Kragujevac

“ By the 28th they had gained Svilajnatz, beating down the Serbian resistance by sheer weight of men and guns, and by the last day of the month they were within a day's march of Kragujevatz, in which was located Serbia's chief arsenal. Situated on the Lepenitza, a branch of the Morava, it lay about half way between Belgrade and Nish, on a branch line of the main railroad. It was a point well worth defending, and the Serbians did defend it stubbornly, but on November 1, 1915, they were compelled to evacuate it, after first destroying the arsenal and all the materials it contained. ”

“ When the scandal about the supposititious birth of an heir occurred, the wrath of the people turned to fury, and, in the night of May 28th, 1903, the garrison of Belgrade carried out the sentence of the nation upon the King and Queen.
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The accession of the Karagjorgjević dynasty, who were really entitled to the crown, opens a new national and political era for Serbia. An old man was called to the throne, but a grand seigneur of the best French school—a school which did not produce debauchees and Boulevard-trotters, but soldiers and statesmen of the first order. ”

“ Karlowitz is the seat of an Orthodox metropolitan, and has several churches and schools, and a hospital. The fruit-farms and vineyards of the Fruška Gora, a range of hills to the south, yield excellent plum brandy and red wine. An obelisk at Slankamen, 13 m. E. by S., commemorates the defeat of the Turks by Louis of Baden, in 1691. The treaty of Karlowitz, between Austria, Turkey, Poland and Venice, was concluded in 1699; in 1848–1849 the city was the headquarters of Servian opposition to Hungary. ”

“ Truly Prince Marko possessed a striking and extraordinarily attractive personality: he so vividly impressed the minds of the Serbian people, people of all ranks and localities, that he has always been, remains to this day, and promises ever to remain, our most beloved hero. Indeed there is no Serbian to be found, even in the most remote districts, who has not a great love for Kralyevitch Marko, and who cannot tell his story. ”

“ Speak not falsely either to please thy father, or to satisfy the ambitions of thine uncles, but tell, I beg of thee, the truth before God lest thou shouldest lose thy soul. It were better that thou shouldst perish than sin against thy soul!”
Marko took the ancient documents, mounted Sharatz and rode forthwith to the plain of Kossovo. As he approached [69] his father’s tent King Voukashin saw him and exclaimed: “Oh, how fortunate am I! Here is my son Marko; he will say that the Empire was left to me, for of course he knows that it will pass from father to son!” ”

“ That is practically all the information we have and there is no body or substance in it. Yet every Serb knows and loves Marko, and reveres him as the greatest hero of the race. It is the traditional poetry that has wrought this marvel, that has atoned for the silence of history, that has endowed Kraljević with a robust vitality. Without it the great Marko would have been but the shadow of a shade.
Before dealing with the epic ballads wherein the exploits of the Serbian Hercules are recorded, let us look for a little at the historical picture of his time. ”

“ O my brother, Royal Prince Marko, there is no force which can tear thy Sharatz from thee; thou canst not die from any hero’s shining sabre, or battle-club, or lance of warrior; thou fearest no hero [116] on earth—but, alas! thou must die, O Marko! Death, the ancient slayer, will smite thee. If thou wilt not believe me, hasten to the summit of the mountain, look to the right and to the left, and thou wilt presently see two tall fir-trees covered with fresh green leaves and towering high above the other trees of the forest. ”

“ Cracow stands, as you know, on the northern edge of the Carpathians, at a point where the Vistula is as broad as the Thames at Windsor. The hills on the north and south were [302] strongly fortified, but the real defence of the city was the circle of deep entrenchments, pushed so far out from the town that the siege guns of the enemy could not get within range of it. While the Russians were advancing, the Austrian garrison of at least 100,000 men laboured night and day to make the fortified zone impregnable. ”

“ Early one morning the Royal Prince Marko rode across the plain of Kossovo. When he reached the river a maiden from Kossovo met him, and Marko greeted her in the usual Serbian custom: “May God aid thee, O maiden of Kossovo!”
The maiden bowed very profoundly, and answered: “Hail! thou unknown hero!”
Marko, after having looked for a while at her, said: “Dear sister, thou maiden of Kossovo, thou art beauteous, though thou mightest well be a little younger! Thou art tall, strong and graceful; thy cheeks look healthful and thou hast a pleasing and dignified appearance. ”

