The winter was long in Starydwór, and the winter was the season of the
year which Mrs. Tiralla liked least, for her husband would spend almost
the whole day at home. He grew more and more lazy; he would not even go
out shooting. "Why should I shoot hares?" he would say. "I can buy them
very cheaply; any 'komornik' will kill one for me. I would much rather
stop at home with Sophia."
Beautiful Mrs. Tiralla had grown thin during the course of the winter,
"as slender as a fairy," said Mr. Schmielke, the tax-collector. The
gentry used to meet at the inn every evening and discuss the most
important events of the day; and as nothing much happened in
Starawie['s], Gradewitz, and neighbourhood, they would speak of Mrs.
Tiralla. This they did rather often, for the men considered her the
most interesting topic of conversation in Starawie['s], Gradewitz, and
the neighbourhood.
"By Jove, how beautiful that woman is!" some one would exclaim; and
then another would add, "What a pity that that old fool has got her."
"There's nothing to be done," sighed the tax-collector, who had served
in the guards at Potsdam, and had always been accustomed to carry
everything before him on account of his smartness. "Absolutely nothing
to be done, gentlemen. I've already had a try; but, to tell you the
truth, she has sent me to [Pg 54] the right about. Ah, the fair
Sophia!" He stroked his moustache and tilted his chair as far back as
he could, in order to look into the tap-room and wink at the clumsy
little country-girl who was helping the landlord behind the bar.
Mr. Böhnke, the schoolmaster, was very much put out. There was this
Prussian, who had fallen from the clouds into their loyal Polish
district, and at once imagined that he could win the most beautiful
woman for himself. But such a rose was not meant for a fellow like
him--a fellow with no education worth speaking of, for he had been
nothing but a noncommissioned officer. "Pray don't speak so loudly.
Don't shout out the names like that!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his
seat and closing the door into the tap-room.
It vexed him to think that his pale face had grown scarlet. This
Schmielke was certainly held in high esteem by everybody, and of course
it would not be wise to quarrel with a representative of the Prussian
Government. Still, it was very impertinent of him even to think of Mrs.
Tiralla, of that educated woman, the daughter of a schoolmaster,
extremely impertinent. Really, you couldn't help laughing at it. And he
gave an angry laugh.
"You seem to be enjoying yourselves here," said a voice at that moment;
and, looking round in surprise, the men caught sight of a head covered
with a mass of white hair, that stood up like bristles round an angular
forehead, and a pair of lovely brown eyes. It was the priest who had
opened the door softly and had stuck his head in. "Let me see, who are
you all? Mr. Böhnke, _dobri wieczor_." He nodded somewhat
condescendingly to the schoolmaster who had jumped up from his chair,
and then gave a very friendly nod [Pg 55] to Mr. Schmielke, the
tax-collector, who was leaning back in his tilted chair with two
fingers thrust into the front of his uniform.
"How do?" said the tax-collector.
Ziëntek, who was a good Catholic, felt very much annoyed at his
heretical friend Schmielke's off-hand behaviour. Ziëntek was a clerk at
the post office in Gradewitz; but he enjoyed himself better in
Starawie['s], where he was not so well known, and often cycled over
late in the evening. He had jumped up from his chair like the
schoolmaster, although perhaps not quite so quickly, and had shaken
hands with Father Szypulski, the priest.
Father Szypulski now stepped up to the table, for he saw that they were
all good acquaintances, with whom he felt quite at home. He had been so
lonely in his small study, where there was hardly room for so big and
broad a man as he. He couldn't always be reading, and it was impossible
to go to the neighbouring farmers for a game of cards, as the roads
were at present in a frightful condition. He couldn't even get to his
colleague in Gradewitz, which was only a few miles distant by the
highroad. Besides, what would have been the good of it? They couldn't
have gone to the hotel in the market-place, as there were always too
many people about. Oh, there really were too many Germans amongst the
settlers. And who would notice him going to the inn on such a snowy
night if he took up his cassock? A few stupid peasants at the most, who
would bend their heads so low when they greeted him as though their
priest were a saint at least. And in the inn he would find human
beings.
The priest no doubt felt that it was not quite the thing for him to sit
in the inn, and that his superiors would have taken umbrage at it. But
had he ever [Pg 56] taken more than he could stand? So far nobody had
ever seen him the worse for drink. He reviewed one colleague after
another in his mind; where was there one who had not behaved like other
men? And why had they sent him to such a remote post? so rural, so
primitive. His scruples were gradually being lulled to sleep in the
snowy winter days, that were not even brightened by a faint gleam of
light--he hardly ever caught a glimpse of a paper, besides papers were
pernicious reading--in that monotonous silence, that was not even
enlivened by the whistle of an engine, for the railway was on the other
side of Gradewitz.
"What are you talking about, gentlemen?" inquired the priest in an
interested voice; and he was soon in the midst of the conversation
about Mrs. Tiralla. He was her father confessor. "A good little woman,
an exceedingly nice little woman," he said in a laudatory tone.
