Romantic Albania by Demetra Vaka in the Century Magazine, March 1917, Pp. 778-784

8/10/2019 Romantic Albania by Demetra Vaka in the Century Magazine, March 1917, Pp. 778-784

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Vol. 93 MARCH, 1917 No.5

TABLE OF CONTENTSThe President and his Day's Workby David Lawrence, pp. 641-652 -PDF

From the Life of Sir Watson Tylerby Harvey O'Higgins, pp. 653-662 -PDF

Lincoln and Peter Cartwrightby J.B. Merwyn, pp. 663-665 -PDF

Another Arabian Nightby Simeon Strunsky, pp. 666-672 -PDF

At the Gateby Myla Jo Closser, pp. 673-675 -PDF

A Timorous Shepherd(Verse)by Morris Bishop, p. 676 -PDF

The Cloistered Cityby Harry A. Franck, pp. 677-690 -PDF

Should We Fight for Prohibition?by Albert Jay Nock, pp. 691-693 -PDF

The Invalid(Verse)by Leolyn Louise Everett, p. 694 -PDF

The Bunker Mouseby Frederick Stuart Greene, pp. 695-707 -PDF

War Debts and Future Peaceby Joseph E. Davies, pp. 708-713 -PDFMrs. Fiske, to the Actor-in-the-Makingby Alexander Woollcott, pp. 714-722 -PDF

The Blundering in Greeceby T. Lothrop Stoddard, pp. 723-732 -PDF

His Father's Business(Verse)by Robert Gilbert Welsh, p. 733 -PDF

Aurora the Magnificentby Gertrude Hall, pp. 734-751 -PDF

The New York Policeby Henry Rood, pp. 752-764 -PDF

Ironstoneby Phyllis Bottome, pp. 765-777 -PDF

Romantic Albaniaby Demetra Vaka, pp. 778-784 -PDF

This Distrust of Demoracyby Seymour Deming, pp. 785-790 -PDF

The Story of the Eelby Edwin Bjorkman, pp. 791-793 -PDF

Rembrandt, A Self-Portraitby A.T. Van Laer, p. 794 -PDF

Turkish Dick(Verse)by Thomas Newell Metcalf, p. 795 -PDF

On First Looking into a Subway Excavation(Verse)by Christopher Morley, p. 796 -PDF

Big Gameby Frederick Lewis Allen, pp. 797-799 -PDF

One Who Benefits(Verse)by E.L. McKinney, p. 800 -PDF
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Vol. 93

cS-^.^^fe-^-e

T h e President and his D ay s W o r k

By D A V I D L A W R E N C E

H A T a Pr e s id en t of th e Un i t ed

States can do is prescribed by the

Const i tu t ion and innumerab le s ta tu tes de

r ived theref rom; what a Presiden t cannot

do is a proscription imposed by society.

T h e one defines his legal pow ers, the othe r

limits his personal l iberty. T o survey not

alone what the President must do to dis

charge the manifold duties of his office,

bu t wh at he is by convention, custom , or

other cause prevented from doing, one

must observe from day to day his tr ials

and tr ibulations, his vexations, his tangled

problems, h is unremit t ing labors , h is op

por tun i t ies fo r e r ror , and unders tand

something of his public and private wor

r ies and apprehensions. Th es e consti tu te

an una llur ing , though fascinating, side of

the Presidency of which the general pub

lic gets only an occa sionar glimpse. Fo r

while the office is the most powerful in

the worl d, the para dox of i t is th at the

Pre side nt is at the same time th e most

res t r ic ted person in the countryre

str icted as to personal l iberty, and the ex

ercise of that degree of selfishness or de

sire for self-enjoyment, however small ,

w ith w hich every man is by na tur e en

dowed.

Few people ever stop to think what a

captive of convention and dignity a Presi

den t rea l ly i s. T he c i ty of W ash ing ton

is not his accustomed residence; it is, in

C o p y r i g h t , 1 9 17 . b y T H E C E N T

fact , the home town of few, being simply

a house of transients, and in the later

years of life intimate friends are not easily

made. The refore , un less the new Presi

den t has p rev iously l ived amid Washing

ton s m igrat ory populatio n and is accli

mate d to the city s periodic changes, he

finds himself alone in a stra ng e en viron

ment, a cold atmosphere depressing to the

new -com er. Even after he has ma de

friends he cannot call upon them casually

or a t random . For m, tha t ancien t regu

lato r of W as hin gto n l ife, is the imm ediate

bar r ier . Discre t ion is ano ther . T h e

President may drop in on his fr iends now

and then, but not too frequently. Such

visits,

un less d is t r ibu ted wi th ca lcu la t ing

foresight, are apt to be misun derstood , and

it is difficult ,to disc rim inate . So the new

President must at once detach himself

from private l ife, pr imarily because disin

terested men are

few. Somebody is al

ways want ing someth ing f rom the Presi

dent.

