Original subtitles

--== McEphie ==--

Are they here?

No, not yet. But they will be soon.

How soon?

There are only a few dances left.

Hopefully more.

God willing, we'll make it through the night.

This?

I won't need that in the forest.

We're leaving too many things behind.

We're taking too many things we don't need.

Come here a moment.

There isn't enough time, we have to leave...

Come here.

Listen well.

If there's one thing we must bring, it's our faith.

Son, you have to be with me.

But I am with you.

It's one thing to be with me,

and another to believe in me.

We have to get going.

Why did you stop?

I thought I heard something.

- Where? - Put that away!

There's nothing wrong, my child. Let's go.

Mother!

Let me see if anyone is inside.

- What was that? - The floor.

But otherwise, it's usable.

A bit of work and it will be good as new.

Looks like it was abandoned centuries ago!

Must be the Spanish!

It will be easy to fix the mess they left behind!

We're already running out of wine.

So, what are we going to do here?

How long are we going to stay?

We'll try to live here.

We shouldn't worry about wine and tobacco,

when the rest of the land is in conflict.

Have some wine. We'll get through this.

No, thank you.

Lunch is ready!

What are we having?

Potatoes! What were you expecting?

Tonight, we'll eat meat!

It's a good thing I brought these.

I thought they were for planting.

Yes, I will plant them!

I only need a few leaves for your wound.

They say that these herbs become healthier and more potent

if grown in the forest.

They come from the forest anyway.

They were once wild plants

discovered by our forefathers a long time ago.

Bear it!

As they say, if it hurts, it will heal.

What was in the forest, and how did this happen?

This is a great forest!

I saw trees far greater than the ones around us.

I saw one wider than this whole house!

I think...

...I could walk several days and nights,

and I still wouldn't reach the other end of the forest.

I've heard that at the end of the forest lies the sea!

I'd like to reach the sea one day.

I think I'm more of a fisherman than a hunter.

There are a lot of big fish in the sea!

- Sometimes I dream about the sea. - You don't like the river?

You caught our dinner from the river.

Of course! I like the river. This forest's river.

The water was so cold! There were so many fish.

I could fish every day for the rest of our lives,

and the river wouldn't run out of fish.

We'll never have meat?

Of course we'll have meat!

For example, on special occasions,

like when we have fiesta.

I promise. One day, I'll bring some meat home for us.

We need to dig up this soil.

What about the owner?

No one owns land that's been abandoned.

- Should I start a fire? - Don't!

Someone might notice us.

I lost my way.

Come inside. You must be starving.

Mother!

I woke up in your hut.

I had some of your potatoes.

I was so hungry that I finished everything in the pot.

Well, the hungry always find something to eat.

I never got to meet my grandfather.

But my father told me many stories about him.

My favourite is about how he fought with snakes.

Snakes!

Don't worry! There aren't any around here.

I'm not afraid of them. Like my grandfather.

You see... his vegetable patch in the forest was taken over by snakes.

He couldn't even get close to the patch.

Neglected, it became overgrown with weeds.

So my grandfather said,

"These evil snakes cannot reign over my property!"

So he sharpened his sword and with a friend, marched to the forest.

As they approached, they could hear the angry hissing of snakes.

It seemed the snakes knew they were coming.

Frightened, his friend quickly climbed up a tree.

From the top, he could see how my grandfather fought the snakes -

severing their heads with his sword,

or pounding them into the ground till they were dead...

When he finished killing the snakes,

he gathered them up into a huge pile taller than him!

Afterwards, he collapsed from exhaustion.

Later, they extracted all the bile from the snakes

and distributed it amongst the villagers.

A form of medicine! It cures many ailments.

You know how my grandfather was able to do all that?

Because he had an amulet!

A pebble: round, smooth,

and black, which he found inside a coconut on Good Friday.

It wasn't from any ordinary coconut tree.

It grew in the middle of the forest all by itself.

He gave the amulet to my father,

but people say that lightning will take it back

if the keeper does bad things.

Then the lightning puts it back inside another coconut in the forest.

Where is it now?

One day, I'll find it.

Mother...

Did you see her?

Why did you leave?

Why are you crying?

Boil some water!

Son! Where are you!

Father, I'm here!

Stay there! I'll come over to you!

What are you doing here?

I was looking for fruits.

Fruits?

I can give you sacks full of fruit if you just ask.

Let's go home. Your mother is worried about you.

- Why aren't you eating? - I wanted to have fruit for dinner.

Nobody has fruit for dinner. This is what people eat for dinner!

Are there as many people as there are fruits in the forest?

Where do they live?

Listen, son...

If you only ate fruit, when you go to bed you'll have stomach ache

and you won't be able to sleep. Then you'll cry all night.

The witch will hear and she'll come for you.

Mother, is the witch human like us, or an animal?

Child, listen.

You're more talkative than the birds!

A good boy does what his father and mother say!

That's right...

Witch or no witch, you have to be a good boy.

- Right, my child? - Yes, Mother.

Let's go inside.

Yes, Mother.

I'll heat up your dinner.

What do you see in the night sky?

Wow, it's really beautiful tonight!

The evening star is as bright as ever and it's right above the trees.

It will disappear in a while.

I can't see the night as well as you do.

What do you mean?

In the town, there are many people like us.

And many houses too.

It is good to live in a town

but the problem is when people quarrel with one another.

I'll tell you a story.

There was once a town near the forest.

The people were happy as there were lots of animals to hunt in the forest.

Every day, they had meat to eat.

But people from another town heard about it.

So they started to hunt in the same forest.

Soon enough, the wild animals started to become scarce.

So the two towns quarrelled with each other.

Until... they hunted one another rather than the wild animals.

In the end... they all died.

Because there were no more people,

trees started growing in the towns.

They grew into forests.

The animals grew in number and roamed freely

with no people to hunt them down.

Your son woke up early!

He must be feeding the chickens.

I don't hear him or the chickens!

Your son is missing!

He's not a baby any more. Leave him be. He'll be around somewhere.

Son!

Where are you?

I hear the Americans.

They're close. Listen.

He was so big and tall!

He came out of the river and the sun was looking down on him!

His hair was the colour of the sun and his body was bathed in light!

Your eyes hurt if you looked at him for too long!

I was so afraid, I ran away as fast as I could!

I got lost on the way home.

Father's back!

Something is going on in the forest. Haven't you noticed?

Well you, little boy... You saw the man in the river bathed in sunlight.

Because you have the innocent eyes of a child!

Strange things have entered this forest.

Your failing eyesight sees many things.

I see them!

I feel them!

Both terrible and wonderful things!

You encountered the giant wild boar?

- Something even worse! - The witch!

Much worse than that!

It's the evil army that's been taking over the town.

Now they're here in the forest.

You're scaring the boy.

Listen. Don't worry.

The Saviour to whom this forest belongs

will destroy the evil outsiders!

You saw him in the river, right?

The one bathed in light, he will protect us and the forest!

We must find the amulet that lightning has hidden back in the forest.

The time has come for someone to find it!

I will find it.

I will make my grandfather proud!

Its power will save us.

Let me tell you about my brave grandfather...

How he fought snakes with the amulet in his mouth!

- Snakes! - That's enough!

It's not good to speak of snakes while eating.

Son! Where are you?

Father, I'm here!

Father!

Father...

Let's go home.

Father...

Father...

Mother...

Mother...

Where did you come from, boy?

Up there?