约翰尼，你是灰骑士山上那个原木营地的成员。很久以前，我们在那儿辛辛苦苦地干了整整一个冬天，你和我呢?这伙人一共有十四个人，都是我们本省的人，只剩下皮埃尔·拉弗朗布瓦兹一个人了。可是皮埃尔看不见他的眼睛，约翰尼，我认为这根本没用!不是因为没有，去年秋天你的腿上得了风湿病!我想等也没用，因为谁也不能和我一起去，所以我一个人去参观一下灰骑士的营地。你要是看见了，约翰尼，你就明白了，四周都是一片狼藉，什么都没了，只剩下木头和木头倒在地上;他们把独木舟划到什么地方去了，可是他们没有留下任何痕迹。喂，约翰尼，我在贝比伯湖上哭，我很高兴你不来，monvieux !但是奇怪的事情发生在我这里，约翰尼，也许我睡着了，当我听着那首歌的时候，当她走过Longue时，她扫了，妈妈，她像锯木一样，我不知道我怎么了，但首先是我不知道没有，然后你认为我明白了吗?约翰尼，在煤油灯的灯光下，你正在唱着歌，讲着故事，坐在帐篷的周围，我们听到烟囱上的声音，我们知道那是暴风雨，但是老盒子炉在咆哮，帐篷感觉很暖和。我想你是在德拉夫河的野猪上，约翰尼，靠近杜鲁普河的头，当勒罗伊和年轻的帕齐·凯利从德苏河下去淹死的时候，墙! I see me dem very same feller, jus' lak you see me to-day, Playin' dat game dey call checker, de game dey was play alway! An' Louis Charette asleep, Johnnie, wit' hees back up agen de wall, Makin' soche noise wit' hees nose, dat you t'ink it was moose on de fall, I s'pose he's de mos' fattes' man dere 'cept mebbe Bateese La Rue, But if I mak fonne on poor Louis, I know he was good boy too! W'at you do over dere on your bunk, Johnnie, lightin' dem allumettes, Are you shame 'cos de girl she write you, is dat de las' wan you get? It's fonny you can't do widout it ev'ry tam you was goin' bed, W'y readin' dat letter so offen, you mus have it all on de head! Dat's de very sam' letter, Johnnie, was comin' t'ree mont' ago, I t'ink I know somet'ing about it, 'cos I fin' it wan day on de snow. An' I see on de foot dat letter, Philomene she is do lak dis: * * * I'm not very moche on de school, me, but I t'ink dat was mean de kiss. Wall! nobody's kickin' de row, Johnnie, an' if allumettes' fini, Put Philomene off on your pocket, an' sing leetle song wit' me; For don't matter de hard you be workin' toujours you're un bon garçon, An' nobody sing lak our Johnnie, Kebeck to de Mattawa! An' it's den you be let her go, Johnnie, till roof she was mos' cave in, An' if dere's firs' prize on de singin', Bagosh! you're de man can win! Affer dat come fidelle of Joe Pilon, an' he's feller can make it play, So we're clearin' de floor right off den, for have leetle small danser. An' w'en dance she was tout finis, Johnnie, I go de sam' bunk wit' you W'ere we sleep lak two broder, an' dream of de girl on Riviere du Loup, Very nice ontil somebody call me, it soun' lak de boss Pelang, 'Leve toi, Jeremie ma young feller, or else you'll be late on de gang.' An' den I am wak' up, Johnnie, an' w'ere do you t'ink I be? Dere was de wood an' mountain, dere was de Cheval Gris, But w'ere is de boy an' musique I hear only w'ile ago? Gone lak de flower las' summer, gone lak de winter snow! An' de young man was bring me up, Johnnie, dat's son of ma boy Maxime, Say, 'Gran'fader, w'at is de matter, you havin' de bad, bad dream? Come look on your face on de well dere, it's w'ite lak I never see, Mebbe 't was better you're stayin', an' not go along wit' me.' An' w'en I look down de well, Johnnie, an' see de ole feller dere, I say on mese'f 'you be makin' fou Jeremie Chateauvert, For t'ink you're garçon agen. Ha! ha! jus' 'cos you are close de eye, An' only commence for leevin' w'en you're ready almos' for die!' Ah! dat's how de young day pass, Johnnie, purty moche lak de t'ing I see, Sometam dey be las' leetle longer, sam' as wit' you an' me, But no matter de ole we're leevin', de tam she must come some day, W'en boss on de place above, Johnnie, he's callin' us all away. I'm glad I was go on de camp, Johnnie, I t'ink it will do me good, Mebbe it's las' tam too, for sure, I'll never pass on de wood, For I don't expec' moche longer ole Jeremie will be lef', But about w'at I see dat day, Johnnie, tole nobody but yourse'f.