Prince Vishnyevetski knew of the defeat at Korsún before Skshetuski had
been found sitting on the ruins of Rozlogi, since Polyanovski, one of
his hussar officers, had brought news of it to Segotin. Previous to
that the prince had been in Priluka, and from there had sent Boguslav
Mashkevich with a letter to the hetmans, inquiring when they would
order him to march with all his forces. But as Pan Mashkevich did not
return for a long time with the answer of the hetmans, the prince moved
on toward Pereyasláv, sending orders on every side to the detachments
that the regiments which were scattered here and there in the
Trans-Dnieper should assemble as quickly as possible at Lubni.
But news came that some Cossack regiments disposed in outposts along
the borders next the Tartars had dispersed or joined the insurrection.
Thus the prince saw his forces suddenly decreased, and was grieved not
a little; for he did not expect that those men whom he had led so often
to victory could ever desert him. However, upon meeting with Pan
Polyanovski and receiving news of the unexampled catastrophe, he
concealed it from the army and went on toward the Dnieper, thinking to
march at random into the midst of the storm and uprising, and either
revenge the defeat, wipe away the disgrace of the armies, or shed his
own blood. He judged that there must be some, and perhaps large,
portions of the army of the Crown left after the defeat. These, if
joined to his division of six thousand, might measure themselves with
Hmelnitski with hope of victory.
Halting at Pereyasláv, he ordered Pan Volodyovski and Pan Kushel to
send their dragoons in every direction,--to Cherkasi, Mantovo,
Sekirnaya, Buchach, Staiki, Trakhtimiroff, and Rjischeff,--to collect
all the boats and craft which they could find anywhere. Then the army
was to cross from the left side to Rjischeff.
The messengers heard of the defeat from fugitives whom they met here
and there; but at all the above-mentioned places they could not find a
single boat, since, as already stated, the Grand Hetman of the Crown
had taken one half of them long before for Krechovski and Barabash, and
the rebellious mob on the right bank had destroyed the rest through
fear of the prince. But Volodyovski crossed over with ten men to the
right bank on a raft which he had fashioned in haste from tree-trunks,
and seized a number of Cossacks, whom he brought to the prince, who
learned from them of the enormous extent of the rebellion and the
terrible fruits of the defeat at Korsún. The whole Ukraine had risen to
the last man. The insurrection had spread like a deluge, which covering
a level land occupies more and more space at each twinkle of an eye.
The nobles defended themselves in large and small castles; but many of
these castles had been already captured.
Hmelnitski was increasing in power every moment. The captured Cossacks
gave the number of his army at two hundred thousand men, and in a
couple of days it might be doubled. For this reason he remained in
Korsún after the battle, and took immediate advantage of the peace to
marshal the people into his countless hosts. He divided the mob into
regiments, appointed colonels from the atamans and experienced
Zaporojian essauls, and sent detachments or whole divisions to capture
neighboring castles. Considering all this, Prince Yeremi saw that on
account of the absence of boats the construction of which for an army
of six thousand men would occupy several weeks' time, and on account of
the strength of the enemy which had increased beyond measure, there was
no means of crossing the Dnieper in those parts in which he then found
himself. Pan Polyanovski, Colonel Baranovski, the commander of the
camp, Alexander Baranovski, Volodyovski, and Vurtsel were in favor of
moving to the north toward Chernigoff, which was on the other side of
dense forests, thence they would march on Lubech, and cross the river
to Braginoff. It was a long and perilous journey; for beyond the
Chernigoff forests, in the direction of Braginoff, were enormous
swamps, which were not easy of passage even for infantry, and what must
they be for heavy cavalry-wagons and artillery. The proposal, however,
pleased the prince; but he wished, before going on that long and as he
considered unavoidable road, to show himself once more in his
Trans-Dnieper domains, prevent immediate outbreak, gather the nobles
under his wing, transfix the people with terror, and leave behind
the memory of that terror, which in the absence of the master would be
the only safeguard to the country and the guardian of all who were
unable to march with the army. Besides this, Princess Griselda, the
Princesses Zbaraskie, the ladies in waiting, the whole court, and some
regiments,--namely, the infantry,--were still in Lubni. The prince
therefore determined to go to Lubni for a last farewell.
