The Legend of Ulenspiegel, Volume 2 (of 2)

by Charles de Coster

  "No man now hears in the taverns The jolly clink of pots, Nor the clear voices of girls Singing in bands about the streets. And Brabant and Flanders, lands of mirth, Are become the lands of tears. Beat upon the drum of woe.

  "Land of our fathers, sufferer beloved, Stoop not your brow to the murderer's foot, Toilsome bees, rush in your swarms, Upon the hornets from Spain. Corpses of women and girls buried alive, Cry out to Christ: 'Vengeance!'

  "Wander in the fields by night, poor souls, Cry unto God! The arm quivers to strike, The sword is drawn, Duke; we will tear out thy entrails And flog thy face with them. Beat upon the drum. The sword is drawn. Beat upon the drum. Long live the Beggar!"

  And all the seamen and the soldiers of Ulenspiegel's ship and of theother ships sang likewise:

  "The sword is drawn, long live the Beggar!"

  And their voices growled like a thunder of deliverance.

  III

  The world was in January, the cruel month that freezes the calf inthe cow's belly. It had snowed, and frozen over and above. The ladswere taking with birdlime sparrows seeking some poor food on thehardened snow, and carried off this game into their cottages. Againstthe gray clear sky stood out motionless the skeletons of the trees,whose branches were covered with snowy cushions that covered alsothe cottages and the coping of walls on which were seen the printsof the paws of cats, which, like the boys, were hunting sparrowsover the snow. At a distance the meadows were hidden over by thismarvellous fleece, keeping the earth warm against the bitter cold ofwinter. The smoke of houses and cottages rose up black into the sky,and there was no noise heard of any kind.

  And Katheline and Nele were alone in their house; and Katheline,nodding her head, said:

  "Hans, my heart turns to thee. Thou must give back the seven hundredcarolus to Ulenspiegel, the son of Soetkin. If thou art poor, comenone the less that I may see thy shining face. Take away the fire,my head burns. Alas! where are thy snow-cold kisses? Where is thyicy body, Hans, my beloved?"

  And she kept at the window. Suddenly there passed, running at fullspeed, a voet-looper, a courier carrying bells at his belt, andcalling out:

  "Here cometh the bailiff, the high bailiff of Damme!"

  And he went thus as far as the Townhall, so as to assemble there theburgomasters and the sheriffs.

  Then in the thick silence Nele heard two clarions sound. All thepeople of Damme came to their doors, believing it was His Majestythe king who announced himself by such flourishes.

  And Katheline also went to the door with Nele. From afar they sawresplendent horsemen riding in a band, and before them, also onhorseback, a personage covered in an opperst-kleed of black velvetlaced with fine gold, and boots of yellow calfskin furred withmarten. And they recognized the high bailiff.

  Behind him there rode young lords, who, notwithstanding the ordinanceof his late Imperial Majesty, wore on their velvet accoutrementsembroideries, trimmings, bands, edgings, of gold, of silver, and ofsilk. And their opperst-kleederen, under their outer garments, wereedged with fur like those of the bailiff. They rode gaily along,shaking in the wind the long ostrich feathers that adorned theirbonnets, gold buttoned and gold laced.

  And they seemed to be all of them good friends and companions of thegrand bailiff, and notably a lord of sharp visage clad in green velvettrimmed with gold lace, and a cloak of black velvet like his bonnetadorned with long plumes. And he had a nose shaped like a vulture'sbeak, a thin mouth, red hair, a pale face, and haughty carriage.

  While the troop of these lords was passing in front of Katheline'shouse suddenly she darted to the bridle of the pale lord's horse,and beside herself with joy, she cried out:

  "Hans! my beloved, I knew it; thou art back. Thou art goodly thus invelvet and all in gold like a sun upon the snow! Dost thou bring methe seven hundred carolus? Shall I hear thee once more crying likethe sea-eagle?"

  The high bailiff stopped the troop of gentlemen, and the pale lordsaid:

  "What doth this beggar want with me?"

  But Katheline, still keeping hold of the horse by the bridle:

  "Do not go away again," said she, "I have wept so much for thee. Sweetnights, my beloved, kisses of snow--body of ice. The child is here!"

