“Far as I can tell, I’d say yer right. Everytin’ aside from de fields an’ de trees an’ de animals an’ de water an’ dat.”
“Do you mean nature?”
“Yeah, nature, dat was de word I’s lookin’ fer.”
Terry glanced back at Étienne again:
“You knows yerself, boy. Nature. You got all de right words.”
Étienne smiled, both proud and a little embarassed. Terry would not have traded that smile for anything in the world.
1310.114.2
Inventions
Examination question for Literary Translation course (TRAD 2507): based on excerpts from Giono’s and Jaworski’s translations of Melville’s Moby-Dick, define the approach privileged by each of the translators, and demonstrate how both these translations unnecessarily domesticate this American masterpiece for a French audience.
1311.32.8
Exam Problems
Medical malapropism: what did the doctor have to neigh (say) today?
1313.132.9
Malapropism
Terry managed to weave through the traffic and turn left at the busy crosssroads.
“Wot was we sayin’? Awh, yeah, nature. I suppose everytin’ we sees aside from nature’s wot was invented.”
Étienne was looking out the window. Their van was surrounded by other vehicules, stores, restaurants, merchandise of all sorts.
“Fer instance, you sees de McDonald’s over der? Little by little, humans was finding in nature wot dey needed to invent bricks an’ plastic an’ nails an’ food an’ paper, all wot you’ll find in de McDonald’s.
Étienne understood.
“An’ den some fellow had to be inventin’ de very idea of McDonald’s, de idea of sellin’ little hamburgers, not too expensive, an’ cookies wot look like animals, wid a clown an’ a game room in de restaurant, so dat dey’ve got a place where parents don’t mind bringin’ der kids. Sometimes, ’tis more an idea dat dey’s inventin’. Dat’s wot we calls a concept.
There was still something that Étienne did not understand:
“Well den’, who is it invented nature?”
Terry looked back at his son in the rear-view mirror.
“Awh, well now, dat’s a terrible big question.”
He stopped at yet another red light.
“Some folks’d tell you dat was God, an’ de whole ting took ’im naught but a week. Udders’ll say it happened all by itself, after a shockin’ big explosion in de middle o’ de stars an’ de universe. Dey calls dat de Big Bang. An’ den der’s udders dat say it happened bit by bit, an’ it took hundreds of millions of years.”
1314.114.3
Inventions
And Terry fell silent, wondering if a child could deal with such realities.
“Well den, who was it invented chewing gum?”
Sylvia will not change her mind about religion.
1315.21.12
More or Less Useful Details
“Wot ’appens when you makes a mistake? Must muddle ’is data sometin’ fierce . . .”
“I don’t know do I. I never makes a mistake.”
“Ya, right.”
. . .
“G’wan wid ya, yer not serious?”
. . .
“Well how does ya manage to be rememberin’ all dose notes den?”
“’Tisn’t so hard as all dat. Der’s a system. Once you understands it, well . . .”
“Still. Der’s de fingers. Yer head may know, but de fingers, dey can fudge it, do a physical Freudian slip.”
“Never happened to me . . .”
“G’wan, yer pullin’ me leg . . .”
“I swears to God.”
1316.119.10
Music
(Scribbled in a hurry, seemingly.) I likes white when it’s a colour. Étienne three years nine months.
1317.67.4
Terry’s Notebooks
That day, Chico and Étienne had been helping Zed empty the big shed in which residents accumulated all the stuff that might be useful, but no one wanted. Zed had promised them a sidetrip to the convenience store as a reward.
“Hold on der, Chico, only two tings.”
Chico did not protest. He renounced the green licorice laces, returned the can of sparkling water to its place, and kept the bag of chips and the chocolate bar.
“Wot’re you takin’ den?”
Étienne hadn’t chosen anything as yet, but he knew he wanted a chocolate bar, a can of pop and an ice-cream sandwich.
“Awh, yes! Gum!”
Chico selected a pack of multicolour gumballs, then hesitated between the chocolate and the chips. Finally, he put them both back and opted instead for a small Vachon cake coated in coconut and the gumballs.
“Alright now, ’ave youse made up yer minds?”
Zed had been following the boys’ machinations with amusement.
“Étienne?”
“Yes.”
In the end, Étienne placed a blue freezie and a bag of ketchup flavoured chips on the counter.
“OK, dat’s it den . . .”
Zed paid for everything, including a chocolate bar for himself, and the three returned to the truck.
“I’ll give ya a gum, if you gives me some chips.”
Étienne was generally amenable to this sort of exchange. Sucking on his freezie, he handed the air filled bag to Chico, who popped it open with a single blow, and without crushing the chips.
(Floc)
A tour de force. Impressed, Zed tousled Chico’s hair affectionately.
1318.135.1
Zed and Chico
As for Concerning Yellow, that would lend too much importance to yellow. Any colour would have done just as well. Or almost. The impression of constant repetition.
1319.81.10
Titles
“In the beginnin’, ee was workin’ wid de same notes. Later on, ee started mixin’ dem up.”
“Was dat more like music den?”
“Let’s say der was a wee bit more tension.”
