Ksaver Šandor Gjalski

“ A fight developed in which four soldiers and fifteen peasants fell. The crowd fled and we held the graveyard.
Suddenly upon a hilltop a woman appeared. She implored the crowd to turn back, not to fear nor to run away.
“Cowards! At a shot you run like rabbits. If there is a man here let him come to me! What do you think will become of you if you desert the graves of your fathers? Here! here! Now if you are such heroes fire at my breast!”
I recognized the voice of Naja, as she threw open the embroidered shirt, and uncovered a breast as white as the snow. ”

“ Below rushed the river, and from a black, unsightly mass some distance away, came the ponderous rolling of a mill-wheel. Then from the mill or from a boat, rose the voice of a girl in song. Pero started nervously and then paused:
“That’s her song!” He stood in silence until the song died away upon the darkness. ”

“ With difficulty could I believe that such peasant hearts could love.
Soon I had an opportunity to be convinced. I heard about Janko’s affair. The Zadruga was to be settled. To him fell the largest share of the land, but just on that account, no argument could be reached with the rest of the family. They knew how to impel the lawyers to some new subterfuge to hinder the allotment. Janko was all but crazy. He was especially upset because Jagica’s father favored Tono, and reproached him with the delay of the allotment. ”

“ The pope and the elders sold us! They took the best fields themselves and then went over to the proprietors. What shall we do when they rob us of everything? And now the hungry wolves haven’t enough; they want to take away the graveyard where our fathers, and our fathers’ fathers have slept for ages—since we came from Herzgovina two hundred years ago.”
Then I recalled Naja’s words and trembled. ”

“ In Naja’s village the peasants had risen in revolt against the land allotment. The plowmen of the landed proprietors who tried to plow the fields which had belonged to the peasants were knocked down and beaten. The peasants took the village elders, the mayor and the pope, and shut them up in a guard house. Military aid was summoned, and I was detailed to head it. Unfortunately I had the reputation of being an energetic man. ”

“ They say, too, that the girl who laughs in the spring, weeps in the fall. But I jest and laugh. But my father says a peasant has no reason to laugh. I suppose he means because of the land-measuring.”
“You mean the commensuration?”
“Something like that.”
“What business is that of yours, Naja? That’s an affair of men—not women.
“True. But I can talk of it with you, if I don’t with others. I have heard—everyone says so in the village—that our pope has plotted with the indznir [1] to give the old graveyard to the rich estate owners—and to give the peasants a new one somewhere in the forest.” ”

“ How you talk about Tono! I’ve promised you. Look at the Reaper [3] —what a way it has travelled. You’ve got two hours’ walk.”
“I wish Jagica you knew how easy the walk is for me now. I’d walk five hours to see you.” He grabbed her hand, then let it drop. “God grant—and the Holy Mother of God—that we marry soon. Please—please—go quick to the city and see about the land settlements. Tell the gentlemen that you want to marry. Fall is not far off.”
“What do gentlemen care about peasant weddings! ”

“ She is good. She can do all kinds of work.”
“The affair can drag itself out even when the proclamation of the division has been made. After that comes the appellation. That can last months and months, and even when that is finished there can be another delay in handing over the land to you. Say that you will take less. Perhaps it will expedite matters.”
The boy looked at me suspiciously. I knew how the peasants cling to every inch of ground. “If you are so much in love with the girl—and if you know by taking less the settlement can be hastened—then do it.” ”

“ Then the report came to his ear that Tono and Jagica were to be married. And a proof of it seemed to be that he could not meet Jagica as of old. In vain, night after night, he stood by the apple tree and waited. He sang all his songs. With Tono he had frequently quarreled and come to blows. If they had not been forcibly separated, one or the other would have been killed.
“If I could only speak with her! I want to hear her say that she has been unfaithful to me. The gentlemen in the city are the cause of this. ”

“ The devil knows what they mean. Ten times I have been to the city for the land settlement. Since the indznir [2] measured it, not a thing has been done.”
“Oh! I wish it was settled. Do you know my father is acting—queer! And every week old Mihalčic’ comes and asks for me to marry his Tono.”
“He better look out! I’ve served in the army and I know how to handle a gun. I’ll kill anyone who tries to take me away from you. You are mine—and nobody else’s.”
“Be quiet, Janko! I don’t like Tono. I’d rather jump into the water. I want only you. ”

“ A woman’s form came toward him a hundred steps away. From my place of concealment, behind the thick trunk of an old apple tree, I recognized in the girl—Jagica, the prettiest peasant girl in the country. ”

“ The anger of the peasants increased. The more I delayed the more angry they became. To an angry man or a wild animal one must never show lack of determination. It will be mistaken for weakness. The peasants were making bold to attack the soldiers. The captain turned to me to give an order. At length the uproar increased until I did not know what to do. At length, with an effort, I made myself calm. I gave command to attack. The peasants received the soldiers with rocks and shots. Blood shedding could not be avoided. In spite of that knowledge I told the soldiers to fire into the air. ”

“ They complained that the rich men had bought up the courts and the elders. But when the soldiers with bayonettes drew near, and pressed a few of them to the wall the crowd ran away. It was harder work in the forest and the pastures. Here weapons had to be used. But the great centre of opposition was the graveyard. There almost the entire village was assembled. Young and old men, women and children. ”