Mustay Bey of the Lika Rescues
Crnica Ali Agha’s Sister Ajkuna

composed by Ćamil Kulenović

(See the Serbo-Croatian text)

The Turks had gathered to a meeting	1
at a place, it seems, in the broad province     of the Lika:	2
in the Bey’s guesthouse at Udbina,	3
in the villa of ayan Mustaybey.	4
His house was full of the men of Udbina.	5
Bey Mustaybey himself presided     at the head of the circle,	6
beside the bright glass window.	7
The old men sat ranged beside him	8
while the rest took their ease roundabout.	9
Then the pipes began to pass from hand to hand,	10
and the pipes of stone-pine glowed	11
as the men smoked them and sipped     their dark coffee.	12
Then they began to talk of all the things     that men will talk of.	13
One place only was empty, the place     of Gazi Ćejvanaga,	14
for the agha was not in their circle that day.	15
Bey Mustaybey wondered at that,	16
that his agha was not there.	17
The ring of men was divided now;	18
the young men withdrew into a circle     of their own apart.	19
Lounging, they drew their cutlasses     from out of their belts	20
and laid them naked on the board before them.	21
They drank their drink like men sick with the flux,	22
and they began to speak of many things.	23
Most of all, each spoke of his own manly deeds.	24
Each lauded himself and his horse,	25
and contended with his fellows which of them     had gone down longer	26
in disguise, in the dress of the infidel,	27
and spied out infidel cities,	28
captured the infidel’s virgin girl	29
and escaped with her to make her his wife,	30
or else who had cut off the head of an unbeliever	31
and taken it for a gift to the Bey	32
in exchange for the Bey’s boon to him     of a golden plume.	33
From his place at the window     the Bey hushed their loud dispute:	34
“Why this rivalry, children? My gray falcons,	35
all of us know what bold men you are.”	36
The sun had half run its course     through the morning	37
when the door of the Bey’s mansion swung open.	38
Dear God, who was it coming in?	39
The figure of a man—Gazi Ćejvanaga!	40
As the agha came in	41
every man there bade him welcome.	42
All the ayans sprang to their feet	43
to return his compliments.	44
Mustaybey met him on his knees	45
and made space for him next to himself.	46
My lord the Bey gave him gentle greeting still,	47
and when both knew the other was in good health,	48
my lord the Bey questioned Gazi Ćejvanaga:	49
“What, my agha, has made you come so late?	50
Would you had risen earlier.”	51
Then Ćejvanaga began to speak:	52
“Hear me, Mustaybey, and all of you,     men of Udbina!	53
Would that I had perished	54
before rising so early as I did this day.	55
For in coming forth so early     I discovered a great sorrow among us.	56
It was still night, my lord, when I arose	57
and made myself ready in my chamber,	58
while my groom prepared my horse.	59
I came out then, mounted,	60
and taking my gray falcon	61
set out, my lord, to hunt.	62
And as I came down to the rath of Crničić	63
and the river meadows of Crnica Alaga	64
—half of them, my lord, were furrowed,	65
with the bright wheat upon them,	66
and the other half grassland—	67
a dove called in the lea,	68
and I set my falcon at it.	69
No sooner had I let him go     than he caught the dove for me.	70
Dawn was still a long time to come	71
when I heard next, my lord,     the call of a white-breasted cuckoo.	72
I listened to hear whence it was calling     with its mournful voice,	73
and lo, it seemed to come     from the house of Crnica Alaga.	74
Yet it was not a cuckoo,	75
but Crnica Alaga’s mother	76
grieving in a voice I could scarce distinguish     from the cuckoo’s own,	77
quavering as the cuckoo’s does,	78
cursing the whole Lika,	79
cursing every brave man in it,	80
but most of all me and thee.	81
In her cursing, she mentioned a certain captive,	82
her only daughter Ajka,	83
who, it seems, was taken prisoner:	84
‘Lo, a full seven years gone by	85
and no word or news of her at all!	86
Were it some servant-girl they had lost,	87
seven times over they’d have mustered an army	88
to ransack the Marches and the Coastland;	89
but none of you cares aught for my daughter!’	90
From the far corner another cuckoo answered.	91
Nor was that either, my lord, a cuckoo bird,	92
but rather Crnica Alaga’s lady.	93
She too adjured all of broad Lika	94
and every brave man in it,	95
but most of all me and thee.	96
The words she spoke     were remembrance of her lord:	97
‘Lo these seven years have past	98
since he went forth to seek his sister,	99
nor is there any word or news of him     from that time since,	100
and I know not whether he is alive or dead.’	101
My lord, when I had understood them both,	102
what they were be-cooing and bemoaning,	103
it saddened me to hear what I had heard.	104
I turned back thence	105
to mine own bright house and yard,	106
changed, and came straightway here to you	107
to tell you all I know of what has befallen them.”	108
Even as they talked	109
something caught Mustaybey’s eye,	110
and looking through the window	111
down along the fields of grass beneath Udbina,	112
he saw a traveler walking there,	113
leading a raven horse.	114
My lord knew him,	115
—for it was Crnica Alaga himself—	116
and called from his place at the window     to the men of Udbina:	117
“Look there, it is Crnica Alaga himself     coming towards us!”	118
Bey Mustaybey was still avowing that it was so	119
when Ali came to the Bey’s meeting-hall.	120
Hitching his raven horse at the post,	121
he entered the hall.	122
There he called out good Turkish greeting     to them all,	123
and the Turks returned it every one.	124
Ali made haste to kiss the Bey’s hand,	125
but my lord would not let him,	126
and made space for him next to himself.	127
Oh, the aghas and the ayans were a sight to see,	128
for now they were in fine spirits	129
and filled their cups to drink good health to Crnica.	130
When it came the turn of Mustaybey,	131
then Mustaybey of the Lika filled his cup	132
and spoke to Ali thus:	133
“Crnica Alaga, my dear son!	134
Drink this cup and tell me truthfully	135
to what far places you’ve ridden your raven horse.”	136
Ali took the cup and drank it off,	137
then answered the Bey in these words:	138
