In the district of Lukovo, on the edge of Podlyasye, stood the village
of Bujets, owned by the Skshetuskis. In a garden between the mansion
and a pond an old man was sitting on a bench; and at his feet were two
little boys,--one five, the other four years old,--dark and sunburned
as gypsies, but rosy and healthy. The old man, still fresh, seemed as
sturdy as an aurochs. Age had not bent his broad shoulders; from
his eyes--or rather from his eye, for he had one covered with a
cataract--beamed health and good-humor; he had a white beard, but a
look of strength and a ruddy face, ornamented on the forehead with a
broad scar, through which his skull-bone was visible.
The little boys, holding the straps of his boot-leg, were pulling in
opposite directions; but he was gazing at the pond, which gleamed with
the rays of the sun,--at the pond, in which fish were springing up
frequently, breaking the smooth surface of the water.
"The fish are dancing," muttered he to himself. "Never fear, ye will
dance still better when the floodgate is open, or when the cook is
scratching you with a knife." Then he turned to the little boys: "Get
away from my boot-leg, for when I catch one of your ears, I'll pull it
off. Just like mad horse-flies! Go and roll balls there on the grass
and let me alone! I do not wonder at Longinek, for he is young; but
Yaremka ought to have sense by this time. Ah, torments! I'll take one
of you and throw him into the pond."
But it was clear that the old man was in terrible subjection to the
boys, for neither had the least fear of his threats; on the contrary,
Yaremka, the elder, began to pull the boot-leg still harder, bracing
his feet and repeating,--
"Oh, Grandfather, be Bogun and steal away Longinek."
"Be off, thou beetle, I say, thou rogue, thou cheese-roll!"
"Oh, Grandfather, be Bogun!"
"I'll give thee Bogun; wait till I call thy mother!"
Yaremka looked toward the door leading from the house to the garden,
but finding it closed, and seeing no sign of his mother, he repeated
the third time, pouting, "Grandfather, be Bogun!"
"Ah, they will kill me, the rogues; it cannot be otherwise. Well, I'll
be Bogun, but only once. Oh, it is a punishment of God! Mind ye do not
plague me again!"
When he had said this, the old man groaned a little, raised himself
from the bench, then suddenly grabbed little Longinek, and giving out
loud shouts, began to carry him off in the direction of the pond.
Longinek, however, had a valiant defender in his brother, who on such
occasions did not call himself Yaremka, but Pan Michael Volodyovski,
captain of dragoons.
Pan Michael, then, armed with a basswood club, which took the place of
a sabre in this sudden emergency, ran swiftly after the bulky Bogun,
soon caught up with him, and began to beat him on the legs without
mercy.
Longinek, playing the rôle of his mamma, made an uproar, Bogun made an
uproar, Yaremka-Volodyovski made an uproar; but valor at last overcame
even Bogun, who, dropping his victim, began to make his way back to the
linden-tree. At last he reached the bench, fell upon it, panting
terribly and repeating,--
"Ah, ye little stumps! It will be a wonder if I do not suffocate."
But the end of his torment had not come yet, for a moment later Yaremka
stood before him with a ruddy face, floating hair, and distended
nostrils, like a brisk young falcon, and began to repeat with greater
energy,--
"Grandfather, be Bogun!"
After much teasing and a solemn promise given to the two boys that this
would surely be the last time, the story was repeated in all its
details; then they sat three in a row on the bench and Yaremka began,--
"Oh, Grandfather, tell who was the bravest."
"Thou, thou!" said the old man.
"And shall I grow up to be a knight?"
"Surely thou wilt, for there is good soldier blood in thee. God grant
thee to be like thy father; for if brave thou wilt not tease so
much--understand me?"
"Tell how many men has Papa killed?"
"It's little if I have told thee a hundred times! Easier for thee to
count the leaves on this linden-tree than all the enemies which thy
father and I have destroyed. If I had as many hairs on my head as I
myself have put down, the barbers in Lukovsk would make fortunes just
in shaving my temples. I am a rogue if I li--"
Here Pan Zagloba--for it was he--saw that it did not become him to
adjure or swear before little boys, though in the absence of other
listeners he loved to tell even the children of his former triumphs; he
grew silent this time especially because the fish had begun to spring
up in the pond with redoubled activity.
"We must tell the gardener," said he, "to set the net for the night; a
great many fine fish are crowding right up to the bank."
