0 00:01:18,426 --> 00:01:21,167 My name is Alithea. 1 00:01:21,168 --> 00:01:23,821 My story is true. 2 00:01:23,822 --> 00:01:26,215 You're more likely to believe me, however, 3 00:01:26,216 --> 00:01:28,436 if I tell it as a fairy tale. 4 00:01:31,091 --> 00:01:33,744 So, once upon a time, 5 00:01:33,745 --> 00:01:37,532 when humans hurtled across the sky on metal wings, 6 00:01:38,402 --> 00:01:39,794 when they wore webbed feet 7 00:01:39,795 --> 00:01:42,145 and walked on the bottom of the sea, 8 00:01:43,407 --> 00:01:45,582 when they held in their hands glass tiles 9 00:01:45,583 --> 00:01:48,151 that could coax love songs from the air... 10 00:01:49,848 --> 00:01:52,895 there was a woman, adequately happy and alone. 11 00:01:53,765 --> 00:01:55,679 Alone by choice. 12 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,595 Happy because she was independent, 13 00:01:58,596 --> 00:02:01,686 living off the exercise of her scholarly mind. 14 00:02:03,775 --> 00:02:05,429 Her business was story. 15 00:02:06,691 --> 00:02:08,431 She was a narratologist 16 00:02:08,432 --> 00:02:10,216 who sought to find the truths 17 00:02:10,217 --> 00:02:13,176 common to all the stories of humankind. 18 00:02:14,438 --> 00:02:17,266 To this end, once or twice a year, 19 00:02:17,267 --> 00:02:19,877 she ventured to strange lands. 20 00:02:19,878 --> 00:02:22,619 To China, the South Seas, 21 00:02:22,620 --> 00:02:24,840 and the timeless cities of the Levant... 22 00:02:28,844 --> 00:02:33,414 where her kind gathered to tell stories about stories. 23 00:02:35,851 --> 00:02:37,156 This way. 24 00:02:37,157 --> 00:02:39,201 - Excuse me. - This way, lady. 25 00:02:39,202 --> 00:02:40,855 What are you doing? Can you let go, please? 26 00:02:40,856 --> 00:02:43,293 The mysteries of Istanbul. 27 00:02:45,469 --> 00:02:47,341 Alithea! 28 00:02:47,732 --> 00:02:48,951 Alithea! 29 00:02:53,869 --> 00:02:55,522 Welcome! 30 00:02:55,523 --> 00:02:57,219 - Welcome at last! Aw. - Gunhan! 31 00:02:57,220 --> 00:02:59,352 My dear friend. 32 00:02:59,353 --> 00:03:00,831 - Oh, how wonderful! - I'm sorry. 33 00:03:00,832 --> 00:03:02,529 - This is Amina. - Amina. 34 00:03:02,530 --> 00:03:04,314 From the British Council. 35 00:03:05,881 --> 00:03:08,491 That fellow at the airport manhandling my luggage, 36 00:03:08,492 --> 00:03:09,710 did you see him? 37 00:03:09,711 --> 00:03:10,929 What fellow? 38 00:03:12,322 --> 00:03:14,716 He scuttled off when you arrived. 39 00:03:15,673 --> 00:03:19,938 Small, sheepskin jacket, pink collar. 40 00:03:22,506 --> 00:03:23,681 Interesting. 41 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:26,902 He was hot to touch. 42 00:03:27,990 --> 00:03:29,296 Musky. 43 00:03:29,818 --> 00:03:31,514 Perhaps he was a djinn. 44 00:03:31,515 --> 00:03:33,995 An illegal taxi driver, more likely. 45 00:03:33,996 --> 00:03:35,953 Wearing too much cologne. 46 00:03:35,954 --> 00:03:37,825 So, Professor, 47 00:03:37,826 --> 00:03:40,349 you saying you believe in djinn? 48 00:03:40,350 --> 00:03:43,265 I believe there are those who need to believe in them. 49 00:03:43,266 --> 00:03:44,397 Including me? 50 00:03:44,398 --> 00:03:45,790 Djinn, ghosts, 51 00:03:46,617 --> 00:03:48,576 aliens, whatever helps. 52 00:03:54,973 --> 00:03:57,759 The hotel's arranged a lovely surprise for you. 53 00:04:03,025 --> 00:04:04,895 It's the Agatha Christie room. 54 00:04:04,896 --> 00:04:06,201 In this room, 55 00:04:06,202 --> 00:04:08,813 she wrote Murder on the Orient Express. 56 00:04:18,867 --> 00:04:21,608 So, how would you explain 57 00:04:21,609 --> 00:04:24,001 the power of a thunderstorm 58 00:04:24,002 --> 00:04:25,394 if you don't have the means 59 00:04:25,395 --> 00:04:27,876 to measure and model meteorological data? 60 00:04:29,617 --> 00:04:31,792 How can you explain the seasons? 61 00:04:31,793 --> 00:04:34,577 Autumn through winter to spring and summer, 62 00:04:34,578 --> 00:04:36,753 if you don't know that the Earth 63 00:04:36,754 --> 00:04:39,409 orbits the Sun while tilted on an axis? 64 00:04:40,584 --> 00:04:42,672 Everything was mystery. 65 00:04:42,673 --> 00:04:47,764 The seasons, tsunamis, microbial disease... 66 00:04:47,765 --> 00:04:51,855 What else could we do but resort to stories? 67 00:04:51,856 --> 00:04:54,902 As Dr. Binnie has encouraged us to understand, 68 00:04:54,903 --> 00:04:56,991 stories were once the only way 69 00:04:56,992 --> 00:04:59,559 to make our bewildering existence coherent. 70 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:01,343 That's exactly right. 71 00:05:01,344 --> 00:05:04,041 We gave name to the unknown forces 72 00:05:04,042 --> 00:05:07,088 behind all wonder and catastrophe, 73 00:05:07,089 --> 00:05:09,483 by telling each other... 74 00:05:12,877 --> 00:05:15,923 By telling each other stories. 75 00:05:15,924 --> 00:05:17,707 Let me show you. 76 00:05:17,708 --> 00:05:22,451 We told tales of specific, powerful, relatable gods 77 00:05:22,452 --> 00:05:25,846 ever present in all cultures, in all mythologies, 78 00:05:25,847 --> 00:05:28,892 from the Greeks, to the Romans, to the Norse, 79 00:05:28,893 --> 00:05:30,764 and so on, and so on. 80 00:05:30,765 --> 00:05:34,115 The familiar descendant of Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, 81 00:05:34,116 --> 00:05:36,683 Thor, the whole gang, 82 00:05:36,684 --> 00:05:39,339 find expression even today. 83 00:05:40,818 --> 00:05:43,647 These are their vestiges. 84 00:05:45,432 --> 00:05:48,826 The question remains, what is their purpose? 85 00:05:54,397 --> 00:05:56,356 What do we require of them now? 86 00:05:58,532 --> 00:06:01,709 There is mythos, and there is science. 87 00:06:03,667 --> 00:06:06,147 Oh. Sorry. 88 00:06:06,148 --> 00:06:10,630 Mythology is what we knew back then. 89 00:06:10,631 --> 00:06:13,764 Science is what we know so far. 90 00:06:18,421 --> 00:06:20,770 Sooner or later, 91 00:06:20,771 --> 00:06:23,599 our creation stories are replaced 92 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:25,515 by the narratives of science. 93 00:06:26,516 --> 00:06:28,909 Painstaking science. 94 00:06:28,910 --> 00:06:30,912 And all gods and monsters 95 00:06:31,913 --> 00:06:34,089 outlive their original purpose 96 00:06:35,090 --> 00:06:37,570 and are reduced to metaphor. 97 00:06:37,571 --> 00:06:39,747 Rubbish! 98 00:06:42,576 --> 00:06:44,099 Alithea! 99 00:06:48,190 --> 00:06:49,496 Alithea. 100 00:06:50,540 --> 00:06:51,714 What happened? 101 00:06:51,715 --> 00:06:53,150 I don't know. She just fell. 102 00:06:53,151 --> 00:06:55,065 She just fell. 103 00:06:55,066 --> 00:06:57,112 Gosh. 104 00:07:03,988 --> 00:07:05,468 Are you okay? 105 00:07:16,087 --> 00:07:17,523 Shouldn't you see a doctor? 106 00:07:17,524 --> 00:07:19,046 Why? When I feel so well? 107 00:07:19,047 --> 00:07:21,483 Forgive me, Alithea. Are you sure? 108 00:07:21,484 --> 00:07:23,746 Apart from the usual aches and pains, 109 00:07:23,747 --> 00:07:25,444 there is nothing untoward. 110 00:07:25,445 --> 00:07:27,141 There's no reason to make a fuss. 111 00:07:27,142 --> 00:07:29,013 So, what happened back there? 112 00:07:33,104 --> 00:07:36,978 Lately, my imagination's been getting the better of me. 113 00:07:37,718 --> 00:07:39,719 Ambushing me. 114 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:40,894 I think it's a warning. 115 00:07:40,895 --> 00:07:42,157 About what? 116 00:07:43,593 --> 00:07:45,594 Not to be complacent. 117 00:07:45,595 --> 00:07:47,944 To keep on my toes. 118 00:07:47,945 --> 00:07:50,599 It manifests rudely from time to time. 119 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,167 I try not to fight it off. 120 00:07:53,168 --> 00:07:56,997 It takes charge for a moment, and then it steps back. 121 00:07:56,998 --> 00:07:58,564 What steps back? 122 00:07:58,565 --> 00:08:01,655 Oh, Gunhan, it's irrational. Pay it no mind. 123 00:08:04,092 --> 00:08:06,528 You are behaving like a child. Do you know that? 124 00:08:06,529 --> 00:08:07,965 You know, I am actually a child. 125 00:08:12,274 --> 00:08:15,190 If there is fate, can we escape it? 126 00:08:15,843 --> 00:08:17,192 Who can say? 127 00:08:17,845 --> 00:08:20,020 But I tell you this, 128 00:08:20,021 --> 00:08:22,239 in the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, 129 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:27,157 there are 62 streets and 4,000 shops. 130 00:08:27,158 --> 00:08:30,292 And in one of those shops, there are three rooms. 131 00:08:31,554 --> 00:08:33,207 In the smallest of those rooms, 132 00:08:33,208 --> 00:08:35,818 there was a pile of things unsorted, 133 00:08:35,819 --> 00:08:37,517 old and new. 134 00:08:38,561 --> 00:08:40,520 From the bottom of that pile, 135 00:08:41,521 --> 00:08:43,131 I chose a memento. 136 00:08:49,006 --> 00:08:50,833 Do you know what this is? 137 00:08:50,834 --> 00:08:53,706 I'm not sure, but it could be Cesm-i Bulbul, 138 00:08:53,707 --> 00:08:55,229 a "Nightingale's Eye." 139 00:08:55,230 --> 00:08:58,580 Around 1845, there were these glassmakers in Incirkoy. 140 00:08:58,581 --> 00:09:01,191 They were famous for this spiral blue-white pattern. 141 00:09:01,192 --> 00:09:03,237 Oh, please. It's a gift from me. 142 00:09:03,238 --> 00:09:05,109 Choose something less forlorn. 143 00:09:08,548 --> 00:09:12,333 And, uh, if this is Cesm-i Bulbul, 144 00:09:12,334 --> 00:09:14,857 uh, is there a way of authenticating it? 145 00:09:14,858 --> 00:09:16,598 Well, they say that if it is genuine, 146 00:09:16,599 --> 00:09:18,600 sometimes you can see specks of blood 147 00:09:18,601 --> 00:09:20,036 from the lungs of the glassblowers. 148 00:09:20,037 --> 00:09:23,257 But this is more likely a recent imitation. 149 00:09:23,258 --> 00:09:26,000 It's been damaged by fire. Pick something else. 150 00:09:26,783 --> 00:09:28,306 No, thank you, Gunhan. 151 00:09:29,177 --> 00:09:30,699 I like it. 152 00:09:30,700 --> 00:09:33,573 Whatever it is, I'm sure it has an interesting story. 153 00:10:00,077 --> 00:10:01,164 Hello? 