On the Field of Glory: An Historical Novel of the Time of King John Sobieski

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER VI

  Two days later Yatsek went to Radom with the ten ducats to dresshimself decently before the journey. Father Voynovski remained at homebrooding over this problem: "Whence am I to get money enough for theequipment of a warrior, for a wagon, for horses, a saddle-horse, and anattendant, all of which Yatsek must have if he cares for respect, anddoes not wish men to consider him nobody?"

  Especially did it become Yatsek to appear in that form, since he bore agreat, famous name, though somewhat forgotten in the Commonwealth.

  A certain day Father Voynovski sat down at his small table, wrinkledhis brows till his white hair fell over his forehead, and began then toreckon how much would be needed. His "animalia," that is, the dogFilus, the tame fox, and a badger, were rolling balls near his feet;but he gave them no attention whatever, so tremendously was he occupiedand troubled, for the "reckoning" refused to come out in any way, andfailed every moment. It failed not merely in details, but in the mainprinciples. The old man rubbed his forehead more and more violently andat last he spoke audibly.

  "He took ten ducats with him. Very well; of that, beyond doubt, he willbring nothing back. Let us count farther: from Kondrat, the brewer,five as a loan, from Slonka, three. From Dudu six Prussian thalers anda borrowed saddle-horse, to be paid for in barley if there is aharvest. Total, eight golden ducats, six thalers, and twenty ducats ofmine--too little! Even if I should give him the Wallachian as anattendant, that would be, counting his own mount, two horses; and for awagon two more are needed--and for Yatsek at least two more. It isimpossible to go with fewer, for, if one horse should die he must haveanother. And a uniform for his man, and supplies for the wagon, kettlesand cover and camp chest--tfu! He could only join the dragoons withsuch money."

  Then he turned to the animals which were raising a considerable uproar.

  "Be quiet, ye traitors, or your hides will be sold to Jew hucksters!"

  And again talk began:

  "Yatsek is right, he will have to sell Vyrambki. Still, if he does, hewill have nothing to answer when any one asks him: 'Whence dost thoucome?' 'Whence?' 'From Wind.' 'Which Wind?' 'Wind in the Field.'Immediately every one will slight such a person. It would be better tomortgage the place if a man could be found to give money. Pan Gideonwould be the most suitable person, but Yatsek would not hear of PanGideon, and I myself would not talk with him on the subject--My God!People are mistaken when they say: 'poor as a church mouse!' A man isoften much poorer. A church mouse has Saint Stephen;[3] he lives incomfort, and has his wax at all seasons. O Lord Jesus, who multipliedloaves and fishes, multiply these few ruddy ducats, and these fewthalers, for to thee, O Lord, nothing will be diminished, and Thou wilthelp the last of the Tachevskis."

  Then it occurred to him that the Prussian thalers, since they came froma Lutheran country, could rouse only abhorrence in heaven; as to theducats he hesitated whether to put them under Christ's feet for thenight would he find them there multiplied in the morning? He did notfeel worthy of a miracle, and even he struck himself a number of timeson the breast in repentance for his insolent idea. He could not dwellon this longer, however, for some one had come to the front of hisdwelling.

  After a while the door opened and a tall, gray haired man entered. Hehad black eyes and a wise, kindly countenance. The man bowed on thethreshold.

  "I am Tsyprianovitch of Yedlinka," said he.

  "Yes. I saw you in Prityk, at the festival, but only at a distance, forthe throng there was great," said the priest, approaching his guestwith vivaciousness. "I greet you on my lowly threshold with gladness."

  "I have come hither with gladness," answered Pan Serafin. "It is animportant and pleasant duty to salute a knight so renowned, and apriest who is so saintly."

  Then he kissed the old man on the shoulder and the hand, though thepriest warded off these acts, saying,--

  "Ho, what saintliness! These beasts here may have before God greatermerit than I have."

  But Pan Serafin spoke so sincerely and with such simplicity that he wonthe priest straightway. They began at once, therefore, to speakpleasant words which were heartfelt.

  "I know your son," said the priest; "he is a cavalier of worthand noble manners. In comparison, those Bukoyemskis seem simplyserving-men. I will say to you that Yatsek Tachevski has conceived sucha love for Pan Stanislav that he praises him always."

  "And my Stashko treats him in like manner. It happens frequently thatmen fight and later on love each other. None of us feel offence towardPan Tachevski, nay, we should like to conclude with him realfriendship. I have just been at his house in Vyrambki, expecting tofind him. I wished to invite to Yedlinka you, my benefactor, and PanTachevski."

