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

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER XXIX.

  That night Volodyovski went on a scouting expedition, and about morningreturned with a number of informants. These men asserted that the Kingof Sweden was at Shchebjeshyn in person, and would soon be at Zamost.

  Zamoyski was rejoiced at the news, for he hurried around greatly, andhad a genuine desire to try his walls and guns on the Swedes. Heconsidered, and very justly, that even if he had to yield in the end hewould detain the power of Sweden for whole months; and during that timeYan Kazimir would collect troops, bring the entire Tartar force to hisaid, and organize in the whole country a powerful and victoriousresistance.

  "Since the opportunity is given me," said he, with great spirit, at themilitary council, "to render the country and the king notable service,I declare to you, gentlemen, that I will blow myself into the airbefore a Swedish foot shall stand here. They want to take Zamoyski byforce. Let them take him! We shall see who is better. You, gentlemen,will, I trust, aid me most heartily."

  "We are ready to perish with your grace," said the officers, in chorus.

  "If they will only besiege us," said Zagloba, "I will lead the firstsortie."

  "I will follow, Uncle!" cried Roh Kovalski; "I will spring at the kinghimself!"

  "Now to the walls!" commanded Zamoyski.

  All went out. The walls were ornamented with soldiers as with flowers.Regiments of infantry, so splendid that they were unequalled in thewhole Commonwealth, stood in readiness, one at the side of the other,with musket in hand, and eyes turned to the field. Not many foreignersserved in these regiments, merely a few Prussians and French; they weremainly peasants from Zamoyski's inherited lands. Sturdy, well-grownmen, who, wearing colored jackets and trained in foreign fashion,fought as well as the best Cromwellians of England. They were speciallypowerful when after firing it came to rush on the enemy in hand-to-handconflict. And now, remembering their former triumphs over Hmelnitski,they were looking for the Swedes with impatience. At the cannons, whichstretched out through the embrasures their long necks to the fields asif in curiosity, served mainly Flemings, the first of gunners. Outsidethe fortress, beyond the moat, were squadrons of light cavalry, safethemselves, for they were under cover of cannon, certain of refuge, andable at any moment to spring out whithersoever it might be needed.

  Zamoyski, wearing inlaid armor and carrying a gilded baton in his hand,rode around the walls, and inquired every moment,--

  "Well, what--not in sight yet?" And he muttered oaths when he receivednegative answers on all sides. After a while he went to another side,and again he asked,--

  "Well, what--not in sight yet?"

  It was difficult to see the Swedes, for there was a mist in the air;and only about ten o'clock in the forenoon did it begin to disappear.The heaven shining blue above the horizon became clear, and immediatelyon the western side of the walls they began to cry,--

  "They are coming, they are coming, they are coming!"

  Zamoyski, with three adjutants and Zagloba, entered quickly an angle ofthe walls from which there was a distant view, and the four men beganto look through field-glasses. The mist was lying a little on theground yet, and the Swedish hosts, marching from Vyelanchy, seemed tobe wading to the knees in that mist, as if they were coming out of widewaters. The nearer regiments had become very distinct, so that thenaked eye could distinguish the infantry; they seemed like clouds ofdark dust rolling on toward the town. Gradually more regiments,artillery, and cavalry appeared.

  The sight was beautiful. From each quadrangle of infantry rose anadmirably regular quadrangle of spears; between them waved banners ofvarious colors, but mostly blue with white crosses, and blue withgolden lions. They came very near. On the walls there was silence;therefore the breath of the air brought from the advancing army thesqueaking of wheels, the clatter of armor, the tramp of horses, and thedull sound of human voices. When they had come within twice thedistance of a shot from a culverin, they began to dispose themselvesbefore the fortress. Some quadrangles of infantry broke ranks; othersprepared to pitch tents and dig trenches.

  "They are here!" said Zamoyski.

  "They are the dog-brothers!" answered Zagloba. "They could be counted,man for man, on the fingers. Persons of my long experience, however, donot need to count, but simply to cast an eye on them. There are tenthousand cavalry, and eight thousand infantry with artillery. If I ammistaken in one common soldier or one horse, I am ready to redeem themistake with my whole fortune."

