CHAPTER XXXIII.
The prince did not oppose the duel, for, according to the custom of the time, he had no authority to do so. He simply caused Rotgier to write to the Grand Master and to Siegfried de Löwe, stating that he had cast down the gauntlet first before the Mazovian knights, that because of this he was to meet in combat Yurand's son-in-law, who moreover had challenged him on an earlier occasion. Rotgier explained to the Grand Master that if he fought without permission he did so because the honor of the Knights was in question, and he had to avert foul suspicion which might bring shame to the Order, which he, Rotgier, was ready at all times to vindicate with his life-blood. This letter was sent straightway to the boundary by an attendant of the brother; beyond that it was to go to Malborg by post, which the Knights had invented many years before others, and introduced into the lands of the Order.
Meanwhile the snow in the courtyard of the castle was trampled and sprinkled with ashes, so that the feet of the combatants might not slip over its surface or sink in it. An uncommon movement reigned within the castle. Emotion had so seized the knights and damsels that no one slept the night before the combat. They said that a combat with lances on horseback, or even with swords, ended frequently with wounds, but on foot, and especially with the terrible axes, it was ever mortal. All hearts were on Zbyshko's side, and the greater the friendship for him or Danusia the greater the fear caused by reports of the skill and fame of the German. Many women passed that night in the church, where, after confessing to Father Vyshonek, Zbyshko himself performed penance. So women, when they saw his face, almost boyish, said to one another: "Why, he is a child yet! How can he expose his young head to the axe of the German?" And the more earnestly did they implore aid for him. But when he rose at dawn and went through the chapel to put on his armor their courage increased somewhat, for though Zbyshko's head and face were really boy-like, his body was
