TIME IN THE NOVELS OF MILOS CRNJANSKI - Nottingham eTheses

CHAPTER SIX
married him. when he seemed to her like a father.
Aran~el tinds his way to her bed tollowin~ an episode in
which he almost drowns in the river.
Her fate is bound
to the river. such that "her ver¥ knowled~e
ot time
comes to depend on the river" (78):
Tako se naviknu da primeti sitne promene
u svemu tome vidljivom.·pa i nevidljivom.
Kroz nekoliko dana ve6. ona je znala. po
boji vode i vrbaka. koji je ~as dana.
Uve~e. znala j e po bo;l i ne.ba i obliku
ob1aka da ta~no nasluti vreme za
sutralnj1 dan (19).
So she became accustomed to notice the
sli~ht chan~es in evervthin~ visible. and
even invisible. In a tew days she knew
b¥ the colour ot the·water and the
willows what time of day it was. In the
evenine. she knew bv the colour of the
skv and the ShtR"t of the clouds to t-~tI-..L..
precisel¥ th~tor clall ....."'. f.(I""'''~ fA
The different relationships with nature which the
three characters of Seobe expose have far-reachine
consequences tor Datina.
It is not nature as such. but
its interaction with the world of culture •. tradition.
and histor¥. which proves threatenine to Datina.
On a
symbolic plane. both Aran4el and Vuk create histor¥.
impose order on their social lives. and their private
hopes and tears.
The moment betore Datina talls she
imacines herself under water lookinc at the sk¥ above.
Her usual passive view ot nature chan~es
into one where
it bears down on her.
She is overcome with her own
symbol of time. the river which cannot chance its
course:
Kad se zalju1ja Zid. 1za toe pr1vi4enja.
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