Street of Riches

by Gabrielle Roy

  The two tots arrived almost frozen, their cheeks on fire. For prudence' sake, I rubbed their hands with fistfuls of snow; I helped them out of the coats that had stiffened over their bodies, and I kept them a little while standing on the register. Then they came to my desk with their readers and notebooks.

  Later I learned that that morning they had made a great scene with their parents, who wanted to prevent their attempting the two miles on foot to school.

  With me they were pliant. In their eyes, fixed upon mine, there was complete trust. I presume they would have believed me had I told them that the world was peopled with enemies, that they would have to cherish hatred for many men, even for whole peoples....

  But we—all of us together—were warm and happy. The two little ones recited their lessons. Right next to us the gale,

  like a misunderstood child, wept and stamped its feet outside the door. And I did not fully realize it yet—often our joys are slow in coming home to us—but I was living through one of the rarest happinesses of my life. Was not all the world a child ? Were we not at the day's morning ? ...

  THE AUTHOR

  Although her ancestral roots are in the province of Quebec, Gabrielle Roy was born and educated in Manitoba. For a number of years she taught school there, first in a small prairie village and later at the Institut Collegial Provencher at St. Boniface. Along with her literary interests went a talent for acting. She twice took part in plays which won the French trophy at the Dominion Drama Festival, and in 1939 she went abroad to study drama in London.

  Throughout this period she wrote, beginning with articles for newspapers and periodicals. In 1945 she published her first novel, Bonheur d'occasion which was to win her international acclaim. (The English version, titled The Tin Flute, appeared two years later.) Among the awards which Miss Roy received for the book were a medal from the French Academy, a prize from the French-Canadian Academy, the Vrix Femina in France, and the Governor-General's Award for Fiction, as well as a membership in the Royal Society of Canada.

  Since then she has written a number of other books including Where Nests the Water Hen, 1951 (La petite poule d'eau), The Cashier, 1955 (Alexandre Cheneyert Cassier), The Hidden Mountain, 1962 (La montagne secrete), The Road Vast Altamont, 1966 (La route d'Altamont), and Windflower in 1970. The present volume, which was called Rue Deschambault in the French version won both the Prix Duvernay and the Governor-General's Award for Fiction, and was first published in 1957.

  Miss Roy was married in 1947 to Dr. Marcel Carbotte and she and her husband live in Quebec City.

  SELECTED NEW CANADIAN LIBRARY TITLES

  Asterisks (*) denote titles of New Canadian Library Classics

  1. OVER PRAIRIE TRAILS / Frederick Philip Grove

  2. SUCH IS MY BELOVED / Morley Callaghan*

  3. LITERARY LAPSES / Stephen Leacock

  4. AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE / Sinclair Ross*

  5. THE TIN FLUTE / Gabrielle Roy*

  6. THE CLOCKMAKER / Thomas Chandler Haliburton

  7. THE LAST BARRIER AND OTHER STORIES / Charles G. D. Roberts

  8 BAROMETER RISING / Hugh MacLennan* 9. AT THE TIDES TURN AND OTHER STORIES / Thomas H. Raddall

  10. ARCADIAN ADVENTURES WITH THE IDLE RICH Stephen Leacock

  HABITANT POEMS / William Henry Drummond THIRTY ACRES / Ringuet

  EARTH AND HIGH heaven Gwethalyn Graham THE MAN FROM GLENGARRY / Ralph Connor SUNSHINE SKETCHES OF A LITTLE town Stephen Leacock* THE STEPSURE LETTERS / Thomas McCulloch MORE JOY IN HEAVEN / Morley Callaghan wild GEESE / Martha Ostenso THE MASTER OF THE MILL / Frederick Philip Grove THE IMPERIALIST / Sara Jeannette Duncan DELIGHT / Mazo de la Roche THE SECOND SCROLL A. M. Klein* THE MOUNTAIN AND THE VALLEY Ernest Buckler* THE RICH MAN Henry Kreisel WHERE NESTS THE WATER HEN Gabrielle Roy THE TOWN BELOW / Roger Lemelin THE HISTORY OF EMILY MONTAGUE Frances Brooke MY DISCOVERY OF ENGLAND Stephen Leacock SWAMP ANGEL / Ethel Wilson* EACH MANS SON / Hugh MacLennan ROUGHING IT IN THE BUSH Susanna Moodie WHITE NARCISSUS / Raymond Knister THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH Morley Callaghan TURVEY / Earle Birnev NONSENSE novels Mephen Leacock GRAIN / R. J. C. Stead LAST OF THE CURLEWS / Fred Bodsworth* THE NYMPH AND THE LAMP Thomas H. Raddall JUDITH HEARNE / Brian Moore THE CASHIER Gabrielle Roy UNDER THE RIBS OF DEATH / John Marlyn WOODSMEN OF THE WEST / M. Allerdale Grainger MOONBEAMS FROM THE LARGER LUNACY / Stephen Leacock

