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diff --git a/29305.txt b/29305.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a784926 --- /dev/null +++ b/29305.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1932 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sielanka: An Idyll, by Henryk Sienkiewicz + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Sielanka: An Idyll + +Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz + +Translator: Vatslaf A. Hlasko + Thos. H. Bullick + +Release Date: July 4, 2009 [EBook #29305] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIELANKA: AN IDYLL *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +SIELANKA + +_An Idyll_ + + +BY + + +HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ + + +TRANSLATED BY + +VATSLAF A. HLASKO and THOS. H. BULLICK + + +R. F. FENNO & COMPANY : 9 AND 11 EAST +SIXTEENTH STREET : : NEW YORK CITY +1898 + + + + +Copyright, 1897 + +BY + +R. F. FENNO & COMPANY + + + + +SIELANKA. + +_An Idyll._ + + +In the woods, in the deep woods, was an open glade in which stood the +house of the forester Stephan. The house was built of logs packed with +moss, and the roof was thatched with straw; hard by the house stood +two outbuildings; in front of it was a piece of fenced-in ground, and +an old well with a long, crooked sweep; the water in the well was +covered with a green vegetation at the edges. + +Opposite the windows grew sunflowers and wild hollyhocks, high, +stately, and covered with blossoms as if with a swarm of gorgeous +butterflies; between the sunflowers there peeped the red heads of the +poppy; around the hollyhocks entwined sweet peas with pink blossoms +and morning-glories; close to the ground grew nasturtiums, marigolds, +primroses, and asters, pale because they were shaded from the sunlight +by the leaves of the hollyhocks and sunflowers. + +The fenced ground on either side of the pathway leading to the house +was planted with vegetables--carrots, beets, and cabbage; further off +in a separate fenced-in lot there waved with each breath of wind the +tender blue flower of the flax; still beyond could be seen the dark +green of the potato patch; the rest of the clearing was checkered with +the variegated shades of the different cereals that ran to the edge of +the lake which touched the glade on one side. + +Near to the house a few trees were growing. Some were cherry trees, +and one was a birch, with long, slender branches which swayed in the +wind, and with every breeze its leaves touched the dilapidated +moss-covered straw thatch of the roof; when the stronger gusts of wind +bent its boughs to the wall, and pressed its twigs and the waves of +leaves against the roof, it would seem as if the tree loved the house +and embraced it. + +In this tree the sparrows made their home; the rustling of the leaves +and twigs commingled with the chirp and joyous noise of the birds; in +the eaves of the house the doves had built their nests, and the place +was filled with their speech, cooing and calling to each other, +entreating and discussing as is customary between doves, these noisy +and talkative people. + +At times it happened that they were startled by some unknown cause; +then around the house was heard a loud flapping, the air was filled +with the whirl of wings and a multitude of white-feathered breasts; +you could hear tumult, noise and excited cries--the whole flock flew +out suddenly, circled round the house, now near, now far off. +Sometimes they melted in the blue, sometimes their white feathers +reflected the sunlight, again they hung over the house, undulating in +the air, and alighting at last like a downfall of snowflakes on the +gray straw of the roof. + +If this occurred in the rosy morning or in the splendor of the red +setting sun, then in the glory of the air these doves were not white, +but tinted pink, and settled on the roof and birch tree as flames or +scattered rose leaves. + +At twilight, when the sun had hidden itself beyond the woods, this +cooing under the roof and chirping in the birch tree became gradually +quiet. The sparrows and the doves shook the dew from their wings and +prepared to sleep; sometimes one of them gave voice once more, but +more rarely, more softly, more drowsily, and then all was silent--the +dusk was falling from the heavens upon the earth. The house, cherry +trees, and birch were losing their form, mingling together, melting, +and veiled in a mist which rose from the lake. + +Around the glade, as far as the eye could reach, there stretched the +wall of dark pine trees and thick undergrowth. This wall was broken in +one place by a wide dividing line, which reached to the edge of the +lake. The lake was a very large one, the opposite side was nearly lost +to view, and in the mist could be hardly discerned the red roof and +steeple of a church, and the black line of the woods closing the +horizon beyond the church. + +The pines were looking from the high sandy banks upon their reflection +in the lake as if in a mirror, and it seemed as if there was another +forest in the water; and when the trees were swaying on the earth they +were also swaying in the water, and when they quivered on the earth +they seemed to quiver in the water; as they stood in the still air +motionless, then every needle of the pines was painted distinctly on +the smooth, unruffled surface, and the straight trunks of the trees +standing like rows of pillars reaching afar off into infinity. In the +middle of the lake the water in the daytime reflected the sun, and in +the morning and the evening the glories of its rising and its setting; +at night the moon and stars; and it seemed to be as deep as the dome +of the sky above us is high, beyond the sun, moon, and stars. + +In the house dwelt the forester, named Stephan, and his daughter, +Kasya, a maiden of sixteen. Kasya was the light of the household, as +bright and fresh as the morning. She was brought up in great innocence +and in the fear of God. Her uncle, who was now dead, and who was a +poor but devout man, the organist of the neighboring church, had +taught her to read her prayer book, and her education was perfected by +her communing with nature. The bees taught her to work, the doves +taught her purity, the happy sparrows to speak joyfully to her father, +the quiet water taught her peace, the serenity of the sky taught her +contemplation, the matin-bell of the distant church called her to +devotion, and the universal good in all nature, which reflected the +love of God, sank deep into her soul. + +Therefore the father and Kasya led a peaceful and happy life, +surrounded by the silence and solitude of the woods. + +One noon, before Ascension Day, Stephan came home to his dinner. He +had visited a large tract of the forest, so he arrived weary, having +returned through the thickets of the swamp. Kasya placed the dinner on +the table, and after they had finished and she had fed the dog and +washed the dishes, she said: + +"Papa." + +"What is it?" + +"I shall go into the woods." + +"Go, go," adding jestingly, "and let some wolf or wild beast devour +you." + +"I shall go and gather herbs. To-morrow is Ascension Day and they will +be needed in the church." + +"If so, you can go." + +She covered her head with a yellow kerchief embroidered with blue +flowers, and looking for her basket she began singing: + + "The falcon came flying, the falcon came grey." + +The old man began to grumble: "If you were as fond of working as you +are of singing." + +Kasya, who was standing on her tiptoes to look on a shelf, turned her +head to her father, laughed merrily, and showing her white teeth, sang +again as if to tease him: + + "He hoots in the woods and the cuckoo's his prey." + +"You would be glad yourself to be a cuckoo until a falcon came," said +the old man. "Perhaps 'tis falcon who is at the turpentine works? but +this is folly. You can't earn a piece of bread by singing." + +Kasya again sang: + + "Hoot not thou, my falcon, unhappy thy quest, + In the depths of the lake thy cuckoo doth rest." + +Then she said: + +"Wilt thou decorate the room with the evergreens for to-morrow? I +shall return in time to milk the cows, but they should be brought from +the pasture." + +She found her basket, kissed her father, and went out. Old Stephan got +his unfinished fishing-net, and seated himself on a bench outside the +door. He gathered his twine, and half-closing one eye he tried to +thread his netting needle; after several attempts he succeeded and +began to work. + +From time to time he watched Kasya. She was walking on the left side +of the lake; against the background of the sandy banks she stood out +in relief as if in a picture. Her white waist and red striped skirt +and yellow kerchief glistened in the sunlight like a variegated +flower. Though it was spring the heat was unbearable. After she had +gone about half a mile she turned aside and disappeared into the +woods. The afternoon hours were hot in the sun, but in the shade of +the trees it was quite cool. Kasya pressed forward, suddenly stopped, +smiled, and blushed like a rose. + +In front of her in the pathway stood a youth about eighteen years of +age. + +This youth was the turpentine worker, from the edge of the woods, who +was now on his way to visit Stephan. + +"The Lord be praised!" said he. + +"Forever and ever," answered she, and in her confusion she covered her +face with her apron, peeping shyly out of a corner of it and smiling +at her companion. + +"Kasya," said he. + +"What is it, John?" + +"Is your father at home?" + +"He is." + +The turpentine worker, poor fellow, perhaps desired to speak of +something else beside the father, but somehow he was frightened and +unconsciously inquired for him; then he became silent and waited for +Kasya to speak to him first. She stood confused, twisting the corners +of her apron. + +At last she spoke. + +"John?" + +"What is it, Kasya?" + +"Does the turpentine works smoke to-day?" She also wished to speak of +something else. + +"Why should it not? The turpentine works never stop. I left lame Frank +there; but dost thou wish to go there?" + +"No, I go to gather plants." + +"I will go with thee, and on our return, if thou dost not chase me +away, I will come to thy house." + +"Why should I chase thee away?" + +"If thou dost like me thou wilt not chase me away, and if thou dost +not, then thou wilt. Tell me, Kasya, dost thou like me?" + +"Fate, my fate," and Kasya covered her face with her hands. "What can +I say to thee? I like thee, John, very much I like thee," she +whispered faintly. + +Then before he could reply she uncovered her blushing face and cried +out, "Let us go and gather plants; let us hurry." + +And so went they, John and Kasya. The radiance of love surrounded +them, but these simple children of nature dared not speak of it. They +felt it, although they knew not what they felt; they were embarrassed +but happy. Never before had the forest sung so wonderfully over their +heads, never was the wind so sweet and caressing, never at any time +had the noises of the forest, the rustling of the breeze in the trees, +the voices of the birds, the echoes of the woods, seemed to merge into +such an angelic choir, so sweet and grand, as at this moment, full of +unconscious happiness. + +Oh, holy power of love! how good an angel of light thou art, how rosy +an aureole in the dusk, how bright a rainbow on the cloud of human +tears! + +Meanwhile, in the woods resounded echoes from pine to pine, the +barking of the dog, Burek, who had escaped from the house and ran on +the pathway after Kasya. He came panting heavily, and with great joy +he jumped with his big paws on Kasya and John, and looked from one to +the other with his wise and mild eyes, as if wishing to say: + +"I see that you love one another; this is good." + +He wagged his tail and ran quickly ahead of them, then circled round +to them, then stopped, barked once more with joy, and rushed into the +woods, looking back from time to time on the boy and girl. + +Kasya put her hand to her forehead, and looking upward upon the bright +sun between the leaves she said: + +"Just think, the sun is two hours beyond noontime and we have not yet +gathered any plants. Go thou, John, to the left side and I shall go +the right, and let us begin. We should hasten, for the dear Lord's +sake." + +They separated and went into the woods, but not far from one another +and in a parallel direction, so that they could see each other. Among +the ferns between the pine trees could be seen fluttering the +vari-colored skirt and yellow kerchief of Kasya. The slender, supple +maiden seemed to float amid the berry-laden bushes, mosses and ferns. +You would say it was some fairy _wila_ or _rusalka_ of the woods; +every moment she stooped and stood erect again, and so, further and +further, passing the pine trees, she entered deeper into the forest as +some spritely nymph. + +Sometimes the thick growth of young hemlocks and cedars would conceal +her from view, then John stopped, and putting his hand to his mouth +would shout, "Halloo! Halloo!" + +Kasya heard it; she stopped with a smile, and pretending that she did +not see him, answered in a high, silvery voice: + +"John!" + +The echo answers: + +"John! John!" + +Meanwhile Burek had espied a squirrel up a tree, and, standing before +it looking upward, barked. The squirrel sitting on a branch covered +herself with her tail in a mocking manner, lifted her forepaws to her +mouth and rubbed her nose, seemed to play with her forefingers, make +grimaces, and laugh at the anger of Burek. Kasya, seeing it, laughed +with a resounding, silvery tone, and so did John, and so the woods +were filled with the sound of human voices, echoes, laughter and sunny +joy. + +Sometimes there was a deep silence, and then the woods seemed to +speak; the breeze struck the fronds of the ferns, which emitted a +sharp sound; the trunks of the pines swayed and creaked, and there was +silence again. + +Then could be heard the measured strokes of the woodpecker. It seemed +as if some one kept knock--knocking at a door, and you could even +expect that some mysterious voice would ask: + +"Who is there?" + +Again, the wood thrush was whistling with a sweet voice; the +golden-crowned hammer plumed his feathers. In the thicket the +pheasants clucked and the bright green humming birds flitted between +the leaves; sometimes on the top of the pine tree a crow, hiding +itself from the heat of the sun, lazily flapped its wings. + +On this afternoon the weather was most clear, the sky was cloudless, +and above the green canopy of the leaves there spread out the blue +dome of the heavens--immense, limitless, transparently gray-tinted on +the sides and deep blue above. In the sky stood the great golden sun; +the space was flooded with light; the air was bright and serene, and +far-off objects stood out distinctly, their forms clearly defined. +From the height of heaven the eye of the great Creator embraced the +whole earth; in the fields the grain bowed to Him with a golden wave, +rustled the heavy heads of the wheat, and the delicate tasseled oats +trembled like a cluster of tiny bells. In the air, filled with +brightness here and there, floated the spring thread of the spider's +web, blue from the azure of the sky and golden from the sun, as if a +veritable thread from the loom of the Mother of God. + +In the vales between the fields of the waving grain stood dark-green +meadows; here and there were crystal springs, around whose edges the +grass was greener still; the whole meadows were sprinkled with yellow +buttercups and dandelions which struck the eye with a profusion of +golden brightness. In the wet places there thrived cypress trees, +which had an air of coldness and moisture. + +In the woods among the pine trees there were now both heat and +silence. It seemed as if a dreamy stillness enveloped the whole world. +Not a breath of wind stirred; the trees, grain, and grass were +motionless. The leaves hung on the trees as if rocked to sleep; the +birds had ceased their noises, and the moment of rest had come. But +this rest seemed to come from an ineffable sweetness, and all nature +seemed to meditate. Only the great expanse of heaven seemed to smile, +and somewhere, high in the unknowable depths of its blue, the great +and beneficent God was glad with the gladness of the fields, the +woods, the meadows, and the waters. + +Kasya and John were still busy in the woods collecting herbs, laughing +gleefully and speaking to each other joyfully. Man is as artless as a +bird; he will sing when he can, for this is his nature. John now began +to sing a simple and touching song. + +As Kasya and John sang in unison the last refrain of the song ended +mournfully, and as if in accompaniment the echo repeated it in the +dark depths of the woods; the pines gave resonance as the words ran +between their trunks and died away in the far distance like a sigh, +less distinct, light, ethereal; then silence. + +Later Kasya sang a more cheerful song, beginning with the words: + + "I shall become a ring of gold now." + +This is a good song. A willful young girl quarrels with her lover and +enumerates the means she intends to use to escape from him. But it is +useless. When she says that she will be a golden ring and will roll +away on the road, he says that he will quickly see and recover her. +When she wants to be a golden fish in the water he sings to her of the +silken net; when she wants to be a wild fowl on the lake he appears +before her as a hunter. At last the poor maiden, seeing she is unable +to hide herself from him on the earth, sings: + + "I shall become a star in heaven, + Light to earth by will be given. + My love to thee I shall not render, + Nor my sweet will to thee surrender." + +But the undaunted youth answers: + + "Then shall I pray to the saint's grace + That the star may fall from its heavenly place. + Thy love to me thou then wilt render, + And thy sweet will to me surrender." + +The maiden, seeing there is no refuge either in heaven or on earth for +her, accepts the view of Providence and sings: + + "I see, I see, fate's decree doth bind me; + Where'er I hide, thou sure wilt find me. + My love to thee I must now render, + And my sweet will to thee surrender." + +John, turning to Kasya, said: + +"Do you understand?" + +"What, John?" + +He began to sing: + + "Thy love to me thou must now render, + And thy sweet will to me surrender." + +Kasya was troubled, and laughed loudly to cover her confusion; and +wishing to speak, she said: + +"I have gathered a large lot of plants; it would be well to dip them +in water, for in this heat they will wither." + +Verily the heat was great; the wind had entirely ceased. In the woods, +though in the shade, the air vibrated with moist heat, the pines +exuding a strong, resinous odor. The delicate, golden-tinted face of +Kasya was