The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance
Bogdaniec in order to have a retinue, as is proper for a knight, and the
land will remain without hands to till it. As long as I live, I will not
let you do it; but after my death, I see, you will take them."
"The Lord God will help me to get a retinue; Janko of Tulcza is a
relation of ours and he will help me also."
At that moment the door opened, and as though to prove that the Lord God
would help Zbyszko get a retinue, two men entered. They were
dark-complexioned, short, dressed in Jewish-like yellow caftans, red caps
and very wide trousers. They stopped in the doorway and touched their
fingers to their foreheads, to their mouths, and then to their chests;
then they bowed to the ground.
"Who are these devils?" asked Macko. "Who are you?"
"Your slaves," answered the newcomers in broken Polish.
"For what reason? Where from? Who sent you here?"
"_Pan_ Zawisza sent us here as a present to the young knight, to be his
slaves."
"O for God's sake! two men more!" exclaimed Macko, joyfully.
"Of what nationality are you?"
"We are Turks!"
"Turks?" repeated Zbyszko. "I shall have two Turks in my retinue. Have
you ever seen Turks?"
And having jumped toward them, he began to turn them around and to look
at them curiously. Macko said:
"I have never seen them; but I have heard, that the _Pan_ of Garbow has
Turks in his service whom he captured while fighting on the Danube with
the Roman emperor, Zygmunt. How is it? Are you heathens, your
dog-brothers?"
"The lord ordered us to be baptized," said one of the slaves.
"Did you have no money for ransom?"
"We are from far lands, from Asiatic shores, from Brussa."
Zbyszko, who always listened gladly to war stories, and especially when
there was anything told about the deeds of the famous Zawisza of Garbow,
began to inquire how they were captured. But there was nothing
extraordinary in their narration; Zawisza attacked them in a ravine, part
of them perished and part were captured; and he sent the prisoners as
presents to his different friends. Zbyszko and Macko's hearts were
throbing at the sight of such a noble gift, especially as it was
difficult to get men in those days and the possession of them constituted
true wealth.
In the meanwhile, Zawisza himself accompanied by Powala and Paszko
Zlodzie; of Biskupice arrived. As they had all worked hard to free
Zbyszko, they were pleased when they succeeded; therefore everyone of
them gave him some present as a souvenir. The liberal _Pan_ of Taczew
gave him a beautiful large caparison embroidered with gold; Paszko, a
Hungarian sword and ten _grzywiens_.[60] Then came Lis of Targowisko,
Farurej and Krzon of Kozieglowy, with Marcin of Wrocimowice and finally
Zyndram of Maszkow; everyone brought rich presents.
Zbyszko welcomed them with a joyful heart, feeling very happy on account
of the presents and because the most famous knights in the kingdom were
showing him their friendship. They asked him about his departure and
Macko's health, recommending to the latter, different remedies which
would miraculously heal wounds.
But Macko recommended Zbyszko to their care, being ready himself for the
other world. He said that it was impossible to live with an iron spear
head between the ribs. He complained also that he spit blood and could
not eat. A quart of shelled nuts, a sausage two spans long and a dish of
boiled eggs were all he could eat at once. Father Cybek had bled him
several times, hoping in that way to draw out the fever from around his
heart, and restore his appetite; but it had not helped him any.
But he was so pleased with the presents given to his nephew, that at that
moment he was feeling better, and when the merchant, Amylej, ordered a
barrel of wine brought in honor of such famous guests, Macko drank with
them. They began to talk about Zbyszko's deliverance and about his
betrothal with Danusia. The knights did not doubt that Jurand of Spychow
would give his consent, especially if Zbyszko avenged the death of
Danusia's mother and captured the peacock tufts.
"But as for Lichtenstein," said Zawisza, "I do not think he will accept
your challenge, because he is a friar, and also one of the officers in
the Order. Bah! The people of his retinue told me that perhaps he would
be elected grand master!"
"If he refuse to fight, he will lose his honor," said Lis of Targowisko.
"No," answered Zawisza, "because he is not a lay knight; and a friar is
not permitted to fight in single combat."
"But it often happens that they do fight."
"Because the Order has become corrupt. The knights make different vows;
but they often break them, thus setting a bad example to the whole
Christian world. But a Krzyzak, especially a _comthur_, is not obliged to
accept a challenge."
"Ha! Then only in war can you reach him."
"But they say, that there will be no war," said Zbyszko, "because the
Knights of the Cross are afraid of our nation."
To this Zyndram of Maszkow said:
"This peace will not last long. There cannot be a good understanding with
the wolf, because he must live on the goods of others."
"In the meantime, perhaps we will be obliged to fight with Tymur the
Lame," said Powala. "Prince Witold was defeated by Edyga; that is
certain."
"Certain. _Wojewoda_ Spytko will not return," said Paszko Zlodziej of
Biskupice.
"The late queen prophesied it would be so," said the _Pan_ of Taczew.
"Ha! Then perhaps we will be obliged to go against Tymur."
