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The Indecent Little Man
The Indecent Little Man On the south-facing side of the Church of St. James, if you have a good look high up to the end of the Gothic arch, you will notice an oddity: the indecent little man. It is said that their lordships up on Petrov Hill and those down at St. James`s had never been the greatest of friends. Thus when the two churches were being built everyone was waiting for things to happen. At Petrov they had more money, but at St. James`s they had a better master builder who had worked abroad on the construction of Strasbourg Cathedral. He was well acquainted with his job and his work was done quickly. He was also a great joker, and was a favourite of both his assistants and the burghers of Brno. The construction of St. Peter`s church was lagging behind. Down in the city jokes were made, saying that the Church of St James would be completed before anything had been built on Petrov Hill, which made the people of Petrov very angry. Because they were more powerful, they saw to it that the stone-mason of St. James`s quit his job and left Brno. Down in the city the gentlemen reluctantly told him the news. The master agreed to leave but asked for one wish to be fulfilled: "Allow me to complete the window that I am working on at present." When he had completed the window and uncovered it, everybody was surprised, for they realised that the master-stonemason had gained sweet revenge upon those on Petrov. Above the window, at the convergence of the arches, a little man can be seen displaying his bare buttocks towards those up on Petrov Hill who had driven him out of the city.
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