touched with perspiration, and her blue eyes showed traces +of weariness. She removed the kerchief from her head, and began to fan +herself. John, taking the basket from her, said: + +"Here, Kasya, stand two aspen trees, and between them a spring. Come, +let us drink." + +Both went. After a short interval they noticed that the ground of the +forest began to slope here. Among the trees, instead of bushes, ferns +and dry mosses, there was a green, damp turf, then one aspen tree, +then another, and after them whole rows. They entered into this dark, +humid retreat, where the rays of the sun, passing through the leaves, +took on their color and reflected on the human face a pale green +light. John and Kasya descended lower and lower into the shadows and +dampness; a chilliness breathed upon them, refreshing after the heat +of the woods; and in a moment, between the rows of the aspen trees, +they espied in the black turf a deep stream of water winding its way +under and through canes and bushy thickets, and interspersed with the +large, round leaves of the water-lilies, which we call "_nenufars_," +and by the peasants are called "white flowers." + +Beautiful was this spot, quiet, secluded, shady, even somewhat sombre +and solemn. The transparent stream of water wound its way between the +trees. The _nenufars_, touched by the light movement of the water, +swayed gently backward and forward, leaning toward each other as if +kissing. Above their broad leaves, lying like shields on the surface +of the water, swarmed indigo-colored insects with wide, translucent, +sibilant wings, so delicate and fragile that they are justly called +water-sprites. Black butterflies, with white-edged, mournful wings, +rested on the sharp, slender tops of the tamarack. On the dark turf +blossomed blue forget-me-nots. On the edge of the stream grew some +alder trees, and under the bushes peeped out heads of the +lily-of-the-valley, bluebells and honeysuckles. The white heads of the +_biedrzenica_ hung over the waters; the silvery threads of the +_strojka_ spread out upon the current of the stream and weaved +themselves into thin and long strands; besides--seclusion--a wild +spot, forgotten by men, peaceful, peopled only with the world of +birds, flowers and insects. + +In such places generally dwell nymphs, _rusalki_, and other bad or +good forest sprites. Kasya, who was in advance, stood first on the +banks of the stream and looked upon the water in which was reflected +her graceful form. She verily appeared as one of those beautiful +forest spirits as they are seen sometimes by the woodsmen or lumber +men who float on their rafts down the rivers through the woods. She +had no covering upon her head, and the wind gently played with her +locks and ruffled her ray-like hair. Sunburned she was, blond-haired, +and her eyes, as blue as turquoise, were as laughing as her lips. +Besides, she was a divinely tall, slender, and fairy-like maiden. No +one could swear, if she was suddenly startled, that she would not jump +into the water--would not dissolve into mist--into rainbow rays--would +not turn quickly into a water-lily or _kalina_ tree, which, when +robbed of its flowers, remonstrates with a voice so human, yet +recalling the sigh of the forest: + +"Don't touch me." + +Kasya, bending over the water so that her tresses fell on her +shoulders, turned toward John and said: + +"How shall we drink?" + +"As birds," answered John, pointing to some silver pheasants on the +opposite side of the stream. + +John, who knew how to help himself better than the birds, plucked a +large leaf from a tree, and, making a funnel out of it, filled it with +water and gave it to Kasya. + +They both drank, then Kasya gathered some forget-me-nots, and John +with his knife made a flute from the willow bark, on which, when he +had finished, he began to play the air which the shepherds play in the +eventide on the meadows. The soft notes floated away with ineffable +tenderness in this secluded spot. Shortly he removed the flute and +listened intently as if to catch an echo returning from the aspen +trees, and it seemed that the clear stream, the dark aspen trees, and +the birds hidden in the canes listened to these notes with him. + +All became silent, but shortly, as if in answer--as if a +challenge--came the first faint note of the nightingale, followed by a +stronger trill. The nightingale wanted to sing--it challenged the +flute. + +Now he began to sing. All nature was listening to this divine singer. +The lilies lifted their heads above the water; the forget-me-nots +pressed closer together; the canes ceased to rustle; no bird dared to +peep except an unwise and absent-minded cuckoo, who with her silent +wing alighted near by on a dry bough, lifted her head, widely opened +her beak, and foolishly called aloud: + +"Cuckoo! cuckoo!" + +Afterward it seemed as if she was ashamed of her outbreak, and she +quietly subsided. + +Vainly Kasya, who stood on the edge of the stream with the +forget-me-nots in her hand, turned to the side from whence came the +voice of the cuckoo and queried: + +"Cuckoo, blue-gray cuckoo, how long shall I live?" + +The cuckoo answered not. + +"Cuckoo, shall I be rich?" + +The cuckoo was silent. + +Then John: "Cuckoo, gray cuckoo, how soon will I wed?" + +The cuckoo replied not. + +"She cares not to answer us," said John; "let us return to the +forest." + +On returning they found the large stone by which they had placed the +basket and bunches of herbs. Kasya, seating herself beside it, began +to weave garlands, and John helped her. Burek lay near them, stretched +his hairy forepaws, lolled out his tongue and breathed heavily from +fatigue, looking carefully around to see if he could not spy some +living thing to chase and enjoy his own noise. But everything in the +woods was quiet. The sun was traveling toward the west, and through +the leaves and the needles of the pines shot his rays, becoming more +and more red, covering the ground of the woods in places with great +golden circles. The air was dry; in the west were spreading great +shafts of golden light, which flooded all like an ocean of molten gold +and amber. The wondrous beauties of the peaceful, warm spring evening +were glowing in the sky. In the woods the daily work was gradually +ceasing. The noise of the woodpecker had stopped; black and bronzed +ants returned in rows to their hills, which were red in the rays of +the setting sun. Some carried in their mouths pine needles and some +insects. Among the herbs here and there circled small forest bees, +humming joyfully as they completed their last load of the sweet +flower-dust. From the fissures in the bark of the trees came gloomy +and blind millers; in the streams of the golden light circled swarms +of midgets and gnats scarcely visible to the eye; mosquitoes began +their mournful song. On the trees the birds were choosing their places +for the night; a yellow bird was softly whistling; the crows flapped +their wings, crowding all on one tree and quarreling about the best +places. But these voices were more and more rare, and became fainter; +gradually all ceased, and the silence was interrupted by the evening +breeze playing among the trees. The poplar tree tried to lift her +bluish-green leaves upward; the king-oak murmured softly; the leaves +of the birch tree slightly moved--silence. + +Now the sky became more red; in the east the horizon became dark blue, +and all the voices of the woods merged into a chorus, solemn, deep and +immense. Thus the forest sings its evening song of praise, and says +its prayers before it sleeps; tree speaks to tree of the glory of God, +and you would say that it spoke with a human voice. + +Only very innocent souls understand this great and blessed speech. +Only very innocent hearts hear and understand when the first chorus of +the parent oaks begins its strain: + +"Rejoice, O sister pines, and be glad. The Lord hath given a warm and +peaceful day, and now above the earth He makes the starry night. Great +is the Lord, and mighty, powerful and good is He, so let there be +glory to Him upon the heights, upon the waters, upon the lands, and +upon the air." + +And the pines pondered a moment upon the words of the oaks, and then +they raised their voices together, saying: + +"Now, O Lord, to thy great glory, we, as censers, offer to Thee the +incense of our sweet-smelling balsam, strong, resinous and fragrant. +'Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.'" + +Then the birches said: + +"Thy evening brightness illumines the heavens, O Lord! and in Thy +splendors our small leaves golden are and burning. Now with our golden +leaves we sing to Thee, O Lord, and our delicate twigs play as the +strings of the harp, O good Father of ours!" + +Again the sorrowing cypress said: + +"Upon our sad foreheads, exhausted with the heat, softly falls the +evening dew. Praise be to Thee, O Lord; brothers and sisters rejoice, +because there falls the cooling dew." + +Amid this chorus of trees the aspen alone trembles and is afraid; for +it gave the wood for the Cross of the Saviour of the world; at times +it faintly groans: + +"O Lord, have mercy upon me. Have mercy upon me, O Lord." + +Again, sometimes, when the oaks and pines cease for a moment, there +rises from under their feet a faint, modest voice, low as the murmur +of insects, silent as silence itself, which says: + +"A small berry am I, O Lord, and hidden in the moss. But Thou