"I had a fearful to-do with Tiralla the other day, your reverence,"
said Kranz of the _gendarmerie_, who was sitting at the end of the
table stroking his fierce-looking, greyish moustache. "I felt quite
sorry for the woman. I had to speak. I didn't think it could be
possible, but I was told of it, and I found out for myself that it was
true--Tiralla lets the day-labourers kill hares for him. It makes no
difference to him whether they're on other people's property or not. I
taxed him with it, and he didn't even deny it, he simply laughed. But
his wife turned as red as fire, she felt so ashamed of him. 'It's a
disgrace!' she cried, and looked at me with eyes full of tears. And
then she gave him a real, good scolding. 'Haven't I told you again and
again that if you want to eat hares, you're to shoot them yourself? If
you don't [Pg 57] do so I'll throw them out of the kitchen next time
you bring them, I swear I will.'"
"Bravo!" they all shouted. "Splendid!" There was only one more thing
she ought to have done and that was soundly to box his ears, the
scoundrel. They were so furious with him that they seemed entirely to
forget that they lived in a country where hares are no man's property,
so to speak, and are often killed by passers-by as they gambol about
fearlessly in the immense, lonely fields that extend for miles.
The younger men's eyes sparkled as they listened. The tax-collector,
the clerk from the post office, and the schoolmaster were none of them
thirty. The forester, who was sitting next to the clerk from the post
office, and Jokisch, the inspector of the settlement near the lake,
could also be reckoned amongst her admirers, although they were married
men; and the gendarme was still a good-looking fellow, in spite of his
greyish moustache and an almost grown-up daughter.
"I knew all about those hares," said Bilkowski, the forester, laughing.
"You knew it?" The gendarme opened his eyes wide.
"Oh, I say, don't look like that. If I were to publish everything that
happens here," and the forester shrugged his shoulders, "I should never
get any further."
"But a man ought to--it's his duty--I'm obliged," and the gendarme, who
had only been transferred to this post the spring before, pulled out an
enormous note-book from his pocket with a determined look, and took out
the pencil. "I always write everything down. Things were bad enough in
Upper Silesia, but they seem to be worse here."
[Pg 58]
"Oh, you'll get used to them," said the forester reassuringly. "It's
really very nice here. I shouldn't like to live anywhere else now. It
was also rather difficult for me at first, and especially for my wife.
She made enough fuss about it. But now I never hear anything more,
and"--he paused for a moment, then added with a smile that was half
embarrassed, half sly--"I only see what I want to see. What else is
there for me to do? Am I to act in opposition to the nobility, who
would continue to do exactly what they liked all the same, or am I to
let the peasants kill me when they commit outrages in the royal woods?
Of course I always go to the Przykop when I hear a shot; but if they
don't shoot, if they only make use of their cudgels, what then?"
He was right. They all agreed that it was no easy matter to be a
forester. Still the gendarme did not exactly approve of Mr. Bilkowski
speaking so frankly. "But, my dear fellow," and Bilkowski patted him on
the shoulder, "we're all in the same boat. Why shouldn't I speak
frankly amongst friends?"
The priest cast a glance at the open door leading into the tap-room.
Then he whispered to the schoolmaster, "Close it."
Böhnke hastened to comply with the hint.
"Do you think that the Tirallas would come to our Gardewitz ball?"
asked the clerk from the post office, blushing like a young girl. "I'm
getting it up, and if the Tirallas were coming I would arrange a
cotillon with flowers. If we were to order them at a big shop in Posen
we could get real ferns and wired flowers at sixpence a bouquet. Why,
it would even be worth while writing to Berlin for them. If you want to
give such a ball you must be prepared to spend something on it."
"When do you intend having it?" This was a [Pg 59] matter that
interested everybody, and the little man felt very important.
"On Shrove Tuesday, as usual. After that there's always such a long
spell where there's nothing whatever to do. It'll be splendid, I can
tell you, splendid! I hope Sophia Tiralla will come."
"Why shouldn't she, I should like to know?" Schmielke resolved at all
events to secure her for the cotillon in good time, as that meant he
would take her into supper as well.
They all had the same intention, and all had made up their minds to
call on the Tirallas at the earliest opportunity. It was quite a
different kind of thing to clasp a woman like that in your arms instead
of Miss Stumpf, the baker's daughter, who was both clumsy and stout; or
the stupid, snub-nosed Miss Musiëlak, the stationmaster's daughter; or
even Miss Stanislawa, who was rather pretty, but whose father, Count
Jagodziúski, was the town clerk, and was always borrowing money from
them all. Could even little Jadwiga Hähnel, with the freckles, the rich
mill-owner's only unmarried daughter, or the fair Marianna Rózycki, the
butcher's daughter, who, after the first glass of beer, always fell
violently in love with her partner, could they be compared with Sophia
Tiralla? All the young ladies of Gradewitz, Starawie['s], and
neighbourhood were in turn reviewed, but the prize was unanimously
bestowed on the fair Sophia.
"A pretty little woman, to be sure," said the priest.
"Have you noticed that as well, sir?" asked Schmielke pertly, with a
sly wink.
The schoolmaster started angrily, another impertinence from that man.
Even Ziëntek gave an embarrassed little cough; really, how could Fritz
say such a thing?
