Strona 552 z 788

"Certainly, and I will give my word again," said Rykov; "there

you have it! Why should I want to ruin you? I am an honest man; I

like you Poles, for you are jolly fellows, good at a bottle, and

likewise bold fellows, good at a battle. We have a Russian

saying: 'Who rides in the cart often falls under the cart; who is

in front to-day may be behind to-morrow; to-day you beat and

to-morrow they beat you.' Why be angry over it? Such is the way

of life among us soldiers. Why should a man be so mean as to be

angry over a defeat! The fight at Ochakov was bloody, at Zurich

they crushed our infantry, at Austerlitz I lost my whole company;

but before that, when I was a sergeant, your Kosciuszko cut up my

platoon with scythes at Raclawice.171 What did it matter? Later

on, at Maciejowice172 I killed with my own bayonet two brave

gentlemen; one of them was Mokronowski, who was advancing with a

scythe in front of his troops and who had cut off the hand of a

cannoneer, with the match in it.