  "Is it possible to estimate in that way?"

  "Ten thousand cavalry and eight thousand infantry. I have hope in Godthat they will go away in much smaller numbers; only let me lead onesortie."

  "Do you hear? They are playing an aria."

  In fact, trumpeters and drummers stepped out before the regiments, andmilitary music began. At the sound of it the more distant regimentsapproached, and encompassed the town from a distance. At last from thedense throngs a few horsemen rode forth. When half-way, they put whitekerchiefs on their swords, and began to wave them.

  "An embassy!" cried Zagloba; "I saw how the scoundrels came to Kyedaniwith the same boldness, and it is known what came of that."

  "Zamost is not Kyedani, and I am not the voevoda of Vilna," answeredZamoyski.

  Meanwhile the horsemen were approaching the gate. After a short time anofficer of the day hurried to Zamoyski with a report that Pan YanSapyeha desired, in the name of the King of Sweden, to see him andspeak with him.

  Zamoyski put his hands on his hips at once, began to step from one footto the other, to puff, to pout, and said at last, with greatanimation,--

  "Tell Pan Sapyeha that Zamoyski does not speak with traitors. If theKing of Sweden wishes to speak with me, let him send me a Swede byrace, not a Pole,--for Poles who serve the Swedes may go as embassadorsto my dogs; I have the same regard for both."

  "As God is dear to me, that is an answer!" cried Zagloba, withunfeigned enthusiasm.

  "But devil take them!" said the starosta, roused by his own words andby praise. "Well, shall I stand on ceremony with them?"

  "Permit me, your worthiness, to take him that answer," said Zagloba.And without waiting, he hastened away with the officer, went to YanSapyeha, and, apparently, not only repeated the starosta's words, butadded something very bad from himself; for Sapyeha turned from the townas if a thunderbolt had burst in front of his horse, and rode away withhis cap thrust over his ears.

  From the walls and from the squadrons of the cavalry which werestanding before the gate they began to hoot at the men riding off,--

  "To the kennel with traitors, the betrayers! Jew servants! Huz, huz!"

  Sapyeha stood before the king, pale, with compressed lips. The king toowas confused, for Zamost had deceived his hopes, in spite of what hadbeen said, he expected to find a town of such power of resistance asCracow, Poznan, and other places, so many of which he had captured;meanwhile he found a fortress powerful, calling to mind those ofDenmark and the Netherlands, which he could not even think of takingwithout guns of heavy calibre.

  "What is the result?" asked the king, when he saw Sapyeha.

  "Nothing! Zamoyski will not speak with Poles who serve your RoyalGrace. He sent out his jester, who reviled me and your Royal Grace soshamefully that it is not proper to repeat what he said."

  "It is all one to me with whom he wants to speak, if he will onlyspeak. In default of other arguments, I have iron arguments; butmeanwhile I will send Forgell."

  Half an hour later Forgell, with a purely Swedish suite, announcedhimself at the gate. The drawbridge was let down slowly over the moat,and the general entered the fortress amid silence and seriousness.Neither the eyes of the envoy nor those of any man in his suite werebound; evidently Zamoyski wished him to see everything, and be able toreport to the king touching everything. The master of Zamost receivedForgell with as much splendor as an independent prince would have done,and arranged all, in truth, admirably, for Swedish lords had not onetwelfth as much wealth as the Poles had
; and Zamoyski among Poles waswell-nigh the most powerful. The clever Swede began at once to treathim as if the king had sent the embassy to a monarch equal to himself;to begin with, he called him "Princeps," and continued to address himthus, though Pan Sobiepan interrupted him promptly in the beginning,--

  "Not princeps, _eques polonus_ (a Polish nobleman), but for that veryreason the equal of princes."

  "Your princely grace," said Forgell, not permitting himself to bediverted, "the Most Serene King of Sweden and Lord," here he enumeratedhis titles, "has not come here as an enemy in any sense; but, speakingsimply, has come on a visit, and through me announces himself, having,as I believe, a well-founded hope that your princely grace will desireto open your gates to him and his army."

