kings!

Whom does he mean?

- We never know, Princess!

Where is she..

who having seen naked men

painted on city walls..

pictures of Chaldeans etched in color..

gave way to lust and

sent envoys to Chaldea?

He is speaking about my mother!

- No, Princess!

Yes! It's about mother!

Where is she who gave herself

to the captains of the Assyrians?

Tell her to drag herself from

her bed of lasciviousness..

from her bed of incestuousness!

So that she may hear the words

of he who paves of the Lord..

So that she may repent her sins!

Although she will never expiate them..

but remain steadfast in her crimes!

Tell her to come!

For the Lord.. has his

scourge.. in his hands!

Oh, but he is horrible!

He is horrible!

Who is this woman who looks at me?

I do not want her to look at me.

Why is she looking at me with

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