translated by Mary P. Coote (About this narrative)
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Two
brothers-in-God1
were drinking together once upon a time in the
broad Lika, in a stone mansion in
Vrhovi.2
Dear God, who would those two be? It is easy
to guess: one was the agha Vrhovac Alaga, who
with his company of a thousand men kept Vrhovi
against the
infidel,3
and the other was his brother-in-God Veiz
Šabanaga. Veiz was drinking in a merry,
cheerful mood, but Vrhovac was glum and
ill-tempered. His look was sour, his head
hung low, and his moustaches drooped; he did
not boast either of himself or of his horse.
Only when the glass passed to him, he would
lift his moustaches and drink it
off.4
Šabanaga looked at him and said, “Brother Vrhovac Alaga, why do you look so sour, hang your head, and let your moustaches droop? Why aren't you boasting of yourself and your grey horse? I know you to be a true man;5 the entire Lika praises you, and so do the Border and the Marches. Even Sultan Suleyman in the white city of Stambol knows of you. The coast and the hinterland fear you, so do the men of Otočac and Brinje, of Brlog and Uzolac. Whenever a child cries in the cradle in the whole of the coast and heathen lands,6 a Magyar woman of the coast hushes it: ‘Shush, don't cry, babe in the cradle! A snake beneath a rock, the venomous snake Vrhovac Alaga, will hear you. He might ride down here and attack us—he might kill your father and take you and me captive, give me to some Turk, and give you to Mustaybey of the Lika. The Bey would send you to the Vizier in Travnik, and the Vizier would send you to the Sultan, and the Sultan would send you to the Shah of Persia, from whence captives never return.' So all the infidels speak of you. But as I look at you today, it seems to me, my friend (50), that some trouble has befallen you. You've quarreled with someone and are expecting a hard fight with him; or perhaps the girls have insulted you at some gathering; or have you just been drinking too much?” When Vrhovac heard these words, he raised his head, looked at his companion, and replied, “Brother Veiz Šabanaga, all that you say is true. The whole Lika, the Border and the Marches praise me; both the upper and the ower Kotar coast, the men of Otočac, of Brinje, and of Uzolac all fear me; the Sultan in Stambol knows that I am a seasoned warrior. I am not burdened with expectation of any fight, however, for there is no mother's son among all the infidels that has the heart even to challenge me, let alone to fight with me. I have quarreled with no one in the broad Lika, brother, for there is not one Turk who would offer any insult to Vrhovac Alaga, whom every one of them regards as his own brother. Nor have I quarreled with any girls, for in all the sixty-four cities in the Lika and the Border there is not one maiden who would find any fault with Alaga, let alone insult him. And I have not been drinking out of measure. Dear friend Šabanaga, here is my sorrow and heavy misfortune. It was three years ago, brother, that I fell in love with a maiden down on the level coast, the Latin Golub's lovely Mila. I promised her to take her in marriage, and she promised to be mine. But, brother Šabanaga, I have gone three times to the coast to Golub's mansion and seized the pretty maiden, lifted her up behind me on my grey horse (100), and fled the coast. May God destroy Golub the Latin! Whenever Golub spies me carrying off the pretty maiden, he fires the mortars on the battlements of his house and raises Kotar and the coast in pursuit of me. Then they overtake me on the level coast and surround me. I draw my razor-sharp blade and rush at the infidels. But listen, my friend, one can no more cut down a forest than Golub's army. When the gunfire begins to bother me, then I push Mila off the horse and leave her on the level coast, while I flee back to level Vrhovi. So Golub has bested me and taken the maiden from me as though I were a mere woman. I have done this three times, and the same thing has happened every time. But all that would be a silly trifle, if I hadn't received a letter from Latin Golub's Mila. Now, brother, I'll tell you exactly what Mila said in the letter.” He put his hand into his pocket and drew out a letter which he unfolded and read aloud. Lord Allah, what did Mila write? “My soul, Ale, admired and beloved!7 My soul, my lamb for St. George's Day! May God preserve your life, for you are dear to me! You have entwined yourself around my heart like a ribbon of silk around a bouquet of immortelles!8 But, my agha, heart of my heart, why have you not come to the coast to see me? What of your troth—may you be loved as you have deserved! Can you recall that time, dear, when we made our promises? You said that you would take me in marriage; I said that I would be yours. You have come here three times for nothing. The same thing happens each time you take me: when daddy and the sirdars overtake you, agha, you throw me off your horse (150) and leave me behind on the coast while you flee to Vrhovi. Daddy brings me back in misery and puts me to all sorts of torture and suffering. Now finally he has given me in marriage far away across the blue sea—alas, my agha!—to accursed Malta, to the bastard Matthew Ćorfezlić.9 Matthew is about to come with all his wedding guests to take me to accursèd Malta, and he is bringing Ensign Luke, who is accounted worth thirty Turks. Soldiers will come with Luke who can hit a bird on the wing, not to speak of a Turk on a horse. Luke has undertaken to guard the mansion and courtyard and has advised daddy to watch me until he arrives. After Luke comes to the coast, he says, even if the whole Lika were to attack, they would not be able to carry me off, for there is no Turk who could take me from Luke. That is how the whelp brags, agha, and says that you do not dare come down on account of him. Now heed me, light of my eyes! Here is my oath to you that I will not cross the sea as a bride! I will end my miserable life by jumping into the vast sea. I would sooner do that than marry Matthew. Now, agha, light of my eyes, if you have married another,Or are you afraid of my father Golub? Is it because of him you do not dare to come here? I swear to you that if I only knew the way to Vrhovi and the broad Lika, I would mount a horse myself and come to you. If you will not come down to take me away to your mansion at Vrhovi, then at least come down to my white mansion so that we may renounce our troth (200). Do the service this letter asks, as best you can with all your will.” “Now listen, brother-in-God, I swear that I will not give her up. Once more I'll try my luck. I'll ride my grey mount to Golub's house, straight to his banqueting table, and ask Luke and Golub whether I dare to come there in spite of them. And I won't come back to level Vrhovi without the girl and Luke's severed head. I would rather die there like a man than run away like a woman, so that all the men of the Lika might make fun of me in the coffee houses and taverns when they are filling up with wine and brandy, saying, ‘Look how they talk about Vrhovac Alaga! His reputation and his heroism aren't worth a thing, since he didn't dare to go down to the coast for Golub the Latin's Mila and instead let her go over the blue sea with that bastard Matthew Ćorfezlić.’” When Vrhovac had spoken, Šabanaga replied, “Dear brother Vrhovac Alaga! I swear you shall not go to the coast to Golub's house alone, without your brother. Wherever your head falls from your shoulders, there Šabanaga's will fall also. So to your feet, for God's sake! Let us not waste time, brother; quickly get out some Latin clothes.” At Šabanaga's words Alaga jumped up and opened a chest from which he tossed clothes from the coastlands, seven suits of them, all captains' outfits from the coast. “Choose, brother, the one you like best. I have won all these clothes raiding among the infidels, all with my sword and my own right arm. Get yourself ready here and I'll go to the other chamber and be ready in an instant.” Veiz remained making his preparations, while Alaga went off with a suit of the clothes from the coast and began to dress himself. Lord Allah, thanks be to Thee for all things! (250) What did he put on first? He doffed his Turkish dress and donned the Christian garb, starting with the pants and shirt, which were neither appliquèd nor beaded, nor were they woven on a bright reeded loom,10 but were made in Venice, knitted and embroidered with silk. After that he pulled on dark trousers and put on a German dolman of Venetian cloth with a collar of pure gold and thirty-four gilded buttons on it. A thirty-fifth button under the chin was of pure gold; it was fitted with a pivot and held a full litre of wine so that whenever the hero might become thirsty he could quench his thirst. Then he girded a dark Venetian belt twelve arshins long on over the dolman and trousers; the belt had twelve golden crosses on it and fourteen golden plumes. Next he put on two Vlah tunics, one with small linked breast plates and the other with large gilded shoulder plates. Around his waist he put a weapons belt all of pure gold, and thrust into it two pistols with golden caps, silver butts, and steel triggers. Also in the belt between the two pistols he placed a short Latin-made broadsword with a hilt of ivory and a scabbard of refined silver. Its blade was made with ape-iron, they say: where it strikes, there is no use for balm; where it cuts, the wound never heals. Then he put on his boots and leggings, yellow boots with sharp spurs. Over all he threw a cloak and buckled on his saber. The cloak was all embroidered with branches of gold and on the two shoulders were two ostrich feathers of pure gold; also on it were twelve medals (300), six from the King of Vienna and six from the King of Venice. He suspended the saber low, as the sirdars of the Coast wear them. And onto his head went a gilded service cap with a dark vizor. It bore two military decorations, one from the Emperor in Vienna and the other from the Doge of Malta. There were, moreover, eight panaches of pure gold on it, with a falcon's wing as the ninth, which turned upon a pivot to show what way the wind was blowing. When the agha had completed his disguise, he turned the looking glass to catch his own reflection and thought to himself, “Look at that, as God is One! Even my own mother wouldn't know me, much less the sirdars of the Coast.” Surely the lad was handsome, with his dark moustaches, hawk-like eye, and broad, manly brow. Anyone who did not know Alaga in person would say and swear that this was not Vrhovac Alaga, but Nikola Polajac from Polojac under Karlovac. Taking a javelin from the rack, he went to his companion in the other room. Alaga laughed when he saw Veiz's disguise, for one would say and swear that this was not Veiz Šabanaga, but Captain Vuk from Lopatnik above Šibenik. Vrhovac said, “Let's go, brother, and saddle the horses.” So they went down to the stable and began to prepare the horses. Setting to work on his gray horse, Alaga slipped off the blanket and laid on the saddle, tightening the four girths and the fine silken strap that protects the horse from the girths. Over the saddle he placed a golden cloth embroidered in gold all about its hem. Golden chains hung from the hem with Venetian ducats tinkling on them. Tassels hung down on both sides all the way to the green grass, grazing the horse's hooves (350). On top of that he threw a dusky bearskin so that the golden cloth would not be muddied. On the saddle bow he suspended two horse pistols of Maltese make. He put on the horse's head a German bridle and a face-mask plated with gold. Of the four straps in the bridle, two were of silk—those were for courting-journeys—and two were of leather plated with chain—those were for furious combat. Alongside the saddle and the horse's right ear he hung a javelin. While Alaga was making his gray ready, Veiz was preparing his sorrel. Then they led the horses out into the yard beneath the stone mansion and, leaving them there, went in to Alaga's mother. As they kissed both her hands, the old woman pronounced a blessing on them: Go forth, my children, and mayWhen the companions had taken leave of the old woman, they went down the steps of the house to the courtyard and opened the yard gates. Calling upon the name of God, they mounted their horses and rode out, down the broad Lika. They crossed peaks and valleys; they rode past the well and old poplar tree11 toward the level coast, passing the guardhouse of Janko Staknivatra, the house of Vuk Mandušić, and the guardhouses of Marko Palikuća, Despot the robber captain, and Jovan Ekserić (400), and finally the fine house of Ilija Ćurković.12 As they approached the last, two pretty maidens came out, both daughters of Ilija Ćurković, the younger Mara and the elder Jaga. Mara spoke to Jaga, “My own sister, child of my mother! See those two horsemen riding this way! Till this day I have never seen such horses and such heroes. Dear God, who are they? Where are they from?” Jaga laughed and answered, “Sister Mara, I know both of them. You see the one on the gray horse, wearing the elegant clothes of Polajac Nikola? That is not Nikola Polajac from Polajac below Karlovac. That is Vrhovac Alaga. I'm sure it is Alaga; I recognize his two eyes, his dark moustaches, and his gray horse. The one riding the sorrel in the costume of Captain Vuk from Lopatnik above Šibenik, that's not Captain Vuk, but Veiz Šabanaga. I know him very well too. Listen, Mara, to what I say. Let no other girl know what we two know!” The sisters thought that no one was listening, but Ilija Ćurković heard it all and suspected that the two brothers-in-God were coming down to Golub's lofty house to start a fight there. After thinking for a bit, Ilija bellowed to his servants, “Quick, get my white-footed horse ready so that I can go down to the Coast to Golub's lofty house! I have something to tell him.” The servants speedily prepared the horse and Ilija mounted. Dear God, where will he turn? Ilija decided not to go directly down the coast, but instead he took a cross route (450) and shortly arrived at Golub's mansion. When he came to the stone gateway of the courtyard, he rode his white-footed horse right up to the two soldiers standing there with muskets and bayonets. Ilija greeted them in God's name, and the soldiers accepted the greeting and bowed to him. Looking into the courtyard, Ilija saw that it was crowded with tables set for five and for nine men and that the sirdars of the Coast and the other guests in wedding array were all sitting there, for the wedding party had come for the bride and were making merry. Every now and again a cannon boomed, while mortars and rifles kept firing, tamburas twanging, and drums beating. Ilija rode his horse up to the ninth table in the yard where Golub13 the Latin was sitting with the other fine gentlemen. There he halted and greeted them in the name of God. Golub and the other fine gentlemen rose and received the greeting standing up. Golub addressed Ilija: “Dismount, Ćurković Ilija; get off your horse and sit down at our laden board.” So Ilija dismounted and, handing his horse to some soldiers, he sat down at the well-spread table at the right hand of Golub the Latin. Then they all exchanged greetings again, each man inquiring about the other's health. When they were assured that all were well, Golub rose and, pouring out a glass of wine, he offered it to Ilija, saying “Drink off the glass and tell me truly, what has brought you to me? I trust that no injury has been done you in our lands by our sirdars of the Coast, and that the Turks have done you no harm. (500) Or have you come to my feast to help me send off my only daughter?” Ilija took the glass and, having drained it, replied, “Sir Golub the Latin, I thank you for having me join your celebration and for your compliment, for your toast and for your kind words! Hear now what I have to say. No injury has been done to me by any of our sirdars, nor have the Turks done me any harm, but I have simply come to your celebration. There is however something else I have to tell you. When I was in my stone house, with my own eyes I saw two horsemen going by my house and court. They were wearing fine clothes, service caps of gold, medals on their chests, and golden panaches on their heads; and they were riding good war horses, one an enchanted gray horse, the other a shaggy sorrel. Looking at the way they rode, it seemed to me that they were both Turks. They might be coming down to your mansion to cause you trouble. I keep thinking, good sir, that the one on the gray horse is that venomous snake Vrhovac Alaga. It certainly is his horse, even if it isn't Alaga riding it. If it is Alaga, the Turk is bound to start a fight and make trouble for us all. So close your house and court and post guards around it.” When Ilija had finished, Ensign Luke spoke up, “Ćurković, you coward! Why are you so scared of Vrhovac Alaga? If a thousand should come down here, I would gladly take them on. Believe me when I tell you that if all the Turks of the Lika appeared, Luke would not be frightened. You make me so angry that I'm ready to mount my white-footed horse (550) and go to level Vrhovi, right to Alaga's mansion, and challenge the Turk to combat. When I've tied his hands in combat, I'll drive him barefoot and bound before me, back to the Coast, whipping him with my cat-o'-nine-tails. That's the kind of game Luke will play with them.” When Golub heard his words, he jumped to his feet and embraced Luke with his right arm, kissing the hero's brow. “Gray falcon, Ensign Luke! All honor to the one who sired you! A falcon will always sire a falcon, and a goodly hero a hero!” Let the sirdars drink their ruddy wine.14 Let us watch the pretty maiden, lovely Mila, Golub the Latin's daughter. Mila was sitting in her chamber in the mansion. Before her she held an embroidery frame of boxwood with feet of crystal. She had stretched Venetian cloth on it and held a gilded needle in her hand; pricking with the needle, she drew the golden thread through, tracing designs in gold upon the white cloth. A pretty Magyar maid, lovely Jela, Captain Peter's daughter, was sitting with her. Jela kept glancing out the window. When she spied a horseman on the plain, she jumped up and looked more closely. Recognizing him, she said to lovely Mila, “Reward me for my news, my friend! Here comes your suitor, Ale from Vrhovi.” At these words, Mila pushed away her embroidery frame with such force that she broke all four of its legs, and skipped to the window to look out. When she knew the agha and his gray horse, she took a chain of three hundred gold Magyar coins from around her neck and offered it to Jela. “Here is your reward!” Jela laughed (600) and told her, “Listen, my darling Mila, I would rather cut off my own head than strip your neck like that. But take my advice: go down to your father in the courtyard, kiss his hands and the hands of the fine gentlemen with him and beg Golub for permission for us to go into the garden to gather immortelles and basil. Tell him that you want immortelles and basil to adorn the gaily dressed wedding guests; tell him that since the time has come for you to depart, you desire to walk once more in the garden. If your father and the other guests give you leave, mark my words, my friend, if God in His good will grant it, the sun may yet shine on our happiness.” As Jela the Latin maid spoke, lovely Mila sprang to her feet and made ready in the chamber. Then she opened the door and flew down the steps of the mansion with Jela tripping after her. When they had descended all the flights and reached the court, let us watch the Latin maid Mila as she crosses the white yard to her father's table. The maiden was clever. She bowed to all and kissed first her father's hand and then the hands of all the other gentlemen in turn. Then she stood back with her hands folded and spoke, “O daddy, I kiss your hand! Will you give me leave to go into the garden to walk once more before I marry? For the time is coming for us to part. I want to gather immortelles and basil to adorn all my wedding guests.” When the pretty maiden had spoken, Golub gave her permission. Then Ilija Ćurković spoke up, “Sir Golub the Latin! (650) You may be a hero, but you're not being intelligent. If you had your wits about you, you wouldn't give her that permission. You know yourself, good sir, that the Turk has come down here before, right to your house and court, and seized the lovely maiden, tossed her onto his gray horse, and fled away over the level coast. Then off you go with the sirdars of the Coast in pursuit of him and take her back. Three times you've taken her back from the Turk, and you've never done it without somebody's getting wounded or killed.” At this Ensign Luke raised his voice, “Ćurković, you coward, I thought you were a man! Why are you so scared of a Turk? I'll go to the garden gate and protect the girls, for there's no Turk has the heart to attack me.” So the maidens went into the garden and skipped about gathering flowers and binding them into nosegays. Mila was weeping, thinking of Alaga, and Jela comforted her: “Hush, don't weep; leave off your crying, for crying will make your head ache and spoil your maidenly looks.” As Jela spoke, a short time passed—it was not long—before the agha galloped right up to the garden fence. He pricked his gray horse with his sharp spurs and the good steed gathered its strength and leapt over the palisade. Behind him Veiz rode up on his sorrel but could not leap over the fence; his horse refused to enter the garden. Then the agha called out, “Ho, Jela, my sister-in-God!16 Come up close to my horse, so that I can lift you over the palisade to my brother on his horse.” Even as the agha asked, (700) Jela came up to him; Alaga lifted her up and handed her over the fence to his companion. Veiz took her, set her behind him on his sorrel, and fled away over the level coast. Then Vrhovac called to the other maiden, “Mila, my lamb for St. George's Day! We have had enough of courting and caressing. The time has come for us to travel.” Then he offered her his right arm and she stretched out both of hers to him. He set her behind him on the horse and said, “Tuck your legs snugly around my gray and put your arms around me just above my belt and pistols, for you don't know the strength of my gray; the whirlwind of his running might tear us apart.” But a sentry shouted from the gate, “Woe betide your drinking of wine and brandy! A Turk is fleeing from the garden with Jela on his sorrel, and Vrhovac is still there settling Mila on his horse's croup.” Then Luke flung open the gate. The gray was swift and Alaga was nimble; with flashing sword Ale rode past Luke and struck him with the naked blade on the right shoulder so that the blade came out below the left nipple. Thus of one he made two, that Matthew might have the more wedding guests. When the wedding party caught sight of the agha, they scattered like white sheep before Alaga and the gray. If only one could be there to see what Alaga did to the guests! Heads were flying, arms were falling off; as the agha forced his way through the crowd, he wounded seven and beheaded eight. The gray galloped off up the level coast, passing over hill and dale like an eagle soaring beneath the clouds. Had the whole of Kotar and the Coast given him chase, no one would have been able to overtake the gray. (750) Shortly the agha came up to his companion and found that the good sorrel was flagging, while the pursuers were coming close behind. The agha wheeled and halted the foremost pursuers with pistol fire. Whomever he aimed at he never missed, but either wounded or killed the man. But then he glanced about him and realized that the men of Kranj had surrounded his companion and Veiz was defending himself with his sword. The agha rushed at them—the gray was swift and the agha was nimble—and dispersed the attackers. Ilija Ćurković was heard squealing, “Over here, brother Jandrak Ćurković! Vrhovac's sword has slashed me!” But Jandrak did not dare to approach either his brother or Vrhovac; he was looking out for his own head. Three times the agha turned about, dispersed the Christians, and saved his companion. Finally Veiz cried, “Be off, brother, over the coast! As long as your horse still has its strength, don't lose your life on account of me. As for me, it will be as fate ordains.” So the agha headed his horse up the coast and sped over hill and dale, like an eagle soaring beneath the clouds. Then Mila the Latin maiden raised a song: “Happy are we as the sun in heaven that the good gray war horse can carry us up the level coast!” So the agha rode off and fled to level Vrhovi. Let us watch Veiz Šabanaga! Once more the men of Kranj surrounded him, and tore him from his horse and from the pretty maiden Jela. They drove him back to Golub's mansion with his hands tied behind him. When the wedding guests reached the courtyard, they sat for a while and rested. Then they took council together and decided to lock up all the young maidens on the Coast and stony hinterlands and to put manacles on their hands lest some one of them (800) should send a letter to the Lika. Let us watch the priest's daughter Joka. Before they tied her hands she wrote a letter and addressed it to the Turk, the Dizdar's son. “Meho, Latin Joka's soul! Has all the broad Lika been asleep? Disaster has befallen two brothers-in-God, Vrhovac and Šabanaga. Veiz is captive, and I don't know what has become of Vrhovac. His gray ran off into the mountain bearing the Latin maid Mila.” Thus Joka wrote, but it was difficult for her to find a messenger to take her note. There was no one she could trust except her nephew Nikola Podojčić. So Joka summoned him and begged a favor of him, kissing his hand and saying, “Listen to your aunt, so may you enjoy good health! Take this well-written white letter; carry it to Udbina and give it to the Dizdar's son.” Nikola Podojčić answered her, “Lovely Joka, may a snake bite you for mentioning the Dizdar's son! Meho has taken an oath that wherever he meets me on the Coast he will try his sword on me, and I have sworn at the altar that wherever I meet Meho and his chestnut I will try my luck with him. So I won't go to Udbina.” Lovely Joka said to him, “Sister's son, Nikola Podojčić, if you do not dare go to Udbina, then go to Miladin the head-man of Čanak, the agha's village, and give the letter to him. Miladin will pass it on to Meho.” At these words Nikola said, “Give me the letter, may a snake bite you! I'll take it to the broad Lika.” Joka cast the letter before her nephew and Nikola went off to his lofty house and court (850) to prepare himself and his white-footed horse. So he mounted and rode to the Lika, and at nightfall came to Miladin. It happened that Meho was there with his brother-in-God Ibro Durutagić. As Nikola entered the house, he called a greeting, and then stood amazed to see the Dizdar's son. When Meho spied Nikola, he drew his broad-sword and rushed at him. Nikola grabbed his pistols and said, “Put your sword away in its scabbard, Meho! I have not come to fight with you, but I've come at the request of my aunt and brought you a letter. See what it is that Joka writes to you, Meho.” Meho unfolded the letter and read it aloud: “Meho, my lamb for St. George's Day! Has all the broad Lika been asleep? Disaster has befallen the two brothers-in-God Vrhovac and Šabanaga. Veiz is captive and I don't know what has become of Alaga. He carried off a pretty maiden and fled with her into the mountain.” As Meho Dizdarević finished reading, Ibro Durutagić cried out, “Alas, my brother Veiz Šabanaga! If God in His good will had granted me to be with you on the Coast, I would not have begrudged my life! And now, if I had a disguise, I would go to your aid.” Let us watch the Dizdar's son. Meho jumped up and drew a suit of clothes from his saddlebag, a captain's outfit from the Coast, and disguised himself. Then all three comrades went out to the white court and mounted their horses. So they parted, as Durutagić went to Udbina to inform Mustajbeg of the Lika that the Lika and the Border (900) should rise and go to the aid of Šabanaga, and Meho went to the Coast with Nikola Podojčić. Let Meho be on his way to the Coast. Let us watch the agha of Vrhovi. What did the agha do with the maiden? As he brought her up to level Vrhovi, his mother spied him from the window. When she saw that Veiz was not with him and heard the cannon sounding on the Coast, she rushed down to the white courtyard and bolted the gates. Then she called from within, “You'll not come in, you puppy, nor will that bitch from the Coast! Listen, you dog's whelp, you should be ashamed that you have abandoned your brother-in-God for a pretty Latin wench. I swear to you that neither one of you sets foot in this court until I see Veiz Šabanaga!” The agha said to the pretty maiden, “You hear, Mila, what mother says. You stay close by the courtyard gates and I'll be off for my brother-in-God.” He slipped Mila off the gray's croup and tugged the reins. Dear God, where will he turn? The agha decided not to return directly to the Coast; instead he rode to Turanjsko Plain, to his friend Mehmedaga Musić. He could not go straight to the Coast, since his gray was all spattered with blood, the saddle was sprinkled with blood, and Alaga too was bloody as a mountain wolf. Alaga was sure that he would find fresh clothes at his friend's. When he came down to Turanjsko, right up to his friend's house, Mehmedaga Musić welcomed him. Musić greeted him: “How came you to be so bloodstained, brother? May your wounds fare well!” Alaga answered him without dismounting, “Brother Mehmedaga Musić, I have no wounds on my body. My wounds remained on the Coast when Veiz Šabanaga stayed behind. Brother, give me some clean clothes. (950) I am going to aid my brother before they take his life.” Musić declared, “You'll not go alone, I swear; not without me. I too will go to the Coast to aid my brother-in-God. Now get off your spirited gray and rest yourself while we get ready.” Then Alaga dismounted, and while he rested Musić disguised himself and readied his chestnut horse. Then he rubbed the gray down well and put on another saddle. He brought clothes to his friend and the agha dressed himself afresh. Then they both rose and went down to the yard, mounted their horses, and headed for the Coast. Wherever they went, at last they came down to the Coast, to the white mansion of Golub the Latin. There they encountered a great wonder, for Golub's court was crowded with tables set for five and nine men. At all the tables the men of Kranj were sitting with men of the Lika mixed among them, one next to the other. There were as many as sixty men of the Lika there, glancing at each other like dusky wolves and grinding their teeth. There the two companions dismounted, spent the night, and rose early the next day. Early in the morning, with the first warmth of the sun, Golub and his wedding guests bestirred themselves. They put the maiden in a coach and set out for the seashore, driving Šabanaga with his hands tied behind him and wearing only his thin shirt and trousers, followed by his mettlesome sorrel horse. Inside the coach meanwhile the Latin maid lamented, “Alas, my soul, Veiz Šabanaga! Alas, you are like a turnip with no root. You always told me that you had sixty brothers-in-God, and now it seems that you don't have a single one. There was one, but he ran away, leaving you a captive.” (1000) Veiz called to her, “Don't weep, Jela; cease your crying. Veiz is no rootless turnip. Have no fear, you'll not go across the sea. I tell you, lovely maiden, if God and His good will please, you'll still go with me to the broad Lika.” Matthew rode up beside him on his white-footed horse and struck him with a cat-o'-nine-tails. At that Meho Dizdarević shouted, “Hold, Matthew Ćorfezlić, you bastard! I'll repay you for that blow like a man.” A shout was heard from the agha of Vrhovi: “Listen, bastard that you are, Matthew Ćorfezlić! See, the Agha is here! The Agha of Vrhovi still lives, and so does his brother-in-God Mehmedaga Musić!” Meho rode up to Matthew and was about to strike him with his broadsword, but the white-footed horse was swift and fled away along the seashore. Meho rode off in pursuit of it. A rifle cracked and the battle began. The wedding party broke up in fighting. The twin sons of Gazi Ćejvanaga rode up and cut Šabanaga's hands free while Rade held his horse for him and Talë gave him a broad-sword from his own belt, saying, “Šabanaga, you son of a bitch, here is a forged sword for you! Defend yourself, may dogs swive your mother! Talë will fight with his battle axe.” Meanwhile Meho was chasing Matthew up the coast, but could not overtake the swifter horse. Then there was a clamor as two horses flew side by side past Meho's chestnut, bearing two companions, one Alaga Vrhovac and the other his friend Mehmedaga Musić. They caught up to Matthew and the white-foot and brought their swords together on him. Matthew Ćorfezlić's mother was bereft of a son. Then, like mountain wolves, the men of the Lika scattered the gaily dressed wedding guests and captured the coach and the maiden. A short time passed; it was not long. There is no good fortune unmixed with bad. (1050) The Ban of Otočac had raised an army and come out to observe the wedding party. When he heard the alarm on the coast, he dug a trench and laid an ambush to wait for the warriors of the Lika. Lord Allah, thanks be to Thee for all things! A mist rose over the Coast, swirling upwards in twists and spirals towards the clouds in the sky. And out of the mist a horseman appeared on a white horse like a mountain vila, with a scarlet standard waving over him. Dear God, who would that horseman be? That was Ensign Đulić, and behind him were other standard-bearers. There was a rustling of scarlet standards, and a cry went up from the Commander of the Lika, “In the name of God, my children, my falcons! Have no fear of anyone on the Coast as long as you hear the Bey and the men of the Lika coming, because the Bey has raised the whole broad Lika!” When the Ban of Otočac perceived Mustajbeg and his men on the march, he immediately withdrew his army and fled to Otočac. Then Mustajbeg marshalled his men and the Turks fell upon the Coast, so help me brothers, like a pack of wolves, plundering and burning. There the Turks gained much booty; everyone was satisfied, and happiest of all was Veiz Šabanaga. Sitting in the coach with the Latin maiden on his knee, Šabanaga sang and called to this brother-in-God, “This is the way to take a wife, friend, with banners and drums, and not fleeing over the Coast as you did!” When they arrived safely in the broad Lika at the agha's mansion in Vrhovi, they found Mila by the courtyard gates. Jela spotted her from the coach and sang out, “Happy am I as the sun in heaven that I have found my friend again!” Then Alaga's mother came forth and took Mila by the hand: “Welcome, daughter, to our stone mansion!” Mustajbeg too dismounted from his dove-gray horse and they began to make merry. (1100) They summoned a hodja and a cadi;15 the hodja received both Latin maidens into the Turkish faith and the cadi performed the marriage ceremony. Fine children were born to both of them, two boys and one girl apiece, so that they did not want for sons-in-law in their lifetimes. From me you have had this song in your honor, and may God similarly grant you health and happiness. I have heard that it was as I have told it—whoever knows better, the field is wide open to him. |
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Kulen Vakuf. |
Composed and written down by Ćamil Kulenović |
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I heard this song from Smajo Rasić ten years ago. He was eighty, a native of Orašac. The title of this song goes like this: The Heroism and Wedding of Alaga Vrhovac and Veiz Šabanage. |
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