TESTO DEL LIED

"from a Serbian epic"
di Volkslieder (Folksongs)

In the lovely village of Nevesinje,
Bey Lujibovic writes a letter
and sends it to the Rocky Piva,
into the hands of Bey Pivlyanahin:
"Listen you, Bey Pivlyanahin,
You bit right into my heart, for you killed my brother.
Ahi! Ahi!
Come out you, I dare you to fight!
I give you three choices:
First at the rocky Korita,
second on Trusina Hill,
the third, where ever we should meet by chance:
If you lack the courage to fight,
I will send you an embroidering frame and a distaff,
and moreover an Egyptian cotton reel with a boxwood spindle;
you may weave for me a shirt and a lacy apron."
When the letter reached Baya,
he understood the contents:
he reached for his inkwell,
and wrote the Bey an answer.