Front Matter - Part 09

Not too long afterwards Krstin made a deal with Sekula Kozhovski for his son Petre to marry Sekula’s daughter Fania. The entire village was invited and showed up at the wedding. Included among the special guests were the priest, the priest’s wife and their son Spiro, and Ognen, his wife and son Giorgi. Naido, his wife and their son Nikola had gone there the day before to help with the wedding preparations. Nadoitsa peeled all the potatoes and onions and helped with the cooking. During the evening there was much dancing and celebrating in the yard. Dafina led one of the dances and Nikola followed. Naidoitsa, while still peeling onions and wearing her apron, with a knife in her hand, ran outside to see the young ones dance. Her eyes were in tears from peeling the onions.

And there they were, Stoianka and Menka gossiping again. “Look at them, these important ones,” said Stoianka to Menka, “they are not even engaged and they are dancing together holding hands. Where

are our mothers now to see them? Let them see who Dafina really is. See if they continue to say Dafina this and Dafina that. Dafina will marry Nikola and she will be like us with chapped lips and sun burned.”

After dinner the bride and groom led the first dance and beside them danced Dafina followed by others. The guests, one after the other, dropped money in the band player’s box. Ognenitsa poked Ognen so that he too could tip the band. Ognen started looking, searching his pockets but could find no money. Ognenitsa looked embarrassed. She turned around, pulled out the oilcloth wallet from her bag, picked up a coin and dropped it in the box. The priest’s wife did the same.

Before the guests left the wedding the bride gave each a gift. She placed a pair of socks on Ognen’s shoulder. Ognen again stuck his hand in his pocket and managed to scrape a grosh (a Turkish coin equivalent to a penny). Ognenitsa too pulled out her oilcloth wallet gave the bride and groom a grosh and Dafina a lira (gold coin). Ognen mumbled something but Ognenitsa winked at him and he went silent. Early in the morning the next day, after the wedding was over, the women took their cauldrons to the river to boil water to wash their clothes. But even before they had a chance to wash their hands, they all surrounded Naidoitsa. There was Nedelkoitsa, Zlateitsa and Grozda asking all sorts of questions about the wedding. Naidoitsa told the women how the wedding was, the kind of gifts the bride gave out, and how nice the bride was to everyone.

“She gave out a lot of gifts,” said Naidoitsa. “I have no idea how she managed to make so many. When did she make them? When did she embroider them? The shirts were all beautiful and looked like they were all hand-embroidered…”

“I too have everything ready for my daughter,” interrupted Nedelkoitsa. “Everything is ready, all I have to do now is put my Stoianka on the horse...”

“I too have everything ready…” added Zlateitsa.

Naidoitsa then decided to talk about herself and said: “I too will soon marry my son Nikola. He and Petre were baptized at the same time in the same water.”

“I too will marry my daughter,” said Nedelkoitsa. “My husband always says a female child is like meat and will begin to stink if you keep it too long in the house.”

“That’s how it is Nedelkoitsa, Zlate says the same thing to me and I won’t hold my daughter home for much longer. The earliest opportunity I find I will immediately marry her off. My blessed one is the same, anywhere she goes she will open the house, she knows how to do everything; to work at home, in the fields, look after guests… she will do anything. She is a bit chatty but even a bitter horse can be led…” replied Zlateitsa.

“I will not praise my son like the rest of them praise their own children. I want others to notice my son for who he is. I am not like Ognenitsa and the priest’s wife who boast in church. My Nikola is a lucky boy. I am not going to find him a bride, I will let him pick whoever he wants, whoever he loves…” said Naidoitsa.

Grozda, who had listened to all the women talk, finally decided to say something. She got close to Naidoitsa, grabbed her by the arm, pulled her to the side and said: “Naidoitsa, I heard that you want to take Dafina for your son Nikola. Naidoitsa, if you can only pull that off… it will make me very happy. I want to see both Ognenitsa and the priest’s wife explode because they brag so much.”

“To tell you the truth Grozda, I will take her. Our children are very much in love and it’s only natural that they marry. I will take her in the fall. Krstin has already spent a lot for his son’s wedding and I don’t want to overburden him,” replied Naidoitsa.

Grozda quickly washed her clothes, took them home, spread them over the line to dry and quickly ran to Ognenitsa’s house. When Ognenitsa saw her she tried to avoid her but Grozda saw her and ran over to her to give her some news.

