1. My father was a migrant worker.Copy !req
2. Every four years, he'd be assigned
to a new worksite.Copy !req
3. Each time, we had to move.Copy !req
4. I hated all those moves.Copy !req
5. Arriving once again in an unknown city,Copy !req
6. I would lock myself in my room
as a protest.Copy !req
7. My only friendsCopy !req
8. were the modeling clay, glue,
scissors, and pencil.Copy !req
9. What will you do, later on?Copy !req
10. Something with my hands.
Maybe I'll go to art school.Copy !req
11. Art is not for us.Copy !req
12. Get a job at the post office,
and paint on Sundays.Copy !req
13. You have to work
with your head, not your hands.Copy !req
14. When I was a kid,
my father's hands fascinated me.Copy !req
15. He'd shape the wax cheese rind,Copy !req
16. conjuring up foxes,
birds, or butterflies.Copy !req
17. Today, I feel the magic
of these shapes, in my hands,Copy !req
18. telling a story,Copy !req
19. a story from far, far away.Copy !req
20. My father used to say
that in Italy,Copy !req
21. there's a village called Ughettera.Copy !req
22. Everyone there
has the same name as ours.Copy !req
23. Ughettera, the land of the Ughetto.Copy !req
24. It all started here,
in the shadow of Mount Viso.Copy !req
25. My grandfather and grandmother
lived in a house like this one.Copy !req
26. Today, the roofs have caved in
on their peasant abodes.Copy !req
27. Trees flourish
where they made charcoal.Copy !req
28. What happened?Copy !req
29. I wish I'd known
my grandfather, Luigi.Copy !req
30. My grandmother Cesira
was a familiar figure.Copy !req
31. I remember the lady dressed in black
that I called Granny.Copy !req
32. Seeing her old home,Copy !req
33. I realized that before she was Granny,Copy !req
34. my grandmother was Cesira,Copy !req
35. young and beautiful.Copy !req
36. She had been desired and loved.Copy !req
37. What a beautiful scarf!Copy !req
38. In Ughettera,Copy !req
39. they told me Piedmontese women
wore these aprons and skirts to work.Copy !req
40. You went to Ughettera?Copy !req
41. There's nothing left of them.Copy !req
42. I brought you everything I found.Copy !req
43. Mainly, you wanted land, right?Copy !req
44. Ah, land was everything.Copy !req
45. The land kept us alive.Copy !req
46. We were hungry for land,Copy !req
47. We made terrible sacrifices
to buy a piece of land.Copy !req
48. In Ughettera, there wasn't much.Copy !req
49. The steep fields were scattered.Copy !req
50. And Luigi? What was he like?Copy !req
51. Ah, Luigi...Copy !req
52. He was a handsome man.Copy !req
53. Solid.Copy !req
54. Strong.Copy !req
55. With beautiful hands.Copy !req
56. In those days, poor men
were not ragged,Copy !req
57. They did not beg for pennies.Copy !req
58. They lived modestly
and were satisfied.Copy !req
59. Antonio, come on!Copy !req
60. Wake up!Copy !req
61. Giuseppe!Copy !req
62. Luigi was the second of eleven children.Copy !req
63. Dad, wake up!Copy !req
64. Come on, Mom!Copy !req
65. Eleven children?Copy !req
66. There were kids everywhere.Copy !req
67. This land is good. You could eat it.Copy !req
68. The kids' legs were scraped
from climbing trees looking for nests.Copy !req
69. It was the only way to eat a little meat.Copy !req
70. At home,
to welcome people we love,Copy !req
71. we brew coffee.Copy !req
72. Your coffee is powerful!Copy !req
73. You have the same hands as Luigi.Copy !req
74. Amazing, Luigi!Copy !req
75. He's good!Copy !req
76. But what did you eat?Copy !req
77. In Ughettera,Copy !req
78. they ate what they had.Copy !req
79. The mother made polenta with milk,Copy !req
80. and the father made them
eat it with a fork,Copy !req
81. so the milk dribbled away.Copy !req
82. But that's all in the past.Copy !req
83. Why do you want to know?Copy !req
84. I wanted to go to Italy with my father,Copy !req
85. to hear about Ughettera,
your lives, the stories.Copy !req
86. Ask your questions.Copy !req
87. Didn't the children go to school?Copy !req
88. School came after the fields,
after the seasonal work.Copy !req
89. I have to sweep up!Copy !req
90. Calm down, kids!Copy !req
91. Luigi didn't go to school either?Copy !req
92. Antonio, you imbecile!Copy !req
93. Sometimes he did.Copy !req
94. He could write a little,
for official documents.Copy !req
95. But he was eager to learn.Copy !req
96. I taught him his first words of French.Copy !req
97. Are they building the house?Copy !req
98. We're going to make a nice,
big, solid house!Copy !req
99. You said it!Copy !req
100. At home, we all lived in one room.Copy !req
101. We slept in the barn all year round.Copy !req
102. Yes, here people are born,
live and die in the stables.Copy !req
103. Didn't the mayor or priest
try to help?Copy !req
104. Ah, the priest...Copy !req
105. To be in the priest's good graces
people gave him the pick of the crop.Copy !req
106. Not a single priest died of hunger
in Ughettera, believe me.Copy !req
107. Turn the crank under the table.Copy !req
108. Truth be told, the priests
always ruled our rural villages.Copy !req
109. If he hadn't blessed your house,
he claimed you were a godless person.Copy !req
110. If you were a woman, he told people
you were a witch, "une masca".Copy !req
111. And people believed him.Copy !req
112. They were afraid of the masca.Copy !req
113. The villagers shunned
those poor old women.Copy !req
114. Their plight was most miserable.Copy !req
115. The mascas were blamed
for every misfortune: storms, hail,Copy !req
116. bad harvests, the diseases,
the accidents,Copy !req
117. children who died,
it was all the masca's fault.Copy !req
118. And the priest let people gossip.
Of course! He encouraged superstition.Copy !req
119. What have you found, Giuseppe?Copy !req
120. Look!Copy !req
121. A mandolin.Copy !req
122. Dance, dance, dance!Copy !req
123. Come and see!Copy !req
124. Dance, dance!Copy !req
125. Come on, dance!Copy !req
126. Dance, dance, dance!Copy !req
127. - Is that a real cow?
- No, it is not real!Copy !req
128. It's nice and plump!Copy !req
129. A cow that doesn't make milk!Copy !req
130. Where did you find it, Luigi?Copy !req
131. In the box.Copy !req
132. Cow, give milk.Copy !req
133. But it's a toy!Copy !req
134. The Lord be with you.Copy !req
135. And with your spirit.Copy !req
136. We can't survive the winter.Copy !req
137. We'll starve.
All we have to eat is chestnuts.Copy !req
138. We must leave
before snow blocks the pass.Copy !req
139. Get ready to go!Copy !req
140. They don't have enough food
for everyone, and winter's coming.Copy !req
141. - Send them potatoes.
- Just one, then.Copy !req
142. Here, give it to them.Copy !req
143. - How about another?
