The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER VIII.

  The next day, the court servants began to make preparations in the marketsquare, to build the scaffold which was to be erected opposite theprincipal gate of the city hall.

  The princess, however, was still consulting with Wojciech Jastrzembiec,Stanislaw of Skarbimierz and other learned canons, who were familiar withthe written laws and also with the laws sanctioned by custom.

  She was encouraged in these efforts by the castellan's words, when hesaid, that if they showed him "law or pretext," he would free Zbyszko.Therefore they consulted earnestly, to ascertain if there were any law orcustom that would do. Although the _ksiondz_ Stanislaw, had preparedZbyszko for death and administered the last sacraments, he went directlyfrom the prison to the consultation, which lasted almost till daybreak.

  The day of execution arrived. From early morning, crowds of people hadbegun to gather on the market square, because the decapitation of anobleman excited more curiosity than that of a common criminal. Theweather was beautiful. News of the youth and great beauty of thesentenced man, spread among the women. Therefore the whole road leadingto the castle, was filled with crowds of townswomen, dressed in theirbest; in the windows on the market square, and on the balconies, could beseen velvet bonnets, or the fair heads of young girls, ornamented onlywith wreaths of lilies and roses. The city councilors, although theaffair did not belong in their jurisdiction, all appeared, in order toshow their importance and placed themselves near the scaffold. Theknights, wishing to show their sympathy for the young man, gathered ingreat numbers around the elevation. Behind them swarmed the gayly dressedcrowd, composed of small merchants and artisans dressed in their guildcostumes. Over this compact mass of human heads, one could see thescaffold which was covered with new broadcloth. On the elevation stoodthe executioner, a German, with broad shoulders, dressed in a red_kubrak_ and on his head a cowl of the same color; he carried a heavytwo-edged sword; with him were two of his assistants with naked arms andropes at their girdles. There were also a block and a coffin covered withbroadcloth. In Panna Maryia's tower, the bells were ringing, filling thetown with metallic sounds and scaring the flocks of doves and jackdaws.The people looked at the scaffold, and at the executioner's swordprotruding from it and shining in the sun. They also looked at theknights, on whom the burghers always gazed with respect and eagerness.This time it was worth while looking at them. The most famous knightswere standing round the elevation. They admired the broad shoulders anddark hair, falling in abundant curls of Zawisza Czarny; they admired theshort square figure of Zyndram of Maszkow as well as the gigantic statureof Paszko Zlodziej of Biskupice; the threatening face of Wojciech ofWodzinek and the great beauty of Dobko of Olesnica, who at the tournamentin Torun had defeated twelve knights; they looked admiringly at Zygmuntof Bobowa, who became equally famous in Koszyce in a fight with theHungarians, at Krzon of Kozieglowy, at Lis of Targowisko, who wasvictorious in duels, and at Staszko of Charbimowice who was able to catcha running horse.

  General attention was also attracted by the pale face of Macko ofBogdanice; he was supported by Floryan of Korytnica and Marcin ofWrocimowice. It was generally thought that he was the sentenced man'sfather.

  But the greatest curiosity was aroused by Powala of Taczew who, standingin front, was holding Danusia, dressed in white, with a wreath of greenrue resting on her fair hair. The people did not understand what itmeant, nor why this young girl was present to look at the execution. Someof them thought she was a sister; others, that she was the knight's lady;but none were able to explain the meaning of her dress or of her presenceat the scaffold. The sight of her fair face covered with tears, arousedcommiseration and emotion. The people began to criticise the castellan'sstubbornness, and the severity of the laws. Those criticisms graduallychanged to threats. Finally, here and there, some voices were heard tosay, that if the scaffold were destroyed, then the execution would bepostponed.

  The crowd became eager and excited. They said that if the king werepresent, he would surely pardon the youth.

