title: The Third Woman
author: Sienkiewicz, Henryk
description: From the TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
   OF all the short stones written by Henryk Sienkiewicz, excepting, perhaps, his "Yankee Musician," "The Third Woman" has justly been considered the most brilliant piece of character drawing. In it Sienkiewicz brings to light the life of Polish men and women who have regained' for Poland, conquered and enslaved, her old-time fame and recognition. What her generals and soldiers have achieved in the days of old, Paderewski, Mitzkewich, Moniusko, Modjeska, and scores of painters, composers and journalists, known the wide world over, are crowning modern Poland, conquered, but not hopeless, with universal fame.
   "The Third Woman," while written in a much lighter vein than most of his sketches, has among its lines sound judgment and decided views on art in general, and Polish especially, which betray in the author a profound knowledge of that phase of Polish life, as well as the undying love for all that is Polish.
   In my translation, while following the original as closely as possible, I have retained the conventional form of speech without using the unnecessary and literary idiomatic figures of speech, which have a life and charm of their own in Polish, but can scarcely be transplanted into English.
   -Nathan M. Babad.