Cindil Pindil and Djasta Prasta

Once upon a time, a widow had twin daughters with very different personalities: Djasta Prasta was lively and cheerful, while Cindil Pindil was quiet, hesitant, and cautious. When their mother gave them fabric to sew dresses for Easter, Djasta Prasta eagerly began working—cutting, sewing, and fixing mistakes as she went—finishing her dress in time for the celebration, even though it had issues. Meanwhile, Cindil Pindil spent so much time worrying about making mistakes that her dress remained unfinished.

When the festive bells rang, Jasta Prasta joined the dance in her new dress, while Cindil Pindil stayed behind the fence, watching in tears. From that day on, people say it has always been so: “Cindil Pindil behind the fences while Djasta Prasta dances”.

This is a short version of the Bulgarian folk tale, written by Georgi Raychev in the 1930s. It became part of the culture of my generation. Felt inspired to publish it here after mistakenly sent out a test post to my subscribers. Sorry about that! 🙂

Saint Sofia

Saint Sofia is the church that gave the city its name. It was founded in the 4th century and rebuilt several times, primarily because of earthquake damage. The present-day look is roughly the same as it was in the 500s. It doesn’t have a bell tower, unlike all the other nearby major churches, and to this day uses an old tree for the bell.

The photo is from a week ago.