PART SECOND: CHAPTER V
Zbyszko went for the bear as be proposed, because Macko became worse. At
first when he reached Bogdaniec, he was sustained by joy and the first
cares about the house; but on the third day, the fever returned, and the
pain was so great that he was obliged to go to bed. Zbyszko went to the
_barcie_ during the day, and while there he perceived that there were the
footprints of a bear in the mud. He spoke to the beehive keeper, Wawrek,
who slept in a shed not far away, with his two faithful Podhalan[79]
dogs; but he intended to return to the village on account of the cold.
They destroyed the shed, and Wawrek took the dogs with him. But first
they smeared the trees here and there with honey, so that the smell of it
would attract the animal. Zbyszko returned home and began to prepare for
the expedition. He dressed himself in a warm reindeer jacket without
sleeves; on the top of his head, he put a bonnet made of iron wire;
finally he took a strong fork and a steel axe. Before sunset he had taken
his position; and having made the sign of the cross, he sat down and
waited.
The red beams of the setting sun were still shining between the branches
of the gigantic pines. In the tops of the trees, the crows were flying,
croaking and beating the air with their wings; here and there the hares
were leaping toward the water, making a noise on the dried leaves; some
times a swift marten passed by. In the thickets, the chirping of the
birds was at first heard--but gradually ceased.
After sunset the noises of the forest began. Immediately a pack of boars
passed near Zbyszko with a great bustle and snorting; then elks galloped
in a long row, each holding his head on the tail of the one in front of
him. The dried branches crackled under their feet and the forest
resounded; but on they rushed toward the marshes where during the night,
they were cool and safe. Finally the twilight was reflected on the sky,
and the tops of the pine trees illuminated by it seemed to burn, as if on
fire; then little by little everything began to be quieted. The forest
was still. Dusk was rising from earth toward the gleaming twilight, which
began finally to grow fainter, then gloomy, blacker and then was
quenched.
"Now, everything will be quiet, until the wolves begin to howl," thought
Zbyszko.
He regretted that he had not taken his crossbow, because he could easily
have killed a boar or an elk. In the meanwhile, from the marshes came
muffled sounds similar to heavy panting and whistling. Zbyszko looked
toward that marsh with some apprehension, because the peasant, Radzik,
who used to live here in an earth-hut, disappeared with his whole family,
as if devoured by the earth. Some people said they were seized by
robbers; but there were others who saw some strange footprints, neither
human nor of beasts, round the cabin. The people shook their heads very
much about that, and they even spoke about bringing a priest from
Krzesnia, to bless the hut. But they did not do it because nobody was
willing to live in that hut, which from that time, had an evil
reputation. It is true that the beehive keeper, Wawrek, did not pay any
attention to these reports.
Zbyszko being armed with the fork and axe, was not afraid of the wild
beasts; but he thought with some uneasiness about the evil forces, and he
was glad when that noise stopped.
The last reverberation ceased, and there was complete silence. The wind
stopped blowing and there was not even the usual whispering in the tops
of the pine trees. From time to time, a pine cone fell, making quite a
noise amidst the deep silence; but in general, everything was so quiet
that Zbyszko heard his own respirations.
Thus he sat quietly for a long time, thinking first about the bear, and
then about Danusia. He recollected how he seized her in his arms when
bidding the princess farewell, and how she cried; he remembered her fair
head and bright face, her wreaths of bachelor buttons, her singing, her
red shoes with long tips, and finally everything that happened from the
moment he first saw her. Such a longing to see her, filled his heart,
that he forgot that he was in the forest waiting for the bear; instead of
that he began to talk to himself:
"I will go to see you, because I cannot live without you."
He felt that he must go to Mazowsze; that if he remained in Bogdaniec, he
would become good for nothing. He recollected Jurand and his strange
opposition; then he thought that it was even more necessary he should go,
and learn what that obstacle was, and if a challenge to combat could not
remove it. Finally it seemed to him that Danusia stretched her bands
toward him and cried:
"Come, Zbyszku! Come!" How could he refuse?
He was not sleeping, but he saw her as distinctly as in a dream. There
she was, riding beside the princess, thrumming on her little lute,
humming and thinking of him. Thinking that she would soon see him, and
perhaps looking back.
Hero Zbyszko aroused himself and listened, because he heard a rustling
behind him. Then he grasped the fork in his hand more tightly, stretched
his neck and listened again.
The rustling approached and then it became very distinct. Under some
careful foot, the dried branches were crackling, the fallen leaves were
rustling. Something was coming.
From time to time the rustling ceased, as if the beast halted beneath the
trees; then there was such quietude that Zbyszko's ears began to ring;
then again slow, careful steps were heard. That approach was so cautious
that Zbyszko was surprised.
"I am sure 'the old'[80] must be afraid of the dogs which were here in
the shed," said he to himself; "but it may be a wolf that has scented
me."
Now the footsteps were no longer heard. Zbyszko, however, was sure that
something had stopped twenty or thirty feet behind him.
He turned around once or twice; but although he could see the trunks of
the trees quite well, he could not perceive anything else. He was obliged
to wait.
He waited so long, that he was surprised a second time.
"A bear would not come here to stop under the _barcie_; and a wolf would
not wait until morning."
Suddenly a shiver ran through his body as he thought:
"Suppose it is something dreadful that comes from the marshes and is
trying to surprise me from the rear! Suppose the slippery arms of a
drowned man seize me, or the green eyes of a ghost look into my face;
suppose a blue head on spider's legs comes out from behind the tree and
begins to laugh!"
He felt his hair begin to rise under his iron bonnet.
But after a while, a rustling sounded in front of him, more distinct this
time than formerly. Zbyszko breathed more freely; he thought that the
same "wonder" had gone around him, and now approached from the front; but
he preferred that. He seized his fork firmly, arose quietly and waited.
