Atanas Leikov HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE VISHENI25 September 1990CHAPTER II
OTHER INCIDENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN OUR VILLAGE IN THE PAST During the last decades of the Turkish domination of the Balkans, Turkey fought in wars against Greece and used Albanian soldiers, the so-called GHEGS (GEGITE). In one of their expeditions, they stayed in our village, and FILETO KIOSEV narrated the following true story: While waiting for his mother to cook dinner (usually fried eggs and cheese) and pay them a "DISH-HAKA" (for using their teeth!), the soldiers grabbed him, put a knife to his throat (the blunt edge), and called out to his mother: "Will you pay up, you infidel, or shall we slay the boy?" At the same time, they whispered in his ear, "Don't be afraid; we are not going to slay you!" One of the bandits who was killed during the attack on our village in 1908 was buried in a paddock at the edge of the village near VLASHOVI. When the Greeks "liberated" us in 1913, they forced people (whoever happened to pass by) to dig up this field until they found his remains, which they handed over to our priest POP CHACHO for special prayers for 40 days before burial. He is quoted as saying, "YAS, PRVO KE MU GO 'STRONA'; SETNE KE MU PEA, SHO BARASHE TUKA?" This field, known as PATOVA NIVA, afterwards was unfit for cultivation; and in 1938, it was still full of "hills and valleys." Only the older generations of VISHENTSI know the reason for this. I did not know it either until I came to Australia when my father told me the story. The other bandit killed was buried near the church of St. Athanasius (SVETI ATANAS) and in the 1930's, while grazing the cattle, a boy (KOLETO PRASINOV) climbed up an oak tree nearby and found a pair of braces, which disintegrated upon touching. DEDO SIDO HAJIEV assured us that they belonged to "the Greek that came to burn our village."
Incidentally, another despicable act that the Greek authorities did after "liberation" was to remove all the headstones from the graves of the fallen during the Ilinden uprising, which were buried at a special locality near the village of APOSKEP. Afterwards, they ploughed up the place and turned it into fields so that no trace remains of the "BULGAR K0MITAJIS." However, unwittingly, they reminded us of what our people were fighting for: Near the lake shore of Kastoria, there is a statue of the bishop GERMANOS KARAVANGELIS with the inscription that he "fought against Bulgarism" (KATA TOU VOULGARISMOU). 25 The two Greek teachers, PERICLIS ILIADIS and IRINI ILIADIS, husband and wife, who came to our village in 1928 or thereabouts, had three children, HARALAMBOS, YANNIS, AND ANDROMAHI. The children could not speak a single word of our dialect when they arrived from KRANYA, a village in the district of KOZANI, a Greek-speaking region of Macedonia. Soon, however, they learned to speak our dialect quite fluently; and when they played with us late after school, their mother would come out and call them home with the remarks: "EMATHATE APTIN TIN VROMOGLOSSA." (You have learned this dirty language!) Although she was born In Varna, Bulgaria, she would not utter a single word in our dialect, even with the women who tried to communicate with her while washing at the church well (TSURKUNATA CHEZHMA). She always would answer in Greek. I learned my first Greek letters from her. She also told us not to speak Bulgarian at home and that the Bulgarians have "one eye like the Cyclops" and sometimes "eat people!" Later on, around 1933, she devised a diabolical plan, probably to harm our village. She told the police sergeant in our village that she was often terrorized by "KOMITAJIS" at night. The sergeant contacted our priest POP KUZO MARKOV and asked him to tell the truth whether any rebels were still operating in our district. Pop Kuzo assured him that these things were of the past, and he believed that no COMITAJIS existed anywhere anymore. The sergeant was wary; whom should he believe? But, apparently, being a smart person, the sergeant devised a plan to learn the truth.
One evening he went to tell Mrs. Iliadis that something had happened in the neighbouring village of Oxia (BLATSA) and all the police personnel would be absent that night, so she should take extra care. The following morning, around 10 o'clock, the sergeant arrived at the school building where Mrs. Iliadis lived and asked her how she had gotten on the previous night. "Terrible, KYR ASTINOME, Just terrible! This was the worst night I have ever experienced! You should have seen those beards; they resembled beasts, not humans! Luckily the windows are protected by iron bars; otherwise, they would have broken in!" Policeman: "Hmmm. . . So these are the comitajis that threaten you, KYRA IRINI. . . KRIMA (pity)! You should be ashamed of yourself; you have been eating bread in this village for so many years, and now you are scheming to destroy it! I have been keeping watch outside the school with another policeman all night, and nothing of the sort you described happened!" She did not know what to say and disappeared into the other room. Afterwards, he went to see the priest and patted him on the back for his honesty. About 15 years later, she and her daughter, together with another woman, were slain by the partizans as described earlier in this discourse. Her husband had left her earlier and had gone to live in Kastoria, where he became editor of a newspaper called Kastoria. The villagers claimed that he was responsible at one time for ringing the bell at Easter one hour earlier as a hoax, and the 26 people arrived at the church for the midnight mass before the priest arrived!
AMUSING INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED IN OUR VILLAGE IN THE PAST During recruiting fighters for the Ilinden rebellion, a certain VISHENETS told the Committee: "Put me down as TWO," but when the time came for action, he said: "Hey, I can't come; I'm half-a-man!" Another VISHENETS, when handing over his weapon to the Turks after the defeat of the rebellion, exclaimed: "Here it is, APENDI. I have not fired a single shot!" The officer replied: "But you would have If fired upon, would you not?" During a battle on the slopes of VICHO PLANINA, the Turks and the rebels held positions on hilltops within hearing range from each other, and the latter shouted abuse towards the Turks, which included the Sultan and their Faith (very offensive indeed!). A VISHENETS present in this group said "Hey, don't swear at them! You will make them angry!" The women of VISHENI washed their clothes in the river as a rule. One woman asked her husband to load the clothes on the mule before he went to gather firewood instead of having to carry them herself, as it is quite far from the village to the river (about a mile). He did just that; but on arriving, he wrapped himself In a blanket and lay still. Soon after, the women arrived and, as usual, began their "female" gossip. After a while, he jumped up and said to his wife: "Hey, why didn't you wake me up! I must have fallen asleep. I'll be late!" Stunned, everyone looked in amazement! His wife cursed him as he departed quickly with a broad grin on his face!
When ploughing the fields with the wooden plough and oxen, as a rule they started very early at dawn and finished about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. After that, they rested and grazed the oxen, ready for the next day's work. Two VISHENTSI were doing just that at KOZYAK near SHOLEVO IZVOR, where occasionally a bear or two might be seen. One of them decided to play a trick on his colleague. He hid in one of the beech bushes nearby and began shaking it and roaring like a bear. The other man, thinking it could be a bear, started talking to it In Turkish! But when the roaring and shaking were repeated, he became convinced it must be a bear. Leaving the oxen behind, he ran for his life towards the village. His friend, realizing what was happening, ran after him and from the hilltop PRESEKATA saw him still running and called out: "Hey, don't run; it's me, not a bear!" He returned, 27 exhausted and was furious at his friend for playing such a trick on him. Around 1928, our villagers killed a big, black bear (if my memory serves me right it was VASILAKI KARATOLEV who did it). They wanted a photo taken, but my father, the sole photographer in the village, was absent (he was in Australia). They asked my brother if he could take the picture. He said, "I have not done It before, but I will try." It took him a very long time to set up the camera (an old model with a black hood), and the men waited Impatiently. One of them said: "AYDE, BRE DETE, OSHCHE? NI SE PRISTRA". Finally, he was able to take the picture, and I remember seeing the photo back home in the 1930's. For about 10 years after the "liberation" in 1913, the Greek Government occasionally kept sending small army detachments called APOSPASMATA in Macedonia to look for "Bulgar Komitajis" which were active until 1925. They were usually allocated two to four per household in the villages for food and accommodations overnight called KATALIMA, with the village authorities informing the head of the household beforehand. On one such occasion, "BABA VISHENKA" began to prepare the evening meal (eggs and cheese fried in butter, of course!). She put some hot water in the frying pan to wash it first. One of the soldiers, thinking that she might cook the eggs in water, said: "MI NERO, MORI BABO!" "ETO DEKA GO MIA" and repeated the process, with the soldier again yelling not to put in water. After several washings, she said: "DESET PUTI GO UMI, BRE DETE!"
