Travels in Southeastern Europe

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

14 THE BURDEN OF THE BALKANS. either like or hate,' he said simply; and he wanted me to 'understand ' and ' explain' him. And he is but one example of many, for thus it is with the Balkan man, be he Greek, Serb, Bulgar, or Albanian, Christian or Moslem. ' If Europe only understood,' he says (and it should be remarked that he rarely, if ever, classes himself as European)-' if Europe only understood ' the golden dreams of his nation would be realized, and, as in the fairy-tales, there would be happiness ever afterwards. He is often pathetically like a child, who tells you what fine things he is going to do when he is grown up. That Europe cares no jot for his hopes, fears, sorrows, and aspirations so long as they are not likely to jolt that tittupy concern ' the Balance of Power' never seems to occur to him. Now, to 'understand ' him it would be necessary not merely to view things from his window, but to see them with his eyes (for what is seen in the landscape depends largely on the spectator), and this is impossible. It is doubtful, indeed, whether one race ever will understand another. It has certainly never done so yet. But the story of the past that has set him at that particular window and coloured his view is more easily arrived at, and explains many things. Without some knowledge of it, travel in the Near East is but dull work, for the folk of the Balkans live in their past to an extent which it is hard for us in the West to realise. It is a land strewn with the wreckage of dead empires; peoples follow one an
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About this Item

Title
The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author
Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas
Page 14
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ans3900.0001.001/21

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"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.
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