wilt +hear, discern and love me; though small, devout am I, and sing Thy +glory." + +Thus every evening prays the forest, and these orchestral sounds rise +at every sunset from earth to heaven--and float high, high, reaching +where there is no creature, where there is nothing only the silvery +dust and the milky way of the stars, and above the stars--God. + +At this moment the sun hides his radiant head in the far-distant seas; +the farmer turns upward his plowshares and hastens to his cottage. +From the pastures return the bellowing herds; the sheep raise clouds +of the golden dust. The twilight falls; in the village creek the well +sweeps; later the windows shine, and from the distance comes the +barking of the dogs. + +The sun had not gone beyond the woods when Kasya had seated herself +under the mossy stone to weave her garlands. Its rays were thrown upon +her face, broken by the shadows of the leaves and twigs. The work did +not proceed rapidly, for Kasya was tired from heat and running in the +woods. Her sunburnt hands moved slowly at her work. The warm breeze +kissed her temples and face, and the voices of the forest lulled her +to sleep. Her large eyes became heavy and drowsy; her eyelashes began +to close slowly; she leaned her head against the stone, opened her +eyes once more as a child looking upon the divine beauty of the world; +then the noise of the trees, the rows of the stumps, the ground full +of pine needles, and the skies that could be seen between the branches +all became indistinct, darkened, dissolved, disappeared--and she +smiled and slept. Her head was hidden in a soft shade, but the +covering of her breast shone all rosy and purple. Her soft breathing +lifted her bosom gently; so wonderful and beautiful she looked in this +quiet sleep in the evening rays that John looked upon her as if upon +the image of a saint, glorious with gold, and colored as the rainbow. + +Kasya's hands were clinging yet to the unfinished garland of herbs. +She slept with a sleep light and sweet, for she smiled through her +dreams as a child who speaks with the angels. Perhaps she verily +conversed with angels, for pure she was as a child, and had dedicated +her whole day to the service of God by gathering and weaving the +garlands for His temple. + +John was sitting by her side, but he did not sleep. His simple breast +could not contain the feelings that arose there; he felt as if his +soul had got wings and was preparing to fly away to the realms of +heaven. He knew not what was happening to him, and he only raised his +eyes to the skies and was motionless; you would say that love had +transfigured him. + +Kasya slumbered on, and for a long time they both remained there. +Meanwhile the dusk came. The remnants of the purple light fought with +the darkness. The interior of the woods deepened--became dumb. From +the canes of the lake near the glade with its cottage came the buzzing +of a night beetle. + +Suddenly on the other side of the lake from the church rang out the +Angelus bell. Its tones floated on the wings of the evening breeze +over the face of the quiet waters, clear, resonant, and distinct. It +called the faithful to prayer, and also proclaimed: "Rest! Enough of +work and the heat of the day," spoke the bell. "Wrap yourself to sleep +in the wing of God. Come, come ye weary to Him--in Him is joy! Here is +peace! here gladness! here sleep! here sleep! here sleep!" + +John took off his hat at the sound of the bell, Kasya shook the sleep +from her eyes, and said: + +"The bell rings." + +"For the Angel of the Lord." + +Both kneeled near by the mossy stone as if before an altar. Kasya +began to pray with a low, soft voice: + +"The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary," + +"And she conceived by the Holy Ghost," answered John. + +"Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; may it be done to me according to +Thy word." + + * * * * * + +Thus kneeling, prayed these children of God. The silent summer +lightning shone from the east to the west, and upon its light flew +down from heaven a radiant host of winged angels, and hovered above +their heads. Then they blended with the angels and were themselves as +if angels, for upon earth there were no two souls more bright, more +pure, more innocent. + + + + +ORSO. + + +The last days of autumn in Anaheim, a town situated in Southern +California, are days of joy and celebration. The grape gathering is +finished and the town is crowded with the vineyard hands. There is +nothing more picturesque than the sight of these people, composed +partly of a sprinkling of Mexicans, but mainly of Cahuilla Indians, +who come from the wild mountains of San Bernardino to earn some money +by gathering grapes. They scatter through the streets and market +places, called lolas, where they sleep in tents or under the roof of +the sky, which is always clear at this time of the year. This +beautiful city, surrounded with its growths of eucalyptus, olive, +castor, and pepper trees, is filled with the noisy confusion of a +fair, which strangely contrasts with the deep and solemn silence of +the plains, covered with cacti, just beyond the vineyards. In the +evening, when the sun hides his radiant head in the depths of the +ocean, and upon the rosy sky are seen in its light the equally +rosy-tinted wings of the wild geese, ducks, pelicans and cranes, +descending by the thousands from the mountains to the ocean, then in +the town the lights are lit and the evening amusements begin. The +negro minstrels play on bones, and by the campfires can be heard the +picking of the banjo; the Mexicans dance on an out-spread poncha their +favorite bolero; Indians join in the dance, holding in their teeth +long white sticks of kiotte, or beating time with their hands, and +exclaiming, "E viva;" the fires, fed with redwood, crackle as they +blaze, sending up clouds of bright sparks, and by its reflection can +be seen the dancing figures, and around them the local settlers with +their comely wives and sisters watching the scene. + +The day on which the juice from the last bunch of grapes is trampled +out by the feet of the Indians is generally celebrated by the advent +of Hirsch's Circus, from Los Angeles. The proprietor of the circus is +a German, and besides owns a menagerie composed of monkeys, jaguars, +pumas, African lions, one elephant, and several parrots, childish with +age--"_The greatest attraction of the world._" The Cahuilla will give +his last peso, if he has not spent it on drink, to see not only wild +animals--for these abound in the San Bernardino Mountains--but to see +the circus girls, athletes, clowns, and all its wonders, which seem to +him as "a great medicine"--that is, magical feats, impossible of +accomplishment except by the aid of supernatural powers. + +Mr. Hirsch, the proprietor of the circus, would be very angry with any +one who would dare to say that his circus only attracted Mexicans, +Indians, and Chinese. Certainly not; the arrival of the circus brings +hither not only the people of the town and vicinity, but even those of +the neighboring towns of Westminster, Orange, and Los Nietos. Orange +Street is crowded with buggies and wagons of divers shapes, so that it +is difficult to get through. The whole world of settlers come as one +man. Young, bright girls, with their hair prettily banged over their +eyes, sitting on the front seats, drive some of these vehicles, and +gracefully upset passing pedestrians, chatter and show their white +teeth; the Spanish senoritas from Los Nietos cover you with their +warm, ardent glances from under their lace mantillas; the married +women from the country, dressed in their latest and best fashions, +lean with pride on the arms of the sunburned farmers, who are dressed +in old hats, jean pants, and flannel shirts, fastened with hook and +eye, and without neckties. + +All these people meet and greet each other, gossip, and the women +inspect with critical eye the dresses of their neighbors, to see if +they are "very fashionable." + +Among the buggies are some covered with flowers, which look like huge +bouquets; the young men, mounted on mustangs, bend from their high +Mexican saddles and peer under the hats of the young girls; the +half-wild horses, frightened by the noise and confusion, look here and +there with their bloodshot eyes, curvet, rear, and try to unseat their +riders, but the cool riders seem to pay no attention to them. + +They all speak of "the greatest attraction," which was about to excel +everything that had been seen before. Truly the flaming posters +announced genuine wonders. The proprietor, Hirsch, that renowned +"artist of the whip," will in the arena give a contest with a fierce, +untamed African lion. The lion, according to the programme, springs +upon the proprietor, whose only defense is his whip. This simple +weapon in his hands (according to the programme) will change itself +into a fiery sword and shield. The end of this whip will sting as a +rattlesnake, flash as lightning, shoot as a thunderbolt, and keep at a +proper distance the enraged monster, who vainly roars and tries to +jump on the artist. This is not the end yet: sixteen-year-old Orso, an +"American Hercules," born of a white father and Indian mother, will +carry around six people, three on each shoulder; besides this, the +management offers one hundred dollars to any man, regardless of color, +who can throw Orso in a wrestling match. A rumor arose in Anaheim that +from the mountains of San Bernardino comes for this purpose the +"Grizzly Killer," a hunter who was celebrated for his bravery and +strength, and who, since California was settled, was the first man who +attacked these great bears single-handed and armed only with a knife. +It is the probable victory of the "Grizzly Killer" over the +sixteen-year-old athlete of the circus that highly excites the minds +of the males of Anaheim, because if Orso, who until now, from the +Atlantic to the Pacific, had overthrown the strongest Americans, will +be defeated, great glory will cover all California. The feminine minds +are not less excited by the following number of the programme: Orso +will carry, on a pole thirty feet high, a small fairy, the "Wonder of +the World," of which the poster says that she is the most beautiful +girl that ever lived on this earth since the beginning of the +"Christian Era." Though she is only thirteen years of age, the +management also offers one hundred dollars to every maiden, "without +regard to color of skin," who will dare to compete and wrest the palm +of beauty from this "Aerial Angel." The maidens of Anaheim, both great +and small, make grimaces on reading this, and say that it would not be +ladylike to enter such a contest. Nevertheless they gladly surrender +the comfort of their rocking chairs rather than miss the show and the +chance of seeing their childish rival, in whose beauty, in comparison +with the sisters Bimpa, for instance, none of them believed. The two +sisters Bimpa, the elder Refugio, and the younger Mercedes, sitting +gracefully in a handsome buggy, are now reading the posters; their +faces show no trace of emotion, though they feel that the eyes of +Anaheim are on them, as if supplicating them to save the honor of the +whole county, and with a patriotic pride, founded upon the conviction +that there is none more beautiful than these two California flowers in +all the mountains and canyons of the whole world. Oh, beautiful indeed +are the sisters Refugio and Mercedes! Not in vain does the pure +Castilian blood flow in their veins, to which their mother constantly +refers, showing her disdain for all colored races, as well as for the +Americans. + +The figures of the sisters are slender, subtle, and full of mysterious +grace, quiet, and so luxurious that they greatly impress all young men +who come near them. From Donnas Refugio and Mercedes exhales a charm +as the fragrance from the magnolia and the lily. Their faces are +delicate, complexions transparent with a slight rosy tint, as if +illumed with the dawn; the eyes dark and dreamy, sweet, innocent, and +tender in their glances. Wrapped in muslin rebosos, they sit in their +buggy adorned with flowers, pure and innocent, unconscious of their +own beauty. Anaheim looked upon them, devoured them with its eyes, was +proud of them, and loved them. Who then is this "Jenny," that can win +victory over these? "Truly," the _Saturday Review_ wrote, "when little +Jenny had climbed to the top of the mast, resting on the powerful +shoulders of Orso, and from this eminence, suspended above the earth, +in danger of death, she outstretched her arms and poised like a +butterfly, the circus became silent and all eyes and hearts followed +with trembling the movements of this wonderful child. That he who saw +her on the mast or on a horse," concluded the _Saturday Review_, "will +never forget her, because the greatest painter in the world, even Mr. +Harvey, of San Francisco, who decorated the Palace Hotel, could paint +nothing equal to it." + +The youths of Anaheim who were enamored by the Misses Bimpa were +skeptical of this, and affirmed that it was a "humbug," but this +question will be settled in the evening. Meanwhile, the commotion +around the circus is increasing each moment. From among the long, low +wooden buildings surrounding the canvas circus there comes the roar of +the lions and elephant; the parrots, fastened to rings hanging to the +huts, fill the air with their cries and whistles; the monkeys swing +suspended by their tails or mock the public, who are kept at a +distance by a rope fence. At last, from the main inclosure the +procession emerges for the purpose of whetting and astonishing the +curiosity of the public to a greater extent. The procession is headed +by a gaudy band-wagon, drawn by six prancing horses with fine harness, +and feathers on their heads. The riders on the saddles are in the +costume of French postilions. On the other wagons come cages of lions, +and in every cage is seated a lady with an olive branch in her hand. +Then follows an elephant, covered with a carpet, and a tower on its +back, which contains several men arrayed as East Indian hunters. The +band is playing, the drums are beating, the lions are roaring, the +whips are cracking; in a word, this cavalcade moves forward with great +noise and uproar. But this is not all: behind the elephant there +follows a machine on wheels, with a locomotive pipe, somewhat +resembling an organ, which, blown by steam, emits the most discordant +yells and whistles intended for the national "Yankee Doodle." The +Americans cry "Hurrah!" the Germans, "Hoch!" the Mexicans, "E viva!" +and the Cahuillas howl for joy. + +The crowds follow the procession, the place around the circus becomes +deserted, the parrots cease their chatter, and the monkeys their +gymnastics. But "the greatest attractions" do not take part in the +procession. The "incomparable artist of the whip," the manager, the +"unconquerable Orso," and the "Aerial Angel, Jenny," are all absent. +All this is preserved for the evening so as to attract the crowds. + +The manager is somewhere in one of the wooden buildings, or looks into +the ticket seller's van, where he pretends to be angry. Orso and Jenny +are in the ring practicing some of their feats. Under its canvas roof +reigns dust and silence. In the distance, where the seats are +arranged, it is totally dark; the greatest part of the light falls +through the roof on the ring, with its sand and sawdust covering. With +the help of the gray light which filters through the canvas can be +seen a horse standing near the parapet. The big horse feels very +lonely, whisks the flies with his tail, and often sways his head. +Gradually the eye, becoming accustomed to the dim light, discerns +other objects--for instance: the mast upon which Orso carries Jenny, +the hoops pasted with paper for her to jump through. All these lie on +the ground without order, and the half-lighted arena and nearly dark +benches give an impression of a deserted building with battened +windows. The terrace of seats, only here and there broken with a stray +glimmer of light, look like ruins. The horse, standing with drooping +head, does not enliven the picture. + +Where are Orso and Jenny? One of the rays of light that stream through +an aperture of the canvas, in which floats the golden dust, falls on a +row of distant seats. This body of light, undulating with the swaying +canvas, at last falls upon a group composed of Orso and Jenny. + +Orso sits on top of the bench, and near to him is Jenny. Her beautiful +childish face leans against the arm of the athlete and her hand rests +on his neck. The eyes of the girl are lifted upward, as if listening +intently to the words of her companion, who bends over her, moving his +head at times, apparently explaining something. + +Leaning as they are against each other, you might take them for a pair +of lovers, but for the fact that the girl's uplifted eyes express +strong attention and intense thought, rather than any romantic +feeling, and that her legs, which are covered with pink fleshings, and +her feet in slippers, sway to and fro with a childish abandon. Her +figure has just begun to blossom into maidenhood. In everything Jenny +is still a child, but so charming and beautiful that, without +reflecting upon the ability of Mr. Harvey, who decorated the Palace +Hotel, of San Francisco, it would be difficult even for him to imagine +anything to equal her. Her delicate face is simply angelic; her large, +sad blue eyes have a deep, sweet and confiding expression; her dark +eyebrows are penciled with unequaled purity on her forehead, white and +reposeful as if in deep thought, and the bright, silky hair, somewhat +tossed, throws a shadow on it, of which, not only Master Harvey, but a +certain other painter, named Rembrandt, would not have been ashamed. +The girl at once reminds you of Cinderella and Gretchen, and the +leaning posture which she now maintains suggests timidity and the need +of protection. + +Her posture, which strongly reminds you of those of Greuz, contrasts +strangely with her circus attire, composed of a short, white muslin +skirt, embroidered with small silver stars, and pink tights. Sitting +in a golden beam of light with the dark, deep background, she looks +like some sunny and transparent vision, and her slender form contrasts +with the square and sturdy figure of the youth. + +Orso, who is dressed in pink tights, appears from afar as if he were +naked, and the same ray of light distinctly reveals his immense +shoulders, rounded chest, small waist, and legs too short in +proportion to the trunk. + +His powerful form seems as if it were hewn out with an ax. He has all +the features of a circus athlete, but so magnified that they make him +noticeable; besides, his face is not handsome. Sometimes, when he +raises his