  SARAH BINKS / Paul Hiebert

  SON OF A SMALLER HERO / Mordecai Richler

  WINTER STUDIES AND SUMMER RAMBLES IN CANADA / Anna

  Browncll Jameson

  n48 FRENZIED FICTION / Stephen Leacock

  n49 FRUITS OF THE EARTH /Frederick Philip Grove

  n50 SETTLERS OF THE MARSH / Frederick Philip Grove

  n51 THE BACKWOODS OF CANADA / Catharine Parr Traill

  n52. MUSIC AT THE CLOSE / Edward McCourt

  n53 MY REMARKABLE UNCLE / Stephen Leacock

  n54. THE DOUBLE HOOK / Sheila Watson*

  n55. TIGER DUNLOP'S UPPER CANADA / William Dunlop

  n56 STREET OF RICHES / Gabrielle Roy

  n57. SHORT CIRCUITS / Stephen Leacock

  n58. WACOUSTA /John Richardson

  n59. THE STONE ANGEL / Margaret Laurence*

  n60. FURTHER FOOLISHNESS / Stephen Leacock

  n6I. SAMUEL MARCHBANKS' almanack / Robertson Davies

  n62. THE LAMP AT NOON and OTHER STORIES Sinclair Ross

  n63. THE HARBOR MASTER / Theodore Goodridge Roberts

  n64. THE CANADIAN SETTLERS GUIDE / Catharine Parr Traill

  n65 THE GOLDEN DOG / William Kirby

  n66 THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ / Mordecai Richler*

  n67. BEHIND THE BEYOND / Stephen Leacock

  n68. A STRANGE MANUSCRIPT FOUND IN A COPPER CYLINDER /

  James De Mille

  n69. LAST LEAVES / Stephen Leacock

  n70. THE TOMORROW-TAMER / Margaret Laurence

  n71. ODYSSEUS EVER RETURNING / George Woodcock

  n72. THE CURE OF ST PHILIPPE / Francis William Grey

  n73. THE FAVOURITE GAME / Leonard Cohen

  n74. winnowed WISDOM / Stephen Leacock

  n75. THE SEATS OF THE MIGHTY / Gilbert Parker

  n76. A SEARCH FOR AMERICA / Frederick Philip Grove

  n77. THE BETRAYAL / Henry Kreisel

  n78. MAD SHADOWS / Marie-Claire Blais

  n79. THE INCOMPARABLE ATUK / Mordecai Richler

  n80 THE LUCK OF GINGER COFFEY / Brian Moore*

  n81. JOHN SUTHERLAND: ESSAYS. CONTROVERSIES AND POEMS /

  Miriam Waddington

  n82 PEACE SHALL DESTROY many / Rudy Henry Wiebe

  n83. A VOICE FROM THE ATTIC / Robertson Davies

  n84. PROCHAIN EPISODE / Hubert Aquin

  n85 ROGER SUDDEN / Thomas H Raddall

  n86 MIST ON THE RIVER / Hubert Evans

  n87 THE FIRE-DWELLERS / Margaret Laurence*

  n88. THE DESERTER / Douglas LePan

  n89 ANTOINETTE DE MIRECOURT Rosanna Leprohon

  n90. ALLEGRO Felix Leclerc

  n91 THE END OF THE WORLD AND OTHER STORIES Mavis

  Gallant

  n92. IN THE VILLAGE OF VIGER AND OTHER STORIES Duncan

  Campbell Scott

  n93 THE EDIBLE woman Margaret Atwood

  n94 IN SEARCH OF MYSELF / Frederick Philip Grove

  n95 FEAST OF STEPHEN / Robertson Davies

  n% A BIRD IN THE HOUSE Margaret Laurence

  n97. THE WOOD! N sword Edward McCourt

  n99. OX BELLS AND FIREFLIES / Ernest Buckler

  nlOO. ABOVE GROUND / Jack Ludwig

  nlOl. NEW PRIEST IN CONCEPTION BAY / Robert Traill Spence

  Lowell

  nl02. THE FLYING YEARS / Frederick Niven

  nl03. WIND WITHOUT RAIN / Selwyn Dewdney

  nl04. TETE BLANCHE / Marie-Claire Blais

  nl05. TAY JOHN / Howard O'Hagan

  nl06. CANADIANS OF OLD / Philippe Aubert de Gaspe. Translated

  by Sir Charles G. D. Roberts

  nl07. HEADWATERS OF
CANADIAN LITERATURE / Archibald

  MacMechan

  nl08. THE BLUE MOUNTAINS OF CHINA / Rudy Wiebe

  nl09. THE HIDDEN MOUNTAIN / Gabrielle Roy

  nl 10. THE HEART OF THE ANCIENT WOOD / Charles G. D. Roberts

  n 111. A JEST OF GOD / Margaret Laurence

  n 112. SELF CONDEMNED / Wyndham Lewis

  nl 13. DUST OVER THE CITY / Andre Langevin

  nl 14. OUR DAILY BREAD / Frederick Philip Grove

  nl 15. THE CANADIAN NOVEL IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY / edited