In another incident in the same household later on, a soldier asked for some salt: "FERE LIGO ALATI, MORI BABO!" In yet another incident in another household, the leader of the group on entering the room asked his host: "Where are the others?" (PU INE I ALI?) The latter showed him where the toilet was! (ALETO!)
These things were happening simply because our people did not understand Greek, with only a few individuals in each village being able to speak and understand it. 28 PSYCHIC PHENOMENA IN OUR VILLAGE As far as I know, there was only one such phenomenon in our village. It was claimed that PANDOVITSA KASOVA became a ghost and a poltergeist at that! She would chase the animals in the stable all night. The next morning, they would be seen perspiring and exhausted. RINA KASOVA (KOSTOVITSA KOLEVA) told the following story to my mother in my presence:-- While working on the wool, preparing it for spinning in her father's house (a neighbour and relative of the deceased's husband), she noticed a piece of bread dipped in lard falling from the ceiling. She told her mother about this, but the mother, not wanting to frighten her, said: "It must be the mice!" Soon, however, the whole village heard about the ghost and all were scared stiff! She used to do crazy things like making a hole through the glass in the window and passing the strips of wool through scattering them outside and also putting them into the lard container. She would also "visit" relatives, and one night she terrorized the KACHANDONOV household by turning the "CHIKRIK" (spinning wheel) full force and scattering a bag of walnuts when KUZOVITSA KACHANDONOVA told her: "ZALUDI, DE, ZALUDI!" Nobody could see her, of course, but they surely could feel her presence! Finally, the "exorcists" of the village devised a method to get rid of her. They baked a POGACHA with ashes plus some other "magic" items and gave them to her husband, PANDO KASOV, and instructed him to ride on a donkey back-to-front and tell her that "We are going to visit your mother in Chereshnitsa." (She was from that village originally). After he crossed our river to do certain other "magical rites," he was to bury everything in our forest BUKATA. It is claimed that after that she disappeared!
Our people in the village, especially the women, were quite superstitious and believed in fairies (SAMOVILI) and other "things." They also believed in Black Magic (MAYOVI). It was claimed that a woman could "incubate" hen eggs under her armpit and send the chickens through the village to do her bidding! Such chickens were called "MAMTSI."
A few men had seen "travelling lights" at night usually along the river or a stream. No one could explain what they were. The three localities where the SAMOVILI were supposed to gather were YORCHOV TRAP, LUNGO, and TZVOLO. 29 Around 1933, I personally witnessed an unusual incident: We were grazing the cattle (with Dedo Sido Hadjiev as usual) at LUNGO. It was about one hour to sunset with a light breeze blowing. All of a sudden the cattle were disturbed and started running in all directions. On turning around, I saw (or I had a glimpse of) a man's foot (or a phantom foot) as if running towards the road. It only lasted a few moments. It definitely was not a "SHTREKAL," that dreaded fly that attacks cattle, because it was too late in the day and also the season. What was it, then? My theory NOW is that a man must have died there, possibly drowned in a flood, as a man named "DOYKO" was swept by floodwater together with his donkey and wooden plough at what now we call DOYKOV TRAP, the deep gully nearby where the aqueduct (YULUKO) carries water towards the village. If the British castles and other places In the world are being haunted for a thousand years, why not the gullies of Visheni! As for TZVOLO, a secluded place, there is a yarn practically known to every Vishenets that the "elders" of the village, a long time ago, challenged the young men: "Who would be brave enough to go to TZVOLO at midnight and roast a lamb on a spit?" If one succeeds in his mission, he would receive a prize (probably 100 Turkish liras!). One bold, young man accepted and, it is claimed, while roasting the lamb, another "man" appeared from nowhere with a frog on a spit and began roasting it on the same fire! Forewarned by the elders not to utter a single word, no matter what happened, our man lifted the lamb from the fire and hit the intruder on the head. Thereupon, he disappeared as mysteriously as he had come! Although this is a "believe-it-or-not" story, the phrase "KATO TOY SO ZHABATA" (like the one with the frog) still survives among the Vishentsi to this day! I suppose the young man got his reward! (This phrase is used when someone goes against you or does not agree with your views.) Another incident of a similar nature happened comparatively recently (on June 23, 1935, to be exact). PANDO MELIOV was coming home from the BACHILO at KOZYAK (the cheese-making "factory"). When he arrived at DOYKOV TRAP, mentioned above, at around 10 o'clock at night, "something" came out of the darkness (something "black and long" as he described it) and started chasing him until he came to the edge of the village near GYUPCHOV TRAP when it vanished. Upon hearing the screams of PANDO, our dog started barking. PANDO was riding on his mule screaming all the way: "AMAN, RISTOS! I BOGORODITSAV' (Help, Christ and Mother of God!) with the "thing" chasing him all the way and changing sides, left and right, "attacking" his mule.
