Dositej Obradović opens the preface to „Живот и прикљученија“ by presenting memory as both pleasure and moral instruction. The short passage below is taken from the public-domain Wikisource reading text of „Предисловије“, which identifies the work's first edition as Leipzig, 1783. Its long periodic sentences mix a vernacular Serbian base with learned eighteenth-century vocabulary and morphology.
Source Layers: What Is and Is Not Quoted
The Wikisource transcription includes square-bracketed [х] in forms such as своји[х]. Those brackets are editorial signals: the transcriber supplies a letter rather than pretending it is unproblematically present in the witness. This page preserves the brackets in the quoted reading text.
The quotation is not called a diplomatic transcription of the 1783 printing. A diplomatic edition would document original type, lineation, punctuation, damaged characters, and every intervention against a physical copy. Below the quotation, a separately labeled modern reading aid changes spelling, endings, vocabulary, and some clause structure. Later explanatory paraphrases go farther still.
Complete Short Passage
Слатка је ствар, и пуна безлобне забаве и утешенија, спомињати се своји[х] прошасти[х] времена, од самога незлобивога детињства и веселе младости до мужеског возраста и зреле старости.
It is a sweet thing, full of innocent enjoyment and consolation, to remember one's past—from guileless childhood and cheerful youth to adulthood and mature old age.
Проливају очи моје слаткосрдечне сузе припознанства и благодарности кад год размишљавам велику милост небесног промисла, у коликим невољам ми је помогла!
My eyes shed heartfelt tears of acknowledgment and gratitude whenever I reflect on the great mercy of heavenly providence and on how many troubles it has helped me through!
The English translation breaks open relationships that Dositej leaves densely nested. It does not reproduce the old word order mechanically, and it treats мужески возраст as adulthood rather than the misleading “male age.”
A Modern Reading Aid
Слатко је, пријатно и утешно сећати се своје прошлости, од безазленог детињства и веселе младости до зрелог доба и старости.
It is sweet, pleasant, and comforting to remember one's past, from carefree childhood and cheerful youth to maturity and old age. (modernized reading aid)
Очи ми се пуне сузама ганућа и захвалности кад год помислим на велику милост небеског промисла, која ми је помогла у толиким невољама.
My eyes fill with tears of emotion and gratitude whenever I think of the great mercy of heavenly providence, which has helped me through so many troubles. (modernized reading aid)
These are editorial teaching sentences written for this page, not words to attribute to Dositej. Modernization is interpretive: recasting утешеније as adverbial утешно is not the same operation as removing a final historical letter.
The Infinitive as the Content of ствар
The first sentence begins Слатка је ствар ... спомињати се.... The infinitival phrase identifies what the “sweet thing” is: remembering one's past. Contemporary Serbian can still use an infinitive this way, but a да clause is often more conversational.
Лепо је сетити се људи који су нам помогли.
It is good to remember the people who helped us.
Лепо је да се понекад сетимо људи који су нам помогли.
It is good for us to remember the people who helped us from time to time.
The two modern constructions overlap, but the да clause can make person reference more explicit. Dositej's extended infinitive helps the sentence remain impersonal and sententious.
Historical спомињати се + genitive has the sense “remember, recollect.” In neutral contemporary Serbian, сећати се + genitive is the productive choice. Modern спомињати normally means “mention,” usually without reflexive се and with an accusative object.
Често се сећам школских дана, али их ретко спомињем у разговору.
I often remember my school days, but I rarely mention them in conversation.
That contrast prevents a false modernization: спомињати се cannot simply be carried into present-day prose with the assumption that every speaker will hear Dositej's meaning neutrally.
Genitives Inside the Long Noun Phrase
Пуна agrees with feminine ствар and selects genitive complements: пуна безлобне забаве и утешенија. The same government remains current with modern vocabulary:
Књига је пуна ведрог хумора и тихе захвалности.
The book is full of cheerful humor and quiet gratitude.
The temporal span од ... детињства и ... младости до ... возраста и ... старости also uses genitive after од and до. Dositej builds a life course from two coordinated pairs. Мужески возраст is (archaic/learned); in modern prose, use зрело доба, одрасло доба, or a context-specific equivalent.
The bracketed endings своји[х] прошасти[х] show genitive plural agreement. Прошасти is historical; contemporary Serbian has прошли. The brackets belong to the editor's representation and must not be erased when citing that transcription as though no intervention occurred.
Clause Linking: кад год and a Delayed Relative Meaning
The second sentence anchors repeated emotion with кад год “whenever.” Its main clause is Проливају очи моје ... сузе; the subordinate clause begins кад год размишљавам....
