CHAPTER XXVI
"How is that?" inquired Father Voynovski, at the dinner which hiscomrades gave Yatsek. "We are going in five or six days; thou mightstdie in the war; is it worth while to marry before a campaign, insteadof waiting for the happy end of it, and then marrying at your leisure?"
His comrades, when they heard these prudent words, burst into laughter;some of them held their sides, others cried in a chorus,--"Oh! it isworth while, benefactor! and just for this reason that he may die is itworth while all the more."
The priest was a little angry, but when the three hundred best men, notexcepting Pan Stanislav insisted, and Yatsek would not hear of delay,it had to be as he wanted. Renewed relations with the court, and thefavor of the king and queen facilitated the affair very greatly. Thequeen declared that the coming Pani Tachevski would be under herprotection till the war ended, and the king himself promised to be atthe marriage, and to think of a fitting dowry when his mind was lessoccupied. He remembered that many lands of the Sieninskis had passed tothe Sobieskis, and how his ancestors had grown strong from them, hencehe felt under obligations to the orphan, who, besides, had attractedhim by her beauty, and also roused his compassion by her harsh fate,and the evils which she had suffered.
Pan Matchynski, a friend from of old, to Father Voynovski, and also afriend of the king, promised to remind him of the young lady, but afterthe war; for at that time when on the shoulders of Yan III the fate ofall Europe was resting, and of all Christianity, it was not permittedto trouble him with private interests. Father Voynovski was comfortedwith this promise as much as if Yatsek had then received a good "crownestate," for all knew that word from Pan Matchynski was as sure offulfilment as had been the words of Zavisha. To speak strictly, he wasthe author of all the good which had met Panna Sieninski in Cracow; hementioned Father Voynovski to the king and queen; finally he won forthe young lady the queen, who, though capricious in her likings, andfickle, began from the first moment to show her special favor andfriendship, which seemed even almost too sudden.
A dispensation from banns was received easily through protection of thecourt, and the favor of the bishop of Cracow. Even earlier, Pan Serafinhad obtained for the young couple handsome lodgings from a Cracowmerchant, whose ancestors and those of Pan Serafin had done business intheir day, when the latter were living in Lvoff, and importing brocadesfrom the Orient. That was a beautiful lodging, and, because of themultitude of civil and military dignitaries in the city, so good a onecould not be obtained by many a voevoda. Stanislav had determined thatYatsek should pass those few days before the campaign as it were in agenuine heaven, and he ornamented those lodgings unusually with freshflowers and tapestry; other comrades helped him with zeal, eachlending, the best of what he had, rugs, tapestry, carpets, and suchlike costly articles, which in wealthy hussar regiments were taken incampaigns even.
In one word, all showed the young couple the greatest good-will, andhelped them as each one was able and with what he commanded, except thefour Bukoyemskis. They, in the first days after coming to Cracow, wentsometimes twice in a day to Stanislav and to Yatsek, and to merchantsat the inns with whom officers from the regiment of Prince Alexanderdrank not infrequently, but afterward the four brothers vanished as ifthey had fallen into water. Father Voynovski thought that they weredrinking in the suburbs, where servants had seen them one evening, andwhere mead and wine were cheaper than in the city, but immediatelyafter that all report of them vanished. This angered the priest as wellas the Tsyprianovitches, for the brothers were bound to Pan Serafin ingratitude; this they should not have forgotten. "They may be goodsoldiers," said the priest, "but they are giddy heads in whosesedateness we cannot put confidence. Of course they have found somewild company in which they pass time more pleasantly than with any ofus."
This judgment proved inaccurate, however, for on the eve of Yatsek'smarriage, when his quarters were filled with acquaintances who had comewith good wishes and presents, the four brothers appeared in their verybest garments. Their faces were calm, serious, and full ofmysteriousness.
"What has happened to you?" asked Pan Serafin.
"We have been tracking a wild beast!" replied Lukash.
"Quiet!" said Mateush, giving him a punch in the side, "Do not telltill the time comes."
Then he looked at the priest, at Pan Serafin and his son, and turningfinally to Yatsek, began to clear his throat, like a man who intends tospeak in some detail.
"Well, begin right away!" urged his brothers.
But he looked at them with staring eyes, and inquired,--
"How was it?"
"How? Hast thou forgotten?"
"It has broken in me."
"Wait--I know," cried Yan. "It began: 'Our most worthy--' Go on!"
"Our most worthy Pilate," began Mateush.
"Why 'Pilate'?" interrupted the priest. "Perhaps it is Pylades?"
"Benefactor thou hast hit the nail on the head," cried Yan. "As I live,it is Pylades."
"Our worthy Pylades!" began Mateush, now reassured, "though not theiron Boristhenes, but the gold-bearing Tagus itself were to flow in ournative region, we, being exiled through attacks of barbarians, shouldhave nothing but our hearts glowing with friendship to offer thee,neither could we honor this day as it merits by any thank-offering--"
"Thou speakest as if cracking nuts," cried out Lukash excitedly.
But Mateush kept on repeating: "As it merits,--as it merits--" Hestopped, looked at his brothers, calling with his eyes for rescue, butthey had forgotten entirely that which was to come later.
The Bukoyemskis began now to frown, and the audience to titter. Seeingthis Pan Serafin resolved to assist them.
"Who composed this speech for you?" asked he.
"Pan Gromyka, of Pan Shumlanski's regiment," said Mateush.
"There it is. A strange horse is more likely to balk and rear than yourown beast; so now embrace Yatsek and tell him what ye have to say."
"Surely that is the best way."
And they embraced Yatsek one after another. Then Mateushcontinued,--"Yatsus! we know that thou art no Pilate, and thou knowestthat after losing Kieff regions we are poor fellows, in short we arenaked. Here is all that we can give, and accept with thankful hearteven this."
Then they handed him some object wound up in a piece of red satin, andat that moment the three younger brothers repeated, with feeling,--
"Accept it, Yatsus, accept! Accept!"
"I accept, and God repay you," answered Yatsek.
Thus speaking, he put the object on the table, and began to unroll thesatin. All at once he started back, and cried,--
"As God lives, it is the ear of a man!"
"But dost thou know whose ear? Martsian Krepetski's!" thundered thebrothers.
"Ah!"
All present were so tremendously astonished that silence followedimmediately.
"Tfu!" cried Father Voynovski, at last.
And measuring the brothers, one after the other, with a stern glance,he began at the eldest,--
"Are ye Turks to bring in the ears of beaten enemies? Ye are a shame tothis Christian army and all nobles. If Krepetski deserved death ahundred times, if he were even a heretic, or out and out a pagan, itwould still be an inexpressible shame to commit such an action. Oh, yehave delighted Yatsek, so that he spits from his mouth that which comesinto it. But I tell you that for such a deed ye are to expect notgratitude but contempt, and shame also; for there is no regiment in allthe cavalry, or even a regiment in the infantry, which would acceptsuch barbarians as comrades."
At this Mateush stepped out in front of his brothers, and, flaming withrage, said,--
"Here is gratitude for you, here is reward, here is the justice ofpeople, and a judgment. If any layman were to utter this judgment Ishould cut one ear from him, and also the other to go with it, butsince a clerical person speaks thus, let the Lord Jesus judge him, andtake the side of the innocent! Your Grace asks: 'Are ye Turks?' but Iask: Do you think that
we cut off the ear of a dead man? My bornbrothers, ye innocent orphans, to what have ye come, that they makeTurks of you, enemies of the faith! To what?"
Here his voice quivered, for his grief had exceeded his auger. Thethree brothers, roused by the unjust judgment, began to cry out withequal sorrow,--
"They make Turks of us!"
"Enemies of the faith!"
"Vile pagans!"
"Then tell, in the name of misfortune, how it was," said the priest.
"Lukash cut off Martsian's ear in a duel."
"Whence did Krepetski come hither?"
"He rode into Cracow. He was here five days. He rode in behind us."
"Let one speak. Speak thou, but to the point."