[Pg 60]
But the priest did not appear to have taken it amiss, and laughed when
he saw Schmielke wink. Why shouldn't he see it as well as the others?
Did he think he was blind? He was fortunately still in possession of
his eyesight, and there could surely be nothing wrong in his admiring a
pretty creature.
The schoolmaster listened in amazement to this free and easy
confession. How could his reverence say such things aloud? And in
Schmielke's presence too, that heretic. It would of course be at once
repeated and turned to account.
The others, however, were very much amused by the confession, and
shouted and laughed loudly. Jokisch, the inspector, who had hitherto
hardly opened his mouth--he had been too busy drinking--now raised his
glass. "Long live our priest. We've the best in the whole kingdom. Let
him live and let live."
They all clinked with the priest, and Jokisch was even so impertinent
as to slap him on the shoulder as he said, "What a pity, sir, that you
can't go to the ball."
"Do you think I couldn't dance, eh?" said the priest, eyeing his long
boots, which resembled those of an officer in a cavalry regiment. "You
needn't fear that I should be out of place there. What a pity"--he gave
a little sigh--"but it would never do."
"Why not, I should like to know?" asked Schmielke, and laughed. "The
youth does not know the reason why."
"Those are some fine ideas you've got," the schoolmaster blurted out.
He had worked himself into such a passion that he could not restrain
himself any longer. "You Germans seem to have some nice ideas of us.
But, of course, you're a heretic." It sounded very [Pg 61] venomous.
"It's quite possible that your clergy do such things."
"Now, now," said the priest, giving the schoolmaster a sign to be
quiet. He felt annoyed that the differences of religion and nationality
should have been brought up. How stupid of this Böhnke to make such a
to-do. They had to live together and get on with each other. The first
in the land were striving to do the same. Hiding his momentary
embarrassment under a jovial laugh, the priest broke the silence that
now reigned in the room by saying in a loud voice:
"I would advise you to take a glass of bitters, Böhnke, or some
Glauber-salt. That would do you good."
A roar of laughter greeted this witticism.
The schoolmaster turned pale and bit his lips, for he dared not say
anything; but he looked down on them all with supreme contempt. How far
superior he was to them in education--even superior to the priest, who
was only a peasant's son, whilst his father had been a schoolmaster. He
was to have studied philology and have been master of a higher-grade
school. But even with the less advanced education he had received at
the seminary, he still felt himself far superior to all of them. And
this he thought he could say without putting too high a value on his
own capabilities.
Böhnke always kept aloof from everybody; he had no friends, he was
harsh to the children, and was often bad-tempered. Rosa Tiralla was the
only child to whom he spoke kindly; but she was quite different to the
other children, much better bred. You could see that she had a nice
mother, who was of good family. The schoolmaster took an interest in
this woman. But it was not only her beauty that attracted him, he [Pg
62] also felt that they were kindred spirits on account of her
parentage. He was filled with jealousy and anger when he heard those
ill-bred fellows calling her "Sophia Tiralla," plain and simple Why
couldn't they say "Mrs. Tiralla"? That would have been the proper thing
for them to do. The schoolmaster continued to bite his lips and stare
in front of him, pale and morose.
But a spark had fallen into the straw, and the former peaceful
conversation was at an end. Jokisch and Schmielke suddenly commenced
quarrelling. Jokisch, who had already drunk too much, began to speak
disparagingly about Mrs. Tiralla. She was one of those whom you
couldn't trust out of your sight. He felt quite sorry for Tiralla, who
wasn't a bad fellow, but imposed upon, imposed upon. "My wife says--"
"Tut, tut, your wife's jealous," said Schmielke teasingly, and laughed.
"Naturally it can't be agreeable for her to have the fair Sophia as her
nearest neighbour."
"What do you mean?" roared the man. "I suppose you mean to infer that
I've been carrying on with her. I've not had anything to do with her; I
wouldn't touch her with a pair of tongs." He grew more and more
furious.
"H'm, your wife has taught you well, I see," remarked the tax-collector
superciliously.
"Taught me--taught me? I've finished my training long ago," roared the
inspector. "I needn't learn any more. I was inspector for five years at
Count Bninski's, in Opalenitza; I needn't learn any more for your
rotten Prussian crown land, especially in _that_ neighbourhood"--he
spat on the floor--"in _that_----"
A blow closed his mouth. The schoolmaster had [Pg 63] jumped up from
his seat; all his vaunted culture had disappeared. "Hold your tongue!"
he shouted, facing the tipsy inspector like a turkey-cock that has been
infuriated by a piece of red cloth. He was a delicate-looking fellow, a
mere stripling compared with the broad-shouldered inspector, but there
was a dangerous gleam in his eyes.
Jokisch had, indeed, gone too far. "_Psia krew!_" cried the priest,
without knowing what he said, whilst the others shouted in the wildest
confusion, "Prove it, prove it!" He was to prove that he had the right
to say such things about Sophia Tiralla. They were all simply burning
with curiosity. What did he know of her, what, what? That anybody knew
such things about her only added to her charm and piquancy in their
eyes.
"Well, fire away," said Schmielke in a jovial voice.
