My mother was worried. She was always worried. – We do not have enough hands. – The children will help. – They are still so young. – I will work for four. Near the hills [...]

My grandmother replied: – No, no, we should not lay her straight and stiff like a stick. She must sleep on her side, with her legs pressed against her chest. In her left hand, her bowl, in [...]

The mistress pointed to the one she wanted. Often my mother would object: – Take that one, it produces less eggs. But the mistress never agreed. – It doesn’t matter. I want the [...]

  My mother is your grandmother, you will be the mother of your daughter who will never sow. Inserting the seed is a man’s job, but who knows if he will be there to harvest. My mother died [...]

My mother was strong, too strong. She cut so much wood that a fire was kept going all winter long. We were always warm, warmer than here. My father hunted to feed us, like a pagan. He grew grain [...]

Come closer, my breath is weakening. You must hear me. My mother worked in the fields. Her grandparents had a beautiful farm, she said, but I doubt that was true. She invented lies just to make [...]

We were searching for berries, when I stumbled on a stump. Behind it was a nest, imagine, a woodcock with chicks! They tried to flee, but we had not eaten meat for so long we were not going to [...]

Would you really rather have been born in that time? The gods still lived among men in grand palaces. They ate meat, they drank wine, they didn’t work. They travelled in golden chariots [...]

When we went out, we would see from far an old woman in the forest who picked berries and slept at the bottom of a ravine. One day, Mama brought her back to the cave. We gave her food, she was so [...]

  In the city, she had lived from men. She knew how to read, dance, sing. She taught me, but I forgot. What use would these refinements serve here? In the countryside, it is not a good trade, men [...]