[ALMA] By night, Merida reminds me of Paris.
French trams travel up and down the beautiful Paseo Montejo,
as if the Champs Elysées had been transported to the tropics…
…with its beautiful facades of white stone.
White are the families that live in those white-walled mansions,
with white curtains, white marble floors.
These palaces belong to the Divine Caste. And this is why they call Merida…
[CHOIR] …The White City.
[ALMA] As one walks along the Paseo Montejo,
one can see elegant coaches and peacocks,
ladies with beautiful dresses, blond children by their side.
But something is missing:
[CHOIR] The MAYA.
[ALMA] Absent though Merida stands upon the ruins…
…of their once great city...
[ALMA and CHOIR] They call Merida the White City
because only white-skinned people may enter.
In the land of their ancestors,
in the city built with the stones of their pyramids,
the Maya are banned.
[ALMA] They are allowed to come through
when the mansions of the white landowners need servants…
Merida could call herself the green city,
because all its magnificence
is built with the gold of the same colour.
[LANDOWNER] The henequen.
[BOTH] Green gold.
[LANDOWNER] A plant like no other. Its leaves provide strong and flexible fibres.
One hundredweight, six dollars, two for twelve dollars, three for eighteen!
[ALMA] The United States buys henequen by the ton
(they call it sisal),
filling the pockets of the inhabitants of the white city with gold.
[LANDOWNER] It's the industry that brings progress to Yucatan.
Ships form a line in our ports.
The machines in the country factories never stop,
and the trains never stop coming!
[ALMA] Don't the workers sleep?
[LANDOWNER] They sleep in shifts, at mealtimes!
[ALMA] And when do they eat?
[LANDOWNER] They eat their rations at bedtime!
[ALMA] But, don't they get tired?
[LANDOWNER] They are solid creatures. [ALMA] They die of hunger.
[LANDOWNER] They can stand the heat. [ALMA] They die of fever…
[LANDOWNER] They can stand fatigue. [ALMA] …They die of sadness!
[The PRIEST] But their sacrifice is rewarded,
the Kingdom of Heaven will be for them.
[ALMA] Meanwhile, they are impoverished on earth.
[The PRIEST] Poor… but blessed.
[LANDOWNER] No industry works without discipline.
A good foreman knows how to provide incentives.
[FOREMAN] Resting during work time:
Ten lashes!
[LANDOWNER] Hardly anyone protests.
[FOREMAN] Speaking during work time,
fifteen lashes!
[LANDOWNER] It is infallible!
[FOREMAN] Protesting about the lashing,
one day in prison!
[LANDOWNER] …and we could go on…
[ALMA] And the children, sir?
[LANDOWNER] For them we use softer whips [chuckles]
[ALMA] And do they go to school?
[LANDOWNER] Everything they need, they learn it here.
The leaves must be cut and thrown into the stripper,
Spread the fibres in the sun until they dry off,
and then to brush them to produce…
white ropes, rigging and twine!
[ALMA] You could teach them to read and write.
[LANDOWNER] Those things are no use. Only work makes you noble.
[ALMA] There is nothing noble in the life of a slave!
[The PRIEST] We have been entrusted with a mission to save their souls.
Of their bodies we cannot be concerned.
[LANDOWNER] The first thing is to be compassionate.
[The PRIEST] With charity to raise tall temples to the Lord…
…Each town beneath the shadow of the cross. [LANDOWNER] We are charitable souls.
[ALMA] Men and women, children and the old… [The PRIEST] The soul of the MAYA is like an unwritten page… [LANDOWNER] Everything they need to know, they learn it here.
[ALMA] …they live and they die for the great city's glitter. [The PRIEST] …the better to receive the words of our Lord.
[ALMA] If I had not seen it with my very own eyes, I would not have believed… [The PRIEST] The Kingdom of Heaven awaits! [LANDOWNER] Only work makes you noble.
[ALMA] …that such injustice still existed in the middle of twentieth century.
They wouldn't give even animals this filthy food.
Nor would they give them this foul water.
[MAYA] My son became sick. The medicine man said it was the food that they give us.
He was in bed with fever, and my wife, for taking care of him,
was punished with three days without food!
