1
00:00:11,011 --> 00:00:13,096
(Birds chirping)

2
00:00:13,180 --> 00:00:15,015
(Siren wailing in distance)

3
00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:17,893
(Clock ticking)

4
00:00:27,402 --> 00:00:28,237
(Door opening)

5
00:00:34,826 --> 00:00:36,411
(Horns honking in distance)

6
00:00:49,591 --> 00:00:50,801
- Hmm?

7
00:00:53,053 --> 00:00:55,514
Well, well...

8
00:00:55,597 --> 00:00:57,724
Who's that hiding there?

9
00:01:00,602 --> 00:01:03,647
Don't worry, I'm not
calling the gendarmes.

10
00:01:05,899 --> 00:01:07,943
(Grunting)

11
00:01:10,112 --> 00:01:13,782
Ah! That's interesting.

12
00:01:13,866 --> 00:01:16,952
Of all the treasures
in this entire room,

13
00:01:17,035 --> 00:01:19,496
can you guess which
is most precious?

14
00:01:19,580 --> 00:01:20,497
- Mm-mmm.

15
00:01:20,581 --> 00:01:21,665
- No?

16
00:01:22,958 --> 00:01:26,545
Actually,
it's a very tiny object.

17
00:01:26,628 --> 00:01:30,799
Fits right in the palm
of your hand.

18
00:01:32,176 --> 00:01:36,471
It would seem someone
has discovered my secret.

19
00:01:36,555 --> 00:01:38,682
- What secret, Grandpa?

20
00:01:38,765 --> 00:01:41,143
- Oh, my dear.

21
00:01:41,226 --> 00:01:44,188
It's a very old story

22
00:01:44,271 --> 00:01:47,566
going way,
way back in time...

23
00:01:49,902 --> 00:01:54,698
to when I was a boy
in Montreal, where I was born.

24
00:01:54,781 --> 00:01:56,200
(Dogs growling)

25
00:01:57,784 --> 00:02:01,580
By day, I prowled the docks,
waiting for a box to drop.

26
00:02:01,663 --> 00:02:03,207
Then we'd steal what we could

27
00:02:03,290 --> 00:02:05,375
till the boom
of the foreman's rifle

28
00:02:05,459 --> 00:02:07,544
would scatter us like flies.

29
00:02:09,004 --> 00:02:11,798
In the summer,
I slept in the streets.

30
00:02:11,882 --> 00:02:14,051
And when it got cold,

31
00:02:14,134 --> 00:02:16,220
I'd find an abandoned apartment

32
00:02:16,303 --> 00:02:18,555
next to where
someone already lived.

33
00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:21,892
That way, if you slept on
the other side of their kitchen,

34
00:02:21,975 --> 00:02:24,978
you might feel
the heat from their stove.

35
00:02:25,062 --> 00:02:27,856
(Object clattering in distance,
muffled voices)

36
00:02:35,697 --> 00:02:39,243
In the apartment across from me
lived a family.

37
00:02:40,452 --> 00:02:43,038
The woman was always in a rage.

38
00:02:43,121 --> 00:02:44,957
Her husband was a sickly fellow

39
00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,000
with a daughter
from his first wife

40
00:02:47,084 --> 00:02:48,961
who died in childbirth.

41
00:02:49,044 --> 00:02:50,212
- You spied on them?

42
00:02:50,295 --> 00:02:54,341
- Well, we didn't have
television back then.

43
00:02:54,424 --> 00:02:55,384
Should I stop?

44
00:02:55,467 --> 00:02:56,844
- No, no.
What happened next?

45
00:02:58,512 --> 00:03:01,265
- I'm afraid
it's not a happy story.

46
00:03:02,432 --> 00:03:03,684
Every day, she'd yell:

47
00:03:03,767 --> 00:03:06,061
"You and your father
are good for nothing.

48
00:03:06,144 --> 00:03:07,813
I should throw you
into the streets."

49
00:03:07,896 --> 00:03:09,106
(Muffled voices)

50
00:03:21,368 --> 00:03:24,454
Her father did
what he could to comfort her.

51
00:03:24,538 --> 00:03:27,082
"We must endure," he'd say.

52
00:03:27,165 --> 00:03:29,459
"Our reward
is in the next life."

