[168] I shall be accused of having decorated this. The translation is more free than I have generally given; but in order to show how little I have deviated from the thoughts of the original, I give the conclusion.
“Ako bi te u pjesmu pjevala,
Pjesma ide od usta do usta,
Pa che dochi u pogana usta;
Ako bi te u rukave vesla,
Rukav che se odma isderati,
Pa che tvoje ime poginuti;
Ako bi te u Knigu pisala
Kniga ide od ruke do ruke,
Pa che dochi u pogane ruke.” Vuk i. p. 200.
[176] One of the distinguishing titles of the Vila is that here given; sabejam oblake, the cloud-gatherer. Νεφεληγερετης, in the classical mythology, is one of the names of Jupiter.
[181a] Sarajevo—A large commercial city in Bosnia, on the river Miljazka.
[181b] The popular national dance of the Servians.
[185a] Bosiljak—the Ocimum basilicum of Linné.
[185b] Sudija.
[190a] Kaloper. Balsamita vulgaris. Linné.
[190b] Bosiljak, see p. 185.
[199] The cuckoo (kukavitza) according to Servian tradition, was a maiden who mourned so unceasingly for a dead brother, that she was changed into a bird, and thence continues without rest her melancholy note. A Servian girl who has lost a brother never hears a cuckoo without shedding tears.—“I a poor cuckoo,” is equivalent to “woe is me!”