The Wedding of Ali Ograšović

Sung by Mujo Velić

(See comments on this poem)

Let us sing and hold converse here amongst ourselves,	1
let us sing and be happy,	2
for by our doing this our God himself may give us     cause for joyfulness.	3
We should tell of things that happened long ago,	4
of things which, being ancient, we now recall to mind.	5
Let it be a song of warfare	6
and of combat, when a man’s head, being struck off,     goes flying through the air.	7
A Turkish lad arose betimes one day	8
in his high house.	9
Getting up, the young man	10
put on a Stambolian coat	11
and donned his scarlet walking shoes;	12
then he left the bright house.	13
First he went down to his private courtyard,	14
and when he had traversed it, he came into the stable.	15
There he found his good bay horse,	16
took off its covering,	17
and slapped it lovingly upon its croup.	18
Still touching it, he said:	19
“My dear bay, my cosset,	20
We have before us an unexpected journey.	21
A letter has sped to me,	22
my bay brother-in-arms, from the lowland marches,	23
from Captain Yanko’s daughter Helen.	24
It says that I should prepare myself and you	25
and go down to the lowland district	26
to Captain Yanko’s bright mansion,	27
where he has reared the magnificent Helen.	28
The lovely girl has told me	29
she would gladly be my bride.	30
My bay brother, my cosset,	31
I have sent her a letter in reply	32
and told her I will go down to the Marches	33
and there, God willing, take her to wife.”	34
Having said this, he put aside the horse blanket,	35
and taking the horse by its reins	36
he led it to the market place.	37
There he went in search of Omer Agha the farrier,     whom he found	38
and called by name at a wine-booth:	39
“Blacksmith Omer, my sworn brother,	40
come out and shoe my horse!”	41
His sworn brother replied to him from within     the stall,	42
His sworn brother replied to him from within         the stall:	43
“Ali Ograšović, brother of mine by a sacred oath,	44
do you want it shod for purposes of dalliance	45
or for purposes of hot combat?”	46
When the young man had understood these words,	47
he said to his sworn brother:	48
“Sworn brother of mine, Blacksmith Omer,	49
I do not want my stout horse shod	50
that I might merely stroll with it about the town     of Udbina	51
gazing, my brother, at all the girls	52
as they launder clothes or winnow grain,	53
or reap, or weave.	54
I bring my stout horse to you for shoeing	55
that I may rather go down with it to the lowland     Christian district,	56
to Captain Yanko’s mansion,	57
where he has reared the magnificent Helen,	58
the lovely and magnificent girl Helen.	59
Helen herself has sent me a letter	60
telling me to make ready and to ready my bay horse	61
to go down to the lowland marches	62
to the house of Captain Yanko,	63
to take the girl Helen away	64
and bring her here to the spacious province of the Lika,	65
good brother Omer, for to be my bride.”	66
Now when the smith Omer had heard all this,	67
he replied to him in this wise:	68
“Talk to me no more of such nonsense,     oh brother of mine by a sacred oath!	69
It is a long way down to the Christian marches	70
where the seven lairds hold sway,	71
and oh, my brother, Ali Ograšović,	72
never the man who has sought a bride there	73
has come home again in time to see his agèd mother     still alive,	74
has come home again in time to see his agèd mother         still alive.	75
Verily thou art thyself thy mother’s only son.	76
But even that were a small consideration,     and one might laugh it off.	77
Can you, brother, recall the time	78
—oh, I know you can, for it was not so long ago—	79
when Ensign Đulić had the same vain thought	80
—Ensign Đulić from the spacious province of the Lika,	81
the great warrior of Udbina City,	83
he who has no equal in bright Udbina.	82
Well, he went down to the lowland marches	84
for the sake of Captain Yanko’s Helen,	85
for the sake of Captain Yanko’s Helen,	86
and indeed, my brother Ali Ograšović,	87
he stole the sweet girl Helen away	88
for to be his bride.	89
But as he was spiriting the girl away,	90
he came to the foot of Mount Oršan,	91
he came to the foot of Mount Oršan.	92
It is a wide mountain, and the journey over it is lengthy.	93
Thirty guard-houses lie at intervals along the way,	94
kept by thirty brigands	95
who act as sentinels in the mountain passes	96
and warn the lowland marches of incursion     by the Turks.	97
Sworn brother of mine, Ograšović Ale,	98
it is past that line of pickets that you should have to     penetrate	99
and confront each garrison in turn,	100
each one in tur —,	101
to fight your way past it if you can,	102
to fight your way past it if you can.	103
Boon brother, Ograšović Ale,	104
perhaps you can recall the incident,	105
for it was not long ago,	106
in fact a year ago this very day,	107
when Đulić, stealing Helen, came to that same mountain,	108
to the guard-house kept by Yanko Žarković.	109
Yanko met him there	110
with his sixty mercenaries,	111
who wrested the girl Helen from our Ensign Đulić	112
and dealt him seven grievous wounds,	113
and dealt him seven grievous wounds.	114
Ensign Đulić thus gave up the girl	115
and narrowly made good his own escape to Udbina,	116
escaped alive to Udbina,	117
to Udbina he escaped alive.	118
Now when Ensign Musić heard tell of this	119
—Ensign Musić from the Turyanian Plain—	120
he too declared he would invade the Marches	121
to redeem the honour of his sworn brother	122
and steal away the sweet girl Helen	123
for her to be his bride.	124
Thus that ancient also gat him down,	126
wearing a disguise,	125
to Captain Yanko’s bright mansion	127
and stole away the sweet girl Helen.	128
He took her as far as Mount Ašan.	129
But when he came to Mount Ašan,	130
to the guard-house kept by Yanko Žarković,	131
to the guard-house kept by Yanko Žarković,	132
Yanko met him there	133
and opened fire on him.	134
Luckily the lad got through	135
alive, and unwounded too.	136
Riding past that interdiction, he drove his bay horse	137
on till he came to a bright guard-house,	138
the guard-house of Michael Popović,	139
the guard-house of Michael Popović,	140
eldest of the brothers Popović, eight of them     who garrison that place together,	141
eldest of the brothers Popović, eight of them         who garrison that place together.	142
These were the words they said to him:	143
‘Now hear me, Ensign Musić!	144
Put down the beautiful girl Helen,	145
and let us test which one of us    is the better fighting man!’	146
Musić apprehended what they said     but persisted nonetheless	147
and drove his bay horse at them.	148
When at last he emerged from the mêlée     and understood what had befallen him,	149
he had a dozen terrible wounds	150
and they had wrested the lovely girl from him.	151
Musić narrowly escaped	152
to Udbina town, sweet brother,	153
to grieve his old mother in Udbina.	154
That is how he got his twelve great wounds.	155
But even that were a small consideration     and one might laugh it off,	156
but even that were a small consideration         and one might laugh it off	157
if only the pretty girls did not mock him in their songs	158
and say he is no fighter	159
for giving up the lovely Helen.	160
Ograšović Ali, sworn brother of mine,	161
leave the comely Helen alone	162
and find some easier way to marry.”	163
When Ali Ograšović had heard all this,	164
when Ali Ograšović had heard all this,	165
he said to his sworn brother:	166
“Sworn brother of mine, blacksmith Omer,	167
still I shall go, though it mean I not return,	168
for I have given the girl my oath	169
to go down to the Marches for her,	170
to go down to the Marches for her.”	171
So the smith shod his horse,	172
so the smith shod his horse.	173
When Childe Ograš saw the job was done,	174
he reached into his pockets,	175
he reached into his pockets	176
and paid the smith a fee of four gold zechins.	177
“Take this, brother, and buy yourself some wine.	178
Should you hear the lowland cannon firing	179
and not wish to help me,	180
then use this money to buy my burial,	181
then use this money to buy my burial.”	182
He turned the great horse round	183
and led it home to his own house,     a mansion built of stone.	184
There he put it in the stable,	185
took off the horse blanket, put on a saddle cloth,	186
laid a Spanish saddle atop the cloth,	187
laid a Spanish saddle atop the cloth,	188
and then spread a bear’s pelt over the saddle.	189
Dear God, praise be to Thee for all things;	190
next he put a bit inlaid with pearl into its mouth,	191
next he put a bit inlaid with pearl into its mouth.	192
The reins consisted of four parts:	193
iron rings	194
and straps fashioned of Moroccan leather.	195
A fifth part was set with a pair of precious stones,	196
which gave off rays of fiery blue	197
in order that the horse might see by night,	198
in order that the horse might see by night	199
to make its way along a path	200
or champ its barley,	201
or champ its barley.	202
When he had finished preparing the great horse,	203
he went into the house and up the stairs.	204
He opened a coffer in his own room	205
and took clothes out of it.	206
First he drew out trousers and a shirt,	207
first he drew out trousers and a shirt,	208
both tailored in the Latin style,	209
both tailored in the Latin style.	210
When he had put on the trousers,	211
what was their appearance?	212
Gold piping ran along each seam.	213
Gold-plated buttons embellished the legs     beneath his knees,	214
and the buttons were set with precious stones	215
which gave off rays of fiery blue,	216
which gave off rays of fiery blue.	217
Next he put on two waistcoats,	218
one of them new and the other an heirloom,	219
one of them new and the other an heirloom.	220
Metallic loops and bosses were sewn upon the one	221
and facings of gilded beaten work     covered the breasts of the other	222
to fend off bullets from its wearer’s chest,	223
oh my brethren, in the heat of combat.	224
Then he wrapped a spangled sash about his waist	225
three and thirty yards in length,	226
three and thirty yards in length.	227
Over the sash he wore a wide belt to hold his     weaponry, one with fourteen compartments in it,	228
half of them gold and the other half gilded.	229
Besides the compartments in the belt,     there was also a pouch attached to it,	230
a pouch formed of pure gold,	231
a pouch formed of pure gold.	232
He thrust two pair of pistols into the belt     behind the pouch:	233
one pair was made in Graz, the other in Venice.	234
The Venetian set he wore for show     when he went a-courting,	235
but the pair from Graz he used in combat.	236
They were double-barreled, each barrel charged with     two bullets, making four rounds per pistol.	237
Next to these, he put into the belt also     a baselard of the Latin shape,	238
its whole blade wrought in gold.	239
Its hilt was a solid piece of ivory,	240
its hilt was a solid piece of ivory	241
depicting the head,	242
oh my brethren, of a rock viper.	243
The viper’s mouth gaped venomously     as though it were alive	244
and about to strike from where it lay     upon the warrior-lad’s navel.	245
Thanks be to Thee, oh God, for all Thy wondrous works:	246
next he strapped on a sword, which hung     suspended by its own lanyard,	247
a keen-edged sabre forged in vitriol.	248
Thanks be to Thee, oh God, for all Thy wondrous works:	249
then he put on a tunic of the uniform     worn in the Kaiser’s service.	250
The tunic was the kind	251
with a gilded collar, my brothers,	252
and it was decorated with a dozen campaign medals.	253
It bore also the insignia of the Kaiser in Vienna,	254
by which one knew its wearer was a senior     commandant in the Kaiser’s service.	255
He put a cap on his head	256
and settled it over his eyes.	257
It was all of gold,	258
with braid around it.	259
Seven precious stones were set amidst the braid,	260
and flames of light streamed forth from them	261
so that he might see to load a gun	263
or guide his mount	264
when it was dark.	262
Dear God, praise be to Thee for all things;	265
next he donned a cloak,	266
and took up his long rifle.	267
What sort of rifle was it?	268
It was wrought all of silver and fine gold.	269
An inscription which it bore	270
gave assurance that it would not miss,	271
but would hit whatever target he intended.	272
Then the young man went to seek his parents,	275
going swiftly into the neighboring room,	273
going swiftly into the neighboring room.	274
The door of the room stood open,	276
and he found both his parents there	277
drinking black coffee,	278
drinking black coffee.	279
When his elderly father saw	280
his son in full dress,	281
he rose to his feet.	282
Seeing him rise, the young man	283
said to his father:	284
“Please sit down, the both of you.”	285
And so, when they had understood his words,	286
They sat down on the soft cushions.	287
When both his parents were seated,	288
the lad lost no time	289
in paying respects to his father,	290
in paying respects to his father.	291
He kissed both his hands	292
and spoke thus to him:	293
“Father of mine, and master of the house,	294
as you see, I have in mind to travel	295
down to the stony Marches,	296
to the mansion of Captain Yanko.	297
For word has come to me, father,	298
by means of a letter,	299
that I should go to the Marches	300
for the sake of Captain Yanko’s daughter Helen.	301
So I have come to ask your blessing, father,	302
since it is you who have raised me to young manhood.”	303
Now when his father had understood these words,	304
he replied to his son:	305
“Dear son, my only child,	306
your father has long since	307
absolved and blessed you.	308
Wheresoever you may roam, may you always     come safely home again,	309
and may good luck attend your journey,	310
and may good luck attend your journey.	311
If you are made of the same mettle as your father,	312
you need have no fear of the heathens’ guard posts,	313
nor of the bandit mountaineers who garrison them.	314
You will be able, son, to make your way     safely past them all.”	315
When Childe Ograš had received this benediction,	316
he turned to his elderly mother	317
and kissed both her hands.	318
He spoke to his mother in this wise:	319
“Dear old mother, agèd parent of mine,	320
bless now your only son,	321
for I go, mother, down to the Marches,	322
to the bright mansion of Captain Yanko,	323
for the sake of his beautiful daughter Helen,	324
to bring her here to this bright house of ours.	325
She will be a helpmeet to you	326
about the business of the flour- and the coffee-mill,	327
the making of the dough and the stirring     of the coals upon the hearth.	328
I shall find a handmaid for you, mother.”	329
When his mother had understood his words,	330
she rose to her feet	331
and embraced her only son,	332
saying to him:	333
“Go, son, and may good fortune go with you!	334
Your mother gave you her blessing long ago,	335
dear son, at the very time she gave you birth,	336
dear son, at the very time she gave you birth.	337
May good luck attend your journey.	338
I have not nurtured your body	339
for black ravens to rend it,	340
but nurtured it rather	341
for Germans to divide amongst themselves     with their swords	342
in fearful combat, my sweet son,	343
in fearful combat, my sweet son.”	344
Now when his father had heard these things,	345
he too spoke to his son in this wise:	346
“Listen to me, my dear child.	347
While you are on your way to the Marches,     make an excursion to Vrhovine,	348
to my sworn brother Ali Agha Vrhovac.	349
His demesne lies on the tripartite frontier, son,	350
on Turkey’s frontier with the heathen countries.	351
Tell him where it is that you intend to go.	352
Should any misfortune befall you,	353
he would be able to help you,	354
he would be able to help you.	355
Now my son, obey me in this, dear lad:	356
go anywhere you please in the stony marchland,	357
only do not go to the cold town of Brinj.	358
Vuk Brinjenin dwells there,	359
and he knows our great bay horse,	360
