Trafika Europe 7 - Ukrainian Prayer

Sweet Darusya

“I’ll go checks with the wife if she be lettin’ me.” “Mine fer sure’ll say: ‘I’m not gonna let you.’ Hows about yers – will she let you?” “Mine might even let me, if it’s not for a long time.” “Do you hear, gazda , how does yer girl give you a sign she can get away from her husband?” “She hangs a mirror in the pear tree in the sun.” “And when there’s no sun?” “She hangs a scarecrow to chase away the crows.” And that’s the way two tipsy gazdas call to each other across the river – so you can hear it in two villages. But no, it’s not just two villages – but two countries apart where you can hear it. On both sides the Romanian

gendarmes and the Polish soldiers scratch themselves and don’t rush to drive away the gazdas willing to chat with each other. Maybe they’re thinking of their own lovers and girlfriends? But before they remember that one of the gazdas should speak in Polish, and the other in Romanian, the gazdas , look, have already disappeared among the houses like smoke. Either to their wives, or their lovers… all the same to their women....” * Since the time last fall when the Soviets arrived in Galicia, a few people fromMykhailo’s village escaped to the other side. Why? For what reason? What came out of that escape – God only knows. Not a word was heard from them, not

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