The Knights of the Cross, and to Pay with Bread and Salt for the News Which He Gave Them
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Please do not assume that a book's appearance in 'The Builder' library means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe. The Webmaster HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ AND JEREMIAH CURTIN, WARSAW, I90O. Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://archive.org/details/cu31924026975239 THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS. BY HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ, AUTHOR OF "quo VADIS," "WITH FIRE AND SWOKD,' " CHILDREN OF THE SOU,," ETC. AUTHORIZED AND UNABRIDGED TRANSLATION FROM THE POLISH BY JEREMIAH CDRTIN. SECOND HALF. BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1900. : Copyright, -1899, 1900, Br Jekemiah Cuktin. All rights reserved. 3 Kittbcrsfts Press , i, 1 ( John Wilson akd Sok, Cambridge, TJ. S. A. I < ( TO COUNTESS BRANITSKI OF VILLANOV. Madam, — You know (he language of this translation as accurately as you know Polish ; you reverence what is true and beautiful in literature as well as in life ; therefore J beg to dedicate to you these volumes. JESEMIAE CURTIN. Warsaw, May 1, 1900. THE KNIGHTS OF THE CKOSS. CHAPTEE XXXVI. Though Hlava was hastening to Zgoi-zelitse he could not move so quickly as he wanted, for the road had grown im- mensely difficult. After a sharp winter and hard frosts, after snows so abundant that whole villages were hidden beneath them, great thaws came. February, in spite of its name Luty (Savage), did not turn out in the least degree savage. First rose dense and impenetrable fogs, then rains came which were almost downpours, rains from which the white drifts thawed before the eye. During intervals be- tween downpours winds blew such as were usual in March, hence fitful and sudden, — winds which broke up and blew away swollen clouds in the sky ; on the earth they whined through thickets, roared through forests, and devoured that snow under which just before limbs and branches were dreaming in the calm sleep of winter. On the fields the widely spread water wrinkled its surface, rivers and streams rose. Fish alone were delighted with such abundance of the fluid element ; all other creatures, held as it were on a halter, hid in huts and houses. In many places the passage from village to vUlage was possible in boats only. There was no lack, it is true, in swamps and forests of roads or dams made of beams and round logs, but the dams had grown soft, and the logs in low places had sunk in quagmires, so that passage over them was dangerous or quite impossible. Especially difficult for Hlava was the advance through Great Poland, which was full of lakes where the overflows were greater than in other parts, and travelling, particularly for horses, more difficult. He had to halt often, and wait entire weeks, either in small towns, or in villages with nobles who received him and his people hospitably, according to custom, glad to hear him tell of the Knights of the Cross, and to pay with bread and salt for the news which he gave them. Therefore spring had announced itself in the world VOL. 11. — 1 2 THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS. distinctly and March had passed in greater part before he found himself near Zgorzelitse and Bogdanets. Hlava's heart throbbed when he thought that he would soon see his lady, for though he knew that he would never win her, just as he would never win stars from the sky, he extolled and loved her with all the soul that was in him. But he determined to go directly to Matsko, first because he was sent to him, and second because he was taking men who were to remain at Bogdanets. After Zbyshko had slain Eotgier he took his retinue, composed, according to the regulations of the Order, of ten horses and as many men. Two had gone to Schytno with the fallen knight's body, but Zbyshko, knowing the eagerness of old Matsko in seeking for settlers, sent the rest with Hlava as a gift to his uncle. The Cheh, on reaching Bogdanets, did not find Matsko. The old man had gone, as the servants informed him, with crossbow and dogs to the forest, but he returned during daylight, and, on learning that a considerable retinue had halted at his mansion, he hurried 'his steps so as to meet the newcomers, and offer entertainment ; he was tremendously astonished at first, and, throwing his crossbow and cap on the ground, cried out, — "As God lives! they have killed him! Tell what thou " knowest ! "He is not killed," answered Hlava ; " he is well." When Matsko heard this he was confused somewhat and fell to panting ; at last he drew a deep breath. " ' " ' Praise to Christ the Lord ! said he. "Where is the man ? " He went to Malborg and sent me hither with tidings." " " But why did he go to Malborg? " For his wife." " " Ah ! fear the wounds of Christ, boy. What wife? "The daughter of Yurand. There will be something to talk about, even the whole night through, but permit me, respected lord, to draw breath, for I am dreadfully road- weary, and since midnight I have lashed my beast forward." Matsko stopped inquiries for a while, though mainly because astonishment had taken speech from him. When he had recovered semewhat he shouted to the boy to throw wood on the fire and bring food, then he walked through the room, waved his hands, and talked in soliloquy, — "1 cannot believe my own ears — Yurand's daughter — " Zbyshko married — "He is married and not married," said Hlava, who now THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS. 3 told slowly what had happened, and how it had happened. The old man listened eagerly, interrupting with questions at times, for not everything was clear in the narrative. Hlava did not know, for example, exactly when Zbyshko had married, for there had been no wedding, but he declared positively that there had been a ceremony performed at the instance of Anna Danuta, the princess, though it was an- nounced publicly only after the arrival of Rotgier, with whom Zbyshko, after challenging him to the judgment of God, had fought in presence of the court of Mazovia. " " Ah ! Has he fought? cried Matsko, with flashing eyes, " and immense curiosity. " WeU, and what? ' ' He cut the German in two ; and God gave me luck also in fighting with Rotgier's attendant." Matsko panted again, this time with satisfaction. "Well, he is not to be laughed at. The last of the Grady, but, as God be my aid, not the least of them. Yes ! and that time against the Frisians — a mere stripling in those days." Then be looked once and a second time at the Cheh more attentively. " But thou also dost please me. It is clear that thou art not lying. I know a liar even through a plank. That attendant I do not esteem overmuch ; thou hadst no great work with him, as thou sayst, but thou didst wrench the arm of that dog-brother, Danveld,' and earlier thou didst kill the wild buU, — those are praiseworthy deeds. But the plunder," asked Matsko on a sudden, — "was it con- " siderable ? ' ' We took arms, horses, ten men, eight of whom the " young lord has sent to you — " " What did he do with the other two? " He sent them away with the body." ' ' Could not the prince send his own men ? Those two will never come back to us." Hlava smiled at such greed, which for that matter Matsko showed frequently, and he answered, — " Spyhov is a great property." "Great! But what of that ? It is not his yet." "Whose is it?" Matsko rose up.