Pan Tadeusz

Rules for Pronunciation of the Polish Words in the Text

The letters b, d, f, h, k, m, n, p, r, s, t, z, are pronounced as in English, except when modified, as several of them are, by particular dots or accents, necessary for the expressing of Slavonic sounds in Roman letters.

C is invariably pronounced soft, like tz, before all vowels and before consonants, even in cases where it is hard in other languages; as Soplica, pronounced Soplitza. Before the vowel i it has a palatal sound, not unlike c in Italian.

G is invariably hard, as in gill, get.

J has the same sound as in Italian or German.

K is used for the hard c of other languages, and in foreign words is substituted for it, as Catholic, written in Polish Katolik.

The letter l has two forms, one corresponding to our own; the other with a delicate stroke down has a peculiar sound, slightly resembling our w, scarcely ever mastered by foreigners. In the present work it has been judged best, owing to the impossibility of procuring suitable type, to use the simple i throughout.

N accented is pronounced like the Spanish ñ in cañon.

W like v.

Z as in English; when dotted ż, pronounced like j in French; with an accent ź the sound is sharper.

Sz has the sound of sh in English.

Cz is pronounced like ch in church.

Rz has the sound resembling that of the dotted ż or French j; thus the proper name of Dobrzynski is pronounced as if written Dobrjiñskee.

Szcz is pronounced with both sounds of sz and cz thoroughly distinct, so that the combination resembles shtch.

The vowels a, e, i, o, u, are pronounced as in all Continental languages, very broad and full. A and e are, however, susceptible of modifications, causing them to sound like en and in in French. Particular forms of the letters are used for these sounds in Polish; but in this translation the nasals are expressed by m or n, as Rembajlo, Czenstochowa—a form of spelling warranted by Polish usage.

N.b.—Consonants are pronounced far more lightly than in English.

Introduction

The Slavonic languages and their literatures are so little studied in our own country, that it is to be feared that many English men and women have not even heard the name of Poland’s greatest poet, Adam Mickiewicz. When, a few years ago, a tablet was affixed to the house at Rome in which the poet had for a short time lodged, there were many oracular utterances in the newspapers to make clear to wondering foreigners what sort of person that name implied. And yet the writings of Mickiewicz are well worth our attention. He is preeminently the national poet of Poland; in him is to be found the voice of its sufferings and struggles—the echo of its history and long-cherished traditions. No writer has more faithfully reproduced the old Polish life and manners and the spirit of its national songs. He has himself beautifully said that in the popular lay lies hidden the weapon of the nation’s hero, and the woven thread of the nation’s thoughts—

“With the wings and voice of the archangel
Sometimes also thou holdest the sword of the archangel;”1—

and all this will assuredly be found in his own poetry, with its quaint tales of old Polish life and Lithuanian chivalry, its fantastic legends of enchanted lakes and oaks of immemorial sanctity.

It is probable that only the circumstance of his poems being written in a difficult language, which it is not the fashion to study in England, has kept them so absolutely unknown to our countrymen. Such is far from being the case in Germany and France. But in the words of doom, vae victis, may also be read the degradation of the language of the conquered. Polish, however, is not yet a dead language nor likely to be; it is still spoken by nearly ten millions of people, and boasts of many living writers of merit.

Let us hope then that our countrymen will welcome this work by Miss Maude A. Biggs, a lady already so favourably known by her version of “Konrad Wallenrod.” She puts before us a translation of a celebrated poem by Mickiewicz, Pan Tadeusz, a graphic picture of old Polish life in Lithuania before the invasion of Russia by Napoleon in 1812. During the independence of Poland this country had formed a very important portion of the republic; it is now divided into Russian governments.