(Though I told the foreman I could work for two.)
When the boss bought this land from us, oh!,
he said he would give us work and food and shelter.
But we soon found out it was trap,
because we were left with no land to sow corn!
And the boss said that he would give us corn,
and if we wanted more, he would sell it to us…
…but what he pays us is not enough.
[FOREMAN] One day in prison for protesting!
[MAYA] There were several who they said were taken to prison…
…but we never saw them again.
When we asked after them, it made the boss laugh,
the foreman cracked his whip,
and they sent us to work double.
[FOREMAN] Half a hundredweight more!
[MAYA] At least the liquor satisfies my hunger…
At midday, the sun is unbearable. But what else can I do?,
with the foreman there on one side watching.
[FOREMAN] You're not here to rest!
[FOREMAN] You look like a skinny dog! [MAYA] And me, busting my ass…
[FOREMAN] You've barely done five loads!
[MAYA] …cutting the leaves, pricking my hands with thrones…
[FOREMAN] Only five loads!
[MAYA] With a dry throat…
[FOREMAN] You bastard! [MAYA] …and stiff arms.
[FOREMAN] Move! [MAYA] Thinking about my sick son,…
[FOREMAN] Shift yourself! [MAYA] …about my punished wife!
And when I've chopped the leaves off ten plants,
I began to imagine that I was hitting the boss.
Each blow that I gave, I imagined I was hitting him…
and that's how I worked harder!
[FOREMAN] That's the way to do it!
[MAYA] I hit him in the face and in the arms and in the legs,
and how the bastard bled!
[FOREMAN] That's the way the Maya earn their cornbread!
[MAYA] And if I meet him now, I'll show him that we Mayas have pride!
[FOREMAN] That's the way the Maya earn their heaven!
[MAYA] Because without no guards or rifles or money,
the boss bleeds just the same as we!
If I were face to face with the boss …!
I'd make him listen to me…
[FOREMAN] Are you drunk, MAYA?
[MAYA] I'd make him listen to me…!
[FOREMAN] Drunkenness, two days in prison…
…and ten lashes for cursing the boss!
[FELIPE CARRILLO PUERTO] Release that MAYA! [DISTANT VOICE] Silence! Silence! The governor is making a proclamation!
[FELIPE] Henequen is the blessing of our land.
For a long time, it has brought nothing but
Wealth to the landowners and poverty to the Mayas.
The bigger, the more prosperous the Hacienda (country property),
the poorer are those who work her.
The government has allowed this,
giving barrels of money to the Haciendas,
ignoring the abuses committed!
[MAYA and CHOIR] Justice, justice!
[FELIPE] But the socialist government must be guided
By the pursuit of social justice!
For this reason I, Felipe Carrillo Puerto,
Governor of the State of Yucatan,
have requested Congress to proclaim a law.
[ALMA] (stage whisper) It's him! Felipe Carrillo Puerto!
[FELIPE] To put an end to the unjust distribution of lands,
giving them to indigenous communities.
The lands will not have one single owner,
All will be able to work them as equals,
and to live off them!
[FOREMAN] (stage whisper) The Red Dragon! [MAYA and CHOIR] Our land! Land to work!
[FOREMAN] The Red Dragon begins to fly! [MAYA and CHOIR] Our land! Land to work!
[FOREMAN] I must warn the boss! [MAYA and CHOIR] Justice! Justice!
[FELIPE] In this way, you will be able to leave behind
the slavery of the Hacienda, and live as free men!
[CHOIR] Free…! Free…!
Let us eat from what we sow!
Let us live on what we sow!
Sow and to harvest for ourselves.
Even the oldest, who have never seen freedom,
will know what it means to be free!
[FELIPE] This is the law that your governor proclaims,
and now is law in Yucatan!
[FELIPE, MAYA and CHOIR] Land and freedom!
[ALMA] (stage whisper) How handsome he is!
(stage whisper) Tall and beautiful like a Greek god!
How do you do? Governor, my name is Alma.
I am a reporter for the New York Times.
[FELIPE] (stage whisper) How blue are her eyes! So sweet is her look!
