The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance
"You must not tell me that," answered the girl, sadly.
"Why not? I have been away from home for a long time, therefore I do not
know whether there is somebody around Zgorzelice, of whom you are fond or
not."
"Hej!" answered Jagienka. "Let it be!"
They walked along silently, trying to make their way through the thicket
which was now much denser because the bushes and the trees were covered
with wild hop vines. Zbyszko walked first, tearing down the green vines,
and breaking the branches here and there; Jagienka followed him with a
crossbow on her shoulder, looking like a hunting goddess.
"Beyond that thicket," said she, "there is a deep brook; but I know where
the ford is."
"I have long boots on, reaching above my knees; we can cross it,"
answered Zbyszko.
Shortly afterward, they reached the brook. Jagienka being familiar with
the Moczydlowski forests, very easily found the ford; but the water was
deeper than usual, the little brook being swollen by the rains. Then
Zbyszko without asking her permission, seized the girl in his arms.
"I can cross by myself," said Jagienka.
"Put your arms around my neck!" answered Zbyszko.
He walked slowly through the water, while the girl nestled to him.
Finally when they were near the other shore, she said:
"Zbyszku!"
"What?"
"I care neither for Cztan, nor for Wilk."
As he placed her on the shore, he answered excitedly:
"May God give you the best I He will not be wronged."
The Odstajny lake was not far away now. Jagienka walking in front, turned
from time to time, and putting a finger on her lips, ordered Zbyszko to
be silent. They were walking amidst the osiers and gray willows, on low,
damp ground. From the left side, were heard the voices of birds, and
Zbyszko was surprised at that, because it was time for the birds to
migrate.
"We are near a morass which is never frozen," whispered Jagienka; "the
ducks pass the winter there; even in the lake the water freezes only near
the shores. See how it is steaming."
Zbyszko looked through the willows and noticed in front of him, something
like a bank of fog; it was the Odstajny lake.
Jagienka again put a finger to her lips, and after a while they reached
the lake. The girl climbed on an old willow and bent over the water.
Zbyszko followed her example; and for a long time they remained quiet,
seeing nothing in front of them, on account of the fog; hearing nothing
but the mournful puling of lapwings. Finally the wind blew, rustled the
osiers and the yellow leaves of the willows, and disclosed the waters of
the lake which were slightly ruffled by the wind.
"Do you see anything?" whispered Zbyszko.
"No. Keep quiet!"
After a while, the wind ceased and complete silence followed. Then on the
surface of the lake appeared one head, then another; finally near them a
big beaver entered the water from the shore, carrying in his mouth a
newly cut branch, and began to swim amidst the duck-weed and marigold
holding his mouth out of the water and pushing the branch before him.
Zbyszko lying on the trunk beneath Jagienka, noticed that her elbow moved
quietly and that her head was bent forward; evidently she had aimed at
the animal which, not suspecting any danger, was swimming close by,
toward the clear water.
Finally the string of the crossbow twanged and at the same moment
Jagienka cried:
"I hit him! I hit him!"
Zbyszko instantly climbed higher and looked through the thicket toward
the water; the beaver plunged into the water, then reappeared on the
surface, turning somersets.
"I hit him hard! He will soon be quiet!" said Jagienka.
The movements of the animal grew slower, and then before one had time
sufficient to recite one "_Ave Maria_," he was floating on his back on
the surface of the water.
"I will go and get him," said Zbyszko.
"No, do not go. Here, near the shore, there is, deep slime. Anyone who
does not know how to manage, will surely drown."
"Then how will we get him?"
"He will be in Bogdaniec this evening, do not worry about that; now we
must go home."
"You hit him hard!"
"Bah! It is not the first one!"
"Other girls are afraid to even look at a crossbow; but with you, one can
go to the forest all his life."
Jagienka smiled at such praise, but she did not answer; they returned the
same way they came. Zbyszko asked her about the beavers and she told him
how many of them there were in Moczydoly, and how many in Zgorzelice.
Suddenly she struck her hip with her hand and exclaimed:
"Well, I left my arrows on the willow. Wait!"
Before he could say that he would return for them, she jumped back like a
roe and disappeared. Zbyszko waited and waited; at last he began to
wonder what detained her so long.
"She must have lost the arrows and is searching for them," he said to
himself; "but I will go and see whether anything has happened to her."
He had hardly started to return before the girl appeared with her bow in
her hand, her face smiling and blushing, and with the beaver on her
shoulders.
"For God's sake!" cried Zbyszko, "how did you get him?"
"How? I went into the water, that is all! It is nothing new for me; but I
did not want you to go, because the mud drags anyone down who does not
know how to swim in it."
"And I waited here like a fool! You are a sly girl."
"Well, could I undress before you?"
"Bah! If I had followed you, then I would have seen a wonder!"
"Be silent!"
"I was just starting, so help me God!"
"Be silent!"
After a while, wishing to turn the conversation, she said:
"Wring my tress; it makes my back wet."
Zbyszko caught the tress in one hand and began to wring with the other,
saying:
"The best way will be to unbraid it, then the wind will soon dry it."