Now that door of the house which led into the garden opened, and
in it appeared a woman beautiful as the midday sun, tall, firm,
black-haired, with bloom on her brunette face, and eyes like velvet. A
third boy, three years old, dark as an agate ball, hung to her skirt.
She, shading her eyes with her hand, looked in the direction of the
linden-tree. This was Pani Helena Skshetuski, of the princely house of
Bulyga-Kurtsevich.
Seeing Pan Zagloba with Yaremka and Longinek under the tree, she went
forward a few steps toward the ditch, full of water, and called: "Come
here, boys! Surely you are plaguing Grandfather?"
"How plague me! They have acted nicely all the time," said the old man.
The boys ran to their mother; but she asked Zagloba, "What will Father
drink to-day,--dembniak or mead?"
"We had pork for dinner; mead will be best."
"I'll send it this minute; but Father must not fall asleep in the air,
for fever is sure to come."
"It is warm to-day, and there is no wind. But where is Yan, Daughter?"
"He has gone to the barns."
Pani Skshetuski called Zagloba father, and he called her daughter,
though they were in no way related. Her family dwelt beyond the
Dnieper, in the former domains of Vishnyevetski; and as to him God
alone knew his origin, for he told various tales about it himself. But
Zagloba had rendered famous services to Pani Skshetuski when she was
still a maiden, and he had rescued her from terrible dangers; therefore
she and her husband treated him as a father, and in the whole region
about he was honored beyond measure by all, as well for his inventive
mind as for the uncommon bravery of which he had given many proofs in
various wars, especially in those against the Cossacks. His name was
known in the whole Commonwealth. The king himself was enamored of his
stories and wit; and in general he was more spoken of than even Pan
Skshetuski, though the latter in his time had burst through besieged
Zbaraj and all the Cossack armies.
Soon after Pani Skshetuski had gone into the house a boy brought a
decanter and glass to the linden-tree. Zagloba poured out some mead,
then closed his eyes and began to try it diligently.
"The Lord God knew why he created bees," said he, with a nasal mutter.
And he fell to drinking slowly, drawing deep breaths at the same time,
while gazing at the pond and beyond the pond, away to the dark and blue
pine-woods stretching as far as the eye could reach on the other side.
The time was past one in the afternoon, and the heavens were cloudless.
The blossoms of the linden were falling noiselessly to the earth, and
on the tree among the leaves were buzzing a whole choir of bees, which
soon began to settle on the edge of the glass and gather the sweet
fluid on their shaggy legs.
Above the great pond, from the far-off reeds obscured by the haze of
distance, rose from time to time flocks of ducks, teal, or wild geese,
and moved away swiftly in the blue ether like black crosses; sometimes
a row of cranes looked dark high in the air, and gave out a shrill cry.
With these exceptions all around was quiet, calm, sunny, and gladsome,
as is usual in the first days of August, when the grain has ripened,
and the sun is scattering as it were gold upon the earth.
The eyes of the old man were raised now to the sky, following the
flocks of birds, and now they were lost in the distance, growing more
and more drowsy, as the mead in the decanter decreased; his lids became
heavier and heavier,--the bees buzzed their song in various tones as if
on purpose for his after-dinner slumber.
"True, true, the Lord God has given beautiful weather for the harvest,"
muttered Zagloba. "The hay is well gathered in, the harvest will be
finished in a breath. Yes, yes--"
Here he closed his eyes, then opened them again for a moment, muttered
once more, "The boys have tormented me," and fell asleep in earnest.
He slept rather long, but after a certain time he was roused by a light
breath of cooler air, together with the conversation and steps of two
men drawing near the tree rapidly. One of them was Yan Skshetuski, the
hero of Zbaraj, who about a month before had returned from the hetmans
in the Ukraine to cure a stubborn fever; Pan Zagloba did not know the
other, though in stature and form and even in features he resembled Yan
greatly.
"I present to you, dear father," said Yan, "my cousin Pan Stanislav
Skshetuski, the captain of Kalish."
"You are so much like Yan," answered Zagloba, blinking and shaking the
remnants of sleep from his eyelids, "that had I met you anywhere I
should have said at once, 'Skshetuski!' Hei, what a guest in the
house!"
"It is dear to me to make your acquaintance, my benefactor," answered
Stanislav, "the more since the name is well known to me, for the
knighthood of the whole Commonwealth repeat it with respect and mention
it as an example."
