Produced by Andrew Leader of www.polishwriting.net
Introduction
Eliza Orzeszko, the authoress of "The Argonauts," is the greatestfemale writer and thinker in the Slav world at present. There arekeen and good critics, just judges of thought and style, whopronounce her the first literary artist among the women ofEurope.
These critics are not Western Europeans, for Western Europe hasno means yet of appreciating this gifted woman. No doubt it willhave these means after a time in the form of adequatetranslations. Meanwhile I repeat that she is the greatestauthoress among all the Slav peoples. She is a person of rareintellectual distinction, an observer of exquisite perception instudying men and women, and the difficulties with which they haveto struggle.
Who are the Slavs among whom Eliza Orzeszko stands thusdistinguished?
The Slavs form a very large majority of the people inAustria-Hungary, an immense majority in European Turkey, and anoverwhelming majority in the Russian Empire; they are besides anunyielding, though repressed, majority in that part of Prussianterritory known as Posen in German, and Poznan in Polish.
The Slav race occupies an immense region extending from Prussia,Bohemia, and the Adriatic eastward to the Pacific Ocean. Its maindivisions are the Russians, Poles, Bohemians (Chehs), Serbs,Bulgarians; its smaller divisions are the Slovaks, Wends,Slovinians, Croats, Montenegrins. These all have literature insome form, literature which in respect to the world outside isfamous, well known, little known, or unknown.
The Slavs have behind them a history dramatic to the utmost,varied, full of suffering, full also, of heroism in endurance orvalor.
The present time is momentous for all nations, the future is atangled riddle; for the Slavs this seems true in a doublemeasure. To involved social problems is added race opposition inthe breasts of neighbors, a deep, sullen historic hostility.Hence when a writer of power appears among the Slavs, whether hetakes up the past or the present, he has that at hand throughwhich he compels the whole world to listen. Sienkiewicz has shownthis, so has Tolstoy, so have Dostoyevski and Gogol.
The present volume gives in translation a book which should bewidely read with much pleasure. The winning of money on animmense scale to the neglect of all other objects, to the neglecteven of the nearest duties, is the sin of one Argonaut; the utterneglect of money and the proper means of living is the ruin ofthe other.
Darvid by "iron toil" laid the basis of a splendid structure, butwent no farther; he had not the time, he had not the power,perhaps, to build thereon himself, and his wife, to whom he leftthe task, had not the character to do so. By neglect of dutyDarvid is brought to madness; by neglect of money Kranitski isbrought to be a parasite, and when he loses even that position heis supported by a servant.
The right use of wealth, the proper direction of labor, these aresupreme questions in our time, and beyond all in America.
Friends have advised Madame Orzeszko to visit this country andstudy it; visit Chicago, the great business centre, the mostactive city on earth, and New York, the great money capital. Ifshe comes she will see much to rouse thought. What will she see?That we know how to win money and give proper use to it? Whatevershe sees, it will be something of value, that is undoubted;something that may be compared with European conditions,something to be compared with the story in this book.
Eliza Orzeszko writes because she cannot help writing; her works,