  But all became quiet when distant shoutings announced the approach of theking's archers, escorting the prisoner. The procession soon appeared inthe market square. It was preceded by a funeral fraternity, the membersof which were dressed in long black cloaks, and were covered with veilsof the same color, which had openings cut for the eyes. The people wereafraid of these gloomy figures and became silent. They were followed by adetachment of soldiers, armed with crossbows, and dressed in elk-skinjerkins; these were the king's Lithuanian guards. Behind them one couldsee the halberds of another detachment of soldiers. In the centre,between the clerk of the court, who was going to read the sentence, andthe _ksiondz_ Stanislaw of Skarbimierz who was carrying a crucifix,walked Zbyszko.

  All eyes now turned toward him, and at all the windows and from all thebalconies, women's heads protruded. Zbyszko was dressed in his white"_jaka_," embroidered with golden griffins and ornamented with goldgaloon; in these magnificent clothes he looked like a young prince, orthe page of a wealthy court. His broad shoulders and chest and hispowerful haunches indicated that he was already a full-grown man; butabove that strong figure of a man, appeared a childish face with down onthe upper lip. It was a beautiful face like that of a king's page, withgolden hair cut evenly over the eyebrows and falling on the shoulders. Hewalked erect, but was very pale. From time to time he looked at the crowdas if he was dreaming; he looked at the church towers, toward the flocksof jackdaws, and at the bells, ringing his last hour; then his faceexpressed amazement when he realized that the sobbing of the women, andall this solemnity was for him. Finally, he perceived the scaffold andthe executioner's red figure standing on it. Then he shivered and madethe sign of the Cross; the priest gave him the crucifix to kiss. A fewsteps further, a bouquet of roses thrown by a young girl, fell at hisfeet. Zbyszko stooped, picked up the bouquet and smiled at the girl whobegan to cry. But evidently he thought that, amidst these crowds and inthe presence of these women, waving their kerchiefs from the windows, hemust die courageously and at least leave behind him the reputation of "abrave man;" therefore he strained his courage and will to the utmost.With a sudden movement, he threw his hair back, raised his head stillhigher and walked proudly, almost like a conqueror, whom, according toknightly custom, they conduct to get the prize. The procession advancedslowly, because the crowd was dense and unwillingly made way. In vain theLithuanian guard, marching in front, shouted: "_Eyk szalin! Eyk szalin!_go away!" The people did not wish to understand these words, andsurrounded the soldiers more closely. Although about one-third of theburghers of Krakow were Germans, still there were heard on all sides,threats against the Knights of the Cross: "Shame! Shame! May they perish,those wolves! Must they cut off children's heads for them! Shame on theking and on the kingdom!" The Lithuanians seeing the resistance, tooktheir crossbows from their shoulders, and menaced the crowd; but they didnot dare to attack without orders. The captain sent some men to open theway with their halberds and in that manner they reached the knightsstanding around the scaffold.

  They stepped aside without any resistance. The men with halberds enteredfirst, and were followed by Zbyszko, accompanied by the priest and theclerk of the court. At that moment something happened which nobody hadexpected. From among the knights, Powala stepped forward with Danusia inhis arms and shouted: "Stop!" with such a powerful voice, that theretinue stopped at once, as if rooted to the ground. Neither the captain,nor any of the soldiers dared to oppose the lord and knight, whom theywere accustomed to see every day in the castle and often in confidentialconversation with the king. Finally, other knights, equallydistinguished, also began to shout with commanding voices:

  "Stop! Stop!" In the meantime, the _Pan_ of Taczew approached Zbyszko andhanded Danusia to him.

  Zbyszko caught her in his arms and pressed her to his chest, bidding herfarewell; but Danusia instead of nestling to him and embracing him,immediately took her white veil from her head and wrapped it aroundZbyszko's head, and began to cry in her tearful, ch
ildish voice:

  "He is mine! He is mine!"

  "He is hers!" shouted the powerful voices of the knights. "To thecastellan!"

  A shout, like the roar of thunder, answered: "To the castellan! To thecastellan!" The priest raised his eyes, the clerk looked confused, thecaptain and his soldiers dropped their arms; everybody understood whathad happened.

