Footnotes
In the original book and in the text version, footnotes appear throughout the book.
In this HTML version, the footnotes have been collected and moved to here
They are still in Count Adam Krasinski's palace in Warsaw.
[2] Governors of provinces.
[3] Honorary judge.
[4] Wife of a woivode.
[5] The Polish florin is worth twenty cents.
[6] At the end of the fourteenth century these two countries were united by the marriage of Hedvig, queen of Poland, with the prince of Lithuania Jagellon.
[7] Stanislaus Leszczynski, surnamed the "most virtuous of men," king of Poland before Augustus II., was dethroned by the Saxon party. He had Lorraine allotted to him, and is still remembered there as the "good King Stanislaus." His daughter Maria was married to Louis XV. of France.
[8] An old Polish custom, by which a young girl was to prove whether she was patient enough to meet the trials of married life.
[9] Son of a castellan.
[10] Two feet.
[11] It was a generally observed custom to serve a goose with dark gravy as a polite but positive answer that the proposal of marriage was not accepted. A pumpkin put in the carriage of the young man when he was leaving had the same meaning. Until now the saying "He received a pumpkin," or "He was treated to a goose fricassee," is often used.
[12] That place is now Lazienki, with a park and a charming little palace built by the last Polish king, Stanislaus Poniatowski, for his summer residence.
[13] The Prince Charles Radzivill had the habit of beginning each sentence with the exclamation "My love!" and therefore he himself was generally called, "the Prince My-love." He was the wealthiest magnate of Lithuania. After the dismemberment of Poland, when all his estates were confiscated, he emigrated to Paris and there bought the whole street between his palace and the market, in order, as he said, that his Polish cook might not lose his way. That street, near the Louvre, has still the name of "Rue Radzivill."
[14] The Easter dinner, or the "consecrated meal," is still a special feature in Poland, and an elaborate affair even among the poorer people. During several days meat and pastry are prepared, and on Holy Saturday the tables are set, with the symbolical lamb in the middle, and every dish garnished with sprays of boxwood. Then a priest is summoned, who puts on a white surplice, and saying the appointed prayers he sprinkles the table with holy water.
In the villages on Easter morning the peasants bring baskets with eggs, bread, cheese, and perhaps a sausage, to church, and standing in two rows have them consecrated.
At noon the dinner begins with hot bouillon served in cups; all the other dishes are cold. But first of all, the lady of the house, holding a plate of hard-boiled eggs cut in pieces, presents them to every one in turn, wishing a "glad Alleluia." The table sometimes stays covered several days, hot dishes being added to succeeding dinners, and the pastry lasts sometimes several weeks, by some mystery remaining as fresh as on the first day.
The children always have their own table, with miniature dishes ornamented with boxwood, a lamb in candy, colored eggs, etc. They would never forget to have them consecrated, and the little girls very earnestly play the hostess, partaking of the eggs with their own guests.
In olden times, the Polish houses tried to surpass each other in setting the most sumptuous Easter tables. In an old manuscript is found the following description of a festival given by Prince Sapieha, in the sixteenth century.
In the middle of huge tables stood a lamb of candies and marzipan, which were distributed "only to ladies, dignitaries, and church men." Around it, representing the seasons of the year, stood four wild boars, each stuffed with hams, sausages, and turkeys. The prince's chef showed wonderful skill in roasting those boars whole. Then came twelve deer, also roasted whole, and stuffed with a variety of game: hares, woodcocks, partridges, hazel-hens, etc.; these were for the twelve months of the year. Around the table, numbering the weeks of the year, were fifty-two mazourkas, that is, large square cakes stuffed with all kinds of fruit, and three hundred and sixty-five babas, for the days of the year; each was one ell high and on their iced surfaces were various inscriptions, mottoes, proverbs, and witty verses, which the invited guests took pleasure in deciphering.
In the way of beverages there were: first, four antique silver tankards with wine from "King Batory's time" (that is, one hundred years old); then twelve silver pitchers of old Tokai; then fifty-two silver barrels of Spanish, Italian, and Cypress wines, and three hundred and sixty-five bottles of Hungarian wine. For the household there were 8,760 quarts, as many as there are hours in one year, of home-made mead. The invited guests feasted during one whole week. As soon as the morning service was over they surrounded the tables, and the entertainment lasted till midnight; the prince's court band played lively airs, and the young people were never tired of dancing, nor the elderly ones of talking of "the good old times," sipping the Hungarian Malmsey, and drinking to the health of the prince.
[15] This tree still shades the old building. (Note in 1858.)