Chapter 15 Chapter Thirteen

Jagienka herself melted a large jar of bear fat.Macko gleefully drank a quart because it was fresh and tasty.Jagienka put the rest in a jar.Macko's hopes grew; he believed he would be cured. "That's exactly what I needed," he said. "Once everything inside of me gets lubricated, the piece of that dog thing will slide out." But the next few quarts did not taste as good as the first; but he continued to drink, and Jagienka encouraged him: "You'll be all right. Zberut of Ostrog got a ring of chain mail up his neck, and then he drank the grease and slipped out. Wait until your wounds open You've got to put some otter grease on it sometime."

"do you have it?" "Yes, we have. If you want a fresh one, Zbyszko and I will fetch an otter. And you might as well make a wish to some saint who protects the sores." "I thought about it too, but I don't know whom to make a wish to. St. George is the patron saint of knights; he protects the warrior from all disasters, grants him victory, and it is said that sometimes he himself stands up for the right. But a saint who enjoys fighting may not necessarily enjoy healing; therefore, another saint must take care of the matter. Everyone knows that each saint has his own profession. They are different from each other. Interfere; otherwise there will be quarrels, and it is not proper to fight in heaven. It is said that all the doctors pray to Cosma and Damien that the world is sick, otherwise the doctors will have nothing to eat. And St. Apo the tooth Lonya and St. Ribolius of stones; but they do not work for me. When the abbot comes, he will tell me whom to ask. Not every priest knows all the secrets of heaven, and not every priest knows Everyone is familiar with such things, only the abbot is familiar with it."

"What if you made a wish to the Lord Jesus Himself?" "Of course, he is above all of them. But if your father hurt my servant, and I went to Krakow to complain to the king, what would the king tell me? He would say this: 'I am the king of the land, You have brought me an accusation about one of your farmers! Don't you have my officials there? Why don't you go to the governor?' So the Lord Jesus is the ruler of the whole universe; Leave it to the saints." "Then I will tell you what to do," said Zbyszko, who had just entered, "make a wish to our late queen, and if she will do it for you, you will make a pilgrimage to Krakow. Why do you go to strange saints, now that we have our own better ladies than saints?"

"Bah! If only I knew she'd plead for the wounded!" "Never mind! No saint dares to put face down on her; if he does, God will punish him, because she is not an ordinary woman, but the Queen of Poland." "That's right, she converted the last pagan country to Catholicism!" Macko said. "She must have held a high place in the Synod, and of course no one dared to oppose her. I will therefore do as you say." This advice pleased Jagienka, who greatly appreciated Zbyszko's insight.That night Macko made a wish and drank bear fat with greater hope.However, after a week, he began to be disappointed.He said the fat had fermented in his stomach, creating a lump in his waist near the last rib.Ten days later, Macko was even worse. The lump was getting bigger and bigger and began to fester.The patient had a fever again, so he had to start preparing for his funeral.

One night he suddenly woke Zbyszko and said: "Have a piece of turpentine quick; there's something wrong with me, but I can't tell." Zbyszko jumped out of bed and lit a piece of pine. "What's the matter?" "What! Something has punctured that lump in my loin. It must be the spearhead! I've touched it, but I can't get it out." "It must be the spearhead! Nothing else. Get hold of it and pull it out." Macko began to writhe in pain, digging deeper and deeper into the lump with his fingers, until he finally pinched something hard and pulled it out.

"Oh Jesus!" "Did it come out?" asked Zbyszko. "Pull it out. I broke out in a cold sweat; but I got it out at last. Look!" As he spoke, he showed Zbyszko a long, pointed piece of iron, which had been broken off from the spearhead, and which had remained on him for several months. "Glory to God and Queen Jadwija! You should be better now." "Yes. It's better, but it hurts badly," Macko said, squeezing the blood and pus out of the wound. "Jagienka said I should put otter grease on the wound now." "We must get an otter tomorrow."

Macko felt much better the next morning.He slept till morning, and when he awoke he wanted something to eat.He didn't even look at bear fat; they boiled him twenty eggs.He wolfed it down, and ate a large loaf of bread, and drank about four quarts of ale; then he told them to fetch Zich, because he felt very happy. Zbyszko sent a Turk sent to him by Zavisha to invite Zikh.Zich came on horseback in the afternoon, when the two young men were ready to go to Lake Ozteny to fetch otters.At first they sang and laughed while drinking mead; then the two old "Vrodikas" talked about their children, and each praised his own.

