From "Pocetak Bune Protiv Dahiya"
dictated to Vuk Karadzic by the bard Filip Visnjic, circa 1830 or so
rendered into English iambic pentameter by Geoffrey N. W. Locke in "The Serbian Epic Ballads, An Anthology" (2002)
(...)
"In heaven the very Saints were battling,
And sending signs and portents in the bright
And cloudless sky that arches over Serbia.
And of these wondrous signs this was the first:
From Tripun's Day to that of Holy George
Each night the moon was darkened by eclipse,
To tell the Serbs to rise up under arms..."
(...)
"The Turks in Belgrade City saw these signs.
All seven of the Dahiyas were there...
"They met together, seven Dahiyas,
Beside the Stambol Gate of old Belgrade,
And all were dressed in fur-tipped scarlet cloaks.
They saw the wondrous portents, and they cried:
'Alas my brothers, these are troubled times:
These things, my comrades, bode not well for us!'
"And then, in fear, the seven Dahiyas,
Took up a bowl of crystal glass and went
To fill it from the Danube's flowing stream.
They took the water to Neboysha's Tower,
Climbed to the top, and there set down the bowl.
They gazed down at the image of the stars
Upon the water's surface. There they sought
For mystic signs, the future to foretell.
And as the Dahiyas stood round the bowl
They all leaned over it. They thought to see
Their own reflections on the water's face.
They looked on it, but nothing did they see –
Nor head, nor face, of any one of them!
"They took an axe of steel and with it smashed
The bowl of crystal glass, and they they threw
The broken fragments from the tower's height
Into the Danube River, where they sank,
So that the bowl might nevermore be used.
"And after that the seven Dahiyas
Now driven by anxiety and fear,
Descended from Neboysha's Tower in haste
And made their way together, to an inn.
And there, within a meeting-room, they sat
In order of their seniority –
The venerable Focho at their head,
His long white beard falling to his waist.
The seven Dahiyas then shouted out:
'Attend upon us, all you priests and seers!
Make haste! And bring with you the holy books.
And read those books, and tell us what they say
Shall be our future and our destiny!'
"The priests and seers gathered in the hall;
They brought with them the sacred holy books.
And when they read the books, they wept great tears,
And thus, in grief, addressed the Dahiyas:
'O brother Turks, O seven Dahiyas!
These are the sayings of the holy books:
When last such signs and portents did appear
Within the clear skies over Serbia
– Five hundred years have passed away since then –
They marked the time the Serbian realm was lost
And we assumed the power and the government. (...)
"'Now once again, the portents have appeared:
Those signs that tell an empire is to end.
(...)
"'This is what the holy books have told us:
All our houses shall be burnt by fire.
You, the Dahiyas shall all be slaughtered.
Grass shall grow up through our ruined hearth-stones.
All our empty mosques shall harbor cobwebs.
No more shall be heard the call to prayer.
Everywhere, upon our roads and highways,
– Thronged with Turkish travellers and ringing
With the clattering hooves of many horses –
Weeds and grass shall sprout between the cobbles.
Vainly shall the roads await our passing:
Turks shall not be found within this country.
These are the sayings of the holy books.'
"And when the seven Dahiyas heard that,
All seven sat in silence, eyes downcast.
They gazed upon the ground in front of them;
Not one of them could find a fitting word
To contradict the sayings of the books...."
