Silk

Steaming water.

Strange trees.

Laughing children.

Her skin...

those eyes.

Why should I tell you about it?

Why now?

Maybe I just need

to tell someone...

and maybe it's you.

I guess it all began

when I came back home

on leave from the army...

when I first saw Helene.

When are you going?

I leave Thursday.

And when will you be back?

One day, I'll have

a whole garden of these-

hundreds, thousands.

To make her happy,

I would have knelt down

and started planting

a garden that very day.

Oh.

But I had

a military career to pursue.

My father insisted.

Things are heating up in Austria.

I think it will come

to a head by summer.

The outcome is inevitable.

They won't know what to do when

they're faced with

our military forces.

They will crumble like

a stale linzer torte.

What do you think, son?

More fish, dear?

The Austrians are fools, hmm?

I remember,

when I was in the military,

I couldn't stop thinking about her.

We used to say that

if the Austrian's ever

decided to attack,

we'd finish our lunch...

Then, someone came along

to solve my problem.

Can I help you?

Please, sir!

I'm sorry, your honor.

You may leave us.

What can I do for you,

Baldabiou?

You know

what this is?

Woman's stuff.

Wrong.

It's money, a man's stuff.

Really?

And why do I need to hear this?

I'm going to repair the silk mill.

The mill?

Where will you find the money?

That's my problem.

Just make sure no one

gets in my way.

Baldabiou repaired

the old silk mill in six months,

be careful.

or so I was told,

as I was still in the army.

Careful.

By the time I returned

the following year...

there were three more mills...

and more money than our town

had ever seen.

You know what that is?

Money.

Wrong. It's proof

that I was right.

Congratulations.

And what do you

want me to do now?

Nothing. You'll be the mayor

of a very rich town.

Marry me, Helene.

Mr. Baldabiou.

Herv.

I hear you would

like to speak with me.

Yes, but not here.

Do you play?

Uh, no.

Why me?

I need a young man,

a clever man.

Yes, but I'm

not looking for work.

It's not work I'm offering you.

I'm offering you a life.

A strange illness

has entered into the sheds.

Half the silkworms

are either sick or dead.

It's the same in Lyon,

The same everywhere,

as far as Turkey.

What is it?

Nobody knows,

but the clock is ticking.

We cannot solve the problem,

but we can get round it.

We have to. Otherwise,

this town will starve.

I need you to go

and get healthy eggs...

In Africa.

Africa?

I wish I could,

but my-my leave is up

in two days.

Uh, I have to return

to the barracks.

Who says so?

My father.

Your father?

I'll take care of him.

And he did.

In nomine patris,

Et filii,

Et spiritus sancti.

Amen.

Amen.

Two weeks

later, I gave up my uniform...

and I started a new life.

I thought love

would always be that easy.

What are you writing?

Nothing.

Nothing?

I just spoke

with Baldabiou.

I leave a week from tomorrow.

How long?

Weeks...

Maybe months.

Make it weeks.

That was 1862,

the year of the Great Snow.

I set off to Egypt

to get the eggs.

It took me a month

to find them...

and a little less to come back.

I knew nothing about silk

or how it was made.

All I new was that

I had to keep those tiny eggs

away from heat,

keep them clean,

and bring them back

before they'd hatched.

That's all I knew.

But back at the village,

someone else was about to hatch-

Ludovic Berbek.

Beatrice was so proud

to show off her baby that day.

Give me a child.

How was Africa?

We never talked about it.

It was beautiful.

Tired, but...

but very beautiful.

I have bad news.

I found dead worms.

Only a few, but, still, too many.

Seems the pbrine got

to Egypt before you did.

pbrine?

They've given it a name.

I need you to go to Japan.

Japan?

Where is that?

It's that way.

Just keep going

to the end of the world.

Let me show you.

They make the most

perfect silk there.

I held some in my hand once.

It was like holding nothing.

They've been making silk for over

a thousand years,

and they've never even heard

of a diseased egg.

It'll be a longer journey

this time.

Much longer.

Before I speak to the others,

I have to know that

you're ready for this.

But there's a risk.

The journey's long and dangerous,

And it's forbidden to travel

inland beyond Japan's harbors.

No Westerner has done it.

And, yet, a place

where no English broker

or Chinese trader can go

is a place where no

disease can enter.

And why should we succeed

where others have failed?

There's no evidence

that we will succeed,

But I have it from

a trustworthy source

That the Japanese are trading

their silk on the black market.

We're interested in making silk,

not buying it.

I want to send Herv

to trade for eggs, not silk.

But there's still no guarantee,

no matter how good the plan.

How much?

At best, 10,000 francs.

And at worst?

His life.

What is it?

I can't do this.

I cannot go.

But you've already said you would go.

I wasn't thinking...

about us.

I don't want you to give

this up because of me.

It's better than you going off

to fight some stupid war.

You'll be back by spring.

Don't forget.

My Japanese contact will

meet you in Vladivostok.

Yes.

And her letters for him.

He'll help you find

the village.

All you have to do

is bring back the eggs.

That's all?

Good luck.

I'll always love you.

I will always love you.

And so, I headed off

to the end of the world.

I crossed the border at Sgny.

Then I journeyed through

Europe.

I traveled by train

from Vienna...

Through Moravia...

And on to Kiev.

I hired a caravan

to cross the Russian steppes-

Three thousand miles

of ice and storm.

I had my Christmas dinner

at Lake Baikal,

And I thought of Helene...

always.

Then I followed the Amur River

along the Chinese border...

Until I reached the ocean.

I stopped eleven days

in Vladivostok,

Where a Japanese guide

handed me my disguise.

I sailed across the sea

on a smuggler's ship.

And, finally,

I reached the port of Sakata.

Strange...

and haunting.

The Mogami River.

The snows of Yamagata.

I climbed

the mountains of Shinobu,

Where new guides

were waiting for me.

And for the next three days,

we continued through the peaks.

Then, after countless freezing

days and sleepless nights...

I reached my destination.

Sakata, yes, yes.

I came...

Four.

Who are you?

My name is Herv Joncour.

I know that.

I am a man of trade.

That is not who you are.

That is what you do.

I am the man you see before you.

That is all.

I was born in a village

you've never heard of,

in a country

you've never seen.

I grew up like any child.

I was clothed and fed, educated.

I joined the army.

I left to marry

the woman I love.

And none of this is who I am.

The eggs you were given

are eggs of fish.

They are worth nothing.

I know that.

Is that why you paid

for them with fake gold?

I paid for what I bought.

When you leave here,

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