Boryna Tries to Make Advances to Jagna While Drunk

Boryna Tries to Make Advances to Jagna While Drunk follows Maciej Boryna’s return from town after he signed over six morgen of land to Jagna. His attempt to take her in the cart met with forceful resistance: he came home scratched, having received blows and fingernail marks instead of the intimacy he sought.

Background and Encounter

On Saturday, Maciej Boryna and Jagna rode to town, where he signed the land transfer at a notary’s office. On the way back, slightly drunk, he tried to take Jagna in the cart. She fought him off; the scratches on his face recorded the failure of his attempt. The land agreement and the physical encounter thus occur in close succession, but the transfer did not amount to Jagna’s consent to intimacy.

The Return Home

Maciej Boryna returned late and spoke to no one, though Antek Boryna remained nearby. He went straight to bed still wearing his boots and sheepskin, and Józka later complained that he had smeared the quilt with mud. The disorder of his return contrasts with the formal act at the notary’s: the land had been legally assigned, while his effort to claim physical access had been rejected.

What Followed

The next morning, Maciej Boryna cheerfully brushed off the muddy bedding, saying that such things could happen even without drinking. He went to Jagna’s first thing and stayed until late, leaving his household waiting in vain for dinner and supper. On the following day, he dressed carefully in his best capote and Sunday boots, waited until Hanka Borynowa had gone inside, and slipped through the yard. The episode therefore marks not a settled intimacy but a failed, resisted advance followed by his continued pursuit of Jagna.