Page:The Ballads of Marko Kraljević.djvu/118



damsel arose early, Before the dawning and the white day, For to wash linen in the Marica river. Before sunrise the water was clear, After sunrise the water waxed dim. And first with mud and blood it flowed, Then it bare down horses and kalpaks, And towards noonday wounded heroes: And it bare with it a seemly knight, The water took him in its current, He rolled over and over down the Marica river. The good knight perceived the damsel by the river, And began to adjure her in the name of God: "Sister-in-God, fair damsel! Throw me an end of linen cloth, Draw me out of Marica river And I shall reward thee richly." The damsel hearkened to him in God's name, She threw him an end of linen, And drew him out of the water to the bank. Seventeen wounds had the knight, And he wore gorgeous apparel. On his thigh he bore a rich-wrought sabre, On the sabre were three golden hilts, On the hilts three precious stones; And the sabre was worth three of the Sultan's cities. The knight spake to the Turkish damsel: "Sister mine," quoth he, "thou Turkish maiden, Whom hast thou in thy white manor?" Answered to him the Turkish damsel: "I have an aged mother, And I have a brother, Mustapha-Aga." Then said the wounded knight: