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Hardcover - 210
pages; 20 cm
In Serbian language
with parallel English
translation
TABLE OF CONTENTS
FOREWORD
In our desire to take part in the celebration of the 150th anniversary of our greatest
poetic work, we have decided to publish it with a parallel English translation, the first
of the kind in our country.*
The first edition of The Mountain Wreath in English was published in 1930, in the
translation by the first English lector in the newly founded Department of English at
the University of Belgrade, James W Wiles, who had learnt Serbian quite well. But, as
any translation of a great poem into another language, Wiles could not quite
adequately render into English all intricate lines and phrases of Njegos's linguistic
and stylistic features. All students of this work, especially the translators of poetry,
know that it is impossible to satisfy all the requirements of a perfect translation. It
was observed a long time ago that translations are like women: if they are beautiful,
they are not faithful, if faithful - they are not beautiful.
Apart from the desire to improve on the previous translation, it is necessary for every
new generation to attempt a new translation of a great poem in order to refresh it
with new features and qualities of the language into which it is translated.
The translation by Mr. Vasa D. Mihailovic, a naturalized American and an outstanding
Slavic scholar at the University of North Carolina, (Chapel Hill, USA), appeared in the
USA more than half a century after the first English translation, for both reasons just
mentioned. This jubilee is an additional reason for this translation to appear in the
poet's native country, as a new and revised edition. It was recommended to us by
some English Slavicists as well as by some of our local Njegos scholars.
In Introduction to his translation, also republished here, Professor Mihailovic presents
not only his interesting observations on Njegos and his works, particularly those on
Njegos's contribution to world literature, but he also enlarges on his approach to
rendering The Mountain Wreath into English different from the one chosen by James
W Wiles and still more clearly justifies his call for a new translation of this epic. That
is why we have decided to publish his introduction also, both in English and in
Serbian.
Our English scholars and British Slavicists are, naturally, most competent to judge
Mihailovics translation, but it will be done with due justice if his translation is
compared with Serbian translations of Shakespeare. Shakespeare's works have been
translated into Serbian since 1860 and we are still not satisfied with those
achievements. To be sure, neither are other European nations that began that work
long before us and whose languages are far more similar to English than the Serbian
language is.
We are obliged to Professor Vasa D. Mihailovic' for his contribution to the appreciation
of English speaking readers of the best South Slavic epic; and for enabling us to join
the celebration of this anniversary with this new and unusual edition.
* The first such edition of The Mountain Wreath, in Vasa D. Mihailovics translation, appeared in the USA in 1986. Three
years later its reprint edition appeared in Belgrade, and this is its first Serbian edition with a parallel English verse
translation thoroughly revised by the translator so that it is almost a new version.
INTRODUCTION
Petar Petrovic Njegos was a great poet, a prince by inheritance, and the Bishop of
Montenegro in the first half of the nineteenth century. In fulfilling successfully these
roles imposed on him by circumstances, he not only built for himself a pedestal
among the immortals but also set his beloved Montenegro on the road toward full
self-realization. Today he is revered as Montenegro's most illustrious son and the
greatest poet in Serbian literature.
Born November 1, 1813, in the village of Njegusi in Montenegro, Njegos was a
member of a leading family which had produced state leaders for several generations
in that small mountainous country. He grew up among illiterate peasants and
shepherds, whose main duty was to fight incessant battles with the invading Turks
and to till their infertile land. He left home when he was eleven and entered the
Cetinje monastery, at that time the only place of any culture and education in
Montenegro. His schooling was meager and unconventional; first in the monastery,
then as tutored by the self-educated and eccentric poet Sima Milutinovic Sarajlija.
Milutinovic taught the young Njegos a few basic disciplines and instilled in him an
appreciation for heroic folk poems, through which he called forth Njegos 's own poetic
inspirations. Njegos was sent by his uncle, the state and spiritual leader of
Montenegro, to a school near Herceg-Novi, on the Adriatic coast, just beyond the
Montenegrin border. His brief stay there was highly beneficial to him because for the
first time he was able to live in a more civilized environment. It was at this time that
he began to write poems in imitation of folk poetry, which was then the only kind of
literature of which the people of Montenegro were aware.
Though he had meager theological training, at the age of seventeen, in October
1830, Njegos inherited his uncle's title as the head of both the state and the church.
He remained in that capacity until his death. During his rule Njegos spent most of his
energy in leading Montenegro out of the Middle Ages, while nonetheless finding time
to write. He had to bring order among the Montenegrin tribes, which resisted his
attempts to eradicate common crime and often conducted bloody wars against one
another. He tried to convince his countrymen that they ought to pay taxes so that the
country could be modernized. He also fought to establish the borders of Montenegro
and played diplomatic games with the great powers - Turkey, Austria, and Russia - in
order to achieve formal recognition of Montenegro as a sovereign state, while at the
same time organizing military campaigns against the Turks and their Montenegrin
converts. He built schools and roads, very few of which had existed before him;
organized a small governing body called the Senate; created the first organized
police force in Montenegro to combat crime, collect taxes, and prevent tribal wars;
imported a printing press and started publishing books; and sent gifted youths
abroad to provide for an enlightened future leadership for the country. All the while
he was dreaming of the liberation of all Slavs from the Turks, placing his greatest
hope in Russia as the protector of the Slavs. In 1833 he went to Russia, where he was
officially ordained Bishop of Montenegro. While on his journey to Russia, in Vienna, he
twice met Vuk Karadzic, the great reformer of the Serbian written language and
collector of Serbian folk literature. Njegos gave Vuk some of his writings to be
published and, in turn, was encouraged by Vuk to write more. From Russia Njegos
brought many books, which represented his first real encounter with world literature.
His second trip to Russia, in 1837. contributed even further to the recognition of
Montenegro as a sovereign state and to the security of its borders. He remained a
loyal admirer of Russia all his life, even when Russia had to make peace with his archenemy, Turkey.
The next ten years were a period of lively literary activity in Njegos's life, during
which he wrote his greatest works - The Ray of Microcosm and The Mountain Wreath,
while continuing his struggle for a strong and secure Montenegro. The revolutions of
1848 in Europe strengthened his hopes that all Slavs, especially the South Slavs,
would completely free themselves from foreign domination, and that his beloved
Montenegro would finally be left in peace. When the revolutions failed, Njegos was
bitterly disappointed. In addition, strenuous work under unsavory conditions and the
constant fighting which surrounded him undermined his health. He fell ill of
tuberculosis and after several trips to Italy and Austria in search of a cure, died on
October 19, 1851, at his capital Cetinje, in his thirty-eighth year, too young to finish
his two main missions - as a statesman and as a poet. He is buried at Lovcen, a
mountain peak he had chosen himself. His mausoleum is now a shrine for his whole
nation.
Njegos began to write poetry at a very early age, when he was only six-teen. His four
books of poetry The Voice of Mountaineers (1833), The Cure for Turkish
Fury (1834), The Song of Freedom (1835, published 1854), and The Serbian
Mirror (1845) - attest to the fact that poetry was foremost on his mind and in his
heart, even when he was preoccupied with other concerns. His early poems imitate
the folk poetry with which he grew up and whose influence stayed with him his entire
life. As he matured, imitation gave way to his own renditions of the overriding theme
of Serbian folk epic poetry - the struggle against the Turkish occupation or the threat
thereof, and the eventual liberation from it. The freeing of all Serbs from the Turkish
yoke was Njegos lifelong dream, both as a statesman and as a poet. In poems like "A
New Montenegrin Poem about the War between the Russians and the Turks"(1828)
and A Montenegrin Captured by a Fairy (1834), Njegos glorifies the bravery of the
Serbs in that struggle as epitomized by Karageorge, the leader of the First Serbian
Uprising against the Turks in 1804. Yet, even though these poems are imbued with
the heroic spirit of folk poetry and follow its formalistic features, they also reveal the
authenticity and potential power of Njegos's own poetic talent, which would be
manifested in his later works.
Njegoss first important work, and one of the greatest achievements in Serbian
literature, is the epic poem The Ray of Microcosm, (1845, in English, 1952 and 1957).
Written in the decasyllabic meter of Serbian folk poetry, it deviates from the spirit of
folk poetry in that it deals with the poet's philosophical and religious views on man,
his origin, his relationship with God, and his ultimate fate on earth. The six cantos of
this epic present, through the eyes of a poet who is given the opportunity to visit the
cosmos in its pre-existence, Njegoss own interpretation of the origin of the world and
man's role in it. As in Christian tradition, Njegos sees the world as God's creation after
the titanic struggle of Light and Darkness, but Njegoss man is created by God before
the creation of the earth and is condemned to eternal suffering on earth after he has
joined Satan in the rebellion against God. Thus, Njegos's religious outlook is basically
in agreement with the Christian view although it differs in details. The poem is
written in an exalted tone as befits the subject matter, and the depth of his views
and thoughts resembles that of Dante's Divine Comedy and Miltons Paradise Lost, to
which it is often compared. While it is true that Njegos was familiar with both of these
works, his epic is the result of his own thinking and poetic power.
