bartender at the tavern, of Bylany
“I pour the ale, wipe the tables, and try not to break too many jugs. The work is hard but honest.”
Things Bozhena Carpenter had written, latest first, with the glosses of her neighbours.
the Thursday before Whitsun, at Vespers
My hair is a rat's nest and I do not care. The miners do not look at my head anyway when I pour the ale. If anyone asks, I threw my comb in the river. Better that than crawling around a certain merchant's stall ever again.
Nota scribaeDictated while she wiped down a table. She used her favourite curse three times before finishing.
the feast of St Pancras, at None
Anna got a message from her high and mighty sister Juliana in Kuttenberg today. Married a townsman and now she thinks she is too good for Bylany dirt. If she ever comes back here, I'll serve her pottage from the bottom of the pot, kurva.
Do not be cruel, Bozhena. She just worries about my pennies and my aching back.
the third day of Easter week, at Prime
That stuck-up merchant Felice caught me looking for something I dropped near her stall and called me a thief! Said I was stealing her spilled oats. I am no thief. I threw a rotten cabbage at her head and I am glad I did, the bloody cow.
You were crawling in the dirt like a beggar! If you were not stealing, what were you doing? Pay for my spoiled hood!
I was looking for my own business, which is something you should try keeping to, kurva.
Nota scribaeThe scribe notes the village is still laughing about the cabbage.
the second Tuesday of Lent, at Compline
Dropped another pitcher of ale today. Anna barely sighed, she just marked the ledger. Three winters since the sweating sickness took my father, and I swear my hands have been clumsy ever since. At least the miners still drink the spilled ale if they are thirsty enough.
the morrow of Candlemas, at Sext
Christ almighty, it is freezing in the loft. The thatch is thin and the Hungarian soldiers on the road mean the wood is too dear to keep the hearth blazing all night. Anna is shivering. I will have to find an extra blanket from the storeroom.
Just borrow it, do not tear it! The landlord will have our heads if it gets ruined.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
I can try and untangle it for you tonight, Bozhena. You look like a wild woman from the woods.