Through the Land of the SerbDurham, M. E. (Mary Edith)
History
Through the Land of the Serb
Durham, M. E. (Mary Edith)
Montenegro -- Description and travel; Serbia -- Description and travel
We returned to the monastery, and I went to evening service in the
church. The tiny congregation consisted of the half-dozen men of the
monastery and a few Christian peasants. I was put in a conspicuous
place, had a special censing all to myself, and felt much embarrassed.
The evening was exhausting, as the whole party, zaptiehs and all, took
it in turns to keep me company and ask me questions, and displayed
endless patience in making me understand and reply. I did not get supper
till half-past nine, and then, dead tired, begged the company to leave
me. They all left but the student, who had been specially instructed to
look after me. He was a very civil, gentlemanly youth of Servian blood,
with a sad face and a timid, hunted air. He waited till the footsteps
died away down the corridor; then he said anxiously, "Lock the door
to-night. The Nizams will come. They are very, very bad; all from Asia."
I had, of course, intended to lock the door, Nizams or no Nizams, and
thought he was nervous, so did not pay much attention to this. As he
left, Radovan came in. He looked all round, tried the iron window bars,
the lock, and the staple the bolt shot into. "All is strong," he said;
"lock the door and turn the key twice. The Nizams will come in the
night. They have been talking about you. They are devils. All from Asia.
They have long knives." He drew his finger across his throat, dropped
his head on one side, and gave a clicking gasp so horribly realistic
that I suspect it was studied from nature. "They will do 'that,' just
for what is in your saddle-bag. They will say the Christians have done
it, and the officer will believe them." Radovan was in grim earnest. He
waited outside till he heard the lock shoot twice, said "Sleep safely,"
and left me. I had no weapon of any kind, and was excessively tired, so
I decided that there was no object in sitting up to have one's throat
cut, and that violent surgical operations are better performed under
chloroform. I slept heavily till morning, and shall never know if that
door were tried. Personally, I think that the danger was exaggerated.
People, after all, are mainly governed by expediency, and killing a
British subject was really not worth the trouble. I tell the facts as
they occurred, to show the estimation in which the army of the reformers
is held. To put the position briefly: no man's life or property is
considered safe from the Albanians, and no woman's honour from the
Nizams, in "Old Servia." Savage as are the Albanians, I have been told
repeatedly that they never assault women.
Next morning I woke up and shook myself, and the student brought a
quarter of a pint of water, and kindly superintended the washing of my
hands and face. The arrangements were all primitive: towel and
table-napkin were one and the same, and the spoon and fork were cleaned
on my pillow; but then it is a great thing to have a spoon, fork, or
pillow at all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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