- No.Copy !req
144. Look, they already
have a swollen belly!Copy !req
145. One day, a young manCopy !req
146. found a pot full of boiled potatoes.Copy !req
147. He ate and ate.Copy !req
148. He's hallucinating!Copy !req
149. His stomach was swollen.Copy !req
150. His buddy warned him,
"Careful! You'll die."Copy !req
151. And there he stayed,
a potato in his mouth, dead.Copy !req
152. We all had thin, fragile guts.Copy !req
153. There were no jobs at home.Copy !req
154. Every winter before the snow,
half the population went to France.Copy !req
155. Chimney sweep, ragman,
lighterman, cobbler...Copy !req
156. The Italians would do
the hardest jobs.Copy !req
157. Listen to
what this French newspaper says:Copy !req
158. "What characterizes
the Italian worker is his flexibility.Copy !req
159. "We can make him do whatever we want.Copy !req
160. "These workers
have no personal dignity.Copy !req
161. "They endure everything.Copy !req
162. "Told to start work when the bell rings,
they obey, heads bowed."Copy !req
163. What a beautiful evening!Copy !req
164. I'm still a little hungry.Copy !req
165. Any of you men want to work?Copy !req
166. Yes.Copy !req
167. Do you sleep late?Copy !req
168. No.Copy !req
169. Do you smoke?Copy !req
170. No.Copy !req
171. Do you have any papers?Copy !req
172. Yes.Copy !req
173. You have shovels and picks?Copy !req
174. Yes.Copy !req
175. Be ready early tomorrow morning.Copy !req
176. Impossible!
What about the children?Copy !req
177. Children went to Barcelonnette,
in the Basses-Alpes.Copy !req
178. For the weekly children's market.Copy !req
179. There were always 300 or 400 boys
and girls, 10 or 12 years old.Copy !req
180. By 10 AM, the market was deserted.Copy !req
181. The kids had all been rented.Copy !req
182. But that's horrible!Copy !req
183. Yes.Copy !req
184. But that's how it was.Copy !req
185. Luigi didn't like it,
but everyone did it.Copy !req
186. Take that, you beast!Copy !req
187. Antonio! You imbecile!Copy !req
188. Goodbye, little one.Copy !req
189. Take care of yourself.Copy !req
190. Goodbye.Copy !req
191. Goodbye, Luigi!Copy !req
192. Goodbye. Goodbye, children!Copy !req
193. Where else did they go?Copy !req
194. Wherever there was work.
Switzerland, France.Copy !req
195. As if there weren't any mountains
between us.Copy !req
196. They dug a tunnel
under Mount Viso,Copy !req
197. "Buco di Viso."Copy !req
198. Luigi was there.Copy !req
199. Go look in the box at the back.Copy !req
200. Did you find it?Copy !req
201. Do you see Luigi?Copy !req
202. The one with the hat!Copy !req
203. You were telling me
the three brothers got jobs.Copy !req
204. But when and where?Copy !req
205. It was around 1899-1900.Copy !req
206. They were hired on the
Simplon construction site.Copy !req
207. A railway tunnel
between Italy and Switzerland.Copy !req
208. What do you do
to wear such holes in your socks?Copy !req
209. You were saying
they worked at Simplon?Copy !req
210. Yes, the Simplon tunnelCopy !req
211. was an enormous project.Copy !req
212. Before drilling the tunnel,
they had to build the road.Copy !req
213. After a two-day hike
up the mountain,Copy !req
214. Luigi, Giuseppe, and Antonio
started work.Copy !req
215. Is that the lunch siren?Copy !req
216. The wops got blown up!Copy !req
217. They could at least warn us.Copy !req
218. - For sure.
- What was that?Copy !req
219. Why didn't you go to America?Copy !req
220. Where dollars grow on trees?Copy !req
221. Luigi was 20 years old,
Giuseppe 18, Antonio 17.Copy !req
222. My father worked at Simplon as a foreman.Copy !req
223. Sometimes I would go up to see him.Copy !req
224. That's where I met Luigi.Copy !req
225. I liked him as soon as I saw him.Copy !req
226. It was fate.Copy !req
227. My parents did not
look favorably on our marriage.Copy !req
228. Since Luigi was from the mountain
and they from the plain, they wept.Copy !req
229. "If only he was from down here,Copy !req
230. "but he is from up there!Copy !req
231. "Will you go live up there?"Copy !req
232. My mother lamented,Copy !req
233. "With nothing,
you'll make a thin soup."Copy !req
234. Cheers to all!Copy !req
235. My stomach is going to explode!Copy !req
236. With all our savings,Copy !req
237. Luigi and I went to the jeweler.Copy !req
238. He said, "Pick out what you want."Copy !req
239. I chose something fairly modest,Copy !req
240. thinking of the future,
and our common interest.Copy !req
241. A beautiful double gold chain,
with a silver pocket watch.Copy !req
242. And this gold band,
thin and worn now from work.Copy !req
243. - Look.
- It's beautiful.Copy !req
244. I'm as hungry as a wolf!Copy !req
245. You will rest at the table!Copy !req
246. Food's ready. Time to eat!Copy !req
247. Time to eat!Copy !req
248. It's ready!Copy !req
249. Tonight, I've made you
gnocchi with tomato sauce.Copy !req
250. The farmer sees money once a year,Copy !req
251. but the worker is paid weekly.Copy !req
252. Construction work is dangerous.Copy !req
253. They filled the holes with stones.Copy !req
254. They're rushing.
They're paid by the task.Copy !req
255. The family was growing.Copy !req
256. Now I was afraid.Copy !req
257. - Who got hurt?
- An Italian.Copy !req
258. The fifth, this morning.Copy !req
259. Go to work, hurry up!Copy !req
260. - This coffee wakes you up!
