Empress of Weehawken

"Much of what went kaput, as the Americans say, in the generations after mine can be blamed on Carl´s low sperm count. He had murdered his men with heroism, the exact details later. As a result, he only managed one child. And that was the wrong sex. We tried and tried for another. He would plant himself inside me and till away. He worked hard, grunting and sweating- he was not a lazybone."