translated by John F. Loud (See the Serbo-Croatian text)
(See comments in relation to books)
(See comments on real modulations)
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Two viziers, Avdi Pasha and
Pasha Seidi, were wintering at
Otoka-under-Temišvar. Avdi Pasha was civil
administrator of the country, and Seidi
commanded the Home Guard.
The winter was half spent and the second half setting in when a throng of Christian folk1 flocked up from Herdenj, led by two of the Imperial Headmen, Vukašin and Tomašin. They moaned like green grass under the wind: “Come help us, O Viziers of the Seal!2 In the name of mercy, find us a remedy, for we cannot any longer bear this oppression. Protect the stone city of Herdenj from King Rákóczy! He often musters battle-seasoned troops, attacking us and Herdenj, taking captives, burning, and beheading. He drives away our cattle, cuts down the workers in our fields, and even drives off the oxen which we need for ploughing. He plunders us of our riding horses, and cuts down our young men when they are celebrating their weddings. He torments our old women at their very firesides and abducts our young women, the poor wretches! If you do not protect us from him, we shall have to change our allegiance one and all, pay the imperial taxes no more, and turn our guns against our own Emperor—all because of the oppression of King Rákóczy!” When the two viziers had heard their appeal, they said: “Return to your homes, good Christian folk! As we live and govern, we shall repulse King Rákóczy and end his oppression of you.” The Christian folk fell silent as the green grass and returned to Herdenj City. Nor did the viziers sit idly. They wrote a deposition upon their knees and dispatched it to King Rákóczy: “Take note, O King, of this my deposition! Turn your mind away from Herdenj and the imperial Christian people there. Leave them in peace, lest you bring great evil on yourself. For if you do not do this, I shall execute a white writ against you, draw upon the Imperial war stores, and launch an attack upon you. I shall topple you from power, drive you to Mlada Jabuka (50), from Mlada Jabuka to Stara Jabuka,3 and cast you into the deep sea. You shall hold sway no longer. I shall uproot your power utterly.” When they had put forth this deposition, and when it came to King Rákóczy, and when he had perused it, he in turn set to writing another deposition of his own on his own knee: “And here is a deposition to you, you two viziers! Mark you well what is written to you in it. I shall not forgo my designs on Herdenj. I shall go to the city of Petersburg, to Milka, our mother in Moscow. I shall appeal to her, our dear mother, for aid. Once Milka has undertaken to campaign with me, I shall go next to the King of England, to the English and to the King of France. The King of Poland too I shall call to arms. I shall return homeward by way of Italy the Plenteous, and go to Vienna, which is built of stone, where I shall entreat the Kaiser to come to my aid also, contributing supplies and munitions of war, and the two great cannon Tuša4 and Granaš, those two mighty siege guns that set cities afire.5 Then I shall descend upon the Plain of Orlovo6 south of Temišvar. When I seize stone Temišvar, I shall surely take you alive and put you to every kind of torment. I shall put all that is male to the sword, and trample the strengthless young under foot. I shall conquer the two great cities Tudža and Ahmet. I shall descend on Ibrail. When I have taken the city of Ibrail, I’ll take your city of Smail as well. Next I shall penetrate to the very emporium of Asia, where I shall threaten Stambol itself, and whence I shall talk terms with the Emperor. I shall cast out your Emperor; let him go to Mecca and Medina, for they are your homeland of old. Stambol however is the land of our fathers, the patrimony of King Constantine. No longer will there be any Turk in Europe!” When he had composed and sent this letter, it made its way to the two viziers. (100) When the two Viziers of the Seal had seen it, Avdi Pasha said to Seidi: “Look at this unexpected trouble, brother! What shall we do now, and how should we do it? Here are the Seven Kingdoms descending on us, while the Emperor in Stambol has no inkling of it.” They wrote a petition on their knees: “In the name of mercy, Sultan Suleyman, behold, O Emperor, my petition to you! See well what it says. All the Seven Kingdoms are about to descend on us!” They sent it to their Emperor in Stambol, but it was not destined that he should see it, for it fell into the