Thence seemed they white, like purgatory souls.
All the young people likewise seemed disguised,
Excepting Telimena and some others,
Who wore the French costume. The Count this scene
Could comprehend not, neither did he know
This country custom, so in measureless
Amazement he unto the thicket ran.
Of mushrooms there was plenty!89 Krasnolice90
The lads collected, and the lisice,91
Renowned in Lithuanian songs; they are
Emblem of maidenhood, for never grubs
Devour them; and more wondrous, never insects
Upon them sit. The youthful ladies seek
The slim borowik,92 which the song extols,93
As colonel of the fungi. But all search
For agarics; which, humbler in their growth,
And less renowned in songs, yet most delicious
Are, whether they be eaten fresh, or salted,
In autumn or in winter. But the Wojski
Collected muchomory. Others form
The commonwealth of mushrooms, in the mass
Despised for harmfulness, or evil taste.
But yet they have their uses; food for beasts,
And insects’ nests, and ornaments of groves.
On the green table-cloth of meadows, like
A row of table vessels they appear.
The silvery surojadki, red and yellow,
Appear like tiny goblets filled with wine,
The kozlak like a swelling cup reversed,
Lejki like slender glasses of champagne,
Bielaki, round and white, and broad and flat,
Like Dresden cups filled to the brim with milk,
And a round ball, filled with a blackish dust,
Purchawka,94 like a pepper-castor; other
Names are there, known in tongue of wolves or hares,
By men unchristened;—but they have no number,
And no one condescends to touch the hare
Or wolfish mushrooms; and whoever stoops
Towards them, and perceiveth his mistake,
In anger breaks the fungus, or upon it
Tramples, and spoiling thus the grass, he acts
Very imprudently. But Telimena
Collected neither human mushrooms nor
Wolfish; she, absent-minded, weary, looked
Around her, with her head uplifted. Angry,
The Regent said that she was seeking mushrooms
Upon the trees; the Assessor likened her,
With greater malice, to a hen-bird, seeking
Around to find a place to build her nest.
However, it appeared she sought for silence,
For solitude; for slowly she withdrew
Herself from her companions; and she went
Along the wood, towards a low-sloped hill,
O’ershadowed, for the trees grew thickly there.
A grey stone midmost; from beneath the stone
A streamlet murmured, gushed forth, and at once
As though it sought for shadow, hid itself
Among the herbage thick and growing high,
Which, drunk with water, round luxuriated.
There the swift, wilful stream in grasses swaddled,
And laid on bed of leafage, motionless
And noiseless, unperceived, and scarcely heard,
Did whisper to itself, like crying child,
When laid down in its cradle, while the mother
Above it curtains binds of foliage,
And scatters leaves of poppy on its head.
A tranquil, lovely place; here Telimena
Oft hides herself, and calls it Sanctuary
Of Meditation. Standing by the brook,
She from her shoulders threw upon the grass
Her lightly-waving shawl, like bloodstone red.
And like a swimmer, who doth bend her down
Unto the chilly water, ere she dare
The plunge, so she knelt down, and gradually
Bent to one side. At last, as borne away
By a coral torrent, on the shawl she fell,
And lay extended; on the grass her elbow,
Leaning her brow upon her open hand,
Her head bent downward to the ground, and on
The ground beside her head there gleamed the white
And vellum paper of a French book. Over
The alabaster pages, wreathed the black
Ringlets and rosy ribbons. In the emerald
Of the luxuriant grass upon the shawl
Of bloodstone-red, in a long garment, as
Within a coral covering, wherefrom
Her locks appeared at one end, at the other
Was a black slipper; at the sides gleamed white
Her snowy stocking, handkerchief, and whiteness
Of hands and face; she well might seem afar
A many-coloured caterpillar, crawling
Upon the green leaf of a maple-tree.
Alas! the charms and beauties of this picture
In vain sought connoisseurs; none heeded them.
All were so busy with their mushroom hunt.
However, Thaddeus regarded them,
And glanced aside, and daring not to go
Straightway, he glided sidewards to the place.
As does the hunter, in a leafy booth,
Movable, planted on two wheels, when he
Follows the trail of game; or in pursuing
Plovers, upon the saddle lays his gun,
Or underneath the horse’s neck; now seems
To drag a harrow, now along the ridge
To ride; but every move draws nearer to
The spot where sit the birds. So Thaddeus
Stole up. The Judge disturbed his ambush, and
Cutting across his way, made haste unto
The fountain. With his sarafan’s95 white skirt,
And a great handkerchief, the end of which
Was bound unto his girdle, played the wind.
A straw hat, bound beneath his chin, from his
Swift movement, like a leaf of burdock, in
The wind waved to and fro; now on his shoulder
It fell, and now again upon his eyes;
A great stick in his hand: thus strode the Judge.
He stopped, and in the streamlet washed his hands;
Then on the great stone close by Telimena
He sat, and both hands on the ivory head
Of his enormous cane supporting, he
Began with such preamble. “As thou seest,
Since Thaddeus came here as guest, I have had
No small anxiety. I am an old
And childless man; he is a good boy, truly
My only consolation in the world,
And future heir unto my fortune. I,
By heaven’s grace, shall leave no bad provision
Of noble’s bread behind me; ’tis now time
His future to consider, and his settling.
But judge of my distress. Thou knowest well
Pan Jacek, my own brother, and the father
Of Thaddeus—a man most singular,
’Tis hard to know the meaning of his plans—
Will not return unto his native land.
Heaven only knows where he has hid himself.
He will not even tell his son he lives,
But is continually disposing of him.
He first desired to send him to the legions;
And greatly this tormented me. Then he
Agreed that he should stay at home and marry
He should indeed have got a wife already.
I looked for a good match. No dweller here
In birth is equal, or in parentage
Unto the Chamberlain; his daughter Anna
Is marriageable, beautiful, well-dowered.
I wished to”—Telimena here grew pale,
Laid down her book, half rose, again sat down.
“As I my mother love,” said she, “are you,
My brother, in your senses, right in heart?
Think you that you will be a
