"The Feasts of Memory"

The Feasts of Memory: Stories of a Greek Family by Elias Kulukundis

The tales of this Greek family come from the small island of Kasos, situated to the northeast of Crete and to the southwest of Rhodes. The largest impressions from these stories are how the life on an island differs from one who lives on the mainland. Islanders seem more prone to religious superstition, xenita or loss of the native land as the nearby sea draws them away, but they are less drastically affected by the devastation of war.

This book is worth reading for a few of its hilarious stories, but none is more comical yet tragic than "The Hollow Crown" or the story of the most eligible bachelor on the island and his search for his wife. I am tempted to relay the story, but I think it would be more fun passing it on through the oral route, and by story-telling abilities need to be practiced more :). So, feel free to ask me in person to relay this story and remind me of the words proxenia and mandinadhas and the words of the bachelor’s mother:

"The girl you marry will be clever and obedient, respectful and intelligent. She must have not only a house and a dowry, but also fields and vineyards falling to her name in all the regions of the island. She must have mills and sheepfolds, chapels and holy icons and many gold napoleons woven on her breast with golden thread. She must be the first daughter of a first daughter, descended in direct lineage from a noble Kasiot family, a true princess of the island."

And let me not forget the names of the two girls: Marika Yeroyioryis and Fifika Phillipides, the custom not being able to marry during Great Lent, and of the response of two unsuspecting bachelors: Pavlos the tailor and Kosta the cobbler.