“If thou dost not haste away cometh woe!”
Bonderivna’s o’er the bridge like the wind:
She has left the village houses far behind.
With drawn sabres two grim soldiers follow fast
Through the market-place ... poor pigeon! caught at last.
Pan Kanovsky’s silver musket pointed straight
At her heart.... And she chose then her fate.
“Bonderivna, tall and lovely, live with me,
Or as dung upon the earth you shall be!”
“Rather would I, Pan Kanovsky, fall and die,