The Deluge: An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. Vol. 2 (of 2)

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XI.

  Since the mountaineers gave sure information that on the road toChorshtyn there was nothing to be heard of other Swedish parties, theretinue of the king turned toward the castle, and soon found themselveson the highway, along which the journey was easiest and least tiresome.They rode on amid songs of the mountaineers and shouts, "The king iscoming! The king is coming!" and along the road new crowds of menjoined them, armed with flails, scythes, forks, and guns, so that YanKazimir was soon at the head of a considerable division of men, nottrained, it is true, but ready at any moment to go with him even toCracow and spill their blood for their sovereign. Near Chorshtyn morethan a thousand "householders" and half-wild shepherds surrounded theking.

  Then nobles from Novy Sanch and Stary Sanch began to come in. They saidthat a Polish regiment, under command of Voynillovich, had defeated,that morning, just before the town of Novy Sanch, a considerabledetachment of Swedes, of which almost all the men were either slain, ordrowned in the Kamyenna or Dunayets.

  This turned out to be really the fact, when soon after on the roadbanners began to gleam, and Voynillovich himself came up with theregiment of the voevoda of Bratslav.

  The king greeted with joy a celebrated and to him well-known knight,and amidst the universal enthusiasm of the people and the army, he rodeon toward Spij. Meanwhile men on horseback rushed with all breath toforewarn the marshal that the king was approaching, and to be ready toreceive him.

  Joyous and noisy was the continuation of the journey. New crowds wereadded continually. The nuncio, who had left Silesia filled with fearfor the king's fate and his own, and for whom the beginning of thejourney had increased this fear, was beside himself now with delight,for he was certain that the future would surely bring victory to theking, and besides to the church over heretics. The bishops shared hisjoy; the lay dignitaries asserted that the whole people, from theCarpathians to the Baltic, would grasp their weapons as these crowdshad done. Voynillovich stated that for the greater part this had takenplace already. And he told what was to be heard in the country, what aterror had fallen upon the Swedes, how they dared go no longer outsidefortifications in small numbers, how they were leaving the smallercastles, which they burned, and taking refuge in the strongest.

  "The Polish troops are beating their breasts with one hand, and arebeginning to beat the Swedes with the other," said he. "Vilchkovski,who commands the hussar regiment of your Royal Grace, has alreadythanked the Swedes for their service, and that in such fashion that hefell upon them at Zakjevo, under the command of Colonel Altenberg, andslew a large number,--destroyed almost all. I, with the assistance ofGod, drove them out of Novy Sanch, and God gave a noted victory. I donot know whether one escaped alive. Pan Felitsyan Kohovski with theinfantry of Navoi helped me greatly, and so they received pay for thosedragoons at least whom they attacked two or three days ago."

  "What dragoons?" asked the king.

  "Those whom your Royal Grace sent ahead from Silesia. The Swedes fellon these suddenly, and though not able to disperse them, for theydefended themselves desperately, they inflicted considerable loss. Andwe were almost dying of despair, for we thought that your Royal Gracewas among those men in your own person, and we feared lest some evilmight happen to majesty. God inspired your Royal Grace to send thedragoons ahead. The Swedes heard of it at once, and occupied the roadseverywhere."

  "Do you hear, Tyzenhauz?" asked the king. "An experienced soldier istalking."

  "I hear, Gracious Lord," answered the young magnate.

  "And what further, what further? Tell on!" said the king, turning toVoynillovich.

  "What I know I shall surely not hide. Jegotski and Kulesha are activein Great Poland; Varshytski has driven Lindorm from the castle ofPilets; Dankoff is defending itself; Lantskoron is in our hands; and inPodlyasye, Sapyeha is gaining every day at Tykotsin. The Swedes are ingreater straits in the castle, and with them is failing the princevoevoda of Vilna. As to the hetmans, they have moved already fromSandomir to Lyubelsk, showing clearly that they are breaking with theenemy. The voevoda of Chernigov is with them, and from the region aboutis marching to them every living man who can hold a sabre in his hand.They say, too, that there is some kind of federation to be formed thereagainst the Swedes, in which is the hand of Sapyeha as well as that ofStefan Charnyetski."

  "Is Charnyetski now in Lyubelsk?"

  "He is, your Royal Grace. But he is here to-day and there to-morrow. Ihave to join him, but where to find him I know not."

  "There will be noise around him," said the king; "you will not need toinquire."

