The Knights of the Cross/Volume 1/Chapter 1

by Henryk Sienkiewicz

THE

KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS.

CHAPTER I.

In Tynets, at the Savage Bull, an inn which belonged to the monastery, were sitting a number of persons, listening to the tales of a veteran warrior, who had come from distant parts, and was relating adventures through which he had passed in war and on the road.

He was a bearded man, in the vigor of life, broad shouldered, almost immense, but spare of flesh; his hair was caught up in a net ornamented with beads; he wore a leathern coat with impressions made on it by armor; his belt was formed entirely of bronze squares; under this belt was a knife in a horn sheath; at his side hung a short travelling-sword.

Right there near him, behind the table, sat a youth with long hair and a gladsome expression of eye, evidently the man's comrade, or perhaps his armor-bearer, for he was also in travelling-apparel, and wore a similar coat, on which were impressions of armor. The rest of the society was composed of two country people from the neighborhood of Cracow and three citizens in red folding caps, the sharp-pointed tops of which hung down on one side a whole yard.

The innkeeper, a German wearing a yellow cowl and collar with indented edge, was pouring to them from a pitcher into earthen tankards substantial beer, and listening with interest to the narrative of warlike adventures.

But with still greater interest did the citizens listen. In those days the hatred which, during the time of Lokietek, distinguished citizens from knightly landowners, had decreased notably; citizens held their heads higher than in later centuries. They were still called at that time "des aller durchluchtigsten Kuniges und Herren"^[1] and their readiness "ad concessionem pecuniarum" (to pay money) was esteemed; hence it happened frequently that merchants were seen drinking in inns on the footing of lord brother with nobles. Nobles were even glad to see them, for merchants, as persons who possessed ready coin, paid usually for men with escutcheons.

So this time they sat and conversed, winking from moment to moment at the innkeeper to replenish the tankards.

"Then, noble knights," said one of the merchants, "ye have examined a piece of the world?"

"Not many of those now assembling in Cracow from all parts have seen as much," answered the knight.

"And not a few will assemble," continued the citizen. "Great feasts, and great happiness for the kingdom! They say, too, and it is certain, that the king has ordered for the queen a brocade bed embroidered with pearls, and above it a canopy. There will be festivals and tournaments within barriers, such as the world has not seen to this day."

"Interrupt not the knight, Gossip Gamroth," said a second merchant.

"I am not interrupting him, Gossip Eyertreter, but I think that he himself will be glad to know what people are saying, for surely he is going to Cracow. As it is, we shall not return to the city to-day, for the gates would be closed before us; and at night insects, hatched among chips, do not let people sleep, so we have time for everything."

"But you answer one word with twenty. You are growing old, Gamroth."

"Still I can carry a piece of damp cloth under my arm."

"Oh, indeed! but such cloth that light passes through it, as through a sieve."

Further conversation was interrupted by the warrior.

"It is sure," said he, "that I shall stop in Cracow, for I have heard of the tournaments, and shall be glad to try my strength in the lists, and this nephew of mine here also, who, though young and beardless, has seen more than one coat of mail on the ground."

The guests looked at the youth, who smiled joyously, and, when he had put his long hair behind his ears with both hands, raised the tankard of beer to his lips.

"Even if we wished to return," added the old knight, "we have no place to which we could go."

"How is that?" asked one of the nobles. "Whence are ye, and what are your names?"

"I am called Matsko of Bogdanets, and this stripling is the son of my brother; his name is Zbyshko. Our shield is the Blunted Horseshoe, with watchword Hail!"

"Where is your Bogdanets?"

"Oh, better ask me, lord brother, where it was, for it exists no longer. Even during the wars of the Grymaliti and Nalentchi our Bogdanets was burned to its foundations, and what we had there people took from us; our serving-men fled. The place was left naked, for neighboring land-tillers went farther into the wilderness. I with my brother, the father of this stripling, built up our castle anew, but the next year water swept it away from us. After that my brother died, and then I was alone with his orphan. 'I shall not stay here,' thought I. At that time people were talking of war, and of this, that Yasko of Olesnitsa, whom King Vladislav sent to Vilno to succeed Mikolai of Moskorzov, was seeking knights diligently throughout Poland. As I knew Yanko, the worthy abbot of Tulcha, I pledged my land to.him, and with borrowed money bought arms and horses. I found for myself the outfit usual in war, this lad, who was twelve then, I seated on a pony, and away to Yasko of Olesnitsa."

"With this stripling?"

"My dear, he was not even a stripling at that time, but he was a sturdy little fellow. At twelve he could put his crossbow on the ground, press with his stomach, and so turn the bow crank that no Englishman whom we saw at Vilno could do better."

"Was he so strong?"