The troops moved that very day, and at their head Pan Volodyovski with
his dragoons, who, though all Russian without exception, still held by
the bonds of discipline and trained as regular soldiers, almost
surpassed in loyalty the other regiments. The country was quiet yet.
Here and there had been formed ruffianly bands which plundered castle
and cottage alike. These bands the prince destroyed in great part along
the road and empaled on stakes. The common people had risen in no
place. Their minds were seething, fire was in the eyes and souls of the
peasants, they armed in secret and fled beyond the Dnieper; but fear
was still superior to the thirst for blood and murder. It might be
considered of ill-omen for the future, however, that the inhabitants of
those villages from which the peasants had not gone to Hmelnitski fled
at the approach of the army, as if fearing that the terrible prince
would read in their faces that which was hidden in their hearts and
would punish them in advance. And he did punish wherever he found the
least sign of incipient rebellion; and as he had a nature unbounded
both in rewarding and punishing, he punished without measure and
without mercy. It might have been said at that time that two vampires
were careering along both banks of the Dnieper,--one, Hmelnitski,
devouring nobles; the other, Prince Yeremi, destroying the uprisen
people. It was whispered among the peasants that when these two met the
sun would be darkened and the water in all rivers run red. But the
meeting was not at hand; for Hmelnitski, the conqueror at Jóltiya Vodi
and Korsún,--that Hmelnitski who had battered into fragments the armies
of the Crown, who had taken captive the hetmans, and who was then at
the head of hundreds of thousands of warriors,--simply feared that lord
of Lubni, who was going to look for him west of the Dnieper. The armies
of the prince had passed Sleporod. The prince himself stopped to rest
at Philipovo, where he was informed that envoys had come from
Hmelnitski with a letter and begged for an audience. The prince gave
orders to produce them at once. Then the six Zaporojians entered the
house of the under-starosta where the prince was stopping. They entered
boldly enough, especially the chief of them, the ataman Sukhaya Ruká,
distinguished through the victory of Korsún and his new rank of
colonel. But when they saw the prince such fear seized them that they
fell at his feet, not daring to utter a word.
The chieftain, surrounded by his principal knights, ordered them to
rise, and asked what they had brought.
"A letter from the hetman," answered Sukhaya Ruká.
The prince fixed his eyes on the Cossack, and answered quietly, but
with emphasis on every word,--
"From a bandit, a ruffian, and a robber,--not from a hetman!"
The Zaporojians grew pale, or blue rather, and dropping their heads on
their breasts stood in silence at the door. Then the prince ordered Pan
Mashkevich to take the letter and read it.
The letter was humble, though it was after Korsún. The fox had gained
the upper hand of the lion in Hmelnitski, the serpent of the eagle, for
he remembered that he was writing to Vishnyevetski. He flattered in
order to quiet, and then the more easily to sting. He wrote that what
had happened was through the fault of Chaplinski, and that the
fickleness of fortune had met the hetmans; hence it was not his fault,
but their evil fate and the oppressions which the Cossacks had endured
in the Ukraine. Still he asked the prince not to be offended, to pardon
him, and he would ever remain his obedient and willing servant; and to
win favor for his envoys and save them from anger, he declared that he
had dismissed in safety Pan Skshetuski, the hussar officer taken in the
Saitch.
Now followed complaints against the haughtiness of Skshetuski, who had
refused to take letters from Hmelnitski to the prince, by which action
he had put a great slight upon the dignity of the hetman and the whole
Zaporojian army. To haughtiness and contempt like this which the
Cossacks met with from the Poles at every step, did Hmelnitski
attribute specially all that had happened from Jóltiya Vodi to Korsún.
The letter ended with assurances of regret, and of loyalty to the
Commonwealth, together with offers of service to Yeremi.
The envoys themselves were astonished when they heard this letter; for
they had no previous knowledge of its contents, and supposed that it
contained abase and harsh challenges rather than requests. One thing
was clear to them,--Hmelnitski had no wish to risk everything with such
a famous leader, and instead of moving on him with all his forces, was
delaying and deceiving him with humility, and waiting apparently till
the forces of the prince should be worn out on campaigns and struggles
with various detachments; in one word, he seemed to fear the prince.
