The Bridge on the Drina - PDFDrive.com Read online

  flow for this, but luckily a report of this reached Stambul and he was recalled

  from Bosnia. May all trace of him be abolished! Now this is something of the

  samesort.TheSchwabeswanttohaveregistersofeverything,evenourheads.'

  They all stared straight in front of them and listened to the schoolmaster who

  was well known to prefer recounting long and detailed stories of the past to

  giving his own opinion shortly and clearly on what was taking place in the

  present.

  Asalways,Alihodjawasthefirsttolosepatience.

  'This does not concern the Schwabes' faith, Muderis Effendi; it concerns their

  interests.Theyarenotplayinganddonotwastetheirtimeevenwhentheyare

  sleeping but look well to their own affairs. We cannot see today what all this

  means,butweshallseeitinamonthortwo,orperhapsayear.For,asthelate

  lamented Shemsibeg Branković used to say: "The Schwabes' mines have long

  fuses!"Thisnumberingofhousesandmen,orsoIseeit,isnecessaryforthem

  because of some new tax, or else they are thinking of getting men for forced

  labourorfortheirarmy,orperhapsboth.Ifyouaskmewhatweshoulddo,this

  ismyopinion.Wehavenotgotthearmytoriseatonceinrevolt.ThatGodsees

  andallmenknow.Butwedonothavetoobeyallthatwearecommanded.No

  oneneedrememberhisnumbernortellhisage.Letthemguesswheneachone

  ofuswasborn.Iftheygotoofarandinterferewithourchildrenandourhonour,

  thenweshallnotgivewaybutwilldefendourselves,andthenletitbeasGod

  wills!'

  They went on discussing the unpalatable measures of the authorities for a long

  time, but in the main they were in agreement with what Alihodja had

  recommended: passive resistance. Men concealed their ages or gave false information, making the excuse that they were illiterate. And as for women no

  oneevendaredtoaskaboutthem,forthatwouldhavebeenconsideredadeadly

  insult. Despite all the instructions and threats of the authorities the tablets with the house numbers were nailed upside down or hidden away in places where

  theywereinvisible.Orelsetheyimmediatelywhitewashedtheirhousesand,as

  ifbychance,thehousenumberwaswhitewashedtoo.

  Seeing that the resistance was deep-seated and sincere, though concealed, the

  authoritiesturnedablindeye,avoidinganystrictapplicationofthelawswithall

  theconsequencesanddisputeswhichwouldinevitablyhaveensued.

  Two years passed. The agitation about the census had been forgotten when the

  recruitmentofyoungmen,irrespectiveoffaithandclass,wasactuallyputinto

  force.OpenrebellionbrokeoutinEasternHerzegovina,inwhichnotonlyTurks

  but also Serbs took part. The leaders of the rebels tried to establish ties with

  foreign countries, especially with Turkey, and claimed that the occupation

  authoritieshadgonebeyondthepowersgrantedthemattheBerlinCongressand

  that they had no right to recruit in the occupied districts which still remained

  undernominalTurkishsuzerainty.InBosniatherewasnoorganizedresistance,

  buttherevoltspreadbywayofFočaandGoraždatothebordersoftheVišegrad

  district. Individual insurgents or the remnants of routed bands tried to seek

  refugeintheSanjakorinSerbia,crossingthebridgeatVišegrad.Asalwaysin

  suchcircumstances,inadditiontotherebellion,banditrybegantoflourish.

  Sooncemore,aftersomanyyears,aguardwasmountedonthe kapia. Thoughit

  was winter and heavy snow had fallen, two gendarmes kept watch on

  the kapia day and night. They stopped all unknown or suspected persons

  crossingthebridge,interrogatedthemandinspectedtheirbelongings.

