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except that the Bulgarian is monogamous in theory and generally
in practice, whilst the Turk is polygamous in theory and usually
monogamous by force of circumstances, since he cannot afford more
than one wife—the Bulgarian idea of home life shows evidence of
Turkish influences.
A Bulgarian Farm
The Bulgarian civil law gives to the Church complete control of
the matters of marriage and divorce. Divorce is allowed on various
grounds, but is not common. Adultery does not of itself entail the
dissolution of marriage. The party which has been found guilty of
adultery is not allowed to marry the partner in guilt. The custody
of the children, in case of divorce, is given to the innocent party,
except when the children are below the age of five years, in which
case they are left with the mother. Mutual consent of the married is
not a ground for divorce. All marriages contracted in opposition to
the canon laws are considered null. The Diocesan Council is the sole
competent authority to judge affairs of divorce, its decisions being
submitted to the approval of a metropolitan bishop.
I think Gibbon was responsible in the first instance for ascribing to
the Bulgarians a low moral character. But all the evidence that came
under my notice suggested that the Bulgarians were exceptionally
virtuous.
In their hospitals I found no cases of disease arising from vice. In
their camps they had no women followers. I passed through many
villages which their troops had traversed, and never observed any
evidence of women having been interfered with.
The young Bulgarian, married—without much romance in the
wooing, but perhaps none the less happily married for that according
to his ideas—tilling his little farm, joins now in the main current
of the national life. He is exceedingly industrious, rising early and
working late. His food is frugal—whole-meal bread, hard cheese,
soft cheese (which is like rank butter), vegetables, very occasionally
meat and eggs. From his Turk cousins he has acquired a love of
sweetmeats, and so for his treats lollies and cakes are essential. But
also he is a Slav and likes a glass of vodka on Sundays and feast days.
He is very sober, however, and drunkenness is rare. His chief drink is
water, with now and again tea made in the Russian fashion, or coffee
made in the Turkish fashion. At the village cafés these are the chief
refreshments—vodka, tea and coffee. But a light beer is also brewed in
Bulgaria, and drunk by the inhabitants.
Both as regards food and drink, however, the Bulgarians’ habits
are usually governed by an intense frugality. The country gives no
very rich return to the peasant. He almost invariably marries young
and has a large family. The household budget thus leaves very little
margin over from the strictly necessary food-expenses. That margin
the Bulgarian prefers in the main to save rather than to dissipate. The
Bulgarian is economical, not to say grasping. He dreams always of
getting a little richer. In his combination of the instincts of a cultivator
and of a trader he resembles a great deal the French Norman