  "So I think too," answered Voynillovich.

  In such conversation was the road passed. Meanwhile the sky had grownperfectly clear, so that the azure was unspotted by even a small cloud.The snow was glittering in the sunlight. The mountains of Spij wereextended gloriously and joyously before the travellers, and Natureitself seemed to smile on the king.

  "Dear country!" said Yan Kazimir, "God grant me strength to bring theepeace before my bones rest in thy earth."

  They rode out on a lofty eminence, from which the view was open andwide, for beyond, at the foot of it, was spread a broad plain. Therethey saw below, and at a great distance as it were, the movement of ahuman ant-hill.

  "The troops of the marshal!" cried Voynillovich.

  "Unless they are Swedes," said the king.

  "No, Gracious Lord! The Swedes could not march from Hungary, from thesouth. I see now the hussar flag."

  In fact a forest of spears soon pushed out in the blue distance, andcolored streamers were quivering like flowers moved by the wind; abovethese flags spear-points were glittering like little flames. The sunplayed on the armor and helmets.

  The throngs of people accompanying the king gave forth a joyous shout,which was heard at a distance, for the mass of horses, riders, flags,horse-tail standards, and ensigns began to move more quickly. Evidentlythey were moving with all speed, for the regiments became each momentmore definite, and increased in the eye with incomprehensible rapidity.

  "Let us stay on this height. We will await the marshal here," said theking.

  The retinue halted; the men coming toward them moved still morerapidly. At moments they were concealed from the eye by turns of theroad, or small hills and cliffs, scattered along the plain; but soonthey appeared again, like a serpent with a skin of splendid colorsplaying most beautifully. At last they came within a quarter of a mileof the height, and slackened their speed. The eye could take them inperfectly, and gain pleasure from them. First advanced the hussarsquadron of the marshal himself, well armored, and so imposing that anyking might be proud of such troops. Only nobles of the mountains servedin this squadron, chosen men of equal size; their armor was of brightsquares inlaid with bronze, gorgets with the image of the Most HolyLady of Chenstohova, round helmets with steel rims, crests on the top,and at the side wings of eagles and vultures, on their shoulders tigerand leopard skins, but on the officers wolf skins, according to custom.

  A forest of green and black streamers waved above them. In front rodeLieutenant Victor; after him a janissary band with bells, trumpets,drums, and pipes; then a wall of the breasts of horses and men clothedin iron.

  The king's heart opened at that lordly sight. Next to the hussars camea light regiment still more numerous, with drawn sabres in their handsand bows at their shoulders; then three companies of Cossacks, incolors like blooming poppies, armed with spears and muskets; next twohundred dragoons in red jackets; then escorts belonging to differentpersonages visiting at Lyubovlya, attendants dressed as if for awedding, guards, haiduks, grooms, Hungarians, and janissaries, attachedto the service of great lords.

  And all that changed in colors like a rainbow, and came ontumultuously, noisily, amid the neighing of horses, the clatter ofarmor, the thunder of kettle-drums, the roll of other drums, the blareof trumpets, and cries so loud that it seemed as though the snows wouldrush down from the mountains because of them. In the rear of the
troopswere to be seen closed and open carriages, in which evidently wereriding dignitaries of the church and the world.

  The troops took position in two lines along the road, and between themappeared, on a horse white as milk, the marshal of the kingdom, PanYerzy Lyubomirski. He flew on like a whirlwind over that road, andbehind him raced two equerries, glittering in gold. When he had riddento the foot of the eminence, he sprang from his horse, and throwing thereins to one of the equerries, went on foot to the king standing above.

  He removed his cap, and placing it on the hilt of his sabre, advancedwith uncovered head, leaning on a staff all set with pearls. He wasdressed in Polish fashion, in military costume; on his breast was armorof silver plates thickly inlaid at the edges with precious stones, andso polished that he seemed to be bearing the sun on his bosom; over hisleft shoulder was hanging a cloak of Venetian velvet of dark color,passing into violet purple; it was fastened at the throat by a cordwith a buckle of diamonds, and the whole cloak was embroidered withdiamonds; in like manner a diamond was trembling in his cap, and thesestones glittered like many-colored sparks around his whole person, anddazzled the eyes, such was the brightness which came from them.

