Mike Vukasinovich Papers - Letter to Mike Vukasinovich from his Mother -- No Date

Mrs. Vukasinovich

Dalbello, Marija (translation and transcription)
Fischer, Wladimir (translation and transcription)

No Date

Letter to Mike Vukasinovich of St. Paul, Minnesota from his mother of Plavnice, Croatia.

3 pages

Immigrants--Correspondence
Immigrant letters
Croatian

TRANSLATION: Through the neighbors I lost the wood and I do not need another litigation and I do not wish to have it so that I need to find money to win it and what you write that you sent me money but that was too little so that I did not mičila [not clear what meaning of mičila is here (possibly “suffered”), added MD] because you know that you had interest reach over the principal and I could not help myself so that I thought what would be best to do and that is why I sent you a form to transfer the Power of Attorney to sign and you did not want to do that so that I can take from the bank [kasa is not exactly a bank, more like a safe or cashier, added MD] for less interest so that I can rescue myself from these non-neighbors who wished for the few hundred that they lent you for which they wanted to roll over [zaverte in original, added MD] this black land [literally, crnu zemlju, which means fertile soil but could be in reference to unhappiness and death, as land is primal and existential, added MD] which we could today sell for thousands So that you can return to something and I toiled and went barefoot like a dragana [this is idiomatic but meaning is obscure, added MD] so that you have something to return to and what you account that I am not sending you accounts and you don’t write to me mother this is the half for who will work for you for the second half so that you can have bread to eat and nourishment [pokripti means to refresh yourself, but here it means eat in a general sense, added MD] and to have the house stand [not clear whether this is correct interpretation; ako kuće neriši se –words illegible at the fold, added MD] and when I come back that I have this black land and what else I need I will procure and arende I can prove that who has means does not need arende and who is poorly poor [translation of bagac bogac, which is idiomatic and dialectal; perhaps alliterative because bagac has no meaning, and bogac means “a poor man,” added MD] is that land on which there is [someone was on that land, not clear who but possibly Lojzek Zabranjki, added MD] and for me it is only so that I am not alone and I can prove to you that now it was Lojzek Zabranjki and he has died and his wife is still with her 4 little children [probably means that she is still living on that land with her four little children, added MD] and I do not know how we will make agreement but in fact the exchange is good [probable interpretation, added MD] and what you write to me about accounting you will know in person [usmeno means orally, added MD] when you come because you have all listed even if you do not find me living someone will give it to you it will not go with me to the grave and you don’t ask me how it came about with the lawyer, what has been the verdict so that I did not know which [… two intermediary words of the text on the fold are occluded in the photo, added MD] which kind of summons I received what kind of swindlery [kvašvrndlarija, idiomatic probably means some trickery, added MD] was involved and when it was to pay then they found me through the municipality what Đuro wrote to you to return home and you said that you do not know whether you have something to return to I am not a fool that dronjina [derogatory term, possibly something to do with rags (as worn by beggars) but not clear to whom it refers to and not clear that this may mean something else, added MD] who said when you sent the letter when Đuro’s year was out and this letter fell into his hands [First word not clear, added MD] Đuro first read it to them before he gave it to me you said mother you manage the land as best you know and for and dronjinka [I think it means that this dronjinka thinks the words that follow, added MD] so that it won’t fall apart when it fell in mother’s hands and it has not fell apart and heavy is my suffering and I pray to God to help me so that you have