154 00:10:01,165 --> 00:10:02,383 Good morning, Dr. Binnie. 155 00:10:02,384 --> 00:10:03,906 - Good morning. - This is room service. 156 00:10:03,907 --> 00:10:05,125 - Yes. - How do you like your eggs? 157 00:10:05,126 --> 00:10:06,692 Er, runny, please. 158 00:10:06,693 --> 00:10:09,085 - And with toast? - Yes, but no crusts. 159 00:10:09,086 --> 00:10:11,261 - Two eggs? - Just one. 160 00:10:11,262 --> 00:10:13,003 - Okay, thank you. - Thank you. 161 00:11:42,266 --> 00:11:46,966 I'm going to close my eyes and count to three, 162 00:11:46,967 --> 00:11:48,315 after which I would be grateful 163 00:11:48,316 --> 00:11:49,796 if you would be gone. 164 00:11:53,016 --> 00:11:54,756 One, 165 00:11:54,757 --> 00:11:56,019 two, 166 00:11:56,846 --> 00:11:58,152 three. 167 00:12:02,852 --> 00:12:04,461 Four, 168 00:12:04,462 --> 00:12:05,812 five, 169 00:12:06,856 --> 00:12:08,335 six, 170 00:12:08,336 --> 00:12:10,380 seven, eight, 171 00:12:10,381 --> 00:12:11,992 nine, ten. 172 00:12:33,187 --> 00:12:35,406 I don't suppose you speak English? 173 00:12:37,060 --> 00:12:38,235 Deutsch? 174 00:12:39,193 --> 00:12:40,542 Espanol? 175 00:12:41,412 --> 00:12:42,457 Ellinika? 176 00:14:12,939 --> 00:14:13,982 Einstein. 177 00:14:13,983 --> 00:14:15,202 Einstein. 178 00:14:23,993 --> 00:14:25,342 Television. 179 00:14:32,175 --> 00:14:33,873 Transmitters. 180 00:14:43,404 --> 00:14:45,318 I am a djinn of modest power, 181 00:14:45,319 --> 00:14:49,931 but I begin to understand these transmissions. 182 00:14:49,932 --> 00:14:51,280 Oh! 183 00:14:51,281 --> 00:14:53,630 You've learned to speak my language. 184 00:14:53,631 --> 00:14:56,633 This English is straightforward. 185 00:14:56,634 --> 00:14:59,159 Its rules quickly learn, I find. 186 00:15:04,207 --> 00:15:05,599 Nein, nein, nein. 187 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:06,992 Would you like this little Albert for yourself? 188 00:15:06,993 --> 00:15:08,341 No, no, no. 189 00:15:08,342 --> 00:15:09,908 That can't be good for him. Put him back. 190 00:15:09,909 --> 00:15:11,170 - I could expand him. - How? 191 00:15:11,171 --> 00:15:12,388 We could speak with him. 192 00:15:12,389 --> 00:15:13,912 - How is this possible? - No, put him back. 193 00:15:13,913 --> 00:15:15,652 - Is that your wish? - This is not possible. 194 00:15:15,653 --> 00:15:17,568 No. It's your obligation. 195 00:15:22,922 --> 00:15:25,315 So, what will you wish for? 196 00:15:26,926 --> 00:15:28,971 What is your heart's desire? 197 00:15:34,194 --> 00:15:39,024 Now, let's, uh, not get ahead of ourselves. 198 00:15:39,025 --> 00:15:42,027 I need to take this slow. 199 00:15:42,028 --> 00:15:45,378 I have all the time in the world. 200 00:15:45,379 --> 00:15:47,467 Tell me about yourself. 201 00:15:47,468 --> 00:15:49,469 My name is Alithea Binnie. 202 00:15:49,470 --> 00:15:51,993 I am in Turkey for a conference. 203 00:15:51,994 --> 00:15:54,430 And I return to my homeland in a day's time. 204 00:15:54,431 --> 00:15:55,606 Also? 205 00:15:58,348 --> 00:16:02,264 Also, I have a confession to make. 206 00:16:02,265 --> 00:16:04,310 Something I've never told anybody. 207 00:16:04,311 --> 00:16:05,616 Excellent. 208 00:16:06,966 --> 00:16:09,750 When I was young, there was a boy. 209 00:16:09,751 --> 00:16:11,273 Your first lover? 210 00:16:11,274 --> 00:16:14,189 No, no, no. He was not of flesh and blood. 211 00:16:14,190 --> 00:16:15,451 A djinn? 212 00:16:15,452 --> 00:16:17,584 No. 213 00:16:17,585 --> 00:16:21,457 At that time, I found myself in a school for girls. 214 00:16:21,458 --> 00:16:23,372 Gaggles of girls. 215 00:16:23,373 --> 00:16:28,203 I was... Well, I am a solitary creature by nature. 216 00:16:28,204 --> 00:16:31,250 And this boy, Enzo, 217 00:16:31,251 --> 00:16:34,167 he came to me, out of an emptiness. 218 00:16:35,429 --> 00:16:38,387 Out of a need to imagine. 219 00:16:38,388 --> 00:16:40,302 He told me stories in a language 220 00:16:40,303 --> 00:16:42,566 that only we two spoke. 221 00:16:44,090 --> 00:16:46,265 And he always disappeared when I had a headache, 222 00:16:46,266 --> 00:16:47,527 but he was never far away 223 00:16:47,528 --> 00:16:50,008 when I couldn't move for asthma. 224 00:16:50,009 --> 00:16:51,705 He was like this little Albert 225 00:16:51,706 --> 00:16:53,315 you would not let me give you? 226 00:16:53,316 --> 00:16:55,230 An emanation? 227 00:16:55,231 --> 00:16:58,147 Only an emanation of an absence. 228 00:17:01,150 --> 00:17:04,458 I feared he would leave, and so I wrote him down. 229 00:17:06,503 --> 00:17:11,117 And I filled this journal, bulging with facts. 230 00:17:12,509 --> 00:17:16,686 But the more realism I tried to insert, 231 00:17:16,687 --> 00:17:19,689 the more I began to doubt, 232 00:17:19,690 --> 00:17:22,780 and, uh, it all began to feel silly. 233 00:17:24,130 --> 00:17:25,696 I felt silly. 234 00:17:27,524 --> 00:17:30,178 So, after a time, 235 00:17:30,179 --> 00:17:32,529 I burned it all in the school furnace. 236 00:17:34,705 --> 00:17:37,534 And after that, he disappeared altogether. 237 00:17:38,796 --> 00:17:41,408 And yet, I am here. 238 00:17:43,627 --> 00:17:45,673 Contrary to reason, yes. 239 00:17:46,761 --> 00:17:51,070 I am here, and we have work to do. 240 00:17:53,333 --> 00:17:55,725 Can you come back later, please? 241 00:17:55,726 --> 00:17:57,684 It's room service, Dr. Binnie. 242 00:17:57,685 --> 00:17:59,729 I have your breakfast. 243 00:17:59,730 --> 00:18:01,297 Just a minute! 244 00:18:02,429 --> 00:18:04,083 Must close door. 245 00:18:18,314 --> 00:18:19,445 Good morning. 246 00:18:19,446 --> 00:18:20,663 Where would you like it, Dr. Binnie? 247 00:18:20,664 --> 00:18:21,925 Thank you. Oh, I can take it. 248 00:18:21,926 --> 00:18:24,232 - Please, allow me. - No. No, I can manage it. 249 00:18:24,233 --> 00:18:26,843 Jolly good, Dr. Binnie. I hope you are well rested. 250 00:18:26,844 --> 00:18:28,584 Oh, that looks delicious. Yes, I am. 251 00:18:28,585 --> 00:18:30,412 What do you plan to do on this fine day? 252 00:18:30,413 --> 00:18:33,154 Uh, I'm not sure. I'm improvising. 253 00:18:33,155 --> 00:18:35,635 Well, I'd like to show you a beautiful art gallery... 254 00:18:35,636 --> 00:18:36,853 That's so kind. Thank you. 255 00:18:36,854 --> 00:18:38,028 This afternoon, when you get a chance. 256 00:18:38,029 --> 00:18:39,378 - Maybe another time. - It will be great. 257 00:18:39,379 --> 00:18:40,422 Thank you. Have a beautiful day. 258 00:18:40,423 --> 00:18:42,598 Okay. Jolly good. Enjoy. 259 00:18:42,599 --> 00:18:43,818 Thank you! 260 00:19:23,205 --> 00:19:25,815 A more convenient size, I see. 261 00:19:25,816 --> 00:19:27,731 I do what I can to fit in. 262 00:19:28,210 --> 00:19:30,168 Please. 263 00:19:30,169 --> 00:19:32,344 I needn't have ordered breakfast. 264 00:19:32,345 --> 00:19:35,825 It's nan-e nokhodchi. Chickpeas, cloves, pistachio. 265 00:19:35,826 --> 00:19:37,611 It will melt in your mouth. 266 00:19:42,746 --> 00:19:44,747 May I ask you something? 267 00:19:44,748 --> 00:19:45,880 Anything. 268 00:19:47,316 --> 00:19:50,189 How come you found your way into my bottle? 269 00:19:51,407 --> 00:19:52,800 Ah, it's quite a story. 270 00:19:53,714 --> 00:19:55,802 That was my third incarceration. 271 00:19:55,803 --> 00:19:57,891 You've been trapped in a bottle three times? 272 00:19:57,892 --> 00:20:00,241 I may be a djinn, but I'm also a fool 273 00:20:00,242 --> 00:20:02,852 with too great a fondness for the conversation of women. 274 00:20:02,853 --> 00:20:05,246 I need to be more careful in the future. 275 00:20:05,247 --> 00:20:06,767 How were you caught in the first place? 276 00:20:07,510 --> 00:20:09,207 By desire. 277 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:10,861 How else? 278 00:20:13,734 --> 00:20:15,343 Who was she? 279 00:20:15,344 --> 00:20:16,823 Sheba. 280 00:20:16,824 --> 00:20:18,216 The Queen of Sheba? 281 00:20:18,217 --> 00:20:19,739 She was my kin. 282 00:20:19,740 --> 00:20:20,870 She was a djinn? 283 00:20:20,871 --> 00:20:22,394 Her mother was a djinn. 284 00:20:22,395 --> 00:20:23,482 Is that possible? 285 00:20:23,483 --> 00:20:24,700 There are laws that allow 286 00:20:24,701 --> 00:20:26,224 the union of djinn and mortals, 287 00:20:26,225 --> 00:20:27,964 but they cannot produce an immortal scion 288 00:20:27,965 --> 00:20:29,270 the way a donkey and a horse 289 00:20:29,271 --> 00:20:31,230 can only produce a seedless mule. 290 00:20:32,883 --> 00:20:36,016 So, what did she look like? 291 00:20:36,017 --> 00:20:40,238 Other than a thick glade of black hair on her legs, 292 00:20:40,239 --> 00:20:41,630 she looked like any other human being, 293 00:20:41,631 --> 00:20:43,937 except, of course, she was Sheba. 294 00:20:43,938 --> 00:20:46,548 By all accounts, she was very beautiful. 295 00:20:46,549 --> 00:20:49,509 She was not beautiful. She was beauty itself. 296 00:20:53,034 --> 00:20:55,862 I was in every way free. 297 00:20:55,863 --> 00:20:58,866 I would come in and out of her sleeping chamber. 298 00:20:59,997 --> 00:21:02,522 Sheba... 299 00:21:06,003 --> 00:21:08,918 I knew as well as any of her female slaves 300 00:21:08,919 --> 00:21:11,922 the touches that made her shiver with bliss. 301 00:21:13,054 --> 00:21:15,578 Never have I wanted a creature so. 302 00:21:16,405 --> 00:21:17,884 And she desired you in return? 303 00:21:17,885 --> 00:21:21,279 I was her plaything. Her confidante. 304 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,542 I might have become more, but for Solomon. 305 00:21:23,543 --> 00:21:24,760 King Solomon? 306 00:21:24,761 --> 00:21:26,762 Blessed be his memory. 307 00:21:26,763 --> 00:21:29,025 He came from across the deserts to woo her. 308 00:21:29,026 --> 00:21:30,331 Didn't she go to him? 309 00:21:30,332 --> 00:21:31,680 No. Never. 310 00:21:31,681 --> 00:21:33,508 But it's in all the holy books. 311 00:21:33,509 --> 00:21:34,988 All the stories and the paintings. 312 00:21:34,989 --> 00:21:36,772 And Handel wrote music about it. 313 00:21:36,773 --> 00:21:38,383 Madam, I was there. 