[ 163 ]
"Ye thousand guests, my brothers!
I go not mine own self to Dubrovnik,
But I send my pobratim, Marko;
See that ye do well obey Marko,
And my kum also, Starina Novak."
So the wedding-guests departed thence,
And journeyed in peace to Dubrovnik. 150
And when they were come to Dubrovnik city,
Kraljević Marko spake and said:
"Ye thousand guests, my brothers!
Now shall we go in at the gates,
And we must pass, dear brothers,
Gates seven and seventy[1],
Before we may come at the white castle.
And before the castle they have laid tables,
They have set wine and rakia thereon,
And of fine meats every sort; 160
About the tables be serving-men and maids,
For to take your horses and your weapons,
Ye will give them your horses, your weapons ye will not give,
But ye will sit down armed at the tables,
And drink the dark wine above your weapons;
When the King of Dubrovnik cometh,
Be ye silent, for I will speak with him."
Therewithal they arrived before the castle,
The menservants took their horses,
And the maidservants would take their shining weapons: 170
They gave up their horses, their weapons they did not give,
But they sat down armed at the tables,
And drank the dark wine across their weapons.
And behold the King of Dubrovnik cometh,
Fair words he spake to them, saying:
"Fair Sir, most worshipful Novak,
Never or now have I seen wedding-guests
- ↑ A favourite expression to denote vaguely any large number. See "The Sister of Leka Kapetan."
