Signs of culture!
Why should the bowler hat, indiarubber collars, and bad teeth be
indissolubly bound to "Education Bills" and "Factory Acts"? Why should
the Serbian peasant be forced to give up his beautiful costume for
celluloid cuffs, lose his artistic instincts in exchange for a made-up
tie? It is the march of civilization, dear people, and must on no
account be hindered.
Coming back to Serbia from Montenegro was like slipping from a warm into
a cool bath. One is irresistibly reminded that the Lords of Serbia
withdrew to Montenegro, leaving the peasantry behind, for every peasant
in the black mountains is a noble and carries a noble's dignity; while
Karageorge was a pig farmer. There is a warmth in Montenegro--save only
Pod.--which is not so evident in its larger brother; a welcome, which is
not so easily found in Serbia. The Montenegrin peasant is like a great
child, looking at the varied world with thirteenth-century unspoiled
eyes; centuries of Turkish oppression has dulled the wit of the Serb,
and at the outbreak of the war Teutonic culture was completing the
process.
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