From the book
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Though the wild and gloomy nature of Korelia makes people protect themselves from the dark forces, though it fills their souls with superstitious awe, nevertheless, they are fighting with for their lives all the time. It is necessary to say that all their lives they work very hard. The Korels clear forests and stones for ploughed fields, which don't usually give enough food, and in numerous lakes, which their region is rich of, they catch fish. The Souhtern part of the Olonets Gubernia is considered to be the most fertile: here one can grow wheat; but in the Northern part it is not easy to grow even rye, and sometimes the Korels use bark to mix with flour. As the dairy products, the Korels aren't rich of them, as they don't have a great number of livestock: there is no place for pastures; they grow small amounts of potatoes, don't grow vegetables; so the Korelian food is very simple and rather rough. Sometimes they eat dairy products, for the feast they can slaughter a lamb, pig or cow, during the fast which last for six months they eat soup cooked of small fish (malyok). Malyok can be caught in spring and is dried at the same place where it's caught, on the sand or on the roof of the fishers' cabin, and then the soup of it has a disgusting smell and is full of sand. The korels eat fresh fish very seldom; only dried or salted fish is always served… Translated by Maria, 2006 |