  "It is not a custom with us," answered Zamoyski, "to refuse hospitalityto any man, even should he come uninvited. There will always be a placeat my table for a guest; but for such a worthy person as the Swedishmonarch the first place. Inform then the Most Serene King of Swedenthat I invite him, and all the more gladly since the Most SereneCarolus Gustavus is lord in Sweden, as I am in Zamost. But as yourworthiness has seen, there is no lack of servants in my house;therefore his Swedish Serenity need not bring his servants with him.Should he bring them I might think that he counts me a poor man, andwishes to show me contempt."

  "Well done!" whispered Zagloba, standing behind the shoulders of PanSobiepan.

  When Zamoyski had finished his speech he began to pout his lips, topuff and repeat,--

  "Ah, here it is, this is the position!"

  Forgell bit his mustache, was silent awhile, and said,--

  "It would be the greatest proof of distrust toward the king if yourprincely grace were not pleased to admit his garrison to the fortress.I am the king's confidant. I know his innermost thoughts, and besidesthis I have the order to announce to your worthiness, and to giveassurance by word in the name of the king, that he does not think ofoccupying the possessions of Zamost or this fortress permanently. Butsince war has broken out anew in this unhappy land, since rebellion hasraised its head, and Yan Kazimir, unmindful of the miseries which mayfall on the Commonwealth, and seeking only his own fortune, hasreturned within the boundaries, and, together with pagans, comes forthagainst our Christian troops, the invincible king, my lord, hasdetermined to pursue him, even to the wild steppes of the Tartars andthe Turks, with the sole purpose of restoring peace to the country, thereign of justice, prosperity, and freedom to the inhabitants of thisillustrious Commonwealth."

  Zamoyski struck his knee with his hand without saying a word; butZagloba whispered,--

  "The Devil has dressed himself in vestments, and is ringing for Masswith his tail."

  "Many benefits have accrued to this land already from the protection ofthe king," continued Forgell; "but thinking in his fatherly heart thathe has not done enough, he has left his Prussian province again to goonce more to the rescue of the Commonwealth, which depends on finishingYan Kazimir. But that this new war should have a speedy and victoriousconclusion, it is needful that the king occupy for a time thisfortress. It is to be for his troops a point from which pursuitmay begin against rebels. But hearing that he who is the lord ofZamost surpasses all, not only in wealth, antiquity of stock, wit,high-mindedness, but also in love for the country, the king, my master,said at once: 'He will understand me, he will be able to appreciate myintentions respecting this country, he will not deceive my confidence,he will surpass my hopes, he will be the first to put his hand to theprosperity and peace of this country.' This is the truth! So on youdepends the future fate of this country. You may save it and become thefather of it; therefore I have no doubt of what you will do. Whoeverinherits from his ancestors such fame should not avoid an opportunityto increase that fame and make it immortal. In truth, you will do moregood by opening the gates of this fortress than if you had added awhole province to the Commonwealth. The king is confident that youruncommon wisdom, together with your heart, will incline you to this;therefore he will not command, he prefers to request, he throws asidethreats, he offers friendship; not as a ruler with a subject, but aspowerful with powerful does he wish to deal."

  Here General Forgell bowed before Zamoyski with as much respect asbefore an independent monarch. In the hall it grew silent. All eyeswere fixed on Zamoyski. He began to twist, according to his custom, inhis gilded armchair, to pout his lips, and exhibit stern resolve; atlast he thrust out his elbows, placed his palms on his knees, andshaking his head like a restive horse, began,--

  "This is what I have to say! I am greatly thankful to his SwedishSerenity for the lofty opinion which he has of my wit and my love forthe Commonwealth. Nothing is dearer to me than the friendship of such apotentate. But I think that we might love each other all the same ifhis Swedish Serenity remained in Stockholm and I in Zamost; that iswhat it is. For Stockholm belongs to his Swedish Serenity, and Zamostto me. As to love for the Commonwealth, this is what I think. TheCommonwealth will not improve by the coming in of the Swedes, but bytheir departure. That is my argument! I believe that Zamost might helphis Swedish Serenity to victory over Yan Kazimir; but your worthinessshould know that I have not given oath to his Swedish Grace, but to YanKazimir; therefore I wish victory to Yan Kazimir, and I will not giveZamost to the King of Sweden. That is my position!"