"He carried my helmet at twelve, and when thirteen winters old he carried my shield."

"Then there was no lack of wars there?"

"Thanks to Vitold, there was not. The prince was always urging the Knights of the Cross, and every year they sent expeditions to Lithuania against Vilno. Various nations went with them: English, who are the first of bowmen, French, Germans, Bohemians, Swiss, and Burgundians. They felled forests, built fortresses on the way, and at last harried Lithuania savagely with fire and sword, so that all the people who dwelt in that land wished to leave it, and search out another, even at the end of the world,—even among sons of Belial, if only far from Germans."

"It was reported here that all Lithuanians wished to go away with their children and wives; we did not believe that."

"But I saw it. Hei! had it not been for Mikolai of Moskorzov, and Yasko of Olesnitsa, and without boasting, had it not been for us, Vilno would not now be existing."

"We know. Ye would not surrender the castle."

"And we did not. Listen, then, attentively to what I tell you; for I am a man who has served, I am a warrior of experience. People of the old time said in their day, 'Lithuania is venomous,' and they spoke truly. The Lithuanians fight well single-handed, but in the open field they cannot measure with the knighthood. When the horses of the Germans sink in swamps, or when they are in a dense forest, it is different."

"The Germans are good knights! " exclaimed the citizens.

"They stand like a wall, man to man, in iron armor, so covered that hardly is the eye of a dog brother of them to be seen through his vizor. And they go in line. It used to happen that the Lithuanians would strike them and be scattered like sand, and if they were not scattered the Germans put them down like a pavement and trampled them. But the Germans are not alone, for all nations in the world serve with the Knights of the Cross. Ah, those strangers are gallant! More than once a foreign knight would bend forward, lower his lance, and even before battle strike all alone into a whole army, like a falcon into a flock."

"Christ!" called out Gamroth. "Who is the best among the foreigners?"

"It depends on the weapon. At the crossbow the English are best; they pierce armor through and through with a shaft, and hit a clove a hundred steps distant. The Chehs cut terribly with axes. At the two-handed sword no one surpasses the German. The Swiss delight in breaking thick helmets with iron flails. But the greatest knights are those who come from the French land. They will fight with thee on foot or on horseback, and hurl terribly valiant words at thee; words which thou wilt not at all understand, for their speech is as if one were to rattle a tin plate, though these people are God-fearing. They have accused us, through German interpreters, of defending Pagans and Saracens against Knights of the Cross, and have bound themselves to prove it by a knightly duel. There is to be a judgment of God between four of their knights and four of ours; the meeting is appointed at the court of Vatslav, the Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia."

Here greater curiosity seized the country people and the merchants, so that they stretched their necks over the tankards toward Matsko of Bogdanets and inquired,—

"And of ours who will meet the French? Tell quickly!"

Matsko raised his beer to his lips, drank, and answered:

"Ei! have no fear for our men. They are Yan of Vloshchova, castellan of Dobryn; Mikolai of Vashmuntov; Yasko of Dakov; and Yarosh of Chehov. All are knights to be proud of, deadly fellows. Whether they do battle with lance, sword, or axe—it is nothing new to them! Men's eyes will have something to look at, and their ears something to hear. I have said, put foot on the throat of a Frenchman and he will send knightly words at thee. So help me God and the Holy Cross! as the French talk, so do ours slay."

"There will be glory, if God bless us," said one of the nobles.

"And Saint Stanislav!" added another. Then, turning to Matsko, he continued: "Well, now go on! You have glorified the Germans and other knights, saying that they are brave and that they broke Lithuanians easily. But against you was it not more difficult? Did they go against you with the same willingness? How did God favor? Give praise to our side!"

Evidently Matsko was no braggart, hence he answered modestly,—

"Whoso is fresh from distant lands strikes us willingly, but after he has tried us once and a second time he has not the same courage, for our people are stubborn. We have been reproached often with this stubbornness. 'Ye despise death,' say our enemies, 'but ye help the Saracens, and for this ye will be damned!' But in us stubbornness increases, for what they say is untrue. The double kingdom baptized Lithuania, and all people there confess Christ the Lord, though not every one does so with knowledge. We know that when a devil was cast out of the cathedral in Plotsk, our gracious lord gave command to set up a candle to him, and priests had to tell the king that it was improper to do that. Well, how must it be in the case of a common man? More than one says to himself: 'The prince has given command to be christened, he has given command to bow down to Christ, so I bow down; but why should I spare a pot of curds on the ancient pagan devils, why not throw them a toasted turnip, or pour to them beer foam? Unless I do so my horses will drop dead, or my cows will be sick, or their milk will grow bloody, or there will be harm to the harvest.' Many act in this way, and fall under suspicion. But they act thus through ignorance and through fear of devils. Formerly those devils had pleasant lives. They had their groves, their houses, horses to ride on, and they received tithes. But now the groves are cut down, they have nothing to eat; bells are rung in the towns, so this vileness is confined in the deepest forests and howls there in anguish. If a Lithuanian goes to the forest among pines, one devil or another pulls him by the coat, and says 'Give!' Some give, but there are bold fellows who give nothing, and even catch the devils. One man poured roasted peas into an ox bladder, and thirteen devils crawled in right away. He shut them in with a service wood plug and took them for sale to the Franciscan monks in Vilno, who gave him twenty groshes with gladness, so as to destroy the enemies of Christ's name. I myself saw that bladder, and a disgusting odor entered a man's nostrils at a distance from it; by such odors do foul spirits express their terror of holy water."

