One Turk and a Christian were walking alongside St. Erasmus. The Christian crossed himself in front of the church, and the Turk said:
Uff, giaour, to whom you are crossing yourself? To that window?
But the Christian replied:
“That is not a window, but a saint.”
“What kind of saint, you giaour” – he took a stone and threw it on the window, but the stone bounced back from the window, hit the Turk on his head, and he almost went blind.
During the same night, the Turk dreamed a dream. St. Erasmus came to him and said:
If you want your eyesight to return, come Elbasan, take oil from Elbasan and light all candles in Saint Erasmus, St. Clement, St. Stephen, St. John, St. Naum, St. Archangel, along the whole lake. They need to burn 3 days and 3 night and you need to light them yourself.
So, your eyesight will return.
Desperately, the Turk went to Elbasan, took the oil, filled and lit all the candles, which burned for 3 days and 3 nights and he completely regained his eyesight.
Notes:
- Giaour – Offensive term for non-Muslims or more particularly Christians in the Balkans.
- The saying is from Viktoria Zarcheva. We took it from the book “Legends and Traditions” of the PhD. Marko Kiteski, p. 127-128, and the same is also present in Dragi Stefanija.
- In some places, instead of “went blind” it is found “went deaf”