something to return to when I know you are mine and that you are of my flesh [moje race could also mean “of my lineage” or “race” in a non-racial sense, added MD] and … [not clear what za tobom bali means here without more context, added MD] and you have forgotten us and now when you receive this letter from me but you won’t because there have been 3 years that I even cannot work and all because of you I am suffering I would turn around my life and all for you I am enduring so that you have something to come back to and try to provide save for yourself as you best can [škrbi ščimeš probably means that she is instructing him to save as much as he can, added MD] and greetings from your old mother [last word illegible, it is either her signature or another name “and grandmother” although I can’t see that she would sign her name as she does not sign any other letters, added MD]
TRANSCRIPTION: Kroz susjede sam i drva izgubila ja dragu[?] parnica[?] nemam niti ji neželim imat param[?] moral potražiti daje dobijem a što pišeš dasi mi poslo novaca al je ono premalo bilo dase ja usto mičila nisam pošto znas dasu ti pretjecali komat glavnicu aja si pomoči nisam mogla pa sam misla kako bolje da učinim zato sam ti puno|moć poslala daju podpišeš iti nisi čijo pa da iz kase dignem za manje kamate pa dase iz|bavim ovija nesusjeda koji su željeli za ono par stotine koje sti pozajmili za koje su čeli da zaverte[?] ovu crnu zemlju koja bi danas za iljade prodali Pati se nebi ima našto povrti aja sam se mučila i bosa išla ko dragana pa dase imaš našto povrti a što mi pišeš račun štoti računa nešaljem a nepišeš mi majko del ovako uruči polovinu tko če tebi radit tu drugu polovinu sama dase kruvom raniš i pokripti da sasvim svegu ako kuče nerišise[?] aja kade dođem neka imam ti crnu zemlju ašto dalje treban imat jaću sebi škrbjet a arende sti mogu ti dokazat tko mogućan taj arende netreba a tko je bagac bogac je i onij grunt nakomeje a men je za toliko samo da sama nisam mogu ti dokazat sada je bio Lojzek Zabranjki a sada je umro i žena mu još za svoje 4[?] sitne djece to neznam kako čemo se sad naretit do duše zamene su dobri a štomi pišeš o račun to ćeš znat usmeno kada dođeš i pošto imaš sve popisao ako mene i nenađeš žive već će to tebi netko uručit neće to samnom u grob otići a nepitaš me kako sa advokatom ispalo koje je odssuđeno da ni znala nisam [ … two intervening words of the text on the fold are occluded in the photo, Wladimir can you check out the original] kakov poziv dobila to jeta kvašvrndlarija bila akad je bilo za platit onda sume nešli kroz općinu što tije đuro [i.e., Đuro] piso da kuć ideš ati kažeš da neznaš il imaš našto doći ta nisam ja ludara ova dronjina koja je rekla kad sti poslo list kad je Đuri godina izišli ataj je list đuro [i.e., Đuro] u ruke dobio Cit[?] Đuro ga privo njima pročito nego ga meni uručijo ti kažeš majko upravljaj gruntom kako najbolje znaš a dronjinka da nebi to propalo kad je to materi u pake palo i nije propalo i teške su moje muke i Boga molila da mi pomože dase ti imaš našto povrnit kad ja znam dasi ti moj pame moje race za tobom bali ati si nam zaboravijo sad još ovaj dobiješ ou[?] smene ali više nećeš pošto sam 3 godine dana niti raditi nemogu a sve radi tebe se mućim preokrela bi ja moj život a sve radi tebe da suzdrižim doćeš imaš našto doći i samo škrbi ščimeš[?] primi pozdrav od svoje stare majke … [last word illegible and could even mean “i bake” (“and grandmother”) or her name, although I can’t see that she would sign her name as she does not sign any other letters, added MD]

Croatian

Immigration History Research Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota http://www.ihrc.umn.edu

Mike Vukasinovich Papers, IHRC2807 Folder 1, http://www.ihrc.umn.edu/research/vitrage/all/vo/ihrc2807.html

im007149
im007150
im007151

http://purl.umn.edu/61957

A high-resolution version (300 ppi) of this image is available offline. Please contact the IHRC to obtain a copy for a fee. This image is subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. Please contact the owning repository for permission to reproduce this image. http://www.ihrc.umn.edu/

Continents: Europe :: North America
Countries: CROATIA :: UNITED STATES
States: Minnesota
Cities: Plavnice :: St. Paul