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By Root 480 0

–brooding by brown window drapes, sadness– He was an extremely intelligent man, remembered whole spates of history, talked at great length with his melancholy rasping breath about the beauties of the poetry of Victor Hugo (Emil his brother always extolled the novels of Victor Hugo), Poet Mike was the saddest Duluoz in the world–that is very sad. I saw him cry countless times– “O mon pauvre Ti Jean si tu sava tout le trouble et toute les larmes epuis les pauvres envoyages de la tite au sein, pour la douleur, la grosse douleur, impossible de cette vie ou ons trouve daumi a la mort–pourquoi pour-quoi pourquoi–seulement pour suffrir, comme ton pere Emil, comme ta tante Marie–lor nothing, my boy, for nothing,— mon enfant pauvre Ti Jean, sais tu mon âme que tu est destinez d’être un homme de grosses douleurs et talent–ca aidra jamais vivre ni mourir, tu va souffrir comme les autres, plus” — (Saying: “Oh my poor Ti Jean if you know all the trouble and all the tears and all the sendings of the head to the breast, for sadness, big sadness, impossible this life where we find ourselves doomed for death–why why why–just to suffer, like your father Emil, like your aunt Marie–for nothing–my child poor Ti Jean, do you know my dear that you are destined to be a man of big sadness and talent–it’ll never help to live or die, you’ll suffer like the others, more”—

“Napoleon était un homme grand. Aussie le General Montcalm a Quebec tambien quil a perdu. Ton ancestre, Thonorable soldat, Baron Louis Alexandre L&bris de Duluoz, un grandpere–a marriez Tlndienne, retourna a Bretagne, le pere la, le vieux Baron, a dit, criant a pleine tète, ‘Retourne toi a cette femme–soi un homme honnete et d’honneur’ Le jeune Baron a retournez au Canada, a la Riviere du Loup, il avais gagnez de la terre alongez sur cette fleu–il a eux ces autres enfant avec sa femme. Cette femme la etait une Indienne–on ne sais pas rien d’elle ni de son monde– Toutes les autres parents, mon petit, sont cent pourcent Frangais–ta mère, ta belle tite mire Angy, voyons donc s’petite bonfemme de coeur,—c’etait une L’Abbé tout Frangais au moin quun oncle avec un nom Anglais, Gleason, Pearson, quelque chose comme ca, il y a longtemp–deux cents ans—”

Saying: “Napoleon was a great man. Also the General Montcalm at Quebec even though he lost. Your ancestor, the honorable soldier, Baron Louis Alexandre Lebris de Duluoz, a grandfather–married the Indian woman, returned to Brittany, the father there, the old Baron, said, yelling at the top of his voice, ‘Return to that woman–be an honest man and a man of honor’. The young Baron returned to Canada, to Riviere du Loup (Wolf River) he had been granted land along that river–he had his other children with his wife. That woman was an Indian–we know nothing about her or her people– All the other parents, my little one, are one hundred percent French–your mother, you. pretty little mother Angy, poor little goodlady of the heart–she was a L’Abbé, all French except for one uncle with an English name, Gleason, Pearson, something like that, it’s a long time ago–two hundred years—”

And then:—he would always finish with his weeping and woe–terrible agonies of the spirit—“O les pauvres Duluozes meur toutes!—enchain£es par le Bon Dieu pour la peine– peut Stre XenjerV—’Uikel weyons doner

Saying: “O the poor Duluozes are all dying!—chained by God to pain–maybe to hell!”—”Mike! My goodness!”

So I says to my mother “J’ai peur moi allez sur mononcle Mike (Im scared me of going to Uncle Mike’s …).” I couldn’t tell her my nightmares, how one dream had it that one night in our old house on Beaulieu when somebody was dead Uncle Mike was there and all his Brown relatives (by Brown I mean all gree-darkened in the room as in dreams)— But he was horrible, porcine, fat, sickfaced, bald, and green. But she guessed I was a slob with fear concerning nightmares, “he monde il meur, le monde il meur (If people die, people die)” is what she said—”Uncle Mike has been dying for ten years–the whole house and yards smell of death—”

“Especially wit de coffins.”

“Yeh, especially