Story second part called Prelo

PRELO
In winter every night in other house Black kitchen was held Prelo. That was congregation on young and older kids and infants. Parents and grand parents. Young will clean the corn of leafs and take corn grain off the cobs. That was big time competition between young woman and man. At the same time that was the chance for a love birds to seat together and whisper sweet nothings under watchful eyes of elders. Older woman will spin the woolen thread from preslica, fine carved wooden pieces with distinctive ornaments find only in particular Family. Each Man will carve the preslica for his woman in the time prior the marriage. If his chosen one chose to accept the preslica, that was sign already to her heart have lean toward him. Also if her mother at time of presenting the preslica chose to tell young man to daughter is still to young for a spinning the thread, it was two choices: one to mother do not like the young man or to she think to her daughter is really too young to marry.
If it was good year and was lot of crop this prelo will go all winter and fall round. Girls will go to other houses same as the young man. Mothers will follow couple steps behind. Always careful to some body do not disappear in evening darkness, just to show up little bit late in the night, with some pieces of grass or hay in the near or on the clothing. Usually that will happen and then very quickly marriage was arranged.





In the summer evenings all people will seat on the stair way to a barn just down of the main House. Also build of carved lime stone as everything else. In the night that was perfect stage for young ones to flirt with each other, and for a elders to observe potential new members of the family. Stories was told by grand, grand parents. Bible was told it was not read, not so many knew how to read, infants was nursed, children were running around with bare bottoms, girls and boys will play games which imitate chores of they’re parents. Man’s of the families will seat bunched up together and talk politics, agriculture, fishing and anything else what was of they’re World importance. One will talk rest will listen and now and then jump in to conversation, or just simply puffing clouds of the home grown and self chopped tobacco from the pipes or cigarettes simply shaking they heads. Sometime Oldest will not and fall asleep still puffing the pipe or cigarette. Just few yards down the slope was Guvno. That was place with strong round piece of timber in the center of the circle of 50 to 60 feet diameter, with no stones and of hard beaten clay. Clay after so many years become hard as brick and after harvest horses was tightened for a timber and make run round and round on all to shorten reins. Under they feet was the freshly cut harvest. Running over huffs will kick grain free and after ten to twenty rounds, straw was thrown away and grain was swiped on one place and measured by bushels.
In the summer nights there was dancing. It was two kind of dances, Dances for Young




man and separately for Young woman. There was dances for married people as well as for the children. No music was played. Some time, just some time, somebody will make Diple (instrument with six or eight holes and one or two pipes) Usually that was carved of soft wood from Velebit and in log summer days in Mountain with herds they will carve. Carvings was reach and traditional. Songs was sing and ritam was bit by the foot of dancers. Leader of the dance will said now and then orders of the dance and all will pass across, in between, to the left or to the right. After the dances sweaty dancers will come back and seat on the stones, red in the faces, heart beat high, and with emotions flying high. The kids will bring the water from rain catchements and all will drink from the same pot. Most of the time sweet hearts will try to put lips at the exactly the same spot where was chosen on drinking from. That was a chance to taste him/her, to let it be known to they like each other. Sometime was hard to get the girl you liked. And there was the friend. Voluntarily kidnapping will happen. He will send her a message when she will be waited at and where. In full secret and some time if parents agree, with they’re knowledge, she will packed up and disappear in the night. Naturally they was given the ample time to take head and then oldest brother of the kidnapped girl will form the posy. It was only two ways to get in and out of village. Friends of groom will put the ambush and halt the posy. While they was negotiation and sometime fighting groom will take his price in hiding.




Tomorrow morning all was done. He will take her to his parents. They will send the oldest man in the Family to a oldest man in bride to be Family, and on beginning they will just seat and puff pipes. Than Old one will ask his counter part what is his business, what brought his to this house. Courtesies was exchanged, compliments to woman folks knowledge and worthiness. Vine was drank from bukara which was made of smreka pine wood. Sometime it will take hours before real business come to a table. And then start bargain. Our young woman is worth to us like four horses, five donkeys, three mules, 5000 lb. Of grain 15 000 lb. Of corn, 10 pigs 1000 sheep, 300 goats, so much wool, so much of material for a clothing and so on and so on. Groom representative will try to take price down always talking how she was kidnapped and who knows where she was last night, and her chastity and innocence may be ruined. Bride mother will come around and both Old ones will close their mount. Eventually she will “learn” what’s going on, and start to cry, and lelek, and accuse “bad” young man which have kidnapped her daughter of all kind of indecent behavior. Finally they will settle down on agreed price of a Dowry. Mother will then start to pack the chests of belongings to her daughter. And there was almost equivalent of the price Groom have to pay for a Bride. Usually Elders will make sure to new young family get all needed for a start of a family life on they own, or to get what the Family where they will be leaving, do not have, and is needed. In return Bride will be paid