The priest also smiled. He had often before listened to two men
quarrelling, for he knew very well that they would in the end always
bow to his judgment, although the matter was no concern of his.
"I don't know anything," said Jokisch, all at once quite sober. Oh,
what a fool he had been, suddenly flashed through his mind. If he now
said something about her, wouldn't they all believe that he had burnt
his fingers? So far nobody knew that he had tried to kiss her in the
dark stone passage at Starydwór a short time ago, and that she had
given him a sound box on the ears for it. He therefore entrenched
himself behind his wife. "My wife says she's a very bad housekeeper. My
wife says she's very unkind to her husband. She sleeps alone in her own
room."
"Alone? I say, really?" They were all delighted to hear it, and their
eyes again began to sparkle. And no wonder, he was such a horrid old
fellow.
[Pg 64]
"My wife says she would like to poison him, judging from the way she
looks at him." That was his highest trump card, but even that did not
seem to excite any indignation, for every one present was busily
occupied in devising a plan by which he could curry favour with the
fair Sophia.
But the priest smiled. "You're biassed, Mr. Jokisch, biassed. There's
nothing wrong with Mrs. Tiralla."
"She's a good woman, a really good woman," agreed the gendarme. "I came
past the farm the other day on my way from the Przykop, and found the
servant lounging at the gate--Marianna ['S]roka, from Althof, you know,
a buxom lass, but awfully cheeky. 'Panje,' said she in a low voice, and
crept close up to me, 'Panje, there's murder in that house.' She
pointed to the Tirallas' house and made such eyes, she looked quite
mad. She wouldn't let me go. Then I got curious, and felt I must go
into the house. The woman came out of the room at once. 'Where's Mr.
Tiralla?' I asked, and at the same moment I heard a voice saying, 'Who
is it, Sophia darling? Come in, come in, it's very comfortable here.'
He was in high spirits, and we were all very happy together, although
Marianna kept rolling her eyes about and winking at me quite openly as
if to say, 'Take care!' What a horrid person she is, a real serpent.
And Mrs. Tiralla is just like her husband, and continues to warm such a
creature at her bosom. She's a good mistress, you can take my word for
that. 'Please,' she said, and 'Thank you,' when Marianna brought
something up from the cellar. But that's just like that kind of person.
She's as comfortable with them as she can possibly be anywhere, and
still she abuses them. I said to Mrs. Tiralla, 'How do you like your
[Pg 65] servant?'--I wanted to introduce the subject, but she answered,
'Oh, she's very good, very good,' and praised her highly."
"A very nice feature," remarked the priest.
Everybody was filled with indignation against Jokisch. How dared he say
a single word against Mrs. Tiralla, even when he was drunk? The
schoolmaster had been quite right this time. Jokisch was to keep a
civil tongue in his head. He was a henpecked husband, a tattler. All
the bachelors jeered at the inspector. Little Ziëntek poured the dregs
from his tumbler over his head, and when he resisted, and snorted and
swore loudly as he hit about him, they drew the chair from under him,
so that he sat down on the floor on which everybody had been spitting.
On any other occasion the gendarme would have separated the men, but
now he looked on with the utmost calm. It served the man quite right.
The priest had at first watched the proceedings very doubtfully, and
had kept an eye on the door to see if anybody were spying upon them.
But when the others took their tumblers, and, following Ziëntek's
example, poured the dregs over the man's head, he almost split his
sides with laughing.
He saw, however, that it was about time for him to be going, so he got
up from his seat and disappeared as quietly as he had come; and the men
were laughing, quarrelling, and shouting so loudly that they hardly
noticed his departure.
The schoolmaster felt like a hero, as he tramped home through the snow.
He was her knight; he had just paid that vulgar, disgusting fellow out.
Jokisch had received the first and last kick from him as they all
together had conveyed the heavy man to the door. "Throw him out, that
slanderer!" This [Pg 66] time they had all made common cause, all
except the gendarme, who had retired at the very last moment. He always
did so when there was any quarrelling going on in the private room at
the inn, otherwise he would have been obliged to write down the names
of these disturbers of the peace.
The stars shone down on the schoolmaster as he walked home all alone;
the cold wintry sky looked like a huge glass bell that had been put
over the flat country. The stars gave light; he could easily discern
the empty village street, which was as wide as the widest street in a
big town--so wide that it made the low cottages on either side look
twice as low as they really were. Böhnke stumbled along as though he
were intoxicated. But that was not the case, for he never drank too
much, whatever the others might do. He was tormented with an ambitious
longing to win this woman. Mrs. Tiralla was always very kind to him; he
thought he had noticed that she also looked upon him as a kindred
spirit. To-morrow he would see little Rosa--that dreamy child who would
sit with a vacant stare on her face and not know what the others had
been talking about--and he would tell her to remember him very kindly
to her mother, and to ask her if she wanted anything to read during
these long winter days. She could take her choice among his books. He
would gladly lend her them all, in spite of the many hardships he had
had to undergo in order to procure them. She had certainly borrowed a
volume from him almost three years ago; she had had it almost the whole
time he had been in the neighbourhood, and he would probably never see
it again. But he did not mind that. To-morrow he would again place his
library at her disposal. The best thing would be to write her a note
and give it to [Pg 67] the child. He wrote a most beautiful hand, it
looked like print. How the other people in this neighbourhood did
scrawl!
