Pagina 605 van 788

Spring omens-The entrance of the armies-Religious

services-Official rehabilitation of the late Jacek Soplica-From

the talk between Gerwazy and Protazy a speedy ending of the

lawsuit may be inferred-A love affair between an uhlan and a

girl-The quarrel over Bobtail and Falcon is at last

settled-Thereupon the guests gather for the banquet-The

presentation of the betrothed couples to the generals.

MEMORABLE year! Happy is he who beheld thee in our land! The folk

still call thee the year of harvest, but the soldiers the year of

war; old men still love to tell tales of thee and poets still

dream of thee. Thou hadst long been heralded by the marvel in the

sky and preceded by a vague rumour among the folk; with the

coming of the spring sun the hearts of the Lithuanians were

seized with a certain strange foreboding, as if the end of the

world were approaching-by a certain yearning and joyous

expectation.