Mr . Ta f t wen t ab o u t W ash in g to n

freely, for he had lived there several years

before being elected to the Presidency;

but the general cr i t icism of him was that

he spent too much time socially, and his

defense, i t will be remembered, was that

the White House was a lonesome p lace .

M r. R oosevelt provided his ow n recrea

t ion ,boxers , wrest le r s , and rough-r iders ,

U R Y C o . A l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d .

G 4 1


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Romantic Albania

By D E M E T R A V A K A

Author of "She who Sowed the Seed," etc.

H E first t ime I visi ted Alb ania I

went wi th my bro ther , who was one

of a party of officials sent to investigate

a recent uprising . As usua l , the cause had

been taxes, discussed with rifles and knives,

and as usual the outcome had been none

too favorable to Tu rk ey . N ow , to save

her face, she was resort ing to that com

monest form of useless governmental ac

t iv i ty , " inves t igat ing ."

After the d ip lomat ic work was over ,

the intent ion of our party had been to

push on through cent ra l and nor thern Al

bania , Montenegro , Serb ia , and Bulgar ia ,

and so back to Cons tan t inople .by way of

the Black Sea. Un for tu nate ly , one of our

mem bers , a s l im, fascinat ing Fren chm an,

had brought wi th h im an unnecessary

am o u n t of F ren ch g a l l an t ry . T h e Al b a

nians took his gal lantry too seriously, and

it cost him his life, although ofEcially he

died of typhoid fever. O u r mission wa s

to pacify, no t to seek fur the r t ro uble . T h e

incident dampened the spiri t of our party.

"O ne mus t have a s t rong s tomach to

stand the diet of Albania," one of the

Greek s r em ark ed , w i t h a g r i m ace . "M i n e

has always been del icate, and I have tasted

enough of this savage country to give me

indige stion for the rest of my life. I go

n o f a r t h e r . "

T h e res t s ided wi th h im. Th ey we re

pampered ci ty men, and the coarse food,

the unavoidable hardships , the cons tan t

t ravel ing on muleback a long t ra i l s that

made them dizzy , coupled wi th the r i sk

of losing their l ives should they chance to

ofifend the untutored Albanian sense of

propr ie ty , were not to thei r t as te . Bu t

for my brother the Balkans possessed an

al lu rem en t he could never resis t . As for

me, I was young and fu l l o f en thus iasm;

my world had been made up of books, 'and

778

the mys tery of the Balkans a t t racted me

beyond the desire for comfort .

" O h , do let us go on " I urg ed my

brother , wh o needed no urg in g . T h u s our

par ty of many dwindled down to us two

and one zapt ieh , a southern A lbania n and

a good fe l low, who knew how to cont ro l

the muleteers , and how to obta in what we

needed from the Alb anian s wi th out get

t ing in to f igh ts wi th them . M oreo ver , he

had a good voice, and enl ivened our long

r ides wi th wei rd Albanian songs , which

seemed to invoke the spiri ts of that wild

coun t ry . T h e res t o f the mi l i t ary escor t

we dismissed ; for, as my broth er re

marked , i t added to our danger , no t to our

safety, since one could see the hair of the

Albanians rise, l ike the ruffs of angry dogs,

a t s ight of the Turkish so ld iery .

Alb ania is not on ly the oldest chi ld of

the Balkans , bu t the o ldes t count ry in

Eu rop e. It is a pa rt of ancie nt Il lyr ia,

and has survived the at tacks of the Ro

m an s an d t h e Hu n s , t h e M aced o n i an s an d

the Greeks , the Serbs and the Bulgars ,

and seems l ikely to survive those of the

Tu rk s . Yet i t l acks the two gre at fun

damental s that un i te a people and make a

nat ion , a common language and a common

rel igion. Cap able of resis t ing aggression

and of fighting fiercely and stubbornly,

the Albanians have never been ab le , de

spi te their great pride in, and love for,

their country, to put aside their family,

their t r iba l , and the ir rel igious feudsv in

order to form a homogeneous whole .

W e found the southern pa r t Greek in

speech, Greek in looks, and Greek in fai th.

W h e n we en t e red t h e m o u n t a i n o u s r eg i on

that , af ter several days of arduous mule-

back riding, brought us to the plateaus of

cent ra l Albania , mos t of the people were

Mohammedans, though only the officials ,


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R O M A N T I C A L B A N I A

779

who came f rom Constant inople , spoke

T u r k i sh . T ur k i sh , i nde e d, w a s l i t tl e

known among the Albanians except

among those who had worked in Constan

tinople as body-guards, a career for which

their fai thfulness and bravery eminently

fitted them.