since he and I have fought together from horseback.	361
In that fight he gave the big bay	362
a stroke of his gymnogastroid sword upon its rump.	363
He would surely recognize it by the scar, my son.	364
Then he would summon up his men-at-arms	365
and seize you, my dear son,	366
and by your captivity bring down     your old mother’s head	369
and mine in mourning,	367
and mine in mourning.”	368
When the youth had understood these words,	370
he said he would obey his father’s admonition,	371
and then he swiftly went downstairs,	372
and then he swiftly went downstairs	373
into the private courtyard.	374
There he led the big horse	375
forth from the stable.	376
When his father saw him ready with the horse,	377
he took hold of it by the reins	378
while the young man’s mother held the stirrup.	379
Then the youth mounted	380
and said to his father:	381
“Father of mine, may I return to find you well.	382
Now give me the reins.”	383
When his father had understood these words,	384
he gave his son the reins	385
and opened the courtyard gate,	386
and opened the courtyard gate.	387
As the young Turkish lad rode out	388
his elderly mother began to weep,	389
and she called to her only son:	390
“Dear child, turn ’round	391
that I may behold your eyes, your brows,	392
that I may look upon the manly countenance	393
which I have nurtured to maturity.”	394
When the lad has understood these words,	395
he reined the horse about	396
and spoke to his mother in this wise:	397
“Hush now, agèd mother of mine;	398
hold back your tears and let your look be untroubled.	399
Weep not, lest it cause you a migraine.	400
God bless you, old mother of mine!”	401
“May a happy hour attend your going,”     his mother replied to him.	402
And so, having said these things, they parted.	403
The young man made his way through bright Udbina	404
and struck out from thence toward Perušić,	405
and struck out from thence toward Perušić.	406
His path lay hard by the house of Ensign Musić,	407
the ancient of Lika’s Mustaybey.	408
The young man thought to pass it by without pausing,	409
but Musić glimpsed him through a window,	410
opened it,	411
and said to him:	412
“Sweet brother of mine, Ograšović Ale,	413
can it be that you are going down to the rocky Marches?”	414
Ali replied to him from where he sat astride his bay:	415
“Sworn brother of mine, Ensign Musić,	416
Indeed I am going down to the lowland marches,	417
to Captain Yanko’s bright mansion,	418
in answer to a letter that has reached me.”	419
Now when Musić understood his words,	420
he spoke to him, my brethren, in this wise:	421
“Sweet brother, Ograšović Ale,	422
if you are able to spirit the girl away,	423
do not return by way of Mount Aršan	424
and its gauntlet of thirty guard posts.	425
There is no evading any of the thirty.	426
Were you a nymph and able to fly,	428
still you would not be able to bring the girl Helen     safely through that gauntlet.	427
They have set their pickets impenetrably     about the coastland.”	429
The young man replied to him from where he sat     astride his bay horse:	430
“Have no fear for me, sworn brother of mine.	431
Only come to help me	432
should you hear the cannon     thundering from the Marches.	433
The day will come when you will likewise     need my help,	434
and I may one day be of use to you     in your wedding company.”	435
And so, having said these things, they parted.	436
Skirting Perušić, the young man continued on his way,	437
making straight for the heights of Vrhovine.	438
A little time passed, it was not long,	439
until he came to Vrhovine,	440
to the mansion of Ali Agha of The Heights.	441
The night had just begun to fall.	442
There he reined his bay horse to a halt	443
and called forth his father’s sworn ally:	444
“Brother Ali Agha Vrhovac,	445
sworn brother of my sire,	446
are you at home on the upper storeys of your mansion?”	447
Now when Ali Agha of The Heights heard him call,	448
forthwith he sent down four of his house guard,	449
who opened the bright gates,	450
opened them and let him in,	451
my brethren, to the private courtyard.	452
When the young man had come into the courtyard,	453
he asked the men-at-arms:	454
“Is Ali Agha of The Heights at home?”	455
Ali’s men-at-arms replied to him:	456
“Brother Ali Ograšović, he is.	457
Just now he is upstairs in his mansion,	458
entertaining the thirty commanders	459
of the guard posts in the mountains.”	460
As they took charge of his sturdy bay horse,	461
the young man said these things to them:	462
“Men of my ally, I adjure you in the name of God,	463
give my sturdy bay his fill	464
of cracked barley, brothers.	465
I come to you as a traveller, peaceably,	466
and want only to pay my respects to your master.	467
My father has commissioned me	468
to tender his greeting to Ali Agha of The Heights.”	469
When the men-at-arms had heard these words,	470
they took charge of his mighty horse	471
and escorted him into the house,	472
and escorted him into the house.	473
Now when the young man entered the chamber,	474
he found a wonderful sight spread before him.	475
Ali Agha Vrhovac sat at the head of the table	476
with Muyo of Kladuša beside him,	477
and beside Muyo sat Ali Eminić	478
from the bright garrison in the mountains.	479
And all the others too sat ranged about the table.	480
The common chalice was making its way     about the circle.	481
It passed from hand to hand	482
exactly like a bird that flits from branch to branch,	483
exactly like a bird that flits from branch to branch.	484
But now the young man called out     a good Turkish greeting,	485
and when the young commanders heard it,	486
they returned it in good form.	487
Last of all Ali Agha of The Heights addressed him:	488
“Dear brother, peace be with you,	489
brother of my brother.	490
But come now, tell me in all truth,	491
have you come this way travelling to the stony Marches,	492
or perhaps returning thence?”	493
Speaking these words, Ali answered him:	494
“No, I am not now returning from the stony Marches,	495
but rather going to them.	496
My father sends you greeting, sworn brother of his,	497
a hundred wishes for your well-being.	498
He asks that, should I come to any grief,	499
you be of help to me,	500
you be of help to me.”	501
Now when Muyo of Kladuša had heard this,	502
he looked up and said to him:	503
“As God is my witness, Ali Ograšević,	504
you are young for fighting,	505
you are young for fighting.	506
Be careful how you conduct yourself in the Marches.	507
Give any young person or any agèd one whom you meet	508
a good Magyar ducat,	509
a good Magyar ducat.	510
Let them invoke God’s blessing on you     for your generosity,	511
which brings good luck to a warrior.”	512
Now when Ali Ograšević had heard this,	513
lo, Ali replied to him in these words:	514
“Muyo, chief of Kladuša, indeed I shall do so.”	515
Next Ali Agha, who had heeded their conversation,	516
spoke to him in this wise:	517
“And now, son, your journey will take you     to the plain of Otočac,	518
and now, son, your journey will take you         to the plain of Otočac.	519
Be careful how you conduct yourself at Otočac,	520
for the Gašica River flows there	521
and a bridge of masonry spans it,	522
whose sentinel is the blackguard Raven,	523
who keeps watch upon the bridge	524
and upon the Kaiser’s city of Otočac.”	525
“Indeed I shall do so, brother; have no concern for that.”	526
Having said these things, they stood up,	527
for as Ali said to him:	528
“Being a traveller, I must not stop to drink with you.”	529
The Agha replied to him:	530
“Go, my son, and may God be with you.	531
If I hear the cannon rumbling in the Marches,	532
I shall come to your aid,	533
should God will that it happen that way.”	534
Having said these things, they went down     into the courtyard.	535
The men-at-arms brought him his horse	536
and, tightening the girth-straps,	537
they boosted the young man into the saddle,	538
then opened the courtyard gates for him,	539
then opened the courtyard gates for him.	540
So the youth sped away out of the courtyard	541
and set off beneath The Heights	542
and the wild forest of Dubrovica,	543
the wild for -,	544
the wild forest of Duribaba.	545
In a little while he passed through the forest	546
and emerged upon the plain of Otočac.	547
He made his way without incident     through bright Otočac	548
and past the bridge where the blackguard     Raven watched,	549
and past the bridge where the blackguard         Raven watched.	550
From thence the young man hurried his mount on	551
toward the broad plain of Brdo,	552
and crossing the plain of Brdo	553
he entered the forest on Mount Velebit,	554
he entered the forest on Mount Velebit.	555
The luck of Ali Agha Pločanin was such	556
that dense fog obscured all Velebit,	557
and a drenching rain began to fall,	558
and a drenching rain began to fall.	559
It was perfect bandits’ country,	560
a land of bandits and of dark wolves.	561
Bandits sang to the left of him,	562
and he heard their whisperings from the right.	563
Squirrels scolded on the branches,	564
ravens croaked in the fir trees,	565
and owls hooted in the glens.	566
His good bay horse took fright,	567
but the young man spoke to it in this wise:	568
“Dear bay, my brother,	569
have no fear of wolves nor of bandits,	570
for in the mountains no wolf attacks another wolf	571
—neither does wolf harm wolf, nor the brigand     another brigand.	572
As for the squirrels, they entertain us with their songs     by night,	573
the hooting of the owls keeps us from drowsing,	574
the hooting of the owls keeps us from drowsing,	575
and the ravens are our ancients.”	576
Thus he kept up conversation with the bay	577
until the dawn struck heaven with its wing	578
and the light of the sun took flight	579
to warm the mountain tops, the glens,	580
the churches, and the belfries of the Marches.	581
So the young man traversed the forest	582
and emerged upon the flatland of the Coast.	583
Here he came to a crossroad.	584
One way lay toward bright Šibenik,	585
another toward the bright city of Yanyok,	586
a third to cold Brinj,	587
while the fourth way lay toward the rocky Marches	588
and the mansion of Captain Yanko.	589
Here the young man drew up the bay	590
and spoke to his horse thusly:	591
“So, bay horse of my parent,	592
here I give you your head	593
and let you turn whichever way you choose.”	594
Now when the animal had understood these words,	595
it turned and went toward icy Brinj.	596
Again the young man spoke to it:	597
“But my dear bay,	598
you have turned towards icy Brinj,	599
and my father said to me	600
that I might safely go to any part of the Marches,	601
only not to icy Brinj,	602
since the serdars of Brinj may recognize you,	603
and amongst them Captain Vučan most of all,	604
and amongst them Captain Vučan most of all,	605
the one who slashed you with his sabre.	606
You still bear the scar upon your rump.	607
I shall have to cover this Vuk in lies	608
should he recognize you in his courtyard.”	609
A little while passed, it was not long.	610
Now when he came to the city gates of Brinj,	611
now when he came to the city gates of Brinj,	612
lo the luck of the son of Ogroš,	613
for the gates of Brinj stood open.	614
The city of Brinj is full of shops,	615
and they are not kept by men;	616
all the shopkeepers there are young Magyar girls,	617
the comeliest of maidens.	618
Now when the young man noticed them,	619
he spoke to his bay horse:	620
“Show me some spirited capering     as we cross over the square,	621
and let the pretty girls admire your form.”	622
He drew the bay up smartly by the reins	623
and touched its belly with a golden spur.	624
Now when the animal had understood     its master’s words,	625
it made a fine display of itself as it crossed through     the square.	626
Into the air it sprang to the height of two spears’ length	627
and came to earth again four spears’ lengths away.	628
Its hooves sent chips from the cobblestones     hurtling into the distance	629
while it did curtsies, kneeling as it went.	630
Clouds of vapour puffed from its nostrils	631
as though mortars were being fired in front of it,	632
as though mortars were being fired in front of it.	633
The girls called to one another from the shops:	634
“Neighbor, neighbor, sister-in-God,	635
no such handsome brave has passed this way	636
for lo these seven years!	637
I’d stake my faith and soul upon it,	638
he must be Ogroš Omer Agha’s son.	639
The Agha used to come down here	640
and boast to us about his son,	641
and say he’d made a lad for marrying.	642
By all our Hail Marys and our Paternosters,	644
this is surely Ali Ogrošović.”	643
For his part meanwhile, the young man     took no notice of the girls.	645
When at length he rode his bay	646
up to the mansion of Vuk Brinjenin,	647
he discovered a remarkable thing.	648
Two guardsmen were standing watch at the gate,	649
both of them downcast and distrait.	650
And the courtyard before the mansion,	651
dear God, was all bespattered with gore!	652
Ali rode his horse straight up to them	653
and gave them greeting.	654
Politely they replied to him in kind.	655
Then Ali spoke to them again in this wise:	656
“Soldiers of Vuk Brinjenin,	657
why is it you are downcast and distrait?	658
Is it that you hunger for white bread,	659
or do you thirst for ruddy wine,	660
or has Vuk Brinjenin perhaps been frightening you?”	661
When the two young soldiers heard this,	662
they answered him:	663
“General mounted on the bay horse,	664
seven years have now passed	665
since Omer Agha Ogroš came this way	666
from Krbava and the wide province of the Lika	667
and fought with Vuk,	668
duelling on the green field.	669
But when Vuk realized	670
that Omer was about to defeat him,	671
he fled on his mare,	672
sir General, all the way to his own courtyard,	673
he fled to the sanctuary of his own courtyard.	674
This made the Turk furious.	675
There was a wooden guardhouse at the gate,	676
which sheltered Captain Lazar	677
and his thirty militiamen.	678
The Turk would not let the matter rest,	679
but burst into the wooden blockhouse	680
and killed the blackguard Lazar	681
together with all thirty of his men.	682
It is their gore that is splattered about the courtyard,	683
and that is why we are downcast and distrait.	684
At any moment we expect the coming of his son,	685
for he always told us	686
that he was rearing his son to be a fighting man.	687
For that reason we are standing watch     over the mansion and its yard,	688
lest that viper infiltrate and take us by surprise.”	689
Ali was in the very act of reining his bay horse about	690
to make his way past the bright mansion	691
when Vuk Brinjenin caught sight of him	692
and commanded his two young soldiers:	693
“You there, soldiers in my service,	694
bring me that young general	695
so that we may drink red wine together,	696
so that I may ask the young general	697
from which of the Kaiser’s cities he hails,	698
by what name men call him,	699
by what name and what surname.”	700
When the two young soldiers had heard this,	701
they called after the son of Ogroš:	702
“Young General, we conjure you in the name of God,	703
stay awhile here at our bright mansion.	704
Vuk Brinjenin summons you now,	705
good sir, into his mansion	706
to take red wine with him.”	707
Now when Ali’d understood their words,	708
he reined his horse about	709
and stopped, my brothers,     in front of the bright mansion.	710
Four of the soldiers received him	711
and escorted him to the upper storey.	712
He needed only a little while	713
to find his way to the warm room.	714
Opening the door,	715
he found Vuk Brinjenin within	716
keeping company with his noble wife,	717
keeping company with his noble wife,	718
Vuk Brinjenin’s well-born lady,	719
and the two of them together were drinking     wine and brandy.	720
Ali greeted them both,	721
and having answered him politely,	722
they begged him be seated at their table	723
and gave him red wine to drink.	724
[Here the singer rested.]
Vuk was not disposed to sit idly,	725
but poured a second glass of wine,	726
and having poured it, said:	727
“General visiting with us here in our chamber,	728
Drink off this glass, then please to tell me truly:	729
whence do you come, from what region;	730
by what name do men call you,	731
by what name and by what surname?	732
And then, young general, tell me,	733
how did you come to possess this horse of yours?	734
Perhaps you purchased it,	735
or won it on a bet,	736
or bred it yourself in your own stable?”	737
For Vuk had seen the horse quite clearly from his window	738
and had recognized the scar upon the big bay’s rump.	739
Now when Ali had understood these words,	740
he lifted his moustache, drained the glass,	741
and replied to Vuk in this wise:	742
“Sir Vuk Brinjenin,	743
I did not buy the horse	744
nor did I breed it in my own stables,	745
but rather I won it in a moment of terror	746
here in our own chilly Marches.	747
A war-party of Turks had descended	748
on the great city of Oršan.	749
Its leader was Mustaybey of the Lika.	750
They had already pillaged the surrounding villages     to their very foundations,	751
and when they attacked Oršan,	752
we all fled the city	753
meaning to find refuge among the cliffs and ravines.	754
A Turk pursued me as I fled,	755
and he was mounted on a mighty bay horse.	756
I saw that I could not outrun him,	757
so I tumbled into the green grass	758
and laid hold of my long rifle.	759
I aimed it at the Turk	760
and prayed to God that it would not misfire,	761
to say nothing of its hitting my foeman.	762
God heard my prayer, the rifle fired,	763
and wonderful to tell, it hit the horseman.	764
As he fell dead into the grass,	765
I leapt to my feet	766
and took his horse for my own.”	767
Now when Vuk had understood these words,	768
he said to him:	769
“Well-born sir,	770
did you ever hear tell who it was whom you had killed?	771
Were you able in any way at all, my brother,     to learn his name? ”	772
Now when Ali had understood these words,	773
he replied to Vuk in this wise:	774
“Vuk Brinjenin, good sir,	775
I did hear from others	776
that it was a certain Ogroš Ome -,	777
or rather a certain Ali Ogrošević,	778
by birth the son of Ahmet Agha Ogroš,	779
or so people have told me.”	780
Now when Vuk Brinjenin had heard this,	781
there in the room where they were sitting, he exclaimed:	782
“I thank God for the coming of this day,     which has brought to me this news	783
of how you killed that venomous snake	784
and took away his horse.	785
I have heard many a man say	786
that it is swiftest of all the Turks’ horses	787
—and not only of the Turks’, but also of the Christians’.”	788
But I adjure thee by all that’s holy	789
and in the name of God himself, young general,	790
sell me the handsome bay	791
for ready gol -,	792
for good gold coin,	793
or else let us strike some other bargain with one another     so that I may own the horse.”	794
Now when Ali’d understood these words,	795
he replied to his host Vuk:	796
“Vuk Brinjenin, good sir,	797
were I to sell you the horse for any sum of ducats,	798
and were the pretty girls to hear of it,	799
all of them would say of me, good sir,	800
that I must be penniless to do such a thing.	801
And moreover, good sir,	802
were my father to hear the news	803
that I had sold so very fine a mount	804
which I had won in such a way	805
on the field of honour,	806
it might so anger him	807
that he would not countenance my marriage.	808
And so you see, I surely may not sell it.”	809
Now when Vuk had understood these words,	810
again he spoke to Ogroš’ son:	811
“General -,	812
General, honored guest here in my chamber,	813
it happens that I own a piebald bedouin mare,	814
and I tell you, there is no swifter courser in all Brinj.	815
So come now, let us reach an understanding.	816
I shall give you both my mare and these three hundred     Magyar gold pieces which I place here before you.”	817
Ali Ogrošović still said no,	818
but Vuk was not to be denied	819
and kept begging him in every way imaginable to deal.	820
Now when Ali Ogrošović saw	821
that by no means was Vuk to be denied,	822
he finally said that he would come to terms with him.	823
Thereupon Vuk forthwith proposed to him:	824
“First let us wager good gold coin	825
and test the horses’ speed,	826
since I should like to see with my own eyes	827
whether in truth he is as swift as he is said to be.”	828
Ali readily accepted his proposal,	829
drew forth from his pockets	830
three hundred Magyar gold pieces, and laid them     on the table.	831
Vuk Brinjenin did likewise	832
and matched the stake.	833
“Whichever of us wins, let him sweep the table.”	834
So saying, they rose together and went out	835
to fetch their horses from the stable.	836
The course they chose to run stretched all the way     to Mount Velebit	837
and thence across the plain four hours’ distance,	838
brothers, on to Brinj, a city built of stone.	839
The gentry thereabouts were all agog	840
to see such rivalry and contention	841
between two men racing their horses	842
for no apparent reason.	843
And so they drove their mounts to Velebit.	844
There, beneath the mountain’s brow, they turned	845
and on they sped again toward icy Brinj.	846
Oh, my brothers, what a race it was!	847
For when the two mounts had started,	848
the piebald mare was in the lead;	849
and Vuk Brinjenin’s bedouin mare	850
still held it at mid-course.	851
Ali Ogrošović watched for a while	852
as Vuk flailed away at the piebald mare,	853
but then he said to his own bay horse:	854
“Dear bay of mine,	855
the time ha -,	856
the time has come for you to run and catch     a lightning-bolt,	857
and show the world thereby what a horse you truly are.	858
So now, run and overtake the piebald bedouin.”	859
Therewith he drew his riding crop out of his boot	860
and flicked the bay with it on both haunches.	861
Now when the bay felt the sting of the whip	862
it seemed suddenly to acquire the wings of an eagle,	863
and quickly it came abreast of the piebald mare.	864
Ali spoke then in this wise:	865
“Vuk Brinjenin, good sir,	866
whip up your piebald bedouin mare!	867
Let no one say I won the race by trickery.”	868
Vuk still would not relent.	869
He lashed the piebald steadily on both flanks,	870
but in response it only switched its tail.	871
When Ogroš’s son saw Vuk had driven his mount     to its limit,	872
again he urged his bay horse forward	873
and so outran Vuk Brinjenin,	874
and so outran Vuk Brinjenin.	875
Thus he won the three hundred Magyar gold pieces.	876
Now when Vuk Brinjenin saw	877
that the big bay stallion was truly the faster mount,	878
he was all the more determined,	879
and said to the son of Ogroš:	880
“General, worthy sir,	881
general, worthy sir,	882
ask whatever price you wish, and I shall pay it in fine gold,	883
with this my piebald bedouin mare into the bargain     for good measure.”	884
Ali saw that there was no hope	885
of Vuk Brinjenin’s desisting;	886
therefore Ali spoke to him in this wise:	887
“Vuk Brinjenin, good sir,	888
when first I acquired this horse,	889
it nearly killed me, brother,	890
before I became accustomed to its gait.	891
For the Turks had taught it certain ugly habits,	892
and there were times when I did wish a pack of wolves     from the mountain wilderness would make a meal of it.	893
Were you to own the horse, you too might regret it.”	894
But Vuk said to him again:	895
“I shall never regret it in the least;	896
only tell me you will sell it.	897
Here, brother, take another three hundred pieces     of my gold besides what you have won already,	898
and take also my piebald bedouin mare.”	899
So at last Ali was compelled	900
to strike a bargain.	901
But now Vuk was not content with having got his way,	902
and spoke to Ali further in this wise:	903
“Good sir, scion of a well-born father,	904
come let us mount the horses once again, my brother,	905
and ride together down through the market place in Brinj.	906
There you can show me the horse’s demeanor	907
so that later, when you’ve gone, I may have     no mishaps with it.”	908
Now when Ali had reflected on these words,	909
he was only too glad to do as he was asked.	910
So Ali stood up	911
and together with Vuk Brinjenin	912
went down to the private courtyard.	913
Again Vuk’s soldiers brought the horses     forth from the stable,	914
saddled them, and made them ready	915
there in the inner courtyard.	916
It took four of the soldiers to hold the bay in place,	917
for the big bay stallion was so powerful	918
that whenever it shook its great blonde head	919
it lifted all four of the soldiers who were holding it     right off the ground.	920
The four soldiers said to it:	921
“Stand still, bay horse, may the wolves     make a meal of you! Have no fear:	922
the Turks have taught you such dreadful habits	923
that we would not dare to mount you,	924
that we would not dare to mount you.”	925
Thanks be unto Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy manifold works.	926
Ali now approached the bedouin mare.	927
Calling upon the name of God, he flung himself     into the saddle,	928
while Vuk Brinjenin for his part	929
mounted Ali’s big bay.	930
So they rode off together down through the city’s     market place.	931
Thanks be unto Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy manifold works:	932
Vuk was not content to ride sedately.	933
Letting the reins fall slack,	934
he rapped the bay’s belly with the golden stirrup.	935
Now when the bay noticed	936
the stroke of the golden stirrup,	937
he leapt straight into the air to the height     of two lances’ length	939
and came to earth again four lances’ length away,	940
since that is what Ali had taught him to do.	938
Its leap tumbled Vuk right out of the saddle,	941
and he fell on the pitiless cobblestones	943
there in the city’s market place,	942
smashing two of his rib-bones.	944
Plaintively Vuk Brinjenin declared,	945
“General—may the wolves make a meal of him!—	946
this horse of yours has learned such nasty habits     from the Turks	947
that I cannot buy him from you, brother.	948
Keep him, I beg of you, and welcome to the price	949
of three hundred pieces of Magyar gold	950
which I’ve promised to pay you for him.”	951
Now when Ali had reflected on these words,	952
he replied to Vuk in this wise:	953
“Worthy Sir Vuk,	954
I have unceasingly prayed to God	955
that I might find a buyer for this horse,	956
for, I confess, I too cannot abide his gait.”	957
Thus Ali Ogrošović pretended to be keeping     to their bargain,	958
the better to discourage Vuk.	959
Now when Vuk had reflected on these words,	960
in this wise Vuk replied to him:	961
“Devil take you, and the money,	962
and your goetic bay!”	963
Having said these things, forthwith they returned together	964
to Vuk Brinjenin’s mansion.	965
There Vuk gave him the three hundred pieces of gold	966
and took back his bedouin mare.	967
Then Ali was eager to be going.	968
He swung himself deftly into the bay’s saddle	969
and spoke to Vuk in this wise:	970
“Vuk Brinjenin, good sir,	971
God be with you as I take my leave of you here     before your bright mansion.	972
It is time that I resume my journey through the Marches,	973
for I perceive that you are angry	974
with the outcome of our bargaining,	975
and you regret the money that you’ve lost.	976
Let me go therefore to find some inn	977
where I may pass the night	978
and find some store of grain for feeding of my horse.”	979
Now when Vuk had understood these words,	980
angry in his heart he replied to him:	981
“General, honored guest here in my courtyard,	982
I do not begrudge the money,	983
nor do I regret the wine we’ve shared;	984
only my ribs are hurting terribly	985
from the fall I took off your bay horse.	986
But come now, seek no farther for your lodging.	987
You are welcome here with me tonight,	988
and when you’ve risen in the morning early as you please,	989
then you may go freely where you will.”	990
Ali was glad of the invitation and accepted it quickly,	991
for he had come into a strange land	992
where he had nor kith nor kin;	993
in such plight a man finds lodging where he may,	994
and there awaits the coming of a new day.	995
So once more Vuk summoned his soldiers	996
to stable the great bay horse	997
beside his own good piebald bedouin mare.	998
While the soldiers led the stallion	999
into the piebald bedouin’s stable,	1000
they two went into the mansion and climbed its stairs.	1001
But Vuk had other thoughts than of merely playing host,	1002
and said to his faithful wife:	1003
“Dear lady of mine here in bright Brinj,	1004
yet do I fear some machination of the Turks.	1005
How can I be sure this person is not a viper in disguise;	1006
not, perhaps, even the venomous adder     Ali Ogrošović himself,	1007
the very son of Omer Agha Ogroš?	1008
You, my own true love, know it as well as I,     for you yourself have heard	1009
all the men of the Lika tell me	1010
that he is wont prodig -,	1011
that he is wont to drink prodigious draughts of ruddy wine.	1012
Give me therefore a seven-litre glass	1013
and let me offer it to our young general;	1014
let me see if he will drink it dry,	1015
and if he does, what speech he may make to it.”	1016
When the Latin lady’d understood his words,	1017
she brought the glass of ruddy wine	1018
—a glass, my brothers, that held seven litres—	1019
and offered it to Ogroš’ son.	1020
Vuk meanwhile said to him:	1021
“Good sir, scion of a well-born father,	1022
strong warrior that you are,	1023
I have no doubt that you will drain this glass	1024
and yet be fit to take on any Turk in combat,	1025
and yet be fit to take on any Turk in combat.”	1026
Now when Ali took the glass in hand,	1027
he lifted his moustache and drank it dry     at a single draught,	1028
then spoke to it in this wise:	1029
“May God strike him dead, whoever formed you,	1030
for not giving you more capacity.”	1031
Watching all this closely,	1032
Vuk instructed his lissom lady:	1033
“Bring us now another chalice,	1034
one that holds eight litres.”	1035
The lady lost no time	1036
in filling up the other cup,	1037
and Vuk Brinjenin offered it to their guest.	1038
Now when Ali took this cup in hand,	1039
he lifted his moustache and drank it dry     at a single draught,	1040
then spoke to the chalice in this wise:	1041
“Long life to him who formed you,	1042
for you have finally quenched my thirst.”	1043
Now when Vuk Brinjenin saw this happen,	1044
he stood up to leave the room	1045
and said to the son of Ogroš:	1046
“Forgive me, young General,	1047
but my head has begun to ache,”	1048
for he had discerned that this was the son of Ogroš,	1049
for he had discerned that this was the son of Ogroš.	1050
While Ali remained there in the warm room,	1051
Vuk considered what he should do next	1052
and said to his faithful wife:	1053
“Sweet lady of mine here in bright Brinj,	1054
I swear to you upon my faith and by my very soul,	1055
this person is the serpent Ali Ogrošović.	1056
Ali must have come down to the Marches	1057
on his way to Captain Yanko’s mansion,	1058
where he would be going for the sake of the girl Helen.	1059
The Turk must be planning to spirit her away to Udbina,	1060
there to make her his wife, my dear.	1061
Bring me now some paper and some ink,	1062
and let me write a warning	1063
to our Captain Yanko.	1064
Let him prepare in his own district a suitable reception     for this devil;	1065
perhaps he will be able to take him alive	1066
and so to hold his coming celebration without incident,	1067
because, as you know, Yanko is about to give away     his only daughter, Helen, in marriage	1068
to our town of Bakar,	1069
to the son of the King of Bakar.	1070
But Helen might possibly decide she dislikes the man	1071
and flit with the Turk this very night.	1072
Then the wedding party would have gathered for nothing	1073
and the whole Coastland be disgraced,	1074
and the whole Coastland be disgraced,	1075
together with all our kings and commandants.”	1076
Now when Mila had understood his words,	1077
now when Mila had understood his words,	1078
she brought the paper and the ink	1079
and a gilt pen	1080
and gave them to her lord.	1081
When Vuk took hold of the paper,	1082
he spred it on his lap,	1083
moistened the pen with ink,	1084
and addressed himself to it in this wise:	1085
“By this letter, my dear friend	1086
—my friend, General Yanko—	1087
I give you greeting. May it find you hale and prosperous!	1088
Know that here in cold Brinj	1090
I have a certain venomous adder lodging with me,	1089
the venomous serpent Ali Ogrošović.	1091
It seems that he has heard of your festivities	1092
and the wedding party that has gathered at your house	1093
for the nuptials of your girl Helen.	1094
Guard well the honour of your guests and of the Marches,	1095
and beware the viper Ali Ogrošović.	1096
Mayhap you will take him captive; and if you do,	1097
mayhap you will take him captive; and if you do,	1098
put him in your dungeon’s deepest bottom	1099
in remembrance of his father	1100
who so grievously harmed me,	1101
who slew my liegeman, the bandit chieftain Jovan,	1102
with all thirty of his companions	1103
in the courtyard of my own mansion in the midst of Brinj,	1104
in the courtyard of my own mansion in the midst of Brinj.”	1105
Now when Vuk had finished his writing of this letter,	1106
it was already a late hour of the moonless night.	1107
He took the letter downstairs	1108
into his private courtyard,	1109
into his private courtyard,	1110
and there he called to Corporal Sava,	1111
a corporal of his own guard:	1112
“Hurry, Sava, mount the mare,	1113
and carry this letter down to the lower Marches,	1114
to my comrade Captain Yanko.	1115
Give him this piece of white paper,	1116
and see you return here by daybreak.”	1117
Vuk supposed that no one else had heard his giving     these instructions,	1118
but Ali Ogrošović overheard it all:	1119
how Vuk had told his wife of his discovery,	1120
and how he had dispatched the messenger	1121
mounted on Vuk’s own swift piebald bedouin mare.	1122
Alas, brothers, the rider was already speeding on his way	1123
along the shores of the wide sea.	1124
And so Ali too raced down to the courtyard,	1125
then across the courtyard to his own bay stallion.	1126
Vuk Brinjenin called urgently to him:	1127
“General, sir, honored guest of my chamber,	1128
this is no time to be leaving my mansion,	1129
before daybreak and the rising of the sun!	1130
Stay to breakfast, and let us share some wine together;	1131
then go in good season wherever you please.”	1132
Ali explained to him in this wise:	1133
“My thanks to you, Vuk Brinjenin, for all your hospitality	1134
—thank you for the lodging,	1135
and thank you for your good red wine.	1136
But traveller that I am, I will no longer stay.”	1137
Saying this, he put the leather to his bay	1138
and galliped -,	1139
and galloped away along the seashore.	1140
Thanks be unto Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy manifold works!	1141
Thus spake Ali to the great bay stallion:	1142
“Oh my bay, whom I love as though thou wert     mine own brother,	1143
catch this Corporal Sava for me,	1144
and Vuk’s piebald bedouin mare which he is riding;	1145
let me trick the man Sava	1146
and send him back whence he has come,	1147
lest he indeed reach Captain Yanko, my bay brother,	1149
with that piece of white paper which he is carrying.”	1148
Now when the horse had understood these words,	1150
it seemed as though he had acquired an eagle’s wings,	1151
so swiftly did he fly along the seashore.	1152
In the middle of a tract of level ground	1153
he overtook the piebald bedouin mare	1154
and her rider, Corporal Sava.	1155
Ali spoke to him veridically:	1156
“Sava, wait a moment, sirrah,	1157
servitor of Vuk Brinjenin,	1158
stop and let me tell you something.”	1159
Sava was more than willing	1160
and halted the piebald bedouin mare,	1161
and halted the piebald bedouin mare.	1162
[Here the singer rested.]
Oh, now when Sava had understood these words,	1163
he reined his piebald mount to a halt,	1164
and having stopped, he said:	1165
“Good sir, scion of a well-born father,	1166
tell me what you have in mind.”	1167
Now when Ali had understood these words,	1168
he spoke thus to Sava:	1169
“Sava Brinjenin, good sir,	1170
give me the piece of white paper	1171
which your master Vuk has written	1172
for you to take to Captain Yanko.	1173
I shall put the white paper in his hands,	1174
in the hands of Captain Yanko.	1175
Punish the bedouin mare no more, driving it so hard	1176
and tiring yourself too here on the seashore,	1177
and tiring yourself too here on the seashore,	1178
all along the shore of the wide sea.	1179
And here, for your trouble, I give you also     these twelve pieces of Magyar gold.”	1180
Now when Sava had understood these words,	1181
this, you see, is what he said:	1182
“Sir General, mounted on your bay horse,	1183
were Vuk Brinjenin to hear	1184
that I had surrendered the paper to you,	1185
he would have my head for it.	1186
And yet, believe me, worthy sir, when I say	1187
that I have been in Vuk’s service lo these twelve years,	1188
and never yet have earned so much a sum     as twelve pieces of Magyar gold.	1189
I would do this thing you ask obediently to your will	1190
if only, brother, you would be my surety.”	1191
Now when Ali had reflected on these words,	1192
he said to Corporal Sava:	1193
“As to that, Corporal Sava, have no fear.	1194
Here, my brother: take your twelve gold pieces.	1195
Your white paper I shall surely give	1196
with all due deference to Captain Yanko.	1197
Here is what I’ll say to him:	1198
that the paper comes to him	1199
from his sworn brother, Vuk Brinjenin.	1200
So, Corporal Sava, have no fear,	1201
for he shall not reproach you.	1202
When you return to Brinj you need say only	1203
that you have put the paper in his own hands,	1204
nor have you even so much as seen me.”	1205
Now when Sava had reflected on these words,	1206
he gave the white paper to Ali	1207
and took in return the twelve pieces of gold.	1208
But as he turned to go homeward	1209
Sava said to him again:	1210
“Good sir, mounted on your bay horse,	1211
may good luck attend your journey	1212
and may your bay stallion be lucky in combat	1213
and sidestep all harm, worthy General.	1214
At the mansion of Captain Yanko,	1216
at the mansion of Captain Yanko,	1217
you will find festivities in progress,	1215
for the bridegroom’s company of celebrants	1218
has come from Bakar, the Imperial city,	1219
to take Yanko’s daughter, the girl Helen,	1220
to be the wife of the son of Bakar’s King.”	1221
Now when Ali had reflected on these words,	1222
he replied to him in this wise:	1223
“Be nothing dismayed, worthy servant;	1224
only go safely home to bright Brinj.”	1225
So, having said these things, each went his separate way.	1226
But let us, for our part, observe the son of Ogroš:	1227
as he drew near	1228
he heard the cannon roaring o’er the lowlands	1229
and saw the Christians’ banners flying,	1230
and the men singing under them.	1231
Thanks be unto Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy manifold works,	1232
one of which made Ali Ogrošović marvel.	1233
He came upon an old man tending sheep,	1234
one who had risen with the dawn	1235
and driven his white-fleeced flock	1236
into green pastures at the foot of the mountains.	1237
Ali spoke to him, wishing him good morrow,	1238
and the old man answered him politely,	1239
conversing with him further in this wise:	1240
“Good sir, scion of a well-born father,	1241
toward what place have you set your mind,     driving your bay stallion forward toward it?”	1242
There where they were talking, beneath the brow     of the mountain, Ali said to him:	1243
“Elderly old man, keeper of these white-fleeced sheep,	1244
please to tell me truly and veraciously,	1245
why are the cannon roaring in the Marches,	1246
and why are the Christians’ banners all unfurled;	1247
why are the men singing under them?	1248
Is it some occasion of mourning, or a festivity     of great gladness?”	1249
Now when the old man standing by the sheep     had heard these words,	1250
this is what he replied:	1251
“Good sir mounted on your great bay horse,	1252
thanks be to God in His mercy, it is not mourning,	1253
but rather fus -,	1254
but rather a festivity of our Captain,	1255
who celebrates the wedding of his one and only daughter	1256
to the son of the King of Bakar.	1257
The bridegroom’s party has just now come     to fetch the bride away.”	1258
Now when Ali had reflected on these words,	1259
he reached inside his vest and took out	1260
four ducats, which he gave to the old man, saying:	1261
“Here, old man, take these and buy yourself some wine,	1262
remembering me as a man of worth when you do drink it.”	1263
Now when the old man had taken the four ducats,	1264
the old man said to him:	1265
“Thank you, worthy sir,	1266
for this your bountiful gift.	1267
May God likewise bountifully reward you;	1268
may you succeed in all your purpose,	1269
and if you happen to be unwed,	1270
God grant, dear sir, that you soon marry	1271
the one whom you most desire, dear brother,	1272
the one whom you most desire, dear brother.”	1273
Now when Ali had understood these words,	1274
he rode away on his big bay mount,	1275
and in a little while	1276
he came to a bright mansion,	1277
the mansion of Captain Yanko.	1278
Such was the good luck of Ali Ogrošević	1279
that he found the courtyard gates ajar	1280
and could see a dais in the courtyard	1281
whereon were sitting at their leisure Captain Yanko	1282
and his new kinsman,	1283
the King of Bakar.	1284
A group of young officers kept them company	1285
as they drank their wine in the inner courtyard.	1286
A wondrous ring-dance circled ’round the yard,	1287
composed of thirty girls;	1288
the girl, maid Helen, was the thirty-first among them,	1289
big daughter of the Captain Yanko.	1290
Now as Ali entered the courtyard	1291
he wished the gentlemen good morning,	1292
and they all politely answered him.	1293
Captain Yanko rose to his feet	1294
to pour a glass of wine for Ali,	1295
and whilst he poured the wine he said to him,	1296
“young general, do forgive me:	1297
drink off this glass, then please to tell me	1298
whence you come, from what district?	1299
By what name do men call you,	1300
—by what name, and what is your surname?	1301
These things, worthy general, I am bound to ask,	1302
since I fear some machination of the Turks.”	1303
Now when Ali had understood these words,	1304
he seized the glass out of his host’s hand	1305
and, lifting his moustache, he drank it off     at a single draught,	1306
then spoke to his host in this wise:	1307
“Captain Yanko, my good sir,	1308
I am a native of these parts, nor have I come from far.	1309
I claim I am a citizen of Corfu, one of the Kaiser’s cities;	1310
by birth I am a son of Corfu’s king.	1311
And having heard of this your wedding celebration,	1312
since you have giv’n your one and only daughter,	1313
your dear and only daughter Helen,	1314
to live in Bakar, our cold city,	1315
as bride of the son of the King of Bakar,	1316
I too have come to join your revels;	1317
mayhap here in your joyous throng I too shall find a girl     to be my wife,	1318
even perchance one of these thirty     whom I see dancing in the yard.	1319
Will you, dear sir, permit	1320
my choosing one of these	1321
to be my partner in the round dance here in your yard?”	1322
Now when the King of Bakar had heard this,	1323
the King, you see, did answer in this wise:	1324
“Good sir and scion of a well-born father,	1325
I grant you, my dear fellow, my permission,	1326
nor do I think your wish at all unseemly.	1327
Go, choose the one whom you like best,	1328
and join the ring-dance with her in the yard.	1329
Enjoy your pretty maiden.”	1330
Now when Ali had understood these words,	1331
he urged his bay mount forward	1332
to the circle of the dancing girls.	1333
There for a time he observed the young women	1334
as each went tur -,	1335
as each went turning through the dance.	1336
Each girl had for her partner some young officer	1338
who stepped in time beside her;	1337
but the one who danced with Helen,     the daughter of Captain Yanko,	1339
was Matthew, the King of Bakar’s son,	1340
to whom she was betrothed.	1341
Watching the girls, the son of Ogroš saw	1342
that Helen was far the best among them all,	1343
Helen, the big daughter of Captain Yanko,	1344
the same girl who’d summoned him by letter.	1345
But now the king had other thoughts     than of merely watching.	1346
Dismounting from the big horse,	1347
he left the reins on the saddle horn	1348
and stood a little while, waiting as the ring of dancing girls     went round.	1349
But when in the turning of the dance     Helen came abreast of him,	1350
the son of Ogroš slipped into the line,	1351
displacing the young Prince Matthew	1352
at Helen’s side in the dance.	1353
Matthew’s anger rose in the face of such contumely;     were he not so diffident, he might have caused a fight,	1354
but the King of Bakar called to him:	1355
“Stay your hand, my son, and do not be a fool.	1356
I myself have let him join the dance.	1357
He is some hussar or other	1358
who’s come here from the Kaiser’s city of Corfu.	1359
