THE VISIT TO THE GAILY PAINTED COTTAGE
A DAY or two later, the guests departed, and the Ostrowski family took
up its daily routine. The boy Peter resumed his studies under the care
and instruction of his tutor, while the little Marya returned to the
guidance of her governess, for each child in a wealthy family in Poland
has his or her own tutor or tutoress. Child life in upper circles is
quite a thing apart from the lives of the grown-ups. Their hours are
widely different; they dress simply and live simply, receiving
instruction in the arts and languages; the girls to be fine housekeepers
and womanly; the boys to be courteous, manly and well versed in those
matters which pertain to the care and interest of the estate which is
later to devolve upon their shoulders.
Mrs. Ostrowska never breakfasted with her children. She rose about
eleven o'clock, had her morning meal in her own rooms, and after tending
to her household duties, devoted the better part of the afternoon to the
needs of her peasantry. She was a very charitable woman, as are all the
upper-class Polacks, and devoted many hours among these people. She had
sewing classes for the young girls, where they were taught to do, not
only the plain sewing necessary for their own use, but embroidery of the
most exquisite kind, so that they might employ their idle moments,
during the long, cold winter days, in making articles to sell in the
cities. Furthermore, she established cooking classes; she aided the
sick; and doctors being very far away, the mistress of the manor was
usually called upon in case of illness among the peasantry; even the
children were taught that most useful and beneficial branch of science,
first aid to the injured. Were it not for the generosity and
far-sightedness of the landed proprietors in looking after the interests
and education of these peasants, there would be most abject poverty and
suffering among them.
The Ostrowski estate is one of the oldest in Poland; it numbers fully
four hundred thousand acres; and, in order to grasp the immensity of
this, you must know that one ordinary city block measures five acres, so
that it would require about six hundred and twenty-five blocks each way
to cover this enormous estate. And you may be quite certain, it is no
small task to properly look after and make profitable an estate of this
size.
There is a distillery which distils spirits from the potatoes raised
upon one portion of the estate; there is a sugar refinery, which
transforms the juicy red beets into snowy white sugar; there are
cotton-mills, which are kept going by the thousands of bales of soft,
fluffy cotton grown upon the place; there are endless factories and
mills of every description, all under the care of the master of the
manor. He would much prefer not to add these industries to his business
cares, but he is a charitable man; he knows that to every rich man there
are thousands of poor. If the beets and the potatoes, the grain and the
cotton were allowed to go out in their raw state, for manufacture
elsewhere, there would be many workmen thrown out of employment. Perhaps
these same poor might be compelled to seek their fortunes in our own
beloved land, and this would mean the loss of many valuable citizens,
who will be wanted some day, to stand up for Poland and help her win
back her lost liberty. Therefore, Mr. Ostrowski, having a clear head,
decided to use his products upon his land, and, in this way, he gave
employment to thousands of families, for not only were the men put to
work at the heavier tasks, but the women helped out with the spinning
and the lighter tasks.
The villages attached to the Ostrowski estate are model ones. They are
naturally situated at great distances apart, each village clustering
itself about the particular factory near by. The huts nestle snugly at
the foot of the hill upon which stands the dwór, as if they craved
protection from their superior. In groups of two and threes they huddle
together, these low-roofed, whitewashed, plastered houses, a door in the
centre, a window at either side affording scant light to the two rooms
within. The European peasants seem greatly to object to admitting light
into their home; perhaps it is but the lingering custom of barbaric days
when man feared to present an entrance into his sacred precincts to a
possible enemy; perhaps it is but the relic of an ancient law, but
recently repealed in France, that every opening, be it door or window,
giving upon the street or road, is taxed; and if there is one bugbear in
the vocabulary of the peasant, it is "taxes."
A bit of a garden lies in front of each home, while at the rear is the
truck garden, where enough vegetables are raised to last during the
winter season. Some of the more prosperous tenants possess a cow, or a
pig, or perhaps even a goose; nevertheless, whatever the size of the
family, brute and otherwise, they all live in harmony and happiness
together in the two low-ceiled rooms. The roof of thatch, covered with
its thick coating of mud, moss-grown, tones the scene to one of great
picturesqueness, as seen from the distance.
Toward one of these huts Mrs. Ostrowska bent her steps this bright,
sunny morning in early January. It was much like all the other huts in
the village, but infinitely gayer. Over the doors and windows were broad
bands of red and blue and yellow painted with a rude hand, with dabs of
triangles and other geometrical forms. There were all sorts of attempts
at decoration. Mrs. Ostrowska smiled as she viewed the fresh colors, and
knocked loudly at the heavy wooden door.
It was opened by an elderly woman, whose gray hair fell carelessly from
its loose coil upon her head. She was greatly surprised to see the
mistress of the manor, but motioned her graciously to enter.
"Good morning," Mrs. Ostrowska said, as she stepped into the smoky
atmosphere of the room, "and how do you find yourself this morning, Mrs.
Gadenz?"
"Oh, very well, thank you, Madame, except that the little Henryk is not
so well; his cough is worse."
"I must have the doctor look after him when he makes his rounds," the
mistress answered. Then she added, "I see by the decorations upon your
home that Helena is to be allowed to receive visits from the young men.
Any prospects of a husband yet?"
"No," the woman replied. "Thad put the colors on just before Christmas,
so there hasn't been much time for the young men to know that Helena is
old enough to have callers. Now that Emilia is to be married at the
Easter time, we thought it better to get her sister started."
"She isn't fifteen yet, is she?"
"No," answered the peasant, "but then there are so many of us we must
not keep them all at home. Some must make way for the younger ones. _I_
did it, and my daughters must do so, too."
"You were married very young, were you not?" Mrs. Ostrowska asked
kindly, not meaning to be inquisitive, but Mrs. Gadenz was a comparative
stranger upon the estate; that is, she was not born there, as so many of
the other peasants had been; she had come with her husband and small
children from other parts to find work in the distillery of Mr.
Ostrowski.
"At thirteen," the peasant woman replied proudly.
She was now in her thirty-eighth year, although she appeared much older;
taking up her wifely burdens at such a tender age, so common to the
peasants of Poland, had made her seem much older. But despite her faded
cheeks and hair fast turning gray, she was strong and active, and the
fire of the Slav still shone in her eye.
The three or four younger children, ranging from ten to three, were
playing upon the floor, tumbling one another about over the cat and her
kittens, and frolicking with the shaggy-coated dog, who was monopolizing
the warmest corner of the great stove.
"Be quiet, children," the mother spoke sharply, as she reproved the
boisterous youngsters. "Don't you know that the lady of the manor is
here?"
"Let them play," the lady interposed, "they get but little of it, at
best."
Meanwhile, Emilia had left her duty of stirring the porridge on the
great plaster stove and withdrawn into the only other room. In a moment
she returned, followed by the younger sister, who approached the
mistress of the dwór and respectfully kissed her hand.
"I wish to be the first to congratulate you," the great lady said, "upon
being out in the world now. You are, indeed, growing to be quite a young
lady. Not yet fifteen, and waiting for a lover. I want you to come up to
the manor Thursday afternoon with Emilia. I have some sewing for you,
and perhaps we shall be able to fill out that linen chest so that you
may find a most superior husband."
The young girl blushed and thanked her benefactress kindly, promising to
be on hand promptly. Then she retired to the next room to finish her
tasks there.
"I'm glad to see you so housewifely," Mrs. Ostrowska said, as she
watched the young Emilia move about the room, stirring the great pot of
porridge one moment, while in the next she was tending to the little
wants of the younger ones. "Jan will have need of a good cook."
Emilia blushed deeply and her face brightened up; into her soft blue
eyes came a look of tenderness, for was she not thinking of her own dear
one, beloved Jan, to whom she was to be married at the Easter-tide? And
these latter days she was indeed busy with the last preparations; there
was much left to do, for she herself was to make the wedding gown.
"You will be glad to have your own little home, Emilia?" the lady
queried kindly.
"Yes," came the quick reply. "There are so many of us, and the house is
very crowded. It will be far better when I have a home of my own."
Emilia set the iron pot on the back of the stove, where its contents
might keep warm until the visitor had departed, when the children might
then have their midday meal. She turned to still the whimpering of the
little child in the far corner, stretched upon the straw, the child with
the cough.
"You are nearly ready for the wedding day?" continued the interlocutor
of the young girl, as the latter stooped to pick up the child and hold
him in her lap.
"Almost. There is yet the wedding gown to make, besides some small
household things not quite ready. Oh, how I wish the day would hasten!"
she added, with a long-drawn sigh, drawing the young child's fair head
closer to her breast and pressing a warm, tender kiss upon the glossy
curls.
Mrs. Ostrowska could understand why. She regarded the young girl
carefully. She knew that the poor have very few pleasures, that the
older must always care for the younger, and that young girls crave
merriment and company. With a house full of young children, the mother
away all day in the mills or the fields, it devolved upon her, the
eldest, to manage the little household, to hush the sobs of the offended
baby, or bind up a hurt finger; she it was who prepared the meals for
the many mouths, who washed the few necessary articles of apparel, and
the common every-day round of family cares was distasteful to her simply
because she had no recreations interspersed among them, for we all know
the old adage, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Mrs.
Ostrowska understood very well the wants of her people; it was for this
reason she came among them every day; seeing an opportunity here to
lighten the burden of one young girl, or helping a talented young boy
to gain instruction in the art or trade that appealed to him. She was
attempting to teach her peasantry that each one should be given the
chance for which he so longed; and that he should not be brought up to
follow such and such a calling simply because his father had followed
the same calling from boyhood, which he, in turn, had followed after his
father.
