The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance
"Yes. There was one Milanese armor which my uncle, expecting to die, sold
for a good price."
"I know! Well, it is worth while to go to Lithuania. I wanted to go there
also; but I was afraid."
"Of what? Of the Knights of the Cross?"
"Ej, who would be afraid of Germans? I was afraid of those heathenish
gods or devils. It seems there are plenty of them in the woods."
"They do not have any other place for shelter, because their temples have
been burned. Formerly they were well-to-do; but now they live on
mushrooms and ants."
"Did you see them?"
"No, I did not see any myself; but I heard of people who had seen them.
Sometimes one of them sticks out a hairy paw from behind a tree and
shakes it, begging for something."
"Macko told me the same," answered Jagienka.
"Yes! He told me about it on the road," said Zych. "Well, no wonder! In
our country also, although it has been a Christian country for a long
time, one can hear laughter in the marshes; and although the priests
scold about it in the churches, it is always good policy to put a dish
filled with something to eat, for the little devils; otherwise they will
scratch on the walls so much that one can hardly sleep. Jagienka, my
dearest! put a dish at the threshold."
Jagienka took an earthen porringer full of noodles and cheese, and placed
it at the threshold. Zych said:
"The priests scold! But the Lord Jesus will not be angry about a dish of
noodles; and a god, as soon as his hunger is satisfied, will protect one
from fire and from thieves."
Then he turned to Zbyszko:
"But will you not ungird yourself and sing a little?"
"You had better sing, or perhaps _Panna_[75] Jagienka will sing."
"We will sing by turns," exclaimed Zych. "We have a servant who will
accompany us on a wooden fife. Call the boy!"
They called the servant who sat down on the bench and put the fife to his
mouth, waiting to learn whom he was to accompany.
None of them wanted to be first. Finally Zych told Jagienka to begin;
therefore Jagienka, although bashful because Zbyszko was present, rose
from the bench and having put her hands under her apron, began:
"If I only could get
The wings like a birdie,
I would fly quickly
To my dearest Jasiek."
Zbyszko opened his eyes wide; then he jumped up and shouted:
"Where did you learn that song?"
Jagienka looked at him astonished.
"Everybody sings that. What is the matter with you?"
Zych thinking that Zbyszko was a little intoxicated, turned his jovial
face toward him and said:
"Ungird! It will relieve you!"
But Zbyszko stood for a while with astonishment on his face; then, having
recovered from his emotion, said to Jagienka:
"Excuse me, I suddenly remembered something. Sing further."
"Perhaps it makes you sad?"
"Ej, not at all!" he answered, with a quivering voice. "I could listen to
it the whole night."
Then he sat down, covered his face with his hand, and listened.
Jagienka sang another couplet; but when she finished, she noticed a big
tear rolling down Zbyszko's fingers.
Then she sat down beside him, and began to touch him with her elbow.
"What is the matter with you? I do not want to make you cry. Tell me what
is the matter with you?"
"Nothing! Nothing!" answered Zbyszko, sighing. "I could tell you much.
But it is over. I feel merry now."
"Perhaps you would like to have some sweet wine?"
"Good girl!" exclaimed Zych. "Call him 'Zbyszko,' and you call her
'Jagienka.' You have known each other since you were children."
Then he turned toward his daughter:
"Do not mind because he struck you when you were children. He will not do
it now."
"I will not!" answered Zbyszko, mirthfully. "If she wishes, she may beat
me now for it."
Then Jagienka, wishing to cheer him up, began to play that she was
striking him with her little fist.
"Give us some wine!" shouted the merry _Pan_ of Zgorzelice.
Jagienka sprang to the closet and brought out a jug of wine, two
beautiful silver goblets, engraved by a silversmith of Wroclaw[76] and a
couple of cheese.
Zych, being a little intoxicated, began to hug the jug and said to it as
if he were talking to his daughter:
"Oj, my dear girl! What shall I do, poor man, when they take you from
Zgorzelice; what shall I do?"
"And you must give her up soon!" said Zbyszko.
Zych began to laugh.
"Chy! Chy! The girl is only fifteen; but she is already fond of boys!
When she sees one of them, she begins immediately to rub knee with knee!"
"_Tatusiu_[77] if you don't stop, I will leave you," said Jagienka.
"Don't go! It's better with you here." Then he continued to say to
Zbyszko:
"Two of them visit us. One of them is young Wilk, the son of old Wilk of
Bizozowa; the other is Cztan[78] of Rogow. If they meet you here, they
will gnash their teeth, as they do at each other."
"Owa!" said Zbyszko. Then he turned to Jagienka and asked:
"Which do you prefer?"
"Neither of them."
"Wilk is a great boy," said Zych.
"Let him go in another direction!"
"And Cztan?"
Jagienka began to laugh:
"Cztan," said she, turning toward Zbyszko, "he has hair on his face like
a goat; one can hardly see his eyes; and he has as much grease on him as
a bear."
Zbyszko now touched his head with his hand as if he had just remembered
something important, and said:
"I must ask you for one thing more; have you any bear's grease? I want to
use it for medicine for my uncle; and I could not find any in Bogdaniec."
"We used to have some," answered Jagienka; "but the boys have used some
to grease their bows, and the dogs have eaten the rest."
"Is there none left?"
"Not a bit!"
