The village was called Porumbani, or Corn's Craddle, and was located in a saddle in the midst of a few round hills, so that the inhabitants could watch their cattle grazing on the hilltops, pushing the sun with their twisted horns. I arrived at the house where I was expected in the evening. The cows were returning from pasture and were pouring into the big yards. In all of the neighbouring farms the excitement was high, the animals were given water and dinner was being prepared. I entered and patiently waited for the cattle to finish feeding, and after they disappeared in their stables, the eldest daughter, a thin and stiff sight with dull hair, brought me a jar of water.
I was hot from the long trip, and my lips were cracked and dry. I drank the jar in one breath and asked for more.
They filled up one more jar, and the house owner, the girlls father, a guy as big as a mountain, with dry-roasted skin and a red moustache told his daughter in an angry voice: "Bring over a bucket of milk!" The girl headed to the back of the yard and quickly fetched a bucket of milk””the whole family was busy milking in the stables, and she wanted to pour some more into the jar, but I could not hold it ””I grabbed the bucket, drinking half and spilling the other half on my shirt.
I put the bucket on a table outside, then took a breath and started drinking again until I finished the whole lot. I wiped my mouth with a towel and thanked them.
"God bless you, big boy," mumbled the man looking at the bucket. And then he asked me what brought me there, as if he did not know.
I told him that I am after a bride, because I heard there are many girls in the village, that are beautiful and hard working.
"Yes, that's true," he said," one of these girls is my eldest daughter. Because she is conceited and turned down all the young men that have proposed ””and she has been proposed by many”” because she found none as good looking and c’ever as to suit her, she was left single and past her prime, but that's not too bad, since flowers are beautiful when they are in full bloom, aren't they?"
