it is hardly necessary to remark that the history of roumanian literature must needs be a scanty one as yet. considering the past history of these people on either side of the frontier, and the manner in which they have been oppressed and persecuted, the wonder is rather to find them to-day so far advanced on the road that leads to immortality.
the first roumanian book (a collection of psalms, probably translated from the greek) was printed at kronstadt in 1577, and was succeeded by many other similar works, all printed in cyrillian characters.
as historians and chroniclers, the names of ureki, miron kostin, dosithei, and of prince dimetrie kantemir, all hold honorable positions between the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the eighteenth century. political events then stemmed the current of progress for a time, and made of the rest of the eighteenth century a period of intellectual stagnation for all roumanians, whether of wallachia, moldavia, or transylvania. it was from the latter country that about the year 1820 was given the first impulse towards resurrection, connected with which we read the names of lazar, majorescu, assaki, mikul, petru major, cipariu, bolinteanu, balcescu, constantin negruzzi, and cogalnitscheanu.
it was only after the middle of the present century that latin characters began to be adopted in place of cyrillian ones, and indeed it is not easy to understand why the cyrillian alphabet ever came to be used at all. on this subject stanley, writing in 1856, speaks as follows:
“the latinity of rouman is, however, sadly disguised under the cyrillic alphabet, in which it has hitherto been habited. this alphabet was adopted about 1400 a.d., after an attempt by one of the popes to unite the roumans to the catholic church. the priests then burned the books in the roman or european letters, and the russians{159} have opposed all the attempts made latterly to cast off the slavonic alphabet, by which the rouman language is enchained and bound to the slavonic dialects.... the difficulty of coming to an agreement among the men of letters, as to the system to be adopted for rendering the cyrillic letters by roman type, has retarded this movement as much, perhaps, as political opposition.”
the first roumanian political newspaper was issued by georg baritiu in 1838. at present several roumanian newspapers appear in transylvania, of which the observatorul and the telegraful roman are the principal ones. there are in the country two greek catholic seminaries for priests, and one greek oriental one, a commercial school at kronstadt, four upper gymnasiums, and numerous primary schools, all of which are self-supporting, and receive no assistance from the hungarian government.
some portion of the rich store of folk songs which from time immemorial have been sung in the country by wandering minstrels, called cantari, has been rescued from oblivion by the efforts of alexandri, and after him torceanu, who, going about from village to village, have written down all they could learn from the lips of the peasants. one of the most beautiful and pathetic of the ballads thus collected by alexandri is that of curte d’arghisch, an ancient and well-known roumanian legend, the greater part of which i have here endeavored to reproduce in an english version. these ballads are, however, exceedingly difficult to translate at all characteristically, our language neither possessing that abundant choice of rhyme, so apt to drive a translator to envious despair, nor yet the harmonious current of sound which lends a peculiar charm to the loose and rambling metre in which these songs are mostly written.
cloister arghisch.
i.
by the arghisch river,
by the bonny brim,
goes the voyvod negru,[26]
other ten with him.
{160}
nine of these his comrades,
master masons be,
and the tenth is manoll,
masters’ master he.
and the ten are questing,
where along the tide
they shall build the minster,
and their fame beside.
then as on they stray,
meets them on the way
a shepherd lad, that ditty sad
upon his pipe doth play.
“shepherd lad, dear shepherd lad,
mournful ditty playing,
up the river has thy flock
and hast thou been straying?
down have strayed both thou and they,
down along the river?
in thy wanderings where hast been,
say, hast thou a building seen
standing by the river,
built of moss-grown ancient stone,
all unfinished and alone,
where the hazels, green and lank,
shoot amid the copsewood dank?”
“ay, my master, that have i
sighted as i wandered by;
sooth, a wall doth on the strand
lonely and unfinished stand,
at whose sight my hounds in haste
howling fled across the waste!”
when this word the prince had heard,
joyful man was he:
“haste away! come, no delay,
haste thee instantly;
these, my master masons nine,
lead unto yon wall,
and manoll the tenth, that is
master of them all.”
