The Deluge

arms without control at her sides; but when he was near she looked into the face of the emaciated man⁠—who after such a time of separation approached, like Lazarus, without a drop of blood in his face⁠—then sobbing, rent her breast again. He, from weeping, from happiness, and from confusion, did not know himself what to say⁠—

“What, Olenka, what?”

But she dropped suddenly to his knees⁠—

“Yendrek!” cried she, “I am not worthy to kiss thy wounds!”

At that moment strength came back to the knight; he seized her from the ground like a feather, and pressed her to his bosom.

One immense shout, from which the walls of the house trembled and the last of the leaves fell from the trees, dinned every ear. The Lauda men began to fire from pistols; caps flew into the air; around nothing was to be seen but faces carried away by joy, gleaming eyes, and open mouths shouting⁠—

“Vivat Kmita! vivat Panna Billevich! vivat the young couple!”

“Vivat two couples!” roared Zagloba; but his voice was lost in the general storm.

Vodokty was turned as it were into a camp. All day they were slaughtering oxen and sheep at command of the sword-bearer, and digging out of the ground barrels of mead and beer. In the evening all sat down to a feast⁠—the oldest and most noted in the rooms, the younger in the servants’ hall; the simple people rejoiced equally at fires in the yard.

At the chief table the cup went around in honor of two happy pairs; but when good feeling had reached the highest degree, Zagloba raised the following toast:⁠—

“To thee I return, worthy Pan Andrei, and to thee old friend, Pan Michael! It was not enough to expose your breasts, to shed blood, to cut down the enemy! Your work is not finished; for since a multitude of people have fallen in time of this terrible war, you must now give new inhabitants, new defenders to this Commonwealth. For this I think you will not lack either in manhood or good will. Worthy gentlemen! to the honor of those coming generations! May God bless them, and permit them to guard this legacy which we leave them, restored by our toil, by our sweat, by our blood. When grievous times come, let them remember us and never despair, considering that there are no straits out of which it is impossible to rise, with united forces and the help of God.”

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Pan Andrei not long after his marriage served in a new war which broke out on the eastern side of the Commonwealth; but the thundering victory of Charnyetski and Sapyeha over Hovanski and Dolgoruki, and the hetmans of the kingdom over Sheremetyeff, soon brought it to an end. Then Kmita returned, covered with fresh glory, and settled down permanently in Vodokty. After him his cousin Yakub became banneret of Orsha⁠—Yakub, who afterward belonged to the unfortunate confederation of the army; but Pan Andrei, standing soul and heart with the king, rewarded with the starostaship of Upita, lived long in exemplary harmony and love with Lauda, surrounded by universal respect. His ill-wishers⁠—for who has them not?⁠—said, it is true, that he listened overmuch to his wife in everything. He was not ashamed of that, however, but acknowledged himself that in every important affair he sought her advice.

Endnotes

1. Means “On the sea.” ↩

2. Pereyaslav will be remembered by the readers of With Fire and Sword as the place where the Polish commissioners with Adam Kisel brought the baton and banner from the king to Hmelnitski. ↩

3. “Two-bridges,” the Bipont of chapter LXXXIV. ↩

4. This word means technically “villages inhabited by petty nobles:” etymologically it means “behind walls,”⁠—hence, “beyond or outside the walls,” as above. ↩

5. This war was carried on by the Tsar Alexis, father of Peter the Great and son of Michael Romanoff. See Introduction. ↩

6. The speech of the main body of the people in Jmud is Lithuanian to this day. ↩

7. Lithuanian forms, with nominative ending in s and as. ↩

8. The diminutive or more familiar form for Aleksandra. It is used frequently in this book. ↩

9. The diminutive of Andrei. ↩

10. A barber in those parts at that time did duty for a surgeon. ↩

11. Marysia and Maryska are both diminutives of Marya = Maria or Mary, and are used without distinction by the author. There are in Polish eight or ten other variants of the same name. ↩

12. It is the custom to put a watermelon in the carriage of an undesirable suitor⁠—a refusal without words. ↩

13. Deest = lacking. ↩

14. The name Grudzinski is derived from gruda = clod. ↩

15. See Daniel 5:25⁠–⁠28. ↩

16. Helena. ↩

17. The war against Russia. ↩

18. This Polish saying of striking out a wedge with a wedge means here, of course, to cure one love with another. ↩

19. “Others” here = “Russians.” ↩

20. Prince Yeremi Vishnyevetski. ↩

21. Volodyovski was from the Ukraine. ↩

22. Charnyetski was pockmarked. ↩

23. The Russians. ↩

24. Saturday. ↩

25. Friday. ↩

26. Russians. ↩

27. Tsargrad = Tsar’s city, Constantinople. ↩

28. “A boat and a carriage” means you can go by either⁠—that is, by land or water: you have your choice. ↩

29. So called because they wore shoes made from the inner bark of basswood or linden trees. ↩

30. Bright Mountain. ↩

31. This name is derived from baba an old woman.