PLURAL MAGAZINE

The History Of The Dobrujan Turks

The history of Dobrudja, this ancient stretch of land between the Danube and the Black Sea, the territory thereof rightfully has been noted as an authentic ethnic blend, has along the centuries imposed a genuine model of co-habitation. Dobrudja was the trunk carrying the

Doja's Horse, Spek's Tractor And The Missing Hook

Spek Jr. , from Satu Nou, had a tractor called Doja. Since nothing in the world is fortuitous, the name of that machine was not fortuitous either. Spek Sr. , a filthy Jew, as he was called by some people from Iosefin, was a fervent advocate of communism and had been hurdled

The Serbs

Short history The Slavs, the ancestors of the Serbs, began settling on Romania's territory in the early Middle Ages. The Serbs from north of the Sava and the Danube, as well as those who went to the Balkan Peninsula, in the 7th century, became Christians in the second

The Ruthenians

I was, am, and will remain, a Rusyn. Aleksander Dukhnovici A short historyThe Ruthenians are a population that is descended from a Slavic branch of the Indo-European nations. Their name is mentioned by Julius Caesar, with reference to a Celtic tribe settled in Gallia Narbonensis.

I Kiss Your Ass, Beloved Leader Mine

excerpt Arvinte and Sodapop Marcel were marvellous indeed. When they broke and entered, the crowd would draw back in sheer rapture. The two would arrive at the scene, position their ladder or ropes, as the case may be, apply the skeleton-key or the bulldozer, and before

Hyperion's Travels

excerpt A Gypsy woman materializes out of a bush with two brats in tow; they're tugging at her flowery skirts.  Give us a grand, do, for the sake of them pretty eyes of yours, an' let yer decent soul rejoice for evermore.  And are we goin' to have our fortunes

A-Peakin' An' A-Pinin'

Of the one I love, a songI will sing my whole life long. Sing, I will – sick to the bone,Like a loser, lest I'd moan.  She was daddy's precious gem,Wish I kissed her tunic's hem,Her red lips apt to inviteDaddy's teeth to take a bite. Oh, she was so

La Tzigane

Gais Bohémiens, d'où venez-vous?Béranger She's softly walking by with sylph-like grace,Her ample skirts unfold in gliding pleatsAs she moves lithely, at a hurried pace,Svelte as a lily, through unending streets.  Her dainty foot, arched elegantly, keenTo travel

The Gypsy

When summer's heat vanished away,The ice-cold wind moved in to stay. The Gypsy, dressed in threadbare cloth,Had built no shelter, out of sloth. He did perceive that sloth was wrong,Yet his own sloth was much too strong. The winter raged on, cold and hard. So, to the

Dilitufan

* Once upon a time there was an emperor, half snake, half man. This emperor had a daughter. She was locked in a room, so as not even the sun could touch her, until she was twenty-two. At that time, a Gypsy came to the pond to catch fish. He caught two fish, the kings of

The Dynamic Equivalence Of Gypsy Fashion

Gianina lu' Manşonică of Sinteşti interviewed by Tita Chiper Our host's courtyard could be best described as transition in progress, accurately preserving each of its successive stages: it begins with two run-down foreign cars, and ends with an ashen tent proudly

Four Life Stories

At the Outskirts of Giurgiu*At the outskirts of Giurgiu there was a Turkish village, and that village was called Selima. When the Turks left the city, a hundred and a half years ago, we, the gypsies who tinned the pails, continued to live in that village. We remained in