head, you can see his face, the lines of which are regular, +perhaps too regular, and somewhat rigid, as if carved from marble. The +low forehead, with the hair falling on it, like the mane of a horse, +straight and black, inherited from his squaw mother, gives to his face +a gloomy and threatening expression. He has a similarity to both the +bull and the bear, and he personifies a terrible and somewhat evil +force. He is not of a good disposition. + +When Jenny passes by the horses, those gentle creatures turn their +heads and look at her with intelligent eyes, and neigh and whinny, as +if wishing to say: "How do you do, darling?" while at the sight of +Orso they shudder with fear. He is a reticent and gloomy youth. Mr. +Hirsch's negroes, who are his hostlers, clowns, minstrels, and +rope-walkers, do not like Orso and tease him as much as they dare, and +because he is half-Indian they think nothing of him, and plague and +mock him. Truly, the manager, who offers the hundred dollars to any +one who can defeat him, does not risk much; he dislikes and fears him, +as the tamer of the wild animals fears a lion, and whips him on the +slightest provocation. + +Mr. Hirsch feels that, if he does not keep the youth in subjection by +constantly beating him, he will be beaten himself, and he follows the +principle of the Creole woman, who considered beating a punishment, +and no beating a reward. + +Such was Orso. Recently he began to be less sullen, because little +Jenny had a good influence over him. It happened about a year ago that +when Orso, who was then the attendant of the wild animals, was +cleaning the cage of the puma, the beast put its paws through the bars +of the cage and wounded his head severely. Then he entered the cage, +and after a terrible fight between them, he alone remained alive. But +he was so badly hurt that he fainted from loss of blood. He was ill a +long time, which was greatly aggravated by a severe whipping which the +manager gave him for breaking the spine of the puma. + +When he was ill Jenny took great care of him, and dressed his wounds, +and when she had leisure, read the Bible to him. That is a "good book" +which speaks of love, of forgiveness, of mercy--in a word, of things +that are never mentioned in Mr. Hirsch's circus. Orso, listening to +this book, pondered long in his Indian head and at last came to the +conclusion that if it would be as good in the circus as in this book, +perhaps he would not be so bad. He thought also that then he would not +be beaten so often, and some one would be found who would love him. +But who? Not negroes and not Mr. Hirsch; little Jenny, whose voice +sounded as sweetly in his ears as the voice of the mavis, might be the +one. + +One evening, under the influence of this thought, he began to weep and +kiss the small hands of Jenny, and from this time on he loved her very +much. During the performance in the evening, when Jenny was riding a +horse, he was always in the ring and carefully watching over her to +prevent any accident. When he held the paper hoops for her to jump +through he smiled on her; when to the sound of the music be balanced +her on the top of the high mast, and the audience was hushed with +fright, he felt uneasy himself. He knew very well if she should fall +that no one from the "good book" would be left in the circus; he never +removed his eyes from her, and the evident caution and anxiety +expressed in his movements added to the terror of the people. Then, +when recalled into the ring by the storm of applause, they would run +in together, he would push her forward, as if deserving of all the +praise, and murmur from joy. This reticent youth spoke only to Jenny, +and to her alone he opened his mind. He hated the circus and Mr. +Hirsch, who was entirely different from the people in the "good book." +Something always attracted him to the edge of the horizon, to the +woods and plains. When the circus troupe in their constant wanderings +chanced to pass through wild, lonely spots, he heard voices awakening +the instincts of a captive wolf, who sees the woods and plains for the +first time. This propensity he inherited not only from his mother, but +also from his father, who had been a frontiersman. He shared all his +hopes with Jenny, and often narrated to her how fully and untrammeled +live the people of the plains. Most of this he guessed or gleaned from +the hunters of the prairies, who came to the circus with wild animals +which they had captured for the menagerie, or to try their prowess for +the hundred-dollar prize. + +Little Jenny listened to these Indian visions, opening widely her blue +eyes and falling into deep reveries. For Orso never spoke of going +alone to the desert; she was always with him, and it was very good for +them there. Every day they saw something new; they possessed all they +needed, and it seemed right to make all their plans carefully. + +So now they sit in this beam of light, talking to each other, instead +of practicing and attempting new feats. The horse stands in the ring +and feels lonely. Jenny leans on Orso's arm, thoughtfully +contemplating and looking with wistful, wondering eyes into the dim +space, swinging her feet like a child and musing--how it will be on +the plains, and asking questions from Orso. + +"How do they live there?" says she, raising her eyes to the face of +her friend. + +"There is plenty of oaks. They take an ax and build a house." + +"Well," says Jenny, "but until the house is built?" + +"It is always warm there. The 'Grizzly Killer' says it is very warm." + +Jenny begins to swing her feet more lively, as if the warmth there has +settled the question in her mind; but shortly she remembers that she +has in the circus a dog and a cat, and that she would like to take +them with her. She calls her dog Mister Dog and her cat Mister Cat. + +"And will Mr. Dog and Mr. Cat go with us?" + +"They will," answers Orso, looking pleased. + +"Will we take with us the 'good book'?" + +"We will," says Orso, still more pleased. + +"Well," says the girl in her innocence, "Mr. Cat will catch birds for +us; Mr. Dog will drive away bad people with his bark; you will be my +husband and I will be your wife, and they will be our children." + +Orso feels so happy that he cannot speak, and Jenny continues: + +"There, there will be no Mr. Hirsch, no circus, we will not work, and +basta! But no!" she adds a moment later, "the 'good book' says that we +should work, and I sometimes will jump through one--through the two +hoops, the three, the four hoops." + +Jenny evidently does not imagine work under any other form than +jumping through hoops. + +Shortly she says again: + +"Orso, will I indeed be always with you?" + +"Yes, Jen, for I love you very much." + +His face brightens as he says so, and becomes almost beautiful. + +And yet he does not know himself how dear to him has become this small +bright head. + +He has nothing else in this world but her, and he watches her as the +faithful dog guards his mistress. By her fragile side he looks like +Hercules, but he is unconscious of this. + +"Jen," says he after a moment, "listen to what I tell you." + +Jenny, who shortly before had got up to look at the horse, now turns +and, kneeling down before Orso, puts her two elbows on his knees, +crosses her arms and, resting her chin on her wrists, uplifts her face +and is all attention. + +At this moment, to the consternation of the children, the "artist of +the whip" enters the ring in a very bad humor, because his trial with +a lion had entirely failed. + +This lion, who was bald from old age, desired only to be let alone, +had no inclination to attack the "artist," and hid himself from the +lash of the whip in a far corner of the cage. The manager thought with +despair that if this loyal disposition remained with the lion until +the evening the contest with the whip would be a failure; for to fight +a lion who slinks away needs no more art than to eat a lobster from +his tail. The bad temper of the proprietor became still worse when he +learned from the ticket seller that he was disposing of no seats in +the "gods;" that the Cahuillas evidently had spent all their money +that they had earned in the vineyards for drinks, and that they came +to his window and offered their blankets, marked "U. S.," or their +wives, especially the old ones, in exchange for tickets of admission. +The lack of money among the Cahuillas was no small loss for the +"artist of the whip;" for he counted on a "crowded house," and if the +seats in the "gods" were not sold no "crowded house" was obtainable; +therefore the manager wished at this moment that all the Indians had +but one back, and that he might give an exhibition of his skill with +the whip on that one back, in the presence of all Anaheim. Thus he +felt as he entered the ring, and seeing the horse standing idle under +the parapet, he felt like jumping with anger. Where are Orso and +Jenny? Shading his eyes with his hand he looked all around the circus, +and observed in a bright beam, Orso, and Jenny kneeling before him +with her elbows resting on his knees. At this sight he let the lash of +his whip trail on the ground. + +"Orso!" + +If lightning had struck in the midst of the children they could not +have been more startled. Orso jumped to his feet and descended in the +passageway between the benches with the hasty movement of an animal +who comes to his master at his call; behind him followed Jenny