The envoys became still more subservient, and during the reading
perused the prince's face carefully to see if they could find in it the
hour of their death. Though in coming they were prepared to die, still
fear seized them then. The prince listened quietly, but from time to
time dropped the lids of his eyes as if wishing to restrain the
thunderbolts hidden within, and it was as visible as if on the palm of
the hand that he was holding terrible anger in check. When the letter
was finished he answered no word to the envoys, but merely ordered
Volodyovski to remove and keep them under guard; then he turned to the
colonels himself and said,--
"Great is the cunning of this enemy, for he wishes to lull me with that
letter so as to attack me asleep; or he will move into the heart of the
Commonwealth, conclude terms, and receive immunity from the yielding
estates and the king, and then he will feel himself safe,--for if I
wanted to war with him after that, not he, but I should act against the
will of the Commonwealth, and be held as a rebel."
Vurtsel caught himself by the head. "Oh, vulpes astuta!"
"Well, gentlemen, what action do you advise?" asked the prince. "Speak
boldly, and then I will indicate to you my own will."
Old Zatsvilikhovski, who had left Chigirin some time before and joined
the prince, said,--
"Let it be according to the will of your Highness; but if we are
permitted to speak, then I will say that you have sounded the
intentions of Hmelnitski with your usual quickness, for they are what
you say and no other. I should think, therefore, that there is no need
of paying attention to his letter, but after securing the future safety
of the princess, to cross the Dnieper and begin war before Hmelnitski
settles any conditions. It would be a shame and dishonor for the
Commonwealth to suffer such insults to pass unpunished. But," here he
turned to the colonels, "I wait your opinions, not giving my own as
infallible."
The commander of the camp, Alexander Zamoiski, struck his sabre and
said,--
"Worthy colonel, age speaks through you, and wisdom also. We must tear
off the head of that hydra before it grows and devours us."
"Amen!" said the priest Mukhovetski.
Other colonels, instead of speaking, followed the example of the
commander, shook their sabres, breathed hard, and gritted their teeth;
but Vurtsel said,--
"It is a downright insult to the name of your Highness that that
ruffian should dare to write to you. A koshevoi ataman has rank
confirmed and recognized by the Commonwealth, with which the kuren
atamans can cloak their action. But this is a pretended hetman, who can
be considered in no light but that of a robber; and Pan Skshetuski
acted in a praiseworthy manner when he refused to take his letters to
your Highness."
"That is just what I think," said the prince; "and since I cannot reach
him, he will be punished in the persons of his envoys." Then he turned
to the colonel of the Tartar regiment of his guard: "Vershul, order
your Tartars to behead those Cossacks; and for their chief let a stake
be trimmed, and seat him on it without delay."
Vershul inclined his head, which was red as a flame. The priest
Mukhovetski, who usually restrained the prince, crossed his hands as if
in prayer, and looked imploringly into his eyes, wishing to find mercy.
"I know, priest, what you want," said the prince, "but it cannot be.
This is necessary on account of the cruelties which they have committed
west of the Dnieper, for our own dignity, and for the good of the
Commonwealth. It must be shown convincingly that there is some one yet
who is not afraid of that outcast, and treats him as a bandit,--who,
though he writes with submission, acts with insolence, and conducts
himself in the Ukraine as if he were an independent prince, and has
brought such a paroxysm on the Commonwealth as it has not gone through
for many a day."
"Your Highness, as he states, he liberated Pan Skshetuski unharmed,"
said the priest, timidly.
"I thank you in Skshetuski's name for comparing him with butchers."
Here the prince frowned. "But enough! I see," continued he, turning to
the colonels, "that your voices are all for war; this too is my will.
We march on Chigirin, collecting nobles by the way. We will cross at
Bragin, then move to the south. Now to Lubni!"
"God be on our side!" said the colonels.
At this moment the door opened, and in it appeared Roztvorovski,
lieutenant of the Wallachian regiment, sent two days before with three
hundred horse on a reconnoissance.
"Your Highness," cried he, "the rebellion is spreading. Rozlogi is
burned. The garrison at Vassflyevka is cut to pieces!"
