The Knights of the Cross, or, Krzyzacy: Historical Romance

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

  CHAPTER V.

  The foresters under the direction of the head huntsman, placed thehunters in a long row at the edge of the forest, in such a way that beinghidden themselves, they faced the glade. Nets were fastened along twosides of the glade, and behind these were the men whose duty it was toturn the beasts toward the hunters, or to kill them with spears if theybecame entangled in the nets. Many of the Kurpie were sent to drive everyliving thing from the depths of the forest into the glade. Behind thehunters there was another net stretched; if an animal passed the row ofhunters, he would be entangled in it and easily killed.

  The prince was standing in the middle in a small ravine, which extendedthrough the entire width of the glade. The head huntsman, Mrokota ofMocarzew, had chosen that position for the prince because he knew thatthe largest beasts would pass through this ravine. The prince had acrossbow, and leaning on a tree beside him was a heavy spear; a littlebehind him stood two gigantic "defenders" with axes on their shoulders,and holding crossbows ready to be handed to the prince. The princess andJurandowna did not dismount, because the prince would not allow them todo so, on account of the peril from urus and bisons; it was easier toescape the fury of these fierce beasts on horseback than on foot. DeLorche, although invited by the prince to take a position at his righthand, asked permission to remain with the ladies for their defence.Zbyszko drove his spear into the snow, put his crossbow on his back andstood by Danusia's horse, whispering to her and sometimes kissing her. Hebecame quiet only when Mrokota of Mocarzew, who in the forest scoldedeven the prince himself, ordered him to be silent.

  In the meanwhile, far in the depths of the wilderness, the horns of theKurpie were heard, and the noisy sound of a _krzywula_[100] answered fromthe glade; then perfect silence followed. From time to time the chatterof the squirrels was heard in the tops of the pines. The hunters lookedat the snow-covered glade, where only the wind moved the bushes, andasked themselves what kind of animals would first appear. They expectedabundant game, because the wilderness was swarming with urus, bisons andboars. The Kurpie had smoked out a few bears which were wandering in thethickets, angry, hungry and watchful.

  But the hunters were obliged to wait a long time, because the men whowere driving the animals toward the glade, had taken a very large spaceof the forest, and therefore they were so far away that the hunters didnot even hear the baying of the dogs, that had been freed from theleashes immediately after the horns resounded.

  After a while some wolves appeared on the edge of the forest, but havingnoticed the people, they again plunged into the forest, evidentlysearching for another pass. Then some boars having emerged from thewilderness, began to run in a long black line through the snowy space,looking from afar like domestic swine. They stopped and listened--turnedand listened again: turned toward the nets, but having smelt the men,went in the direction of the hunters, snorting and approaching more andmore carefully; finally there resounded the clatter of the iron cranks ofthe crossbows, the snarl of the bolts and then the first blood spottedthe white snow.

  Then a dreadful squealing resounded and the whole pack dispersed as ifstruck by a thunderbolt; some of them rushed blindly straight ahead,others ran toward the nets, while still others ran among the otheranimals, with which the glade was soon covered. The sounds of the hornswere heard distinctly, mingled with the howling of the dogs and thebustle of the people coming from the depths of the forest. The wildbeasts of the forest driven by the huntsmen soon filled the glade. It wasimpossible to see anything like it in foreign countries or even in theother Polish provinces; nowhere else was there such a wilderness as therewas in Mazowsze. The Knights of the Cross, although they had visitedLithuania, where bisons attacked[101] and brought confusion to the army,were very much astonished at the great number of beasts, and Sir deLorche was more astonished than they. He beheld in front of him herds ofyellow deer and elks with heavy antlers, mingled together and running onthe glade, blinded by fear and searching in vain for a safe passage. Theprincess, in whom Kiejstut's blood began to play, seeing this, shot arrowafter arrow, shouting with joy when a deer or an elk which was struck,reared and then fell heavily plowing the snow with his feet. Some of theladies-in-waiting were also shooting, because all were filled withenthusiasm for the sport. Zbyszko alone did not think about hunting; buthaving leaned his elbows on Danusia's knees and his head on the palms ofhis hands, he looked into her eyes, and she smiling and blushing, triedto close his eyelids with her fingers, as if she could not stand suchlooks.

