"May God reward you. I have always known that you are wise in any adventure, but for your willingness and good heart toward me I shall thank you as long as I live."
Then the Bohemian knelt upon one knee and said:
"I have had nothing but kindness from you. Pan Zych captured me near
Boleslawce, when I was a mere boy, and set me free without any ransom.
But I preferred captivity under you to freedom. God grant that I might
shed my blood for you, my lady."
"God lead you and bring you back!" replied Jagienka, holding out her hand to him.
But he preferred to bow to her knees and kiss her feet to honor her the more. Then he lifted up his head and said submissively and humbly:
"I am a simple boy, but I am a nobleman and your faithful servant. Give me therefore some token of remembrance for my journey. Do not refuse me this request; war time is approaching and I take Saint Jerzy to witness that I shall always try to be one of those in front, but never in the rear."
"What kind of souvenir do you ask for?"
"Girdle me with a strip of cloth for the road, so that if I fall in the field my pain may be lessened in having, when dying, the belt you fastened round my body."
Then he bowed again at her feet, folded his arms and gazed into her eyes imploringly.
But Jagienka's face assumed a troubled look, and after a while she replied as if with involuntary bitterness: