The Old Man of Prague

Walking across the old city of Prague, you cannot but see the old castle lying there from a distance on a top of a hill, with its peak almost touching the sky, and its green roofing blending with the nature around it, the castle calls you and you start walking towards it, taking every step with excitement as you explore the shops and see the people’s smiling faces eating the famous Czech sweet, the Trdelník. It’s a long walk, followed by an even longer path of hundreds of steps, the old castle staircase.

You finally reach there, the majestic gates give you a hint of what you’re about to witness. “A thousand year old structure lies behind me, and it only gets more beautiful as it ages”, the gates say.

You take a pause to catch your breath after a long stair climbing, and look back to see how many steps you’ve covered. You turn around, only to have your breath taken away again, the whole city of Prague is now below you, a field of red you see, as the brick roof covered buildings scatter across the city, to slowly fade away in the horizon, while in the middle runs a river, across it the bridge of Charles, and behind it the Church of St. Methodius, each landmark with a story greater than the other, but now I’m on the top of it all, and I have to follow the story the castle to its end. I grab a sip of water, pass the gates, and here it was, the Castle of Prague.

The castle itself was at the center of the old town, a town of many routes and paths. I felt lost and needed some guidance, so I went inside the tourists office and grabbed a map of the place, I walked outside trying to figure out where I am on this map, so I looked around perhaps I can guide myself, when my eyes came across an old grey haired man wearing a grey coloured jacket with a small blue bag in his hands, sitting there on a bench contemplating the beauty around him in peace and silence. He smiled at me, I smiled back, and then he asked:

“Do you need any help young man ?”

I replied politely with a thanks and added ” I’m trying to guide myself through this old city, do you know where I am on this map ? “

He chuckled.

“I was born in 1929 in Prague and lived my whole life here, I know its streets and roads like I know my own name, show me this map” The old man said, as he moved aside the bench to give me some space so we can observe the map together. 

At this point I forgot that I even wanted guidance, and took off my backpack to sit down, delighted as I knew he was a man with rich stories to tell.

I sat down, and the next hour to come was my best part of Prague.

– So you are right here, and that’s the old castle as you can see on the map. He pointed out my location with so much ease.

– This route takes you to the old town, and this route to Franz Kafka’s home where he stayed here for 5 years” 

– Oh really ? Kafka stayed here in this old town ?  

– Well you see, Kafka did not have the best relationship with his father ever since childhood. His troubled relationship was mainly due to his father’s dominating violent figure, so they fought  a lot, and of course it’s worth mentioning that all his sisters died in the holocaust during the war,  no wonder why Kafka’s writings are so depressive.  So at the age of 31,  Kafka finally managed to move out, and came to this old town,  where he found this small cheap house , and stayed for 5 years until he had some more money in his pocket. You can go see it for yourself, it’s made a small museum today. We can also go together if you’d like and I will show you around town.  And if you have more time, I can also take you to my house in the evening and have dinner with my wife. 

The old man seemed to be very enthusiastic and happy with our conversation, and so was I, and I wished there was more time for him to show me around, but unfortunately time was short. 

– How nice of you ! But our bus back to Cologne is early in the morning, so there isn’t a lot of time sadly, but I would like you to tell me some nice stories of Prague, I’m sure you have a lot of them .  

–  In front of you is old church, they say it’s been built centuries ago with a Gothic architecture, but I disagree, the construction paused for centuries and it was recently reconstructed again with a Gothic design, so it’s not genuinely Gothic, but Neo-Gothic i should say.  That doesn’t mean to take away any of its beauty, but just to be historically accurate.  I hope you’re understanding my English !

He repeatedly apologised for his English although I could understand him perfectly. He probably hasn’t spoke English for a long time. 

I grabbed my journal book and my pen, and started writing down some notes as he spoke.

– So where do you come from ? He asked me. 

– I come from Lebanon, this tiny small country in the middle east, Have you heard of it ? 

 He laughed as he felt his knowledge is being underestimated. He grabbed my pen and told me to read as he wrote on my journal :” Sedr “.

