CHAPTER XII.
In the district of Lukovo, on the edge of Podlyasye, stood the villageof Bujets, owned by the Skshetuskis. In a garden between the mansionand a pond an old man was sitting on a bench; and at his feet were twolittle boys,--one five, the other four years old,--dark and sunburnedas gypsies, but rosy and healthy. The old man, still fresh, seemed assturdy as an aurochs. Age had not bent his broad shoulders; fromhis eyes--or rather from his eye, for he had one covered with acataract--beamed health and good-humor; he had a white beard, but alook of strength and a ruddy face, ornamented on the forehead with abroad scar, through which his skull-bone was visible.
The little boys, holding the straps of his boot-leg, were pulling inopposite directions; but he was gazing at the pond, which gleamed withthe rays of the sun,--at the pond, in which fish were springing upfrequently, breaking the smooth surface of the water.
"The fish are dancing," muttered he to himself. "Never fear, ye willdance still better when the floodgate is open, or when the cook isscratching you with a knife." Then he turned to the little boys: "Getaway from my boot-leg, for when I catch one of your ears, I'll pull itoff. Just like mad horse-flies! Go and roll balls there on the grassand let me alone! I do not wonder at Longinek, for he is young; butYaremka ought to have sense by this time. Ah, torments! I'll take oneof you and throw him into the pond."
But it was clear that the old man was in terrible subjection to theboys, for neither had the least fear of his threats; on the contrary,Yaremka, the elder, began to pull the boot-leg still harder, bracinghis 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 repeatedthe third time, pouting, "Grandfather, be Bogun!"
"Ah, they will kill me, the rogues; it cannot be otherwise. Well, I'llbe Bogun, but only once. Oh, it is a punishment of God! Mind ye do notplague me again!"
When he had said this, the old man groaned a little, raised himselffrom the bench, then suddenly grabbed little Longinek, and giving outloud shouts, began to carry him off in the direction of the pond.
Longinek, however, had a valiant defender in his brother, who on suchoccasions did not call himself Yaremka, but Pan Michael Volodyovski,captain of dragoons.
Pan Michael, then, armed with a basswood club, which took the place ofa sabre in this sudden emergency, ran swiftly after the bulky Bogun,soon caught up with him, and began to beat him on the legs withoutmercy.
Longinek, playing the role of his mamma, made an uproar, Bogun made anuproar, Yaremka-Volodyovski made an uproar; but valor at last overcameeven Bogun, who, dropping his victim, began to make his way back to thelinden-tree. At last he reached the bench, fell upon it, pantingterribly 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 Yaremkastood before him with a ruddy face, floating hair, and distendednostrils, like a brisk young falcon, and began to repeat with greaterenergy,--
"Grandfather, be Bogun!"
After much teasing and a solemn promise given to the two boys that thiswould surely be the last time, the story was repeated in all itsdetails; 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 grantthee to be like thy father; for if brave thou wilt not tease somuch--understand me?"
"Tell how many men has Papa killed?"
"It's little if I have told thee a hundred times! Easier for thee tocount the leaves on this linden-tree than all the enemies which thyfather and I have destroyed. If I had as many hairs on my head as Imyself have put down, the barbers in Lukovsk would make fortunes justin shaving my temples. I am a rogue if I li--"
Here Pan Zagloba--for it was he--saw that it did not become him toadjure or swear before little boys, though in the absence of otherlisteners he loved to tell even the children of his former triumphs; hegrew silent this time especially because the fish had begun to springup in the pond with redoubled activity.
"We must tell the gardener," said he, "to set the net for the night; agreat many fine fish are crowding right up to the bank."
Now that door of the house which led into the garden opened, andin it appeared a woman beautiful as the midday sun, tall, firm,black-haired, with bloom on her brunette face, and eyes like velvet. Athird 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 thelinden-tree. This was Pani Helena Skshetuski, of the princely house ofBulyga-Kurtsevich.
Seeing Pan Zagloba with Yaremka and Longinek under the tree, she wentforward a few steps toward the ditch, full of water, and called: "Comehere, 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 Fatherdrink 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 theDnieper, in the former domains of Vishnyevetski; and as to him Godalone knew his origin, for he told various tales about it himself. ButZagloba had rendered famous services to Pani Skshetuski when she wasstill a maiden, and he had rescued her from terrible dangers; thereforeshe and her husband treated him as a father, and in the whole regionabout he was honored beyond measure by all, as well for his inventivemind as for the uncommon bravery of which he had given many proofs invarious wars, especially in those against the Cossacks. His name wasknown in the whole Commonwealth. The king himself was enamored of hisstories and wit; and in general he was more spoken of than even PanSkshetuski, though the latter in his time had burst through besiegedZbaraj and all the Cossack armies.
