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He took his sabre and his mace,
And before his guests he swore:
"Hearken, my lords and guests,
I am not the son of my mother,
The illustrious queen,
If I garnish not Prilep,
Not with basil nor yet with red roses,
But with a row of Turkish heads."
Then his mother began to beseech him,
The illustrious queen spake and said: 80
"Stay thee, Marko, my dear child!"
And right so the mother made bare her breast, saying:
"Lest thy mother's milk slay thee,
Do no deed of blood this day.
This day is thy glorious Slava,
If any enter into thy manor this day,
Give drink to the thirsty, give food to the hungry,
For the souls of thy parents,
And for the weal of thine own soul and Jelina's[1]."
Marko gave heed to his mother, 90
He put by his sabre but put not his mace aside,
So the Turks entered into the manor to their scathe.
And he set them in order round the table.
"Vaistina," quoth Marko, "give them to drink,
Jela, my soul, give them to eat."
The servant brought wine and rakia,
And Jelitsa brought goodly viands,
So they were of good cheer and drank wine.
And when the Turks had drunk a little,
They said among themselves in Turkish: 100
"Brethren, let us hence!
Before the viands stick in our throats."
The Turks thought that Marko knew not Turkish,
But Marko had been at the Sultan's court
Beyond the sea in Syria of the Turks,
- ↑ In "Djemo the Mountaineer" Jevrosima gives expression to the same sentiments, and in each case Marko gives way to her.
