The following extract from Voltaire's _History of Charles XII_ was
prefixed to the first edition of _Mazeppa_ as the "Advertisement":--
"The man who then filled this position [Hetman of Ukraine] was a Polish
gentleman, named Mazeppa, who had been born in the Palatinate of
Podolia. He had been brought up as a page to John Casimir, at whose
court he had taken on some of the color of learning. An intrigue which
he had in his youth with the wife of a Polish gentleman having been
discovered, the husband had him bound, all naked, upon a wild horse, and
in this condition let go. The horse, which was from the country of
Ukraine, returned and brought there Mazeppa, half-dead with weariness
and hunger. Some peasants helped him: he remained a long time among them
and distinguished himself in several expeditions against the Tartars.
The superiority of his wisdom brought him great consideration among the
Cossacks. His reputation increased day by day, until the Czar was
obliged to make him Prince of Ukraine."
The real life of Mazeppa was as follows: Ivan Stepánovitch Mazeppa was
born in 1645, of Cossack origin and of the lesser nobility of Volhynia.
When fifteen years old, he became the page to John Casimir V of Poland,
and, while holding this office, learned Latin and much about
statesmanship. Later, however, being banished on account of a quarrel,
he returned home to his mother in Volhynia. While here, to pass the
time, he fell in love with the wife of a neighbor, Lord Falbouski. This
lord, or pane, discovering his wife and her lover, caused Mazeppa to be
stripped and bound to his own horse. The horse, enraged by lashes and
pistol shots and then let loose, ran immediately to Mazeppa's own
courtyard.
Mazeppa, later, after holding various secretaryships, was made hetman,
or prince, over all of Ukraine, and for nearly twenty years he was the
ally of Peter the Great. Afterwards, however, he offered his services to
Stanislaus of Poland, and finally to Charles XII of Sweden. "Pultowa's
Day," July 8, 1709, when Charles was defeated by the Russians and put
to flight, was the last of Mazeppa's power. He fled with Charles across
the river Borysthenes and received protection from the Turks. He died a
year later at Varnitza on the Dneister, just in time to escape being
delivered over to Peter.
[124] 1. =Pultowa.= See Introductory Note.
[125] 9. =Day were dark and drear=; Napoleon's famous defeat, and
retreat from Moscow, October, 1815.
[126] 15. =Die.= What is the plural?
[127] 23. =Gieta= was a colonel in the king of Sweden's army.
[128] 51. =Levels man and brute.= Burke says in his _Speech on
Conciliation with America_, "Public calamity is a mighty leveller."
[129] 56. =Hetman.= See Introductory Note. Mazeppa was sixty-four years
old.
[130] 104. =Bucephalus=; the horse of Alexander the Great. Alexander,
when a boy, was the first to tame this horse, thereby, in fulfilment of
the oracle, proving his right to the throne.
[131] 105. =Scythia= was a country, north and northeast of the Black
Sea, which was inhabited by nomadic people. It was noted for its horses.
[132] 116. =Borysthenes=; another name for the Dnieper River.
[133] 151. A =Mime= was a sort of farce, travestying real persons or
events.
[134] 154. =Thyrsis= was one of the names commonly used for shepherds in
the Greek and Latin pastoral poets, as Theocritus, Bion, Virgil. The
names were conventionally used by modern imitators of these poets.
[135] 155. =Palatine= (from _palatium_, meaning palace) was a name given
to a count, or ruler of a district, who had almost regal power.
[136] 237. =O'erwrought=; the past participle of _overwork_. Cf.
_wheelwright_, _wainwright_, etc.
[137] 329. =Cap-à-pie=; from head to foot.
[138] 349. ='Scutcheon=, or escutcheon, is the shield-shaped surface
upon which the armorial bearings are charged.
[139] 437. =Spahi's=; the name of a Turkish corps of irregular cavalry.
[140] 575. =Uncouth=; literally, unknown.
[141] 618. =Ignis-fatuus=; will-o-the-wisp, Jack-o'-lantern.
[142] 664. =Werst=; a Russian measure equal to about two-thirds of a
mile.