  He was a man in the vigor of life, of splendid form. His head wasshaven around the temples; his forelock was rather thin, growing gray,and lay on his forehead in a shaggy tuft; his mustache, as black as thewing of a crow, drooped in fine points at both sides. His loftyforehead and Roman nose added to the beauty of his face, but the facewas marred somewhat by cheeks that were too plump, and small eyesencircled with red lids. Great dignity, but also unparalleled pride andvanity were depicted on that face. You might easily divine that thatmagnate wished to turn to himself eternally the eyes of the wholeCommonwealth, nay, of all Europe; and such was the case in reality.

  Where Yerzy Lyubomirski could not hold the first place, where he couldonly share glory and merit with others, his wounded pride was ready tobar the way and corrupt and crush every endeavor, even when it was aquestion of saving the country.

  He was an adroit and fortunate leader, but even in this respect otherssurpassed him immeasurably; and in general his abilities, thoughuncommon, were not equal to his ambition and desire of distinction.Endless unrest therefore was boiling in his soul, whence was born thatsuspiciousness, that envy, which later on carried him so far that hebecame more destructive to the Commonwealth than the terrible YanushRadzivill. The black soul which dwelt in Prince Yanush was great also;it stopped before no man and no thing. Yanush wanted a crown, and hewent toward it consciously over graves and the ruin of his country.Lyubomirski would have taken a crown if the hands of the nobles hadplaced it on his head; but having a smaller soul, he dared not desirethe crown openly and expressly. Radzivill was one of those men whomfailure casts down to the level of criminals, and success elevates tothe greatness of demigods; Lyubomirski was a mighty disturber who wasalways ready to ruin work for the salvation of the country, in the nameof his own offended pride, and to build up nothing in place of it. Hedid not even dare to raise himself, he did not know how. Radzivill diedthe more guilty, Lyubomirski the more harmful man.

  But at that hour, when in gold, velvet, and precious stones he stood infront of the king, his pride was sufficiently satisfied. For he was thefirst magnate to receive his own king on his own land; he first tookhim under a species of guardianship, he had to conduct him to a thronewhich had been overturned, and to drive out the enemy; from him theking and the country expected everything; on him all eyes were turned.Therefore to show loyalty and service coincided with his self-love, infact flattered it, he was ready in truth for sacrifices and devotion,he was ready to exceed the measure even with expressions of respect andloyalty. When therefore he had ascended one half of that eminence onwhich the king was standing, he took his cap from the sword-hilt andbegan, while bowing, to sweep the snow with its diamond plume.

  The king urged his horse somewhat toward the descent, then halted todismount, for the greeting. Seeing this, the marshal sprang forward tohold the stirrup with his worthy hands, and at that moment graspingafter his cloak, he drew it from his shoulders, and following theexample of a certain English courtier, threw it under the feet of themonarch.

  The king, touched to the heart, opened his arms to the marshal, andseized him like a brother in his embrace. For a while neither was ableto speak; but at that exalted spectacle the army, the nobles, thepeople, roared in one voice, and thousands of caps flew into the air,all the guns, muskets, and blunderbusses sounded, cannon from Lyubovlyaanswered in a distant bass, till the mountains trembled; all the echoeswere roused and began to course around, striking the dark walls of pinewoods, the cliffs and rocks, and flew with the news to remotermountains and cliffs.

  "Lord Marshal," said the king, "we will thank you for the restorationof the kingdom!"

  "Gracious Lord!" answered Lyubomirski, "my fortune, my life, my blood,all I have I place at the feet of your Royal Grace."

  "Vivat! vivat Yoannes Casimirus Rex!" thundered the shouts.

  "May the king live! our father!" cried the mountaineers.

  Meanwhile the gentlemen who were riding with the king surrounded themarshal; but he did not leave the royal person. After the firstgreetings the king mounted his horse again; but the marshal, notwishing to recognize bounds to his hospitality and honor to his guest,seized the bridle, and going himself on foot, led the king through thelines of the army amid deafening shouts, till they came to a gildedcarriage drawn by eight dapple-gray horses; in this carriage YanKazimir took his seat, together with Vidon, the nuncio of the Pope.

  The bishops and dignitaries took seats in succeeding carriages, thenthey moved on slowly to Lyubovlya. The marshal rode at the window ofthe king's carriage, splendid, self-satisfied, as if he were alreadyproclaimed father of the country. At both sides went a dense army,singing songs, thundering out in the following words:--

  "Cut the Swedes, cut, With sharpened swords.

