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PirejPirej (Macedonian: ?????, transl. couch grass) is a novel by Macedonian author Petre M. Andreevski published in 1980. The novel, set during the period of the Balkan Wars, World War I and the period after, tells the story of Jon and Velika, a couple living in a village in southern Macedonia. The novel's title translated to couch grass refers to the perseverance and stoicism of Macedonian people through history. In modern day, Pirej is considered to be the author's magnum opus and one of the main and most important works written in Macedonian during the 20th century. It has been translated to Croatian, English, Russian and German.

Plot
The novel opens at Velika's funeral which is attended by her sixth child Roden Meglenoski. As he does not know much about his parents, he cannot understand why his mother refused to be buried next to his father. Duko Vendija, one of the other people who is present at the funeral retells him the story as he heard it from Roden's parents.

Jon's part
Jon starts telling his part of the story, reminiscing of his poor and unfortunate childhood mainly marked by his father's ruthlessness; he sent his wife back to her parents when she got sick because he did not want her in his house. He makes them say their last goodbyes to her, sends them off to the monastery and loses all contact with them. As time goes on, Jon grows up and has a more mature outlook on life. He finds shelter and support in priest Visarion who encourages him to learn and become literate. Unfortunately, his peaceful life at the monastery comes to an end with the arrival of the komiti who kill the priest, convincing Jon to join them. Since then his life becomes hard but he makes attempts to continue living normally as well. When choosing a wife, he only looked for force and hard-work in women; that's why he decided to take Velika when he sees the strength with which she works on the fields.

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