T he se M oha m m e da ns o f c e n t r a l A l

bania were despised a l ike by Turks and by

Chr is t ian s . T h e fac t tha t they had turned

Mohammedans to save the i r lands and to

keep on the r ight side of the conqueror

made them an object of contempt to the

T u rk s and of ha t red to the Chr is t ian s . I t

is tr ue tha t this hap pen ed in the fifteenth

century, but in the Balkans they have long

mem ories. Bein g in the majo rity here,

how ever, they are a pow erful faction, and

in addit ion to their periodic r isings against

the Turks they have f ierce religious feuds

wi th the or thodox Albanians of the south,

and wi th the Albanians of the nor th , who

have become Cathol ics throug h A ust r ia n

and I ta l ian inf luences . Th ou gh re l igion

sits l ightly on the shoulders of these wild

mo unta inee rs, in its vario us forms i t has

helped to fashion those differences which

have impeded the welding of the country

into a homogeneous who le . T h e only cer

tain bond between the various tr ibes is

their excessive pride in Albania and their

lust for blood. Ev ery rock, every stron g

hold, every mounta in has i t s his tory, and

th at history is wr it te n in blood.

Yet they compel one 's sympathy, and

they compelled my adm iratio n. I f at t imes

they exasperated me with their boastful-

ness of being the greatest country in the

wor ld because they were the grea tes t

fighters, if I becam e we ary of he arin g ho w

once,

under I skander Bey, they had he ld

mil l ions of Turks a t bay, I had to remem

ber that they were only children in civil i

zation, and that greatness, f rom their point

of view, consisted in the capacity to shed

blood.

After we lef t the south, we did not take

our own mules wi th us . W e reasoned

that the best way to procure guides for

the inte r ior would be to hi re mules wi th

the i r mule teers . O u r reasoning proved

false. T o begin with , we discovered tha t

the mule teers knew only the main- t rav

eled roads, if one may thus dignify the

iBountain trai ls which connected one part

of the country wi th another ; and in addi

t ion, since all our muleteers "owed blood,"

they had to leave us at most inconvenient

spots, since their feuds had not at all been

arra ng ed w ith a view to the convenience

of travelers.

During the f irst three days of our jour

ney we encountered l i t t le tha t was inte r

es t ing beyond our unexpec ted changing of

mule teers . T h e vi l lages we passed

through, whether la rge or smal l , were

squal id and miserable . T h e cont ras t be

tween the grandeur of the landscape and

the human misery was overpower ing.

Amid these wonder ful , lof ty he ights one

expected to see wonderful edif ices and

men and women of inte l lec t ; and one saw

only huts , women bowed under the burden

of heavy work, and men, armed to the

teeth, ready to take l ife. A t t imes it

seemed to me that I could actually hear

Albania moaning, and begging for peace ,

that she might end this existence of al

way s tear ing to pieces. An unfa tho mab le

sadness sett led upon me. M y smallness,

my incapacity to help, crushed my spir i t .

I heard Albania call , and all I could an

sw e r w a s : " N o , A lba n ia , I c a nno t he lp

you. N o one can help you, because you

are the key to Constant inople f rom the

Adr ia t ic ; and a l l the grea t Chr is t ian na

t ions , pre tending they a re t rying to pre

serve the balance of power, have their

greedy eyes f ixed on the Golden Horn and

the terr ible hegemony of Europe, to which

ever ythin g else mu st be sacrif iced. Bleed

on, Albania ; for through your blood each

one hopes to wade to Constant inople ."

A t one of the la rge r vi l lages where we

spent the night our t rouble wi th guides

came to an end. W e always mad e it a

point , whi le our tents were be ing pi tched,

to call on the religious head of the com

m uni ty , w he the r a M ussu lm a n , a Ca tho

lic, o r a n O r th odo x . W e w e r e a lw a ys

courteo usly received, and since we spoke

their respective languages, we came into

di rec t comm unica t ion wi th them. As a

rule they were men of simple minds, and


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T H E C E N T U R Y M A G A Z I N E

although they were desirous of putt ing an

end to the feuds, one felt that they were

more or less imbued with the spir i t of the

cou ntry. Inde ed, I regre t to say tha t we

found more animosi ty be tween the two

branches of the followers of Christ than

between the Chr is t ians and the Moham

medans .

In this par t icu la r vi l lage there were tw o

flocks: the Greek, which was mostly

Vlach, and the Mu ssul ma n. W e ca lled

on the heads of both, and both offered us

the hospi ta l i ty of the i r houses . T h e M us

sulman had a most charming wife, so sweet

and childlike that I wished to stay with

her; and we chose fortunately, for not

only had I a delightful bed to sleep in,

but a bath, which was the most ingenious

thin g I had seen in Alb ania . I t wa s a

hole sunk in the floor of the kitchen, about

the size of a barrel , and made of cement

by p r e t t y E m m e ne H a nou m ' s husba nd

himself He had buil t i t to keep vege

tables in , but Emmene Hanoum used i t as

a ba th- tub.