  "Beat the Swedes, beat, With strong sticks.

  "Roll the Swedes, roll, Empale them on stakes.

  "Torment the Swedes, torment, And torture them as you can.

  "Pound the Swedes, pound, Pull them out of their skins.

  "Cut the Swedes, cut, Then there will be fewer.

  "Drown the Swedes, drown, If you are a good man!"

  Unfortunately amidst the universal rejoicing and enthusiasm no oneforesaw that later the same troops of Lyubomirski, after they hadrebelled against their legal lord and king, would sing the same song,putting the French in place of the Swedes.

  But now it was far from such a state. In Lyubovlya the cannon werethundering in greeting till the towers and battlements were coveredwith smoke, the bells were tolling as at a fire. At the part of thecourtyard in which the king descended from the carriage, the porch andthe steps were covered with scarlet cloth. In vases brought from Italywere burning perfumes of the East. The greater part of the treasures ofthe Lyubomirskis,--cabinets of gold and silver, carpets, mats, gobelintapestry, woven wonderfully by Flemish hands, statues, clocks,cupboards, ornamented with precious stones, cabinets inlaid withmother-of-pearl and amber brought previously to Lyubovlya to preservethem from Swedish rapacity, were now arranged and hung up in display;they dazzled the eye and changed that castle into a kind of fairyresidence. And the marshal had arranged all this luxury, worthy of aSultan, in this fashion of purpose to show the king that though he wasreturning as an exile, without money, without troops, having scarcely achange of clothing, still he was a mighty lord, since he had servantsso powerful, and as faithful as powerful. The king understood thisintention, and his heart rose in gratitude; every moment therefore hetook the marshal by the shoulder, pressed his head and thanked him. Thenuncio, though accustomed to luxury, expressed his astonishment at whathe beheld, and they h
eard him say to Count Apotyngen that hitherto hehad had no idea of the power of the King of Poland, and now saw thatthe previous defeats were merely a temporary reverse of fortune, whichsoon must be changed.

  At the feast, which followed a rest, the king sat on an elevation, andthe marshal himself served him, permitting no one to take his place. Atthe right of the king sat the nuncio, at his left the prince primate,Leshchynski, farther on both sides dignitaries, lay and clerical, suchas the bishops of Cracow, Poznan, Lvoff, Lutsk, Premysl, Helm; thearchdeacon of Cracow; farther on keepers of the royal seal andvoevodas, of whom eight had assembled, and castellans andreferendaries; of officers, there were sitting at the feastVoynillovich, Viktor, Stabkovski, and Baldwin Shurski.

  In another hall a table was set for inferior nobles, and there werelarge barracks for peasants, for all had to be joyful on the day of theking's coming.

  At the tables there was no other conversation but touching the royalreturn, and the terrible adventures which had met them on the road, inwhich the hand of God had preserved the king. Yan Kazimir himselfdescribed the battle in the pass, and praised the cavalier who had heldback the first Swedish onset.

  "And how is he?" asked he of the marshal.

  "The physician does not leave him, and guarantees his life; andbesides, maidens and ladies in waiting have taken him in care, andsurely they will not let the soul go from the body, for the body isshapely and young!" answered the marshal, joyously.

  "Praise be to God!" cried the king. "I heard from his lips somethingwhich I shall not repeat to you, for it seems to me that I heardincorrectly, or that he said it in delirium; but should it come trueyou will be astonished."

  "If he has said nothing which might make your Royal Grace gloomy."

  "Nothing whatever of that nature," said the king; "it has comforted usbeyond measure, for it seems that even those whom we had reason to holdour greatest enemies are ready to spill their blood for us if need be."

  "Gracious Lord!" cried the marshal, "the time of reform has come; butunder this roof your Royal Grace is among persons who have never sinnedeven in thought against majesty."

  "True, true!" answered the king, "and you, Lord Marshal, are in thefirst rank."

  "I am a poor servant of your Royal Grace."

  At table the noise grew greater. Gradually they began to speak ofpolitical combinations; of aid from the emperor, hitherto looked for invain; of Tartar assistance, and of the coming war with the Swedes.Fresh rejoicing set in when the marshal stated that the envoy sent byhim to the Khan had returned just a couple of days before, and reportedthat forty thousand of the horde were in readiness, and perhaps even ahundred thousand, as soon as the king would reach Lvoff and conclude atreaty with the Khan. The same envoy had reported that the Cossacksthrough fear of the Tartars had returned to obedience.

