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room, she says, Pom agaboa, that is, God bless you, the common salutation used at entering their houses. Hav ing taken her place, she compliments him that has won her heart, and speaks to him in these words, Juan, Fediur, D em itre, Woitek, M ikita, etc. (in short, she calls him by one of these names, which are most usual among them); perceiving a certain goodness in your counte nance, which shews you will know how to rule and love your wife; and hoping from your virtue that you will be a good Dospodorge: These good qualities make me hum bly beseech you to accept me for your wife. Then she says as much to the father and the mother, praying them to consent to the match. If they refuse her, or make some excuse, saying, he is too young, and not fit to marry; she answers, she will never depart till she has married him, as long as he and she live...After some weeks the father and mother are forced, not only to con sent, but also to persuade their son to look favorably upon her, that is, as one that is, as one that is to be his wife. The youth perceiving the maid fully bent upon lov ing him, begins to look upon her as one that is in time to be mistress of his inclinations...And thus amorous maids in that country cannot miss of being soon provided... Beauplan says further that though such customs may appear “odd and incredible to some persons” they are nonetheless a real fact. Of course, romantic love or personal fancy was not the only, or even perhaps the usual way of selecting a marriage partner in Cossack Ukraine. Practical consid erations were also of considerable import. For example, the peculiar Ukrainian custom of the village evening party or v e c h o m y ts ia seems to go back at least to Cos sack times. At these parties, which were a common form of social activity for the youth of old Ukraine —they sur vived right to the first years of the twentieth century — the eligible young maidens would dress in their finest and occupy themselves with embroidery, weaving, or handicrafts of one sort or another in order to demon strate for the young men their special talents. In turn, the parents of the young men would instruct their sons to pay attention not to superficial attractions, but to practical qualities ( ”n e na c h o rn i brovy, a na c h a ri ru k"). Young girls were expected to be able to cook, clearn, sing beautifully, and know the local customs. Such girls, it seems, were greatly sought after.. If village girls in Cossack Ukraine enjoyed greater liberty and a higher social status than did the women of certain other lands, then so too did the women of the gentry and aristrocracy. They too were be able to marry or divorce at will, own property, and initiate legal cases. They often took an active part in public affairs joining church societies (b ra ts tv a ), endowing them, patronizing art and scholarship, and founding monasteries and con vents. At times, in the absence of their husbands noble women even defended the family castle against unex pected attack. One of the most famous of such inci dents occurred during the Polish-Cossack wars of the 1650s when Olena, the wife of a certain captain Zavysny, found herself beseiged by the Poles in the fortress of Bush. Eventually, she felt herself compelled to ignite the powder-keg in the arsenal thus destroying herself and the castle along with a great number of the beseigers. The Ukrainian writer, Mykhailo Starytsky, memoralized this story in his historical novel The S eig es o f Bush. Tatars carrying o ff Ukrainian men. women, and children into Turkish captivity. From an old woodcut, possibly o f the sixteenth century. Credit: Z. Wojcik, Dzikie Pola w ogniu (W arsaw, 1960). 18 ’’НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 1995 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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