‘Of course they were! My Father held on to them through all the bad times, even the very bad times.’
‘I know what you mean, but a very long period of time had passed before you went back home, so it was always likely those paintings would have ended up elsewhere.’
I take another mouthful of hot coffee and survey the new interior of the café. There is truth in Bronec’s words, and what’s happened to this café, one of our regular haunts, brings it home to me. The past clings onto us like strong glue, we can never pull ourselves away from it completely, and sometimes it’s the little details that stick in our minds, we can’t shake them away. The thought of one day seeing those paintings kept me going through times of turmoil, they gave me something to hang onto, but my life is settled now, so maybe the paintings aren’t so important anymore.
More important is the visit I was able to make to Mother’s grave. I’ll never forget that. It wasn’t the grandest of graves and a little overgrown. That didn’t matter, because I could feel her there. I stood alone next to her for quite some time, and I told her everything that had happened to me and to Father. I put my hands together and gave thanks to the Lord for the union I was able to have with Mother. My heart opened like a flower and everything inside me was right there. I told her all of it. I walked away with the padlock smashed away from those words which had been locked inside me for so many years.
What really matters now is that Ukraine is free. I now realise my old home is that of my niece and nephews and I bless them and wish them luck, long life and prosperity as they journey through the new political and economic landscape. Of course, it’s theirs to do with as they please, and it’s good to see them caring for that old house, and constructing more buildings on that same piece of land. It’s called progress, something Ukraine has missed out on under the misery of Soviet rule.
There are events and people from the past that should never be forgotten, some of them good, many of them bad. Now and again, I think about that crazy old man, Matviyko, who lived in that broken-down old shack near the lake, the one who laughed at us as we slid around on the snow stone, as he called it. Well, it feels like I’ve been sliding on the snow stone for many years, one way or another, trying to get up onto my feet. Only now can I really stand tall.
The present day and the future are what we must think about. Ukraine is building stronger links with the West and with its neighbours. Even though some of them may give us trouble on occasion, as each day passes we cement our place in world history and on the world map. Even though there are many Ukrainian diaspora such as I scattered across the world, we have a new identity and a new nation to be proud of, and it doesn’t matter where we are in the world, we’re all still part of it. Inside each and every one of us is a beating Kozak heart.
The End
Pronunciations
In order of appearance:
'Andriy' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘And’ as in sand, ‘riy’ as in sea.
'Bronec' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Bro’ as in broth, ‘nec’ as in neck.
'Stefan' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ste’ as in step, ‘fan’ as in fan.
'Bohdan' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Boh’ as in bob ending on a hard ‘h’ (the ‘h’ is sounded), ‘dan’ as in man.
'Holodomor' – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ho’ as in hot, ‘lo’ as in lot, ‘do’ as in dot, ‘mor’ as in morrow.
'Volodimir' – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Vo’ as in bob, ‘lo’ as in lot, ‘di’ as in dip, ‘mir’ as in mirage.
'Kolhosp' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Kol’ as in colt, ‘hosp’ as in hospital.
'Miron' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Mi’ as in miller, ‘ron’ as in gone.
'Kozak' - two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ko’ as in cot, ‘zak’ as in back.
'Novi Khutyry: Novi' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘No’ as in not, ‘vi’ as in ‘vee’. ‘Khutyry’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Khu’ as in hook (the ‘k’ isn’t sounded), ‘ty’ as in took, ‘ry’ as in rink.
'Vinnitsya' – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘VIN – NITS – YAH’.
'Mikola' – three syllables, weight on first syllable’ . ‘Mik’ as in ‘mick’, ‘ola’ as in collar.
'Moscali' – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Mo’ as in moth, ‘sca’ as in scab, ‘li’ as in lea.
'Katsap' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Kats’ as in ‘cats’, ‘ap’ as in tap.
'Hohli' - two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Hoh’ as in hot ending on a hard ‘h’ (the ‘h’ is sounded), ‘li’ as in lit.
'Taras Shevchenko : Taras' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ta’ as in tap, ‘ras’ as in rasp. Shevchenko – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Shev’ as in dishevelled, ‘chen’ as in ten, ‘ko’ as in cot.
'Ivan Franko: Ivan' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘I’ as in pizza, ‘van’ as in van. Franko – ‘Fran’ as in man, ‘ko’ as in cot.
'Markovych' - three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Mar’ as in marry, ‘ko’ as in cot, ‘vych’ as in ‘rich’.
'Kobzar' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Kob’ as in cob, ‘zar’ as in arrow.
'Paska' – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Pas’ as in pass, ‘ka’ as in cat.
'Horilka' – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ho’ as in hot, ‘ril’ as in kilo, ‘ka’ as in cat.
'Varenyky' – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Va’ as in van, ‘ren’ as in rent, ‘y’ as in any, ‘ky’ as in hanky. VAR-EN-IH-KEY.
‘Pavlo’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Pav’ as in have, ‘lo’ as in lock.
‘Khrusty’ – two syllables, equal weighting, silent ‘k’, this word begins with the ‘h’ sounded. ‘hrust’ as in crust, ‘ty’ as in dotty.
‘Popovic’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Po’ as pot, ‘po’ as in pot, ‘vic’ as in ‘rich’.
‘Yaroslav’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ya’ as in yak, ‘ro’ as in rock, ‘slav’ as in have.
‘Oleg’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘O’ as in on, ‘leg’ as in leg.
‘Ukrayinska Povstanska Armiya’: Ukrayinska – four syllables, equal weighting OOH-KRA-YEEN-SKA. Povstanska – three syllables, equal weighting. POV-STAN-SKA. Armiya – three syllables, equal weighting. ARR-MEE-YAH.
‘Razoviy’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ra’ as in ran, ‘zo’ as in got, ‘viy’ as in ‘sea’.
‘Slavka’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Slav’ as in slap, ‘ka’ as in cat.
‘Uzhorod’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Uzh’ as in bush, ‘ho’ as in hot, ‘rod’ as in rod.
‘Vysne Nemecke’: Vysne – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Vys’ as in vista, ‘ne’ as in neck. Nemecke – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ne’ as in neck, ‘me’ as in met, ‘cke’ as in ‘scare’.
‘Kazimir’ – ‘Ka’ as in cat, ‘zi’ as in zig, ‘mir’ as in mirage.
‘Samohonka’ – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Sa’ as in sat, ‘mo’ as in mop, ‘honk’ as in honk, ‘a’ as in hat.
‘Borsch’ - one syllable. BORRSHCH, with the ‘o’ as in bob.
‘Kobasa’ - three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ko’ as in cot, ‘ba’ as in bat, ‘sa’ as in sat.
‘Nikolai’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ni’ as is nit, ‘ko’ as in cot, ‘lai’ as in ‘lie’.
‘Sharivari’ - four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Sha’ as in shall, ‘ri’ as in rip, ‘va’ as in van, ‘ri’ as in rip.
‘Hohol’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ho’ as in hot, ‘hol’ as in hollow.
‘Janowska’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ja’ as in jam, ‘ow’ as in low, ‘ska’ as in scan.
‘Oleksa’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ol’ as in bold, ‘ek’ as in echo, ‘sa’ as in sat.
‘Taras’ – tw
o syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ta’ as in tap, ‘ras’ as in raspberry.
’Kotlyarevsky’ – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Kot’ as in cot, ‘lya’ as in yak (‘l’ sounded), ‘rev’ as in crevice, ‘sky’ as in ‘ski’.
‘Haidamaki’ – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Hai’ as in ‘high’, ‘da’ as in dad. ‘ma’ as in mat, ‘ki’ as in kilo.
‘Zaliznyak’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ZA- LEEZ- NYAK.
‘Miroslav’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Mi’ as in mill, ‘ro’ as in rock, ‘slav’ as in slap.
‘Yarema’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ya’ as in yak, ‘re’ as in red, ‘ma’ as in mat.
‘Fedor’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Fe’ as in fence, ‘dor’ as in dorm.
‘Nazdorovya’ – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Naz’ as in has, ‘do’ as in dot, ‘rov’ as in sovereign, ‘ya’ as in yak.
‘Korovai’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ko’ as in cot, ro as in rod, ‘vai’ as in ‘vie’. KOH-ROH-V-EYE.
‘Ukrayinska Dumka’ - OOH-KRA-YEEN-SKA DUM-KAH.
‘Tryzub’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘try’ as in trick, ‘zyb’ as in hub.
‘Uskorz Wielki’ – USK-ORZ WEEL-KEY.
‘Lemkovyna’ – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Lem’ as in lemon, ‘ko’ as in cot, ‘vy’ as in ‘vih’, ‘na’ as in nap. LEM-KOH-VIN-AHH.
‘Myzichka’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘My’ as in ‘moo’, ‘zich’ as in rich, ‘ka’ as in cat. MOO-ZICH-KAH
‘Dryshba’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Drysh’ as in ‘bush’, ‘ba’ as in bat.