314 00:21:38,384 --> 00:21:40,081 Solomon came to her. 315 00:22:07,456 --> 00:22:09,415 He began with music. 316 00:23:41,071 --> 00:23:44,465 I did all that I could to dissuade her. 317 00:23:44,466 --> 00:23:45,597 But when she used 318 00:23:45,598 --> 00:23:47,468 the scented wax of the Jabassa Bee 319 00:23:47,469 --> 00:23:49,035 to remove the hair from her legs, 320 00:23:49,036 --> 00:23:50,732 I knew that I was lost. 321 00:23:50,733 --> 00:23:53,082 But I, like a fool, went on telling her 322 00:23:53,083 --> 00:23:56,085 that her body was rich and lovely, 323 00:23:56,086 --> 00:23:58,740 but her mind was richer and lovelier, 324 00:23:58,741 --> 00:24:00,525 and more durable. 325 00:24:00,526 --> 00:24:02,614 And she agreed with all that I said, 326 00:24:02,615 --> 00:24:04,225 and dropped a hot tear. 327 00:24:05,618 --> 00:24:08,620 She began to set him tasks, which seemed impossible, 328 00:24:08,621 --> 00:24:10,752 to find a particular thread of red silk 329 00:24:10,753 --> 00:24:12,754 in the palace of a thousand rooms, 330 00:24:12,755 --> 00:24:15,627 to guess the secret name of her mother djinn, 331 00:24:15,628 --> 00:24:18,934 to tell her what women most desire. 332 00:24:18,935 --> 00:24:20,806 That does seem impossible. 333 00:24:20,807 --> 00:24:22,068 Not for him. 334 00:24:22,069 --> 00:24:23,591 He could speak to the beasts of the earth, 335 00:24:23,592 --> 00:24:26,028 and to the djinn made of subtle fire. 336 00:24:26,029 --> 00:24:29,118 He found ants to discover the thread of silk, 337 00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,208 and an ifrit to whisper the mother's name. 338 00:24:36,518 --> 00:24:38,040 Then he looked into her eyes 339 00:24:38,041 --> 00:24:41,131 and told her what women most desire. 340 00:24:43,220 --> 00:24:44,831 She was astonished, 341 00:24:46,180 --> 00:24:48,008 and told him he was right. 342 00:24:52,534 --> 00:24:56,058 And so she granted him what he most desired, 343 00:24:56,059 --> 00:24:58,932 which was to wed her and be taken to her bed. 344 00:25:19,039 --> 00:25:20,822 He was a great magician... 345 00:25:20,823 --> 00:25:22,302 and imprisoned me 346 00:25:22,303 --> 00:25:25,524 with a word of power into a brass bottle. 347 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:53,813 She made no plea for me. 348 00:25:54,814 --> 00:25:57,206 I was nothing to her. 349 00:25:57,207 --> 00:25:59,122 A breath in a bottle. 350 00:26:13,876 --> 00:26:16,661 And so, I was cast into the Red Sea 351 00:26:16,662 --> 00:26:20,274 and languished for 2,500 years. 352 00:26:25,627 --> 00:26:27,236 Apart from sleep, 353 00:26:27,237 --> 00:26:30,197 what does one do in a bottle for 2,500 years? 354 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,243 Djinn don't sleep. 355 00:26:38,901 --> 00:26:40,599 So, how do you manage then? 356 00:26:43,906 --> 00:26:48,649 Well, for the first 100 years, I rage against my fate. 357 00:26:48,650 --> 00:26:50,390 I pray to Boschkolo for my release, 358 00:26:50,391 --> 00:26:51,826 and when that does not work, 359 00:26:51,827 --> 00:26:53,306 I pray to any god I know, 360 00:26:53,307 --> 00:26:55,264 and then to any god I may not know. 361 00:26:55,265 --> 00:26:57,964 And when, still, I find no answers, 362 00:26:59,052 --> 00:27:01,140 I spend my time in waking dreams 363 00:27:01,141 --> 00:27:03,925 revisiting all the stories of my life. 364 00:27:03,926 --> 00:27:06,885 And when I have exhausted this many, many times, 365 00:27:06,886 --> 00:27:09,931 I return to my prayer and my rage. 366 00:27:09,932 --> 00:27:12,892 And then, finally, 367 00:27:14,241 --> 00:27:16,373 I play a trick on myself. 368 00:27:17,810 --> 00:27:19,288 I pray to remain in the bottle. 369 00:27:19,289 --> 00:27:23,118 I beseech Boschkolo to keep me always in the bottle. 370 00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:24,685 And does that work? 371 00:27:24,686 --> 00:27:26,165 To yearn for nothing? 372 00:27:26,166 --> 00:27:28,036 To pretend to want nothing more 373 00:27:28,037 --> 00:27:29,777 than to be contained in a bottle? 374 00:27:29,778 --> 00:27:31,257 No. 375 00:27:31,258 --> 00:27:34,000 For a djinn, it is the closest we ever come to death. 376 00:27:36,872 --> 00:27:38,656 Do you know the answer to her question? 377 00:27:38,657 --> 00:27:39,831 What women most desire? 378 00:27:39,832 --> 00:27:40,962 Yeah. 379 00:27:40,963 --> 00:27:42,703 Do you not know? 380 00:27:42,704 --> 00:27:44,226 If you do not know, I cannot tell you. 381 00:27:44,227 --> 00:27:46,402 Well, surely, we don't all want the same thing. 382 00:27:46,403 --> 00:27:50,015 Madam, your yearnings are not at all clear to me. 383 00:27:50,016 --> 00:27:53,322 I... I'm at a point in my life where I have all I need. 384 00:27:53,323 --> 00:27:55,890 I daresay I'm content, and gratefully so. 385 00:27:55,891 --> 00:27:57,022 Tell me. 386 00:27:57,023 --> 00:27:59,415 Are you a wife? A widow? 387 00:27:59,416 --> 00:28:01,679 - Um... - A mother, perhaps? 388 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,204 I have no children, no siblings, no parents. 389 00:28:05,988 --> 00:28:07,293 I did once have a husband. 390 00:28:07,294 --> 00:28:08,555 Ah. 391 00:28:08,556 --> 00:28:10,689 And what was the complexion of this husband? 392 00:28:11,211 --> 00:28:12,690 His complexion? 393 00:28:12,691 --> 00:28:15,867 In the beginning, it was glowing. 394 00:28:15,868 --> 00:28:17,695 And in the ending? 395 00:28:17,696 --> 00:28:19,218 It's not much of a story. 396 00:28:19,219 --> 00:28:22,134 But it is a story. It is your story, 397 00:28:22,135 --> 00:28:23,788 and it is always wise 398 00:28:23,789 --> 00:28:25,746 to understand those who have a hold on you. 399 00:28:25,747 --> 00:28:26,835 Please. 400 00:28:29,011 --> 00:28:31,231 Well, okay, um... 401 00:28:33,712 --> 00:28:36,191 We'd known each other since our youth. 402 00:28:36,192 --> 00:28:38,063 We, uh, married early. 403 00:28:38,064 --> 00:28:40,021 In the beginning, we took pleasure 404 00:28:40,022 --> 00:28:41,849 in each other's minds and bodies. 405 00:28:41,850 --> 00:28:43,198 Um... 406 00:28:43,199 --> 00:28:45,026 We passed the years comfortably, 407 00:28:45,027 --> 00:28:47,421 and then as it happens, 408 00:28:48,161 --> 00:28:50,205 it all evaporated, 409 00:28:50,206 --> 00:28:52,252 and, uh... and we became 410 00:28:53,383 --> 00:28:54,427 less. 411 00:28:54,428 --> 00:28:55,428 And where is he? 412 00:28:57,126 --> 00:29:00,085 He's in Hackney, with Emmeline Porter. 413 00:29:00,086 --> 00:29:01,261 Mmm. 414 00:29:07,441 --> 00:29:09,398 He told me I... 415 00:29:09,399 --> 00:29:11,880 I was incapable of reading feelings. 416 00:29:16,015 --> 00:29:18,364 I was incapable of reading his feelings. 417 00:29:18,365 --> 00:29:20,279 Gonna have a resolution. 418 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:21,454 This is exciting! 419 00:29:21,455 --> 00:29:23,021 - It is exciting! - No, it's not. 420 00:29:23,022 --> 00:29:24,457 Let me guess. No one dies in it. 421 00:29:24,458 --> 00:29:26,198 No! 422 00:29:26,199 --> 00:29:30,028 The way my brain is wired is... is the... 423 00:29:30,029 --> 00:29:33,031 the source both of my power 424 00:29:33,032 --> 00:29:35,774 and, uh, and my solitude. 425 00:29:36,775 --> 00:29:38,951 I suspect that's why I like stories. 426 00:29:39,865 --> 00:29:42,519 I find feelings through stories. 427 00:29:46,088 --> 00:29:49,047 Perhaps you could wish for him back. 428 00:29:49,048 --> 00:29:51,180 Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no. 429 00:29:51,354 --> 00:29:52,442 No. 430 00:29:53,530 --> 00:29:56,185 I... I thought, um, 431 00:29:57,273 --> 00:30:01,103 I might grieve a loss and betrayal, but, uh, 432 00:30:02,409 --> 00:30:04,106 no, in fact, I was free. 433 00:30:05,499 --> 00:30:07,848 I was like a prisoner 434 00:30:07,849 --> 00:30:11,460 emerging from a dungeon into the sunlight. 435 00:30:11,461 --> 00:30:14,289 I expanded into the space of my own life. 436 00:30:14,290 --> 00:30:18,467 No, I could not wish for more. 437 00:30:18,468 --> 00:30:21,470 You are a wise and cautious woman, Alithea. 438 00:30:21,471 --> 00:30:24,125 But we all have desires, 439 00:30:24,126 --> 00:30:25,998 even if they remain hidden from us. 440 00:30:28,130 --> 00:30:29,957 That's as maybe. 441 00:30:29,958 --> 00:30:34,875 But I am also a narratologist, 442 00:30:34,876 --> 00:30:37,356 and that is going to be a problem. 443 00:30:37,357 --> 00:30:39,619 It's going to be a very big problem. 444 00:30:39,620 --> 00:30:41,839 See, I know all the stories there are 445 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,188 about trickster djinn, 446 00:30:43,189 --> 00:30:44,493 and the ways in which they manipulate wishing 447 00:30:44,494 --> 00:30:45,581 to their own ends. 448 00:30:45,582 --> 00:30:46,887 I am not one of them. 449 00:30:46,888 --> 00:30:48,846 I am god-fearing and honorable, 450 00:30:48,847 --> 00:30:51,109 and only here to grant your heart's desire. 451 00:30:51,110 --> 00:30:53,198 Well, even if that's true, 452 00:30:53,199 --> 00:30:56,376 how can you rely on those called upon to wish? 453 00:30:58,421 --> 00:31:01,207 How do you know you can rely on me? 454 00:31:02,338 --> 00:31:04,383 Well, I hope so. 455 00:31:04,384 --> 00:31:07,212 With you, I certainly hope so. 456 00:31:07,213 --> 00:31:09,431 There's a... 457 00:31:09,432 --> 00:31:12,347 funny little story. I mean, you probably know it. 458 00:31:12,348 --> 00:31:14,306 Three friends lost at sea in a tiny boat. 459 00:31:14,307 --> 00:31:16,047 They pull up a magic fish, 460 00:31:16,048 --> 00:31:17,613 who grants each of them one wish. 461 00:31:17,614 --> 00:31:18,745 The first one, 462 00:31:18,746 --> 00:31:20,529 "I wish I were at home with my wife." 463 00:31:20,530 --> 00:31:21,704 He vanishes. 464 00:31:21,705 --> 00:31:23,315 The second one, "I wish I were playing" 465 00:31:23,316 --> 00:31:24,620 "in the fields with my children." 