Marko Kraljević

“ Hold thy peace, Vila, be thou stricken dumb!
What hath he not done for me?
What hath not Marko Kraljević done for me?⁠20
Thereof shalt thou well wit and know.
When the army perished at Kossovo,
And both Emperors were slain,
Even Knez Lazar and Sultan Murad,
The blood that fell reached to the horses' stirrups,
Yea, and to the silken girdles of the knights,
That horses and knights swam therein,
Horse against horse, hero against hero! ”

“ There is no Serb to whom the name of Marko Kraljević is unfamiliar. I propose to mention here certain incidents in his career which, for the greater part, are not in the heroic ballads, but occur in tales and legends. Marko is reputed to have been much stronger than any man living, either then or now. In the 71st ballad of the 2nd book [9] ("The Turks at Marko's Slava") , Marko's mace, which he swung and flung with one hand, is said to have weighed 66 okas [10] . ”

“ Marko's fealty to the Sultan when thus manipulated and adroitly combined with the suggestion that the nominal servant was in reality greater than his lord, could prove no bar to his popular acceptability. On the contrary, it was in this dual aspect that he became the national hero, the ideal exemplar, the proud symbol expressive of the unbroken spirit that lived on in spite of disaster and defeat, and kept alive the confident hope that however long the night, darkness must ultimately give place to the dawn of another day. ”

“ Marko looked well at the damascened sabre,
And to the crier he said:
"I will give thee nine hundred,
Nine hundred ducats, all of yellow gold, 20
But hear me, thou crier!
Let us seek a secluded spot,
Let us withdraw us from here a little,
That so I may count out to thee all the yellow ducats.
It liketh me not here to ungird me,
And to do off my three belts of gold,
For here I owe much money to a Turk,
He would not suffer me to buy the sword."
The Turk had joy of these words,
So they went up by Sitnica river, 30
Under the white stone bridge. ”

“ MARKO KRALJEVIĆ AND THE DAUGHTER
OF THE MOORISH KING
Marko's mother asked a question:
"Ah, my son, Kraljević Marko,
Wherefore dost thou build so many pious buildings?
Hast thou sinned greatly against God?
Or doth gold come to thee without labour [1] ?" ”

“ But from within Marko spake to him:
"Suffer him to pass, Sharatz!"
When Sharatz heard Marko,
He suffered him to pass into the new tavern.
And when Philip entered into the tavern,
He gave no "God aid thee,"
But grasped his heavy mace ⁠160
And smote Kraljević Marko,
Smote him on his hero's shoulders.
Little enough recked Marko,
And to Philip the Magyar he said:
"Sit thee down in peace, thou Magyar bastard!
Wake not the fleas on my skin,
But light down from thy horse that we may drink wine.
There will still be time for fighting." ”

“ And it came to the vineyard by the level shore.40
The three Serb knights looked up,
And lo! the Perilous Knight was there,
With a fellowship of twelve knights with him.
And when Marko Kraljević saw it.
He spake unto Relja and unto Miloš, saying [1] :
"Hearken ye, my two pobratims!
See where he comes, the Perilous Knight!
Meseemeth all three we should lose our heads.
But come, let us flee hence [2] !"
But Miloš spake and said:50
"Pobratim, Kraljević Marko!
Today folk deem and say also,
That three better knights of prowess are not,
Than we three Serbian Vojvodas. ”

“ And wearied so many horses,
Since that the maid is not for thee,
But for me, Kraljević Marko?" 20
Janko held his peace and said nothing.
But he turned him to Pavle Ustupčić
And spake to him (softly) [2] , saying:
"Whither goest thou, Pavle?
Wherefore hast thou troubled so many guests,
And wearied so many horses?
Not for me the maiden, nor yet for thee,
But for the falcon, Marko Kraljević."
Pavle held his peace, he said nothing,
But he rode forward before his wedding-guests. ”

“ One man became two,
Out of twelve Marko made twice so many,
Of twelve Moors he made four and twenty.
And so he passed athwart the level plain,
Like a star athwart a clear sky. 60
Straight to Prilep town he went
To his white manor.
He called Jevrosima his mother:
"Jevrosima," quoth he, "mine aged mother,
Mother, my sweet, dear one,
Behold, mother, my sister-in-God.
Nourish her, mother, as thou hast nourished me.
Give her in marriage as she were thine own daughter,
That in this wise we may gain friends." ”