The Gradewitz ball would cost him a lot of money, and he had hardly
any. But what did that matter? He would go there, even if he had to
borrow from the Jew. Happily there was always one thing he could do; if
Isidor Prochownik dunned him, his daughter Rebecca should lose her
place in the class--she should go down to the very bottom; but if the
old man left him in peace Rebecca should have a very high place. He
laughed to himself at the splendid idea. But then he turned scarlet,
although there was nobody watching him, only the starry heavens above
him, and around him the deserted, sleeping village. He was overcome
with shame, for he felt that it was not right of him to move Rebecca up
and down just to please himself. But then he stifled all qualms. What
did it matter to that girl, who was so dirty, so stupid, so utterly
neglected, even if she did go down to the bottom? It was of no
importance to her. And he--he must go to the ball.
Böhnke dreamt that night of the beautiful Mrs. Tiralla. She wore a silk
dress, and had given him a decoration in the cotillon. He stretched out
an eager hand, and she pinned the gold paper-star on his breast. And
then she clung to him, the silk dress gave way, and her white bosom
opened like a book. "Read it," she said, smiling, "we two understand
each other."
It was a confused dream, for then followed all kinds of nonsense which
the young man could no longer remember when he awoke.
He went to school next morning feeling like a schoolboy who carries his
first poem to his beloved one in his [Pg 68] pocket, and is longing
impatiently to give it to her. Although he had gone to bed very late
the evening before, he had got up early and had twice written a note to
Mrs. Tiralla. He had not been satisfied with it the first time, and
had therefore written it again. Rosa was now to take it to her. But
when he went into the schoolroom his eyes sought in vain for the pale,
absent-looking face under the mass of curly hair. All the brown,
snub-nosed, sly-looking faces were there, but Rosa Tiralla was wanting.
This was a great disappointment. He was more harsh and impatient than
ever that day; he required his questions to be answered at once,
without any hesitation, otherwise he took the first book he could lay
hands on and hurled it over the forms. He could scarcely contain
himself, he felt so irritable. Why the deuce had that red-haired girl
just stopped away that day?
As Rosa was again absent the next day and the day after that, and as
none of the children could tell him the reason why, he came to a
decision--he would go to Starydwór. She must be ill. Would it not be
the proper thing for him to make personal inquiries about his pupil?
The crows were cawing over his head as he endeavoured to find the path
over the snow-clad fields. He could hardly see it, for there was only a
very faint trace left of the cart that had taken the milk from
Starydwór to Gradewitz early that morning. He shuddered as he wandered
through the enormous white fields. It was true they were no more
melancholy-looking at this time of the year than when full of turnips
and ripe corn; but their uniform whiteness seemed to give them a larger
and more desolate appearance. Even the hares, as they nibbled away at
the few stalks that were left, and the birds of prey, [Pg 69] as they
lazily flapped their wings in the direction of the Przykop, did not
enliven their desolation; for the sluggish inertness of their
movements, which enabled passers-by to approach them quite closely,
proved only too clearly how very rarely they were disturbed.
Was it because he was not warmly enough dressed that he trembled so?
Böhnke put his hands to his face--ugh! how cold it was. His top-coat
was certainly very thin, it was only meant for summer wear; but he
really couldn't have put on that thick, rough coat he wore every day
for school. He was wearing his best black coat and kid gloves; his
fingers were quite numb. He would have liked to run, in order to get
warm, but big lumps of snow clung to his boots like lumps of lead. When
he came in sight of the trees in the low-lying Przykop, it was as
though something were holding him back, and as though the wind were
pushing him back so as to prevent him from going any further. And he
was longing with all his heart to get to Starydwór as soon as possible.
To the left lay the settlement--the distillery chimney reared its head
in the air like a big white asparagus--and there Jokisch lived. But he
would not live there much longer. When the land had been parcelled out
and the settlers had come, he would go. Thank God! Böhnke was filled
with a vague jealousy; they were neighbours, he and she, and he
considered every neighbour dangerous. Jokisch was certainly a
fine-looking man, and Böhnke felt firmly convinced that he also found
Mrs. Tiralla very fascinating, in spite of all he had said to the
contrary, for who would not? Perhaps that was the very reason why he
had been so angry with her.
Then the schoolmaster began to run. Who would [Pg 70] hinder him in
getting to Starydwór as quickly as possible? There it lay.
The old farm, which had been in the hands of the Tirallas for over a
hundred years, had rather an imposing look in the distance. Not much
was to be seen of the farmhouse itself--it was very low, as though sunk
in the ground--but the barns and stables, all roofed with new, red
tiles, formed a wall round the square courtyard in front of it, and the
whole together constituted a very fine property. But what good was it
to her if she didn't love her husband?
The young man cast one more look at his clothes, and then, after
flipping the snow off his trousers, walked through the open gateway,
over which was a figure of the Holy Virgin sitting on a throne, which
was protected by a grating. A couple of dogs rushed at his legs and
barked; but he was not a coward, although he was no giant, and a kick
soon frightened the curs away. A man stood in the stable door watching
the schoolmaster as he walked up to the farmhouse.