466 00:31:24,621 --> 00:31:25,839 Off he goes. 467 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:28,363 And the third one, "I miss my friends..." 468 00:31:28,364 --> 00:31:29,408 "I wish they were here." 469 00:31:29,409 --> 00:31:31,062 You've got it. 470 00:31:31,063 --> 00:31:34,326 There's no story about wishing that is not a cautionary tale. 471 00:31:34,327 --> 00:31:36,241 None end happily. 472 00:31:36,242 --> 00:31:38,156 Not even the ones that are supposed to be jokes. 473 00:31:38,157 --> 00:31:40,462 But you and I are the authors of this story, 474 00:31:40,463 --> 00:31:42,988 and we can avoid all traps. 475 00:31:44,685 --> 00:31:47,079 Well, what if I made no wish at all? 476 00:31:49,037 --> 00:31:50,082 Pardon? 477 00:31:52,693 --> 00:31:54,607 What if I made no wish? 478 00:31:54,608 --> 00:31:56,001 That would be an... 479 00:31:58,307 --> 00:31:59,568 That would be 480 00:31:59,569 --> 00:32:02,007 catastrophic! 481 00:32:16,021 --> 00:32:17,587 All right. 482 00:32:22,244 --> 00:32:25,246 I need to tell you about my next incarceration. 483 00:32:25,247 --> 00:32:26,335 I'm all ears. 484 00:32:37,433 --> 00:32:39,173 I will never know 485 00:32:39,174 --> 00:32:43,091 how my bottle came from the bottom of the Red Sea... 486 00:32:44,353 --> 00:32:46,486 to a palace in Constantinople. 487 00:32:47,617 --> 00:32:49,575 But I fancy somehow it involved 488 00:32:49,576 --> 00:32:51,186 the killing of an Ottoman warrior. 489 00:32:57,149 --> 00:32:58,672 The fall of an empire. 490 00:33:08,116 --> 00:33:09,335 And a girl in love. 491 00:33:31,052 --> 00:33:32,358 Merhaba. 492 00:33:54,119 --> 00:33:56,642 Gulten lived as a slave 493 00:33:56,643 --> 00:33:58,513 in the courtyard of the concubines 494 00:33:58,514 --> 00:34:00,038 in the seraglio. 495 00:34:19,187 --> 00:34:20,362 When I appeared to her... 496 00:34:23,191 --> 00:34:25,366 she fainted. 497 00:34:25,367 --> 00:34:28,109 And I had great trouble rousing her. 498 00:34:34,202 --> 00:34:36,725 I made it clear that I meant her no harm, 499 00:34:36,726 --> 00:34:38,553 for I was condemned to the bottle. 500 00:34:38,554 --> 00:34:40,120 Until you got your three wishes. 501 00:34:40,121 --> 00:34:42,122 Until she got hers. 502 00:34:42,123 --> 00:34:44,255 - Please. - Okay. 503 00:34:44,256 --> 00:34:45,734 Now, the poor girl told me 504 00:34:45,735 --> 00:34:49,696 she was distractedly in love with a beautiful man... 505 00:34:51,176 --> 00:34:52,654 and she wished immediately 506 00:34:52,655 --> 00:34:55,093 to find favor in his eyes. 507 00:35:07,975 --> 00:35:09,671 As it happens, 508 00:35:09,672 --> 00:35:11,847 the one she most desired was the splendid Mustafa. 509 00:35:11,848 --> 00:35:13,633 Prince Mustafa. 510 00:35:15,591 --> 00:35:18,289 Eldest son of Suleiman the Magnificent, 511 00:35:18,290 --> 00:35:21,336 and likely heir to his mighty throne. 512 00:35:22,424 --> 00:35:23,859 Had I known what was to come, 513 00:35:23,860 --> 00:35:27,167 I would've risked the furies of Iblis 514 00:35:27,168 --> 00:35:30,302 to vehemently distract her from her wish. 515 00:35:31,738 --> 00:35:33,391 But without thinking, 516 00:35:33,392 --> 00:35:36,176 I took my bottle and conjured oils 517 00:35:36,177 --> 00:35:37,613 to prepare her. 518 00:35:39,354 --> 00:35:40,920 Oils of enchantment 519 00:35:40,921 --> 00:35:44,142 once used only by Sheba. 520 00:35:48,755 --> 00:35:50,886 I cautioned her to hide the bottle 521 00:35:50,887 --> 00:35:53,760 lest its powers fall into other hands. 522 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:00,635 I went to Mustafa. 523 00:36:00,636 --> 00:36:02,550 Gulten. 524 00:36:02,551 --> 00:36:03,857 I whispered her name. 525 00:36:08,514 --> 00:36:10,255 He sent for her. 526 00:36:12,648 --> 00:36:14,476 It was so easy. 527 00:36:23,224 --> 00:36:25,443 As a djinn, I am endlessly curious 528 00:36:25,444 --> 00:36:27,228 about the ways of humans. 529 00:36:28,229 --> 00:36:29,925 So, in my spare time, 530 00:36:29,926 --> 00:36:33,408 I took to wandering the palace in search of its intrigues. 531 00:36:34,322 --> 00:36:35,844 And there, among the eunuchs, 532 00:36:35,845 --> 00:36:37,585 the consorts, and the concubines, 533 00:36:37,586 --> 00:36:39,719 I first saw Hurrem. 534 00:36:40,676 --> 00:36:42,243 The Laughing One. 535 00:36:50,773 --> 00:36:52,774 She, too, was a slave 536 00:36:52,775 --> 00:36:55,516 who had risen through the center of them all 537 00:36:55,517 --> 00:36:57,780 to become the Sultan's favorite. 538 00:37:06,398 --> 00:37:10,009 Suleiman the Wise saw none but her. 539 00:37:10,010 --> 00:37:12,707 And she sought to protect his throne 540 00:37:12,708 --> 00:37:16,843 in favor of her own sons over his beloved Mustafa. 541 00:37:19,715 --> 00:37:21,934 And to this end, she had the prince watched 542 00:37:21,935 --> 00:37:23,719 by many probing eyes. 543 00:37:33,816 --> 00:37:35,382 When I saw how Hurrem 544 00:37:35,383 --> 00:37:39,386 made a masterpiece of her manipulations, 545 00:37:39,387 --> 00:37:43,261 I worried that my Gulten might be caught in this web. 546 00:37:49,267 --> 00:37:51,399 I tried to warn her to be careful. 547 00:37:53,314 --> 00:37:56,709 But she had already decided on her second wish. 548 00:38:09,461 --> 00:38:11,550 Such a mistake. 549 00:38:12,551 --> 00:38:14,682 Because at this moment, 550 00:38:14,683 --> 00:38:16,945 Suleiman, blessed be his name, 551 00:38:16,946 --> 00:38:18,687 is being undermined. 552 00:38:19,906 --> 00:38:22,603 His warriors believe he is going soft, 553 00:38:22,604 --> 00:38:25,345 more interested in his poetry 554 00:38:25,346 --> 00:38:27,783 than ruling with a strong hand. 555 00:38:43,103 --> 00:38:45,060 Hurrem fuels the rumors 556 00:38:45,061 --> 00:38:47,062 that the military want to take his throne 557 00:38:47,063 --> 00:38:49,501 and replace him with Mustafa. 558 00:38:50,763 --> 00:38:52,416 The prince has become a pawn 559 00:38:52,417 --> 00:38:55,420 in the ceaseless game of power. 560 00:39:07,649 --> 00:39:09,737 Suleiman the Magnificent, 561 00:39:09,738 --> 00:39:11,478 Suleiman the Conqueror, 562 00:39:11,479 --> 00:39:14,351 patron and protector of empires, 563 00:39:14,352 --> 00:39:15,874 Suleiman the Father, 564 00:39:15,875 --> 00:39:17,397 was left with a choice 565 00:39:17,398 --> 00:39:20,445 that he knows will break his heart. 566 00:39:27,495 --> 00:39:30,454 Gulten, meantime, saw no reason 567 00:39:30,455 --> 00:39:32,892 why she should remain unseen. 568 00:39:36,548 --> 00:39:40,552 Given she was carrying the son of the next Sultan. 569 00:39:46,558 --> 00:39:48,689 Despite all my warnings, 570 00:39:48,690 --> 00:39:52,737 she parades her newly swollen breasts and belly. 571 00:39:52,738 --> 00:39:56,437 And the whispers soon spread throughout the seraglio. 572 00:40:02,574 --> 00:40:05,925 The terrible plottings move all too quickly. 573 00:40:31,994 --> 00:40:34,474 Prince Mustafa comes innocently 574 00:40:34,475 --> 00:40:36,694 into the presence of his father, 575 00:40:36,695 --> 00:40:39,480 to reassure him of his loyalty. 576 00:40:50,448 --> 00:40:52,624 And the mutes are waiting for him. 577 00:40:56,671 --> 00:40:58,629 He cried out to his Janissaries, 578 00:40:58,630 --> 00:41:00,239 who loved him, 579 00:41:00,240 --> 00:41:02,981 but his voice was crushed and his breath stopped 580 00:41:02,982 --> 00:41:05,680 by the string of his father's bow. 581 00:41:26,005 --> 00:41:27,876 Gulten! 582 00:42:00,996 --> 00:42:02,562 "Make a wish!" 583 00:42:02,563 --> 00:42:04,739 "Save yourself, Gulten!" 584 00:42:09,135 --> 00:42:11,876 Just a few words and she could have been free 585 00:42:11,877 --> 00:42:15,575 to bear her child in safety, 586 00:42:15,576 --> 00:42:19,144 and I to spirit away at last to the Realm of Djinn. 587 00:42:19,145 --> 00:42:21,539 But she ran into the hands of the assassins. 588 00:42:23,236 --> 00:42:25,585 I was about to take them by force, 589 00:42:25,586 --> 00:42:27,980 when I was blocked by a follower of Iblis. 590 00:43:10,239 --> 00:43:11,327 Gulten! 591 00:43:27,648 --> 00:43:30,608 She made no wish to save herself. 592 00:43:31,957 --> 00:43:34,786 No wish was made to save us both. 593 00:43:42,141 --> 00:43:44,185 So, there I was, 594 00:43:44,186 --> 00:43:46,274 or there I was not, might you say, 595 00:43:46,275 --> 00:43:49,364 almost emancipated and tethered to this world 596 00:43:49,365 --> 00:43:51,932 by a third wish unperformed. 597 00:43:51,933 --> 00:43:53,586 But you realize, don't you, 598 00:43:53,587 --> 00:43:56,415 that you've just told me the story of a woman who was doomed 599 00:43:56,416 --> 00:43:58,678 as a consequence of the wishes she made? 600 00:43:58,679 --> 00:44:01,333 Yes, but her failure to complete the wishes 601 00:44:01,334 --> 00:44:03,640 also doomed me. 602 00:44:03,641 --> 00:44:05,772 Could nobody else complete the wish? 603 00:44:05,773 --> 00:44:07,339 That was my hope. 604 00:44:07,340 --> 00:44:09,210 And that would finally liberate you? 605 00:44:09,211 --> 00:44:11,865 That was my only hope. 606 00:44:11,866 --> 00:44:14,041 But you were rendered invisible. 607 00:44:14,042 --> 00:44:15,129 Like a ghost. 608 00:44:15,130 --> 00:44:16,957 Wandering unseen. 609 00:44:16,958 --> 00:44:18,219 And your bottle, 610 00:44:18,220 --> 00:44:20,178 hidden under the loosened stone 611 00:44:20,179 --> 00:44:21,745 known only to the dead Gulten. 612 00:44:21,746 --> 00:44:23,661 Yes, it was a predicament. 613 00:44:25,227 --> 00:44:27,707 I tried to attract the attention of someone, 614 00:44:27,708 --> 00:44:29,318 anyone that could help me. 615 00:44:30,711 --> 00:44:32,364 My stars, how I tried. 616 00:44:32,365 --> 00:44:34,932 I followed their scent, their every step. 617 00:44:34,933 --> 00:44:37,151 Willing, pleading, screaming. 618 00:44:37,152 --> 00:44:39,024 Anything to draw them to me. 619 00:45:08,140 --> 00:45:11,838 And I do this piteously for 100 years, 620 00:45:11,839 --> 00:45:15,103 and with every failure, my will begins to fade. 621 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:23,850 And then in 1620, 622 00:45:23,851 --> 00:45:27,463 hope comes in the form of a boy with a sword. 