Chapter 76 Chapter Forty-Two

The people of the Kingdom of Poland are extremely concerned about the war between the Knights of the Crusaders and Witout for the battle for Zmud, and they are closely watching the progress of the war.Some believed that the old king of Achaean would help his cousin, and a large-scale crusade against the Knights of the Crusaders seemed imminent.The knights were arming themselves, and the nobles of the country were spreading rumors that a considerable number of the Krakow nobles—the ministers of the king's privy council—was in favor of war.They thought that the time had come to destroy this group of enemies, who were never satisfied, always wanted to rob their neighbors of their lands, and could not curb their greed even when threatened with attacks from neighboring powers.But Matsko was a wise man and experienced; he did not believe that war was imminent; this view.

"As long as Grand Commander Conrad is alive, nothing will happen, because he is the smartest among them, and he will know that this is not an ordinary war, but a massacre of 'you and me'; what's more He also knows the power of the king and will never let war happen." "Hey! What if the king declares war first?" asked the neighbors. Macko shook his head. "You see ... I have studied these things carefully, and I have considered more than once that if the king were descended from our ancient people, descended from the Catholic kings who have passed down generations, he would be the first to declare war on the Germans. But our king, Vladislav Achael (I will not say anything disrespectful to him, for he is a righteous monarch, may God grant him health), was a man before we made him king. A grand duke of Lithuania and a pagan. He has recently converted to Catholicism, but the Germans go around saying that his soul is still a pagan soul. Therefore he will not be the first to declare war and let the Catholics bleed; and because of this, although He wants to help Witout, but he won't. I know it well, because he hates the Crusader Order like he hates leprosy."

Macko's words made him famous as a wise man, and everyone praised him for explaining things clearly, as if they were laid out on a table, so that people could see them at a glance. On Sundays after he had attended mass at Kirsisnia, people gathered around him to listen to him.Afterwards it became a custom that some neighbor or another would come to Bogdaniec to visit the old knight and ask him to explain what they had heard, which was often incomprehensible even to the nobles. of.Macko received them cheerfully and talked with them.When his visitors took their leave, he never failed to greet them with words such as:

"You are astonished at my opinion, and God bless you, you will have reason to be astonished when Zbyszko comes back. He is only fit for the King's Council, and he is a clever, shrewd fellow." !" When he had finished talking with his guests, he always had to repeat the words in his mind at the end, and he would repeat them to Jagienka.To both of them, Zbyszko seemed as far away as a fairy prince.When spring comes, they can hardly stay at home anymore.The swallows are back, and so are the storks; the birds are chirping in the meadows, and the quails are calling to each other in a field of green wheat.Flocks of cranes and swans flew all over the sky; only Zbyszko did not return.

But when the birds migrated from the south, the north wind with wings brought many rumors of war.These rumors spoke of battles, of countless engagements, in which Witout was sometimes victorious, sometimes he was defeated.They also spoke of the great disasters that winter and disease had brought upon the Germans.At last the good news spread throughout the country that Witout, the brave son of Gestadut, had occupied Novy Kovno, or Gautzwe, and completely destroyed it without leaving a complete tree or stone.As soon as Macko heard the news, he mounted his horse and galloped to Zgotririti. "Ah," he exclaimed, "we know that place well; for we, Zbyszko and Skovoro, beat the Crusader knights hard there. We captured De Lauche there. God bless , the German devils miscalculated. It will not be easy to take that castle."

But Jagienka heard the news of Novkovno's destruction before Macko arrived.She even heard more news that Witout had started peace talks.It was the last piece of news which interested her most, because if peace was concluded, Zbyszko would certainly be able to return home as long as he lived. She asked the old knight if the news was reliable.Macko thought for a while, and answered: "Wittout is capable of everything; he is quite different from others, and of all Catholic princes he is the most cunning. If he would extend his territories in Russia, he would make peace with the Germans. If he achieves He will come again to fight the Germans. The Germans can do nothing to him or to the unfortunate Zemudians. He will take the Zimud from them now and give them back. Not only They, also helped them to suppress the Zemuds. Here in our country, even in Lithuania, some people criticize Witout, saying that he should not treat this unfortunate tribe like this. Frankly, if it wasn't for Witout, I would too I think it's despicable... But if I think about it, I say, isn't he smarter than me? Well, he's doing it for his own purposes. I heard Scovolo say, Will Thoth wanted to treat Zumud as an old festering sore that didn't heal, and left it in the crusader's calf. Zumud mothers always give birth, and blood doesn't matter It’s amazing, as long as it’s not in vain.”

"I'm only concerned about the return of Zbyszko." "Everything is God's will, God bless, I hope your auspicious words will be fulfilled." Another few months passed.Word came that the peace was indeed concluded.The heavy ears of wheat in the fields turned yellow; At last Matsko decided to go to Sbykhov for information, since that was closer to the Lithuanian border, and he could also check whether the Czech was managing the crops well. Jagienka insisted on going with him, but he would not take her.This caused a whole week of debate.One evening, when Matsko and Jagienka were sitting in front of the house arguing, a boy on horseback, bareheaded and barefoot, came rushing into the yard from Bogdaniec like a gust of wind; he fell on his knees before them, Shouted hard:

