THE HEART OF THE BULGAR.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1663, 1 February 1913, Page 9

THE HEART OF THE BULGAR.

Somo glimpses into the heart of the Bulgur are att'orded by a selection, of his folk-loro, his proverbs, and folk-songs compiled by Poncho Slaveikoff, and recently rendered into English. This volurno-is dealt-with by Miss Kate Arthur in the . Cleveland "Plain Dealer," where' we read:— ,

'"Most of these songs, says Slaveikoff, live only in tho voice, although without his flute no shepherd . could endure the solitude of tho parched'lands of Dobrudja or the distal i darkness' of the Balkan woodlands. Strange trios of drum, violin,'and clarionette wail mournful melodies at weddings,while the folk-dances are weirdly .played; by-'flute, fiddle, and bagpipe.' Three naines stand out in the collection - and preservation in verse of the folk-lore of tho Bulgars; Pencho Slaveikoff, _ a journalist, warrior, and poet; who among other things is noted for his translation of the .Bible; Stephen Yerkovich,-of Bosnia, and Dmitri Milandinoff. It is to Pencho Slaveikoff, tho most picturesque character - of Sofia, to whom wo owo these delightful bits of verse and impressive ' martial . paeans. Slaveikoff is essentially a Nietzschean. Ho has.spent much of his time in, Germany studying that philosopher and his followers. Slaveikoff's nature surges with tho revolt characteristic of his countrymen. It burns through evdn his compiled verses, and rises to white-hot heat in his own creations.; His translators call him the caged lion of Sofia, because ho irks under the confines, the familiarity of his town where every one knows him, where, when he enters queer, out-of-the-way eating-houses, brigands and :in/Burgents of every class rise up and hail him as 'Our Poet.' "The tonal colour of a mighty funeral theme with tho wail of the mourners weirdly interwoven pervades tho poem 'Vela. Velika' Vela, Velika 1 ' ... ■ "White-ijobes are.yoti,washing, Black robes do you wear. Is, it a mother ' ■ You mourn or a father? Comrades, my comrades, It is not a mother I mourn nor a father,. My heart is so lonely \ Because of my lover. ,-Y With tho insurgents Sallied he forth, / •i;; .Behind :tho : insurgents At. \ •V';.;|Came''Sadly!Ms.|ibrM.-V.v,..-'A saddle he;bore,:•••. ...» ■■ Whereon : was a paper, ' Whereon there was written, , Vela,' Velikal . Say what was written. Comrades, my comrades, Thus said the paper: .Vela, Velika! , Take thou a'husband, • Wait not for,me. | I was betrothed,. : Then I was married, y Par, .far away, . In a foreign land,- ■ I Not. of my will. i -Dark : earth was my bride. The guests at the wedding, ; Were Turkish soldiers, And for my choristers • • Had I black ravens. • . . . THE SPORTING INSTINCT.

Martin Swayne, ;says-. "Tie Bookman,", delighted a' host, of readers . by. that took of: amazing • wit and cleverness, "Lord Richard in the Pantry;" He is a young novelist, who moves',on/wholly; unconven-, tional lines; and Wlio /might.. take as his motto the ancient saying: "Nullius addio tus sum jurare in verba magistri."' In his new book, "The Sporting Instinct," ho is thinking of the proverb "When poverty comes: in. at the door, love flies out of the window.'V'He recognises that one of the greatest tragedies, of human life is the sudden; sweeping away of the material resources on which our earthly happiness depends. Such a loss make 3 a deeper impression,.; specially, oil the middle-aged, than the sharpest bereavement. Martin Swayne's heroine, Mrs. Ellorshawe,? a beautiful-.woman on i .thft, sunny'siife', of of! it. country gentleman with a fortune of >63000 a year, and-has a personal-income of >6400. When the crash comes she .finds herself bound for life to on inferior map, a selfish; greedy child-husband, who; settles down apathetically to live on her small means in a villa on the Sussex coast. .Swayne's astonishing genius is best displayed in the. portraiture of Phil Ellerehawe. Here ifea' vigorous, self-sat-isfied man in the prime of life, with an enormous appetite, and a taste for 'outdoor amusements. He shouts and bangs .tables and utters "inarticulate roars,ithat typify the jungle." .Swayne' has a keen ear for life's tragic undertones.: and ; a; lantern'that to the, depths of souls. He has produced , a novel of extraordinary merit, daring and original in, conception and full of vivacity in detail. Tho fabric is 'entrusted'with • dazzling gems. We can scarcely turn a page without lighting on nn epigram, yet there, is nothing forced or centrifugal in the talk of any of • the characters. We .take a'few examples at random: ' "Without character one is as useless as a railway-without rails.",' | • "A woman with so many jewels must have had-an interesting, past." '.The literature of satisfaction, of the millions of people who have ; attained pleasure, is unwritten. -It is easy to write about sad things,-, Sir George, but no one can' write about pleasure. You cannot write with white ink on white pacer." -"A great deal of-bread is crumbled by wives.in villas because so many situations occur in which it is the only thing to do." '. "Since motors were introduced a great impetus has been given to the manufacture of' falsehoods in the home, as well as on the rubber market." •/."London is fnll of husbands who never Tecover from their wives. They mnrry, and one hears nothing more about them. Occasionally you meet them the street, wandering along with their'.eyes, on the pavement, in a state of helpless contentment." - "Genealogical trees cast deep shadows." ; "Happiness is niv act of courage," she said at length. "No one can be happy without the courage to be liappy." "'Yo,u can't expect a person, after being swept away by an. avalanche, to sit up And pick out the _ edelweiss that has been oarried down with it.'"