Kuba Poaches a Doe in the Manor Forest

Kuba’s poaching of a doe in the manor forest is revealed not as a witnessed hunt but as a secret he recounts while cleaning his shotgun beside Witek. The account moves from a dangerous night in the woods to a bargain in the stable: Kuba first protects the location of the kill, then yields to the boy’s pleading and promises to teach him to shoot.

The hunt in the manor forest

Kuba is cleaning his shotgun on his pallet in the stable, while Witek watches solemnly and keeps an eye on the window in case anyone approaches. The loud report has already made the boy wonder whether the squire or a woodsman was shooting. Kuba explains that he had packed the gun hard, so it boomed like a cannon; its recoil swelled his shoulder.

He says he went toward the manor and forest in the early evening, where deer came out to feed on the winter wheat. He waited in the dark until dawn. When a stag appeared only five paces away, Kuba judged it too large for him and let it pass. He then chose a hind from the animals that followed and fired. The shot brought her down, but she was still alive, with pellets in her side, and bleated. Afraid the woodsman might hear, Kuba finished her off.

Secrecy and the hidden kill

Witek wants to know whether the doe was left in the woods. Kuba refuses to say where, telling the boy it is none of his business and warning him not to speak. When Witek asks whether he might tell Józia Borynianka, Kuba points out that the whole village would soon know. He offers Witek ten groszy to buy something, making the payment part of his effort to secure silence.

The exchange shows that the danger of the hunt continues after the shot. Kuba has killed the animal, but the woodsman’s possible discovery and the risk of village gossip remain present in his account. His refusal to disclose where the doe lies keeps the central secret intact even as he tells Witek how the hunt happened.

Witek’s bargain and Kuba’s promise

Witek says he would not tell, but asks Kuba to take him along next time. When he begs for a chance to fire the gun himself, Kuba answers that gunpowder costs money. Witek offers the two zloty the master gave him at the fair, which he has been saving for the dead souls at the listing. The money gives his request a concrete cost: he is willing to put aside a religious offering for the chance to join Kuba’s shooting.

Kuba relents, agrees to teach him, and strokes the boy’s head. The gesture and promise change the episode from a confession guarded by threats and a small bribe into a private arrangement between them. The hunt remains illicit and its location concealed, but Witek is no longer merely listening from the stable; Kuba has agreed to bring him into the practice.

After the stable scene

Józia Borynianka calls them to breakfast, and soon afterward Kuba and Witek head for church. Kuba hobbles along quickly, while Witek, barefoot and without shoes, lags behind and worries quietly about whether he will be allowed into the sacristy. The sequence sets the secret shooting lesson beside the ordinary demands of household and church life: Kuba’s agreement does not erase the boy’s poverty or the religious purpose for which he had saved his money.