Besa of the Albanians

By: Lovro Mihacevic (1883-1907)
Translated (excerpt from the work "Across Albania"): Anton Filipaj

To prove what the Albanian faith is, I am narrating another example. One Friday night, after the Muslims left the mosque, they fought among themselves in the courtyard of the mosque, but the game ended in blood. Two of them were playing, they talked, after they got confused, they took out their revolvers from their belts, one of them killed his friend and, passing through the people, there was smoke.

Dusk fell quickly and he, running away, saw a bulla (a woman in Muslim clothing) at the door of the courtyard, he offered himself to her and asked her to marry him, to accept her for the night in the guest house after he fell into blood. Bulla promised him and in return he brought him into the house, not knowing that he was accepting him into his own house and to whom he was giving his trust, and neither did the murderer know, nor did it occur to him from whom he took allegiance, in whose hands he fell and in whose house he took refuge.

The father and the two brothers of the murdered man chased and searched for the murderer, but they did not find him, so they returned home tired and exhausted. The mother has prepared their dinner and laid the table for them, since she did not see the third son, she asked them where he is? They told him what happened, how he was killed in front of the mosque and how they chased the killer, but he escaped by running away through the village and hiding somewhere in the ground. When the mother heard what they told her, the shadow of death fell on her face and her blood froze, but she did not reveal her secret.

The murderer of her son was in her hands, but she took him in trust and trust is sacred, she dare not break it. After having dinner, the men took the shovels and went to bury the murdered son in the cemetery in front of the mosque. Now the mother took advantage of the moment, took the boy outside, gave him a piece of bread and a handful of cheese for the road and led him out of the courtyard saying: "Bring me some bread, let me have it for the road, I have taken you as a hostage and I have kept my promise, go now, cursed you, because you killed my heart's desire".