{"collection":"Northern European Mythology","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/neu/hbs/hbs35.htm","path":"neu/hbs/hbs35.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/neu/hbs/hbs35.htm","text":"Sacred-Texts\u00a0Legends & Sagas\u00a0Index\u00a0Previous\u00a0Next\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n p. 195\n \n \n \n STAR\u00cdNA NOVAK AND THE BOLD R\u00c1DIVOYE\n \n STAR\u00cdNA NOVAK drank the wine on Rom\u00e1niya the green hill,\n \n And R\u00e1divoye, his brother, drank with him with a will;\n \n And Gr\u00faitsa, St\u00e1rina\u2019s son, R\u00e1divoye sat before;\n \n With Gr\u00faitsa was T\u00e1tomir and thirty hayduks more.\n \n When the hayduks in good fellowship had drunk the liquor cold,\n \n Then spake unto his brother R\u00e1divoye, called the bold:\n \n \u2003\u201cHearest thou, brother Novak? I will leave thee behind me now.\n \n Thou canst not go a-raiding; too grievous old art thou.\n \n Thou dost not love to gallop on the highway any more,\n \n To lie in wait for traders that come from the seashore.\u201d\n \n \u2003So spake bold R\u00e1divoye. He leaped from the ground to his feet,\n \n He seized on Breshka by the waist; the thirty followed fleet.\n \n Rado1 went over the black mount; \u2019neath a green fir Novak lay,\n \n With his two young sons. Brave Rado came to a crossing in the way.\n \n \n \n \n \n p. 196\n \n \n \n A wretched chance befell him, for Mehmed the Moor rode there;\n \n With thirty heroes and three great packs of treasure the Turks did fare.\n \n When Mehmed saw the hayduks, he shouted to his men.\n \n The champions drew their sabers and rushed on the outlaws then.\n \n They had no chance in that short time their muskets to let drive.\n \n The Turks smote thirty heads off, and Rado seized alive;\n \n They bound his hands behind him; they led him o\u2019er the hill,\n \n With insult, but bold Rado sang to them with a will:\n \n \u2003\u201cGod slay thee, Mount Rom\u00e1niya! Dost thou breed no hawk in thee?\n \n Flew a flock of doves with a raven before their company;\n \n A white swan led they, and treasure beneath their wings had they.\u201d\n \n \u2003Child Gr\u00faitsa heard Rado as he sang on the highway.\n \n | He spake to Star\u00edna Novak: | \n| | \u201cMy father, harken thou, | \n \n For out on the broad highway is some one singing now,\n \n And speaks of Mount Rom\u00e1niya and the mountain-falcon gray.\n \n \n \n \n \n p. 197\n \n \n \n It is like our Uncle Rado. He has gained a treasure this day,\n \n Or else he has fallen on evil. Let us go to give him aid.\u201d\n \n \u2003He seized on his Damascus gun and went to the ambuscade\n \n On the tsar\u2019s highway, and after him young T\u00e1tomir lightly ran;\n \n And after the children followed Novak the ancient man.\n \n On the highway in the ambuscade, there Novak took his ground;\n \n And beside him his two children. O\u2019er the mountain came a sound,\n \n And presently thirty champions before them did appear,\n \n And every champion carried a hayduk\u2019s head on his spear.\n \n And Mehmed the Moor before him drove the bound Rado still,\n \n And likewise three loads of treasure on the high road over the hill,\n \n Till into the ambuscade he marched with the squadron of his might.\n \n Novak shouted to his children. They fired the muskets light;\n \n Mehmed the Moor they hit in the belt. He did not yell one yell\u2014\n \n Dead was Mehmed the mighty Moor, ere to the ground he fell.\n \n The Moor fell there on the green grass. St\u00e1rina Novak sped,\n \n \n \n \n \n p. 198\n \n \n \n And swung his saber in the air, and straight cut off his head,\n \n And then he rushed to Rado; from his hand he cut the cord\n \n And gave him the saber of a Moor. Now glory to God the Lord!\n \n They made a rush upon the Turks, they cut them into bands,\n \n And pursued them hither and yonder. Who \u2019scaped from Rado\u2019s hands\n \n Young T\u00e1tomir awaited. From him who got away,\n \n Them awaited child Gr\u00faitsa in eagerness to slay;\n \n And them who \u2019scaped from Gr\u00faitsa old Novak waited for.\n \n They slew the thirty champions, and spoiled the Turks in war;\n \n They won in that same hour three packs of treasure fine.\n \n Then sat they down together to drink the yellow wine.\n \n \u2003Said Novak: \u201cTell me truly, Rado, my brother bold,\n \n Which is better\u2014thirty hayduks, or Star\u00edna Novak the old?\u201d\n \n \u2003To him said Rado: \u201cMy brother, the thirty better were they\u2014\n \n The good friends; but thy fortune they had it not this day.\u201d\n \n \u00a0\n \n \u2003It is ill for the hero who hears not what his elders have to say.\n \n \n \n Next\n \n \n \n \n \n Footnotes\n \n \n \n \n \n p. 195\n \n \n \n 1 An abbreviation for R\u00e1divoye.","title":"STAR\u00cdNA NOVAK AND THE BOLD R\u00c1DIVOYE","type":"page"}