The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance
"So it is said. God knows the truth. It may not be true, and it may be
that they showed him some other girl. But it is a fact that he killed
people, and the Knights of the Cross are ready to swear that they never
abducted Panna Jurandowna, and that is an exceedingly difficult affair.
Even should the grand master order an investigation, they would reply
that she was not in their hands; especially since the courtiers of
Ciechanow spoke of Jurand's letter in which he said that she was not with
the Knights of the Cross."
"It may be she is not with them."
"I beg your pardon, sir!... If they had recaptured her from the robbers,
it would have been for no other motive than for ransom. The robbers,
before that happened could neither write a letter nor imitate the
signature of the lord of Spychow, nor send an honorable messenger."
"That is true; but what do the Knights of the Cross want her for?"
"Revenge on Jurand's race. They prefer vengeance to mead and wine; and if
they want a pretext, they have one. The lord of Spychow was terrible to
them, and his last deed completely finished them.... My master, I also
heard, had lifted up his hand against Lichtenstein; he killed Rotgier....
God helped me, too, to shatter that dog-brother's arm. Wait, I pray, let
us consider. There were four of them to be exterminated; now hardly one
is alive, and that one is an old man, and your grace must bear in mind
that we yet have our teeth."
There was again silence for a moment.
"You are a discreet armor-bearer," said Macko, at last; "but what do you
think they are going to do with her?"
"Prince Witold, they say, is a powerful prince, even the German emperor
bows to him; and what did they do to his children? Have they but few
castles? Few underground prisons? Few wells? Few ropes and halters for
the neck?"
"For the living God's sake!" exclaimed Macko.
"God grant that they may not also detain the young lord, although he went
there with a letter from the prince, and accompanied by de Lorche who is
a powerful lord and related to the prince. Ah, I did not want to set out
for this place. But he commanded me to go. I heard him once say to the
old lord of Spychow: 'It is to be regretted that you are not cunning, for
I shall get nothing by craft, and with them that is a necessary thing. O
Uncle Macko! he would be useful here;' and for that reason he dispatched
me. But as for Jurandowna, even you, sir, will not find her, for probably
she is already in the other world, and where death is concerned, even the
greatest cunning cannot prevail."
Macko was absorbed in thought for a long while, after which he said:
"Ha! Then there is no counsel. Cunning cannot prevail against death. But
if I were to go there and only get assurance that she has been removed,
then in that case Spychow as well as Zbyszko remain. He will be able to
return here and marry another maiden."
Here Macko breathed freely, as though a burden were removed from his
heart, and Glowacz asked in a bashful, subdued voice:
"Do you mean the young lady of Zgorzelice?"
"Well!" replied Macko, "especially as she is an orphan, and Cztan of
Rogow and Wilk of Brzozowa continually press their court to her."
At that the Bohemian straightened himself up.
"Is the young lady an orphan?... The knight Zych?..."
"Then you do not know."
"For the love of God! What has happened?"
"Well you are right. How could you know, since you have just arrived; and
our only conversation has been about Zbyszko. She is an orphan. Unless he
had guests, Zych of Zgorzelice never remained at home; otherwise he
avoided Zgorzelice. He wrote about you to his abbot that he was going to
visit Prince Przemka of Oswiecemia and ask him to give you to him. Zych
did it because he was well acquainted with the prince and they have often
frolicked together. Consequently Zych called upon me and said as follows:
'I am going to Oswiecemia, then to Glewic; keep your eye on Zgorzelice.'
I at once suspected something wrong and said: 'Don't go! I will keep good
watch over Jagienka and the estate,' for I know that Cztan and Wilk
intend to do you some wrong, and you ought to know that the abbot out of
spite against Zbyszko, preferred Cztan or Wilk for the girl. But he
subsequently learned to know them better and rejected both of them, and
turned them out of Zgorzelice; but not effectually, for they obstinately
persisted. Now they have quieted down for a while, for they have wounded
each other and are laid up, but before that occurred there was not a
moment of security. Everything is upon my head, protection and
guardianship. Now Zbyszko wishes me to come.... What will happen here to
Jagienka--I don't know, but now I will tell you about Zych; he did not
follow my advice--he went. Well, they feasted and frolicked together.
From Glewic they went to see old Nosak, Prince Przemka's father, who
rules in Cieszyn; till Jasko, the prince of Racibor, out of hatred for
Prince Przemka, set upon them the robber band under the leadership of the
Bohemian Chrzan; Prince Przemka and Zych of Zgorzelice perished in the
affray. The robbers stunned the abbot with an iron flail, so that even
now his head shakes and he knows nothing of what is going on in the world
and has lost his speech, God help him, forever! Now old Prince Nosak
bought Chrzan from the owner of Zampach, and tortured him so much that
even the oldest inhabitants never heard of such cruelty,--but the cruelty
did not lessen the sorrow of the old man for his son; neither did it
resuscitate Zych, nor wipe away the tears of Jagienka. This is the result
of the frolic.... Six weeks ago they brought Zych here and buried him."
"Such a hard master!..." sorrowfully said the Bohemian. "Under Boleslaw I
was comfortably situated when he took me into captivity. But such was the
captivity that I would not have exchanged it for freedom.... He was a
good and worthy master! May God grant him eternal glory. Ah, I am very
sorry! But I must grieve for the helpless young lady."