"But who counted the thirteen devils?" asked the merchant Gamroth, cleverly.

"A Lithuanian who saw them crawl in counted. It was evident that they were there, for that was shown by the stench, but no one would take out the plug."

"Those are wonders, wonders!" cried one of the nobles.

"I have looked my fill at great wonders not a few. We cannot say that those Lithuanian people are pleasant, everything about them is strange. They are shaggy, and hardly a prince among them curls his hair; they eat roasted turnips, preferring them to all other food, for they say that turnips increase bravery. They live in the same house with their cattle and their serpents, they know no moderation in eating and drinking. They hold married women in no esteem, but maidens they reverence highly and recognize great power in them; so if any maiden rubs a man's stomach with dried sycamore, gripes leave him that moment."

"Well, one would not be sorry to have the gripes if the maiden were shapely," called out Eyertreter.

"Ask Zbyshko," replied Matsko of Bogclanets.

Zbyshko laughed till the bench shook beneath him. "There are wonderful maidens among them!" said he. "Was not Ryngalla wonderful?"

"What Ryngalla? Some gay one? Tell us immediately."

"Have ye not heard of Ryngalla? " inquired Matsko.

"Not a word."

"Well, she is Prince Vitold's sister, and was the wife of Henryk, Prince of Mazovia."

"How is that? What Prince Henryk? There was only one Mazovian prince of that name, the bishop elect of Plotsk, but he died."

"The same man. A dispensation was to come from Rome to him, but death gave him the first dispensation; evidently he did not delight the Lord over much with his conduct. I was sent in that time with a letter from Yasko of Olesnitsa, to Prince Vitold, when Prince Henryk came from King Vladislav to Ritterswerder, as the bishop elect of Plotsk. The war had already become disagreeable to Vitold for this reason specially, that he could not take Vilno, and to our king his own brothers and their loose conduct had become disagreeable. The king, seeing then greater skill and more wisdom in Vitold than in his own brothers, sent the bishop to him with proposals to leave the Knights of the Cross and incline to obedience, for which the government of Lithuania would be given him. Vitold, always eager for change, listened to the pleasant message. There were feasts and tournaments. The bishop mounted a horse with delight, and exhibited his knightly prowess in the lists, though other bishops did not approve of this conduct. By nature all princes of Mazovia are strong, and it is notorious that even maidens of that stock break horseshoes easily. So one day the prince bishop swept three knights of ours from their saddles, another day five, and me among them, while the horse under Zbyshko he put on his haunches. He received all rewards from the hands of the marvellous Ryngalla, before whom he knelt in full armor. And they so fell in love that at feasts attendant clerics drew him away by the sleeves from her, and Vitold restrained the princess his sister. Then the prince bishop said: 'I give a dispensation to myself, and the pope will confirm it, if not the pope in Rome, he of Avignon, and we will have the marriage straightway, or Ishall be consumed.' It was a great offence against God, but Vitold did not wish to offend the king's envoy. Then the young couple went to Suraj, and later to Slutsk, to the great grief of this Zbyshko here, who, in German fashion, had chosen Princess Ryngalla as the lady of his heart, and vowed fealty till death to her."

"Indeed, this is true!" broke in Zbyshko. "But afterward people said that Princess Ryngalla, understanding that it was not proper for her to be married to the bishop elect (for though married, he had no wish to abandon his spiritual dignity), and because such a marriage could not be blessed by the Lord, poisoned her husband. Hearing of this, I prayed a holy hermit near Lublin to free me from my vow."

"He was a hermit indeed," answered Matsko, with a smile, "but I am not sure that he was holy, for we came upon him one Friday in the forest, where he was cracking bear-bones with an axe, and sucking out the marrow till there was gurgling in his throat."

"But he said that marrow was not flesh, and besides that he had a dispensation to eat it, for he had miraculous visions in sleep after eating marrow, and could prophesy on the morrow till mid-day."

"Well, well," replied Matsko. "But the wonderful Ryngalla is a widow, and she may summon thee to service."