"Well, then, I must find some in the forest."
"Have a hunting party for bears; there are plenty of them; and if you
want some hunting implements, we will lend you some."
"I cannot wait. I will go some night to a _barcie_."
"Take a few men with you."
"No, I shall not do that, for they will frighten the beast."
"But you will take a crossbow!"
"What can I do with a crossbow during the night? There is no moon now! I
will take a fork and a strong axe, and I will go alone to-morrow."
Jagienka was silent for awhile; but great uneasiness was reflected on her
face.
"Last year," said she, "the huntsman, Bezduch, was killed by a bear. It
is dangerous, because as soon as the bear sees a man near the _barcie_,
he immediately stands up on his hind feet."
"If he ran away, I could not get him," answered Zbyszko.
At that moment Zych who had been dozing, suddenly awakened and began to
sing:
"Thou Kuba, of toil
I Maciek of pleasure,
Go then in the morning with the yoke in the field,
While I amuse myself with Kasia."
Then he said to Zbyszko:
"You know? There are two of them, Wilk of Brzozowa and Cztan of Rogow;
and you?"
But Jagienka being afraid that Zych would say too much, swiftly
approached Zbyszko, and began to inquire:
"When are you going? To-morrow?"
"To-morrow after sunset."
"And to which _barcie_?"
"To ours in Bogdaniec, not far from your boundaries, near the marshes of
Radzikow. They tell me it is very easy to get a bear there."
CHAPTER V.
Zbyszko went for the bear as he proposed, because Macko became worse. At
first when he reached Bogdaniec, he was sustained by joy and the first
cares about the house; but on the third day, the fever returned, and the
pain was so great that he was obliged to go to bed. Zbyszko went to the
_barcie_ during the day, and while there he perceived that there were the
footprints of a bear in the mud. He spoke to the beehive keeper, Wawrek,
who slept in a shed not far away, with his two faithful Podhalan[79]
dogs; but he intended to return to the village on account of the cold.
They destroyed the shed, and Wawrek took the dogs with him. But first
they smeared the trees here and there with honey, so that the smell of it
would attract the animal. Zbyszko returned home and began to prepare for
the expedition. He dressed himself in a warm reindeer jacket without
sleeves; on the top of his head, he put a bonnet made of iron wire;
finally he took a strong fork and a steel axe. Before sunset he had taken
his position; and having made the sign of the cross, he sat down and
waited.
The red beams of the setting sun were still shining between the branches
of the gigantic pines. In the tops of the trees, the crows were flying,
croaking and beating the air with their wings; here and there the hares
were leaping toward the water, making a noise on the dried leaves; some
times a swift marten passed by. In the thickets, the chirping of the
birds was at first heard--but gradually ceased.
After sunset the noises of the forest began. Immediately a pack of boars
passed near Zbyszko with a great bustle and snorting; then elks galloped
in a long row, each holding his head on the tail of the one in front of
him. The dried branches crackled under their feet and the forest
resounded; but on they rushed toward the marshes where during the night,
they were cool and safe. Finally the twilight was reflected on the sky,
and the tops of the pine trees illuminated by it seemed to burn, as if on
fire; then little by little everything began to be quieted. The forest
was still. Dusk was rising from earth toward the gleaming twilight, which
began finally to grow fainter, then gloomy, blacker and then was
quenched.
"Now, everything will be quiet, until the wolves begin to howl," thought
Zbyszko.
He regretted that he had not taken his crossbow, because he could easily
have killed a boar or an elk. In the meanwhile, from the marshes came
muffled sounds similar to heavy panting and whistling. Zbyszko looked
toward that marsh with some apprehension, because the peasant, Radzik,
who used to live here in an earth-hut, disappeared with his whole family,
as if devoured by the earth. Some people said they were seized by
robbers; but there were others who saw some strange footprints, neither
human nor of beasts, round the cabin. The people shook their heads very
much about that, and they even spoke about bringing a priest from
Krzesnia, to bless the hut. But they did not do it because nobody was
willing to live in that hut, which from that time, had an evil
reputation. It is true that the beehive keeper, Wawrek, did not pay any
attention to these reports.
Zbyszko being armed with the fork and axe, was not afraid of the wild
beasts; but he thought with some uneasiness about the evil forces, and he
was glad when that noise stopped.
The last reverberation ceased, and there was complete silence. The wind
stopped blowing and there was not even the usual whispering in the tops
of the pine trees. From time to time, a pine cone fell, making quite a
noise amidst the deep silence; but in general, everything was so quiet
that Zbyszko heard his own respirations.
Thus he sat quietly for a long time, thinking first about the bear, and
then about Danusia. He recollected how he seized her in his arms when
bidding the princess farewell, and how she cried; he remembered her fair
head and bright face, her wreaths of bachelor buttons, her singing, her
red shoes with long tips, and finally everything that happened from the
moment he first saw her. Such a longing to see her, filled his heart,
that he forgot that he was in the forest waiting for the bear; instead of
that he began to talk to himself:
"I will go to see you, because I cannot live without you."
He felt that he must go to Mazowsze; that if he remained in Bogdaniec, he
would become good for nothing. He recollected Jurand and his strange
opposition; then he thought that it was even more necessary he should go,
and learn what that obstacle was, and if a challenge to combat could not
remove it. Finally it seemed to him that Danusia stretched her bands