L JUDI / PEOPLE 92 | Velikani » Greats VUK ST E FANOV I Ć K AR ADŽ I Ć Journeys of the hobbled great Recounting all the towns he’d passed through to Lukijan Mušicki, Vuk received the following response: “You bring honour not only to your head, but also to that wooden leg of yours, which Serbian museums will vie for after your death.” It is common knowledge that Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, born 6th November, 1787, in Tršić, was a reformer of theSerbian languagewho introduced phonetic spelling to the Cyrillic script, in order for eachsound to receive its owncorresponding letter. He is also known for having diligently collected oral folk wisdom and for having compiled the first Serbian dictionary, but also for being responsible for the fact that general use of Slavonic Serbian, the language of the upper classes, was stifled in order to ensure better understanding among the poor. It is no secret that Vuk [Wolf] was named after an animal that witches fear, because it was believed that such dark spirits had killed his elder brothers and sisters. However, that remedy to counter darkmagic didn’t help to save his left leg, which was shrivelled from beUželevši se doma nakon deset meseci lutanja, poželeo je i „oceđenu supu s pirinčem i govedinom i sos od paradajza i medovine uz to“ Longing for home after wandering for ten months, he wanted “strained soup with rice and beef, and tomato sauce accompanied by mead”.
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