  A fortnight later a detachment of streifkorps appeared in the town and relieved the gendarmes on the kapia. The streifkorps had been organized when the rebellion in Herzegovina had begun to assume serious proportions. They were

  mobile storm troops, picked men equipped for action in difficult terrain, and

  madeupofwellpaidvolunteers.Amongstthemweremenwhohadrespondedto

  the first call-up with the occupation troops and did not want to return to their

  homes,butremainedtoserveinthe streiikorps. Othershadbeensecondedfrom

  the gendarmerie to the new mobile units. Finally, there were also a certain

  numberoflocalinhabitantswhoservedasinformersandguides.

  Throughout that winter, which was neither short nor mild, a guard of

  two streiikorps menkeptwatchonthebridge.Usuallytheguardconsistedofone strangerandonelocalman.Theydidnotbuildablockhouse,astheTurkshad

  done during the Karageorge insurrection in Serbia. There was no killing or

  cuttingoffofheads.Butnonethelessthistime,asalwayswhenthe kapia was

  closed, there were unusual events which left their trace on the town. For hard

  timescannotpasswithoutmisfortuneforsomeone.

  Amongthe streiikorps menwhomountedguardonthe kapia wasayoungman,

  Gregor Fedun, a Ruthenian from Eastern Galicia. This young man was then in

  histwenty-thirdyear,ofgiganticstaturebutchildlikemind,strongasabearbut

  modest as a girl. He had almost completed his military service when his

  regimentwassenttoBosnia.HehadtakenpartinfightingatMaglajandonthe

  Glasinac Mountains and had then spent eighteen months on garrison duty in

  Eastern Bosnia. When his time was up, he had not wanted to go back to his

  GaliciantownofKolomeaandtohisfather'shousewhichwasrichinchildren

  butinlittleelse.HewasinPestwithhisgroupwhenthecallforvolunteersto

  enrolinthe streiikorps wasmade.AsasoldierwhoknewBosniathroughseveral

  months of fighting, Fedun was accepted at once. He was sincerely glad at the

  thought that he was again to see the Bosnian townships and hamlets where he

  hadspentbothhardandpleasantdays,ofwhichhismemoryrecalledthedaysof

  hardship as more beautiful and lively even than the pleasant ones. He melted

  with joy and was filled with pride, imagining the faces of his parents, brothers

  andsisterswhentheyreceivedthefirstsilverflorinswhichhewouldsendthem

  fromhisample streiikorps pay.Aboveallhehadthegoodfortunenottobesent

  intoEasternHerzegovina wherethefighting withtheinsurgents wastiringand

  oftenverydangerous,buttothetownontheDrinawherehisdutiesconsistedof

  patrollingandguard-keeping.

  There he spent the winter, stamping his feet and blowing on his fingers on

  the kapia intheclearfrostynights,whenthestonescrackedinthefrostandthe

  sky paled above the town so that the large autumn stars became tiny, wicked

  little candles. There he awaited the spring and watched its first signs on

  the kapia: that dull, heavy booming of the ice on the Drina which a man feels deepdowninhise
ntrails,andthatsullensoughingofsomenewwindwhichhas

  howledallnightthroughthenakedforestsonthemountainsclosepressedabove

  thebridge.

  The young man mounted guard in his turn and felt how the spring, with all its

  signsontheearthandonthewaters,wasslowlyenteringintohimalso,flooding

  his whole being and troubling his senses and his thoughts. He kept watch and

  hummed all the Ruthenian songs which were sung in his own country. As he sangitseemedtohim,moreandmoreeveryspringday,asifhewerewaitingfor

  someoneonthatexposedandwindyspot.

  At the beginning of March, headquarters sent an order to the detachment

  guarding the bridge to double their precautions since, according to reliable

  information,thenotoriousbrigandJakovČekrlijahadcrossedfromHerzegovina

  into Bosnia and was now hiding somewhere near Višegrad whence, in all

  likelihood, he would try to reach either the Serbian or the Turkish frontier.

  The streifkorps menonguardweregivenapersonaldescriptionofhim,withthe

  comment that the brigand, though physically small and insignificant, was very

  strong, daring and exceptionally cunning, and had already several times

  succeededinescapingandoutwittingthepatrolsthathadsurroundedhim.

  Fedun had listened to this warning when making his report, and had taken it

  seriously as he did all official communications. But he had considered it to be

  unnecessarilyexaggerated,sincehecouldnotimaginehowanyonecouldcross

  unperceivedthattenpaceswhichconstitutedthewidthofthebridge.Calmand

  unworried he passed several hours, by day and by night, on the kapia. His

  attention was indeed doubled, but it was not taken up with the appearance of

  Jakov,ofwhomtherewasneithersightnorsound,butwiththosecountlesssigns

  andportentsbywhichspringannounceditsarrivalonthe kapia.

  It is not easy to concentrate all one's attention on a single object when one is twenty-threeyearsold,whenone'sbodyisquiveringwithstrengthandlifeand

  when around one, on all sides, spring is burgeoning, shining and filling the air

  withperfume.Thesnowwasmeltingintheravines,theriverranswiftandgrey

  assmokedglass,thewindwhichblewfromthenorth-eastbroughtthebreathof

  snow from the mountains and the first buds to the valleys. All this intoxicated

  anddistractedFedunashepacedoutthespacefromoneterracetotheotheror,

  whenonnightduty,leantagainsttheparapetandhummedhisRutheniansongs

  to the accompaniment of the wind. By day or by night the feeling that he was

  waiting for someone never left him, a feeling tormenting and yet sweet, and

  which seemed to find confirmation in all that was taking place around him, in

  thewaters,theearthandthesky.

  One day about lunchtime a Turkish girl passed the guard. She was of the age

  when Turkish girls, not yet veiled in the heavy feridjah, no longer go with uncovered faces but wrap themselves in a large thin shawl which conceals the

  wholebody,thehairandthehands,chinandforehead,butstillleavesuncovered

  a part of the face: eyes, nose, mouth and cheeks. She was in that short phase betweenchildhoodandwomanhoodwhentheMoslemgirlsshowinnocentlyand

  gailytheirstillchildishandyetwomanlyfeatureswhich,perhapseventhenext

  day,willbecoveredforeverbythe feridjah.

  There was not a living soul on the kapia. Fedun's fellow guard was a certain StevanofPrača,oneofthepeasantsattachedtothe streifkorps. Hewasamanof

  acertainage,bynomeansaversetoplumbrandy,whosatdrowsing,contraryto

  regulations,onthestone sofa.

  Fedun looked at the girl timidly and cautiously. Around her floated her gaily-

  colouredshawl,wavingandshimmeringinthesunlightasifalive,movingwith

  thegustsofwindandinrhythmwiththegirl'space.Hercalmlovelyfacewas

  closely and tightly framed by the stretched weave of the shawl. Her eyes were

  downcast but flickering. So she passed before him and disappeared across the

  bridgeintothemarket.

  Theyoungmanpacedmorebrisklyfromoneterracetotheotherandkeptaneye

  fixedonthemarketplace.Nowitseemedtohimthathereallyhadsomeonefor

  whomtowait.Afterhalfanhour—thenoondaylullwasstillunbrokenonthe

  bridge—theTurkishgirlreturnedfromthemarketandagaincrossedbeforethe

  troubled youth. This time he looked at her a little longer and more boldly, and

  whatwasevenmorewonderfulshetoolookedathim,ashortbutcandidglance,

  withasortofhalf-smile,almostcunninglybutwiththatinnocentcunningwith

  which children get the better of one another at their games. Then she swayed

  awayagain,movingSlowlybutnonethelessvanishingquicklyfromhissight,

  with a thousand bends and movements of the wide shawl wrapped about her

  young but sturdy figure. The oriental design and lively colours of that shawl

  couldlongbeseenbetweenthehousesonthefartherbank.

