"You are crawling into the jaws of the dragon, but if such is your wish we cannot oppose it."
Skshetuski bowed in silence.
Kisel looked at him with astonishment. The severe face of the young knight, with its expression of dignity and suffering, struck him. "Tell me," said he, "what causes drive you to this hell, to which no one comes of his own accord?"
"Misfortune, serene voevoda."
"I have made a needless inquiry," said Kisel. "You must have lost some of your relatives for whom you are looking?"
"I have."
"Was it long since?"
"Last spring."
"How is that, and you start only now on the search? Why, it is nearly a year! What were you doing in the mean while?"
"I was fighting under the voevoda of Rus."