# Pan Kharlamp — The Deluge character guide

> Pan Kharlamp in The Deluge by Henryk Sienkiewicz.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Kharlamp, poor Kharlamp

**First appearance:** 0007-i

## Snapshot

A colonel with a soldier's eye and a storyteller's tongue, forever embellishing the disasters he has just lived through.

## Who they are

Pan Kharlamp arrives from Sapyeha's camp to report a catastrophe, and cannot resist dressing it up—bucket-sized cannonballs, feasts, and all—until Charnyetski cuts him off. He is a witness whose honesty is real but whose vanity keeps inflating the tale, and the older officers tease him for it even as they press him for facts. He matters as the novel's channel for the war's grim news, delivered in a voice that is half report and half performance.

## In the story

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/xiii)

Brings news of Prince Radzivill's preparations and the arrest of Gosyevski and Yudytski.

### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/xv)

An old, worn-out soldier mentioned as one of the few Polish adherents who responded to Radzivill, but of limited influence.

### [XVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/xvi)

Mentioned as wounded during the fighting; his dragoons are involved in the mutiny.

### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/xxii)

Meets Kmita in the corridor, discusses the prince's health and the growing discontent among the nobles, and informs Kmita about the sword-bearer and Olenka's arrival.

### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/xxv)

Joins the farewell drinking, recounts his own past love and advice about forgetting, and mentions Volodyovski and Bogun.

### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/xxvi)

Briefly referenced in Kmita's thoughts about the road being a cure for cares.

### [XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/xxxiv)

Mentioned as leading dragoons in the prince's forces.

### [LVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/lvi)

The loyal officer who stayed with Radzivill until the end, surrenders his sabre and confesses his love for the prince.

### [LIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/lix)

Provides key information about Olenka's location in Taurogi and Boguslav's likely movements.

### [LXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/chapters/lxxvii)

Arrives exhausted with news from Sapyeha, recounts the failed siege and Sapyeha's feasting.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/characters/pan_kharlamp
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_deluge_se/characters