But it was the retreat of a lion needing room for a spring.
The prince purposely allowed Krívonos to cross so as to inflict on him
the greater defeat. In the very beginning of the battle he had the
cavalry turned and urged on as if in flight, seeing which the men of
the lower country and the mob broke their ranks to overtake and
surround him. Then Yeremi turned suddenly, and with his whole cavalry
struck them at once so terribly that they were unable to resist. The
prince's troops pursued them five miles to the crossing, then over
the bridges, the embankment, and two miles and a half to the camp,
cutting and killing them without mercy. The hero of the day was the
sixteen-year-old Pan Aksak, who gave the first blow and produced the
first disorder. Only with such an army, old and trained, could the
prince use such stratagems, and feign flight which in any other ranks
might become real. This being the case, the second day ended still more
disastrously for Krívonos than the first. All his field-pieces were
taken, and a number of flags,--among them several royal flags captured
by the Cossacks at Korsún. If the infantry of Koritski and Osinski with
the cannon of Vurtsel could have followed the cavalry, the camp would
have been taken at a blow. But before they came up it was night, and
the enemy had already retreated a considerable distance, so that it was
impossible to reach them. But Zatsvilikhovski captured half the camp,
and with it enormous supplies of arms and provisions. The crowd seized
Krívonos twice, wishing to give him up to the prince; and the promise
of an immediate return to Hmelnitski barely sufficed to save him. He
fled therefore with the remaining half of his tabor, with a decimated
army, beaten and in despair, and did not halt till he reached
Makhnovka, where when Hmelnitski came up, in the moment of his first
anger, he ordered him to be chained by the neck to a cannon.
But when his first anger had passed the Zaporojian hetman remembered
that the unfortunate Krívonos had covered Volynia with blood, captured
Polónnoe, and sent thousands of nobles to the other world, left their
bodies without burial, and had been victorious everywhere till he met
Yeremi. For these services the Zaporojian hetman took pity on him, and
not only ordered him to be freed immediately from the cannon, but
restored him to command, and sent him to Podolia to new conquests and
slaughters.
The prince now announced to his army the rest so much desired. In the
last battle it had suffered considerable losses, especially at the
storming of the tabor by the cavalry, behind which the Cossacks
defended themselves with equal stubbornness and adroitness. Five
hundred soldiers were killed; Colonel Mokrski, severely wounded, died
soon after; Pan Kushel, Ponyatovski, and young Aksak were shot, but not
dangerously; and Zagloba, becoming accustomed to the throng, took his
place manfully with the others, struck twice with a flail, he fell on
his back, and being unable to move, lay as dead in Skshetuski's wagon.
Fate hindered the plan of going to Bar; for they could not start
immediately, especially since the prince had sent Pan Yan, at the head
of a number of troops, as far as Zaslav, to exterminate the bands of
peasants assembled there. The knight went without mentioning Bar to the
prince, and during five days burned and slaughtered till he cleared the
neighborhood.
At last, even the soldiers became wearied beyond measure by the
uninterrupted fighting, distant expeditions, ambuscades, and watching;
he decided therefore to return to the prince, who, as he was informed,
had gone to Tarnopol.
On the eve of his return he stopped at Sukhojintsi, on the Khomor. He
disposed his soldiers in the village, took his lodgings for the night
in a peasant's cottage, and because he was greatly wearied from labor
and want of rest, fell asleep at once, and slept like a stone all
night.
About morning, when half asleep, half awake, he began to doze and
dream. Wonderful images were in movement before his eyes. It seemed to
him that he was in Lubni, that he had never left the place, that he was
sleeping in his room in the armory, and that Jendzian, as was his wont
in the morning, was bustling around with clothes and preparing for his
master's rising. Gradually, however, consciousness began to scatter the
phantoms. He remembered that he was in Sukhojintsi, not in Lubni. Still
the form of his servant did not dissolve in mist, and Pan Yan saw him
continually sitting under the window, occupied in oiling armor-straps,
which had shrunk considerably from the heat. But he still thought that
it was a vision of sleep, and closed his eyes again. After a while he
opened them. Jendzian was sitting under the window.
"Jendzian," called Skshetuski, "is that you, or is it your ghost?"
The young fellow, frightened by the sudden call, dropped the
breastplate on the floor with a clatter, spread his arms, and said:
"Oh, for God's sake! why do you scream, my master, that I am like a
ghost? I am alive and well!"
"And you have come back?"
"But have you sent me off?"
"Come here to me; let me embrace you."
The faithful youth fell upon the floor, and caught Skshetuski by the
knees. Skshetuski kissed him on the forehead with joy, and repeated:
"You are alive, you are alive!"
"Oh, my master, I cannot speak from joy that I see you again in health!
You shouted so that I let the breastplate fall. The straps have shrunk
up,--it is clear that you have had no one. Praise be to thee, O God!
Oh, my dear master!"
"When did you come back?"
"Last night."
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"Why should I wake you up? I came early to take your clothes."
"Where did you come from?"
"From Gushchi."
"What were you doing there? What has happened to you? Tell me."
"Well, you see the Cossacks came to Gushchi, which belongs to the
voevoda of Bratslav, to plunder and burn, and I was there earlier, for
I went there with Father Patroni Lasko, who took me to Hmelnitski from
Gushchi; for the voevoda sent him to Hmelnitski with letters. I went
back with him, therefore, and at that time the Cossacks were burning
Gushchi; and they killed Father Patroni for his love to us, and no
doubt they would have killed the voevoda too, if he had been there,
though he belongs to their church and is their great benefactor--"
"But speak clearly and don't confuse things, for I cannot understand.
You have been with the Cossacks, then, and spent some time with
Hmelnitski. Is that true?"
"Yes, with the Cossacks; for when they took me in Chigirin they thought
I was one of their men. Now put on your clothes, my master! Dress--Oh,
Lord bless me, everything you have is worn out, so there is nothing to
lay hands on. But don't be angry with me because I did not deliver in
Rozlogi the letter which you wrote in Kudák. That rascal, Bogun, took
it from me, and had it not been for that fat noble I should have lost
my life."
"I know, I know. It is not your fault. That fat noble is in the camp.
He has told me everything just as it was. He has also stolen from Bogun
the lady, who is in good health and living at Bar."
"Praise be to God for that! I knew too that Bogun didn't get her. Then
of course the wedding is not far away?"
"It is not. From here we shall go by orders to Tarnopol, and from there
to Bar."
"Thanks be to God on high! He will surely hang himself, that Bogun; but
a witch has already foretold him that he will never get her of whom he
is thinking, and that a Pole will have her. That Pole is surely you."
"How do you know this?"
"I heard it. I must tell you everything in order, and do you dress, my
master, for they are cooking breakfast for you. When I was going in the
boat from Kudák we were a long time sailing, for it was against the
current, and besides the boat got injured, and we had to repair it. We
were going on then, going on, my master, going on--"
"Go on! go on!" interrupted Skshetuski, impatiently.
"And we came to Chigirin; and what happened to me there you know
already."
"I do."
"I was lying there in the stable without a sight of God's world. And
then Hmelnitski came immediately after the departure of Bogun, with a
tremendous Zaporojian force. And as the Grand Hetman had previously
punished a great many Chigirin people for their love to the
Zaporojians, many of them were killed and wounded. Therefore the
Cossacks thought that I was from Chigirin. They didn't kill me, but
gave me necessary provisions and care, and didn't let the Tartars take
me, though they let them do everything else. When I came to myself I
began to think what I was to do. Those rascals by this time had gone to
Korsún and defeated the hetmans. Oh, my master, what my eyes saw is not
to be described. They concealed nothing from me, knew no shame, because
they took me for one of themselves. I was thinking whether to flee or
not, but I saw it would be safer to remain until a better opportunity
should offer itself. When they began to bring in from the battlefield
at Korsún cloths, silver, plate, precious stones, oh, my master, my
heart nearly burst, and my eyes almost came out of my head. Such
robbers!--they sold six silver spoons for a thaler, and later for a
quart of vudka; a golden button or brooch or a hat cockade you might
buy with a pint. Then I thought to myself: 'Why should I sit idle? Let
me make something. With God's help I will return some time to the
Jendzians at Podlesia, where my parents are living. I will give this to
them, for they have a lawsuit with the Yavorskis, which has been going
on now for fifty years, and they have nothing to continue it with.' I
bought then so much stuff of every kind that it took two horses to
carry it. This was the consolation of my sorrows, for I was terribly
grieved on your account."