623 00:45:34,340 --> 00:45:36,472 Murad! Murad! 624 00:45:50,399 --> 00:45:52,053 Murad! 625 00:46:00,409 --> 00:46:03,281 By some means, this boy senses me. 626 00:46:03,282 --> 00:46:06,198 I'm able to draw him to the stone. 627 00:46:55,290 --> 00:46:56,335 Ibrahim! 628 00:46:56,988 --> 00:46:58,250 Gel. 629 00:47:00,295 --> 00:47:01,340 Murad! 630 00:47:02,863 --> 00:47:04,516 Ibrahim! 631 00:47:04,517 --> 00:47:06,126 And just as I am about to be delivered 632 00:47:06,127 --> 00:47:07,432 into their hands, 633 00:47:07,433 --> 00:47:08,913 their mother finds them. 634 00:47:11,306 --> 00:47:12,959 She is Kosem, 635 00:47:12,960 --> 00:47:15,179 a widow of the Sultan, Ahmed the First. 636 00:47:15,180 --> 00:47:17,530 And the boys are next in line for the throne. 637 00:47:20,402 --> 00:47:22,839 When I see the hair on his legs, 638 00:47:22,840 --> 00:47:25,580 I know that somewhere in Murad's bloodline 639 00:47:25,581 --> 00:47:27,540 pulses the power of a djinn. 640 00:47:28,497 --> 00:47:30,281 I follow him everywhere, 641 00:47:30,282 --> 00:47:32,849 determined to draw him back to the stone. 642 00:47:32,850 --> 00:47:35,895 But at the age of 11, he ascends the throne 643 00:47:35,896 --> 00:47:37,984 and becomes Sultan Murad the Fourth. 644 00:47:37,985 --> 00:47:40,987 And caught up by the usual intrigues, 645 00:47:40,988 --> 00:47:44,295 he is even more lost to me. 646 00:47:44,296 --> 00:47:47,254 At 20, he leads his armies to war. 647 00:47:47,255 --> 00:47:48,995 He battles alongside his men 648 00:47:48,996 --> 00:47:51,346 in the Caucasus and Mesopotamia. 649 00:47:52,521 --> 00:47:54,958 Stories are told of his recklessness, 650 00:47:54,959 --> 00:47:57,178 even with his own life. 651 00:48:03,358 --> 00:48:06,231 I despair of ever seeing him again. 652 00:48:07,623 --> 00:48:12,150 Hope is a monster, Alithea, and I am its plaything. 653 00:48:12,585 --> 00:48:13,977 So he died? 654 00:48:13,978 --> 00:48:15,327 Not in battle. 655 00:48:15,936 --> 00:48:17,197 Back in Istanbul, 656 00:48:17,198 --> 00:48:19,330 Kosem needs to protect the throne. 657 00:48:19,331 --> 00:48:21,158 She needs to protect Ibrahim. 658 00:48:21,159 --> 00:48:23,030 - The little brother? - Yes. 659 00:48:26,555 --> 00:48:28,949 He is last of the Ottoman line. 660 00:48:29,950 --> 00:48:32,257 He has to produce male children. 661 00:48:34,912 --> 00:48:39,438 So, Kosem locks him in a cage lined entirely with sable. 662 00:48:46,967 --> 00:48:48,576 Quite the prison. 663 00:48:48,577 --> 00:48:51,058 And one he will never want to leave. 664 00:49:06,508 --> 00:49:08,945 It debauches him royally. 665 00:49:08,946 --> 00:49:11,599 He believes the greater the expanse of flesh, 666 00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:13,297 the more intense the pleasure. 667 00:49:13,298 --> 00:49:17,257 So, Kosem seeks out beauties voluptuous and immense, 668 00:49:17,258 --> 00:49:20,478 and brings them to his couch. 669 00:49:20,479 --> 00:49:24,482 My fate turns specifically on this fetish. 670 00:49:24,483 --> 00:49:25,745 How's that? 671 00:49:26,615 --> 00:49:28,052 You'll see. 672 00:49:58,473 --> 00:50:00,300 Murad is back. 673 00:50:00,301 --> 00:50:02,172 And though he returns a conqueror, 674 00:50:02,173 --> 00:50:04,784 he cannot shed his robes of blood. 675 00:50:05,785 --> 00:50:08,483 War had truly rotted his soul. 676 00:50:28,373 --> 00:50:30,243 I wait until he is alone. 677 00:50:30,244 --> 00:50:33,420 I am determined to draw him back to the stone. 678 00:50:33,421 --> 00:50:36,597 I don't want to interrupt, but I do have a question. 679 00:50:36,598 --> 00:50:38,643 Did it matter to you what kind of wish 680 00:50:38,644 --> 00:50:40,211 such a man might make? 681 00:50:40,646 --> 00:50:42,516 One so insatiable. 682 00:50:42,517 --> 00:50:44,344 No. 683 00:50:44,345 --> 00:50:46,303 Not even if it were profoundly evil? 684 00:50:46,304 --> 00:50:47,826 Not if it meant my freedom. 685 00:50:47,827 --> 00:50:51,700 The truth is he has other things on his mind. 686 00:50:53,354 --> 00:50:55,660 He believes he is invincible, 687 00:50:55,661 --> 00:51:00,057 and to rule indefinitely, he must be rid of all rivals. 688 00:51:13,113 --> 00:51:14,201 Ibrahim. 689 00:51:17,509 --> 00:51:18,727 Ibrahim. 690 00:52:20,615 --> 00:52:22,921 Kosem needs to stop him. 691 00:52:22,922 --> 00:52:25,184 Somehow, she needed to distract him 692 00:52:25,185 --> 00:52:27,840 from his bloodlust with other gratifications. 693 00:52:32,932 --> 00:52:36,196 First, she arranges for him to be perpetually drunk. 694 00:52:38,285 --> 00:52:40,199 And then she tries something very shrewd. 695 00:52:40,200 --> 00:52:41,680 Something that you might enjoy. 696 00:52:47,816 --> 00:52:49,295 She sends to find, 697 00:52:49,296 --> 00:52:51,646 from all corners of the empire, 698 00:52:52,473 --> 00:52:54,649 the best storytellers. 699 00:53:13,842 --> 00:53:15,974 Those who are not persuasive 700 00:53:15,975 --> 00:53:19,326 flee in fear or fall to his impatience. 701 00:53:29,554 --> 00:53:31,337 There is only one 702 00:53:31,338 --> 00:53:33,471 who has the ability to enchant him. 703 00:53:35,255 --> 00:53:37,604 To soothe with stories, 704 00:53:37,605 --> 00:53:40,521 to hold him hostage to their unfolding. 705 00:54:02,021 --> 00:54:04,023 This is his only friend. 706 00:54:06,547 --> 00:54:09,594 And that friendship turns to love. 707 00:54:11,552 --> 00:54:13,684 Since there is nothing else for me to do, 708 00:54:13,685 --> 00:54:15,207 I listen gratefully, 709 00:54:15,208 --> 00:54:18,385 for I, too, love being lost in his stories. 710 00:54:23,695 --> 00:54:25,652 When the old man dies, 711 00:54:25,653 --> 00:54:28,002 all in the palace flee to the streets, 712 00:54:28,003 --> 00:54:32,051 for they fear Murad's grief will incur fresh murder. 713 00:54:36,577 --> 00:54:41,495 But he just sits, and howls, and drinks until he is empty. 714 00:55:07,782 --> 00:55:10,437 And my patience is rewarded. 715 00:55:11,569 --> 00:55:13,004 For in this state, 716 00:55:13,005 --> 00:55:15,354 I am finally able to get his attention 717 00:55:15,355 --> 00:55:18,314 and draw him back to the secret bathroom. 718 00:55:18,315 --> 00:55:19,880 Oh, I know where this is going. 719 00:55:19,881 --> 00:55:22,492 He's going to be too weak to lift the stone. 720 00:55:22,493 --> 00:55:25,104 Too weak even to turn the latch. 721 00:55:27,715 --> 00:55:31,023 So, he leaves and drinks himself to permanent sleep. 722 00:55:31,632 --> 00:55:32,937 Oh! 723 00:55:32,938 --> 00:55:34,721 And there I am, 724 00:55:34,722 --> 00:55:37,071 left to my own oblivion, 725 00:55:37,072 --> 00:55:39,596 with no one to hear my voice, 726 00:55:39,597 --> 00:55:42,947 no one to know me, nor feel me, nor sense me. 727 00:55:42,948 --> 00:55:45,342 You can't imagine. 728 00:55:48,388 --> 00:55:50,347 Well, actually, I can. 729 00:55:51,348 --> 00:55:53,741 Can you imagine the loneliness? 730 00:55:54,568 --> 00:55:56,614 How it might overwhelm? 731 00:55:56,831 --> 00:55:58,832 I can. 732 00:55:58,833 --> 00:56:01,487 We exist only if we are real to others. 733 00:56:01,488 --> 00:56:02,662 Do you agree? 734 00:56:02,663 --> 00:56:03,924 I do. 735 00:56:03,925 --> 00:56:06,579 This, then, is our fate, Alithea. 736 00:56:06,580 --> 00:56:09,713 If you make no wish at all, 737 00:56:09,714 --> 00:56:11,454 I will be caught between worlds, 738 00:56:11,455 --> 00:56:14,545 invisible and alone, for all of time. 739 00:56:16,851 --> 00:56:18,418 Make a wish, Alithea. 740 00:56:19,463 --> 00:56:21,378 Make it your heart's desire. 741 00:56:29,168 --> 00:56:33,171 I'd be more careful if I were you. 742 00:56:33,172 --> 00:56:35,434 Obviously, you managed to find your way out. 743 00:56:35,435 --> 00:56:36,696 More or less. 744 00:56:36,697 --> 00:56:38,045 I'm beginning to think I'm in the presence 745 00:56:38,046 --> 00:56:39,134 of a trickster. 746 00:56:41,049 --> 00:56:43,703 That would be so much better. 747 00:56:43,704 --> 00:56:45,575 My work would be so much easier. 748 00:56:45,576 --> 00:56:48,447 But the truth is, I am just an idiot 749 00:56:48,448 --> 00:56:51,058 who has been extravagantly unlucky. 750 00:56:51,059 --> 00:56:53,975 Well, I have to take your word for that. 751 00:57:03,724 --> 00:57:04,724 So? 752 00:57:07,685 --> 00:57:11,078 Ibrahim, I suppose, becomes Sultan? 753 00:57:11,079 --> 00:57:15,649 Ibrahim has to be dragged to the throne. 754 00:57:32,710 --> 00:57:34,754 He appoints one of his concubines 755 00:57:34,755 --> 00:57:36,495 Governor of Damascus. 756 00:57:36,496 --> 00:57:39,019 Her name is Sugar Lump. 757 00:57:39,020 --> 00:57:41,153 By every measure, his favorite. 758 00:57:43,111 --> 00:57:45,025 Had she not been free to roam, 759 00:57:45,026 --> 00:57:47,941 she would not have found the secret bathroom. 760 00:57:47,942 --> 00:57:50,161 Had she not decided to take a bath, 761 00:57:50,162 --> 00:57:52,642 it would not have overfilled. 762 00:57:52,643 --> 00:57:53,947 Had she not been clumsy 763 00:57:53,948 --> 00:57:55,558 as she walked across the floor, 764 00:57:55,559 --> 00:57:57,822 she would not have slipped, smashed the stone, 765 00:57:58,823 --> 00:58:01,173 - and found my bottle. - Ah, yeah. 766 00:58:18,712 --> 00:58:21,975 To be honest, I should have been more dignified. 767 00:58:21,976 --> 00:58:24,718 But I began to beg, shamelessly. 768 00:58:51,571 --> 00:58:53,050 "I wish you were back" 769 00:58:53,051 --> 00:58:56,054 "in your bottle at the bottom of the Bosphorus." 770 00:58:59,013 --> 00:59:00,318 So here I am, 771 00:59:00,319 --> 00:59:02,887 fallen into your careful hands. 772 00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:07,238 Seems we cannot escape each other. 773 00:59:07,239 --> 00:59:09,546 You have me at your mercy. 774 00:59:15,943 --> 00:59:17,075 This wishing... 775 00:59:18,903 --> 00:59:21,034 It's a hazardous art. 776 00:59:21,035 --> 00:59:23,863 "I wish" brings infinite unravelings. 