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Hero Tales and Legends of the Serbians

Chapter 66: Sharatz and Bedevia
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About This Book

This collection presents English renderings of traditional Serbian epic songs and legends, accompanied by an introductory essay that traces their oral origins, social role, and poetic form. The selections recount heroic exploits, communal resistance, and sacred traditions preserved through rhythmic ten‑syllable verse and the practice of public recitation by elder singers. Explanatory notes discuss historical memory, regional variations, and the instruments and performers associated with performance. The volume also includes color illustrations and contextual commentary to guide readers through the episodes, motifs, and cultural functions of the transmitted material.

Sharatz and Bedevia

Marko was seated at his ease in the most comfortable room the inn could boast, leisurely drinking his favourite red wine; he was not drinking from an ordinary goblet, but from a bowl which held twelve litres; and each time he filled the bowl he would drink only one half of its contents, giving, according to his habit, the other half to his Sharatz. The Moor was on the point of attacking Marko, when Sharatz barred his way and kicked viciously at Bedevia. The Moor, meeting such unexpected resistance, promptly turned to rejoin the procession. Then Marko rose to his feet, and, turning his cloak and cap inside out, so that to the first glance of those who saw him he presented the terrifying appearance of a wolf, inspected his weapons and Sharatz’s belts carefully, and dashed on his charger after the procession. He felled horsemen right and left, till he reached the dever and the second witness, and killed them both. The Moorish chieftain was immediately told of the stranger who had forced his way into the midst of the procession, and of those whom he had killed, also that he did not look like other knights, being clad in wolves’ skins.