His father has sent him travelling through the Marches	1360
for to find a wife.	1361
I do not censure him for that.”	1362
Now when Matthew had understood these words,	1363
he quelled his ire and kept the peace,	1364
he quelled his ire and kept the peace.	1365
Meanwhile Ali stepped ’round the circle     to the measure of the dance,	1366
and his stout bay horse trod close behind him     while the ring of dancers turned	1367
—for so his master Ali had taught the bay to do—	1368
and all the while the horse kept nuzzling his master’s arm,	1369
jealously protecting his belovèd owner.	1370
But now Ali had other thoughts than of mere dancing.	1371
He tweaked girl Helen’s arm	1372
and grazed her foot deliberately with his jackboot,	1373
and spoke to her in this wise:	1374
“Dear Helen, who art to me even as the sun of new day     dawning on the mountaintop,	1375
I conjure thee by the dear life of thy mother, look my way!	1376
By the life of thy dear father, bend this way,     that I may say a word to thee!”	1377
Now when Helen had understood these words,	1378
she turned toward him, rever -,	1379
reversing the direction of the dance,	1380
and having turned, she said,	1381
“Good sir, scion of a well-born father,	1382
would that I were dead	1383
and could not have seen the coming of this day.”	1384
Now when Ali had understood these words,	1385
he said to her again:	1386
“And why is that, oh thou dear and lovely girl,	1387
and why is that, oh thou dear and lovely girl?”	1388
Now when Helen had understood his words,	1389
she spoke to Ali in this wise:	1390
“General, sir, you who have come to visit     here in my courtyard,	1391
my father has betrothed me shamefully	1392
to be the bride of Bakar’s Prince Matthew	1393
and so cond -,	1394
and so condemned me to dwell in hateful Bakar	1395
—oh, that the carrion crows might pick the bones     of this Matthew!	1396
Hapless maiden that I am, I’ve given my heart in vain     to someone else.”	1397
Now when Ali’d understood these words,	1398
he spo -,	1399
he spoke to Helen in this wise:	1400
“But I hope, dear Helen, that your life will be a long one.	1401
Darling, only say that you will be my wife,	1402
for here you see beside you my right arm,	1403
and here I -,	1404
and here beside me is my stout stallion.	1405
In a moment I can set you back of me upon the bay,	1406
on the stout bay’s rump,	1407
and fly with you to darkling Velebit;	1408
this very moment, darling girl, I can carry you away,	1409
I swear to you by all my holy prayers.”	1410
Now when she had understood his words,	1411
Helen said to him:	1412
“Good sir, scion of a well-born father,	1413
please to tell me truly and veraciously,	1414
whence do you come, and of what district are you?	1415
Lo, it is a whole week that I have waited	1416
since I sent a letter on white paper	1417
to Ali Ogrošović himself	1419
in the town of Udbina,	1418
hoping that luck would smile on me	1420
and Ali Ogrošović might come for me,	1421
for he is the one with whom I would most willingly elope.”	1422
Now when Ali’d understood these words,	1423
he reached for the piece of white paper,	1424
and there in the yard he handed it to Helen.	1425
The girl Helen took the paper	1426
and, leaving her place in the dance,	1427
the darling girl went into the house	1428
to see whose letter it was.	1429
So, having gone indoors,	1430
the dear girl went to the light of a windowpane,	1431
and there she opened the seal on the letter	1432
and held it up to inspect it;	1433
then she saw it was the selfsame letter	1434
which she had sent	1435
to the good Turk, son of Ogroš.	1436
Now Helen let the big tears fall,	1437
for she pitied the son of Ogroš,	1438
since the wedding party had already come     and would soon take her away;	1439
and so the darling girl returned	1440
to Ali in the inner yard,	1441
resumed her place beside him in the dance,	1442
and spoke to Ali in this wise:	1443
“Alas, Ali, my lambkin,	1444
why have you come so late?	1445
A full three months have come and gone	1446
since I sent you my letter.	1447
You should have come long since.	1448
Your coming now does us no good,     my grey-green-feathered falcon,	1449
For as you see, my wedding guests are all now     here assembled	1450
—they are a trifling number, a mere twelve thousand—	1451
and they have brought here in their train     a dozen great bombards,	1452
and prodigious numbers of guard posts infest     the neighboring mountains.	1453
Were you to carry me away,	1454
a mighty troop would give pursuit,	1455
and soon divide both me from thee	1456
and thy dear head from off thy body.	1457
You would accomplish nought thereby     but only grieve your mother	1458
and bring down sorrow on your sire,     who waits for you at home.”	1459
Now when Ali had understood these words,	1460
he spoke to Helen in this wise:	1461
“Darling Helen—long may you live!—	1462
if now you’ll plight your maiden’s troth	1463
and will not change your mind	1464
to be to me mine own true bride,	1465
then I’ll take thee to be my lady	1466
and care not how soon I’m slain.	1467
Come now, give me your hand;	1468
I’ll mount you on the bay,	1469
and then we two shall run away to darkling Velebit.”	1470
Now when Helen had understood these words,	1471
she spoke to Ali in this wise:	1472
“I adjure thee in the name of God, Ali Ogrošović,	1473
don’t under -; don’t; don’t; don’t -,	1474
take nothing amiss in what I say:	1475
strong man though thou art, shrewd thou’rt not.	1476
However do you think that you could spirit me away?	1477
Here in this yard alone there are three hundred horsemen,	1478
all guardsmen of the King of Bakar’s wedding band.	1479
Here are such prodigious numbers of these mothers’ sons;	1480
if only half of them could ride as fast as you and I,     soon they’d overtake us,	1481
and they might kill not only you and me	1482
but even your great bay.	1483
Our journey would be all in vain.	1484
But listen now to me, Ali Ogrošović,	1485
listen to what I say.”	1486
Now when Ali’d understood these words,	1487
he spoke to Helen in this wise:	1488
“What is it you would say, my pretty?	1489
Tell me what you have in mind.”	1490
When Helen understood these words,	1491
she spoke thus to Ali:	1492
“Beware, Ali, my rising sun,	1493
and stay away from the new hotels,	1494
since they might recognize you there.	1495
Go instead, Ali,	1496a
into the garden of red roses	1497
which lies hard by my bright mansion.	1496b
There you shall find an apple tree that bears red fruit	1498
and a well of cool water beneath it.	1499
The water wells forth through twelve spouts,	1500
half of them golden, the other half gilded.	1501
Around the belvedere there is a balustrade of dark wood	1502
that is braced with tin-plated wire.	1503
I had it built for you, Ali,	1504
since I have long expected your coming to the Marches.	1505
Lift the bedding in the belvedere	1506
and under it you will find red wine	1507
and brandy,	1508
and mutton for your supper,	1509
and bread baked in the sun,	1510
and plenty of cracked barley.	1511
Drink the red wine	1512
and drink -,	1513
and eat your fill of the mutton,	1514
and feed your big bay horse;	1515
then pass the night in my rose garden.	1516
Tomorrow early in the morning I shall rise	1517
and come to meet you by the well.	1518
If luck is with us	1519
and there be mist descended from the clouds,	1520
then we may easily escape	1521
along the whole length of the Marches	1522
and hide ourselves, oh Ali, in darkling Velebit.”	1523
When Ali had understood these words,	1524
he spoke to Helen in this wise:	1525
“Helen of mine, long may you live,	1526
I’ll do as you have told me, dear.”	1527
When now they had said these things,     the dark of night came on	1528
and all the girls began to leave the dance.	1529
Each one went home to her own mansion	1530
and to her agèd mother;	1531
and Helen too went into her bright mansion.	1532
There the dear girl did wait upon her lord,	1533
her betrothèd master, Matthew of Bakar,	1534
and on her father-in-law,	1535
the very King of Bakar.	1536
Her father too was there among the company	1537
as Helen poured out the ruddy wine for them	1538
and gave each man his share.	1539
And each of them as he received his cup from her     took out golden ducats,	1540
and each of them as he received his cup from her         took out golden ducats	1541
and gave them as a wedding gift to Helen girl,	1542
and gave them as a wedding gift to Helen girl.	1543
But let us see now what the son of Ogroš did.	1544
As he passed beneath the bright mansion,	1545
he found the apple tree bearing its red fruit	1546
there in the garden of the girl Helen.	1547
Roses grew in her garden,	1548
with flowers of every other kind.	1549
Night settled over the rose garden	1551
just as he drove his horse into it.	1550
He found the belvedere standing in the bright paradise	1552
underneath the apple tree with its red fruit,	1553
and round about the belvedere a balustrade of dark wood	1554
braced with tin-plated wire.	1555
All things truly were as Helen had described them.	1556
The young man drove his bay	1557
onward to the well of water and the beautiful belvedere.	1558
A knob was fixed in the bole of the apple tree.	1559
The young man dismounted from the great horse,	1560
hitched it to the knob,	1561
and loosened the girthing belts.	1562
He lifted the bedding in the cushioned belvedere,	1563
and under it he found the cracked barley	1564
which Helen had put there for him.	1565
He gave it to the big horse to eat.	1566
Then he went into the cushioned belvedere	1567
and sat him down,	1568
laying his pistols beside him	1569
on the wool- and down-filled cushions.	1570
Now when the son of Ogroš had sat down,	1571
he lifted the bill -,	1572
he lifted the big pillow on the bedstead     there in the cushioned belvedere,	1573
he lifted the big pillow on the bedstead there         in the cushioned belvedere,	1574
and found cooked mutton under it,	1575
and red wine,	1576
and double-distilled aquavit,	1577
and bread baked in the sun,	1578
and bread baked in the sun.	1579
And so by turns he drank the ruddy wine	1580
and mixed it with the aquavit,	1581
and ate the roast of mutton.	1582
Thus he sat drinking all night long and took no sleep,	1583
for he did not dare to sleep	1584
lest someone take him by surprise,	1585
lest someone take him by surprise.	1586
Now when the dawn struck heaven with its wing	1587
and the light of the sun took flight,	1588
he looked toward the bright mansion,	1589
the mansion of Captain Yanko,	1590
and what he saw was wonderful:	1591
a three -,	1592
but who -,	1593
three young maidens strolling forth	1594
towards the bright garden,	1595
toward the well of water and the belvedere.	1596
Dear Lord, who might the pretty maidens be?	1597
’Twere an easy thing to guess,	1598
for the girl Helen was coming to meet him,	1599
and with her a pair of maids-in-waiting.	1600
One of the them carried Helen’s skirts,	1601
while between them the other two swept the path;	1602
the other two swept the path where she would tread, brother.	1603
A short time passed, and in a little while	1604
they reached the chilly belvedere	1605
and the well of cool water.	1606
But Helen had other thoughts in mind than of merely     standing by the well,	1607
for now she called,	1608
and Ali answered her in kind.	1609
Then Helen said to him:	1610
“Do you hear me, Ali, my white-fleeced lamb?	1611
Have you slept well the whole night through?”	1612
Then Ali said to her:	1613
“Helen, dear, long may you live!	1614
I have hardly slept at all,	1615
since you were not beside me,	1616
since you were not beside me.”	1617
Now when Ali’d understood these words,	1618
he spoke to Helen in this wise:	1619
“Helen, my dear, long may you live,	1620
has the hour come for us to travel?”	1621
Now when Helen understood these words,	1622
thus she -,	1623
she spake thus, my brother:	1624
“Ali, get thee up, my darling lambkin,	1625
and fasten tight the saddle-girths on your bay horse.	1626
For I have drugged my daddy	1627
and the King of Bakar,	1628
and also his scion, the young man Matthew.	1629
So now, get up, my dear, and fasten the girt-straps.”	1630
Now when Ali’d understood these words,	1631
he stood upright on his manly legs,	1632
went swiftly to his bay horse,	1633
made fast all four saddle-girths,	1634
setting each in its own place	1635
so none might rub upon the others.	1636
Now when Ali had tightened all the straps,	1637
he sprang into the saddle,	1638
and then spoke thus to Helen:	1639
“Give me your right hand, my dear,	1640
for it is time for us to travel.”	1641
When now young Helen had understood these words,	1642
she gave her hand to Ali,	1643
who drew her up	1644
and set her on the horse’s rump,	1645
and wrapped her in his cloak of mail.	1646
Both the servant girls began to cry	1647
and, weeping, they spoke thus:	1648
“Oh Turkish sir, Ali Ogrošović,	1649
since you are taking our mistress away,	1650
take us too to Udbina,	1651
take us too to Udbina.”	1652
These were the things that Ali said to them:	1653
“Pretty maids-in-waiting,	1654
later I shall come for you	1655
when I’ve eloped all safely with this girl,	1657
when I’ve eloped all safely with this girl	1658
and held my nuptials.”	1656
Now when Ali ha -;	1659
now when Ali had set her on the horse’s rump	1660
and wrapped her in his cloak,	1661
he turned his back upon the Marches	1662
and galloped away along the seashore.	1663
Let us in the meantime see what the maids-in-waiting did.	1664
Both returned whence they had come	1665
till they came to the Captain’s chamber.	1666
The Magyar girls spoke thus to him:	1667
“Oh Captain Yanko, sir, the two of us wish you good health,	1668
and may no harm come to you.	1669
Helen, your darling daughter, has just now run away.	1670
She’s elop’d with a Turk to marry him, the scion of Ogroš.	1671
He’s taken her down to the sea and is riding along the shore,	1672
speeding away -;	1673
speeding away as fast as he can to the safety     of Mount Oršan,	1674
speeding away as fast as he can to the safety         of Mount Oršan.”	1675
Now when Captain Yanko had understood these words,	1676
he stood up instantly	1677
and said to the bridegroom’s father:	1678
“Get up, get up, my kinsman, 1679	1679
King of Bakar City, 1678	1680
for all our joy is turned to sorrow	1681
by machination of the Turks.	1682
They’ve stolen my darling daughter,	1683
Helen, my darling girl,	1684
and even now they carry her away     along the flatlands of the Coast.”	1685
But when the King of Bakar gat him up,	1686
he found the serving girls had told the truth:	1687
there was no Helen in the mansion any more.	1688
[Here the singer rested.]
And so Ali rode away, taking the girl with him,	1689
oh, my brothers, down the flatlands of the Coast.	1690
Now when Captain Yanko heard of it,	1691
he had other thoughts than of idly waiting.	1692
Down the staircase Yanko ran	1693
and fired two great cannon.	1694
They were such as are not fired for trivial reasons, brothers,	1695
but only for alarum in great crises.	1696
No sooner had his cannon roared	1697
than they were answered from Bakar.	1698
As many cities as there are beside the sea,	1699
upon each city’s wall of masonry	1700
the crashing of the cannon rocked both earth and air,	1701
while in the mountains high-pitched passe-volants	1702
resounded at the border posts and where     the brigand-chiefs keep watch.	1703
Thus arose a mighty hue and cry.	1704
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	1705
for Helen now, breaking silence, said to her Ali:	1706
“Ali, dear to me as is the rising sun o’er the mountain’s     red-tinged rim,	1707
they have raised a mighty hue and cry.	1708
If you were a daimon of the mountain and had wings,	1709
you still could not convey your own body safely home     to Udbina.”	1710
Now when Ali’d understood these words,	1711
in this wise did he answer her again:	1712
“My pretty, darling girl,	1713
do cock your legs right tightly round my horse,	1714
because, my darling, I’ll not put you down	1715
so long as I’m alive.	1716
Rather would I die a manly death	1717
than like some woman uselessly drag out my life     with grovelling in Udbina city.”	1718
Thus he conversed with Helen.	1719
Now let him go where it pleases him.	1720
In the meantime let us see what the bey Mustaybey did,	1721
the one, my brethren, who dwelt in the broad Lika.	1722
The bey arose betimes,	1723
lit his long and gaily colored pipe,	1724
then sat him down beside the windowpane.	1725
There he heard the echoed booming	1726a/1727a
of the batteries beyond Mount Velebit.	1726b/1727b
Now when the bey had considered what he was hearing,	1728
he spoke in this wise:	1729
“Oh Đulić, my goodly bannerman,	1730
get thee down to the city gate	1731
and listen well, dear child of mine, then come     and tell me what you think:	1732
is it thunder that I hear, or is it earthquake,	1733
or is it Ocean crashing on the shore,	1734
or do I hear the Kaiser’s cannon	1735
reverberating, my dear son, across the stony Marches?	1736
For Ali, son of Ogroš, as you know, has gone down there;	1737
can it be that he has set off this alarm?”	1738
Now when Đulić had reflected on these words,	1739
he had no thought of merely standing still.	1740
Down the staircase Đulić ran	1741
and went straightway to the city gate.	1742
There he stopped to listen to the big noise     echoing from beyond Mount Velebit.	1743
But very soon thereafter he went back	1744
and told the bey in this wise what he’d heard:	1745
“Oh my Bey, oh Mustaybey, pillar of Udbina,	1746
it is no thunder, nor earthquake,	1747
nor is it Ocean roiling ’gainst the shore.	1748
It is the Kaiser’s cannon,	1749
my dear Bey, resounding all across the flatlands of the Coast.	1750
No doubt the one you’ve named has set off this alarm.”	1751
Now when the bey had understood these words,	1752
he had no thought of merely sitting still.	1753
Forthwith he called the Dizdar’s son:	1754
“Alack, my son, oh Dizdarević Meho,	1755
get thee swiftly to the city gate	1756
and fire my two great cannon.	1757
Hurry, my son, in the name of God,	1758
for Ali, son of Ogroš, has gone down	1759
to harry the Nether Marches.	1760
He’s stolen some pretty girl away	1761
and occasion’d a great alarm.	1762
The time has come to give Ali our help	1763
and go together to the Field of Otok,	1764
where lies the three-way border ’twixt the Turks     and Christian nations.	1765
Our duty will be to await Ali there,	1766
should he be yet alive.	1767
But if perhaps he should be slain,	1768
then our duty is revenge,	1769
for not only is Ali his mother’s only son	1770
—that by itself, dear lad, would be the merest trifle—	1771
he is, much more than that, a warrior of great worship.”	1772
Now when Meho, the Dizdar’s son,     had heard tell all these things,	1773
Meho had no thought at all of merely standing still.	1774
He gat him down to the city gate	1775
and ignited the two big guns,	1776
the one named Crackling Echo, and the other,     called Long Barrel.	1777
They are such as are not fired for trivial reasons, brothers,	1778
but only for alarum in time of some great crisis.	1779
The blast of sound went rolling away     over the greensward ground.	1780
All the province of wide Lika heard the reverberation,	1781
and so did every chief of border guards     in all the highland places.	1782
Had you been there to hear,	1783
you might have heard the boom of cannon answering	1785
from every city of the Lika	1784
and the firing of the high-pitched passe-volants     from every border post.	1786
So now in the Lika too the call to arms went forth,	1787
throughout the whole—thanks be to God!—broad province     of the Lika.	1788
A little while passed—it was not long—	1789
until the first faint light of dawn began to show,	1790
for meanwhile they had passed another night	1791
and then again betimes arisen in the morning.	1792
Bey Mustaybey of the Lika rose betimes	1793
and his banner-bearer Đulić with him.	1794
Then he looked out upon his pleasant Meadows,	1795
the Meadows by the River Crvač.	1796
But on this day the Meadows were obscured, my brother,	1797
by multitudes of fezzes and of footgear,	1798
of lances and of goodly horses.	1799
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	1800
so many were the Turks who had assembled,	1801
my sweet brothers, in that year.	1802
Now when the Bey had seen this from his window,	1803
he said to Talâ, the man of Trnovac:	1804
“Alack, dear Talâ, my jester from of old,	1805
get thee down to my bright meadow	1806
and see who’s mustered there.	1807
Our purpose is to make an expedition,	1808
my dear son, away from Udbina, the bright city,	1809
and go down to the Field of Otok, son,	1810
for Ali will surely come to meet us there	1811
as he comes struggling onward, carrying the pretty maiden     whom he’s taken for his own.	1812
The Germans will be waiting for him there	1813
and try to take his pretty girl away.	1814
Unless we go to help in his escape, bad luck     may overtake him as he flees, and he be slain.”	1815
Now when the man from Trnovac, when Talâ had heard this,	1816
he hastened on his way until he came beside the banks     of Crvač	1817
to see who’d mustered by the well.	1818
The time went swiftly by, and in a little while	1819
it could be easily divined	1820
who had been the first to reach the Meadows.	1821
The first of them was Alagha, the man from Ploča,	1822
and he’d brought with him numbers of good fighting men.	1823
And who’d come second to the Meadows?	1824
It was Muyo Bunić,	1825
who had also brought young fighting men from Bunić Town.	1826
And who was third to reach the Meadows?	1827
Hasan Kurtović of Gospić	1828
who’d raised the soldiery of Gospić	1829
—a little force, no more than twenty thousand,	1830
all gathered there upon the Meadow,	1831
upon the Meadow by the banks of Crvač.	1832
Now when Talâ had enumerated all of them,	1833
he returned again whence he had come	1834
and spoke in this wise to the Bey:	1835
“Oh my Bey, oh Mustaybey, Pillar of Udbina,	1836
Alagha has come to us from Ploča	1837
and brought with him Ploča’s soldiery.	1838
Muyo has come to us from Bunić	1839
and levied Bunić’s young men.	1840
Also Hasan Kurtović has come,	1841
dear Bey, from bright Gospić.	1842
He has levied Gospić’s young men.	1843
So the army numbers all together twenty thousand,	1844
and twenty is the number of great bombards in its train.”	1845
Now when the Bey had understood these words,	1846
they made him very glad.	1847
He called his servant, Radovan:	1848
“Radâ, my dear child,	1849
go and saddle my dove-gray horse.	1850
The time has come for us to go down     quickly as we may to Otočac.”	1851
Radâ, when he’d understood these words,	1852
stood up upon his manly legs	1853
and went into the stable.	1854
There he readied the Bey’s big horse.	1855
Now while Radâ readied the dove-gray horse,	1856
the Bey disguised himself.	1857
Then he went back to his drawing room	1858
and there—thanks be to Thee, oh Lord,     for all Thy manifold works—	1859
he found two of his banner-bearers awaiting him.	1860
One of them was Musić,	1861
one of them was Musić	1862
from the Turyanian Plain,	1863
while the other one was Đulić,	1864
who dwelt in Udbina City.	1865
Thanks be unto Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy manifold works,	1866
Radâ opened the postern gate	1867
and Mustaybey, the Lika’s Bey, immediately     passed through it.	1868
Both the Bey’s banner-bearers followed close behind.	1869
They all rode off together till they came to the River Crvač.	1870
Now when the Bey had come to the river called the Crvač,	1871
there by the well he shouted a greeting     in the best of Turkish style,	1872
there by the well he shouted a greeting         in the best of Turkish style,	1873
and this was the way he spoke to the chiefs     whom he found assembled there:	1874
“Are all of you well, my dear aghas,	1875
my aghas and my spahis,	1876
and did you hear my cannon?”	1877
“Indeed, oh Bey, we did; we pledge our faith upon it.	1878
But tell us now and tell us true,     what caused your firing of them?”	1879
The Bey in this wise answered them:	1880
“My sweet aghas and my spahis,	1881
Ali the son of Ogroš has gone down	1882
to the house of Captain Yanko	1883
to steal the Captain’s pretty girl—Helen, his only daughter.	1884
Helen, it seems, had sent him a letter,	1885
vowing to be -,	1886
vowing to be his wife.	1887
So Ali put on a close disguise	1888
and went down to the Marches.	1889
I heard the cannon thundering to warn the lowland folk	1890
that Ali’s in flight and has started a fight	1891
with a posse in hot pursuit.	1892
I fear they may take him alive	1893
and either make him a prisoner	1894
or -, or else -,	1895
or sever his head from his shoulders.	1896
Our duty is clear: to give him aid and cover his retreat.	1897
Children of mine, aghas and spahis,	1898
our army is enough for that.”	1899
He spoke, then spurred his dove-gray horse,	1900
and all the army followed him	1901
and his two bannermen.	1902
But now let bey Mustaybey go	1903
wherever, my brothers, it pleases him.	1904
In the meantime let us see what things     the son of Ogroš did.	1905
Now when he’d traversed all seven of the lowland Marches	1906
and thus had come to Mount Oršan,	1907
and thus had come to Mount Oršan,	1908
his darling Helen said to him:	1909
“Alack, my Ali, my refulgent sun,	1910
go not by way of Mount Oršan!	1911
Thirty guard posts lie within its glens,	1912
each garrisoned with thirty Aroumains	1913
and each commanded by a bandit-chieftain fierce     and infidel.	1914
If you were a daimon of the wild and you had wings,	1915
you still could not convey your own body safely     across these heights.”	1916
Now when Ali’d comprehended what she’d said,	1917
in this wise did he answer her again:	1918
“Helen, my dear, long may you live!	1919
Would you not later censure me	1921
were I to shun this mountain?	1920
And if through all of this I safely carry you to Udbina,	1922
yet might you not, my dear, make light of me, and say	1923
I’d fled for cowardice and would not face the dangers     on the heights of Mount Oršan	1924
and all the guard posts of Vienna’s Kaiser?	1925
No, Helen dear, I swear to God, I shall not     pass Mount Oršan by.	1926
The path that I must take lies straight across     the heights of Oršan,	1927
where I must face the challenge, Helen,	1928
of each several brigand chief upon the way, dear Helen,	1929
of each several brigand chief upon the way, dear Helen.”	1930
When Helen comprehended what he’d said,	1931
then lo, she said to him again:	1932
“Drive on, my rising sun, my Ali.”	1933
A little time passed, it was not long,	1934
till Ali came to the first guard post,	1935
where Yanko Cmiljanić commanded,	1936
eldest of the twelve brothers Cmiljanić.	1937
With him were thirty Aroumains,	1938
all soldiers of the Kaiser in Vienna.	1939
Now when Niklas Vojvodić saw him,	1940
he shouted a challenge as loud as he could:	1941
“Oh Ali Ogrošović, thou Turk,	1942
put down our well-born girl	1943
and let us fight like men,	1944
for if you do not put her down,	1945
today’s the day you die!”	1946
Now when Helen understood these words,	1947
then tearfully she said:	1948
“Oh Ali, my love—my lambkin one year old—	1949
’twas here that Musić gave me up,	1950
Musić the bannerman, the one from the Turyanian Plain.	1951
But even so he got seven wounds	1952
and hardly struggled home again     to the province of broad Lika.	1953
Give over, my love, and put me down,     for fear you perish here.”	1954
Now when Ali’d understood these words,	1955
in this wise did he say to her again:	1956
“Helen, my dear, long may you live!	1957
No, Helen dear, I swear to God, I shall not put you down.	1958
Only cock your legs right tightly now     around my good bay horse.”	1959
When the girl had understood the words that Ali’d said,	1960
Ali gave the horse its head and let it run.	1961
He would have been an easy mark	1962
for rifle-fire, which might have laid him low	1963
but for the well-born girl	1964
who shielded him behind	1965
with her own girlish back.	1966
Then Niklas Vojvodić commanded with a shout:	1967
“Take the man alive, brothers!	1968
We’ll get a better bo -,	1969
we’ll get a better bounty for him quick than dead.”	1970
Now when the soldiers saw him making off	1971
they gladly would have captured him alive,	1972
but found the Turk was unsubmissive short of death.	1973
He clenched his naked sword with both his fists	1974
and slew a pair of brothers—both died there     in the flower of their youth—	1975
a pair of brothers Vojvodić	1976
as well as seven of the soldiery,	1977
my brethren, who served the Kaiser in Vienna.	1978
So the young man safely passed the first     of all the sentry posts.	1979
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works!	1980
When he approached the second of the sentry posts,	1981
the one where Michael Popović was garrisoned	1982
with seven others of the Brothers Popović	1983
—thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	1984
for that made eight in all of Brothers Popović,	1985
and thirty of the common soldiery	1986
who served Vienna’s Kaiser—	1987
here once again the dear girl Helen wept	1988
and spoke to Ali thus:	1989
“Oh Ali of mine, alas, my sun emergent on the mountaintop!	1990
’Tis here that Đulić put me down,	1991
the selfsame Đulić bannerman who came to me     from out the spacious province of the Lika,	1992
Bey Mustaybey’s foremost banner-bearer.	1993
Twelve great wounds he got himself in that attempt	1994
and brought down injury and disrepute     on many a man and maid	1996
before with pain and suffering he struggled home again     to spacious Lika.	1995
So put me down and save yourself, for fear you perish here.”	1997
Now when Ali’d understood her words,	1998
in this wise did he say to her again:	1999
“Helen, darling girl, now hear me well!	2000
As long as I remain alive	2001
I shall not set your feet upon the turf	2002
nor shall I turn away from any sentry post;     I shall instead attack them, every one,	2003
so cock your legs right tightly ’round my bay.”	2004
Again he gave his horse its head and let it run;	2005
again they gladly would have taken him alive;	2006
again they could not fire at him for fear of hurting her,     the well-born girl.	2007
The lad was unsubmissive short of death,	2008
