{0a} Instit. Ling. Salv. p. 154.
{0b} The origin of this word is rather oriental than Roman. It is the
Persian Shah, and not the Cæsar of Rome, nor the Kaiser of Germany.
{0c} The best sources of Servian history are:
_George Brankovich’s_ History of Servia, MS. in Karlovitz.
_Julinac’s_ vvedencie v istoria slaveno-serbskag Naroda.
_Raicz’s_ Kratkaia Serblii, Rassii, Bosny i Ramy Istoria; and by the same
author, Istoria Slavenskich Narodov, &c.
_Von Engel’s_ Geschichte von Servien und Bosnien.
_Neshkovicz’s_ Istoria Slaveno-bolgarskog Naroda, and _Davidovicz’s_
Jeianija k Istoria Srbskoga Naroda. See Schaffarik’s Slawische Sprache
und Literatur, p. 196.
{0d} Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur, p. 201.
{0e} Grimm’s Introduction to Vuk’s Servian Grammar, p. x.
{0f} Adelung, who has only given a fragment of the Servian language in
his Mithridates, calls the Servian and Bosnian dialects “the clearest and
purest of all the Illyrian tongues.”
{0g} The Servians possess a translation of the Bible, made in the ninth
century, written in the _Pannonian_ dialect, which is now obsolete. This
Bible, however, has served, and still serves, as a standard of the
Servian language; and its authority has been rather increased than
diminished from the circumstance of its phraseology being far removed
from what is deemed the vulgar idiom. That the vulgar idiom, however, is
amply sufficient for all the common purposes of language, and for the
communication even of the most exquisite shades of thought and feelings,
is sufficiently exemplified.
{0h} He was born in 1645. He represented the princes of Transylvania at
Constantinople, where he served Leopold so faithfully, that the latter
determined to unite in his person the Hungarian and the Servian crowns.
It was he who, associated with the archbishop of Ipek, led 36,000 Servian
families into Lower Hungary, and, as a reward for his exertions, he was
made a baron (Freiherr), and afterwards a count; but ere long he became
the object of suspicion; he was confined at Vienna, banished as a state
prisoner to Eger in Bohemia, where he wrote his History of Servia, and
died in 1711.
{0i} He frequently refers to the Servian ballads as historical
authorities, though he seems to have formed no correct estimate of their
poetical merits.
{0j} Dr. Vuk is at the present hour, I believe, a member of the
household of the Hospodar of Servia, and engaged in collecting a farther
supply of popular poetry.
Dr. Vuk has also published Narodne Srpske Pripovijetke. A collection of
Servian tales. Vienna, 1821.
A Comparison between the Servian and other Slavonic Idioms. Vienna,
1822.
A Specimen of a Translation of the New Testament into Servian. Vienna,
1824.
{0k} Göthe, Ueber Kunst und Alterthum, V. ii. 40–42.
{0l} Among all the Slavonic tribes, many vestiges of idolatry are yet
found. The songs with which a wedded pair are accompanied to and from
the church contain frequently allusions to _Lada_ (the Slavonian Venus),
and the bride wears a wreath of _wasilok_ and _ruta_ (evergreens), and is
called a _Queen_.
{0m} Serbische Hochzeitslieder. Pest. 1826.
{3} A ruined fortress on the banks of the river Morava.
{7} _White_ is a favourite Slavonic appellation. In the Russian popular
ballad of “Vladimiz and his Round Table,” _White Kiev_ is the title
constantly given to that capital, and the lower Russians almost always
call Moscow, “Mother Moscow, the _white-walled_.”
{9} “Thou in the Lord my sister,”—“Thou in God my brother,”—“Mother in
God,” are common Servian expressions.
{15a} Predrag—the well-beloved.
{15b} Nenad—the unhoped-for,—the unexpected.
{25} Governor of a province—commander.
{27} An extensive plain near the Narenta, in Herzegovina, on which is a
village of the same name.