When he arrived home, it so happened that my mother was there to meet him. She had gone to tell his wife that the butter which we were to sell in Kastoria the next day was short of weight, so there would be no misunderstanding, as it was a common product of several shepherds. His wife did not open the door, as 30 she had washed her hair, and It was too late at night. She did not expect PANDO to come home that night. On turning to go home, my mother saw him coming and noticed that he was shaking and very frightened. "What happened, BRE PANDO? Did some wolf chase you?" He replied, "No, MARI YANEVITSE. I'm not scared of wolves. All my life I lived with them. This was something different. Let us see if the mule has been bitten." Mother had an oil lamp with her, and they both looked for wounds on the mule. There were none. Then they decided it must have been something supernatural, a SAMOVILA or a TALASUM! Mother was frightened to go back home by herself, so PANDO, despite his ordeal, accompanied her. The next morning (June 24), Uncle SPIRO KACHANDONOV, with a load of wood on his mare, and I, with the butter on our horse, were on the way to Kastoria. He told me that "NA PANDO MELIOV MU IZLEZE SAMOVILA!" Back in the village, practically everyone was talking about this as it was "YANOVDEN" (St. John the Baptist's day), a holiday, with people visiting the appropriate nameday houses. It gave them the opportunity to discuss it from all angles. No one has come with a satisfactory answer so far. Some were saying that it was his imagination from fear of the supernatural; others say that it must have been an animal of some kind; still others say that another VISHENETS happened to be there in his vineyard and played a trick on him by dragging two long, green branches from a BOZ (a plant similar to a reed or bamboo). The latter is difficult to accept, for what would he be doing in his vineyard at that hour? Besides, the grapes don't ripen until September! The whole village was gripped in fear, and no one was game enough to go to DOYKOV TRAP after dark! People working their fields at REDASHO and other places were either leaving early before sunset or were going around the other road at SVETI ATANAS, if it was too late and getting dark. This practice lasted all summer!
