VĂ ROG REZUMATUL ACESTUI TEXT "Reminiscences of an Old Teacher"

When I worked at school in the 70s, I often took my schoolchildren to the forest. You know, Moldova is famous for its forests (the Codrii). They are beautiful, especially in autumn. Besides, I wanted my students to know the history of our motherland better. Sometimes we went on picnics, other times we went hiking, and our hikes were made to learn serious things. For exam ple, one day we decided to go to the Capriana Monastery to study its history. When we came to Căpriana, to our great disappointment, we found out that the monastery had been turned into a hospital for children with TB (tuber culosis). Of course, we were not allowed to go inside it or even into its yard.
We made a circle round the monastery and decided to go to the for est which was protected by the state and was considered a national park. The forest impressed us by its enchanting beauty because ship pine trees grew there. We lost the sense of reality for some time. The scent of pine trees made us forget about reality. Everything was mysterious there, every sound, every step- every rustle of dry leaves.
Soon that part of the forest ended. Suddenly, we found ourselves on the way to Strășeni. The way to Strășeni lay through the wood as well, but the trees were different. Oaks! Beautiful tall oaks! And then we came to that historic tree which is connected with the so-called "forest historical muse um". People say that once Stefan cel Mare had a rest in the shade of that oak. It was huge and seemed powerful; the most powerful of all the trees around it - and the most powerful of all the trees we had ever seen before. There were twelve of us and, when we tried to make a circle around the tree standing hand in hand, there weren't enough people and hands to close the chain. So you see what places there are in our country! But some pain remained in our hearts because of the monastery.
Nowadays, the monastery is restored and serves its purpose. It is one of the most frequently visited monasteries in the Republic.​