German Burg-graf = castle governor. ↩
The English word is here the original. ↩
The priest’s speech involves a pun not capable of translation into English. Ogórki means not only cucumbers, but also the knots in a friar’s rope-girdle. ↩
From kawa coffee. ↩
The Lithuanians trade with Prussia by means of barges, floating down corn, and taking colonial produce in exchange. ↩
The original word is perforce retained, as it is used to signify a national dish, prepared as follows: Take good and tender beef, mince it fine, add a little butter, spice, onions, salt, pepper, egg, breadcrumbs; make small pats or cakes of the compound; fried, boiled, or stewed. ↩
That which is described is a stick with a piece of leather attached to one end. Old men used to (and sometimes do still) walk about with such an instrument, and on seeing a fly would bring down the leather upon it, either killing or scaring it away. ↩
Russian. ↩
Czynownik, an official in the Russian service. “In Russia, in order not to be a peasant or a merchant, in a word, in order to enjoy the privilege of exemption from the knout, it is necessary to enter the service of government, and have a so-called class or czyn (from czynic = to do). The service is divided into fourteen classes; some years of service are necessary to pass from one class into another. Various examinations are assigned to czynowniks, similar to those observed in the Chinese hierarchy of mandarins. A lower or higher rank in the service counts the same as rank in the army.” —Mickiewicz, in the notes to the “Ancestors” ↩
Prince Dominik Radziwill, a great lover of the chase. Having emigrated to the Duchy of Warsaw, he equipped a regiment of horse at his own expense. He died at Paris. In him became extinct the male line of the Princes of Nieswiez. ↩
Mejen distinguished himself in the national war under Kosciuszko. Mejen’s trenches are still shown near Wilna. ↩
The following note is supplied by Dr. Rostafinski of Krakow:—
Lisica. Cantarellus cibarius (Chantarelle).
Borowik. Boletus edulis (called in Lithuania Boletus Bovinus).
Rydz. Agaricus deliciosus.
Muchomor. Amanita muscaria, or Agaricus muscarius (fly-agaric). This is the Siberian fungus, with remarkable intoxicating properties.
Surojadki. A species of the Russula. Those quoted by Mickiewicz seem to be Russula Nitida, R. Alutacea, and R. Emetica.
Kozlak. Two species of Boletus; one B. luteus, the other (mentioned in the text) B. luridus (poisonous).
Bielaki. Agaricus piperatus and Agaricus Vellereus.
Purchawki. Lycoperdon bovista.
Lejki. The word does not signify any particular sort of fungus; it may be that the poet created the name a forma. The shape suggests Agaricus chloroides.
“Fair-cheeks.” ↩
Fox-mushrooms. ↩
Boletus cervi. ↩
There is a well-known popular song in Lithuania about the mushrooms marching to war under the leadership of the borowik. In this song are described the properties of edible mushrooms. (Many species are enumerated in the text as good for food, which English prejudice repudiates as poison.) ↩
Pepper-box. ↩
A sort of long garment, like a dust-cloak. ↩
A proverb equivalent to “A plum growing on a thistle.” ↩
The swaty, or preliminary embassies for negotiation of marriage from the bridegroom to the friends or parents of the bride, play an important part in Slavonic weddings. ↩
“The heart is not
A servant, neither owns a master’s reign,
Nor can be bound by violence in a chain.”
These two lines are quoted from a well-known Polish song. ↩
The Breughel alluded to is Johann (1569–1625), called “Flower Breughel,” to distinguish him from his father and brother, both genre painters. There consequently were three Breughels, instead of only two. Jacob Ruisdael (1635–1681) is the best landscape painter of the Dutch school, and has scarcely, if at all, been surpassed since.
It is scarcely possible for anyone who has travelled in Southern Europe not to recognise the truth of these observations on foreign trees. In spite of the superiority of the south in light and atmosphere, and other advantages of a warmer climate, the north of Europe must certainly bear the palm for beauty of forest scenery. ↩
A famous genre painter; some years before his death he began to paint landscapes. He died in St. Petersburg. ↩
Inner den. See explanation in the text of Book IV. ↩
Literally, centurion, from sto = a hundred; one placed over a hundred peasants, a sort of mayor, or headman of a village. ↩
Panszczyzna, the stipulated amount of service of so many days a week formerly rendered by the peasants to their lords in Slavonic countries. The word szarwark or schaarwerk, probably German in origin, is given in the dictionaries as “statute-labour on the roads,” also a service compulsory from peasants, and commonly applied to agricultural labour exacted one day in each month. ↩
A Sprawnik or Captain