  And she pointed him to Nele who was looking at him in anger, for hehad raised his whip to Katheline: but Katheline, weeping:

  "Ah!" said she, "dost thou not remember at all? Have pity on thyhandmaiden. Take her with thee wherever thou wilt. Take away the fire,Hans; pity!"

  "Begone!" said he.

  And he drove his horse on so hard that Katheline, loosing the bridle,fell; and the horse stepped on her and gave her a bloody wound inthe forehead.

  The bailiff then said to the pale lord:

  "Messire, do you know this woman?"

  "I do not know her at all," said he, "doubtless it is some madcreature."

  But Nele, having raised Katheline from the ground:

  "If this woman is mad, I am not, Monseigneur, and I pray that Imay die here of this snow that I eat"--and she took up snow in herfingers--"if this man has not known my mother, if he did not borrowall her money, if he did not kill Claes's dog in order to take fromthe wall of the well at our house seven hundred carolus belonging tothe poor dead man."

  "Hans, my darling," wept Katheline, bleeding, and on her knees, "Hans,my beloved, give me the kiss of peace: see the blood flowing: my soulhas made the hole and would fain come forth: I shall die presently:leave me not." Then in a whisper: "Long ago thou didst slay thy comradefor jealousy, along by the dyke." And she stretched out her fingerin the direction of Dudzeele. "Thou didst love me well in those days."

  And she caught the gentleman's knee and embraced it, and she tookhis boot and kissed it.

  "What is this slain man?" asked the high bailiff.

  "I do not know, Monseigneur," said he. "We have nothing to do withthe talk of this beggarwoman; let us forward."

  The populace was assembling around them; the townsmen great and small,artisans and rustics, taking Katheline's part, cried out:

  "Justice, Monseigneur Bailiff, justice."

  And the bailiff said to Nele:

  "What is this slain man? Speak in accordance with God and the truth."

  Nele spoke and said, pointing to the pale gentleman:

  "This man came every Saturday to the keet to see my mother and to takeher money: he killed a friend of his, Hilbert by name, in the fieldof Servaes van der Vichte, not for love, as this innocent distractedwoman thinks, but to have for himself alone the seven hundred carolus."

  And Nele told of Katheline's loves and what she heard when she washidden by night behind the dyke that ran through the field of Servaesvan der Vichte.

  "Nele is bad," said Katheline; "she speaks hardly of Hans, her father."

  "I swear," said Nele, "that he used to cry like a sea-eagle to announcehis presence."

  "Thou liest," said the gentleman.

  "Oh, no!" said Nele, "and monseigneur the bailiff and all thesenoble lords here present see it well: thou art pale not for cold,but with fear. Whence comes it that thy face no longer shines:thou hast then lost thy magic compound wherewith thou wast wont torub it that it might appear bright, like the waves in summer whenit thunders? But sorcerer accursed, thou shalt be burned before thedoors of the Townhall. 'Tis thou that didst cause Soetkin's death,thou that didst reduce her orphan son to want; thou, a man of noblerank, doubtless, and who wast wont to come to us burgesses to bring mymother money once only and to take money from her all the other times."

  "Hans," said Katheline, "thou wilt bring me again to the Sabbath andwilt rub me again with ointment; do not listen to Nele, she is bad:thou seest the blood, the soul has made the hole and would come forth:I shall die soon and I shall go into limbo where it burneth not."

  "Hold thy tongue, mad witch, I know thee not," said the gentleman,"and know not what thou wouldst say."

  "And yet," said Nele, "it was thou that camest w
ith a companion andwouldst have given him to me for a husband: thou knowest that I wouldhave none of him; what did he do, thy friend Hilbert, what did he dowith his eyes after I had sunk my nails into them?"

  "Nele is bad," said Katheline, "do not believe her, Hans, my darling:she is angry against Hilbert who would have taken her by force, butHilbert cannot do it now; the worms have eaten him: and Hilbert wasugly. Hans, my darling, thou alone art goodly; Nele is bad."

  Upon this the bailiff said:

  "Women, go in peace."

  But Katheline would by no means leave the place where her friendwas. And they must needs bring her to her house by force.

