This list was read only by close friends and in a day or two it was either deleted or something was added . The Blessed One gathered knowledge on these matters from everywhere .
He checked the dubious stuff alone or through others , weighed everything like an apothecary on the scales of his mind , and wrote down only what he considered interesting or original . His imagination was sharpened like a needle with which he often pricked the truth , and drops of blood flowed that made him dream for the beautiful , deceitful and sweet lie .
Pavel the Blessed was a man healthy and handsome , with a dark face and big hair , curled in silver rings , and quite white over his ears . His job was to prune vines , clean trees from caterpillars , cultivate wild trees and roses , fix the clock on the town tower , open locks whose keys were lost , and find underground sources for fountains and wells . These activities gave him the chance to roam everywhere at will and so his soul felt free , and in addition , keeping a list of women was as enjoyable as a child ’ s game . He was an old bachelor , because he preferred not to catch the bird but chase after its shadow .
Once Pavel the Blessman , while speaking with the old , slightly stupid confessor of the small church , from whom he learned things entrusted only to him by the women , heard something he had never ever thought of or saved in his love list . It was that Smarayda had a gold hair somewhere in her innermost parts of her body . The old father learned this from his wife , who bathed together with Smarayda ….
It was so unusual and odd that Pavel was shocked . Gold hair ! Unheard of ! His imagination unraveled and branched like the vines that he pruned .
“ Smarayda ? Who is she ?” he tormented his memory , not being able to remember who that wonderful widow was . He knew almost everyone . Only when the father told him who her dead husband was , the street and the house with the biggest roses where she lived did Pavel remember with a shameful slap on the wide forehead over which silver locks peeked to see what was written on it .
The next day the devoted friends of the Blessed were especially excited by the news which was recorded in the secret list known to the whole town . On the same day the news spread through all the streets everywhere .
This brought about something special , something festive . People came alive and somehow grew up , because in the monotonous life of the town came something strange , something unthinkable ; it was so very nice because it was like a lie that everyone believed in .