母親去世之后，父親非常悲痛，但他并沒有因此而消沉，而是全身心地投入到了自己的工作當中，投入到對自己孩子們的教育上來，從而使自己沒有多少空閑再去傷心難過。母親過世多年后，我們仍然感到很不習慣，總是覺得家中少了靈魂和主宰。

我們兄弟姐妹很早就開始學習了。我在6歲的時候就入了學，在班里年齡最小、個子最矮。每當有人聽課或是參觀時，老師總是把坐在第一排的我叫上講臺朗讀課文。我性格內向，一叫我上臺就會嚇得不行，恨不能跑出教室躲起來。我的父親是一位優秀的教師，十分關心我們的學習，并懂得如何對我們進行指導，但是由于家里的經濟條件不是很好，一開始我們上的是私立學校，后來就不得不轉到公立學校了。

Warsaw was then under Russian domination，and one of the worst aspects of this control was the oppression exerted on the school and the child.The private schools directed by Poles were closely watched by the police and overburdened with the necessity of teaching the Russian language even to children so young that they could scarcely speak their native Polish.Nevertheless，since the teachers were nearly all of Polish nationality，they endeavored in every possible way to mitigate the difficulties resulting from the national persecution.These schools，however，could not legally give diplomas，which were obtainable only in those of the government.

The latter，entirely Russian，were directly opposed to the Polish national spirit.All instruction was given in Russian，by Russian professors，who，being hostile to the Polish nation，treated their pupils as enemies.Men of moral and intellectual distinction could scarcely agree to teach in schools where an alien attitude was forced upon them.So what the pupils were taught was of questionable value，and the moral atmosphere was altogether unbearable.Constantly held in suspicion and spied upon，the children knew that a single conversation in Polish，or an imprudent word，might seriously harm，not only themselves，but also their families.Amidst these hostilities，they lost all the joy of life，and precocious feelings of distrust and indignation weighed upon their childhood.On the other side，this abnormal situation resulted in exciting the patriotic feeling of Polish youths to the highest degree.

華沙當時正處在俄國的統治之下，而他們的統治中最殘酷的一面就是對學校和學生進行嚴格的控制與迫害，波蘭人經營的私立學校都被警方監視，并且全部使用俄語教學。這樣學生們在很小的時候就開始學習俄語，以至于對自己的母語波蘭語反而說不利索了。幸虧這些學校的老師全是波蘭人，他們不想受此迫害，想盡一切辦法讓學生們多掌握一些波蘭語。這些私立學校都不被準許授予正式文憑，僅有公立學校才有這個權力。

俄國人領導著所有的公立學校，他們一味地對波蘭人的民族意識覺醒進行壓制。學校里所有的課程全由俄國人用俄語講授。由于仇視波蘭民族，那些俄國教師對待學生就好像對待敵人似的。品德高尚、知識淵博的老師都不愿意到這種學校去教書，因為他們忍受不了這種敵視。處于這種校園環境中，孩子們學習的知識是否有用是很讓人懷疑的。尤其嚴重的是，這樣的環境對孩子們道德品質的影響是著實令人擔憂的。在這種監視之下，孩子們不小心說了一句波蘭話，或是用詞稍不留神，就要受到嚴厲的處罰，不但自己倒霉，還會殃及家人。在這種嚴酷的環境里，孩子們天真爛漫的本性喪失殆盡，也無法感受到生命的樂趣。但是，另一方面，這種恐怖的氛圍也將青少年內心極大的愛國熱情激發起來了。

Yet of this period of my early youth，darkened though it was by mourning and the sorrow of oppression，I still keep more than one pleasant remembrance.In our quiet but occupied life，reunions of relatives and friends of our family brought some joy.My father was very interested in literature and well acquainted with Polish and foreign poetry；he even composed poetry himself and was able to translate it from foreign languages into Polish in a very successful way.His little poems on family events were our delight.On Saturday evenings he used to recite or read to us the masterpieces of Polish prose and poetry.These evenings were for us a great pleasure and a source of renewed patriotic feelings.

Since my childhood I have had a strong taste for poetry，and I willingly learned by heart long passages from our great poets，the favorite ones being Mickiewecz，Krasinski and Slowacki.This taste was even more developed when I became acquainted with foreign literatures；my early studies included the knowledge of French，German，and Russian，and I soon became familiar with the fine works written in these languages.Later I felt the need of knowing English and succeeded in acquiring the knowledge of that language and its literature.

My musical studies have been very scarce.My mother was a musician and had a beautiful voice.She wanted us to have musical training.After her death，having no more encouragement from her，I soon abandoned this effort，which I often regretted afterwards.

在異族蹂躪和喪母之痛的雙重影響下，我少年時期的日子過得郁郁寡歡、了無生趣。不過，仍舊有著一些愉快的事情，保留在我的記憶當中。親朋好友的歡聚令人興奮愉快，使我們原本郁悶的生活出現了慰藉與希望。除此之外，我父親特別喜歡文學，對于波蘭和外國詩人們的詩歌都能夠熟記，并且自己也能作詩賦詞，他還經常將外國的優秀詩篇翻譯成波蘭文。他以家庭瑣事為題材所寫的短詩常使我們贊嘆不已、佩服至極。每個周末的夜晚，我們都圍在他旁邊，聽他為我們朗誦波蘭的著名詩歌和散文。這樣的夜晚其樂融融，并且在不知不覺中使我們的愛國主義情愫日益增強。

我從少年時起就對詩歌十分喜愛，并且能夠將波蘭著名詩人們的大段詩篇背誦下來，在這些詩人中，我最欣賞的就是密茨凱維奇、克拉西茨基和斯沃瓦茨基。當我日后開始學習外國文學時，這種愛好就更加明顯了。我很早就開始學習法語、德語和俄語，并且能夠對這些語言的外文書籍進行閱讀。后來，我覺得英語很有用，便又開始學習英語，不久就可以閱讀英文書籍了。

對于音樂，我研究的很少。我母親是個音樂家，具有很美的嗓音，她希望我們都能跟她學點音樂，但我卻因為對音樂不怎么感興趣而沒能開竅。自從她去世之后，沒有了她的鼓勵與督促，我曾經跟她學到的那僅有的一點音樂知識，也都荒廢了。每當我想到這些的時候，總是免不了要后悔。

I learned easily mathematics and physics，as far as these sciences were taken in consideration in the school.I found in this ready help from my father，who loved science and had to teach it himself.He enjoyed any explanation he could give us about Nature and her ways.Unhappily，he had no laboratory and could not perform experiments.

The periods of vacations were particularly comforting，when，escaping the strict watch of the police in the city，we took refuge with relatives or friends in the country.There we found the free life of the old-fashioned family estate；races in the woods and joyous participation in work in the far-stretching，level grain-fields.At other times we passed the border of our Russian-ruled division and went southwards into the mountain country of Galicia，where the Austrian political control was less oppressive than that which we suffered.There we could speak Polish in all freedom and sing patriotic songs without going to prison.