  And all the people there assembled cried out:

  "Justice, Monseigneur, justice!"

  The constables of the commune having come up at the noise, the bailiffbade them remain, and he said to the lords and gentlemen:

  "Messeigneurs and Messires, notwithstanding all privileges protectingthe illustrious order of nobility in the country of Flanders I mustneeds, upon the accusations and especially upon that of witchcraft,laid against Messire Joos Damman, have his person apprehended untilhe be judged according to the laws and ordinances of the Empire. Giveme your sword, Messire Joos."

  "Monseigneur Bailiff," said Joos Damman, with the utmost hauteur andpride of nobility, "in apprehending my person you are transgressing thelaw of Flanders, for you are not yourself a judge. Now you are awarethat it is permitted to arrest without a warrant from a judge onlyfalse coiners, robbers on public roads and highways; fire-raisers,ravishers of women; gendarmes deserting their captain; enchantersmaking use of poison to poison water springs; monks or nuns thathave renounced their vows and banished men. And now, Messires andMesseigneurs, defend me!"

  Some would have obeyed, but the bailiff said to them:

  "Messeigneurs and Messires, as representing here our king, count,and overlord, to whom is reserved the decision of difficult cases,I command and order you, upon pain of being proclaimed rebels, toreturn your swords to their scabbards."

  The gentlemen having obeyed, and Messire Joos Damman still hesitating,the people cried out:

  "Justice, Monseigneur, justice; let him give up his sword."

  He did so then against his will, and dismounting from his horse,he was brought by two constables to the prison of the commune.

  All the same, he was not shut up in the cellars, but in a barredchamber, where he had, for payment, a good fire, a good bed, and goodfood, the half of which the gaoler took.

  IV

  On the next day the bailiff, the two clerks of the court, two aldermen,and a barber-surgeon went by Dudzeele to see if they might find inthe field of Servaes van der Vichte the body of a man along by thedyke running through the field.

  Nele had said to Katheline: "Hans, thy darling, asks for the severedhand of Hilbert: this evening he will cry like the sea-eagle; hewill come into the cottage, and will bring thee the seven hundredflorins carolus."

  Katheline had replied: "I will cut it off." And indeed, she took aknife and went forth accompanied by Nele and followed by the officersof justice.

  She walked swiftly and proudly beside Nele, whose pretty face thekeen air made all rosy and glowing.

  The officers of justice, old and coughing, followed her, frozen withcold; and they were all like black shadows on the white plain; andNele carried a spade.

  When they arrived in the field of Servaes van der Vichte and on thedyke, Katheline, walking up to the middle of it, said, pointing to themeadow on her right hand: "Hans, thou didst not know that I was hiddenthere, shivering at the noise of the swords. And Hilbert cried out:'This iron is cold.' Hilbert was ugly; Hans is goodly. Thou shalthave his hand; leave me alone."

  Then she went down on the left hand, knelt in the snow and criedthree times into the air to call the spirit.

  Nele then gave her the spade, upon which Katheline made the sign ofthe cross thrice; then she traced upon the ice the shape of a coffinand three crosses reversed, one on the side of the east, one on theside of the west, and one on the south; and she said: "Three, it isMars beside Saturn, and three is discovery under Venus, the brightstar." She traced after, about the coffin, a great circle, saying:"Begone, evil demon that guardest corpses." Then falling on her kneesin prayer: "Devil friend, Hilbert," said she, "Hans, my master andlord, bids me come here and cut off thy hand and bring it to him. Iowe him obedience: make not the earth-fire to leap out against me,because I disturb thy noble burying place: and forgive me in the nameof God and of the Saints."

  Then she broke the ice, following the outline of the coffin: she cameto the damp sword, then to the sandy soil, and monseigneur the bailiff,his officers, Nele, and Katheline beheld the body of a young man,chalk-white by reason of the soil. He was clad in a doublet of graycloth with a cloak of the same; his sword was laid by his side. Athis belt he had a chain purse, and a big poignard planted under hisheart; and there was blood upon the cloth of the doublet; and thatblood had flowed under his back. And the man was young.