“ One may not even jest in peace."
Said Marko Kraljević:
"An ill jest for thee, Doge of Venice!
No jest it was to shave off thy beard.
Where is thy beard of yesterday?" 280
The Doge would have answered him again,
But Kraljević Marko waited not.
He swung his sabre and cut off his head.
Stepan Zemljić fled,
But Kraljević Marko overtook him,
And smote him with the sword,
So that of one man he made two.
Then he returned back to his tent,
He made ready himself and Sharatz,
The well-beseen wedding-guests set out, 290
And in peace they journeyed to white Prilep. ”

“ The valiant Nicholas I Petrovitch, the present King of Montenegro, and an indirect descendant out of Balshitch, was obliged by the Great Powers to evacuate the town after he had obtained possession of it by the heroism of his troops, and Serbian bards throughout the kingdom are now improvising ballads, in which they may transmit to future generations the story of the sad events of the present time, just as their ancestors recorded the exploits of Strahinya. ”

“ Some of the Serbs wish to keep aloof on the ground that Serbia in the last hundred years has borne the brunt of the battle—and this, whether they were or were not faced with a more difficult situation, is acknowledged by most of the Croats, who for that reason would never dream of wishing the more modern Zagreb to supplant Belgrade. Those few Croats who are not for Yugoslavia are moved by ecclesiastical prejudice or by their longing for the privileges which the Habsburgs granted them. ”

“ He soon acquired great proficiency in the mode of warfare practised by the Russians, and excited special admiration by his horsemanship and his prowess with the sword. After the retreat of Munich to Kiow, Crawford left him and joined the imperialists near Belgrade. When the army went into winter quarters, he accompanied Prince Eugène's regiment to Comorra, and thence proceeded to Vienna, still occupying his leisure chiefly in military studies. ”

“ Lo! we have dwelt happily together these many summers as beloved companions; till now thou hast never stumbled, and to-day for the first time thine eyes do weep: God alone knows what fate awaits us, but I can see that my life or thine is in great peril and that one of us is surely doomed to die.”
When Marko had spoken to his Sharatz thus, the veela from the Ourvinian mountain called to him: “My dear brother-in-God! O Royal Prince Marko! Knowest thou not, brother, why thy horse is stumbling? Thy Sharatz is grieving for thee, his master. ”

“ When Marko was a little child I used to caress him fondly, for he was dear to me as a golden apple, and always most precious. Whenever I rode out on horseback I always used to take Marko with me. O Marko! dear Marko, thou must say that the Empire is mine! It will be virtually thou who shalt reign as Tsar, and I shall be at thy right hand, at all times ready, as thy counsellor!” Marko, still without a word, and completely ignoring Voïvode Goyko, went straight on to the tent where Tsarevitch Ourosh was, and there he alighted from his Sharatz. ”

“ The maiden shed many bitter tears, and amidst her sobs answered Marko thus: “O dear brother, thou unknown knight! I am not the cause of mine own misfortune, and it is neither my mother nor yet my father who has brought great trouble upon me; but I have lost all happiness through the evil-doing of a Moor who dwells beyond the sea. He has taken possession of the whole field of Kossovo and has imposed, among other extortions, a terrible tax of thirty ducats to be paid by all brides, and thirty-four ducats by all bridegrooms. ”

“ MARKO KRALJEVIĆ AND DJEMO THE MOUNTAINEER
Kraljević Marko Celebrated his Slava,
He kept his Slava that fell on St George's day.
And many invited guests were there—
Two hundred priests, three hundred monks,
Twelve Serbian bishops,
Four patriarchs well stricken in years,
And others without number.
For all there was meat and drink and to spare,
Natheless an aged monk lift up his voice and said:
"Give thee thanks, Kraljević Marko!⁠10
There had nothing lacked in thy white manor,
An thou hadst fish from Ochrida [1] !" ”