"Because the poor thing is a good girl, she loved her father more than a
man loves his mother. Then too she is not safe in Zgorzelice. After the
funeral, scarcely had the snow covered Zych's grave, when Cztan and Wilk
stepped into the mansion of Zgorzelice. My people were informed of it
beforehand. Then I, with the farm hands went to the rescue; we arrived in
good time and with God's help we gave them a good thrashing. Immediately
after the fight, the girl fell on her knees and begged me to save her.
'If I cannot belong to Zbyszko,' she said, 'I will belong to nobody else;
only save me from those torturers, I prefer death to them....' I tell you
that I made a real castle out of Zgorzelice. After that, they appeared
twice on the premises, but believe me, they could not succeed. Now there
will be peace for some time, for as I told you: they hurt each other
badly, so much so, that neither is able to move head or foot."
Glowacz made no observation upon this, but when he heard of the conduct
of Cztan and Wilk, he began to gnash his teeth so loudly, that it sounded
like the creaking caused by the opening and closing of a door, then he
began to rub his strong hands upon his thighs as though they were
itching. Finally, he uttered with difficulty only one word:
"Villains!"
But at that moment, a voice was heard in the entrance-hall, the door
suddenly opened and Jagienka rushed into the house, and with her was
Jasko, her oldest brother, who was fourteen years old and looked as like
her, as though they were twins.
She had heard from some peasants at Zgorzelice, that they had seen the
Bohemian Hlawa, at the head of some people, journeying to Bogdaniec, and
like Macko, she also was terrified, and when they informed her that
Zbyszko was not among them she was almost sure that some misfortune had
happened. She therefore lost no time and hastened to Bogdaniec to
ascertain the truth.
"What has happened?... For God's sake tell me," she shouted, when yet
upon the threshold.
"What should happen?" replied Macko. "Zbyszko is alive and well."
The Bohemian hastened toward the young lady, knelt upon one knee and
kissed the hem of her dress, but she paid no attention to it; only when
she heard the reply of the old knight she turned her head from the
fireplace to the darker side of the room, and only after a while, as if
having forgotten that it was necessary to salute the Bohemian, she said:
"The name of Jesus Christ be praised!"
"Forever and ever," replied Macko.
Then she observed the kneeling Bohemian at her feet and bent toward him.
"From my soul I am glad to see you, Hlawa, but why did you leave your
master behind?"
"He sent me away, most gracious lady."
"What were his orders?"
"He ordered me to go to Bogdaniec."
"To Bogdaniec?... What else?"
"He sent me to get counsel.... He also sends his compliments and good
wishes."
"To Bogdaniec? Very well, then. But where is he himself?"
"He left for Malborg, and is now among the Knights of the Cross."
Jagienka's face again assumed an expression of alarm.
"Why, is he tired of life?"
"He is in quest, gracious lady, of that which he will not be able to
find."
"I believe he will not find it," interrupted Macko. "Just as one cannot
drive a nail without a hammer, so are man's wishes without the will of
God."
"What are you talking about?" cried Jagienka. But Macko replied with
another query.
"Did he say to you that Zbyszko went for Jurandowna? It seems to me that
he did."
Jagienka at first did not reply, and only after awhile, catching her
breath, she replied:
"Ay! He said! But what hindered him telling?"
"Well, then, now I can talk freely."
And he began to tell to her all that he had heard from the Bohemian. He
wondered at himself why his words came haltingly and with difficulty, but
being a clever man, he tried to avoid any expression that might irritate
Jagienka, and he dwelt strongly upon what he himself believed, that
Zbyszko was never the husband of Danusia in reality and that she was
already lost to him forever.
The Bohemian confirmed Macko's words now and then, sometimes by nodding
his head in approval, sometimes repeating "By God, true, as I live," or:
"It is so, not otherwise!" The young lady listened, with eyelashes
lowered till they touched her cheeks; she asked no more questions, and
was so quiet that her silence alarmed Macko.
"Now, what do you say to that?" he enquired when he had ended.
But she did not reply, only two tears glistened between her eyelids and
rolled down her cheeks.
After a while she approached Macko, and kissing his hand, said:
"The Lord be praised."
"Forever and ever," replied Macko. "Are you so much needed at home?
Better stay with us."
But she refused to remain, giving as a reason that she had not given out
the provisions for supper. But Macko, although he knew that there was the
old lady, Sieciechowa, at Zgorzelice, who could easily fulfil Jagienka's
duties, did not persuade her to remain, for he knew that sorrow does not
like the light on human tears, and that a man is like a fish, when it
feels the penetrating harpoon in its body it sinks to the depths.
Then he only regarded her as a girl, so he led her and the Bohemian into
the courtyard.
But the Bohemian brought the horse from the stable, harnessed him, and
departed with the young lady.
But Macko returned to the house, shook his head, and murmured:
"What a fool that Zbyszko is?... Why, her presence seems to have filled
the whole house with perfume."
The old man lamented to himself. "Had Zbyszko taken her immediately after
he returned, by this time there might have been joy and delight! But what
of it now? If they should speak of him her eyes would immediately be