Little by Little (Petit à petit)

Episode one: THE PERSIAN LETTERS

‘LITTLE BY LITTLE’

Hey Tallou! - Yes?

How many are there? - There are four, Sabu.

This morning? - Yes.

Okay.

Hey, Tallou. Be careful. Don't scare him!

Hey, Tallou.

Be careful with those cows. They give lots of milk.

We’re leaving.

Okay, let's go.

Mouna, how much cattle do we bring to the market today?

We have forty.

- Forty? - That's what I wrote down.

Good.

Tallou? Did you give the bulls water?

They drank while we were waiting for you, boss.

That's great, guys. I thought you forgot.

The mail hasn't arrived yet.

Lam should arrive soon.

Lam is 542-TTRN.

There he is.

- Hello, Damouré! - Hi, how are you?

Sit down, gentlemen. How are you doing?

- All good? - Very well.

- Business goes well? - It goes well.

- And the cattle? - They're well.

- And who's that? - The shepherd.

Wait at the door, young man.

Wait a moment.

Tell me, what did you bring?

Two hundred bulls. - Two hundred bulls. Good.

- What’s next? - They're all vaccinated.

- All vaccinated? - Yes.

Do you have the documents from the veterinarian?

- They’re healthy? - They are.

- They can be sent abroad? - Yes, yes.

They aren’t weak?

Not at all.

Very well.

Perfect.

Here's the...

...the great fishermen.

Very well.

It’s Idrissa arriving.

Yes, with Illo and the whole gang.

He has fish. - Adrou and Koda.

I think it will work well for them too.

They're bringing fish.

Yes, for the moment. They'll tell us the news.

Illo!

Welcome!

- How's the fish? - Very well.

Adrou, how are you? The machine works well?

Our fish is everywhere in demand.

Norway, Switzerland, everywhere.

We have to fish a lot, to have a lot of fish.

We need the means to deal with the hippos.

- The what? - The hippos.

- The hippos? - Yes.

What’s with the hippos?

They broke the canoes, ate the rice. They ate...

They walk on the canoe.

Alborah, what are hippos?

Hippos are four-legged amphibians.

They often damage the rice fields.

They eat a lot of grass and rice. They’re destructive.

The only solution is to catch them and lock them up.

It'd be easier to kill them, boss.

Okay, you have my permission to kill two.

I'll let the authorities know. Take note.

Here you go.

Bye and good luck.

Hello, 27 here, Ayorou.

It’s New York? Yes, the boss is here.

The boss is here, the boss is here.

Boss, New York calling.

Pass me the phone. Hello.

New York. How are you, sir-without-hair?

How are you? Yes?

You're asking about the delivery?

Yes, yes. It's going well.

Hold on, New York. Don’t move.

Hello? Hold on, hold on.

It's... Hello? Shop 36 here.

New York, don’t go. Wait.

Hello Store 36.

Yes, the rice is ready.

Yes, go ahead. Answer.

Hello?

Ok, we'll now inspect Sir Mustache.

If anyone asks, we're at Sir Mustache's shop.

Number three. - Okay, boss.

I ordered some donkeys.

Fourteen are coming in. We'll mark them.

The butcher in Niamey has asked for two hundred.

- Two hundred? - Yes.

I have a telegram from Paris. They’re out of meat in Paris.

They ask for three hundred. So five hundred.

They're big.

- Those are Tallou's? - Yes, those are from Tallou.

They're big.

They're well fed. - Yes.

This is the vehicle assigned to move the donkeys.

We have the 422 that takes the load to Cotonou

At Cotonou we have a transport agent who sends it straight to Europe.

Everything's going well.

We received fabric from about everywhere.

Some sugar... - Hello boss.

Did you see this?

Next year, Niamey will have its first skyscraper.

They don’t consider the glass palace of the United Nations though.

Wow, it's wonderful! A multi-story building.

I would like to talk to you about it.

- A multi-story building? - Could we build one here?

It would be great for the company. For the village as well.

Okay, call everyone to the office. We'll discuss it.

- Hello boss. - Take a seat.

Gentlemen.

I've called you to my office

to tell you that in one year Niamey will have a multi-story building.

With eight or ten floors. Built by the El Nasser company.

I believe our company is rich enough to do the same thing.

They can’t beat us to it.

They want to build seven or eight floors.

What do you think of the proposal that I go to France, to Paris

to check out even higher buildings? With twelve to fifteen floors.

So we can surpass them!

Because the maps... Come with me Sir Mustache.

These maps show that there are even higher buildings

with ten, twelve, fifteen floors. - There is no reason for us...

Get up. Look there.

They’re there.

Fabrics on the top floor, the cotton under it.

The leather there. Fish over here.

I think it's a good idea.

We're modernizing, but this must be built in a city.

Look at Dakar, the houses are big. Look at Abidjan, it's big.

It'd be better to build this in Niamey.

So, sir, what do you think?

I'm against it. I don't want to build skyscrapers.

Why?

Because I'm in the bush, with the herds, with the Land Rover.

If a skyscraper is built,

I wouldn't go into the bush. I would want to live inside.

That's why I'm against it.

But go have a look in France.

I wish you a good trip. - Yes.

For your upcoming travel to Paris.

And...

I look forward to hearing your impressions of the most beautiful city in the world.

UTA? UTA Office?

One ticket Niamey-Paris. First class.

For the big boss of ‘Little by Little’.

First name, Zika.

Little by little, I'll have my building.

Little by little, I'll be in France.

A skyscraper is what I’m thinking of.

A skyscraper higher than the one in Niamey.

A skyscraper is what I’m thinking of.

A skyscraper higher than the one in Niamey.

Little by little, the fish from the river.

Little by little, the bulls of Niger.

Let’s put... Lam, we have to say goodbye.

Goodbye.

That’s it. Goodbye.

Goodbye.

Paris is great.

Champs Elysees, 95. - Wait a second, sir.

Your city is very big. - Yes, yes, very big.

All the streets look alike. - Not really.

But for someone who just arrived, you know?

What's that big building on the left?

L’Hotel des Invalides.

Ah, the hotels for the handicapped.

I've heard of it. There are black people inside, right?

Yes, there's a bit of everything.

Have you seen Napoleon's tomb behind it?

Really?

Napoleon's tomb and the Army Museum inside.

- It's dangerous there. There are cannons.

They’re Napoleon's cannons.

Is that so.

Napoleon took them from different countries

during the war with Russia, If I’m correct.

He put them there. Now it's a museum.

There’s also two Panzers taken from the Germans at liberation.

- By Napoleon? - No, no.

There’s the bridge of Alexander the Third.

Inaugurated in 1900,

at the same time as the Eiffel Tower for the 1900 World Exposition

My God, 1900.

Yes, in 1900.

- That’s sixty-eight years ago. - Sixty-eight years. My age.

I'm a man of the century!

It's nice for you to find them back.

Well, I see them everyday. Several times a day even.

With everything you've said, I get the impression that

Parisian taxi drivers are like living dictionaries.

- Exactly! Especially the old ones.