Soon after Pani Skshetuski had gone into the house a boy brought adecanter 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 bluepine-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, andon the tree among the leaves were buzzing a whole choir of bees, whichsoon began to settle on the edge of the glass and gather the sweetfluid on their shaggy legs.
Above the great pond, from the far-off reeds obscured by the haze ofdistance, rose from time to time flocks of ducks, teal, or wild geese,and moved away swiftly in the blue ether like black crosses; sometimesa 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 theflocks of birds, and now they were lost in the distance, growing moreand more drowsy, as the mead in the decanter decreased; his lids becameheavier and heavier,--the bees buzzed their song in various tones as ifon purpose for his after-dinner slumber.
"True, true, th
e Lord God has given beautiful weather for the harvest,"muttered Zagloba. "The hay is well gathered in, the harvest will befinished in a breath. Yes, yes--"
Here he closed his eyes, then opened them again for a moment, mutteredonce 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 lightbreath of cooler air, together with the conversation and steps of twomen drawing near the tree rapidly. One of them was Yan Skshetuski, thehero of Zbaraj, who about a month before had returned from the hetmansin the Ukraine to cure a stubborn fever; Pan Zagloba did not know theother, though in stature and form and even in features he resembled Yangreatly.
"I present to you, dear father," said Yan, "my cousin Pan StanislavSkshetuski, the captain of Kalish."
"You are so much like Yan," answered Zagloba, blinking and shaking theremnants of sleep from his eyelids, "that had I met you anywhere Ishould have said at once, 'Skshetuski!' Hei, what a guest in thehouse!"
"It is dear to me to make your acquaintance, my benefactor," answeredStanislav, "the more since the name is well known to me, for theknighthood of the whole Commonwealth repeat it with respect and mentionit as an example."
"Without praising myself, I did what I could, while I felt strength inmy bones. And even now one would like to taste of war, for _consuetudoaltera natura_ (habit is a second nature). But why, gentlemen, are youso anxious, so that Yan's face is pale?"
"Stanislav has brought dreadful news," answered Yan. "The Swedes haveentered 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, asif 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 itinto 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 compactrenouncing the King and the Commonwealth. Henceforth Sweden, notPoland, is to be there."
"By the mercy of God, by the wounds of the Crucified! Is the worldcoming to an end? What do I hear! Yesterday Yan and I were speaking ofthis danger from Sweden, for news had come that they were marching; butwe were both confident that it would end in nothing, or at most in therenunciation 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 Godknows what."
"Stop, for the blood will boil over in me! How was it? And you were atUistsie and saw all this with your own eyes? That was simply treasonthe most villanous, unheard of in history."
"I was there and looked on, and whether it was treason you will decidewhen you hear all. We were at Uistsie, the general militia and the landinfantry, fifteen thousand men in all, and we formed our lines on theNotets _ab incursione hostili_ (against hostile invasion). True thearmy was small, and as an experienced soldier you know best whether theplace of regular troops can be filled by general militia, especiallythat of Great Poland, where the nobles have grown notably unused towar. Still, if a leader had been found, they might have shownopposition to the enemy in old fashion, and at least detained them tillthe Commonwealth could find reinforcements. But hardly had Wittembergshown himself when negotiations were begun before a drop of blood hadbeen shed. Then Radzeyovski came up, and with his persuasions broughtabout what I have said,--that is, misfortune and disgrace, the like ofwhich has not been hitherto."
"How was that? Did no one resist, did no one protest? Did no one hurltreason in the eyes of those scoundrels? Did all agree to betray thecountry and the king?"
"Virtue is perishing, and with it the Commonwealth, for nearly allagreed. I, the two Skorashevskis, Pan Tsisvitski, and Pan Klodzinskidid what we could to rouse a spirit of resistance among the nobles. PanVladyslav Skorashevski went almost frantic. We flew through the campfrom the men of one district to those of another, and God knows therewas no beseeching that we did not use. But what good was it when themajority chose to go in bonds to the banquet which Wittemberg promised,rather than with sabres to battle? Seeing that the best went in everydirection,--some to their homes, others to Warsaw,--the Skorashevskiswent 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 ideathat we might go together against the enemy. It was fortunate that Ifound you at home."