The elder peasants sometimes resented this interference in their family
affairs, as they were sometimes wont to call it, in moments of
peevishness, but Mrs. Ostrowska did her good work quietly and
unostentatiously; she helped the marriageable girls fill their linen
chests, which somewhat ameliorated the feelings of the elders toward
her, for it meant a saving of much expense to them; she introduced
social etiquette in her sewing circles on Friday mornings; she taught
the valuable science of aiding the sick and injured so that there
should be less illness among the poor; for rather than spend their
hard-earned pence for medical services they will suffer uncomplainingly.
Furthermore, she was slowly making progress in instilling into them the
need and benefits of sanitation in their homes.
Every week Mr. Ostrowski made the rounds of his estate on horseback, to
inspect the cottages which he took such pride in; he argued with the
tenants to compel them to maintain these homes in cleanliness; for it is
a difficult matter to keep things ship-shape when a dozen or more often
occupy two or three rooms, to make no mention of the four-footed
occupants, or the feathered tribe.
"I want you to come up to the dwór Thursday afternoon with Helena," Mrs.
Ostrowska said, after a long silence. "You can begin your gown then, and
you two sisters can work together."
"I should love to," the young girl replied, as her face brightened. She
was glad of the opportunity to get away from the confinement of the hut
and the household duties for a short time, and this meant an afternoon
of extreme pleasure for her. All the peasant girls loved to be invited
to the manor, for a cup of warm, delicious tea served with lemon, and
pirogi, those most delectable cakes filled with almond meal which were
such luxuries to them, awaited them.
"I have a woman coming from Cracow," Mrs. Ostrowska continued, as she
rose to leave, "who is bringing some very pretty little trinkets from
the city. I should like to have you there to make a selection of such as
you would care to have."
"You are more than kind," the girl replied, in a low voice. "You are
always thinking of our pleasure and happiness."
"That is my duty," the older woman answered; "you are all my children,
and I must give you as much happiness as I can, for some day you will be
beyond my care and protection, and will have no one but your Jan to look
after you."
Again the girl blushed a deep red, and the tender look returned to her
soft eyes at the mention of her fiancé. She escorted her patroness to
the door of the cottage and closed it after her. Then she resumed her
tasks about the kitchen, giving the little ones their meal of barszcz
and a slice cut from a cake of cabbage which had been pressed into a
solid loaf.
Mrs. Ostrowska was glad to be in the clear, crisp air once more, after
the stifling atmosphere of the cottage, for her peasants were slow to
learn the value of ventilation. As she continued her way down the road
toward the manor-house, she thought of her "young people," as she called
them fondly, for she took a personal interest in each of them, whether
large or small, girl or boy.
She reviewed their lives, as they live them from one generation to the
other. How they roll and toss upon the floor of their cabins or upon the
greensward, in unconscious bliss of childhood. How they attain the age
of youth when they must begin to help share the burdens of the elders
either in the fields or the mills, if they be boys, or in spinning and
caring for the helpless ones at home, if they be girls. How they grow up
to manhood and womanhood with very little time for pleasures and
holidays, for all hands must take hold that the weight may not fall upon
one. How finally, the young girls attain the age of fifteen or more,
when they are allowed to consider the question of marriage. Then comes
to them courters, and love enters into their lives, to brighten the eye
and redden the cheek. They live for months and months upon the delights
they will experience in attending church, the wedding procession, and
the carrying-off of the bride; then the settling down in their own
nests. After that, they are no longer helpers in the household, they are
the mainstays of their own homes, and they realize then what it really
means to be home-makers. They take up their cares and their duties; they
arise early, but then, they have always been used to that; they must
spin and knit, and sew and darn, and there are no other fingers to help
them. For many years they must do all, until the little fingers are big
enough and strong enough to aid. Sometimes, they must go out into the
forest and gather fagots for their fires so that the little one may not
suffer from the chill; they must learn the wonderful art of making a few
pence do duty of many. And year by year passes; they see their daughters
grow up to that age when they, in turn, must leave their homes for homes
of their own; they see their sons going away to the army or to other
lands, perhaps, to seek their fortunes; and thus, from generation to
generation, they continue in this routine, living in memory, throughout
those days when their lives are filled with busy cares, that day, so
long ago, when they drove to the village church, the bridal veil falling
about their slender shoulders, the wedding supper and the gay dance, and
the clamor of voices as they rolled away with their loved ones in the
village cart for the honeymoon. And all the burdens of their lives, all
the toil, all the care and the endless sameness are more than
compensated for by that one glorious day of their existence--their
wedding day.
Mrs. Ostrowska planned and planned how she could educate these peasants
in such wise as to fit them for more than mere care-takers; that they
might learn a little of the refinements of life, and that, by education,
they might gradually raise themselves to a higher and better plane. Her
work was slow, but she felt that already she could see signs of having
accomplished something material of betterment in their lives.