Cape Breton's Magazine

• NOW AVAILABLE IN ENGLISH • FR. CHIASSON'S NEW BOOK • The Seven-Headed Beast • 23 Acadian Tales from Cape Breton Breton Books Is proud to announce this new book in English of Acadian tales collected by Fr. Anselme Chiasson. Born in Cheticamp, Fr. Anselme is a world- renowned folklorist. And these "passionate, funny, bawdy and tender tales" in Ttie Seven-Headed Beast come at us from the heart of Acadian Cape Breton. Here is a sample tale from The Seven-Headed Beasf • Marcellin Hach''s extraordinary telling of "The Mother's Arms." Fr. Anselme writes: "Marcellin Hach' was born in Cheticamp on Novemt>er 6th, 1879. He attended school up to grade four or five. He was already fish? ing with his father at the age of fourteen. After having worked as a lumberjack in Cape Breton, he went to Halifax to learn the carpentry trade. He moved back to Cheticamp, where he married Anne LeBlanc in 1901 and they had ten children. He died on May 22nd, Fr. Anselme Chiasson 1974, at the age of ninety-four. .. • • ??', *. • i.* ._.?? ..rv.r-r .. "Mr. Hach' was seventy-eight years old in 1957 when "He had learned his tales by hearing them told by I recorded his tales on tape. He was still a great talker other storytellers, first in Cheticamp and then out on and told his stories with much warmth and work sites. Apparently he had a very good memory. enthusiasm." The Mother's Arms Marcellin Hache's telling of "La Femme aux bras coupes" translated for The Seven-Headed Beast by Rosie Aucoin Grace THERE WAS A WIDOW who had a son and a daughter, and one morning the boy said to his mother, "I'm leav? ing to go make a Uving with my gun." 'Well," the daughter said, **if he's going, I'm going too." They walked all day without finding anything. That night, on the side of the road, they found a log cabin. They went in the cabin. The boy said to his sister, 'We'll stay here for the night. There are two beds. We'll sleep one in each bed." The next morning, he said to his sister, "You're going to stay here and cook. Youll make dinner and I'll go see if I can kill something, maybe some rabbits or partridges." All of a sudden, he found a fence, a nice big field, a beau- tifiil big farm, a beautifiil big house. He went over to the house. The man of the house asked, "What are you look? ing for here with your gun?" The boy answered, "Oh, I'm looking for work here and there." The man of the house repKed, "I would take a man to work on my farm." "Yes? But," he said, "I can't. My sister is in the cabin over there in the forest and I can't leave her there all alone." The man rephed, "Oh, but you can't stay there. That is a cabin that I built for trappers in the fall. I hire two men who go set traps and snares for pelts, so she can't stay CAPE BRETON r 1 'r n '1 • Retailer of Quality Eyewear , Look Your Best! . I'edical Plans Accepted 2 KDPM OF GLASSES niB! mWLOCATim 329 George St. owned & operated by C/l/i Q'OC I BRENT DENNY, optician DD''O'y' ' The Victorian Order of Nurses i'' provides a wide array of services ''' which help people manage their VON health concerns so they can stay CANADA active and independent. Cape Breton Metro Area Branch Caring J (902) 564-6479 foPLije MEMBER AGENCY UNITED WAY 77