in the things the her family needed. So on the end all involved parties get what they need the most, bride and groom can start new life together with all they need, and nobody smarter. Sometime parents will not agree to Young ones get married period. There was then only few things they can do. They will run away. They will run away and when first child was born, especially if it was male, the will be accepted back. Family can not afford to lost any male members.
In other times posy will work in earnest and chase runaways until they finally got them. Sometime there will be shutting, dead, wounded and animosities was build up. Sometime posy will kill the groom to be and girl will kill her self rather than live life without the loved one. This will build animosity bigger and bigger. So bad to after century still was fresh as the first day, sometime parents was greedy, sometime some reach person propose to a parents, but Young heart do not wanted. In any way wedding was held in the chapel of St. Juraj or in Jasenice 5km away in the main church.
Wedding was the place to future sweethearts throw the apple to each other. If girl throw during the dance apple on the guy and he catch it he accepted to be sweethearts. Same was for her if she accepted it was all right. Sometime girls was playing hard and year after year they will not accept the apples. Then one dance there will be no more apples for them. That was beginning of trouble.





Younger brothers and sisters cant get married before they’re predecessors. Now Younger’s will make pressure on parents, Older girls will cry day after day until finally somebody will come around and ask for a hand. Sometime parents will send match maker to do the job.
When that happen big stone will fall off the chest of the parents, younger in line to marry, sometime at the same time it will be twin and triple marriages in a same family. Weddings was very elaborate. Groom will have his best with hand-crafted embroidery, wide scarf as weapons belt. In the belt will be stuck two rich, in silver-smithed front loaders called Kubura, and curbed knife stilled as Osmanlias/Turks Jatagans. Sometime there will be handy little ax. Size and shape of carpenter as for a fine wood work. On the head will be the black rimed cap with red or yellow top and black tail like decoration hanging on the back. Snow white shirt of home made cotton. Shoes homemade of the Ox hide, knitted socks all the way to a knees and black pants, woolen made of pressed wool and colored with natural dye..
Bride will be dressed in most fine materials, silk, wool, embroideries and lace. Head will be under laces, they mother and grand mother have on they own wedding. Golden necklaces will be around the necks, made of doubloons of kingdoms long time lost in ancient history. Silver-smithed ornaments and wrist band. Head covers of silver, smithed in elaborate patterns held down rich hear. Hair is braided and wrapped around the head




like crown. Vushtans was skirts of homemade cotton. It was multiple skirts one above the other, making the figure of a bride full and sculpture like. Apron was white and with rich lace work on the edges. Sometimes bride will wear the costume which their grand, grand, grand mothers have wear at they’re own wedding.
All members of a Family was invited, friends, people known and unknown. Food was made and cooked days in advance. Oxen was on giant rotisserie turning above fire. Dozens of piglets, lambs, goats, was rotating next to each other. Rich aroma was spreading through village on wings of the wind, all the way to other villages. Bread was baked in family bread ovens. Grandmother will bake round bread size of a wheels on a wheel barrel, large enough to feed twenty farm workers at the same time. Cookies, cakes, soups, brudette or a fish stew, fish on gradele/BBQ…..Everything was there. Vine, lots of vine. Fig schnapps.
People will start to arrive. Musicians was playing folk songs was replacing one another. Dances, Vine was flowing as river. It was feast which ancient Romans will jealous of. More rich family was longer the feast was. Longest wedding was said to have last for a month. People was leaving , go home feed animals and than come back and continue celebrations. Sometime when Year was poor, wedding was paid off for a couple of Years, but that was something what nobody wish to spare money for.