Zubr Hunting_Pattern for hand stitching

This is a pattern for your hand stitching.
Technique - Cross Stitching
Skill level – intermediate to advanced
Finished measurments - 13½’ x 10’ x (34 cm x 25 cm)
Stitch count -- 183 x 137
Materials: Fabric – 14 count Aida, Rustic or Oatmeal
Threads -- DMC Cotton
There are two variants of the charts -- b/w and colour.
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Zubr Hunting

This is a marvelous story about the remarkable poem, The Song of the Zubr, written in 1522 by Belarusan diplomat Mikola Husoŭski especially for Pope Leo X.
The zubr is the Belarusan name for an animal like American bison, but quite bigger. It has been preserved only in Belarus.

History tells an amazing story of how this came to be.
The Vatican, 1521. Pope Leo X arranges entertainment for his guests: the ambassador from the distant northern country of the Grand Principality of Litva (the medieval Belarus) Bishop Erasm Vitely along with his retinue. Ah, how he wanted to impress the foreigners with this new show—the still-novel Italian corrida!
…But suddenly, someone in the retinue exclaimed: "Wow! It looks just like our zubr hunting!"
That sparced a number of curious questions from the Pope. Mikola from Husaŭ happened to be in the retinue. As the son of a forest warden and a great hunter himself, he began to recount his hunting adventures. He explained that zubr hunting resembled a corrida, but instead of taking place in a ring, it was held directly in the forest. Some daredevils would even face the furious wild animal in single combat. In fact, such events were held as training for soldiership skills.
The amazed Pope asked the ambassador to present him with a stuffed specimen of this odd animal and requested a poem written in verse about it (as was the fashion at the time).
The Bishop immediately sent messengers to Kniaz* Radzivill for a stuffed animal; and Mikola Husoŭski was ordered to write down his entire story on paper and to compose a truly poetic work about the zubr, the country, and the hunts.

The Song Appears.
Thus, in 1522, The Song of The Zubr appeared to the world. It has become a brilliant piece of art of the Renaissance—a work of a high poetry that belongs to the treasury of world literature. In truth, it was a song about his home country, the grand hymn of his motherland, its nature, and of the courageous, beautiful soul of its people.
Written in Latin, the international language of the era, the poem was meant to introduce European society to medieval Belarus, its people, their customs, and their outlook on the world. And for us, their descendants, it has become a vital chronicle of life during that time.
“So, let's go to the North, into the depths of the forests!
As a tracker, I will lead you, for I am used to it.
We are going to meet the formidable, mighty animal there.
Let him roar; and this roar will break through my lines
Like an echo, the song will attain a harmony.
Let him butt my line, so that we can look upon
This wonder in the expanse of the Litvian Duchy.
Its mighty body is so huge that if it is mortally wounded
And, wounded, kneels down,
Three hunters can sit between its horns...
...Our land is a wonderful haven of mysteries and miracles...”

A Land of Giants.
This is a story about a country of mighty volats (giant; strong, valiant men)—of nature and men who were equal in strength in the struggle for life. It was a country, where stalwart fellows regarded ferocious competition with furious, wild animals as entertainment.
It is the story of a volat-state governed by wise, fair rulers, and defended by courageous, strong warriors who steeled their valour in competitions and hunts.
This was a wealthy, free country where "everybody is equal before the law and has a right to hunt, so obtain as much, as you can"(© M.H.). It was a place where a peasant or a forest warden's son had the opportunity to study at any university in Europe or hold a position in any government service.
It was a country of educated artists and poets, where spirituality was considered the highest value—where hunters became diplomats, and diplomats, by chance became poets.
Namely, such a country was capable to halting the mighty invasions of the Golden Horde from the east and the Crusaders from the west at the exact same time.

And this is the story of how The Zubr became our proudly admired and dearly beloved national animal through the centuries since that time.

My personal story
Finally, there is my personal story connected with this work—my essay The Country of Free Volats which was written as my homework during my first year of English school in Canada.
The essay can be found on my website: https://ivarabei.wixsite.com/spiritofbelarus/free-volats

In my design, I included the solar signs of ancestors and male valor to the left upper corner of the piece.
At the bottom is an inscription reading “Zubr Hunting”, rendered in the Belarusan Traditional Stitching Motifs Font**, alongside the symbols of forest and a woodland.
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*Kniaz is a highest noble rank; in this case, the ruler of the country.
** Belarusan Traditional Stitching Motifs Font is a stylized interpretation of the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets, inspired by traditional Belarusan ornamental patterns found on belts and towels. It was created by Belarusan philosopher and linguist Mihail Bayaryn.
It can be accessed here:
http://bayaryn.blogspot.com/2014/06/blog-post_8.html