"Oh, Jendzian, you are always the same; you must have profit out of
everything."
"What is the harm, if God has blessed me? I do not steal; and if you
gave me a purse for the road to Rozlogi, here it is. I ought to return
it, for I didn't go to Rozlogi."
Saying this, the young fellow unbuckled his belt, took out the purse,
and placed it before the knight. Skshetuski smiled and said,--
"Since you had such good luck, you are surely richer than I; but keep
the purse."
"I thank you very humbly. I have collected a little, with God's favor.
My father and mother will be glad, and my grandfather, who is now
ninety years old. But they will continue their lawsuit with the
Yavorskis till the last penny, and send them out with packs on their
backs. You will also be the gainer, for I shall not mention that belt
you promised me in Kudák, though it suited me well."
"Yes, for you have already reminded me! Oh, such a son of a----! A
regular insatiable wolf! I don't know where that belt is; but if I
promised, I will give you, if not that one, another."
"I thank you, my master," said he, embracing Skshetuski's knees.
"No need of that! Go on; tell what happened!"
"The Lord then sent me some profit among the robbers. But I was
tormented from not knowing what had happened to you, and lest Bogun had
carried off the lady; till they brought me word that he was lying in
Cherkasi barely alive, wounded by the prince's men. I went to Cherkasi,
since, as you are aware, I know how to make plasters and dress wounds.
The Cossacks knew that I could do this. Well, Donyéts, a colonel, sent
me to Cherkasi, and went with me himself to nurse that robber. There a
burden fell from my heart, for I heard that our young lady had escaped
with that noble. I went then to Bogun. I was thinking, 'Will he know me
or not?' But he was lying in a fever, and at first didn't know me.
Later on he knew me, and said, 'You were going with a letter to
Rozlogi?' 'Yes,' I answered. Then he said again, 'I struck you in
Chigirin?' 'Yes.' 'Then you serve Pan Skshetuski?' 'I am serving no one
now,' I replied. 'I had more evil than good in that service, therefore
I chose to go to the Cossacks for freedom; and I am nursing you now for
ten days, and am restoring you to health.' He believed me, and became
very confidential. I learned from him that Rozlogi was burned, that he
had killed the two princes. The other Kurtsevichi wished at first to go
to our prince, but could not, and escaped to the Lithuanian army. But
the worst was when he remembered that fat noble. Then, my master, he
gnashed his teeth like a man cracking nuts."
"Was he long sick?"
"Long, long. His wounds healed quickly; then they opened again, for he
didn't take care of them at first. I sat many a night with him,--may he
be cut up!--as with some good man. And you must know, my master, that I
swore by my salvation to take vengeance on him; and I will keep my
oath, though I have to follow him all my life; for he maltreated me, an
innocent person, and pounded me like a dog. And I am no trash, either!
He must perish at my hand unless somebody else kills him first. I tell
you that about a hundred times I had a chance, for often there was no
one near him but me. I thought to myself, 'Shall I stab him or not?'
But I was ashamed to kill him in his bed."
"It was praiseworthy of you not to kill him while sick and weak. That
would be the deed of a peasant, not of a noble."
"And you know, my master, I had the same thought. I recollected too
that when my parents sent me from home my grandfather blessed me, and
said, 'Remember, you dunce, that you are a noble. Have ambition, serve
faithfully; but don't let any man trample on you.' He said also that
when a noble acts in peasant fashion the Lord Jesus weeps. I recalled
that phrase and I restrained myself. I had to let the chance pass. And
now he was more confidential. More than once he asked, 'How shall I
reward you?' And I said, 'Any way you wish,' And I cannot complain. He
supplied me bountifully, and I took all he gave me; for I thought to
myself, 'Why should I leave it in the hands of a robber?' On his
account others gave me presents; for I tell you, my master, that there
is no one so beloved as he, both by the men from below and the mob,
though there is not a noble in the Commonwealth who has such contempt
for the mob as he."
