The Days of a Man Cigis 



forgotten deeds of valor, covers a cone-shaped rock 

 midway in the lake. 



I asked Anton what his people thought of America. 

 Said he: 



The Montenegrins seldom think of America. It is too far away 

 to come much into their minds. A few go over to America and 

 stay from six to ten years, coming back with ten to fifteen 

 thousand kroner. They are then regarded as rich men; they 

 buy a home and live like "a God in France." "Rich as an 

 American" is a frequent expression among us. 



Beyond Cettinje the road climbs Rjeka Mountain, 

 the bordering range on the south, and then descends in 

 zigzags to the lake. From the summit I looked down 

 over the water to Albania and to the eastward toward 

 the Serbian sandjak of Novibazar. The thought 

 A world then came that behind me lay the culture of western 

 beyond Europe — the literature familiar to most of us, the 

 upbuilding of science, the treasures of art, the 

 sanctions of religion, all the traditions, ways of think- 

 ing and ways of speaking which sprang from the 

 breaking up of the Roman civilization with the rise 

 of the Saxon and Goth. Behind, to the northwest, 

 was the ruling world, dominant through intelligence, 

 resourcefulness, persistence, and, unfortunately, skill 

 at arms. To the south and the east dwelt millions 

 on millions touched for the most part by our Western 

 culture and institutions only as explorers, teachers, 

 missionaries, and soldiers have carried the West to 

 the East. 



Moreover, as I reflected, the best we have to offer 

 is international. Shakespeare, Goethe, Darwin, Dante, 

 Moliere, Cuvier, Schiller, Emerson, are cosmopolitan, 

 "men of the universe" not confined to any narrow 

 province, or state, or time. No statesmanship, no 



