Shadow of a Hero

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IN THE DAYS when the Turks ruled Varina there was a farmer of Talosh who had one son and one daughter. Then a second son was born, and when this child was four months old the farmer and his wife left their elder children in the care of an aunt and set out for Potok, so that the child might be brought good fortune by being given his name by the Bishop Supreme in the Cathedral of St Joseph on the Feast of St Valia.

As they passed over the shoulder of Mount Athur a great storm arose and they were forced to take shelter in a cave, where came also for refuge a young priest, a bandit1 and a scholar. The storm did not abate, so they saw they would all have to spend the night where they were. The farmer’s wife, being a prudent woman, had packed good stores and was able to cook them a meal, but there was an old feud between the clans of the bandit and the scholar and when they had drunk a little wine these two began to quarrel. The scholar’s tongue was very sharp, and there might well have been murder done if the priest had not threatened both men with an implacable curse if they failed to hold their peace. When the time came to sleep he lay down between them, so that neither should harm the other.

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