The Knights of the Cross | Page 3

am sure he is
going to Krakow. We cannot return to the city to-day at any rate,
because they will shut the gates."
"And you speak twenty words, in reply to one. You are growing old,
Uncle Gamroth!"
"But I can carry a whole piece of wet broadcloth just the same."
"Great thing! the cloth through which one can see, as through a sieve."
But further dispute was stopped by the knight, who said:
"Yes, I will stay in Krakow because I have heard about the tournaments
and I will be glad to try my strength in the lists during the combats; and
this youth, my nephew, who although young and smooth faced, has
already seen many cuirasses on the ground, will also enter the lists."
The guests glanced at the youth who laughed mirthfully, and putting his
long hair behind his ears, placed the mug of beer to his mouth.
The older knight added:
"Even if we would like to return, we have no place to go."
"How is that?" asked one of the nobles.
"Where are you from, and what do they call you?"
"I am Macko of Bogdaniec, and this lad, the son of my brother, calls
himself Zbyszko. Our coat of arms is Tempa Podkowa, and our war-cry
is Grady!"
"Where is Bogdaniec?"
"Bah! better ask, lord brother, where it was, because it is no more.
During the war between Grzymalczyks and Nalenczs,[2] Bogdaniec
was burned, and we were robbed of everything; the servants ran away.

Only the bare soil remained, because even the farmers who were in the
neighborhood, fled into the forests. The father of this lad, rebuilt; but
the next year, a flood took everything. Then my brother died, and after
his death I remained with the orphan. Then I thought: 'I can't stay!' I
heard about the war for which Jasko of Olesnica, whom the king,
Wladyslaw, sent to Wilno after he sent Mikolaj of Moskorzowo, was
collecting soldiers. I knew a worthy abbot, Janko of Tulcza, to whom I
gave my land as security for the money I needed to buy armor and
horses, necessary for a war expedition. The boy, twelve years old, I put
on a young horse and we went to Jasko of Olesnica."
"With the youth?"
"He was not even a youth then, but he has been strong since childhood.
When he was twelve, he used to rest a crossbow on the ground, press it
against his chest and turn the crank. None of the Englishmen, whom I
have seen in Wilno, could do better."
"Was he so strong?"
"He used to carry my helmet, and when he passed thirteen winters, he
could carry my spear also."
"You had plenty of fighting there!"
"Because of Witold. The prince was with the Knights of the Cross, and
every year they used to make an expedition against Lithuania, as far as
Wilno. Different people went with them: Germans, Frenchmen,
Englishmen, who are the best bowmen, Czechs, Swiss and Burgundians.
They cut down the forests, burned the castles on their way and finally
they devastated Lithuania with fire and sword so badly, that the people
who were living in that country, wanted to leave it and search for
another land, even to the end of the world, even among Belial's children,
only far from the Germans."
"We heard here, that the Lithuanians wanted to go away with their
wives and children, but we did not believe it."
"And I looked at it. Hej! If not for Mikolaj of Moskorzowo, for Jasko
of Olesnica, and without any boasting, if not for us, there would be no
Wilno now."
"We know. You did not surrender the castle."
"We did not. And now notice what I am going to say, because I have
experience in military matters. The old people used to say: 'furious
Litwa'[3]--and it's true! They fight well, but they cannot withstand the

knights in the field. When the horses of the Germans are sunk in the
marshes, or when there is a thick forest--that's different."
"The Germans are good soldiers!" exclaimed the burghers.
"They stay like a wall, man beside man, in their iron armor. They
advance in one compact body. They strike, and the Litwa are scattered
like sand, or throw themselves flat on the ground and are trampled
down. There are not only Germans among them, because men of all
nations serve with the Knights of the Cross. And they are brave! Often
before a battle a knight stoops, stretches his lance, and rushes alone
against the whole army."
"Christ!" exclaimed Gamroth. "And who among them are the best
soldiers?"
"It depends. With the crossbow, the best is the Englishman, who can
pierce a suit of armor through and through, and at a hundred steps he
will not miss a