  Katheline cut off his hand and put it in her pouch. And the bailifflet her do what she would, then bade her to strip the body of allits insignia and clothing. Katheline having asked if Hans had thuscommanded, the bailiff replied that he did nothing save by his orders;and Katheline then did what he wished.

  When the body was stripped, it was seen to be dry as wood, but notdecayed: and the bailiff and the officers of the commune departed,having covered it again with sand: and the constables carried thecloth.

  Passing the front of the prison of the commune, the bailiff said toKatheline that Hans was awaiting her there; she went in joyously.

  Nele wanted to prevent her, and Katheline always replied: "I wouldsee Hans, my lord."

  And Nele wept on the threshold, knowing that Katheline was arrestedas a witch for the conjurations and figures she had made upon the snow.

  And in Damme men said there could be no pardon for her.

  And Katheline was put in the western cellar of the prison.

  V

  The next day, the wind blowing from Brabant, the snow melted and themeadows were flooded.

  And the bell called borgstorm called the judges to the tribunal of theVierschare, under the penthouse, because of the dampness of the turf.

  And the populace surrounded the tribunal.

  Joos Damman, being interrogated, confessed that he had killed hisfriend Hilbert in single combat with the sword. When they said to him:"He was smitten with a poignard," Joos Damman replied: "I struck himon the ground because he died not quick enough. I confess this murderof my own will, being under the protection of the laws of Flanderswhich forbid the prosecution, after ten years, of a manslayer."

  The bailiff, addressing him:

  "Art thou not a sorcerer?" said he.

  "No," replied Damman.

  "Prove this," said the bailiff.

  "I will prove it at the proper time and place," said Joos Damman,"but it pleaseth me not to do so as now."

  The bailiff then questioned Katheline; she never listened to him,and gazing at Hans:

  "Thou art my green lord, lovely as the sun. Take away the fire,my darling!"

  Nele, then speaking for Katheline, said:

  "She can confess naught but what ye know already, Monseigneur andMessieurs; she is no witch, and only bereft of her wits."

  The bailiff then spoke and said:

  "A sorcerer is one that, by diabolical means wittingly employed,endeavours to attain somewhat. Now, these twain, man and woman,are sorcerers by intent and deed: he, in having given the ointmentfor the sabbath, and in having made his face bright like Lucifer inorder to obtain money and the satisfying of lewdness; she, in havingsubmitted herself to him, taking him for a devil, and for having givenherself up to his desires: the one being the worker of witchcraft,the other his manifest accomplice. There can therefore be no pity,and I must say this, for I perceive the aldermen and the populaceover-indulgent in the case of the woman. She has not, it is true,killed or robbed, nor bewitched e
ither beasts or mankind, nor healedany sick by remedies extraordinary, but only by known simples, asan honest and Christian physician; but she would have given up herdaughter to the devil, and if this maid had not in her youth resistedwith frank and valiant courage she would have yielded to Hilbert andwould have become a sorceress like the other. Accordingly, I put itto the members of this tribunal if they are not of the opinion toput both these two to the torture?"

  The aldermen made no answer, showing sufficiently that this was nottheir desire with regard to Katheline.

  The bailiff then said, continuing his discourse:

  "I am, like yourselves, touched with pity and compassion for her, butthis sorceress, bereft of her wits, so obedient to the devil, mightshe not, had her lewd co-defendant so bidden her, have been capable ofcutting off her daughter's head with a sickle, even as Catherine Daru,in the country of France, did to her two daughters at the invitationof the devil? Might she not, if her black husband had so bidden her,have put animals to death; turned the butter in the churn by throwingsugar in it; been present in the body at all the worship and homage tothe devil, dance, abominations, and copulations of sorcerers? Might shenot have eaten human flesh, killed children to make pasties of themand sell them, as did a pastry cook in Paris; cut off the thighs ofhanged men and carry them away to bite into them raw and thus commitinfamous robbery and sacrilege? And I ask of the tribunal that inorder to discover whether Katheline and Joos Damman have not committedother crimes than those already known and called into account, theybe both put to the torture. Joos Damman refusing to confess anythingfurther than the murder, and Katheline not having told everything,the laws of the empire enjoin upon us to proceed as I indicate."