Written by Petrit Latifi

Gjoka, Son of Gjeka Pal Brisku (1876-1964)

The Briskanjori arrived first, but King Nikola did not keep his word. The story of how King Nikola Petrovic did not honor his word to the Albanian young boy Gjoka who won the race of getting Nikols “livore”.

King Nikola came for a visit to Virpazar. There, the people of Crmnica and Shestani gathered to welcome him. The Prince (Knjaz) arrived and announced that at the top of the hill, along the road he had traveled from Rijeka Crnojevića, he had left his livore (a symbolic marker). The first person to reach it would claim it as theirs. Many young men from Crmnica and Shestani participated in the race. Among them was a young man from the Brisku family, Gjoka, son of Gjeka Pal Brisku (1876-1964).

Full of life energy, he had grown up as a shepherd, tending livestock on the hills of Rumia. He was raised on cornbread, sheep’s milk, and the snowmelt water from Rumia’s caves, which remained throughout the summer. King Nikola gave the signal, and the race began. With great effort, the young man from Brisku arrived first and claimed the livore of King Nikola. Holding it in his hands, he reached the king, overjoyed.

However, when King Nikola realized who he was and where he came from, he angrily took the livore from the young man’s hands and said, “This belongs to me.”

Gjoka would often recount the joy he felt when, among thousands of competitors in King Nikola’s race, he—dressed in caruçë (traditional footwear), çakshirë (trousers), and a waistband—was the first to reach the livore. The king did not keep his word when he realized that Gjoka was an Albanian from Shestani and did not understand the Montenegrin language.

Taken from Djoko-Djoka Markov Dabović (Dabaj): The Tribe of Shestani.
Translated into Albanian by: Zefi Gjonit Lucit Kovaçi
Posted by: Zijad Mariseni