- It's strong!Copy !req
261. When the road was finished,
Luigi went to work in the tunnel.Copy !req
262. Sometimes they even worked at night.Copy !req
263. A hard life.Copy !req
264. The air was bad, the heat was stifling.Copy !req
265. When they hit springs,
the tunnel was flooded.Copy !req
266. The water might be freezing,
or it might be hot.Copy !req
267. How do we do it, Luigi?Copy !req
268. We'll show them
how we work in Piedmont.Copy !req
269. The engineer will be happy.Copy !req
270. Is it a gift from Cesira?Copy !req
271. It keeps your sleeves clean.Copy !req
272. It's cleaner.Copy !req
273. Our daughter was born there,
in Switzerland,Copy !req
274. at the foot of Mt. Simplon.Copy !req
275. We wanted to give her a French name.Copy !req
276. We called her Marie-Cecile.Copy !req
277. How beautiful she is!Copy !req
278. Come to Papa, Marie-Cecile.Copy !req
279. And then one day, the work was finished.Copy !req
280. We will return to Italy, to Ughettera.Copy !req
281. I'll introduce you to my family.Copy !req
282. Luigi was like one of those pigeons
that always return home.Copy !req
283. Arturo!Copy !req
284. Costanza!Copy !req
285. Alcide!Copy !req
286. Luigi!Copy !req
287. Oh my children! You have come back!Copy !req
288. Oh my dear Luigi!Copy !req
289. Cesira.Copy !req
290. Marie-Cecile.Copy !req
291. My name is Costanza.Copy !req
292. But who is she?Copy !req
293. It's Luisa!Copy !req
294. Luisa. Her father had gone
to America; her mother had died.Copy !req
295. They'd taken her in.Copy !req
296. Giuseppe sure is acting weird.Copy !req
297. At first, we had food,
and a little money left over.Copy !req
298. I could say the plates were full.Copy !req
299. We don't play with food.Copy !req
300. And we share it.Copy !req
301. I just came by to say hello.
Is everything okay?Copy !req
302. The Lord be with you.Copy !req
303. And with your spirit.Copy !req
304. That thief!Copy !req
305. Luigi was the only one
who saw through the priest.Copy !req
306. We all got to work.Copy !req
307. That was the most important thing.Copy !req
308. Pants made to measure!Copy !req
309. For you, Mamma.Copy !req
310. He loves me,Copy !req
311. he loves me not,Copy !req
312. He loves me,Copy !req
313. he loves me not,Copy !req
314. He loves me,Copy !req
315. he loves me not...Copy !req
316. He loves me.Copy !req
317. He loves me!Copy !req
318. It's the mailman!Copy !req
319. But they didn't work for long.Copy !req
320. The postman read the letter:
"A glorious page for Italy."Copy !req
321. Bye, Luigi!Copy !req
322. In 1911, they went to war in Africa.Copy !req
323. One, two, three, four...Copy !req
324. What did we know about war?Copy !req
325. Nothing! We were ignorant.Copy !req
326. They said it was small matter
and would be settled quickly.Copy !req
327. An officer warned them,
but they didn't listen.Copy !req
328. They thought it was a joke.Copy !req
329. In Syracuse, they were loaded
onto an old ship like livestock.Copy !req
330. Cockroaches and lice
pounced on them and devoured them.Copy !req
331. The boat spat out a herd
of louse-ridden weaklings in Libya.Copy !req
332. At home, the men's workCopy !req
333. had to be done.Copy !req
334. Look out!Copy !req
335. Giuseppina!Copy !req
336. - Slow down!
- Help me!Copy !req
337. Oh my God!Copy !req
338. Oh poor thing!Copy !req
339. I wanted to call the doctor.Copy !req
340. No, it costs too much.
We'd have to sell the cow.Copy !req
341. In Ughettera, the bonesetter
pulled teeth and fixed fractures.Copy !req
342. He was the doctor, the surgeon,
everything.Copy !req
343. Giuseppina was not better.
She was in pain.Copy !req
344. Maybe the masca
would have a cure.Copy !req
345. The masca was also close to death,
but could not dieCopy !req
346. until someone took her hand
and inherited her power.Copy !req
347. No, I don't want it!Copy !req
348. Neither do I!Copy !req
349. Cesira, you take her hand!Copy !req
350. I don't want her power either.Copy !req
351. The masca was dead.Copy !req
352. So was Giuseppina.Copy !req
353. When it snowed, people saidCopy !req
354. "Happy are those
with bread and polenta."Copy !req
355. Every winter, we had to
shovel the snow off the road.Copy !req
356. All the villages sent volunteers
to do that.Copy !req
357. It's not time yet.Copy !req
358. I'm thinking of our men.Copy !req
359. Cesira, the song said
"Tripoli, beautiful land of love,Copy !req
360. "Tripoli, enchanted land,Copy !req
361. "You will be Italian by cannon blast."Copy !req
362. No way!Copy !req
363. There was sand
in our soup bowls and pots,Copy !req
364. sand in our eyes
and in the air we breathed.Copy !req
365. The only water was briny.Copy !req
366. The Bedouins were slaughtered.Copy !req
367. Antonio!Copy !req
368. Antonio!Copy !req
369. Our men were slaughtered
by the thousands.Copy !req
370. We were the ones
from the unknown destination.Copy !req
371. Dad!Copy !req
372. Ida.Copy !req
373. She's so beautiful!Copy !req
374. Come to Papa, Ida!Copy !req
375. Antonio was 19 years old.Copy !req
376. One, two, three, four, five...Copy !req
377. One, two, three, four, five...Copy !req
378. Watch out, children!Copy !req
379. I'm having another child.Copy !req
380. I don't know how we'll feed it.Copy !req
381. I don't understand!
Speak Italian, Luigi.Copy !req
382. In those days,
people liked to meet.Copy !req
383. It was common to party in the barn.Copy !req
384. Laughing and singing didn't cost much.Copy !req
385. After Libya, Giuseppe spoke only of love.Copy !req
386. He and Luisa
were both in a hurry to marry.Copy !req
387. How will I feed another child?Copy !req
388. Giotto!Copy !req
389. Go get help!Copy !req
390. Leave me alone!Copy !req
391. All right, I'm going!Copy !req
392. Stop, thief!Copy !req
393. Ah, it's you.Copy !req
394. Irma.Copy !req
395. What a beautiful baby!Copy !req
396. Come to Papa, Irma.Copy !req
397. This man is crazy!Copy !req
398. Mail!Copy !req
399. The good times did not last long.Copy !req
400. In 1915,Copy !req
401. the war came back to take our men.Copy !req
402. It's always the farmers
who are sent off to war.Copy !req
403. They were obedient,
and easy to satisfy.Copy !req
404. They all left reluctantly, though.Copy !req
405. Many made themselves ill
to avoid going.Copy !req
406. They drank tobacco teaCopy !req
407. and put weird things into their ears.Copy !req
408. Many died as a result.Copy !req
409. My valley
is next to Mount Viso.Copy !req
410. My village is there,Copy !req
411. and my children.Copy !req
412. Cesira is there.Copy !req