777 00:59:23,864 --> 00:59:24,995 Not necessarily. 778 00:59:24,996 --> 00:59:26,039 Well, it's there in all your own stories. 779 00:59:26,040 --> 00:59:27,127 I know, but... 780 00:59:27,128 --> 00:59:28,738 You say you're not a trickster, 781 00:59:28,739 --> 00:59:32,132 and you say that you and I are the authors of this story. 782 00:59:32,133 --> 00:59:35,179 But I'm not able to write myself out of it. 783 00:59:35,180 --> 00:59:36,441 Correct. 784 00:59:36,442 --> 00:59:40,184 Why don't you just hop back into your bottle 785 00:59:40,185 --> 00:59:41,925 and I'll give it to someone more gullible? 786 00:59:41,926 --> 00:59:44,884 Someone more desperate. Someone more greedy. 787 00:59:44,885 --> 00:59:46,059 I'm not getting back in the bottle. 788 00:59:46,060 --> 00:59:47,147 Why not? 789 00:59:47,148 --> 00:59:48,975 I'm not getting back in the bottle. 790 00:59:48,976 --> 00:59:50,977 Well, I am not making three wishes. 791 00:59:50,978 --> 00:59:53,153 Then you are sending me to my oblivion. 792 00:59:53,154 --> 00:59:54,633 Oh, you're impossible. 793 00:59:54,634 --> 00:59:56,635 And you are giving me a headache. 794 00:59:56,636 --> 00:59:58,332 All right. All right. 795 00:59:58,333 --> 01:00:00,900 Here's what I'll do. I will make three wishes. 796 01:00:00,901 --> 01:00:02,032 - I will. - Before you die? 797 01:00:02,033 --> 01:00:03,816 Right now. One after the other. 798 01:00:03,817 --> 01:00:05,035 - Ready? - Mmm-hmm. 799 01:00:05,036 --> 01:00:07,734 Number one. I wish your headache were gone. 800 01:00:10,737 --> 01:00:12,346 Number two. 801 01:00:12,347 --> 01:00:14,306 I wish for a sip of this tea. 802 01:00:16,743 --> 01:00:19,789 And finally, I wish for another one of those. 803 01:00:19,790 --> 01:00:21,138 You mock me. 804 01:00:21,139 --> 01:00:22,835 Three wishes, perfectly simple, 805 01:00:22,836 --> 01:00:23,967 and theoretically safe. 806 01:00:23,968 --> 01:00:26,056 I was imprisoned by Solomon precisely 807 01:00:26,057 --> 01:00:28,711 because I cried out my heart's desire. 808 01:00:28,712 --> 01:00:31,627 Only by granting you yours may I earn my release. 809 01:00:31,628 --> 01:00:33,063 Yes, well, I appreciate the symmetry, 810 01:00:33,064 --> 01:00:34,630 but the thing is this, 811 01:00:34,631 --> 01:00:37,415 I cannot for the life of me summon up one eligible wish. 812 01:00:37,416 --> 01:00:38,895 And you're asking me for three. 813 01:00:38,896 --> 01:00:41,158 Is there any life in you? Are you even alive? 814 01:00:41,159 --> 01:00:42,986 You know, in some cultures, 815 01:00:42,987 --> 01:00:44,727 absence of desire means enlightenment. 816 01:00:44,728 --> 01:00:46,946 Then you are a pious fool. 817 01:00:46,947 --> 01:00:49,209 If I'm content, why tempt fate? 818 01:00:49,210 --> 01:00:50,646 And you're a coward. 819 01:00:50,647 --> 01:00:51,995 Don't goad me. 820 01:00:51,996 --> 01:00:53,953 There is no human, no angel, nor djinn 821 01:00:53,954 --> 01:00:55,215 that wouldn't grasp at the chance 822 01:00:55,216 --> 01:00:56,869 to fulfill their deepest longings, 823 01:00:56,870 --> 01:00:58,349 and I am saddled with the one 824 01:00:58,350 --> 01:00:59,872 who claims to want nothing at all. 825 01:00:59,873 --> 01:01:01,395 Alithea Binnie, you are a liar! 826 01:01:01,396 --> 01:01:04,703 You know, I am beginning to wish we never met. 827 01:01:04,704 --> 01:01:06,009 No! Nyet! 828 01:01:06,010 --> 01:01:07,185 Don't say that! 829 01:01:38,259 --> 01:01:39,347 So... 830 01:01:40,871 --> 01:01:43,003 that's happened to you before. 831 01:01:44,352 --> 01:01:46,223 And it was bad. 832 01:01:46,224 --> 01:01:48,182 'Twas bad. 833 01:01:49,401 --> 01:01:51,445 'Twas bitter. 834 01:01:51,446 --> 01:01:53,797 'Twas the cruelest wish of all. 835 01:01:55,799 --> 01:01:58,715 You were undone by silliness yet again. 836 01:02:00,151 --> 01:02:02,414 I'm here because of a genius. 837 01:02:03,154 --> 01:02:04,808 Who was it this time? 838 01:02:05,983 --> 01:02:07,419 She was Zefir. 839 01:02:09,508 --> 01:02:13,381 Rarely among humankind has there been such a wonder. 840 01:02:14,469 --> 01:02:17,255 But you're here because of her folly. 841 01:02:20,345 --> 01:02:24,131 I ended up in this as a consequence of Zefir. 842 01:02:26,394 --> 01:02:27,786 And this is the story 843 01:02:27,787 --> 01:02:31,050 you've been avoiding telling me all along. 844 01:02:31,051 --> 01:02:34,751 This is the story I've avoided telling even myself. 845 01:02:46,545 --> 01:02:48,938 Zefir was a foundling, 846 01:02:48,939 --> 01:02:51,506 married at 12 to a wealthy merchant. 847 01:02:53,117 --> 01:02:55,335 He was much older than her, and kind, 848 01:02:55,336 --> 01:03:00,819 if you think keeping someone like a bird in a cage is kind. 849 01:03:00,820 --> 01:03:03,474 There were two older wives, who did not like her 850 01:03:03,475 --> 01:03:05,346 and did not talk to her at all. 851 01:03:23,234 --> 01:03:25,148 Everyone, including the servants, 852 01:03:25,149 --> 01:03:26,803 seemed to be mocking her. 853 01:03:39,990 --> 01:03:43,079 She had neither etiquette nor learning. 854 01:03:43,080 --> 01:03:44,994 She grew to no great beauty 855 01:03:44,995 --> 01:03:47,954 and was angry without knowing why. 856 01:04:02,316 --> 01:04:05,188 As the fates would have it, my bottle came to her 857 01:04:05,189 --> 01:04:08,540 as a love token from her husband. 858 01:04:13,588 --> 01:04:16,634 And when she had finished satisfying him 859 01:04:16,635 --> 01:04:18,114 and was finally alone, 860 01:04:18,115 --> 01:04:20,204 she managed to prise it open. 861 01:04:51,409 --> 01:04:54,063 It was as if she was waiting for me. 862 01:04:54,064 --> 01:04:57,196 I saw at once that she was sharp, 863 01:04:57,197 --> 01:05:01,070 and she saw that I was desperate 864 01:05:01,071 --> 01:05:03,289 for freedom and conversation. 865 01:05:03,290 --> 01:05:06,031 I told her my story, as I have told you, 866 01:05:06,032 --> 01:05:10,296 and she revealed herself to me by the things she had made. 867 01:05:10,297 --> 01:05:12,256 Gel. Gel. 868 01:05:47,508 --> 01:05:48,640 Gel. 869 01:05:59,607 --> 01:06:01,347 She could have been remembered 870 01:06:01,348 --> 01:06:03,262 like the genius da Vinci, 871 01:06:03,263 --> 01:06:04,655 whose theories on flight 872 01:06:04,656 --> 01:06:07,224 were the talk of sultans and kings. 873 01:06:09,095 --> 01:06:12,403 She was a skilled artist, but no one saw her art. 874 01:06:18,583 --> 01:06:21,280 She told me she was eaten up 875 01:06:21,281 --> 01:06:23,500 with unused power. 876 01:06:23,501 --> 01:06:25,285 She thought she might be a witch. 877 01:06:26,417 --> 01:06:28,287 Except, she said, if she were a man, 878 01:06:28,288 --> 01:06:32,117 her intellect would have been ordinarily accepted. 879 01:06:32,118 --> 01:06:34,467 She was a woman ardent for learning, 880 01:06:34,468 --> 01:06:37,732 and I knew what her first wish would be. 881 01:06:55,315 --> 01:06:56,750 And it delighted me 882 01:06:56,751 --> 01:06:58,623 to fulfill this wish. 883 01:07:27,695 --> 01:07:31,263 So, I taught her histories, philosophies, 884 01:07:31,264 --> 01:07:32,699 languages, poetry. 885 01:07:32,700 --> 01:07:35,354 I taught her astronomy, mathematic, 886 01:07:35,355 --> 01:07:37,530 which was bliss to her. 887 01:07:37,531 --> 01:07:40,098 I brought her books and writings, 888 01:07:40,099 --> 01:07:43,450 which we hid in her collection of bottles. 889 01:08:03,862 --> 01:08:05,863 Sabah... 890 01:08:05,864 --> 01:08:07,344 Sabah... 891 01:08:25,231 --> 01:08:27,276 She could always call on Aristotle 892 01:08:27,277 --> 01:08:29,452 from a red glass jar, 893 01:08:29,453 --> 01:08:32,237 or Euclid from a green, 894 01:08:32,238 --> 01:08:34,631 Pythagoras, Spinoza, 895 01:08:34,632 --> 01:08:37,504 without needing me to re-embody them. 896 01:08:47,732 --> 01:08:50,125 We had the whole world in her room, 897 01:08:50,126 --> 01:08:53,129 and I lost my heart to her. 898 01:08:56,784 --> 01:09:00,875 'Twas my bliss to make her happy. 899 01:09:02,616 --> 01:09:03,922 To see her flourish. 900 01:09:05,706 --> 01:09:08,231 And she flourished in every way. 901 01:09:08,622 --> 01:09:10,146 Totalmente. 902 01:09:21,244 --> 01:09:22,679 She began to rebel 903 01:09:22,680 --> 01:09:24,768 even against the gestures of submission 904 01:09:24,769 --> 01:09:26,335 that her husband required, 905 01:09:26,336 --> 01:09:29,555 for she had acquired a mastery of love-craft, 906 01:09:29,556 --> 01:09:31,209 out of reach of any human 907 01:09:31,210 --> 01:09:33,386 that had not made love to a djinn. 908 01:09:51,317 --> 01:09:54,407 His cravings for her became an obsession. 909 01:10:04,678 --> 01:10:06,331 And when he would come to her, 910 01:10:06,332 --> 01:10:10,683 I would leave her room and journey the skies. 911 01:10:10,684 --> 01:10:14,427 I saw the mountains, the oceans... 912 01:10:15,385 --> 01:10:17,386 I saw the beasts of the forest, 913 01:10:17,387 --> 01:10:19,953 where no man treads. 914 01:10:19,954 --> 01:10:24,001 And when I would return, she would be waiting for me. 915 01:10:24,002 --> 01:10:27,918 I would tell her of my day, and she would faint with joy 916 01:10:27,919 --> 01:10:29,920 and disappointment. 917 01:10:29,921 --> 01:10:33,532 Why did she not make a wish to be free? 918 01:10:33,533 --> 01:10:36,927 There was something more important to her. 919 01:10:36,928 --> 01:10:39,408 She had devised a "mathematica," 920 01:10:39,409 --> 01:10:42,585 a language to explain the forces 921 01:10:42,586 --> 01:10:45,718 which bring space, and time, and matter into being. 922 01:10:45,719 --> 01:10:47,372 She was Promethean, brave. 923 01:10:47,373 --> 01:10:49,635 But she could not solve this puzzle. 924 01:10:49,636 --> 01:10:51,724 She needed a key, 925 01:10:51,725 --> 01:10:54,728 a key to open the doors of her perception. 926 01:11:05,522 --> 01:11:09,438 So, she used her second wish. 927 01:11:09,439 --> 01:11:13,007 I taught her to dream as djinn do, awake. 