The Ballads of Marko Kraljević/The Death of Dushan

by Unknown

THE DEATH OF DUSHAN^[1]

(Fragment)

STEPAN, the Serbian Tsar, fell sick
In Prizren, place of light and leading.
Sore sick he was and like to die.
When Roxanda, the Tsaritsa, saw it,
She wrote with a pen,
As she had been a man,
Three letters she wrote, yea and four,
And sent them to the four corners of the land,
To the princes thereof each in his degree:
And she summoned all the lords to her, saying:10
"Hearken all ye our princes!
Sore sick is the Tsar Stepan,
Sore sick he is and like to die;
Hie ye therefore to Prizren Castle,
If ye would find the Tsar on live,
And hear what he will ordain,
And to whom he will entrust the Empire."
When the letters were gone forth everywhither,
All the lords understood the writing;
They made such haste as ever men might,20
And came every one to Prizren Castle,
To Stepan the mighty Serbian Tsar,
And they reached the Tsar
While he was yet on live;
And there all the lords were gathered together.
And thither also was come King Vukašin,
He raised the Tsar from his bed of silk,
And upheld him in his silken arms,

And great tears rolled adown his face.
The Serbian Tsar looked round about him,30
On all his lords he looked in turn,
And after he had looked, he spake and said:
"Dear kum^[2], King Vukašin,
I give in trust to thee mine Empire,
In trust all my towns and castles
And all my company of knights,
Each in his due degree throughout mine Empire;
And I give in trust to thee my babe, Uroš,
That lieth now forty days in his cradle.
Do thou reign kum, for seven years,40
And on the eighth give over to my son Uroš,"
But King Vukašin made answer:
"Dear kum, Tsar Stepan,
Not for me thine Empire,
Not for me to play the ruler,
Since myself have a wayward son,
Mine own son, Kraljević Marko;
He goeth whither him listeth, asking leave of none,
And ever at his down-sitting he drinketh wine out of measure,
And ever he stirreth up brawl and conflict."50
Tsar Stepan made answer to him again:
"Dear kum, King Vukašin!
If I have ruled all my knights
Throughout the length and breadth of mine Empire,
Canst thou not rule one that thyself hast begotten?
I give thee mine Empire in trust,
In trust all my towns and castles
And all my company of knights,
Every each of them throughout mine Empire;
And I give thee also my babe Uroš,60
That lieth now forty days in his cradle;

Do thou rule, kum, for seven years.
And on the eighth give over to my son Uroš."
Thus spake the Serbian Tsar Stepan,
Thus he spake being at the point of death,
And when he had thus spoken, he gave up the ghost.

*****

Sixteen years he ruled
And did so oppress the people
That what they had of fine raiment,
What they wore of silk apparel70
They must change for rough homespun.
When young Uroš of noble line was grown in stature and understanding,
He called his mother to him and said:
"Mother mine, Tsaritsa Roxanda,
Give me my portion of my father's substance^[3]."
His mother answered him:
"Hearken, my son Uroš!
Substance there is, in sooth, but another hath it,
To wit, King Vukašin.
When thy father died,
On his death-bed he entrusted the Empire
Unto his kum, King Vukašin,
That he should rule for seven years
And on the eighth give over to thee the Empire;
And behold, he hath ruled sixteen years."

1. Dušan: the Croatian alphabet should have been used consistently throughout this translation, but a few of the more familiar names have been inadvertently transliterated. Thus Šarac and Miloš appear some-times as Sharatz and Milosh.
2. Kum is roughly the equivalent of our "sponsor" or "godfather." The godfather is kum to the godson and vice versa. The relationship extends also to their respective children. See Appendix, p. 184.
3. Lit. "bread."