“ In a few days we go to bring him who knows not he is king, and at the head of a valorous people seat him on his throne. Now are the days when only a man must lead. My ancestors threw this land into Russia's clutches, their descendant must return it to Krovitch's rightful king. This is about all, Captain Carter, except that when King Stovik fled he was supposed to have worn the medal found on your chauffeur. Doubtless at some time a member of Carrick's family received it as a mark of royal gratitude. ”

“ Kreutz and Crawley were in communication.
'There is more than chance in that frightful appearance,' I heard Crawley say. 'And this calm too—it will never end. God have mercy on us! Is there no man that will undertake to sink the body? I cannot stand the gaze of these white balls. See! the face is directed towards me; and yet I did not do the deed, though I authorized it. Will no one save me from the glare of the grim avenger? I will give twenty gold pieces to the man who will remove it to the deep. ”

“ PRINCE MARKO AND GENERAL VOUTCHA
Hark! Is it thunder or is it an earthquake? Neither, but guns are roaring from fort Varadin: General Voutcha is feasting in triumph, for he has captured three Serbian heroes; the first is Milosh of Potzerye, the second is Milan of Toplitza, and the third is Ivan Kosantchitch. The General has thrown them into the [90] deepest dungeons of his castle, noisome holes where stagnant water lies knee-deep and the bones of warriors lie piled as high as the shoulders of a hero. ”

“ After having bound his falcon’s wing, Marko sprang upon Sharatz and sped through the forest swift as a veela. Soon he left the mountain behind and he observed the fleeing Turks in front of him. The Vizir turned in his saddle and saw Marko in the distance, wherefore he spoke thus to his twelve valiant companions: “Ye, my children, ye twelve valiant heroes! See ye yonder mountain-mist approaching, and in it the Royal Prince Marko? Hark! how fiercely he enrages his Sharatz! God alone knows, what will befall us!” ”

“ Entire ballads are devoted to beautiful examples of such love. There is no greater and more solemn oath for a sister in Serbia than that sworn by the name of her brother.
2 Kroushevatz was the capital of the vast Serbian empire during the reign of Tsar Lazarus Hrebélianovitch at the time of the famous battle of Kossovo (A.D. 1389) .
3 Laboud means white swan in Serbian.
4 The Turkish sultan, Amourath I, perished by the hand of Voïvode Milosh. That great Serbian hero stabbed him with his secret poniard when conducted as an alleged traitor to the sultan’s presence. ”

“ There, by the streamlet Sitnitza, where blood was running above a hero’s knees, perished Ban Strahinya.
“But our heroes did not die alone! Twelve thousand Turks lie prone upon the plain. Sultan Mourat5 was slain by Voïvode Milosh. May God forgive all his sins! The hero has bequeathed to the Serbian race a memory of noble deeds that shall be recounted by the bards as long as men live and Kossovo stays. As for the traitor Vouk, accursed be she who gave him birth! He betrayed our tsar on Kossovo, leading astray, O my lady! twelve thousand fierce cuirassiers of our people! ”

“ Miloš sate him down and wrote a letter,
To Prilep the white castle,⁠30
To Marko Kraljević, his pobratim:
"Brother-in-God, Kraljević Marko,
Hast thou not heard—or carest thou naught for me?
Into sore straits am I come,
In the hands of the Magyars.
General Vuča hath taken me,
And with me my two pobratims.
He hath cast us into the depths of a dungeon,
Where the water cometh to our knees,
And the bones of dead heroes are shoulder-high. ”

“ Are the Serbian knights in good health? And is all well with the glorious Tsar and King!”
The couriers again made humble obeisance, saying: “O noble Lord, thou most Royal Prince Marko! All are well, though not, we fear, upon friendly terms together! The King, thy father, and other princes are seriously contending for the Empire upon Kossovo, that vast field which is near the church Samodrezja; they are ready to stab each other at any moment with their blades, for they know not to whom the Empire rightly belongs. ”

“ In the old kingdom of Serbia, with much the greater part of the land in peasant possession, it may be said that there is no agrarian problem.... Those enemies of Yugoslavia, by the way, who have hoped that the particularism of Croatia would be something altogether different from what it is, should have mingled with the crowd at Zagreb on the evening of Prince Alexander's arrival in July 1920. ”