Novel
Вечити младожења
Not translated into English
Jakov Ignjatović · 1878
Opening lines
У вароши У. живео је господар Софроније Кирић, трговац.
In the town of U. there lived Master Sofronije Kirić, a merchant.
Translation by Erostrate
Text quoted from sr.wikisource.org
Synopsis
In a small Serbian town on the Danube, recognisable as Szentendre, the merchant Sofronije Kirić has made his fortune behind the counter of his shop and came through the devaluation of 1812 without loss. Šamika Kirić, a powdered and well-groomed provincial gallant, spends his life looking for a wife: each marriage plan is prepared, negotiated, then collapses, and he gradually becomes the laughing-stock of the town, while around him the old families think only of profit.
Context
The novel appeared in 1878 in the Viennese review Srpska zora, and was not printed in book form until 1910, by the Serbian Literary Cooperative, with a preface by Jovan Skerlić. The author, regarded as a Magyarophile, was then unknown to the Serbian public of Novi Sad, and it was Skerlić's study that led to his rediscovery. The book was adapted for the stage in 1930 in Skopje, then played for three seasons at the National Theatre in Belgrade from 1932, and in 1939 in Novi Sad to music by Stevan Hristić.
Who it is for
A novel of about two hundred pages, with a dark irony beneath the appearance of a comedy. It is better to know that Szentendre was home to an old Serbian merchant community.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as its author's best novel, it is a classic on the second-year curriculum of Serbian secondary schools.