t:The Jewel of Paris
st:Nathan Rogers
c:Capo 3rd
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There were rough seas and rain on the day that I came to the New World, this year of our Lord
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I had barely made land when Papal command insisted that I stay on board.
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I was given a child born in the wild long a distant from Ville Quebec's hold.
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He was brown in the shade the billowed sails made and barely a month or two old.
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“And so mon petit we are borne 'cross the sea to the council of good King Louis.
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There is hot bread and tea for my baby and me and the wonder of all of Paris.”
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And there was strong drink in hand the day we made land. Our arrival was met with such joy.
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I was taken to work from morning 'til dark and erstwhile I cared for the boy.
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So quickly he grew! Before he was two he was bigger than boys twice his age.
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A marvel for sure, a heart brave and pure, impressing both subject and sage.
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“So, mon petit, you were born 'cross the sea in a country beyond Acadie.
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And though your people for free they were destined to be in bondage; the slaves of Paris.”
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But the boy grew up tall (a wonder to all) in the court of Louis the fourteenth.
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There was hot bread and tea, the court of Louis, and a wonderfully rare human being.
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In becoming a man, he'd soon understand that he was not born like the rest.
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He was tall, brown and lean. His eyes; dark and clean And a different heart beat in his chest
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“And so, mon petit, you were born 'cross the sea to the Huron of Ville Sainte Marie.
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You just happened to be entrusted to me to bring you as the Jewel of Paris.”
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There was terror inside on the day that she died. The first time that he'd been alone.
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He knelt by her bed. He picked up her head, and with her last breath she made known
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through all of her days and from each of her pays she'd committed near half what she made
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She'd put it away, so that on this day, the price of his freedom was paid.
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And she said “no, mon petit, you were not born to me but I've loved you as if you might be.
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I have saved, mon petit, so that you can be free. Return you to Ville Saint Marie.”
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And so mon petit took a boat, crossed the sea, to the countries beyond Acadie
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to the Ville Sainte Marie, in Huron country. The young man arrived proud ... and free.