"How? what? where?" was asked on every side.
But the prince motioned with his hand to be silent, and asked: "Who did
it,--marauders or troops?"
"They say Bogun did it."
"Bogun?"
"Yes."
"When did it happen?"
"Three days ago."
"Did you follow the trace, catch up with them, seize informants?"
"I followed, but could not come up, for I was three days too late. I
collected news along the road. They returned to Chigirin, then
separated,--one half going to Cherkasi, the other to Zölotonosha and
Próhorovka."
Here Pan Kushel said: "I met the detachment that was going to
Próhorovka, and informed your Highness. They said they were sent by
Bogun to prevent peasants from crossing the Dnieper; therefore I let
them pass."
"You committed a folly, but I do not blame you. It is difficult not to
be deceived when there is treason at every step, and the ground under
one's feet is burning," said the prince.
Suddenly he seized himself by the head. "Almighty God!" cried he, "I
remember that Skshetuski told me Bogun was making attempts on the honor
of Kurtsevichovna; I understand now why Rozlogi was burned. The girl
must have been carried away. Here, Volodyovski!" said the prince, "take
five hundred horse and move on again to Cherkasi; let Bykhovets take
five hundred Wallachians and go through Zólotonosha to Próhorovka.
Don't spare the horses; whoever rescues the girl for me will have
Yeremiovka for life. On! on!" Then to the colonels: "And we will go to
Lubni through Rozlogi."
Thereupon the colonels hurried out of the under-starosta's house and
galloped to their regiments. Soldiers rushed to their horses. They
brought to the prince the chestnut steed which he usually rode on his
expeditions. And soon the regiments moved, and stretched out like a
long and many-colored gleaming serpent over the Philipovo road.
Near the gate a bloody sight struck the eyes of the soldiers. On stakes
of the hurdle-fence were to be seen the severed heads of the five
Cossacks, which gazed on the army marching past with the dead whites of
their open eyes; and some distance beyond the gate, on a green mound
struggled and quivered the ataman Sukhaya Ruká, sitting upright,
empaled on a stake. The point had already passed through half his body;
but long hours of dying were indicated yet for the unfortunate ataman,
for he might quiver there till night before death would put him to
rest. At that time he was not only living, but he turned his terrible
eyes on the regiments as each one of them passed by,--eyes which said:
"May God punish you, and your children, and your grandchildren to the
tenth generation, for the blood, for the wounds, for the torments! God
grant that you perish, you and your race; that every misfortune may
strike you! God grant that you be continually dying, and that you may
never be able either to die or to live!" And although he was a simple
Cossack,--although he died not in purple nor cloth of gold but in a
common blue coat, and not in the chamber of a castle but under the
naked sky on a stake,--still that torment of his, that death circling
above his head, clothed him with dignity, and put such a power into his
look, such an ocean of hate into his eyes, that all understood well
what he wanted to say, and the regiments rode past in silence. But he
in the golden gleam of the midday towered above them, shining on the
freshly smoothed stake like a torch.
The prince rode by, not turning an eye; the priest Mukhovetski made the
sign of the cross on the unfortunate man; and all had passed, when a
youth from the hussar regiment, without asking any one for permission,
urged his horse to the mound, and putting a pistol to the ear of the
victim, ended his torments with a shot. All trembled at such daring
infraction of military rules, and knowing the rigor of the prince, they
looked on the youth as lost; but the prince said nothing. Whether he
pretended not to hear or was buried in thought, it is sufficient that
he rode on in silence, and only in the evening did he order the young
man to be called.
The stripling stood before the face of his lord barely alive, and
thought that the ground was opening under his feet. But the prince
inquired,--
"What is your name?"
"Jelenski."
"You fired at the Cossack?"
"I did," groaned he, pale as a sheet.
"Why did you do it?"
"Because I could not look at the torment."
"Oh, you will see so much of their deeds that at a sight like this pity
will fly from you like an angel; but because on account of your pity
you risked your life, the treasurer in Lubni will pay you ten golden
ducats, and I take you into my personal service."
All wondered that the affair was finished in this way; but meanwhile it
was announced that a detachment from Zólotonosha had come, and
attention was turned in another direction.