The Ghost Valley's Treasure Mysteries (اسرار گنج درهٔ جنی)

A team of surveyors and road-engineers

left the valley...

for the track-less heights on the hills.

The man who was walking ahead of the line...

had began with admiring the beauty of the mountains,

and had soon drifted into describing his love...

for this land... this vast, open country...

that possessed a force of magic...

in all its serene and vacant hills and deserts,

its broken villages and meagre fields.

His friend agreed with him and said:

"Yes. This is a beautiful

"Pity it is all so wild and lonely."

The man who was now thinking of the road...

that was to be built, looked around...

to find a suitable spot...

to place the surveying gears.

It seemed to him that where he was was good enough.

So he ordered the tripod to be placed there.

THE GHOST VALLEY'S TREASURE MYSTERIES

A view arranged by Ebrahim Golestan

Where are you, beast?

Get along. It's finished.

Move! We finished.

Get along, bastard! It's over.

Get moving, damn you!

Ma Ali!

It's daddy. Hide yourself. We'll tease him.

Ma Ali, you can't guess! You don't know!

Wonderful. Wonderful. You can't guess!

The Knife! Knife. Knife. Knife.

Where is the knife? The beautiful knife?

Come on. Come along!

Help! Oh, God! Help!

He's gone mad!

My husband's gone nuts!

Help me, Rajab. He's gone silly.

Where is my brother, Seyed? Where is he?

What's the matter?

Ali's father's gone nuts.

Mr. Abbas, help me, my husband's gone crazy.

None of my business.

Mr. Mayor, please help me. My husband's gone nuts.

He was nuts.

Mr. Mayor, please, he was about to kill our cow.

Nonsense.

I tell you, he drew the knife.

To hell with him!

I tell you, do something, please.

Where is he now?

Near our home. He was about to cut the throat of the beast.

God damn this job. They don't even let you eat your fruit in peace.

Where is the Reverend?

Oh, God! Please, father, help me!

My husband's gone crazy. He wanted to kill our animal.

Please stop this praying. Help me.

He wanted to kill me, too.

- Brother, brother! - What is it, Sis?

Help me!

Come on, speak! What is it?

He came home dancing, then he jumped on me.

Then he went for the animal.

What for?

How could I know? He's gone mad.

If the animal dies, if he is injured,

then we will be finished.

Why did you kill it?

Why did you do this?

Why did you kill the animal?

Beat the devil out of him. He's crazy.

Go get the donkey.

Pull, God help you!

Daddy? Come. Where have you been?

- I won't. - Come.

What's wrong?

Don't cry, my dear Ahmad-Ali.

Why crying? A man does not cry.

You think they beat me? To hell with them, how could they?

Beat me? Don't be a child.

Don't. I will buy you things.

- What do you want? - Nothing.

- What do you like? - Nothing.

You mean you want new clothes? Beautiful clothes? Toys?

Nothing.

- A big knife? - No.

- Slings? - No.

- Fire-works? - No.

A flute? All right. It'll be a flute, then.

Do you smell?

They're roasting meat.

It's the smell of grilling, coming from all over.

Don't cry. Listen to what the animal is saying.

The animal is saying: "You sacrificed me for them..."

"you killed me to thank God and to give them a piece of my meat..."

"but uselessly, because they snatched me from you..."

"And they cut me up themselves; they stole me..."

"to fill their bowels - with your silly intention."

What is your name?

What do you need my name for?

What was your name, you said?

I didn't say. I said what do you need it for?

If you don't want it, give it back.

This is stolen goods.

Stolen goods? Yes.

Do you buy stolen goods or not?

You're firm -

I said you're firm. Listen.

This is the fourth time you're bringing such things to me.

Fact is, you scare me.

Yeah, I'm scared.

I see that you're firm, wise, intelligent.

I'm afraid of you being wiser than me.

I can't accept anything from you before I could trust you.

Take them back, and take them to those...

others you have been dealing with.

I haven't done any business with anybody.

If you want to sell them to anybody, be careful, be cautious.

Why cautious? I have not stolen them.

Be cautious.

What sort of price did they offer you?

Who're They ? You're the first.

And those before me?

I tell you you're the first. I was passing by, I saw you.

I thought you're wise-looking...

trustworthy, and I told myself go to him.

When you bought the first lot nicely, I brought the others to you, straight.

Didn't I tell you you're wise. That's why I am scared of you.

You're wise.

Thank God you're wise.

We can work together, if you have some more.

I have!

Do I?

I wouldn't know. I don't know how much you have, or...

who has given these to you, or what.

Enjoy having them, and thank your God.

Is there anybody who knows that you have these?

Myself and my God.

He has washed them this time.

He has also started to ask for higher prices.

Never mind, weigh them. Don't buy by piece.

Don't let him know what he's got. Pay him by grams.

Suppose he makes them heavy by putting dirt in them?

Shake it off, and don't be over-greedy.

What does he look like? How old is he?

A very tall man, heavy set. About fifty years old.

From which part of the country?

South-east, I gather from his accent.

He says from the central parts, though.

Perhaps he's not the main man, only a cover.

Wish we could know the main man.

If we could, things would become easier.

I fear somebody snatching it from us.

I fear you bungling it up.

I have done my best so far. This is the eighth lot.

I fear you bungling it up. Bring him to me once...

or I may come to you when he is coming.

He does not say when he is coming.

It is better if I take him to you.

- Let's hope. - Why hope?

If he comes. He should come to you only if he's wise!

You know well...

You should know well... You should know...

that if he goes away from you, it'll be you the loser.

I know that he wants to scare me,

but he is not bluffing, either, I think.

He looks like someone that has high connections.

There is no big deal without high connections.

It's useless to be scared.

- I fear failure. - It hasn't been a failure.

So far I have done my best. I have washed...

all objects he's given me.

I have said he's from the South...

and I said he claims he's from the central parts.

Actually he's from the North.

He didn't look believing the objects being from the South,

but he did not show that he thinks I'm lying either.

But if he finds out that I was lying, it'll be over.

He is on the trail of the peasant and he watches my moves, too.

And he has his connections with the higher-ups.

Come on, have guts, screw your courage up to the sticking-point.

Push on as far as you can...

if there'll be a difficulty, we'll see it ahead of time.

Time is now.

If it was only once, we could gamble...

and do it and do away with it.

But now it's different. A slightly wrong step

and you skid the whole way, right down to the bottom.

This is the bottom. Pull yourself together. Put on the pressure.

Sometimes you press on... but nothing comes out.

Oh, how I am sick of your soft nature!

It's too full of yoghourt.

You can't find the short-cuts. You want to be somebody.

You have the ambition but not the guts to get it.

You fear to do things, yet you want the things to get done.

Fate has come to you, and you want me to use it for you?

Fate was drunk, giddy when it called on you, wrongly!

If it wakes up, it'll turn green and pale by seeing what he's done.

Did that peasant come to you, or to that antiques dealer?

You think it's practical to be straight and simple minded...

in a business which is all crookedness?