The Flaming Sword in Serbia and ElsewhereStobart, M. A. (Mabel Annie)
History
The Flaming Sword in Serbia and Elsewhere
Stobart, M. A. (Mabel Annie)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
The monk from our own near monastery, and the monk from the monastery
of Sretenya, distant a two hours' climb up the mountains, together with
the priest from Chachak, also the Prefect of the district, arrived
next day at 2.30 p.m. A heavy shower of rain, as they arrived, made
us take shelter in the mess tent. Our monk's pigs ran squawking past
the tent doors, having been chased out of the kitchen by the cook. "Ah!
my pigs," commented complacently our home monk. "Yes," I replied, also
complacently, "and one day Gospodine Svesternik will come and ask,
'where are my pigs?' and," pointing to my central anatomy, "I shall
reply, 'Here!'" That started conversation pleasantly, and then came
tea. Serbian people like their tea weak, without milk, and with much
sugar; and most of us liked it strong, with milk, and without sugar; so
that gave us something not too difficult to talk about in the Serbian
language. But that tower of Babel business was a confounded nuisance,
and I was glad when the rain left off and we went out to the ceremony.
Outside the dispensary tent, a small table had been placed; upon it
was a white cloth, and on this stood a silver candlestick holding the
familiar long brown candle, with the Serbian arms marked upon it. The
sexton now lighted the candle. Upon the table was also an old silver
crucifix, with red beads let in (I should have loved to have that
crucifix), and a bowl of water containing a sprig of the national
plant--boziliac. The monk, on whose land we were stationed, put on a
beautiful pale blue silk embroidered robe, and removed his tall black
cap. The priest then took an incense vessel, filled with ashes, and
swung it in front of us all in turn; prayers were then said by our
monk, whilst untuneful responses were chanted by the other two. Then
more incense swinging, and prayers, and sprinkling of the holy water
from the plant, in all directions. Then our monk, holding the crucifix
in one hand and the holy plant in the other, suddenly came and stood
close in front of me. Good gracious! Evidently something was expected
of me. For a minute I was frightened, but if in doubt in Serbia, kiss.
I kissed the crucifix whilst he pressed the wet plant to my forehead.
Evidently a good guess, for he passed on, and the act was repeated on
the forehead of each one in turn. Finally our monk made a charming
little speech about the benefits which the people would derive from
the dispensary, and expressed his gratitude and appreciation. The
other monk then took my hand and also spoke, with much feeling, of the
gladness and gratitude which had filled their hearts at our coming to
help their people, and the ceremony was over. They allowed me to take a
photograph of them; but unfortunately this photo, with all photos taken
during the first six months in Serbia, is now in the hands of the enemy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account