"She would summon me in vain, for I shall choose another lady to serve till death, and besides I shall find a wife."

"First find the belt of a knight."

"Of course! but will there not be tournaments after the queen's delivery? Before that, or after it, the king will belt more than one man. I shall challenge every one. The prince would not have unseated me had my horse not sat on his haunches."

"There will be better men there than thou."

Then a nobleman from near Cracow exclaimed,—

"By the dear God! in presence of the queen will appear, not such men as thou, but the most renowned knights on earth: Zavisha of Garbov, and Farurey and Dobko of Olesnitsa, and Povala of Tachev, and Pashko Zlodye of Biskupitsi, and Yasko Nashan, and Abdank of Gora, and Andrei of Brohotsitsi, and Krystin of Ostrov, and Yakov of Kobylani! How couldst thou cope with these, with whom no man can cope either here or at the court of Bohemia or Hungary. What sayest thou, art thou better than they? How old art thou?"

"Eighteen," replied Zbyshko.

"Then each man of them could bend thee between his fingers."

"We shall see."

"I have heard," said Matsko, "that the king rewards bountifully knights returning from the Lithuanian war. Say ye who come from the capital if that be true?" "True as God lives!" said one of the nobles. "The bountifulness of the king is known throughout the world, but now it will not be easy to squeeze up to him, for in Cracow it is just swarming with guests who are assembling to be there during the delivery of the queen and the christening, wishing thus to show honor and fealty to our king. The King of Hungary is to be there, and they say the Roman Emperor too, and various princes, counts, and knights as numerous as poppy seed, because each man hopes that he will not go away empty-handed. They have said, even, that Pope Boniface himself will come; he also needs the aid and favor of our lord against his enemy in Avignon. In such a throng it will not be easy to gain audience, but if it be gained, and our lord's feet embraced, he will care for a man of merit bountifully, be assured."

"Then I will embrace his feet, for I have rendered service, and if there be war I will go again. I have gained booty, and received something from Prince Vitold as reward. I feel no need, but my evening years are coming, and in old age, when strength leaves his bones, a man is glad to have a quiet corner."

"The king was rejoiced to see those who returned from Lithuania under Yasko of Olesnitsa, and they are all eating fatly at present."

"Well! I did not return at that time, I warred on; for ye should know that that peace between the king and Prince Vitold was ground out upon the Germans. The prince recovered his hostages cunningly, and then attacked the Order. He stormed and burnt castles, slew knights, cut down a multitude of people. The Germans wished to take revenge in company with Swidrygello, who fled to them. There was a great expedition again. Conrad himself, the Grand Master, went with it, leading immense forces. They besieged Vilno, strove to storm castles from great towers, tried to take them by treason, but had no success in anything! And in their retreat so many fell that not one half escaped. We took the field once more against the brother of the Grand Master, Ulrich of Jungingen, burgomaster of Sambia. But Ulrich was afraid of the prince and fled with weeping. Since that flight there is peace, and they are building up Vilno anew. A certain holy monk, who could walk on red-hot iron barefoot, prophesied that thenceforth while the world was the world Vilno would not see near its walls an armed German. But if that be true, whose hands did the work?"

Matsko of Bogdanets stretched forth his hands, which were broad and strong beyond measure; others began to nod and add,—

"Yes, yes! he is right in what he says."

But further conversation was interrupted by a noise coming through the windows, from which the panes had been taken because the night was bright and warm. From afar was heard a clinking, the voices of people, the snorting of horses, and songs. Those present were astonished, for the hour was late and the moon had risen high in the heavens. The innkeeper, a German, ran out to the court of the inn, but before the guests could drain the last tankard he returned still more hurriedly.

"Some court is coming!" exclaimed he.

A moment later at the door appeared a youth in a blue kaftan, and on his head a red folding cap. He stopped, looked at the company, and seeing the host said,—

"Wipe the tables there and trim the lights; Princess Anna Danuta will halt here to rest."

Then he turned away. In the inn there was a movement, the host called to his servants and the guests looked at one another with astonishment.

"Princess Anna Danuta!" said one of the citizens; "that is the daughter of Keistut; she is wife of Yanush of Mazovia. She has passed two weeks already in Cracow, but went out to Zator, to Prince Vatslav on a visit, and now is returning of course."

"Gossip Gamroth," said the second citizen, "let us go to the hay in the barn; this company is too high for us."

"I do not wonder that they travel at night," remarked Matsko, "for it is hot in the day-time; but why come to an jnn when there is a cloister near by?"

Here he turned to Zbyshko.

"A sister, a full sister of the wonderful Ryngalla. Dost understand?"

"But there must be many Mazovian damsels with her, hei!" said Zbyshko.

1. See note at the end of Volume II.