  Onlythendidtheyoungmanwakefromhisreverie.Hestoodinthesameplace

  and in the same position as he had been at the moment when she had passed

  before him. With a start he fingered his rifle and looked around him with the

  sensationofamanwhohasletsliphisopportunity.Stevanwasstilldozinginthe

  deceptiveMarchsun.Itseemedtotheyoungmanthatbothofthemhadinsome

  way failed in their duty and that a whole army platoon could have passed by

  them without him being able to say how many of them there were, or what

  significancetheymighthavehadforhimselforforothers.Ashamedofhimself,

  hewokeStevaninexaggeratedzealandtheybothremainedonguarduntiltheir

  reliefarrived.

  Allthatday,bothwhenhewasoffdutyandwhilehewasmountingguard,the

  pictureoftheyoungTurkishgirlpassedlikeavisioncountlesstimesthroughhis

  mind.Nextday,onceagainaboutnoonwhentherewereveryfewpeopleonthe

  bridge, she again crossed. Fedun again saw that face framed in the brightly-

  colouredshawl.Allwasasithadbeenthedaybefore.Onlytheirglanceswere

  longer, livelier and bolder, almost as if they were playing a game together.

  Stevanwasagaindrowsingonthestonebenchandlater,ashealwaysdid,swore

  thathehadnotbeenasleepandthatevenwhenhewasathomeinbedhecould

  notcloseaneye.Onthewaybackthegirlseemedalmostreadytostop,looked

  the streifkorps boystraightintheeyeswhilehemutteredacoupleofvagueand

  unimportantwords,feelingashedidsothathislegsfailedhimthroughemotion

  andforgettingcompletelywherehewas.

  Onlyindreamsdowedaresomuch.Whenthegirlwasoncemorelosttosight

  onthefartherbanktheyoungmanshiveredwithfright.Itwasincrediblethata

  young Turkish girl should think of looking at an Austrian soldier. Such an

  un
heard-ofandunprecedentedthingcouldonlyhappenindreams,indreamsor

  in spring on the kapia. He knew very well that nothing in this land or in his positionwasasscandalousandasdangerousastotouchaMoslemwoman.They

  hadtoldhimthatwhenhehadbeeninthearmyandagaininthe streifkorps. The

  punishmentforsuchdaringwasaheavyone.Therehadbeensomewhohadpaid

  with their lives at the hands of the insulted and infuriated Turks. All that he

  knew,andmostsincerelydesiredtokeeptheordersandregulations,butnonethe

  lessheactedcontrarytothem.Themisfortuneofunluckymenliesinjustthis,

  that those things which for them are impossible and forbidden become in a

  momenteasyandattainable,oratleastappearso.Yetwhenoncesuchthingsare

  firmlyfixedintheirdesirestheyseemonceagainastheywere,unattainableand

  forbidden, with all the consequences that they have for those who, despite

  everything,stillattemptthem.

  On the third day too, about noon, the Turkish girl appeared. And as it is in

  dreamsalltookplaceashewouldhavewished,likeauniquerealitytowhichall

  else was subordinate. Stevan was again drowsing, convinced and always ready

  to convince others that he had not closed an eye; there were no passers-by on

  the kapia. The young man spoke again, muttering a few words, and the girl

  slowedherpaceandreplied,equallytimidlyandvaguely.

  The dangerous and incredible game went on. On the fourth day the girl in

  passing, choosing a moment when there was no one on the kapia, asked in a whisperwhenhewouldnextbeonguard.Hetoldherthathewouldbeonduty

  onthe kapia againatdusk.

  'Iwillbringmyoldgrandmothertothemarketplace,wheresheistospendthe

  night,andIwillreturnalone,'whisperedthegirlwithoutstoppingorturningher

  head,butdartingaprovocativeandeloquentglanceathim.Andineachofthose

  veryordinarywordswasthehiddenjoythatshewouldsoonseehimagain.

  Six hours later Fedun was once more on the kapia with his sleepy comrade.

  After the rain a chill twilight had fallen which seemed to him full of promise.