She said: “Ognenitsa, I have something important to tell you. Today I saw Naidoitsa at the river and from what I learned her son Nikola will marry Dafina, but because Krstin is strapped for cash, because he spent all his money on his son’s wedding, Dafina’s wedding won’t take place until the fall. Ognenitsa, I am telling you, Dafina is not for Naidoitsa, she is for you. You and Dafina will be the envy of the entire village. It’s true, your Giorgia is a bit young but he will grow up. His time will come…”

“My dear Grozda, for a long time now I have been telling my stupid husband to make his move but he has a thick skull which not even an ax can cut. He is constantly in that damn store and that’s all he does. He is not interested in anything but a big book and the Bey’s gendarmes. Well, what can I tell you my dear Grozda? Your Srebre died but while he was alive you and he had a good life together. But look at me! I have a husband but what good is he? He is not a man, he is a beast. I have been in chains from the day I married him!” said Ognenitsa as tears rolled down her cheeks. She pulled out her handkerchief to wipe them and continued:

“And now Naidoitsa is going to take Dafina. I don’t know what to do! What should I do?”

“Listen, my dear Ognenitsa, I will do this deed for you. As long as you have me things will work out for you. I will go to Krstin myself. I will go to his house and have a good talk with him,” she said and crossed herself in front of Ognenitsa. “You know that things are certain with Krstin. But I am telling you he has no money to pay for a second wedding so close to the first. That’s why it’s going to be easy. You just make sure you do your part to convince Dafina to marry Giorgia. I will bring Dafina alone to your house so that you two can have a long chat,” said Srebreitsa.

“If you will do this for me I will pay you handsomely,” said Ognenitsa and then went to the next room and returned with several gold coins. She gave them to Grozda and said: “Take them and use them as you need to…”

Grozda then left Ognenitsa’s house and went straight to the priest’s house. The priest’s wife, like Ognenitsa, tried to avoid her but it was too late, she was already inside the house.

“I had no intention of walking in but I have something important to tell you. I was by the river today and I heard something you need to know,” said Grozda to the priest’s wife, who then immediately invited Grozda into a room so they could have a private conversation. The priest’s wife gave Grozda a chair and Grozda sat in the middle of the room. The priest’s wife sat next to her.

“Today at the river I heard that Naidoitsa plans to take Dafina for her son Nikola. I also know that Ognenitsa hired people and gave them money to convince Dafina to marry her son Giorgia. But Dafina is not a good fit for Naidoitsa or for Ognenitsa, she should be with you. She is a good fit for you. The girl has grown without a mother and will accept you like a real mother. And that is why I came here to speak with you…” said Srebreitsa.

“Thank you! Thank you very much for coming to me. May God bless you! Even though my husband is a priest, he doesn’t know about these things. And if Ognenitsa has money, then so do I! If it is about money then how much money could it possibly be? All we need to do is find a person to do the job,” replied the priest’s wife.

“I will do it!” said Grozda and hit her chest with her hand. “I will bring Dafina to your house and you can have a private chat with her. Then leave the rest to me. It should be easy to convince Krstin. I will go to his house myself and have a frank talk with him,” said Srebreitsa.

The priest’s wife smiled and said: “Only you, Grozda, only you can do the job, I don’t trust anyone else…” She, like Ognenitsa, then gave Grozda several gold coins and told her to use them as required, and that she would give her more later if needed.

Grozda found the right time, got dressed in her new clothes, put on her head kerchief, looked at herself in the mirror several times, adjusted her clothes and went to visit Krstin. Krstin was at home alone and when he saw Grozda so well dressed and looking

younger, coming to his place alone and uninvited, he became weak at the knees. In a surprised tone of voice he said: “Come on in Grozda, come on in,” and gave her a chair to sit on.

“I didn’t want to bother you but I saw you were alone Krstin, so I decided to come over. I can leave if you want me to,” said Grozda.

“Stay, please stay, why wouldn’t I want you to stay. This is the first time you have come to visit me, why wouldn’t I want you? Everyone likes you and why shouldn’t I?” said Krstin nervously.

Grozda was already red in the face when she walked into the house; her face was now even redder. She stood up, went closer to Krstin and said:

“Krstin, you truly are a good man, everyone praises you, and it warms my heart to hear that. I go to church mostly to listen to your beautiful voice. To hear you sing...”

“Really Grozda? Do you really think I have a beautiful voice?” he asked.

