MAURUS JOKAI
THE LION OF JANINA
OR
THE LAST DAYS OF THE JANISSARIES
A Turkish Novel
TRANSLATED BY
R. NISBET BAIN
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1898
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
THE GREEN BOOK; or, Freedom Under the Snow. A Novel.Translated by Mrs. Waugh. 16mo, Cloth, Ornamental,$1 50. (In "The Odd Number Series.")
BLACK DIAMONDS. A Novel. Translated by Frances A.Gerard. With a Photogravure Portrait of the Author.16mo, Cloth, Ornamental, $1 50. (In "The Odd NumberSeries.")
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
NEW YORK AND LONDON.
Copyright, 1897, by Harper & Brothers.
All rights reserved.
THE LION OF JANINA
PREFACE
The first edition of Janicsárok végnapjai appeared forty-five yearsago. It was immediately preceded by the great historical romance,Erdely aranykora (The Golden Age of Transylvania), and the stillmore famous novel of manners, Egy Magyar Nábob (A HungarianNabob), which Hungarians regard as, indisputably, Jókai'smasterpiece, while only a few months separate it from KárpáthyZoltán (Sultan Karpathy), the brilliant sequel to the Nabob. Thusit belongs to the author's best literary period.
It is also one of the most striking specimens of that peculiar groupof Turkish stories, such as Törökvilag Magyarorszagon (Turkey inHungary) and Török mozgolmak (Turkish Incursions), A kétszarvúember (The Man with the Antlers), and the extremely popular Fehérrózsa (White Rose), which form a genre apart of Jókai's owncreation, in which his exuberant imagination revels in the rich colorsof the gorgeous East, as in its proper element, while his ever alerthumor makes the most of the sharp and strange contrasts of Orientallife and society. The hero of the strange and terrible drama, or,rather, series of dramas, unfolded with such spirit, skill, andvividness in Janicsárok végnapjai, is Ali Pasha of Janina,certainly one of the most brilliant, picturesque, and, it must beadded, capable ruffians that even Turkish history can produce.Manifold and monstrous as were Ali's crimes, his astonishing abilityand splendid courage lend a sort of savage sublimity even to hisblood-stained career, and, indeed, the dogged valor with which theoctogenarian warrior defended himself at the last in his strongholdagainst the whole might of the Ottoman Empire is almost without aparallel in history.
With such a hero, it is evident that the book must abound in stirringand even tremendous scenes; but, though primarily a novel of incident,it contains not a few fine studies of Oriental character, both Turkishand Greek, by an absolutely impartial observer, who can detect theworth of the Osmanli in the midst of his apathy and brutality, andwho, although sympathetically inclined towards the Hellenes, is by nomeans blind to their craft and double-dealing, happily satirized inthe comic character of Leonidas Argyrocantharides.
Finally, I have taken the liberty to alter the title of the story.Janicsárok végnapjai (The Last Days of the Janissaries) is tooglaringly inapt to pass muster, inasmuch as the rebellion andannihilation of that dangerous corps is a mere inessential episode atthe end of the story. I have, therefore, given the place of honor onthe title-page to Ali Pasha—the Lion of Janina.
I have add