LXI explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• War and Rebellion

  The chapter depicts the grim realities of siege warfare, with dwindling supplies and desperate missions.

• Honor and Betrayal

  Skshetuski's voluntary mission reflects personal honor and sacrifice for the Commonwealth.

• Fate and Omens

  Zagloba's foreboding dreams and the ominous movements of the enemy suggest an atmosphere of impending doom.

Characters to notice

• Pan Zagloba

  Stands on the rampart with Volodyovski, grieving for Podbipienta and worrying about Skshetuski's mission.

• Pan Volodyovski

  Discusses the tactical situation with Zagloba and later bids farewell to Skshetuski before his escape attempt.

• Pan Skshetuski

  Volunteers for a dangerous night mission to escape the besieged camp by swimming through the pond.

• Pan Longin Podbipienta

  Mourned by Zagloba and Volodyovski; his recent death weighs heavily on them.

• Princess Helena

  Mentioned with concern; Zagloba hopes Jendzian has taken her to safety.

• Jendzian

  Zagloba hopes he has safely escorted Princess Helena to the king's headquarters.

Key passages

• ““That forebodes no good for us,” said Zagloba, pointing at the dark masses moving like an enormous cloud. “They are surely coming to an assault again, and here our hands will not move in their joints.””

  Zagloba warns that the approaching enemy masses signal another assault, and their exhausted troops can barely fight.

  Zagloba's pessimistic assessment of the enemy's movements.

• ““I could not sleep the whole night. I was thinking only of him, and whenever I dozed I saw him in trouble; and such sorrow seized me that sweat stood out on my body.””

  Zagloba confesses he couldn't sleep, tormented by worry for Podbipienta.

  Zagloba's grief for his fallen comrade.

• ““When you love someone⁠—one, two, three, and that one is gone; then you sit, console yourself, worry, grieve, meditate⁠—having besides an empty stomach, and holes in your cap through which the water is falling on your bald head like rain through a broken thatch.””

  Zagloba laments the pain of losing loved ones amid the hardships of war.

  Zagloba's poetic expression of grief and deprivation.

• ““Have faith,” said Volodyovski. “Pan Yan⁠—” began Zagloba, and he could go no further. His gray, suffering head rested on the breast of the knight, and he drew up to him like a helpless little child.”

  Volodyovski urges faith, but Zagloba is overcome with emotion and leans on him like a child.

  Zagloba's emotional breakdown as Skshetuski departs.

• “He left Zbaraj tormented with hunger and terrible sleeplessness, from which soldiers there were dying already. That night-journey, the cold bath, the odor of corpses in the water, weakened him completely.”

  Skshetuski's escape attempt is made under extreme duress from hunger, exhaustion, and the stench of death.

  The physical toll of the siege on Skshetuski.