THE BLACK PILGRIM. A Tale of Struggle for Faith and Freedom in the Balkan Peninsula
THE BLACK PILGRIM. A Tale of Struggle for Faith and Freedom in the Balkan Peninsula

Author(s): Michael Czajkowski
Subject(s): Literary Texts, 19th Century, Period(s) of Nation Building
Published by: CEEOL Digital Reproductions / Collections
Keywords: Sadyk Pasha; Ottoman Empire;
Summary/Abstract: Michael Czajkowski is one of the very few writers who have understood that the Slav nations are the only ones who have preserved that peculiar characteristic that impels them, even now, to seek after strange adventures, as in the days of chivalry. This love of adventure is strongest amongst the Slavs dwelling along the shores of the Danube, where it may be said the Turkish yoke obliges a man of independent character and strong individuality to become a bandit, or an armed wanderer, in order to escape shameful humiliation. The name of Sadyk Pasha (Czajkowski’s Turkish title) is found in the records of the British War Office, where mention is made of his activity during the Crimean war, and his relations and correspondence with Lord Redcliffe. As regards Czajkowski’s literary productions, The Black Pilgrim is a typical specimen of that talent which has created pictures full of fancy and colour. Wild, unbridled violence of action and feeling, sympathetic but improbable fantasy, are the principal features of this, as of Czajkowski’s other romances, which are all stories of adventure in the fullest sense of the word. (S. C. de Soissons, Introduction)

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