928 01:11:44,691 --> 01:11:48,607 And this way, the solutions came to her. 929 01:11:48,608 --> 01:11:52,350 She was able to explain powers invisible, 930 01:11:52,351 --> 01:11:55,571 electromagnetic fields and forces... 931 01:11:55,572 --> 01:11:58,704 The very stuff of which djinn are made. 932 01:11:58,705 --> 01:12:00,445 You're electromagnetic? 933 01:12:00,446 --> 01:12:04,494 As you are dust, I am made of subtle fire. 934 01:12:05,364 --> 01:12:07,800 And when she was to bear a child, 935 01:12:07,801 --> 01:12:10,107 I was plagued with happiness, 936 01:12:10,108 --> 01:12:12,370 for I knew it would strengthen us. 937 01:12:12,371 --> 01:12:13,894 She was carrying your child? 938 01:12:14,721 --> 01:12:17,681 A child, of fire and dust. 939 01:12:19,639 --> 01:12:21,640 So, where did it go wrong? 940 01:12:21,641 --> 01:12:23,643 Alithea, I loved her. 941 01:12:24,644 --> 01:12:26,384 I loved the fervor of her mind. 942 01:12:26,385 --> 01:12:27,516 I loved her anger. 943 01:12:27,517 --> 01:12:28,647 I loved my power 944 01:12:28,648 --> 01:12:31,695 to turn her frowns into smiles. 945 01:12:33,436 --> 01:12:35,915 I loved her more than Sheba. 946 01:12:35,916 --> 01:12:37,482 More than your own freedom? 947 01:12:37,483 --> 01:12:38,962 Yes. 948 01:12:38,963 --> 01:12:42,487 It became my greatest desire to... to keep her, 949 01:12:42,488 --> 01:12:44,620 to remain her prisoner. 950 01:12:44,621 --> 01:12:49,365 The thought of being set free sickened my heart. 951 01:12:54,370 --> 01:12:58,374 I caught myself stopping her lest she make her third wish. 952 01:12:58,678 --> 01:13:00,114 Oh, gosh. 953 01:13:03,770 --> 01:13:05,598 I made a mess of it. 954 01:13:07,034 --> 01:13:10,036 She began to accuse me of trapping her, 955 01:13:10,037 --> 01:13:11,778 like her husband. 956 01:13:13,824 --> 01:13:17,000 I tried to make amends. 957 01:13:17,001 --> 01:13:20,657 To atone, I would put myself in the bottle. 958 01:13:21,571 --> 01:13:23,136 To be sealed. 959 01:13:23,137 --> 01:13:25,575 That way, she could have more power over me. 960 01:13:38,196 --> 01:13:40,937 To be nothing in a bottle. 961 01:13:40,938 --> 01:13:42,592 I could do that for her. 962 01:13:43,506 --> 01:13:47,117 And every time, it would appease. 963 01:13:47,118 --> 01:13:50,729 Every time, except for the last. 964 01:13:50,730 --> 01:13:55,473 When, like a sudden squall, all thunder and lightning, 965 01:13:55,474 --> 01:13:58,476 she began to weep and wail, and said, 966 01:13:58,477 --> 01:14:01,567 "I wish I could forget I ever met you." 967 01:14:07,051 --> 01:14:09,749 And she did, on the instant. 968 01:14:14,841 --> 01:14:17,756 She was out. I was in. 969 01:14:17,757 --> 01:14:19,498 She'd forgotten me. 970 01:14:21,021 --> 01:14:24,024 Alithea, how can it be... 971 01:14:26,070 --> 01:14:29,465 a mistake to love someone entirely? 972 01:14:54,838 --> 01:14:56,187 I have a wish. 973 01:15:00,974 --> 01:15:04,195 However, I'm afraid it may be too much to ask. 974 01:15:08,808 --> 01:15:10,897 Is it within my power? 975 01:15:11,550 --> 01:15:14,510 I hope so. I do hope so. 976 01:15:17,121 --> 01:15:19,210 Is it your heart's desire? 977 01:15:19,863 --> 01:15:21,908 Yeah, I'm certain of it. 978 01:15:36,662 --> 01:15:37,924 See, erm, 979 01:15:38,664 --> 01:15:40,927 I'm here to love you. 980 01:15:43,800 --> 01:15:45,062 And, uh, 981 01:15:46,585 --> 01:15:50,067 I wish for you to love me in return. 982 01:15:51,851 --> 01:15:54,724 You want us to make love-craft? 983 01:15:55,202 --> 01:15:57,290 Yeah, that too. 984 01:15:57,291 --> 01:15:58,465 All of it. 985 01:15:58,466 --> 01:16:02,601 And you would abandon yourself to this? 986 01:16:04,342 --> 01:16:06,038 Yes. 987 01:16:06,039 --> 01:16:07,214 Yes. 988 01:16:09,303 --> 01:16:13,306 I want our solitudes to be together. 989 01:16:13,307 --> 01:16:18,050 I want that love professed in ageless tales. 990 01:16:18,051 --> 01:16:22,577 I want that longing you felt for the Queen of Sheba, 991 01:16:22,578 --> 01:16:26,319 and that love you gave to your genius, Zefir. 992 01:16:26,320 --> 01:16:28,105 I want it. 993 01:16:40,944 --> 01:16:42,293 Me? 994 01:16:44,338 --> 01:16:45,775 You. 995 01:16:52,651 --> 01:16:53,957 You? 996 01:16:55,872 --> 01:16:57,134 Me. 997 01:17:04,663 --> 01:17:06,012 Is it too much? 998 01:17:07,100 --> 01:17:09,233 Is it all too much to ask? 999 01:17:28,774 --> 01:17:29,819 Come. 1000 01:17:43,136 --> 01:17:46,661 What are we to do with longings awoken? 1001 01:17:46,662 --> 01:17:48,097 How can I persuade you 1002 01:17:48,098 --> 01:17:50,317 that I once found love with a djinn? 1003 01:17:52,668 --> 01:17:55,366 In any case, few would believe me. 1004 01:17:57,150 --> 01:18:00,676 Love is not something we come to by reason. 1005 01:18:03,069 --> 01:18:05,157 It's more like a vapor, 1006 01:18:05,158 --> 01:18:07,333 a dream, perhaps, 1007 01:18:07,334 --> 01:18:09,292 to lure us into the enchantment 1008 01:18:09,293 --> 01:18:11,034 of our own stories. 1009 01:18:12,470 --> 01:18:14,340 If that's so, 1010 01:18:14,341 --> 01:18:16,387 how are we to know if it's ever real? 1011 01:18:18,302 --> 01:18:22,001 Is it a truth, or simply a madness? 1012 01:19:08,918 --> 01:19:11,310 I leave for London today. 1013 01:19:11,311 --> 01:19:12,922 Will you come home with me? 1014 01:19:15,272 --> 01:19:18,057 It's not such an easy place nowadays. 1015 01:19:19,232 --> 01:19:21,408 But it'll be better if you're there. 1016 01:19:31,418 --> 01:19:33,507 Over here, please. 1017 01:19:35,161 --> 01:19:36,293 Hands up. 1018 01:19:44,780 --> 01:19:46,911 Please step out. 1019 01:19:46,912 --> 01:19:48,348 What is in your pockets? 1020 01:19:49,001 --> 01:19:50,089 Oh. 1021 01:19:51,090 --> 01:19:54,311 Uh, it's an empty bottle and a top. 1022 01:19:55,312 --> 01:19:56,921 Please put it through X-ray. 1023 01:19:56,922 --> 01:19:58,053 It is very delicate, 1024 01:19:58,054 --> 01:19:59,445 and I don't want it to get damaged. 1025 01:19:59,446 --> 01:20:01,273 It will not be damaged. Please put through X-ray. 1026 01:20:01,274 --> 01:20:02,448 I would prefer that it didn't go in the... 1027 01:20:02,449 --> 01:20:03,799 Passport. Boarding pass. 1028 01:20:05,104 --> 01:20:06,192 Thank you. 1029 01:20:16,594 --> 01:20:17,855 It's quite fragile. 1030 01:20:17,856 --> 01:20:18,988 Madam. 1031 01:20:23,253 --> 01:20:25,037 It's a saltshaker. 1032 01:20:32,610 --> 01:20:33,829 Oh. 1033 01:20:34,394 --> 01:20:36,569 No! No X-ray! Please! 1034 01:20:36,570 --> 01:20:38,834 Stop, madam, stop. 1035 01:20:55,328 --> 01:20:56,416 Madam. 1036 01:20:56,982 --> 01:20:58,070 Oh. 1037 01:21:38,937 --> 01:21:40,330 In your own time. 1038 01:22:36,995 --> 01:22:39,084 The air is thick here. 1039 01:22:40,172 --> 01:22:44,263 Full of insistent voices and rushing faces. 1040 01:22:44,742 --> 01:22:46,482 Oh? 1041 01:22:46,483 --> 01:22:49,267 Like Tiny Einstein? 1042 01:22:49,268 --> 01:22:51,443 Television, and phone towers, and such? 1043 01:22:51,444 --> 01:22:53,184 Yes. 1044 01:22:53,185 --> 01:22:56,971 Yes. All your ingenious devices 1045 01:22:56,972 --> 01:22:58,755 all murmuring at once. 1046 01:22:58,756 --> 01:23:00,627 Bend your head. 1047 01:23:07,330 --> 01:23:09,419 You hear all that? 1048 01:23:12,248 --> 01:23:15,250 I also see it and feel it. 1049 01:23:15,251 --> 01:23:18,253 I am a transmitter. 1050 01:23:18,254 --> 01:23:19,995 Isn't it all too much? 1051 01:23:21,170 --> 01:23:22,474 I am a djinn. 1052 01:23:22,475 --> 01:23:23,650 I can adapt. 1053 01:23:25,565 --> 01:23:27,349 I'll soon get used to it. 1054 01:23:27,350 --> 01:23:29,220 She's back. 1055 01:23:29,221 --> 01:23:30,569 I believe she's back. 1056 01:23:30,570 --> 01:23:32,528 Is she with someone? 1057 01:23:32,529 --> 01:23:34,573 No, I think she's talking to herself again. 1058 01:23:34,574 --> 01:23:36,314 Hello, Clementine. 1059 01:23:36,315 --> 01:23:38,664 Fanny. Are you well? 1060 01:23:38,665 --> 01:23:40,492 Did you have any trouble? 1061 01:23:40,493 --> 01:23:42,668 Trouble? What kind of trouble? 1062 01:23:42,669 --> 01:23:44,496 With your foreign friends. 1063 01:23:44,497 --> 01:23:46,411 Because we often ask ourselves, 1064 01:23:46,412 --> 01:23:49,110 "Why would Dr. Binnie waste her time and intelligence" 1065 01:23:49,111 --> 01:23:51,808 "studying the ways of others instead of upholding our own?" 1066 01:23:51,809 --> 01:23:54,332 Embarrassed by our British culture, are we? 1067 01:23:54,333 --> 01:23:55,812 No. No. 1068 01:23:55,813 --> 01:23:58,206 I am rather more likely to be embarrassed by anybody 1069 01:23:58,207 --> 01:24:00,556 reflexly frightened of anybody different. 1070 01:24:00,557 --> 01:24:01,687 What exactly are you saying? 1071 01:24:01,688 --> 01:24:03,472 She's calling us bigots. 1072 01:24:03,473 --> 01:24:04,516 Your word, not mine. 1073 01:24:04,517 --> 01:24:05,648 You misunderstand. 1074 01:24:05,649 --> 01:24:07,171 - Oh? - It's not how they look, dear. 1075 01:24:07,172 --> 01:24:08,694 It's how they live. What they believe. 1076 01:24:08,695 --> 01:24:10,435 - What they eat. - What are you on about? 1077 01:24:10,436 --> 01:24:12,263 Everywhere one goes, ethnics. 1078 01:24:12,264 --> 01:24:15,266 We are being overwhelmed, and we're inviting our doom. 1079 01:24:15,267 --> 01:24:16,615 It's not natural. 1080 01:24:16,616 --> 01:24:18,748 Birds belong in the air. Fish belong in the sea. 1081 01:24:18,749 --> 01:24:21,055 And that is how the good Lord meant us to be. 1082 01:24:21,056 --> 01:24:23,100 You're just spouting rubbish from start to finish. 1083 01:24:23,101 --> 01:24:24,623 It's science. It's a scientific fact. 1084 01:24:24,624 --> 01:24:25,885 It's a false analogy. 1085 01:24:25,886 --> 01:24:28,149 I mean, animals do have a natural habitat. 1086 01:24:28,150 --> 01:24:30,368 It's true, but human beings are capable 1087 01:24:30,369 --> 01:24:32,501 of living in any environment they bloody well choose. 1088 01:24:32,502 --> 01:24:33,719 That's not a fact. 1089 01:24:33,720 --> 01:24:35,373 - What are you saying? - It's an opinion. 1090 01:24:35,374 --> 01:24:36,592 And you're wrong. 