  "That policy suits me!" said Zagloba.

  A joyous murmur rose in the hall; but Zamoyski slapped his knees withhis hands, and the sounds were hushed.

  Forgell was confused, and was silent for a time; then he began to argueanew, insisted a little, threatened, begged, flattered. Latin flowedfrom his mouth like a stream, till drops of sweat were on his forehead;but all was in vain, for after his best arguments, so strong that theymight move walls, he heard always one answer,--

  "But still I will not yield Zamost; that is my position!"

  The audience continued beyond measure; at last it became awkward anddifficult for Forgell, since mirth was seizing those present. More andmore frequently some word fell, some sneer,--now from Zagloba, now fromothers,--after which smothered laughter was heard in the hall. Forgellsaw finally that it was necessary to use the last means; therefore heunrolled a parchment with seals, which he held in his hand, and towhich no one had turned attention hitherto, and rising said with asolemn, emphatic voice,--

  "For opening the gates of the fortress his Royal Grace," here again heenumerated the titles, "gives your princely grace the province ofLubelsk in perpetual possession."

  All were astonished when they heard this, and Zamoyski himself wasastonished for a moment. Forgell had begun to turn a triumphant look onthe people around him, when suddenly and in deep silence Zagloba,standing behind Zamoyski, said in Polish,--

  "Your worthiness, offer the King of Sweden the Netherlands inexchange."

  Zamoyski, without thinking long, put his hands on his hips and firedthrough the whole hall in Latin,--

  "And I offer to his Swedish Serenity the Netherlands!"

  That moment the hall resounded with one immense burst of laughter. Thebreasts of all were shaking, and the girdles on their bodies wereshaking; some clapped their hands, others tottered as drunken men, someleaned on their neighbors, but the laughter sounded continuously.Forgell was pale; he frowned terribly, but he waited with fire in hiseyes and his head raised haughtily. At last, when the paroxysm oflaughter had passed, he asked in a short, broken voice,--

  "Is that the final answer of your worthiness?"

  Zamoyski twirled his mustache. "No!" said he, raising his head stillmore proudly, "for I have cannon on the walls."

  The embassy was at an end.

  Two hours later cannons were thundering from the trenches of theSwedes, but Zamoyski's guns answered them with equal power. All Zamostwas covered with smoke, as with an immense cloud; moment after momentthere were flashes in that cloud, and thunder roared unceasingly. Butfire from the heavy fortress guns was preponderant. The Swedish ballsfell in the moat or bounded without effect from the strong angles;toward evening
the enemy were forced to draw back from the nearertrenches, for the fortress was covering them with such a rain ofmissiles that nothing living could endure it. The Swedish king, carriedaway by anger, commanded to burn all the villages and hamlets, so thatthe neighborhood seemed in the night one sea of fire; but Zamoyskicared not for that.

  "All right!" said he, "let them burn. We have a roof over our heads,but soon it will be pouring down their backs."

  And he was so satisfied with himself and rejoiced that he made a greatfeast that day and remained till late at the cups. A resoundingorchestra played at the feast so loudly that, in spite of the thunderof artillery, it could be heard in the remotest trenches of the Swedes.

  But the Swedes cannonaded continually, so constantly indeed that thefiring lasted the whole night. Next day a number of guns were broughtto the king, which as soon as they were placed in the trenches began towork against the fortress. The king did not expect, it is true, to makea breach in the walls; he merely wished to instil into Zamoyski theconviction that he had determined to storm furiously and mercilessly.He wished to bring terror on them; but that was bringing terror onPoles.[6] Zamoyski paid no attention to it for a moment, and oftenwhile on the walls he said, in time of the heaviest cannonading,--

  "Why do they waste powder?"

  Volodyovski and the others offered to make a sortie, but Zamoyski wouldnot permit it; he did not wish to waste blood. He knew besides that itwould be necessary to deliver open battle; for such a careful warrioras the king and such a trained army would not let themselves besurprised. Zagloba, seeing this fixed determination, insisted all themore, and guaranteed that he would lead the sortie.