“Hear me, Mustaybey, and all you men of Udbina!	139
When I had lost my only sister Ajka,	140
I made ready, my lord,	141
spilling a thousand ducats into my pouch,	142
and I put on the lowland dress.	143
I saddled and bridled my raven horse     with the trappings of the lowlands,	144
took leave of my agèd mother,	145
and bade my wife goodbye.	146
Mounting my pure black horse,	147
I turned toward the border and Velebit,	148
and I took the way, O Mustaybey, to Glen Dur’b’a.	149
So in course I came to the boundary, the Kaiser’s     and the Emperor’s common ground,	150
whence I rode my black horse on,     on to the level Coast.	151
There is no city on the Coast	152
where I did not go,	153
nor any house of stone or wood,	154
no tavern nor any monastery	155
where I did not stop.	156
I could well afford the lodgings,	157
my pockets being full of gold ducats.	158
Thus I fared everywhere, my lord,	159
riding my raven horse and looking at maiden girls.	160
I went even to Vienna on the Netherland.	161
But neither luck nor good fortune would grant	162
that I should find my only sister anywhere.	163
All I had done was weary my raven horse	164
and made him saddlesore along his back,	165
for the saddle had wrung him hard in the withers	166
while the ducats vanished out of my pocket.	167
So I turned back	168
and came again to the gracious Lika,	169
to our own homeland, O Mustaybey,	170
to change my worn horse and frayed clothes	171
and beg of my mother another purse.	172
But if, my Bey, she has no treasure to give me,	173
then I shall surely give my very house in pledge	174
to fill my purse again.	175
Once more I will try my luck	176
and go down, my Bey, to the flat Coast,	177
to see whether fortune will serve me better now	178
and give me to find my one and only sister.”	179
Still they were deep in talk	180
when the door of the Bey’s villa burst open.	181
A prisoner intruded at the door	182
with a shackle of iron about his neck;	183
on his back was a patchwork bag,	184
and in it his heavy red cape.	185
Coming in, he called good Turkish greetings     to them all,	186
and spoke out thus to everyone:	187
“Hear me now, my brothers, you Turks     here in the drinking-hall!	188
Who is first among you?	189
Your vests and caps are all alike,	190
I cannot recognize your chief.”	191
Then Mustaybey spoke to him from the window	192
and the prisoner flew to kiss his hand.	193
But my lord the Bey would not suffer him,	194
and made space for him next to himself.	195
Then the aghas and the ayans were a sight to see	196
as they filled their cups     to drink the man’s good health.	197
When the cup came round to Mustaybey,	198
Mustaybey filled the cup for him	199
and spoke thus to the prisoner:	200
“Drink this cup and tell me truthfully:	201
whence do you come, to what     frontier do you belong,	202
by what right name are you known?	203
What is your name, and what is your clan,	204
whose prisoner have you been?”	205
Taking the cup when it was full,	206
the prisoner drank it off and said:	207
“Hear me then, Mustaybey,     and all you men of Udbina!	208
I am by birth, my brothers, a man of Budim,	209
known to all as Mujo the Budimer.	210
I had a fine house in Budim once,	211
and with it a good patrimony.	212
My horse and dress were of the best,	213
and many’s the time I drest us both,     my horse and me,	214
in Magyar disguise.	215
Making my way along the bridal path     that crosses the ridge of the mountain,	216
I used to go down into Magyar country	217
to cut down the lads and lead off the lasses,	218
and bring grief to the popish Serb and his dame.	219
Thereby I vexed the Prince of Yanok,	220
who caused a letter to be writ	221
and sent it secretly to the Vizier.	222
With it went three hundred ducats of gold.	223
The Prince by these means besought our Vizier	224
either to slay me or put me in gaol.	225
The Vizier, who chanced to be a traitor,	226
obliged the Prince and imprisoned me,	227
and gave my rents to another.	228
So I languished there in prison for a year     and some months more.	229
Then by chance Mustaybey of Klis had occasion	230
to come down from his bright stone city.	231
While he attended the Vizier’s court	232
the Turks of Budim told him of me,	233
that a prisoner lay in the gaol,	234
one Mujo of Budim by name,	235
a stout and reliable fighter.	236
The bey petitioned the Vizier	237
and won me my freedom from the gaol.	238
Then he took me away to stony Klis	239
where he gave me a horse and arms,	240
and made me, my Bey, his bannerman.	241
Wherever my lord Mustaybey went,	242
whether to war or to weddings,	243
I too went ever with him,	244
bearing his silken banner in the van.	245
Thus I went raiding often,	246
both with my lord and without him.	247
Crossing the crest of Velebit,	248
I went down to the level Coast,	249
invaded the lowlands and the Coast,	250
cut down the lads and led off the lasses,	251
and brought grief to the Popish Serb and his dame.	252
So it happened to me once,	253
my lord Mustaybey, upon the level Coast,	254
that I came to the house of Paul Rakičić.	255
There his devils detected me	256
and made me stand and fight.	257
Drawing my gilded saber,	258
I rushed the infidels.	259
But you know well, my lord Mustaybey,	260
one man alone cannot fell a whole forest,	261
much less the army of Rakičić.	262
His armoured knights attacked me en masse,	263
and having slain my mount beneath me	264
they seized me and bound my arms,	265
then set me down in a dungeon deep and dark.	266
Here too I was a prisoner for a year     and some months more.	267
When I had suffered enough of this woe	268
I wailed, beseeching Paul	269
either to put a ransom on my head, or cut it off.	270
Paul put a heavy ransom on me then,	271
three hundred Magyar ducats in cash.	272
But how was I, who have no patrimony,	273
to pay so great a ransom?	274
At last by begging I got me     two hundred of the ducats	275
and took them down to Rakičić in his hall.	276
When I came there I found him making merry	277
amid a general festivity and celebration.	278
I gave him the two hundred ducats	279
and begged Paul Rakičić	280
to forgive the difference.	281
As he slapped me, his hand resounded     against my cheek	282
and he said these words to me:	283
‘You poisonous viper, Ensign Mujo!	284
Have you not done me harm enough,	285
you who have already slain two of my brothers?	286
I was of no mind to set you free,	287
But when you pled with me,	288
did I not then pity you	289
and let you loose for ransom, you snake?	290
Until you bring down to me yet another     hundred Magyar ducats	291
I shall never unforge the shackle     that holds you fast!’	292
I turned to go by the yard gate.	293
I was about to pass when the sentry said to me:	294
‘Stay here by the hall and the courtyard	295
till midday comes and the midday meal,	296
till the fair Anne goes to dine,	297
and with her the Captain Maid.	298
Anne is an alumna of every school,	299
and a graduate of Vienna.	300
The Kaiser has taken kind notice of her,	301
and given the shores of the Coastland     in her charge	302
to collect his tariffs from ships     that call there.	303
You can see Anne now,     sitting in the summerhouse.	304
What a lovely summerhouse it is, set in a garden!	305
A palisade of boxwood laths surrounds it,	306
knit together with gilt wire.	307
A coverlet lies spread in the summerhouse,	308
and on it stands a chair inlaid with gold.	309
Anne Rakičić sits on the chair,	310
with the Captain Maid seated beside her.	311
Oh, what a thing is Anne Rakičić!	312
Her face is radiant as the sun,	313
her chin like the soft light of the moon,	314
her brows like sea leeches,	315
her lashes like larks’ wings.	316
Her two eyes are deep wells of cool water,	317
her cheeks are ruddy apples,	318
her honeyed mouth is a box of sugar,	319
her white teeth two rows of pearls.	320
Annette is as radiant	321
as the bright moonlight in the night.’	322
The bell tolled the hour.	323
The two ladies rose to their feet	324
and together left the summerhouse,	325
crossing the courtyard on their way to dine.	326
I cast my mantle before them.	327
Annette put her hand in her pocket	328
and threw down a hundred ducats.	329
Now at last I could be free of my shackle.	330
The Captain Maid stopped too	331
and, taking a medallion from her pockets,	332
she gave it to me.	333
Then the Captain Maid     spoke these words to me:	334
‘Take this medallion     to the broad and gracious Lika,	335
to the hall of the Bey of Udbina.	336
It is all you need to buy your liberty.	337
When you present the medallion in the hall,	338
ask in the Bey’s hall	339
if there is anyone of the seed of Crničić.’”	340
The prisoner had scarcely said this     in the meeting hall	341
when Crnica Alaga shouted:	342
“This is my sister Ajka’s medal,	343
and I am he who will buy you your freedom!”	344
Meantime Dizdar Hasanaga spoke:	345
“O my son Meho, only son of your father,	346
did you listen well to what the ensign said	347
and all his praise of Anna Rakičić?	348
Were I a man of your years, lad,	349
no one would catch lightning	350
nor claim fair Annette more swiftly than I.”	351
The good warrior Ćejvanaga laughed at that	352
and spoke thus:	353
“Gently, milord Dizdar Hasan!	354
Meho is not the only brave lad in Udbina,	355
for both my sons are here too,	356
and both have heard well     what the prisoner told us.”	357
The good warrior Ćejvanaga had scarcely spoken	358
when a commotion arose in the hall.	359
The Dizdar’s son leapt up	360
—his son Meho sprang to his manly feet—	361
and turned to go out at the hall door.	362
Behind him went the agha’s two sons,	363
Mehinaga and Muhedinaga,	364
the children of Ćejvanaga, the good warrior.	365
Behind them went Ali Ogrošević,	366
Ali of Ogroš from level Krbava.	367
All the other fighting men went too;	368
thirty of them sprang to their feet	369
and left Mustaybey’s hall.	370
Each went to his own stone tower	371
to put on the lowland dress	372
and to saddle and bridle his horse     with the trappings of the lowlands.	373
Each thought only of how quickly     he could get down to the Coast,	374
to Paul Rakičić’s bright house	375
and Rakičić’s festivity,	376
to see with his own eyes whether it was true,	377
what Ensign Mujo had told them.	378
When the young ones had left the hall,	379
milord Mustaybey began to call,	380
summoning his man Memičić:	381
“My son Suljo, needful to me as my very shirt!	382
Go down to the turret on the wall	383
and fire my two great cannon,	384
my Dry Bole and my Verdette,	385
which the Bey seldom commands to be fired,	386
not more than twice in a year,	387
from one Bairam to the next,	388
and when we have need to raise our army.”	389
So Suljo went to the turret on the wall,	390
took the covers from the cannon,	391
set the fuses,	392
and put flame to the touchholes.	393
The cannon roared from their places on the turret,	394
and the echo resounded across the broad Lika.	395
The cannon at Ribnik roared in answer,	396
at Raduča and at stony Ploča,	397
at Bunić and at Perušić;	398
at Gospić too the cannon roared.	399
The echo resounded at level Vrhovi,	400
and the cannon of Vrhovi roared in answer.	401
The echo resounded along Mount Plješivica,	402
and Plješivica called to bright Bihać.	403
The cannon at Bihać roared their answer.	404
The echo went thence along all the Border,	405
to Glinica and Mujo Hrnjica;	406
for now the whole country was detonating.	407
Cannon boomed to cannon from city to city	408
and mortar cawed to mortar from castle to castle,	409
while the watchtowers fired their howitzers.	410
Mountain called to mountain,	411
and everywhere in the Lika and on the Border	412
whoever heard the booming of the cannon	413
mounted his well-bred horse and flew to Udbina,	414
answering the call of the Bey’s Verdette.	415
He who had no well-bred mount     tied at his manger	416
strapped on his belted shoes	417
and took his motley pack on his back.	418
Stowing his rations of biscuit in the pack	419
and fixing his mantle behind it,	420
he would shoulder his long rifle crosswise	421
and set out toward the peak of the mountain,	422
going by way of the footpaths and ravines	423
so that the Christians could not     take them by surprise	424
and pillage the Lika.	425
But let us see what the Bey was doing meantime.	426
When he had given notice by his cannon,	427
the Bey said to Rade Đurđević:	428
“Mount your shaggy black horse, Rade,	429
and go down to the Priest’s Plain.	430
Give my greeting to each one there,	431
and my command that they stay there     on the Priest’s Plain	432
till Mustaybey of the Lika comes down	433
with all his mighty army.”	434
The man knew better than to question his elder.	435
Rade went out to make himself ready,	436
and then rode his raven horse to the Priest’s Plain.	437
That day passed and dark night came.	438
When the bright day dawned in the morning,	439
when the day dawned and the sun came up,	440
the Bey summoned Bannerman Đulić:	441
“O Nuhan, my loyal ensign,	442
take my banner and carry it to Rudina.	443
Strike the shaft into the earth	444
and unfurl my banner at Rudina, my son.	445
Take ablution and spread the prayer rug,	446
and perform two genuflections     beneath my banner	447
on behalf of our good luck while campaigning.”	448
Again Ayan Mustaybey summoned his attendants:	449
“Memičići, my loyal guardsmen!	450
Come, lads, carry my pavilion to Rudina	451
and pitch it for me there.	452
Lay a fire beside the tent	453
and set the coffee to simmer at its edge.	454
When the ayans begin to arrive,	455
let them have coffee to drink beside my tent.”	456
Now my lord of the Lika     began to dress in his chamber.	457
First he put on trousers of baize	458
with broidered branches	459
of pure gold entwining the thighs.	460
Next he put on his waistcoat and doublet,	461
the one of dark hue, the other crimson.	462
The dark waistcoat was plated and looped,	463
while the red doublet had open sleeves     covered with plates,	464
draped at the shoulders.	465
Over the doublet he put on a cloak of baize	466
with a row of gilt buttons.	467
Then he belted the cloak around his waist.	468
Into the belt he thrust two pistols	469
with hammers of gold and guards of silver.	470
Between these he thrust a cutlass	471
with an ivory hilt	472
and seven precious stones set therein.	473
Should darkness fall upon the Bey,	474
he could see to dine by the light     of his sword’s radiance	475
as comfortably at midnight as at midday.	476
The scabbard was cast silver.	477
They say that his cutlass     had monkey iron forged in it	478
so no medicine could heal a wound     which it inflicted.	479
Next he put on his ammunition pouches.	480
Two were of silver broidery and two of gilt;	481
the fifth pouch was broidered     with thread of pure gold.	482
On his head he put his calpack and plumes.	483
The ordinary plumes were thirteen in number;	484
the fourteenth was a gilt cockade.	485
A fifteenth feather rose above the others,	486
mounted on a pivot.	487
Whatever way the Bey might turn his head,	488
that plume would follow the sun	489
and brush against the cockade,	490
which in turn would ruffle all the other plumes.	491
So the plumes atop the Bey’s head     went whispering	492
like man and maid murmuring	493
over the windowsill at midnight.	494
Then the Bey put on his boots and leggings;	495
the boots were yellow and fitted with sharp spurs.	496
He strapped his saber around his waist,	497
a saber that had three times been carried     on pilgrimage to the Caaba.	498
An epigraph by the Sheikh of the Caaba     was engraved on it,	499
and the seal of the Emperor of Istanbul.	500
Its name was Hadji Damascene.	501
No balm would cure a wound which it inflicted.	502
When the Bey had made himself ready,	503
he left his chamber	504
and his lady of the alabaster throat attended him,	505
Alem Shaha, daughter of Ali Bey the Deposed.	506
Thence the Bey went out     into the courtyard of white stone	507
where his man Simon was exercising     his dove-gray horse.	508
When the horse caught sight of its master	509
wearing his calpack and his German saber,	510
the good horse whinnied,	511
bent its left foreleg at the knee	512
and knelt at the mounting-block,	513
enticing Mustaybey to ride.	514
Mustaybey walked to the horse	515
and kissed it on its golden helm,	516
speaking to it thus:	517
“O my dove-gray, like brother and comrade to me!	518
Whenever you have made this gesture,	519
my valor has prevailed in the Lowlands.	520
Now with good hope I pray God	521
that it will be so on the Coast again tomorrow	522
at the stone castle of Rakičić.”	523
Then Mustaybey mounted the dove-gray,	524
and his seven bannermen straddled their mounts.	525
On the sudden a breeze sprang to life	526
and blew against the banner     which Ensign Đulić bore.	527
One tassel of the silken banner	528
struck the ensign between the shoulders,	529
a second struck his white horse on the rump,	530
and a third struck the Bey and his dove-gray.	531
So the Bey went down to Rudina,	532
the resplendent chief of the Lika,	533
as fine in his regalia as any three-crested vizier.	534
When the Bey came down to his pavilion,	535
he found three aghas already gathered there.	536
One was Ayan Ćejvanaga the good warrior,	537
another was Glumac Osmanaga,	538
and the third was Ayan Dizdar Hasanaga.	539
Dismounting, the Bey took his place in the tent.	540
Gracious God, thanks be to Thee for all things!	541
Who were the first to answer Mustaybey’s levy?	542
The first who arrived were three     company commanders.	543
One was Omer Blažević	544
from Veljun and Drven Čardak,	545
the second was Osman Tanković	546
from the high Pass of Skakavac;	547
the third was Osmanaga Bosić	548
from the high Pass of Timonjac,	549
with his ninety companions.	550
For the Bey had commanded the border-guards	551
to secure the passes against the infidels.	552
So those who lay nearest to Udbina	553
came down to the Bey at Rudina.	554
The morning was clear and free of mist,	555
but the breath from the nostrils of so many horses     filled the air with vapour.	556
The jingling banners waved overhead,	557
and the fighting men sang beneath them.	558
The Bey’s army continued to assemble     the whole day long.	559
When the sun had reached     the point of late afternoon,	560
a haze arose on the Plain of Krbava.	561
The air throbbed with the booming of drums	562
and jingling banners waved aloft in the breeze,	563
while beneath them the fighting men sang.	564
All this tumult signified the arrival of Poprženović,	565
for with him marched the whole Border.	566
The Men of the Border were splendid to see     as they rode	567
two by two—two singing the strain,     two answering the refrain,	568
with volleys by four for the chorus.	569
At the column’s flank rode Mujo     on his white mount,	570
all a-glitter with the breastplates of Mrkotić,	571
the golden buttons of Peter Bunijevac,	572
and the gold broidery of Radovan Stegić.	573
On his head he wore the gear of Vuk Mandušić,	574
at his side the German saber of Marko the Mighty,	575
and on his breast the braids of Niklas Jeroglavac.	576
His white mount was the charger     of the Captain of Senj.	577
All this Mujo had won	578
with his saber and the strength     of his own right arm.	579
His worthy ancient rode before him,	580
the man Halil Orlović.	581
Beside him went plump Halil	582
riding a dusky war horse,	583
the good sable horse of Captain Peter.	584
The other fighting men came on behind.	585
Thus the Bey’s army gathered at Rudina.	586
All had agreed that their muster     was now complete,	587
for the sun was already setting,	588
when suddenly Alaga Vrhovac appeared,	589
and with him his savage cragsmen.	590
Ali Agha’s two sworn brothers went with him too,	591
Musić of Turian Moor	592
and Bosnić of Novi.	593
He would not go to war without them.	594
When the Agha came before Mustaybey,	595
he spoke to the Bey thus:	596
“Hail to thee, Ayan and Chief of the Lika!	597
What is your purpose in mustering this army,	598
and when will you begin the campaign?”	599
Mustaybey replied to the Agha:	600
“My dear son Ali Agha Vrhovac!	601
I have mustered this army	602
to attack Rakičić’s castle on the Coast.	603
I have levied the army and it is mine;     but you shall command it.	604
All its maneuvers and order of battle     shall be as you decide.”	605
They were still deep in talk	606
when the last troop appeared on the horizon.	607
At the head of the column rode a curious figure     on a lead-grey horse.	608
The jacket he wore was fur-lined     and had a collar of fur.	609
The rest of his dress showed the same elegance.	610
The calpack on his head was made     from the pelt of a badger,	611
his cloak of a mountain wolf’s skin,	612
his breeches of bearskin,	613
and his shoes of fox pelt.	614
A muzzle-loading pistol was thrust under his belt.	615
Its charge of powder was twelve drams at a time	616
—twelve drams of powder, and fourteen of lead.	617
The grey horse’s bridle was made of bast rope.	618
Of the bridle’s four straps,	619
two were of linden bark and two were string.	620
A steel club hung by the saddle.	621
Gracious God, who might the horseman be?	622
Talë of the Lika was the man.	623
Talë’s two sworn brothers rode with him too:	624
one was the man called Ted Resudović,	625
and the other was Carey of Chaglitsa,	626
both vassals of Bey Zenković.	627
As Talë came riding his lead-gray horse	628
he shouted from his place in the saddle:	629
“Move the troops, O Bey, away from Rudina,	630
lest the brave men of the Lika perish!”	631
Instantly the Bey summoned the khoja:	632
“Say your benediction, for the army must march!”	633
So the khoja pronounced the blessing,	634
and all the army responded in unison ‘God is great.’	635
When the Turks had thus said their prayer,	636
milord Mustaybey rose and set out	637
with his seven bannermen in the van,	638
and the powerful body of his army followed behind.	639
Who then remained in the city of Udbina?	640
The two who stayed were aghas by imperial patent,	641
Ćejvanaga and Osmanaga;	642
they with a company of a thousand men	643
would defend the walls of Udbina.	644
Meantime the Bey with the main army     moved towards the Priest’s Ravine.	645
The horsemen moved briskly several abreast,	646
overtaking and passing each other.	647
Thus the army came to the Priest’s Plain.	648
The Bey halted the troops there,	649
and their number was two thousand,	650
all able-bodied soldiers and fighting men     seasoned in battle.	651
The ayans marshalled the troops	652
and divided the army into two companies.	653
A gorge lay before them, opening     onto the level ground of Brkaje	654
and out across the Downs of Sinobodović.	655
That was the straightest way down to the Lowlands.	656
Mujaga of Nether Popržen went that way	657
and all the Turks of the Border went with him,	658
with mighty Mujo Hrnjica in the van.	659
Should they come to some obstruction     in the gorge,	660
Mujo would clear a passage for the troops.	661
Meanwhile Mustaybey took the men of the Lika	662
and went with them through the dell     towards Sinjac.	663
Thus the Bey moved his army     down to the Lowlands.	664
When he came within view of the sea     and the Coast,	665
Mustaybey drew up the army	666
and surveyed the flatlands of the Coast	667
that lay between him and Rakičić’s castle.	668
As the day dawned and the sun rose,	669
the Coast began to teem with movement	670
and with the passage of coaches     veiled in satin moiré.	671
Latin women rode in the coaches	672
with young officers escorting them,	673
each officer in the company of his sweetheart.	674
The officers seemed to be popish Serbs,	675
but in fact they were Turks from the spacious Lika.	676
A great gathering converged on Rakičić’s castle,	677
and Paul cordially received his guests one by one.	678
He bade the gentlefolk come into his courtyard	679
and sent the soldiery to a separate     entertainment beside the blue sea.	680
Tables were set for the guests in the courtyard,	681
for parties of five and of nine.	682
The lowland commanders occupied the tables.	683
They supposed that their number was complete,	684
but the yard gate swung open	685
and a pair of bay horses appeared	686
with two grenadiers for riders.	687
Their uniforms were very colorful,	688
but if they seemed popish Serbs from the Coast,	689
they were in fact two sworn brothers from the Lika.	690
One was Mehmedaga Bosnić	691
from Novi under Mount Velebit;	692
the other was Mehmedaga Musić	693
from the level Turian Moor.	694
A groom walked beside each of the riders.	695
When the two riders dismounted,	696
the grooms took their horses	697
to exercise them, walking to and fro.	698
The two sworn brothers strolled through the yard	699
surveying all the tables.	700
At the first table in the yard	701
fourteen commanders sat drinking.	702
The two companions readily recognized them:	703
they were the seven brothers Zagrević,	704
with whom the seven Kumalići were seated.	705
The two companions saw a second table,	706
and it too accommodated fourteen commanders.	707
They were the seven brothers Mandušić,	708
with whom the seven Čustovići were seated.	709
The two companions saw a third table	710
where fourteen commanders sat drinking.	711
They were the seven brothers Zakarić,	712
with whom the seven Bajagići were seated.	713
Then they noticed a fourth table	714
where fourteen commanders sat drinking.	715
They were the seven brothers Vladušić,	716
with whom the seven Memičići were seated.	717
The two companions caught sight of a fifth table	718
where fourteen commanders sat drinking.	719
They were the seven brothers Grandulić,	720
with whom the seven Memagići were seated.	721
A sixth table the two companions saw	722
where fourteen commanders sat drinking.	723
They were the seven brothers Vučković,	724
with whom the seven Hamzagići were seated.	725
When the companions approached     the seventh table,	726
four commanders sat drinking at it.	727
They were the two young brothers Sorić,	728
the two Sorići from the shores of the blue sea:	729
Niklas and Elias Sorić,	730
with whom two other brothers were seated,	731
the two sons of the good warrior Ćejvanaga,	732
Mehinaga and Muhedinaga.	733
Savouries and meats lay on the table before them,	734
and they drank their drink like men     sick with the flux.	735
Their eyes met darkly	736
and they ground their teeth at one another;	737
the companions had no desire to sit there.	738
When they came to the eighth table,	739
they found it set in the cool of a knoll.	740
Paul Rakičić sat behind that table	741
with a company of noblemen ranged about him,	742
captains and young sirdars.	743
The men of the Lika were mixed among them,	744
drinking their drink one beside another,	745
glancing darkly one at another,	746
grinding their teeth one to another.	747
Thus the comrades-in-arms sat at table	748
drinking convivially with the sirdars.	749
Now from this point of vantage     it was an easy matter for them to observe	750
the disposition of things     about Paul Rakičić’s courtyard.	751
The comrades noted particularly what lay in the area     beyond the tables where they were sitting.	752
There they saw a lodge situated in a garden.	753
This was Paul Rakičić’s lodge,	754
where Ann Rakičić was sitting	755
with the Captain Maid.	756
Two officers sat there too, keeping them company.	757
The comrades recognized the officers at once,	758
for they were not really Horvy officers	759
but two of their own comrades:	760
one of them was Ali Agha Crničić,	761
the other, ancient Mujo.	762
They were sitting there together     in one part of the lodge	763
conversing with the girls,	764
drinking and jesting merrily.	765
After a little time had passed—it was not long—	766
the courtyard gates opened	767
and in stepped two priests:	768
One of them was Father Niklas from Shore Hills,	769
the other Father Basil from the verges     of Shovel Mountain.	770
Father Niklas was riding a grey horse	771
and Father Basil a black one.	772
Two servants walked before them,	773
both novices from the Venetian Lowlands.	774
When the two priests had ridden their horses	775
into the courtyard, they reined them to a halt	776
and dismounted.	777
The novices took them in hand	778
and began to stroll to and fro, leading the mounts.	779
Meantime the two priests advanced to the table	780
where Paul Rakičić was seated.	781
Both gave greeting to Paul in God’s name.	782
Then Paul Rakičić, we see,	783
leapt to his feet	784
to return their greeting from a standing position,	785
and so did all the sirdars to a man.	786
Next Paul Rakičić himself	787
seated the priests at the head of the table,	788
poured them cups of wine to drink,	789
and spoke to them in this wise:	790
“Dear fathers, our holy celebrants,	791
pray take up the cups which I have poured for you	792
and drink, for surely you have been fatigued	793
with your long journey.”	794
Taking up the cups, the holy ministers	795
drank them dry, and thanked Paul:	796
“We thank thee, worthy sir,	797
for thy toast and for thy thoughtful words;	799
blessèd be thy festivity and the honour     which thou hast done us.	798
May all men honor him who begat thee	800
for his rearing one so notable as thou,	801
and for leaving thee as his legacy to us.”	802
Thus the priests were consecrating Paul,	803
but meanwhile the two comrades were laughing,	804
and so were all the other Likan braves,	805
for they had recognized the ‘priests.’	806
Indeed they were not holy ministers at all,	807
but rather two brothers-in-arms from the Lika:	808
Father Niklas in reality was Talë,	809
and Father Basil was Radovan Đurđević.	810
Nor were the novices from Venice,	811
but rather two blood brothers from the Lika:	812
they were the two Strunians     from under Korjenica,	813
both the sons of Jusufaga Strunja,	814
the old wolf from the Falls of the Korjenica.	815
So they went on drinking     and making conversation.	816
After a little while—it was not long—	817
the postern gate flew open	818
and a bay horse leapt into the courtyard.	819
The sirdar mounted on it sat rakishly     in the saddle,	820
wearing a headful of heavy black hair     and a gilded service cap.	821
Dear God, who might the sirdar be?	822
It was the Dizdar’s son himself.	823
As he rode his bay horse into the courtyard,	824
he called to Rakičić from where he sat his saddle:	825
“Paul Rakičić, you bastard,	826
where is Ann, your only daughter?	827
Bring her out, and let Meho see her!”	828
Paul Rakičić lifted his chin	829
and shouted at Meho with a mighty voice:	830
“Meho Dizdarević, you Turk,	831
plague take you and sorrow too!	832
What malign demons have worked their will on you	833
to make you come down here and start a fight?	834
You’ll start no fighting here today	835
while Paul’s alive!”	836
And having said this, he raised his carbine     from where it lay across his lap	837
and leveled it at Meho.	838
Another instant and Paul would     have dropped its hammer,	839
but Meho Dizdarević was too quick for him.	840
Swiftly he had spurred his bay,	841
ground his teeth, drawn his saber,	842
and set his bay horse at the table.	843
The bay was quick and Meho dexterous:	844
his blade flashed down along the carbine’s barrel	845
and seemed to do hardly more     than knick Rakičić a little;	846
but Paul Rakičić’s head     spun from off his shoulders.	847
Thanks be to Thee, O Lord,     for all Thy wondrous works:	848
The Turks started to their feet about the courtyard	849
—I swear to you by God, my brothers,     they were fierce as darkling wolves.	850
Instantly they took to their saddles	851
and rushed the Horvies.	852
A rifle cracked, and the skirmish was on.	853
One of the Christian frontiersmen screamed     in agony as a spear went through him,	854
and the two clerics began to shout:	855
“Woe betide your mothers, Men of the Marches!	856
Get clear of the courtyard, you carrion eaters,	857
the yard is full of braves from Udbina!”	858
When the frontiersmen understood the priests,	859
still greater confusion seized them     all about the courtyard.	860
Let us in the meantime watch what Crničić Alaga	861
and his comrade, the ancient-bearer Mujo, did.	862
As soon as the fighting had begun,	863
both of these fellows started to their feet	864
and made for the door of the lodge.	865
The two lovely girls went with them.	866
Ali Agha Crničić said to Ann:	867
“Annie, my pearl-bearing bough,	868
lock the lodge door behind you	869
and let no one enter the lodge	870
until you have recognized me myself     standing before it,	871
for there are such strong men in the Lika	872
as might try to steal you from me.	873
Were anyone to steal you,	874
I would certainly fight him for you.”	875
No sooner had Ali Agha Crničić said that	876
than the lovely Ann replied to him:	877
“Ali, my dear soul and my master,	878
I give you Ann’s most solemn oath,	879
I shall open the door to no one	880
until I recognize you yourself     standing before the lodge.”	881
No sooner had Ann, the Latin girl, said that	882
than Ali had mounted his horse,	883
and so too the ancient-bearer Mujo.	884
O, if only you had been there     to see what happened next,	885
when the two comrades-in-arms     drew their sabers,	886
charged the Horvies,	887
and began to bestow their blows     upon the frontiersmen,	888
knocking them off their goodly mounts.	889
Whichever one of the frontiersmen     either of them struck	890
immediately fell outstretched upon the earth.	891
The screams of the frontiersmen rang out     as spears ritted them,	892
while elsewhere sabers flashed     and blood gushed forth.	893
Thus the two sides pursued each other     for two whole hours;	894
but in the third hour God     came to the aid of the Turks	895
and they gained possession of Rakičić’s castle,	896
driving the last of the frontiersmen     out of the courtyard.	897
Thanks be to Thee, dear God, for all Thy     wondrous works:	898
let us now watch what the King of Zadar did.	899
As soon as he heard the commotion on the Coast,	900
the King made himself ready,	901
mustered his troops, and limbered his cannon.	902
Then he set out towards Rakičić’s castle,	903
for the King had a dark suspicion	904
that the Turks might have come down     to the coastland	905
to the castle of Paul Rakičić	906
and done Rakičić some harm.	907
When the King came to the bright castle,	908
immediately he halted his troops.	909
Let me show you now what the King of Zadar did,	910
and what he commanded his men to do.	911
They set up breastworks of wattling     around the castle,	912
mounted the cannon on the breastworks,	913
and opened fire,	914
bombarding Rakičić’s castle.	915
Thanks be to Thee, Oh Lord,     for all Thy wondrous works!	916
The Bey of the Lika observed all this     from the vicinity,	917
where he had meanwhile rallied his own troops.	918
For as soon as the Bey had intelligence	919
that the King was preparing     to storm the stone castle,	920
he caused the recall to be sounded     all along the Coast.	921
But when for his part the King     observed the men of the Lika approaching	922
with the Imperial Peer Bey Mustapha leading them,	923
he abandoned his attack on the castle forthwith,	924
withdrew his troops from it,	925
and ranged them along a new line facing the Bey,	926
with his cannon in forward positions     to shield his front ranks.	927
Now let us watch what the Bey     and the men of the Lika did.	928
The Bey advanced his troops towards     the King’s positions	929
until they stood facing the cannon	930
and the ranks of the King of Zadar’s troops.	931
Then the Bey shouted from where     he sat his dove-gray horse,	932
calling the King of Zadar by name:	933
“Milord King of Zadar!	934
Have you, as it seems, brought your army     and your cannon	935
to be of aid to Paul Rakičić,	936
to drive the Turks out of his courtyard,	937
to capture them one by one here and there     about the Coast while they are dispersed,	938
to drive them in shackles to bright Zadar	939
and cast them into your dungeon there?	940
Know this, O King of Zadar!	941
I swear to you by my sacred faith,     you’ll take no prisoners	942
so long as Mustaybey of Lika lives!”	943
Having said this to the King, Mustaybey	944
turned next to the men of Lika,	945
and this is what he said to them:	946
“Do you hear me, my aghas and companions,	947
and you, my children, grey falcons all!	948
As hecatombs are fattened     for the holy days of Bajram,	949
so are heroes reared against this day.	950
Better that we should die here like men	951
than go back like women in retreat.”	952
Now when the Turks had understood his words,	953
they struck their enemy like     packs of highland wolves.	954
The young ancient-bearers were the first to charge	955
amidst the sound of banners snapping in the wind,	956
and then a rifle cracked, and the battle was on.	957
The King’s cannon fired salvo after salvo.	958
A mist settled on the whole coastland,     obscuring everything	959
—this was no cloud such as comes bringing rain,	960
but one formed by exploding powder and hot lead,	961
by the attack of the Bey of Udbina	962
and the King of Zadar’s warm reception.	963
The Bey and the men of Lika swarmed forward,	964
and the King met them with his cannon.	965
When the first salvo had spent itself on them,	966
Lika’s Mustaybey was heard to shout:	967
“His mother is an empty bitch     who reaches for his firearms now!	968
Put every man his faith in God,     and in a naked sword!”	969
Now when the Turks had understood the Bey,	970
at once they dropped their pistols into their belts,	971
gave their great battle cry in the name of God,	972
and took their naked sabers in hand.	973
The ancient-bearers led the charge	974
against the volleys of the King’s ranked troops.	975
Thanks be to Thee, dear God,     for all Thy wondrous works!	976
O, if only one could have been there to see	977
how the Turks mingled with the frontiersmen!	978
The blades of sabers whistled in the air	979
and the hafts of battle lances     cracked and splintered,	980
and here and there a frontiersman screamed     as he was ritted by a spear, whilst others cried:	981
“Woe is me, Luke, my arm has been hewn off!”	982
“Alas, Sava, I’m being killed!”	983
“Alas, mother, they’ve slain my brother!”	984
“Alas, daddy, all my brothers to a man lie dead!”	985
Meanwhile the Turk on his side cried:     “Carrion eater, what a miserable mother was she     who bore so paltry a creature as you!	986
Take your rectum and get you hence     into the sea amongst the shellfish.	987
But no, I swear to you by my religion,     there will be no escape for you,	989
since Talë and Rade have come down with us today.”	988
After a little while—it was not long—	990
a bumblebee began to hum in a rosebud.	991
It was not, however, really a bumblebee     in a rosebud that made the noise;	992
rather it was Meho on his bay horse	993
and the other men of the Lika swarming after him,	994
they who had been besieged in the bright courtyard.	995
When the battle was joined,	996
they had struck the frontiersmen from the rear.	997
Meho shouted to the Imperial Companion     Mustaybey:	998
“Strike with all your might, chieftain of the Lika!	999
Drive them here to me, and I     shall meet them at sword-point,	1000
for our most valiant fighters are here with me.”	1001
So Mustaybey drove the enemy that way,	1002
and Meho met them with his company	1003
at sword- and spear-point.	1004
The struggle lasted for four hours	1005
until, in the fifth hour, God     came to the aid of the Turks,	1006
and they subdued the King of Zadar	1007
and captured his ten cannon.	1008
It was Mujo of Kladuša who captured them	1009
with his company of Turkish Borderers.	1010
The frontiersmen dispersed in flight     across the coastland.	1011
The King himself fled to petrine Zadar	1012
and narrowly escaped with his life.	1013
Now let us watch what Ali Agha Crničić	1014
and his comrade, the ancient-bearer Mujo,     were doing.	1015
When the fighting had subsided,	1016
Ali returned to the bright lodge.	1017
Ann was waiting for him at the gate.	1018
She had gathered her trousseau	1019
and all her brother’s ducats;	1020
these she put into the saddle bags.	1021
When Ali had secured the ducats,	1022
he lifted Ann into the saddle     behind him on the black horse	1023
and led his sister Ajkuna    on another by its bridle,	1024
while the ancient-bearer Mujo rode beside him.	1025
When they reached the battlefield     and the place where Mustaybey was,	1026
they found that he had recalled his troops.	1027
The Bey had buried the dead	1028
and laid the wounded on litters,	1029
each litter constructed with four spears     and carried between two horses.	1030
All the spoils were gathered into a single collection,	1031
and the Bey distributed from it justly.	1032
To each fighter who was still whole     he gave an equal measure,	1033
and a double measure to each wounded man,	1034
so that each of the wounded would have     a measure to keep for himself, and     a second measure to pay a leech	1035
for tending of his wounds till he was healed.	1036
But to every dead man he apportioned five measures,	1037
so that the children at home would understand	1038
why their fathers had perished.	1039
Thus each man gained,	1040
but especially Ali Agha Crničić,	1041
who not only had freed his sister from her captivity	1042
but also won the lovely Ann to wife.	1043
The whole army now constituted his wedding party,	1044
which presently set out merrily rejoicing	1045
amidst waving banners and the beating     of saddle-drums,	1046
discharging of firearms and singing of songs.	1047
So they returned into the spacious Lika	1048
to the high hills of the Crničići	1049
and the bright house of Ali Agha Crničić.	1050
There Mustaybey dismounted     from his dove-gray horse,	1051
and they continued their celebration there	1052
for another fifteen days without interruption.	1053
The Imperial Peer Mustaybey     served as the best man	1054
and provided the wedding feast     at his own expense.	1055
He sent for the khoja and the magistrate;	1056
the khoja officiated in the ceremony     of Turkicizing Ann,	1057
and the magistrate administered     the wedding rites.	1058
So Crničić was married to Ann,	1059
and when the feast and the celebration     had ended,	1060
each man went his way to his own home.	1061
The agha would not however     let the ancient-bearer Mujo go,	1062
but kept him there in his own house.	1063
In less than a year’s time thereafter	1064
the agha had built a mansion for him	1065
and spoken to him thus:	1066
“Comrade of mine, ancient-bearer Mujo,	1067
we have till now been true comrades     to each other, you and I;	1068
let us now be brothers-in-law as well.	1069
Take my sister Ajka for your bride,	1070
and with her half of my estate as dowry.”	1071
And truly, when Ali Agha Crničić had said this,	1072
he was as good as his word, nor did he     recant any part of it.	1073
He gave him his sister to wife	1074
and the deed to half of his paternal inheritance.	1075
Thus he provided for the wiving     of the ancient-bearer Mujo.	1076
They had until that time     been true comrades to each other,	1077
but from thenceforth were also brothers-in-law.	1078
But if now we ask, “Was all this just so?”	1079
I at least have heard tell that it was so.	1080
If someone else knows better, the field is his;     let him tell it.	1081

*

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