She was a delightful and vivacious host

ess, and waxed eloquent over the peaceful

spir i t that possessed their vil lagers, and

the fr iendship that subsisted between the

C h r i s ti a n s a n d M o h a m m e d a n s . " W e -

have n' t had a blood-feud or an uprising

for ever and ever so lon g," she d eclared.

Holding up two rosy f ingers , she went on

impress ive ly, "Not for more than two

years . "

Her hands were pre t ty and wel l kept .

T he M ussu lm a n A lba n ia ns t r e a t t he i r

wives be t te r than the Chr is t ians do, and

whenever they can afford i t , they engage

Chr is t ian women to wai t upon them.

Sweet Emmene had "never put her hands

into cold water ," as the saying is, which

means that she had always had a maid.

She was tal l and slender , and her two l i t

tle sons were alvvays climbing in her lap

or up on her back. She could neither read

nor wr i t e , but embroidered won der ful ly .

The vi l lage , she told me, was unusua l ly

prosperous , and there were men there who

owned as many as a hun dred sheep. Th ey

were all very hospitable, and every promi

nent c i t izen wished to ente r ta in us . Th os e

to whose houses we could not possibly go,

for i t would have taken us a month to

accept al l the invitat ions, gave us presents

of meat, eggs, vegetables, milk, and fruit .

Indeed, provisions for several days were

th rus t upon us, and th e people begged us

to te l l the Government what a wor thy,

peace- loving communi ty they were .

T h e Greek pr ies t here was a f ind. H e

was not only an educa ted, but a brdad-

minded, man, and, unl ike most Albanians ,

he rea l ized ' the fac t tha t Albania was not

the grea tes t country in the wor ld, wi th a

past , to which th e past of Gre ece and Ro me

was as nothing . H e was a southern Al

banian, an Epirote , and his Greek was

delig htful . Cer tainly his salary could no t

have come from his sm all flock, an d we

concluded tha t Greece was awakening to

the possibil i ty of Albania 's being divided,

and tha t the Albanians had be t te r be pre

pared to choose wisely. I t was ow ing to

Father Basi l tha t the Or thodox Chr is t ians

and the Mussulmans got a long wel l to

gethe r . Th es e tw o religions, I believe,

had formed an all iance against the Catho

lics ; for T u rk ey viewed the pro teges of

Aust r ia and I ta ly wi th grea te r disfavor

tha n those of l i t t le Gree ce. Greec e only

dreams of the redempt ion of Constant i

nople

Austr ia planned to acquire i t .

Father Basil saved us fronj guides and

the t roubles tha t went wi th them for the

rest of our jou rney . H e took us to his

heart; for he had seen nothing of civil iza

t ion since leaving Constantinople a few

years before, and i t was really on his ac

count that we stopped as long as we did

in tha t vi l lage . Ho ld ing sway over the

ent i re Or thodox popula t ion of tha t par t of

Albania, he had traveled a great deal

about the country and as fa r up as Mon

tenegro. H e wa s qui te aware of a l l the

poli t ical intr igues at work, and now and

then would close one eye and remark,

"Y ou see how thing s wo rk up here ."

After he heard of our troubles with the

muleteej-s, he caressed his silky beard in

silence for some time.

" I w onde r , " he m ur m ur e d a t l e ng th ,

and aga in, " I wonder ."

" W h a t ? "

my brother asked.


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R O M A N T I C A L B A N I A

781

"I wonder if Acheron, the fairy's son,

wou ld consent to go wi th you. H e know s

al l nor t hern Albania . Mo reov er , he owes

no blood, and no ne is owed to him, and

every one l ikes and respects him."

"Whose son did you say he was?" my

brother asked.

"A fairy's. Yo u see, he wa s found in

the w oods by a M ussu lm a n w he n he w a s

only a few mo nths old. H e had been

kept al ive by a goat, which daily stood

over him and gave him suck."

"But what makes you think his mother

w a s a f a i r y? "

"Because the honor of Albanian women

is above reproach; hence his mother could

only have been a fairy. An d since he was

found near the r iver Acheron, he was

named Acheron, a l though the man who

found him adopted him, and brought him

up in the faith of the prophet."

" O h ,

do

get him for u s " I cr ied. Bo th

his or igin and his Homeric name fasci

na ted me.

" I wi l l t ry , though I don ' t say he wi l l

come. Ju s t no w he i s gu ardin g his adopted

fathe r 's flocks in the mo un tain s. I shall

send for him to-day."

The next evening a t dusk Acheron ap

peare d. H e certain ly did justice to his

or igin. H e was the handsom est spec imen

of a Gre ek I had seen in Alb an ia. T a ll

and well buil t , with classical features, he

mig ht have been Ach illes in person . H e

wore the fus tane l le , the s ta rched whi te

ki l t s of the southern Albanians; and the

lon g blue tassel of his fez fell grace fully

on his shoulders , mingl ing wi th his ha i r ,

which he wo re ra the r long. H e was as

different from the average unkempt shep

herd as a tho rou gh bre d is f rom a cart

horse. H is legging s, his waistco at, his

coa t were a l l beaut i ful ly embroidered: i t

seems that the women of Albania took

pleasure in giving him handsomely em

broidered garments to propi t ia te the

fairies, his kinsfolk.

Acheron l iked my brother , and having

looked me up and down, sa id he would

go with us if the priest would get some one

else to gu ard his fathe r 's f locks. T h is

Father Basil promised to do, and at the

next daybreak we were off , the father

admonishing us not to dare offer money to

Ach eron. " H e wi l l te l l you wh at he

would l ike to have, and you can send i t

to him," he told us.

Acheron proved to be the grea tes t de

l ight of our journe y. W it h a l l h is other

good points, he was clean and loved to

ba the . H ow he could have acquired such

habi ts in Albania I cannot imagine ; hered

i ty must be very s t rong . W ho ev er his

parents were, I am sure they could have

been no common people . Al th oug h he was

a Mussulman, Acheron adored the Virgin

Mary, of whom he spoke as " the l i t t le

Ch r is t ian fa i ry ." H e had a lso picked up

Greek as unedu ca ted people ra re ly do. I t

had come natural to him, as had his love

for poe t ry and his graceful man ners . H e

was Homeric in name, face, and disposi

t ion. H e believed absolutely in his fairy

origin, and played the part with fervor .

O ur j our ne y be c a m e A c he r on ' s j our ne y .

He knew the hiding-places of birds,

snakes, and beasts, and was quite at home

with them . H ad we been fol lowing any

par t icula r route and in a hur ry, he would

have been the most exasperating of guides.

As i t was , we s topped whenever he wanted

us to , and we awoke and s ta r ted on when

ever he told us to . T h u s we saw the

nor thern p ar t of Alb ania as tha t hand

some, ir responsible crea ture kn ew it . I t

was in the spr ingt ime, and the peaks were

ye t snow-capped; the t rees were in blos

som, and mill ions of wild f lowers tapes

tr ied the precipitous f lanks of the moun

tains.

An d we had Ache ron to expla in

everything, mingling fancies fearlessly

with facts and speaking of the fairies as

ever present.

Bathed in blood as Albania is, one

would imagine her devoid of al l except the

fierce romance of armed str ife; yet to

gether with the r if les and knives and

blood-feuds live the fairies and all sorts

of woodland and mounta in spi r i t s , who,

l ike the mill ions of wild f lowers, br ing

beauty and charm to the wi ld country.

And Acheron was the embodiment of mys

t ic,

roma nt ic Alba nia . Even it s ho r rors

we re not horr ible to him. H e told of the


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782


kill ing of men with the same simplicity

wi th which he one day brought me a snake

to play with, never imagining that I might

no t care to touch i t. T o him all wild

animals were fr iends.

On ce at dusk as we were r idin g alo ng

a steep mountain-side, he walking by my

mount, suddenly he seized the reins of my

mule, br inging i t to a dangerous halt , a t

the same t ime ordering the others to stop.

As we wai ted brea thless , not knowing

w ha t to expect, we heard from afar the

hoofbeats of a galloping horse coming to

ward us at full speed.

Consider ing tha t our mules had to walk

on our rocky pa th wi th the utmost cau

t ion, this was marve lous . Acheron w as

greatly ex cited, and so we re my bro ther ,

the zaptieh, and L

The sound came nearer and nearer , and

we strained our eves to see the daring

rider . Ye t al tho ugh the sound passed

close to us in the gathering dusk, I saw

neither horse nor r ider; I only saw

Acheron salute and heard him say:

"M ay thy journ ey be of good omen I"

"Did you see the r ider?" I quest ioned.

" N o ;

but I know who i t was ."

" W h o w a s i t ? "

"The br ide of the mounta ins ."

He had often spoken to me about this

par t icula r fa i ry who, mounted on an in

visible steed, galloped over the roughest

defi les of the mo un tain s. T h er e wa s not

the s l ightes t doubt but tha t Acheron be

lieved what he said, and I , being young

and in Albania, and in the deep dusk of

a t ow e r ing m ounta inI do no t know

wh eth er I believed i t or not. A t any rate,

I heard the ga l loping hoofs ; and a l though

my Ph ilist ine bro ther explained- them to

m e, when we were a lone , as the reverbera

t ions of some curious tr ick of echo among

the mounta ins , l ike the whisper ing ga l

ler ies in cer tain churches, his reasoning

did not wholly convince me at the t ime.

