Shepherd's Diary

The diarist records sheep bleating restlessly through the night while the flock thins weekly; more lie dead upon the slopes,

bellies bloated like corpses from the plague pits. The old-timer Iancu had been handling the carcasses,

but the writer can rely on him no longer — today he burned Iancu's corpse along with cloak and staff.

As the smoke's smell clings to him and he digs holes for his sheep, he wonders whether he will soon lie beside them.