CHAPTER VI.
Jagienka herself melted a large pot of bear's grease. Macko drank thefirst quart willingly, because it was fresh, and smelt good. Jagienka putthe rest of it in a pot. Macko's hope increased; he was sure he would becured.
"That is what I needed," said he. "When all parts inside of me becomegreasy, then that dog's splinter will slip out."
But the next quarts did not taste as well as the first; but he continuedto drink it and Jagienka encouraged him, saying:
"You will get well. Zbilud of Ostrog had the links of a coat of maildriven into his neck; but they slipped out because he drank grease. Butwhen your wound opens, you must put some grease of a beaver on it."
"Have you some?"
"Yes, we have. But if it be necessary to have it fresh, we will go withZbyszko and get a beaver. Meanwhile it would not do any harm, if youpromised something to some saint, who is the patron for wounds."
"I was thinking about that, but I do not know to whom I should make thepromise. Saint George is the patron of knights; he protects the warriorfrom any accident and always gives him victory, and it is said thatsometimes he fights personally for the one who is right. But a saint whofights willingly, does not heal willingly; and for that, there must beanother saint with whom he would not want to interfere. It is known thatevery saint has his specialty. But they will not interfere with oneanother; because that would cause quarrels, and it is not proper to fightin heaven. There are Kosma and Damian to whom all doctors pray, thatillness may exist; otherwise the doctors would not have anything to eat.There is Saint Apolonia for the teeth and Saint Liborius for stone; butthey will not do for me. The abbot, when he comes, will tell me whom Imust ask. Every _clericus_ does not know all celestial secrets andeveryone of them is not familiar with such things, but the abbot is."
"Suppose you make a vow to the Lord Jesus himself?"
"Of course he is over all of them. But suppose your father had injured myservant, and I went to Krakow to complain to the king; what would theking tell me? He would say thus: 'I am monarch over all the country, andyou complain to me about one of your peasants! Do you not have myofficials in your part of the country; why did you not go to thecastellan?' So the Lord Jesus is the ruler over the whole universe; butfor smaller affairs, he employs the saints."
"Then I will tell you what to do," said Zbyszko, who entered just now;"make a vow to our late queen, that if she intercede for you, you willmake a pilgrimage to Krakow. Why should you search after strange saints,when we have our own lady, who is better than they?"
"Bah! if I only knew that she would intercede for wounds!"
"No matter! There is no saint who would dare to show her an angry face;or if he dared, Lord God would punish him for it, because she was not anordinary woman, but a Polish queen."
"Who converted the last heathen country to the Christian faith! That isright," said Macko. "She must have a high place in God's council andsurely none would dare to oppose her. Therefore I will do as you say."
This advice pleased Jagienka, who admired Zbyszko's common sense verymuch. That same evening, Macko made a vow and drank with still greaterhope, the bear's grease. But after a week, he began to lose hope. He saidthat the grease was fermenting in his stomach, and that a lump wasgrowing on his side near the last rib. At the end of ten days Macko wasworse, and the lump grew larger and became inflamed. The sick man againhad fever and began to make preparations for death.
But one night he awakened Zbyszko, and said:
"Light a piece of resinous wood; there is something the matter with me,but I do not know what."
Zbyszko jumped up and lighted a piece of pine wood.
"What is it?"
"What is it! Something has pierced the lump on my side. It must be thehead of the spear! I had hold of it, but I cannot pull it out."
"It must be the spearhead! Nothing else. Grasp it well and pull."
Macko began to turn and to twist with pain; but he pushed his fingersdeeper and deeper, until he seized a hard substance which finally hepulled out.
"O, Jesus!"
"Have you pulled it out?" asked Zbyszko.
"Yes. I am in a cold perspiration all over; but I have it; look!"
Having said this, he showed to Zbyszko a long splinter, which hadseparated from the spear and remained in his body for several months.
"Glory be to God and to Queen Jadwiga! Now you will get well."
"Perhaps; I am better, but it pains me greatly," said Macko, pressing thewound from which blood and pus began to flow. "Jagienka said that now Iought to dress the wound with the grease of a beaver."
"We will go to-morrow and get a beaver."
Macko felt considerably better the next day. He slept till morning, andwhen he awoke, immediately asked for something to eat. He would not evenlook at the bear's grease; but they cooked twenty eggs for him. He atethem voraciously, also a big loaf of bread, and drank about four quartsof beer; then he demanded that they call Zych, because he felt jovial.
Zbyszko sent one of the Turks, given to him by Zawisza, after Zych whomounted a horse and came in the afternoon when the young people wereready to go to the Odstajny lake to catch a beaver. At first there wasplenty of laughter and singing, while they drank mead; but afterward theold _wlodykas_ began to talk about the children, each praising his own.