Here the priest turned to Yan, the youngest.
"An acquaintance of ours from the regiment of the Bishop of Sandomir,"began Yan, "told us by chance, three days ago, that he had seen in awineshop on Kazamir street a certain wonder. 'A noble,' says he, 'asthick as a tree stump, with a great head so thrust into his body thathis shoulders come up to his ears, on short crooked legs,' says he,'and he drinks like a dragon. A viler monkey I have not seen in mylife,' says he. And we, since the Lord Jesus has given us this giftfrom birth, take everything in at a twinkle, we look at one anotherthat instant: Well, is not that Krepetski? Then we said to the man,'Take us to that wineshop.' 'I will take you.' And he took us. It wasdark, but we looked till we saw something black in one corner behind atable. Lukash walked up to it, and made sparks fly before the very eyesof him who was hiding there. 'Krepetski,' cries he, and grabs him bythe shoulder. We to our sabres. Krepetski sprang away, but saw thatthere was no escape, for we were between him and the doorway. Did henot jump then? He jumped up time after time as a cock does. 'What,'says he, 'do ye think that I am afraid? Only come at me one by one, notin a crowd, unless ye are murderers, not nobles.'"
"The scoundrel!" interrupted the priest.
"What did he try to do with us? That is what Lukash asked him. 'Oh!'said Lukash, 'thou son of such a mother, thou didst hire a wholeregiment of cut-throats against us. It would be well,' said he, 'togive thee to the headsman, but this is the shorter way!' Then hepresses on, and they fall to cutting. After the third or fourth blow,his head leans to one side. I look--and there is an ear on the floor.Mateush raises it immediately, and cries,--'Leave the other to us, donot cut it. This,' said he 'will be for Yatsek, and the other for PannaAnulka.' But Martsian dropped his sabre, for his blood had begun toflow terribly, and he fainted. We poured water on his head, and wineinto his mouth, thinking that he would revive and meet the next one ofus; but that could not be. He recovered consciousness, it is true, andsaid: 'Since ye have sought justice yourselves, ye are not free to seekany other,' and he fainted again. We went away then, sorry not to havethe other ear. Lukash said that he could have killed the man, but hespared him for us, and especially for Yatsek. And I do not know if anyone could act more politely, for it is no sin to crush such vermin asMartsian, but it is clear that politeness does not pay now-a-days,since we have to suffer for showing it."
"True! He speaks justly!" said the other brothers.
"Well," said the priest, "if the matter stands thus it is different,but still the gift is unsavory."
The brothers looked with amazement one at another.
"Why say unsavory?" asked Marek. "You do not think we brought it forYatsek to eat, do you?"
"I thank you from my soul for your good wishes," said Tachevski. "Ithink that ye did not bring it to me to be stored away."
"It has grown a little green--it might be smoke-dried."
"Let a man bury it at once," said the priest with severity; "it is theear of a Christian in every case."
"In Kieff we have seen better treatment," growled out Mateush.
"Krepetski came hither undoubtedly," remarked Yatsek, "to make a newattack on Anulka."
"He will not take her away from the king's palace," said the prudentPan Serafin, "but he did not come for that, if I think correctly. Hisattack failed, so I suppose he only wanted to learn whether we knowthat he arranged it, and if we have complained of him. Perhaps oldKrepetski did not know of his son's undertaking; but perhaps he didknow; if he did, then both must be greatly alarmed, and I am not at allsurprised that Martsian came here to investigate."
"Well," said Stanislav, laughing, "he has no luck with the Bukoyemskis,indeed he has not."
"Let him go," said Tachevski. "To-day I am ready to forgive him."
The Bukoyemskis and Stanislav, who knew the stubbornness of the youngcavalier, looked at him with astonishment, and he, as if answeringthem, added,--
"For Anulka will be mine immediately, and to-morrow I shall be aChristian knight and defender of the faith, a man whose heart should befree of all hate and personalities."
"God bless thee for that!" cried the priest.
On the Field of Glory: An Historical Novel of the Time of King John Sobieski Page 27