Youth Without Youth Page #6

finally have what was missing.

Every night for two weeks,

Veronica went

further back in time.

Through unknown languages...

unwritten history.

Getting closer...

and closer...

to the inarticulate moment...

of the beginning.

But at what cost?

Madam is not suffering

from anything,

anything at all.

Are you sure, doctor?

Yes. I've prescribed

a series of shots

with vitamins and minerals.

Perhaps it's...

the nervous condition

that precedes menopause

in certain women.

Well, just how old do you

take her to be, doctor?

Late 40s, more or less.

She's 25.

Where have all

the mirrors gone?

Bring one to me.

Veronica, you're not well.

Bring a mirror to me,

Dominic, please.

Maybe that one.

I should have understood this

from the beginning.

One more regression,

she'll reach

the protolanguage.

Your life's work

will be complete.

You know I'm right.

Dominic?

Dominic?

Look.

Come sit with me.

Come sit with me.

Veronica.

Veronica, I'm to blame for this.

No, it's me.

Listen to me. Listen to me

and don't interrupt.

Please, listen.

Listen to me.

If I continue to live with you,

by autumn

you will have perished.

I can't tell you more.

But I assure you,

in reality, you haven't aged.

The moment I disappear

from your life,

your youth and your beauty

will return.

Don't leave me, Dominic.

Please, don't leave me.

I was doomed to lose everything

that I love.

But I'd rather lose you young

and beautiful, the way you were,

the way you will be again

without me,

than to watch you perish

in my arms.

You promised me

you would never leave me.

I am going to leave you.

If you leave me,

I will die without you.

If in a few months,

you don't find yourself

as you were last autumn,

I'll come back.

The minute I receive

your telegram, I'll come back.

Three or four months,

just wait-

Somewhere...

far away from me.

Don't leave me.

Please. Please.

Dominic.

The 3:
10 train

from Bucuresti to lasi

will depart in five minutes.

The 3:
10 train

from Bucuresti to lasi

will depart in five minutes.

Good evening.

Audricourt.

Sign here, please.

Thank you.

On the second floor, Room 19.

Thank you.

By the way,

do you know if the Caf Select

still exists?

How could it not exist?

It's an historic monument.

Of course.

Have you heard

of Professor Dominic Matei?

You know,

I was born here.

Then you know that

he frequented Caf Select

the whole time he was

professor here in Piatra Neamt.

That's right.

Here's your key.

Nineteen?

The second floor.

All right.

Welcome home.

Caf Select.

Maman.

Maman.

Maman.

Maman.

"Good and

evil lose their meaning,

"and in the absolute

being coincides

with nonbeing. "

Yes, but what no one dares

to say

is that in the horizon

of these philosophies,

atomic wars must be,

if not justified,

at least accepted.

No, I reject that.

True meaning of nuclear

catastrophe can only be this:

The mutation

of the human species,

and the arrival

of the new man.

Yes, but atomic wars

will destroy populations,

civilizations.

That is the price to be paid.

How can you even say that?

The resulting electromagnetic

pulse will create

an unlimited potential

for post-historic man.

Yes, but it could go

the other way

and provoke a regression

in the species.

All that matters is knowledge

and the perfection

of the human being.

So you're saying that the end

justifies the means?

There is no other way.

Just as there was no other way

for Veronica, just aging

and suffering and then death.

There was no other way.

That's why you've never

finished your book,

why you'll always be a failure.

No.

Dominic, what have you done?

Oh, Dominic.

Save me.

Save me, Dominic.

Dominic, what have you done?

What have you done?

And the third rose?

Where shall

I put the third rose?

Oh, where shall I put it?

Dominic?

Dominic Matei?

Cuconul Dominic Matei?

Is it you?

Praise God,

you've returned.

Dr. Neculache, look.

He's back.

Cuconul Dominic is here.

In other words,

the story begins

all over again.

Old friend.

Dominic?

Look, it's you.

- I'm dreaming.

I am dreaming.

When I wake up,

it will seem like

I've just begun to dream indeed.

It's like, uh,

the story of Chuang-tzu

and the butterfly.

The story of Chuang-tzu

and the butterfly?

Yes.

A king who was dreaming

that he was a butterfly

that dreamed he was a king,

who was dreaming

he was a butterfly.

I know very well

that I'm-

I'm dreaming,

and in a minute or two

I will wake up.

You are awake, Cucoane Dominic,

but you are tired.

In fact, you look very tired.

All right.

Between December the 20th, 1938,

and this evening,

many things have happened.

That is when it is happening,

Cucoane Dominic.

This is December 20th, 1938.

I don't dare tell you

what year we are

really living in,

we who are outside this dream.

I know that if I were to make

the effort, I would wake up.

You are not dreaming,

Coane Dominic.

You're here with us,

your friends.

You're at the Caf Select.

This is what we imagined

would happen.

When Conul Dominic

comes to his senses,

when he recovers,

you'll see.

He'll go straight

to the Caf Select.

But if I'm not dreaming,

then you'd know about...

Hiroshima.

Of the hydrogen bomb,

of Neil Armstrong,

the astronaut who landed

and walked on the moon...

...last summer in July.

Dominic!

Dominic, it's true.

You've come back.

Welcome.

You look good.

Welcome, old friend.

It's like that story of, uh,

the Chinese philosopher,

you know, the one

I've told you about many times.

Which Chinese philosopher?

The name escapes me now.

The one with the butterfly.

Well, it's too long to repeat.

I'll call for a sleigh

to take you home.

I don't need a sleigh.

I'm going on foot.

The next time

the problem arises,

I shall know how to answer.

What problem, dear Dominic?

The problem which worries

all of us.

Dominic?

Is it your teeth?

Is it your teeth? Dominic?

Should I lock up

the door?

The guest in Room 19

hasn't come back yet.

He went to the Caf Select.

I'll call.

Yes, he came here.

He went into the backroom.

Uh, no one was there,

so he stayed only

a few minutes

and left without

saying good night.

He was, uh, holding

his hand to his mouth.

And the third?

Where do you want me to put

the third rose?

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