“Atwixt you an’ ’im?”
“Naw, between de notes.”
!
“I figures ee wanted it dat way so’s ee could be measurin’ de reactions on boat sides o’ de brain.”
?
“Where we’ve got to now, it sounds more like music. I suppose.”
“Are der a lot of folks takin’ de test?”
“Der two-hundred fifty.”
“Dat’s not a few.”
“I tinks I finally come to understand wot ee’s tryin’ to prove. Ee wants to figure out when a person starts havin’ de same reaction to de same note, or series o’ notes. Dey each has to come in every second day, six times.”
“Six times!”
“Only takes a half hour or so each time.”
“Are dey gettin’ paid?”
“Two hundred dollars fer de whole ting. ’Tisn’t all dat much, only ee had no trouble findin’ people, students, folks on de dole . . . an’ ordinary folk, half ’n half men ’n women.”
“Holy Jesus, ee’s got dough!”
“Awh, ee’s not lackin’. Ee’s on some project wid Ottawa, de National Defense.”
“National Defence! Wot does dey ’ave to do wid it?”
“I doesn’t know do I?”
. . .
“Well, actually, I does know a bit, only I’s not supposed to be talkin’ ’bout it.”
“Anyhow, looks like ee knows wot ee’s about fer sure.”
“De udder day ee’s after showin’ me a couple o’ de scans. ’Tis pretty interestin’.”
“I’d go, if ever ee needs one more.”
1320.68.8
“I tinks ee’s got all de folks ee needs fer now.”
“Figures . . . Only me wife’s all over me back to find some work.”
It’s about time I finished this book; computers are up to three billion colours.
1321.104.11
Worries
Terry took Weisner Road for the return trip to Moncton.
“Well, bin a long time since I come troo ’ere. ’Twas all forest when I was a boy. I doesn’t remember all dese houses.”
. . .
“See de bridge o’er der, an’ de river? I always tawt dat’s where Saint Christopher was workin’. Ee was me favorite saint. I still wears ’is medallion.”
Terry pulled the chain out from under his shirt and showed Étienne the smallest of the metal charms. Étienne glanced at it and then craned his neck to get a look at the bridge and river.
“I tawt ee was livin’ in a wee cabin right alongside de bridge, so dat when a kid like me came along, ee’d be helpin’ ’im across. Sometimes he only took you by de hand, but a lot o’ de time, ee’d carry you across on up on ’is shoulders. Dat’s wot I liked best.”
There were a great many things in this story that Étienne did not understand.
“Wot, was der no bridge den?”
“Sure der was, only we was always wadin’ across all de same. Don’t know why.”
“Der was no channel?”
Terry was happy to see that Étienne knew the geology of rivers.
“Der must ’ave been one, only he was a saint, don’t ferget. Saints, well, dey can do a whole lot of tings de rest of us can’t. Dat’s how come dey’s saints. Saint Christopher could be walkin’ like der was no channel in de middle o’ de river, an’ he could swim widout runnin’ short o’ breath. Dat’s wot dey calls miracles.”
Terry slowed down as came up on the bridge. In the rear-view mirror he saw his son looking for some sort of little cabin.
“Deez days, even de cabin’s gone. Ee must’ve moved to some udder bridge.”
1322.41.1
Lives of the Saints
True or false: the character “I” in France Daigle’s novel For Sure is an avatar of the author, that is, a representation of France Daigle.
1323.96.7
Characters
“I was fond of Saint Bernadette, as well.”
. . .
“She ’ad a lovely family name. Soubirous. Right pretty, eh, Soubirous?”
Yes, Étienne, too, thought it was pretty.
“Well, Bernadette, de Blessed Virgin appeared to her one day while she’s in de woods to gadder up a turn o’ whits. Her family was so poor dey didn’t even ’ave a log to burn to keep warm. Der was a wee river — o’er ’ere we’d be callin’ it a stream, really — an’ on de udder side was a grotto. Saint Bernadette was gadderin’ up sticks on dis side of de stream when de Blessed Virgin appeared in de grotto on de udder side. A grotto’s a right pretty ting. Like a wee alcove in de side of a rocky cliff.”
Terry kept glancing back at his son in the rear-view mirror while he spoke.
“De Blessed Virgin’s de chief of all de saints.”
“Granny says she’s de mudder of de little Jesus.”
“Dat too.”
. . .
“Saint Bernadette was doin’ all she could to help out her poor family, an’ de Blessed Virgin appeared to ’er to encourage ’er an’ to tell ’er a secret.”
. . .
“’Er little brudders was wid ’er, only dey was playin’ an’ not payin’ attention.”
Étienne could understand that.
“Only, on account of ’twas a secret, Saint Bernadette weren’t supposed to tell a living soul wot de Blessed Virgin ’ad told ’er.”
. . .
“Well, folks startin’ sayin’ de little Soubirous girl was out of ’er mind, an’ dat she’d not seen de Blessed Virgin at all, only she’d made it all up.”
Étienne could understand that, too.
1324.41.2
Lives of the Saints
Examination question for Religion and Psychology course (SCRE 3732): devise a critical comparison between the miracles performed by Jesus and those by Mozart. Clue: Mozart performed his when he was in dire straits and had no other recourse.