  "Yatsek is in Radom, but he will return and would be glad, doubtless,to serve you-- But have you seen, your grace, how they treated him atPan Gideon's?"

  "They have seen that themselves," said Pan Serafin, "and are sorry, notPan Gideon, however, but the women."

  "There are few men so stubborn as Pan Gideon, and he incurs a seriousaccount before the Lord sometimes for this reason--as for thewomen--God be with them-- Let them go, what is the use in hiding this:that one of them caused the duel?"

  "I divined that before my son told me. But the cause is innocent."

  "They are all innocent-- Do you know what Ecclesiastes says of women?"

  Pan Serafin did not know, so the priest took down the Vulgate and readan extract from Ecclesiastes.

  "What do you think of that?" asked he.

  "There are women even of that kind."

  "Yatsek is going into the world for no other cause, and I am far fromdissuading him. On the contrary, I advise him to go."

  "Do you? Is he going soon? The war will come only next summer."

  "Do you know that to a certainty?"

  "I do, for I inquired and I inquired because I cannot keep my own sonfrom it."

  "No, because he is a noble. Yatsek is going immediately, for, to tellthe truth, it is painful for him to remain here."

  "I understand, I understand everything. Haste is the best cure in sucha case."

  "He will stay only as long as may be needed to mortgage Vyrambki, orsell it. It is only a small strip of land. I advise Yatsek not to sellbut to mortgage. Though he may never come back, he can sign himselfalways as from it, and that is more decent for a man of his name andhis origin."

  "Must he sell or mortgage in every case?"

  "He must. The man is poor, quite poor. You know how much it costs to goto a war, and he cannot serve in a common dragoon regiment."

  Pan Serafin thought a while, and said,--

  "My benefactor, perhaps I would take a mortgage on Vyrambki."

  Father Voynovski blushed as does a maiden when a young man confesses ona sudden that for which she is yearning beyond all things; but theblush flew over his face as swiftly as summer lightning through the skyof evening; then he looked at Pan Serafin, and asked,--

  "Why do you take it?"

  Pan Serafin answered with all the sincerity of an honest spirit:

  "I want it since I wish, without loss to myself, to render an honorableyoung man a service, for which I shall gain his gratitude. And, Fatherbenefactor, I have still another idea. I will send my one son to thatregiment in which Pan Yatsek is to serve, and I think that my Stashkowill find in him a good friend and comrade. You know how important acomrade is and what a true friend at one's side means in camp where aquarrel comes easily, and in war where death comes still more easily.God has not, in my case been sparing of fortune, and He has given meonly one son. Pan Yatsek is brave, sober, a master at the sabre, as hasbeen shown--and he is virtuous, for you have reared him. Let him and myson be like Orestes and Pylades--that is my reckoning."

  Father Voynovski opened his arms to him widely.

  "God himself sent you! For Yatsek I answer as I do for myself. He is agolden fellow, and his heart is as grateful as wheat land. God sentyou! My dear boy can now show himself as befits the Tachevskiescutcheon, a
nd most important of all, he can, after seeing the wideworld, forget altogether that girl for whom he has thrown away so manyyears, and suffered such anguish."

  "Has he loved her then from of old?"

  "Well, to tell the truth, he has loved her since childhood. Even now hesays nothing, he sets his teeth, but he squirms like an eel beneath aknife edge. Let him go at the earliest, for nothing could or can comefrom this love of his."

  A moment of silence followed, then the old man continued,--

  "But we must speak of these matters more accurately. How much can youlend on Vyrambki? It is a poor piece of land."

  "Even one hundred ducats."

  "Fear God, your grace!"

  "But why? If Pan Yatsek ever pays me it will be all the same how much Ilend him. If he does not pay I shall get my own also, for though theland about here is poor, that new soil must be good beyond the forest.To-day I will take my son and the Bukoyemskis to Yedlinka, and you willdo us the favor to come as soon as Pan Yatsek returns to you fromRadom. The money will be ready."

  "Your grace came from heaven with your golden heart and your money,"said Father Voynovski.

  Then he commanded to bring mead which he poured out himself, and theydrank with much pleasure as men do who have joy at their heart strings.With the third glass the priest became serious.

  "For the assistance, for the good word, for the honesty, let me pay,"said he, "even with good advice."

  "I am listening."

  "Do not settle your son in Vyrambki. The young lady is beautiful beyondevery description. She may also be honorable, I say naught againstthat; but she is a Sieninski, not she alone, but Pan Gideon is so proudof this that if any man, no matter who, were to ask for her, evenYakobus our king's son, he would not seem too high to Pan Gideon. Guardyour son, do not let him break his young heart on that pride, or woundhimself mortally like Yatsek. Out of pure and well-wishing friendshipdo I say this, desiring to pay for your kindness with kindness."