Now he noticed over his head the rustling of the pine trees, and he felt
the wind blow in his face, coming from the marsh, and he smelt the bear.
There was not the slightest doubt that a _mys_[81] was coming!
Zbyszko was afraid no longer, and having bent his head, he strained to
the utmost his hearing and his sight. Heavy, distinct steps were coming;
the smell grew stronger; soon the snore and groaning were heard.
"I hope there are not two of them!" thought Zbyszko.
But at that moment, he perceived in front of him the large, dark form of
the animal, which was walking in the same direction from which the wind
was blowing, and could not get the scent of him; its attention was also
attracted by the smell of the honey on the trees.
"Come, uncle!" exclaimed Zbyszko, coming out from beneath the pine tree.
The bear roared shortly as if frightened by an unexpected apparition; but
he was too near to seek safety in flight; therefore, in a moment he
reared and separated his forelegs as if for a hug. This was exactly what
Zbyszko was waiting for; he gathered himself together, jumped like
lightning and with all the strength of his powerful arms and of his
weight, he drove the fork into the animal's chest.
The whole forest resounded now with the fearful roaring. The bear seized
the fork with his paws, and tried to pull it out, but the incisions made
by the points were too deep; therefore, feeling the pain, he roared still
more fearfully. Wishing to reach Zbyszko, he leaned on the fork and thus
drove it into his body still further. Zbyszko, not knowing that the
points had entered so deeply, held on to the handle. The man and the
animal began to struggle. The forest again resounded with the roaring in
which wrath and despair were mingled.
Zbyszko could not use his axe until after he could drive the sharpened
end of the fork into the ground. The bear having seized the handle, was
shaking it as well as Zbyszko, and notwithstanding the pain caused by
every movement of the points imbedded in his breast, be would not let it
be "underpropped." In this way the terrible struggle continued, and
Zbyszko finally felt that his strength would soon be exhausted. If he
fell, then he would be lost; therefore, he gathered all his strength,
strained his arms to the utmost, set his feet firmly and bent his back
like a bow, so as not to be thrown backward; and in his enthusiasm he
repeated through set teeth:
"You or I will die!"
Such anger filled him that he really preferred at that moment to die,
rather than to let the beast go. Finally his foot caught in the root of a
tree; he tottered and would have fallen, if at that moment a dark figure
had not appeared before him, and another fork "underpropped" the beast;
and in the meanwhile, a voice shouted near his ear:
"Use your axe!"
Zbyszko, being excited by the fight, did not wonder even for a moment
from whence came the unexpected help; but he seized the axe and cut with
all his might. The fork cracked, broken by the weight and by the last
convulsion of the beast, as it fell. There was a long silence broken only
by Zbyszko's loud respirations. But after a while, he lifted his head,
looked at the form standing beside him and was afraid, thinking that it
might not be a man.
"Who are you?" asked he, with uneasiness.
"Jagienka!" answered a thin, womanly voice.
Zbyszko became dumb from astonishment; he could not believe his own eyes.
But his doubts did not last long, because Jagienka's voice again
resounded:
"I will build a fire."
Immediately the clatter of a fire steel against a flint sounded and the
sparks began to fall; by their glittering light, Zbyszko beheld the white
forehead, the dark eyebrows and the red lips of the girl who was blowing
on the tinder which began to burn. Not until then did he realize that she
had come to the forest to help him, and that without her aid, he would
have perished. He felt such gratitude toward her, that he impulsively
seized her around the waist and kissed her on both cheeks.
The tinder and the steel fell to the ground.
"Let me be!" she began to repeat in a muffled voice; but she allowed him
to kiss her and even, as if by accident, touched Zbyszko's lips with her
mouth. He released her and said:
"May God reward you. I do not know what would have happened without your
help."
Then Jagienka, while searching for the tinder and fire steel, began to
excuse herself:
"I was worried about you, because Bezduch also went with a fork and an
axe, but the bear tore him to pieces. If you met with such a misfortune,
Macko would be very desolate, and he hardly breathes now. So I took a
fork and came."
"Then it was you whom I heard there behind the pines?"
"Yes."
"And I thought it was an evil spirit."
"I was very much frightened, because it is dangerous to be without fire
here around the Radzikowski marshes."
"Then why did you not speak to me?"
"Because I was afraid you would send me away."
Having said this, she again began to strike sparks from the steel, and
put on the tinder a bundle of hemp which began to burn.
"I have two resinous pieces of wood," said she; "you bring some dried
branches quickly, and we will soon have a fire."
In fact, after a while a bright fire was burning, and lighted the
enormous, brown body of the bear which was lying in a pool of blood.
"Hej, a dreadful beast!" said Zbyszko, boastfully.
"You split his head entirely open! O, Jesus!"
Then she leaned over and felt of the bear's body, to ascertain whether
the beast was fat; then she arose with a bright face, and said:
"There will be plenty of grease for two years."
"But the fork is broken, look!"
"That is too bad; what shall I tell them at home?"
"About what?"
"_Tatus_ would not let me come into the forest, therefore I was obliged
to wait until everybody had retired."
After a moment she added:
"You must not tell that I was here, because they will laugh at me."
"But I will go with you to your house, because I am afraid the wolves
will attack you, and you have no fork."
"Very well!"
Thus they sat talking for a while beside the bright fire, looking like
two young forest creatures.
Zbyszko looked at the girl's pretty face, lighted by the flames, and said
with involuntary admiration:
"There is not another girl in this world as brave as you are. You ought
to go to the war!"
She looked into his face and then she answered, almost sadly:
"I know; but you must not laugh at me."
Content of PART SECOND: CHAPTER V [Henryk Sienkiewicz's novel: The Knights of the Cross]
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