Page:The Ballads of Marko Kraljević.djvu/20



"Radoslaus. Eine Morlakische Geschichte," and "Die schöne Dolmetscherin. Eine Morlakische Geschichte." These four ballads derived one and all from Fortis, but it was their appearance in Herder's collection that definitely marks the introduction of Serbian literature to the reading public of the West. No great development, however, took place until Vuk Stefanović Karadžić began his monumental labours in Vienna. With the unfailing encouragement and support of the Slovene scholar Jernej Kopitar, Vuk completed in the course of his long life an almost incredible amount of work of first-rate importance. It was in 1813 that Kopitar showed him Goethe's translation. The following year Vuk published his Kleine Serbische Grammatik, and the first modest instalment of his unrivalled collections of Serbian folk-song. In 1815 he made the acquaintance of Jacob Grimm who had come to Vienna as a delegate to the International Congress then sitting. The possibilities of the work in which Vuk was engaged immediately arrested his attention. The translations in the Volkslieder whilst indicating the quality of Serbian song had given no hint of the quantitative aspect, and Grimm was filled with astonishment at the unsuspected richness of the hoard which Vuk was then revealing to the world. He addressed himself at once to the study of the language, and his zeal increased with his knowledge. Goethe's interest in the Volkslied faded, flickered up again and failed, but Grimm remained true to his first conviction that the most significant literary event of his time was the discovery of the traditional poetry of the Serbs. He himself translated a number of Vuk's pieces, and in articles, reviews and prefaces insisted on the unique value of the Serbian minstrelsy. More than any other of foreign birth he contributed to place the study of this literature on a sound and solid basis.