Summary of the Flood
G. Senkevich
The Flood
1655. The Lithuanian lands that are part of the Commonwealth. Rich and noble nobleman Bilevich, dying, leaves almost all of his estates to the orphan granddaughter, nineteen-year-old blonde and blue-eyed beauty Aleksandra (Olenka), only Lyubich’s estate announces to the son of his friend, the young Croatian Orshansky Andrzej Kmitsits, desperate arrogant, brave and self-willed, having collected a group of thugs, has been fighting for four years near Smolensk with the enemies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. According to the will of the grandfather Olenka either should marry Kmitsitsa, or go to the monastery. And now the blue-eyed, gray-eyed Andrzej comes to Vodokty – the estate of Alexandra. The beauty of the bride is amazing Kmitsitsa, and his custom is “to go to the woman and the fire boldly.” The girl is slightly lost from such an onslaught, but also falls in love with a dashing gentleman.
Wild Wage Kmitsitsa
A burning desire to fight the enemy, who has already conquered all the great Polish lands,
At the banquet, Janusz Radziwill suddenly declares that he has concluded a union with the Swedish king. “Judas!” – Bars the gape. Indignant colonels throw their maces at the feet of the prince, and he orders to throw Volodyevsky, Skshetusky, Zaglob and other unruly officers in prison. Kmitsits believes the prince as a father to his own, and suppresses the mutiny of soldiers who tried to free their commanders. Volodyevsky, gritting his teeth, watches this from the prison window. And Olenka, who also came to the prince’s castle, turns away in horror from Andrzej, considering him a traitor, and leaves Kaidan in anger.
By pleading and threats, Knutsits makes the prince cancel the order for the execution of Volodyevsky, Skshetusky and Zaglob. They are taken to a remote fortress. On the way, Zaglob manages to escape on horseback of the escort and return with soldiers from Volodyevsky’s detachment, who free the rest of the prisoners. Gentry go into the woods and smash the enemy, wherever they can.
Radziwill, in a frenzy, hunts for Volodyevsky and Zaglob. Kmitsits, still considering the prince to be the savior of his motherland, serves him faithfully. Trembling, the young man is going to Olenka – and falls into the hands of Volodyevsky. Pan Michal orders to shoot the traitor. Proudly and calmly goes Kmitsits to death. But at the last moment Zaglob stops the execution: he found a letter from Kmitsits, in which Radziwill reproached the young man for having pardoned the rebels at his request. Friends understand that Kmitsits is a noble man, but he is mistaken. And the latter, returning to Kaidan, begs the prince to send him to the case: the long-suffering youth wants to go away from Olenka, who despises him. Radziwill, already tired of the insolent and rebellious “servant”, sends him with letters to his cousin, Boguslav Radziwill.
With pain and bitterness saying good-bye to his beloved forever, Kmitsits soon arrives at Boguslav, a bruised, whitewashed, dressed in lace – a thirty-five-year-old handsome, well-known throughout Europe, brave, dueling and smooth-hearted. Counting Kmitsitsa man of the same cut as himself, Boguslav mockingly explains to the young man: Radziwills do not care about the Commonwealth, they are only interested in power and wealth. And Kmitsits also learns that Janusz Radziwill ordered his men to water and cut the detachment of Volodyevsky. From the eyes of the shocked Andrzej the veil finally falls down, and he abruptly abducts Prince Bohuslav to take him to the Polish king. But brave Boguslav, snatching a pistol from Kmitsits’s belt, shoots the boy in the face and is carried away, like a whirlwind, on his horse.
The faithful captain of Soroka takes away the stunned Kmitsica, whose cheek is a bullet with a bullet, into the hut lost in the marshes. Awakening, Andrzej realizes that everyone is now considered the worst enemy – the Radziwills, and the defenders of the Commonwealth, and the Swedes and Cossacks… Kmitsits is eager to take revenge on the Radziwills, but the inner voice tells him: “Homeland serve!”
In the forest hut Kmitsits meets his old soldiers Kemlichi – father and twins-sons, giants Kosmu and Damian, incredibly strong, brave, greedy and cruel. Only one Kmitsitsa they are afraid… And the latter writes a letter to Volodyaevsky, warning him of the scheming of the prince. Receiving this letter, pan Michal and his friends understand: Kmitsits again saved them all. And they take their banners to the Vitebsk governor Sapieha, a valiant and just husband, to whose banners the army of defenders of the fatherland gathers.
And Boguslav, when he came to Janush Radziwill, tells about the treachery of Kmitsitsa. Seeing the same Olenka, which Janusz took hostage, Boguslav is captivated by her beauty and begins to desperately seduce the girl. And that she did not remember more about the groom, Boguslav states that Kmitsits decided to kidnap the Polish king and hand him over to the Swedes. The unhappy Olenka is shocked by the meanness of the person she loved.
And Andrzej, disguised as a poor nobleman and now called Babinich, travels with his people through Poland, all occupied and devastated by Poland, to King Jan Kazimir – to redeem his sins with blood. The suffering of a desecrated homeland, ruined by the quarrels and self-will of the nobility, tears the young man’s heart. “Swedish this flood is the punishment of the Lord,” proclaimed the old man Lushchevsky, whose estate Kmitsits saved from the robbers. “We must go to Częstochowa, to a holy monastery!” And the great sinner Kmitsits goes to Czestochowa, to the Yasnogorskiy monastery.
In the roadside zucchini, Kmitsits accidentally hears that a Czech who is in the service of the enemy, Vzheszowicz, declares that the Yasnogorsky monastery will soon be occupied and plundered by the Swedes. Kmitsits hurries to Czestochowa, falls prostrate before the miraculous icon – and his heart is filled with joy and hope. He talks about the plans of the Swedes to the abbot of the monastery, the priest Kordecki. Poles will not tolerate the desecration of the shrine, come to their senses and drive out the enemy! exclaims this holy man. He releases Kmitsitsu sins, and the happy Andrzej, having subdued his pride, heroically fights with the enemy who besieged the monastery. Arrived at the convent for the traitor, the traitor Kuklinovsky – an impudent, tyrant, bandit and libertine – beguiling Kmitsitsa to the Swedes and gets a strong slap and kick for it. Soon Kmitsits, having made a desperate sortie, blows up the most powerful Swedish cannon. This he saves the monastery, but himself, stunned, falls into the hands of the enemy. Kuklinovsky, burning with thirst for revenge, tortures prisoner with fire, but Andzhey repels Kemlich. Finishing the traitor, Kmitsits with Kemlichami go to Silesia, to Jan Kazimir.
Desperate Swedes leave with shame from Częstochowa. They finally realized: the priest Kordecki rose up like a prophet to awaken the sleeping ones and “light a candle in the darkness.” And throughout the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the Poles begin to smash the enemy.
Kmitsits, beloved of the king – a majestic man with an infinitely kind, exhausted face, accompanies Jan Kazimir from exile to his homeland. Many do not trust Andrzej, but thanks to his foresight and courage, the small detachment of the king manages to unite with the troops of the Crown Marshal Lubomirski. Severely wounded Andrzej, devoted to the king and chest with all his heart, shielded him in the Carpathian gorge, where Poles stumbled into the Swedes, opens his real name to Ian Kazimir. He understands: Boguslav Radziwill, who wrote to him that a certain Kmitsits swore to kill the sovereign, had deceived Andrzej from revenge. The King forgives his valiant knight all the old sins and promises to intercede for him before Olenka.
Gray-haired, exhausted and humiliated Janusz Radziwill, thrown by the Swedes and Boguslav, dies in the besieged Volodyevsky Tykocin fortress. Taking it, pan Michal goes with his people to Lviv, where the king finally reconciles the little knight with Kmitsits. And he begs Ian Kazimir to give him a small detachment of the Horde, who sent Crimean Khan, going to the Poles for help; Soon Andrzej appears with the Tatars towards the troops of Boguslav.
Having arrived in Zamosc for a short time, Andrzej meets Anusyu Borzobogataya-Krasenska, old love of Pan Michal, a charming little black-eyed coquette, a pupil of Princess Griselda, widow of Jeremiah Vishnevetsky and sister of the owner of the castle, Jan Zamoysky. Captivated, like all around, Anusey, Zamoysky asks Kmitsitsa to take her to Sapega, so that he helped the girl to inherit the estates that bequeathed her deceased fiancé Podbipyatka. In fact, Zamoysky decided to kidnap Anoushuu on the way, because he does not dare to solicit her in the castle, fearing his strict sister Griselda. But Kmitsits, having easily solved these plans, does not give Anusya the people of Zamoysky. Anusya looks at his rescuer enthusiastically; Andrzej fights with a torturous temptation – but devotion to Olenka overcomes all temptations.
Finally, he brings Anoushu to Sapega, after which he attacks the troops of Boguslav, performing great feats with his small detachment. The devil, the devil! – admirers of Andrzej Litvin, who forgave him all the previous sins.
But soon Bohuslav gets Anousia, to whom he, however, treats with great respect, not wanting to quarrel with Princess Griselda. And then Boguslav’s men seize Captain Soroka, and Kmitsits rushes to the camp of the enemy to rescue his faithful servant. Breaking the pride, Andrzej Bohuslav falls to his feet, and he, reveling in the humiliation of Kmitsitsa, orders us to put Soroka on the count beside Andrzej in front of him. But Kmitsits, rebelling the soldiers who were also brought to look at the execution, returns to Sapega with a detachment of deserters and the rescued Soroka.