413. I worked like a man.Copy !req
414. I thought to myself:Copy !req
415. "This will never end."Copy !req
416. Giuseppe! What are you doing?
Come back here Giuseppe!Copy !req
417. Writing to Giuseppe,
Luisa filled her letters with lies.Copy !req
418. She told him we were fine,
that the harvest was plentiful,Copy !req
419. that the work was light.Copy !req
420. And Giuseppe answered her
with a lot of other lies.Copy !req
421. Military life is a paradise.Copy !req
422. We eat meat. We're far from combat.Copy !req
423. Mail!Copy !req
424. Cesira, in the trenches,Copy !req
425. we suffer and fret so much
we're not even hungry.Copy !req
426. We mount an attack
like goats headed for a salt lick.Copy !req
427. The men leap over the trenches
reciting the rosary.Copy !req
428. They die like flies.Copy !req
429. We live underground like moles.Copy !req
430. This is sheer hell.Copy !req
431. Giuseppe!Copy !req
432. In 1918, the Spanish flu epidemic
killed more people than the war.Copy !req
433. In Ughettera, half the family
was taken away by the disease.Copy !req
434. Giuseppe was 20 years old when he died.Copy !req
435. What can I say?Copy !req
436. We had so many people to mourn
we ran out of tears.Copy !req
437. Marie-Cecile!Copy !req
438. Ida!Copy !req
439. Irma!Copy !req
440. Nino.Copy !req
441. The kids didn't know who he was.Copy !req
442. Luigi couldn't sleep for four months.Copy !req
443. Nino.Copy !req
444. It's a beautiful name.Copy !req
445. It must be said that during the war,
some people got rich.Copy !req
446. Not us.Copy !req
447. We were broke.Copy !req
448. Cesira, let's go to America.Copy !req
449. I'll work in the mines in Michigan,
and you can sew.Copy !req
450. There, dollars grow on trees.
You just reach up and pick them.Copy !req
451. L'America!Copy !req
452. La Merica!Copy !req
453. We sold the gold chain
and the silver pocket watch.Copy !req
454. We bought a sewing machine. The best.Copy !req
455. The first ship sailed with our freight.
We were to board the next.Copy !req
456. We had nothing left.Copy !req
457. We took the train with some Italians
who were leaving to work in Ariege.Copy !req
458. We settled in a village in the plain.Copy !req
459. The children discovered French at school.Copy !req
460. The first words they learnedCopy !req
461. were
"Son of a bitch macaroni."Copy !req
462. Watch the birdie!Copy !req
463. Let me get this straight.
By then, how many kids had you had?Copy !req
464. - Marie-Cecile in Switzerland...
- Ida, Irma, and Nino in Italy.Copy !req
465. And in France, we had three more.Copy !req
466. We gave them French names:Copy !req
467. Marcelle, Vincent,
your father, and Rene.Copy !req
468. And he saidCopy !req
469. "Listen up, Witch!
I forgive you.Copy !req
470. "But swear
that you will never do any harmCopy !req
471. "to meCopy !req
472. "or my descendants.Copy !req
473. "If not, I will dip all of you
in boiling water!"Copy !req
474. Tell us another story, Papa!
A scary one.Copy !req
475. That time, the witches...Copy !req
476. I can tell you that Luigi was happy.Copy !req
477. You have to go.Copy !req
478. Next.Copy !req
479. Italian?Copy !req
480. Yes.Copy !req
481. - Do you have any papers?
- Yes.Copy !req
482. - Do you speak French?
- Yes.Copy !req
483. - Can you build a wall?
