Page:The Ballads of Marko Kraljević.djvu/38

 Moorish King ? Taken prisoner by the Moors, Marko had languished in a dungeon for seven years, and would have perished there had not the King's daughter offered to set him free on condition that he would swear to be her man. In order to regain his liberty without binding himself to her in any way, Marko employs a puerile device. Squatting in the darkness of the dungeon, he places his cap upon his knees and in solemn accents pledges his word to remain ever faithful—to the cap. The King's daughter, listening at the window, believes naturally that Marko has made oath of fidelity to her. Forthwith she fulfils her part of the bargain, and sets the prisoner free. They ride off together and escape from the country of the Moors. Then comes the tragedy. One morning the dusky beauty approaches Marko with a smile and seeks to embrace him, but a sudden loathing of her swarthy skin overmasters him, he draws his sword and cuts off her head. One other incident may be adduced in illustration of the less admirable side of Marko's nature. On presenting himself at the abode of Philip the Magyar, he is grossly insulted by Philip's wife, and on the spur of the moment he deals her a buffet with his open hand which knocks out "three sound teeth." Assuredly an ungallant deed, but the lady had a vitriolic tongue, and as Marko had taken the trouble to address her with punctilious politeness, her reply causes him to lose his temper. Of the three incidents above mentioned, the killing of the Moorish princess is morally by far the worst. Yet Marko's contemporaries would have thought nothing of such a crime or would have gloried in it as a success gained at the expense of the foe. For by the existing code that deed was virtuous which did scathe to the enemy, to his children or to his children's children. The view that Marko was guilty of treachery in the deceit he practised on the Moorish damsel is out of place here. It was impossible to be treacherous to an enemy; on the other hand it was possible to be generous, and as generosity was such an important part of Marko's make-up, we are disappointed when he falls short in this respect and plays the part of the commonplace ruthless warrior.