The passage, an excerpt from Alexandros Papadiamantis’ work At Christ’s Castle and specifically the section The Priest’s Wife’s Vow, describes a conversation taking place in a priest’s home as Christmas approaches.The central tension revolves around a serious vow made by the papadia (the priest’s wife) when their only son, Spyros (Lambrakis), nearly died the previous year. According to this vow, she is obliged to travel for the Christmas service to Christ at the Castle, a journey extremely dangerous because of the harsh winter.Despite the priest’s objections, the priest’s wife firmly decides that she will follow him no matter what, explaining that she feels safe only by his side. Their two daughters react with mixed feelings of fear and jealousy, while the priest postpones making a final decision, waiting for the opinion of barba-Stefanis Bérkos.