- Yes.Copy !req
484. Show me.Copy !req
485. You will be a mason.Copy !req
486. Next.Copy !req
487. Watch the birdie!Copy !req
488. What happened?Copy !req
489. Nino, Marcelle! Stop it, immediately.Copy !req
490. No!Copy !req
491. Alain, can you take care of your father?Copy !req
492. Here, Papa. Play mason
with the trowel and calm down.Copy !req
493. France needed laborers.Copy !req
494. Italians were in great demand.Copy !req
495. This is what the newspapers wrote:Copy !req
496. "Almost all the Italian workers
come from small villages in the Alps.Copy !req
497. "They're used to high altitude sites,
the biting cold, the icy wind.Copy !req
498. "The Italian labor crews
have little or no interest in politics."Copy !req
499. Politics? That's all they talked
about on the construction sites.Copy !req
500. Fascism was taking root.Copy !req
501. In Italian villages, all the scoundrels,
by ambition or by interest,Copy !req
502. had become fascists.Copy !req
503. It was convenient for them
to give orders.Copy !req
504. They burned my house down
in mid-winter.Copy !req
505. Look at the blows on my head!Copy !req
506. They stole everything from me.Copy !req
507. Police are the ones behaving this way!Copy !req
508. - Good morning, lads!
- Good morning.Copy !req
509. Luigi and the other workers
were housed in barracks on-site,Copy !req
510. built before the work began.Copy !req
511. According to the management,
these were sturdy buildingsCopy !req
512. to protect the workers
from wind and cold.Copy !req
513. France's factories needed electricity.Copy !req
514. In the southwest,Copy !req
515. Izourt Dam was to be
the centerpiece of the infrastructure.Copy !req
516. Oh, Ughetto!Copy !req
517. We need laborers.
Can you find some?Copy !req
518. In Italy, if you want, I can.Copy !req
519. I was against it.Copy !req
520. I didn't want him to go.Copy !req
521. I was afraid the fascists would
beat him, jail him, and kill him...Copy !req
522. In Italy, men were eager to flee fascism
and go to work in France.Copy !req
523. Luigi found them everywhere.Copy !req
524. He recruited everyone he could.Copy !req
525. Hello Luigi!Copy !req
526. Then he went home.Copy !req
527. You are rich, my son.Copy !req
528. In Ughettera, there was
a fascist, a bastard,Copy !req
529. a violent man who let terror reign.Copy !req
530. He used to help himself, like the priest.Copy !req
531. Wait, Luigi.Copy !req
532. Fascism is not just about
castor oil and the bludgeon.Copy !req
533. Look, Papa.Copy !req
534. Look at my land.Copy !req
535. Very good!Copy !req
536. That could have been
the last time I saw my father.Copy !req
537. I didn't know how to say goodbye.Copy !req
538. The fascist, that bastard,Copy !req
539. went to Giuseppe's house
to rape Luisa.Copy !req
540. Slowly, slowly.Copy !req
541. Shame on you!Copy !req
542. What have you done?Copy !req
543. Go hide that rifle.
Come with me to France.Copy !req
544. Go to hell!Copy !req
545. In the morning, in Ughettera,Copy !req
546. two Fascist Party officials
went to investigate.Copy !req
547. The walls are made of cardboard.Copy !req
548. It's just a toy!Copy !req
549. Castor oil?Copy !req
550. They don't need it.Copy !req
551. They're all crazy here.Copy !req
552. Help me, I'm locked in!Copy !req
553. Let's go.Copy !req
554. As they left, they said:Copy !req
555. "The party doesn't like it
when citizens start killing people.Copy !req
556. "They'd rather see us die
from a simple hunting accident.Copy !req
557. "It's the Lord's fault,
and everyone is happy."Copy !req
558. It's dangerous.Copy !req
559. Take up arms!Copy !req
560. We are safe!Copy !req
561. Long live liberty!Copy !req
562. Can you build a wall?Copy !req
563. Show me.Copy !req
564. Both of you will be laborers.Copy !req
565. Luigi, you will be foreman.Copy !req
566. To get hired, some workers
tried to bribe him with gifts.Copy !req
567. You. If I take your gift,
I should give you work,Copy !req
568. but not the others?Copy !req
569. Take your rabbit and go.Copy !req
570. He spent all of his first paycheck
as a foreman on gifts.Copy !req
571. Watch the birdie!Copy !req
572. Liar.
I don't see a bird.Copy !req
573. The doctor came.Copy !req
574. He said, "Don't worry, it's
a malignant fever. It'll go away."Copy !req
575. Cesira, why are you crying?Copy !req
576. Because of Ida?Copy !req
577. She was barely 17 years old.Copy !req
578. Fascist nuns used to visit the site
to spread propagandaCopy !req
579. to the Italian workers.Copy !req
580. They said that in the name
