Page:The Ballads of Marko Kraljević.djvu/126

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MARKO KRALJEVIĆ AND PHILIP
THE MAGYAR

Thirty captains sat at wine together,
In white Karlovatz town.
Amongst them Philip the Magyar,
And beside him Vuk the Firedrake[1].
And when they had well drunken,
And were flown with wine,
The thirty captains boasted themselves
How many slaves each had taken,
How many heads each had smitten oflr.
And Philip the Magyar spake:10
"Brothers—ye thirty captains,
Ye see white Karlovatz,
How there are thirty and three towers therein?
I have garnished each with a head,
Save only the tower on the bridge,
And that too I shall presently garnish
With the head of Kraljević Marko."
Thus spake Philip the Magyar,
For he thought that none heard him,
None that was a faithful friend to Marko.20
But Vuk the Firedrake heard him,
Pobratim to Kraljević Marko,
Right so he sprang lightly to his feet,

  1. Змај-Деспот Вук: lit. "Dragon-despot Vuk." He is a well-known hero in the folk-ballads, where he is often referred to as змај огнени or "the firedrake." Cf. Krauss, Sl. Volkforschungen, p. 332: "tiernament kommen bei den Süslaven ungemein häufig als Familien- und noch mehr als Personennamen vor. Am gewöhnlichsten sind vuk (Wolf), zmaj (Schlange, Drache), selten kun (Marder). Als Toteme sind diese Tiere international. Der südslavische Bauer benennt sein Kind mit einem solchen Namen, um ein frühzeitiges Sterben des Kindes zu verhüten. . . .Es kommt indessen auch eine Kombinierung zweier Totemnamen vor, so vuk-zmaj, oder vuk-zmaj ognjeni = Wolf-Feuerdrache." See Appendeix, p. 180.