"Then you are directly from Uistsie?"
"Directly. I rested on the road only as much as my horses needed, andas it was I drove one of them to death. The Swedes must be in Poznan atpresent, and thence they will quickly spread over the whole country."
Here all grew silent. Yan sat with his palms on his knees, his eyesfixed on the ground, and he was thinking gloomily. Pan Stanislavsighed; and Zagloba, not having recovered, looked with a staringglance, now on one, now on the other.
"Those are evil signs," said Yan at last, gloomily. "Formerly for tenvictories there came one defeat, and we astonished the world with ourvalor. Now not only defeats come, but treason,--not merely of singlepersons, but of whole provinces. May God pity the country!"
"For God's sake," said Zagloba, "I have seen much in the world. I canhear, 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 shakingme yet. It will be necessary to place my wife and children somewhere insafety. Pan Stabrovski, my relative, is huntsman of the king in thewilderness of Byalovyej, and lives in Byalovyej. Even if the wholeCommonwealth should fall into the power of the enemy, they would nottouch that region. To-morrow I will take my wife and children straightthere."
"And that will not be a needless precaution," said Stanislav; "forthough 'tis far from Great Poland to this place, who knows whether theflame may not soon seize these regions also?"
"The nobles must be notified," said Yan, "to assemble and think ofdefence, for here no one has heard anything yet." Here he turned toZagloba: "And, Father, will you go with us, or do you wish to accompanyHelena to the wilderness?"
"I?" answered Zagloba, "will I go? If my feet had taken root in theearth, I might not go; but even then I should ask some one to dig meout. I want to try Swedish flesh again, as a wolf does mutton. Ha! therascals, trunk-breeches, long-stockings! The fleas make raids on theircalves, their legs are itching, and they can't sit at home, but crawlinto foreign lands. I know them, the sons of such a kind, for when Iwas under Konyetspolski I worked against them; and, gentlemen, if youwant to know who took Gustavus Adolphus captive, ask the lateKonyetspolski. I'll say no more! I know them, but they know me too. Itmust be that the rogues have heard that Zagloba has grown old. Isn'tthat true? Wait! you'll see him yet! O Lord! O Lord, all-Powerful! whyhast thou unfenced this unfortunate Commonwealth, so that all theneighboring swine are running into it now, and they have rooted upthree of the best provinces? What is the condition? Ba! but who is toblame, if not traitors? The plague did not know whom to take; it tookhonest men, but left the traitors. O Lord, send thy pest once more onthe voevoda of Poznan and on him of Kalish, but especially onRadzeyovski and his whole family. But if 'tis thy will to favor hellwith more inhabitants, send thither all those who signed the pact atUistsie. 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 onhorseback."
"Of course we must know whither to go. It is difficult to reach thehetmans in the Ukraine, for the enemy has cut them off from theCommonwealth and the road is open only to the Crimea. It is lucky thatthe Tartars are on our side this time. According to my head it will benecessary for us to go to Warsaw to the king, to defend our dear lord."
"If there is time," remarked Stanislav. "The king must collectsquadrons there in haste, and will march on the enemy before we cancome, 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 theenemy, but still three of us cannot do much, therefore I should givethis advice: Let us summon the nobles to volunteer; they will come insuch numbers that we may lead even a small squadron to the king. Weshall persuade them easily, for they must go anyhow when the call comesfor the general militia,--it will be all one to them--and we shall tellthem that whoever volunteers before the call will do an act dear to theking. With greater power we can do more, and they will receive us (inWarsaw) with open arms."
"Wonder not at my words," said Pan Stanislav, "but from what I haveseen I feel such a dislike to the general militia that I choose to goalone rather than with a crowd of men who know nothing of war."
"You have no acquaintance with the nobles of this place. Here a mancannot be found who has not served in the army; all have experience andare good soldiers."
"That may be."