“ Truly none may take Sharatz from thee,
Nor mayst thou be slain, Marko,
By means of might or by sharp sword,
By war-spear or by battle-mace.
Thou fearest no earthly knight,
Yet shalt thou die, Marko,
By the hand of God, that old slayer.
But if thou wilt not believe me, 40
When thou comest to the top of the mountain,
Look about thee from the right hand to the left,
And thou shalt see two slim fir trees
That out-top all the trees of the forest,
And crown the forest with their verdure,
And between them is a well of water ”

“ 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. ”

“ Whence hast thou this sharp sabre?
Hast thou bought it for gold?
Or hast thou won it in battle?
Was it bequeathed thee by thy father?
Or did thy wife bring it thee?
Did thy wife bring it as dowry?"
Mustapha-Aga, the Turk, answered him:
"Body of me, Giaour Marko! 100
Since thou askest, I will tell thee truly."
And he told him all even as it had come to pass.
To him spake Kraljević Marko:
"God do so unto thee, Turk, and more also!
Wherefore didst thou not heal his wounds?
I should have caused thee to receive favour
At the hands of our illustrious Sultan." ”

“ And Marko made answer to the Sultan:
"With all speed, O my father, the Sultan!⁠130
But not yet have I drunk my fill of wine,
Nor am not near risen from my Slava."
And when the dayspring of the second morn was come,
Again the Arab watchers cried:
"Charge, fierce Arabs!
For departed is the terrible knight
That rideth on the great piebald steed."
Forthwithal the Arabs hurled forward,
And sixty thousand warriors assailed the Sultan.
Again the Sultan wrote a letter to Marko:⁠140
"Come quickly, my son Marko!
Sixty thousand warriors assail me!" ”

“ This day is thy glorious Slava,
If any enter into thy manor this day,
Give drink to the thirsty, give food to the hungry,
For the souls of thy parents,
And for the weal of thine own soul and Jelina's [1] ."
Marko gave heed to his mother, 90
He put by his sabre but put not his mace aside,
So the Turks entered into the manor to their scathe.
And he set them in order round the table.
"Vaistina," quoth Marko, "give them to drink,
Jela, my soul, give them to eat." ”

“ She went to Marko's dungeon
And told him all that the King had said.
When Kraljević Marko heard it, 90
He made such dole that even God was ware of it,
And to the damsel he said:
"Sister-in-God, king's daughter,
Bring me inkhorn and paper,
That I may prepare a letter,
And send it to my mother at Prilep,
That she may sell lands and cities.
Let her sell them, and give money for my soul,
And nourish her, and protect her from evil. ”

“ Then he mounted Marko's Sharatz,
And by the halter led the brown horse
Whereon he had bound Marko,
And came straightway to white Ochrida.
And by Ochrida he set up a gallows,
For there he purposed to hang Marko.
But the Christian lords besought him, saying:
"Brother-in-God, Djemo the Mountaineer,
Hang not Marko here,
Lest vine and wheat bear not any fruit. ⁠100
Lo, here be three charges of gold!" ”

“ And spread it on the grass beneath the fir trees,
He made the sign of the rood and sate him down on the mantle;
He pulled his sable kalpak over his eyes,
Then laid him down never to rise no more.
By the well lay the dead Marko,
From day and again to day, a week of days,
For whoso by adventure passed that way 120
And was ware of Marko,
He did think ever that Marko surely slept,
And made wide his path round about him,
For fear lest he should wake Marko.
Where good fortune is, there also is evil fortune,
And where evil fortune is, there is good fortune also ”

“ In the dungeon Marko made dole and sorrow out of measure;
Such dole he made that God himself was ware of it.
And Marko looked out to the market-place of Azak,
If haply he might see one of his own men. ”

“ God took pity on him and miraculously transported Šarac and his master to a cave where both continue to live to this day. Thrusting his sword into the rock, Marko lay down and fell asleep and still he sleeps. Before Šarac is a patch of moss at which he nibbles from time to time. Little by little Marko's sword emerges from the rock, and when Šarac eats all the moss and the sword falls down at last out of the rock, then shall Marko once more go forth into the world. ”

