Master, master,
Call for a dog as well
God, after he made the world, ordered and assigned every people. The gypsy he taught to sing and to the german he gave the screw. From among the jews, he called for Moise and commanded him: You shall write a law, and when the time comes, tell the pharisees to crucify my beloved son Jesus, and afterwards you shall endure much trouble, and for this I will let money flow to you like the waters. He pointed at the hungarian with his finger and chose for him, from all that he had around him, toys: To you, sir, I will give resin for you to make nipples in your mustache, to be greedy and to like parties with wives. The turkish showed himself as well: You shall be stupid, but also hold power over the others with a sword. To the serb, he put a shovel in his hand. The russian he made the drunkest of them all, and made him prove himself to be a good beggar and good singer at the fairs. He called the lords for a candy and a coffee: Your Majesties are destined to live in malice and wickedness, for which you better build me churces and monasteries. At last came the moldovans, and they knelt before the chair of the empire. God looked at them with mercy:
"And you, poor souls, why are you late?"
"We are late, Your Grace, for we are here with the sheep and donkeys. We walk slowly, climb steep paths and cliffs. This is how we spend our days and nights, quietly, and only the bells announce our coming. And the homesteads of our wives and children are in narrow spaces, between stone cliffs. We are struck by lightning, by thunder and rough storms. We would like large domains, plains with calm waters."
"Well, you did come last," said God with pity. "You are dear to me, but there is nothing I can do. Stay with what you have. I can give you nothing more than an easy heart so you can enjoy what is yours. So everything can seem well, so the man with the cetera can come to you, the one with the drink as well, and so you may have women beautiful and loved." This is the story that Nechifor Lipan often sometimes said at weddings, where he was always during winters. He says he learned it from an old man, who had been a jew in his youth, and who was blessed by God to know true faith. That man knew other things and he knew the alphabet as well, a thing to behold among the sheperds. From him, Lipan got some deep words, which he said at the right times.
"No one can jump over their own shadow."
"What do you mean to say by that?" asked his wife Vitoria, looking at him sideways.
"I'm telling a word to those with the ear for it."
"It may be as you say, friend, but the one who says much knows little."
"And who is that for?" asked Lipan.
"That one is for the wise and the scholars."
"Is it so? And, pray tell, who are the wise and the scholars?"
"Who should it be? Ask me, and I won't be able to tell you."
"Woman, you're searching for the devil again!"
"Why would I search for him, when he is before me?"
And of such stories and quick words Vitoria, the wife of Nechifor Lipan, was reminded as she stood alone on the porch, in the light of autumn while spinning wool. Her brown eyes, in which it seemed as if the chestnut light of her hair was refracted, were staring far away. Time was spinning industriously, but alone. The village scattered on the slopes under the fir forest, the shingled houses between the hedges, the river of Tarcau that flashed down between the rocks were lost in a night fog. Those sharp eyes sought unknown horizons. Nechifor Lipan had left home for some sheep, from Dorna, and now the day of Saint Andrew was near and he was still not returned. In her loneliness, the woman tried to dream of him. She could not see his face, but she could hear his voice, just as he told the story, to which the woman added a few worda about plains and calm waters. These words were hers, born from a desire and, reapeating them in her head, her eyes were coated in tears. The life of moldovans was hard, especially that of the women. Sometimes they became widows early, like herself.
