There was a scholarly gathering in Motovun today in celebration of the four-hundredth anniversary of the consecration of St. Stephen’s church on the upper square. A number of learned people from all over Istria got together for the occasion. Many of them gave talks, as well. Although I learned about the gathering this morning, I did not attend it. In fact, it did not even cross my mind to go there. As it turned out, at most thirty people were there at any one time, anyhow. Not too many, to be sure. For some reason, very few people from the hilltown were among them. In a sense, I sided with them rather than the learned ones. Try as I may, I cannot figure out why. But chances are that I am getting ever more annoyed with learned people of all stripes. The bulk of them have been a huge disappointment for me over the years. At the same time, common folk are ever closer to my heart. The less educated, the better. At any rate, this is my best bet about the reason for not joining today’s celebration. Alas, I am too educated myself to be sure of any of the above.