Original subtitles

OF THE DEAD

A film by Jean-Paul FERBUS, Dominique GARNY, Thierry ZENO

23 May Maesanga, Thailand

Disease fell among the rocks

and the rocks could not bear it.

So it stole into the grass.

but the grass too could not bear it.

And that is why, oh Dead, Disease has reached you.

The Earth could not bear Disease

and Disease has struck your soul.

That is why you have met Death.

Who could have created Death?

It is Ndzu-Nhong, the master of the sky,

who sent Disease to Earth.

And Disease has attacked your spirit

and so you are dead.

Oh Mother! When you were alive

and evening came, you would go

with a sack on your back to look

for vegetables and plants nearby.

Do you know how much I,

your poor orphan, think of you?

My life is turned upside down.

When you were there, I knew no cares.

Whether I worked in the garden or in the house,

whether I travelled in other regions or in other countries

you were there to look after my children, and my mind was at rest.

Who has thwarted our liver? It is Ndzu-Nhong.

Who has displeased our heart?

Again it is Ndzu-Nhong.

24 May

May all our kith and kin hereby receive all our heartfelt thanks.

Rise up, do not thank us.

If the members of the family cannot build a good future,

your help will be like the rains which are scattered,

and the coals which are consumed.

- This liquor comes from whom? - From Tiou-Tcha.

- A little more liquor? - I really couldn't.

0h Dead, I invite you to a drink. For the hour has come to leave.

Honourable guests, we pray that you accept our heartfelt thanks

for your sympathy and support which we, a family in mourning

will endeavour to be worthy of.

25 May

0h Mother! So now you will leave me forever!

Quick! Quick! Hurry up!

You must take turns.

0h Mother! You're going from me, leaving me an orphan.

From now on you will see no more our beautiful mountains.

Oh Dead, accept this glass of liquor.

Your sons will offer you oxen. ( The Dead disapproves through divination)

0h Dead, do not refuse our offering. ( The Dead approves)

0h Dead, you accept this offering.

Receive the souls of the oxen that your family will hand over to you.

It falls in the wrong direction!

Grab it by the feet!

Turn it in the right direction!

Blowing these words into his instrument, the first khene-player says:

My khene and Igather the souls of the black and yellow oxen

fallen on the plain.

The second khene-player:

Oh Dead, lend your ears to my words and turn your eyes unto me.

Look well: Your sons have never stopped loving you fully

and they offer you these oxen.

Tioua-Tcha will be our intermediary; he will hand these oxen over to you.

My khene and I make ready to go home.

We will turn ourselves into a storm,

pouring down upon the earth its torrential waters,

which will erase our tracks.

0h Mother! For many nights now I have come to see you,

and you couldn't get up to converse with me.

l, your poor orphan, why can't I go with you?

In what race will you be reincarnated?

Oh Mother! Will you return as

an insect or a bird, singing for me

in the spring and winter?

- Thank you very much for your liquor. - Wait! There is more.

Mother, how you weep!

The weight of age was too heavy on you.

Go now and regret it no longer.

Go and cut me the ox horns!

Oh Mother! How I am sorry that I can't follow you,

as my hour has not yet come.

Oh Mother!

The khene-players :

Oh Dead, the sun is setting and

prepares to disappear behind the hill

while the moon readies itself

to bathe the valley in its rays.

Time it is, and more, that you rise up

and go to join your ancestors

and your new house.

When you arrive, your ancestors will ask you: "Who has led you here 7"

You should answer:

"I don ‘t know. I only know that a melody preceded me,

and when lcaught up with it, it was only a wisp of bamboo.

It came today, and went back yesterday. "

Get up and leave resolutely!

My khene and l accompany you this far,

and now we must go back.

Our tracks will be lost

underneath the drum.

You will never be able to follow us.

Get up and go right away.

If you don ‘t, we shall, we ‘ll go back.

Let us all help each other! Digging is a tiring job.

Be careful, it's heavy!

Look over there! The lines of the mountain crests are auspicious.

This one bends like the elbow of an arm, bearing happiness to us all.

- Watch out for the strings! - We must cut them first.

Don't forget to take off her linen belt.

It's a little too narrow!

It's nothing. Put her in edgewise.

There's too much room over there!

Lift her with the embroidered linen belt laying under her pillow.

There is room on your side!

Turn her a little so that her face is turned up towards the sky.

We are all its children

and its benediction must be the same for us all.

Put her shoes on the wrong feet.

Straighten her clothes up right.

Oh Dead, when you will be on the sunny road of Ndzu-Nhong,

you will meet other travellers under their silk umbrellas.

And then you will take out yours too

to protect you against the rays of the sun and the moon.

Thus you'll reach your goal without hindrance.

Shoot the arrows and bullets!

We must aim very high.

There are enough branches.

That will do.

January 2 Sierra Dawn, USA

19 June Bovesse, Belgium

My brethren, let yourselves be uplifted by the peace

that Jesus seeks to put into your hearts.