Perhaps the novelty of the manners described in this poem, and the graphic pictures of earlier forms of society, may recommend it to the English reader. Miss Biggs has performed her task exceedingly well, although Polish is so difficult a language and the poem she has selected is national to the very core. For the rhyming lines of the original she has substituted blank verse, a metre with which Englishmen are familiar in long poems, and which allows a translator to be more literal by emancipating him from what have been called the tags of rhyme. She is always faithful to her author, and cleverly reproduces the spirit of his poem, although something must necessarily be lost in every translation. The manly sounds of the English language are fitter than those of many others for reproducing the echoes of the vigorous Polish tongue. It is impossible not to recall to one’s mind the fine words of Casimir Brodzinski, himself a poet of no mean order. “Let,” says he, “the Pole smile with manly pride when the inhabitant of the banks of the Tiber or Seine calls his language rude; let him hear with keen satisfaction and the dignity of a judge the stranger who painfully struggles with the Polish pronunciation, like a sybarite trying to lift an old Roman coat of armour, or when he strives to articulate the language of men with the weak accent of a child. So long as courage is not wanting to our nation, and our morals have not become degraded, let us not disavow this manly roughness of our language. It has its harmony and its melody, but it is the murmur of an oak of three hundred years, and not the plaintive and feeble cry of a reed, swayed by every wind.”

The life of Mickiewicz, who died thirty years ago, was a very sad one. He was born in 1798, and at an early age became an exile, never seeing his native country after 1829. How great were his longings to revisit it, we find by the commencement of Pan Tadeusz, which breathes all the despair of an exile. He settled in Paris and became a professor of the Slavonic languages and literatures at the College de France. This office, however, he was compelled to resign on account of his identifying himself with the strange views of Towianski. His wife afterwards became He insane, and we have a pathetic portrait of the poet towards the close of his life in the Memoirs of Herzen, published originally in the Russian magazine Polar Star (Poliarnaia Zviezda). He appeared to the Russian politician as a man bowed down with troubles, prematurely grey, and lost in the labyrinths of religious mysticism. In 1855 he was sent to Constantinople to assist in forming a Polish legion to serve against the Russians in the Crimean War, and died there.

Mickiewicz is altogether a strange and interesting figure, and deserves to be known much more widely than in the comparatively narrow circle of his compatriots. He has shown excellence in many fields of literature, but especially in his ballads and narrative poems. The exquisite grace and finish of his sonnets, especially those inspired by the poet’s visit to the Crimea, will be acknowledged by all acquainted with his writings; they are the finest in any Slavonic language, and may be compared with some of the best Italian and English compositions of the same kind.

With the good wishes of a few hearty admirers of the poet this version of one of his most striking productions is venturesomely sent forth to the great English-speaking public.

Translator’s Preface

In order to have a clear understanding of the spirit in which this poem is composed, it will not perhaps be considered irrelevant to prefix a short abstract of the historical events on which it is founded, and to which reference is made in the course of the story. The wars of Napoleon, and the relation these had to the politics and prospects of the Polish nation, form the historical groundwork of the poem, which may therefore be taken as representing a portion of European history at present little known and studied. It is, however, generally admitted that for the right understanding and just appreciation of the literature of a people a certain knowledge of their past and present history is absolutely necessary, and of no people is this more true than of the Poles, whose literary works, even such as, strictly speaking, cannot be classed as historical, abound with references to the past, and are replete with allusions to historical and traditional names and events, almost every one of which must require explanation to those not previously acquainted with the subject. It is scarcely possible to study any classical work in this, perhaps the richest and most highly cultivated of all the Slavonic languages, without as it were half-unconsciously acquiring some knowledge of the traditions to which such frequent allusion is made. No further excuse it is therefore hoped will be necessary for commencing this work with an account of the chief circumstances which transpired from the year 1794 or 1795 to the beginning of 1812, between which the whole interest of this story is comprised.

After the battle of Maciejowice and capture of Warsaw, many of the Poles took refuge in France, since they imagined that the republic would no doubt immediately commence a crusade against the enemies of Poland, and therefore readily offered their services in the French armies. At this period a regulation existed forbidding the French Government from receiving foreign troops into their service. The difficulty was evaded by proclaiming the Polish exiles citizens of the Cisalpine Republic, one of the short lived states created about this time by Bonaparte. They were formed into legions, marching under their own colours, and bearing in addition the motto, “Gli uomini liberi sono fratelli.” The legions were commanded by Henry Dombrowski, who for some time had held a command in the Saxon army, and, strange to say, spoke German better than Polish. They greatly contributed to the success of the French in Italy, but on the cessation of hostilities by the treaty of Campo Formio, found their expectations deceived. No mention was made of Poland in the articles of peace.

