The Legend of St. George

Once upon a time all the saints assembled in order to divide amongst

themselves the treasures of the world. And, in this division, each

saint obtained something which satisfied him.

The beautiful summer, with all its wealth of flowers, fell to the lot

of St. George: to St. Elias fell the clouds and the thunder; and to

St. Pantelija the tempest. St. Peter obtained the keys of heaven: to

St. Nicholas fell the seas, and the ships upon them; and to the

Archangel Michael fell the right of gathering and guarding the souls

of the dying. St. John was chosen to preside over friendship and

'_koom-ship_,'[34] and to the holy Lady Mary the saints committed the

charge of the lawless country of the cursed Troyan,[35] in order that

she might bring it to a state of peace, and establish therein the

true religion.

[34] The 'koom' is a sort of godfather or sponsor. See

'Popular Customs of Serbia.'

[35] In some versions of this poem this 'Troyan' is changed

into 'India.' Probably there is here a reference to the

theory that the Turks and Troyans were the same people.

Knolles, in the opening chapter of his 'General Historie of

the Turkes,' says, 'Some, after the manner of most nations,

derive them from the Troians, led thereunto by the affinity

of the words Turci and Teucri; supposing--but with what

probability I know not--the word Turci or Turks to have been

made of the corruption of the word Teucri, the common name of

the Trojans; as also for that the Turks have of long most

inhabited the lesser Asia, wherein the antient and most

famous city of Troy sometime stood.'--_Edit._

About a year had passed away since the saints had thus divided amongst

themselves the treasures of the world, when one day the holy Lady Mary

entered the assembly, evidently greatly afflicted, and with large

tears falling over her white cheeks. She greeted '_in the name of

God!_' her brethren the saints, and these gave her back her greeting.

Then St. Elias addressed her, saying, '_Our_ sister, holy Mary,

wherefore are you grieving? Why are you shedding these tears? You are,

perhaps, dissatisfied with the lot which fell to you when we divided

the treasures?'

But the holy Mary answered, 'My brethren, ye who are the righteousness

of God, when you divided the treasures you gave me also a share

therein, and therewith I am satisfied. Yet I have good cause,

nevertheless, to be sorely grieved. I come but now from the city of

the Troyan, and I have been unable to bring it to peace and the true

faith. There the young people do not reverence their elders--there the

brother challenges his own brother to mortal combat,--there the _koom_

is pursuing his _koom_ in the law courts,--there the brother

intermarries with his own sister, and the _koom_ with his

_kooma_,--there the holy Sabbath is violated, and, worst of all, there

they do not pray to the true God. The people have made to themselves a

god of silver, and to this idol do they pray. Now, what can I do, my

dear brethren, except to pray that the true God should send his

lightnings from heaven to destroy the fortress and fortifications,

and to burn down the cities and villages? Then, perhaps, the people of

the Troyan country may come to see the great wickedness and repent.'

St. Elias said to her these words, 'Our sister, holy Mary, do not do

this thing! Rather let us all pray God to allow us to give some

warning to the people--that He orders snow to fall on Mitrovdan, and

remain until St. George's day;[36] and another snow to fall on St.

George's day, and lie on the earth until Mitrovdan;[37] so that no

seeds can be sown, and no ewes can rear their lambs. In this way,

perhaps, the pride of the earth may be subdued, and the people brought

at last to repentance.'

[36] 'George's day,' 25th April, O. S.

[37] Mitrovdan, 25th October, O. S.

All the saints approved the proposal of St. Elias, and acted as he had

said. Then a great snow fell on Mitrovdan, and remained until St.

George's day, and a second snowfall came on St. George's day, and lay

on the earth until Mitrovdan. No seed could be sown, therefore, and no

lambs could be reared. The people suffered greatly throughout the

year; they would not, however, repent and mend their ways. Some of

them had part of last year's corn in their garners, and shiploads of

grain were brought from countries beyond the seas, and so they got

somehow through the year, and went on living just as wickedly as

before.

The holy Mary, seeing this, went a second time to the assembled

saints weeping. After the exchange of the customary greeting, St.

Elias asked her what was the reason of her tears, and she told him

that she was sorely grieved because the people of the Troyan country,

notwithstanding the chastisement they had suffered, still continued

living in wickedness. Then the saints resolved to send down a second

warning. So they prayed God to send down the curse of the small-pox.

Thereupon the small-pox appeared amongst the Troyans, and raged in

their country for three full years, carrying off all the strength and

beauty of the people, so that only the old remained to cough, and the

little babes to cry.

