I AWOKE early the next morning, having slept most luxuriously3 on a spring mattress4 and totally unmolested by fleas5, thanks to the ample supply of flea-powder thoughtfully strewn by my attendant, between the mattress and the undersheet.
The insect powder of Montenegro is celebrated7, you must know, in Eastern and Southern Europe, 195 and I can vouch8 for its excellence9. It consists simply in the small dried flower of some species of Pyrethrum, which when wanted for use is ground in a coffee-mill and strewed10 about the bed. The plant is found abundantly all over Montenegro, and owes its greater virtue11 to the fact of being grown in very arid12 soil, untempered by the slightest moisture, and exposed to scorching13 suns—everything about it therefore is in the most concentrated form, and hence its efficacy; it is a very considerable article of commerce, and is largely exported to Russia and the Levant.
It was not therefore due to insect attacks that I was so early disturbed from my slumbers14 on the following morning; still I was disturbed, and that by the momentarily increasing hum of many voices and general bustle15 of the thousands who were flocking to Cettigne for the festival which was to take place on the morrow; but the great day of the feast throughout the south of Europe is invariably the day before the feast, "la vigilia del Santo," as the wording goes. The day of the feast itself one confesses, goes to mass, and does the proper; all the fun and the rollicking 196 is generally the day before. So I got up, and pushing open the outside green shutters16 which secured my windows, I looked into the courtyard of the Palace, and over the walls beyond into the little plain, which was gradually filling with numberless men, women, and children, some on horseback, more on foot, but all gorgeously attired17.
The sun was now getting high on the horizon, and the scene before me was becoming more and more animated18 and interesting. In the open space under my window, within the high enclosure of the Palace wall, men were busy picketing19 a dozen horses, evidently from the costliness20 of their trappings belonging to Chiefs and Woyvodes. While under a group of carob trees, in one corner of the enclosure, were spread several rugs on which were sitting cross-legged some of the owners of those quadrupeds, with their clumsy high-backed saddles behind them, passively smoking their chibouks while their attendants busied themselves preparing coffee.
Close on my right and just beyond the old Palace was the monastery, which, owing to the lateness of the hour the evening before, I had been unable to 197 examine. Like the old Palace it is a sort of semi-fortified building, constructed more for safety than for comfort. On the right hand, as the observer looks at it in front, is the church, and next to it a tall, square, and very modern tower erected21 to the memory of the Vladika Peter, who is buried on the top of a somewhat difficult peak to the south-west of Cettigne and about six miles distant. The body of the monastery comes next, conspicuous22 by two rows of arched openings placed one over the other, and to the left of them again are the apartments of the Metropolitan23. The whole is surrounded by a high wall, enclosing a primitive24 garden in which are located a large number of beehives, (upwards of a hundred). This wall is pierced by one large gateway25, roofed over and secured by a massive door, in front of which is the circular-paved thrashing floor, so characteristic of the East. Every thing about the monastery is of the simplest and rudest construction, and the church is utterly26 unadorned, not from choice, I am assured, but from necessity.
In the monastery itself are many shady corners that would well repay a few hours spent in transferring 198 them to one's portfolio27, and just at the entrance inside the building, is a most extraordinary chasm28 in the rock, through which a piercing cold wind is constantly blowing, coldest when the weather is hottest; and so intense is the cold in that opening that it is used in Summer as an ice-house for the cooling of wine and the preserving of food. This phenomenon has never been satisfactorily explained, because it is not only that the cavity is cold, but a strong sharp cutting wind rushes out of it. I shall not attempt to account for it, but will leave it as a problem for sharper wits than mine to solve.