And say unto Him:

Lord, Thou who art good, Thou who hast made us for life,

Thou who hast shared our life and our pain,

give joy, give peace, give forgiveness to Marie-Jos’e,

and that one day we may meet again full of joy in Thy presence.

Amen.

All things pass, all is erased, save in memory.

17 February San Francisco, USA

1 November Crupet, Belgium

Pity us, Lord, for we have sinned.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Give him, Lord, eternal rest.

Let shine on him the Light without end.

My transgression is before me without respite.

Against Thee, and Thee only I have sinned.

What is evil in Thine eyes, I have done.

Pity us Lord, for we have sinned.

But Thou loveth the truth.

Teach me the depths of wisdom,

purify me with hyssop, that I shall be virgin,

cleanse me, that I be whiter than snow.

Pity us Lord, for we have sinned.

Give unto our dead, Lord, eternal rest

and let shine on them Thy Joy and Thy Light without end.

Pity us Lord, for we have sinned.

31 October San Pedro Chenalho, Mexico

We toll the bell until daybreak,

and the souls of the ancients come back.

The souls of our fathers and mothers come back to earth

at the sound of the bell.

The souls come back at noon

on the first of November.

We prepare candles for them,

and lots of food

and a barrel of aqua vitae,

if they had a habit of drinking,

And we put it all on the table at home.

1 November

3 December Mexico City, Mexico

lwas at home, sleeping.

And the neighbours, who have a phone, came over to tell me

there was an out-of-town call for me.

So I got up...

and went to answer it.

They informed me that at four in the afternoon

my mother had died.

I never knew where he went.

I went off looking for him at random.

They were three of them, pretty young.

One of them came up to me

and stuck something here, in the stomach...

but it didn't hurt me.

They took all my money...

- You were with your brother? - Yes.

- Did they do anything to your brother? - No.

He ran. They only caught me!

Try not to move too much.

I can't stay like that!

His mother has died, and he was waiting for his brother...

- How did they do that to you? - With a knife.

- Do you know who they were? - No! It was on the street...

l was looking for my brother to leave for the funeral...

because my mother is dead...

One of them threatened me with a beer bottle.

He took everything I had,

then he started to...

As a matter of fact, I felt something very hot, really hot.

I could only see that they struck,

but I couldn't even tell that it was with a knife.

I think that my wounds... were deadly.

But there is no doubt...

that the human being is strong!

l was truly astonished that the doctors succeeded in saving my life.

I thought especially of my family.

Especially of my mother, that I hadn't been able to go to her funeral!

- What's the little angel's name? - Mario Sanchez Fernandez.

Death comes and makes a thousand shimmering colours shine.

Come, Baldlady, give me a kiss, I'm an orphan of love.

They told me they'd scare me by taking me before her.

Since you're losing, Baldlady, it's normal that you wake up.

- I'm not afraid of Life. - I'm not afraid of Death.

- It's costly to love me. - When the heart is broken.

Death goes a-singing among the prickly pears.

And so, Baldlady, what do you say? You take me along? Yes or no?

The sea is a grain of sand, the sun is a little spark.

As for me, you'll find me getting drunk with Death

and she's the one who's paying.

- I'm not afraid of Life. - I'm not afraid of Death.

- It's costly to love me. - When the heart is broken.

Death goes a-singing among the prickly pears.

And so, Baldlady, you take me along? Yes or no?

31 December Sierra Dawn, USA

17 January Los Angeles, USA

5 May Amphur Sansai, Thailand

No one escapes from the cycle of rebirth, from the King of Death.

Some love each other, others hate each other.

All will die, will lose taste for Life, or will be separated.

Past deeds are the lacerating sufferings of Destiny.

We love each other, endear each other, and live not together,

and live not in the same room, and different are the ways of each.

Luxurious forests and mountains separate you.

Even the greatest lovers never reach each other.

Some hold that they would be doers of meritorious acts,

but they never accomplish them.

Then, when the King of Death comes, bearing their death,

no merits follow them.

Direct our spirits to do truly meritorious acts.

In this way we stave off hell. One will live eternally, that is,

in Nirvana, the jewel-city, it is the end, the summit of Nirvana.

The sermon of the five celestial messengers is finished.

18 February San Francisco, USA

15 May Pashupatinath, Nepal

11 February San Francisco, USA

ARCHIVAL FOOTAGE

19 April SOUTH KOREA

Grandmother! Why are you dead?

Why are you dead?

Grandmother... Grandmother...

20 April

She was born in Young jo Geong thone.

Grandmother... Grandmother...

Grandmother... Grandmother...

There are no rich, one must rejoice in life in this world.

Once one is born, it can't be helped, one is born...

It's no use complaining.

Now all is done...

Let us go drink and eat.

To all you who have brought your precious tributes

during these sad days

we hereby express our most heartfelt thanks.