Here the conversation was tunned to the Lithuanian expedition against the
Tartars. There was no doubt that Prince Witold, that able commander being
rather impetuous, had been badly defeated at Worskla, where a great
number of the Lithuanian _bojars_ and also a few Polish knights were
killed. The knights now gathered in Amylej's house, pitied especially
Spytek of Melsztyn, the greatest lord in the kingdom, who went with the
expedition as a volunteer; and after the battle he was lost--nobody knew
where. They praised his chivalrous deed, and told how he, having received
from the commander of the enemy a protective _kolpak_,[61] would not wear
it during the battle, preferring honorable death to life granted him by
the ruler of a heathen nation. But it was not certain yet, whether he had
perished, or was in captivity. If he were a prisoner, he could pay his
ransom himself, because his riches were enormous, and he also held in
fief the whole Podole from King Wladyslaw.
But the defeat of Witold's army might prove ruinous to the whole of
Jagiello's empire. Nobody knew when the Tartars, encouraged by the
victory over Witold, might now invade the lands and cities belonging to
the grand dukedom. In that case the kingdom of Poland would be involved
in a war. Therefore many knights, who like Zawisza, Farurej, Dobko and
even Powala, were accustomed to seek adventures and fights in foreign
countries, remained in Krakow not knowing what might soon happen. In case
Tamerlan, who was the ruler of twenty-seven states, moved the whole
Mongolian world, then the peril to the kingdom would be great.
"If it be necessary, then we will measure our swords with the Lame. With
us it will not be such an easy matter as it was with those other nations,
which he conquered and exterminated. Then the other Christian princes
will help us."
To this Zyndram of Maszkow, who especially hated the Order, said
bitterly:
"I do not know about the princes; but the Knights of the Cross are ready
to become friends even with the Tartars and attack us from the other
side."
"Then we shall have a war!" exclaimed Zbyszko. "I am against the
Krzyzaks!"
But the other knights began to contradict Zyndram. "The Knights of the
Cross have no fear of God, and they seek only their own advantage; but
they will not help the pagans against Christian people. And then Tymur is
at war somewhere in Asia, and the commander of the Tartars, Edyga, lost
so heavily in the battle, that he is afraid even of victory. Prince
Witold is a man full of expedients, and you may be sure he took
precautions; and even if this time the Lithuanians were not successful,
at any rate it is not a new thing for them to overcome the Tartars."
"We have to fight for life and death; not with the Tartars but with the
Germans," said Zyndram of Maszkow, "and if we do not crush them, our
peril will come from them."
Then he turned toward Zbyszko:
"And in the first place Mazowsze will perish. You will always find plenty
to do there; be not afraid!"
"Hej! if my uncle were well, I would go there immediately."
"God help you!" said Powala, raising a glass.
"Yours and Danusia's health!"
"To the destruction of the Germans!" added Zyndram of Maszkow.
Then they began to say farewell. At that moment one of the princess'
courtiers entered with a falcon on his arm; and having bowed to the
knights who were present, he turned with a peculiar smile to Zbyszko:
"The lady princess wished me to tell you," said he, "that she will stay
in Krakow over night, and will start on the journey to-morrow."
"That is well," said Zbyszko; "but why? Is anybody sick?"
"No. But the princess has a visitor from Mazowsze."
"The prince himself?"
"Not the prince, but Jurand of Spychow," answered the courtier.
Having heard this, Zbyszko became very much confused, and his heart began
to throb as it did when they read the sentence of death to him.
CHAPTER II.
Princess Anna was not much surprised at the arrival of Jurand of Spychow.
It used to happen, that during the continual attacks and fights with
neighboring German knights, a sudden longing for Danusia seized him. Then
he would appear unexpectedly in Warszawa, in Ciechanow, or wherever
Prince Janusz's court was situated for the time being.
Every time he saw the child, his grief burst forth anew because Danusia
looked like her mother. The people thought that his iron heart filled
with feelings of vengeance, would become softer through such grief. The
princess often tried to persuade him to abandon his bloody Spychow, and
remain at the court near Danusia. The prince himself, appreciating his
bravery and importance, and at the same time wishing to spare him the
fatigue inevitable in the quarrels on the frontier, offered him the
office of sword bearer. It was always in vain. The sight of Danusia
opened the old wounds in his heart. After a few days he always lost his
appetite, could not sleep, and became silent. Evidently his heart began
to bleed, and finally he would disappear from the court and returned to
the marshes of Spychow, in order to drown in blood his grief and anger.
Then the people used to say: "Woe to the Germans! It is true they are not
sheep; but they are sheep to Jurand, because he is a wolf to them." In
fact, after a time, the news would spread about the volunteers who, going
to join the Knights of the Cross, were captured on their journey; about
burned towns, and captured peasants; or about deadly fights from which
the terrible Jurand always emerged victorious. On account of the
rapacious disposition of the Mazurs and of the German knights who were
holding the land and the strongholds from the Order, even during the
greatest peace between the prince of Mazowsze and the Order, continual
fighting was going on near the frontier. Even when cutting wood in the
forests or harvesting in the fields, the inhabitants used to carry their
arms. The people living there felt no certainty for the morrow; were in
continual readiness for war, and were hard-hearted. Nobody was satisfied
with defence only; but for pillage repaid with pillage; for
conflagration, with conflagration; for invasion, with invasion. It often
happened that while the Germans were stealing through the forest, to
attack some stronghold and to seize the peasants or the cattle, at the