And what is a SOUL from New York…
…doing in this corner of the world?
[ALMA] I have dreamt of coming to this land for years,
I imagined it so full of beauty.
Being here has found that beneath its splendour
there is also injustice and cruelty.
The Mayas live like slaves on the Haciendas,
with nothing to eat but a handful of corn.
Their future in pawn from the day they are born,
their eyes made misty by hard liquor…
[FELIPE] And do you wish to write about that?
It has already been written…
It is an old history…
…that nobody cares about.
[ALMA] I care…
I want to write about you!
[FELIPE] About me?
[ALMA] I want people to know your story!
[FELIPE] I am no hero.
[ALMA] To know what you think,
to hear your ideas, governor.
[FELIPE] My friends call me by my given name:
Felipe.
[ALMA] Then that is what I shall call you…
(stage whisper) …And lose myself in your green eyes while I say it…
[FELIPE] And I shall call you Pixan!…
(stage whisper) …because of my captive soul.
[LANDOWNER] What news do I hear?!
[FOREMAN] The governor has proclaimed a law of property.
[LANDOWNER] This is scandalous! Scandalous and illegal!
[CAPATAZ] And yet it is the law!
[LANDOWNER] A law against progress!
A monster from the mind of a red!
So…! The Red Dragon comes to defend his madness!
[FELIPE] Out of respect, you should refer to me as Governor,
and observe the law if you do not wish to go to jail.
[LANDOWNER] How dare you threaten me?!
The loveliest tree-lined road in the White City…
…bears my surname.
Who are you? A mere red, an opportunist,
a madman who scorns the traditional order!
[FELIPE] Terrible injustice has been done…
…in the shade of those trees.
We shall have to remedy them.
[LANDOWNER] Justice?! What you want is to steal our valuable lands!
[FELIPE] Lands stolen from the Maya!
[LANDOWNER] The Mayas?! All this is for the Mayas?!
[FELIPE] All this is for them!
[LANDOWNER] Then it is true! You are quite crazy!
You wish to destroy this state to its roots!
[FELIPE] I don't wish to destroy anything!
My struggle is for justice and equality!
[LANDOWNER] A madman and a coward!
[FELIPE] I believe in peace and in law.
But - I warn you! -
I am capable of using force when necessary.
[LANDOWNER] Do not fly too high, Dragon.
Your wings will not bear you.
[FELIPE] You wish to hear of my ideas,
but that is not what I would show you, Pixán.
[ALMA] (stage whisper) His eyes burn!
[FELIPE] Ideas will fly away and get lost…
…unless somebody sows them in the soil.
[ALMA] (stage whisper) His voice thunders like the long-desired rain!
[FELIPE] I want you to see what I have done with your blue eyes.
I want the world to hear of it…
…in your clear voice.
[ALMA] I shall observe and I shall speak.
I shall guard your memory.
[FELIPE] I want to show you the noble face of my people.
[ALMA] I shall observe and I shall speak.
[FELIPE] And you will tell those who would not hear…
…that here we fight for justice.
And there are those who will die for it.
[ALMA] (stage whisper) His grave words frighten me,
but I cannot resist accompanying him.
I want to know his destiny!
[ALMA] Felipe, it is raining,
…and the forest is redolent…
…of the perfume of the flowers:
The balché, the chaká and the maculis.
The rain strikes the leaves…
…of the dark ceiba…
…and it wets me while they sing:
The mukuy, the chuleb and the chinchímbacal.
[FELIPE] I would cover you with kisses,
give you the perfume of a thousand flowers,
forever brighten your snow-white face…
…with the autumnal sun.
[ALMA] Your voice floods my ear with your sweet words.
[FELIPE] And I hear your laughter, your delicious laughter,
and the music of your name, Pixan Halal.
[ALMA] Felipe, your heart is filled…
…with greatness and tenderness,
with love and justice.
You fight and you love with identical passion.
[FELIPE] And when the sun sets, I have you before me,
most beautiful of flowers,
golden poppy of California.
As the sun hides beyond the infinite
horizon of my land,
so do I lose…
…my serenity in your clear eyes.