– How do you pronounce this ? He asked. 

–  S-e-d-r.  
It sounded pretty simple to me, as I wasn’t pretty sure what he was hinting at.

Then suddenly I realised he’s trying to write “Cedar”but in Czech. 

– Oh ! you mean Cedar, like the tree! 

– Yes, the Cedar tree, “Sedr” as we say it in Czech, the famous trees from the land of Lebanon, at the heart of the Lebanese flag. 

I smiled because of his intelligent way to prove himself. He could’ve just said yes I do know Lebanon, but instead he favoured to play a little game here. 

We went on for about an hour of discussion, he told me about his life as he used to work in cinematography and dubbing. That was all during the communism days, where he emphasised how these days weren’t really the best of days, people were living a fairly good life, however, they were poor in comparison to the countries around them. A trip to any country used to cost him a fortune. 

– I always wanted to go to Cologne, visit the famous Cologne Cathedral, but that is way too expensive for me. Maybe one day. Always remember, communism is never a good thing. 

He expressed his misfortune on how the old generation that came from a communist background like himself are so poor relative to the newer generation living in today’s capitalistic nation, creating a big gap of wealth between the two. 

– My career in cinematography wasn’t the only thing I did, I had to work something in my free to make enough money, so I used be a tourist guide on weekends. 

No wonder why he is sitting here, he probably have so much memories in this place, as a little kid playing in the streets of this old town , and as an adult guiding tourist around to make enough money. This town is his home, and his heart belongs at home. 

– Tell me about the story of Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš, the two soldiers who were killed by the Nazis in the church of St.Methodius ? What do you remember about it ? 

– I was 13 years old when that incident happened in 1942 . I had school on that day, so I woke up early in the morning as usual, had my breakfast, and took the tram that leads to school, but on that day, the trip wasn’t my usual one. At around 7:30 am, Nazi soldiers stopped the tram and told us to step outside as the trip cannot go any further. I didn’t know where to go, so I stepped out of the tram and followed the crowd of people as they were all looking towards the church of St.Methodius from afar while the Nazis blocked the streets. A couple of minutes later, we heard gunshots, and the famous battle began. It took about 30 minutes and ended with the tragic death of our two heroes, and with the weeping of the Czech people outside the church, both men and women. It was a sad day in Czechoslovakia.

We gave it a moment of silence there. 

– How do you know the story ? He asked me. 

– My father showed me once an old 1975 movie about it called “Dawn Operation”, it was really well made and the story is still stuck in my head. But I would also like to know, did the Czechs and Slovaks get along with each other back in these day ? Did they like one another ? 

– We lived along for decades, we both have our own culture and traditions, but at the end of the day, we all stood by each other’s side in support and in need. The reason behind Czechoslovakia’s dissolution is mainly due to it’s poor management and wealth during the Soviet era, it wasn’t not the people’s fault, but the system. Remember, Communism is a bad thing. 

He repeated his statement, and I felt more in agreement with him. 

An hour almost passed by at this point, and I wasn’t alone, my friends were also listening to our conversation, but we had leave soon or else we won’t be able to cover the whole place, and I sadly had to excuse myself to continue the exploration of this old town. So I gave him my pen and journal and told him to write down his name as a memory to keep.  

                                        Slavek Kriz

-My name is Slavek Kriz, Kriz actually means cross in Czech.

– I will remember that name, thank you Slavek.

– I would’ve asked your name, but my memory is rusty these days you see, but I will remember your face, and you’re always welcome in Prague again young man. 

I stood up but the bench seemed to be holding onto me, I wanted to continue this conversation, or perhaps try the dinner with his wife in the evening as he offered, but time was running out, and the home of Franz Kafka was still waiting for us. 

– Thank you Slavek, it was wonderful talking to you, I hope we meet again one day, as I will surely be coming here again. 

The sun was setting down as we walked across the old golden looking streets of Prague towards Kafka’s home. I walked with a smile thinking about this memorable incident that would make a really nice story. The story of the Old man of Prague.