53
00:03:33,422 --> 00:03:37,301
That night,
the night everything changed...

54
00:03:38,844 --> 00:03:43,557
I witnessed something
extraordinary, magical.

55
00:03:53,859 --> 00:03:55,819
(Weeping)

56
00:04:16,048 --> 00:04:18,800
I watched over her
the entire night.

57
00:04:18,884 --> 00:04:22,721
I wanted to take her away
from that dreadful place.

58
00:04:27,351 --> 00:04:30,312
Then, before anyone was awake,

59
00:04:30,395 --> 00:04:33,941
she cleaned the floor
as though nothing had happened.

60
00:04:34,024 --> 00:04:36,652
It was like she was ashamed.

61
00:04:41,406 --> 00:04:42,616
Maybe.

62
00:04:43,951 --> 00:04:46,161
Maybe I could reach them.

63
00:04:58,799 --> 00:05:03,428
They glowed, perfect and round.

64
00:05:03,512 --> 00:05:05,055
They tasted...

65
00:05:06,223 --> 00:05:08,058
like salt...

66
00:05:09,226 --> 00:05:10,602
like tears.

67
00:05:10,686 --> 00:05:12,563
- So you stole
the girl's pearls?

68
00:05:12,646 --> 00:05:14,523
- Don't judge, my love.

69
00:05:14,606 --> 00:05:16,984
Remember, I was just a child.

70
00:05:17,067 --> 00:05:18,735
- What did you do with them?

71
00:05:18,819 --> 00:05:21,738
- What I tried to do
with anything I found.

72
00:05:24,950 --> 00:05:26,910
There was a man
in the neighbourhood

73
00:05:26,994 --> 00:05:29,121
who was known
to give you a few cents

74
00:05:29,204 --> 00:05:31,164
if you brought him
something of value.

75
00:05:36,670 --> 00:05:40,007
When I appeared with a pearl,
he was sceptical.

76
00:05:42,885 --> 00:05:45,429
It was not the largest
he'd seen,

77
00:05:45,512 --> 00:05:48,473
but the colour, the lustre,
the luminescence...

78
00:05:49,975 --> 00:05:52,561
"Where did you steal it,
you little rat?" he asked me.

79
00:05:52,644 --> 00:05:54,229
"I didn't steal it," I said.

80
00:05:54,313 --> 00:05:55,689
I told him the whole story.

81
00:05:55,772 --> 00:05:57,232
He didn't believe a word of it.

82
00:05:57,316 --> 00:05:59,693
I pulled out the second pearl.

83
00:05:59,776 --> 00:06:01,695
"I'm not lying," I said.

84
00:06:01,778 --> 00:06:04,781
I could see the wheels turning.

85
00:06:04,865 --> 00:06:07,409
"A matching pair. Hmm...

86
00:06:07,492 --> 00:06:09,119
Very, very rare."

87
00:06:09,203 --> 00:06:11,830
"Are you going to
buy them or not?" I asked.

88
00:06:11,914 --> 00:06:15,250
"Easy now. Silence!

89
00:06:15,334 --> 00:06:17,794
I need to get these checked."

90
00:06:17,878 --> 00:06:19,129
"What does that mean?"

91
00:06:19,213 --> 00:06:21,715
"It means get out!

92
00:06:21,798 --> 00:06:23,634
"Come back tomorrow.

93
00:06:23,717 --> 00:06:26,929
"Or maybe you'd prefer
we went to the cops

94
00:06:27,012 --> 00:06:28,931
"with your little fairy tale.

95
00:06:29,014 --> 00:06:29,890
Out!"

96
00:06:35,687 --> 00:06:38,857
There was a specialist
in the old port,

97
00:06:38,941 --> 00:06:41,693
a jeweller famed
for his integrity.

98
00:06:41,777 --> 00:06:44,571
He examined
the pearls thoroughly,

99
00:06:44,655 --> 00:06:48,033
amazed at their shimmer
and iridescence.

100
00:06:48,116 --> 00:06:52,663
"The lustre, the shape,
the colour!

101
00:06:52,746 --> 00:06:54,623
Perfection."

102
00:06:55,874 --> 00:06:58,418
He speculated
as to their origin.