Before i t became dark we pitched our

t en t s ,

and l ighted the bri l l iant f ire which

was to keep wild beasts away from u,s;

and wonder ful ly wel l I s lept tha t night ,

and every night in the Balkans, af ter

many hours in the saddle.

Dur ing our t r ip we passed many smal l

vi l lages where the women, prema ture ly

old, worked in the f ields, and at evening

we a lways met them re turning to the i r

homes, car rying t remendous loads on the i r

heads ,

wi th l i t t le chi ldren tow ing f rom

the i r ski r t s . T h e wom en per form every

labor in Albania in order that the men

may preserve their streng th for f ighting.

Near many of these vil lages we dis

mounted to ta lk wi th the women, and they

stopped their work to talk with us or to

fetch us milk or cheese or even to go home

wi th us and cook mu tton for us. As a

rule they were absolute ly uneduca ted, but

honest , shrewd, and capable.

After leaving one of these vil lages, we

came upon a place where four paths

crossed, and there, securely fastened in a

sort of sl ing, a baby was ha ngi ng .

"Acheron," I c r ied, " there i s another

fairy baby l ike you "

Acheron shook his head.

" N o ,

that is an i l l-omened baby, and i t

is lef t here, wh ere fou r pa ths meet, to

break the spell ."

" W ha t k ind of spe l l ? "

"All his brothers and sisters have died,

because the j inn have crossed the threshold

of his home; so now they hang him here,

w i th t h r e e M a r os [ M a r ys ] w a tc l i i ng , t o

break the spell ." H e poin ted to three

women seated at the foot of a tree a l i t t le

distance off, and cont inu ed; "E ve ry mag ic

requires three or seven or nine Maros.

T h a t is wh y every fami ly, whethe r M us

sulman or Chr is t ian, names one gi r l M ar o,

a f ter your l i t t le Chr is t ian fai ry . Th er e

was once a vi l lage where a l l the Maros

died. T h e inhabi tants knew there must

be a spell over their village, so thev all

left it."

The three Maros had got up, and met

us before we reached the baby. T he y

asked us to say a prayer as we passed be

neath i t , to help break the spell , in order

that it might live, and not die like all its

brothers and-s is te r s .

In the outskir ts of another vil lage we

came upon a group of children feasting

about what looked l ike a small , newly

mad e , grave .


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R O M A N T I C A L B A N I A 7 83

" W h a t a r e t he y do ing ? " I asked A c he

ron.

"They have bur ied a ca t ," he repl ied.

"You know, a cat is a sacred animal, be

cause Christ produced one from his sleeve.

W h en a cat dies, the children of the

household invite their f r iends to come and

help bury i t , and then they si t about the

grave and feast ."

T he se w e r e M oha m m e da n c h i ld r e n , bu t

th r oughout A lba n ia w e f ound Chr i s t i a n

and Mohammedan be l ie f s and supers t i

t ions commingled a lm ost wi th ou t regard

to the part icular creed of any particular

person.

On arr iving at a town of some size, my

brother suggested tha t I wai t there a few

days while Acheron and he climbed to the

sum mit of a cer ta in mo unta in. I was in

vited to stay in the household of the pasha

of the tow n. T h e house was more like a

fortress tha n a hom e. I t was two stories

high, bui l t a round three s ides of a cour t

yard, and the outer wal l was pie rced wi th

windows only jus t wide enough to permi t

the muzzle of a r if le to be poked through.

T h e house ho ld w a s t r e m e ndous . T h e

w i f e ,a nd in A lba n ia m os t M us su lm a ns

a r e m onoga m ous ,the sons and their

wives , the daughters and the i r husbands ,

numerous near and dis tant kin , bes ides

guests, al l l ived in this one abod e. T h e

women of the household went about un

ve i led and were permi t ted to ta lk wi th

men. Al l wo re r ichly embroidered bloom

ers reaching to the ankle , wi th an ankle-

piece of exquisite embroidery, and short

jackets, or waistcoats, with long coats of

blue and whi te . Al l evinced the grea tes t

intere st in my jou rne y, an d especially in

the condit ions we had found in those re

gions where upr is ings had occur red.