  Pan Serafin drew his palm across his forehead as he answered,--

  "They dropped down on us at Yedlinka as from the clouds because of whathappened on the journey. I went once to Pan Gideon's on a neighborlyvisit, but he did not return it. Noting his pride and its origin I havenot sought his acquaintance or friendship. What has come came ofitself. I will not settle my son in Vyrambki, nor let him be foolish atPan Gideon's mansion. We are not such an ancient nobility as theSieninskis, nor perhaps as Pan Gideon, but our nobility grew out ofwar, out of that which gives pain, as Charnyetski described it. Weshall be able to preserve our own dignity--my son is not less keen onthat point than I am. It is hard for a young man to guard againstCupid, but I will tell you, my benefactor, what Stashko told me whenrecently at Pan Gideon's. I inquired touching Panna Anulka. 'I wouldrather,' said he, 'not pluck an apple than spring too high after it,for if I should not reach the fruit, shame would come of my effort.'"

  "Ah! he has a good thought in his head!" exclaimed Father Voynovski.

  "He has been thus from his boyhood," added Pan Serafin with a certainproud feeling. "He told me also, that when he had learnt what the girlhad been to Tachevski, and what he had passed through because of her,he would not cross the road of so worthy a cavalier. No, my benefactor,I do not take a mortgage on Vyrambki to have my son near Pan Gideon's.May God guard my Stanislav, and preserve him from evil."

  "Amen! I believe you as if an angel were speaking. And now let somethird man take the girl, even one of the Bukoyemskis, who boast of suchkinsfolk."

  Pan Serafin smiled, drank out his mead, took farewell, and departed.

  Father Voynovski went to the church to thank God for that unexpectedassistance, and then he waited for Yatsek impatiently.

  When at last Yatsek came, the old man ran out to the yard and seizedhim by the shoulders.

  "Yatsek," exclaimed he, "thou canst give ten ducats for a crupper. Thouhast one hundred ducats, as it were, on the table, and Vyrambki remainsto thee."

  Yatsek fixed on Father Voynovski eyes that were sunken fromsleeplessness and suffering, and asked, with astonishment,--

  "What has happened?"

  "A really good thing, since it came from the heart of an honest man."

  Father Voynovski noted with the greatest consolation that Yatsek inspite of his terrible suffering, and all his heart tortures, received,as it were, a new spirit on learning of the agreement with Pan Serafin.For some days he spoke and thought only of horses, wagons, outfit, andservants, so that it seemed as though there was no place for aught elsein him.

  "Here is thy medicine, thy balsam; here are thy remedies," repeated thepriest to himself; "for if a man entrapped by a woman and never sounhappy were going to the army he would have to be careful not to buy ahorse that had heaves or was spavined; he would have to choose sabres,and fit on his armor, try his lance once and a second time, and,turning from the woman to more fitting objects, find relief for hisheart in them."

  And he remembered how, when young, he himself had sought in war eitherdeath or forgetfulness. But since war had not begun yet, death wasstill distant from Yatsek in every case; meantime he was filled withhis journey, and with questions bound up in it.

  There was plenty to do. Pan Serafin and his son came again to thepriest with whom Yatsek was living. Then all went to the city togetherto draw up the mortgage. There, also, they found a part of Yatsek'soutfit; the remainder, the experienced and clear-headed priest advisedto search out in Warsaw or Cracow. This beginning of work took up somedays, during which young Stanislav, whose slight wound was almosthealed, gave earnest assistance to Yatsek, with whom he contracted amore and more intimate acquaintance and friendship. The old men werepleased at this, for both held it extremely important. The honest PanSerafin even began to be sorry that Yatsek was going so promptly, andto persuade the priest not to hasten his departure.

  "I understand," said he, "I understand well, my benefactor, why youwish to send him away at the earliest; but in truth I must tell youthat I think no ill of that Panna Anulka. It is true that immediatelyafter the duel she did not receive Pan Yatsek very nicely, but rememberthat she and Pani Vinnitski were snatched from the jaws of the wolvesby my son and the Bukoyemskis. What wonder, then, that, at sight of theblood and the wounds of those gentlemen, she was seized with an anger,which Pan Gideon roused in her purposely, as I know. Pan Gideon is astubborn man, truly; but when I was there the poor girl came to meperfectly penitent. 'I see,' said she, 'that we did not act justly, andthat some reparation is due to Pan Yatsek.' Her eyes became moistimmediately, and pity seized me, because that face of hers is comelybeyond measure. Besides, she has an honest soul and despisesinjustice."

  "By the dear God! let not Yatsek hear of this; for his heart would rushstraightway to death again, and barely has he begun to breathe now infreedom. He ran away from Pan Gideon's bareheaded; he swore that hewould never go back to that mansion, and God guard him from doing so.Women, your grace, are like will-o'-the-wisps which move at night overswamp lands at Yedlinka. If you chase one it flees, if you flee itpursues you. That is the way of it!"

  "That is a wise statement, which I must drive into Stashko," said PanSerafin.

  "Let Yatsek go at the earliest. I have written letters already tovarious acquaintances, and to dignitaries whom I knew before they weredignitaries, and to warriors the most famous. In those letters yourson, too, is recommended as a worthy cavalier; and when his turn comesto go he shall have letters also, though he may not need them, sinceYatsek will prepare the way for him. Let the two serve together."

  "From my whole soul I thank you, my benefactor. Yes! let them servetogether, and may their friendship last till their lives end. You havementioned the regiment of Alexander, the king's son, which is underZbierhovski. That is a splendid regiment,--perhaps the first among thehussars,--so I should like Stashko to join it; but he said to me: 'Thelight-horse for six days in the week, and the hussars, as it were, onlyon Sunday.'"

  "That is true generally," answered the priest. "Hussars are not se
nt onscouting expeditions, and it is rare also that they go skirmishing, asit is not fitting that such men should meet all kinds of faces; butwhen their turn comes, they so press on and trample that others do notspill so much blood in six days as they do on their Sunday. But then,war, not the warriors, command; hence sometimes it happens that hussarsperform every-day labor."

  "You, my benefactor, know that beyond any man."

  Father Voynovski closed his eyes for a moment, as if wishing to recallthe past more in detail; then he raised them, looked at the mead,swallowed one mouthful, then a second, and said,--

  "So it was when toward the end of the Swedish war we went to punishthat traitor, the Elector, for his treaties with Carolus. PanLyubomirski, the marshal, took fire and sword to the outskirts ofBerlin. I was then in his own regiment, in which Viktor was lieutenantcommander. The Brandenburger[4] met us as best he was able, now withinfantry, now with general militia in which were German nobles; and Itell you that at last, on our side, the arms of the hussars and theCossacks of the household seemed almost as if moving on hinges."

  "Was it such difficult work then?"

  "It was not difficult, for at the mere sight of us muskets and spearstrembled in the hands of those poor fellows as tree branches tremblewhen the wind blows around them; but there was work daily from morningtill twilight. Whether a man thrusts his spear into a breast or a back,it is labor. Ah! but that was a lovely campaign! for, as people said,it was active, and in my life I have never seen so many men's backs andso many horse rumps as in that time. Even Luther was weeping in hell,for we ravaged one half of Brandenburg thoroughly."

  "It is pleasant to remember that treason came to just punishment."

  "Of course it is pleasant. The Elector appeared then and begged peaceof Lyubomirski. I did not see him, but later on soldiers told me thatthe marshal walked along the square with his hands on his hips whilethe Elector tripped after him like a whip-lash. The Elector bowed sothat he almost touched the ground with his wig, and seized the knees ofthe marshal. Nay! they even said that he kissed him wherever ithappened; but I give no great faith to that statement, though themarshal, who had a haughty heart, loved to bend down the enemy; but hewas a polite man in every case, and would not permit things of thatkind."

  "God grant that it may happen with the Turks this time as it did thenwith the Elector."

  "My experience, though not lofty, is long, and I will say to yousincerely that it will go, I think, as well or still better. Themarshal was a warrior of experience and especially a lucky one, butstill, we could not compare Lyubomirski with His Grace the Kingreigning actually."

  Then they mentioned all the victories of Sobieski and the battles inwhich they themselves had taken part. And so they drank to the healthof the king, and rejoiced, knowing that with him as a leader the youngmen would see real war; not only that, but, since the war was to beagainst the ancient enemy of the cross, they would win immense glory.

  In truth no one knew accurately anything yet about the question. It wasnot known whether the Turkish power would turn first on theCommonwealth or the Empire. The question of a treaty with Austria wasto be raised at the Diet. But in provincial diets and the meetings ofnobles men spoke of war only. Statesmen who had been in Warsaw, and atthe court, foretold it with conviction, and besides, the whole peoplehad been seized by a feeling that it must come--a feeling almoststronger than certainty, and brought out as well by the former deeds ofthe king as by the general desire and the destiny of the nation.