{28} I pay cheerful homage to the poetical beauties of the translation
of this ballad in “The Servian Minstrelsy,” quoted in the Quarterly
Review, No. LXIX. p. 71. The tasteful author has
no doubt greatly embellished the original; but the words in italics are
not to be found there.
Stately was she, as the _mountain_ pine tree;
White and rosy-colour _intermingled_
Were her cheeks, as _she had kiss’d_ the dawning;
_Dark and flashing_, like two noble jewels,
Were her eyes; _and over them were_ eyebrows,
_Thin and black_, like leeches _from the fountain_;
_Dark the lashes too_; _although the_ ringlets
_Hung above_ in clusters _rich and golden_.
_Softer_ were her eyelids _than_ the pinions
Of the swallow _on the breeze reposing_;
Sweeter were the maiden’s lips _than_ honey;
_White_ her teeth, as pearls _in ocean ripen’d_;
White her breasts, two little _panting_ wild doves;
_Soft_ her speaking, as the wild dove’s murmur;
_Bright_ her smiling, as the _burst_ of sunshine.
{29a} In Bosnia, on the river Una.
{29b} A town on the frontiers of Dalmatia.
{32} Brother-in-law. The Servians have a number of words to express the
shades of relationship. _Brat_ is brother; _Sever_, the husband’s
brother; _Shura_, the wife’s brother; _Snaa_, the brother’s wife;
_Pobratim_, the adopted friend.
{36a} A large commercial town on the river Narenta.
{36b} “Salve!” the Mahommedan greeting.
{38} A translation very slightly varying from Talvj’s is given by Göthe,
in his _Kunst und Alterthum_, Vol. V. ii. p. 60.
{39} Ovo _j’glava_ jednog _gospodara_, the head of a Hospodar; man of
high rank.
{40a} Scupi, in Macedonia.
{40b} Vidin, a large fortress in Bulgaria, on the Danube. Nisha, a
large fortified city on the Servian frontier.
{42a} Ipek, a city in Albania.
{42b} Tzarigrader, Zarigrad, the city of the Tzar—Constantinople. The
four Greek patriarchs are those of Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch,
and Alexandria. Ipek (in Servia) was the fifth patriarchate, though the
first in the eyes of the Servians. Vassilenski is no other than
Constantinople (Vselenski), though constantly confounded by the
uninstructed.
{43} All these are Sirmian convents. Krushedol was founded in 1509, by
Bishop Maximus Brankovicz, and is celebrated in many Servian legends. It
is famous for its collection of reliques.
{44} A renowned convent built by the Tzar Lazar, on the Ressava. It was
destroyed by the Turks in 1435.
{45} _Ban_, a title frequently used in Servia. Its general acceptation
is governor. It may be derived from _Pan_, the old Slavonic for _Lord_.
{55} Conductors of the marriage festival.
{57} The translation of this poem by Goethe, who disclaims any knowledge
of the original, is perfectly admirable. It first directed attention to
the literature of Servia. His account of it is as follows: “It is now
fifty years since I translated the Lament of the noble Bride of Hassan
Aga, which is found in the Travels of the Abbé Fortis, and in the
Morlachian Notices of the Countess Rosenberg. I rendered it from the
French version, preserving the rhythmus and the measure of the original.”
When Vuk printed his first collection of Servian songs, Goethe was
greatly delighted at finding it among them. It was omitted in his other
editions, because Vuk had not himself heard it in the Servian language;
and it was his determination to publish nothing for whose authenticity he
could not himself personally vouch.
{58} A translation of this ballad, by Grimm, will be found in the fourth
volume of Goethe’s _Für Kunst und Alterthum_, p. 66.
{59a} Kavavlashka.
{59b} Karabogdanska.
{62} Belgrad.
{63} Chekmel-Juprija.
{64a} Scutari.
{64b} King, monarch.
{64c} Governor.
{65} Dok ne najesh dva slichna imena
Dok ne najesh _Stojy_ i _Stojana_.
These are both Servian names, and the point of the ballad must be seen in
their affinity to the verb _stojiti_, to stand, _stojnitza_, standing
(statio).
{74} Neimar.—Master.
{75a} A small stream of liquid carbonate of lime is still shown on the
walls of Scutari, as evidence of the truth of this story.
{75b} A translation of the poem by Grimm is to be found in the 2d part
of the fifth volume of the _Kunst und Altherthum_, p. 24, and Goethe
observes, that it is equally remarkable for its polish and for its
barbarously superstitious sentiment. It represents a human victim as
murdered in its most disgusting shape. A young woman is immured in order
that the fortress of Scutari may be built; and the sacrifice seems less
accountable, since oriental usages have generally only required the
entombment of consecrated pictures or talismans in order to make castles
and asylums impregnable.
{76} The _Polje Kossova_. Amselfeld (German) or Field of Thrushes, was
the scene of Servia’s heaviest calamity, and is the subject of her most
melancholy songs.
{77} A church in the camp.
{81a} Gromovnik Ilija.
{81b} I napija u slavu Ristovu.
{84a} Erdelska Banitza. The wife of the seven-city’d (Transylvanian)
Ban.
{84b} Kalpak—the Hungarian cap.
{95a} Adrianople.
{95b} A commercial town in Servian Macedonia, where Dushan built a
palace. It was the abode of Marko.
{98} Grlo te boleto!—literally, “May thy neck ache!”
{99} Starog Krvnika.
{101} A large water vessel.
{103} Sable cap.
{104a} _Iguman_, _ἡγουμενος_. Hegumenos cœnobii.
{104b} _Svetogortza_, Holy Mountain, Mount Athos.
{105} Of the Servian heroes, _Marko_ (ob. 1392) is without comparison
the most illustrious. He (says Goethe) is represented as holding almost
equal intercourse with the Adrianople sultan, and appears like a coarser
representation of the Grecian Hercules or the Persian Rustan, though
indeed in a most Scythian and barbaric shape. He mounts a steed
(Sharaz), aged a century and a half, himself being three centuries old.
He perishes at last in all the plenitude of his strength; nor is it easy
to discover why.
{106} There are other accounts of Marko’s death, which are more
accordant with historical records. Some state that he fell in a battle
between the Turks and the Wallachian Voivode Mirscheta, which took place
near the village of Rovine. Others say that he perished with his horse
in a morass, in Krania, not far from the Danube; and the morass is yet
pointed out, where the ruins of an old church are said to mark his
burial-place. Others narrate that he was miraculously conveyed away from
the field of battle above mentioned, to a mountain-cavern, where his
wounds were healed, and where he still lives.—Talvj, vol. i. p. 285.
{112} Of this little poem, which Goethe calls “wonderful,” the following
is an almost literal translation:—
Full of wine, white branches of the vine-trees
To white Buda’s fortress white had clung them:
No! it was no vine-tree, white and pregnant!
No! it was a pair of faithful lovers,
From their early youth betrothed together.
Now they are compell’d to part untimely.
One address’d the other at their parting,
“Go! my soul! burst out and leave my bosom!
Thou wilt find a hedge-surrounded garden,
And a red-rose branch within the garden;
Pluck a rose from off the branch, and place it,
Place it on thy heart, within thy bosom;
Then behold!—ev’n as that rose is fading,
Fades my heart within thy heart thou loved one!”
And thus answer’d then the other lover:
“Thou, my soul! turn back a few short paces.
There thou wilt discern a verdant forest;
In it is a fount of crystal water;
In the fount there is a block of marble;
On the marble block a golden goblet;
In the goblet thou wilt find a snow-ball.
Love! take out that snow-ball from the goblet,
Lay it on thy heart within thy bosom;
See it melt—and as it melts, my lov’d one!
So my heart within thy heart is melting.”
{116} _Smilia_, the _grapharium arenarium_, or “lovely love.” Also a
woman’s name.
{117} This song is sung at the close of the harvest, when all the
reapers are gathered together. Half as many reeds as the number of
persons present are so bound that no one can distinguish the two ends
which belong to the same reed. Each man takes one end of the reeds on
one side, each of the women takes one end at the other:—The withes that
bind the reeds are severed, and the couples that hold the same reed kiss
one another.
{118} _Kalpak_—the fur cap of the Servians.
{120a} This is one of the songs sung at the breaking up of the company,
addressed to the giver of the festival.
{120b} Mushko chedo (male child). The male sex are in Servia, as
elsewhere, deemed entitled to more care and attention than the other.
{122} Herzegovina. S. Sabba.
{127a} Svszde, star, is of the feminine gender.
{127b} Sun is feminine in Servian.
{152} Smederevo—a Servian fortress on the Danube.
{153} The _Leech_, _Sanguisuga_; but in Servian there is no disagreeable
association with the word. It is the name usually employed to describe
the beauty of the eyebrows, as swallows’ wings are the simile used for
eye-lashes. See p. 27.
{157a} _Vishnia_, the universal Sclavonian name of the Vistula
cherry-tree. The _Cerasum apronianum_ of Linné.
{157b} The Vila nearly corresponds to the _Peri_ of the Persians, and
the _Wöla_ of the Scandinavians.
{157c} _Radisha_, is the name of a man. _Radovanic_—joy.
{158} Lepota as the Servian word for _Beauty_.
{168} I shall be accused of having _decorated_ this. The translation is
more free than I have generally given; but in order to show how little I
have deviated from the thoughts of the original, I give the conclusion.
“Ako bi te u pjesmu pjevala,
Pjesma ide od usta do usta,
Pa che dochi u pogana usta;
Ako bi te u rukave vesla,
Rukav che se odma isderati,
Pa che tvoje ime poginuti;
Ako bi te u Knigu pisala
Kniga ide od ruke do ruke,
Pa che dochi u pogane ruke.” Vuk i. p. 200.
{176} One of the distinguishing titles of the Vila is that here given;
_sabejam oblake_, the cloud-gatherer. Νεφεληγερετης, in the classical
mythology, is one of the names of Jupiter.
{181a} Sarajevo—A large commercial city in Bosnia, on the river
Miljazka.
{181b} The popular national dance of the Servians.
{185a} Bosiljak—the _Ocimum basilicum_ of Linné.
{185b} Sudija.
{190a} _Kaloper_. Balsamita vulgaris. Linné.
{190b} _Bosiljak_, see p. 185.
{199} The cuckoo (kukavitza) according to Servian tradition, was a
maiden who mourned so unceasingly for a dead brother, that she was
changed into a bird, and thence continues without rest her melancholy
note. A Servian girl who has lost a brother never hears a cuckoo without
shedding tears.—“I a poor cuckoo,” is equivalent to “woe is me!”
{206} Lado, the vocative of _Lada_, the goddess of love, in the old
Slavonian mythology. _Lado_! is a melancholy interjection in Servian,
whereas _Lele_! the vocative of Lela, the god of love, has frequently a
cheerful association: _Polela_ (after love), the goddess of marriage, is
also sometimes apostrophised.
Talvj remarks, that _Ljad_, in Russ, signifies misfortune. In common
parlance, _Lele mene_ (Servian) imports Woe is me!
{219} _Milinar_. The Miller.
{231} Wesely imagines that this expression has got introduced into
Servian poetry by the influence of the interesting ballad on the marriage
of Maximus Tzernojevich (see Quarterly Review for Dec. 1826). The
intimate intercourse which existed between Servia and Venice may account
for the phraseology.
{232} Original, _son-in-law_. I have only chosen a few of the songs
used during the marriage festival. But a volume might be filled with
them. Every step of the ceremony, which lasts many days, is accompanied
by music and poetry. A very interesting description of it will be found
in the introduction to Talvj’s second volume.
{233} Aulimarama.