Кад год читам старо писмо, приметим нешто што сам раније превидео.
Whenever I read the old letter, I notice something I previously missed.
Within the historical sentence, у коликим невољам ми је помогла elaborates милост: the mercy helped the writer amid many troubles. The antecedent милост is feminine singular, which explains помогла. Dative clitic ми marks the beneficiary.
Contemporary Serbian would normally say размишљам о великој милости or помислим на велику милост, not use размишљавам transitively with accusative велику милост. It would also use locative plural невољама, not historical невољам.
Кад год размишљам о том периоду, сетим се ко ми је помогао у невољама.
Whenever I reflect on that period, I remember who helped me in times of trouble.
Inverted Order and Emotional Cadence
Neutral prose would usually begin Моје очи проливају... or, more idiomatically, Очи ми се пуне сузама... Dositej instead writes Проливају очи моје...: verb first, then noun, then possessive. The inversion launches the physical reaction before naming the eyes and delays моје.
The long object follows: слаткосрдечне сузе припознанства и благодарности. Learned compounds and abstract genitives elevate private memory into moral reflection. This order is comprehensible today but distinctly (literary/historical).
Очи су ми се напуниле сузама захвалности кад сам поново прочитао писмо.
My eyes filled with tears of gratitude when I read the letter again. (neutral contemporary)
This is an interpretive paraphrase. It replaces active “the eyes shed tears” with a middle construction and sacrifices Dositej's rhetorical cadence.
Lexical Archaisms and Learned Forms
| Historical form | Modern reading | Register note |
|---|---|---|
| безлобан | безазлен, невин | literary/rare in this sense |
| утешеније | утеха | archaic/learned nominal form |
| прошасти | прошли | historical participial adjective |
| мужески возраст | зрело или одрасло доба | archaic/learned phrase |
| припознанство | признање, освешћена захвалност | historical abstract noun |
| благодарност | захвалност | still recognizable; elevated/church-associated today |
Not every learned form is “Russian,” and not every modern replacement is exact. Slavonic-Serbian prose draws on several Church Slavonic, Russian literary, inherited, and vernacular resources. The Church Slavonic layer provides the historical framework; this page stays with the passage's reading decisions.
Common Mistakes
Presenting the reading text as a diplomatic original
❌ Ово је тачан дипломатски препис Доситејевог рукописа, без уредничких интервенција.
Incorrect—the selected digital text contains editorial brackets and is not established here against the manuscript or first printing.
✅ Ово је јавно доступан читалачки препис у којем су уредничке допуне обележене заградама.
This is a publicly available reading transcription in which editorial additions are marked with brackets.
Copying historical government into neutral prose
❌ Данас размишљавам велику милост свог пријатеља.
Incorrect in neutral modern Serbian—размишљати normally takes о + locative for this meaning.
✅ Данас размишљам о великој помоћи свог пријатеља.
Today I am reflecting on my friend's great help.
Confusing remembering with mentioning
❌ Спомињам се детињства у неутралном савременом саставу.
Marked/archaizing for neutral contemporary Serbian—use сећам се for ‘I remember.’
✅ Сећам се детињства, а један догађај често спомињем.
I remember my childhood, and I often mention one event.
Treating brackets as authorial punctuation
❌ Доситеј је ставио угласте заграде у речи „своји[х] прошасти[х]“ ради наглашавања.
Incorrect—the brackets mark an editorially supplied letter, not emphasis by the author.
✅ При цитирању објашњавам да је слово х у том препису уреднички допуњено.
When quoting, I explain that х is editorially supplied in that transcription.
Key Takeaways
- The selected text is a bracketed reading transcription, not a diplomatic reproduction of the 1783 print.
- Спомињати се + genitive means “remember” historically; modern neutral Serbian prefers сећати се.
- Пуна and од...до... organize several genitive phrases inside the long period.
- Кад год introduces repetition, while ми је помогла points back to feminine милост.
- Modernization changes form; paraphrase may change syntax and imagery. Label both.
Reuse Exercises
- Produce a conservative modernization that changes spelling and obsolete endings but keeps Dositej's clause order. Mark every lexical substitution separately.
- Rewrite the second sentence as two neutral contemporary sentences. Keep кад год, identify the antecedent of помогла, and place clitic ми naturally.
- Compare the historical opening Проливају очи моје with Очи ми се пуне сузама. Explain what grammatical voice, order, and emotional register each version creates.
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