[128]
And hewed the anvil in half. 140
Then he asked Novak the smith:
"In good sooth, Novak,
Hast thou ever forged a better blade?"
Novak the smith answered him again:
"In good sooth, Kraljević Marko,
I have forged one better,
A better sabre—for a better knight.
When Musa betook him to the coast-land,
I forged a sabre for him,
And when he smote down with it upon the anvil 150
Not even the block remained whole."
Thereat Kraljević Marko waxed wroth,
And thus to Novak the smith he spake:
"Stretch forth thy hand, Novak!
Stretch forth thy hand that I pay thee for the sabre."
The smith was deceived, the serpent of foolishness bit him,
He was deceived, and he stretched forth his right hand.
Kraljević Marko swung the sabre
And hewed off his arm at the shoulder:
"Lo, here thy recompense, smith Novak! 160
Nevermore shalt thou make blades or better or worse.
And here for thee are an hundred ducats,
For to nourish thee the days of thy life."
He gave him an hundred ducats,
He mounted the war-tried Sharatz,
And hied him straightway to the level coast-land,
Where he went to and fro seeking word of Musa.
And on a morn as he journeyed early
Up the hard pass of Kačanik,
Lo, on a sudden, Musa the Outlaw!170
Cross-legged he sat upon a black horse,
Tossing his mace to the clouds
And catching it in his white hand as it fell.
And when they drew nigh one to the other,
Marko spake to Musa and said:
"Bold Musa, get thee out of my way!
