[135]
Many counsels he pondered, he resolved on one,70
And so he cried with a loud voice:
"Whither goest thou, Djemo?
Lo, here am I, Kraljević Marko!"
Djemo, the Mountaineer, turned him about,
But Marko put his trust in Sharatz.
On his Sharatz he trusted he should have escaped,
And he fled away athwart the wide plain,
And Djemo followed hard after him;
Swift was Sharatz, and had right well escaped him,
But Djemo seized his battle-mace; 80
He wheeled it round him and cast it,
And smote Marko between the living shoulders.
Marko fell down on the green grass,
He fell and Djemo hasted to him
And bound his hands behind his back.
Then he drew forth the chain from the saddle-bag,
And bound him fast in bitter iron.
On his feet two fetters,
On his arms two armbands,
Round his neck the heavy chain of iron. 90
Then he mounted Marko's Sharatz,
And by the halter led the brown horse
Whereon he had bound Marko,
And came straightway to white Ochrida.
And by Ochrida he set up a gallows,
For there he purposed to hang Marko.
But the Christian lords besought him, saying:
"Brother-in-God, Djemo the Mountaineer,
Hang not Marko here,
Lest vine and wheat bear not any fruit. 100
Lo, here be three charges of gold!"
Djemo took the three charges of gold,
And led away Marko to Vučitern;
And by the town he set up a gallows,
For he purposed to hang Marko there.
But the Christian lords besought him, saying:
