Children of the Soil

There was no table of contents in the original, nor were there chapter titles. The simple table of contents included here is provided for the reader’s convenience. The marginal page numbers refer to those of the printed source.

The cover page was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

Please consult the notes at the end of this text for more detail about the text and the resolution on any printing anomalies.

CHILDREN OF THE SOIL

CHILDREN OF THE SOIL.

HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ,

AUTHOR OF
“WITH FIRE AND SWORD,” “THE DELUGE,” “PAN MICHAEL,”
“WITHOUT DOGMA,” “YANKO THE MUSICIAN,”
“LILLIAN MORRIS,” ETC.

AUTHORIZED AND UNABRIDGED TRANSLATION FROM THE POLISH BY

JEREMIAH CURTIN.

BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1917

Printers
S. J. Parkhill & Co., Boston, U.S.A.

Chapter I	1
Chapter II	9
Chapter III	34
Chapter IV	48
Chapter V	59
Chapter VI	64
Chapter VII	76
Chapter VIII	83
Chapter IX	91
Chapter X	99
Chapter XI	109
Chapter XII	115
Chapter XIII	123
Chapter XIV	135
Chapter XV	143
Chapter XVI	148
Chapter XVII	150
Chapter XVIII	154
Chapter XIX	166
Chapter XX	180
Chapter XI	186
Chapter XXII	199
Chapter XXIII	206
Chapter XXIV	213
Chapter XXV	221
Chapter XXVI	233
Chapter XXVII	251
Chapter XXVIII	261
Chapter XXIX	271
Chapter XXX	282
Chapter XXXI	288
Chapter XXXII	300
Chapter XXXIII	306
Chapter XXXIV	313
Chapter XXXV	321
Chapter XXXVI	325
Chapter XXXVII	335
Chapter XXXVIII	346
Chapter XXXIX	353
Chapter XL	363
Chapter XLI	371
Chapter XLII	379
Chapter XLIII	388
Chapter XLIV	394
Chapter XLV	406
Chapter XLVI	426
Chapter XLVII	433
Chapter XLVIII	443
Chapter XLIX	452
Chapter L	469
Chapter LI	478
Chapter LII	501
Chapter LIII	515
Chapter LIV	526
Chapter LV	542
Chapter LVI	551
Chapter LVII	469
Chapter LVIII	582
Chapter LIX	589
Chapter LX	602
Chapter LXI	611
Chapter LXII	616
Chapter LXIII	623
Chapter LXIV	629
Chapter LXV	639
Chapter LXVI	646
Chapter LXVII	651
Chapter LXVIII	657
Chapter LXIX	662
Chapter LXX	667

TO HIS EXCELLENCY,
HON. FREDERIC T. GREENHALGE,
Governor of Massachusetts.

Sir,—You are at the head of a Commonwealth renowned for mental culture; you esteem the Slav Race and delight in good literature;—to you I beg to dedicate this volume, in the hope that it will give pleasure to you and to others in that State which you govern so acceptably.

JEREMIAH CURTIN

Warren, Vermont,
April 19, 1895.

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT.

The title of this book in the original is Rodzina Polanieckich (The Family of the Polanyetskis); “Children of the Soil” has been substituted, because of the difficulty of the Polish title for American and English readers, because the Polanyetskis are called children of the soil in the text of the volume, and because all the other characters are children of the soil in the same sense.

For most readers this book will have a double interest,—the interest attaching to a picture of Polish life, and the general human interest inseparable from characters like those presented in the narrative of Pan Stanislav’s fortunes.

The Poles form a part of the great Slav race, which has played so important a rÔle in the world’s history already, and which is destined to play a far more important one yet in the future.

The argument involved in the career and meditations of Pan Stanislav is of interest to every person in civilized society; it is an argument presented so clearly, and reinforced with such pointed examples, that neither comment nor explanation is needed.

Were it not for the change of title, I might escape even this brief statement; but now I may add that the following translation was made in many places, in different countries, at various intervals, and at moments snatched from other work. I began “Children of the Soil” in Cahirciveen, Ireland, and continued it in London, Edinburgh, Fort William near the foot of Ben Nevis, Rome, Naples, and Florence, Tsarskoe Selo, Russia, and South Uist, an island of the Outer Hebrides. From the Outer Hebrides I was called home before I wished to come, and left that little granite kingdom in the Atlantic with sincere regret.

The translation was finished in Warren, Vermont, and revised carefully. To new readers of Sienkiewicz I may state that Pan, Pani, and Panna, when prefixed to names, mean Mr., Mrs., and Miss respectively.

JEREMIAH CURTIN.

CHILDREN OF THE SOIL.

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