-
"The Chronicles of l'Anse Saint-Roch" 1968
- University of Ottawa Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Jacques Perron Translated by Wayne Grady THE CHRONICLES OF L'AMSE SAinT-RocH Jacques Perron was born in Louiseville, near Trois-Rivieres, on January 20, 1921, and attended first the Seminaire de Trois-Rivieres and then Universite Laval, from which he graduated with a degree in medicine in 1945. After a year with the Royal Army Medical Corps, he opened a practice in the Gaspe, in the village of Riviere-la-Madeleine, and then in Ville Jacques-Cartier, near Montreal, where he lived until his death on April 22, 1985. Doctor, writer, dramatist, journalist , iconoclast, and political maverick, Ferron was president of the Canadian Peace Congress in 1954, founder of the serio-satirical Rhinoceros Party in 1963, andthe only person both Pierre Trudeau and Paul Rose would trust to negotiate the surrender of the FLQ in December 1970. Ferron was a prolific writer of fiction, drama, criticism, and essays. His first play, Le Dodu, was published in 1956, the same year his first novel, La Barbe de Frangois Hertel, appeared. His other novels include Cotnoir (1962; Dr. Cotnoir, 1973),La Charrette (1968; The Cart, 1981), and L'Amelanchier (1970; Thejuneberry Tree, 1975). His short stories began appearing in French in 1962 with the publication of Contes du pays incertain, followed by Contes anglais et autres in 1964. These were translated in a single volume, entitled Talesfrom the Uncertain Country, by Betty Bednarski in 1972. In 1968, a complete edition of Perron's stories appeared. Called simply Contes, it included the stories from the two earlier collections as well as four previously unpublished stories, one of which was "Les Chroniques de 1'anse Saint-Roch," translated here by Wayne Grady as "The Chronicles of PAnse Saint-Roch." Ferron, writes Donald Smith in Voices of Deliverance, "attaches a great deal of 240 JACQUES FERRON importance to Quebec's history"; Ferron wrote a series of what he called "historiettes," or historical tales, in which he writes "the true history without anywindow-dressing or prettifying." While the protagonist of this story, Reverend William Andicotte, is not a strictly historical figure, the story is "true" in every other important sense, and a fine example of Perron's juxtaposition of fact and fiction. "Chronicles of 1'Anse Saint-Roch" is a translation of "Chronique de 1'anse Saint-Roch" published in Contes (Montreal: Editions H.M.H. Ltd., 1985). THE CHRONICLES OFL'ANSE SAINT-ROCH 241 [54.242.75.224] Project MUSE (2024-03-19 05:59 GMT) I B etween the lighthouse of Madeleine and the Mont-Louis kbridge, the line that separates land from sea, when seen from the top of the cliffs, is unmistakeable. The shore itself, however, can only be reached by four valleys, three of which are clearly visible and one that is almost impossible to detect. The first are called, from east to west, Manche d'Epee, Gros-Morne, and L'Anse-Pleureuse; they cut deeply into the cliff-face, but the bays they feed are small and exposed to all weather. "From Madeleine to Saint-Louis," the old sailors used to say, "you can't believe what you see; just pass right on by without a second look." The fourth valley, situated between Gros-Morne and L'Anse-Pleureuse, is not readily visible because it is narrow and twisted; it empties obliquely into a deep and sharply defined bay. It was christened the Valley of Mercy because, as the old-timers said, "You can't depend on it; when you look for it you won't find it, and you'll only come across it when you're least expecting it." This dubious reputation meant that its harbour was hardly ever used; at best the sailing ships of a larger tonnage could enter it only at high tide. It was forgotten, and if today you hear them talking about a Valley of Mercy, they would not be able to tell you where it is; it has become a legend. Sailors, who experience coasts only from a distance, think of them in terms of valleys and mountains, while fishermen who skirt the shoreline from much closer in ignore its backdrop and concentrate on the coast itself. The names they use to describe the coast differ accordingly: MontLouis and Gros-Morne bear the mark of the sailor; Manche-d'Epee and L'Anse-Pleureuse of the fisherman. When the Valley of Mercy was rediscovered the area was called L'Anse Saint-Roch, because the fishermen who spent their summers there came...