During his first sojourn in the capital he was sur-
rounded by the Russian Liberals and poets. There,
too, he and his fi-iend Malewski became exceedingly

intimate in the family of a Polish pianist, Marya

46



IMPRISONMENT AND RUSSIAN EXILE

Szymanowska. This lady threw open her doors to
all the exiled Philomathians, and the lonely youths
found in her rooms a second home. Adam and
Malewski were treated as the sons of the house, and
now and then would play a practical joke to amuse
the girls and their mother. Once Mickiewicz and
some of his friends got up an impromptu concert
for the ladies' benefit. Francis Malewski improvised
a triumphal march on the piano, while Mickiewicz,
whose musical attainments, although music was one
oi his greatest joys, never reached beyond the limits
of a low sort of hum, accompanied his friend on the
bass-viol, and some other young Poles made equally
merry over any instrument they could manage to hunt
up. One of the Szymanowska daughters — Celina —
who was then scarcely more than a lively child, Adam
loved to tease, acting the part of a half-humorous
mentor towards her. In future years this girl was
to become his wife, and Malewski, in his turn,
married Helena, the elder sister. The history of
Adam Mickiewicz is so tragic, so many and grievous
were the sorrows through which he passed, that it is
pleasant to catch a glimpse of him in these lighter
moments. It was life that saddened him, not his
own disposition. His natural temperament had been
a gay one.
