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Maria Matios
a few beech switches on the
ass than to let them swim
around below the dam: they
say, the place is cursed – and
that’s why it’s unsafe.
Mykhailo sits on the crest
of the dam, lowering down
his legs that were worn out
from walking, and looks at
the other side. Cursed – or
not cursed, the fact is true
that the place is frightening.
On more than one occasion
children
fell
vertically
headfirst, having gotten lost
in contemplation of the noisy
water; and livestock walked
into the netherworld off the
dam; and the border guards
–
graniceri
– shot quite a few
smugglers,
Schwarzivnyks
,
as they call them locally;
and they caught more than
one drowning victim there.
So the villagers strove to
watch after the livestock in
the meadow, enclosing the
spot from the dam with a
pen. And for bathing they
went nearly to the end of the
village, to the smooth, calmer
water downstream closer to
Zaremba’s mill.
When the Poles ruled on the
other side of the river, there
were times that they lookedat
the smuggler-profiteers with
a nod and a wink. Sometimes
in the middle of the day they
could find their way with
their goods to the Romanian
side. Whether the boatmen
were in cahoots with the
border guards, or sometimes
unjustifiably took risks for the
sake of profits, or the laws
over there were a little bit
loosey-goosey… But maybe
because of the fact that
Cheremoshne was nestled in
the devil’s bosom, the laws
developed more loosey-
goosey than anywhere else.
However, on rare occasions