It didn’t take as long to walk to the park as I thought it would… So I thought I’d jot down what just happened, before the others arrived. Imagine my surprise when I found I could get wireless in the park!
Walking up Duluth from St-Laurent, I noticed a man walking on the other side of the street, a few paces behind me. He was wearing sandals and full-length black tights. Nothing else. He was quite thin, and his ribs were as noticeable as his muscles. He was shaved bald. And in the middle of his forehead was a small tattoo.
As we approached the park he said (asked?), “T’es juif et homosexuel?”
“You’re Jewish and gay.”
I looked at him, but didn’t say anything.
“J’ai demandé, t’es juif et homosexuel?”
“I asked, are you Jewish and gay?”
He was close enough that I could tell that he was older than I’d originally guessed, maybe in his late 40s?, and that his tattoo was a tiny “151.”
I nodded.
“Sais-tu que ca veut dire ca?” He asked, pointing to his forehead.
“Do you know what this means?”
I shook my head.
“T’es ben fou.”
“You’re really crazy.”
I said nothing.
“L’un-cinq-un? C’est le vrai nombre de Jésu.”
“The one-five-one? It’s the true number of Jesus.”
“Okay.”
“T’es homosexuel, ne viens pas après moi. Je vais dans le forest [he pointed toward Mont-Royal] pour rencontre Jésu.”
“You’re gay, so don’t come after me. I’m going into the forest to find Jesus.”
I said nothing.
“Jésu, il se retrouve dans le sex avec les femmes. Je ne suis pas homosexuel!” He was shouting by the end of that, as he walked off.
“Jesus is found through sex with women. I’m not gay!”
Weird.
Translation of the conversation for the Frenchily-challenged
Tradescantia Zebrina .:. The Wandering Jew 