He went on riding his horse. He saw sharecroppers working at the
landlords‘ fields …
He asks them about his sister….He is told the landlord‘s name… It
is Nasos Kotzabasis. The moment the landlord is told that the king
is at his fields he sends a carriage to welcome him. The carriage
takes him to the landlord‘s estate.
They welcome him and they invite him to supper. They offer him
the most delicious dishes of the region: boiled mutton with pasta,
kokoretsi, trahanosoupa, splinantero₂. The neighbours bring their
best pies. Pumpkin pie, spinach pie, cheese pia and batzina. For
dessert they have halva from Farsala₃ and bitter almond liqueur.
The king asks them information about his sister and they tell him
that they knew of a young lady who worked at the wheat fields but
left when her job was finished. The king thanks them and rides his
horse. As he is leaving the estate he meets a farmer who is carving
a wooden horse.
He likes it and he mounts down his horse. He starts talking with
the farmer and he tells his story. The farmer was moved by his
story and he gives him the horse praying that he finds his sister
very soon…
₁ a name for a king in greek
₂ traditional dishes of Thessaly
₃ a traditional sweet from Farsala, a town in Thessaly
Zespół Szkół w Pobiedziskach, Poland