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The Freedom of the Turtledoves
In ancient times, it was the custom of the Emperorin order to display his clemency and his generosityat the time of the New Year celebrationsto organize large releases of turtledoves.In order to prepare the Festival for the liberation of the turtledoves,for many weeksall the country’s peasants were requisitionedto catch the birds and give them to the Palaceand, at the time of the roundups, many of the birds died.for at that time, liberty was very expensive to turtledoves. [End Page 21]
Francis Combes has published fifteen volumes of poetry, including La Fabrique du bonheur, Cause commune, Le Carnet bleu de chine, and La Clef du monde est dans l’entrée à gauche. He has translated several poets into French, including Mayakovsky, Heine, Brecht, and Attila Joszef. He has published two novels and is a founder of the publishing house Le Temps des Cerises.
