Page:The Ballads of Marko Kraljević.djvu/67

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Ye dispute now an empire that is another's.
Look ye now, else may God not regard you!
The record saith that the empire goeth to Uroš,
From the father it descendeth to the son,
To the child the empire belongeth by heritage,
To him the Tsar bequeathed it,210
When he died and went to his rest."
When King Vukašin heard this
The King sprang to his feet from the ground
And drew his golden dagger,
For to slay his son Marko.
Marko fled from before his father.
For it had ill become him, brother,
To fight with his own father.
Marko fled round the white church,
Round the white church of Samodreža.220
Marko fled and the King pursued after him
Until they had thrice made a circle
Round the white church of Samodreža.
Almost had the King reached him.
When a voice spake from the church:
"Flee into the church, Kraljevitch Marko,
Dost thou not see that thou wilt perish this day,
Perish by the hand of thine own father
And that because thou hast spoken the judgment of the true God?"
The church door opened,230
Marko fled into the white church;
Behind him the door closed.
The King rushed upon the church door,
He smote the wood with his dagger
And lo, blood dripped from the wood.
Then the King repented him
And spake these words:
"Woe is me, by the one God!
I have slain my son Marko!"
But a voice spake from the church:240