On the High Uplands Sagas, Songs, Tales and Legends of the Carpathians by Stanislaw Vincenz
….One day young Matijko of Kryworiwnia, a son of Foka’s friend Fedore, turned up in Sziget for the market. He was not a lad, he was a robust young beech-tree. He always spent his summers in the forest below Czarnohora. In the uplands he wrestled for wagers, or vcarried full tubs of cheese in his teeth. He always won his bet, but he never took the money. He never picked quarrels, but woe betide anyone who set upon him! He was a simple sincere fellow who never took offence. if he had, there would have been a fine contest; “Thinking of giving me a whack on the head? Well let me try one on yours!” But one needed strong bones to stand up to such tests against Matijko, for he had a head as tough as steel. Many a time he had been beaten and struck on his head with the back of an axe, but it only grew harder and stronger. However he had no mind for fighting……
Filed under: Carpathian Culture, History, Rusyn | Tagged: rusyn dance axe brigand
