United States or Guam ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
After this the retinue moved on silently; but when they came near Krzesnia, the abbot touched his girdle and then turned it so that he could seize the hilt of his sword more easily, and said: "I am sure that old Wilk of Brzozowa will come with a good retinue." "Perhaps," replied Zych, "but I heard that he was not well."
Wilk rushed out of the vestibule and ran like a madman, not knowing where he was going. Cztan rushed after him, although not knowing why. They stopped at the corner of the inclosure where there were some large stones ready for the foundation of the tower which was to be built in Krzesnia.
I will keep good watch over Jagienka and the estate, for I know that Cztan and Wilk intend to do you some wrong, and you ought to know that the abbot out of spite against Zbyszko, preferred Cztan or Wilk for the girl. But he subsequently learned to know them better and rejected both of them, and turned them out of Zgorzelice; but not effectually, for they obstinately persisted.
But young Wilk, contrary to his custom to look for quarrels when drunk, this time limited his anger to threats against Cztan, and ran around Macko so assiduously as though he were to obtain Jagienka from Macko the following morning. Toward midnight he fainted from over-exertion, and after they revived him, he fell asleep like a log.
They often fought together; but after each fight, they always became reconciled, because although they were divided by their love for Jagienka, they could not live without each other. Now they had a common foe and they understood that the enemy was a dangerous one. After a while Cztan asked: "What shall we do? Shall we send him a challenge?" Wilk, although he was wiser, did not know what to do.
It also seemed to him that at any moment Wilk or Cztan's rapacious hands might dart from the dark thicket and grasp her, and at that thought, he was carried away by wild anger and longed for a fight. At times the desire for fight was so intense that he wanted to grasp his axe or sword and cut down a pine tree on the road. He felt that a good fight would comfort him.
But when they were approaching Zgorzelice, the sorrow in the Bohemian's heart turned to anger against Cztan and Wilk: "I would not spare even my blood in your behalf," he said to himself, "provided it comforted you. But what can I, unfortunate, do? What can I tell you? Unless I tell you that he ordered me to kneel before you. And, God grant that that might be of some comfort to you."
With God!" "With God," said the abbot. "Go!" And his face brightened; when Zbyszko disappeared, he touched Zych with his elbow and said: "Do you understand?" "What?" "He will surely fight in Krzesnia with Wilk and Cztan; but I wished for it and I am glad." "They are dreadful boys! If they wound him, then what of it?" "What of it?
"Well, I paid for a mass for my uncle's health, that's all." The abbot moved on the chest impatiently. "Ha!" thought he, "he did not meet Cztan and Wilk; perhaps they were not there, and perhaps he did not look for them. I was mistaken." But he was angry because he was mistaken, and because his plans had not been realized; therefore immediately his face grew red and he began to breathe loudly.
He brushed away the tears gathered under his eyelids, with his hand, looked around and said: "If these are the woods of Wilk of Bizozowa we will be home this afternoon." "They do not belong to Wilk of Bizozowa any longer; but to the abbot," said Zych. Macko smiled and said after awhile: "If they belong to the abbot, then sometime, they may belong to us."
Word Of The Day