103
00:06:59,878 --> 00:07:01,964
"From the South Seas?

104
00:07:03,090 --> 00:07:04,758
"Perhaps...

105
00:07:04,842 --> 00:07:06,343
"No.

106
00:07:06,426 --> 00:07:09,137
"I've never seen
pearls like these.

107
00:07:09,221 --> 00:07:12,057
"They smell like the sea,

108
00:07:12,140 --> 00:07:14,560
"but they're not
from any mollusk.

109
00:07:14,643 --> 00:07:16,436
Tell me,
where did you get them?"

110
00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:18,981
"Oh, well,
it's a very strange story,"

111
00:07:19,064 --> 00:07:20,315
said the pawnbroker.

112
00:07:20,399 --> 00:07:21,692
"You won't believe me."

113
00:07:21,775 --> 00:07:23,694
But the jeweller
didn't smile or scoff

114
00:07:23,777 --> 00:07:26,488
when he heard the tale
of the thieving boy

115
00:07:26,572 --> 00:07:28,574
and the girl who cried pearls.

116
00:07:28,657 --> 00:07:31,660
Instead, his face grew serious.

117
00:07:33,036 --> 00:07:34,413
"Hold on.

118
00:07:34,496 --> 00:07:36,790
Hold on a moment,"
said the jeweller.

119
00:07:36,874 --> 00:07:38,625
"Wait right there."

120
00:07:38,709 --> 00:07:42,504
The jeweller was a deeply
learned and religious man

121
00:07:42,588 --> 00:07:44,715
with a collection
of ancient books

122
00:07:44,798 --> 00:07:47,467
that would be the envy
of any museum.

123
00:07:49,011 --> 00:07:52,556
"After Adam and Eve were
banished from the garden,"

124
00:07:52,639 --> 00:07:54,850
he said,
"Adam shed so many tears

125
00:07:54,933 --> 00:07:57,936
"that birds and beasts alike
came to drink from them,

126
00:07:58,020 --> 00:08:01,815
and the tears of Eve
turned into pearls."

127
00:08:01,899 --> 00:08:04,276
"But that's--that's
a Sunday school story,"

128
00:08:04,359 --> 00:08:05,569
said the pawnbroker.

129
00:08:05,652 --> 00:08:07,404
"You believe in this nonsense?"

130
00:08:07,487 --> 00:08:10,157
"With God, who's to say
what's possible,"

131
00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,201
said the jeweller.

132
00:08:12,284 --> 00:08:13,619
"I put my faith in money.

133
00:08:13,702 --> 00:08:15,287
Question is,
what are they worth?"

134
00:08:15,370 --> 00:08:17,247
"Pearls of sorrow?

135
00:08:17,331 --> 00:08:20,209
They're priceless,"
said the jeweller.

136
00:08:20,292 --> 00:08:22,503
"But I can offer you this.

137
00:08:22,586 --> 00:08:26,173
Share it with the young girl,
or may God help you."

138
00:08:26,256 --> 00:08:28,926
"I'm not running at charity,"
said the pawnbroker.

139
00:08:29,009 --> 00:08:30,344
"I know your type.

140
00:08:30,427 --> 00:08:34,056
"If you say it's worth one,
then I know it's worth two.

141
00:08:36,475 --> 00:08:38,185
Good day to you, sir."

142
00:08:41,647 --> 00:08:43,941
"We have a deal,"
said the pawnbroker.

143
00:08:44,024 --> 00:08:45,984
"They're not worth much.

144
00:08:46,068 --> 00:08:48,612
I'll give you a dollar apiece."

145
00:08:50,906 --> 00:08:52,908
I'd never seen so much money.

146
00:08:52,991 --> 00:08:55,035
"Can you bring more tomorrow?"
he asked.

147
00:08:56,203 --> 00:08:58,664
I promised I could.

148
00:08:58,747 --> 00:09:02,543
But instead, I bought an
enormous box of chocolates.

149
00:09:38,704 --> 00:09:42,749
it was the first time
I'd seen her smile,

150
00:09:42,833 --> 00:09:45,711
maybe the first time
she ever had.

151
00:09:51,216 --> 00:09:54,720
That night, she did not cry

152
00:09:54,803 --> 00:09:58,223
and there were no pearls.