  "You have thought of everything," said the king, "in such fashion thatwe could not have thought it out better ourselves." Then he seized hisglass and said: "To the health of our host and friend, the marshal ofthe kingdom!"

  "Impossible, Gracious Lord!" cried the marshal; "no man's health can bedrunk here before the health of your Royal Grace."

  All restrained their half-raised goblets; but Lyubomirski, filled withdelight, perspiring, beckoned to his chief butler.

  At this sign the servants who were swarming through the hall rushed topour out Malvoisie again, taken with gilded dippers from kegs of puresilver. Pleasure increased still more, and all were waiting for thetoast of the marshal.

  The chief butler brought now two goblets of Venetian crystal of suchmarvellous work that they might pass for the eighth wonder of theworld. The crystal, bored and polished to thinness during whole years,perhaps, cast real diamond light. On the setting great artists of Italyhad labored. The base of each goblet was gold, carved in small figuresrepresenting the entrance of a conqueror to the Capitol. The conquerorrode in a chariot of gold on a street paved with pearls. Behind himfollowed captives with bound hands; with them a king, in a turbanformed of one emerald; farther followed legionaries with eaglesand ensigns. More than fifty small figures found room on eachbase,--figures as high as a hazel-nut, but made so marvellously thatthe features of the faces and the feelings of each one could bedistinguished, the pride of the victors, the grief of the vanquished.The base was bound to the goblet with golden filigree, fine as hairbent with wondrous art into grape leaves, clusters, and variousflowers. Those filigree were wound around the crystal, and joining atthe top in one ring formed the edge of the goblet, which was set withstones in seven colors.

  The head butler gave one such goblet to the king and the other to themarshal, both filled with Malvoisie. All rose from their seats;the marshal raised the goblet, and cried with all the voice in hisbreast,--

  "Vivat Yoannes Casimirus Rex!"

  "Vivat! vivat! vivat!"

  At that moment the guns thundered again so that the walls of the castlewere trembling. The nobles feasting in the second hall came with theirgoblets; the marshal wished to make an oration, but could not, for hiswords were lost in the endless shouts: "Vivat! vivat! vivat!"

  Such joy seized the marshal, such ecstasy, that wildness was gleamingin his eyes, and emptying his goblet he shouted so, that he was heardeven in the universal tumult,--

  "_Ego ultimus_ (I am the last)!"

  Then he struck the priceless goblet on his own head with such forcethat the crystal sprang into a hundred fragments, which fell with arattle on the floor, and the head of the magnate was covered withblood. All were astonished, and the king said,--

  "Lord Marshal, we regret not the goblet, but the head which we value sogreatly."

  "Treasures and jewels are nothing to me," cried the marshal, "when Ihave the honor of receiving your Royal Grace in my house. Vivat YoannesCasimirus Rex!"

  Here the butler gave him another goblet.

  "Vivat! vivat!" shouted the guests without ceasing. The sound of brokenglass was mingled with the shout. Only the bishops did not follow theexample of the marshal, for their spiritual dignity forbade them.

  The nuncio, who did not know of that custom of breaking glasses on thehead, bent to the bishop of Poznan, sitting near him, and said,--

  "As God lives, astonishment seizes me! Your treasury is empty, and forone such goblet two good regiments of men might be equipped andmaintained."

  "It is always so with us," answered the bishop; "when desire rises inthe heart there is no measure in anything."

  And in fact the desire grew greater each moment. Toward the end of thefeast a bright light struck the windows of the castle.

  "What is that?" asked the king.

  "Gracious Lord, I beg you to the spectacle," answered the marshal. Andtottering slightly, he conducted the king to the window. There awonderful sight struck their eyes. It was as clear in the court as whenthere is daylight. A number of tens of pitch-barrels cast a brightyellow gleam on the pavement, cleared of snow and strewn with leaves ofmountain-fern. Here and there were burning tubs of brandy which castblue light; salt was sprinkled into some to make them burn red.

  The spectacle began. First knights cut off Turkish heads, tilted at aring and at one another; then the dogs of Liptovo fought with a bear;later, a man from the hills, a kind of mountain Samson, threw amillstone and caught it in the air. Midnight put an end to theseamusements.

  Thus did the marshal declare himself, though the Swedes were still inthe land.