“It is beautiful to me. Lately, all I can think about is you. Something is spinning inside my head and every night I see you in my dreams. I see us when we were young walking together…” said Grozda moving closer to Krstin and putting her arm on his shoulder, giving him chills. Grozda then said:

“When I became a widow I thought to myself: “If I ever remarry I will only marry Krstin and no one else…”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before, my dear Grozda?” relied Krstin, pulling her towards him, putting his arms around her and forgetting about his dead wife Petra. After that day Krstin forgot everything and visited Grozda at her house often.

A few days later Krstin went to Grozda’s for dinner and spent the night there. She prepared a good meal for him and through the dinner conversation she said:

“Your daughter is ready for marriage, why don’t you marry her to the priest’s son Spiro? She will be going into a priest’s house, she will have plenty to eat and will stay home all the time? And if you don’t want her marrying the priest’s boy then give her to Ognen for his son Giorgia. Ognen is rich, very rich. You can’t believe how rich he is. Your daughter will be content and for that she will be very grateful to you.”

Not wanting to ruin the mood and disappoint Grozda, and remembering how it was for him to lose Petra and living alone and in pain for so many years, Krstin dodged the subject somewhat. He knew Dafina was in love with Nikola, his best friend’s son and regretted not having spoken to Naido about this. Krstin thought about it many times but never made the effort to speak to Naido and Naidoitsa about Dafina marrying Nikola. Krstin thought about what Grozda said, turned towards her, looked her in the eyes and said:

“My dear Grozda it’s not for me to say. The priest is a good husband and his wife is a good housekeeper, so I don’t understand what the difference is between a normal house and a priest’s house. They are all houses. Ognen too is a husband Ognenitsa is his wife, they are a family just like everyone else. If Ognen is rich, so rich that he doesn’t even know how much money he has, that’s his business, it has nothing to do with me. Besides, I would not want my daughter to go to a rich house and feel useless and obligated to others when she is fully capable of building a good life for herself. I agree with you that there is no father out there who would not do everything possible to give his child a good life. But everything is possible when love is involved. You remember when Petra and I got married? Her father refused to give her to me but Petra left him and came with me. I am not doing the same to my Dafina, her word in this matter is final and she has my blessing to decide for herself who she wants to marry.

The next day when Dafina was coming back from the water spring, Grozda waited for her at the front gate. When Dafina arrived she invited her to go into the yard where Grozda helped her take the jugs off her shoulders. Grozda greeted her kindly and politely and asked her how things were going with her brother’s new bride. When Dafina was done talking Grozda said:

“My dear girl, now it’s your turn to get married. You are so beautiful you deserve to be in a beautiful and rich house. Don’t be a fool and go to a poor house where, every day, you have to go to the fields, burn in the sun and constantly get chapped lips.”

But Dafina wasted no time and immediately answered her: “I will go where destiny takes me, dear aunt…”

“No, no my dear child, you must seek your own destiny. It won’t come to you on its own,” replied Grozda.

“I am not that lucky me dear aunt, how can I seek my own destiny when my mother rests under a slab? And who cares so much about me to grant me what I want?” said Dafina, beginning to cry.

“Please don’t cry my beautiful girl, you are breaking my heart. I grew up just like you, an orphan and know exactly how it feels. But for you my dear girl,” said Grozda, stroking Dafina’s hair, “there is no better and richer place than Ognen the grocer’s house or the priest’s house. Ognen has a lot of money, more than he knows, and Ognenitsa is a beautiful woman just like you. And the priest too has plenty of money and his wife is also beautiful. Giorgia and Spiro are a little young but they will mature over the years and you will see what kind of fine men they will turn out to be. Now you need to make your choice between those two places before some other young girls come along and take them. Don’t take too long to decide and then live a lifetime of regret…” concluded Grozda.

“Oh, my dear aunt, there is no magpie without a tail, and I too will not be left without a husband. If I can’t find a better man then I will find a mediocre man, I have no worries,” replied Dafina.

“No, my dear girl, today you have a chance to roll the golden dice, and not like now without a penny in your pocket...” advised Grozda.

A few days later Grozda convinced Dafina to pay Ognenitsa a visit. Ognenitsa welcomed her with open arms.

“My dear beautiful girl, I will be your mother…” she said and took Dafina for a tour around the house to show her the colourful finery she had in the rooms and in the chests and all the carpets that covered the floors. “Everything you see my dear is for you…” she said. Then, after chatting for a while, Ognenitsa placed a few gold coins in Dafina’s hand.

