How and why Guzaj horseshoed a woman

Guzaj was feared mostly by women, who had more than a few bitter words to say on his account. According to folklore, this story allegedly took place in several villages, from Pilštanj to Podčetrtek, or maybe in Šmarje, Pristava or Rogatec, and possibly one or two other places, depending on the storyteller. This, of course, is witness to the fact that the imagination of the people reaches far and wide. An old woman, to whom Guzaj gave money to buy a pig, was telling her companions what a nice thing the Outlaw did for her, while another woman relentlessly rebuked her story. Sitting in disguise at another table was Guzaj, who encouraged the woman’s prattling with his pleasant tone of voice. She went on to explain what she would do to the Outlaw, if she ever got her hands on him: she’d strangle or hang that scoundrel, that villain, who it was said slept with married women! Guzaj made quite the impression on the woman, by agreeing with everything she said about him. Her heart began to flutter a bit as she stared at him. She didn’t hesitate in the least when he asked her to buy him some nails, which he had run out of while laying a floor. She even agreed to bring the nails half way to Buče, the place, he revealed, where he lived. Guzaj then left, and the woman could hardly wait for the next day, when they met at the agreed location. However, Guzaj was no longer so pleasant and friendly. He asked sharply what she would do if she met the Outlaw. She repeated everything she’d said the previous day, before Guzaj revealed his identity. She was speechless, but it was too late: the nails were bought and the soles of her feet were ready to be shoed. And shoed they were! Guzaj hammered three into the sole of each foot. Until the end of her days, the woman never forgot how she had crossed the Outlaw Guzaj.

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