Pagina 522 di 788

What deeds he then performed, what disasters he spread abroad, it

were vain to sing, for none would believe the Muse: even so they

did not believe the poor woman in Wilno, who, standing on the

summit of the holy Ostra Gate, saw how Deyov, the Muscovite

general, coming on with a regiment of Cossacks, was already

opening the gate, and how a single burgher, named Czarnobacki,

killed Deyov and routed a whole regiment of Cossacks.164

Suffice it to say, that things came to pass as Rykov had

foreseen; the yagers in the crowd yielded to the power of their

foes. Twenty-three rolled slain on the ground, thirty and more

lay groaning with frequent wounds, many fled and hid in the

garden, the hops, or along the river; some took refuge in the

house under the protection of the women.