Chapter 55 Chapter 21

The servants untied Sanderus at once, but his limbs were frozen, and he fell down when he was untied; and when they lifted him up, he passed out several times.Despite Zbyszko's orders to carry him to the fire, to feed him, to rub his body with fat, and to cover him with warm skins, Sandrus was still unconscious, but fell into a drowsy sleep. , Sleeping until noon the next day, the Czechs woke him up. Zbyszko walked towards Sandrus impatiently.But it was not possible to inquire about any news from him at once.Either because of this terrible experience, or because although the danger to life had passed, his constitution was already weak and unable to help it. In short, Sanderus burst into tears involuntarily, and was unable to answer questions for a long time.He was sobbing and choking, his lips trembled, and the tears streamed down his cheeks, as if life itself had flowed with them.

At last he restrained himself a little, and drank a little kumiss to refresh himself, which the Lithuanians had learned from the Tatars.He told how the "son of the devil" had jabbed him so badly with his spear that there was no good flesh in his body; The bites on his feet and body really made him feel that it was either today or tomorrow, and he would definitely be bitten to death by ants. Zbyszko could no longer restrain his rage, and interrupted Sandrus, saying: "You rascal, quickly answer the questions I want to ask you, and be careful to tell the truth, otherwise you will look good."

"There's a lot of red ant nests not far from here," put in the Czech. "My lord, tell them to get more ants and put them on him, and I'm sure he'll have a tongue out of his mouth." Halava didn't mean it; he even smiled when he said it, because he had a crush on Sanders.But Sandros, who was already scared out of his wits, shouted: "Forgive me! Forgive me! Give me some more heathen drink, and I'll tell all that I saw and didn't see." "If you tell a lie, I'll drive a wedge between your teeth for one false statement," said the Czech.

They brought him another sack full of kumiss; he took it in one hand, and, like a baby sucking at its mother's milk, he drank it with his lips tightly pressed against the mouth of the sack, and kept opening and closing his eyes.After drinking about half a gallon, I shook my body, put the skin on my knees, and said as if resigned to fate: "Dog! . . . " Then, turning to Zbyszko, "now, savior! Ask." "Is my wife in one of your troops?" A look of panic appeared on Sanders' face.In fact, he had heard that Danusia was Zbyszko's wife, but they were secretly married and she was kidnapped immediately, so he always thought of her as Miss Jurand.

But he hastily answered: "Yes, 'Voyevoda'! There she is! But Siegfried de Lauf and Arnold' von Peyton broke through the ranks of the enemy and fled." "Have you seen her?" Zbyszko asked, his heart skipping a beat. "I have not seen her, sir, but I have seen a willow, heavily covered stretcher, suspended between two horses, with what appeared to be a man in it, sent by that two-legged snake--Dunvelt. Accompanied by the maids of the knight order from the forest palace. I also heard the mournful singing from the stretcher..." Zbyszko, blue with emotion, sat down on the stump, and for a long time could not ask any other questions.Macko and the Czechs were also very excited when they heard the great news.Perhaps the Czech, thinking of his beloved lady who had remained in Spykhov, regarded this news as a verdict on Jagienka's fate.

There was silence for a while.At last the experienced Macko (he did not know Sandros and had hardly heard of him before) looked at him suspiciously and asked: "Who are you? What do you do in the Knights of the Crusader Order?" "Who am I, great knight?" Sanders answered. "Let the heroic prince answer for me (here he points to Zbyszko), and this gallant Czech nobleman has known me for a long time." The kumiss had evidently had an effect on Sandrus, for he became lively and spoke louder to Zbyszko, without any trace of his former weakness. "Your Excellency, you have saved my life twice. If it were not for you, the wolves would not have devoured me, and the bishops who misheard the enemy would have punished me long ago. (Oh, what a wicked world this is! ) They issued an order to hunt me down for selling false relics, simply because they took me for one of yours. But you, my lord, took me in, and I owe you thanks for keeping me from Swallowed by wolves, not persecuted by them. With you, I never lack food and drink—better food than this mare's milk, which disgusts me. I drink mare's milk to show a thing or two How a poor and devout pilgrim can endure all kinds of hardships."

