inally he whistled a mazurka; then
he jammed his casque down over his ears and went to the camp, where the
sentinels were standing by the cannon: there, to distract his mind, he
began a game of cribbage with the private soldiers, and sweetened his
sorrow with the cup. Such was the constancy of Dobrzynski to Zosia.

Zosia was dancing merrily: but, though she was in the first couple, from a
distance she could hardly be seen; on the broad surface of the turf-spread
court, in her green gown and decked with garlands and with flowery
wreaths, she circled amid the grasses and flowers unseen in her flight,
guiding the dance as an angel guides the motion of the stars by night: you
could guess where she was, for towards her all eyes were turned and all
arms stretched out; towards her the tumult pressed. In vain did the
Chamberlain strive to remain by her side; his envious rivals had already
pressed him out of the first couple: nor did the happy Dombrowski long
enjoy his triumph; he yielded her to a second, but a third was already
hastening up; and he, too, at once pressed aside, departed without hope.
At last Zosia, by this time wearied, met Thaddeus as she passed down the
line; and, fearing further change, and wishing to remain with him, she
brought the dance to an end. She went to the table to pour wine for the
guests.

The sun was already setting, the evening was warm and quiet; the circle of
the heavens, here and there strewn with little clouds, was azure on high,
but rosy in the west; the little clouds foretold fine weather, being light
and shining--here like flocks of sheep sleeping on the greensward, there of
somewhat smaller size, like coveys of teal. In the west was a cloud in
shape like the drapery curtains of a couch, transparent and with many
folds, pearly at the summit, gilded on the margin, purple in the centre;
it still burned and glowed with the western gleams; at last it slowly
turned yellow, then pale and grey; the sun dropped its head, drew the
cloud about it, and sighing a single time with a warm breath--it fell
asleep.230

But the gentlefolk continued to drink and to propose the healths of
Napoleon, the Generals, Thaddeus, and Zosia; finally of all three
betrothed pairs in turn, of all the guests present with them, of all those
that had been invited, of all the friends that any one alive could
remember, and of all the dead whose memory had remained holy.

And I was there among the guests, and there drank w