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Of God and Saint John I am in sooth afeared.
Therefore will I follow this adventure to the utterance." 180
He sent back the courier without message,
For neither said he "I come," nor "I come not,"
But he went to the slender tower,
And did on gear meet for a journey.
About his shoulders he cast his cloak of wolf-skin,
On his head he set his cap of wolf-skin,
He girded on his well-forged sabre,
And took also his battle-spear.
He descended to Sharatz's stable,
And made fast the sevenfold saddle-girth. 190
Then he filled with wine a wine-skin,
And hanged it on the right side of Sharatz,
And on the left side he hanged his heavy mace,
That the saddle should not slip to this side nor to that
Then he flung him on the back of Sharatz
And right so went forth to white Stamboul.
When he was come to white Stamboul,
He went neither to Sultan nor yet to Grand Vizier,
But to the new inn he went,
And there he would tarry the night; 200
But before the dark of night was come,
He led Sharatz to a lake,
For to water him with cold water.
But Sharatz would not drink of the water,
But looked ever round about him.
And behold a Turkish maiden,
Cloaked in a shawl of gold!
When the maiden drew nigh to the lake-side,
She bowed her down before the green lake.
"God aid thee, green lake," quoth she, 210
"God aid thee, my eternal home!
In thee I would be for ever!
Liever were I wedded with thee than with the Moor."
Then did Kraljević Marko make known his presence:
"Ha, Lady," quoth he, "thou Turkish maiden!