{161}
“see ye yonder wall of mine?
know that here the spot i name
for the sacred cloister’s shrine,
for my everlasting fame.
now, ye mighty masters all,
fellows of the builder’s craft,
haste away! night and day
raise ye, build ye, roof and wall.
build a cloister worthy me,
such as never men did see;
fail to build it as i say,
i will build you instantly,
build you living, every one,
’neath the pile’s foundation-stone.”
ii.
hastily with line and rule
work they out the cloister’s plan;
hastily with eager tool
delve foundations in the sod,
where shall stand the house of god.
never resting night or day,
building, ever building, they
hurry on the work alway.
but what in the day has grown,
in the night is overthrown.
next day, next, and next again,
what within the hours of light
they have reared with toil and pain,
falls to ruin in the night,
and all labor is in vain;
for the pile will not remain,
falling nightly down again.
wondering and wrathful then
doth the prince the builders call,
raging, threatens once again
he will build them, build them all,
build them in beneath the wall.
and the master builders nine,
thus, their wretched lives at stake,
quaking toil, and toiling quake,
all throughout the summer light,
till the day gives way to night.
but manoll upon a day
puts the irksome task away,
lays him down to sleep, and thus
dream he dreameth marvellous,
{162}
which, awak’ning from repose,
straightway doth he then disclose:
“hear my story, masters mine,
ye my fellow-craftsmen nine;
hearken to me while i tell
dream in sleep that me befell:
from the height of heaven clear
was it borne upon my ear.
ever we shall build in vain,
crumbling still our work again,
till together swear we all
to immure within the wall
her who at the peep of day
chances first to come this way
hither, who is sent by fate,
bearing food for swain or mate,
wife or sweetheart though it be,
maid or matron equally.
therefore listen, comrades mine:
would you build this holy shrine—
would you to enduring fame
evermore transmit your name—
vow we all a solemn vow,
as we stand together now,
whosoever it shall be
that his lovèd one shall see,
chancing here her way to take
when the morrow’s light doth break,
will as victim bid her fall,
buried living in the wall!”
iii.
smiling doth the morning break;
with the dawn manoll, awake,
scaling the enclosure’s bound,
mounts the scaffold; all around,
hill and dale, with glance of fear,
anxious searcheth far and near.
what is this that greets his eyes?
who is it that hither hies?
’tis his wife he doth behold,
sweetest blossom of the wold;
she it is that hasteth here,
bringing for her husband dear
meat and wine his heart to cheer.
sure too awful is the sight!
can his senses witness right?
{163}
leaps his heart and reels his brain
in an agony of pain.
then on bended knees he falls,
desperate on heaven calls:
“o lord my god,
that rul’st on high,
ope thou the flood-gates
of the sky;
down upon earth
thy torrents pour,
till brook and river
rise and roar,
till raging floods
my wife shall stay,
shall turn her back
the homeward way!”
lo! in pity god has hearkened—
that which he has asked is done;
clouds the heaven’s face have darkened,
they have blotted out the sun;
down the rains in torrents pour,
brook and river rage and roar.
but nor storm nor flood can stay
manoll’s wife upon her way;
pressing onward, halting never,
plunging through the foaming river,
knowing naught of doubt or fear,
near she hasteth, and more near.
the poem goes on to say how manoll a second time implores the creator to send a hurricane which shall ravage the face of nature and impede her progress. once more his prayer is granted, and a mighty wind, which,
sighing loud and moaning,
thundering and droning,
down the plane-trees bending,
and the pines uprending,
rages over the land.
but no earthly force
checks her steady course,
and all vainly passed
by the furious blast,
in the storm she quavers,
but yet never wavers,
and, oh, hapless lot!
soon has reached the spot.
{164}
the fourth canto relates how the nine master masons are filled with joy at sight of this heaven-sent victim. manoll alone is sad, as, kissing his wife, he takes her in his arms and carries her up the scaffolding. there he places her in a niche, explaining that they are going to pretend to build her in merely as a joke; while the poor young wife, scenting no danger, claps her hands in childish pleasure at the idea.
but her spouse, with gloomy face,
speaks no word, and works apace;
of his dream he thinks alone,
as they pile up stone on stone.
and the church walls upward shoot,
cover soon her dainty foot,
reaching then above the knee;
where is vanished all her glee?
as, becoming deadly pale,
thus the wife begins to wail:
“manolli, dear manolli!
master, master manolli!
prithee, now this joking cease,
and thy wife from here release;
see, the wall is closing fast,
in its grip am i compassed.
manolli, dear manolli!
master, master manolli!”
but manoll makes no reply,
works with restless energy.
higher and yet higher
grows the wall entire,
grows with lightning haste,
reaches soon her waist,
reaches soon her breast;
she no more can jest,
hardly can she speak,
with voice faint and weak:
“manolli, dear manolli!
master, master manolli!
stop this joke and set me free—
soon a mother shall i be;
see, the wall is crushing me,
these hard stones my babe will kill;
with salt tears my bosom fill.”
but manoll makes no reply,
works with restless energy.
{165}
higher and yet higher
grows the wall entire;
o’er her dainty foot
fast the church walls shoot;
fair annika’s knee
soon no more they see,
building on in haste
to her lithesome waist;
hidden is her breast,
by the stones compressed;
hidden now her eye,
as the wall grows high;
building on apace,
hidden soon her face!
and the hapless woman, she
laughs no longer now in glee,
but from out the cruel wall
still the feeble voice doth call:
“manolli, dear manolli!
master, master manolli!
see the wall is closing quite,
vanished the last ray of light.”
there is still a fifth canto to this ballad, but of such decidedly inferior merit as to suggest the idea that it is a piece of patchwork added on at a later period. the prince, delighted at the success of the building, asks the master masons whether they could undertake to raise a second church of yet nobler, loftier proportions than the first. this question being answered in the affirmative, the tyrannical voyvod, probably afraid of their embellishing some other country with the work of their genius, orders the ladders and scaffolding to be removed from the building, so that the ten illustrious architects are left standing on the roof, there to perish of starvation. hoping to escape this doom, each of the master masons constructs for himself a pair of artificial wings, or rather a sort of parachute, out of light wooden shingles, and by means of which he hopes safely to reach the ground. but the parachutes are a miserable failure, and crashing down with violence, the nine master masons are turned into as many stones. manoll, the last to descend, and distracted at hearing the wailing voice of his dying wife calling upon him, falls likewise; but the tears welling up from his breast cause him to be transformed into a spring of crystal water flowing near the church, and to this day known by the name of manolli’s well.
{166}
“miora,” or “the lamb,” is another popular ballad, which, sung and recited throughout roumania and transylvania, is gracefully illustrative of the idyllic bond by which shepherd and flock are united:
miora.
where the mountains open, there
runs a path-way passing fair,
and along this flowery way
shepherds came one summer day.
snowy flocks were three,
led by shepherds three.
one from magyarland had come,
wrantscha was another’s home,
from moldavia one had come;
but the one from magyarland,
and from wrantscha—hand in hand,
council held they secretly,
and resolved deceitfully,
when behind the hill
sank the sun, to kill
the moldavian herd, for he
was the richest of the three.
strongest were his rams,
fattest were his dams,
whitest were his lambs,
and his dogs the fiercest,
and his horse the fleetest.
but a lambkin white,
with eyes soft and bright,
since the break of day
bleats so piteously,
does not cease to bleat,
no more grass will eat.
“little lambkin white,
thou my favorite,
why since break of day
bleat so piteously?
never cease to bleat,
no more grass wiltst eat,
o my lambkin sweet,
wherefore dost complain?
say, dost suffer pain?”
“gentle shepherd, master dear,
prithee but my warning hear;
lead away thy flock of sheep
where the woodland shades are deep;
{167}
there in peace can we abide—
forests dense there are to hide.
shepherd, shepherd! list to me;
call thy dog to follow thee;
choose the fiercest one of all,
ear most watchful to thy call,
for the other herds have sworn
thou shalt die before the morn!”
