(^188) SZLACHTA
impositions and punishments. The lash and the knout were the accepted sym-
bols of noble authority. The serfs were beaten for leaving the estate without
permission, for brawls and misdemeanours, and for non-observance of religious
practices. A dungeon, together with chains, shackles, stocks, hooks, and instru-
ments of torture, were part of the regular inventory. In cases of incorrigible theft
or insubordination, the death sentence in a variety of forms was readily applied.
Although judicial forms were usually observed - Magdeburg Law in some
medieval settlements, and customary law in most Polish villages - there was lit-
tle to prevent the lord from indulging his fantasies. It was all but impossible in
a peasant family for the boys to refuse demands for extra labour and for the girls
to resist service 'in the House' or the insidious droit de seigneur.
In the Nobility's defence, it must be admitted that they were fully aware of
their faults. Rej initiated a strong tradition of social satire which took perman-
ent root in Polish literature. His Krotka rozprawa ... is full of exquisite obser-
vations on the inconsequentialities of the nobleman's conduct. When the Lord
has finished decrying the clergy, and the Rector the nobility, the peasant
Headman gives them both an exemplary lesson in fortitude and cheerfulness:
And yet, in this lowly estate of mine
I'm no less merry than a palatine.
For here in our fleeting life on earth
We've far fewer worries to spoil our mirth,
Like all honest persons, I keep to my place;
And other men's matters don't trouble my ease.
So what, if poverty brings me low?
I'll bear it while I'm here below;
And when the order comes to leave
How shall I then have cause to grieve?
I won't shed a tear for the sweet hereafter,
But fly like a sparrow out of the rafter.^15
A century later, Krzysztof Opalinski savagely condemned the treatment of the
serfs, seeing it as the cause of God's wrath so manifestly visited on a sinful
Republic:
As I understand it, God does not punish Poland for nothing,
But chiefly for the harsh oppression visited on the serfs,
Which is worse than slavery: as if the peasant
Were not your neighbour, nor even a person.
My heart sinks, and I shudder to reflect
On that oppression, which outweighs pagan bondage.
For God's sake, have you Poles lost your minds completely?
Your whole welfare, your supply of food, the wealth you amass,
All derives from your serfs. It is their hands which feed you;
And still you treat them with such cruelty.^36
Even Kozmian, whose opposition to all forms of national and social liberation
was complete, did not hesitate to castigate the condition of the nobility's
c. jardin
(C. Jardin)
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