A while later Grozda convinced Dafina to go and see the priest’s wife. She was even more courteous than Ognenitsa. She told Dafina that Spiro was going to be a priest and that she would be a priest’s wife, just like her, and would be respected and honoured by all the women. She would have a place at every head table in every event. And, like Ognenitsa, she shoved several gold coins into Dafina’s hand.

After that Grozda visited both Ognenitsa and the priest’s wife and advised them both to invite Krstin and the newlyweds (his son and wife) for dinner. Ognenitsa invited them first. The next evening Krstin and the young couple showed up at Ognen’s house. Ognenitsa put everything she had on the table so that it would look rich and beautiful, and catered to her dear guests the best she could. She then said to Ognen: “These are the kind of guests I want brought to my house, not the Bey’s gendarmes…”

All through dinner Ognenitsa boasted about her son Giorgia and how smart he was and that he knew everything about keeping the books and had learned all that from his father.

A few days later Krstin and the young couple were invited for dinner to the priest’s house. There was plenty to talk about with the priest but the priest used this opportunity to talk mostly about church affairs, mainly because both he and Krstin sang in the church. The dinner table here was not as rich and full as that at Ognenitsa’s. The priest’s wife too boasted about her son Spiro and how well he sang the psalms.

After the dinners were over, Grozda went back to see Ognenitsa and advised her to take Ognen with her to go and visit Krstin and ask him for Dafina’s hand to marry their son Giorgia. Whatever discussions took place and decisions were made during this visit

were to be kept strictly confidential. It was important to keep things secret so that the villagers didn’t find out, especially Naidoitsa, who could derail the whole thing. Grozda also told the priest’s wife exactly the same thing.

Ognen and his wife went to visit Krstin after dark. Ognen brought with him a large golden coin, a “pendolira”, with which he was going to “seal the deal”. When the deal was done, Ognen was planning to toss the big gold coin on the table and, with its shine, brighten up everything in the room and take Krstin’s breath away. Ognen knocked on the door and Dafina came out to receive them. Dafina then took them to a room, made them comfortable and kissed their hands. Petre and the new bride also came into the room, greeted the guests and also kissed their hands. After that Krstin came in and immediately began to chat with Ognen. Krstin told him the story of how he and his friend Naido had worked in Mora (Peloponnesus) as lumberjacks. He told him how they used to make roof beams out of poplar trees and how they dug the huge vineyards. Ognen told stories of how he debated with the Bey’s gendarmes, how they stole grain from the Bey and brought it to his store and traded it for rakia, and so on. Then, when Ognen was about to open his mouth and tell Krstin why they were there, the dog began to bark loudly in the yard.

Krstin jumped to his feet, ran outside and, moments later, returned with the priest and his wife.

The sight of the priest and his wife shocked Ognenitsa. The priest greeted both Ognen and Ognenitsa. Ognen made a place for the priest to sit at the head of the table. After the new guests were welcomed by Dafina and the newlyweds, Krstin sat down again and began to chat with the priest. They at least had something in common to talk about - the church. Ognen, not to be left out, delved right into their conversation like he knew their affairs and was in constant agreement with them. Ognenitsa and the priest’s wife began to talk about their sons and each took a turn to outdo the other, boasting about whose son was better. Then, suddenly, both couples got up at the same time and said that they wanted to go. They realized things were heating up and neither couple wanted to

tip their hand as to why they were there. While walking out the priest said:

“It is so nice to get together like this once in a while, to converse with one another and to respect one another.”

Ognenitsa and the priest’s wife looked a little shell-shocked.

Around the same time Dafina began to avoid Nikola. Nikola was nervous about that, about losing his beloved Dafina whom he was soon going to marry. Grozda’s secret could not be hidden for too long and soon it became public knowledge. Stoianka and Menka also found out and were at the forefront of spreading the daily gossip, which they had gathered throughout the village, to the girls at the water source. Zlateitsa and Nedelkoitsa constantly argued with their daughters not to do that but no one was listening.

The priest went to Ognen’s store and Ognen told him: “Priest, priest don’t interfere in my affairs. You are sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong. You want Krstin’s daughter when you very well know she is mine…” Ognen then raised his finger, shook it and said: “Don’t do this to me, because when the Bishop comes here I will have him shave your beard. I know whose money you use to buy yourself favours…?” The priest looked at him, picked up his cane and then left the store.

On Giurgiovden (St. George’s Day) many girls gathered at the swings and among them were Dafina, Stoianka and Menka. Dafina was swinging on the large swing hanging from the walnut tree and another girl was pushing her. The other girls were singing a taunting song that went something like this:

Hey Giurgie, Giurgie, Whose is the one on the swing? The mother’s or the father’s, We will toss her into the yard, In Ognen’s yard, We will toss her into the lap, In Giorgia’s lap.