"How could it be otherwise? But wait! Yan knows that when once I beginto work with my head I have no lack of resources. For that reason Ilived in great intimacy with the voevoda of Rus, Prince Yeremi. Let Yantell how many times that greatest of warriors followed my advice, andthereby 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 theking who holds to the king's skirts, but he who beats the enemy; and hebeats the enemy best who serves under a great warrior. Why go onuncertainties to Warsaw, when the king himself may have gone to Cracow,to Lvoff or Lithuania? My advice is to put ourselves at once under thebanners of the grand hetman of Lithuania, Prince Yanush Radzivill. Heis an honest man and a soldier. Though they accuse him of pride, he ofa certainty will not surrender to Swedes. He at least is a chief and ahetman of the right kind. It will be close there, 'tis true, for he isworking against two enemies; but as a recompense we shall see PanMichael Volodyovski, who is serving in the Lithuanian quota, and againwe shall be together as in old times. If I do not counsel well, thenlet the first Swede take me captive by the sword-strap."
"Who knows, who knows?" answered Yan, with animation. "Maybe that willbe the best course."
"And besides we shall take Halshka[16] with the children, for we mustgo right through the wilderness."
"And we shall serve among soldiers, not among militia," addedStanislav.
"And we shall fight, not debate, nor eat chickens and cheese in thevillages."
"I see that not only in war, but in council you can hold the firstplace," said Stanislav.
"Well, are you satisfied?"
"In truth, in truth," said Yan, "that is the best advice. We shall bewith Michael as before; you will know, Stanislav, the greatest soldierin the Commonwealth, my true friend, my brother. We will go now toHalshka, 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 itfirst. She is in tears, poor woman! But if I say to her that it isnecessary 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 mustbe terribly tired after the road, Stanislav, but you will rest beforemorning as best you can. I will send horses this evening with trustymen to Byala, to Lostsi, to Drohichyn and Byelsk, so as to have relayseverywhere. And just beyond Byelsk is the wilderness. Wagons will startto-day also with supplies. It is too bad to so into the world from thedear corner, but 'tis God's will! This is my comfort: I am safe as tomy wife and children, for the wilderness is the best fortress in theworld. Come to the house, gentlemen; it is time for me to prepare forthe journey."
They went in. Pan Stanislav, greatly road-weary, had barely taken foodand drink when he went to sleep straightway; but Pan Yan and Zaglobawere busied in preparations. And as there was great order in Pan Yan'shousehold the wagons and men started that evening for an all-nightjourney, and next morning at daybreak the carriage followed in whichsat Helena with the children and an old maid, a companion. PanStanislav and Pan Yan with five attendants rode on horseback near thecarriage. The whole party pushed forward briskly, for fresh horses wereawaiting them.
Travelling in this manner and without resting even at night, theyreached Byelsk on the fifth day, and on the sixth they sank in thewilderness 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 Zyelonkaand Rogovsk, and on the other the forests of Prussia.
No invader had ever trampled with a hoof those dark depths in which aman who knew them not might go astray and wander till he dropped fromexhaustion or fell a prey to ravenous beasts. In the night were heardthe bellowing of the aurochs, the growling of bears, with the howlingof wolves and the hoarse screams of panthers. Uncertain roads ledthrough 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 thewilderness all their lives. To Byalovyej itself a broader way led,continued by the Suha road, over which the kings went to hunt. By thatroad also the Skshetuskis came from the direction of Byelsk andHainovshyna.
Pan Stabrovski, chief-hunter of the king, was an old hermit andbachelor, who like an aurochs stayed always in the wilderness. Hereceived the visitors with open arms, and almost smothered the childrenwith kisses. He lived with beaters-in, never seeing the face of a nobleunless when the king went to hunt. He had the management of all huntingmatters and all the pitch-making of the wilderness. He was greatlydisturbed 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 kingdied and no news came to the wilderness; the chief-hunter alone broughtnews when he returned from the treasurer of Lithuania, to whom he wasobliged to render account of his management of the wilderness eachyear.
"It will be dreary here, dreary," said Stabrovski to Helena, "but safeas 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 notpermit!--than the wilderness. I have been living here twenty years, andeven I do not know it all, for there are places where it is impossibleto go, where only wild beasts live and perhaps evil spirits have theirdwelling, from whom men are preserved by the sound of church-bells. Butwe live according to God's law, for in the village there is a chapel towhich a priest from Byelsk comes once a year. You will be here as if inheaven, if tedium does not weary you. As a recompense there is no lackof firewood."
Pan Yan was glad in his whole soul that he had found for his wife sucha refuge; but Pan Stabrovski tried in vain to delay him awhile andentertain him.
Halting only one night, the cavaliers resumed at daybreak their journeyacross the wilderness. They were led through the forest labyrinths byguides whom the hunter sent with them.