153
00:10:00,392 --> 00:10:03,478
The next morning, the pawnbroker
was prepared to be generous,

154
00:10:03,562 --> 00:10:05,022
but I refused the money.

155
00:10:05,105 --> 00:10:06,481
"Because I love her," I said.

156
00:10:06,565 --> 00:10:07,858
"I don't want her to be sad."

157
00:10:07,941 --> 00:10:10,319
"What?

158
00:10:10,402 --> 00:10:12,821
"You idiot! You fool!

159
00:10:12,905 --> 00:10:15,365
"Life gives you one shot,
just one!

160
00:10:15,449 --> 00:10:18,660
"You don't marry
the first girl you see.

161
00:10:18,744 --> 00:10:22,748
"She'll bleed you dry
like a vampire to the bones!

162
00:10:22,831 --> 00:10:24,666
You have a choice," he said.

163
00:10:24,750 --> 00:10:27,503
"Either she cries,
and you get rich,

164
00:10:27,586 --> 00:10:30,714
or she smiles and you stay
in your hole forever!"

165
00:10:38,347 --> 00:10:41,016
The girl waited
at the window all day,

166
00:10:41,099 --> 00:10:42,726
as if she thought some prince

167
00:10:42,809 --> 00:10:44,603
would come knocking
at any moment.

168
00:10:45,771 --> 00:10:47,147
I was scared.

169
00:10:47,231 --> 00:10:50,400
The pawnbroker had planted
a worm of doubt in me.

170
00:10:50,484 --> 00:10:53,946
It was just as he said.
I was nothing.

171
00:10:54,029 --> 00:10:55,781
(Bell tolling in distance)

172
00:10:57,574 --> 00:10:59,201
She did not cry that night...

173
00:11:00,410 --> 00:11:03,830
or the next, or the next.

174
00:11:03,914 --> 00:11:06,083
But on the seventh night...

175
00:11:07,251 --> 00:11:08,710
(Girl crying)

176
00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:19,555
It felt like my soul
had split from my body

177
00:11:19,638 --> 00:11:23,642
and was floating
farther and farther away.

178
00:11:25,853 --> 00:11:29,648
"Bravo, bravo,"
said the pawnbroker.

179
00:11:29,731 --> 00:11:32,484
This calls
for something special."

180
00:11:34,611 --> 00:11:37,197
"No. No, it's not enough.

181
00:11:37,281 --> 00:11:38,866
I broke her heart," I said.

182
00:11:38,949 --> 00:11:40,450
"Yes, OK.

183
00:11:40,534 --> 00:11:42,369
"But she's not dead.

184
00:11:42,452 --> 00:11:43,871
"Here.

185
00:11:43,954 --> 00:11:46,540
It's ten times more
than the last time."

186
00:11:46,623 --> 00:11:48,542
Enough to change my life.

187
00:11:48,625 --> 00:11:50,210
"Well done, my boy.

188
00:11:50,294 --> 00:11:53,172
"A man must
look after himself alone.

189
00:11:53,255 --> 00:11:54,715
"You won't regret it.

190
00:11:54,798 --> 00:11:56,592
"You did what had to be done.

191
00:11:56,675 --> 00:12:00,095
"We'll make some good deals,
you and I.

192
00:12:00,179 --> 00:12:02,431
We're cut from the same cloth."

193
00:12:02,514 --> 00:12:04,933
I lived like a king that day.

194
00:12:05,017 --> 00:12:07,186
I bought fancy new clothes

195
00:12:07,269 --> 00:12:11,064
and a third-class ticket
to Paris on a steamliner.

196
00:12:11,148 --> 00:12:14,902
But as I approached her house
for that last time...

197
00:12:34,421 --> 00:12:37,257
(Girl crying)

198
00:12:50,395 --> 00:12:54,066
The next day,
everything was silent.

199
00:12:54,149 --> 00:12:57,110
They had packed up
and disappeared.

200
00:13:00,239 --> 00:13:03,325
She was gone.
What could I do now?

201
00:13:05,577 --> 00:13:07,621
I had one thought.

202
00:13:25,806 --> 00:13:29,309
I could hear his heart
beating in his chest.

