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With Fire and Sword
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===Chapters I–VIII=== [[File:Saiga antelope at the Stepnoi Sanctuary.jpg|thumb|260px|right|[[Henryk Sienkiewicz]] opens "With Fire and Sword" with a description of [[saiga]]s as a way to highlight the otherworldly setting of the [[Pontic Steppe]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sienkiewicz |first1=Henryk |title=With Fire and Sword (Ogniem i Mieczem) |page=Wolne Lektury |url=https://wolnelektury.pl/katalog/lektura/ogniem-i-mieczem-tom-pierwszy.html |access-date=7 May 2020}}</ref> By the time of his writing, these antelope were extinct in the [[Territorial evolution of Poland|lands of modern Poland]].<ref>{{cite web |title=O suhaku, który z suchych stepów przybył |url=https://etymologicznamenazeria.wordpress.com/2017/10/06/o-suhaku-ktory-z-suchych-stepow-przybyl/ |website=MENAŻERIA ETYMOLOGICZNA |date=6 October 2017 |access-date=7 May 2020}}</ref>]] Jan Skrzetuski, lieutenant of the armoured regiment of Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, gives assistance to Bohdan Zenobi Chmielnicki (first posing as [[Abdank coat of arms|Abdank]]) as his party are returning from a mission to the [[List of Crimean khans|Khan]] through the Wilderness. At [[Chyhyryn|Czyhryn]] the next day, Skrzetuski learns that Chmielnicki was escaping to the [[Sich]]. In a tavern he throws Czapliński, a voluble under–[[starosta]] (and Chmielnicki's deadly enemy), out through the door. It is here that he also becomes acquainted with Zagłoba and the Lithuanian Podbipięta, who wishes to join the service of Prince Jeremi in order to fulfil his family vow of cutting off the heads of three infidels, all at the same time with one blow. [[File:Helena Kuncewiczowna (77377767) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Helena by [[Piotr Stachiewicz]]]] On their way to Lubni, the party comes to the assistance of two women, one of whom is Helena Kurcewicz, returning to her aunt's home that really belongs to her. Jan's party are invited back to Rozlogi where Jan meets Bohun, a Cossack, adopted as a sixth son by the old princess (Helena's aunt). Bohun wants to pick a quarrel but is sent away and Jan is able to declare his love for Helena. Skrzetuski realizes the girl is being mistreated and denied her rights so gets the princess to promise Helena to him instead of Bohun or he will have Prince Jeremi help her recover home. The lieutenant finally arrives at Lubni and tells his comrades about his mission to the [[Crimea]]. Prince Jeremi returns and entertainments are laid on. To wile away the time, Skrzetuski fences with his friend, Michał Wołodyjowski, and receives a response to his letter sent to Helena via Rzędzian, his assistant. Revolution is now afoot. The prince decides to send an envoy, in a group led by Pan (Sir) Bychowiec, to the Sich to find out about Chmielnicki. Jan persuades him to let him go in his place as he wants to see Helena and receives permission from the prince. He meets Helena once more at Rozlogi and then sets out for Czyhryn. Here, he meets Zaćwilichowski , an old colonel, who says he expects revolt in Ukraine. He also re-encounters Zagłoba who tells him that he has befriended Bohun. Further on his travels he decides to send Rzędzian with a message to Helena to flee the impending hordes. His party encounters some [[Cossacks]] and [[Tartars]] and a fight breaks out in which Jan's soldiers are slaughtered and he severely wounded. The alliance between the Cossacks and Tartars had been brokered by Chmielnicki, who understood that Cossacks, while having an excellent infantry, could not hope to match the Polish cavalry, the best in Europe. By combining Cossack infantry with Tartar cavalry, the uprising had balanced military force and a chance to beat the Polish army.
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