[ 60 ]
Anon my wings grew wet with blood,
The sun shined down from a clear sky withal,
And my wings waxed stiff,
That with my wings I might not fly.
But my companions flew thence,
And I remained in the midst of the level plain,
And the horses and the heroes trampled me under foot!
But God brought Kraljević Marko thither, 40
He took me from the blood of heroes,
And set me beside him on Sharatz;
He bore me to the greenwood,
And set me upon a fir branch.
From the skies there fell a slender rain
And my wings were cleansed,
That with my wings I might fly,
Yea, fly over the greenwood
For to join me with my fellows.
Yet another kindness he showed me, 50
Marko Kraljević showed me another kindness,
Thereof shalt thou well wit and know.
When the town on Kossovo plain went up in flames,
And in flames went up the tower of Hadji Aga,
My eaglets were there;
Marko Kraljević gathered them together,
He gathered them in his silken bosom
And bore them to his white manor.
He fed them a full month of days,
A full month and a week of days; 60
He set them free in the greenwood,
And I found my eaglets once again.
Thus did Marko for my sake!"
And men think of Kraljević Marko,
As of a lucky day in the year.