Sapieha’s army is smashing Boguslav. He himself leaves the chase, kriman Kmitsitsa sword on the head. Having reclined, Kmitsits hurries with the Horde to Warsaw, to the aid of the king. “Private affairs aside! For the homeland I want to fight!” exclaims the young man.
During the assault of Warsaw, in which the Swedes settled, Kmitsits makes unparalleled feats, bringing admiration to the nobility and the king. From the captive officer, young golden-haired handsome Scotsman Ketling Andzhey finds out: Boguslav took Olenka to Taurogi, which is four miles from Tilsit. And Kmitsits goes to smash the enemy in Prussia and Lithuania.
And Olenka languishes in the Taurog. She can not forget the traitor Kmitsits, although she despises him deeply. Brilliant Boguslav with all his might tries to seduce the girl; finally, mad with passion, he asks Olenka’s hands, deciding to arrange a fictitious wedding. But the girl flatly refuses to become his wife, and when he rushes at her, she jumps into the burning fireplace. Having pulled her out of there in a smoldering gown, Boguslav falls in cramps. In love with Olenka Ketling, who is in the service of Boguslav, defends the girl with all her might, but refuses to help her escape: the noble Scotsman believes that this is a betrayal of the oath. Boguslav leaves for the troops, and Anoushu Borzobogataya is brought to the Taurogi. She drives all the officers crazy, and a devoted servant and friend of Boguslav – handsome, insolent, thug Sakovich, passionately in love, decides to marry the girl. She leads him by the nose and,
And detachment Kmitsitsa, hurricane swept through Prussia, is connected with the Volodiaevsky gig. They blow up the troops of Boguslav and Andrzej, meeting with the prince on the battlefield, defeating the enemy, but he can not finish off: he says that in case of his death he ordered Olenka to be killed.
Meanwhile, the girls are running from the castle to the elderly relative Olenka, the Russian swordsman Billevich, who was assembled by the partisan detachment and also fighting with the Swedes. In the detachment Anusya flaunts with a light saber on a silk sash, breaking hearts without counting. Soon the partisans enter Lyubich, where everything resembles the suffering Olenka about the villain Kmitsice. And Anusya, hearing how they praise everything around the brave Babinich, who is fighting in Lithuania, sends him two letters. But one messenger falls into the hands of the Swedes, and another – to Sakovich, and he rushes to revenge Anus for treason. Detachment Bilevicha, fortified in Volmontevichi, rescues from the rout only went on the trail Sakovich Kmitsits. Shooting the bandits, he rushes further, without even knowing that thanks to him, the village that he once slept has survived.
After another battle, Kmitsits looks at his army and proudly thinks that he fell low – but he managed to get up! He is eager for Olenka, but the messenger of Sapieha orders the young man to go south – to fight with the Hungarian troops. “I will not go!” – Komitsits screams desperately, and yet, taking leave of his happiness, he turns his horse to the south.
In the autumn of 1657 Olenka, going to go to the monastery, sees how Lubich is being taken to Kmitsitsa, who is dying from the wounds. For two weeks the girl is praying fervently for her beloved – and soon she meets with the convalescent Andrzej in the church. Returning from the war are Litvin, headed by Volodyevsky and Zaglob. The priest reads the royal charter brought by Pan Michal, which describes all the exploits of Kmitsitsa-Babinich and promises him a high place for the upite headman. The stunned Olenka kisses Andria’s hand and jumps out of the church. And soon the whole district rushes to her at the estate – Kmitsitsa woo! Olenka, sobbing, falls to his knees, he, pale and happy, grabbing her, presses to his chest. And the smiling Anusya is waiting for Pan Michal…
Long and happily lived with Olenka in Vodokta Kmitsits, surrounded by universal respect and love. It was said that it was true that he was obedient throughout his wife, but Pan Andrzej was not ashamed of that.
The fate of the little knight tells the final book of the trilogy – the novel “Pan Wolodyjowski” (“Pan Wolodyjowski”, 1887-1888). Hardly surviving the untimely death of Anousi, Pan Michal continued to serve his fatherland. He was captivated by the beauty of Ksisei, but she preferred him to the noble Scotsman Ketling, to whom Poland became the second homeland. And only with the brave Bassie, who fell in love with Pan Michal with all his heart, he finally found his happiness. He died heroically – under the wreckage of the fortress, which they blew up with Ketling, so as not to give the enemies of the Commonwealth.
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