It was not however long before hostilities were resumed. Suwarow, being despatched to the help of the Austrians, in 1799 defeated the French in several battles. The Poles, venturing again to trust those who had once deceived them, entered once more into the service of France, this time as part of the French army, since Napoleon, after subverting the Directory, had abolished the regulation relative to the employment of foreign troops. The first legion of the Poles threw themselves into Mantua, which was besieged by the Austrians, and on its capitulation were delivered into the hands of the enemy by the French, who had bound themselves by a secret treaty to restore to the Austrians their deserters, namely those Poles who had escaped from their ranks to join the French. The remainder, under Dombrowski, took refuge in France, and after many changes of fortune were formed into one legion, part of which was detached to form the so-called Legion of the Danube under General Kniaziewicz. Dombrowski had conceived a plan for reaching Poland through Bohemia and Moravia. But it was soon manifest that no solid assistance was to be expected from Napoleon, who regarded them merely as instruments of his own projects. A number of the Legion of the Danube were at Genoa for Haiti, for the forcibly embarked quelling of the insurrection successfully carried on by Toussaint L’Ouverture. Numbers of the Poles succumbed to the climate, and few returned to their own country. A certain number preferred to remain in Haiti, and make common cause with the negroes, instead of opposing those who had in no way injured their cause.

Nevertheless, the legions of the Poles continued, hoping against hope, to fight the battles and support the cause of Napoleon. One alone was wiser. Napoleon at one time endeavoured to obtain the support of Kosciuszko, but the veteran hero refused the prestige of his name to his designs. Bonaparte nevertheless was still able to preserve the belief of the exiles in his benevolent intentions, and thus waste their strength and lives in aiding his schemes of conquest.

Still after the battle of Austerlitz, wherein the German powers were for the time being crushed, Posen became independent, and Napoleon soon entered Polish territory with the legion of Dombrowski, as we find related in Book VII of the poem. The Poseners at once joined with their countrymen and the French to conquer East Prussia, and to besiege Dantzig. The Russians now came to the assistance of Prussia, and thus the French were at war with both powers at once. The battles of Pultusk, Eylau, Friedland, followed in quick succession. It seemed probable that Napoleon would soon cross the Niemen, and enter Lithuania; but instead of this he held a personal conference with Alexander I at the bridge at Tilsit, where they arranged the articles of a peace, July 7, 1807. By this treaty a considerable portion of Poland was taken from the King of Prussia, and erected into the Duchy of Warsaw, but part of the Polish territory was still left in the hands of the Germans, and the province of Bialystok was detached to form part of the Czar’s dominions.

Shortly after this Napoleon was at war with the Austrian Emperor Francis, and while the Emperor of the French was fighting his way towards Vienna, the Archduke Ferdinand proceeded towards Warsaw, with an army four times larger than the handful of Polish troops, who alone remained to guard the newly created Duchy of Warsaw. The Poles made a gallant stand at Raszyn against the Austrian troops, so much so that the Archduke accepted a convention by which, Warsaw being surrendered to him, he bound himself not to act against Praga, on the other side the river. Dombrowski hastened to Great Poland, or the Grand Duchy of Posen, and Prince Joseph Poniatowski crossed the Vistula with part of the army. Then followed an astonishing campaign, in which a small handful of Polish troops quickly spread themselves over a vast extent of country, defeated and scattered Austrian troops many times more numerous, and conquered province after province with surprising rapidity. In one month they had taken Lublin, Sandomir, Zamosc, and Leopol, and fresh troops from these provinces swelled their forces into an army equal in size to the Austrian. The Archduke was forced to abandon Warsaw. The Russians entering at this point into the struggle captured Leopol, but shielded the rest of Galicia from any further attack. On the 15th of July Poniatowski took Krakow, but the news of an armistice stayed further operations. Peace was concluded in Vienna on the 14th of October. The conquests of Poniatowski included Krakow, and half the salt-mines of Wieliczka were joined to the Duchy of Warsaw, but the other half and all the territory known as Old Galicia were left to Austria. Napoleon detached the circle of Tarnopol, which he gave to Russia.

