In Chapter III, “Naturalism and Nationalism,” of the collected lectures, on _Modern Polish Literature_, by Roman Dyboski, Professor at Cracow University,[171] there are interesting comments upon Reymont’s earlier work and his tendencies. His attempt at historical fiction, following the lead of Sienkiewicz, was recorded in _The Year 1794_ but it was, says Professor Dyboski, a failure, the “bewildering mass of details obscured the outlines of the historical picture.” More adapted to his analytical skill are the earlier novels, _Ferments_ and _The Dreamer_ (largely autobiographical in background), and the later, more impersonal tales that deal with anarchists and political conditions, _The Vampire_ and _Opium Smokers_. Like other critics Professor Dyboski ranks Stephen Zeromski as “supreme in the Polish novel today.” He compares him to Sienkiewicz; he has the dramatic power and concentration which Reymont lacks. Zeromski is “a social pessimist”; like Sienkiewicz he was a short-story writer at first, then turned to history for fictional themes, like _Lay of the Leader_ and has written more recently of contemporaneous conditions. With his faults of diffuseness and unevenness of structure, Reymont is gifted in depicting the small and large interests of the Polish peasant, in revealing their aspirations and dormant passion for freedom. As an example of “the novel of the soil,” so close to earth that the reader often finds his senses are keen and that other faculties are almost dormant, this epic by Reymont proclaims him a masterful interpreter of peasant life. In every volume there are lapses of interest and diffuseness. In retrospect, however, the many monotonous pages will be forgotten and the outstanding scenes of passionate love, hatred, suffering, and primitive ecstasy will remain in memory as tributes to this second Polish novelist who is listed among the Nobel prize winners in literature. FOOTNOTES: [163] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in Literature, 1905. [164] _Poland Reborn_ by Roy Devereux, London, 1922, p. 237. [165] _Ibid._, p. 225. [166] Chicago, 1898; Philadelphia, 1898. [167] Inscription with the Nobel Prize Award in 1924. [168] By permission of Rupert Hughes. [169] Interview with Dr. A. M. Nawench in _New York Times Review_, November 30, 1924. [170] _The Peasants: Autumn_ from the Polish of Ladislaw St. Reymont, New York, 1924. By permission of Alfred A. Knopf. [171] Given at King’s College; Oxford University Press, 1924. By permission of _Oxford University Press_. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS IN LITERATURE PAGE 1901. SULLY-PRUDHOMME, RENÉ FRANÇOIS ARMAND 21 1902. MOMMSEN, THEODOR 42 1903. BJÖRNSON, BJÖRNSTJERNE 58 1904. MISTRAL, FRÉDÉRIC, shared with 31 1904. ECHEGARAY, JOSÉ 239 1905. SIENKIEWICZ, HENRYK 264