Part 20 (2/2)
Iermola remained silent for a few moments, leaning his head on his hand.
”Neighbour,” said he, at last, ”when we shall come to die, it will then matter very little to us whether during our lives we have eaten bread of fine wheat flour or coa.r.s.e rye bread; no matter how a man has lived, it will be all the same to him, provided he has clean hands and a pure conscience to present before G.o.d. And as for knowing whether my child will then have been better off as lord of his father's house or with me, a potter in the old inn, upon my word, it is a serious question which I cannot take upon myself to answer.”
”But you will nevertheless be obliged to give him up; there is no way of avoiding it.”
”I shall not prevent him from following them if he will; but he must choose between us, because I myself wish to die as I have lived. I shall lay my bones in our old cemetery. I have already tasted the bread of servitude. I will not go in my last years to hold out my hand and bow down before young fools who would laugh at me,--not for any amount.
I will remain in Popielnia; as for Radionek, if he wishes, he can go play the lord at Malyczki.”
”And how will you be able to live without him, poor old man?”
”And you, how have you managed to live without Horpyna, without your grandchildren? Unless, indeed, you can see them by stealth.”
”Ah! that is true, that is true,” sighed the widow. ”With pain and tears we rear our children, to see them, as soon as they have wings, fly out of the nest; as for us, we are left behind with broken wings to look at them far off.”
”It is not for long, however,” added Iermola, with a sad smile; ”our days are numbered. A few more will pa.s.s, and then death will come knocking gently at our window; our eyes will close, and all will be over. We shall then have only to render our account to the Lord G.o.d.”
”Ah, you speak sad words, neighbour.”
”Because, as you see, my heart is not merry.”
While this conversation was taking place in the widow's house, Radionek, who had not the heart to go to work, sat in the door-sill, thinking and dreaming. At one time his heart inclined him toward that unknown world; at another his tenderness for the old man called him back and held him.
Parents! a mother!--these are sweet words, which bring sweet thoughts and have great power over an orphan's heart; for no one can take the place of a father, no one can take the place of a mother.
The idea of living at the _dwor_, of being rich, of being a master, seemed very pleasant to the boy; but as he knew nothing of any other life than the one he had lived until that moment, he did not know what awaited him in that higher position. His ardent childish curiosity alone painted the unknown future for him. Then he said to himself that it would be very sad for the old man to be separated from him; he recalled all that he had done for him, how much he had loved him.
He did not know whether even maternal tenderness, so powerful and G.o.d-inspired, could equal that love.
While he was thus reflecting, the carriage he had seen the day before drew near, arrived, and stopped. Radionek might have run away and hidden himself, but he had not the strength; his mother saw him from a distance, waved her hand to him, and he remained motionless. His parents hastened to him, embraced him, and wept.
”It is true,--it is true, is it not, that you are coming with us?”
cried Marie Druzyna, gazing in agitation upon the handsome young fellow, whom it distressed her to see dressed in peasant's clothes and a coa.r.s.e cloak. ”You will see,” said she, ”how happy you will be with us; you have suffered, but all that will soon be forgotten.”
”But I have not suffered,” cried Radionek, who began to grow bold, ”and I shall never forget my old father. I shall be very, very much grieved to leave him.”
”I am your father,” said Jan Druzyna, in a grieved and irritated tone; ”call the old man what you will, but do not give him the name which belongs to me.”
”Oh, he has been a father to me for a long time, and will be as long as he lives. He has loved me so dearly.”
”And we? Shall not we love you also? Do you not know that you have cost us many tears?”
”I did not see you shed them; but I know that the old man has wept over me, and more than once I have seen his tears fall.”
”We will take him away with us.”
”He would not want to go,” murmured Radionek.
<script>