What did the Starawie['s] schoolmaster want? Ha, ha, was he also coming
to kiss the mistress's hand? Somebody had already been there yesterday,
and the day before yesterday as well. How they all ran after her. But
they had no luck, thought Jendrek with a broad grin on his face. The
Pani bestowed the kindest look on him, and she gave him bacon every day
in the kitchen, and an extra glass of gin as well. God bless the good
woman!
Böhnke stepped into the stone passage, but nobody came. He gave a loud
cough; he had never been there before, and did not know where to knock.
He scraped his feet, and as there was still no sign of anybody he
called out in a polite voice, "May I come in? Hallo! is nobody at
home?"
[Pg 71]
Then he heard Mr. Tiralla's voice coming from the room on the right,
"Come in, come in, it's very comfortable here."
The schoolmaster knocked at the door.
"Confound you! Come in, I say."
Böhnke went in, but he at once drew back. Oh, he didn't wish to
disturb. But still he stood as though rooted to the spot, and stared
and stared. There was Mr. Tiralla lying all his length on the bench by
the stove with his head resting on his wife's lap.
Mrs. Tiralla blushed crimson as their eyes met. Then she lowered hers,
and jumped up so hastily that the heavy man on her lap was in danger of
falling on the floor.
"_Psia krew!_" cried the man, and then he laughed. Surely she didn't
feel shy, weren't they husband and wife?
She answered nothing, but she glanced at her husband with such an
expression of disdain, and then looked so hopelessly out of the window,
that Böhnke at once knew that she was unhappy, and that her husband did
not understand her. And he felt his heart beat.
"Oh, it's you, Mr. Böhnke," she said in a friendly voice, and held out
her hand. It felt like velvet as it lay in his, but it was as cold as
ice. He ventured to press it slightly; but she did not return the
pressure, she only gave him a sad look out of her splendid eyes and
smiled a little. Oh, that poor woman! How he would have liked to give
that abominable fellow a blow as he lay on the bench.
Mr. Tiralla was in a very good humour. He shouted to Marianna to fetch
beer and gin, and then told his wife to bring out some food. Böhnke
will be hungry--such a schoolmaster is always hungry--bring what [Pg
72] you can find: ham, eggs, cake, sausages, cheese, and what else
you've got in the larder. "We've got plenty." Then, without rising from
the bench, he seized hold of the schoolmaster with the words, "Take a
seat, pray," and forced him down on the nearest chair in spite of his
resistance. "We're pleased to give you it. _Psia krew_, only no
excuses."
Böhnke had stammered something about not wishing to give trouble, about
not being hungry, about going away immediately. But the farmer had
given a boisterous laugh as usual, and had said that the schoolmaster
had better tell that to the marines, for he didn't believe it. He
had probably been brought up in the same way as his wife, eh? She
had always worn shoes and stockings as a child, and had been as
dainty-looking as a doll; but her little bread-basket had been as empty
as a barn before harvest. She had been as thin as a church mouse in
those days.
The schoolmaster saw Mrs. Tiralla give her husband a second look, but
there was more than disdain in her look this time--something else
gleamed in the depths of those dark eyes. Then she turned away and went
out of the room without saying a word.
"Heigh, Sophia, be quick!" shouted the man after her.
And then he began singing her praises to the schoolmaster. Mr. Tiralla
loved to have visitors; he was so delighted to have an opportunity of
talking about his wife and his happiness to somebody. He bragged about
everything, and dilated loquaciously upon matters that a husband does
not generally mention to other men. His Sophia had a wonderful figure,
a wonderful figure! As slender as a birch! And she was so dainty, slim
in the waist and still rounded, broad across the hips, soft and warm
like a partridge [Pg 73] or like one of those little pigs made of
marzipan, which Wolkowitz, in Posen, used to put in his window at
Christmas time. And her bosom! Would you believe that----Lowering his
voice but very little he was about to confide some more intimate
particulars to the young man. But the latter tore himself away from the
hand that was pressing him down on the chair. He had been fidgeting
about on his seat for some time, but now he felt he could stand it no
longer. A burning blush suffused his face--was it from shame or desire?
Oh, that woman, that poor woman, at the mercy of such a man! He was
filled with an inexpressible repugnance for this stout, coarse old man,
who literally undressed his wife in the presence of others. Could
anybody blame her if she disliked him as much as Mrs. Jokisch had said?
The farmer had not noticed that the schoolmaster was struggling with
his feelings. It had not even struck him that he was silent. He had
found him a modest young man who did not talk much, and that was a good
thing, because then he was listening. Mr. Tiralla was very pleased with
his visitor.
Marianna appeared with three bottles of beer under each arm and a small
tray with glasses in her hand. She looked hale and hearty, and there
was no trace left of that fearful indisposition which had attacked her
at the commencement of the winter. She scanned the visitor with
sparkling, roguish eyes. Would he in time become the Pani's lover? It
wouldn't surprise her if she got hold of one now. But this man--she
made a grimace of disapproval--this man wasn't half good-looking
enough. And he didn't seem very enterprising either, for he had never
even glanced at her, although she had more than once touched him with
her sleeve and had reached right over him in [Pg 74] order to place the
glasses and the six bottles on the table.