“little lamb, if true dost say,
hast the gift to prophesy,
and if it must come to pass
that i thus shall die, alas!
is it written that my life
thus shall end a cruel knife,
tell the shepherds where to lay
my cold body in the clay.
near unto my sheep
would i wish to sleep,
from the grave to hark
when the sheep-dogs bark.
on the mound i pray
three new flutes to lay:
one of beech-wood fine be made,
sings of love that cannot fade;
one carved out of whitest bone,
for my broken heart makes moan;
one of elder-wood let be,
for its tones are proud and free.
when at evenfall
’gin the winds to call,
list’ning to the sound,
gather then around
all my faithful sheep,
bloody tears to weep.
but that i am dead
let no word be said:
tell them that a queen
passing fair was seen,
took me for her mate;
that we sit in state
on a lofty throne;
that the sun and moon
held the golden crown,
and a star fell down
straight above my head.
say, when i was wed,
oak-tree, beech, and pine,
all were guests of mine
{168}
at the wedding-feast;
and the holy priest
was a mountain high.
made sweet melody
thousand birds from near and far,
every torch a golden star.
but if thou shouldst meet,
oh, if thou shouldst meet,
a poor haggard matron,
torn her scarlet apron,
wet with tears her eyes,
hoarse with choking sighs,
’tis my mother old,
running o’er the wold,
asking every one,
‘have you seen my son?
in the whole land none
other was so fair,
with such raven hair,
soft to feel as silk;
like the purest milk,
none had skin so white;
none had eyes so bright,
as a pair of sloes.
and where’er he goes,
shepherd none there be
half so fair as he!’
lamb, oh pity take,
else her heart will break.
tell her that a queen
passing fair was seen,
took me for her mate;
that we sit in state
on a lofty throne;
that the sun and moon
held the golden crown,
and a star fell down
straight above my head.
say, when i was wed,
oak-tree, beech, and pine,
all were guests of mine
at the wedding-feast;
and the holy priest
was a mountain high.
made sweet melody
thousand birds from near and far,
every torch a golden star.”[27]
{169}
the third and last of those folk songs which limited space permits me here to quote is one i have selected as being peculiarly characteristic of the tender and clinging affection these people bear to their progeny. devoid of poetical merit it may perhaps be, but surely the unsatisfied yearnings of a childless woman have seldom been more pathetically rendered.
the roumanian’s desire.
would it but th’ almighty please
this my yearning heart to ease,
but to send a little son,
little cherub for mine own.
all the day and all the night
would i rock my angel bright;
gently shielded it should rest
ever on my happy breast.
i would feed it, i would tend it,
from each peril i’d defend it;
whisp’ring with the voice of love,
suck, my chick, my lamb, my dove.
did but heaven hear my voice,
evermore would i rejoice;
golden gifts so bright and rare,
little baby soft and fair.
love that on him i’d bestow,
other child did never know;
such his loveliness and worth,
ne’er was like him child on earth.
lips like coral, skin like snow,
eyes like those of mountain roe;
and the roses on his cheek
elsewhere you in vain would seek.
mouth so sweet, and eyes so bright,
would i kiss from morn to night;
kiss his cheek and kiss his hair,
singing, “how my child is fair!”
every holy prayer i know
should secure my child from woe;
every magic herb i’d pluck,
for to bring him endless luck.[28]
{170}
surely, then, he’d grow apace,
strong of limb and fair of face,
and a hero such as he
earth before did never see!
it is not easy to classify the cultivated roumanian writers of the present day, still less so is it to select appropriate specimens from their works. roumanian literature is in a transition state at present, and, despite much talent and energy on the part of its representatives, has not as yet regained any fixed national character. perhaps, indeed, it would be more correct to say that precisely the talent and energy of some of the most gifted writers have harmed roumanian literature more than they have assisted it, by dragging into fashion a dozen different modes utterly incongruous with one another, and with the mainsprings of roumanian thought and feeling. no doubt the custom of sending their children to be educated outside the country is much to blame for this; and, naturally enough, french poets have been imported into the land along with parisian fashions.
béranger and musset, along with shakespeare, goethe, byron, and heine, have all been abused in this manner by men who should have understood that the strength of any literature does not lie in the successful imitation of foreign models, however excellent, but rather in the intelligent exploitation of its own historical and artistic treasures. even basil alexandri, the first and most national of roumanian poets, sometimes falls unconsciously into this error, still more perceptible in the works of rosetti, negruzzi, and cornea.