  Sir de Lorche's attention was attracted by an enormous bear, gray on theback and shoulders, which jumped out unexpectedly from the thicket nearthe huntsmen. The prince shot at it with his crossbow, and then rushedforward with his boar-spear; when the animal roaring frightfully, reared,he pierced it with his spear in the presence of the whole court so deftlyand so quickly, that neither of the "defenders" needed to use his axe.The young Lotaringer doubted that few of the other lords, at whose courtshe had visited during his travels, would dare to amuse themselves in sucha way, and believed that the Order would have hard work to conquer suchprinces and such people. Later on he saw the other hunters pierce in thesame way, many boars much larger and fiercer than any that could be foundin the forest of Lower Lotaringen or in the German wilderness. Suchexpert hunters and those so sure of their strength, Sir de Lorche hadnever before seen; he concluded, being a man of some experience, thatthese people living in the boundless forests, had been accustomed fromchildhood to use the crossbow and the spear; consequently they were verydexterous in using them.

  The glade of the wood was finally covered with the dead bodies of manydifferent kinds of animals; but the hunt was not finished. In fact, themost interesting and also the most perilous moment was coming, becausethe huntsmen had met a herd of urus and bisons. The bearded bullsmarching in advance of the herd, holding their heads near the ground,often stopped, as if calculating where to attack. From their enormouslungs came a muffled bellowing, similar to the rolling of thunder, andperspiration steamed from their nostrils; while pawing the snow withtheir forefeet, they seemed to watch the enemy with their bloody eyeshidden beneath their manes. Then the huntsmen shouted, and their crieswere followed by similar shoutings from all sides; the horns and fifesresounded; the wilderness reverberated from its remotest parts; meantimethe dogs of the Kurpie rushed to the glade with tremendous noise. Theappearance of the dogs enraged the females of the herd who wereaccompanied by their young. The herd which had been walking up to thismoment, now scattered in a mad rush all over the glade. One of thebisons, an enormous old yellow bull, rushed toward the huntsmen standingat one side, then seeing horses in the bushes, stopped, and bellowing,began to plow the earth with his horns, as if inciting himself to fight.

  Seeing this, the men began to shout still more, but among the huntersthere were heard frightened voices exclaiming: "The princess! Theprincess! Save the princess!" Zbyszko seized his spear which had beendriven into the ground behind him and rushed to the edge of the forest;he was followed by a few Litwins who were ready to die in defence ofKiejstut's daughter; but all at once the crossbow creaked in the hands ofthe lady, the bolt whistled and, having passed over the animal's head,struck him in his neck.

  "He is hit!" exclaimed the princess; "he will not escape."

  But suddenly, with such a dreadful bellowing that the frightened horsesreared, the bison rushed directly toward the lady; at the same momentwith no less impetus, Sir de Lorche rushed from beneath the trees andleaning on his horse, with his spear extended as in a knightlytournament, attacked the animal.

  Those near by perceived during one moment, the spear plunged into theanimal's neck, immediately bend like a bow, and break into small pieces;then the enormous horned head disappeared entirely under the belly of Sirde Lorche's horse, and the charger and his rider were tossed into theair.

  From the forest the huntsmen rushed to help the foreign knight. Zbyszkowho cared most about the princess and Danusia's safety, arrived first anddrove his spear under the b
ison's shoulder blade. He gave the blow withsuch force, that the spear by a sudden turn of the bison, broke in hishands, and he himself fell with his face on the ground. "He is dead! Heis dead!" cried the Mazurs who were rushing to help him. The bull's headcovered Zbyszko and pressed him to the ground. The two powerful"defenders" of the prince arrived; but they were too late; fortunatelythe Czech Hlawa, given to Zbyszko by Jagienka, outstripped them, andhaving seized his broad-axe with both hands he cut the bison's bent neck,near the horns.

  The blow was so powerful that the animal fell, as though struck by athunderbolt, with his head almost severed from his neck; this enormousbody fell on top of Zbyszko. Both "defenders" pulled it away quickly. Theprincess and Danusia having dismounted, arrived at the side of thewounded youth.