  There was an old Polish and Slavonic custom, as strong as the law, knownin Podhale, around Krakow, and even further. If a young girl threw herveil on a man conducted to death, as a sign that she wished to marry him,by so doing she saved his life. The knights, farmers, villagers andtownsmen all knew this custom; and the Germans living in the old citiesand towns, had heard about it. The old man, Macko, almost fainted withemotion; the knights having pushed away the guards, surrounded Zbyszkoand Danusia; the joyful people shouted again and again: "To thecastellan! To the castellan!"

  The crowd moved suddenly, like the waves of the sea. The executioner andhis assistants rushed down from the scaffold. Everybody understood thatif Jasko of Tenczyn resisted the custom, there would be a riot in thecity. In fact the people now rushed to the scaffold. In the twinkling ofan eye, they pulled off the cloth and tore it into pieces; then the beamsand planks, pulled by strong arms, or cut with axes, began to crack, thena crash, and a few moments later there was not a trace left of thescaffold.

  Zbyszko, holding Danusia in his arms, was going to the castle, but thistime like a true victor,--triumphant. With him were marching joyfully themost noted knights in the kingdom; thousands of men, women and childrenwere shouting and singing, stretching their arms toward Danusia andpraising the beauty and courage of both. At the windows the townswomenwere clasping their hands, and everywhere one could see faces coveredwith tears of joy. A shower of roses, lilies, ribbons and even gold ringswere thrown to the lucky youth; he, beaming like the sun, with his heartfull of gratitude, embraced his sweet lady from time to time andsometimes kissed her hands. This sight made the townswomen feel sotender, that some of them threw themselves into the arms of their lovers,telling them that if they encountered death, they also would be freed.Zbyszko and Danusia became the beloved children of the knights, burghersand common people. Macko, whom Floryan of Korytnica and Marcin ofWrocimowice were assisting to walk, was almost beside himself with joy.He wondered why he had not even thought about this means of assistance.Amidst the general bustle, Powala of Taczew told the knights that thisremedy had been discovered by Wojciech Jastrzembiec and Stanislaw ofSkarbimierz, both experts in the written laws and customs. The knightswere all amazed at its simplicity, saying among themselves, that nobodyelse would have thought about that custom, because the city was inhabitedby Germans, and it had not been used for a long time.

  Everything, however, still depended on the castellan. The knights and thepeople went to the castle, which was occupied by _Pan_ Krakowski duringthe king's absence. The clerk of the court, the _ksiondz_ Stanislaw ofSkarbimierz, Zawisza, Farurej, Zyndram of Maszkow and Powala of Taczewexplained to him the power of the custom and reminded him of what he hadsaid himself, that if he found "law or pretext," then he would releasethe prisoner immediately. And could there be any better law, than the oldcustom which had never been abolished?

  The _Pan_ of Tenczyn answered that this custom applied more to the commonpeople and to robbers, than to the nobles; but he knew the law very well,and could not deny its validity. Meanwhile he covered his silvery beardwith his hand and smiled, because he was very much pleased. Finally hewent to the low portico, accompanied by Princess Anna Danuta, a fewpriests and the knights.

  Zbyszko having perceived him, lifted Danusia again; the old castellanplaced his hand on her golden hair, and gravely and benevolently inclinedhis hoary head. The assembled people understood this sign and shouted sothat the walls of the castle were shaken: "May God preserve you! Longlife, just lord! Live and judge us!"

  Then the people cheered Zbyszko and Danusia when a moment later, theyboth went to the portico, fell at the feet of the good Princess AnnaDanuta, who had saved Zbyszko's life, because she, together with thescholars, had found the remedy and had taught Danusia how to act.

  "Long life to the young couple!" shouted Powala of Taczew.

  "Long life!" repeated the others. The castellan, hoary with age, turnedtoward the princess and said:

  "Gracious princess, the betrothal must be performed immediately, becausethe custom requires it!"

  "The betrothal will take place immediately," answered the good lady,whose face was irradiated with joy; "but for the wedding, they must havethe consent of Jurand of Spychow."

  END OF PART FIRST.

  PART SECOND.