With the Serbs in Macedonia

THE SERBIANS 237
one thinks of as Democratic or Socialistic.
They are free without being familiar, independent
without being aggressive. Obviously each
Serb considers he is as good as his neighbour,
and has the gift of making his neighbour feel it,
while at the same time paying enough deference
to a superiority in wealth, army rank, brains,
or social attainments. This is something very
subtle and difficult to express — a touch of inborn
genius which neither the American nor the
Australian can rival. Psychologically, however,
it is very important, and represents a great deal
of his charm.
The Serb has his faults. Unpunctuality is
''
one. A temptation to say Yes " is another.
Partly from politeness, partly from laziness,
many Serbians are always ready to promise
something rather than to refuse, in the hope
that the other chap will go away and forget all
about it or else that they may never see him
again. Their attitude to women, too, is rather
offensive to our ideas. Though better in this
respect than either Greek or Bulgar, they have
ask one
still much to learn. Incidentally, if you
of them how many children he has, he will say
two, meaning two boys, though there may be a
couple of girls as well. But they do not count.
One of their chief customs, religiously kept up
even in war-time, is the Slava, the literal