It so happened that I had to pass through this road more than a year after this incident. It was October 1936. I was returning from REDASHO after I took the evening meal to our shepherd, PAVLE, the father of VANGELI JAMPIN, who were of VLACH origin. Even before I entered the above-mentioned spot and although carrying an axe, I became tense and with careful, silent steps, passed through the gully watching and listening for the slightest movement or sound. Nothing happened! After I was out of the "danger zone," I turned back and had a last look just in case, and, increasing my pace, arrived home about 9 o'clock. My brother praised me for my "bravery!" This incident is known by the VISHENTSI as (for want of a better description) "BENDO NA PANDO" (Pando's Phantom). 31 PASTIMES OF VISHENTSI Apart from visiting houses on name-days and gathering at the village square on Sundays and dancing at weddings, Easter, Christmas, and other holidays, the boys and youth of our village played the following games:
KRIYNITSA or MIZHITORKA (hide-and-seek). Another game we played was DULGO MAGARE (long donkey). In this game, one or two, sometimes three, boys would bend over, The first catching hold of a tree or the "STUHER," (the post in the middle of the yard "GUMNO" where we threshed the grain), with the other boys jumping on their backs from a distance up to four or five at a "ride." When everybody was on, the leader counted to 10 and said, "KIKIRIKU MASLINKA." That was the end of the "ride." If a boy's legs touched the ground during the ride, he would replace one of the "donkeys" for the next ride. This was a dangerous game, and we were not very keen on it. A popular game was "BISHKA" (sow, female pig). There were two kinds of it--one ordinary and the other "KUSANA" (biting). From 4 to 10 or more boys formed a large circle at a safe distance from each other to swing a stick one and a half metres long and made a shallow hole in the ground, keeping it occupied with one foot. In the middle of the circle was a deeper hole called the "KOTOR" (pen). The Idea was for the "pig herd" to put the "BISHKA" in the hole (usually an empty jam tin or similar object). With the hole guarded by so many sticks, it was very difficult for him to get it in, as he had to start from a certain distance in the first place, and everyone could leave his hole and come out and hit the BISHKA to an even greater distance, provided that the pigherd did not occupy his empty hole while he was doing so. If the pigherd finally succeeded in putting the BISHKA into the hole, it was called "PROMENA" (change), and everyone must change holes. The one left out was the next pigherd. Sometimes a boy would take a long time to succeed; then everyone called out: "TRI GODINI BISHKAR! two or three times (Three years a pigherd!). In such a case, the leader helped him out of his predicament.
The other kind, the "KUSANA," was played much the same way, except that the holes were held by the stick of the player, not his foot. The pigherd also used his stick and not his hands this time and tried to hit a player with the "BISHKA", 1.e., "bite" him; and at the same time, he tried to occupy his hole with the stick if the former used his stick to hit the "BISHKA." At the end, the "PROMENA" was the same. 32 Yet another game we played was called "KLENTZA." This consisted of two sticks---one short (about six inches); the other about one and one half metres. The short stick was cut diagonally at the edges so that when you hit it with the long stick, it jumped up; then you hit it again in the air to drive it as far as possible. But you started by first putting the short stick on the ground over a little groove (the starting point). Then with the long stick, by balancing it properly, you tried to lift it up and throw it as far as possible. In the meantime, your opponent was waiting for it. If he caught it in the air, you were out. If he missed, he picked it up and threw it back to the starting point, where another stick lay on the ground. If he hit it, you were out. In the meantime, you defended your position with your original stick and tried to hit the flying stick back as far as possible. Then you measured the distance from the starting point to where the stick fell with the hitting stick. The number of "sticks" was called "KONATSI" (single, "KONAK"). The one with the greater number of KONATSI was the winner at the end of the game. The game continued until both players decided to terminate it. There was also a game we called "MUNGAR." We would select a stone wall and throw with force an old English penny against it, which would jump a certain distance away. Then another boy would do the same, trying to land his coin as near as possible to the first coin. If he landed it within the prescribed measurement---about 6 inches---he won your coin; or alternatively, you gave him another local coin as prearranged. Each boy came to play with whatever number of "MUNGARS" (old English pennies), which were difficult to find, he could collect, and he might lose the lot.
