“Pan Tadeusz” is a national epic polish poem written by Adam Mickiewicz. It is compulsory reading in Polish schools, so every Pole should know it. There are many references to nasal snuff. You can read whole english version of “Pan Tadeusz” here. To find those parts about snuff just ctrl+f and type “snuff”. Snuff part from the movie (Pan Tadeusz has been screened): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ2j9vRgQ7w And the translation: “Ah! this tobacco has made great men sneeze! Will you believe me that four times General Dombrowski has taken a pinch from this snuffbox?” “Dombrowski!” they shouted. “Yes, yes, he, the general. I was in the camp when he was recapturing Dantzic from the Germans. He had something to write; and, fearing that he might go to sleep, he took a pinch, sneezed, and twice patted me on the back. ‘Father Robak,’ he said, ‘Father Bernardine, perhaps we shall see each other in Lithuania before the year is over. Tell the Lithuanians to receive me with Czenstochowa tobacco; I take none but that.’ ”
That’s very interesting… often snuff is mentioned only in passing, but here in Pan Tadeusz it’s central. The text is remarkably full of references to snuff-boxes and snuff tobacco, and snuff-taking is often the focus of the drama. For example: "Thaddeus, upon whom this thunderstorm had unexpectedly descended, arose in confusion, and for some moments said nothing, but looked upon his rival more and more terribly and sternly; at that moment by great good luck the Chamberlain sneezed twice. “Vivat!” cried everybody; he bowed to the company, and slowly tapped his snuffbox with his fingers. The snuffbox was of gold, set with diamonds, and in the middle of it was a portrait of King Stanislaw. The king himself had given it to the father of the Chamberlain; after his father the Chamberlain bore it worthily; whenever he tapped upon it, it was a sign that he wished to have the floor for a speech. All became silent, no one dared open his lips…" – Pan Tadeusz, p 25-6. In this section, the Monk’s snuff-box leads into a discussion of the origins of the tobacco within: “Leaning on the table, Robak was discoursing in a low voice; a throng of gentry surrounded him and pricked up their ears, and bent down their noses to the Monk’s snuffbox. Each took a pinch, and the gentlemen sneezed like mortars. “Reverendissime,” said Skoluba with a sneeze, “that is fine tobacco, it goes way up to your topknot. Never since I have worn a nose”— here he stroked his long nose —“have I met its like”— here he sneezed a second time. “It is real Bernardine, doubtless made in Kowno, a city famous throughout the world for tobacco and mead. I was there in ——” “To the health of you all, my noble gentlemen!” Robak interrupted him. “As for the tobacco — hm — it comes from farther off than my friend Skoluba thinks; it comes from Jasna Gora, the Bright Mountain; the Paulist Brethren prepare such tobacco in the city of Czestochowa, where stands the image, famed for so many miracles, of Our Lady the Virgin, Queen of the Crown of Poland: she is likewise still called Duchess of Lithuania!” " – Pan Tadeusz or The Foray into Lithuania, p98-99 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28240/28240-h/28240-h.html
This was fascinating. James Joyce also makes a clear reference to “High Toast” nasal snuff in his book “Dubliners”. He writes about an old priest who uses toasts.
“Mr Tadeusz” always bring the good memories. It’s one of my favorite book and the one that brough me into snuff. I was sixteen when I first read that - one year later I tried my first snuff. @Viertel, you should also see the movie from 1928.
@Filek, I know that movie. If anyone would like to see the same scene, but made seventy years earlier- http://youtu.be/Tya3ayutaxM Starts at 51:03