The Jungle

Marija Berczynskas rushes from the church where her cousin Ona was just married in the rear room of a saloon. The festivities have already begun as Ona and her new husband, Jurgis, shyly take their seats beside one another. Ona’s stepmother Elzbieta brings in platters of food, and the guests sit down to eat.

After the meal, the guests move the furniture aside, the musicians begin playing again, and everyone dances. The crowd eventually forms a circle around Ona in preparation for the acziavimas: a dance that lasts several hours, during which all the male guests take turns dancing with the bride before gifting a small amount of money to the newlyweds. The acziavimas is particularly important to Ona and Jurgis’s families because they spent so much on the wedding itself: “Bit by bit these poor people have given up everything else; but to this they cling with all the power of their souls—they cannot give up the veselija!” (13).

As the evening continues, it becomes clear that not all the guests are paying their dues. The family grows more and more anxious, and Jurgis reassures Ona that he will work even harder to pay off the expenses. The festivities become less enthusiastic and more drunken as the night wears on, and the party eventually breaks up around three a.