203
00:13:30,519 --> 00:13:33,647
"Whoa, kid!
What did you do?"

204
00:13:33,730 --> 00:13:35,649
I got down to business.

205
00:13:35,732 --> 00:13:37,234
In return for the pearls,

206
00:13:37,317 --> 00:13:40,654
I demanded he fill a shoebox
with $100 bills.

207
00:13:40,737 --> 00:13:43,323
Then we would trade box for box.

208
00:13:43,407 --> 00:13:45,534
Cash, not trinkets.

209
00:13:45,617 --> 00:13:48,662
"Yes. Uh, let me see
what I can do.

210
00:13:48,745 --> 00:13:51,039
"I can give you that. Yes."

211
00:13:52,708 --> 00:13:55,210
But of course, the store
was nothing but junk.

212
00:13:55,294 --> 00:13:57,004
Even his gold was fake.

213
00:13:57,087 --> 00:13:58,630
He was getting desperate.

214
00:13:58,714 --> 00:14:01,800
"We could be partners.
You and me, 50-50."

215
00:14:01,884 --> 00:14:03,093
"You can't pay?

216
00:14:03,177 --> 00:14:04,928
"After what
I've put myself through?

217
00:14:05,012 --> 00:14:07,055
"That box better be full
when I come back,

218
00:14:07,139 --> 00:14:08,765
or I'll sell these
somewhere else."

219
00:14:11,977 --> 00:14:13,437
"Wait, wait," he said.

220
00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:15,439
"Please come back
before I close.

221
00:14:15,522 --> 00:14:17,524
I'll give you
everything you want."

222
00:14:19,860 --> 00:14:21,945
"I need money quickly,
you understand,"

223
00:14:22,029 --> 00:14:23,071
said the pawnbroker.

224
00:14:27,159 --> 00:14:28,994
"The building's
in good condition.

225
00:14:29,077 --> 00:14:29,912
You won't regret it."

226
00:14:35,167 --> 00:14:39,838
The jeweller wondered at
the endless greed of men

227
00:14:39,922 --> 00:14:43,425
and the mysterious workings
of the divine.

228
00:14:48,096 --> 00:14:49,473
(Man shouting in distance)

229
00:14:53,769 --> 00:14:55,812
The jeweller was astonished.

230
00:14:55,896 --> 00:14:59,775
It was identical to the pearl
the pawnbroker had brought him.

231
00:14:59,858 --> 00:15:02,361
And there were
thousands of them.

232
00:15:04,363 --> 00:15:06,156
"Monsieur,"
he called to the foreman.

233
00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:07,741
"Monsieur, over here!

234
00:15:07,824 --> 00:15:10,160
Do you know what this is?"

235
00:15:10,244 --> 00:15:11,954
"These?

236
00:15:12,037 --> 00:15:13,956
"Oh, it's the newest thing.

237
00:15:14,039 --> 00:15:16,291
"It's from Japan.

238
00:15:16,375 --> 00:15:19,002
It's called plastic."

239
00:15:22,172 --> 00:15:24,258
Plastic.

240
00:15:28,262 --> 00:15:31,807
In truth, as greedy
as the pawnbroker was,

241
00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:34,726
he was just as lonely as I.

242
00:15:34,810 --> 00:15:36,645
And that was how I tricked him.

243
00:15:37,813 --> 00:15:41,066
I kept one as a souvenir.

244
00:15:41,149 --> 00:15:44,152
I prayed I'd never
see him again.

245
00:15:45,904 --> 00:15:47,364
And I never did.

246
00:15:54,246 --> 00:15:55,789
- Hang on, hang on, hang on.

247
00:15:55,873 --> 00:15:57,958
You made it all up?

248
00:15:58,041 --> 00:15:59,668
That's your big secret?

249
00:15:59,751 --> 00:16:03,922
- It's always the story that
gives something its value.

250
00:16:04,006 --> 00:16:07,092
Only the story,
never the object.

251
00:16:08,677 --> 00:16:13,390
And personally,
I still find it beautiful.

252
00:16:14,683 --> 00:16:17,644
- But the girl,

253
00:16:17,728 --> 00:16:19,855
did she even exist?

254
00:16:26,403 --> 00:16:28,280
Closed Captions: MELS