"Oh, surely I," answered Selim. "But perhaps it is I. I am gladsome by nature." "But the least gladsome is Henryk," added Selim. "He is naturally dignified, and a little sad. If he had lived in the Middle Ages, he would have been a knight-errant and a troubadour, only he cannot sing. But we," continued he, turning to Hania, "have looked for the poppy and found it." "I cannot agree to that," answered I. "For any given disposition I prefer the opposite, since in this case one has the qualities which are lacking the other." "Thanks," replied Selim; "I admit that thou art by nature fond of weeping, and Panna Hania of laughing. Well, let it be that: get married, you two--" "Selim!" Selim looked at me and began to laugh. "Well, young man? Ha! ha! Dost remember the oration of Cicero, 'commoveri videtur juvenis,' which in Polish means: the young man seems confused. But that signifies nothing, for without cause even thou canst blush gloriously: Panna Hania, he cooks crawfish[2] gloriously, and now he has blushed for himself and you." [2] To cook crawfish, to blush. "Selim!" "Nothing, nothing! I return to my subject. Thou, sir, art a man of weeping, and thou, young lady, art a lady of laughing; get married. What will happen? He will begin to blubber, and you to laugh; you will never understand each other, never agree, different always; and what do I care for chosen natures? Oh, with me it would be different: we should simply laugh all our lives, and that would be the whole story." "What are you saying?" answered Hania, and then both laughed heartily. As to me, I had not the least desire to laugh. Selim did not know what injustice he did me in persuading Hania of the difference between her disposition and mine. I was angry in the highest degree, and answered Selim with sarcasm,-- "Thou hast a strange view, and it astonishes me all the more, since I have noticed that thou hast a weakness for melancholy persons." "I?" said he, with unfeigned astonishment. "Yes. I will merely remind thee of a certain maiden, some fuchsias, and a little face between them. I give thee my word that I do not know such a melancholy face." Hania clapped her hands. "Oho! I am learning something new!" cried she, laughing. "Is she pretty, Pan Selim; is she pretty?" I thought that Selim would grow confused and lose his boldness; but he merely said,-- "Henryk?" "What?" "Dost thou know what I do with those whose tongues are too long?" And he laughed. Hania insisted on his telling her even the name of this chosen one; without thinking long, he said,-- "Yozia." But if he had been what he pretended he would have paid dearly for his sincerity, for Hania gave him no peace from that hour till evening. "Is she pretty?" "Oh, so." "What kind of hair has she, and eyes?" "Nice ones, but not such as please me more than all others." "And what kind please you?" "Bright hair, and eyes, if they are kind, blue, like those into which I am looking at this moment."