Henryk Sienkiewicz

“ Basia is not herself to such a degree that the fever has left her suddenly, for the weakness before death has overcome it. The visions disappear; presence of mind returns, and with it memory.
“I am fleeing before Azya,” said Basia to herself; “I am in the forest at night. I cannot go to Hreptyoff. I am dying.”
After the fever, cold seizes her quickly, and goes through her body to the bones. The legs bend under her, and she kneels at last on the snow before a tree.
Not the least cloud darkens her mind now. She is terribly sorry to lose life, but she knows perfectly that she is dying ”

“ You alone can save us; you alone will not fear to tell my father; you alone can effect something. Go with us! I will fall at the feet of Pan Volodyovski to get leave for you. Without you, father and Azya will spring at each other with knives. Go with us; go with us!” And saying this, she dropped to Basia’s knees and began to embrace them with tears.
“God grant that I go!” said Basia. “I will lay all before Michael, and will not cease to torment him. It is safe now to go even alone, and what will it be with such a numerous retinue! ”

“ That good and just knight, terrible to the enemy, loving to his own; that swordsman above swordsmen, with the heart of a dove,—lay there high among the tapers, in glory immeasurable, but in the silence of death. Hearts hardened through war were crushed with sorrow at that sight; yellow gleams from the tapers shone on the stern, suffering faces of warriors, and were reflected in glittering points in the tears dropping down from their eyelids.
Within the circle of soldiers lay Basia, in the form of a cross, on the floor, and near her Zagloba, old, broken, decrepit, and trembling. ”

“ Behold, we are the fortress on which Christ fixed His crucifix, and you tell me, a soldier of God, nay, the commander of the fortress, to be the first to open the gate and let in Pagans, like wolves to a sheepfold, and give the sheep, the flock of Jesus, to slaughter. Better for us to suffer from chambuls; better for us to endure rebellions; better for us to go to this terrible war; better for me and you to fall, and for the whole Commonwealth to perish,—than to put disgrace on our name, to lose our fame, and betray that guardianship and that service of God. ”

“ At the first glance she seemed older than her companion; but when he had looked at her more closely, Pan Michael saw that the blood of first youth was flowing under that transparent skin. The more he looked, the more he admired the distinction of her posture, the swanlike neck, and those proportions so full of maiden charms.
“She is a great lady,” thought he, “who must have a great soul; but the other is a regular tomboy.”
In fact, the comparison was just. Basia was much smaller than her companion, and generally minute, though not meagre; she was ruddy as a bunch of roses, and light-haired. ”

“ There is a world of ravines there, grown over with thickets, hiding-places, deep caves, and every kind of secret den in which robbers hide themselves by hundreds, not to mention those who come from Wallachia.”
“Robbers, in view of such a force, are a trifle,” said Zagloba. “Chambuls too are a trifle; for if strong ones march up, there will be a noise about them; and if they are small, you will rub them out.”
“Well, now!” cried Basia; “is not the whole matter a trifle? Robbers are a trifle; chambuls are a trifle. With such a force Michael will defend me from all the power of the Crimea.” ”

“ A storm does not so break, destroy, and lay waste a young forest, wolves do not eat into a flock of bewildered sheep, as the dragoons trampled and cut down those Tartars. On the one hand, bewilderment, on the other, rage and vengeance, completed the measure of their misfortune. Torrents of blood were mingled with the rain. It seemed to the Tartars that the sky was falling on them, that the earth was opening under their feet. The flash of lightning, the roar of thunder, the noise of rain, the darkness, the terror of the storm, answered to the dreadful outcries of the slaughtered. ”

“ Anger as well as contempt was rising in Krysia; then pride began to storm in her and against Pan Michael. He too was at fault; why should all the penance, contrition, and disappointment fall upon her? Why should he too not taste the bitter bread? Has she not the right to say when he returns, “I was mistaken; I mistook pity for love. You also were mistaken; now leave me, as I have left you.”
Suddenly fear seized her by the hair,—fear before the vengeance of the terrible man; fear not for herself, but for the head of the loved one, whom vengeance would strike without fail. ”

“ If he moves along the river toward Yagorlik, he must rub out the commands at Mohiloff, Yampol, and Rashkoff; if he crosses to the Moldavian bank, the perkulabs are there, friends of Volodyovski, and Habareskul of Hotin himself, his sworn friend. If he goes to Doroshenko, there are Polish commands at Bratslav; and the steppe, even in winter, is full of scouts. In view of all this, Tugai Bey’s son felt his helplessness, and his malign soul belched forth flames first, and then buried itself in deep despair, as a wounded wild beast buries itself in a dark den of a cliff, and remained quiet. ”

“ Krysia put her hands together and began to whisper imploringly, “Do not take this ill of me, do not curse me; but it is true.”
“Krysia!” said the knight, “is it right to trample on the happiness of people, as you are trampling? Where is your word, where is our agreement? I cannot war with God, but I will tell you, to begin with, what Pan Zagloba told me yesterday,—that the habit should not be made of injustice to others. You will not increase the glory of God by injustice to me. God reigns over the whole world ”