  by George Woodcock

  nl 16. THE VIKING HEART / Laura Goodman Salverson

  nl 17. DOWN THE LONG TABLE / Earle Birney

  nl 18. GLENGARRY SCHOOL DAYS / Ralph Connor

  nl 19. THE PLOUFFE FAMILY / Roger Lemelin

  nl20. WINDFLOWER / Gabrielle Roy

  n 121. THE DISINHERITED / Matt Cohen

  nl22. THE TEMPTATIONS OF BIG BEAR / Rudy Wiebe

  nl23. PANDORA / Sylvia Fraser

  n 124. HOUSE OF HATE / Percy Janes

  nl25. A CANDLE TO LIGHT THE SUN / Patricia Blondal

  nl26. THIS SIDE JORDAN / Margaret Laurence

  nl27. THE RED FEATHERS / T. G. Roberts

  nl28. I AM MARY DUNNE / Brian Moore

  n!29. THE ROAD PAST ALTAMONT / Gabrielle Roy

  nl30. KNIFE ON THE TABLE / Jacques Godbout

  nl31. THE MANAWAKA WORLD OF MARGARET LAURENCE / Clara

  Thomas

  nl32. CONSIDER HER WAYS / Frederick Philip Grove

  nl33. HIS MAJESTY'S YANKEES / Thomas Raddall

  nl34. JEAN RIVARD / Antoine Gerin-Lajoie

  nl35. BOGLE CORBET / John Gait

  nl36. A CHOICE OF ENEMIES / Mordecai Richler

  nl37. RESPONSES AND EVALUATIONS: ESSAYS ON CANADA / E. K.

  Brown

  nl38. THE MASTER'S WIFE / Sir Andrew Macphail

  nl39. THE CRUELEST MONTH / Ernest Buckler

  nl40. THE ATONEMENT OF ASHLEY MORDEN / Fred Bodsworth

  nl41. wild ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN / Ernest Thompson Seton

  nl42. SCANN / Robert Harlow

  nl43. ON POETRY AND POETS / A. J. M. Smith

  nl44. crackpot / Adele Wiseman

  n!45. sawbones memorial / Sinclair Ross n!46. the diviners / Margaret Laurence

  n!47. HIGH BRIGHT BUGGY WHEELS / Luella Crcighton

  n!48. big lonely / James Bacque

  n!49. wooden hunters / Matt Cohen

  nl50. gods sparrows / Philip Child

  n!51. theoutlander / Germaine Guevremont

  nl52. THE GREAT COMIC BOOK HEROES AND OTHER ESSAYS BY

  mordecai richler / edited by Robert Fulford n!53. beautiful losers / Leonard Cohen nl54. the emperor of icecream / Brian Moore

  nl55. GARDEN IN THE WIND and ENCHANTED SUMMER / Gabricllc Roy

  n!56. the scorched wood people / Rudy Wiebe n!57. the lost salt gift of blood / Alistair MacLeod nl58. lord nelson tavern / Ray Smith n!59. everything in the window / Shirley Faessler

  n 160. THE CAMERA ALWAYS LIES / Hugh Hood

  n!61. the selena tree / Patricia Joudry

  n!62. watchers at the pond / Franklin Russell

  n!63. two in the bush*and other stories / Audrey Thomas

  n!64. bloody harvest / Grahame Woods

  n!65. the neighbour and other stories / Nairn Kattan

  nl66. the manuscripts of Pauline archange / Marie-Claire Blais

  nl67. sandbars / Oonah McFee

  nl68. selected stories / John Metcalf

  nl69. THE ANGEL OF THE TAR SANDS AND OTHER STORIES / Rudy

  Wiebe

  n!70. THE INNOCENT TRAVELLER / Ethel Wilson

  n!71. THE SWEET SECOND SUMMER OF KITTY MALONE / Matt Cohen

  nl72. bear / Marian Engel

  nl73. spirit wrestler / James Houston

  nl74. the coming of winter / David Adams Richards

  nl75. five legs and communion / Graeme Gibson

  nl76. laugh with leacock / Stephen Leacock

  n!77. the book of eve / Constance Beresford-Howe

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