But, when the children grew up, they behaved just as their parents had

done, and neither improved nor repented. Weeping bitter tears over her

white cheeks, the holy Mary went the third time to the assembly of the

saints, and reported how disorderly and madly the people of the Troyan

land were still living. She said, it was quite evident that they could

not be brought to repentance, and that, therefore, she intended now to

pray God to send down his lightnings and destroy the cities and

villages.

But St. Elias said again, 'Not so, my dear sister! not so! Let us give

them yet a third warning.' So the saints prayed to God for the third

warning, and God granted their request.

Next morning, close by the king's palace in the chief city of the

Troyans a green lake appeared, and therein was an insatiable dragon

feeding on young men and maidens. Every morning, for breakfast, the

monster required a young man who had never been wedded; and every

evening, for supper, he demanded a youthful and blooming maiden.

This went on for seven years, until, at length, the turn came to the

only daughter of the king. Then the queen cried loudly and bitterly,

and clasped her arms closely round the neck of her child. Mother and

daughter wept together three days, and when the fourth day dawned, the

queen fell into a light slumber by her daughter's side. As she slept,

she dreamed that a man appeared to her, and said, 'O queen of the

Troyan city! do not send your daughter this evening to the lake; but

send her to-morrow, when the day dawns, and the sun shines. Tell her,

when she goes to the lake, she must bathe her face, and then, turning

towards the east, let her call on the name of the true God. She must,

however, be careful not to mention the idol of silver. This done, she

must wait patiently, ready to accept whatsoever the true God ordereth

for her.'

The queen, awakening from her sleep, related at once her dream to her

daughter, and impressed on her the necessity of carrying out

faithfully her instructions. Weeping bitterly, the king's daughter

took leave of her mother at daybreak, begging the queen to forgive her

the milk with which she had been nourished in her babyhood. Then she

went down to the lake shore, bathed her face, and, turning eastwards,

prayed to the true God. This done, according to her mother's

instructions, she sat down and awaited whatever might happen to her.

Suddenly there appeared a strange knight mounted on a magnificent

charger. He greeted the maiden 'in the name of God!' and she,

springing up quickly, returned the greeting courteously. Then the

strange knight, seeing she had been weeping, asked what it was that

troubled her, and wherefore she sat waiting there alone. In answer to

these questions the maiden related the whole sad story of the dragon,

and the fearful fate which seemed to await her.

When she had finished her narration, the knight dismounted, and,

removing his kalpak from his head, said, 'Now I desire to sleep a

little, and I wish you to pass your hand through my hair that I may

sleep more pleasantly.' The girl tried to dissuade him from this, lest

the dragon should come whilst he slept, and devour him also. She said

it would be a pity for him to perish thus needlessly. However, she

could not prevail on him to abandon his purpose, and he fell at once

into a gentle slumber, and slept as quietly as a young lamb.

Very soon, however, the waters of the lake were agitated, and the

terrible dragon appeared coming towards them. Then the unknown knight

sprang up quickly into his saddle, and, stretching out his arms,

lifted the maiden up and placed her behind him on his charger. This

done, with one stroke of his lance, he pinned the dragon down to the

bottom of the lake, where it remained bleeding, but not dead. Then

the knight took the girl back to the palace of the king, her father,

and the queen, who had been watching anxiously everything that passed,

met him at the gate and delivered up to him the keys of the city.

The knight, who was no other than St. George, now walked through the

streets of the Troyan city, and, having gathered the people around

him, spoke to them thus, 'Listen to me, my children! Pray no more to

the idol of silver, pray only to the one true God! And you, young

people, reverence your elders. All of you remember that near relatives

cannot be permitted to intermarry. Keep holy the Sabbath, as well as

all the other holy days and saint days.' Having thus admonished them,

the holy knight ordered that the temple should be opened, and when his

commands had been obeyed, he took out of it the silver idol, and

melted it into a variety of ornaments. In the place of the silver idol

he placed a holy picture, and then consecrated the temple, and it

became a church. When this was done, he turned again to the people,

and said, 'If you will promise to do as I have told you, I will kill

the dragon in the lake; but if you refuse to do what I have asked of

you I will let him loose again, and I think he will soon make an end

of you.'

Then all the people bowed themselves to the earth before the holy

knight, and shouted aloud, 'O good and unknown knight! our brother in

God! Deliver us from the dragon in the lake, and we will do and live

just as you have counselled us!' Whereupon they received the true

faith. When they had so done, St. George returned to the lake, and

made the sign of the cross over it with a stick, and at that very

moment both the lake and dragon disappeared as if they had never been.

Having done all this, St. George went back to the heavenly kingdom to

recount to the saints there assembled the conversion of the Troyan

people.