“ Basia, shortening the stirrups of Azya’s saddle to her own feet, thought to herself that during the whole way she would live, like a bird, on those seeds, and she kept them carefully near her.
She determined to avoid people and farms; for in those wildernesses more evil than good was to be looked for from every man. Fear oppressed her heart when she asked herself, “How shall I feed the horses?” They would dig grass out from under the snow, and pluck moss from the crevices of rocks, but might they not die from bad food and excessive travelling? ”

“ The Lord God gave beauty to one, withheld it from the other, but rewarded him with reflection. So when the wind on the road blew around me, and my first rage had passed, conscience said straightway, Why punish them? Why shed the blood of a friend? They fell in love, that was God’s will. The oldest people say that against the heart the command of a hetman is nothing. It was the will of God that they fell in love; but that they did not betray, is their honesty. If Ketling even had known of your promise to me, maybe I should have called to him, ‘Quench!’ but he did not know of it. ”

“ He might have become the third hetman in the Commonwealth, and held its fate in his hand; and now he sees that he must remain an obscure officer, for whom the summit of ambition would be naturalization. In his fiery imagination he had seen crowds bowing down daily before him; and now it will come to him to bow down before others. It is no good for him either that he is the son of Tugai Bey, that the blood of reigning warriors flows in his veins, that great thoughts are born in his soul—nothing—all nothing! He will live unrecognized and die in some distant little fortalice forgotten. ”

“ He will not punish me, because thus far my voice is a voice crying in the wilderness.
“Gracious gentlemen, love your enemies, punish them as a father, reprimand them as an elder brother, otherwise woe to them, but woe to you also, woe to the whole Commonwealth!
“Look around; what is the result of this war and the animosity of brother against brother? This land has become a desert; I have graves in Ushytsa instead of parishioners; churches, towns, and villages are in ruins; the Pagan power is rising and growing over us like a sea, which is ready to swallow even thee, O rock of Kamenyets.” ”

“ I will go surely,” said Pan Adam, looking quickly at Basia; and she said in answer,—
“There will be not a few like you. It is a delight for men to serve under such a commander. Go; go! It will be pleasanter for Pan Michael.”
The young man only sighed and stroked his forelock with his broad palm; at last he said, stretching his hands, as if playing blind-man’s-buff, “But first I will catch Panna Barbara! I will catch her most surely.”
“Allah! Allah!” exclaimed Basia, starting back.
Meanwhile Krysia approached Pan Michael, with face radiant and full of quiet joy. ”

“ How can you speak of surrender with such a light heart? With what conscience do you think of opening before the enemy a gate to the heart of the country? I am in the castle and fear no mines; and you here in the town, far away, are afraid! By the dear God! we will not surrender while we are alive. Let the memory of this defence remain among those who come after us, like the memory of Zbaraj.”
“The Turks will turn the castle into a pile of ruins,” said some voice.
“Let them turn it. We can defend ourselves from a pile of ruins.”
Here patience failed the little knight somewhat. ”

“ Zagloba and Pani Makovetski divined by that exclamation the secret of the little knight’s heart; and when he sprang up suddenly and left the room, they looked at each other with amazement and disquiet, till at last the lady said, “For God’s sake go after him! persuade him; comfort him; if not, I will go myself.”
“Do not do that,” said Zagloba. “There is no need of us there, but Krysia is needed; if he cannot see her, it is better to leave him alone, for untimely comforting leads people to still greater despair.” ”

“ Remember this also, that if a horse, though trained, takes the bit in his teeth and runs away with a man, why should not love, whose force is greater, run away with him? Love carried me away, simply because you are dear to me. My beloved Krysia, you are worthy of castellans and senators; but if you do not disdain a soldier, who, though in simple rank, has served the country not without some glory, I fall at your feet, I kiss your feet, and I ask, do you wish me? Can you think of me without repulsion?”
“Pan Michael!” answered Krysia. ”

“ His head, shaven at the sides, was surmounted by a black, bushy forelock. He pleased Basia both in speech and in bearing; but still she did not cease to mimic him.
“As I live!” said Zagloba, “it is pleasant for old men like me to see that a new generation is rising up worthy of us.”
“Not worthy yet,” answered Pan Adam.
“I praise the modesty too. We shall see you soon receiving commands.”
“That has happened already!” cried Pan Michael. “He has been commandant, and gained victories by himself.”
Pan Adam began so to twist his mustache that he lacked little of pulling out his lip. ”

“ With those words the act of torture began for Azya. That terrible man learned at the hour of his death that his treason and cruelty had profited nothing. If even Basia had died on the road, he would have had the consolation that though not in his, she would not be in any man’s, possession; and that solace was taken from him just then, when the point of the stake was at an ell’s length from his body. All had been in vain. So many treasons, so much blood, so much impending punishment for nothing,—for nothing whatever!
Lusnia did not know how grievous those words had made death to Azya ”

“ Old women, and children too small and unfit for the road, were slaughtered. The hands of the Tartars were streaming with human blood, and their sheepskin coats had the odor of burning flesh. All took their seats around Azya.
“Only a pile of glowing embers behind us,” said Krychinski. “Before the command returns we might go to Yampol; there is as much wealth of every kind there as in Rashkoff,—perhaps more.”
“No,” answered Azya, “men of mine are in Yampol who will burn the place; but it is time for us to go to the lands of the Khan and the Sultan.” ”