Paní Le Murie
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0:02 - 0:08Then one could hear weapons clank and people knew foray was taking place.
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0:08 - 0:13There was war and ruin would befall them all.
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0:13 - 0:16The women were dragged away and the men killed.
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0:16 - 0:19Children perished somehow too.
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0:20 - 0:26Then wolves and vultures came for the bodies.
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0:26 - 0:29Nature would endure great battles of yore.
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0:29 - 0:31It was full of life thus, full of hope.
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0:31 - 0:34The survivors could run to the forests.
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0:35 - 0:47In thick forests they could take shelter and they knew how to start anew.
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0:49 - 0:52That’s not how it is today.
Where would people run? -
0:52 - 0:54There’s nothing today.
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0:55 - 0:57No forests, no castles.
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0:57 - 1:02Everything is full of poison
and despair reigns. -
1:03 - 1:06No place to hide.
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1:07 - 1:10Only doom and gloom remains.
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1:18 - 1:23MADAM LE MURIE
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3:08 - 3:13That grave’s not forlorn, forsaken, neglected.
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3:14 - 3:16There’s a flower and such...
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3:17 - 3:21but there’ll be no tombstone.
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3:21 - 3:24When I’m dead, if I die here
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3:25 - 3:28- but that doesn’t matter anyway
because I’m last in the line - -
3:28 - 3:32the tomb will be cleared off and sold.
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3:33 - 3:35Nothing, nothing, nothing…
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3:36 - 3:38No name, no marker.
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3:39 - 3:40There’ll be nothing.
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4:39 - 4:45I grew up here the way all the village
children I was friends with did. -
4:45 - 4:50I’d visit their cottages, run barefoot,
everything just like them. -
4:51 - 4:55Of course, that changed with time...
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4:56 - 4:58my great grief.
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4:58 - 5:01I started to be alone more and more.
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5:01 - 5:04That’s how it’s been my whole life, basically.
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6:05 - 6:13Every drop of water must be dragged
here from the village. -
6:13 - 6:18We used to have a nice water main,
but it was destroyed. -
6:20 - 6:22I guess it’s better this way.
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6:23 - 6:32All this clutter, the wood, we
brought it in during the war. -
6:32 - 6:40When the Germans came, Father
created this "artistic mess"... -
6:40 - 6:43so that it looked less posh.
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6:45 - 6:47And it stayed this way…
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7:41 - 7:45I can’t fathom why they didn’t
throw us out from here. -
7:47 - 7:49Must have been providence.
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7:51 - 7:53Our heads are very, very small.
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7:53 - 7:58With our two hands we can enclasp it.
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8:00 - 8:06Thus, our intellect cannot fathom
why we were allowed to stay. -
8:10 - 8:15I believe there was a higher
purpose in that. -
8:21 - 8:24All that’s hard to explain.
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8:25 - 8:28It’s incommunicable.
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9:08 - 9:12I’ve always loved nature very much.
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9:14 - 9:19I like fish, water. There are
plenty of ponds here. -
9:20 - 9:24Every toad, every little fish,
that was my thing. -
9:25 - 9:28A strong bond with flora.
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9:28 - 9:31And it was bursting with animals here.
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9:31 - 9:34There were those - something
like crakes. -
9:34 - 9:39They were around in June when
it was hot, on the meadows. -
9:39 - 9:42You could hear them here and there.
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9:44 - 9:46A symbiosis with nature.
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9:47 - 9:48And with people.
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9:48 - 9:50A complete symbiosis.
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9:58 - 10:00We have storks on the roof.
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10:00 - 10:04Their nest dates to last century.
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10:04 - 10:10When it was hot, you could hear
all the croaking in the evening. -
10:10 - 10:13Or even during the day.
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10:13 - 10:16The stork would come and
all you could hear was -
10:16 - 10:18plonk, plonk, plonk...
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10:18 - 10:23And the toads would rush to
water to save their lives. -
10:25 - 10:26But it's quiet now.
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10:27 - 10:30That’s terrible for me.
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10:30 - 10:34It was like a part of me.
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10:46 - 10:48This used to be Father’s salon.
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10:49 - 10:51His escritoire.
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10:51 - 10:56My Father was from the old school.
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10:58 - 11:06And when I was a little older he would
find time to teach me Latin. -
11:07 - 11:09I’m very grateful for that.
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11:09 - 11:13After every lesson I’d thank him.
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11:30 - 11:32The roof leaks a lot.
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11:32 - 11:38You must save whatever you can.
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11:39 - 11:40Must ventilate the closets too.
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11:41 - 11:45But it’s so damp it’s hard to open.
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11:50 - 11:53Mama was bound to this
bed for almost 8 years. -
11:53 - 11:58She was ill, suffering from
deformative rheumatism. -
11:59 - 12:00She was immobile.
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12:02 - 12:07I was married off to Switzerland...
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12:07 - 12:10but in 1948 I heard about what
was happening here. -
12:12 - 12:14I burst into tears so hard.
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12:15 - 12:19Some time later
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12:20 - 12:23I went back here and stayed with Mama.