"Speak quickly, you wanderer; tell us all you know, and don't play dumb," Macko cried. But Sandrus raised the sachet to his lips again, and drank it all; evidently not hearing Matsko, he turned to Zbyszko and said: "That's another reason why I love you. (Bible ) says that the saints sinned nine times in one hour, so Sandrus sometimes sinned too, but Sandrus was never, and never will be, an ungrateful man. So when you encounter In times of misfortune, sir, remember what I told you; I said, 'I'll go from castle to castle, asking people all the way. I'll find your lost.' Is there anyone I haven't asked Have I been? Where have I not been?—It ​​will take me a long time to tell you.—But, all in all, I found her; Ferritt nailed so tight. I was his servant, from castle to castle, from this 'comto' to that 'comto', from town to town, always nailed Follow him, nailing him, without stopping until the latest battle."

Zbyszko controlled his emotions and said: "I thank you very much, and I will repay you. But now answer my question. Can you swear on the salvation of your soul that she is alive?" "I swear by the salvation of my soul, she is alive," Sanders replied seriously. "Why did Siegfried leave Schüttno?" "I don't know, Your Excellency. But I suspect that the only reason he left Sztno was because he was never a 'Starosta' of Sztno; perhaps he was afraid of the orders of the Grand Master, who, it is said, Ordered him to return the lamb to the court of Masovia. Perhaps that letter was the cause of his flight, for his soul was terribly tormented to avenge Rotgier. They say now, Rot Ji Ai is Siegfried's own son. I can't tell what is going on, I just know that Siegfried is mad with hatred and has decided that as long as he lives in the world, he will not live forever. Give up Jurand's daughter—I mean, the young lady."

"All this strikes me as very strange," Macko interrupted him suddenly. "If the old dog hated Jurand and his kin so much, he would have killed Danuska long ago." "He was going to do it," Sanders answered, "but something happened to him, he was very ill and was dying. His people talked about it differently. Some said that one day In the evening, he was going to the tower, and was about to kill the young lady, when he met the devil—some say he met an angel—well—in short, they found him lying on the snow in front of the tower, completely He was no longer angry. When he thought of it now, his hair stood on end like an oak tree; that was why he dared not offend her himself, or even ask anyone else to offend her. The dumb executioner, but I don't know why he did it, because that executioner, like all other executioners, dared not hurt her."

These words left a deep impression on everyone.Zbyszko, Macko, and the Czech all moved towards Sandrus, who made the sign of the cross and went on: "I'm not having a good time with them. I've heard and seen more than once the horrors of my blood. I've told you my lord that old 'comto' is always out of his wits. Hi! Otherwise How could the spirits of hell come to him. Whenever he was alone, there seemed to be some breathless person beside him. That was killed by the terrible Lord Spychof Dunwiert's ghost. So Siegfried said to him: 'What do you want me to do? I can't avenge you; what do you want to gain?' But the other (the devil) gnashed his teeth , wheezing, wheezing. Rotji loves to have apparitions, and the room smells of sulfur, so 'comto' talks to him long. 'I can't,' he said. 'I can't. When I wake up, I'll Just do it, but I can't now.' I also heard the old man ask: 'Will that comfort you, dear son?' Tian didn't speak to anyone, and his face showed infinite pain. He and the Knight's maid were so absorbed in guarding the stretcher that the young lady never saw anyone."