My heart swells when I breath you in, my Alma…
[ALMA] So too does my heart feel, fertile and wreathed in flowers! [FELIPE] …my heart beats strongly.
[FELIPE] I love you as the sun loves the earth,
as the trees love their roots.
[ALMA] So too does my heart feel, fertile and wreathed in flowers! [FELIPE] My heart beats strongly.
[BOTH] And this ending day is barely the beginning.
Happiness awaits, love has found us…
…together.
[MAYA] Excuse me governor…
[ALMA] Felipe has been an speedy governor.
He has covered Yucatan with roads,…
…so that the Maya can transport their goods…
…and visit the ruins of the great Mayan cities.
He has built schools, fought alcoholism…
…and encouraged the study of the music.
He has founded the University,
convinced that education is the surest path
towards ending the brutal exploitation.
But in the parlours of the mansions,
things are viewed differently,
and terrible plots are being hatched…
[LANDOWNER, CAPTAIN, PRIEST] The Red Dragon must fall.
[LANDOWNER] His nonsense is costing me dearly.
[LANDOWNER, CAPTAIN, PRIEST] He must fall…
[LANDOWNER] It is time to set his wings on fire!
To turn his laws to dust…
[CAPTAIN] …bury his ideas in the ground…
[LANDOWNER and CAPTAIN] …and leave his memory to vanish beneath the undergrowth.
[LANDOWNER, CAPTAIN, PRIEST] The Red Dragon must fall…
[LANDOWNER] Industry only works when order rules…
[LANDOWNER, CAPTAIN, PRIEST] He must fall…
[LANDOWNER] …And there is no order where there are rebellious Mayas!
[LANDOWNER, CAPTAIN, PRIEST] The land belongs only to the man who buys a soldier,
to the man who buys a judge.
[The PRIEST] His body into a common grave, his soul into hell!
[MAYA] (Hidden) H'pil is in danger!
I must warn him!
[LANDOWNER] Make ready the garrison!
[MAYA] H´pil Zutulché, they are coming for you!
You must flee! Hide!
[FELIPE] The time has come!
[ALMA] Please, flee, my love!
[FELIPE] I cannot flee, I must fight and prevent an injustice!
[MAYA] Soldiers are coming from everywhere,
we cannot fight them!
[ALMA] Felipe, my love,
do not die in vain!
[FELIPE] We will head for the coast. My friends will send rifles.
We will fight!
[CAPTAIN] Felipe Carrillo, you are under arrest! Surrender!
[CAPTAIN] Stand up!
Felipe Carrillo, you are prisoner of the government of Yucatan.
The will of the people is to remove you from command,
and be replaced by a man of proven loyalty.
[FELIPE] My people will not permit this betrayal.
My Mayas will not be governed again
by the lackeys of the landowners.
[CAPTAIN] Your people fear the rifle more than hunger.
[FELIPE] My people will rise up!
[CAPTAIN] As we speak, ten thousand soldiers guard the cities and the roads,
and the message is "All quiet!"
[FELIPE] There soon will be!
The people will defend what they have won.
[CAPTAIN] (sighs) It is further the will of the people of Yucatan,
that the laws that you enacted be immediately revoked.
[FELIPE] You will pay dearly for this betrayal!
[CAPTAIN] In fact, the people of Yucatan considers that it is Carrillo Puerto
who has betrayed them, inflicting ideas and customs
that challenge the traditional order…
For that reason, the prisoner will be shot at dawn!
[FELIPE] It will be a honour to be one
with that glorious lineage of men who have died
in defence of their ideals.
[The PRIEST] My son, do you wish to confess?
There is still room in heaven for you.
If you will only confess your sins…
…God knows how to understand.
You are proud before the will of God!
You would interfere with the mission…
…that he gave us to perform.
[FELIPE] The mission to oppress and to humiliate?
The mission to enslave and to murder?
That is not the will of God,
and I will fight to prevent it.
[The PRIEST] Do you seek to die as a martyr?!
Christ sacrificed himself for us.
Do you believe that you will win something by your death?
[FELIPE] I do not want to die,
it is you that choose to kill me.
[The PRIEST] You chose to rebel…
But you can still ask for forgiveness.
[FELIPE] I would not take a single step back!