When we were playing "KRIYNITSA" (hide and seek), we se-lected the "IT" (ie, the one to be left behind) by chattering something like the English "ENI, MINI, MINY MO" which went like this: "EVELEME, DEVELEME, DIVAKOZA, KOMALAMA, CHENGELE, MISKELE, TAZE, TUZE, EVELEME, ZUZE." We would form a circle and put our index finger (or two fingers if too few of us) on a stump or the ground, and the leader would start by touching each finger for each word. The boy with the last word on his finger was declared free. This was repeated until only two boys were left; then the leader, being "impartial," would close his eyes and with his palm touching the boys' fingers alternatively said, "ARTA, PARTA, CHOUCHTA, MIZHDA, KRIZHDA." The one on whose finger the word "MIZHDA" fell would be "IT"; i.e. he would stay put with his eyes closed, if necessary, until everyone found a hiding place within the prescribed time-usually half an hour---or until he heard three whistles. Then he began his search. Another more "elaborate" chatter for the same purpose was the following: 33 In the winter months, after a heavy snowfall, apart from making snowmen and snow-fighting, we made "sliding tracks" called "LIZGALA"--a sort of skiing without sticks---at various spots around and inside the village where the terrain was suitable. The best "LIZGALO" was the one at "BURATA," (the dried-up bed of the floodwater of GYUPCHOV TRAP) because of its length and great incline. Here also in the late 1920's, around 1927-28, the "big boys" (GOLEMITE DETSA) built a "ferris wheel" (KURLASHKA) on two occasions that I can recall. It was crude, made from heavy oak timber with only four seats, but it worked! Another rather unpleasant contraption was the "VURTOLOM." This consisted of a heavy post stuck in the ground and a long log (about 10 feet) with a hole in the middle fitted horizontally on an axle on top of the post. At both ends it had two sticks fitted vertically to act as a support for the boys riding this unusual "merry-go-round." With two people on the ground spinning it at each end, it would soon gather momentum to a frightening speed! The result was always the same: two sick people! Another game was called "PLOCHA." On a suitable piece of wood, stone, or brick, each player would put a coin or a small, broken piece of china and from a distance of about 20 feet threw a slate (PLOCHA) and tried to hit the "KUM" (as the piece was called). If the first player hit it and the money fell on his slate or nearer it than the KUKO, he took the money or pieces of china, and the KUKO was set up again for the next throw. If he missed or the money fell nearer the KUKO than his PLOCHA, the other players threw in turn until all the money was claimed, the shortest distance between a PLOCHA and money always taken Into consideration. Yet another game was called "PREZKOKANITSA" in which the first boy would bend down sideways and the rest jumped over him. Each one also bent down so that the last boy jumped over all of them (one at a time). Then the process would be repeated. Every time one jumped, he had to yell out: "PRESK0KANITSA, PET, KAPATA DOYDE."
While grazing the cattle, a popular game was called "NOZH" (knife). In this game, several boys would take turns throwing a knife and sticking it in the ground by using six different methods which were compulsory. The last throw was called "PITS-FITS," and it was the most difficult, as you had to hold the knife by its point and give it a spin before sticking it in the soft ground. If a boy failed in any throw, he handed it to the next player and resumed the game from where he had failed after the rest of the players had had their turns. Everyone had to complete the six throws, and the last one who failed to complete them had to pull with his teeth a stick stuck in the ground six 34 inches or more, as it was hit with a rock by all who took part in the game. The above games were for males only. The girls played a few games also---one similar to the Australian Hop-Scotch, and one called "GURNE" (Pot) in which they would sit in a circle with a "buyer" and a "seller" going around and stopping at one of the girls and saying while touching her on the head: "TI GO DAM (DAVAM) TI GO PRODAM (PRODAVAM) PA (PAK) MOE DA BIDI." (A perfect example of how the Bulgarian language changes to "Macedonian!") The girls also played "PUPA" (pebbles), and in the spring on Sundays, together with the older girls and sometimes young brides, they would go in the meadows to pick "KISELETS" (a sour-tasting plant with long leaves growing in a circle flat on the ground with a stem in the middle called "LASTAR" (shoot), also edible.) One of the most time-consuming occupations of the older girls past school age was knitting woollen socks for their dowry in their spare time and also at special get-together evenings called "POPRETKA." The young ones of preschool age played with mud pies, making "saucers" by using their elbows on clay soil and filling them with water. Grazing the horses at night was a routine "occupation" every year from May to September by all ages of men who had a horse, a mule, or a donkey. We did this to save fodder. We were going in groups of three, four, or sometimes more called "KONARI" (horsemen) to a different location each night, usually in the meadow after the hay had been gathered or at dry paddocks called "ORNITSI" or at narrow strips between crops called "MEZHDI" or "MEZHDGI," wherever there was enough grass for the animals to feed on. As a rule, the animals were let loose in large areas, but occasionally, in small areas they had to be restricted by tying them with a long rope from a front leg to a peg stuck In the ground or a fence or a tree with plenty of distance between them to prevent intermingling of the ropes. We slept on the ground with a single blanket (half on top, half on the bottom), no mattress, no pillow, with only a few men carrying two blankets and a pillow, and some a shepherd's cape only (GUNA). The other occasions when we "slept under the stars" mentioned in my preface, were when ploughing the distant fields twice a year---in late spring to open up the soil called "KREVANIE" and In early autumn (ie., September) for sowing rye only.
