You poor, poor Makedonski, why didn't you die at Gredetin?
— The last line of the book
Nemili-nedragi note is a 1882 novelette by Bulgarian writer Ivan Vazov, detailing the life of Bulgarian rebel emigrées ("hăshove" note ) in late 19th century Brăila in neighboring Romania as they await the onset of an armed struggle that would see their homeland liberated from the Ottoman Empire. The work has been adapted by Vazov himself a year later into a Darker and Edgier play under the title Hăshove. Other adaptations include a 2009 TV mini-series, which borrowed elements from both the play and the book.
The story opens with Vladimir Brăchkov, a young man on his way to the Odessa university (Russian empire, present-day Ukraine), sent there by his wealthy father to receive education. Instead of going, he chose to stay with the Bulgarian exiles centered around Nikola "Strandjata", an elderly rebel veteran, and others such as Spiro "Makedonski" who are still eager to form a new offensive against the Ottoman empire and shed their blood for Bulgaria.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: The play adds much more depth to the characters outside Brăchkov, Makedonski and Strandjata, giving them side plots and characters to interact with. It also gave them names, as almost everyone in the novel was referred to on a Last-Name Basis or Only Known by Their Nickname.
- Author Avatar: Brăchkov is based on Vazov's memories of his own stay among rebels in Brăila.
- Author Filibuster: In the second chapter, describing the misery the rebels live in and their homesickness.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Brăchkov Sr. may be disappointed in his son ditching his merchant trade and becoming a rebel, but he'll still support him by buying out his poems when the boy is starving. In the play, he comes to see his son off to Serbia once he's released from prison, and gives him hia blessing.
- Border Crossing: Makedonski has to cross the frozen Danube at night to get to Bulgaria and obtain directions from Levski himself. He barely makes it.
- Character Filibuster: Strandjata holds a Rousing Speech after the rebels nearly start shooting each other because one of them has accepted working for wealthy Romanians and is looked down on.
- Charge-into-Combat Cut: How the play ends.
- Darker and Edgier:
- The book's tone is more of a dramedy, with plenty of comical and/or satiric moments. The play is more cynical, showing not only the rebels' misery, but the disdain Romanians and wealthy Bulgarians have for them.
- Inverted at the end when the play ends with a Bolivian Army Ending - the rebels reconciling with their loved ones and marching off to battle, whereas in the book they all die in the battle or its aftermath, save for Makedonski who lives as a poor, crippled janitor in a freed Bulgaria.
- Fundraiser Carnival: The rebels stage a play to raise money for an assassination attempt of Sultan Abdul Aziz, so that they can spark a crisis in the Ottoman Empire and liberate Bulgaria. Most of the tickets are sold on lease, and what little money they do receive, they waste on beer immediately after.
- Historical Domain Character: Nikola "Strandjata" Todorov himself was a real person and standard-bearer in a rebel squadron as depicted in the book, in whose pub in Brăila Vazov spent a few months. Also, two of the greatest Bulgarian freedom fighters, Vasil Levski and Hristo Botev, have small roles in the book. Vazov was a huge admirer of both, having met Botev personally.
- How the Mighty Have Fallen:
- This is an ever-present theme for the rebels, especially Strandjata, who used to be a standard-bearer of a rebel squadron, but now laments his fate as a pub owner, brewing bean soup and pouring wine all day.
- Makedonski in the epilogue.
Narrator: And this lion of the Balkan, and this hero of Gredetin now trembles feebly at the rude clerk's voice. - I'm Dying, Please Take My MacGuffin: Strandjata dies mid-story of tuberculosis and the cold, giving Brăchkov his rebel standard as well as the manifesto through which the offensive was rallied.
- Jaded Washout: Most of the characters are survivors of rebel offensives that took place in today's Bulgaria in 1866-1867. By 1871, which is when the work takes place, they are wasting away in poverty across the Danube, leaderless, depressed and recalling their Glory Days.
- La Résistance: The hăshove as a whole, as their aim is an armed Bulgarian uprising.
- Patriotic Fervor: A common theme in Vazov's works.
- Perpetual Poverty: How the rebels live in Brăila.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: The rebels only get to fight against the Ottomans in the 1876 Serbo-Turkish war and not for their homeland (it's even harsher because the Bulgarians staged a massive uprising months before that, but the rebels were in prison and couldn't join; they were imprisoned for a robbery to fund that same uprising, too). Most of them die there, except for Makedonski, who lives to see a liberated Bulgaria but is crippled in battle and ordered around as a manservant.Narrator: You poor, poor Makedonski, why didn't you die at Gredetin?
- Show Within a Show: The group stages a play titled "Stanka Lost" to gather money for the Ottoman Sultan's assassination.
- Bad "Bad Acting": Everyone, being untrained and for the most part barely literate.
- Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Makedonski,in the role of the rebel leader fighting against the Tatars, forgets he's in a play, because it's too similar to his past experiences in real life.
- Cross-Cast Role: They're all men, so Brăchkov, as the youngest, plays Stanka, and another one portrays her grandmother. It's mentioned that even men with a mustache among them have been given female roles.
- Damsel in Distress: Stanka, the titular character, is a maiden who's kidnapped by Tatars and has to be rescued.
- Hordes from the East: The Tatars, although they've been lording over parts of Bulgaria for centuries, as Ottoman vassals.
- It's Not Supposed to Win Oscars: In-Universe, the play is criticized for being simplistic and tacky, especially in contrast to sophisticated Romanian plays about love and similar topics. Makedonski objects that Romania is a free country and its society can afford to think about such matters, while Bulgarians need more Patriotic Fervor.
- Just Like Robin Hood: Makedonski's role is that of Zhelyo, a semi-legendary Rebel Leader whose band has to save the girl.
- Three Successful Generations: The three characters most fleshed out in the novel: young Brăchkov, a wealthy merchant's son as the Naïve Newcomer to the rebellion; Makedonski as a warrior through and through who is always ready to risk his life for the fatherland, and Strandjata, whose days have passed so he mentors the younger generation.
- Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: How wealthy Bulgarians view the rebels and why they don't donate to their cause.
