WEBVTT

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The famous -- Czechoslovakia
is famous for having the most

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well-known men of, not
exactly Czech origin--

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the most, well,
best-known Czech writer

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is Franz Kafka who is
a Prague-German Jew.

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The best-known Czech
geologist, Joachim Barrande,

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who is a Frenchman
living in Prague.

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And one of the greatest Czech
writers of the 19th century,

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Jan Neruda, was the son
of Joachim Barrande, which

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is not the official history,
but I think it's right.

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And Kafka, Franz Kafka is
buried in a so-called old Jewish

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cemetery in Prague [INAUDIBLE].

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And I do not know why--

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it shows my deep affiliation
with American literature.

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I can visit the grave only
with American visitors.

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Whenever I come
there alone, it's

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locked for a state holiday,
for the Jewish holiday,

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or for decoration or something.

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I don't know.

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So this is a poem when
I visited the cemetery

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with Stuart Friebert.

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"The Jewish cemetery at
Olsany, Kafka's grave, April,

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sunny weather.

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Lurking under the maple
trees, a few forlorn

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stones like scattered words--

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loneliness so close it
has to be made of stone.

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The old men at the
gate, a Gregor Samsa

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who didn't metamorphose,
squinting in the naked light,

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answering every question--

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sorry, I don't know.

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I am not from Prague."

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