MARKO'S HUNTING WITH THE TURKS
Murad the Vizier went a-hunting,
In the green mountain he went a-hunting,
With a brave fellowship of twelve,
And as thirteenth, Kraljević Marko.
Three white days they hunted,
Nor any quarry might they find.
And it fortuned that chance brought them
To a green lake in the forest[1],
Wherein swam ducks of golden wing.
And the Vizier loosed his falcon, 10
For to take a duck of golden wing.
But the duck tarried not in his sight,
But soared upward to the clouds,
And the falcon perched him in a green fir-tree.
Then spake Kraljević Marko:
"Is it permitted, Murad Vizier,
That I loose now my falcon,
For to take yonder duck of golden wing?"
Quoth Murad the Vizier:
"Yea, verily it is permitted, Marko, and wherefore not?"20
Marko loosed his falcon,
He flew up into the clouds,
And seized the duck of golden wing,
And dropped with her under the green fir-tree.
And when the Vizier's falcon saw this,
He was grieved out of measure,
For he was wont to use an evil custom,
And take the quarry that another had won.
Right so he sped to Marko's falcon,
For to take from him the duck of golden wing;30
- ↑ Гора is used indifferently to mean either a mountain or a forest. The reason is that Serbia is both mountainous and well-wooded, so the two ideas are closely associated.
