12 h 55 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 12 h 55 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A ruined castle divides two families, while love stirs at the manor and Napoleon’s army marches east.
Tadeusz Soplica returns from school to Soplicowo, a manor among Lithuania’s forests and farmland. His uncle, the Judge, welcomes guests and hopes for peace. But the Soplicas and Horeszkos still quarrel over a ruined castle, and the young man finds love and trouble close at hand.
In Pan Tadeusz, Adam Mickiewicz turns dinners, hunts and courtship into a portrait of a homeland remembered from exile. Set in 1811 and 1812, this verse epic follows private grudges as war draws near. Telimena, Zosia, the Count and the castle keeper Gerwazy bring different desires into a world shaped by honour and tradition.
What you’ll discover
- A home alive with detail Enter crowded dinners, gardens and farmland, where daily customs reveal a whole way of life.
- Love among old grudges Follow Tadeusz into a household where romance shares space with a stubborn family feud.
- The hunt and its quarrels Join a gathering meant to unite neighbours, where disputes over honour sharpen the divide.
- Humour beside pride Meet small nobles who farm their own plots, carrying swords, coats of arms and little money.
- The ache of homeland Discover how remembered fields and familiar rituals give shape to the poet’s longing for home.
Who will love it
Readers who love sweeping tales of country life, lively feuds, old customs and hunting scenes will feel at home here, as will anyone who enjoys poetry about landscape and the comic side of pride.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Home holds an unexpected mystery
- Small quarrels awaken an old feud
- The hunt reveals courage beneath appearances
- Polite peace breaks into open violence
- Private anger borrows a patriotic cause
- Pride threatens what love can mend
- Remembering a place sustains a nation
- Everyday rituals give the village meaning
- Shared life bears the cost of pride
Who’s who
- Thaddeus SoplicaA strong, honest young man home from school, eager to be a soldier, who falls for a girl he meets by chance.
- ZosiaTelimena's young ward, a lively girl who feeds the poultry and tends a little garden, and who wins everyone's heart.
- TelimenaAn elegant, fashionable lady from the capital who loves attention and plots to secure a good future for herself and Zosia.
- Judge SoplicaThaddeus's uncle and master of Soplicowo, a hospitable defender of old Polish customs who wants his nephew to marry and settle.
- The SeneschalHreczecha, an old hunter, storyteller and keeper of customs, who lives in the Judge's home and longs for the great days of Lithuanian hunting.
- GerwazyThe Warden of the Horeszkos, who guards the ruined castle, wields a huge sword called the penknife, and has sworn vengeance on the Soplicas.
- The CountA rich, dreamy young nobleman and amateur painter who wants the castle and dreams of heroic adventures.
- Father RobakA Bernardine monk with a soldier's bearing, who collects alms and quietly carries news of Napoleon across the border.
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Pan Tadeusz; or, The Last Foray in Lithuania in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Pan Tadeusz; or, The Last Foray in Lithuania
by Adam Mickiewicz · 1834
Two hounds, a hare and a castle frame comic hunting disputes as a family feud pushes Lithuanian gentry to a night raid.
Medium level5–10 hours to read16 languages
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“Lithuania, my country, you are like health; only those who have lost you learn how precious you are.”
In short
What if the fate of a whole district hung on the tail of a hound? In Pan Tadeusz, a quarrel over two greyhounds runs beside a feud over a ruined castle, two pairs of young lovers, and a rumor that Napoleon is marching east.
Pan Tadeusz; or, The Last Foray in Lithuania at a glance
- Reading time
- About 7 h 20 min5 h 50 min fast, 8 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 104,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1834by Adam Mickiewicz
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Thaddeus comes home and finds a mystery
The story opens with a young man stepping out of a carriage at a manor in Lithuania. He is Thaddeus Soplica, almost twenty, home after years of study in Wilno. The house is empty and the gate stands wide open.
The walls still hold portraits of Kosciuszko and Rejtan, and a tall clock plays an old mazurka when he pulls its string. The house is built on the memory of a country that no longer exists.
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Details
- First published
- 1834
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 8 h 20 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Mickiewicz, Adam. Pan Tadeusz; or, The Last Foray in Lithuania. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/pan-tadeusz-or-the-last-foray-in-lithuania.
Mickiewicz, A. (2026). Pan Tadeusz; or, the last foray in Lithuania. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pan-tadeusz-or-the-last-foray-in-lithuania (Original work published 1834)
Mickiewicz, Adam. Pan Tadeusz; or, The Last Foray in Lithuania. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pan-tadeusz-or-the-last-foray-in-lithuania.
@book{mickiewicz2026pan,
author = {Mickiewicz, Adam},
title = {Pan Tadeusz; or, The Last Foray in Lithuania},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pan-tadeusz-or-the-last-foray-in-lithuania},
note = {First published 1834}
}
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What is Pan Tadeusz about?
It follows the gentry of one Lithuanian village through a hunt, a feud over a castle, a council and a raid. A young man's love story runs through it, and so does the hope that Napoleon will free Poland.
Who is Father Robak in Pan Tadeusz?
Robak is a Bernardine monk who collects alms and moves quietly between villages. He brings news of Napoleon's army, shoots well, and tries to turn the gentry's anger toward the national cause. Much about him stays hidden.
What are Bobtail and Falcon?
They are two greyhounds owned by the Notary and the Assessor. Their quarrel over a hare runs through the poem as a comic double of the larger feud, and it is finally settled near the end.
The author
Adam Mickiewicz
1798–1855 · Polish Romantic poet
Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, and political activist. He was born near Nowogródek, then in the Russian Empire, and lived in Russia before settling in Paris in 1832. He wrote Pan Tadeusz, published in 1834, and the drama Dziady. He died in Constantinople.
“Lithuania, my country, you are like health; only those who have lost you learn how precious you are.”
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