  Zbyszko, pale and covered with his own and the animal's blood, tried torise; but he staggered, fell on his knees and leaning on his hands, couldonly pronounce one word:

  "Danuska."

  Then the blood gushed from his mouth. Danusia grasped him by hisshoulders, but being unable to hold him, began to cry for help. Thehuntsmen rubbed him with snow and poured wine in his mouth; finally thehead huntsman, Mrokota of Mocarzew ordered them to put him on a mantleand to stop the blood with soft spunk from the trees.

  "He will live if his ribs and his backbone are not broken," said he,turning toward the princess. In the meanwhile some ladies of the courtwith the help of other huntsmen, were attending to Sir de Lorche. Theyturned him over, searching in his armor for holes or dents made by thehorns of the bull; but besides traces of the snow, which had enteredbetween the joints of the iron plates, they could find nothing. The urushad avenged himself especially on the horse, which was lying dead besidethe knight; as for Sir de Lorche, he was not seriously injured. He hadfainted and his right hand was sprained. When they took off his helmetand poured some wine in his mouth, he opened his eyes, and seeing thesorrowful faces of two pretty young ladies bent over him, said in German:

  "I am sure I am in paradise already and the angels are over me."

  The ladies did not understand what he said; but being glad to see himopen his eyes and speak, they smiled, and with the huntsmen's help raisedhim from the ground; feeling the pain in his right hand, he moaned andleaned with the left on the shoulder of one of the "angels"; for a whilehe stood motionless, fearing to make a step, because he felt weak. Thenhe glanced around and perceived the yellow body of the urus, he also sawDanusia wringing her hands and Zbyszko lying on a mantle.

  "Is that the knight who rushed to help me?" he asked. "Is he alive?"

  "He is very severely injured," answered a courtier who could speakGerman.

  "From this time, I am going to fight not with him, but for him!" said theLotaringer.

  At this time, the prince who was near Zbyszko, approached Sir de Lorcheand began to praise him because he had defended the princess and theother ladies, and perhaps saved their lives by his bold deed; for which,besides the knightly reward, he would be renowned not only then but inall future generations.

  "In these effeminate times," said he, "there are few true knightstraveling through the world; therefore pray be my guest as long aspossible or if you can, remain forever in Mazowsze, where you havealready won my favor, and by honest deeds will easily win the love of thepeople."

  Sir de Lorche's heart was filled with joy when he heard the prince'swords and realized that he had accomplished such a famous knightly deedand deserved such praise in these remote Polish lands, about which somany strange things were told in the East. He knew that a knight whocould tell at the Burgundian court or at the court of Brabant, that whenon a hunting party, he had saved the life of the Mazowiecka princess,would be forever famous.

  Zbyszko became conscious and smiled at Danusia; then he fainted again.The huntsmen seeing how his hands closed and his mouth remained open,said to one another that he would not live; but the more experiencedKurpie, among whom many an one had on him the traces of a bear's paws, aboar's tusks or an urus' horns, affirmed that the urus' horn had slippedbetween the knight's ribs, that perhaps one or two of his ribs werebroken, but that the backbone was not, because if it were, he could notrise. They pointed out also, that Zbyszko had fallen in a snow-drift andthat had saved him, because on account of the softness the animal whenpressing him with his horns, could not entirely crush his chest, nor hisbackbone.

  Unfortunately the prince's physician, the _ksiondz_ Wyszoniek ofDziewanna, was not with the hunting party, being busy in the chateaumaking wafers.[102] The Czech rushed to bring him immediately, andmeanwhile the Kurpie carried Zbyszko to the prince's mansion. The Knightof the Cross, Hugo von Danveld, helped Danusia mount her horse and then,riding beside her and closely following the men who were carryingZbyszko, said in Polish in a muffled voice, so that she alone could hearhim:

  "In Szczytno I have a marvelous balm, which I received from a hermitliving in the Hercynski forest; I can bring it for you in three days."

  "God will reward you," answered Danusia.

  "God records every charitable deed; but will you reward me also?"

  "What reward can I give you?"

  The Krzyzak approached and evidently wished to say something else buthesitated; after a while he said:

  "In the Order, besides the brothers there are also sisters. One of themwill bring the healing balm, and then I will speak about the reward."