Dafina looked left and right and momentarily locked eyes with Nikola. She felt like the entire sky had fallen on her. She asked the girl to stop pushing the swing because she said she felt nauseated. Nikola looked very handsome, the most handsome of all the bachelors hanging around the swings. Giorgia and Spiro, standing beside Nikola, looked like soaked kittens. All the village girls circled around Nikola.

Dafina got off the swing and sat on the side all alone. She watched the girls flirt with Nikola and noticed how ugly and disgusting Giorgia and Spiro were compared to him. Dafina thought to herself: “What have I done? I have allowed Nikola to slip out of my hands… Now everyone is looking at me and saying: ‘There goes ‘the important one’, she was so much in love with Nikola and now she was going to marry someone else.’ Oh my dear mother where are you when I need you. Why did you leave me? And why was it so important for me to come here today to be humiliated by Stoianka and Menka? To watch Nikola flirt with girls he otherwise would never have turned an eye on? Oh dear God what have I done? Where can I go and hide so no one can find me? They lied to me, Grozda lied to me. She was the one that brainwashed me!” said Dafina to herself and again looked at Nikola. And every time she looked at him he looked more and more handsome. She now loved him even more than before. “It would be so nice if he would come over so that I could tell him how much more I loved him…” she thought to herself.

Nikola’s heart was wounded. Dafina kept looking at him and with her eyes kept asking him for his forgiveness. But at the same time she knew what he was thinking. He was thinking that ‘she was not sincere’… He was thinking that ‘he was not good enough for her’. He was thinking ‘she had deceived him and never really liked him’. That’s how Dafina would have felt if she was in Nikola’s shoes. Dafina’s eyes kept drifting towards Nikola. Nikola also kept looking at her. She was the most beautiful of them all. She looked sorrowful and gloomy and he was troubled by it. He began to wonder if she had been deceived. If someone had promised her or her family something that they could not turn down, like a lot of money. He thought to himself that if she came over to him he would forgive her and take her back.

The village Bey was a young man in his early thirties. His father died when he was a little boy. The Bey grew up in the village. His grandfather was a cruel man and tormented the Christians. He took their fields by force and turned most of them into slaves who then worked for him. The Bey had his sights in Dafina even when she was a little girl. One time when he saw her he thought to himself: “She is young now but when she grows up I will make her my wife.” Then when the Bey discovered that his friend Ognen was looking to make her his daughter-in-law and so was the priest, he realized that the time for waiting had passed. It was time to act. All he needed now was an opportunity to snatch her. He ordered his gendarmes to keep an eye on her.

With guns in their belts the two gendarmes, Bekir and Osman, kept a watch on Dafina day after day reporting their observations to their master. Then one day the Bey got on his horse and, with his gendarmes, went after Dafina who at the time was carrying a pan with zelnik on her head, heading to feed the workers in one of their fields.

Before arriving at the narrow part of the road surrounded by blackberry bushes, wild plum trees, willows and shrubs, at the Virishta crossroads where there were five branches of the road, three of which went to the village and the other two went to fields, Dafina saw the Albanians riding their horses. She immediately realized that they were looking for her. Then, as they furiously rode around the bend towards her, she said to herself: “Oh God, what am I going to do now? They will grab me. God please help me escape this evil.” Then, before her eyes, she saw her mother who told her: “Quickly jump into the brook!” Dafina jumped and ran down the covered part, all covered with thick wild plum tree branches tightly woven with willow branches and blackberry bushes, and hid deep in the shrubs.

The three Albanians on horseback took to the open space towards the crossroads where they figured Dafina would be. But Dafina was nowhere to be seen. They rode their horses back and forth about three times but Dafina was nowhere to be found. They spoke a few Albanian words and then they headed for the valley. When they arrived at Krstin’s fiеld Dafina was not there. They turned back and

looked again and still no Dafina. The Bey got upset with his gendarmes because he thought that they had deceived him. They all returned to their quarters.

Dafina lay low for a while and when the situation calmed down she came out of the bushes and headed for the fields. She took extra precautions to make sure that she was not followed before she arrived at her father’s field. She was shaking with fear and was cut all over her body from the thorns. They quickly undressed her, bandaged her wounds and dressed her in men’s clothing. Petre, her brother, then took her home.

