Lord Nikolich of Rudna: Knight of the Golden Fleece, rector of Serbian schools in Osek and
court judge in the Torontal and Srem bishopric. He gave loans to the
Austrian Empire
and with the money bought the Rudna wasteland, east from Belgrade. He is a
despotic, drunk fat man, and has a daughter named Attilia. He is clearly
used
to have been given the reason in everything, and when that is not so, he
goes
immediately mad. That is the reason Shuvakovich was
sacked.
Miss Attilia of Rudna: She is the 15-year-old daughter of Lord Nikolich. Her maternal
grandfather was Miriewsky, a famous pedagogue and educational reformer in
Austria and Russia. She is a sensitive girl, but also of the sensible
and smart
kind. She is very exigent with the people that
surrounds
her, imposing her own ideas, most of them quite weird. But even if she
has this
overwhelming personality, he behaves as a more adult person, specially
with John Damascene, considering him as his imagined child and believing in
him.
John the Damascene: Named after John of Damascus, who
built in men’s hearts. He is specialized in building houses, so he
is given
the work in the palace. He is a strong, handsome man, with a long beard,
and is
left-handed as Shuvakovich. As the other John, he seems uncomfortable
all the
time, and shows it with a hard expression and a stone-hard silence. He wears
white scarfs round his wrists as swordmen did and is usually, indeed, armed.
His attitude may show that he has gained some enemies over the years. He
has a
scar resembling a closed eye in his forearm, and this is the sign by which
Attilia recognises him as her son and the constructor of her palace. The
relation with Attilia is somehow that of a mother and child, but there’s
also a
sexual component, as he has to build a house that will be as a love letter from the builder to its
inhabitant.
John the Ladder: Named John after the holy father that biulds
ladders to the sky. The name could hardly be more accurate, as he is an specialist in church buildings and always tries to
help
his customer get to heaven. When he builds a church, he builds actually
three:
one purely constructed, another one, made of bushes, that grows as the
other is
built, and a third one in Lord Nikolich’s heart, the path to heaven. If any of them stops growing, so will do the other
two. He
is an old frightened man, who bubbles when he talks. He seems very nervous,
just as Damascene, only he shows it in a different way. Where Damascene
seemed
strong and vigilant, he seems completely defenceless.
The 800 Johns: When the Austro-Turkish war ended in 1718, 800 builders (all
named John)
came to the banks of the river Drina, Danube and Tisa and started to make a
living reconstructing all the area, devastated after the slaughters from
both
armies. There were Bosnian, Czechs, Germans, Tsintars...
John is chosen as the name of all of them as it isa common name usually
related
to someone who earns his living with his own work.
Dimitriye Shuvakovich: A mason descended from many generations of excellent left-handed
constructors. He was born in Martintsi. He worked for wealthy merchants and
craftsmen in different parts of Serbia before he got to work for
Serviyski. His
motto was: If you want to live
long and
happily on this earth, do not spare your efforts. For Serviyski he
built an
artificial cave containing a statue of a Greek god, and for Lord Nikolich he
built a palace with a park with marble urns to collect tears (for which
he was
unreasonably sacked).
Serviyski: A
noble lord for whom Shuvakovich built an artificial
cave.
Yagoda: Lord
Nikolich’s coachman, always ready to work and very silent. He went through a
very strict training and seems to be especially eager to help Attilia in
whatever she needs.
Alexander: Attilia’s
fiancé, a fine-looking young gentleman from a good family serving to some
prelate in Upper Austria.
Academic year 2008/2009
© a.r.e.a./Dr.Vicente Forés López
© Gil Fernández, Manuel
magilfer@alumni.uv.es
Universitat de Valčncia Press