1091 01:24:36,593 --> 01:24:38,072 I'm not putting up with any more of this. 1092 01:24:38,073 --> 01:24:40,291 Come away, Clem. Let the crazy lady be. 1093 01:24:40,292 --> 01:24:42,206 We're never gonna get any sense out of her. 1094 01:24:42,207 --> 01:24:44,470 You know, I've never said this to you before. 1095 01:24:45,123 --> 01:24:47,559 But you're both pitiful. 1096 01:24:47,560 --> 01:24:48,778 Shut your cakehole! 1097 01:24:48,779 --> 01:24:51,347 Pea-brained and pitiful. 1098 01:24:51,869 --> 01:24:54,262 You, fuckface! 1099 01:24:54,263 --> 01:24:58,267 Stop your ivy growing on our side of the wall! 1100 01:24:59,355 --> 01:25:01,530 Why do I let them get to me? 1101 01:25:01,531 --> 01:25:03,619 I should feel sorry for them. 1102 01:25:03,620 --> 01:25:06,840 But this is my home. It's my sanctuary. 1103 01:25:10,888 --> 01:25:13,108 I could wish them... 1104 01:25:14,152 --> 01:25:16,371 That's not a wish, by the way. 1105 01:25:16,372 --> 01:25:17,764 I know. 1106 01:27:21,410 --> 01:27:22,672 My djinn. 1107 01:27:23,716 --> 01:27:24,934 How was your day? 1108 01:27:24,935 --> 01:27:27,328 Every listening ear was yours. 1109 01:27:27,329 --> 01:27:29,939 Every voice, every scent, and touch. 1110 01:27:29,940 --> 01:27:31,681 You were everywhere. 1111 01:27:36,903 --> 01:27:38,601 Back in a minute. 1112 01:27:57,663 --> 01:27:59,795 Whoever could that be at this hour? 1113 01:27:59,796 --> 01:28:00,884 It could be her. 1114 01:28:04,366 --> 01:28:07,282 Clem. Fanny. 1115 01:28:09,327 --> 01:28:11,808 Chickpeas, cloves, pistachio. 1116 01:28:13,636 --> 01:28:15,333 They melt in your mouth. 1117 01:28:33,351 --> 01:28:34,831 This is my friend. 1118 01:28:35,962 --> 01:28:37,877 He'll be staying for a while. 1119 01:28:38,791 --> 01:28:39,836 Hello. 1120 01:28:42,926 --> 01:28:44,667 - Hello. - Hello. 1121 01:28:48,932 --> 01:28:50,715 My Djinn told me, 1122 01:28:50,716 --> 01:28:53,675 when they come together in the Realm of Djinn, 1123 01:28:53,676 --> 01:28:55,460 they tell each other stories. 1124 01:28:56,635 --> 01:28:58,767 Stories are like breath to them. 1125 01:28:58,768 --> 01:28:59,856 They make meaning. 1126 01:29:01,814 --> 01:29:03,075 "Yes," I said. 1127 01:29:03,076 --> 01:29:04,861 "That's just how it is with us." 1128 01:29:05,905 --> 01:29:07,645 Each story we tell is a fragment 1129 01:29:07,646 --> 01:29:10,083 in an endless shape-shifting mosaic. 1130 01:29:11,650 --> 01:29:15,785 And this small pebble, like all stories, must end. 1131 01:29:17,743 --> 01:29:20,920 If it's about wishing, it's a cautionary tale. 1132 01:29:22,008 --> 01:29:25,010 So, how will it go wrong? 1133 01:29:25,011 --> 01:29:27,536 Perhaps, it already has. 1134 01:29:30,843 --> 01:29:33,367 Even though Truth stood before them naked, 1135 01:29:33,368 --> 01:29:35,020 they turned their backs. 1136 01:29:35,021 --> 01:29:39,503 So, Truth moved to the side and waited in the shadows. 1137 01:29:39,504 --> 01:29:41,157 In the days that followed, 1138 01:29:41,158 --> 01:29:44,682 the Djinn would accompany the narratologist to her work. 1139 01:29:44,683 --> 01:29:46,292 And when he wasn't with her, 1140 01:29:46,293 --> 01:29:49,514 he would go in eager exploration of the world. 1141 01:29:52,474 --> 01:29:55,390 Today I had such a marvelous day. 1142 01:29:56,695 --> 01:29:59,697 I saw many things. 1143 01:29:59,698 --> 01:30:03,875 I watched a human look into the living brain of another 1144 01:30:03,876 --> 01:30:06,488 and arrest a fatal bleeding. 1145 01:30:10,970 --> 01:30:12,755 I visited the Collider. 1146 01:30:14,060 --> 01:30:18,500 A vast gizmo which probed the essence of matter. 1147 01:30:21,633 --> 01:30:24,896 And then I saw a dish, a great dish 1148 01:30:24,897 --> 01:30:28,597 that listens to the whispers of stars long dead. 1149 01:30:30,729 --> 01:30:32,730 Humankind is... 1150 01:30:32,731 --> 01:30:34,646 is a wonder, Alithea. 1151 01:30:35,560 --> 01:30:37,996 I'm happy you think so. 1152 01:30:37,997 --> 01:30:41,086 All of this since I was trapped in Zefir's bottle. 1153 01:30:41,087 --> 01:30:45,874 All these astonishments, in less than 200 years. 1154 01:30:45,875 --> 01:30:47,876 Yes, but, I mean, 1155 01:30:47,877 --> 01:30:52,184 that's just engineering and technology. 1156 01:30:52,185 --> 01:30:54,796 Despite all the whiz-bang, 1157 01:30:54,797 --> 01:30:56,929 we remain bewildered. 1158 01:30:59,845 --> 01:31:01,804 When we can't contain the chaos, 1159 01:31:03,588 --> 01:31:06,198 we are filled with dread and panic, 1160 01:31:06,199 --> 01:31:08,505 and we turn on each other. 1161 01:31:08,506 --> 01:31:11,029 But of course, you are human. 1162 01:31:11,030 --> 01:31:13,163 That is your nature. 1163 01:31:15,513 --> 01:31:18,951 Yeah. So, the story never changes. 1164 01:31:19,865 --> 01:31:22,563 Hate prevails. 1165 01:31:22,564 --> 01:31:27,177 It metastasizes and outlives love. 1166 01:31:28,961 --> 01:31:31,615 I just want to talk about love. 1167 01:31:31,616 --> 01:31:35,663 Such a mess of contradictions, all of you. 1168 01:31:35,664 --> 01:31:36,794 Thank you very much. 1169 01:31:36,795 --> 01:31:40,102 Humankind, what a conundrum. 1170 01:31:40,103 --> 01:31:42,844 You fumble around in the dark, 1171 01:31:42,845 --> 01:31:45,977 and yet, you herd your intelligence to great effect. 1172 01:31:45,978 --> 01:31:47,632 It is quite a story. 1173 01:31:48,894 --> 01:31:51,766 Cannot wait to see where it goes. 1174 01:31:51,767 --> 01:31:53,682 Or how it might end. 1175 01:31:54,030 --> 01:31:55,770 That too. 1176 01:31:55,771 --> 01:31:59,730 A mortal will never know, but a djinn might. 1177 01:31:59,731 --> 01:32:02,212 A djinn has all the time in the world. 1178 01:32:04,301 --> 01:32:06,520 Aren't you the lucky one? 1179 01:32:06,521 --> 01:32:07,870 Maybe. 1180 01:32:08,871 --> 01:32:12,134 But you creatures of dust have... 1181 01:32:12,135 --> 01:32:13,657 have managed to eclipse 1182 01:32:13,658 --> 01:32:17,008 the power and purpose of djinn and angel. 1183 01:32:17,009 --> 01:32:19,228 You have no use for us. 1184 01:32:19,229 --> 01:32:20,621 Perhaps, we will wither and... 1185 01:32:20,622 --> 01:32:22,144 - And fade away? - Yes. 1186 01:32:22,145 --> 01:32:24,581 Yeah. Well, that used to be the subject 1187 01:32:24,582 --> 01:32:26,670 of all my lectures and papers. 1188 01:32:26,671 --> 01:32:27,977 I know. 1189 01:32:30,588 --> 01:32:32,329 And yet, here you are. 1190 01:32:34,026 --> 01:32:36,115 My impossible. 1191 01:32:38,030 --> 01:32:39,118 Yes. 1192 01:32:51,566 --> 01:32:52,741 Hello? 1193 01:32:58,181 --> 01:32:59,791 I'm home! 1194 01:33:09,758 --> 01:33:11,063 Hello? 1195 01:33:37,089 --> 01:33:38,656 Djinn? 1196 01:33:42,704 --> 01:33:43,922 My love? 1197 01:33:47,926 --> 01:33:48,971 Djinn. 1198 01:33:53,192 --> 01:33:54,367 What's this? 1199 01:33:56,979 --> 01:33:58,980 Can you hear me? 1200 01:33:58,981 --> 01:34:01,156 Djinn, speak to me. 1201 01:34:01,157 --> 01:34:02,724 Try to speak to me. 1202 01:34:04,682 --> 01:34:06,858 I wish you to speak to me. 1203 01:34:10,862 --> 01:34:11,950 Oh... 1204 01:34:26,878 --> 01:34:28,923 I was sleeping. 1205 01:34:28,924 --> 01:34:31,143 Sleeping. 1206 01:34:32,884 --> 01:34:35,016 Djinn don't sleep. 1207 01:34:35,017 --> 01:34:36,321 Let's go for a walk. 1208 01:34:36,322 --> 01:34:37,801 A long, bracing walk. 1209 01:34:37,802 --> 01:34:39,368 I have prepared something for us. 1210 01:34:39,369 --> 01:34:40,978 I have it all planned. 1211 01:34:40,979 --> 01:34:43,154 A wonderous night for us. 1212 01:34:43,155 --> 01:34:45,330 It will be amazing. 1213 01:34:45,331 --> 01:34:48,159 - The best time of our lives. - Stop! 1214 01:34:48,160 --> 01:34:52,294 These electromagnetic fields, I can push them from my head. 1215 01:34:52,295 --> 01:34:53,862 I can push them away. 1216 01:34:54,950 --> 01:34:56,168 We'll go for a picnic. 1217 01:35:01,086 --> 01:35:03,262 Ah, we'll play the ukulele. 1218 01:35:05,830 --> 01:35:09,137 Alithea, there is a place for me here. 1219 01:35:09,138 --> 01:35:10,399 These forces, 1220 01:35:10,400 --> 01:35:12,096 they will never go away, not from this world. 1221 01:35:12,097 --> 01:35:14,316 I will overcome them. I can do that for you. 1222 01:35:14,317 --> 01:35:16,492 You are my Alithea, and I love you. 1223 01:35:16,493 --> 01:35:18,276 Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for trying. 1224 01:35:18,277 --> 01:35:19,517 You don't think that I love you? 1225 01:35:20,497 --> 01:35:22,716 Love is a gift. 1226 01:35:22,717 --> 01:35:25,109 It's a gift of oneself given freely. 1227 01:35:25,110 --> 01:35:27,330 It's not something one can ever ask for. 1228 01:35:28,853 --> 01:35:30,071 I tricked us both. 1229 01:35:30,072 --> 01:35:31,768 The moment I spoke that wish, 1230 01:35:31,769 --> 01:35:34,858 I took away your power to grant it. 1231 01:35:34,859 --> 01:35:39,123 I, more than anybody, I should've known that. 1232 01:35:39,124 --> 01:35:41,299 I'm not going to screw this up again. 1233 01:35:41,300 --> 01:35:45,477 My Djinn, if this world is not for you, 1234 01:35:45,478 --> 01:35:48,351 I wish that you return to where you belong. 1235 01:35:49,178 --> 01:35:51,267 Wherever that may be. 1236 01:38:18,544 --> 01:38:19,632 Mommy! 1237 01:38:21,634 --> 01:38:23,679 Come here, little monkey. 1238 01:38:23,680 --> 01:38:25,508 That's not Mommy. 1239 01:39:53,248 --> 01:39:54,509 - Hey, hey, hey! - Ah, no! 1240 01:39:54,510 --> 01:39:56,512 Watch it. Top striker in the league. 1241 01:40:05,477 --> 01:40:06,609 Did you see that? 1242 01:40:10,134 --> 01:40:12,744 He would visit from time to time, 1243 01:40:12,745 --> 01:40:16,226 and they would grasp each vivid moment. 1244 01:40:16,227 --> 01:40:19,142 Despite the pain of the raucous skies, 1245 01:40:19,143 --> 01:40:21,797 he always stayed longer than he should, 1246 01:40:21,798 --> 01:40:24,148 long after she begged him to leave. 1247 01:40:25,280 --> 01:40:28,499 He promised to return in her lifetime, 1248 01:40:28,500 --> 01:40:31,503 and for her, that was more than enough.