The Bey was young and inexperienced and his gendarmes were drunks. Even today, when they were called to serve their master and do an important job they were drunk. The Bey began to yearn for Dafina, not because he liked her that much but because she had escaped from his hands when he was most certain that he would have her in his quarters. He locked himself in the inn and refused to come out. He didn’t want to see or talk to anyone. He kept thinking and making plans on how to seize Dafina and again sent his gendarmes to spy on her.

The incident with the Albanians wanting to abduct Dafina reached Nikola’s ears. Petre told him. Both Nikola and Petre were furious and took an oath to pay the Bey back for what he was going to do. They armed themselves with firearms, which they carried with them, and looked for an opportunity to ambush the Bey.

Afraid to come out, Dafina stayed locked in the house for weeks. There was work to be done in the fields and she could no longer sit around, so one day she decided to go to work, but not alone. She was accompanied by Petre and his wife. Both Ognenitsa and the priest’s wife, in the meantime, promised Grozda a lot of money if she could bring Dafina to stay with them and hide in their houses. Grozda tried to do that but Dafina told her: “My dear aunt Grozda, it would have been good for you if you had married someone after Uncle Srebre died, and now you would have had your own family and would not need to run around ruining other people’s families…”

Dafina struggled with the idea of eloping with Nikola but how would she be able to make that arrangement? Who would she tell? And more importantly would Nikola even want her back? Nikola, on the other hand, was well-aware of Dafina’s situation with the Bey and he too looked for ways to take her with him; if not for his wife, then to save her from the Bey’s claws. Sooner of later the Bey was going to have her and, if not now, he would grab her another time. Both Nikola and Dafina were facing great hardship and uncertainty.

Dafina decided to meet with Nikola. Her first words to him were:

“I am sorry for what happened but believe me it was not my fault. I have no mother to teach me what to do and to look after my interests; I relied on Grozda for that and she took advantage of me.” Nikola and Dafina quickly made up, resolved their misunderstandings and agreed to run away together the next night.

The next day Krstin, Petre, Petre’s bride and Dafina went to work in the vineyard. Naido, Naidoitsa and Nikola were also working in their vineyard nearby. Petre and the two young women worked closely together and constantly whispered while singing. Krstin, working on the side of the vineyard, was pruning the unproductive branches. Dafina stopped singing, turned to Petre’s bride and said:

“I had a bad dream last night. I dreamt of seeing the Bey with his gendarmes riding their horses and chasing me through the vineyards. I ran as fast as I could but they kept catching up and there, in front of me, was a poplar tree. The poplar was very tall but I climbed it all the way to the top. The Albanians pulled out their axes and began to cut the tree. I shook like a big chicken with every chop. The poplar began to fall and leaned on the poplar tree next to it. What can I tell you, I was shaking like a leaf…”

“This can’t be good. Your dream is an omen…something is going to happen to you,” replied the young woman. And just as she finished talking, there, from behind the blackberry bushes, appeared the Bey and his two gendarmes on horseback and they were coming towards them.

The three Albanians pulled the reins on their horses to slow them down and as the horses began to turn, they broke many of the tender vine shoots, damaging the vineyard. The Bey got off his horse and before he was welcomed by the vineyard owner on his property, he darted towards Dafina and tried to grab her arm. Dafina pulled away but he still persisted yelling: “You hid on me in the brook before but there is no escape for you this time. You are coming with me! I will put you in the inn, in a nice comfortable and colourful room where you don’t have to work and maids will serve you. And on top of that, you don’t have to marry Ognen’s snot-nosed kid...”

Dafina again pushed him away and said: “Get out of here, I will never marry an Albanian and I will never change my identity or my faith… Never!”

Petre was very upset and quickly became very impatient with the Bey. His hair was standing up and his blood was boiling, and he no longer had the will to hold himself back. He pulled out the pistol he was hiding under his vest in his chest pocket and jumped towards the Bey like a beast. He pulled the Bey’s hand off his sister and said: “My sister will never marry an Albanian. I will shoot her right here before I let you take her.” He then adjusted the gun in his hand. At that crucial moment, afraid that Petre might shoot the Bey, one of his gendarmes shot Petre and Petre fell to the ground, badly wounded in the chest. The two women went crazy and began to scream out loud.

