Anxiety (Inquietude)

ANXIETY

Kill yourself!

So you've come to see your father?

What's left of him!

Now, Dad...

Do you not feel well?

Me? I don't feel... bad or good.

Now, now... That's no way to react.

I can't help it.

What are you doing?

Trying not to forget I'm alive.

That's nothing!

We wouldn't forget you. How could we?

You already have!

You're in a mood.

You're the most famous man of your generation.

They'll forget you too.

Even you.

What about the Presidential tribute?

Moribund. Like you will be.

What more could one ask for?

I'm old and satisfied. I'm feted and praised.

I can enjoy my achievements.

Yes, but now you'll ruin everything, you'll ruin it all.

Kill yourself!

I've worked myself to death!

Kill yourself!

Come on, Dad!

Your medicine? Do you want it?

Are your legs swollen?

What is it?

It's their fault!

They take everything!

Everything disappears.

Your desk! Isn't there a key?

They've taken the key.

You lost it. Get another.

No, there's no point.

I feel more comfortable here.

But Dad! This is not yours!

You're right.

It shouldn't be mine.

I am dead!

Dead, or half-dead.

I've been slaughtered. Half-slaughtered, rather.

You too.

Even my son only half-sees me.

Come now!

My famous father!

A national treasure! A universal hero!

Yes!

But you see only my socks

and tell me to get keys made!

So what, Dad. Don't be cross.

Tell me, son. Before...

would I have got keys made?

What do you think?

Please, Dad... Forget it...

Forget it, you say...

That's what he said too.

He remembered,

green, he was, didn't know where to start

The paper wanted stories...

For years, no one had come to me, but him, he thought too.

He called me an old fool,

me, the national hero!

He'd learned your famous Dad's theorems,

his laws,

his formulas.

- An interview, was it? - It was ages ago.

I received him well.

I stood up,

offered him a seat.

I kept standing,

and then I invited him to partake of a cup of tea.

It was cold out,

my nose was dripping,

I blew it on a napkin,

his napkin.

I handed it back.

He wouldn't touch it.

Come on, Dad...

You could've used your own.

There are tons of napkins here.

Listen, you...

You can sell yours, keep two.

Just one, rather.

I tried to apologize.

He said, forget it.

Forget it!

These things happen.

What's a slip to people like us?

Look, Dad!

It shouldn't have happened, they shouldn't see...

I've been slaughtered, half-slaughtered...

What about the other half?

It's been put back together,

it's begotten a monster.

Ok, Dad. It'll blow over.

I'm here to be congratulated.

Congratulations on being half-slaughtered?

Congratulations on failing to kill the rest of you?

Congratulations on producing a brand new pathology?

We're doctors, are we not?

We're writers, are we not?

We're famous.

We must go with dignity, mustn't we?

Listen, Dad... I feel fine.

I'm healthy and wealthy, I'm famous...

What more could I want?

- To keep it that way. - No one's preventing that.

Do it yourself.

You mean renounce all I've done?

All I've done for mankind?

You'll enjoy none of it.

You're a thief! You're stealing an idol.

We obtain timeless glory. It's worth it.

We obtain it and lose it.

That's bitter.

We'll be remembered for our work.

Generations will know our name.

Yes. And the names of birds, plants, foodstuffs...

Numbers!

That's not being admired!

It's mere knowledge!

It happened to others.

If they died soon enough!

You did nothing! I did nothing.

We started many things.

Others will come after, to continue our work.

Fame comes from impressing the masses.

And what impresses them is death.

A thinker's last task, last obligation

is to die well?

Some depart at the first hint,

they do not wait to be dismissed.

They gain nothing!

They are still half-slaughtered.

I am very much alive.

Yes.

Hair grows,

nails grow,

it is now the monster is born.

No!

I have my memories.

Conferences, the Academy, applause, invitations...

I am thrown out but I need to stop...

It would be worse if you tried.

They know what they're up to.

They are half-baked.

Even memories escape the monster's lot!

Even memories, will be stolen from you.

No, Dad. Not them.

Everything, son, everything!

Kill yourself!

Listen, son, over there...

I have there a phial

of cyanide...

Cyanide!

Come with me.

We'll get it.

You'll swallow it...

A favour for your old father.

That's all. It's not much to ask.

Down it and remain alive forever.

What do you mean?

No, not that!

Not that!

You're sick!

I---

I want...

I want to live.

No, son. It's too late.

No one can live with a corpse.

- I'm still useful. - What?

After my jubilee, am I to turn incapable?

The master suddenly turns senile?

No! I won't let myself die!

I'll convince myself and you, I'll stall over!

That's the trap!

The monster will grow!

Your eyes widen!

Open your eyes wide! Open your eyes and look at me!

What do you see?

Proof I fell in the trap.

I gave lectures in...

I spoke of... You know... in...

No, Dad, that was last century!

Of course it was.

Later, in the Bulletin, they said...

My theories were out of date.

Impossible! I jumped in the ring.

We are men of science, men of letters!

I must prove everything all over again.

Who knows, perhaps I shall one day.

Impossible.

There are new laws, that provoke new laws.

But I shall try!

And the worst was...

when you tried to teach me.