"That's enough for the present," said Mr. Tiralla. "But listen, girl,"
he added, pinching her in the thigh so that she screamed aloud, "go
down to the cellar and fetch us another bottle of Tokay. And where's
the gin? You must have a glass to begin with, little Böhnke, or you'll
catch cold. Hallo, you little devil, why are you still there?" he
roared at the maid, who stood smiling and showing all her teeth. "Can't
you understand me? Do you think I'm speaking German? Isn't it Polish
I'm speaking? She's very stupid," he said apologetically, as the girl
left the room with a bold laugh, "but she's faithful--and she's
pretty."
He said this with a smile which horrified the schoolmaster anew. Had it
come to that? The man was not even faithful to her? Poor, poor thing!
He had never felt so sorry for anybody in his life, and he was not
soft-hearted as a rule. He longed for her return. She probably felt
ashamed of what had happened, otherwise she would have returned long
ago.
Mr. Tiralla was also growing impatient. The gin didn't taste half so
good if his Sophia hadn't taken the first sip of it, and he didn't care
for the beer at all. He shouted again for the maid, and when she came
with the bottle of Tokay and a large tray of eatables he said to her
angrily, "Put it down. Where's your mistress? _Psia krew_, what's
become of her?"
Marianna shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know why the Pani doesn't
come. _Gospodarz_ must know best himself."
"Confound you! Call her. She is to come."
The maid disappeared. A few minutes later she stuck her head in at the
door and said with a sad look, "Pani can't come, the Paninka is worse
again; oh, [Pg 75] she's very ill." Then she withdrew as quickly as
possible.
The glass which Mr. Tiralla hurled after her only hit the door, and
then broke into a thousand pieces.
The schoolmaster could not stand it any longer. What was the good of
staying there? Of course, she wouldn't show herself any more. Such bad
luck! Why on earth should that stupid, red-haired child just get worse
now? Or was it only an excuse? Oh, of course, it was an excuse. She
would be sitting upstairs in a corner, bowed down with shame and
weeping, weeping so much that her beautiful figure--broad across the
hips, a waist as slender as a birch, slim and still rounded--shook with
it. Although the young fellow tried his utmost not to think of it, he
could not help it; he saw her the whole time just as the old man had
described her to him. He changed colour; one moment he felt hot, the
next cold. Mr. Tiralla went on filling his glass with beer, gin, and
Tokay, the one after the other, and he drank more than he was
accustomed to in his absent-mindedness. He was thinking of nothing but
her. He could not believe that he was to leave the house without seeing
her once more. So he sat and sat, until the sky grew darker and darker
and the early afternoon turned into pitch-dark night. At last he rose
from his chair with despair in his heart. He had attained nothing of
all he had meant to attain; he hadn't offered her any books, he hadn't
secured her for a dance at the Gradewitz ball, he hadn't even inquired
about the child, which had been his nominal reason for coming to
Starydwór. He felt furious with Mr. Tiralla; he was to blame for
everything. Then he bade him good night.
Mr. Tiralla did not accompany him to the door--little Böhnke would be
able to find it alone--so he [Pg 76] groped his way through the dark
passage to the front door, reeling a little as he walked. Suddenly a
warm hand grasped his, some one chuckled near him in the dark, and the
servant's deep voice said half compassionately, half mockingly, "Did
you find it slow with Pan Tiralla? I'm sorry. Pani is upstairs with
little Rosa. If Pan Böhnke wants to say good night to her----" she
pushed him in the direction of the stairs and disappeared in the dark,
chuckling.
Like a gnome, he thought--oh, no, like an angel. He was seized with a
superstitious terror. Everything seemed so strange; the old house, the
chuckling maid, the loud-voiced man, the beautiful woman. He began
cursing all the drink he had had and cursing Mr. Tiralla. Oh, if only
he had been as sober and as clear-headed as he generally was.
The old staircase creaked under his feet. What would she say? Wouldn't
she consider him intruding if he came up to her? But weren't those
groans that he heard above the creaking of the stairs? That poor,
beautiful woman! He must go to her. Where was she?
Now he was at the top. Hark, wasn't that the child's voice?
"Mother," he heard Rosa say, "sweet mother, I really did see her, you
can believe me. She was as beautiful, as beautiful as you. She had hair
like yours, when you undo your plaits. And she gave me the Child Jesus
to hold. I love it, I love it!" She repeated that several times with
great fervour.
What nonsense was the child talking? Of whom was she speaking? The
schoolmaster drew nearer to the door. Ah--he gave a start--ah, now she,
Mrs. Tiralla, was speaking. But he couldn't very well understand what
she was saying, she spoke so softly. [Pg 77] And now and then she
seemed to be sobbing. He knocked at the door and walked in. Rosa was
lying in bed and her mother was sitting on the bed near her. They both
stared at him in astonishment, but when he said with a voice that
hesitated at first, but then grew firmer, that he felt he couldn't
leave without hearing how she was, the child looked pleased.