All of Poland that at this time boasted of independence was comprised in the small Duchy of Warsaw, which had a special constitution granted by Napoleon. The Elector of Saxony was sovereign of the new state, with a French administration, wherein the deputies of the nation had but little power. The army alone was purely Polish, consisting of 90,000 men, but a considerable portion of these were despatched to Spain, and while thus condemned to combat free men, who had in no way injured the Polish cause, left their own country almost without defenders.

Still a general impression prevailed that something more decisive would be done, and through five years warlike operations went on apace in the Duchy. It became day by day more apparent that Napoleon would soon break off all agreements with the Czar, and throughout the year 1811 diplomatic negotiations were carried on, the ultimate ending of which was variously conjectured. But day by day the real intentions of Napoleon became plainer. The Polish forces in the heart of Spain, at the furthest bounds of Europe, begun to move towards their own country. At length in August war was finally declared between France and Russia. Napoleon entered into a secret treaty with Austria to give up Illyria or Dalmatia in exchange for Galicia. On the 24th of June 1812 the French and Polish armies crossed the Niemen, on the 28th Napoleon himself entered Wilna, and the union of Lithuania with Poland was proclaimed.

The further progress of the campaign and its terrible conclusion are matters of history, and have nothing to do with the plot of the poem now before us; they need not therefore be further particularised. No allusion is therein made to the retreat from Moscow; the future is only, as it were, intimated in far-off dim perspective beyond the bright conclusion of the story. It is said that at one time Mickiewicz intended to write another epic as a sequel to “Thaddeus,” carrying on the adventures of his hero over the time of the Congress of Vienna, and up to the events of 1831, but from various causes this design never was carried out. The poem we have was completed with difficulty, amid hindrances of various kinds-illness, poverty, political and literary engagements, and interruptions under which the exercise of the poetic faculty was well-nigh impossible. Little of poetical value ever proceeded from the pen of the author later than the production of this his greatest work; and as the wonderful dramatic poem of the “Ancestors” remains incomplete and fragmentary, it represents the consummate effort of this sublime genius. a picture of old Polish life, and the manners and customs, thoughts and feelings, of the Poles at the epoch of which it treats, it stands unrivalled; and as a national epic, the greatest work of the greatest poet of the Polish nation, occupies a high position in European literature, similar to that which the principal epics of ancient and modern languages have always done. It is to Polish not only that which the Iliad is to Greek, the Aeneid to Latin, the Niebelungen to Germany, the Divina Commedia to Italy, but also that which the Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare’s historical plays are to England, and Don Quixote to Spain. It is therefore to be hoped that this attempt to introduce for the first time into this country an image of the thoughts and feelings of a people, whose literature is only neglected because they have no recognised position among nations, may not be wholly unwelcome. The literature of any country seldom receives more important additions than in faithful translations of the standard works of other tongues, and whatever may be the shortcomings of the following translation, it is hoped that indulgence may be shown in consideration of being an attempt to introduce into the circle of English literature one element hitherto unknown to it.

Whatever faults the critical eye may discern must be laid rather to the charge of the translation than to that of the original, of which the exquisite beauty in execution, and marvellous artistic finish, cannot be appreciated except by readers of Polish. The greatest care has, however, been taken to ensure exact and literal rendering of every phrase, and full explanatory notes have been added, for the elucidation of matters unfamiliar to English readers. In proof of this it may be mentioned that some of the information upon scientific subjects has been kindly afforded by the Academy of Sciences at Krakow. For assistance, however, in the preparation of this work for the press, as well as in contributing a large share of the notes, the translator is above all indebted to Mr. Edmond S. Naganowski, for whose unvarying kindness and valuable help in literary work she cannot express sufficient thanks, and only trust that as displayed in the result they will meet as cordial a recognition from the public as from herself.