with +eyes wide open from fright, and clutching the benches as she passed +them. + +Orso, on entering the ring, stopped by the parapet, gloomy and silent, +the gray light from above bringing into relief his Herculean trunk +upon its short legs. + +"Nearer," cried out the manager in a hoarse voice; meanwhile the lash +of his long whip moved upon the sand with a threatening motion, like +the tail of a tiger watching his approaching prey. + +Orso advanced several steps, and for a few minutes they looked into +each other's eyes. The manager's face resembled that of the tamer who +enters the cage, intending to subdue a dangerous animal, and at the +same time watches it. + +His rage overcame his caution. His legs, incased in elk riding +breeches and high boots, pranced under him with anger. Perhaps it was +not the idleness alone of the children which increased his rage. +Jenny, from above, looked at both of them like a frightened hare +watching two lynxes. + +"Hoodlum! dog catcher, thou cur!" hissed the manager. + +The whip with the velocity of lightning whistled through the air in a +circle, hissed and struck. Orso winced and howled a little, and +stepped toward the manager, but the second stroke stopped him at once, +then the third, fourth--tenth. The contest had begun, although there +was no audience. The uplifted hand of the "great artist" scarcely +moved, but his wrist revolved, as if a part of some machinery, and, +with each revolution, the sharp point of the lash stung the skin of +Orso. It seemed as if the whip, or rather its poisonous fang, filled +the whole space between the athlete and the manager, who in his +increasing excitement reached the genuine enthusiasm of the artist. +The "master" simply improvised. The cracking end flashing in the air +twice had written down its bloody trace on the bare neck of the +athlete. Orso was silent in this dance. At every cut he stepped one +step forward and the manager one step backward. In this way they +circled the arena, and at last the manager backed out of the ring as a +conqueror from the cage, and disappeared through the entrance to the +stables, still as the conqueror. As he left his eye fell on Jenny. + +"Get on your horse," he cried; "I will settle with you later." + +His voice had scarcely ceased before her white skirt flashed in the +air, and in a moment she was on the back of the horse. The manager had +disappeared, and the horse began to gallop around the ring, +occasionally striking the side with its hoofs. + +"Hep! Hep!" agitatedly said Jenny to the horse with her childish +voice: "Hep! hep!" but this "hep, hep," was at the same time a sob. +The horse increased his speed, clattering with his hoofs as he leaned +more and more to the center. The girl, standing on the pad with her +feet close together, seemed scarcely to touch it with the ends of her +toes; her bare rosy arms rose and fell as she maintained her balance; +her hair and light muslin dress floated behind her supple figure, +which looked like a bird circling in the air. + +"Hep! hep!" she kept exclaiming. Meanwhile her eyes were filled with +tears, and to see she had to raise her head; the movement of the horse +made her dizzy; the terrace of seats and the ring seemed to revolve +around her; she wavered once, twice, and then fell down into the arms +of Orso. + +"Oh! Orso, poor Orso!" cried the child. + +"What's the matter, Jen? why do you cry? I don't feel the pain, I +don't feel it." + +Jenny threw both her arms around his neck and began to kiss his +cheeks. Her whole body trembled, and she sobbed convulsively. + +"Orso, oh, Orso," she sobbed, for she could not speak, and her arms +clung closer to his neck. She could not have cried more if she had +been beaten herself. So, in the end, he began to pet and console her. +Forgetting his own pain he took her in his arms and pressed her to his +heart, and his nerves being excited by the beating, he now felt for +the first time that he loved her more than the dog loved his mistress. +He breathed heavily, and his lips panted out the words: + +"I feel no pain. When you are with me, I am happy, Jenny, Jenny!" + +When this was transpiring the manager was walking in the stables, +foaming with rage. His heart was filled with jealousy. He saw the girl +on her knees before Orso; recently this beautiful child had awakened +the lower instincts in him, but as yet undeveloped, and now he fancied +that she and Orso loved each other, and he felt revengeful, and had a +wild desire to punish her--to whip her soundly. This desire he could +not resist. Shortly he called to her. + +She at once left Orso, and in a moment had disappeared in the dark +entrance to the stables. Orso stood stupefied, and instead of +following her he walked with unsteady steps to a bench, and, seating +himself, began to breathe heavily. + +When the girl entered the stables she could see nothing, as it was +much darker there than in the ring. Yet, fearing that she would be +suspected of having delayed her coming, she cried out in a faint +voice: + +"I am here, master, I am here." + +At the same moment the hand of the manager caught hers, and he +hoarsely said: + +"Come!" + +If he had shown anger or badly scolded her she would have felt less +frightened than at this silence with which he led her to the circus +wardrobe. She hung back, resisting him, and repeating quickly: + +"Oh, dear Mr. Hirsch, forgive me! forgive me!" + +But forcibly he dragged her to the long room where they stored their +costumes, and turned the key in the door. + +Jenny fell down on her knees. With uplifted eyes and folded hands, +trembling as a leaf, the tears streaming down her cheeks, she tried to +arouse his mercy; in answer to her supplications, he took from the +wall a wire whip, and said: + +"Lie down." + +With despair she flung herself at his feet, nearly dying from fright. +Every nerve of her body quivered; but vainly she pressed her pallid +lips to his polished boots. Her alarm and pleading seemed to arouse +the demon in him more than ever. Grasping her roughly, he threw her +violently on a heap of dresses, and in an instant, after trying to +stop the kicking of her feet, he began beating her cruelly. + +"Orso! Orso!" she shouted. + +About this moment the door shook on its hinges, rattled, creaked and +gave way, and half of it, pushed in with a tremendous force, fell with +a crash upon the ground. + +In this opening stood Orso. + +The wire whip fell from the hand of the manager, and his face became +deadly pale, because Orso looked ferocious. His eyes were bloodshot, +his lips covered with foam, his head inclined to one side like a +bull's, and his whole body was crouched and gathered, as if ready to +spring. + +"Get out!" cried the manager, trying to hide his fear behind a show of +authority. + +The pent-up dam was already broken. Orso, who was usually as obedient +to every motion as a dog, this time did not move, but leaning his head +still more to one side, he moved slowly and threateningly toward the +"artist of the whip," his iron muscles taut as whipcords. + +"Help! help!" cried the manager. + +They heard him. + +Four brawny negroes from the stables ran in through the broken door +and fell upon Orso. A terrible fight ensued, upon which the manager +looked with chattering teeth. For a long time you could see nothing +but a tangled mass of dark bodies wrestling with convulsive movements, +rolling on the ground in a writhing heap; in the silence which +followed sometimes was heard a groan, a snort, loud short breathing, +the gritting of teeth. + +In a moment one of the negroes, as if by a superhuman force, was sent +from this formless mass, whirling headlong through the air, and fell +at the feet of the manager, striking his skull with great force on the +ground; soon a second flew out; then from the center of this turbulent +group Orso's body alone arose, covered with blood and looking more +terrible than before. His knees were still pressing heavily on the +breasts of the two fainting negroes. He arose to his feet and moved +toward the manager. + +Hirsch closed his eyes. + +The next moment he felt that his feet had left the ground, that he was +flying through the air--then he felt nothing; his whole body was +dashed with monstrous force into the remaining half of the door, and +he fell to the earth unconscious. + +Orso wiped his face, and, coming over to Jenny, said: + +"Let us go." + +He took her by the hand and they went. + +The whole town was following the circus procession and the steam +calliope, playing "Yankee Doodle," and the place around the circus was +deserted. The parrots only, swinging in their hoops, filled the air +with their cries. Hand in hand, Orso and Jenny went forward; from the +end of the street could be seen the immense plains, covered with +cacti. Silently they passed by the houses, shaded by the eucalyptus +trees; then they passed the slaughter-houses, around which had +gathered thousands of small black birds with red-tipped wings. They +jumped over the large irrigation ditches, entered into an orange +grove, and on emerging from it found themselves among the cacti. + +This was the desert. + +As far as the eye could reach these prickly plants rose higher and +higher; thick leaves growing from other leaves obstructed the path, +sometimes catching on Jenny's dress. In places they grew to such a +great height that the children seemed to be as much lost here as if +they were in the woods, and no one