‘Kolomyjka’ – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ko’ as in cot, ‘lo’ as in lot, ‘myj’ as in ‘me’, ‘ka’ as in cat.
‘Tarasivka’ – four syllables, equal weighting. ‘Ta’ as in tap, ‘ra’ as in rap, ‘siv’ as in live, ‘ka’ as in cat.
‘Zabava’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Za’ as in zag, ‘ba’ as in bat, ‘va’ as in vat.
‘Pripyat’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Pri’ as in prim, ‘pyat’ as in pat (‘p’ and ‘y’ are both sounded).
‘Mykhaylo’ – three syllables, equal weighting. MIHH-EYE-LOH.
‘Rivne’ – two syllables, equal weighting. ‘Riv’ as in river, ‘ne’ as in net.
‘Volodko’ – three syllables, equal weighting. ‘Vo’ as in von, ‘lod’ as in plod, ‘ko’ as in cot.
‘Mihasz’ - (short form of Mykhaylo) two syllables, equal weighting. MIHH-ASCH.
‘Hryvnia’ - three syllables, equal weighting. HRIV-NI-YAH.
Notes
In order of appearance
‘Holodomor’ – Death by Hunger; ‘holod’ meaning hunger, ‘mor’ meaning death.
‘Hetman’ – Head of Ukrainian Cossack state. The meaning is thought to be head man.
‘Kozak’ – ‘Cossack’, Ukrainian style, both spoken and written.
‘Kobzar’ – Wandering Ukrainian minstrel.
‘Paska’ – Easter bread. Sweet egg bread, baked.
‘Horilka’ – Vodka; strong alcoholic spirit.
‘Achtung’ – A German word meaning ‘attention’.
‘Ostarbeiters’ – A German term meaning ‘Eastern Workers’. Forced slave labour gathered from Eastern Europe to work in Germany to support the war effort.
‘Samohonka’ – Home brewed spirit. Very powerful.
‘Borsch’ – Beetroot soup. Traditional in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe.
‘Kobasa’ – Sausage, delicatessen-style, usually home-made, smoked or with garlic.
‘Sharivari’ – Baggy trousers worn by Ukrainian Cossacks, usually tucked into boots.
‘Hohol’ – The haircut of the Ukrainian Cossack: the head shaved, with a lock of hair flowing from the crown.
‘Tryzub’ – The national trident emblem of Ukraine. An ancient symbol of freedom – the meaning is three-teeth; thought to represent the Ukrainian word for freedom: volya.
Translations
In order of appearance:
‘choboti’ – boots
‘doshka’ – wooden board
‘paska’ - Sweet egg bread, baked.
‘Nazdorovya’ – For your health. Cheers.
‘Scotska horilka’ – Scotch whisky.
‘korovai’ – Traditional, baked, plaited wedding cake – sweet, egg bread.
‘britva’ – cut throat razor.
‘Ukrayinska Dumka’ – A newspaper for the Ukrainian Community in Great Britain, the title of which translates as Ukrainian Thought.
‘dryshba’ – Best man (at a wedding).
‘hopak’ – Acrobatic Cossack style Ukrainian dance.
‘kolomyjka’ – Traditional Ukrainian folk dance.
‘zabava’ – A dance, an evening function where young folk would meet up to dance and get to know each other, accompanied by traditional music played by a live band.
Acknowledgements
Cover design by Isabel Szpuk and Simon Klymyszyn.
Many thanks to Paulo Brandão (www.paulobrandao.com) for his kind permission to use his wonderful photograph frozen light in a snow weekend as the basis for the book cover.
Thanks to Dr Michael M Naydan for his kind permission for the use of his translation of The Days Pass, The Nights Pass by Taras Shevchenko.
Thanks also to Lorna Clark for allowing the use of her father John Weir’s translation of a section of Haidamaki by Taras Shevchenko.
Many thanks also to Ann Swinfen, author of The Testament of Marian (www.annswinfen.com), for her excellent guidance and keen interest.
Thanks also to Claire Whatley, short story writer and children’s author (Ingrid Wildsmith and the Curse of Zeus) for editorial assistance, technical advice on writing and more encouragement than I could ever have expected or hoped for.
I’d also like to thank Eponymous Rox for keeping the faith and believing (http://eponymous.weebly.com/).
There are many others who encouraged me and gave me constructive criticism – thanks to all. Finally, I’d like to thank my wife, Isabel - for everything.
Andy Szpuk, Sliding on the Snow Stone
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