of Mussolini,Copy !req
581. you had to love Italy
more than anything else.Copy !req
582. One even said to Luigi:Copy !req
583. "Don't forget that you were
raised on Mussolini's bread!"Copy !req
584. I am from Piedmont.Copy !req
585. Italy is Mussolini's land,
but France feeds me.Copy !req
586. So France is dearer to me than Italy.Copy !req
587. Ida's death...Copy !req
588. Fascist nuns on the site...
Luigi couldn't take it anymore.Copy !req
589. We heard that a big project was starting
in Genissiat, in Haute-Savoie.Copy !req
590. We left.Copy !req
591. Luigi and I have known
many departures.Copy !req
592. This one was different.Copy !req
593. Luigi said nothing, but I knew
we wouldn't be returning to Italy.Copy !req
594. And I knew he knew it.Copy !req
595. "No dogs or Italians allowed."Copy !req
596. Why did they write that, Papa?Copy !req
597. Why?Copy !req
598. Because they're afraid
the dogs will bite the Italians.Copy !req
599. So they ask us not to enter.Copy !req
600. So as not to be bitten.Copy !req
601. But we Italians are not afraid of dogs.Copy !req
602. We love dogs!Copy !req
603. Come on kids, let's go!Copy !req
604. We still have a long way to go.Copy !req
605. We rented a house
next to the construction site.Copy !req
606. With all our savings,Copy !req
607. we bought the land around it.Copy !req
608. Land...Copy !req
609. All ours.Copy !req
610. France was joyful.Copy !req
611. celebrating the Popular Front.Copy !req
612. As for us,
we called our land "Paradise".Copy !req
613. Not because it was,
but because it had to become Paradise.Copy !req
614. We had suffered enough as it was.Copy !req
615. Children, don't touch that.Copy !req
616. This clock is the soul of the house.Copy !req
617. Let's eat!Copy !req
618. Luigi had fulfilled his dream.Copy !req
619. He was now a property owner.Copy !req
620. Padrone.Copy !req
621. Hey Cesira, how about making us
one of your risottos?Copy !req
622. There's the dam!Copy !req
623. Come down from there, you fool!Copy !req
624. Shut up,
you son-of-a-bitch macaroni!Copy !req
625. You're the macaroni.Copy !req
626. I was born in France.Copy !req
627. In the suburbs,
the event of the dayCopy !req
628. is the start
of the Grand Tour de France.Copy !req
629. Admiring every stage of the race,Copy !req
630. Each has a favorite
To pin his hopes on!Copy !req
631. But these racers
will have to fight hardCopy !req
632. Keeping the hope of winning at heartCopy !req
633. - My father's grown!
- It's the polenta.Copy !req
634. He eats it daily, like bread.Copy !req
635. A little to the right.Copy !req
636. A little to the left.Copy !req
637. Take it down slowly.Copy !req
638. Turn it!Copy !req
639. Turn it!Copy !req
640. What do you want?Copy !req
641. Turn it! The other way!Copy !req
642. Luigi had gotten Vincent hired
on the site.Copy !req
643. When will he turn it?Copy !req
644. What's he saying?Copy !req
645. Vincent was only 16.Copy !req
646. What do you want?Copy !req
647. These Italians.Copy !req
648. Like this!Copy !req
649. Why didn't you say so?Copy !req
650. 12mm wrench!Copy !req
651. Tighten it hard.Copy !req
652. Crescent wrench!Copy !req
653. Add bolts, so that it's sturdy.Copy !req
654. Hammer!Copy !req
655. - I don't have it.
- I'm the one who has it. Here.Copy !req
656. Marcelle, Irma, Marie-Cecile,
come inside!Copy !req
657. Mama, look!
We ground the coffee beans.Copy !req
658. Has anyone seen my polenta pot?Copy !req
659. Who took my polenta pot?Copy !req
660. The next time we singCopy !req
661. When cherries are ripeCopy !req
662. Ah, that Vincent!Copy !req
663. His hands are a regular toolbox.Copy !req
664. What are you doing, Vincent?Copy !req
665. You'll see tonight.Copy !req
666. Are you ready?Copy !req
667. Yes, go ahead!Copy !req
668. I want to read!Copy !req
669. Move. I'm going to make gnocchi.Copy !req
670. Yoo hoo! Anyone home?Copy !req
671. They could have left me
something to eat.Copy !req
672. The girls were all grown up.Copy !req
673. They were old enough
to choose husbands.Copy !req
674. The house seemed
quite empty all of a sudden.Copy !req
675. What's up?
You guys play with food now?Copy !req
676. Causson is the champion!Copy !req
677. We'll put some music on for you.Copy !req
678. Beautiful music.Copy !req
679. I don't like it
when he tinkers silently.Copy !req
680. In these times when the fate
of Europe is being decided,Copy !req
681. France speaks to us
through the voice of all thoseCopy !req
682. who have accepted, if necessary,
the supreme sacrifice.Copy !req
683. - Is war coming?