his naked sword clenched ready in his hand.	2009
Now when the lad surged forward on his horse,	2010
straightway he slew three brothers Popović	2011
and fifteen of the common soldiery	2012
who served Vienna’s Kaiser,	2013
who served Vienna’s Kaiser.	2014
So he safely passed the second highland sentry post.	2015
What further should I tell you of his deeds?	2016
He safely passed the sentry posts, all three and ten of them,	2017
my brethren, on the uplands of Mount Oršan,	2018
and fortune favored him so handsomely	2020
that he came through both living and unhurt.	2019
Now when he’d passed the whole of Mount Oršan,	2021
he issued forth upon a spacious plain	2022
hight Goshawk Field.	2023
Above it loomed the woods of Goshawk Mountain	2024
on the left side -,	2025
on the left of Mount Goshawk,	2026
while to the right there lay the forest     on the summit of Mount Dove.	2027
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	2028
in the middle of the plain there was a well     of cool springwater.	2029
That spring is called Sweet Mary’s Fount.	2030
Ali spoke now to his horse, his goodly bay:	2031
“My brother-in-arms, my dexter wing, my bay,	2032
we’ve made our way to Goshawk Field.	2033
Goshawk Mountain looms above,	2034
the Mount of Doves below us.	2035
If only we can safely cross these heights,	2036
we’ll come within an easy distance of the border	2037
where the separation lies between the Turkish     and the Christian lands.”	2038
Thus he was conversing with his bay	2039
when suddenly he heard a tumult down the field,	2040
a thunder of galloping horse’s hooves.	2041
A shouting voice came calling him across the green meadow:	2042
“Stop where you are, oh Turk, Ali Ogrošović,	2043
and take the lovely girl no farther!	2044
Set her down upon the grassy ground	2045
and let us fight like men	2046
to see which one of us shall have the girl.”	2047
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works.	2048
Now when Ali had reflected on these words,	2049
he saw the horseman bearing down on him	2050
and knew he could do nothing else but tur -,     but face this new opponent,	2051
and knew he could do nothing else         but face this new opponent.	2052
So he put his darling Helen down upon the grass	2053
and reined his horse about	2054
to see exactly who it was who challenged him.	2055
His challenger’s identity may readily be guessed:	2056
it was the man Vuk Brinjenin	2057
who earlier had been his host where he had passed the night,	2058
whose ducats he had taken off	2059
by racing rank -, by barank -,	2060
by racing and hard bargaining.	2061
Vuk Brinjenin was feeling rueful.	2062
Vuk regretted what he’d lost in money	2063
and was jealous of the noble girl;	2064
what’s more, he thought himself a valiant warrior.	2065
Now when Ali Ogrošović had recognized the man	2066
—by the piebald mare he knew it was Vuk Brinjenin—	2067
Ali had no thought of merely sitting still.	2068
He drew his pair of pistols,	2069
the ones with golden hammers and with silver stocks	2070
—they were double-barrelled, and each would shoot     four rounds,	2071
very well adapted for killing men in armour—	2072
he used his horse’s ears for props to steady them     while aiming.	2073
As Ali advanced to meet him	2074
both his pistols blazed	2075
from where he’d steadied them upon his horse’s ears.	2076
Lo the luck of Boy Ogroš!	2077
He killed Vuk Brinjenin outright.	2078
Vuk tumbled from the saddle and fell into the grass;	2079
but Ali gave no further thought to him	2080
and only wheeled his horse about     to go whence he had come.	2081
He left Vuk dead,	2082
my brothers, there upon the wide expanse	2083
of the open plain hight Goshawk Field.	2084
He found Girl Helen waiting where he’d set her down.	2085
Extending his right hand to her, he said:	2086
“Helen dear, long may you live,	2087
see now how luck has served me.	2088
Here once again I’ve won my fight.	2089
So give me, darling, your right hand,	2090
and get up on the bay.	2091
We’ve many another mile to go before the close of day.”	2092
Helen was eager—would hardly wait—	2093
and lightly leapt upon the horse’s croup.	2094
Ali wrapped her in his cloak	2095
and set off smartly down the verdant field.	2096
In time he came to Mary’s Well.	2097
By now the lad was thirsty	2098
and his horse was much fatigued.	2099
He drew it to a halt beside the spring	2100
and let it drink,	2101
and then he drank himself	2102
and offered drink to Helen too, the lovely girl.	2103
Ali would have rested there,	2104
but as he gazed upon the verdant plain	2105
He saw a lonely horseman riding toward him.	2106
The rider held a naked sabre in his fist	2107
and rode post-haste beneath the mountain’s verdant brow,	2108
beneath Mount Goshawk’s lowering forest.	2109
Then Ali said to Helen:	2110
“Helen, dear, long may you live,	2111
here comes yet another,	2112
darling, in pursuit of you and me.”	2113
Now when the young girl Helen saw what Ali pointed out,	2114
in this wise Helen spoke to him:	2115
“Oh Ali of mine, alas, my sun emergent on the mountaintop!	2116
Mount your bay and run away into the upland wilderness.	2117
Put hills and dells for barriers between that man and you.	2118
The man who’s chasing you and me	2121
is Matthew, son of Bakar’s king,	2119
the one to whom my father’s given me.”	2120
Now when Ali’d comprehended what she’d said,	2122
he knew at once he could not and he would not flee.	2123
He left his Helen by the spring	2124
and wheeled his bay about,	2125
then spoke to Matthew in this wise:	2126
“Hear me, Matthew, son of Bakar’s king!	2127
I have the lovely maiden Helen here,	2128
who from the first has been my own true love.	2129
Against her will her father has indecently	2130
betrothed the girl to you, Matthew, my little man.	2131
So now I tell you—listen well to what I have to say—	2132
so now I tell you—listen well to what I have to say!	2133
Turn back, Matthew, and get you gone; go home     to your stony Marches,	2134
for fear your head may now take wing     and fly from off your shoulders.”	2135
In the division of his mind Matthew	2136
still gripped the naked sabre,	2137
which he brandished with his strong right arm.	2138
The sight of Matthew’s naked sword     was all the answer Ali got,	2139
and so he reached for both the pistols     that he carried in his belt	2140
and drew them forth. They both were all of gold     and made in Graz	2141b/2141a
with golden hammers, silver stocks,	2142
and double-barrelled; they would spew four rounds apiece     in every volley that they shot.	2143
In a single fluid movement Ali brought them both to bear     and steadied them upon the horse’s ears,	2144
and then he fired. They served him well	2145
and mowed down Matt, the scion of Bakar, like scythes     at harvest time.	2146
So Matthew fell upon the verdant turf,	2147
so Matthew fell upon the verdant turf,	2148
but Ali gave no further thought to him	2149
and only turned his sturdy horse about	2150
to ride once more whence he had come, back to the spring     and to his darling girl, the one whom he’d left there.	2151
Once more extending his right hand to her,	2152
he spoke to Helen in this wise:	2153
“Helen of mine, long may you live,	2154
behold how I have helped this Matthew celebrate     his wedding rites and brought him to his bridal couch.	2155
No longer will he need his wedding party, dear,	2156
nor will he go campaigning any more.”	2157
Now when the sweet girl Helen comprehended what he said,	2158
she spoke to Ali in this wise:	2159
“Long life to -,	2160
Ali Ogrošović, long life to you,	2161
and blessèd be the ones who gave you life,	2162
more blessèd still the one who someday serves you.	2163
For if God grants and fate brings it to pass	2164
that you and I get safely down into the province     of broad Lika,	2165
then, Ali, you shall see how true a helpmeet I shall be,	2166
how good a helpmeet I, Girl Helen, am.”	2167
So they two went on their way	2168
into the upcountry.	2169
A little while passed, it was not long,	2170
till they had crossed both mountains.	2171
Pressing on, at last they came to darkling Velebit.	2172
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works:	2173
no one interfered with them nor did they pause again	2174
as they ascended all the height of mighty Velebit.	2175
From there, atop the mountain, they had a splendid view:	2176
in the farthest distance, brothers,     stood the lustrous town of Otočac	2177
by its colossal plain.	2178
But oh, my brothers, on that plain there lay a black mantle	2180b/2179
that covered every part of it from rim to farthest rim,	2180a
for it was thickly overcast with soldiers’ caps and packs,	2181
with caisson-teams and bayonets;	2182
a powerful force was mustered there by the King of Otočac.	2183
The King had stationed on the plain an army of his regulars	2184
and thrown up breastworks everywhere	2185
with gun emplacements in them.	2186
The King knew well an alarm was up,	2188
and here he’d chosen to make a stand     and wait for Mustaybey.	2187
This was the place where the clash must be,	2191
where the battle must be fought,	2192
for here pursuers would converge     from all the seven Marches,	2189
so too their opposition from the Lika     and from the level lands of Krbava.	2190
But lo, Helen, as she eyed all this,	2193
in this wise spoke to Ali:	2194
“Alas, Ali, for whom my love is like a wound incurable,	2195
behold the plain with all that soldiery	2196
and breastworks of the kind     Vienna’s Kaiser might have raised,	2197
and all the cannon in them at the ready!     Now, for love of God,	2198
do put me down, Ali Ogrošović,	2199
and leave me here among these boulders dank and sheer	2200
whilst you yourself take refuge in the murky wilderness     of Velebit,	2201
for in its desert places none will notice you nor find you out.	2202
This force that now opposes us is much too great.”	2203
Now when Ali’d understood her words,	2204
he answered her again:	2205
“Helen dear, long may you live,	2206
have I not said to you and sworn it by my faith	2207
—upon my faith and by my creed,	2208
and by our holy month of Ramadan—	2209
that I shall wed no other one to wife	2210
nor ever give you up	2211
so long as I remain alive?”	2212
Thus he talked with Helen	2213
whilst he gat him down from off the darkling heights     of Velebit	2214
and entered on the vast capacious plain.	2215
Across the ample plain he galloped now	2216
and headlong drove his animal	2217
directly toward the lustrous town of Otočac.	2218
A little while passed, it was not long.	2219
Now as he drew near the stream	2220
—near to Gašic -, near Gašica and the waters of -,	2221
near to Gašica and the lustrous bridge,	2222
the bridge upon the lustrous Gašica,	2223
Captain Raven stood upon the bridge	2224
and with him sixty riflemen	2225
keeping guard beside the River Gašica	2226
and on the bridge that led to lustrous Otočac.	2227
But lo, in this wise Helen spoke to Ali:	2228
“Oh Ali of mine, alas, my sun emergent on the mountaintop,	2229
as you are a true believer, do not urge your horse,     though he be stout,	2231b/2230
to rush the bridge	2231a
nor test the strength of Captain Raven,	2232
for there beside him stand his sixty foot soldiers	2233
and lo, the sun is up for them to see you by.	2234
Too easily might they take you alive.	2235
Go instead along the river’s bank until you reach the ford	2236
and get across the water where the shallows are,	2237
then dash onward o’er the plain.”	2238
Now when Ali’d understood her words,	2239
he saw that what she said was true,	2240
that what his Helen said was all the truth.	2241
So then he reined his bay about and turned it to another place	2242
where he drove it two full hours	2243
through the fenny waters of the Gašica.	2244
Oozing mud lay everywhere, immeasurable.	2245
Now when Ali’d finally spanned the stream,	2246
his horse was very tired.	2247
Ali thought no one was watching him,	2248
but Captain Raven saw it all	2249
from where he stood upon the bridge that arched     the River Gašica.	2250
He mounted on his great black horse	2251
and rode, the Lord be praised, until he reached the sea -,	2252
the Lord be praised, until he reached the fords,	2253
the Lord be praised, until he reached the fords.	2254
Now when Ali came -, came to the fords,	2255
when, I mean, that Ali’d crossed the shallows,	2256
he found himself upon a meadowland.	2257
But now his bay was very weary	2258
and would not, good horse though it was, move from the spot.	2259
Ali lashed it on both flanks,	2260
but all in vain, my dear brethren.	2261
The Raven rejoiced to see that sight,	2262
and thus he spoke to him:	2263
“Ali son of Ogroš, oh thou Turk,	2264
give over beating your stout horse.	2265
He’s unfit for further fighting,	2266
good for nothing now but to speed you to your death.	2267
Put Helen down upon the grassy ground	2268
and hear me well, Ali son of Ogroš!	2269
I shall neither shoot at you	2270
nor draw my sabre from its sheath.	2271
Get you down from off your stalwart horse’s back	2272
and we shall wrestle, Turk.	2273
He who wins the fall shall take the girl	2274
and be acknowledged for a combat-proven hero.”	2275
Ali yielded to these terms, for there could be no other way.	2276
He set Helen down upon the grassy ground	2277
and bade her hold the reins of his good bay.	2278
Thus spake he to Helen:	2279
“Take these, Helen, the reins of my bay horse,	2280
and look you well which way you go to cross this oozy ford,	2281
the fording place upon the River Gašica,	2282
for I go now to meet my foe in toil of single combat.”	2283
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	2284
there where they two met, they laid hold one upon the other.	2285
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all They wondrous works,	2286
Meho [sic] featly showed that he was stronger than the Raven,	2287
save that Raven clung to him tenaciously,	2288
marking time until his troops might come on foot	2289
and capture him more easily because of his entanglement.	2290
But when the girl, the lovely Helen, saw that this     was happening,	2291
she left the horse to stand alone	2292
and hurried to the Raven.	2293
She grasped him by the collar then,	2294
and kicked him in the hollow of his knee,	2295
and Raven fell, with Ali uppermost astride him.	2296
Praise be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	2297
for thus it was that Ali spoke to him:	2298
“Did we not, my little ravenling, agree	2299
that he of us who won the fall should take the other’s head?”	2300
Therewith he drew his gilded blade	2301
and cut off Raven’s head.	2302
Then he returned to where he’d left his bay,	2303
and thus he said to Helen:	2304
“Helen dear, long may you live!	2305
If I come safely home to Udbina, I promise you	2306
I’ll take you to the Emperor in Istanbul,	2307
dress you all in fine brocade and velvet,	2308
and cover you in smelted gold.	2309
Nor shall I at all forget	2310
how you helped me in my need	2311
to overcome my foeman, Captain Raven.”	2312
Helen answered him:	2313
“Let us now be on our way, and may good luck attend us,	2314
for we have had good luck thus far;	2315
today will bring what God ordains.”	2316
Thanks be to Thee, dear God, for all Thy wondrous works,	2317
along the verdant plain their way lay past the mansion	2319/2318a
where Captain Diklić dwelt,	2318b
and Captain Diklić sighted them;	2320
but he was under orders	2321
not to kill Ali,	2322
only with his troops that he should take the man alive	2323
—and that for Ali, son of Ogroš, was a stroke of luck indeed.	2324
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	2325
he safely passed the Diklić house	2326
and came into the open plain.	2327
[Here the singer rested.]
