The icon corner: Saint Nicholas, towels and bedstraw flowers

Narration text

Now look to the corner on the right, facing east. Here hang the family's old icons, painted on wood. One of them shows Saint Nicholas, patron of the village of Humulești.

Above the icons and the windows hang ștergare, long towels woven and embroidered at home, a sign that a love of beauty existed in every household, however modest. Lift your eyes to the ceiling beam. Flowers were hung here: lady's bedstraw, mint, chrysanthemums and basil.

They freshened the air and some were used for teas, but bedstraw had another role too. According to very old beliefs, evil spirits roamed around houses: the souls of those who had died without a candle or without a priest. So people hung bedstraw and garlic from the beam to guard the home.

In Creangă's world, Christian faith and ancient custom lived side by side, and his stories are full of devils, saints and wonders.