But she did not wish to do that on account of the thicket through which
they were obliged to make their way. Zbyszko now put the beaver on his
shoulders. Jagienka walking in front of him, said:
"Now Macko will soon be well, because there is no better medicine for a
wound than the grease of a bear inside, and the grease of a beaver
outside. In about two weeks, he will be able to ride a horse."
"May God grant that!" answered Zbyszko. "I am waiting for it as for
salvation, because I cannot leave the sick man, and it is hard for me to
stay here."
"Why is it hard for you to stay here?" she asked him.
"Has Zych told you nothing about Danusia?"
"He did tell me something. I know that she covered you with her veil. I
know that! He told me also that every knight makes some vow, to serve his
lady. But he said that such a vow did not amount to anything; that some
of the knights were married, but they served their ladies just the same.
But Danusia, Zbyszko; tell me about her!"
Having come very close to him, she began to look at his face with great
anxiety; he did not pay any attention to her frightened voice and looks,
but said:
"She is my lady, and at the same time she is my sweetest love. I have not
spoken about her to anybody; but I am going to tell you, because we have
been acquainted since we were children. I will follow her beyond the
tenth river and beyond the tenth sea, to the Germans and to the Tartars,
because there is no other girl like her. Let my uncle remain in
Bogdaniec, and I will go to her. What do I care about Bogdaniec, the
household, the herds, or the abbot's wealth, without her! I will mount my
horse and I will go, so help me God; I will fulfill that which I promised
her, or I will die."
"I did not know," answered Jagienka, in a hollow voice.
Zbyszko began to tell her about all that had happened; how he had met
Danusia in Tyniec; how he had made a vow to her; about everything that
happened afterward; about his imprisonment, and how Danusia rescued him;
about Jurand's refusal, their farewell and his loneliness; finally about
his joy, because as soon as Macko became well, he would go to his beloved
girl. His story was interrupted at last by the sight of the servant with
the horses, waiting on the edge of the forest.
Jagienka immediately mounted her horse and began to bid Zbyszko good-bye.
"Let the servant follow you with the beaver; I am going to Zgorzelice."
"Then you will not go to Bogdaniec? Zych is there."
"No. _Tatulo_ said he would return and told me to go home."
"Well, may God reward you for the beaver."
"With God."
Then Jagienka was alone. Going home through the heaths, she looked back
for a while after Zbyszko; when he disappeared beyond the trees, she
covered her eyes with her hands as if sheltering them from the sunlight.
But soon large tears began to flow down her cheeks and drop one after
another on the horse's mane.
CHAPTER VIII.
After the conversation with Zbyszko, Jagienka did not appear in Bogdaniec
for three days; but on the third day she hurried in with the news that
the abbot had arrived at Zgorzelice. Macko received the news with
emotion. It is true he had money enough to pay the amount for which the
estate was pledged, and he calculated that he would have enough to induce
settlers to come, to buy herds and to make other improvements; but in the
whole transaction, much depended on the disposition of the rich relation,
who, for instance, could take or leave the peasants settled by him on the
land, and in that way increase or diminish the value of the estate.
Therefore Macko asked Jagienka about the abbot; how he was; if he was in
a good humor or gloomy; what he had said about them; when he was coming
to Bogdaniec? She gave him sensible answers, trying to encourage and
tranquillize him in every respect.
She said that the abbot was in good health and gay; that he was
accompanied by a considerable retinue in which, besides the armed
servants, there were several seminarists and _rybalts_; that he sang with
Zych and that he listened gladly not only to the spiritual but to the
worldly songs also. She had noticed also that he asked carefully about
Macko, and that he listened eagerly to Zych's narration of Zbyszko's
adventure in Krakow.
"You know best what you ought to do," finally the clever girl said; "but
I think that Zbyszko ought to go immediately and greet his elder
relative, and not wait until the abbot comes to Bogdaniec."
Macko liked the advice; therefore he called Zbyszko and said to him:
"Dress yourself beautifully; then go and bow to the abbot, and pay him
respect; perhaps he will take a fancy to you."
Then he turned to Jagienka:
"I would not be surprised if you were stupid, because you are a woman;
but I am astonished to find that you have such good sense. Tell me then,
the best way to receive the abbot when he comes here."
"As for food, he will tell you himself what he wishes to have; he likes
to feast well, but if there be a great deal of saffron in the food, he
will eat anything."
Macko hearing this, said:
"How can I get saffron for him!"
"I brought some," said Jagienka.
"Give us more such girls!" exclaimed the overjoyed Macko. "She is pretty,
a good housekeeper, intelligent and good-hearted! Hej! if I were only
younger I would take her immediately!"
Here Jagienka glanced at Zbyszko, and having sighed slightly, she said
further:
"I brought also the dice, the goblet and the cloth, because after his
meal, the abbot likes to play dice."
"He had the same habit formerly, and he used to get very angry."
"He gets angry sometimes now; then he throws the goblet on the ground and
rushes from the room into the fields. Then he comes back smiling, and
laughs at his anger. You know him! If one does not contradict him, you
cannot find a better man in the world."
"And who would contradict him; is he not wiser and mightier than others?"
Thus they talked while Zbyszko was dressing in the alcove. Finally he