The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.

ON THE SHORES OF LAKE PRESBA. I49 certain grim humour. At one village, when I was leaving, I was asked to give a little backshish to the priest's wife. ' Poor woman!' they said; 'two of her little children are ill of the small-pox, one has died, she has had it herself and is not yet well, but she cooked your supper in her own house and brought it here for you! ' Another time a woman rushed out of a house, seized me in her arms, and kissed me upon either cheek until I struggled free. Her three children were down with small-pox, and this warm greeting was an appeal to me to give help. That a certain percentage of children must always die of this disease was an accepted fact, as it was in prevaccination days in England, and the people took it stolidly. At one village there were even signs of a festivity. Hardly were we settled round the fire when a lad, very gay and smart in a red sash and a clean white fustanella, came in with a troop of friends. Shyly he offered me a glass of hot mastic. 'Take it,' said Danil; 'he is a bridegroom. You must drink his health.' He looked about fifteen. As a matter of fact, he was just seventeen and the bride fifteen. 'They are very young,' said I, as the company chaffed him. " It is true they are young,' said Danil philosophically. ' But it is better so, they say. Twenty children have just died of the small-pox. Maintenant on fera des autres, mais naturellement.'

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Title: The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author: Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas: Page 149
Publication: London :: Nelson,; [1905]
Subject terms: Eastern question (Balkan); Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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Collection: Travels in Southeastern Europe
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
Link to this scan: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ans3900.0001.001/156

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Full citation: "The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham." In the digital collection Travels in Southeastern Europe. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 30, 2025.

The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.

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