All islanders have a nickname that often reflects the people’s sarcastic and playful disposition.
And so the People of Kythira They have their own story, which stems from a funny incident that took place during the period of British protection. The story goes that an English official visited a village on Kythira, where he was hosted at a Tsirigotiko house. During lunch, the Englishman took a small fried fish from the table and ’hid it in his fist.‘ and began playing with the house cat, which, smelling the fish, was running up and down and jumping around the Englishman’s hand. Amused by the cat’s antics, the Englishman said that in England they train cats to dance.
Then Tsirigotis, to return the teasing, put a sardine and a cicada in a cage, presented it to the Englishman, and said ’And we in Kythira put the sardine in a cage, and it chirped!« Ever since then, we’ve been known by the nickname »sardine-cage people.«.