could find them there. So they kept +threading their way through them, now to the right and then to the +left, but careful always to go from the town. Sometimes between the +cacti they could see on the horizon the blue mountains of Santa Ana. +They went to the mountains. The heat was great. Gray-colored locusts +chirped in the cacti; the sun's rays poured down upon the earth in +streams; the dried-up earth was covered with a network of cracks; the +stiff leaves of the cacti seemed to soften from the heat, and the +flowers were languid and half-wilted. The children proceeded, silent +and thoughtful. But all that surrounded them was so new that they +surrendered themselves to their impressions, and for the moment forgot +even their weariness. Jenny's eyes ran from one bunch of cacti to +another; again she looked to the farther clusters, saying to her +friend: + +"Is this the wilderness, Orso?" + +But the desert did not appear to be deserted. From the farther clumps +came the calling of the male quail, and around sounded the different +murmurs of clucking, of twittering, of the ruffling of feathers: in a +word, the divers voices of the small inhabitants of the plains. +Sometimes there flew up a whole covey of quail; the gaudy-topped +pheasants scattered on their approach; the black squirrels dived into +their holes; the rabbits disappeared in all directions; the gophers +were sitting on their hind legs beside their holes, looking like fat +German farmers standing in their doorway. + +After resting an hour the children proceeded on their journey. Jenny +soon felt thirsty. Orso, in whom had awakened his Indian inventive +faculties, began to pluck cactus fruits. They were in abundance, and +grew together with the flowers on the same leaves. In plucking them +they pricked their fingers with the sharp points, but the fruit was +luscious. Their sweet and acid flavor quenched at once their thirst +and appeased their hunger. The prairies fed the children as a mother; +thus strengthened they could proceed further. The cacti arose higher, +and you could say that they grew on the head of one another. The +ground on which they walked ascended gradually and continuously. +Looking backward once more they saw Anaheim, dissolving in the +distance and looking like a grove of trees upon the low plains. Not a +trace of the circus could be distinguished. They still pressed +steadily onward to the mountains, which now became more distinct in +the distance. The surroundings assumed another phase. Between the +cacti appeared different bushes and even trees; the wooded portion of +the foothills of Santa Ana had commenced. Orso broke one of the +saplings, and, clearing off its branches, made a cudgel of it, which, +in his hands, would prove a terrible weapon. His Indian instincts +whispered to him that in the mountains it was better to be provided, +even with a stick, than to go unarmed, especially now that the sun had +lowered itself into the west. Its great fiery shield had rolled down +far beyond Anaheim, into the blue ocean. After a while it disappeared, +and in the west there gleamed red, golden, and orange lights, similar +to ribbons and gauzy veils, stretched over the whole sky. The +mountains uplifted themselves in this glow; the cacti assumed +different fantastical shapes, resembling people and animals. Jenny +felt tired and sleepy, but they still hastened to the mountains, +although they knew not why. Soon they saw rocks, and on reaching them +they discovered a stream; they drank some water and continued along +its course. The rocks, which were at first broken and scattered, then +changed into a solid wall, which became higher and higher, and soon +they entered into a canyon. + +The rosy lights died away; deeper and deeper dusk enveloped the earth. +In places immense vines reached from one side of the canyon to the +other, covering it like a roof, and making it dark and uncanny. On the +mountain side, above them, could be heard the voices of the swaying +and creaking forest trees. Orso implied that now they were in the +depths of the wilderness, where certainly there were many wild +animals. From time to time his ear detected suspicious sounds, and +when night fell he distinctly heard the hoarse mewing of the lynxes, +the roar of the pumas, and the melancholy howling of the coyotes. + +"Are you afraid, Jen?" asked Orso. + +"No," replied the girl. + +But she was already very tired, and could proceed no farther, so Orso +took her in his arms and carried her. He went forward with the hope +that he would reach the house of some squatter, or should meet some +Mexican campers. Once or twice it seemed to him that he saw the gleam +of some wild animal's eyes. Then with one hand he pressed Jenny, who +had now fallen asleep, to his breast, and with the other he grasped +his stick. He was very tired himself; notwithstanding his great +strength Jenny began to prove heavy to him, especially as he carried +her on his left arm; the right one he wished to have free for defense. +Occasionally he stopped to regain his breath and then continued on. +Suddenly he paused and listened intently. It seemed to him as if he +heard the echoes of the small bells which the settlers tie for the +night to the neck of their cows and goats. Rushing forward, he soon +reached a bend in the stream. The sound of the bells became more +distinct, and joined with them in the distance was heard the barking +of a dog. Then Orso was sure that he was nearing some settlement. It +was high time that he did, for he was exhausted by the events of the +day, and his strength had begun to fail him. On turning another bend +he saw a light; as he moved forward his quick eyes discerned a +campfire, a dog, evidently tied to a stump, tearing and barking, and +at last the figure of a man seated by the fire. + +"God send that this may be a man from the 'good book'!" thought he. + +Then he resolved to awaken Jenny. + +"Jen!" called he, "awake, we shall eat." + +"What is it?" asked the girl; "where are we?" + +"In the wilderness." + +She was now wide awake. + +"What light is that?" + +"A man lives there; we shall eat." + +Poor Orso was very hungry. + +Meanwhile they were nearing the fire. The dog barked more violently, +and the old man, sitting by the fire, shaded his eyes and peered into +the gloom. Shortly he said: + +"Who is there?" + +"It is us," answered Jenny in her delicate voice, "and we are very +hungry." + +"Come nearer," said the old man. + +Emerging from behind a great rock, which had partly concealed them, +they both stood in the light of the fire, holding each other's hands. +The old man looked at them with astonishment, and involuntarily +exclaimed: + +"What is that?" + +For he saw a sight which, in the sparsely populated mountains of Santa +Ana, would astonish any one. Orso and Jenny were dressed in their +circus attire. The beautiful girl, clothed in pink tights and short +white skirt, appearing so suddenly before him, looked in the firelight +like some fairy sylph. Behind her stood the youth with his powerful +figure, covered also with pink fleshings, through which you could see +his muscles standing out like knots on the oak. + +The old squatter gazed at them with wide-open eyes. + +"Who are you?" he inquired. + +The girl, relying more on her own eloquence than on that of Orso, +began to speak. + +"We are from the circus, kind sir! Mr. Hirsch beat Orso very much and +then wanted to beat me, but Orso did not let him, and fought Mr. +Hirsch and four negroes, and then we ran off on the plains, and went a +long distance through the cacti, and Orso carried me; then we came +here and are very hungry." + +The face of the old man softened and brightened as he listened to her +story, and he looked with a fatherly interest on this charming child, +who spoke with great haste, as if she wished to tell all in one +breath. + +"What is your name, little one?" he asked. + +"Jenny." + +"Welcome, Jenny! and you, Orso! people rarely come here. Come to me, +Jenny." + +Without hesitation the little girl put her arms around the neck of the +old man and kissed him warmly. He appeared to her to be some one from +the "good book." + +"Will Mr. Hirsch find us here?" she said, as she took her lips from +his face. + +"If he comes he will find a bullet here," replied the old man; then +added, "you said that you wanted to eat?" + +"Oh, yes, very much." + +The squatter, raking in the ashes of the fire, took out a fine leg of +venison, the pleasant odor of which filled the air. Then they sat down +to eat. + +The night was gorgeous; the moon came out high in the heavens above +the canyon; in the thicket the mavis began to sing sweetly; the fire +burned brightly, and Orso was so filled with joy that he chanted with +gladness. Both he and the girl ate heartily. The old man had no +appetite; he looked upon little Jenny, and, for some unknown cause, +his eyes were filled with tears. + +Perhaps he had been once a father, or, perhaps, he so rarely saw +people in these deserted mountains. + + * * * * * + +Since then these three lived together. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Sielanka: An Idyll, by Henryk Sienkiewicz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SIELANKA: AN IDYLL *** + +***** This file should be named 29305.txt or 29305.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/3/0/29305/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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