“ Marko's mother spake to him, saying:
"O my son, Kraljevic Marko,
Cease, my son, from thy adventures,
For evil may bring no good thing with it,
And it wearies thine aged mother,
That she must ever be washing bloody garments. ”

“ Then did Kraljević Marko make known his presence:
"Ha, Lady," quoth he, "thou Turkish maiden!
What is it that urgeth thee into the lake?
Wherefore wilt thou wed thee with the lake?
Into what sore straits art thou come?" ”

“ A child born with a caul is "vidovit"—it knows more than other children and may safely associate with Vilas (Vuk's Dict.) . ↑ Cf. Chadwick, The Heroic Age, p. 440 f.: "On the whole warfare is the state of affairs most commonly involved in heroic stories. It is ↑ "Marko Kraljević and General Vuča," p. 49, l. 108. ↑ "The Sister of Leka Kapetan," pp. 29-45, ll. 530-548. It is interesting to note in this connection that Talvj thoroughly disapproved of Marko. ”

“ And drave them round the vineyard.
And behold there was the Perilous Knight,
Driving tofore him Relja and Miloš,
And the hands of both he had bound.
And when Marko saw it,
He was afeared as never before,
And he began to look whither he should flee.
But on a sudden him remembered,
How each had sworn to other,
That if one should be in straits,80
The others should come to his aid and comfort. ”

“ When his father pursues him with murderous intent, the hero flees from before him because he holds that it were unseemly for son to contend with father [50] , and, at a later date, when by chance he meets the Turk who slew Vukašin at the Marica river, Marko exacts fitting vengeance. It is in his relations with his mother, however, that his dutifulness as a son is most strikingly apparent. For her he cherishes an unbounded reverence and love. He constantly seeks her advice and follows it even when it runs counter to all his own natural instincts and desires [51] . ”

“ The Moor turned about his grey Arab mare,
And cried to Kraljević Marko:
"Woe betide thee, thou unknown knight! ⁠350
Which devil hath persuaded thee,
That thou shouldst come among my wedding-guests,
And slay the kum and the dever?
Art thou a witless churl that knowest naught of me?
Or art thou a knight of worship that hath lost his reason?
Or is life become a weariness to thee?
By the faith of my body,
I shall gather up the reins of my mare,
Seven times shall I leap over thee,
Seven times over thee, and seven times back, ⁠360
And then shall I smite off thy head!" ”

“ Wine is drinking, he, Kraljević Marko
With old woman, mother Jevrosima,
And when they have drank themselves with wine,
Mother started then talking to Marko:
"Listen my son, you Kraljević Marko,
I tell you to leave your warmongering,
For the evil never brings out the good,
And your mother got herself way too bored
all day washing your blood-stained clothes! ”

“ And all the people, both great and small, cried:
"God keep Kraljević Marko,
Who hath delivered the land from evil,
Who hath utterly destroyed the oppressor: 250
God save him, both soul and body!" ”

“ Then the Doge dismissed the barbers,
And spake softly to his god-daughter:
"Sit thee down, dear daughter."
But the Bulgar maid answered him:
"Ah, godfather, Doge of Venice,
If Kraljević Marko hear of this,
We shall both lose our heads."
The Doge said to the fair maiden:
"Sit thee down and play not the fool,
Marko is over yonder in the midst of the wedding-guests, 220
Where his white tent is pitched.
On the tent is a golden apple,
In the apple are two precious stones,
Which illumine half the camp,
So sit thee down that we may caress each the other." ”

“ But Marko danced with women in the kolo,
Marko girded on his well-forged sabre,
Marko garbed himself in green apparel,
Marko drank red wine in Ramadan.
And he forced the hodjas and the hadjis,10
That they also drank the wine-cup with him.
And there went Turks to seek judgment of the Sultan:
"Sultan Suleiman," said they, "our father and our mother!
Hast thou not let cry an order
That none should drink wine in Ramadan,
That none should wear green apparel,
That none should bear a sword,
That none should dance with women in the kolo! ”