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12:26 - 12:28Father was old
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12:28 - 12:29and the communists needed someone
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12:29 - 12:33to accuse of being a kulak
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12:33 - 12:36so they jailed him.
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12:36 - 12:39But he was so old
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12:40 - 12:41they knew he’d die soon,
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12:41 - 12:43so they let him go home.
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12:43 - 12:48He loved to walk to his former fields...
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12:48 - 12:51where one day he died.
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12:55 - 12:57This was my brother’s bedroom.
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12:58 - 13:01He was very ascetic.
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13:01 - 13:04We all were brought up tough...
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13:04 - 13:07and we were all frugal.
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13:08 - 13:10My brother loved South Bohemia.
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13:11 - 13:14Nothing could beat the Bohemian
Forest for him. -
13:15 - 13:16And its people.
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13:16 - 13:19He never left.
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13:19 - 13:22When the army came
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13:23 - 13:27and made most of it off-limits
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13:28 - 13:30it was a real blow for him.
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13:31 - 13:33Kristián also spent time in jail,
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13:34 - 13:36but the village helped him out.
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13:37 - 13:39Also the damage to the countryside,
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13:40 - 13:41the meadows were ploughed under,
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13:41 - 13:43wildlife annihilated,
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13:43 - 13:44and birds gone…
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13:45 - 13:46He loved birds dearly,
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13:47 - 13:48especially the small ones.
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13:49 - 13:51And they were less and less populous.
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13:55 - 13:58Well, it’s good he died first...
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13:59 - 14:03because I don’t know how well
could he have handled it... -
14:03 - 14:05had he stayed on his own.
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14:06 - 14:10I served Mama till the end...
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14:10 - 14:13and Papa, and my brother too.
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14:21 - 14:24We’d often remark, Kristián and I,
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14:25 - 14:27how beautiful it was around here
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14:28 - 14:30and how it was mistreated.
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14:31 - 14:33Butterflies aplenty,
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14:33 - 14:36their number getting thinner
year after year… -
14:37 - 14:39They’re gone. Gone.
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14:41 - 14:42And there’s more,
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14:42 - 14:44but people don’t notice.
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14:45 - 14:47They don’t observe nature at all.
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14:48 - 14:50Just to get their livelihood from it,
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14:51 - 14:52to gain more and more,
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14:52 - 14:55but to really contemplate,
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14:55 - 14:59understand and ask questions...
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15:00 - 15:03People don’t care.
That’s something awful. -
15:03 - 15:06Especially the country folk.
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15:06 - 15:10They have no taste for all this at all.
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15:11 - 15:14They just go for the immediate gain.
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15:15 - 15:17Just to stuff their faces, pardon my French.
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15:56 - 15:57I had a schoolmate,
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15:58 - 16:00she was a gravedigger‘s daughter.
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16:00 - 16:04She took the job after his death
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16:04 - 16:06and I told her I’d help.
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16:07 - 16:11And so we’d bury the dead,
dig graves and such. -
16:11 - 16:13No problem for me.
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16:15 - 16:17We’d have difficulties with every grave.
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16:17 - 16:20Very rarely would it go easy.
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16:21 - 16:25Never less than 3 hours. Never.
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16:27 - 16:32I’d often stumble upon these
white stiff pieces digging. -
16:32 - 16:35I thought it was cast.
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16:35 - 16:36But it seemed curious...
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16:37 - 16:40to have so many people buried with cast.
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16:40 - 16:43But this one time I was
burying this neighbour -
16:44 - 16:45and the broad was very fat.
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16:46 - 16:48Then it occurred to me...
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16:48 - 16:50it was lard,
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16:50 - 16:53non-decomposed,
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16:54 - 17:00and that it looked just like cast.
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17:02 - 17:04The fatness,
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17:04 - 17:05the fat,
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17:06 - 17:07the lard,
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17:07 - 17:10it transforms into this…
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17:10 - 17:14I just had to show it to this guy from
the village who was passing by, -
17:14 - 17:16I told him to come and have a look,
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17:16 - 17:18this is the fat that remained…
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17:51 - 17:53Why, the swallows left early this year.
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17:54 - 17:55Why?
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17:55 - 17:56There’s a reason!
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17:57 - 17:59Something‘s telling them.
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17:59 - 18:02And all the storks are gone too.
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18:02 - 18:05Usually by the end of August.
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18:06 - 18:08But what drives them?
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18:09 - 18:11This is no laughing matter.
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18:11 - 18:12It isn’t accidental.
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19:14 - 19:19We should also speak of an
incommunicable secret. -
19:20 - 19:23It could be light for those born blind.
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19:23 - 19:28And all the sensations
that come with sight. -
19:28 - 19:29Yet they live.
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19:29 - 19:30Or the deaf.
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19:30 - 19:34Never getting to know what
tone or sound means. -
19:36 - 19:40We discern three dimensions.
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19:41 - 19:45This great human being, Einstein,
added a fourth one -
19:45 - 19:47– time.
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19:49 - 19:52But for us common folk
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19:52 - 19:55only the first three apply.
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20:20 - 20:23I like to watch the celestial sphere.
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20:24 - 20:28I see the Milky Way...