odobescu, gane, alexi, and dunca have acquired some fame as writers of fiction; and joan slavici in particular may here be cited for his charming sketches of rural life, which have something of the force and delicacy of turguenief’s hand.
fet logofet[29] (literally, young foolhardy).
thou radiant young knight,
with glance full of light,
with golden-locked hair,
oh, turn thy proud steed;
of the forest take heed—
the dragon lies there.
thou fairest of maids,
with silken-like braids,
so slender thy zone,
{171}
my good sword will pierce
the monster so fierce,
and fear i have none.
thou wrestler, thou ranger,
thou seeker of danger,
with eyes flashing fire;
thy fate will be dolesome;
the dragon is loathsome,
and fearful his ire.
thou coaxer, thou pleader,
thou sweet interceder,
my star silver bright!
both dragon and drake,
before me they quake,
and fly at my sight.
thou stealer of hearts,
with golden-tipped darts,
yet list to my cry!
thou canst not escape,
his open jaws gape,
turn water to sky!
thou angel-like child,
with blue eyes so mild,
yet needst not to sigh;
for this my good steed
the wind can outspeed,
and rear heaven-high!
oh, radiant young knight,
with eyes full of light,
that masterful shine;
oh, hark to my prayer,
and do not go there—
my heart it is thine!
yet needs i must ride
to win as my bride
thou, maiden most sweet;
i must gain renown—
either death or a crown—
to lay at thy feet.
the fault is not thine.
full oft hast thou sworn that on this side the grave
thy love and thy heart should forever be mine;
{172}
but thou hast forgotten, and i—i forgave,
for such is the world, and the fault is not thine.
and again was thy cry, “thou beloved of my heart,
in heaven itself, without thee i’d pine!”
on earth still we dwell—yet dwell we apart;
’tis the fault of our age, and the fault is not thine.
my arms they embraced thee, i drank with delight
the dew from thy lips like a nectar divine;
but the dew turned to venom, its freshness to blight,
for such is thy sex, and the fault is not thine.
thy love and thine honor, thy virtue and troth,
given now to another, were yesterday mine;
thou knowest not love! then why should i be wroth?
’tis the fault of thy race, and the fault is not thine.
far stronger than love were both riches and pride,
and swiftly and surely thy faith did decline;
thy wounds they are healed, thy tears they are dried,
thou couldst not remember—the fault is not thine.
yet though thou art faithless, and falsely hast left me,
my eyes can see naught but an angel divine;
my heart flutters wildly whenever i see thee—
’tis the fault of my love, and the fault is not mine!
i do not suppose that any one with the slightest knowledge of roumania and roumanians can fail to detect an alien note in both these compositions, despite the grace of the originals; nor can one help feeling that these authors should have been capable of far better things.
and surely far better and grander things will come ere long from this nation, at once so old and so young! when, having regained its lost self-confidence, it comes to understand that more evil than good is engendered by a blind conformity to foreign fashions.
already a step in the right direction has been taken in the matter of national dress, which, thanks to the praiseworthy example of the roumanian queen, has lately received much attention. and as in dress, so in literature, does carmen sylva take the lead, and endeavor to teach her people to value national productions above foreign importations.
when, therefore, roumanian writers begin to see that their force lies not in the servile imitation of western models, but in working out the rich vein of their own folk-lore, and in bridging over the space which takes them back to ancient pagan traditions, then, doubtless, a new era will set in for the literature of the country. let roumanian poets leave béranger and musset to moulder on their book-shelves, and consign to oblivion heinrich heine, whose exquisitely morbid sentimentality is far too fragile an article to bear importation; let them cease from wandering abroad, and assuredly they will discover in their own forests and mountains better and more vigorous material than paris or germany can offer: the old stones around them will begin to speak, and the old gods will let themselves be lured from out their hiding-places. then will it be seen that apollo’s lyre has not ceased to vibrate, and the lays of ancient rome will arise and develop to new life.