hands of others.7 Let us see now what King Rákóczy was doing in the meantime. The King felt no inclination to be idle. He arose and left his seat of government, and went indeed to the city of Petersburg, to Milka, Mother of Moscow. Bowing low and kissing her paw-like hand,8 he entreated her thusly: “Sweet Milka, mother of us all, come to our aid, come and campaign with me! Together let us conquer the lands of the Empire, for otherwise there is nothing left for us to rule any more. The Turks have seized the whole country and driven us into one remote province of it. No longer is there anything to rule!” “O my son, King Rákóczy, do not make war with such a one as he! His pachas and viziers are powerful.” Hearing that, the King replied: “Dear mother, whose hand I kiss, indeed his pachas and viziers are strong, but all of them are now our agents. The only one whom I had feared in Stambol is now no longer there, and it is easy to wage war with them now. I shall muster seven kings, the Seven Kings9 from seven lands. First I shall take Temišvar, and then the other great cities that lie beyond it. I shall penetrate to the very emporium of Asia, to the navel of the Imperial City. From that vantage I shall talk terms with the Emperor; I shall rout the Turkish Emperor. Let him go to Mecca and Medina, for they are his homeland of old (150), while Stambol is the land of our fathers, the patrimony of Constantine.” When Milka had understood these words, she said: “O my son, King Rákóczy, if the Seven Kingdoms join your cause, then Milka too will come to Temišvar. I too shall help you.” Thence the King returned and made his way to the King of England, to the English and to the King of France. He summoned up the Pole from beyond the deep sea, then paid a visit to Italy the Plenteous, and went to Vienna, city built of stone. He entreated the Kaiser in Vienna, bowing low to him: “Illustrious coronated sovereign, Kaiser of Vienna, may you reign serenely in the Holy Roman Empire. Come to my aid, lend me your stores and munitions of war that I may go to fight the Sultan.” “But my Lord Commander, King Rákóczy, we cannot prevail in battle with that Emperor. His pachas and viziers are too powerful!” “My liege lord, whose hand I kiss, what you say is true, but I shall easily be able to come to terms with such of them as are presently in his service. The only one of them whom I had feared no longer governs the imperial realm. No one else knows how to govern it. Give me therefore your two great cannon; let me have Tuža and great Granaš, the two siege cannon that set cities afire, so that I may demolish the Hungarian cities, cross the Romanian territories, and drive through to Asia. I shall rout the Turkish Emperor; there will be no more Turks in our land! So, then, I beg of you. I have already raised the Seven Kingdoms to arms on this side of the sea.” The Kaiser will surely come to his aid, and will indeed give him war matériel and cannon. Let him transport them as he sees fit, while we see what the two Viziers of the Seal are doing. The two Viziers had observed that no reply came to them from Stambol, so they penned a writ of accusation: “Alas, O Emperor, what has become of you? Or is it, O Emperor, that you know nothing of what has happened? Your empire is even now on the verge of collapse (200). At any moment we expect the Seven Kings to invest Temišvar in order that they may thereafter conquer all your lands. In the name of mercy, O Radiant Sun, our Emperor, either send us the munitions which we have asked of you, or else cut off our heads!” When they had executed this writ, they delivered it into the hands of the courier Husein. The two viziers spoke thus to him: “Drive your Imperial post horse to the utmost, brother, and do not spare the crop! Fly swiftly to the Imperial city. And listen particularly, brother, to what I tell you next: as you are accountable to God both in this world and in the next, surrender this writ into the hands of no man other than the Emperor himself in Stambol.” “You need have no fear of that, my brothers.” He drove his horse day by day and week by week along the limits and the byways10 until in the course of time he came to Stambol, city built of stone, and rode on along its highroads. The Friday noontide prayers were in progress, and as he gazed down the streets of Stambol, the Imperial retinue came into view. The Emperor was on his way to mosque with his court heralds clasping their long staves of office and walking on either side of him. Seeing this, the Imperial courier called out like a bellowing stag: “In the name of mercy, O Emperor, Radiant Sun! As you are accountable to God both in this world and in the next, accept this writ from my hands!” But when the heralds caught sight of the courier, they rushed at him brandishing their staves, while he defended himself from them with his crop. His crop whistled in the air and the courier cried out: “Alack, O Radiant Sun, my Emperor! I am commanded to surrender this writ to no one else than you.” The Emperor called to his heralds, and they ceased. The courier surrendered the writ and then turned back, leaving the Emperor to enter the mosque. There in the mosque he knelt and performed his prayers. Then the Emperor went to his Audience Chamber. Having entered it, he took his place on his dais, while his pachas and viziers sat down ranged about him. The Chamber was full. (250) And now the Emperor perused the writ. “My ministers, you who are assembled here in my Audience Chamber, the Seven Kings are about to attack me. To whom shall I give a firman, my Imperial mandate to govern my Empire?” The high priest looked up, the Sheik ul-Islam: “O Radiant Sun, our Ruler, grant the firman to your elder, Durmiš Pasha; or grant it to your Sheik ul-Islam, for we know how the Empire should be governed.” In a far corner of the room a certain pacha raised his eyes and began to speak: “In the name of mercy, O Emperor, Radiant Sun, if you bestow your firman on old Durmiš Pasha, or if you give it in charge of your Sheik ul-Islam, in effect you shall thereby give Stambol to King Rákóczy. For, I swear it to you by my father’s eyes, their party are traitors all!” It was the grizzled Mehmed Pasha who had said this, and most of the viziers exclaimed in like manner: “By my father’s eyes, grey-beard Mehmed Pasha speaks the truth. They are traitors!” He then called to the grey-bearded Mehmed Pasha: “O my minister, you who are called Mehmed Pasha, to whom would you give the firman for governance of my Empire?” “My dear Emperor, Radiant Sun, the person to whom I would give it is not now here, namely your own Khoja Ćuprilić. He was slandered to you long ago, and you banished him from Stambol to the flat land of Konya. The Khoja now frequents the mosques, making the rounds of mosques and of the dervishes’ lodges.” When the Emperor had heard these words, he said: “My minister, Mehmed Pasha, bring Khoja Ćuprilić here to me at once!” The Pasha then said to him: “Give me a warrant for him, O Emperor, so that I may restore Khoja Ćuprilić to you.” The Emperor gave him a firman under his own hand, and Mehmed Pasha left the Audience Chamber with it. He went thence to the couriers’ stable where the Imperial post horses were quartered—five hundred post horses and five hundred Tatars, Imperial couriers. When he reached the stable he called the Tatar Ibrahim. “Ibrahim, my lad, here I’ve brought you a warrant for Ćuprilić. Now take your very best steed (300), and off you go to the flat land of Konya to fetch me Khoja Ćuprilić. As soon as you find him, pitch him onto a horse and get him back here. No loitering, my dear lad! If you make this journey in fifteen days I shall reward you well, my son. You will be Commander of the Tatars, and I’ll set you an excellent salary. No matter where you find him, bring him! That said, they parted. The courier set out from bright Stambol. It is a long way to the flat land of Konya. He pressed on day and night, driving his Imperial post horse hard. When he arrived in holy Konya, he found there a large city with broad streets and great mosques all around, wherein dervishes were grunting their prayers. The Tatar caught sight of Khoja Ćuprilić before one of the mosques. He was holding books and holy scriptures in his hands. As the Tatar gazed at him, he seemed handsome as a white swan, with students and dervishes gathered about him. The Khoja gave a shout and ran to the post horse. He answered the Tatar’s greeting, and asked: “Tatar, dear to me as though you were my own mother’s child, tell me truly: is Stambol still in the Emperor’s hands, or does the King of Moscow occupy it?” “Dear Khoja, to tell you the truth, the Moscovite has not yet invaded Stambol, but the Kings have attacked the Emperor. You must come immediately to Stambol City, for the Emperor himself summons you.” Great tears sprang to the Khoja’s eyes: “Brother Tatar, dear to me as though you were my own mother’s child, I have no leave to go to Stambol without a warrant from our Sultan.” The courier handed him the firman from the Ruler, and when the Khoja had perused it, he said: “Wait, my son, Imperial courier; let me take my books and holy scriptures with me.” “Come now straightaway, Khoja, and waste no time with idle talk! Your books will follow after you.” The courier extended his right hand, the Khoja reached out both of his, and the courier lifted him onto the post horse. “Hold fast, Khoja, around my waist. This horse is swift beyond reckoning (350).”11 And so they set out for Stambol, city built of stone. They rode swiftly night and day, and on the ninth day arrived in Stambol. The Khoja entered the Divan and went to the Ruler, placing the warrant on his knee. Then he stood up and waited attentively in the Audience Chamber. The Emperor Suleyman said to him: “My minister, Khoja Ćuprilić, troubles have come on us unexpectedly. The Seven Kings are attacking me. Were I to give you a mandate, would you govern my land for me?” “I would, O Emperor, Radiant Sun, were you to give me such a mandate that I might work my will without your altering my decisions.” “It is agreed, my minister, I swear it to you by my religion.” And as he gave him a firman with golden seals affixed thereto, he said: “Herewith shall I reign, while you govern.” Now when the Khoja had received this Ordinance into his own hands, with four executioners at his side he began to cleanse the Audience Chamber and to smite off heads. He killed old Durmiš Pasha, and put The First Keeper of The Seal to the sword. When he had executed the reverend Omer, the Emperor said to him: “Why did you kill my reverend Omer? He has led my Friday prayers for full twelve years.” “In the name of mercy, O Emperor, Radiant Sun, tear away his collar and you shall see now what you have not been seeing heretofore.” When he tore off the collar, crosses of gold spilled forth. He stripped the slippers from his feet, and discovered there an amulet of the Koran trodden beneath the soles of his feet. “Behold, O Emperor, still more that you did not know about the reverend Omer. Come, see here what you have not been seeing heretofore.” Leading him into another chamber, he went to where the Queen Mother was sitting on a couch of cushions. Ćuprilić moved her to one side and indicated to the executioners with a glance of his eyes what they should do. They thereupon cut down the Emperor’s own mother too. When Sultan Suleyman saw that, he said: “O my minister, Khoja Ćuprilić, why have you beheaded my mother?” “Now you shall see, my Emperor, what you have not been seeing heretofore.” Thereupon he pushed aside a cushion where the Emperor’s mother had been sitting, (400) and put forth his hand to a knob which he had thus exposed. Pulling on the knob, he raised a trap door, beneath which there were two ladders leading downward. Khoja Ćuprilić descended with the Emperor, Sultan Suleyman, behind him. Soon they came to a large chamber. In it there were sitting Vlah teachers, Christian priests who were giving instruction to the children of Stambol without the Emperor’s permission. Two executioners dispatched them all. “Come this way, O Emperor, and see still more things which you have not been seeing heretofore.” He beheld a golden tray with eight gilded crowns upon it, the eighth belonging to the King of Moscow. Then Khoja Ćuprilić said: “Now you see, O Emperor, radiant sun, what your mother has done. When the Kings arrived in Stambol, she meant to have the wherewithal to make them fine gifts.” The Emperor was amazed, but the Khoja said again: “Come, see here some more of what you have not been seeing heretofore.” And he found a tunnel leading outward from the chamber to the deep sea. “See now, O Emperor, Radiant Sun, where your mother had devised a way to cast you into the deep sea.” When the Emperor saw this with his own eyes, “Dear son,” he said, “Khoja Ćuprilić, never again shall I recollect or mention the memory of my mother.”12 Then the Emperor went back to his throne and Khoja Ćuprilić said to him: “Now grant me this. Write a firman on your knee, that I may send it to bright Temišvar. Let King Rákóczy know that he will have me to contend with as soon as I come there from Stambol. Let a firman go before me to bright Temišvar.” The Khoja meanwhile wrote a firman on his own knee, and addressed it to the Sultan of Egypt: “O Sultan of Egypt, peer of our realm, gather your troops and march to Stambol, for the emperors have declared war on us; The Seven Kingdoms are marching against the Emperor to conquer the lands of the Empire.” Such was the firman he dispatched. Having sent it, he prepared another and addressed it to Bagdad, city built of stone: “Come now, O Emperor, gather a mighty army and march to Stambol!” (450) He sent another one to the Potentate of Tunis, and yet another to the Asiatic Turks, to be delivered into the hands of their sultan. When he had sent that one, he wrote still another and sent it to the Sultan of the Tartars. One he wrote to be carried throughout Anatolia, summoning the Thirty Viziers. One he wrote to the land of Arabia, addressing it to Smailbegović. Then Khoja Ćuprilić said: “And now I shall prepare another firman to send to muddy Bosnia, to Colonel Džano of Travnik.” After that the Emperor convened his Divan. He assembled his khojas and hadjis, called his muftis and kadis, and said to them in council: “Look now and tell me truly whether your books support me in this war, and whether I may absent myself from the throne?” Seven khojas from seven lands, all men of deep learning, said to their Emperor in council: “O Ruler, Radiant Sun, our books ratify your waging war, but only if you do so in a tabernacle of gold, O Emperor, wherein seven at one time may pray. You should cause a tabernacle to be made of gold set with diamonds and topaz, and with a pinnacle of pure gold. Lay the floor in yellow tile. Leave Stambol the seventh night, on the eve of Tuesday, at the third hour.” And so they made ready in Stambol.13 One morning at dawn the sea began to swell and lap along the jetties, and soon swift ships appeared on the horizon. There was no small number of them, twelve ships in all, for this was the Sultan of Egypt’s flotilla. As the sultan sailed into Stambol harbour, a great celebration commenced in his honour. Cannon roared in the city, and others answered them from the ships. And so that sultan stepped out onto dry land. A few days passed, and again the ocean lapped at the jetties. Again ships sailed onto the horizon. They were not few in number, counting four and twenty. This was the Sultan of Baghdad. And when he sailed into the harbour at Stambol (500), guns roared from the city and the two great cannon, Vurtutmez and Hatalbakmaz, replied from the flagship. Ramparts were always burst asunder where their rounds fell, for what they smite cannot be healed. Wherever there were panes of glass along the waterfront, they fell shattered into the sea. Any creature that chanced to be in the vicinity pregnant with young miscarried. In this manner they announced his coming, and the young along the waterfront perished because of it. So that sultan too stepped out onto dry land. Thus everyone to whom he [Ćuprilić] had sent a letter responded to the levy and came to Stambol. And when the Emperor was ready to go forth, many hecatombs were offered there, and afterwards everyone began to feast, both great and small. Let him depart whenever it pleases him. Now you should observe what Džano was doing in Travnik. When the Imperial firman reached him, and when Colonel Džano had perused it, he looked up to speak, because Colonel Džano’s sororal nephew, Ibro Fazlagić, was there with him. Džano began to speak to Ibro: “Nephew, here, as you can see, is a firman from our Sultan. He has sent us a mandate to muster the men of well-born Bosnia14 to arms for him, and to march with them to the city of Temišvar. He also writes me in the firman: ‘Do not, my minister, extinguish the families of Bosnia! Do not, my minister, take a mother’s only son from her, nor take the husband from a newly wedded bride, one who has married but lately, one for whom a new mother will mourn.’ How then shall I muster Bosnia?” “O my uncle, Colonel Džanan,15 you may easily raise Bosnia to arms. Write some letters on your knee, uncle, and send them to the chief men of the cities.” Džanan was willing, wrote the letters in a fine hand, and thus mustered all of well-born Bosnia to arms in Travnik beyond Sarajevo. Day by day, time passed until finally Džano set the date for their departure and marched the army out of Travnik. They went from Travnik to Busovača, marching ever onward until evening overtook them at Javnik-under-Sarajevo. (550) When the dark of night had fallen, Ibro Fazlagić raised his eyes16 to speak: “O my uncle, Colonel Džano, were it a fitting thing that I should comment, I surely know what I would say.” “Speak then, nephew Ibro.” “O my uncle, Colonel Džano, if you would be guided by me, we should not make camp here. We should press on through Sarajevo this very night, for many of our army are natives of that city. If you march through Sarajevo tomorrow, many a mother will wail and many a sister moan like the mourning dove, and it will not be well for us there.” “Nephew, Ibro Fazlagić, indeed I shall follow your advice most particularly.” So Džano got the soldiers to their feet and passed through Sarajevo by night. He did not halt again until they came to Glasinac. Next day he marched the army onward from Glasinac.17 He crossed the Danube below Vidin and struck out along the Maša mountain range. It was a good three days’ march across Maša, across the Maša Range to bright Temišvar. The forest is fearsome, most fearsome and most dark, where he crossed the mountains. Firs tower to the very sky and choke the paths with their branches. Here wolves howl, haiduks sing, and black bears shamble across the trail. Melancholy laid hold of every comrade, and every man’s head hung low. Sorrow held every comrade in its grip: this one missed his farm, that one missed his faithful wife, yet another missed his mother by the hearthside. Džano called out from astride his dappled horse: “O my brothers, soldiers of Bosnia, now is the time for some mother’s son to strike up a song and give heart to our company on these sunless slopes.” Then a voice was heard among the troops, singing loud and clear: “Mothers, although you miss us now, yet must you learn to drink the waters of forgetfulness, for we have gone to Temišvar City, O brothers, to die there. (600) And you, our true wives at home by the hearthside, give yourselves in marriage to others, and do not think ever to see us again. As for you, O our sisters, forlorn as doves in mourning, marry as best you can, and do not think ever to see us again.”18 At this, an even greater sorrow seized hold of every comrade, and tears ran down the cheeks of all. Džano called out from astride his dappled horse: “Skelo of Mostar, you had better pray to God that He give me some good reason why I should not defile my saber, for otherwise I may use it to separate your head from the rest of you.” Then he himself commenced to sing across the mountains: “O my brothers, soldiers of Bosnia, why do you long for your farms? My own in Travnik is a good one, with a wattle hut of beech tree loppings thatched with sedge. I’ve left a right young mother by the fireside, too; she’s only ninety years old. And my livestock around the house is a mighty herd: I used to have a nanny goat with a couple of kids. May God smite Mount Romanija! Its slopes became infested with wolves, the wolves ravished the nanny, and her miserable kids were left on my hands motherless. I used to have a setting hen with seven chicks, too. May God smite the Nevesinje Mountains! Hawks raised their young on those slopes, the hawks grabbed the hen, and the poor chicks were left as orphans on my hands. But I left behind plenty of food for all of them: half a measure19 of beans and a measure of maize. I said to my mother, said I: ‘Feed my poor orphans, mother. This will have to last you till the walnuts ripen, so feed up, and take good care of yourself. If Džano’s head stays whole and he returns to Travnik, he’ll go to Sarajevo City and have fine new clothes made for you: a black skirt and a linen chemise. I’ll fetch you a black veil too,20 and find someone to wait on you, God willing; I’ll marry the daughter of Hasan Memec from Jajce.’” They all laughed at Džano, and in this way he cheered the company a little. They marched on across the Maša Range until at dawn on the fourth day they approached the city of Temišvar. (650) Then Džano said: “Listen, my brothers, soldiers of Bosnia, let your reins fall slack and hang your heads low, for we are now about to come within sight of our Emperor, and he will be reviewing us.” They all slackened their reins and let their chins rest on their chests. From his dais the Emperor watched the Bosnian troops pass in review. The Emperor remarked to Khoja Ćuprilić: “Khoja Ćuprilić, my minister, weren’t you always telling me that Bosnia was poverty-stricken? Just look at those horses, look at their golden trappings!” “Alas, O Emperor, Radiant Sun, indeed there are no better men than Bosnians anywhere, for they sell their fields and farms to raise thoroughbred horses and buy fine saddlery, so that when you call them to the colors, as you have now done, they will be no disgrace to you.” “But tell me, my minister, Vizier Ćuprilić, why is my Bosnia so glum and sullen-seeming?” “Eh, O Emperor, Radiant Sun, they have good reason to be glum and sullen! Their marches have been long ones, and warfare is sorrowful business. The Bosnians are penniless, and there is no pleasure without money.” When he had heard this, the Emperor sent them money, provided for their mess, and gave them cracked barley for their mounts. Once the Bosnians had had their supper and had put their hands on the cash, they began to fire off their pistols and to sing roundelays. Vizier Ćuprilić said with a laugh: “Didn’t I tell you, O Emperor, that the Bosnians had simply run out of money?” Meanwhile, Džano had an unhindered view of the entire scene from where he was sitting in his tent. The Plain of Temišvar was black with knapsacks and caps, with cannon and earthworks, for here the foreign kings had converged, and Milica21 of Moscow had come to join them. Milka had five hundred cannon and five hundred thousand troops. The Plain of Temišvar was covered with them, and I do not even tell you about the Turkish Empire’s forces (700) and Džanan’s of noble Bosnia. When they had camped for the night and risen early, the Emperor convened his council. They summoned Colonel Džanan and he went to them in their assembly. All took counsel together, discussing among themselves who would attack whom. Each noble wanted an opponent suitable to his own power and dignity. They were unable to agree on anything. Džanan returned after the meeting, and when he arrived at his own tent, Ibro Fazlagić asked him: “O my uncle, Colonel Džanan, what decisions has the council taken?” “Nephew, Ensign Ibro, we have decided nothing. I shall have to go to the council again tomorrow. All the emperors are in the council, kinsman.” “O my uncle, Colonel Džanan, when you go to the council tomorrow, here is how you can get them to agree. Have the Sultan of Egypt attack on one flank, together with the Sultan of Baghdad, while on the other flank it should be the Asiatic and the Tartar sultans jointly. The Emperor of Stambol and the remaining forces, these should strike at the center. Today is Friday, tomorrow Saturday. Let them be in readiness Sunday for the battle on Monday. At daybreak, just as the sun rises, we shall signal the commencement of the general attack by engaging the Queen of Moscow ourselves. This is the plan which you should get them to accept.” At daybreak, just as the sun rose, Džanan went to the Emperor and his council. They welcomed him cordially. He took his seat in the Imperial Divan. They talked a lot and debated matters until finally Colonel Džanan looked up: “If it were my turn to speak, Džanan knows what he would say.” Then Khoja Ćuprilić looked up: “Well, minister of well-born Bosnia, speak your pleasure.” “By your leave, O Emperor—I kiss the sole of your foot!—this is the plan which I believe we should adopt. Let the Sultan of Egypt advance together with the Sultan of Baghdad; they should attack from the left. On the right, the Potentate of the Tartars (750) will attack, in company with the Sultan of Tunis. The rest of the Empire should strike at the center. Leave Milka, the Moscovite Queen, to me and my twelve thousand Bosnians. May our lot be whatever God and good fortune shall ordain! Today is Friday, tomorrow Saturday. One does not begin a battle on Sunday, so let the preparations be completed Sunday and the battle commence on Monday.” Everyone in the council said, “Excellent! Let it be just as you have said, noble Bosnia! Without the Bosnians we would not have been able to settle the question.” Džanan returned from the council to the tent where Fazlagić was awaiting him. Fazlagić asked him: “Džano, have you adjourned the council?” “In faith, I have, Ibro.” And so they passed the night. When Monday was close upon them and the sun, that warms all things, had begun to set, Ibro Fazlagić looked up and said: “O my uncle, Colonel Džanan, if you were to accept my advice, we would now all draw our sabers and thrust them into the black earth, then cook pilaf on the sheaths; we would sup on the pilaf of war. And then, brother, we should embrace one another and all forgive each other for past wrongs. As it happens, there will be no moon tonight. Let us put our trust in God and in our naked swords and attack Milka tonight.” “By my faith, Ibro, we shall do just that. We shall engage the enemy this very night, before the Emperor and all the other kings.” So they drew their sabers and cooked pilaf on the scabbards, and when they had eaten the pilaf of war they sprang to their feet, embraced one another, seized their naked blades, and attacked Milka. All twelve thousand attacked as one man, but Milka was waiting for them with her cannon. Her five hundred cannon rent the air and did great damage to Džano: four thousand of his men fell. God granted that they had no time to reload, as Džano captured the gunners. Milka supposed that all the emperors had attacked in a body, (800) and so she in turn attacked their army. The great cannon began to shoot as all the kings fired at one another, and the ground shook all around Temišvar. The Seven Kingdoms are no mere jest, nor are the imperial realms of Turkey any trifling matter. The Emperor marvelled in his tabernacle: “Dear God, praise be to Thee for all things!” Thick mist22 enveloped Temišvar, and all around Temišvar the ground trembled from the reverberations of heavy cannon. The firing continued unceasingly day by day for an entire week. Saber flashed and blood gushed. When the eighth morning dawned, behold, Džano was still in action, and all of well-born Bosnia with him. Ever galloping up and down the lines, Colonel Džano kept directing the troops, driving them ever at the cannon and into the live rifle fire. When the ninth morning dawned, the muskets and the mortars finally subsided; they said that the battle was over, and made peace. Then all the emperors toured the battlefield, and the Turks who had survived began what they now had to do. They buried the dead and carried away the wounded, every noble looking after his own. Ćuprilić too walked around the battlefield, and when the Khoja came to the scene of action where the Moscovite Queen had fought, the biggest accumulation of enemy dead was in Džanan’s sector. For even now he was not content to relax, but kept commanding well-born Bosnia with a shout of “You there, drag away the dead and wounded! Extricate them from amongst the others!” And so the Bosnians, no strangers to backbreaking, weeklong toil, dragged off the dead and wounded. As the emperors toured the field of battle, they all exclaimed with amazement at the sight: “So this is the slaughter where well-born Bosnia fought, is it!” Out on the plain a rider appeared. He came ever nearer until he was seen to be driving a man on foot before him across the field. They recognized Halil Kuhan, the Halil from Upper Gorežlje. He was driving the King of Poland before him. Ćuprilić asked him: “Is Colonel Džanan coming too, my son?” (850) “I know nothing about that, Khoja, now that you ask me, since I’ve been pursuing the King of Poland all the while.” They were still talking when Huso of Višegrad appeared. He too drove up a king whom he had caught and bound, and whom he now presented to the Emperor on the field of battle. And Ćuprilić asked him: “Is Colonel Džano coming?” “I do not know, Khoja, now that you ask me.” Once more a horseman came into view. This was Balta of Mostar, and he was driving the King of France before him. Ibro Fazlagić appeared. Ibro was driving two captive kings before him. After him, Colonel Džano finally arrived, and he too was driving a pair: King Rákóczy and his brother Osveczy.23 And so they presented all of their captives to the Emperor. Let him do with them as he pleases: either hold them for ransom by others, or release them to pay their own ransoms on their own recognizance. Milka, the mother of the Moscovite King, escaped to Petersburg, her native land. The Emperor asked Džano: “My minister, Colonel Džano, what gifts would you like from me?” “I beg your indulgence, O Emperor, Radiant Sun. I have not yet reached the age of beardedness and am not fit for a pashalic, nor have I the wisdom to be a vizier. I want no gift at all; you have already bestowed enough on us. Only grant me your firman ordaining that a son shall inherit his father’s estate; and let title deeds be written in all our towns in such a way that sisters may share with their brothers in divisions of property. Beyond that, only confer your personal blessing on Bosnia, and I shall ask nothing more of you.” The Ruler agreed to issue such an ordinance. When Džano had received the decree, he returned to his own town of Travnik, and the rest went back to wherever they liked. Then the emperors also dispersed, each going his own way to his own realm. The Emperor returned to Stambol. No king was beheaded, for the heart of the Ruler is merciful. He sent them all back to the frontiers which they had violated and let them all go, letting each one return to his own land, subject only to a ransom in cash. Before his release, little Prince Rákóczy signed a treaty (900) not to attack Herdenj nor oppress the Emperor’s Christian subjects. Džano now went back to Travnik. He who is in good health has good cheer! Džano embraced his mother, and then took as his bride the daughter of Hasan Memec from the district of Jajce. First she bare him two sons, then two daughters came to grace his hearth. May the sisters-in-law bid the bride welcome! (910) |