Njegos published his magnum opus, The Mountain Wreath, in 1847, the banner year
in Serbian literature. In the same year Vuk Karadzic published his own translation of
the New Testament into a language that every Serb could understand, and Branko
Radicevic published his Poems, the first collection of Serbian lyric poetry in the
language of the people. To be sure,The Mountain Wreath goes beyond the
significance of the year. It is a modern epic written in verse as a play, thus combining
three of the major modes of literary expression.
The Mountain Wreath represents a synthesis in another sense as well. It is based on
historical facts, thus it can be called a historical play. It epitomizes the spirit of the
Serbian people kept alive for centuries; indeed, there is no other literary work with
which the Serbs identify more. it gave Njegos an opportunity to formulate his own
philosophical views, views which also reflect and further inspire those of his nation.
Finally, in this work the author reaches artistic heights seen neither before nor since
in Serbian literature. These are the main reasons for the universal reverence for and
high estimation of The Mountain Wreath the highest achievement in all of Serbian
literature.
The play is based on a historical event in Montenegro that took place toward the end
of the seventeenth century, known as "the exterminations of the Turkish converts."
Although the historical facts about this event are somewhat uncertain, it is known
that at approximately that time Montenegrins attempted to solve radically the
problem of many of their brethren who, having succumbed to the lure of Turkish
power, had agreed to being converted to Islam, mainly to improve their increasingly
harsh lives. The fact that Njegos used this event only as a general framework,
however, without bothering about the exact historical data, underscores his concern
with an issue that had preoccupied him throughout his entire life: the struggle for
freedom from foreign oppression. He subjects the entire plot and all characters to this
central idea.
The themes presented in The Mountain Wreath lend the work dimensions that go far
beyond its local limitations. The basic theme is the struggle for freedom, justice, and
dignity. The characters are fighting to correct a local flaw in their society - the
presence of turncoats whose allegiance is to a foreign power bent on conquest - but
they are at the same time involved in a struggle between good and evil, which is
found everywhere in nature. Thus, while depicting the local problem Njegos points at
the ideals that should concern all mankind. He expresses a firm belief in man and in
his basic goodness and integrity. He also shows that man must forever fight for his
rights and for whatever he attains, for nothing comes by chance. Apart from these
universal concerns, Njegos presents the centuries-old struggle of his people for the
ideals just mentioned. Perhaps no people on earth has been forced by historical
circumstances to pay for every speck of land and every piece of bread with blood and
sweat as have the Montenegrins. In elevating their struggle to a universal level
Njegos seems to find both justification and reward for their efforts. It should also be
pointed out that much of the action and many characters in The Mountain
Wreath point at similarities with Njegos and his own time. By connecting the past
with the present he gave vent to his own frustrations which were caused by the often
insurmountable difficulties he had to endure in his attempts to create a better life for
his people. It is safe to assume that many of the thoughts and words of Bishop Danilo
and Abbot Stephen reflect Njegos's own, and that the main plot of the play - the
extermination of the converts - illuminates the one overriding ambition of his life -to
free his people and enable them to live in peace and dignity.
The Mountain Wreath is not a drama in the usual sense of the word. Divided into four
scenes of unequal length, it has many subscenes which tend to weaken the unity of
action. There is little direct action, moreover, most of it is related by characters,
sometimes at great length. It is more of a Lesedrama and it is not performed often:
even when it is, it is done with revisions. It cannot be said, however, that the play is
totally devoid of dramatic quality: at times it is highly dramatic, even in the speeches
relating the action. There is also a healthy dose of humour which enlivens an
otherwise sombre and often tragic atmosphere.
One of the most important merits of The Mountain Wreath is its high artistic quality.
Employing a decasyllabic meter borrowed from folk poetry, the play is written in the
pure language of folk poetry, a language that never ceases to astound the reader and
listener. There are many powerful metaphors and striking images. When numerous
profound thoughts are added, frequently expressed in the laconic manner of proverbs
(indeed, many of them have become proverbs), the picture of The Mountain
Wreath as a masterful work of art is complete.
Njegos wrote his second play - and his last major work - Stephen the Small, the
Pretender(1847), soon after The Mountain Wreath. Yet, despite some similarities
(both plays are based on history and are written in the decasyllabic meter, for
example), the two plays could not be more different. Njegos collected the material for
this play in the archives at home and in Venice, as well as in the rich folklore about
the main character and his exploits. Stephen the Small was published in 1851, the
last of his books which he would see in print.
The historical background of the play covers one of the most fascinating and bizarre
events in Montenegrin history. A man appeared in Montenegro in 1767 claiming that
he was the Russian Tsar Peter III, who had disappeared in Russia under mysterious
circumstances and was believed to have been murdered. Most Montenegrins believed
Stephen and installed him as their ruler. His rule lasted only until 1774, however,
because some Montenegrin leaders doubted his story; a Russian envoy, Dolgorukov,
arrived to claim his extradition; and the Turks demanded that he be handed over to
them. The Turks even attacked Montenegro for that purpose, but were defeated.
During the brief war Stephen behaved in a cowardly manner, thus losing respect
among Montenegrins. But because he did some good during his short reign - he
brought unity among the feuding tribes, effected reforms, and defeated the Turks his shortcomings were forgiven, even after he finally admitted that he had come from
Dalmatia as an adventurer. Stephen was murdered by a Greek in Turkish service, who
cut his throat while shaving him.
Such an adventure tale could have served Njegos well had he been a more skillful
playwright. But instead of concentrating on the plot, dramatic as it was, he used the
dramatic form mainly to put forth his views on Montenegrin history, on the neverending war against the Turks, and on the Montenegrin character in general. The play
is much less exalted and much more down to earth than The Mountain Wreath. It is
also much more of a traditional play than The Mountain Wreath. Even though it does
not always adhere to the unities of time and place and the scenery sometimes
changes in the midst of an act, it is clearly divided into five acts, with eleven scenes
on an average in each act. Still, the fact of the matter is that Stephen the Smallis also
more of a Lesedrama than a play to be acted (it is indeed seldom performed). The
actors spend most of their time talking rather than acting, and the author seems to
be carried away by their incessant talk.
The lack of a truly dramatic quality in Stephen the Small reveals that Njegos was
more preoccupied with his own views about this brief and strange episode in
Montenegrin history than with its dramatic potential. It is also conceivable that,
having experienced similar difficulties in dealing with his own people and with the
Turks, he wanted to point out the basic differences between his approach through
strength of mind, will, and character, and Stephen's through deceit and adventurism.
At the same time Njegos could not ignore the fact that, despite his shortcomings
Stephen did have some success in dealing with the Montenegrins and the Turks in the
area in which Njegos had a lifelong ambition to succeed - in dealing with the
Montenegrins and the Turks.
Stephen the Small is, therefore, less successful as a traditional play than it is in
offering a fascinating picture of the conditions in Montenegro in the second half of
the eighteenth century, of some, often humorous, traits of the Montenegrin
character, and of Montenegro's relationship with Russia. Perhaps the greatest
significance of this play lies in showing the organic development of the author, as
Vido Latkovic sees it, from an idealist in The Ray of Microcosm, and romanticist
in The Mountain Wreath to a realist in Stephen the Small, the Pretender.
The importance of Njegos's contribution to Serbian, as well as world, literature can be
seen both from a local and a universal point of view. Locally, his appearance at the
time when Serbian literature was making its first unsure steps after centuries of
dormancy lent this reawakening a strong impetus. Coming in the midst of the
struggle for the use of the people's language in literature, Njegos's use of the
vernacular, which he patterned after folk poetry, assured the success of this allimportant linguistic reform. His poetic power, depth of thought, and ability to express
himself in artistic form, moreover, an ability not seen before or after in Serbian
literature, enabled this literature to rejoin the rest of the world during the period of
Romanticism. From the universal standpoint, Njegos's preoccupation with some of the
most basic themes of human existence - man's origin and the meaning of his life, the
constant struggle between good and evil, man's yearning for freedom - makes him a
poet of universal significance and appeal. For these reasons he is considered to be
the greatest Serbian and South Slavic writer. Although a lack of adequate translations
has precluded him so far from reaching a wider audience, he is still well-known
abroad, as attested by his frequent comparison with such great writers as Pushkin,
Milton, Dante, Mickiewicz, and others.
Most of The Mountain Wreath was written in 1846 in Cetinje, the capital of
Montenegro. In October 1846 Njegos took along the manuscript on his visit to Vienna,
where it was published the following year by the printers in the Armenian Mechitarist
monastery. The first edition was prepared by Njegos himself and he was supposed to
have overseen the printing of the book. He either did not have time or was in no
mood to pay attention to every detail, however, because he had come to Vienna on
an important mission: to ask the Russian government to help his country stricken by
drought and threatened by famine and the Turks. Since the Russians were hesitant in
allowing him to come to Russia for fear of angering the Turks, with whom they were
on good terms at that time, Njegos was in no mood to devote much time to the
printing of his magnum opus. It is, therefore, possible that some minor changes were
made by someone else during the printing. The comparison of the only preserved
manuscript (verses 1-1528) with the first edition shows differences whose authorship
is difficult to ascertain.
Since the first publication in 1847, there have been almost a hundred new editions,
all of which adhere to the first. Njegos did not see another publication of The
Mountain Wreath for he died four years later. It is difficult to imagine that he would
have made significant changes, however, had he lived longer. To be sure, there are
changes in subsequent editions, mainly to correct obvious misprints or grammatical
inconsistencies, or to conform to new orthographic rules. Thus, even though there is
no official standard version of The Mountain Wreath, the edition of 1847 suits that
definition as far as the meaning of the text is concerned, minor changes
notwithstanding. This fact speaks for the unerring creative power of Njegos, who was
able to write his major work in one sitting, so to speak.
Textual interpretations
The Mountain Wreath has been translated into most modern languages, in some
cases more than once (in German, Russian, Czech, and now English). The changes
mentioned above and other references that are difficult to illuminate fully have led to
constant interpretations of The Mountain Wreath by various scholars. The main
interpreters are Milan Resetar, Vido Latkovic, Risto Dragicevic, and Nikola Banasevic.
There are many other, less ambitious interpretations of individual passages or lines.
It is safe to say that the definitive interpretation of The Mountain Wreath is far from
being complete and that this greatest work in Serbian and South Slav literatures will
keep inspiring research forever.
1913, translated it for many years, and finally consented to demands for its
publication. It was until now the only English translation of this work.
Wiles's translation remains a gallant effort. Only those readers who are familiar with
the drama, its aphoristic thoughts, at times oblique references, and the strange
beauty of The Mountain Wreath in the original can comprehend the difficulties of
translating it into another language.
Yet, his motives and gallant efforts notwithstanding, the end result of Wiles's labour
was not an unmitigated success. His entire approach to the task reveals several
inadequacies and fallacies, which prevented his translation from doing justice to
Njegos's masterpiece. Some of these inadequacies were inherent in the
circumstances under which he had to work and over which he had little or no control
at all: the inevitable, at times profound differences between the Serbian and English
languages; the inability of a non-native to grasp the fine literary and linguistic
nuances of the original; and most certainly, some peculiarities of The Mountain
Wreath which are often difficult to master even for a native (witness several
interpretations by Yugoslav scholars, some of which are still unreconciled).
Over other problems Wiles had better control but failed to, or chose not to, exercise
it. His decision to abandon the decasyllabic meter of Njegoss verse was, no doubt,
dictated by the extreme difficulty of following it strictly in English. Yet, the translator
often went too far in his freedom. His verses not only fail to reproduce the tensyllable meter of The Mountain Wreath, but they often show great unevenness in the
number of feet per line. Sometimes one verse of Njegos is split into two.
The greatest fallacy of Wiles's approach was his belief that The Mountain
Wreath must have sounded extremely exalted and archaic even at the time of
publication in 1847. As a consequence, the translator strove consciously to recreate
the elevated tone of Njegoss epic by deliberately choosing expressions that are no
longer in common use: ye, dot/i, thou, thee, tliy, hast, shouldst, wilt, and so on, not to
speak of expressions which may be pardonable in a poetic style but are still quite
outlandish: reconipense, maw, mischance, puissant, thereto, spake, ambuscade,
methinks, and so on. Such an approach leads not only to a high degree of
unusualness, unbefitting a work patterned after folk poetry whose beauty lies
primarily in its noble simplicity, but also to a highly stilted language and even
stammering speech. One of the best illustrations of this can be found in the verse
That thus thou dost delay to us to come.
To be sure, just as Shakespeare sounds somewhat archaic to the present-day English
reader,The Mountain Wreath does at times sound somewhat antiquated to a modern
ear. When it was written, however, it sounded quite natural to a contemporary
reader. When such a work is translated into a modern language, for a modern reader,
there is no reason why it should be translated in a language belonging to a different
era. It is here that the greatest weakness of Wiles's translation lies. It is primarily this
strange sounding language used by Wiles, coupled with other inadequacies, that
encouraged me to undertake a new translation.
While working on the translation of The Mountain Wreath into English, I was faced
with many of the same or similar problems and dilemmas which beset my
predecessor. At the same time, there were problems which my predecessor was not
aware of or, more likely, chose to ignore. It is in this area that my translation differs
substantially from that of Wiles.
First of all, strenuous efforts were made to be as faithful to the original as possible,
without making the translation sound like one. My overwhelming awe before Njegos
stifled any temptation to change his work. Such temptation has ruined many a
translation, revealing in actuality a frustrated writer in the translator himself.
Changes that were made are of a minor nature, dictated only by the impossibility of
expressing some word phrase, or idea of Njegos's exactly the same way in English.
The second important element of my approach deals with the question of how
contemporary the translation of The Mountain Wreath should be. As mentioned, it
makes no sense to render this work in a version of a foreign language that is at least
one to two hundred years old. On the contrary, the language of the translation should
be just as contemporary as it was to the first reader. There is no reason, therefore, to
deny to a modern reader in English the beauty, clarity, and freshness of the original.
The question of form was probably the most difficult to solve. Apart from a few
passages in prose, most of which are stage instructions, one brief passage in the
nine-syllable meter (verses 1855-73), and the lament of Batric's sister, which is in the
twelve-syllable meter (verses 1913-63), the entire work is in the decasyllabic meter
(deseterac). Strenuous attempts were made to adhere strictly to the meter of the
original. Blank verse, consisting of unrhymed iambic pentameter, would have offered
a natural solution. Unfortunately, the meter of The Mountain Wreath is not iambic
but, most often, trochaic, which is not indigenous to English verse. Both the iamb and
the trochee, therefore, had to be abandoned. The decasyllabic meter, however, has
still been preserved in all but a very few verses. At the same time, the caesura, which
occurs in The Mountain Wreath regularly after the fourth syllable, has been kept in
almost all verses. The only concessions were a few "untruet' caesuras and sporadic
"filler" phrases such as "indeed", "pray tellt', "surely", and so on, in order to complete
the decasyllabic line: in no case was the meaning of the original compromised.
In order to preserve the flavour of Njegos's masterpiece, instead of explaining or
interpreting unusual metaphors, they were kept whenever possible. For example, the
frequent use of the metaphor "gray falcon" for a young brave man is so beautiful that
any attempt to find a similar metaphor in English would be a pale reflection of it.
Similarly, the use of "doe" for a beautiful girl, as in verse 1843, is best left unchanged
unless one wants to correct Njegos at his craft. Another metaphor, "the evil wind put
out the holy lamp", is a good example of the author's way of expressing his religious
preference in a poetic fashion; for this reason, it is best to preserve the metaphor in
the form Njegos meant it.
In selecting words, I have often refrained from long or "intellectual" words; instead,
simpler, one-to-two syllable words, the so-called Celtic words, were used, not only
because they are more direct and more powerful poetically, but also because they
correspond more closely to Njegos's folk-imitating speech. Thus, for example, the
Serbian word "Podosmo" (verse 2607) is translated as "set out" rather than
"departed" or "journeyed"; and "pocine" (verse 1873) is rendered as "rests" rather
than "reposes" or "reclines."
Many more short sentences were used in translation than one finds in Njegos. It is
quite common in a Serbian text to find two or more independent clauses in the same
sentence, separated by a comma; such practice is not tolerated in English. For this
reason punctuation frequently had to be changed. Fortunately, these and other
changes in punctuation did not alter the meaning of the original at all.
At times an inversion of phrases or clauses within a verse or of verses themselves
was necessary in order to produce a smoother reading in English. The inversion of
entire verses was mostly of adjacent ones (for example, verses 487-88, 597-98, 82728, 1153-54, 2150-51, and so on). At times it was necessary to invert verses
separated by two and even more lines (verses 668-72, 927-29, 2212-14, 2601-03,
and so on). On some occasions enjambment was used (verses 772-73, 971-72, 147677, 2294-95, and so on), although it seldom occurs in The Mountain Wreath. The
tense sequence was kept uniform within passages. In Serbian the switching from one
tense to another, usually from the past to the present, is done with abandon, often in
the same paragraph; no such switching is possible in English. The best examples of
this are found in verses 998-1005 and 1299-1304. Finally, there is little rhyming
inThe Mountain Wreath except in the Dedication poem and in a few other verses.
Rhyming was completely abandoned in the translation simply because it would have
necessitated many deviations from the original.
As for the many difficult passages, phrases, and references in The Mountain Wreath, I
have relied for the most part on the interpretations of Professor Nikola Banasevic in
his commentaries for its latest edition (Belgrade: Srpska knjizevna zadruga, 1973).
He has, in turn, made a compendium of all previous commentaries. When an
interpretation was still in doubt, I have tended to side with Professor Banasevic.
All these problems and their attempted solutions have undoubtedly resulted in a
certain loss of poetic quality in this translation of The Mountain Wreath. This is
inevitable in any translation that strives to be faithful to the author and his work,
especially if that work is a poetic one. In addition to this general circumstance, there
is something in the nature of Serbian sounds and the way in which syllables are
formed that causes a loss of poetic quality in translation. Serbian sounds, especially
those of vowels, are both shorter and clearer than in English. Syllables are usually
made through regular interchange of vowels and consonants, producing a much
greater musical effect than in English.
It is therefore not surprising that neither James W Wiles nor myself have completely
succeeded in reproducing the artistic and musical quality of Njegos's work, as is
evidenced by the translation of the above verses. What we have accomplished, I
believe, are decent renderings of this beautiful but difficult work.
It is not my intention to pass judgment on the merits of the two translations - the
reader should be the judge. Nor do I wish to denigrate Wiles's translation, which, as
stated at the beginning, still deserves our respect and gratitude. I myself have used it
for comparison and have borrowed a few lines that cannot be improved upon. There
are, however, only a few identical lines.
A literary work of the magnitude of The Mountain Wreath deserves to be translated
in, by, and for every generation. It is my hope that this is the translation for the
second half of the twentieth century.
***
I would like to express my gratitude to the University of North Carolina Research
Council and to Bonnie Carey for their generous assistance as well as to Professor
Vujadin Milanovic from the University of Belgrade for his suggestions for better
English rendering of quite a number of lines in this edition and for making this
bilingual edition splendid as it is.
Vasa D. Mihailovich
Contents
DEDICATED TO THE ASHES OF THE FATHER OF SERBIA
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
A MEETING ON THE EVE OF WHITSUNTIDE ON THE MOUNT LOVCEN
AN ASSEMBLY AT CETINJE ON THE DAY OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY, CONVENED WITH THE PURPOSE OF RECONCILING SOME
LEADERS
CHRISTMAS EVE
NEW YEAR'S DAY
Translator's Commentary
DEDICATED TO THE ASHES OF THE FATHER OF SERBIA
Let this century of ours be the pride of all the centuries,
It shall be a fateful era striking awe for generations.
[1]
In this century eight children were born as if from the same womb;
from the cradle of Bellona[2] they made their appearance on earth:
Napoleon; Charles[3]; Blucher[4]; the Duke of Wellington[5], and Suvorov[6];
Karageorge, the scourge of tyrants; Schwarzenberg[7] and Kutuzov[8], too.
Ares[9], the horror of the earth, made them drunk with martial glory
and gave them the earth's arena in which to fight one another.
It is not hard for a lion to come forth from a spacious bush.
The nest of genius is built only among greater nations.
There, above all, he finds the stuff needed for his deeds of glory
and a proud garland of triumph to adorn the hero's bold head[10].
But the hero of Topola[11], the great, immortal Karageorge,
saw many hurdles in his way, yet he reached his grandiose goal.
He roused people, christened the land,[12] and broke the barbarous fetters,
summoned the Serbs back from the dead, and breathed life into their souls.
He is the Immortal's secret: he gave the Serbs the chests of steel
and awakened the lion's heart in those who had lost their courage.
The bands of the Eastern Pharaoh[13] turn to ice in fear before George[14].
Through George the Serbian hearts and arms were instilled with high bravery!
Stamboul, the bloodthirsty father of the plague, trembles before him,
even the Turks swear by his sabre - no other oath have they indeed.
[15]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Yes, a hero's life is always haunted by a tragic ending.
It was destiny that your head had to pay the price for its wreath! [16]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Later generations judge deeds and give to all what they deserve.
Everybody's curse falls on people like Boris[17] and Vukasin[18].
The disgusting name of Piso[19] must not blemish the calendar.
Orestes'[20] justice comes like the bolt from heaven to Aegisthus[21].
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VUK RASLAPCEVIC
VUKOTA MRVALJEVIC
VUK TOMANOVIC
MANY VOICES
BOGDAN DJURASKOVIC
VUK MICUNOVIC
VUK MANDUSIC
VUK LJESEVOSTUPAC
POP MICO
THE SISTER OF BATRIC
HADJI-ALI MEDOVIC, Kadi
SKENDER-AGA
MUSTAI-KADI
ARSIAN-AGA MUHADINOVIC
FERAT ZACIR, Kavaz-basha
RIDZAL OSMAN
AN OLD WOMAN
KNEZ JANKO
It's true, Rogan, there was much quarreling.
Do you not know the Turks of Niksic town?
We just about flew at each other's throats.
Generations would tell one another
the tale of our bloody get-together.
VUK MARKOVIC
And why was it that you had to quarrel?
Who was the first to upset the meeting?
KNEZ JANKO
At the outset it was as in a joke.
Vuk Mandusic and Vuk Micunovic
began to talk with Hamza the Captain
for and against each other's religion.
Suddenly the talk turned thick and heavy,
and they exchanged several bitter words.
Then Hamza said to Vuk Micunovic:
'I am better than you. - Do you hear, Vlach?[81]
And my faith is much better than your faith!
I ride a horse and carry a sharp sword.
I am captain of an imperial town,[82]
which we have ruled for full three hundred years.
My grandfather had won it by his sword,
when empire was divided by the sword,
and the town was left to his heirs to rule."
This fired up our Vuk Micunovic
and he came up closer to the Captain:
"You call me 'Vlach', you swinish renegade?
How can a traitor be better than a knight?
What is this talk of 'sword' and 'Kosovo'?
Weren't we both on the Field of Kosovo?
I fought then and I am still fighting now,
you were traitor then and you are one now.
You've dishonoured yourself before the world,
blasphemed the faith of your own ancestors.
You have enslaved yourself to foreigners!
As for your boast about your town and rule haven't I with marble stones[83] embellished
all Turkish towns in our vicinity,
so that they are no more fit for people
but are prisons for unhappy captives?
KNEZ JANKO
Oh, my dear Lord, what a strange assembly!
Would our children act and behave like this?
We dare not do what we are yet doing,
and not announce what everybody knows.[89]
We are loading these thoughts upon ourselves
as if to think were all we have to do,
as if we didn't know what is to be done.
Whenever I have spent much time thinking,
my work has lagged always too far behind.
Those who delay never find the right way.
Bishop Danilo, seeing that evepyone has gathered,
comes out among them, too.
VUK MICUNOVIC
Don't hold us back any longer, Bishop.
but rather send these people on their way.
All wait to hear what you have to say now,
but you have lost yourself in gloomy thoughts.
You neither speak nor send us on our way.
Your face mirrors the colour of the earth.
Alone you pace up and down on the field.
You do not eat, nor can you fall asleep.
Oppressive thoughts are crowding in your mind your dreams always circle around the Turk but I do fear too much contemplation.
BISHOP DANILO
Now, listen, Vuk and my other brothers!
Do not wonder at what you see in me,
that dark thoughts are tearing my soul apart
and that my chest is heaving with horror.
Who stands on a hill, even a small one,
sees more than he who stands below the hill.
Some things I see more clearly than you do. That is either for the good or the bad.
I fear them not, this brood of the devil,
may they be as many as forest leaves,
but I do fear the evil at our home.
Some wild kinsmen of ours have turned Turkish.
If we should strike at our domestic Turks,
their Serbian kin would never desert them.
Our land would be divided into tribes,
and tribes would start a bitter, bloody feud.
Satan would come to the demon's wedding,
KNEZ JANKO
And what is that? Tell me in confidence!
VUK MANDUSIC
She is prettier than any white vila! [155]
She is hardly full eighteen years of age,
yet she's captured my whole heart completely!
KNEZ JANKO
How is it that she has captured your heart?
VUK MANDUSIC
Are you joking? There is a good reason,
There is no one like her in the whole world!
Had I not been, mind you, a godfahter
nine times over for our Ban Milonjic,
I would have seized his young daughter-in-law
and run with her to the end of the world.
KNEZ JANKO
Don't be silly, may your mother mourn you!
She has truly taken your wits away.
VUK MANDUSIC
Is the devil or is witchcraft at work,
or something worse than either of those two?
When I see her smiling, that young beauty,
the world begins to whirl fast around me.
I could stand that, even though with sorrow,
but one evening the devil compelled me
to spend a night in Milonjic's hut.
Just before dawn, the moon was still shining,
the fire burning on the freshly mown field,
from somewhere came that most beautiful girl
and sat down by the fire to catch the glow.
She heard that all in the huts were asleep.
Then she unwound her lovely wreath of hair,
and the tresses fell down below her waist.
She began to comb her hair on her breasts
and to lament in a high-pitched, clear voice,
like nightingale on a tall oak-tree branch.
The young woman mourned her husband's brother,
Andrija, the son of Ban Milonjic, who met his death about a year ago,
slain by the Turks in the bloody Duga.[156]
But the Ban would not let her cut her hair,[157]
He pitied more his daughter-in-law's wreath
than the head of his own son Andrija.
The young woman's lament tore at my heart.
Her burning eyes were brighter than the flame.
Her forehead was prettier than the moon and I, too, was weeping like an infant.
Andrija is lucky that he was slain.
What lovely eyes are weeping over him!
What lovely lips are mourning over him!
KNEZ ROGAN (whispers to Knez Janko)
Don't ask him about such things,
for God's sake, or else he'll bleat something out!
It is dawn. They wake up and rise.
OBRAD
Let me tell you what I have dreamed about.
A large crowd of people got together
to bear crosses in a church procession.
The scorching sun made our eyes a-burning,
and the ground was hard where we were going.
Till on such field as this one here we came
to rest a while under an apple-tree.
Down by the tree a small brook was running.
In the tree shade we sat close together
and there we picked several ripe apples.
They were all sweet, just as sweet as sugar.
Under the tree the priest read the Gospel.
At that moment five Martinovics
got up quickly, one after another,
and three or four of their friends followed them.
Everyone watched them as they walked away.
They put ladders up against the church wall,
then they all climbed onto the church altar
and upon it placed a large golden cross.
The cross shone like the sun on the mountain.
To their feet rose all the people around,
bowing deeply before the holy cross.
At that instant, I awoke in cold sweat.
VUK MICUNOVIC
Luck was with you! You've had a splendid dream!
I, too, have had a peculiar dream.
I was guarding myself from some fierce dogs,
KNEZ BAJKO
So I will, Knez. It's all the same to me!
I had last night a most terrible dream:
all my weapons were broken to pieces.
Some misfortune awaits me for certain,
perhaps a loss in my own family,
for whenever I have dreamed such a dream,
for burial I had to get ready.
KNEZ ROGAN
Why, Mandusic, are you so downhearted?
Why don't you tell what you dreamed of last night?
VUK MANDUSIC
I've had no dream, nor can I tell a tale.
I spent the night by sleeping like a log.
KNEZ ROGAN
Since you all stopped, I will tell you something.
I dreamed I saw our Drasko Popovic!
And it's as if I have won a wager I'd say it's he coming down the field now.
SIRDAR RADONJA
Just think, how mean a creature man can be!
Till this moment no one even mentioned
the ablest from among our voivodes.
Where has he been, our Drasko Popovic?
SIRDAR VUKOTA
Drasko had gone on business to Venice.
When Sendjer[161] launched an attack on Kotor,
he shelled the town with ancient beechwood guns,
Scepan the priest happened to be there then.
He fired just once with a gun from Kotor
and hit Sendjer's ancient gun directly.
He knocked a shell right clean into its throat,
broke it into some three hundred pieces.
Then the Doge' awarded him for that
a yearly pay of a hundred sequins.
The priest has been suffering from old age,
so Drasko went all the way to Venice
for his father's pension from the Doge.
KNEZ ROGAN
Keep those five-six rams turning on the spit,
so that we may have our meal and go home.
Voivode Drasko arrives, hugs and kisses everyone,
and sits down among them.
KNEZ ROGAN
Tell us something about Venice, Drasko!
What kind of folks did you meet over there?
VOIVODE DRASKO
What kind of folks, you are asking, Rogan?
Just like any other - they had no horns.
KNEZ ROGAN
My dear fellow, we know they had no horns,
but were they rich and were they good looking?
VOIVODE DRASKO
There were, brother, many handsome people,
but ugly folk outnumbered them ten times,
much too ugly for you to look at them.
There were many, many rich people, too.
Their riches seem to have gone to their heads.
They carried on like some silly babies.
I saw poor folks on every street corner,
toiling until their eyes were popping out
to earn a crust of meager, dried-out bread.
I used to watch them as in groups of two
on their shoulders they would hoist a woman
a huge body, lifeless and bone-lazy,
(She must've weighted close to three hundred pounds!)
and would carry her hither and thither,
through busy streets at noon, in broad daylight.
They're not afraid to lose face and honour,
thinking only of food and survival.
KNEZ JANKO
Are their houses any good, dear Drasko?
VOIVODE DRASKO
O yes, they are, the finest in the world!
But it is not without pain for people:
VUK MICUNOVIC
Since you do make such daring predictions,
tell me, fear they anyone in this world?
VOIVODE DRASKO
There is no man who is without some fear,
even if of his own shadow only.
They are afraid of nothing else indeed
but of spies and of secret policmen.
All men tremble before them in Venice.
When on the street two people start talking,
the third cocks his ear to listen to them,
then with all speed runs to the officials,
telling them what the others talked about
and adding to their tale some of his own.
Those who spoke are right away arrested
and sent to be tortured in the galley.
From such bad deeds they are all perishing
and losing faith among each other, too.
From end to end, as large as Venice is,
one could not find a single person there
who did not hold his fellow citizen
to be a spy and a secret agent.
The other day Grbicic swore to me
that one time secret agents and spies
had denounced one of the Doges himself
in the senate and before the people,
because of which he paid with his own head
right on the steps of his very palace.
Why would others not be afraid of them
when they denounce e'en the Doge' himself?
KNEZ JANKO
And did you see any games in Venice,
say like the games we play here among us?
VOIVODE DRASKO
Yes, I did, but their games are different.
They would all get together in one house
after supper, when evening had fallen.
The house was filled with all kinds of people,
and in it were lit thousands of candles.
There were big holes all around the long walls,
and those holes were all filled up with people,
VOIVODE DRASKO
I do not know, but I surely saw them.
I myself think it must have been magic.
OBRAD
Indeed, what else could it be but magic!
Once I heard it from an old grandfather
that some people came one day to Boka[162]
from Italy, or from some other place.
They came to our market outside the walls
and cried out to everybody present:
"Have a good look at that cock over there!"
When the people looked at the cockerel,
it held a long beam in one of its claws.
Next moment it was nothing but a straw!
The same people cried again: "Listen, folks!
Each one of you will hold a bunch of grapes.
You will then bring a knife close to the grapes,
but be careful, lest you want to suffer,
don't cut off a single one of the grapes!"
Then everyone grabbed a bunch of those grapes,
and quickly brought a sharp knife up to it.
Such miracle they've never seen before:
each one of them was holding his own nose
and was bringing a knife closer to it.
Then a third cried from the top of the wall:
"Listen, good folks, take care that you don't drown!"
Then a river rushed to the market-place.
And everyone, be it man or woman,
lifted his pants or her dress as to wade,
but lo! there was not a trace of water.
Yet all lifted their dress on the market
and were stepping as if through the water!
After they saw that they had been deceived,
people rose and would have killed the Latins
if those had not run away to Kotor.
Such trickery is very much the same
as your dancing on a rope, Voivode!
VUK MICUNOVIC
And do they play the gusle and sing well?
VOIVODE DRASKO
What gusle, pray, are you talking about!
No one mentioned that word there even once.
VUK MICUNOVIC
my dear brother?
Didn't you know the faithless Turks?
may God curse them!
Didn't you know they'd deceive you,
O lovely head?
My world is gone, forever lost,
my brother, my sun!
My deep wounds can never be healed,
my bitter wound!
My very eyes are plucked from me,
light of my eyes!
To whom did you leave your brothers,
brothers' glory?
And your grizzled father Pero,
woe to you, Pero!
Young sisters three bereft of you,
each a cuckoo?
Seven brothers' wives, with heads shorn[189],
O empty lives!
Why didn't you guard your handsome head,
human vila?
Why did you make the foe happy,
brotherly pride?
They cut you down on word of honour,
sneaky heathens!
How well they decked the Travnik[190] town,
God make them pay!
They decked it with your lovely head,
woe to us all!
Round whom will now soldiers gather,
O our leader?
Who will defend this border wing,
brotherly wing?
Who will cut down the Turkish heads,
O sharp sabre?
If you had died in bitter fight,
O warrior,
where young Serbian lads are vying,
O young lad,
to take their toll of arms and men
our wounds would heal.
But you trusted the faithless foe,
O faithful head!
If possible were it for me,
grieving sister,
to forget you in some way soon,
cuckoo I,
but your head was so wonderful,
O young brother!
Had you been right next to the tsar,
O clever head,
you would have been the tsar's vizier,
for your sister.
Had you been right next to the king,
O young hero,
you would have been his general,
O rose of mine!
If only I were able to talk,
you heart of mine,
with your speechless, dead head again,
woe unto me,
again to look in your dark eyes,
O eyes of mine,
to kiss your cold motionless head,
instead of live,
to comb again your locks of hair,
woe be to me,
and wind up your hero's turban,
wretched sister!
But you are now in the foes' hands,
may they reap death!
They will despoil your lovely head,
arch-enemies!
You will find there many brothers,
woe be to us,
all brothers there chosen falcons,
woe to brothers,
placed on the walls around Travnik,
may God curse it!
You may not know the brothers' heads,
O empty world,
because they have ravaged them all,
unbelievers!
What will happen to your young wife,
woe be to her!
And to your two hapless children,
poor orphans now?
And to your poor grand-dad Bajko,
O my Batric,
the grandfather who brought you up?
Woe be to him!
May your sharp wounds be forgiven,
O my Batric,
but not this dire calamity.
Woe to us all!
Our whole land has turned to Islam.
God's curse on it!
May the leaders turn into stones,
and their homes die!
All of the chieftains are crying. when they hear the name of Batric; they all
come up crying to the mourning women. As they meet, they learn what has
happened. The sister of Batric' embraces her grandfather; Knez Bajko. She
grabs his knife and kills herself Bajko swoons and falls next to his dead
grand-daughter.
VUK TOMANOVIC
May Lord be praised, what terrible sorrow
has befallen us suddenly today!
Everyone cries silently.
VUK MICUNOVIC
O my dear Lord, forever and ever,
what an awful way to lose a leader!
KNEZ ROGAN
Eighty long years have I lived already
watching many times the Montenegrins,
as I did watch the Latins, and the Turks,
but such a fine youth I have not seen yet!
VUK TOMANOVIC
Never before in these lofty mountains
was bred a youth so splendid and decent.
Brave lad was he and he seemed to wear wings.
I have watched him leaping with his comrades:
his standing jump was all fourteen feet long,
and by running, he cleared twenty-four feet;
he jumped over three horses in one leap.
VUK MICUNOVIC
What is the use hiding what really is?
Never has a Montenegrin woman
VUK TOMANOVIC
Seven brothers, and all seven alike.
KNEZ JANKO
What do you think, Vuk, will they avenge him?
VUK TOMANOVIC
Yes, they will, Knez, I'm sure, but what's the use?
KNEZ JANKO
What do you mean, "What's the use," my good man?
If they succeed in avenging him well,
it is as if they've resurrected him!
KNEZ JANKO
But this maiden, ill-fated and luckless,
who killed herself before our eyes today
has touched my heart with much deeper sorrow
than the death of unfortunate Batric.
SIRDAR JANKO
Better not talk about our sorrow, Knez!
Such a sorrow has not indeed been seen
or come to pass in many places yet.
The maiden's heart broke apart in her breast.
The world for her was turned all upside down
in her grief for her gray falcon brother.
She could never overcome her sorrow,
and so she put an end to her own life.
KNEZ ROGAN
Grief has forced her to kill herself, brothers!
A sorrow like hers - it would have crushed a stone,
then how much more her mourning sister-heart.
And handsome he was, may he rest in peace,
when he dressed to go upon a visit
and donned those large, wonderful silver plates,
a crimson shawl entwined about his head,
a braid of hair falling down his shoulders,
and two pistols thrust into his waist-belt,
a shiny sword hanging from his waist-belt,
and in his hand a shiny dzeferdar handsome of face, tall and straight as a lance!
Vuk Micunovic unwinds the shawl from his head and extends it
so that they can take hold of it and form a kolo.
BISHOP DANILO
O, Nikola, my Knez of Dupilo,[203]
I see you too have placed your hand in oath!
You aren't that strong in Crmnica, you know,
and Crmnica lies at the Turks' doorstep.
Do not take home a spurious oath with you,
for it is hard to struggle against God!
KNEZ NIKOLA
Hear me, Bishop and all Montenegrins,
I know quite well how it is at my home.
Three hundred men I have in Dupilo.
Let all of them betray me if they wish,
I swear to you by my firm faith in God,
that we must fight the Turks with a vengeance,
though it may mean the end of our whole clan!
When I shed blood for my own faith freely,
I do not fear a curse or anything.
As soon as a gun fires at Cetinje,
you'll hear thunder resounding all around.
Blessed is the one whose heart is true and sound
and who has not become too old and weak business enough, in truth, shall he behold!
SIRDAR JANKO
We will not betray you, but we must confirm it
with an oath; it will be sounder business.
VUK MICUNOVIC
Administer the oath, Sirdar Vukota! You know it best,
and we shall all cry out: Amen!
SIRDAR VUKOTA
Keep this in mind firmly, Montenegrins!
He who begins this fight will be the best!
But who betrays those brave ones that begin,
may all he has turn to stone and ashes!
May the Great Lord with His awesome power
change all the seeds in his fields to pebbles
and the children in his wife's womb to stone!
May his offspring all turn into lepers,
and may people point their finger at them!
May all traces of him be blotted out,
CHRISTMAS EVE
Bishop Danilo and Abbot Stefan sit by the fire,
and the happy monastic students dance about the house
and place Christmas logs on the fire.
ABBOT STEFAN
Have you, children, placed the logs on the fire?
Did you put them crosswise, to our custom?
STUDENTS
We have placed them as we should, grandfather.
Handfuls of wheat over them we have strewn,
and we have poured ruby wine over them.
ABBOT STEFAN
toward him.
He spurs his horse on and quickly comes to them. They gather around him.
Seeing the five Martinovics, Vuk Borilovic; and three of his servants
covered with blood,
Bishop Danilo begins to question them.
BISHOP DANILO
Now tell me all that had taken place there.
What kind of men are you - wolves or foxes?
VOIVODE BATRIC
We bring you all real good tidings, our Lord.
We bow to God and to the Holy Child.
But first of all, we wish Merry Christmas
to you and to all of Montenegro!
The five of us Martinovic brothers,
and the three of your most faithful servants,
and the falcon gray, Vuk Borilovic,
had a skirmish with the Turks last evening.
All who heard it came to our assistance.
Soldiers were as plentiful as water.
But why should I go on with my story?
As wide and long that Cetinje Plain is,
not one witness was able to escape
to tell his tale about what happened there.
We put under our sharp sabres all those
who did not want to be baptized by us.
But all those who bowed to the Holy Child
and crossed themselves with the sign of Christian cross,
we accepted and hailed as our brothers.
We set on fire all the Turkish houses,
that there might be not a single trace left
of our faithless domestic enemy.
From Cetinje we set out for Ceklic.[213]
But the Turks of Ceklic all ran away,
so we cut down only a few of them,
but we also set their houses ablaze.
Out of their mosque and of a small building
we made a pile of accursed rubble there,
as a warning of shame to all people.
BISHOP DANILO
You have brought me great gladness, my falcons,
great joy for me. Heroic liberty!
This bright morning you've been resurrected
from every tomb of our dear forefathers!
Abbot Stefan goes among the people. Two lads behind him carry a large
plate
and on it about fifty-five pounds of cooked wheat mixed with pomegranate
seeds and topped with wine and honey. The people wonder, gathering
around him
to see what he will do. The youths place the cooked wheat in the middle
of the big threshing-floor, and the Abbot begins to speak
ABBOT STEFAN
Listen, people, you all take off your caps!
I want to hold memorial service
to the souls of our nation's great heroes.
This day will be the most priceless to them.
Since Kosovo there's never been such day.
Everybody takes off his cap and laughs with joy.
ABBOT STEFAN (recites by heart)
Lord, have mercy on your faithful servants,
on the rulers, who are naught but your slaves:
on young Dusan,[214] the invincible one;
on Obilic; Djuro Kastriota;[215]
on Zrinovic;[216] both Ivan and Milan;[217]
on Strahinic;[218] Relja Krilatica;[219]
on Crnovic, both Ivo and Uros;[220]
on Cmiljanic;[221] Voivode Momcilo;[222]
on Jankovic;[223] on the nine Jugovics;
and on Novak[224] for his alacrity;
and on other valiant heroes of ours!
May their good souls reign supreme in heaven
just as their names still rule upon the earth!
They eat the cooked wheat, eat dinner, and go home.
there are all kinds of smiths across the sea could some of them make my gun right again?
BISHOP DANILO
O scowling Vuk, lift your moustache for me
and let me see the breastplates on your chest,
that I may count holes from rifle bullets,
see how many of them broke up your plates!
You cannot raise a body from the grave,
nor can remake a shiny dzeferdar.
May your head stay healthy on your shoulders!
You will acquire another good rifle,
for in the hands of brave Vuk Mandusic
every rifle will be right and deadly.
The Bishop gets up and gives Mandusic one of his good dzeferdars from his
room.
THE END
COMMENTARY
1.
The Father of Serbia is Karageorge (1752-1817), the leader of the First Serbian
4.
5.
6.
in 1799.
7.
Schwarzenberg, Karl (1771-1820), an Austrian general, commanded Allied
armies against Napoleon in 1813 and
1814.
8.
9.
10.
13.
The Eastern Pharaoh here is the Sultan, who at that time ruled over Egypt in
The dotted lines in the dedication indicate lines which were omitted from the
first edition, presumably for political reasons.
16.
Karageorge was murdered in 1817, most likely by the order of his rival
successor Milos Obrenovic (1780-1860), the leader of the Second Serbian Uprising
Vukasin (?-1371), a Serbian king who ruled along with the last Serbian Uros,
and who, according to the legend, was involved in Uros's deal 1371. Vukasin died in
the battle at the Maritza River, however, two month before Uros death.
19.
Piso, Gnaeus Calpurnius, the trusted officer of the Roman Emp. Tiberius, was
accused of poisoning Germanicus, the Emperor's nephew heir. Piso committed suicide,
or was murdered, and the Senate removed name from the list of Roman consuls (fasti
consulares). Njegos mistool list of consuls for a calendar (fasti).
20.
Aegisthus killed Agamemnon, the commander of the Greeks in the war against
the Trojans, with the help of Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra.
21.
Orestes, Agamemnon's son, killed both Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.
22.
23.
Dusan Tsar (1308-55), also called "The Mighty", the greatest Serbian ruler in
the Middle Ages.
24.
Obilic Milos, a minor nobleman at the Serbian court at the time of the Battle of
Kosovo between the Serbs and the Turks on June 28, 1389, became the greatest hero
in Serbian epic poetry after he had penetrated the Turkish Sultan Murat's tent, under
the pretext of wanting to surrender, and killed him with a knife. The Serbian defeat at
Kosovo marks the beginning of more than five centuries of Turkish domination of
Serbia.
25.
26.
The Serbs have now fulfilled their vow - By defeating the Turks, Karageroge
avenged the defeat at Kosovo, which had been the ardent desire of all Serbs since
1389.
27.
Mount Lovcen, the highest peak (5,500 feet) in Montenegro, west of Cetinje,
the capital of the independent state of Montenegro until 1915. From this peak all of
Montenegro and parts of other Serbian lands can be seen; for that reason, Njegos
29.
Charles Martel defeated the Saracens at Poitiers in 832, thus halting their
historical facts.
34.
Gerluka (Gertuk), a Greek admiral, also betrayed his lord, Constantine XI, to
the Turks; later he was put to death by Mohamed II
35.
Besides Asia where their nest is hidden...................to eat his full, let alone
overeat - These ten lines enumerate the Turkish conquest by various rulers and the
difficult conditions in which the conquered found themselves from the fourteenth
through the sixteenth centuries.
36.
Janko, the legendary Hungarian hero Hunyadi Janos (1387-1456), bravely
fought the Turks after the death of King Wladislaw III in 1444, but after the battle of
Mohacs in 1526 the Turks conquered Hungary as well.
37.
Skenderbeg, a hero like Milos Obilic, defended Albania alone, but after his
death in 1468 Albania too was subdued.
38.
I must fight against the worst of all - After lamenting the dismal fate and
isolation of his people, the Bishop complains about the struggle he must carry on with
47.
48.
49.
50.
Kolo, a traditional Serbian round dance. In Montenegro, the dancers can also
sing epic poems while dancing. (it should be observed that Njegos, uses the singing of
the kolo dancers to comment, not unlike the chorus in the ancient Greek play, on the
meaning of the happenings of the moment.
51.
52.
Grad, game, in which the players try to avoid being hit by a ball.
In the game of "grabbing the cap", the players snatch their opponent's cap
57.
58.
59.
Lazar (1329-89), the Serbian prince who fought and lost the Battle of Kosovo.
According to the legend, after the battle at Kosovo Lazar's daughters turned into
cuckoos to bewail the death of their father and the fall of he Serbian Empire.
60.
Our kings and tsars trampled upon the law- According to the Old Testament,
people are punished for the sins of their leaders. Serbian medieval rulers were
notorious for their fights against each other, even within the same families. By having
the kolo singers bring up this point, the poet makes a not-so-veiled allusion to the
indecisiveness of the present leaders in their deliberation of the problem of the
converts.
61.
that accursed supper of Kosovo-An epic poem has it that during the supper on
the eve of the Kosovo battle Prince Lazar, incited by Vuk Brankovic, accused Milos
Obilic of disloyalty and betrayal. Milos vowed to defend his honour in the battle the
next day.
62.
Milos Obilic had two "sworn brothers" (not by blood but by choice), Milan
Toplica and Ivan Kosancic, who died with him at Kosovo.
63.
For Vuk Brankovic', see above.
64.
65.
for his failure he thrust his right hand into the fire until it burned. Impressed, the king
spared his life and nicknamed him "the Left-Handed".
66.
Tartarus, the underworld in Greek mythology, is identified here with the Turkish
Empire.
67.
And the intrigues of the mad assembly-A repeated reference to discord and
The slanderers as well as the slander-By legend, Vuk Brankovic, who had
slandered Milos Obilic during the supper and then betrayed Prince Lazar during the
Lion in the trap, Lion is often used in The Mountain Wreath as a symbol of
bravery. By having him caught in a trap, the poet alludes to the loss of courage and
80.
81.
82.
83.
cat's neck so that they could hear his coming, but no one dared to do it.
84.
...drunk wedding guest, as the story goes - An illusion to the Serbian story
about wedding guests whose duty was to bring the bride to the bridegroom's home
but drank so much that they forgot about it.
85.
86.
87.
Simunja, a small mountain between the clans of Ceklici and Bjelice The Bjelice
live northwest of Cetinje.
88.
We dare not do what we are yet doing, and not announce what everybody
knows - What they all have in mind is to get rid of the converts, yet no one dares ~
discuss it.
89.
Once you escaped the Turkish impalement; you should've rotted on their
gallows instead- Bishop Danilo was captured through deceit by the Turks but was
released after a ransom had been paid. The Bishop wishes here that he had been cilled
then.
90.
Ivan-beg (1465-90), the son of the founder of the Crnojevic dynasty, Stefan
Crnojevic, often fought the Turks, alone or with the Venetians. Historically, Ivan-beg's
brother was not Uros but George, who was killed around 1450 at the Cemovo Field
near Podgorica.
91.
Karuce, a village in the district of Crmnica, west of the Lake of Skadar.
92.
Great offerings were made in his honour - The reference is to the fifteen
thousand Turks slain to avenge Uros's death.
93.
Europe's cleric from his holy altar scoffs and spits at the altar of Asia - The
poet criticises here the European Christians for not going beyond "scoffing and
spitting" at the Turks, who are ravaging Christianity where they rule.
94.
Awesome symbols, the Crescent and the Cross - Both religions built their
power through the death of many of their believers, therefore the fight between them
will go on, and one must choose one or the other.
95.
96.
For Ivan-beg, see above, Mara was not the wife but the mother of Ivan-beg.
His youngest son, Stanisa, accepted Islam after his father's death and ruled
Stanko ran off headlong to Bajazet... - After his defeat, Stanko (Skender-beg
formerly Stanisa) was supposed to have joined Sultan Bayazit II (1481-1512) in the war
104.
I'll be the first to go with the kumas - In order to reconcile the blood-feuding
families, the relatives of the murderer go with unbaptized children in cradles to the
family of the murdered to ask forgiveness. If it is accepted, the family of the murdered
becomes godfather (kum and kuma) of the children in the cradles.
105.
cut the dinar in two - A custom by which the dinar (a silver coin) is cut in two
to complete and legalize the reconciliation. Each side retains one half of the coin.
106.
The fear in life often stains one's honour - Many Christians were converted to
Islam for fear of torture or death.
107.
The light that shines in the eye of the fox terrifies birds, the weakest of
creatures, yet the fox looks at the eagle in fear - In this allegory, the Turks (the fox)
frighten weaklings (small birds) but are afraid of real heroes (an eagle), i.e., the
Montenegrins.
108.
thought about water - Another allusion to the futility and ill-conception of negotiations
with the Turks.
114.
Dog's scratchings - By popular belief, stepping on dog's scratchings affects
one's mind.
115.
At least I took my whip of triple trong.... Another allusion to the stubbornness
and madness of the Turks; only by brute force can they be brought to their senses.
116.
117.
The wolf and the hawk symbolize the Montenegrins, while the fox the Turks.
Christmas-log on the fire - A Serbian custom of laying an oak log on the fire on
Christmas Eve.
118.
Bairam, the greatest Islamic holiday.
119.
It is so, and no other way! - This line is in prose; it makes a decasyllabic verse,
however, when combined with dramatis persona: Svi iz glasa, tako vec nikako!
120.
A linden cross, a pejorative expressing the weakness of the Crhistians,
especially when pitted against the "sharp, supple steel", i.e., the Turkish might.
121.
122.
123.
A whole egg wins over the one that's cracked - An allusion to the Easter
custom of striking one egg against another. The holder of the whole egg wins the
broken one.
124.
Hollow tree, a depreciatory term for minaret.
125.
Don't step over my good rifle - As superstition goes, if a person steps over a
rifle it loses its accuracy: to restore it, the person must step back over it.
126.
Hadji-Hadja, a derogatory name for the highest-ranked Moslem pilgrim,
perhaps for the Prophet Mohammed himself.
127.
A millstone dies - A dog used to licking the flour from a millstone won't stop
until it dies or the millstone is broken. An allusion to the converts' inability to change.
128.
129.
130.
There can be no kumstvo without baptism - One who does a child's first hair-
cutting is a hair-cutting kum, but he is never the same as the baptismal kum godfather.
131.
132.
Vrtijeljka.
133.
Sendjer the Vizier, the Pasha of Skadar.
134.
Vrtijeljka, hill southeast of Cetinje, where Sendjer defeated the Montenegrins
in 1685.
135.
136.
137.
Podgorica, the largest city in Montenegro, now the Capital of the Republic of
Montenegro in the union with Serbia.
138.
Selim Vizier, the servant of Mohammed's servant, i.e., the Sultan. Historically,
an undetermined figure.
139.
140.
141.
Leopold's courageous voivode - Charles of Lorraine, the commander of
Emperor Leopold's army, and John Sobieski, the king of Poland, defeated the Turks
before Vienna in 1683, signalling the beginning of the decline of the Turkish might in
Europe.
142.
two brothers - The brothers Mohamed II, the conquerer of Constatinople in
1453, and Mohammed IV whose army was defeated at Vienna.
143.
144.
who declines to visit a sick lion in the cave because he saw no trace of other visiting
animals out of the cave.
145.
146.
A beehive is a metonym for Montenegro, and the bear for the Turks.
I used to climb down your rope in the past - The Bishop is reminding Selim-
Pasa of the time when he was invited to visit the Turks and was almost killed. See
above.
147.
Haiduk, a Serbian outlaw whose preoccupation was to fight the Turks and
protect the Serbian populace.
148.
...have fallen on their noses before me - When someone is hit from the front,
he falls on his face (nose).
149.
And many a wailing Turkish woman has unwound black balls of wool after me According to a custom, a Turkish woman unwinds a ball of black wool after an enemy,
in a superstitious wish that he suffer bad (black) fate.
150.
Novi Grad, a fortress (now Herceg-novi town) at the entrance of the Bay of
Kotor.
151.
Kameno, near Novi Grad. Soon thereafter the Venetians took Novi Grad.
152.
Vila, a fairy in Serbian folklore.
153.
154.
But the Ban would not let her cut her hair - One of the mourning customs for a
158.
159.
160.
161.
162.
the Cross or that of the pillar - The reading of the sheep shoulder-bone is an
old custom to tell both the past and the future. The upper part of the shoulder-blade,
called the Cross, stands for Christians; the lower part, called the Pillar (i.e., minaret)
stands for the Turks.
163.
Kosovo is lying all around it - When referring to a great calamity, the Serbs
often invoke the name of Kosovo, since it reminds them of the downfall of the Serbian
Empire that started with the Battle of Kosovo in 1389.
164.
Ljesev Stup, a village in Bjelice, not far from Cevo.
165.
166.
Vidovdan (St. Vitus Day), the day of the Battle of Kosovo on June 28, 1389.
Obod, a hill with a small town Obodnik, above another town, Rijeka Crnojevica,
northwest of Skadar.
167.
Yes, there are some Montenegrins also - It was uncommon for the
Montenegrins and the converts to exchange wed-ding guests and sometimes even to
fight on the same side in battles.
168.
Gergelez Alija, a Turkish legendary hero in popular songs. According to a
legend, Gergelez jumped, together with his horse, into the Danube in celebration of
the Turkish conquest of Budapest, thus securing for himself a place in the Prophet's
paradise.
169.
170.
Serbian legendary hero; historically, a minor Turkish vassal ruling around Prilep (?1395), who died on the Turkish side in a battle against Christians.
171.
172.
Moslem folklore.
176.
Giaours, a Turkish word for non-Moslems, i.e., infidels
177.
Komnen, a brother of Ivo Senjanin; according to the Serbian epic poem he
captured a Turkish girl in one of the battles and brought her to Senj, a small Dalmatian
town north of Split.
178.
Doe, a formulaic metaphor in Serbian folk poetry for a beautiful girl.
179.
Starina Novak, a Serbian haiduk in Serbian epic poems, famous for his bravery
183.
Mustai-Kadi's song (after he appears) is in the nine-syllabic meter, with
caesura after the fourth syllable. This stanza of six verses, sung in an answer to
Mustai-Kadi's exaltation of Turkish love, is the only rhymed part of The Mountain
Wreath in addition to the "Dedication".
184.
Milos, Marko - Mujo, and Alija - Milos Obilic and Marko Kraljevic as Serbian
heroes; Mujo and Alija Gergelez as Turkish.
185.
The lamentation of the Sister of Batric of her brother, slain deceitfully by the
Turks, is in the twelve-syllabic meter, the first line having eight syllables and the
second, a refrain, four; the caesura remains after the fourth syllable. Such
lamentations, an ancient custom among the Serbs, are sung by women, either
relatives or not; they are for the most part improvised and are uncommonly and
unabashedly emotional befitting the occasion.
186.
187.
188.
God strike him dead, dead though he's already - This curse, despite sounding
illogical, is expressed more as a belated reprimand and out of helpless frustration.
189.
Ozrinics, Cue, and Bjelice are three clans living to the north and north west of
Cetinje.
190.
end
Bar, a port on the Montenegrin part of the Adriatic coast, close to its southern
191.
And from that------------This line is left unfinished by the poet, for unknown
reasons.
192.
193.
200.
Dappled horses of which Marko Kraljevic's Sarac was one, are almost extinct in
Montenegro
201.
May he not have a son to die in war - To die bravely in a battle is one of the
monasteries among them the Serbian monastery Hilandar, built in the twelfth century
by the first Nemanic (medieval Serbian dynasty) ruler, Stefan Nemanja, and his son,
Saint Sava
205.
Ponor, an abyss near the Cetinje monastery.
206.
207.
time before dawn and that is the time when the Montenegrins fire their guns most
noisily on Christmas morning.
208.
209.
210.
211.
212.
Zrinovic (Nikola Zrinjski) a Croatian ban, ban, died in 1556 while defending
Siget from the Turks
213.
214.
in-law of Jug-Bogdan
215.
Relja Krilatica, a hero in epic poetry, a sworn-brother of Marko Kraljevic.
216.
217.
218.
Voivode Momcilo, in folk poetry the brother of Jevrosima, Marko Kraljevic's
mother.
219.
Jankovic Stojan, a hero of the wars against the Turks and in the epic poems,
was killed during the attack on Duvno town in 1687.
220.
221.
222.
223.
224.
225.
226.
227.
228.
229.
230.
Voivode Drasko, Vukota Mrvaljevic, Vuk Markovic, and Vuk Tomanovic are
characters appearing in The Mountain Wreath.
231.
232.