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20:29 - 20:35made of innumerable ardent stars.
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20:37 - 20:38When I think about
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20:39 - 20:41how each of the stars
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20:41 - 20:45is millions of light years away
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20:45 - 20:47and this ray travels
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20:48 - 20:51and touches my eye where it expires
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20:51 - 20:53in a fraction of second.
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20:54 - 20:56It‘s awe-inspiring.
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20:56 - 20:58I shiver inside
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20:58 - 21:03and can’t but feel humble.
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21:06 - 21:08Disturbing feelings.
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21:08 - 21:10Deeply.
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21:31 - 21:32One fears death.
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21:33 - 21:35Of course. And for good reason.
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21:36 - 21:39Because we don’t know what’s there.
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21:39 - 21:42And we must leave here.
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21:44 - 21:50You could say I get a headache from this.
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21:51 - 21:55It makes me dizzy.
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21:56 - 21:59To know all of it is true.
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22:01 - 22:05Your brain can’t analyse it.
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22:05 - 22:08But it’s no nonsense,
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22:09 - 22:10no dream,
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22:11 - 22:13it’s reality.
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22:24 - 22:27The grave doesn’t horrify
me, the universe does. -
22:45 - 22:48Our age is drawing to an end.
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22:49 - 22:51The Quaternary Period is done for.
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22:53 - 22:56The omens are numerous.
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22:58 - 22:59Ozone depletion.
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23:01 - 23:03Rain forests destruction.
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23:04 - 23:08All of this accelerates
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23:09 - 23:11the demise of the Quaternary.
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23:11 - 23:14Conifers are dying,
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23:15 - 23:17broad-leaved trees are starting too,
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23:17 - 23:19oaks are dying,
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23:19 - 23:23beech is next and so on,
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23:23 - 23:26everything is dying.
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23:28 - 23:30Stone crumbles.
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23:30 - 23:33With human help.
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23:37 - 23:38When oak is in danger,
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23:39 - 23:40now that’s something,
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23:41 - 23:45Now that’s something,
people always said strong as oak, -
23:46 - 23:50it was always used as a parable for something strong.
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23:52 - 23:55and all others will follow.
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24:04 - 24:05We will perish.
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25:18 - 25:21When I was at a very tender age,
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25:22 - 25:2415 or so,
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25:25 - 25:28I met a young gentleman
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25:29 - 25:32who impressed me a lot.
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25:33 - 25:38I felt a growing fierce affection for him
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25:38 - 25:44and it developed into a deep love.
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25:45 - 25:50When I realised his feelings were not as strong,
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25:50 - 25:54just a passing fancy,
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25:54 - 25:59definitely not what I’d dreamt for...
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26:03 - 26:06it shattered my life.
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26:07 - 26:08I glimpsed at my watch
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26:08 - 26:10and it was stuck.
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26:12 - 26:18To overcome this shock
I said my watch was stuck. -
26:21 - 26:25That moment
my whole world came to a halt. -
26:26 - 26:30My life was over in an instant.
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26:32 - 26:35I stayed away from great feeling
for the rest of my life. -
26:35 - 26:39No one knew anything.
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26:39 - 26:43I fought it out, but the price was terrible.
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26:45 - 26:47It cost me my life.
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26:51 - 26:53I turned into a vegetable.
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27:56 - 27:57Off with you, cat.
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31:44 - 31:46The longcase clock was stolen,
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31:46 - 31:47as were many other things.
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31:49 - 31:54The other clock I stopped
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31:54 - 32:00when I was told of my brother’s death.
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32:04 - 32:06After all, what’s this “time”?
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32:07 - 32:09I gave it a lot of thought.
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32:09 - 32:11We know the past,
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32:11 - 32:12don’t know the future.
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32:12 - 32:14And presence?
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32:14 - 32:16When I say “now”,
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32:16 - 32:18it’s already in the past.
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32:19 - 32:23Time is a human construct
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32:27 - 32:28that can be of help
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32:29 - 32:33and is necessary,
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32:34 - 32:37but I must say I can’t figure it out.
- Title:
- Paní Le Murie
- Description:
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Krátký dokument o baronce Blance Battaglia žijící v osamění na chátrajícím zámku v Bratronicích (okres Strakonice). Její rod pocházel z otcovy strany z Lombardie, matka byla z Vídně, od 18. století se usadil v Čechách. Otec byl v roce 1938 jedním ze signatářů Podpory české šlechty Benešově vládě. Jí a především bratru Christianu Battagliovi, slavnému jihočeskému cyklistovi, vystavěl ve své knize Syn celerového krále pomník spisovatel Ota Pavel, a to v povídce Baroni na kolech. Film Petra Václava „Paní Le Murie" získal první cenu za nejlepší dokumentární film na mezinárodním festivalu filmových škol v Mnichově a byl nominován na Oskara v kategorii studentských filmů.
Režie: Petr Václav
Kamera:Štěpán Kučera
Hudba: Jiří Václav
Krátký film Praha, a.s., Česká republika, 1993 - Video Language:
- Czech
- Duration:
- 34:00
s.pitts3 edited English subtitles for Paní Le Murie |