With the Serbs in Macedonia

THE SIMPLE LIFE 217
the other hand, if he sees you don't care for,
say, his cherries, he will obligingly inform you
where you can get better ones !
There is practically nothing worth purchasing
in the way of curios, except at special places
like Kossana, where they cater for that sort
of thing.
Another strange figure in town and country
alike is the Greek priest, or pope, as is his
''
local title. Papa's " long black gown and
queer black hat, and long hair, single him out
for observation everywhere. There seem to be
a good many of him, and nearly all are very
dirty.
Mostly the popes are of the peasant class,
and like their Muslim brethren add to their
slender incomes by running a small farm or
vineyard. It was only in the rarest instances
that we discovered one who spoke any language
but his own.
Their churches are all crowded with icons,
and the walls are usually covered with paintings.
Dark blue and gold were the favourite colour
scheme, but the workmanship was very poor.
Few of the icons were worth a second glance
from the artistic point of view, and the taste
displayed in the mural painting was often
as crude as the execution. One picture in a
little village church at Straischte struck us as