"Zbyszko's a fine fellow!" said Macko. "There's no one like him in the world. He's as brave and quick as a wild cat. You know they took him to the guillotine in Krakow." At that moment, all the girls standing at the windows were crying, all the girls were knights, daughters of the governor, and beautiful townspeople." "They may be beautiful, and they are the viceroy's daughters, but they are no match for my Jagienka!" replied Zikh of Zgotrilittri. "Did I say they were equal? ​​It's hard to find a girl who is equal to Jagienka."

"Nor have I said anything against Zbyszko, who draws a crossbow without a crank." "He can stab a bear too. Did you see how he split the bear? He cut a bear in half from head to foot." "He chopped off the head. He didn't stab the bear alone. Jagienka helped him." "Her? He never told me." "Because he promised her not to tell anyone. The girl was ashamed, lest it should be known that she had gone into the woods alone at night. She told me all about it; she never concealed the truth. To tell the truth, I was not pleased." , because who knows what will happen. I was going to scold her, but she said, 'If I can't protect my corolla myself, how can you Daduro protect it? Don't worry, Zpisch Coe also knows what knighthood is.'”

① refers to the chastity of a virgin. "That's true. They went together today, too." "But they'll be back at night. But devils are worse at night, for even girls don't feel ashamed in the dark." Macko thought for a while, then said, as if to himself: "But they're on good terms." "Hey! Pity he's sworn to other girls!" "That, you know, is nothing but a knight's rule. They consider a knight without a lover a countryman. And he swore to get her tufts of peacock feathers; he must get them, because he's a knight by him." Oath of honor; he must also challenge Lichtenstein; but other oaths, the abbot may pardon."

"The abbot is coming soon." "Really?" Macko asked; then he added: "What is such an oath; Jurand told him emphatically that he could not give him the girl! I don't know if he already gave her." Has she committed to someone else, or has committed her to God." "The Abbot loves Jagienka as he loves his own daughter, did I tell you? Last time I saw him he said: 'I have no relatives but my mother's; my property It will not be passed on to them.'” At this moment Macko looked at Zich suspiciously, and after a while he asked: "Will you bully us?" "I'm going to give Mochitori as a dowry to Jagienka," Zikh said evasively. "Will you give it right away?" "Of course I will. I will never give it to anyone else. It must be left to her." "Half Bogdaniec belongs to Zbyszko, and if God restores my health, I will take care of it. Zbyszko speaks your heart?" Zich blinked and said: "As soon as Zbyszko's name is mentioned in Jagienka's presence, she turns away." "What about others?" "When I mentioned other people, she just smiled and said, 'So what?'" "Well, don't you understand? By God, Zbyszko will forget the other girl. I'm old, and so will I. Would you like some more mead?" "Okay, I want to." "Well, the abbot is a wise man! Some abbots are lay people, you know; but this abbot, though he was not among the beggars, was quite a priest; Man can come up with a better idea, because he can read and write, and he communes with the Holy Spirit. I am glad that you are going to give Mochitori as a dowry for girls soon. As for me, as soon as the Lord Jesus restores my health I'm going to try to get some of the peasants from the Wilke estate in Borzodova to work on my fields. I'm going to give them more fields, I have enough fields in Bogdaniets. If they They can come if they want, because they are free. Sooner or later I will build a small town in Bogdaniec, a castle of fine oak with ditches on all sides. Let Zbyszko and Ya Let's go hunting together with Jinka. I think it will snow soon. They will grow up by themselves, and the boy will forget about the other girl. Let them be together. Open the skylight and tell the truth, will you put Yakin How about giving him the card?" "I will. Didn't we say long ago that they should marry and make Mochitori and Bogdaniec the property of our grandchildren?" "Grache!" Macko exclaimed joyfully. "God will bless us, and their children will be as numerous as hailstones. The abbot will certainly baptize them." "I hope he comes soon!" cried Zich. "I haven't seen you as happy as you are today for a long time." "Because I'm happy. Don't worry about Zbyszko. Yesterday when Jagienka got on the horse, the wind blew up. I asked Zbyszko, 'Did you see that?' and his eyes lit up. I've also noticed that although they didn't talk much at first, now that they're walking together, it's just you turning your back and I turning your back and talking endlessly! How about some more mead?" "Ok!" "To the health of Zbyszko and Jagienka!"