As the day waxed older the number of arrivals increased on the plain of Cettigne, till by eight o'clock in the morning it was dotted all over with picketed29 horses and temporary encampments of all sorts. Having had my simple breakfast of coffee, milk, and toast without butter—which is quite unknown there though cream is plentiful—but accompanied by a good plate of Albanian figs30, I went out with Pero Pejovich, who came to fetch me to visit the fair. For this festival of St. Peter offers a double stimulus31 to the inhabitants of the 199 surrounding country for a visit to Cettigne—a religious ceremony and a considerable fair. And it may be right for me to observe that this St. Peter, Patron of Montenegro, in whose honour this great gathering32 annually33 takes place, is a saint sui generis—indeed I was on the point of saying, when I detected and checked myself, that he was a saint extra palum ecclesi?; for he is neither St. Peter the Apostle, nor St. Peter the Martyr34, nor St. Peter the Hermit35, nor even St. Peter Igneus, who in a fit of zeal36 for the maintenance of the laws relating to the temporalities of the church, walked through the flames at Settimo in the eleventh century, to establish a case of simony against another Peter, one Peter of Pavia, then Bishop37 of Florence; nor any other canonical38 St. Peter I ever heard of, but simply St. Peter of Montenegro, the old Vladika Peter I., Prince-Bishop of Montenegro, not yet canonized by any ecclesiastical authority or other licensing39 body, as I was assured, but simply a saint in virtue of the will of the people, the Plebiscite of Montenegro, who insisted autoritate nostra on having him for their patron saint. He probably deserved to be canonized just as 200 well, and perhaps better than many another saint, and if history tells truth, certainly better than his namesake, the so-called Peter the Martyr, for he wisely, mildly, and virtuously40 ruled in Montenegro for fifty-three years, viz., from 1777 to 1830, and the mountaineers are fully6 justified41 in reverencing42 his memory.
Passing my arm through that of Pero Pejovich, who seemed to know and be known of everyone, I began my expedition through a crowd of men, women and children, that every moment grew denser43 and denser. It was the most picturesque scene that could be imagined; all the neighbouring and surrounding countries had sent their contributions to the fair—Bosnians, Servians, Herzegovinians, Morlacks, Dalmatians, Albanians, Roumelians, Turks, Greeks, Croats, Italians, &c.; but conspicuous among them all for height of stature44 and nobility of countenance45 were the Montenegrins themselves. I think that, even independent of their costume, I could have always singled them out by their ruddy though sunburnt complexions46, grey or blue eyes, and open honest countenances47. 201
We went to a booth where arms were sold, and I was astounded48 at the number, variety, and richness of the weapons that were not only displayed, but were actually sold. They seemed to me dear. I should have much liked to purchase a handsome yataghan with silver hilt and in a sheath of repoussé silver. It was a very handsome weapon, and was made by a celebrated artificer of Skodra, but the price was sixteen Napoleons, which was more than I liked to give, and I suspect I could get one just like it in Tichborne Street for half the money.
From the armourer we went to a tailor's booth, where piles of costumes of different nationalities were exposed for sale; Morlack suits, Albanian suits, and Montenegrin suits, some of cloth and some of velvet49, but all more or less embroidered50 in gold, and some literally51 overladen with plates of silver gilt52. From thence we went to a Bosnian café of the most primitive kind; a couple of large blankets stretched over a few poles made a pretence53 of shelter, and on the ground were a few Turkish rugs on which we squatted54, while a very ugly and dirty gipsy-looking woman was 202 boiling coffee outside over a small fire of sticks contrived55 between two stones; nothing could be more primitive. So we sat and smoked, and in due time drank our coffee, which was simply abominable56. I remember it was, though I was not minding it much, being occupied at the time with listening to a man performing on the national instrument, the guzla (pronounced goozla), whilst a girl was singing a low, monotonous57, plaintive58 air.
The guzla is not an instrument which offers much scope to the performer; it is simply a very primitive fiddle59, with only one string, played upon with an equally primitive bow; still it was surprising the amount of harmony the man contrived to scrape out of it. The song, as Pero Pejovich told me, was all about the old story, love and war, while the music, as is almost always the case among barbarous nations, was in a minor60 key.
Having paid for our coffee and thrown a few paràs to the minstrels, we sallied forth61 again.
"And now, friend Pero," I said, "I should 203 like to see some of your Montenegrin beauties. I have seen lots of fine men this morning; but as to the women, friend Pero, they are a caution. I never saw so many ugly ones congregated62 together."
My conductor smiled, shrugged63 his shoulders, and looked me in the face; he did not know exactly whether he ought not to be angry. However, his habitual64 good-humour prevailed, and with a loud laugh, he said:
"Avete ragione, son brutte come il Demonio. But wait, only wait till you see the Princess; she is a pure Montenegrina, and beautiful enough for the whole nation." And he spoke65 truth!
