Trafika Europe 7 - Ukrainian Prayer

Sweet Darusya

it turned out that way for the resourceful profiteers. Or maybe, because of the fact that there was more to take across to the Romanian side from Poland than vice versa. True, the Poles from time to time inflicted beatings on violators of the border peace during broad daylight, especiallywhenthesmugglers were from the Romanian side. They would send a poor guy caught in the middle of the river to their post. They’d beat him in the courtyard with beech sticks in their four hands. They’d take his goods. They’d detain him among the soldiers, force him to mow grass or toss down some hay, –and then they’d send the beaten man home. And here the Romanian beech sticks play on him if not “The Hutsul Girl,” then an “arkan” on his backside, all along his

backside already black and blue from the Polish sticks. After this for a certain – very short time, the profiteering from both shores quiets down. And again the border guards line up on both sides of the water nearly at the distance of an extended arm, they only don’t talk to one another. But another day or two passes – and then from the other to this side a stone with aromatic Galician tobacco tied to it will whistle from a Polish guard on duty, and from this side – the granicieri will share dried plums in a bag, fastened to the top of a long and pliant fishing line or pole. And the boys in nearly exactly the same uniforms, if you look from this shore, will go in further along the river as though nothing happened, not reporting

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