News of Battle
Next day, when morning dawned, lo! two ill-omened ravens from the battlefield of Kossovo alighted upon the white tower of the glorious Tsar Lazarus. One spake to the other: “Is this the home of the famed prince, Lazarus? Is there no living soul in the castle?”
One only within the castle heard this. Tsarina Militza walked out upon the balcony of her tower and besought the two black ravens thus: “For the sake of all that ye hold dear, O ye two dark ravens! Whence do ye come? Do ye not fly from the field of Kossovo? Saw ye there two mighty armies? O tell me! Have they met together? Which of them is victorious?”
Thereupon the two ravens answered: “Evil overtake us if we do not speak truth to thee, O fair empress Militza! We fly indeed from the level plain of Kossovo! Yea! There we did see two mighty armies; there did we see two tsars perish![4] Of the Turkish horde but few remain in life; of the Serbs, those who live are covered with wounds and blood!”