As a rule, we slept for several nights in the same spot---preselected by our ancestors, I suppose (called "YATAK"), In each locality, easily distinguishable by the fireplace with the great 35 heap of ashes accumulated through the years! The oxen recognized it too, for even before we lit the fire, they would gather around the YATAK and find a resting place for themselves, always lying down looking in opposite directions, just in case a wolf or bear might appear! Occasionally, women slept in the fields too at reaping time, which was done by hand with a sickle to save the long walk home which took approximately two hours. As mentioned in the preface, It was at gatherings like this that I learned my village history as well, plus elementary astronomy! The pollution-free air of the mountains made the stars shine like diamonds, even the galaxy in Andromeda was visible to the naked eye! (How I wish I had had a telescope THEN!) Our people did not know anything about astronomy, of course. They called Venus "VECHERNITSA" (evening star) and "DOYNITSA' when it was a morning star. (Actually, it is a corruption of "DENITSA" (day star).) Jupiter was called "GUBI-KARVAN", ie. "losing the caravan." The story goes that a leader of a caravan mistakenly thought Jupiter was Venus. He started on his Journey and lost his way. They did not know of the existence of any other planets. They knew only of a few constellations, but they called them with names corresponding to their shapes: Orion was called "KRESSTOVITE" (the crosses); Plelades - "KVACHKATA" (the hen with the chicken); the Great Bear - "GOLEMATA KOLA" (the big cart); the Small Bear - "MALATA KOLA" (THE SMALL CART); Sirius -"SILNATA TZVEZDA" (the powerful star); the Milky Way - "KUMOVA SLAMA" (the godfather's straw); plus some minor constellations called "KRESTETO" (the little cross) and "PEROSTIATA" (the triangle, ie., three stars in a row). An eclipse of the moon was regarded as a bad omen for the Turks (Muslims), while one of the sun was bad for the Christians. They talked about politics too and had code names for each country. They called the British "BRICHKO" because of their clean-shaved faces; the French "PETELO," because of the rooster on the franc; the Germans "DOYCHO" or "TSUTSULO," because of the spike on their helmets, etc. They knew about Tsar Samuel, St. Cyrill, and Methodius (which they celebrated in secret), St. Kliment of Ohrid, St. Naoum, Otets Paisiy, Gotse Delchev, Ilinden; in fact, they knew more Macedonian history than many present-day so-called "leaders" in Australia! "Macedonism" was unknown in those days; they simply felt a part of the Bulgarian people separated from its "mother" by the intrigues of the Great Powers.
One of the happiest occasions in our village life not mentioned before was when we left the livestock overnight at SELISHTA after we had harvested the cornfields. It was a real festival! Next morning, we would go and look for our respective animals having a feast, gather in groups, and roast a pumpkin or 36 two. Usually, the animals would come home by themselves the following evening full to capacity. During the festive season at Easter, Christmas, and other occasions when the young people were dancing-usually at PALIKRUSHOVA ORNITSA---the older women would sit around and scrutinize every girl as she passed near for future "match-making."
