Chapter 8 - WacławWhy do they tolerate us?
WITH THE WOMEN AWAY, men drank and boys wrestled around the village center. It was a rare time without feminine oversight—the most chaotic hours of the year.
Soon, the girls would return, wearing their elaborate head wreaths made of flowers and carrying the effigy of Marzanna. Most of the boys didn’t give care about the work they put into the wreaths. I thought they brought a certain elegance and beauty. Every year when the girls emerged wearing them, they became women. We were just boys rolling in the mud.
I lingered by a patch of trees away from the commotion. These were my nicest clothes, and I didn’t want to tarnish them before the ceremony, especially now that I had won the egg hunt and would have to light the effigy with Otylia.
As I loo