- No.Copy !req
684. There have been enough wars
as it is. They'll settle it.Copy !req
685. Like thousands of others,
on June 18, 1939,Copy !req
686. we were hastily naturalized.Copy !req
687. Now we were all French.Copy !req
688. Luigi became Louis.Copy !req
689. Nino, a letter for you!Copy !req
690. Gerard?Copy !req
691. Nino!Copy !req
692. No, my name is Gerard.Copy !req
693. Nino's injury took weeks to heal.Copy !req
694. Our soldiers and the French people
as a whole agree...Copy !req
695. Nino!Copy !req
696. Time went on, but Nino did not.Copy !req
697. He was 23 years old.Copy !req
698. Genissiat was right on the border
between the free and occupied zones.Copy !req
699. To escape from compulsory labor
in Germany, Vincent went underground.Copy !req
700. He joined the Resistance.Copy !req
701. If you get caught, it's over.
Pull the pin.Copy !req
702. I want to fight too.Copy !req
703. Go pedal!Copy !req
704. If soldiers' mothers had ever
experienced a single moment of war,Copy !req
705. they'd kill them all,
fascists, Germans, generals...Copy !req
706. They'd strangle them!Copy !req
707. London calling!Copy !req
708. Please listen
to some personal messages first.Copy !req
709. "Gabrielle remains anonymous,Copy !req
710. "The one-armed man
is hugging her."Copy !req
711. On June 10, 1940,Copy !req
712. Italy declared war on France.Copy !req
713. The fascists invaded
four French departments.Copy !req
714. When they neared our Paradise,Copy !req
715. we felt our hearts shatter.Copy !req
716. The French government,Copy !req
717. having requested armistice,Copy !req
718. now knows the conditionsCopy !req
719. dictated by the enemy.Copy !req
720. It follows from these conditionsCopy !req
721. that the French territoryCopy !req
722. would fall under the controlCopy !req
723. of Germany and Italy.Copy !req
724. Vincent!Copy !req
725. We broke into the Nestle plant.
They're shipping food to Munich.Copy !req
726. We stole, with no qualms.Copy !req
727. I'll make you a meal,
a good polenta.Copy !req
728. Vincent, go hide in the cellar!Copy !req
729. Get out of the way!Copy !req
730. Are you hiding terrorists?Copy !req
731. Is there light here?Copy !req
732. Who was it?Copy !req
733. Up against the wall!Copy !req
734. Go on!Copy !req
735. Nobody move!Copy !req
736. What is it?Copy !req
737. The French are not disciplined.Copy !req
738. Look at all the stuff
they're piling up.Copy !req
739. We'll be back.Copy !req
740. The Italian planes are coming!Copy !req
741. Rene!Copy !req
742. What a lovely Sunday!Copy !req
743. Here you are, pretty MamaCopy !req
744. A bouquet of white rosesCopy !req
745. Because you love them so much.Copy !req
746. When I grow up,Copy !req
747. I'll go to the shopCopy !req
748. And buy all these white roses,Copy !req
749. For you, my pretty Mama!Copy !req
750. One evening,Copy !req
751. Luigi felt a lump in his stomach.Copy !req
752. You have beautiful hands, my boy.Copy !req
753. Luigi, my Italian grandfather,
died on September 6, 1942.Copy !req
754. He was 63 years old.Copy !req
755. He was buried in Paradise.Copy !req
756. So ended our Italian story.Copy !req
757. From town to town in France,Copy !req
758. Cesira accompanied us.Copy !req
759. Vincent, my father, married Jeanne,
met during the war.Copy !req
760. He joined the union,Copy !req
761. and continued his career
as a migrant construction worker.Copy !req
762. We children were born and raised
in a prosperous France.Copy !req
763. A France busy rebuilding itself.Copy !req
764. A France full of cars, washing machines,
electric toasters, formica tables,Copy !req
765. television sets, and yeye singers.Copy !req
766. Cesira.
Don't you miss Italy?Copy !req
767. You know,
a person is not from a country.Copy !req
768. A person is from a childhood.Copy !req
769. When she felt her life was ending,Copy !req
770. Cesira wanted to return to Paradise.Copy !req
771. Cesira died on August 11, 1962.Copy !req
772. She was 76 years old.Copy !req
773. Caressing my grandfather's tools,Copy !req
774. I found my father's gestures.Copy !req