Every one wanted to do something to

ma ke my stay as pleas ant as possible. I

slept in a large room where several beds

were made up on the f loor every night for

guests . Am on g us there was a you ng gi r l ,

wi th an ext remely a t t rac t ive Or ienta l face ,

who wore espec ia l ly wel l embroidered

c lothes . I could not make out wh at her

posit ion in the househ old mig ht be. A t

meal - t imes , when we sa t down, c ross-

legged on the ground, a round a huge ,

revolving-table, she seemed to have no spe

cial place. Des pite my you th, I was placed

next the head lady. Th is par t icu la r gi r l

took any place that happened to be vacant,

yet everybody petted her , and the old

hanoum

often pinched her cheek and

ca l led her naughty and endear ing names.

O n the second day of my stay I chanced

to see this gi r lher name was Kouze

sitt ing in a small , hidden arbor with a

youn g man, and he had his a rm arou nd

he r w a i s t . K n ow ing how the A lba n ia ns

felt about their women, I was seized with

the fear th at in a short t im e I should be

in the midst of a feud, when first this

young man, and then all his male relatives,

would have to be kil led.

An hour la te r , when we assembled for

our evening meal , Kouze , br ight -eyed and

unconcerned, came in . The more I looked

at her , the more she puzz led and a t t rac ted

m e.

De vi l t ry was in every glance of her

eye. Af ter dinn er I began to talk wit h

her , and her hum or surpr ised me. As

we were par t ing, I sa id:

"Do te l l them to put your bed next to

mine to-nig ht ."

She shook her head t i l l the long, gold-

blue tassel of her fez danced.

"You have too la rge eyes ," she an

sw e r e d ; " the y se e t oo m u c h . " N e v e r the

less,

when I went to bed, hers was next to

mine .

At dawn I was awakened by a whis

t l ing in the cour tyard under our win

dow sa w hi s t l i ng w hic h tu r ne d in to a

soft song.

Kouze rose quietly, sl ipped on her

bloomers and her long coa t , and c rept to

the window, sc rambled over the s i l l , and

with the dexter i ty of a ca t sprang to the

gr ound .

I rushed to the window jus t in t ime

to see the arms of the same young man

enci rc le Kouze before the two disappeared

among the t rees beyond the cour tyard.

Though i t was s t i l l very ear ly , I s lept no

m or e . W h o w a s t he r e t ha t I c ou ld w a r n

wi thout br inging on the ca tas t rophe I

wished to avoid ?

At breakfas t - t ime Kouze came in as


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deb onair and impish as ever . Af ter th e

meal was over , I joined her .

"You rose very ear ly ," I ventured to

say.

"So I did ." Th er e was laugh ter in her

eyes and on her l ips. She pinched m y

cheek, and, ben din g l ike a bird, gave me a

kiss tha t was more l ike a peck. "C om e,

and I '11 show 3'ou some of my pr etty

c lothes ."

Froin a cupboard in the room in which

we slept she brought for th an armful of

the m ost exqu isite clothes, besides a lo t of

si lver brooches and bracelets. " T h ey are

all mine," she said.

I wanted to wqrn her of the danger she

was running, ye t somehow I could not

ma nag e i t . I fel t tha t I should receive

only r idicule in reply.

T h a t a f te rnoon the mother - invi ted me

to dr ive wi th her , and as we were re tur n

ing through the woods I espied Kouze , and

then made out tha t the young man was

aga in wi th her . Quic kly I turn ed my

liead away, afraid to look lest I should

a t t rac t a t tent ion to her . Ye t i t was my

hostess ' s laughter which made me look

again. *

" M a d c a p c h i l d r e n " s he m u r m u r e d ,

" m a dc a p c h i ld r e n "

" W h o are ma dca p?" I asked innocent ly .

She laughed again.

" Why, K ouz e a nd he r husba nd . "

" H e r husband? I c r ied. "W h y, is

K o u z e m a r r i e d ? "

" Y e s ,

she 's marr ied to my j^oungest

son."

I gasped. M y tragedy had blown away

in smoke.

"Then why does she l ive the way she

does?" I asked.

"Because she has no chi ldren. Th ou gh

she has been married a year , no child is

coming yet; so she has no standing in the

household, and must take whatever i s

lef t ."

That night when we were in bed, I

reached over and took Kouze ' s hand.

" I am so sor ry, dear ," I sa id . "T h is

af te rnoon your mother told me a l l . "

Kouze dropped my hand, got up, pul led

her mat t ress nearer mine , and then took

my hand again in hers.

" W h y are you so r ry ?" she asked, her

face very close to mine.

"You are t rea ted te r r ibly jus t because

you have no chi ldren."

"You," she answered, "a re a s imple

goose. I am as happy as a ne w m oon,

I 'm happy as a young rose, I 'm the

happiest of olive-trees."

"Happy wi thout be ing able to see your

husba nd? " I c r i e d .