"Without praising myself, I did what I could, while I felt strength in
my bones. And even now one would like to taste of war, for _consuetudo
altera natura_ (habit is a second nature). But why, gentlemen, are you
so anxious, so that Yan's face is pale?"
"Stanislav has brought dreadful news," answered Yan. "The Swedes have
entered Great Poland, and occupied it entirely."
Zagloba sprang from the bench as if forty years had dropped from him,
opened wide his eyes, and began involuntarily to feel at his side, as
if he were looking for a sabre.
"How is that?" asked he, "how is that? Have they occupied all of it?"
"Yes, for the voevoda of Poznan and others at Uistsie have given it
into the hands of the enemy," answered Stanislav.
"For God's sake! What do I hear? Have they surrendered?"
"Not only have they surrendered, but they have signed a compact
renouncing the King and the Commonwealth. Henceforth Sweden, not
Poland, is to be there."
"By the mercy of God, by the wounds of the Crucified! Is the world
coming to an end? What do I hear! Yesterday Yan and I were speaking of
this danger from Sweden, for news had come that they were marching; but
we were both confident that it would end in nothing, or at most in the
renunciation of the title of King of Sweden by our lord, Yan Kazimir."
"But it has begun with the loss of a province, and will end with God
knows what."
"Stop, for the blood will boil over in me! How was it? And you were at
Uistsie and saw all this with your own eyes? That was simply treason
the most villanous, unheard of in history."
"I was there and looked on, and whether it was treason you will decide
when you hear all. We were at Uistsie, the general militia and the land
infantry, fifteen thousand men in all, and we formed our lines on the
Notets _ab incursione hostili_ (against hostile invasion). True the
army was small, and as an experienced soldier you know best whether the
place of regular troops can be filled by general militia, especially
that of Great Poland, where the nobles have grown notably unused to
war. Still, if a leader had been found, they might have shown
opposition to the enemy in old fashion, and at least detained them till
the Commonwealth could find reinforcements. But hardly had Wittemberg
shown himself when negotiations were begun before a drop of blood had
been shed. Then Radzeyovski came up, and with his persuasions brought
about what I have said,--that is, misfortune and disgrace, the like of
which has not been hitherto."
"How was that? Did no one resist, did no one protest? Did no one hurl
treason in the eyes of those scoundrels? Did all agree to betray the
country and the king?"
"Virtue is perishing, and with it the Commonwealth, for nearly all
agreed. I, the two Skorashevskis, Pan Tsisvitski, and Pan Klodzinski
did what we could to rouse a spirit of resistance among the nobles. Pan
Vladyslav Skorashevski went almost frantic. We flew through the camp
from the men of one district to those of another, and God knows there
was no beseeching that we did not use. But what good was it when the
majority chose to go in bonds to the banquet which Wittemberg promised,
rather than with sabres to battle? Seeing that the best went in every
direction,--some to their homes, others to Warsaw,--the Skorashevskis
went to Warsaw, and will bring the first news to the king; but I,
having neither wife nor children, came here to my cousin, with the idea
that we might go together against the enemy. It was fortunate that I
found you at home."
"Then you are directly from Uistsie?"
"Directly. I rested on the road only as much as my horses needed, and
as it was I drove one of them to death. The Swedes must be in Poznan at
present, and thence they will quickly spread over the whole country."
Here all grew silent. Yan sat with his palms on his knees, his eyes
fixed on the ground, and he was thinking gloomily. Pan Stanislav
sighed; and Zagloba, not having recovered, looked with a staring
glance, now on one, now on the other.
"Those are evil signs," said Yan at last, gloomily. "Formerly for ten
victories there came one defeat, and we astonished the world with our
valor. Now not only defeats come, but treason,--not merely of single
persons, but of whole provinces. May God pity the country!"
"For God's sake," said Zagloba, "I have seen much in the world. I can
hear, I can reason, but still belief fails me."
"What do you think of doing, Yan?" asked Stanislav.
"It is certain that I shall not stay at home, though fever is shaking
me yet. It will be necessary to place my wife and children somewhere in
safety. Pan Stabrovski, my relative, is huntsman of the king in the
wilderness of Byalovyej, and lives in Byalovyej. Even if the whole
Commonwealth should fall into the power of the enemy, they would not
touch that region. To-morrow I will take my wife and children straight
there."
"And that will not be a needless precaution," said Stanislav; "for
though 'tis far from Great Poland to this place, who knows whether the
flame may not soon seize these regions also?"
