The Barbarian Invasions Page #5

- l don't know.

- She's younger than your daughter.

- Possible.

She spends the night with you?

l guess you pay her.

You could at least

take one your own age!

At this point,

l don't really have a choice,

l have to take what l can get.

- Do you know the pain

that kind of relation can cause?

Of course, you don't give a damn!

lt's the least of your worries!

So long as you ejaculate!

- Oh, my God. Pardon me.

- No, Sister! Please stay.

- l'll be back.

No, no, stay! Stay. Come here.

Please. l beg you.

lt's one of those mornings

where l'll be in desperate need

of the comforts of faith.

You pig. Piece of sh*t.

lt smells like manure here.

lt's a candle l light

for my prayers.

Do you know what will happen

to you in hell?

- No.

- They'll lock you in a room

with all the women you seduced

and you'll be forced to listen to them

for all eternity.

- Help.

Eternity is a long time.

You pig. Piece of sh*t.

Piece of sh*t. Pig...

- Stop it.

- Hi.

- Hi.

lrina's home, l have to go out.

Nathalie buying for you?

She's a friend.

lf you're a regular,

maybe we should deal directly.

lt's only temporary.

Everything in life is temporary.

"You can never swim

in the same river twice," said...

what's his face? You know...

What's-his-face.

Yeah, what's-his-face.

You can't count on Nathalie.

She'll pull a fast one on you.

We'll see.

You know where l live.

Sure.

Pierre, l don't want to be indiscreet,

but do you sometimes

hear from Arielle?

Yes, we see each other

from time to time.

From time to time?

They eat together

every other week.

What's going on with your hair?

My hair?

- lt's not as grey.

- Think so?

You haven't started dyeing it?

My wife's hairdresser

recommended a shampoo.

Your wife's hairdresser?

lt's a revitalizing product,

not dye at all, simply--

You obey her every whim,

don't you?

No. Not at all.

Come on, not every other week.

And last Thursday? You dined together

at Le Petit Extra, no?

Yes, dear, but--

- How long since you last saw her?

- l don't know.

Two weeks.

You had lunch together

at Paris Beurre exactly two weeks ago.

- lt's just lunch.

Well, l should hope

you're not having dinner with her!

lt's out of the question.

l agree with you entirely.

Rmy, please, shut up.

What? The child's right.

Personally, l've never invited

a woman out to dinner

without the express intention

ofjumping on her like a crepe suzette.

Or, in the case of Asian women,

a mushi pancake.

What l like about you, Rmy,

is that you're a loyal friend.

You're lucky to have

such honest friends.

Oh, yes, very lucky.

Extraordinarily lucky.

What are you doing here?

l was waiting for you.

You're always on my mind.

l know, you've told me.

At night l picture you bleeding in an alley,

in shooting galleries.

l'm always so scared.

lt's unbearable.

- You imagine too much.

You know this can't go on.

Of course l know. l know it better than you.

You can't help me.

l know it's my fault,

that's what's killing me.

That doesn't change anything.

l don't need this.

You don't care much about living, do you?

Not really.

l was like you at your age.

Ready to die at any time.

l didn't care.

That's why young people

make the best martyrs.

lt's paradoxical,

but living grows on you,

when you begin to subtract:

l've got 20 years left, 1 5, 1 0.

When you realize

it's for the last time...

l'm buying my last car.

This is my last trip

to Genoa, Barcelona...

l won't live that long.

How do you know?

Overdoses are pretty frequent.

But you can never tell.

Maybe you'll kick it

and reach a ripe old age.

We can't decipher the past,

how can we know the future?

No one ever knows

what'll happen to them.

Except me, now. l know.

- Are you scared?

- Sure am.

l don't want to stop living.

l loved life so much.

What was it you loved?

Everything.

Wine, books, music,

women. Above all, women.

Their smell, their mouths,

the feel of their skin.

- Were there many of them?

- Yes.

Don't they begin to seem the same?

A bit, yes.

But l never tired of them.

Still the great seducer?

No, not anymore.

With age, it's not the same thing.

Do you still enjoy wine?

Unfortunately not.

Not with my liver.

The trips you dreamed of,

did you take them?

Nowadays,

there are tourists everywhere.

lt's not the present you cling to.

lt's your past life.

That life is already dead.

Perhaps.

Hello.

l expected a musty antique dealer,

not a ravishing young lady.

l warn you, l'm no specialist.

At one time everyone here was Catholic.

Like in Spain or lreland.

At a very precise moment -

in 1 966, in fact -

the churches suddenly emptied out,

in a few months.

A very strange phenomenon

that has yet to be explained.

So now we don't know

what to do with this.

The authorities

would like to find out

if it has any value.

Commercial value?

Yes.

Do you have any 1 8th-century

French chalices?

The Americans snapped them up.

There are a few examples in museums.

l'm sure this has great value

for people here,

the collective memory.

But is there anything

that we could sell?

On the world market?

Yes.

Honestly, l can't imagine it.

ln other words, this is all...

absolutely worthless.

l'll show you out.

Pius Xll sitting on his ass

in his gilded Vatican,

while Primo Levi was taken to Auschwitz...

That's not sad!

lt's despicable! Hideous!

lf what you say is true,

and history is a series

of abominable crimes,

then someone has to exist

who can forgive us.

That's my belief.

l envy you.

lf at least l'd written.

You wrote nothing?

A few papers here and there,

nothing serious.

- What are you doing?

- What?

- What are you doing?

- lt bugs me.

What would you have written?

The Gulag Archipelago,

The Periodic Table.

Really, in that class?

- Never.

- So?

At least l'd have left a mark.

We need to succeed,

even on our own terms.

To be able to say we did our best.

lt allows us to die at peace.

l'm a total failure.

At least you realize it.

So many professors are smug,

unbearable.

l don't know your daughter,

but Sbastien's not exactly a failure.

No thanks to me.

You don't know that.

We thought we'd pay a visit.

Everyone wonders how you are.

Not everyone, surely.

You'd be surprised.

That last day in class

no one seemed very moved.

We had no idea at the time.

Exactly.

Now that you're gone...

We see what we're missing.

l'm touched to hear that. Sincerely.

We should be going.

We have a lecture by Mr. Roby at 4:00.

Off you go.

- Good luck.

- Thanks.

Yeah, good luck.

Don't give up.

l won't.

- Well l never...

- Surprising.

For illiterates, they're sweet.

lt's not their fault.

No one taught them.

lt's the same everywhere.

At this price we'll come anytime.

We'll see.

- l don't want it.

- We agreed.

No, thanks.

- Do you want to split hers?

- Okay.

We're getting married next summer,

at my parents' in France.

You'll see, the chapel's lovely.

Louise and l married on a grey

February day in a dismal suburb.

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