The Hour of the Pig

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[ Bells Ringing ]

[ Man ]

Roger Landrier...

you are declared attainted and

convicted of crimes against nature...

in that you did have carnal knowledge

of the she-ass here present.

And that over the past 1 0 years,you

have similarly confounded yourself...

with a number ofbitches

of your own household...

and with two ewes...

the property of your neighbor

Deschauffeur.

You are delivered to

the Master of High Works...

to be stripped

and hanged by the neck...

and strangled

until you are dead.

As the law requires,

your collaborator, the she-ass...

will suffer the same penalty

on the gibbet beside you.

The Lord have mercy on us.

[ Man ]

Stop.! Stop.!

Stop!

[ Man ] Father Lucian

of the village of Ezies...

brings a petition from

the good people ofhis parish.

''This document testifies to

the previous good character...

''of the beast here present,

known as Virginie...

''and attests she could never

have willingly participated in...

the unnatural act

for which she is condemned.''

It is my direction...

that the person of the she-ass

was violated without her consent.

She is released

without stain to her character.

Proceed.

In nomine Patris, et Filii,

et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

[ Creaking, Crunching ]

[ Crow Caws ]

Come on, now.!

Hup.! Hup.!

Hyah!

Come on there!

In the Year of our Lord 1 452...

I, Mathieu, lawyer's clerk,

left the fine city of Paris...

to accompany my youthful master,

the advocate...

in search of

the simple country pleasures.

It was my master's fervent hope

that in a modest rural practice...

he might escape the politicking

and corruption of the big city.

[ Passes Gas ]

For my part, I was doubtful

whether amongst the peasantry...

and the wiles of Ponthieu...

we'd find anything approximating

to the Garden of Eden.

But then,

I'm not the advocate.

[ Dogs Barking,

Hoofbeats ]

[ Dogs Barking Viciously ]

[ Horseman ]

Hey.!

No-o-o!

Ahh!

I was asleep,

was I?

- Did I make a noise?

- Monsieur was dreaming, perhaps.

I don't dream, madame.

Was I snoring? Yes.

They've stopped to let

the hunt go by.

[ Men Shouting ]

Which way?

Maitre?

- [ Maitre ] Whose castle is it?

- [ Woman ] The seigneur

Jehan d'Auferre.

- He's the Lord of Abbeville, monsieur.

- Maitre.

Monsieur is an advocate of law,

so monsieur is a maitre.

- We'll be working in Abbeville.

-[ Woman ] They have a lawyer there.

[ Advocate ] Now they've two.

[ Advocate ] Seven hours.

We could have had better company.

The woman was

entertaining enough.

She said when the seigneur gets tired

of hunting deer and wild pig...

- he uses human quarry.

- I didn't hear that.

- You were asleep, Maitre.

- You'll have to get used to

country gossip, Mathieu.

But you'll find them

good people, real people.

- Evening!

- Ah, shove off!.

[ Chuckles ]

[ Door Opens,

Closes ]

- Sanctuary.

- [ Woman ] Maitre Courtois?

From Paris?

You're very welcome, Maitre.

We have the best rooms for you,

and one next to you for your servant.

- Mathieu's my clerk.

- [ Woman ] Hurry up, Isabelle.

- Now, you'll have sausage and stew?

- Oh, yes.

No! ''Under green leaves

beside a noisy brook...

''the peasant Gontier took his meal

on fresh cheese, apple and plum...

''chopped shallots on

a crust of good bread...

with course salt,

the better to drink.''

No sausage.

[ Men, Women Laughing ]

What's the animal

doing here?

The seigneurJehan d'Auferre

has lost his quarry.

Look at the way

she holds herself.

Country girls,

Mathieu.

- You can keep your whores

in Saint-Denis.

- Oh, thanks.

[ Growling ]

- Good God! That dog smiled at me.

- 'Course he did, Maitre.

I never saw

a dog smile.

[ Laughing ]

I curse your dingle dangle prick,

your nasty wrinkled little wick!

God painted my soul black,

madame, when he pushed me up...

-your crack!

- [ Courtois ] Tell me about

the country lawyer.

[ Mathieu ] His name's Pincheon,

and he's been state prosecutor 1 5 years.

- And he's no country lawyer.

- You know him?

If he's the same Pincheon,

he's from Paris, Ile de la Cite.

Ever shall they reconcile

the cock and c*nt that each revile.

- Good God!

- The simple country pleasures.

Opposing now

and evermore--

- You've seen him work, this Pincheon?

- He's good.

Was good, if it's him.

He took on the Maitre Delamain.

Chewed him up and

spat him out, they say.

See the butcher

here below...

his big knife sharpened

for the blow.

- Courtroom?

- Well, Pincheon could've come up

against an easier prosecutor.

Ah, Maitre Courtois

from Paris!

Domini.

Albertus

of this parish.

You must come

and visit me, Maitre.

Anyone who's read a book

has been sent by the Almighty.

[ Chuckling ]

##[ Flute ]

[ Laughing ]

He's very good, the priest.

##[ Flute Continues ]

[ Flute Stops ]

How extraordinary!

The blackamoors,

are they?

- No, they're from Little Egypt.

- [ Horse Whinnies ]

Reached Paris already,

some of them.

[ Mathieu ]

Spreading like rats.

[ Ducks Quacking,

Horse Whinnying ]

[ Courtois ]

Maitre Pincheon?

Yes.

Ah, Maitre.! Richard Courtois.

I'm the new advocate.

I'm looking forward

to crossing swords with you.

Maitre.

- Good God!

- We haven't had a defense

advocate since last summer.

Some of these have been waiting

for five, six months.

They'll be peasant quarrels,

Mathieu:

a meter here or there of a boundary,

a grandfather's rights of pasture.

- You'll have to get used to--

- Murder.

- Murder?

- A cuckold... smashed the skull

of his wife's fancy man.

A rape here.

And, ah, witchery!

No. That should be

tried by the church.

It's been there, Maitre.

They sent it back to the civil court.

Here's a sodomite.

Buggered his donkey.

Oh, no.

Dispatched, that one.

- Good God, what is this?

- Must be the country air.

[ Laughing ]

- [ Woman Screams ]

- [ Man ] You slut.!

You've been off screwing him again,

haven't you?

Who is the bastard?

I'll kill him.!

I'll cut his balls off!.

Can I help?

- Ah, Maitre Courtois!

- Father Albertus.

I, uh--

what a beautiful morning!

Just, uh, walking off

a heavy meal.

Are you going to town?

Oh, no, no.

Yes. I-- well,

I have to. I, uh--

Your future home,

Maitre.

The builder's design.

[ Courtois ] Gentlemen,

you've heard the Maitre Pincheon

accuse my client, Valliere...

this honest

and gentle farmer...

of the savage murder of a man he

believed to be his wife's lover.

The maitre laments that

the law does not permit him...

to call the wife of the accused

to give testimony.

Nevertheless, I ask you to observe

the evidence she presents to you.

There, gentlemen,

is the object of desire.

Now, I don't doubt that

the beldame is a dutiful wife.

But I have to ask you,

is this a woman for whom

the carnal lusts of one man...

and the hot blood of jealousy in another

led to a terrible revenge?

Truth, as always, gentlemen,

is simple.

The deceased was a drunk...

and a thief.

Several witnesses

have avowed it.

He came by night

to the home of the accused...

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