"The nobles must be notified," said Yan, "to assemble and think of
defence, for here no one has heard anything yet." Here he turned to
Zagloba: "And, Father, will you go with us, or do you wish to accompany
Helena to the wilderness?"
"I?" answered Zagloba, "will I go? If my feet had taken root in the
earth, I might not go; but even then I should ask some one to dig me
out. I want to try Swedish flesh again, as a wolf does mutton. Ha! the
rascals, trunk-breeches, long-stockings! The fleas make raids on their
calves, their legs are itching, and they can't sit at home, but crawl
into foreign lands. I know them, the sons of such a kind, for when I
was under Konyetspolski I worked against them; and, gentlemen, if you
want to know who took Gustavus Adolphus captive, ask the late
Konyetspolski. I'll say no more! I know them, but they know me too. It
must be that the rogues have heard that Zagloba has grown old. Isn't
that true? Wait! you'll see him yet! O Lord! O Lord, all-Powerful! why
hast thou unfenced this unfortunate Commonwealth, so that all the
neighboring swine are running into it now, and they have rooted up
three of the best provinces? What is the condition? Ba! but who is to
blame, if not traitors? The plague did not know whom to take; it took
honest men, but left the traitors. O Lord, send thy pest once more on
the voevoda of Poznan and on him of Kalish, but especially on
Radzeyovski and his whole family. But if 'tis thy will to favor hell
with more inhabitants, send thither all those who signed the pact at
Uistsie. Has Zagloba grown old? has he grown old? You will find out!
Yan, let us consider quickly what to do, for I want to be on
horseback."
"Of course we must know whither to go. It is difficult to reach the
hetmans in the Ukraine, for the enemy has cut them off from the
Commonwealth and the road is open only to the Crimea. It is lucky that
the Tartars are on our side this time. According to my head it will be
necessary for us to go to Warsaw to the king, to defend our dear lord."
"If there is time," remarked Stanislav. "The king must collect
squadrons there in haste, and will march on the enemy before we can
come, and perhaps the engagement is already taking place."
"And that may be."
"Let us go then to Warsaw, if we can go quickly," said Zagloba.
"Listen, gentlemen! It is true that our names are terrible to the
enemy, but still three of us cannot do much, therefore I should give
this advice: Let us summon the nobles to volunteer; they will come in
such numbers that we may lead even a small squadron to the king. We
shall persuade them easily, for they must go anyhow when the call comes
for the general militia,--it will be all one to them--and we shall tell
them that whoever volunteers before the call will do an act dear to the
king. With greater power we can do more, and they will receive us (in
Warsaw) with open arms."
"Wonder not at my words," said Pan Stanislav, "but from what I have
seen I feel such a dislike to the general militia that I choose to go
alone rather than with a crowd of men who know nothing of war."
"You have no acquaintance with the nobles of this place. Here a man
cannot be found who has not served in the army; all have experience and
are good soldiers."
"That may be."
"How could it be otherwise? But wait! Yan knows that when once I begin
to work with my head I have no lack of resources. For that reason I
lived in great intimacy with the voevoda of Rus, Prince Yeremi. Let Yan
tell how many times that greatest of warriors followed my advice, and
thereby was each time victorious."
"But tell us, Father, what you wish to say, for time is precious."
"What I wish to say? This is it: not he defends the country and the
king who holds to the king's skirts, but he who beats the enemy; and he
beats the enemy best who serves under a great warrior. Why go on
uncertainties to Warsaw, when the king himself may have gone to Cracow,
to Lvoff or Lithuania? My advice is to put ourselves at once under the
banners of the grand hetman of Lithuania, Prince Yanush Radzivill. He
is an honest man and a soldier. Though they accuse him of pride, he of
a certainty will not surrender to Swedes. He at least is a chief and a
hetman of the right kind. It will be close there, 'tis true, for he is
working against two enemies; but as a recompense we shall see Pan
Michael Volodyovski, who is serving in the Lithuanian quota, and again
we shall be together as in old times. If I do not counsel well, then
let the first Swede take me captive by the sword-strap."
"Who knows, who knows?" answered Yan, with animation. "Maybe that will
be the best course."
"And besides we shall take Halshka[16] with the children, for we must
go right through the wilderness."
"And we shall serve among soldiers, not among militia," added
Stanislav.
"And we shall fight, not debate, nor eat chickens and cheese in the
villages."
"I see that not only in war, but in council you can hold the first
place," said Stanislav.
"Well, are you satisfied?"
"In truth, in truth," said Yan, "that is the best advice. We shall be
with Michael as before; you will know, Stanislav, the greatest soldier
in the Commonwealth, my true friend, my brother. We will go now to
Halshka, and tell her so that she too may be ready for the road."
"Does she know of the war already?" asked Zagloba.
"She knows, she knows, for in her presence Stanislav told about it
first. She is in tears, poor woman! But if I say to her that it is
necessary to go, she will say straightway. Go!"
"I would start in the morning," cried Zagloba.
"We will start in the morning and before daybreak," said Yan. "You must
be terribly tired after the road, Stanislav, but you will rest before
morning as best you can. I will send horses this evening with trusty
men to Byala, to Lostsi, to Drohichyn and Byelsk, so as to have relays
everywhere. And just beyond Byelsk is the wilderness. Wagons will start
to-day also with supplies. It is too bad to go into the world from the
dear corner, but 'tis God's will! This is my comfort: I am safe as to
my wife and children, for the wilderness is the best fortress in the
world. Come to the house, gentlemen; it is time for me to prepare for
the journey."
They went in. Pan Stanislav, greatly road-weary, had barely taken food
and drink when he went to sleep straightway; but Pan Yan and Zagloba
were busied in preparations. And as there was great order in Pan Yan's
household the wagons and men started that evening for an all-night
journey, and next morning at daybreak the carriage followed in which
sat Helena with the children and an old maid, a companion. Pan
Stanislav and Pan Yan with five attendants rode on horseback near the
carriage. The whole party pushed forward briskly, for fresh horses were
awaiting them.
Travelling in this manner and without resting even at night, they
reached Byelsk on the fifth day, and on the sixth they sank in the
wilderness from the side of Hainovshyna.
They were surrounded at once by the gloom of the gigantic pine-forest,
which at that period occupied a number of tens of square leagues,
joining on one side with an unbroken line the wilderness of Zyelonka
and Rogovsk, and on the other the forests of Prussia.
No invader had ever trampled with a hoof those dark depths in which a
man who knew them not might go astray and wander till he dropped from
exhaustion or fell a prey to ravenous beasts. In the night were heard
the bellowing of the aurochs, the growling of bears, with the howling
of wolves and the hoarse screams of panthers. Uncertain roads led
through thickets or clean-trunked trees, along fallen timber, swamps,
and terrible stagnant lakes to the scattered villages of guards,
pitch-burners, and hunters, who in many cases did not leave the
wilderness all their lives. To Byalovyej itself a broader way led,
continued by the Suha road, over which the kings went to hunt. By that
road also the Skshetuskis came from the direction of Byelsk and
Hainovshyna.
Pan Stabrovski, chief-hunter of the king, was an old hermit and
bachelor, who like an aurochs stayed always in the wilderness. He
received the visitors with open arms, and almost smothered the children
with kisses. He lived with beaters-in, never seeing the face of a noble
unless when the king went to hunt. He had the management of all hunting
matters and all the pitch-making of the wilderness. He was greatly
disturbed by news of the war, of which he heard first from Pan Yan.
Often did it happen in the Commonwealth that war broke out or the king
died and no news came to the wilderness; the chief-hunter alone brought
news when he returned from the treasurer of Lithuania, to whom he was
obliged to render account of his management of the wilderness each
year.
"It will be dreary here, dreary," said Stabrovski to Helena, "but safe
as nowhere else in the world. No enemy will break through these walls,
and even if he should try the beaters-in would shoot down all his men.
It would be easier to conquer the whole Commonwealth--which may God not
permit!--than the wilderness. I have been living here twenty years, and
even I do not know it all, for there are places where it is impossible
to go, where only wild beasts live and perhaps evil spirits have their
dwelling, from whom men are preserved by the sound of church-bells. But
we live according to God's law, for in the village there is a chapel to
which a priest from Byelsk comes once a year. You will be here as if in
heaven, if tedium does not weary you. As a recompense there is no lack
of firewood."
Pan Yan was glad in his whole soul that he had found for his wife such
a refuge; but Pan Stabrovski tried in vain to delay him awhile and
entertain him.
Halting only one night, the cavaliers resumed at daybreak their journey
across the wilderness. They were led through the forest labyrinths by
guides whom the hunter sent with them.