第563页 / 共788页

"How can I thank you enough, my good uncle, for the constant care

that you take for my happiness! Ah, my good uncle, I should be

the happiest of men if Zosia were betrothed to me to-day, if I

knew that she were to be my wife! However, I tell you frankly,

this betrothal cannot take place to-day; there are various

reasons. Question me no further; if Zosia will consent to wait,

she may perhaps soon find in me a better man-and a man more

worthy of her; perhaps by my constancy I shall gain her

affection, perhaps I shall adorn my name with some trifling

glory, perhaps I shall soon return to the home of my fathers.

Then, uncle, I shall remind you of your promise, then on my knees

I shall greet my dear Zosia, and, if she is free, I shall beg her

hand; but now I am abandoning Lithuania, perhaps for long, and

perhaps in the meantime another man may win Zosia's favour. I do

not wish to bind her will, and to beg for an affection that I

have not deserved would be a base act."