]any for his wife Strzezislava. I wonder what he called her
for short? Strz sounds a bit abrupt, Slava is too general among Slavonic
people: perhaps he called her Cissie. Strzezislava is certainly too rich
for ordinary household use. Cosmas passes by this point in silence,
which is a pity; it is just those intimate little touches that foster
pleasant social relations and justify the chronicler's attitude of
omniscience; our illustrated Press has reached perfection in that line.
Mnata and Strzezislava flit across the stage and pass into oblivion
without the benefit of gramophone and cinema. Then emerges one
Bo[vr]ivoj, first of that name, who stands out more distinctly against
the background of misty legend, probably by reason of his having
embraced Christianity; he also embraced a lady, Ludmilla, who became his
wife and one of Bohemia's moat popular saints and patrons. It happened
that Bo[vr]ivoj had occasion to ask his neighbour Svatopluk, Prince of
Moravia, for protection, and then he became acquainted with that
energetic missionary, St. Methodius. Unhappily we have no precise
information concerning date and place of this picturesque event. The
chronicler has done his best by giving the following story to fill up
the blank. He narrates that Bo[vr]ivoj was not allowed to sit at table
with Svatopluk, but was given a low stool apart, as being unfit to
associate with Christian company. This is what the Christian chronicler
says, and he made it his business to bear testimony on all occasions. It
is, however, quite conceivable that Bo[vr]ivoj's manners were not up to
refined Moravian form. Anyway, Bo[vr]ivoj allowed himself to be
converted, and as there is no mention of his table manners we may assume
that he reached the required standard.

After all, manners are a matter of relativity, and not so long ago,
somewhere about 1700, the Austrian Court found it necessary to issue a
handbook thereon, in which guests bidden to the imperial banquets were
requested not to throw their chicken bones under the table, it made so
much extra work for the servants. There is quite a modern touch about
this.

With all the fervour of a convert, Bo[vr]ivoj set about the salvation of
his people from heathen darkness. I have sought diligently for some
records of the beliefs held by this branch of the Slavonic race. There
is no evidence of any deities of strong if unpleasant personality, such
as that obstinate, one-eyed Wotan, or that destructiv