  "You are too bloodthirsty!" answered Zamoyski. "It is pleasant for usand unpleasant for the Swedes; why should we go to them? You mightfall, and I need you as a councillor; for it was by your wit that Iconfounded Forgell so by mentioning the Netherlands."

  Zagloba answered that he could not restrain himself within the walls,he wanted so much to get at the Swedes; but he was forced to obey. Indefault of other occupation he spent his time on the walls among thesoldiers, dealing out to them precautions and counsel with importance,which all heard with no little respect, holding him a greatlyexperienced warrior, one of the foremost in the Commonwealth; and hewas rejoiced in soul, looking at the defence and the spirit of theknighthood.

  "Pan Michael," said he to Volodyovski, "there is another spirit in theCommonwealth and in the nobles. No one thinks now of treason orsurrender; and every one out of good-will for the Commonwealth and theking is ready to give his life sooner than yield a step to the enemy.You remember how a year ago from every side was heard, 'This one hasbetrayed, that one has betrayed, a third has accepted protection;' andnow the Swedes need protection more than we. If the Devil does notprotect them, he will soon take them. We have our stomachs so full herethat drummers might beat on them, but their entrails are twisted intowhips from hunger."

  Zagloba was right. The Swedish army had no supplies; and for eighteenthousand men, not to mention horses, there was no place from which toget supplies. Zamoyski, before the arrival of the enemy, had brought infrom all his estates for many miles around food for man and horse. Inthe more remote neighborhoods of the country swarmed parties ofconfederates and bands of armed peasants, so that foraging detachmentscould not go out, since just beyond the camp certain death was inwaiting.

  In addition to this, Pan Charnyetski had not gone to the west bank ofthe Vistula, but was circling about the Swedish army like a wild beastaround a sheepfold. Again nightly alarms had begun, and the loss ofsmaller parties without tidings. Near Krasnik appeared certain Polishtroops, which had cut communication with the Vistula. Finally, newscame that Pavel Sapyeha, the hetman, was marching from the north with apowerful Lithuanian army; that in passing he had destroyed the garrisonat Lublin, had taken Lublin, and was coming with cavalry to Zamost.

  Old Wittemberg, the most experienced of the Swedish leaders, saw thewhole ghastliness of the position, and laid it plainly before the king.

  "I know," said he, "that the genius of your Royal Grace can do wonders;but judging things in human fashion, hunger will overcome us, and whenthe enemy fall upon our emaciated army not a living foot of us willescape."

  "If I had this fortress," answered the king, "I could finish the war intwo months."

  "For such a fortress a year's siege is short."

  The king in his soul recognized that the old warrior was right, but hedid not acknowledge that he saw no means himself, that his genius wasstrained. He counted yet on some unexpected event; hence he gave ordersto fire night and day.

  "I will bend the spirit in them," said he; "they will be more inclinedto treaties."

  After some days of cannonading so furious that the light could not beseen behind the smoke, the king sent Forgell again to the fortress.

  "The king, my master," said Forgell, appearing before Zamoyski,"considers that the damage which Zamost must have suffered from ourcannonading will soften the lofty mind of your princely grace andincline it to negotiations."

  To which Zamoyski said: "Of course there is damage! Why should therenot be? You killed on the market square a pig, which was struck in thebelly by the fragment of a bomb. If you cannonade another week, perhapsyou'll kill another pig."

  Forgell took that answer to the king. In the evening a new council washeld in the king's quarters; next day the Swedes began to pack theirtents in wagons and draw their cannon out of the trenches, and in thenight the whole army moved onward.

  Zamost thundered after them from all its artillery, and when they hadvanished from the eye two squadrons, the Shemberk and the Lauda, passedout through the southern gate and followed in their track.

  The Swedes marched southward. Wittemberg advised, it is true, a returnto Warsaw, and with all his power he tried to convince the king thatthat was the only road of salvation; but the Swedish Alexander haddetermined absolutely to pursue the Polish Darius to the remotestboundaries of the kingdom.