"B ut I do see him a l l I w an t . Some

times I go to him, and sometimes I don' t ,

and I make him suffer . Som etimes I let

him kiss me, and sometimes I d on ' t , an d

he is ma dly in love wi th me . I t is a year

we are married, yet his hand trembles in

min e. I pray to the moo n and to the

stars and to all the trees that grow on

the mounta ins tha t they may wi thhold my

son's com ing yet ano ther year . I shall

be f if teen when the frost comes in; why

shou ld I bo the r? An d i t is such fun, and

I am the lord of my ma ster . W e are

lovers now. W he n children come .we

shall be old marrie d people, and I d on ' t

w an t to be old. Besides, if I had an

apartment, he could come to i t as his r ight.

Now I hold that r ight, and i t is as i t

should be ."

In amaz emen t I l i s tened. T h a t wi ld

Albanian chi ld , who could hardly read and

w r i t e , w a s p r om ulga t ing se n t im e nt s w hic h

years later I was to hear again from the

lips of th e mo st ad vanc ed, feminists of

Amer ica .


10/10

This Dist rust of Democracy

By S E Y x V l O U R D E M I N G

W

E begin to repent of our democ

racy. I t is a high-class po pu lar

t u n e .

A t the direc tors ' table, in the

smoke-dimmed privacy of the club, in the

studious glooms of the scholar 's l ibrary,

at dinner- tables agleam with si lver and

snowy linen, in the mellowed shabbiness

of the author 's den, beside the ash-strewn

hearth of the statesman's town house, over

the mahogany desk of the professional,

wherever men of learning most do con

greg ate, this refrain is hu mm ed in com-

j:ilaint against the founders of the repub

l i c : how thoughtless of them to let us in

for i t Dem ocracy may have been wel l

enough in their day; in ours i t is going to

be a nuisance or worse.

In a t ime when, by the democra t iza t ion

of government, the moneyed class is losing

its money, and the intellectual ar istocracy,

by the democratization of education, is

losing i ts prestige, is i t any wonder that

the twain unite in a distrust of democ

racy? T h e increased supply of these

t ra ined min ds has so wh i t t led dow n the i r

earning power tha t unless the i r generos

i ty and idealism are equal to the stress

they resent the process which has reduced

the i r marke t pr ice and which threa tens ,

unless they are will ing to change from a

quasi-ruling class to the highest type of a

serving class, to push them out of the

fugue a l toge ther .

Distrust of democracy is the class view

of a class no t as yet class conscio us. T h e y

suppose their hosti l i ty to be directed

against a form of government. I t is really

di rec ted aga ins t tha t form of government

which would depr ive them of maste ry,

which form happens to be democracy.

This hosti l i ty is no more consciously rea

soned than the policeman's when Ke blud

geons a str iker or the soldier 's when he

shoots down a Boer farmer in behalf of

a Lon don broker . I t is autom at ic . H e

who has been dedicated and trained to the

service of a part icular class reacts to that

class.

T h u s it is not to be questioned tha t

those who distrust democracy are quite

sincere in their opinion, never having

traced i t to i ts source. T h ey reason , just

as oligarchs have always reasoned, that

oligarchy is better for society because it is

better for them. An d they are, of course,

society. T he y forget th at nev er in the

history of the world has an ar istocracy

been permanent ly proof aga ins t the temp

ta t ion to be t ray i t s s tewardsh ip. W it h

commerce so organized tha t he wh o would

continue in trade must protect himself at

the expense of and, if need be, by the ruin

of, his r ivals, we need hardly w on der tha t

men of business should distrust a system

which is now aiming at the rescue of the

most pit iable victims of the exist ing order .

W it h educa t ion hi the r to ens laved, if not

to the theory, cer tainly to the practice that

i ts benefits were to be converted into an

increased earning-power f irst and an in

creased serving-power only second, we

need hardly wonder tha t men of educa

tion should distrust a system which aims

to reverse that order , and to set up in

place of an ar istocracy of brains an ar is

tocracy of service.

T h a t dem ocracy is beset wi th peri ls is

not denied. N o one is sugg esting tha t

the millennium lies over the next r ise of

land. Bu t wi th proph ets of i ll so mu l t i -

tudinously eloquent of these peri ls, i t

might be wel l to inqui re whether they a re

perils of democracy or peri ls of those

who m democracy imper i l s . A t the same

t i m e ,

let us consider as premature the

br isk announcement tha t "democracy i s a

fa i lure ," when democracy has never ye t

been t r ied. Even Nie tzsche admits tha t ,

an admission which, extended quite as

jus t ly to Chr is t iani ty , might have induced

tha t other

Pistol

fury of his to aba te.

785

Romantic Albania by Demetra Vaka in the Century Magazine, March 1917, Pp. 778-784

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Transcript of Romantic Albania by Demetra Vaka in the Century Magazine, March 1917, Pp. 778-784