"What a man Zbyszko is!" said Macko; "there is no other like him in theworld. He is brave and as agile as a wild-cat. Do you know that when theyconducted him to the scaffold in Krakow, all the girls standing at thewindows were crying, and such girls;--daughters of knights and ofcastellans, and also the beautiful townswomen."
"They may be beautiful and the daughters of castellans, but they are notbetter than my Jagienka!" answered Zych of Zgorzelice.
"Did I say they were better? It will be difficult to find a better girlthan Jagienka."
"I do not say anything against Zbyszko either; he can stretch a crossbowwithout a crank."
"He can underprop a bear also. Did you see how he cut the bear? He cutthe head and one paw off."
"He cut the head off, but he did not underprop it alone. Jagienka helpedhim."
"Did she? He did not tell me about that."
"Because he promised her not to tell anyone. The girl was ashamed becauseshe went into the forest alone at night. She told me all about it; shenever hides the truth. Frankly speaking, I was not pleased because whoknows what might have happened. I wanted to scold her, but she said, 'IfI be not able to preserve my wreath myself, how can you preserve it, you_tatulu_; but do not fear, Zbyszko knows what knightly honor is.'"
"That is true. They have gone alone to-day also."
"They will be back in the evening. But during the night, the devil isworse and the girl does not feel ashamed because of the darkness."
Macko thought for a while; then he said as if to himself:
"But they are fond of each other."
"Bah! it is a pity he made a vow to another!"
"That is, as you know, a knightly custom. They consider the one who hasno lady, a churl. He also made a vow to capture some peacocks' tufts, andthose he must get because he swore by his knightly honor; he must alsochallenge Lichtenstein; but from the other vows, the abbot can releasehim."
"The abbot is coming soon."
"Do you expect him?" asked Macko; then he said again: "And what does sucha vow amount to; Jurand told him positively that he could not give thegirl to him! I do not know whether he had promised her to some one else,or whether he had destined her for God."
"Have I told you that the abbot loves Jagienka as much as if she were hisown? The last time I saw him he said: 'I have no relations except thosefrom my mother's side; and they will receive nothing from me.'"
Here Macko looked at Zych suspiciously and after awhile he answered:
"Would you wrong us?"
"Jagienka will get Moczydoly," said Zych evasively.
"Immediately?"
"Immediately. I would not give it to another; but I will d
o it for her."
"Half of Bogdaniec belongs to Zbyszko, and if God restore my health, Iwill improve the estate. Do you love Zbyszko?"
Zych began to wink and said:
"When anybody mentions Zbyszko's name in the presence of Jagienka, sheimmediately turns away."
"And when you mention another?"
"When I mention another, she only laughs and says: 'What then?'"
"Well, do you not see. God will help us and Zbyszko will forget about theother girl. I am old and I will forget also. Will you have some moremead?"
"Yes, I will."
"Well, the abbot is a wise man! You know that some of the abbots arelaymen; but this abbot, although he does not sit among the friars, is apriest just the same; and a priest can always give better advice than anordinary man, because he knows how to read, and he communes with the HolyGhost. I am glad that Jagienka is going to have the estate of Moczydoly.As for me, as soon as the Lord Jesus restores my health, I will try toinduce some of the peasants living on the estate of Wilk of Brzozowa, tosettle on my land. I will offer them more land, I have plenty of it inBogdaniec. They can come if they wish to, for they are free. In time, Iwill build a _grodek_ in Bogdaniec, a worthy castle of oaks with a ditcharound it. Let Zbyszko and Jagienka hunt together. I think we shall soonhave snow. They will become accustomed to each other, and the boy willforget that other girl. Let them be together. Speak frankly; would yougive Jagienka to him or not?"
"I would. Did we not decide a long time ago that they should marry, andthat Moczydoly and Bogdaniec would be our grandchildren's?"
"_Grady!_" exclaimed Macko, joyfully. "God will bless us and theirchildren will be as numerous as hail. The abbot shall baptize them."
"If he will only be quick enough!" exclaimed Zych. "I have not seen youso jolly as you are to-day for a long time."
"Because I am glad in my heart. Do not fear about Zbyszko. Yesterday whenJagienka mounted her horse, the wind blew. I asked Zbyszko then: 'Did yousee?' and his eyes shone. I have also noticed that although at first theydid not speak much to each other, now when they go together, they arecontinually turning their heads toward each other, and they talk--talk!Have some more mead?"
"Yes, I will."
"To Zbyszko and Jagienka's health!"