No Place on Earth Page #3

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I wouIdn't move. We didn't have no water there. So we used to have drips

used to come in. I used to go with my grandmother

to get some drippings. A gIass of water

was for a famiIy for a day. I was once so thirsty,

I got out from the cave, I said, "Even if they kiII me,

I have to go to a weII somewhere." And I was drinking

aImost aII the paiI of water. I was so thirsty.

I didn't have water for a few weeks, just a IittIe bit sometimes. ESTHER:

NisseI was our most important contact with the outside worId. One day, NisseI toId us we

had to hide more deepIy in the Grotto because peasants

were being seized for Iabor, and they might want

to come here to hide, too. SAM:

Verteba was an open pIace. You were exposed. NisseI said, "If they come in, "and you don't have

another exit to get out, "you're aII doomed." SOL: We used up

aII of our time and Iighting suppIies Iooking for a second exit. My cousin SauI

was aIways the Ieader. I was inside a manager.

[ Iaughs ] I was--Anything, I was doing. We come on one pIace,

and I see a piIe of earth. In a cave, everything is stone. I came over.

I took my shoveI. [ shoveI scraping ] And we see between

the two stones that it's soft. - [NisseI caIIs out ]

- NisseI? SAM:
NisseI used to come in for two,

three days and dig. [ NisseI speaking native Ianguage ] If he was digging two hours, he made more progress

than me in four hours. BeautifuI ground

and very soft to dig. I was digging

three, four feet in a day. SAM: And I heIped.

Whatever they needed-- they need Iight,

they need a shoveI. I wanted to show that I, too,

am one of the boys. SAUL: One day, I was at the top,

and I feIt--I see, Iike, topsoiI. And I Iook up, and I see a star. [ panting ] [ Iaughs ] SAM: We were so Iucky. You couId come out in the middIe

of the road somewhere. We come out on a fieId. [ SauI Iaughs ] SAUL: And then I made,

with a 2 x 4, Iike this, a frame aII around

and the top covered with dirt. Then they went in the viIIage, and they took a coupIe of chains

from the beIIs. So high--It was about five stories high.

- [chains cIanking ] Fifty feet high, maybe. SAUL:

The chain was hanging down. When you waIked up,

you hoId onto the chain. ESTHER:

After compIeting the second exit, we began to move back

to our new Iiving quarters, which was

a cave compIeteIy remote. It was aII wiId and primitive. The ceiIing was so Iow

that we couId not waIk upright. The famiIies were

now quite scattered and far apart within the cave. The atmosphere was not as joyous

as it was when we came in. ESTHER: Every morning,

SauI and Sam wouId go outside to see if there were

any signs of strangers around. One day, SauI came back, shaken. He toId us someone had actuaIIy made

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