Crows

Crows are recurring weather omens in Lipce, their movements marking a shift from ominous calm to storm and then to the suspended quiet after heavy snowfall. They do not cause these disturbances; their presence makes the changing atmosphere legible, tying ordinary animal behavior to the villagers’ exposure to the elements.

Signs Before the Storm

As the weather grows warmer, ice drips from thatched roofs and mist rises over the marshes, while the sky remains cloudless. Against this deceptively clear scene, crows hover near the houses and cockerels crow. The narration presents their activity as a warning that the pleasant appearance of the day cannot be trusted. Their first appearance falls on a Sunday when Lipce is already busy preparing for Boryna and Jagna’s wedding, setting communal celebration beside an unease the weather has not yet disclosed.

Flight into Shelter

When the sky darkens, the storm is rendered as a force overwhelming the countryside. The world falls silent; animals and people react before the gale breaks fully loose. Crows swoop with piercing cries into barns or onto porches, seeking shelter as the village is overtaken by freezing fog and furious winds. Their flight is part of a wider disturbance that includes a hare racing through the village, Village dogs howling, and a blind mare blundering along the pond banks with the remains of a cart. The crows’ cries and sudden retreat give the approaching storm an audible, animal presence.

After the Snowfall

After snow falls for two days and two nights, burying cottages and making the roads impassable, the village gradually stirs again. On about the third day, however, the snowfall dwindles without bringing a clear or reassuring change: the sky stays overcast, crows remain around the houses and alight beside the roads, and night closes in starless and quiet. The birds’ recurrence connects this stillness to the earlier warning. Their return does not establish what the weather will do next, but it accompanies the villagers’ continued expectation of danger; the following morning, Old Bylica remarks that even the slightest wind could raise a snowstorm.