Here Jendzian began to twist his head as if he remembered and wondered
at something; and after a while he said,--
"He is a strange man, and it must be confessed that he is altogether of
noble nature. And that young lady,--but he loves her! Oh, mighty God,
but he loves her! As soon as he was a little restored, Dontsovna
came to him to soothsay; but she told him nothing good. She is a
brazen-faced giantess who is in friendship with devils, but she is a
good-looking woman. When she laughs you would swear that a mare was
neighing in the meadow. She has white teeth so strong that she might
chew up a breastplate. When she walks the ground trembles. And, by the
evident visitation of God, my good looks attracted her. Then she
wouldn't pass without catching me by the head or the sleeve and jerking
me. More than once she said, 'Come!' But I was afraid that the devil
might break my neck if I went, and then I should lose all I had
gathered; so I answered, 'Haven't you enough of others?' She said, 'You
please me; though you are a stripling, you please me.' 'Be off,
bass-viol!' I said. Then said she again, 'I like you, I like you!'"
"But you saw the soothsaying?"
"I did; and I heard it. There was a sort of smudge, a seething and
squeaking, and shadows, so that I was frightened. She was standing in
the middle of the room, looking stern, with sullen black brows, and
repeated: 'The Pole is near her! the Pole is near her! Chili! huk!
chili! the Pole is near her!' Then she poured wheat into a sieve, and
looked. The grains went around like insects, and she repeated: 'Chili!
huk! chili! the Pole is near her!' Oh, my master, if he were not such a
robber it would be sad to look at his despair! After every answer she
gave he used to grow white as a shirt, fall on his back, clasp his
hands over his head, twist and whine, and beg forgiveness of the
princess that he came with violence to Rozlogi and killed her cousins.
'Where art thou, cuckoo, the loved one, the only one? I would have
borne you in my arms, and now I cannot live without you! I will not
approach you. I will be your slave if my eyes can only see you!' Then
he remembered Zagloba again, ground his teeth, bit the bed, till sleep
overpowered him; and in sleep he groaned and sighed."
"But did she never prophesy favorably for him?"
"I don't know, my master, for he recovered, and besides I left him. The
priest Lasko came, so Bogun arranged that I should go with him to
Gushchi. The robbers there found out that I had property of different
kinds, and I too made no secret of the fact that I was going to help my
parents."
"And they didn't rob you?"
"Perhaps they would have done so, but fortunately there were no Tartars
there then, and the Cossacks did not dare to rob me from fear of Bogun.
Besides they took me for one of their own. Even Hmelnitski himself
ordered me to keep my ears open and report what would be said at the
voevoda's, if there should be a meeting there. May the hangman light
his way! I went then to Gushchi. Krívonos's detachments came and killed
Father Lasko. I buried half my treasure, and escaped with the rest when
I heard that you were near Zaslav. Praise be to God on high that you
are in good health, and that you are preparing for your wedding. Then
the end of every evil will come. I told those scoundrels who went
against the prince our lord, that they wouldn't come back. They have
caught it. Now maybe the war is over."
"How over? It is only beginning now with Hmelnitski."
"And you will fight after the wedding?"
"But did you think that cowardice would seize me at the wedding?"
"I didn't think that. I know that whomsoever it seizes, it won't seize
you. I just ask; for when I take to my parents what I have collected I
should like to go with you. Maybe God will help me to avenge my wrong
on Bogun; for since it is not proper to take an unfair advantage, where
shall I find him, if not in the field? He will not hide himself."
"What a determined fellow you are!"
"Let every one have his own. And as I promised to follow him to Turkey,
it cannot be otherwise. And now I will go with you to Tarnopol, and
then to the wedding. But why do you go to Bar by Tarnopol? It is not on
the road in any way."
"I must take home my regiment."
"I understand."
"Now give me something to eat," said Pan Yan.
"I've been looking out for that. The stomach is the main thing."
"After we have eaten we will start at once."
"Praise be to God for that, though my poor nag is worn to death."
"I will order them to give you a pack-horse; you can ride on it."
"Thank you humbly," said Jendzian, smiling with delight at the thought
that including the purse and the belt a third present had come to him
now.