"Didn't they torture her?" Zbyszko asked hoarsely. "I will tell you the unmistakable truth, my lord, that I hear no whipping or weeping; only a mournful song from the stretcher; sometimes it seems to me to be one of those melancholy birds melancholy..." "I'm so sorry," Zbyszko said through clenched teeth. But Matsko interrupted him from asking any further questions. "Enough talk about this," he said. "Now about the battle. Did you see how they escaped, and what was the result of them?" "I saw it, and I will tell the truth," Sanders replied. "At first they fought fiercely. Then, seeing that they were surrounded on all sides, they thought only of flight. Knight Arnold was a true giant, and he broke through the encirclement first, and opened a way out, so that he, old' Comto', broke out with some men following the stretcher." "Haven't they been pursued?" "It is useless for those who are pursued, for as soon as they are approached; the Knight of Arnold turns his face to meet. May God protect those whom he meets, for he has great physical strength; he fights with a hundred men Three times he turned to meet him in this way, and three times stopped his pursuers. Those who followed him were killed. It seemed to me that he was wounded himself, and his horse, but he I still escaped, and that old 'comto' had already escaped a long way by then." When Maczko heard this, it seemed to Sandrus that he was telling the truth, for he remembered that when he entered the field where Skovoro had attacked, there were Zmuds everywhere along the retreat of the Germans. The human corpse seemed to have been crushed by a giant's hand. "But how can you see all this?" Macko asked Sandrus. "I saw it," replied the vagabond, "because I took hold of one of the stretcher-horses by the tail, and held on tight, until I was kicked in the belly by a horse's hoof. Then I fainted. , that's why you captured me." "It is possible," said Halava, "but beware, for if you tell a half-truth, it will pay you to find out." "The evidence is there," replied Sanders; "whoever wants to see it may see it; but it is better to believe that he is telling the truth than to accuse a man of lying." "Although sometimes you have to tell the truth, you will cry for your relics one day." So the Czech and Sandrus were bantering with each other as before, but Zbyszko would not let them go on. "You must know the castles in that area after passing those places; where do you think Siegfried and Arnold are hiding?" "There were no castles at all in that part of the country; it was all a wilderness, with a road recently cleared. There were neither villages nor farms. The Germans burned both villages and farms, because the inhabitants were also Zemuds, and they all Enemies against the Crusader Order. I think, sir, that Siegfried and Arnold are now wandering in the woods; either they want to go back to where they came from, or they try to sneak Go to the castle you wanted to go to before the battle." "I believe it is," Zbyszko said.He was troubled, his brows furrowed; he was evidently thinking of something, but not for long.After a while, raised his head and said: "Halava, call the preparers! We must go at once." Without a word the Czech, who never cared to ask questions, got up and ran towards the horses; but Macko, looking at his nephew with wide eyes, said in amazement: "Then... Zbyszko? Hey! Where are you going? What? . . . What? But Zbyszko replied: "What do you think? Isn't it my responsibility?" The old knight had nothing to say.The astonishment on his face gradually disappeared, he shook his head once or twice, finally took a deep breath, and said as if answering himself: "Okay! Look at you . . . there's no other way!" He also went over to the horses.Zbyszko, however, returned to de Rausch and had a Majur explain to him in German: "I cannot ask you to go with me against the man you serve. You are free to go where you like." "I cannot now violate my knightly honor and serve you with my sword," replied de Rausch, "but neither can I accept the freedom you have given me. I am still your parole prisoner, and you can order me Wherever I go, I must obey orders. If you want to exchange prisoners, please remember that the Knights will give any prisoner to exchange for me, because I am not only a great knight, but my ancestors have done to the Knights of the Crusaders. Great feat." So they hugged each other as was customary, kissed each other on the cheek, and then de Lauche said: "I'm going to the court of Marburg or Masovia. I tell you this, so that if you don't find me in one place in the future, you can find me in another place. When your messenger wants me, just tell me I can do with nine words: 'Rotelinger-Jelteria'." "Well," said Zbyszko, "I'll go to Skovoro and get you a pass that will be respected by the Zimuds." He went to Scovolo, and the old commander gave him a pass without any hesitation, and let de Lauches go, because he knew the whole story and Ezbyszko, who had been very grateful to him on the last occasion I am deeply grateful for the heroism in battle, and I have no right to detain this foreign knight who came for his own purpose.Scovolo thanked Zbyszko for his great service, looked at him, and was amazed at his courage to go to the desert; To be able to meet him again in a bigger and more decisive battle. But Zbyszko was in such a hurry that he seemed to be suffering from a fever, and was exhausted.When they arrived at the camp, they saw that everyone was ready and armed, and Uncle Macko was also on horseback, fully armed, in chain mail and a helmet.Zbyszko went up to his uncle and said: "So you're going with me, too!" "What else can I do?" Macko replied somewhat petulantly. Zbyszko made no answer, kissed Macko's right hand, mounted the horse, and they all set off. Sandros also went with them.They are all familiar with the path leading to the battlefield, but after the battlefield, Sandrus has to lead the way.They hope to meet the local residents in the woods, because the local residents, out of hatred for their rulers, the Crusader Knights, will help them chase the old "comto" and the superman that Sandrus thinks is superhuman. Knight of Strength and Courage - Arnold von Peyton.