Oh, now when Ali reached the plain,	2328
he glanced from where he sat astride his bay	2329
away toward Duribaba Mountain, brethren of mine,	2330
and there a wonder met his gaze:	2331
a horseman sallied forth across the frontier marker	2332
bearing a banner of green that swathed him in its trail,	2333
and fast behind him rode a troop of sixty other horse.	2334
Dear God, who might the rider be?	2335
It is not hard to guess;	2336
it was Ali’s parent,	2337
his own father, Ogroš himself.	2338
Here is what his father said:	2339
“Sweet son of mine, my only-born,	2340
if you have lost your life	2341
your father will avenge you;	2342
but if perchance you’re still alive,	2343
your father shall defend you!”	2344
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works;	2345
when he had said these things, he led his troops     onto the camping grounds.	2346
Once more Ali, son of Ogroš, glanced away	2347
to where the triune border lay dividing Christian lands     from Turkish.	2348
There another horseman crossed the boundary,	2349
he too bearing a banner of green that swathed him in its trail,	2350
and fast behind him galloped a troop of sixty other riders	2351
across the verdant field, my brothers.	2352
Dear God, who might this one be?	2353
He is not hard to guess;	2354
it was Ali Vrhovac,	2355
and this is what he said:	2356
“Hail to thee, my brother-in-arms,	2357
Ogrošović Ali, my brother.	2358
If you have lost your life,	2359
your brother will avenge you;	2360
but if perchance you’re still alive,	2361
your brother shall defend you.”	2362
A little while passed—it was not long—	2363
till Ali looked again toward Duribaba Mountain.	2364
There another horseman sallied forth     across the frontier marker,	2365
he too bearing a banner of green that swathed him in its trail,	2366
and fast behind him galloped a troop     of three hundred other riders.	2367
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	2368
who might that horseman be?	2369
He is not hard to guess:	2370
’twas Muyo himself, the chief of Kladuša,	2371
and his fierce frontiersmen with him.	2372
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, this is what he said:	2373
“Do you hear me, Ali Ogrošović!	2374
If you have lost your life,	2375
manfully, by God, I shall avenge you	2376
here on Otok Field;	2377
but if perchance you’re still alive,	2378
I shall strive to find out where you are	2379
—to find, and then defend you.”	2380
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	2381
the King of Otok witnessed all of this.	2382
A little while passed—it was not long—	2383
until the King’s gaze came to rest again     on Duribaba Mountain.	2384
There another horseman sallied forth     across the frontier marker	2385
mounted on a gre -, on a great enor -,	2386
on a mighty horse of dove-gray hue,	2387
a great and dove-gray horse.	2388
Fast behind him came the closely written Letter Patent,	2389
beside whom rode the usual two ancients:	2390
the bannerman Đulić on his right,	2391
and on his left the bannerman Musić.	2392
Behind them Meho rode, the Dizdar’s son;	2393
and the man from Trnovac, Talâ, followed Meho.	2394
But Talâ had other thoughts than of merely riding quietly.	2395
With all his might he shouted:	2396
“Milord, King of Otočac,	2397
save yourself, and cease your hue and cry.	2398
Disperse your troops	2399
and let the son of Ogroš pass;	2400
release Girl Helen with him.	2401
For if, dear fellow, you refuse to let them pass	2402
—let pass the son of Ogroš	2403
and disperse your troops—	2404
blood will flow here on this field as deep as a man’s knees,	2405
and there shall be a multitude of orphans	2406
—do you hear me, King of Otočac?—	2407
a multitude of widows returning to their kin,	2408
a multitude of agèd mothers weeping.”	2409
Now when the King of Otočac heard this,	2410
behold, the King commanded that his troops attack,	2411
and his three hundred cannon fired a salvo.	2412
What was there to see for one who happened there	2413
when those two armies clashed?	2414
The toils of combat gripped them both for two whole hours	2415
—thanks be to Thee, oh Lord— there on the verdant plain,	2416
where manfully and valiantly they fought	2417
’midst flashing swords and gushing blood.	2418
The old men start -,	2419
the screams of dying men and wounded filled the air.	2420
Now someone shouted in the fighting throng	2421
“Deal me a coup-de-grâce and strike the enemy!”	2422
while in the rear another called:	2423
“Save me alive, I am not wounded fatally,	2424
and I must get me home into the spacious Lika,	2425
for I’ve an agèd mother there dependent on me.”	2426
Voices clamored on the battlefield	2427
invoking ‘Jesus’ and ‘Maria;’	2428
but when Talâ from the town of Trnovac heard that,	2429
he called in contradiction to the Christian battle cry:	2430
“Allah wins the victory today, my brethren,     and blessèd Ali with him!	2431
For where together Ali and Muhammed strike,	2432
there is no help in ‘Jesus’ or ‘Maria!”’	2433
Now when the youths of Udbina heard that,	2434
they broke the foemen’s ranks at seven points     and yet again an eighth	2435
—thanks be to Thee, oh Lord!—there on the verdant plain,	2436
and drove the Christian regulars in disarray before them	2437
like wolves descendent on a flock of fatted sheep.	2438
Now when the King of Otočac could see	2439
the Turks had won the day,	2440
he raised the flags of truce,	2441
and this is what he said:	2442
“Oh Mustaybey, chief of all the Lika,	2443
recall your men of Udbina,	2444
since there’s no need for further quarrel.	2445
The flux of blood already laps as high as a man’s knees	2446
and we have made a multitude of mothers weep,	2448
and multitudes of orphans.	2447
Take your Helen, take your Meho; take them and be quit;	2449
now let him do with Helen whatever he thinks fit.”	2450
Now when the army ceased its fighting	2451
and the cannon on both sides were still,	2452
who was first to locate Ali, son of Sir Ogroš?	2453
His father found him first,	2454
and when the sire beheld his son,	2455
lo, in what a state was Ali, son of Sir Ogroš!	2456
Two tattered rags were rather more than he still wore     of what had been his garments,	2457
and Helen, the well-born girl, was quite as bare as he,	2458
because the hail of lead had torn away the clothes     from off their bodies.	2459
From wounds in Ali’s breast the blood pulsed sputtering,	2460
and thus his father spoke to him:	2461
“Sweet son of mine, oh how I pray I may not live     to mourn thee!	2462
Will you be able, son, to recover from these wounds?”	2463
His son replied to him:	2464
“By my religion, sire, I swear I do not know.	2465
My wounds are not from gunfire,	2466
but from lances without pity that were wielded by strong men,	2467
from lances wielded by the hands of pitiless strong men.	2468
Thus it is with me, and with my Helen too.”	2469
Now when his father heard these words,	2470
the tears ran down his cheeks.	2471
He clasped his son in a close embrace,	2472
his sorely wounded son,	2473
and kissed him where he bled.	2474
But next he spoke to Helen, saying thus:	2475
“Oh thou Helen, lovely girl,	2476
dear daughter, art thou able to recover from thy wounds?”	2477
Helen, being sensible,	2478
answered him this way:	2479
“I hope I may not, father dear, live to mourn your passing.	2480
The wounds on me are ten-and-two	2481
from shielding of your son.	2482
My own back I interposed	2483
’twixt him and the German lances,	2484
in order that they might not pierce the son of Sir Ogroš.”	2485
Now when Ali heard these words,	2486
behold, he said to her:	2487
“My sweet, my dearest parent, whom God ordained to me,	2488
should my destined day of death befall me soon	2489
and I in Lika chance to die,	2490
I beg of you, dear father,	2491
let no evil come to Helen there.	2492
Let a host of maids-in-waiting follow her,	2493
drape her all about with whitest silk,	2494
and cover her in smelted gold.	2495
Nor must you ever blame her, father,	2496
never blame her for my death, dear sir.	2497
For Helen has most ably shielded me	2498
from soldiers of our enemies and from their rifle fire;	2499
in pain I beg these things of thee, my father, agèd parent.”	2500
Now when his father understood these words,	2501
his son he answered in this wise:	2502
“Have no fear for that, my dearest child.”	2503
A little time passed—it was not long,	2504
for they were still conversing thus—	2505
till Ali Agha Vrhovac	2506b
came riding at the gallop on his great grey horse.	2506a/2507
To the hilt his sword was stained with gore	2508
and his right arm up to the shoulder.	2509
When he saw the son of Ogroš there	2510
with but a pair of tattered rags remaining of his clothes	2511
and wounds in his breast all sputtering blood,	2512
then Ali Agha Vrhovac began to weep	2513
and this is what he said:	2514
“Comrade of my comrade,	2515
are you, brother, able to recover from your wounds?”	2516
Now when Ali’d heard these words,	2517
he answered his companion thus:	2518
“Ali Agha Vrhovac, my sympotic friend,	2519
my wounds are not from gunfire,	2520
but from sharp-tipped spears.	2521
Sweet brother, Ali Agha Vrhovac,	2522
had not Girl Helen shielded me	2523
I would have lost my life,	2524
since Captain Raven, who stood guard	2525
at alban Otočac,	2526
forbad his troops	2527
to shoot at me with guns,	2528
but told them they must only try to capture me alive     from off my great bay horse.	2529
Yet while I lived I would not yield to let myself be captured.	2530
So I’ve exhausted all my strength	2531
in fleeing to the Lika.”	2532
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, for all Thy wondrous works,	2533
else haply that might too have been     a thing of no great moment.	2534
It was Muyo, chief of Kladuša, who chanced to find him next,	2535
and with their chief his guardsmen came,     three hundred Borderers.	2536
Now when with his own eyes Muyo had seen	2537
the son of Ogroš lying bloody,	2538
with gore still pulsing from his breast	2539
and his dear Helen there beside him,	2540
lo, thus spake Muyo Hrnjica:	2541
“Comrade of my comrade,	2542
are you, brother, able to recover from your wounds?”	2543
In this wise Ali answered him:	2544
“Oh Hrnjica, thou sheltering wing of all the Borderland,	2545
by my religion, brother, I swear I do not know,	2546
because my wounds are not from gunfire;	2547
they are only from sharp spears, oh Hrnjica.”	2548
Now when Muyo understood these words,	2549
dismounting from his great white horse,	2550
he took his comrade in a close embrace	2551
and then, supporting him on his right arm,	2552
Muyo said to him:	2553
“Have no fear, my brother.	2554
Your wounds will heal,	2555
and so will those of Helen, your fair girl.	2556
When we get down to Udbina,	2557
we’ll celebrate and hold festivities	2558
and fire salvoes from great cannon;	2559
we’ll declare a holiday for all to celebrate, and     hold a horse race,	2560
making merry everywhere throughout broad Lika province.	2561
As for the King of Otok,	2562
had he not now turned back his troops,	2563
we would by now have -;	2564
we would have burnt his people’s houses and his town	2565
and burned and pillaged all his lands.	2566
But Ali Agha Vrhovac, do you hear me?	2567
By my sacred faith I conjure thee	2568
—thy demesne lies on the very border—	2569
guard well the Emperor’s frontier	2570
and keep your soldiers on alert at your guard post.	2571
Our foes may be infuriated by this day’s events	2572
and make a deposition to the Kaiser in Vienna,	2573
telling him how we have cozened them.	2574
He might issue a decree	2575
and raise a mighty army for their cause,	2576
which might invade your lands	2577
and pillage your demesne	2578
—pillage it, and burn it with fierce fire.”	2579
Now when Lika’s Mustaybey heard this,	2580
he spoke to Muyo in this wise:	2581
“Oh thou sheltering wing of the Border,     what thou sayest is true.	2582
Get thee also to the frontier, Muyo,	2583
and gather there six thousand troops	2584
—let them all, my son, be dauntless Bordermen—	2585
and send them on to Ali Agha Vrhovac.	2586
In but a little while, dear son,	2587
when I come down to Udbina,	2588
I too shall send him soldiers	2589
to the number of six thousand,	2590
in but a little while, dear son.	2591
They will no more today, my brother, go and tell their lies	2592
to the Kaiser in Vienna,	2593
though that is what the minions of the stony Marches do,	2594
always raiding and invading about the Borderlands,	2595
setting fires and pillaging, taking captives here     and killing there;	2596
but they shall kill no more,	2597
nor shall they take us by surprise.”	2598
Then they all returned together	2599
to the intersection of the three frontiers where the Turkish     and the pagan lands abutt.	2600
There the Bey drew up his troops	2601
and made his reckoning of dead and wounded.	2602
Thanks be to Thee, oh Lord, there     on the triune border, brothers,	2603
they buried all their dead	2604
and fashioned litters for the woundeds’	2605
transportation home to Udbina.	2606
How many dead were mustered on -,	2607
how many dead were mustered on the triune border	2608
may readily be reckoned:	2609
five thousand and two hundred dead	2610
were buried by the Bey.	2611
Three thousand was the number	2612
who might survive their wounds.	2613
Now when the dead were buried	2614
and the litters for the wounded made,	2615
they all pressed on toward Duribaba Mountain	2616
and whiled the time with singing as they went, my brothers,	2617
as they went singing on their way into broad Lika.	2618
Now when the brethren had come to Udbina,	2619
many were the mothers who then began to weep	2620
and many were the widows who returned into their kin,	2621
and many were the orphans left behind.	2622
But the Bey had other thoughts than of merely sitting still,	2623
and this is what he said in his assembly:	2624
“My sweet aghas and spahias,	2625
the time has come for you to make a bursary of gold zechins	2626
for distribution to the agèd mothers	2627
who have lost their sons in fighting	2628
on the Plain of Otočac.”	2629
Every agha and each several spahia	2630
consented to the tax, and so together they composed—each     drawing from his own resource—a mighty sum of money,	2631
which they gave to Mustaybey.	2632
But God grant -,	2633
he in turn divided it among the many orphans	2634
who, mere children, had lost their fathers	2635
in the filthy fighting on the Field of Otočac.	2636
Now when thus the Bey had made a recompense to them,	2637
behold, the Bey put Ali in a hospital,	2638
and there he rested for a month	2639
until his twelve great wounds had healed,	2640
both his and his fair girl’s.	2641
So when a month and seven days had passed	2642
Ali, son of Sir Ogroš, was healed,	2643
and so was Helen, his fair girl.	2644
Now when the Bey had doctored them,	2645
he next declared a further month	2646a/2647b
of ceaseless celebration.	2647a/2646b
So a festival commenced,	2648
and horses raced, and men on foot,	2649
and heroes leapt,	2650
and maidens sang,	2651
and young men after them,	2652
and cannon thundered merrily, and so the celebration passed	2653
in Udbina, my dearest brethren.	2654
And so the cannon -, and so they whiled the years away,	2655
beguiled the years, and gat them progeny,	2656
nor did they ever quarrel or criticize each other;	2657
rather Helen and her darling always loved each other well,	2658
held each other dear and flirted too,	2659
since they were lovers who were kind to one another.	2660
Here now I’ve sung you a song—may God add     good health to it!—	2661
and so, good sir, this one is done.	2662
But if, God grant, our destiny should be	2663
that we on other such occasions	2664
meet again, O worthy sir,	2665
meet again and greet each other once again as friends,	2666
greet each other once again and each inquire     about the other’s health,	2667
God grant us such affection,	2668
such affection and such joy,	2669
such affection and such love amongst ourselves.	2670
Let this not, therefore, be ‘first and last,’	2671
but rather a beginning.	2672
Let us, sir, learn more of one another.	2673
Long life, my dear, to both your father and your mother,	2674
and to your wife who’s stayed behind at home,	2675
if it be you have one, worthy sir.	2676
But if it be you have no wife at home,	2677
God grant you swiftly win your suit	2678
and marry, sir,	2679
and I come to your wedding	2680
bearing my tambura,	2681
that I may sing for you a song of warfare	2682
and of combat, when a hero’s head, struck off,     goes flying through the air.	2683