1325.32.9
Exam Questions
“Der was Saint Thomas, as well. Ee didn’t believe nuttin’ anybody said. Ee ’ad to be seein’ an’ hearin’ it wid ’is own eyes an’ ears.”
. . .
“When dey’s tellin’ us dat in school, I tawt dat was de reason we was always washin’ our ears. So we could be hearin’ Jesus.”
Étienne didn’t quite see the link, but he decided to withhold judgment.
“You knows ’ow Jesus died, eh? Nailed on de cross?”
“Well sure, Dad.”
“An’ den after, ee rose from de dead?”
. . .
“Well, Saint Thomas, ee didn’t want to believe dat Jesus was really risen from de dead. Ee had to put his finger in de hole dat de nail’d made in Jesus’ hand to be certain.”
Étienne tried to imagine the size of the hole a cross’s nail would make.
“Dat’s why, ever since, when a fellow doesn’t believe sometin’, we says ee’s like Saint Thomas.”
“But wot was ’is miracle?”
Terry had to think.
“Hmm . . . Good question. I doesn’t know wot Saint Thomas done aside from not believin’ any old ting folks was sayin’. You’d best ask Granny.”
1326.41.3
Lives of the Saints
Other possible titles: Write Dat, The Great Loop, Nuances, The Bronze Fly, Almost Something, Almost Something (Covered by Ocean), Small Involuntary Movements, e black i red.
1327.81.4
Titles
“Den der’s de times dey’ll bite on anyting at all. ’Tis magical. Yer askin’ yerself wot’s goin’ on, dey just keeps on bitin’.
“Hun!”
“Dose times, dey’ll go after anytin’ you puts on de line. Don’t make de slightest difference wot fly yer usin’.”
“Hun . . .”
“Times like dat, when you catches one, an’ you cuts ’is ’ead off, it’ll be full o’ blood. Dat’s on account of de frenzy. We calls dat miracle fishin’.”
“Han!”
1328.129.9
Fantasies
Carmen doesn’t like when mirrors break. Nor does she care for shards of broken mirror. She experiences a kind of dislocation, maybe because each fragment continues to reflect anyway. Not that she believes in bad luck. The difference between something we fear — a superstition — and something we don’t like.
1329.60.6
Superstitions
“Den der’s Saint Louis. Hasn’t bin all dat long since I found out dat Saint Louis was a king o’ France. Ee’s de fellow ’ad de idea to create de Sorbonne, de most important university in France. You know, like de Université de Moncton?”
Étienne was beginning to grow weary of the lives of the saints.
“’Twas Saint Boniface dat decided Louis Nine ought to be a saint. Der was so terrible many fellows named Louis in dose days, dey had to give ’em numbers.”
Terry could see that his son had lost interest.
“You know Winnie-de-Pooh? ’Twas a soldier from Winnipeg invented ’im.”
Étienne’s curiosity was piqued.
“Winnipeg, dat’s a city almost smack in de middle o’ Canada. An’ right next door is Saint-Boniface. Seems, even today, der’s lots o’ French people livin’ in Saint-Boniface.”
1330.41.4
Lives of the Saints
From its Germanic origins, the w entered
into the French language from the north and the east, more specifically from Picardy, Wallonia, and Lorraine.
1331.90.3
Letters
“Does dat mean dey could end up knowin’ fer sure wot combinations of notes folks’ll automatically like? Like dey could be makin’ guaranteed hits?”
“I sure hope not.”
“An’ why not? Musicwise, ’twould get rid of all dose bad songs . . .”
“One person’s bad song isn’t necessarily bad to anudder.”
“You doesn’t tink der’s songs dat everyone would agree are bad?”
“Don’t know. Good question, doh. Dat’s why I tinks ’twould be nice to be knowin’ how music’s affectin’ us fer real.”
“You doesn’t mind de job so much as you did at de start, sounds like.”
“Well, I’ve only got a couple of weeks to go . . .”
“An’ wot’ll you be doin’ after dat?”
“Payin’ me own coffee in de mornin’s I expect.”
1332.119.12
Music
The Ideal Library of the Social Sciences also selected the sociological study Travailler pour être heureux? (Working to Be Happy?), edited by Christian Baudelot and Michel Gollac, which concludes that happiness at work is mainly the experience of those at the hierarchical summit, and that work is valorized mostly by those who don’t have any.
1333.130.2
Work
The door of Didot Books opened, and shut.
“Huberte Gautreau! How’re ya gettin’ on?”
Terry liked Huberte. He liked that she had strong opinions, and yet was capable of having a bit of fun.
“Fine! An’ you folks?”
“Not a bit bad!”
Terry was not fond of this expression, which he found outdated, but there it was.
“I was passin’ by, an’ I thought I’d drop in an’ see if de book I ordered’s come in.”
Huberte saw no hint of anything that might suggest the bookstore was failing.
“Came in yesterday afternoon. I was all set to call you dis mornin’!”
Huberte took her gloves off, glanced at the book Terry handed her.
For Sure Page 55