[LANDOWNER] So Dragon!, do you see what happens
when you play with fire?
[FELIPE] My life has had a purpose!
Yours has only served to abuse pitilessly…
…this land and its people.
[LANDOWNER] You will not be so brave…
…when you face the rifles!
[FELIPE] I care not if I die! My blood will water…
…the roots of a new society.
[LANDOWNER] Your blood will dry in the sun,
and no one will remember your name tomorrow.
I must die when the sun comes up,
I shall be proud to spill my blood:
I fought for what I believed to be just.
At this final hour
I ask for my dear Alma…
…for my Pixan.
From her clear eyes, I have said goodbye
not knowing that I should never see them again…
I wish I could hear her laughter,
but around me there is only…
…the silence that comes before death.
[MAYA] ¡H'pil Zutulché, let's escape! Nobody is on watch!
[FELIPE] We must hurry!
I feared that this horror would be done!
[MAYA] There are many of us who will stop it.
A thousand men with rifles and two thousand more with machetes
all await you in the square at Motul.
[FELIPE] Many more will join us!
[MAYA] We only await your order.
Your passion will give us strength, your courage will fill us!
Listen, they acclaim you!
[CHOIR] H'pil!, H'pil!
[CHOIR] H'pil Zutulché!
[FELIPE] My Mayas, the time to fight has come!
[MAYA and CHOIR] THE TIME TO FIGHT HAS COME!
To throw off these heavy chains! (THE TIME TO FIGHT HAS COME!)
To defend what belongs to you in law and in justice… (THE TIME TO FIGHT HAS COME!)
… snatched away from you by the force of a few! (THE TIME TO FIGHT HAS COME!)
To recover the dignity they stole from you!
Our enemy is strong and the fight will be bloody…
[ALL] But we shall be victorious!
[FELIPE] At dawn, we will march upon Merida…
…to battle and destiny.
[MAYA] Do not run towards death so fast,
someone awaits to share her life with you!…
[FELIPE] Pixan? [ALMA] My dragon!
[FELIPE] I was so afraid I would not see you again!
My heart wept when I thought that never again
should I look upon your blue eyes,
your golden hair, your body that I desired…
[ALMA] Without you, I was lost in the deep darkness.
[FELIPE] But I am here now!
[ALMA] And your voice illuminates me like the sun,
but even the sun is silenced by the night.
[FELIPE] Do not fear! At dawn I face my destiny,
but I shall return.
This ring keeps the promise of more luminous days…
…Wear it until I return.
[ALMA] There will be no more luminous, my love,…
…they do not belong to us.
[FELIPE] Alma, without you, I am a man who is thirsty for happiness!
[ALMA] Our thirst will not be satisfied,
but our love will provide us with drink
always…
…in the days and in the nights…
…that we no longer live together.
[FELIPE] I know that I face great danger,
but I will know how to return!
My heart claims you with each beat.
[ALMA] It is your destiny that claims you!
[FELIPE] My destiny is to be at your side!
[ALMA] Your destiny is already written, love.
You will die for your struggle, but you will not have fought in vain:
Your ideas will flourish and they will bring justice to this earth!
I will keep your memory:
I shall observe and I shall speak.
[FELIPE] I will be yours until I die!
[ALMA] Sunrise is upon us! [FELIPE] The dawn!
[ALMA] The dawn! [FELIPE] The dawn…!
[ALMA] I shall observe and I shall speak.
(ghostly) I shall observe and I shall speak…
[CAPTAIN] Felipe Carrillo Puerto, for having carried out
acts of government against the people of Yucatan,
you have been condemned to death by firing squad.
Does the prisoner have anything that to say?
[FELIPE] The people of Yucatan will forgive this outrage!
Perpetrated in their name and against their will:
Your bullets will destroy my body, but not my words.
[CAPTAIN] Does the prisoner have a final wish?
[FELIPE] Gives this to my Pixan Halal.
[CAPTAIN] So be it.
Platoon: READY!
[FELIPE] Don't give up the fight!
[CAPTAIN] AIM!
[FELIPE] Don't abandon my Mayas!
[CAPTAIN] FIRE!
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