"The young master is back!" Zbyszko did come back, but with a strange look: haggard, weather-beaten, impassive, and taciturn.The Czech, with his wife, accompanied Zbyszko, and was busy explaining Zbyszko and himself.The expedition of the young knight, he said, seemed to have been fruitful, for he had dedicated a large bouquet of peacock and ostrich feathers from the cavalier's cap to the tombs of Danusia and her mother in Spiehof, which It was taken from the helmet of a crusader knight.He also brought with him many horses and armor captured from the enemy.Two of the armors were particularly precious, but unfortunately they were wounded everywhere by swords and axes.Matsko would have liked to hear everything from his nephew himself, but Zbyszko just waved his hand and answered a few words.On the third day, he was sick and lying on the bed. Only then did he know that his left waist was injured, and two ribs were broken and not connected properly, which made it very painful for him to turn over or breathe.He had also had a relapse of an old injury from the buffalo; the physical exertion and the hard drive from Spychof had made his condition worse.The wounds themselves were not very severe, for Zbyszko was young and as strong as an oak.But he was very tired, as if all the troubles he had suffered before were tormenting him now.Macko at first thought that after two or three days of rest in bed all would be over, but his hopes were in vain.Neither poultices, nor spices prepared by the local shepherds, nor medicines concocted and sent by the priests of Jagienka and Kirsisnya, were of any use.Zbyszko grew weaker, thinner, and more melancholy.

"What's the matter with you? What do you want?" the old knight asked him. "I don't want anything, I don't care about anything, it's all the same anyway," Zbyszko replied. Day after day passed like this.It suddenly occurred to Jagienka that Zbyszko must have had some hidden secrets besides ordinary troubles that made him so troubled.She mentioned this to Macko and suggested that he should ask Zbyszko again. Macko agreed without hesitation; but after thinking about it, he said: "Would he rather talk to you than to me? Because—as far as love is concerned—he's in love with you; Staring at you."

"Did you see it?" asked Jagienka. "I said 'his eyes are on you', and that's true. If you don't come in for a while, he's always looking at that door. You better ask him." They settled down.But Jagienka had difficulty speaking, she felt timid.It occurred to her afterwards that she might as well talk to him about Danusia, about Zbyszko's love for the dead, but these words could not be uttered either. "You're more capable than I am," she said to Macko. "You have more knowledge and experience than I. You'd better go and talk to him—I can't."

Macko had to take it up whether he wanted to or not.One morning, when Zbyszko seemed better than usual, the old man began to talk thus: "Halava told me that you kept a large tuft of peacock feathers in the basement of Spiehof." Zbyszko was lying on his back, looking at the ceiling, and made no answer, but nodded his head in the affirmative. "Well, the Lord Jesus has made you successful. In war, you meet soldiers, but knights seldom meet...Soldiers, you can kill as many as you want, but it is not easy to kill knights; You have to be careful looking for them. Could it be that they themselves came down to your sword and died?" "I challenged many knights to a duel, and they surrounded me once during the engagement," replied Zbyszko lazily. "Did you bring a lot of spoils..." "Part of it was given to me by Duke Wittout." "Is he still so generous?" Zbyszko nodded again, evidently unwilling to continue the conversation. But Macko refused to let go, and he tried to get to the point. "Now tell me frankly, you must have felt a little better when you brought that bundle of peacock feathers to Danusia's grave? It's always nice to have one's vows fulfilled... Are you happy? Eh? " Zbyszko turned his sad eyes from the ceiling to Macko, and answered, as if in surprise: "No!" "No? Fear God! I thought that after you comforted the spirit in heaven, the matter would be over." Zbyszko closed his eyes for a while, as if in deep thought, and finally said: "Probably, saved souls don't like human blood." There was another silence. "Then why did you go to war?" Macko asked. "Why?" replied Zbyszko, somewhat surprised, "I thought I would feel better, I thought both Danusia and myself would be comforted... But I was very surprised when I left the crypt where the coffin was laid , because my mood has not changed; the stone is still pressing on my heart as before. From this point of view, a liberated soul does not like human blood." "Your idea must have been instilled in you by others, and you can't think of it yourself." "That's my own idea, because I don't think the world is any happier after I've fulfilled my vows. Only Father Kaleb told me that it really is." "Killing an enemy in war is never a crime, hey! It's even admirable, and besides those crusader knights you killed were enemies of our race." "I don't consider myself guilty in this regard either. I don't feel sorry for the crusader knights either." "But you're always thinking of Danuska." "It is so; when I think of her, I am filled with sorrow. It is God's will. She is in heaven, and I am used to it." "Then why can't you get rid of your sorrow? What do you need?" "how could I know……" "Everything else you want can be done, and you'll be well soon. Take a bath, drink a glass of mead, sweat and dance." "Well, what then?" "Then you're happy." "What do I have to be happy? I have no joy in my heart, and no one will give me joy." "Because you have something on your mind!" Zbyszko shrugged. "I am neither happy, nor have I kept anything from you." He spoke so frankly that Macko no longer suspected that he was thinking of anything.So Macko ran his big hand through his gray hair, as he always did when he was thinking hard; at last he said: "Then I tell you that something is missing in you—one thing is over and the other hasn't begun. Do you know what I mean?" "I don't quite understand, it may be so!" replied the young knight. So he stretched like a man who hasn't had enough sleep. But Macko was convinced that he had guessed the real reason for Zbyszko's depression, and he was very happy and no longer worried.The old knight believed in his own wisdom more than ever, and said to himself: "No wonder people keep coming to me for advice!" After the conversation that evening Jagienka came to visit, and without waiting for her to dismount, the old man told her that he knew what Zbyszko wanted. The girl got out of the saddle and asked: "Well, what do you want? What do you want? Tell me!" "Only you can cure his disease." "Me? How can I be treated?" Macko put his arms around her waist and whispered something in her ear, and she jumped out of his arms as if scalded, hiding her flushed face in the saddlebag and high in the middle of his saddle, shouting: "Go away! I can't stand you!" "I swear to God, I'm telling you the truth," Macko said with a smile.