The Wedding of Omer Bey of Osik

Dictated by Murat Žunić

(See comparative observations about this poem)

Emperor's vindicator, he rose up betimes	1
and by the light of earliest dawn said his matins,	2
did Hasan Alay Bey, true paladin.	3
But when that he had said his morning prayer,	4
he sat him down beside the windowpane	5
and let his gaze survey the length of Osik Field.	6
Even as he watched, the newborn sun rose hot.	7
So the Bey sat savouring his murky peccadillo,	8
when lo! the chamber door flew wide	9
and one of his own household guard burst in a-crying:	10
“Give me now the messenger's reward for welcome news,     Hasan Alay Bey!	11
Here comes Omer Bey, your son,	12
concerning whom you have inquired unceasingly     for these three weeks.”	13
The Bey bestowed the boon his man solicited,     but he believed him not.	14
That man left the chamber to go again whence he had come,	15
but soon another one burst in and said:	16
“Give me now the messenger's reward for welcome news,     Hasan Alay Bey!	17
Here comes Omer Bey, your son,	18
whom none of us has seen for these three weeks,	19
nor to our shame could we tell you what had become of him,	20
not even whether he still had his head fixed firmly on his shoulders     in the way that live men do.”	21
That man too betook himself away whence he had come,     and then a third came in:	22
“Give me now the messenger's reward for welcome news,     Hasan Alay Bey!	23
Here comes Omer Bey, your son;	24
and if you think that what I say is false,	25
then look you now the length of Osik Field	26
and you will see your son	27
Bey Omerbey a-leaping on his sorrel mount,	28
for he has given it free rein and let it run.	29
But when old Hasan Bey had seen it for himself, he said:	30
“Guardsmen all, you trusty servants of my house,	31
go down into the private courtyard	32
and give the Bey the same reception we would give     an honoured guest.	33
Tell Omer Bey my son	34
to come to me straightway, and not to stop to doff his boots	35
—I want him as he is, with boots and pistols on—	36
since I am fain to ask this son of mine, my Omer Bey,	37
where he has been for all of these three weeks.”	38
So the guardsmen gat them down into the yard	39
in time to meet the Bey as he came prancing up.	40
He greeted them, and they saluted him in turn;	41
then certain of them held his horse,	42
while others helped him to dismount.	43
“Get thee to thy father in his chamber, Bey,	44
for thus thy parent has commanded thee:	45
that thou shouldst go to him straightway, not stopping even     to take off thy boots;	46
he wants thee as thou art, with boots and pistols on.”	47
And so the Bey was bound to do, because he would not     controvert or disobey,	48
and turned to seek his father in his father's chamber.	49
Opening the chamber door,	50
he greeted him and kissed his hand,	51
then with politely folded arms he waited on his sire.	52
Old Hasan Bey had this to say to him:	53
“Where have you been for all of these three weeks,	54
roaming free without so much as ‘by your leave?’	55
Have you no fear of God,	56
no fear of God and no regard for His retaliation,	57
nor even any fear for your own life?	58
For by such actions you might lose your life!	59
These are troublous times in which we live;	60
perhaps you might be killed,	61
and I not know so much as what had happened to you.”	62
But his son the Bey, he only shrugged and said:	63
“Father dear—I kiss your hand—	64
I have not travelled anywhere in Magyar lands,	65
but only strolled about our own Hungaria	66
a-seeking of some girl to be my wife,	67
some father-of-a-bride who's fit to be allied with you.	68
My mother has grown old.	69
One morning recently when I arose betimes	70
I heard her crying by the hearth	71
and imprecating you and me alike	72
because of my unwillingness to marry.	73
So I've been about surveying eligible girls, my father.”	74
“And have you seen one to your liking, son?”	75
“No, father, I have not.	76
Where I've found a girl I like,	77
her father is no fit confederate for you;	78
but where I've found a fit confederate for you,	79
he has no daughter whom I like.”	80
Having heard these things, old Hasan Bey replied:	81
“My dear child Omer Bey,	82
since thou hast kindly thought what man was meet for me,	83
I'll match thy thoughtfulness in thinking of a girl for thee.	84
There lives a certain girl in Gabela,	85
Zeina, pretty daughter of Commander Jusuf Bey.	86
But if, my son, thou dost not like the girl,	87
hie thee onward till thou com'st to Orsava's flatlands,	88
and go to see the maid named Hanka, Swordson's girl.	89
Now there's a fine confederate for me,	90
and quite the gel for thee.”	91
When the Bey had understood these words, he said:	92
“Dear father—I kiss your hand—	93
I've been to see this Swordson's Zeina:	94
a bloodless creature, naught but skin and bones.	95
So I went on from there across great Hungary	96
and roamed about from town to town	97
until one morning early	98
I mounted on my sorrel horse, and riding forth,	99
I happened on a castle wrapped in morning mist	100
—a goodly mansion, with a courtyard splendidly appointed—	101
whose gates stood open	102
so that, looking in,	103a
I saw a water-well	104
inside the courtyard, father.	103b
A terrace raised beside the well	105
was fenced within a balustrade	106
of paling webbed with wires of gold,	107
and on the terrace lay a covering,	108
and on the outspread cover sat a woman.	109
I rode my sorrel to the terrace	110
And spoke in this wise to the woman:	111
‘Whose house and yard are these,	112
whose well and whose pleasaunce?’	113
She, father, answered me in turn:	114
‘This is the house of Mehmed Bey Swordson,	115
and the well is here for him who thirsts to drink of it;	116
I am Swordson's daughter Hanka.’	117
But when that I had understood her, father,	118
she raised her arm and sleeve	119
and hid her face with maiden modesty.	120
And so I said to her:	121
‘Pretty Hanka, Swordson's girl,	122
put down your arm and sleeve.	124
Be forthright with me, darling;	123
let me see the lines of loveliness about your cheeks,	126
the contours of your maiden countenance.	125
For I am fain to learn the truth of what the people say,	127
that you are fair as all the world avers.’	128
So, father, she stood up beside the well,	129
stepped forth beside the well for me to see	130
and, letting down her arm and sleeve,	131
disclosed her form right willingly.	132
Gazing, father, at the girl,	133
two and three times over I perused her	135
from her slippers to her crown.	134
As I am sure you, father, would agree, she is a most unsightly girl,	136
with snaggle teeth and gaping mouth,	137
protruding elbows, scrawny neck	138
—and even, father, by my faith, a snotty nose—	139
I loved her not.	140
Therefore I turned my sorrel round and rode it home again.	141
Howbeit, father, all's not lost; I do know of a girl who's suitable,	142
though she dwells far away.	143
I mean fair Anne, the King of Yanyok's daughter,	144
a girl both propertied and beautiful.	145
She would, father, be a match for any vizier,	146
not to mention your son Omer Bey.”	147
But when his father understood these words,	148
he fixed his son with penetrating gaze and said:	149
“This is all a lie and not the truth you're speaking now!	150
You've not been down to Yanyok town,	151
for merely going down to Yanyok is an agony,	152
and it's more agonizing still to go and see some girl there.	153
Of late the Kaiser has been kind to Yanyok	154
and increased its garrison of guardsmen,	155
since Yanyok town lies on the very border, son.	156
Here I am a man of ninety years,	157
and I have only twice gone into Yanyok.	158
So I say you're lying now, and telling me no truth.	159
You've not been down to Yanyok town	160
nor even seen the bonny Nancy.”	161
“If that is what you mean to ask me, father, all you say is true,     of course.	162
I have a certain friend, however,	163
Milosava, headman on the farm,	164
who often goes to stone-built Yanyok.	165
He has been my marriage broker with the girl.	166
He it is who has beguiled the girl for me,	167
and she has promised me to be my wife.”	168
Whereupon he took out golden bracelets, and said:	169
“Here are pledges, father, which she has given me.”	170
When Hasan Alay Bey had seen them, he replied:	171
“Omer Bey, dear child of mine,	172
this is not much surety; perhaps she only cozens you.	173
Have you any other certain proof of her good faith?”	174
“Yes, sire, that I have, and right good proof it is, too.”	175
Whereupon he drew forth a golden diadem:	176
“Here is a further pledge which she has given me.”	177
“Have you any other certain proof of her good faith, my son?	178
These are not much surety; perhaps she only cozens you.”	179
He thereupon drew forth a necklace all of gold:	180
“Here, father, is a further pledge, and right good proof it is, too.”	181
“These are not much surety; perhaps she only cozens you.	182
Have you any other certain proof of her good faith, my son?”	183
“Yes, sire, that I have—I kiss your hand—!”	184
Whereupon he reached inside his clothes	185
and drew forth thence a piece of paper marked     with someone's writing.	186
“Look here, father. See what this letter says.”	187
When the Bey had opened up the paper,	188
he scanned the writing on it,	189
discovering that it was from the Magyar girl, the pretty Nancy:	190
“Greetings, Agha, Bey Hasanbey!	191
I myself have sent this letter to you.	192
What I write you in this paper	194
results from reputation and in consequence of things unseen,	193
for I have only heard reports of your son Omer Bey,	195
and on the strength of them alone have sent him     threefold pledges of betrothal	196
saying I would be his wife and truelove,	197
whilst in my dreams I've thrice embraced the Turkish faith.”	198
But in another place she also wrote:	199
“If you truly are a Turk in deed as well as name, if you     acknowledge God as true believers do,	200
bestir thyself, and get thee down to stone-built Yanyok town,	201
release this Turkish woman from amongst the infidels.”	202
When Hasan Bey had understood these words	203
and seen what all the letter said,	204
“Omer Bey, dear child of mine,	205
I dare not call the men of Hungary to arms for you	206
without consent of Buda's Vizier.	207
Not long ago a new Vizier replaced the old one.	208
However, I have never gone to pay him my respects,	209
for I've grown very old, my son.	210
I cannot bear the journey down to Buda.”	211
When Omer Bey had heard his father's words, he said:	212
“Dear father, Hasan Alay Bey,	213
only give me your consent	214
and I shall go to Buda.	215
Let me take the Stambolian horse	216
and your ancient-bearer Ibro,	217
and black-haired Hussein,	218
and Mohammed the slipper-maker,	219
and Ferris the journeyman,	220
and Kahriman, and Osman too.	221
Compose for me a company of thirty suchlike able men	222
and I shall go to Buda, father.”	223
But when the Bey had understood these words, he said:	224
“Son, you may not have my Stambolian white.	225
Have I not told you innumerable times,	226
you are not to mount the white	227
so long as ever I do live?”	228
But when the ancient Ibro heard these words, he said:	229
“My Bey, I beg of you—I kiss your hand—	230
be kind to your son Omer Bey, and let him ride the white.”	231
“No, I will not, Ibro, my dear child.	232
The Bey knows nothing of the thoroughbred's management.”	233
“My Bey, I beg of you—I kiss your hand—	234
and swear to you upon the faith of your own ancient Ibro,	235
so long as ever I do live,	236
you should not fear at all what might befall your Stambolian white.”	237
So at last the Bey consented.	238
“Go to your room, young Bey,	239
and furnish yourself properly,	240
for you are about to travel to the Emperor's own city of Buda.	241
And you, Ibro, my doughty ancient,	242
go prepare the thoroughbred leads and stringers:	243
ride the bay, and saddle the white for the Bey.	244
Let the thirty guardsmen ready themselves too	245
while the Bey is dressing.”	246
So the Bey went into his own chamber	247
and took out clothing for himself.	248
He first drew forth twill trousers	249
with buttons of fine gold	250
—the buttons were of gold, and the platelets silver—	251
and panels of embroidery on both sides.	252
Next he drew forth a cincture,	253
and then put on his bosses and loops;	254
the bosses gleamed and clicked amidst the loops.	255
Rising at his throat,	256
the golden collar lay along the whole breadth of his shoulders     and draped beyond,	257
lying rolled about his neck.	258
Next he drew forth a cincture	259
with three hundred lunate decorations on it;	260
each and every one of them was a casting of pure gold.	261
At each end of the sash-belt were two golden fastenings	262
set with precious stones.	263
As the Bey wrapped the belt about himself,	265
it seemed that flames of fire licked at the lad     [so bright were the reflections.]	264
He arranged the crescents artfully about himself	266
in such wise that they stood together grouped in sevens side by side.	267
Then he placed his pistols in the belt;	268
they too were richly wrought with gold and silver.	269
Neatly between the pistols he inserted his sword with its golden inlay	270
and attached his sabre to its lanyard,	271
then put on four bandoliers	272
and a jacket lined with marten fur,	273
which reached exactly to his waist.	274
Then he drew forth a great surtout with buttons,	275
with a double vest and nine buttons,	276
each button a ducat of Magyar gold.	277
It had buckles of gold on the shoulders	278
and golden frog fastenings on the breasts.	279
Next he put on his cap with its panaches.	280
The cap bore twelve panaches in all.	281
Round about it he wound a Stambolian turban,	282
and then the Bey put on his boots.	283
Taking finally a lance from the rack,	284
he turned to go out his chamber door.	285
His father called to him from the drawing room:	286
“Come in, young Bey, and present yourself to me.”	287
When the Bey had entered the chamber,	288
old Hasan Bey commanded him:	289
“Kneel here on both your knees	290
and lay your head upon my lap.”	291
And so the Bey was bound to do, because he would not     controvert or disobey;	292
he laid his head upon his father's knees.	293
Old Hasan Bey let no time pass in idleness.	294
He overturned a silken pillow	295
and took a gilded crest from underneath it	296
—a crest composed of nine crestlets,	297
for it had nine panaches in it—	298
then placed it in the young Bey's headdress.	299
“My Omer Bey, my dear child,	300
this crest comes to you from Mighty Osman Bey.	301
In all Hungaria there is no other like it.	302
Young men of Buda when they see you wearing it	303
will recognize at once	304
that you are Hasan Alay Bey's own son.	305
Now heed these other things your father tells you too:	306
when you come down to bright Buda,	307
you will find it takes some time to traverse its great market.	308
Palaces and houses are clustered thickly there.	309
Ali Bey Sandzhak has a mansion there,	310
and so does Rose Agha of Buda,	311
and Omer Bey Sorguch.	312
As you ride your white horse through the town,	313
go carefully and speak you fair,	314
for Buda's Governor sits there.	315
As you approach the Vizier's court,	316
you'll find the door is hung with drapery.	317
Raise the cloth, then enter and present yourself to him.	318
Bow, and kiss his hand.	319
He will ask you who you are and whence you come.	320
Tell him you are Omer Bey,	321
the very son of Hasan Alay Bey.	322
And if the Vizier asks you	323
‘Where's your father, Hasan Alay Bey?	324
Is he in revolt,	325
seditious, or else gone mad,	326
that he comes not here to pay me his respects?’	327
To that you must reply:	328
‘My sire the Bey has grown too old.	329
He can no longer sit a horse,	330
much less come down to Buda.’	331
Then ask him for the warrant.”	332
“Have no fear, father; I shall do as you have said.”	333
The Bey turned round and walked out through the door.	334
As he came forth from out the mansion,	335
he found the thirty men-at-arms,	336
each one ready with a noble mount.	337
Ibro held the Bey's white horse in hand;	338
he had richly caparisoned the noble steed,	339
having decked him well in Stambolian trappings.	340
The gilded housing glittered	341
and the golden fringes gleamed	342
with the stirrups peeking through them.	343
Horse pistols hung in place,	344
and a broadsword was set beneath the bands upon the left.	345
A finny mace was also on the left.	346
An orb of gold was gallantly suspended on the horse's chest,	347
and a golden noseguard shone between its eyes,	348
and silken tassels hung round the horse	349
in groups of three.	350
The Bey approached the horse,	351
but it would not let him mount.	352
So it led the Bey a merry chase about the yard.	353
Watching from the window, Hasan laughed	354
and called his wife, the lady with the lovely neck:	355
“Come here, my love!	356
Come here and see a thing you've never seen before.	357
You always boast to me, my dear,	358
of what a splendid son you've raised in Omer Bey,	359
and claim he's more a man	360
than his own father, Hasan Alay Bey.”	361
Ancient Ibro saw this happening, and said:	362
“Omer Bey, comrade of mine,	363
you should be ashamed of such irresolution when your father	364
and your mother too are watching at the window.	365
Take firm hold and mount the horse!”	366
The Bey was mortified, and said:	367
“Ibro, whom I hold as dear as though you were a brother     from mine own mother born,	368
please to shield the horse's eyes.”	369
So Ibro hid him from the horse's view	370
and the Bey sprang deftly into the white mount's saddle.	371
But when that he had grasped the four reins firmly,	372
shot through the gate	373
and taken to the open field of green,	374
oh, if only it were possible for one to stand and watch	375
the spectacle of him and his white horse!	376
The old Bey watched it from the window,	377
groaned aloud, and pitied the poor animal:	378
“Alas, white horse of mine, my beating wing,	379
unwilling host to so unmeet a visitor!”	380
Ibro set out after him ariding on the chestnut,	381
and after Ibro all the troop of thirty men-at-arms came on.	382
The black earth thundered underneath their hooves	383
as they gave chase to white horse and the Bey.	384
By the time the Bey had winded him a bit	385
and raised a little sweat,	386
he had traversed the whole of Osik Field.	387
So they rode their thoroughbreds on until they came     to Hare Field's broad expanse.	388
Crossing it,	389
they entered on the Plain of Hah,	390
on Hah and on the Plain of Vedih,	391
tending ever toward the Muhach Plain.	392
Buda, city built of masonry, lies far away.	393
The day grew furiously hot	394
and the men-at-arms became unbearably thirsty.	395
“Omer Bey, scion of Hasan Alay Bey,	396
is there a spring of water anywhere	397
for us to turn aside and slake our thirst?	398
We're all but dead for want of water.”	399
The Bey said, turning in the saddle,	400
“Ancient Ibro, brother of mine,	401
I've not passed this way before.	402
Is there a spring of water anywhere	403
for us to turn aside and slake our thirst?”	404
“There is, my Bey—I kiss your hand—	405
although to reach it we must needs digress	406
a good two hours' journey hence.”	407
“Rein your horse about, Ibro,	408
and lead us to the spring.”	409
So Ibro urged his fiery chestnut forward	410
and the Bey kept pace beside him on the white	411
as they rode together toward the spring of water.	412
In time they came to where the water was.	413
There the Bey dismounted from the white	414
and gave it into ancient Ibro's keeping.	415
Then the thirty men-at-arms rode up	416
and took the white and chestnut both in charge from Ibro	417
so the two of them could sit at leisure by the spring.	418
The thirty guardsmen meanwhile drank their fill of water	419
at the spring, and cooled themselves.	420
Ibro soon bestirred himself	421
and, going to his chestnut horse,	422
took down a wine bottle	423
which held enough for four men's drinking,	424
and white biscuits,	425
and then the two sat down to drink together.	426
They had tossed off several cups	427
when suddenly a dusky mourning dove began to call.	428
Its melody was like the mourning dove's,	429
and yet its rhythm lilted like the lark's,	430
and as it mourned	431
it mentioned Turkish faith	432
and called on every Turk of true confession:	433
“Oh, you summoners-to-prayer, you Turkish heralds,	434
how in my misery am I to learn to live without you;	435
how live according to the precepts of another faith,	436
or pass my life in wedded bondage to a man I do not love,	437
or bear the gits of one who is not dear to me?	438
How shall I forget the sacred sepulchres of saints, and minarets,	439
or learn respect instead for churches and for campaniles?	440
Dear God, I prithee take my soul;	441
prithee, gloomy earth, to take my body!”	442
Lifting his head, the Bey inquired:	443
“Where is this dusky mourning dove, Ibro?”	444
They looked away toward Muhach Plain	445
and there a light voiture came into view,	446
a coach all draped with silk moiré	447
along both sides from roof to verdant grass.	448
Black bedouin mares were harnassed to the coach	449
and a troop of cavalry preceded it,	450
some thirty mounted men in all.	451
On their heads were service caps of gold,	452
and rucksacks on their backs.	453
The commander of the troop was mounted on a sorrel;	454
they recognized in him the Vizier's Deputy.	455
But when the Bey had seen all this, he said:	456
“Brother Ibro, ancient-bearer of my father,	457
it seems some traitor's loose in Buda,	458
some person there who trades the Faith for infidelity.	459
This equipage gives every indication	460
of someone's being sent into the clutches of an enemy.	461
It was not my mother who gave birth to me	462
but only that same mare that foaled my white	463
if I do not see more clearly who it is that's mourning in the coach.”	464
In an instant he had mounted on the white	465
and ridden it away, and stood before the coach.	466
Then he stopped the light voiture	467
and raised its drapery of moiréd silk, and thrust his head within	468
to scrutinize the thing inside the coach.	469
When lo! a maid was what he saw within the equipage.	470
She lay face down	471
and moaned like any mourning dove.	472
The Bey spoke gently to her:	473
“Woman in the coach,	474
are you some nymph, or phantom?	475
Or have you lost your wits,	476
or did you never have any?	477
What agony, what need has come on you;	478
where is it you are going in the coach?	479
Whence come you, pretty girl, and whose girl are you?”	480
When the lovely girl had raised her head,	481
she cried out in the coach:	482
“What Turk is this I see?	483
Unhappy daughter of my mother that I am, I had not thought	484
that I would ever see a Turk again.	485
I am no nymph, nor phantom either;	486
I am but the forlorn daughter Hanka	487
of old Jafer Pasha.	488
May God requit Buda's Vizier for all he's done:	489
for sacking of our mansion,	490
and for banishing my father.	491
Now he sends me into exile too; it is he who placed me in this coach	492
and sends me to the King of Yanyok.”	493
But when the Bey had understood these words,	494
his keen sabre flashed in air	495
as he made war beside the equipage.	496
First he killed the coachmen one and all.	497
Even as he hewed them down a burst of gunfire	498
signalled the attack of Omer's thirty men-at-arms.	499
Meanwhile the Governor's Deputy tried to flee.	500
He met the onslaught of the ancient Ibro	501
with pistol fire,	502
and one shot wounded Ibro	503
in the fleshy part of his left arm.	504
Then the Vizier's Deputy took flight toward Buda.	505
Ibro, mounted on the chestnut, chased him hotly,	506
but I swear to you, good men, it was to no avail,	507
because the sorrel from the stable of the Governor of Buda	508
was swifter than the chestnut under ancient Ibro.	509
So Ibro went back to where the coach was standing.	510
When the Bey had done his work	511
and his men-at-arms were undisputed masters of the coach,	512
he found that he had lost three men.	513
He and all his company accorded them a fitting burial.	514
Then Omer Bey had this to say:	515
“Lovely Hanka, pasha's daughter,	516
put off your chudder, darling girl,	517
and let me see the lines of loveliness about your cheeks,	518
the contours of your countenance and lips.”	519
The lovely girl disclosed herself to him right willingly, and said:	520
“Look, darling, to your heart's content.”	521
But when Omer Bey had looked on her,	522
he wist there was no cause for jest about the pasha's daughter.	523
The Bey spoke softly to her thus:	524
“If, darling, it would not offend you,	525
I fain would be your suitor.”	526
“Alas, Bey—dear to me as my own sight—	527
I would find no fault with you,	528
not even if your beard were purest white     and hung down to your waist;	529
but who you are and whence you come I do not know	530
and fear that you, perchance, might be a kinsman.”	531
The Bey replied to her:	532
“I am, dear girl, from Osik City.	533
Maybe you have heard of Hasan Alay Bey;	534
I am Omer, son of Hasan Bey.”	535
“I shall not object to you, upon my faith.	536
Bey Omerbey then said:	537
“Brother of mine, ancient Ibro,	538
should we return to Osik now	539
and drive the coach there with us,	540
or go on into stone-built Buda?”	541
“Brother, by my faith, I think that you should do     what pleases you.	542
We are under your command, and you, I think, should be     more perspicacious than I am.”	543
Omer said to him again:	544
“If I return to stone-built Osik,	545
Will not my father ask me	546
what I've done about the warrant that I came to get?	547
And I have not so much as seen the Vizier,	548
to say nothing of the warrant.	549
So we're bound to travel on to Buda, brother.”	550
“Brother, by my faith, we'll do what pleases you.	551
By now the Vizier's Deputy	552
has told the Vizier what we've done	553
and he, incensed against us,	554
will have posted soldiers at the city gates.	555
They may try to capture us alive,	556
and then the Governor may banish us,	557
and all the while your father would know nothing of it,     being in Osik.”	558
“By my faith, it makes no difference, brother.	559
Turn the coach around.”	560
So they journeyed on toward stone-built Buda.	561
Ibro spoke to Omer Bey as they rode on their way:	562
“Comrade and brother, Omer Bey,	563
it is not my place to counsel you.	564
But if you would not think me presumptuous for saying     what I think,	565
here's what I would do.”	566
“Speak your mind, Ibro, whatever pleases you.”	567
“Seated on your white mount, you should lead the way,	568
and draw your sabre, brother;	569
lay it naked on your shoulder.	570
Give greetings right and left,	571
for there are soldiers at the city gate.	572
Watch closely left and right,	573
lest any take you by surprise.	574
The coach should follow hard behind you,	575
and all our troop of guardsmen after it.	576
Each of them should draw his sabre too	577
and lay it naked on his shoulder.	578
Let each man carry pistol cocked,	580
with hand held ready at the flintlock.”	579
“So be it, brother.” So, mounted on the white, he led the column,	581
and laid his sabre naked on his shoulder.	582
Close behind him came the coach,	583
and all the thirty guardsmen after it,	584
each man with sabre drawn.	585
As they rode, they passed the quarters	586
where the Commandant of Janissaries had his office.	587
So they proceeded toward the gates of Buda.	588
The Governor had placed a squad of thirty soldiers there	589
to intercept the son of Hasan Bey.	590
But when the Bey came into view	591
a-leading his own troop of thirty men-at-arms behind him	592
—each of them with sabre drawn—	593
the soldiers proved to be true Turks	594
and none would fire on them.	595
So the Bey passed safely in and drove the carriage with him	596
all through Buda to the stone-built palace	597
of old Jafer Pasha.	598
Into the palace yard they rode their thoroughbred horses	599
and dismounted underneath the palace walls.	600
When they stopped the coach,	601
the girl jumped out	602
and ran away into the house.	603
She went straightway to seek her mother in the old dame's     favorite place beside the hearth,	604
and found her lying there outstretched	605
upon the very hearth itself,	606
fainted dead away.	607
Maid Hanka seeing this	608
lustrated her with water by the hearth, and said:	609
“Companion of my heart, rise up, mamma!”	610
But when the mother saw her daughter Hanka,	611
she cried out and spread her arms,	612
and Hanka lifted her from where she lay.	613
“Hanka daughter, one and only child of mine,	614
has the Vizier after all relented, taken pity on us     as a worthy Turk should do,	615
and sent you back to me?”	616
“Hush, mamma, companion of my heart.	617
It is not the Vizier who has intervened,	618
nor he who's sent me home, mamma.	619
It is rather in the stone-built city of Osik	621
that some mother's borne a stalwart man,	620
Omer Bey the son of Hasan Bey.	622
It is the Bey who's brought me home again.”	623
“Where is this Bey, dear child of mine?”	624
“Here in our own courtyard, mamma.”	625
The lady fairly flew downstairs	626
with Hanka right behind her:	627
“Mother, by your life,	628
beware you do not blunder	629
saying any words adoptive of my bey as son to you,	630
for I have promised him	631
to be his wife.”	632
“No, daughter, I shall not; have no concern for that.”	633
So they ran together to the coach.	634
Lady Jafer spoke him fair:	635
“Falcon's wing, how do you do?”	636
“I'm well, dear lady, God be thanked.”	637
She then took Omer by the hand	638
and lead the Bey into her mansion built of stone	639
together with his ancient Ibro.	640
One beside the other they sat down,	641
and Lady Jafer Pasha waited on them.	642
The lady said to them:	643
“What service may I do you?	644
Might you desire a little sin of coffee?”	645
Ancient Ibro raised his head and said:	646
“Dear lady—I kiss your hand—	647
the Bey desires no little sin of coffee.	648
We hope it will not seem amiss to you	649
if we do now as we are wont to do.”	650
“Upon my faith, dear son, I shall not deem it anywise amiss.”	651
So Ibro gat him up there in the drawing room, went out,	652
and soon brought back a bottle full of drink,	653
which held enough for any four men's drinking	654
—four men would say it was the right amount precisely—	655
and with it he brought too a crystal cup.	656
Then the Bey and he began to drink	657
and drank abundantly, like men who suffer with a flux.	658
Ibro looked out through a windowpane,	659
when lo! the Vizier, traitor to the Emperor,	660
had sent forth four of his retainers:	661
“Go forthwith and bring to me this son of Hasan Bey!”	662
Ancient Ibro turned	663
and said to Omer Bey:	664
“Here come four minions of the Vizier.”	665
No sooner had he said than they were opening the door,	666
and in they came, led by the man Hussein.	667
They gave no greeting, not so much as ‘God be with.’	668
Hussein addressed Bey Omerbey:	669
“Hasanbeyson Omer Bey,	670
the Vizier summons you to court!”	671
The Bey kept silent, saying nought,	672
but ancient Ibro raised his head	673
and looked at them with baleful gaze.	674
The men went back whence they had come	675
and told the Vizier:	676
“Vizier of ours—we kiss your hand—	677
send us no more to Hasanbeyson.	678
The Bey's a man with whom it's possible to speak,	679
but not his ancient Ibro.”	680
The Governor was all the more incensed,	681
and therefore this time he sent with the summons     eight of his retainers.	682
The Bey and ancient Ibro still sat drinking.	683
In a little while—it was not long—	684
the eight men came in view.	685
The Bey was first to see them through the window.	686
He said to ancient Ibro:	687
“Here come eight more minions of the Governor.”	688
“Omer Bey, I conjure thee by this world and the next,	689
keep quiet now and let me speak with them.	690
I'll talk with them right well.”	691
The man Osman was leading them	692
as they came in the door.	693
They gave no greeting, not so much as ‘God be with.’	694
“Hasanbeyson Omer Bey,	695
are you seditious, or have you gone quite mad,	696
that you go not to our Vizier	697
to pay him your respect in his new court?	698
Will you now go willingly, or must we take you there by force?”	699
The Bey kept silent, saying nought;	700
but Ibro raised his head to look at them,	701
and by his side his naked sabre lay.	702
He scarce had time to put his hand upon its hilt	703
before the eight of them had jammed the doorway in their haste     to get them gone.	704
They ran pell mell	705
to tell the Governor:	706
“Send us no more to Hasanbeyson.	707
The Bey's a man with whom it's possible to speak,	708
but not his ancient Ibro.”	709
The Vizier was all the more enraged,	710
and therefore sent a dozen of his men this time,	711
with his man Mehmed leading them.	712
“Go forthwith and bring this son of Hasan Bey to me,	713
and if you fail me I'll have you beheaded, every one!”	714
So the twelve of them trod yet again the footway	715
leading to old Jafer Pasha's mansion.	716
They went with downcast countenance,	717
for it was hard to talk with Ibro.	718
The Bey and ancient Ibro still sat drinking.	719
“Ancient Ibro, brother mine,	720
here comes a dozen of the Vizier's men.”	721
“Hasanbeyson Omer Bey,	722
by God I conjure thee, and by both this world and the next,	723
hush now, and I shall do the talking.”	724
The men came in the door	725
and streamed into the room.	726
Mehmed spoke to Hasanbeyson:	727
“Hasanbeyson Omer Bey,	728
are you bewitched, or gravely sick,	729
or have you lost your mind,	730
that you go not to see the Vizier when he summons you?	731
Now the time has come when you must go by force,	732
your arms roped up behind you.”	733
The Bey drank on and paid them no attention.	734
But when his Ibro heard their words,	735
he gave a start, his sabre gleamed in air,	736
and all the Vizier's men ran headlong toward the door.	737
The doorposts creaked with strain	738
as four abreast the men went leaping down the stairs.	739
Ancient Ibro scarcely could keep pace with them,	740
slashing at the hindmost with his sabre.	741
So they too ran off and, bursting in on Buda's Governor, they said:	742
“Vizier, we kiss your hand,	743
behead us if you will,	744
But send us not again to Hasanbeyson.	745
The Bey's a man with whom it's possible to speak,	746
but not the ancient Ibro!”	747
When the Vizier heard these words, he said:	748
“I'll turn Buda's cannon 'round, is what I'll do,	749
and blast old Jafer Pasha's palace down,	750
and catch this pair of vicious snakes,	751
and do with them as I see fit!”	752
But Ali Bey of Sandzhak raised his head	753
and said to Buda's Vizier:	754
“Oh Vizier, officeholder of the Emperor,	755
do not turn Buda's cannon round	756
nor blast the palace built of masonry.	757
The Bey resents your officers in uniform.	758
Let some elder go and treat with him instead.	759
Then I think the Bey will come and pay you his respects.	760
But if he will not even then present himself to you,	761
do finally with him whatever you desire.”	762
So the Governor sent Omer Bey Sorguch.	763
Omer Bey stood up	764
and went away to Jafer Pasha's house.	765
The two comrades observed him as he came.	766
Omer Bey raised up his head and said:	767
“Ancient Ibro, brother mine,	768
Here comes Omer Bey Sorguch.	769
The beard upon his chin is white with age.	770
Even though he wears it shorn,	771
we ought to put away this drink.	772
Sorguch Omer Bey is [my] mother's brother.”	773
“By God, comrade, I'll not put it away,	774
nor would I even if the man approaching were [your] own father,	775
not to speak of Omer Bey Sorguch.”	776
The Bey came in the door,	777
greeted them, and they together answered him politely.	778
“Hasanbeyson Omer Bey,	779
are you fomenting a rebellion, or are you mad,	780
or have you lost your wits?	781
The proper thing to do is go when you are summoned,	782
for if you do not do it of your own free will,	783
then you will be arrested and forced to go,     your arms roped up behind you.”	784
Ancient Ibro raised his head	785
and, gazing balefully upon the Bey, he said:	786
“Panache-wearer of Buda's Vizier,	787
hold your tongue!	788
Beware lest you give me occasion to unsheathe my sword.”	789
When Sorguch Omer Bey heard Ibro's threat,	790
he only laughed and said to them:	791
“Bravo, Hasanbeyson!	792
Had you yielded to the summons of the Vizier's first delegation,	793
I would have said you were as innocent as any virgin bride.	794
Had you yielded to the summons of the Vizier's second delegation,	795
I would have said you were as naive as a little girl.	796
And had you yielded to the summons of the Vizier's third delegation,	797
I would have thought you weak as any widow woman.	798
Now I know you are a man of worth.	799
Bravo, Hasanbeyson!	800
Nonetheless, my son, the time has come to go to court,	801
for he is chartered by the Emperor.”	802
When ancient Ibro heard all this,	803
he raised his head and said:	804
“Omer Bey Sorguch, go back	805
and say to Buda's Vizier	806
that the Bey will come when it suits his convenience,	807
not the Vizier's.	808
The two of us will go to court about the time of complin prayer.”	809
Sorguch Omer Bey returned whence he had come.	810
Meanwhile the two companions sat them down again     to drink their drink	811
until the fiery sun had set.	812
Dark night took hold of all the world,	813
and when it was about the complin hour,	814
ancient Ibro rose and said:	815
“Bestir yourself, my Bey; it is time for us to go.”	816
So they went outdoors together	817
and made their way to Buda's Vizier's court.	818
As they approached the Vizier's chamber,	819
ancient Ibro said:	820
“Hasanbeyson Omer Bey,	821
it is unseemly that I counsel you,	822
and yet I must.	823
As you enter into audience before the Vizier,	824
you will find the doorway hung with drapery.	825
Do not be a fool, comrade;	826
make no attempt to raise it.	827
Take firm hold of it and tear it down	828
—tear it down, and tread it underfoot.	829
As you spring into the council chamber,	830
you will find it full of Budamen.	831
Lords and dignitaries of all sorts sit there,	832
smoking pipes and nargilehs.	833
As you enter,	834
you should greet them thusly:	835
‘Greetings to each man of you who truly is a Turk;	836
but as for any traitor, he will have no need of my salute.’	837
Then strut about the room	838
regardless of the pipes and nargilehs.	839
The Vizier will be there in council with the others.	840
Watch closely left and right;	841
let no man take you by surprise.	842
Be vigilant especially towards the Vizier,	843
for fear the traitor try to trick you.	844
Do not sport with him, and do not let him live.	845
I intend meanwhile to find the Vizier's Deputy	846
and be avenged upon him for the wound he's given me,	847
or die in the attempt.”	848
When that they had said these things, they separated, each man     going his own way.	849
Entering the mansion, the Bey walked up the stairs	850
directly to the council chamber of the Governor of Buda.	851
He tripped so lightly up the stairs	852
he shook the palace to its fundament.	853
As he approached the audience hall,	854
he saw the drapery at the door.	855
He did not pause to lift it clear,	856
but tore it down instead	857
and trod it with his booted feet.	858
He gave the door a shove and walked straight in.	859
The room was full of Budamen	860
with smoking pipes and nargilehs extended.	861
The Bey sprang in and greeted all the conclave:	862
“Greetings to each man of you who truly is a Turk;	863
Whoever of you is will answer me in kind.”	864
Seated by the windows,	865
the Vizier kept his peace and uttered not a word.	866
Then the Bey with heavy tread went strutting round the room	867
scattering pipes and nargilehs.	868
Watching vigilantly both left and right,	869
he never let the Vizier out of sight.	870
Several times he stumped about the room,	871
but none of them had anything to say to him.	872
At last the Bey addressed the Governor of Buda:	873
“Who is it who has called me to appear before him here?	874
Let him speak his mind!”	875
Buda's Vizier raised his head and said:	876
“Hasanbeyson Omer Bey,	877
have you the sanction of the Emperor	878
in contradicting the Governor's commands	879
and nullifying his transactions?”	880
“Nor do you, Vizier, have any license from the Emperor	881
to trade The Faith for infidelity	882
and send good Turkish girls away into the hands of aliens.”	883
The Bey stepped resolutely toward the Vizier,	884
grasped him by the collar with one hand	885
and by the seat of his trousers with the other,	886
then he lifted him overhead	887
and slammed him down upon the marble floor.	888
Several times he trampled on the prostrate Vizier,	889
walking over him with soles and heels of booted feet.	890
But even that would seem a minor jest compared     with what he was about to do,	891
because the Bey abruptly drew his sharp-edged sword	892
and, raising it aloft, he was about to strike	893
when Sorguch Omer Bey prevented him and said:	894
“Stay your hand, my dear son Omer Bey!	895
You've done enough,	896
and may the memory of him be infamous in this world and the next!	897
Unless I die in the attempt,	898
we shall duly try his case	899
before our Emperor in Istanbul.	900
It is easier to plead a cause against a man who's still alive;	901
no proofs avail against a dead one.”	902
So he impelled the Bey towÖrds the chamber door.	903
But the Governor recovered swiftly.	904
Cocking both their golden hammers,	905
he aimed his pistols at the Bey,	906
and both of them went off at once.	907
They did the Bey no fatal harm:	908
two locks of hair flew off his head,	909
and four of his panaches.	910
Then the Vizier locked the chamber door behind the Bey.	911
Ancient Ibro, shouting mightily,	912
came running to the council hall.	913
In his hand he held the severed head from off the Vizier's Deputy.	914
“Brother mine, can you survive your wounds?”	915
“Dear God be thanked, I can.”	916
“Did not I tell you, comrade,	917
not to leave the man alive?”	918
“Sorguch Omer Bey took him away from me;	919
I would not else have let him live.	920
How came you by this severed head, comrade?	921
Did you cut it off the Vizier's Deputy?”	922
“Brother mine, I swear to you upon my faith,     I found him at the battery;	923
that's exactly where I found the bitch's bastard whelp.”	924
So the two of them returned	925
directly to old Jafer Pasha's house.	926
There they sat them down again and recommenced their drinking.	927
All the while they heard a din about the city	928
as the Vizier closed up Buda tight	929
to stop the brothers' leaving.	930
He posted soldiers at the gates.	931
Hasanbeyson said:	932
“Ancient Ibro, brother mine,	933
look now what trouble we are in.	934
The Vizier's shut the gates on us,	935
allowing no one to go out,	936
and commandeered the keys.	937
Tomorrow he will capture us alive	938
and either banish us	939
or have our heads cut off.	940
Alas, Bey Hasanbey, my father,	941
who all the while knows nothing, being in Osik.”	942
Jafer Pasha's lady raised her head and said:	943
“Hasanbeyson, son-in-law,	944
unless I die in the attempt,	945
the lady will deliver you from Buda.”	946
Having told him this, she rose,	947
put on her veil and mantle,	948
donned her slippers,	949
lit a lamp,	950
and descended from the mansion built of stone.	951
She came quickly to the quarters	952
where the Commandant of Janissaries had his office.	953
Opening the door,	954
she found him in his chamber.	955
Entering, she greeted him,	956
approached, and then began to say:	957
“Dear child, Commander of the Janissaries,	958
I beseech thee as I would one elder to myself.	959
You know the Vizier is a traitor.	960
He sacked our house	961
and sent my Pasha into banishment.	962
Then he took my only daughter Hanka from me     for to put her in a coach	963
and send her to the King of Yanyok.	964
Young Omer Bey restored the girl to me.	965
Hanka's in my mansion built of stone;	966
so is the Bey with his companions.	967
The Vizier's been enraged by this	968
and closed the gates of Buda.	969
He will not let them leave the city	970
since he wants to capture them alive,	971
scoop out their eyes,	972
and then have them beheaded.	973
I beseech thee as I would one elder to myself,	974
because thou doest not fear the Governor of Buda	975
and hast th' Imperial Army under thy command.”	976
“Dear dame, I honor you no less than I would honor     mine own mother.	977
Greet Hasanbeyson in my name,	978
and tell the Bey to lead his guardsmen	979
to the nearest postern	980
in the wall that overlooks the Danube.	981
I shall cause it to be opened for him.”	982
So the lady went away whence she had come.	983
But when she reached the mansion and the drawing room,	984
she said to Hasanbeyson what the Commandant had told her to.	985
Then Omer Bey said this to Lady Jafer Pasha:	986
“To you, my lady, I entrust the dear girl Hanka;	987
here in your palace built of stone keep Hanka safe.	988
Let no one in,	989
and have no fear of Buda's Vizier.	990
I'll come again a month from now	991
and bring a troop of escorts for the girl	992
to take her home with me against the will of our imperial traitor.”	993
Having said these things, the Bey stood up	994
and led his men away.	995
They crossed the breadth of stony Buda town	996
until they reached the postern, which they found wide open.	997
The Commandant of Janissaries kept his word and opened it.	998
The men could pass the narrow postern,	999
but their saddled mounts could not.	1000
Each guardsman had to take his saddle down,	1001
lead his thoroughbred through the gate,	1002
and then return to fetch the saddle through.	1003
So they strode off along the Danube's bank.	1004
They scarcely could negotiate the narrow path	1005
until they reached the Muhach Plain.	1006
There at last they mounted on their noble beasts,	1007
and by that time the newborn sun rose hot.	1008
From Buda City they traversed Hungaria,	1009
tending always towards Osik, city built of masonry.	1010
In time they came in sight of it	1011
and old man Hasan glimpsed them in the distance:	1012
“Guardsmen all, you trusty servants of my house,	1013
here comes my only son.	1014
Give the Bey the same reception we would give an honored guest.”	1015
Therewith the men came riding up	1016
and the houseguard took their mounts in charge.	1017
The Bey went in to see his father in the parlour.	1018
He greeted him, then sat him down beside his parent.	1019
Hasan Bey began to speak:	1020
“Have you journeyed in good health, my son?	1021
Did you appear before the Vizier	1022
and bring his warrant home with you?”	1023
“Father mine—I kiss your hand—	1024
say no more to me of Buda's treasonous Vizier!	1025
As I was on my way to Buda, father,	1026
my men grew thirsty,	1027
so we turned aside to find a spring.	1028
I was sitting by the spring	1029
when a light voiture came by.	1030
A mourning dove lamenting in the coach	1031
filled all the Plain of Muhach with its voice	1032
and heaped its woe on every man who'd call himself a Turk:	1033
‘May God slay the Governor of Buda	1034
for his sacking Jafer Pasha's house,	1035
for his putting of the Pasha's daughter Hanka in this coach,	1036
and sending her to Yanyok's king.’	1037
If only, father, you had witnessed for yourself	1038
how sorrowful it was!	1039
When I had seen these things with my own eyes,	1040
I could not bring myself to ask the Vizier for his warrant.”	1041
But when old Hasan Bey had heard all this, he said:	1042
“What defilement of your honour, son, is this you tell me of,	1043
how you have let poor captives be conveyed away to infidels!	1044
I thought you were a man of worth,	1045
but lo! no proper son of mine have you turned out to be,	1046
you mother's git, you spawn of Hajdar Bey!”	1047
Ancient Ibro interrupted him:	1048
“Wait a moment, Bey—I kiss your hand—	1049
my brother lies and does not tell what really happened.	1050
We turned back the carriage that was being driven to the King,	1051
hewed down all the royal drivers,	1052
contravened the Governor's commands,	1053
then trampled on the Governor himself.	1054
He was mightily enraged,	1055
and yet the Bey has let him live.	1056
I, upon my faith, would not have let him go.”	1057
But when old Hasan Bey had heard the tale,	1058
he shouted in his chamber:	1059
“Oh thou Vizier, traitor to the Emperor,	1060
unless I die in the attempt,	1061
I shall myself go down to Buda for a day of reckoning with you.”	1062
Let us meanwhile see the Vizier at the coming of the dawn.	1063
When the renegade emerged from stupor,	1064
he began at once to act.	1065
He quickly wrote a letter on his lap	1066
and sent it to the King of Yanyok:	1067
“Sweet brother, Yanyok's King,	1068
have you heard and been informed	1069
of how I put a Turkish girl	1070
into a coach and sent her off to you?	1071
But Hasanbeyson chanced to meet the coach,	1072
the man from Osik, city built of masonry.	1073
He returned the coach to Buda	1074
in despite of me and you.	1075
When now my letter reaches you,	1076
call up your troops and challenge him,	1077
if haply you might lay him low.	1078
For if you do not overcome him,	1079
it will be the worse for you and me.	1080
You in turn should write another letter	1081
to my uncle, King of Orshan,	1082
and tell him to assist you.”	1083
Now let the Vizier send his finely written letters	1084
to whomever he sees fit.	1085
We should watch old Hasan Bey,	1086
who spoke to Omer Bey:	1087
“Bring me some blank paper	1088
and the writing things.	1089
I shall summon up a host of wedding guests for you	1090
such that it will be remembered in the years to come.”	1091
So he brought his father unmarked paper	1092
and put the stylus in his hands.	1093
The first dispatch the Bey composed upon his lap	1094
was meant to go to level Kanizha from Osik,	1095
to the hand of Hasan Pasha, bright Kanizha's foremost man:	1096
“Pasha, when my letter reaches you,	1097
march here to me in stone-built Osik.	1098
Raise a goodly force and do not stint,	1099
unless you are afraid of Buda's Vizier,	1100
the traitor ruling in our Buda.”	1101
But of course the Pasha of bright Kanizha	1102
was not afraid of any man apart from Istanbul itself.	1103
Having sent that letter on its way, he began to write another	1104
for to send to old man Fazli Pasha, foremost personage     of Varad City.	1105
“My dear Pasha, you who sit in Varad City,	1106
so soon as this my letter reaches you,	1107
raise a goodly force from bright Varad	1108
and march to me in Osik, city built of masonry.”	1109
Having sent that letter on its way, he began to write a third,	1110
addressing it to Pozhega,	1111
to Shestokrilovich.	1112
Having sent that letter on its way, he wrote again	1113
to Omer Odobasha	1115
in level Ostruga:	1114
“Raise a goodly force and march to me in Osik!”	1116
Having sent that letter on its way, he wrote again	1117
even to the town of Pritoka-under-Varadin,	1118
to Pandzha Hussein:	1119
“Raise a goodly force and march to me in Osik!”	1120
Having sent that letter on its way, he wrote again	1121
to stone-built Pesht,	1122
to Mustaybey of Pesht:	1123
“Raise a goodly force and march to me in Osik!”	1124
Having sent that letter on its way, he wrote again	1125
to Temishvar,	1126
to Hadji Kasum Agha:	1127
“Raise a goodly force and march to me in Osik!	1128
Bring an army without number	1129
under the command of seventy and four Aghas.”	1130
Omer Bey remarked:	1131
“Father, leave off recruiting from the cities of Hungaria.	1132
Hungary's cities are too populous,	1133
and they would yield more troops than we can use,	1134
too numerous a wedding party, father.”	1135
It was indeed no simple wedding party that the Bey     was gathering,	1136
but a mighty army, brother.	1137
For a while from that day forth	1139
the Bey was busy readying himself in Osik.	1138
But then one morning, when the Bey arose betimes	1140
and looked out over Osik Field,	1141
a wondrous regiment came in view.	1142
A single rider mounted on a grey was in the vanguard	1143
with a crimson banner draped about him;	1144
another rode behind him on a white,	1145
and he was all enveloped in a scarlet cloak.	1146
Behind the second rider came a regiment of horse	1147
—a modest regiment, but a fiery one—	1148
a modest regiment, a mere eight thousand men.	1149
The man in front was Selim,	1150
ancient-bearer to the Pasha of Kanizha.	1151
Behind him rode the Pasha on the white,	1152
and all the regiment came surging after.	1153
When the Pasha came to Osik Field,	1154
he caused his troops to halt,	1155
and there they pitched the Pasha's pavilion.	1156
Its peaks were graced with golden orbs.	1157
His troops encamped around him.	1158
When time had turned and turned again,	1159
behold, old Fazli Pasha came down too	1160
—Fazli Pasha, chief of Varad City.	1161
He had not stinted in recruitment either.	1162
And then there came the Bey of Pozhega,	1163
followed by his troop of Turks from Pozhega.	1164
Of all the men to whom he'd written,	1165
not a one had stinted in the levying of troops.	1166
All the pashas and the spahis	1167
gathered in the tent of Tiro Kanizhli.	1168
Then the Bey commanded	1169
that the gates of Osik should be opened.	1170
So they were,	1171
and out surged Osik's troop of Turks	1172
with Hasan Alay Bey a-leading them,	1173
and Mighty Osman Bey beside him in the vanguard.	1174
When together they came down to where the Pasha's tent     was pitched,	1175
they drew its cord and went inside	1176
and wished the whole assemblage well, and waited on the Pasha.	1177
The tent was full of aghas and spahis.	1178
When all had said that they were well,	1179
Hasan Pasha Tiro spoke:	1180
“Hasan Alay Bey, my courtier,	1181
is your wedding party all assembled?”	1182
“Pasha, yes it is, in faith.”	1183
While they were conversing thus,	1184
a letter reached the tent	1185
and was delivered to the Pasha.	1186
Unfolding it, the Pasha	1187
scanned the writing.	1188
When he had read its content,	1189
he glanced at Omer Bey:	1190
“Hasanbeyson Omer Bey,	1191
this letter bodes no good,	1192
nor is it from some marriageable maiden.	1193
It comes from shining Yanyok City; this is what it says.	1194
‘Since you've not renounced your interference	1195
with my coach and captive,	1196
you must fight me for them.	1197
Let your Turkish faith be witness:	1198
when your wedding-convoy has assembled at Osik,	1199
send me word.	1200
Then I shall hie me down to duel with you	1201
on the lowlands by the icy Drava River.	1202
Let that be the locus of our duel.	1203
But if you fail to send me word	1204
and try to take the girl away by stealth,	1205
then I shall come and challenge you before the very gates     of stone-built Osik.’	1206
How shall we answer this, my Bey?”	1207
When all had spoken their opinions, everyone agreed:	1208
they should meet upon the Sunday, and then duel on Monday,	1209
the two sides meeting on the lowlands by the Drava.	1210
They wrote their letter of reply accordingly:	1211
“Here's our answer, King of Yanyok.	1212
If you fail to meet me on the lowlands by the Drava River	1213
where we'll hold our trial of arms,	1214
expect me to appear and challenge you before the very gates     of Yanyok, city built of masonry.”	1215
They gave the courier, a Vlah, a generous gratuity	1216
and handed him the writ:	1217
“Carry this our letter to the King of Yanyok, Vlah.”	1218
Let the letter make its way to Yanyok.	1219
We meanwhile should watch the Bey and wedding party.	1220
They went about the culling of their troops.	1221
The old and weak they mustered out,	1222
keeping only men of high resolve and strong in battle	1223
who would stand their ground and never run away	1224
where broadswords flash and blood flows free,	1225
men well able to bear wounds.	1226
How many men did they enlist to form their wedding party?	1227
It was no prodigious number, only thirty thousand.	1228
So they marched their army off	1229
across Hungaria.	1230
Old Hasan Bey did lead the way.	1231
In time they came in sight of Buda,	1232
and Hasan Alay Bey declared:	1233
“Brothers mine, my wedding guests,	1234
as we pass the Vizier's palace,	1235
let him see a joyful celebration.”	1236
They entered Buda, city built of masonry,	1237
and as they went parading through the town	1238
they all sang roundelays.	1239
Hasan Alay Bey approached	1240
the palace of the treasonous Vizier,	1241
and found the Governor had locked himself within.	1242
Underneath the palace windows Hasan called to him:	1243
“Traitor, Buda's Governor,	1244
you think mistreatment of my children easy work.	1245
Only open up and let me in, and let the two of us talk terms!”	1246
But by the Faith, he would not let him in.	1247
Buda's people welcomed Hasan's wedding party.	1248
The Bey found lodging with another bey,	1249
and Hasan Pasha with another pasha;	1250
young men visited young women,	1251
and bridegrooms' fathers visited the fathers of sons' brides.	1252
But let us see what Hasanbeyson did.	1253
The Bey was not disposed to lodge him in the mansion     built of masonry,	1254
but rather in the garden	1255
where the mother of the bride had readied lodging for him,	1256
raising a pavilion there to shelter him	1257
with a coffee-steward inside to keep him entertained.	1258
Omer entered this pavilion,	1259
with him ancient Ibro too,	1260
and all his thirty men-at-arms.	1261
All night the Bey sat drinking underneath the tent	1262
and making merry clamour with his guns.	1263
Hanka watched him from her window.	1264
She opened wide the windowpane in her high wall	1265
and leaned her breasts against the rondels.	1266
Then, thrusting out her hands,	1267
she teased the Bey from where she was beside the window	1269
with offerings of apples ruddy-red:	1268
“Darling Omer Bey,	1270
do you like it underneath my tent?	1271
Is the coffee sweet in my pavilion?”	1272
Omer raised his head and looked,	1273
and when he saw the maiden at the window,	1274
it seemed as though the house in its entirety was radiant with light,	1275
so superbly had the pretty girl adorned herself.	1276
The Bey laughed loudly and replied:	1277
“Yes, my darling, I do like it in your tent,	1278
and your black coffee's very sweet.”	1279
Therewith the Bey drew forth his pistols,	1280
firing both at once.	1281
“Ancient Ibro, brother mine,	1282
have you lost your side arms?”	1283
No sooner had he said it than two clouds of smoke     arose from Ibro too.	1284
Next he eyed his men-at-arms:	1285
“Where are your pistols, guardsmen?	1286
Spare neither lead nor powder	1287
so long as I'm alive.”	1288
So his youthful guardsmen drew their weapons too	1289
and fired their salvoes, pair by pair.	1290
Thus they celebrated in the garden all night long	1291
until new day began to break.	1292
But lo, when day had dawned, old Hasan Bey	1293
would not allow the wedding company's departure.	1294
From that time forth for three whole days	1295
they merrily enjoyed themselves.	1296
But when the second night came on,	1297
behold, the Bey in his pavilion	1298
put his men to sleep,	1299
and even ancient Ibro with them.	1300
Quietly he slipped away from the pavilion,	1301
going where his sorrel horse was tied.	1302
He unhitched the sorrel then	1303
and made his way to Buda's gate.	1304
When he had quit the town,	1305
he stopped his sorrel mount in open country	1306
and removed its saddlebag.	1307
In the bag he kept a cÉche of infidel habiliments.	1308
Beside his sorrel horse the Bey attired himself in infidel disguise.	1309
He donned a verdant military ribbon	1310
such as no man wears until it is bestowed on him in Vienna,     city built of masonry,	1311
with pendant medal such as is awarded only by the Kaiser's hand.	1312
He put on a golden star about his neck,	1313
and other insignia too about his arms.	1314
Next he donned a service cap,	1315
and it bore the Kaiser's badge.	1316
What legend was inscribed upon the badge?	1317
It said the wearer was named Gregory, Romepope's son,	1318
scion of the Kaiser's intricately ornamented throne.	1319
Then he quickly mounted on his sorrel horse	1320
and rode away across the Plain of Muhach.	1321
He took his bearings, heading for the lowlands by the Drava River.	1322
In time he neared the place	1323
and saw a wondrous sight:	1324
the field was black	1325
with service caps and rucksacks.	1326
The enemy was well entrenched	1327
behind an abatis	1328
with tips of steel.	1329
They were strongly fortified.	1330
They had cut a fosse across the field	1331
and posted jaegers in it.	1332
When the Bey approached,	1333
he hailed a picketeer:	1334
“Picket standing watch in service of the King,	1335
whose army's this, whose ambuscade?	1336
Who commands these troops?”	1337
“Milord ariding on the sorrel horse,	1338
it is the army of the two strong kings,	1339
and Yanyok's in command.	1340
The King has come to fight by reason of a grudge.”	1341
When Omer Bey had understood these words, he said:	1342
“Picket of the King's army,	1343
go find the King in his pavilion.	1344
Tell King Yanyok this:	1345
that he must withdraw these troops at once.	1346
An armistice has been declared by both the Emperors,	1347
who have concluded peace.	1348
There will be no pardon	1350
for the man who breaks the peace on their frontier.”	1349
The Vlah was apt to do as he was told and flew off to the King:	1351
“Hear me, sire, Your Highness!	1352
Romepope's scion Gregory has come	1353
upon a mission to inspect the government of cities.	1354
He has even now arrived, and brought us news.	1355
He had at first repaired to your Yanyok,	1356
but did not find you there.	1357
Nor was Orshan's king at home.	1358
So he rode his thoroughbred here	1359
to tell you to withdraw your troops.”	1360
When the kings had understood these words,	1361
they both sent their retainers:	1362
“Go and call the Kaiser's duke to us;	1363
let him come to our pavilion.”	1364
The serving men obeyed. Some took his horse in charge,	1365
while others led him to the tent.	1366
But when the Bey had entered the pavilion,	1367
he stood and greeted them politely.	1368
The two kings rose in welcome to their guest.	1369
They shook his hand and said:	1370
“We hope you come to us in health, Your Highness.”	1371
“Salutations, Yanyok.	1372
How does it happen you have raised so great an army?	1373
'Gainst whom do you make war?	1374
A general truce has been declared	1375
as of yesterday.	1376
Any man who breaks the peace within the border zone	1377
will suffer penalty of death,	1378
not to mention making war.	1379
Return your army to the confines of the Kaiser's Empire.”	1380
Both kings raised their cups and drank to his good health.	1381
“Good sir, Kaiser's duke,	1382
I have a certain comrade, who's like a brother to me.	1383
He dwells in Buda City, in Turkish Hungary.	1384
He gave me a girl from Buda town;	1385
I sent a light voiture to fetch her	1386
with an escort of a dozen soldiers.	1387
He put my thrall into the coach	1388
and sent her to me at my seat in Yanyok.	1389
But a certain viper interfered,	1390
the vicious viper Hasanbeyson,	1391
he from out of Osik and the valley of the icy Drava River.	1392
Somehow he noticed my voiture,	1393
killed my drivers and returned the coach to Buda.	1394
Therefore I have challenged him to duel;	1395
we two have sworn to duel upon the morrow.	1396
I appeal to you as one of higher rank:	1397
give me leave	1398
to keep my day of combat	1399
—say nothing of it to the Emperor—	1400
and fight the Turk.	1401
Only we shall know of it.	1402
Help me in this thing, and ask of me whatever boon you wish.”	1403
“Milord the King of Yanyok,	1404
the Turks are devilish fighters. They might descend on you	1405
and all the royal soldiery by killed	1406
if they, perchance, should prove to be the stronger in a battle.	1407
Who would answer for the loss?”	1408
The King replied to him:	1409
“Never will the Turks prevail!	1410
I have arranged our dueling place too cleverly.”	1411
When the Bey had understood these words, he said:	1412
“Pay three hundred Magyar ducats to me, Yanyok,	1413
and I shall justify your duel at court.”	1414
The King was not disposed to quibble;	1415
he promptly paid the soft gold coins.	1416
Again the Bey spoke softly to him:	1417
“Let me see the dueling ground and starting-point.”	1418
The King rose up	1419
and led the Bey in an inspection of his army.	1420
There the Bey observed the fosse	1421
and regulars who manned it.	1422
The King showed him the cannon	1423
standing loaded,	1424
draped with crimson cloths.	1425
“My Lord Duke,	1426
do you not agree these dispositions are conducive     to my winning of the victory?”	1427
The Bey examined all the cannon one by one.	1428
He raised the cloth on each	1429
and wet the cannon's touch-hole.	1430
Then he said softly to the King:	1431
“The dispositions for your duel are excellent.	1432
I must now be on my way.	1433
I leave you to your plans;	1434
I'm sure they will succeed.”	1435
The kings and lords attended his departure	1436
and saw him to his sorrel horse.	1437
They shook hands with him again, and then he rode away,	1438
and turned his sorrel mount	1439
to go right speedily to Buda, city built of masonry.	1440
In course of time he came to Buda,	1441
where he found his ancient Ibro,	1442
who was leaning on his rifle	1443
letting tears roll down his cheeks.	1444
When he spied the Bey and sorrel horse,	1445
he spread his arms in gesture of embrace and said:	1446
“Where have you been, my brother Hasanbeyson?	1447
I've searched for you all night through Buda town.”	1448
“Brother Ibro, here I am.”	1449
“Where have you been? Where did you go?”	1450
“I've been a-spying on the enemy's position	1452
in the lowlands by the Drava River, brother.”	1451
“And have you fairly spied it out?”	1453
“Brother, that I did, and wet me other eye to boot.	1454
I hope you did not tell my father I was missing.”	1455
“No, I swear to you, I didn't.”	1456
“Thank God for that.”	1457
So the Bey rejoined his men in their pavilion.	1458
But when the hot sun rose	1459
and had proceeded up the sky two hours' time,	1460
tabors gan to chirp	1461
and timbals rolled	1462
while the wedding guests assembled	1463
in procession with the bride.	1464
The time had come to take the girl away.	1465
So they made a joyful clamour	1466
underneath the palace windows of the Governor of Buda.	1467
But the Governor ignored them,	1468
and the wedding-column moved away	1469
under escort by the Turks of Buda City.	1470
Their destination was the lowlands by the Drava River,	1471
where they would witness Hasanbeyson's combat.	1472
When they reached the low country,	1473
there they found a multitude of people gathered.	1474
The leaders stopped the army's steady march	1475
and moved it forward cautiously.	1476
From beside his tent the King called out:	1477
“Hasanbeyson, oh thou Turk!	1478
If thou fear'st to face me in the duel,	1479
only send the girl from Buda here to me,	1480
the one the Vizier chose for me.	1481
Let her abide for just three hours	1482
here beside me in my tent.	1483
I'll make love to her a while,	1484
Then return the girl from Buda town to you,	1485
should it happen you still rue the loss of her.”	1486
When the Bey had understood these words, he said:	1487
“Yanyok, by my faith, there'll be no returns of any kind today.	1488
Meet me on the dueling ground, Yanyok!”	1489
The Bey sprang towards his sorrel mount,	1490
but his father intervened and said:	1491
“Hold a moment, Omer Bey, my son!	1492
Mount the Stambolian white instead.	1493
The sorrel's not dependable.”	1494
The Bey was pleased to do so. He took leave of father first,	1495
then of Kanizha's Pasha,	1496
and went to do the same with Osik's Bey.	1497
He took leave respectfully of every man he knew.	1498
At last he came to his own bride.	1499
The lovely girl was sitting in her tent	1500
a-leaning on her left arm,	1501
and tears were wetting both her cheeks.	1502
The Bey went in and stood beside the drawstring.	1503
He reached inside his clothes	1504
and brought forth fifty ducats,	1505
which he laid upon the rug before his Hanka.	1506
“Here, my darling, is my wedding gift to you.	1507
God forbid that I should die today, but if that were to come to pass,	1508
I would not want this held against me as a debt I left unpaid to you	1509
when I am called to judgment in the world to come, my dear.”	1510
But when the pretty girl had understood his words,	1511
she gave a cry and spurned the money with her hand:	1512
“Dimes and ducats are not things one cherishes;	1513
one cherishes the things one loves.	1514
God forbid that you should die today, my Bey,	1515
for I shall never marry if you do,	1516
but kill myself instead.”	1517
“Hush, darling; shun such thoughts,	1518
for things will be as God Almighty orders.”	1519
Having spoken thus to all, the Bey returned	1520
and took his white horse by the reins,	1521
and mounted it.	1522
Ancient Ibro followed him	1523
and, just as everyone had done,	1524
so Ibro too beseeched the Bey to let him be his champion.	1525
But Omer Bey would not let anyone be champion in his stead.	1526
“Worthy Ibro, ancient of my father,	1527
God forbid that I should die today;	1528
but there's the King, and there's the dueling ground,     and they're my destiny.	1529
So rein your shaggy chestnut in, comrade,	1530
or else the King of Yanyok may suppose	1531
I do not dare approach his camp.”	1532
Ancient Ibro stopped therefore	1533
and Omer Bey alone went on towàrds the King's pavilion.	1534
But as the Bey drew nigh a-riding on the white horse,	1535
the two monarchs were quaffing cups together.	1536
A dozen swordsmen shared their toasts.	1537
The Bey hailed them with ‘God bless,’	1538
and they replied politely.	1539
The King of Yanyok spoke to him more specially:	1540
“Come drink with us, thou Turk.	1541
Our toast is not to thy health nor to mine,	1542
but rather to thine own decapitation.”	1543
The Bey replied to him from where he sat the white:	1544
“I marvel how, regardless of the Deity, you speak of things     that cannot be.	1545
The man with whom I drink, I will not fight;	1546
the man with whom I fight, I will not drink.	1547
King, bestir yourself, and let us fight our duel.	1548
My horse is in a vicious mood;	1549
my sword is leaping from its sheath of its own will.	1550
Get up before my horse stampedes across your table,	1551
before my sabre strikes a man	1552
and fills your cup with blood to overflowing,	1553
before some mother mourns a son.”	1554
The others of the company were prompting Yanyok too:	1555
“Get up and fight with him!”	1556
So the King arose,	1557
and his retainers put his whitefoot horse beneath him.	1558
When the King was settled in the saddle, this is what he said:	1559
“How do you prefer that we should fight?”	1560
“In any way that pleases you, Yanyok.”	1561
“Since, Bey, you leave the choice to me,	1562
I have planned a dueling ground for us	1563
three hundred spears' lengths long	1564
and four and thirty wide	1565
from starting point to that rock yonder.	1566
The Turk will be the first to run,	1567
and we will urge our thoroughbred in pursuit of him.	1568
You have four lances' length headstart.	1569
If I outrun you, I cut off your head;	1570
but if within the given bounds I cannot overtake you,     I'll face my mount about,	1571
and you chase me.	1572
And if within these boundaries you can run me down,	1573
then the choice is yours to take me prisoner, or else     cut off my head.”	1574
The Bey replied to him from where he sat the white:	1575
“Yanyok, I object to nothing you have said, in faith.”	1576
So they agreed; their thoroughbreds dashed away full tilt.	1577
Their thund'rous gallop shook the sable earth	1578
as they flew past the breastworks and the cannon.	1579
In an instant they had run the dueling ground's full length.	1580
The whitefoot horse was swift,	1581
nor could one rightly criticize the white.	1582
The King could see he would not overtake his foe,	1583
so he shot at him with both his pistols.	1584
Nor did he miss the Bey,	1585
and yet the bullets did not injure him.	1586
Next he hurled a battle lance	1587
that overflew its mark;	1588
then Yanyok reined his horse about.	1589
The Bey's however turned of its own will	1590
and chased the other down the dueling ground.	1591
Brother, by my faith, he fled to no avail,	1592
for what is faster nothing overtakes,	1593
and what is faster nothing can elude.	1594
He reached him at the seventh bound	1595
and drew his sabre at the eighth.	1596
Omer struck him at the ninth stride;	1597
thus he slew the King upon the field of combat.	1598
A clamour of vociferating Vlah arose within the hostile camp:	1599
“Stay where thou art, thou Bey, thou bitch's whelp,	1600
and I shall duel with thee!	1601
But if thou wast not who I am nor whence I come,	1602
then know that I am Captain Stanich,	1603
sister's son of King Yanyok.”	1604
So he said, and egged his grey mount towards the dueling ground.	1605
“How shall we fight?”	1606
“Upon my faith, however pleases you, Stanich.”	1607
They duelled according to the same procedure as before.	1608
The Bey ran first, with Stanich after him.	1609
Stanich chased him up the field	1610
but saw he could not overtake his foe,	1611
so he reined his grey about.	1612
The Bey spurred on his white in hot pursuit.	1613
Speedily he chased the man; more swiftly still he overtook him.	1614
Stanich signalled to the gunners instantly for help,	1615
and yet no cannon raised its voice in answer to his need	1616
because the Bey had wet the powder.	1617
Running down his man, the Bey decapitated him.	1618
A third man shouted from the foeman's camp:	1619
“Stay where thou art, thou Turk, let us two fight!	1620
If thou wast not who I am nor whence I come,	1621
I am the King of Orshan.”	1622
The King rode forth upon a raven steed.	1623
“How shall we fight?”	1624
“Upon my faith, however pleases you, Orshan.”	1625
“Since, Bey, you leave the choice to me,	1626
the dueling ground's already constituted.”	1627
The King said this because he too relied upon the cannon.	1628
So they duelled according to the same procedure as before.	1629
The Bey ran first, with Orshan after him.	1630
He chased the Bey along the field as fast as he could go.	1631
But then the King could see he would not overtake his foe,	1632
nor could he smite him with his sword;	1633
therefore he fired at him with pistols.	1634
One bullet struck the Bey,	1635
the other missed.	1636
The one that found its mark had hit the Bey's left shoulder.	1637
Next King Orshan hurled a battle lance at him	1638
that missed the Bey	1639
but struck the white horse on its rump.	1640
Then he turned his fiery raven steed about.	1641
Ferociously the white horse turned itself	1642
and chased the King upon the black.	1643
The King could see he would not get away,	1644
and so he rode his whitefoot mount	1646
straight towàrds the thickest press of serried soldiery.	1645
The Bey pursued him on the white.	1647
The soldiers opened up a lane by which the King could flee	1648
and opened fire upon the Bey;	1649
their puffs of gunsmoke eddied 'bout his breast.	1650
Ancient Ibro shouted now:	1651
“Hasan Alay Bey, alack,	1652
release your army, and let them fight at will!	1653
You see the King has fled from off the dueling ground.”	1654
And having said this, Ibro laid himself at length     along his chestnut's mane	1655
and charged into the enemy's first volley.	1656
The verdant field began to rumble fearsomely	1657
as all the other Turks went charging into battle too.	1658
The gallant bannermen rode forward in the vanguard of the charge,	1659
and they were first to take the foemen's fire.	1660
The wave of Turks rolled up and broke upon the royal army	1661
where the King had dug his trenches.	1662
But when the royal troops had fired their third successive volley	1663
and a fourth was in the making, their assailants     came to grips with them and fought them hand to hand,	1664
and overran the trenches	1665
and the King's abatis	1666
—ashen shafts set upright in the earth	1667
with points of steel.	1668
Good thoroughbreds o'erleapt the fosse,	1669
but the weak ones faltered and fell in.	1670
Thanks be to Thee, dear God, for all Thy wondrous works.	1671
It was a most peculiar day, a curious contention.	1672
Sabre flashed, and blood streamed forth,	1673
and no one knew what others did, for all were swathed in mist.	1674
This man would groan as that one tortured him,	1675
and thoroughbred horses ran away in all directions	1676
with their saddles slipped askew	1677
and splashed with hero's gore,	1678
and no one riding them,	1679
for they who were their masters formerly had perished all away.	1680
Some horses grazed the field with unconcern;	1681
they had been the mounts of drunks.	1682
But those with saddles slipped askew	1683
had been the mounts of valiant warriors.	1684
And so the battle raged until the close of day.	1685
Gunfire rattled on without abatement	1686
all night long beside the icy Drava.	1687
But when the new day dawned and reborn sun arose,	1688
the Turks had driven out the enemy from by the Drava River,	1689
and forced them back upon the lofty Mount Blagaja;	1690
the Vlahs, retreating steadily, withdrew beyond its heights.	1691
The Turks decided not to press them farther,	1692
being weary of their furious fire.	1693
So they too withdrew whence they had come.	1694
They ranged about the battlefield	1695
to gather up their dead and wounded,	1696
then they buried their own dead	1697
and fashioned litters for the wounded.	1698
But as to who had perished, no one asked;	1699
that man whose destiny it was had died.	1700
Many a mother later mourned	1701
who'd lost an only son,	1702
and many a bride returned to her own kin,	1703
and many a child was orphaned.	1704
Such, my brothers, are the Borderlands,	1705
and we are used to it	1706
—for the Border is a garment drenched with blood—	1707
to wipe a bloody hand,	1708
to wield a sabre and to die by one,	1709
for so we are accustomed.	1710
Thus the Turks made ready for to go.	1711
But when they gan to count their troops,	1712
Bey Omerbey was missing,	1713
Hasanbeyson Omer Bey.	1714
They surmised that he was dead,	1715
that horses in the headlong charge had trampled him to pieces.	1716
They were about to march their army out,	1717
when lo! a single rider issued forth from off the mountainside.	1718
The horseman was a sight to see, ariding on a white.	1719
His clothes were all in tatters,	1720
torn apart by flying lead.	1721
But even that would seem a minor jest compared with     something else they saw,	1722
for in the saddle with the horseman rode a passenger.	1723
As the rider neared	1724
they recognized Bey Omerbey:	1725
he carried Orshan's severed head	1726
and Princess Anna, royal daughter	1727
of the King of Yanyok.	1728
Omer went directly to his father and he said:	1729
“Here's a head I've taken, father,	1730
and here's Ann, the Magyar girl.	1731
I caught the King a little short of shining Yanyok town.	1732
There I beheaded him	1733
and captured Ann, the Magyar maid.	1734
It was an easy thing to capture Ann,	1735
because I found the city empty.”	1736
“Dear God be thanked, my son.	1737
Have the bullets hurt you?”	1738
“They've done me no great harm,	1740
dear God be thanked;	1739
my wounds are insignificant, and I'll recover from them.”	1741
So the Bey and wedding guests arose	1742
and carried off their wounded.	1743
Thus a single wedding-party served as convoy     to a double complement of brides.	1744
They made their way to Osik, city built of masonry,	1745
and there they gave themselves to celebration	1746
in despite of Buda's Vizier.	1747
Merrily they whiled the time away	1748
with games of marksmanship and racing,	1749
and they loaded gifts on everyone.	1750
They wed the girl from Buda to the Bey	1751
and sent him to the bridal bed with her.	1752
When a little time had passed,	1753
they made a Turkish girl of Ann the Magyar maid	1754
and wed her to the Bey as well.	1755
He was a goodly falcon, they two partridges;	1756
he was a valiant warrior, and won a right reward;	1757
so let him bill with them as much as pleases him.	1758
But when the moon had waxed and waned three times,	1759
the pashas and the spahis congregated.	1760
They engrossed a writ indicting Buda's Governor,	1761
but Omer Bey they lauded handsomely.	1762
And when their accusation was inscribed,	1763
they set their seal thereto,	1764
and Omer Bey departed	1765
with his uncle Mighty Osman Bey	1766
and his bannerman Ibro.	1767
Hasanbeyson's other uncle,	1769
Sorguch of Buda City, travelled with them too, a fourth man     in the delegation.	1768
They made their way to Stambol and the Emperor.	1770
They went to court when they arrived,	1771
presenting their indictment.	1772
When the Sultan read their writ in Istanbul,	1773
he signalled with his eyes to have his court attendants	1774
seat the delegation round about his throne, and then he said:	1775
“Courtier of mine, Bey Omerbey,	1776
right wing of my Osik,	1777
what boon do you desire of me?	1778
You need only ask, my courtier, for what your heart desires,     and it is yours.”	1779
The Bey bowed low and said:	1780
“Forgive me, sovereign who warms us like the newly risen sun,     for what I ask.	1781
Only give me your firman	1782
replacing Buda's Governor with me.”	1783
His sovereign ceded such a firman to the Bey,	1784
and with it his decree:	1785
“Thou art hereby designated my Vizier, thy term a dozen years.	1786
As Privy Councillor to you	1787
I do appoint your uncle Mighty Osman Bey for one,	1788
and for another, Sorguch Omer Bey.”	1789
The Emperor bestowed a wealth of gifts on them,	1790
including lands and military ranks,	1791
and new retainers for the Bey.	1792
So they all went home again.	1793
The new Vizier went on to Buda.	1794
Time passed, and when they reached the town,	1795
the Bey beheld before the city gates	1796
the legs of Buda's Vizier hanging in the air.	1797
He turned and said:	1798
“My uncle Sorguch Omer Bey,	1799
who hanged the man so soon?”	1800
“My dear nephew, look you well!	1801
If in Buda City you rule crookedly,	1802
you too will hang in selfsame manner from its wall.”	1803
So the new Vizier took office	1804
and the cannon boomed from Buda's battlements.	1805
The new Vizier announced a new régime:	1806
his uncle Sorguch Omer Bey	1808
as Privy Councillor for one,	1807
and for another, Mighty Osman Bey.	1809
So long as he did live,	1810
he never did inequity to any man.	1811
This has been the song of Hasanbeyson,	1812
he of Osik, city built of masonry.	1813
I have sung this song for you; may God give you good health.	1814

*

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