To use the Polish peasant as literary material is no exclusive trait of Reymont; he has been portrayed by other writers like Ladislaw Orkan, Jan Kasprowicz, and Stanislaw Prybyszewsski. In _The Peasants_ the slow movement is varied by scenes of intense emotion, like the marriage festival in _Autumn_, or the death of Kuba, like the passionate quest of Yagna and Antek in _Winter_, and the bitter fight between father and son, husband and lover of Yagna, or the tragic, gruesome scene of the death of the father, old Boryna, in the last pages of _Spring_. The mob-attack upon Yagna, at the close of _Summer_, grips the reader and makes a strong climax to the epical story. In addition to specific, haunting situations, there are interwoven customs and legends and a wonderful collection of Polish proverbs (a mine of literature!). Passions of love and hate and revenge, the constant excess of vodka and clouded minds, fear of landlord and slumbering revolt against the loss of forest lands and oncoming industrial domination--such are significant factors in this panoramic novel. In the background is the dull color of the soil, the rank smells and fragrant odors of farmyards and woods, sunsets of splendor, and terrifying storms. One of the most poetic, idealistic passages is the last chapter in _Autumn_, the passing of the soul of faithful Kuba, after his long years of service and keen suffering: And higher yet it flew, and higher, yet higher, higher--yea, till it set its feet-- Where man can hear no longer the voice of lamentation, nor the mournful discords of all things that breathe-- Where only fragrant lilies exhale balmy odours, where fields of flowers in bloom waft honey-sweet scents athwart the air; where starry rivers roll over beds of a million hues; where night comes never at all--[170] Many passages in this novel are repugnant to Anglo-Saxon æsthetic tastes, if one is unable to assimilate the raw sordidness of many modern stories of the soil, with the passages of emotional vigor and poetic beauties. Reymont has revealed, in panoramic form, the life of the Polish peasant, typified in the family and associates of Boryna; he has treated his big theme with psychological insight, realistic photography, and robust idealism. The first and second volumes seem more spontaneous and dramatic than the later. He lacks condensation and incisiveness. An excellent review of the four volumes by Vida Scudder is in _The Atlantic Monthly_, August, 1925. Reymont knows America far better than Americans know him or his books, but the discrepancy is being remedied. He enjoys friendship with many men of affairs and letters here, including Rupert Hughes, whose story, _What Will People Say?_ has been translated by Mme. Reymont, a fine linguist, and published serially in the Warsaw _Gazeta_. Many critics have noted the sincerity of Reymont as man and artist.