That got Nikola’s attention and when he saw the Albanians he ran over to Krstin’s vineyard, pulled out his pistol and jumped the gendarme who had shot Petre. When he wrestled him down he disarmed him and began to beat and kick him. Naido and Krstin threw themselves on the Bey and the women picked up their hoes, overpowered the other gendarme and began to beat him. The commotion attracted more people, both Albanian and Macedonian, who then began to fight for life and death. Petre lay there flat on the ground badly wounded with no one to help him.

More villagers working in the nearby fields arrived at the scene; Sekula with Sekulitsa, Nedelko with Nedelkoitsa, Zlate with Zlateitsa, and others. Sekula grabbed the Bey, disarmed him, tossed

his gun aside and shook him by the shoulders. There was great commotion on the Albanian side and, being afraid that they would all be killed, some ran off and others got on their horses and fled to the village. While they ran the villagers taunted them.

The Bey ran off and locked himself in his inn. The other Albanians locked themselves in their houses. Sekula, Nikola and the other men put Petre on a stretcher and took him back to the village. But before reaching the village more men arrived to help. With axes and pitchforks in their arms they all went to the Bey’s house and surrounded the hospice. They then started shouting, calling for him to come out and cursing him.

Nikola took Dafina with him to his house where Naidoitsa welcomed her into her home, kissed her on her forehead like she was Nikola’s bride and the three then went to see how Petre was doing.

The Bey and several Albanians from the village who took part in the attack were terrified. They locked themselves in their houses and refused to come out, especially after the police arrived in the village.

A few days later Sekula and several other villagers paid a visit to the Bey and informed him that they had come to see him on behalf of the villagers to tell him that he had embarrassed the village, that he was an embarrassment to the community and that he needed to take measures to correct this problem. They also warned them that the villagers would not forget Petre’s blood being spilled in the vineyards and that they were prepared to take further measures against him. They told him the time of his grandfather grabbing girls from the fields and forcing himself on them was over. Now there were rebels in the mountains and if he didn’t shape up soon, his blood would be spilled in the vineyards.

A few months later the Bey left the village and never came back again.

Dinka

Dinka sat on a small stool in Doichin Dzhepovski’s big yard embroidering her wedding dress. She was wearing a white head kerchief with yellow tassels that covered most of her face. Dinka used the head kerchief to keep the sun out of her face because every spring the hot sun caused her face to break into a rash. Dinka had been working embroidering her wedding dress for almost a year. Her mother kept complaining because she taking too long but Dinka ignored her and went outside in the yard just to avoid her mother.

Dinka patiently pushed the needle through the dress, slowly adding colourful strings and day after day making beautiful patterns that grew larger and prettier. Dinka embroidered the dress and occasionally softly sang songs. Her thoughts carried her to Martin and how she was going to have him for a husband. Martin and Dinka had loved each other for three years and now Dinka waited for her father to give her his final blessings before the couple could be engaged. Once they were engaged Martin could visit Dinka in her home. Together then they could gather tender stalks of kiselets (sorrel) in the meadows. Together they could gather colourful flowers for her. They could even dance together holding hands. She stopped embroidering and looked up: “My father will not allow me to marry Martin but I love him so much...” she said to herself. And the more her father was against her marrying Martin, the more Dinka loved him. But Dinka’s family had some very strict rules… and with that her entire fate rested in her father’s hands.

Dinka and Martin were in love but they had to love each other from afar. Whenever Dinka wanted to say something to Martin she had to convey it through her friend Grozda, and vice versa. It was a nightmare for the couple. Martin belonged to a poor family and Doichin, Dinka’s father, wanted nothing to do with him. Doichin, on the other hand, was a wealthy person and was not about to give his daughter to a man from a poor family. A matchmaker came to see Doichin, sent by Martin’s family, requesting the hand of his daughter Dinka for their son Martin because their children were supposedly in love with each other. Doichin not only found that idea appalling, but he got so angry that he began to smash things in the house and nearly hit Doichinitsa.

“That is not possible! That can’t be!” Doichin yelled at the matchmaker. “I will not allow them to meet with me. I have my pride! I am a pillar of the community in this village and I will not give my daughter to a destitute family. Leave now and tell those who sent you that love alone is not an option. Dinka will do what I say and not what she wants...”

The matchmaker then said: “Don’t you think that your daughter could elope and embarrass you?”

“I don’t care! If she wants to elope then let her. She can go and live with them and work and burn in the sun if she likes him that much...” he replied.

Grozda, Dinka’s friend, often advised Dinka telling her: “If you are going to elope, elope now, don’t wait because your father will promise you to someone else. And there was Giuveza as an example of someone who kept saying ‘I will elope, I will elope’ but her father engaged her to Sekula and now she was sorry that she did not elope…”

Dinka continued embroidering her dress, singing a little, pondering all these things but could not decide if she wanted to elope. The creaking of the front gate startled her and snapped her back from her daydreaming. She raised her head to see who had opened the gate and immediately stood up and hid her dress under the stool. She ran towards the guests who walked in and said:

“Welcome Dimitria! How is Dolia?” she asked and took the reins of his horse. She then greeted Dimitria’s companion Mitre and also took the reins of his horse. She then took the horses under the porch, tied them and gave them some hay to graze on.

After they left their horses with Dinka, Dimitria and Mitre climbed up the stone stairs and entered the house. They shook hands with Doichin and Doichinitsa and then they were escorted into one of their guest rooms.

The guests crossed their legs and sat on the carpet. Doichin asked Dimitria how Dolia and the children were. Doichin then turned to Mitre and asked him about his family, about old Petre and the rest of the family of forty people. Doichinitsa and Dinka brought the sofra (very low table) into the room and placed some rakia and a number of wooden bowls filled with cheese and other appetizers on it. Doichin entertained the guests by conversing with them asking them about the harvest, the vineyards, the sheep, the milk and the fishing. He also asked them if the Albanians were causing mischief and if they were intimidated by the appearance of rebels.

“Things are not as bad as they used to be,” replied Mitre, “but, with the Albanians, they are like wolves pretending to be sheep… It is impossible. They occasionally cause us grief…”

The guests were served lunch with wine to toast all the good things in life including the rich harvest of wheat, grapes and milk, the lakes that provide the fish and to thank God for helping the rebels gain power and get rid of the centuries-old slavery.

After the guests had their lunch, Dinka and her mother cleared the sofra. Dinka swept the crumbs and cleaned the carpet. She then brought some walnuts and another jug full of wine. Dimitria adjusted himself a little and said:

“Doichin, we came here to talk to you about Dinka. We want to take her to R’bi for Petre’s family.

Doichin thought for a moment and said: “Great, but about which Petre are you talking?”

Mitre then took a lira (gold coin) out of his pocket and dropped it on the colourful handkerchief Doichin had placed on the carpet. Doichin then took the coin and said:

“Congratulations! He then put the coin in his wallet which hung around his neck. After that he stood up and so did the guests, and they all shook hands, kissed each other on the cheeks and congratulated each other with hardy handshakes and again sat down on the carpet. Then one of them picked up the wine jug and passed it

around and each took a long drink of wine. They all agreed not to send gifts to everyone involved. This is because Petre did not want the attention associated with giving out gifts and having to send young people to distribute them. It was a long road to R’bi and after all it was dangerous with Albanians and Turks lurking all over the place. Some idiot might attack the young girls on the way and shame them. Petre’s instructions were to give Doichin 10 gold coins to seal the deal. To that Doichin said:

“No, ten gold coins is too much, I will accept five. My daughter is not for sale and I am not going to sell her for money…” said Doichin.

Doichin saw himself as a decent and well-respected man who was well dressed with the finest clothing, who had many fields, meadows, vineyards and herds of sheep. By rights he was a wealthy Macedonian. Whenever he sat at the dinner table and conversed with people he always played with his amber, yellow beads. Then in a loud voice Doichin summoned his daughter to come into the room. Dinka entered the room and stood in front of her father, and in the presence of his guests he said:

“Daughter, I want you to know that I have made arrangements to engage you. I engaged you to Mitre’s brother. You now can kiss the hands of our guests,” said Doichin pointing at Mitre and then said: “You will be together with your sister Dolia in R’bi.”

Dinka went completely red in the face. Her ears were even glowing red. She first kissed her father’s hand and then kissed everyone else’s hands in the order where they were sitting. They then gave Doichin the gold coins as promised. Doichin then said:

“Daughter, you should know, I am sending you to a home with a rich family with a respected name and I am doing this for your own good.” He then ordered her to go and get her things ready.

He said: “Go with your mother and prepare your things and everything else that you want to send because these gentlemen are in a hurry, the road is long and they want to get home before nightfall.”

Dinka was in shock. She could not believe what had just happened. The redness on her face and ears was refusing to subside. After she kissed everyone’s hands she left the room and still she could not believe what had just happened. Before leaving the room she, once again, looked at Mitre and thought to herself: “If he is anything like his brother he will not be too bad…” and ran to her mother crying. Doichinitsa tried to calm her down and said: