A certain man had a shepherd, who served him faithfully and honestly
for many years. This shepherd, when he was once upon a time
following the sheep, heard a whistling on the hill, and, not knowing
what it was, went off to see. When he got to the place, there was a
conflagration, and in the middle of it a serpent was squeaking. When
he saw this, he waited to see how the serpent would act, for all
around it was burning, and the fire had almost come close to it.
When the serpent saw him, it screamed: 'Dear shepherd, do a good
action: take me out of this fire.' The shepherd took pity on its
words, and reached it his crook, and it crawled out upon it. When it
had crawled out, it coiled itself round his neck. When the shepherd
saw this, he was frightened, and said: 'Indeed you are a wretch! Is
that the way you are going to thank me for rescuing you? So runs the
proverb: "Do good, and find evil."' The serpent answered him: 'Don't
fear: I shall do you no harm; only carry me to my father; my father
is the emperor of the serpents.' The shepherd begged pardon, and
excused himself: 'I can't carry you to your father, because I have
no one to leave in charge of my sheep.' The serpent said to him:
'Don't fear for your sheep; nothing will happen to them; only carry
me to my father, and go quickly.' Then there was no help for it, so
he started with it over the hill. When he came to a door, which was
formed of nothing but serpents intertwined, and went up to it, the
serpent which was coiled round his neck gave a whistle, and the
serpents, which had twined themselves into the form of a door,
immediately untwined, and made way for them to enter. As the
shepherd and the serpent entered the palace, the serpent called to
the shepherd: 'Stop! let me tell you something: when you come into
my father's palace, he will promise you what you desire, silver and
gold; but don't you accept anything, only ask him to give you such a
tongue that you will be able to understand all animals. He will not
give you this readily, but at last grant it you he will.' The
shepherd went with it into its father's palace, and its father, on
seeing it, shed tears, and asked it: 'Hey, my son, where have you
been till now?' It replied, and told him everything in order: what
had taken place, and how it had taken place, and how the shepherd
had rescued it. Then the emperor of the serpents turned to the
shepherd, and said to him: 'Come, my son, what do you wish me to
give you in recompense for rescuing my child?' The shepherd replied
to him: 'Nothing else, only give me such a tongue that I can
understand all animals.' The emperor of the serpents said to him:
'That is not a proper gift for you, my son, because, if I give you
anything of the kind, you will betray yourself in somebody's
presence by boasting of it, and then you will die immediately; ask
something else.' The shepherd replied to him: 'I wish for nothing
else. If you will give it me, give it; if not, farewell!' He turned
to go; but the emperor of the serpents cried out: 'Stay! Return! If
you ask this, come, that I may give it you. Open your mouth.' The
shepherd opened his mouth, and the emperor of the serpents spat into
it, and told him to spit also into his mouth. And thus they spat
thrice into each other's mouths. When this was done, the emperor of
the serpents said to the shepherd: 'Now you have the tongue which
you desired; go, and farewell! But it is not permitted you to tell
anybody, because, if you do, you will die. I am telling you the
truth.' The shepherd then departed. As he went over the hill, he
understood the conversation of the birds, and, so to speak, of
everything in the world. When he came to his sheep, he found them
correct in number, and sat down to rest. But scarcely had he lain
down, when two crows flew up, perched on a tree hard by him, and
began to converse in their language: 'If that shepherd knew that
just where that black lamb lies a vault full of silver and gold is
buried in the ground, he would take its contents.' When he heard
this, he went and told his master, and he brought a cart, and they
broke open the door of the vault, and took out its valuable
contents. His master was a righteous man, and said to him: 'Well, my
son, this is all yours; the Lord has given it you. Go, provide a
house, get married, and live comfortably.' The shepherd took the
property, went away, provided a house, got married, and lived very
comfortably. This shepherd, after a little time, became so rich and
prosperous that there was nobody richer than he in his own or the
neighbouring villages. He had shepherds, cowherds, swineherds,
grooms, and everything on a handsome scale. Once upon a time this
shepherd ordered his wife on New Year's Eve to provide wine, brandy,
and everything requisite, and to go the next morning to his cattle,
to take the provisions to the herdsmen, that they, too, might enjoy
themselves. His wife obeyed him, and did as her husband ordered her.
The next day they got up, got ready, and went. When they arrived
where the cattle were, the master said to his shepherds: 'Lads,
assemble together, and sit down to eat and drink your fill, and I
will watch the cattle to-night.' This was done; they assembled
together, and he went out to sleep by the cattle. In the course of
the night, after some time, the wolves began to howl and speak in
their language, and the dogs to bark and speak in theirs. The wolves
said: 'Can we capture any young cattle?' The dogs answered in their
language: 'Come in, that we, too, may eat our fill of flesh.' But
among the dogs there was one old dog, who had only two teeth left.
This dog spoke and answered the wolves: 'In faith, as long as these
two teeth of mine last, you shan't come near to do harm to my
master.' In the morning, when it dawned, the master called the
herdsmen, and told them to kill all the dogs except that old one.
His servants began to implore him: 'Don't, master! Why? It's a sin.'
But he said to them: 'Do just as I ordered you, and not otherwise.'
Then he and his wife mounted their horses and went off. His wife
rode a mare, and he a horse. As they went, the master's horse
outstripped the wife's mare, and began to say to her in their
language: 'Go quicker; why do you hang back?' The mare's reply in
defence of her lagging pace was so amusing that the man laughed out
loud, turned his head, and looked behind him with a smile. His wife
observed him smiling, whipped her mare to catch him up, and then
asked him to tell her why he smiled. He said to her: 'Well, suppose
I did? Something came into my head.' This answer did not satisfy
her, but she began to worry him to tell her why he smiled. He said
this and that to her to get out of it, but the more he said to get
out of it, the more did she worry him. At length he said to her
that, if he told her, he would die immediately. But she had no dread
of her husband's dying, and went on worrying him: 'There is no
alternative, but tell me you must.' When they got home, they
dismounted from their horses, and as soon as they had done so, her
husband ordered a grave to be dug for him. It was dug, and he lay
down in it, and said to his wife: 'Did you not press me to tell you
why I smiled? Come now, that I may tell you; but I shall die
immediately.' On saying this, he gave one more look round him, and
observed that the old dog had come from the cattle. Seeing this, he
told his wife to give him a piece of bread. She gave it him, but the
dog would not even look at it, but shed tears and wept; but the
cock, seeing it, ran up and began to peck it. The dog was angry, and
said: 'As if _you'd_ die hungry! Don't you see that our master is
going to die?' 'What a fool he is! Let him die! Whose fault is it?
I have a hundred wives. When I find a grain of millet, I call them
all to me, and finally eat it myself. If one of them gets cross at
this, I give her one or two pecks, and she lowers her tail; but this
man isn't equal to keeping one in order.' When the man heard the
cock say this, he jumped up at once out of the grave, seized a
stick, chased his wife over hill and dale, and at last settled her
completely, so that it never entered her head any more to ask him
why he smiled.
_SERBIAN STORIES._
The Serbian is the most widely spread of the South Slavonic dialects,
being spoken not only in Serbia proper, but also in Bosnia,
Herzegovina, Croatia, Carniola, and a great part of South Hungary. It
has, like the Bulgarian, been affected by the old Thracian language,
but not to the same extent. The infinitive is very frequently
represented by _da_ with the finite verb. Szafarzik includes the whole
of the South Slavonic dialects, except the Bulgarian, under the common
name 'Illyrian,' and subdivides them into the three divisions of
Serbian, Croatian, and Carinthian-Slovenish.
The Serbian stories are generally good, particularly No. 40, which
may be compared with a very inferior variant in Grimm, 'The Golden
Bird.' No. 40 is one of the stories, the beauty of which set me to
work upon the present series of translations. In it is to be noticed
the _pobratimstvo_, or adoptive brotherhood, which plays so
important a part in Serbian life, and of which we have just had a
glimpse in the Bulgarian story, No. 38. No. 43 is a very good story,
containing novel and interesting incidents. In No. 44 it must be
observed that 'Fate' is represented as a man, for the converse
reason to that for which Death is represented as a woman in the
Moravian story, No 8. _Usud_ (Fate) is masculine, while _Smrt_
(Death) is feminine in Slavonic.
The Serbs possess actual epic poetry, of which an account is given
by Mr. Morfill ('Slavonic Literature,' pp. 154-162).