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE During the dictatorship of Metaxas, we were supposed to speak Greek everywhere, but we only did that when the police were around or in the village square. Occasionally, a policeman would purposely go out in the countryside to find out whether we really did speak Greek while out of sight. One day we were repairing a pipe leak at LUNGO while a man was carrying manure to his field on his horse in two "KOSHOVI" (special baskets for that purpose), passing us twice every journey. On one such occasion, he warned us that a policeman (HOROFILAK) had left the village and was coming our way, so we had better be careful. In a short while, we had a glimpse of him; and when he came nearer, we switched to Greek. After exchanging a few words with us, he continued on to KELAVCHOVA LIVADA where a man was ploughing. When the oxen saw the unusual colour of the policeman's clothes, they panicked. Our man, trying to calm them, yelled out in Greek: "OA, STAMATA!" but since the oxen did not understand Greek, they continued to run. Finally the man calmed them by using words they understood. He was not prosecuted, either! One day around 1933, an Inspector came to our school to see how far we had "progressed" in assimilation and asked us whether we still spoke Bulgarian. Several boys replied, "OH, KIRIE, MONO STO SPITI!" (No sir, only at home!) He was not very pleased, of course, and told us not to speak this language even at home and to teach our parents to speak Greek as "it is a better language than Bulgarian." Then he went on to demonstrate how two girls speaking the two languages respectively looked into the mirror and, lo and behold, the Greek word for "good" (KALA, KALA!) made the face look nice, while the Bulgarian "DOBRO, DOBRO!" made it look ugly! Each time he spoke, he changed his expression accordingly to prove his point. Everyone in the class burst out laughing! We were too young and innocent to understand what he was driving at!
In another school incident later on (I was out of school then), the Greek teacher CHRISTOS KITSONAS, after a lesson in Balkan geography, asked a boy which was his country. The boy, obviously not paying attention to the lesson, hesitated for a while, but could not answer. Then a boy sitting behind him, probably to save the situation, whispered something in his ear. With the teacher still persisting with the question, the boy 37 stood up and in a loud voice said, "Our country is Bulgaria!" The teacher then asked the boy, "Does your father teach you that?" "No sir, my tongue slipped," replied the boy. Exasperated and hurling abusive adjectives at him, the teacher ordered the boy to go to the blackboard and write 100 times: "OUR COUNTRY IS HELLAS." After writing several lines, the boy realized that it would take too long to write "HELLAS" with two Ls, so he dropped one L and continued writing. After a while, the teacher turned and noticed what he had done and yelled out: "Hey, why are you spelling "Hellas" with one L only?" "To save the chalk, sir," replied the boy. The whole class burst into laughter, including the teacher who, although angry, could not resist! One morning in June in the 1930's, a young man was cutting hay with a scythe at GORNITE LIVADIA. Another young man about the same age (both bachelors) was passing by doing a chore with his donkey. Nearby a vivacious young widow, barefooted with white, shapely legs, was spreading hay to dry. As the second man approached the scene, he greeted his mate and in a coded message said: "KUFUZOFO, DOFOBRIFI LUFUGIAFA KE PUFULIFISH VOFOYDEFEN!" (KUZO, DOBRI LUGIA KE PULISH VOIDEN.) It so happened that she understood this coded message and immediately snapped back: "What 'nice people' BRE; there are not any girls here!" The young man turned red in the face and said, "NO, NO, I asked him whether he is cutting hay, 'KOFOSIFISH'." "HU, HU, 'KOFOSIFISH'," she replied, while the first man, to cover things up, replied, "OSHE TROFOPCHEFE." When I related the above incident to this man about 40 years later, he could not recall it. What a pity! The first man was killed during the Civil War.
Tobacco growing for private use was prohibited, so smokers relied on contraband. News reached our village that some V1achs were bringing a load of tobacco leaves from Kastoria. Someone, however, tipped off the police; and as they were preparing to intercept them, one of the smokers beat them to it by going ahead of the police and warning the V1achs, who had ample time to hide the tobacco in some bushes at STEZHEYTE and continued towards the village with the rest of the merchandise. Just outside of the village, they were met by the police plus our two rangers, MITETO ENDRIOV and LABRO GUGOV (the latter being a "PUDAR" (chaser) who guarded the vineyards) and a half dozen smokers. When asked by the police, "Where Is the tobacco?" they played innocent and replied, "What tobacco?" After a quick search, they were allowed to come to the village, while the rest of the group, police rangers and smokers, went around the countryside to search for the hidden tobacco. Half an hour later, they failed in their search and headed for the village. One of the men remarked, "How I wish I knew where it is hidden, put it in leaf, light it up, and then lie down against the smoke and inhale, inhale to my heart's content!" 38 |