a kazák is to uphold comradeship. Never in all my life, brother nobles, have I heard of any kazák deserting or selling any of his comrades. The men there and the men here are equally our comrades, whether they be few or many, and all are dear to us. So this is my speech: Let those to whom the prisoners captured by the Tatárs are dear, set out after the Tatárs; and let those to whom the captives of the Poles are dear, and who do not wish to desert a righteous cause, stay be- hind. The Koshevói, in accordance with his duty, will accompany one half in pursuit of the Tatárs, and the other half may choose a temporary atamán to lead them. But if you will heed the words of an old man, there is no one more fit to act as temporary atamán than Taras Bulba. Not one of us is his equal in valour."
Thus spoke Bovdyug, and paused; and all the kazáks rejoiced that the old man had, in this manner, set them to rights. All tossed up their caps, and shouted: "Thanks, batko![1] He has been
- ↑ Batko is the Little Russian form of batiushka, and means "father" in the same way that the old English gaffer, derived from grandfather, was used as a term of respect. All priests are addressed as "batiushka," and a priest's wife is addressed and alluded to as the corresponding, "matushka"; and the two words are (as Count L. N. Tolstoy once said to me) "the only genuine Russian 'titles.'" Nevertheless, if one were to translate the two words as "father" and "mother," Russians