"I'm very well," she answered, with a shy smile. "Very well, thank you,
Panje Böhnke."
"She's feverish," said her mother. "She fainted the day before
yesterday; Marianna came rushing down to tell us. We shall have to send
for the doctor if she doesn't get better."
"No, no," cried the child, sitting up in bed and looking as though she
were going to cry. "I'm not ill, mother darling, I'm not ill." She
threw her arms round her mother and pressed her head against her
breast.
The schoolmaster stepped up to the bed and laid his hand on the child's
head. No, _she_ wasn't feverish, but he began to feel so as soon as he
came near that beautiful woman. He busied himself with Rosa; what was
the matter with her, wouldn't she soon come back to him?
Rosa nodded, and then raising her head from her mother's breast, she
pushed her tangled hair away from her face, which looked dazzlingly
white in spite of the freckles. Even Böhnke, in his agitation, noticed
how bright her dull eyes had become.
"She dreams so much," said her mother sadly. "She frightens us by
screaming aloud in her sleep. And she talks in her sleep as well;
Marianna is really terrified. Oh, those awful dreams!" She sighed.
But the schoolmaster did not inquire any further into the matter.
Little Rosa's dreams did not interest [Pg 78] him in the slightest, all
he wanted to do was to give Mrs. Tiralla a proof of his devotion.
"Would the Pani like to borrow some of my books?" he inquired. "I shall
be very pleased to bring some." And then wishing to give her a hint of
how he understood and pitied her, he took heart and added, "If people
live such a lonely life as the Pani does, and are so un----" he wanted
to say "unhappy," or "so little understood," but he faltered, and his
veiled eyes looked longingly at her. He did not know how it was, but he
always lost his self-possession when he was near her.
She must have understood him in spite of his faltering, for she sighed
and said, "Ah, yes, Mr. Tiralla doesn't care much for reading. He eats,
drinks, sleeps, and----" she also faltered and blushed. And then she
gave him a long look out of her black eyes, so that his heart stood
still. "I shall be very grateful to you if you'll lend me some books,"
she continued in a soft voice. "Mr. Tiralla doesn't like to spend money
on them. Oh, I'm so fond of reading beautiful tales, sentimental ones."
The man was in the seventh heaven. So she wanted books? That meant that
he would often have a chance of coming to see her. For he would take
good care not to give Rosa the books; he would bring them himself, and
never more than one at a time. "I'll bring you some," he said,
overjoyed.
"Oh, not so loud, not so loud," begged Rosa, and her face was burning.
She had fallen back on the pillow, her eyes were wide open, but she
spoke as though in her sleep. "I hear her, sh, mother, sh!"
What did she hear? The two looked at each other, whilst the howling
wind outside seemed to creep along the walls of the house like clinging
fingers. [Pg 79] Böhnke shook his head; the child was really very
peculiar.
But Mrs. Tiralla gave a slight shudder, and, bending over her
daughter's bed, she said in a strangely soft voice, "Go on listening,
Rosa dear, go on listening." Then she grasped the schoolmaster's hand
and drew him out of the room. "Come. She is already asleep."
They stood outside in the dark. A murmuring sound was heard from the
bedroom, a few joyful exclamations and then Rosa's voice rose clear and
triumphant. Böhnke was full of amazement; what was the meaning of it
all?
Mrs. Tiralla, who was still holding his hand, now whispered to him,
"I've no friend. I stand quite alone. I often wish I were dead."
The young man pressed his burning, eager lips to her sleeve. He felt
almost stifled with emotion and stammered something hardly
intelligible. He was her friend, her faithful, devoted friend. He had
already once been her knight, but if she commanded, he would also be
her dog. For ever and ever.
If the schoolmaster had hoped for a proof of her favour he was
disappointed. She only pressed his hand, and oh, how icy-cold hers was,
and how firm. Her dainty hand could press as firmly as any man's. "I
rely upon you, Panje Böhnke," she whispered, and then, raising her
voice, she added calmly and distinctly, "Don't fall. Here's the
staircase, here."
Mr. Tiralla's powerful voice was heard downstairs. "Where are you,
Sophia? Let the devil take hold of you by the tip of your shift. Why
don't you come to me, my little dove, my darling?"
"Good night," she whispered hastily, once more pressing the
schoolmaster's hand.
[Pg 80]
He stood alone in the silent courtyard; there was no light in the
stables and sheds, the cattle made no sound. He felt oppressed. Did he
dread the walk through the lonely fields? Oh, no, on the contrary he
was able to breathe once more when he reached the open fields, and the
howling wind threw a whole load of snow into his face and over his
clothes. "Ah," he drew a long, trembling breath. But all at once he
felt terrified. There came a long-drawn, shrill whistle from the
Przykop, a quite peculiar whistle. No bird screamed like that, and no
human being either. A shudder ran down his back; he was seized with a
superstitious fear, which he could not shake off again in spite of his
common sense and his education. That was the witch that whistled in the
pitch-dark Przykop.
And he made the sign of the cross as the peasants do when they hear the
witch whistling, and spat on the snow that gleamed in spite of the
darkness. When that's done, the witch has lost her power and you need
not follow her.
[Pg 81]