Hanka’s infant, Rocho

Hanka’s infant, Rocho, is the son of Hanka Borynowa and Antek Boryna, named at his christening and cherished by a mother trying to sustain hope through his father’s absence. His brief appearances place the vulnerable routines of feeding and soothing a newborn against the larger strain on the household.

Christening and Naming

At the christening, the child is presented to Hanka and formally named Rocho. The blessing wishes him strength and the promise that he will bring his mother comfort, while another guest jokes that he may soon have a dozen brothers. The exchange makes his arrival a family occasion, even as Hanka apologizes that the christening is not as grand as befits a Boryna child.

Before Hanka nurses him, Dominikowa wipes his eyes, lips, and forehead with vodka. The baby kicks and cries, then latches fiercely at his mother’s breast and soon quiets. The scene gives his first distinct actions a bodily directness: he is welcomed through ritual and family banter, but settled by the immediate work of care.

His Mother’s Care

During Antek’s absence, Hanka rocks the crying child and sings to reassure him that his father will return. She imagines Antek bringing him a toy and sitting him on a horse, making the absent father present through promises addressed to the baby. The lullaby and rocking are not simply comfort for the child; they accompany Hanka’s effort to hold on to the possibility of reunion.

For a moment, that hope gives Hanka fresh energy. She stops rocking, thinks Antek may indeed come, and hurries to cut pork for him. She even considers sending for vodka and dressing in her best clothes. Then she remembers what the blacksmith has said, and the expectation collapses into uncertainty: she freezes, looks around the room as if seeking help, and cannot decide what to do. The infant’s crying is the immediate setting for this sharp movement between anticipated reunion and renewed distress.

Place in the Household

Rocho appears only in short scenes, but those scenes establish his place in a household shaped by separation. At his christening, he is welcomed as a source of comfort; later, Hanka’s song makes his father’s return the future she wants him to expect. His role in the narrative is therefore closely tied to maternal care and to the fragile hope that the family may be together again, rather than to any independent action of his own.