We now wandered away again towards a sort of native inn or khan, where he said we should get some good Vienna beer to wash away the taste of that abominable coffee. As we were passing some booths, where a variety of cheap Manchester goods were being displayed with some English Delft ware66 of the very commonest description, I was hailed with a "How d'ye do, stranger?" from a dapper, wide-awake-looking little man, who came out and spoke such excellent English that I took 204 him to be a Briton or an American; but he was neither; he was a Dalmatian from Sebenico, who had been a great deal in England and America, and spoke English as fluently as his native Illyrian. I had a long chat with him, and asked him how trade was, and if he was doing well.
"No," he replied; "they don't know what trade is in these countries, they have too many restrictions67; and yet," said he, "you won't go into the poorest cabin that you won't find one of these," handing me a wretched sample of English pottery68 with a vile69 brown pattern on it; "such is their preference for everything of English make."
Here Pero reminded me of the beer we had to drink, and that the time was drawing near when I was to present myself at the Palace for my audience. So we went off to the khan, where, having refreshed ourselves with some of Vienna's best, with a lump of virgin70 snow in it, I bid my guide good morning, and returned to the old Palace; when, having dressed myself, I crossed over to the new one to pay my respects to the Prince according to the orders received the day before.
Having penetrated71 through the outer gate, where 205 the guards, I thought, looked rather scowlingly on my strange attire—viz., a dark blue frock coat, light grey trousers, and patent leather boots, the whole topped with my Indian quilted helmet—I ascended72 to the hall door by half a dozen steps, where I was met by the Prince's own henchman, a brother of the Commandant of the Grahovo. He was yet taller than his brother, and must have been at least six feet eight inches. I do not say this quite by guess-work, though I did not actually measure him; but on a subsequent occasion I did measure an immense Montenegrin, and found him six feet seven inches without heels, and the henchman was decidedly taller than he.
Well, pour revenir à nos moutons, I followed my Goliath into the hall, which is small and low, terminating in a double staircase, that bending round from each side joins again in the middle to form but one flight, at the top of which I found myself in a vestibule with two more guards on duty, and from that I was ushered73 into a fine large and well proportioned room, handsomely furnished in Viennese style, and hung all round with good portraits of the Prince's father, the celebrated 206 Mirko, the Emperor and Empress of Russia, the Emperor and Empress of Austria, and many others.
Rooms open right and left off this. I was conducted into a smaller room to the right, where, after waiting for only a few seconds, the Prince came in. He addressed me in French, congratulating me on my courage for having ventured so far into his country, not on account of the difficulty of the road, "for all English are good mountaineers," but from the bad name the country has in Europe.
"Don't you know," said he, laughing, "que nous sommes des ogres, et que nous mangeons les enfans; however, you shall try how we cook them if you will dine here to-night at eight."
I thanked His Highness for his kindness, adding that I had never heard of their cannibal propensities74, but in any case I should be happy to eat anything His Highness also would eat, and making my bow backed out of the saloon.
I then left my card for the Russian Consul75, who was staying at the Palace, and afterwards went to pay the same compliment to Mr. Nico Matanovich, aide-de-camp 207 to the Prince; after which I returned to my quarters, to convert into a luncheon76 the repast which otherwise would have served for a dinner, but for the hospitality of His Highness.
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1
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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3
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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5
fleas
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| n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求） | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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7
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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8
vouch
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| v.担保；断定；n.被担保者 | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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strewed
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| v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满 | |
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11
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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12
arid
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| adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的 | |
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scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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slumbers
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| 睡眠，安眠( slumber的名词复数 ) | |
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15
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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16
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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17
attired
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| adj.穿着整齐的v.使穿上衣服，使穿上盛装( attire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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picketing
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| [经] 罢工工人劝阻工人上班，工人纠察线 | |
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costliness
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| 昂贵的 | |
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21
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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22
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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23
metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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24
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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portfolio
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| n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位 | |
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28
chasm
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| n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突 | |
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picketed
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| 用尖桩围住（picket的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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figs
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| figures 数字，图形，外形 | |
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stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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canonical
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| n.权威的；典型的 | |
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licensing
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| v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 ) | |
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40
virtuously
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| 合乎道德地，善良地 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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42
reverencing
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的现在分词 )；敬礼 | |
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denser
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| adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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45
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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46
complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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48
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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49
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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50
embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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51
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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52
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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53
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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54
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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55
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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56
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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59
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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62
congregated
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| （使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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63
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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65
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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66
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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67
restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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68
pottery
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| n.陶器，陶器场 | |
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69
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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70
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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71
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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72
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74
propensities
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| n.倾向，习性( propensity的名词复数 ) | |
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75
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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