Page:The Ballads of Marko Kraljević.djvu/111

 Marko tarried yet one night there. In the morning he made ready Sharatz, And hied him straightway to white Prilep. When he drew nigh to Prilep castle, From afar his mother espied him, And came forth to meet him. She opened her arms and kissed him on the face, Marko kissed the white hand of his mother. His mother asked Kraljević Marko: "O my son, Kraljević Marko, Hast thou journeyed in peace? Hast thou won for me a daughter-in-law, For me a daughter-in-law, for thyself a faithful wife?" To his aged mother Marko made answer: "Yea, mother, in peace have I journeyed, I have wooed and won the maiden, I have spent also three tovars of gold. And when I left the white palace, The maid's mother said to me: 'O son-in-law, Kraljević Marko, Bring not as dever one that is a stranger, But bring a brother or a cousin, For the damsel is peerless of beauty, And of some great shame we are adread!'— And, mother, I have no brother, I have no brother, nor no cousin." The aged mother said to him: "O my son, Marko of Prilep, Have no care concerning that, But do thou write a letter And send it to the Doge of Venice. Let him come as kum to the wedding, Let him bring five hundred guests with him. And do thou send another letter to Stepan Zemljić, That he may be dever to the damsel. Let him bring five hundred guests with him, And so thou shalt fear no deed of shame."