Légende d'Ulenspiegel. English

by Charles de Coster

  Nele answered:

  "If you will allow me, sir, I am fain to become a piper in his ship."

  "Very well," said Tres-Long.

  And he gave her two florins for the wedding feast. And Lamme cried forjoy and laughed at the same time, and he gave her three other florins,saying: "We will eat them all. And I will pay. Let us to the sign ofthe Golden Comb. He is not dead, my friend. Long live the Beggarmen!"

  And the people shouted assent, and they repaired to the tavern ofthe Golden Comb, where a great feast was ordered, and from an upperwindow Lamme threw down pennies to the people in the street below.

  And Ulenspiegel said to Nele:

  "Sweetest and best beloved, here we are together once again! Noel! Forshe is here, flesh, heart, and soul of my sweet love. Oh, her softeyes and her red and lovely lips that can speak naught but words ofkindness! She has saved my life, my tender lover! And now it's you andonly you that shall play upon our ship the fife of deliverance! Doyou remember ... but no.... This is our hour of joy, and all for meis now this face, sweet as June flowers. I am in Paradise. But why,tell me.... You are crying!"

  "They have killed her," she said. And then Nele told him all the sadstory of the death of Katheline. And gazing one at the other theywept for love and for sorrow.

  But at the feast they ate and drank, and Lamme as he looked upon themgrieved within himself, saying:

  "Alas! my wife, where are you?"

  And the priest came and married Nele and Ulenspiegel.

  And the morning found them side by side in their bed of marriage.

  And Nele's head was resting on the shoulder of Ulenspiegel. And whenthe sun had awakened her he said:

  "Fresh face, soft heart, we two will be the avengers of the landof Flanders!"

  She kissed him on the mouth, saying:

  "Wild head, strong arms, God bless my fife and your sword."

  "I will make for you a soldier's habit," said Ulenspiegel.

  "Now? At once?"

  "At once," he told her. "But who was that man who said thatstrawberries were sweet in the early morning? Your lips are far,far sweeter."

  XXXIII

  By sea, by river, in fair weather and foul, through snows of winterand summer's heat, the ships of the Beggarmen sailed before thebreeze. Full-bellied was their canvas and white as the down ofswans--white swans of Liberty.

  But to the King of Blood came the news of their conquests, anddeath was already at work upon his vitals, and his body was full ofworms. And he dragged himself along the corridors of his palace atValladolid, and he never laughed--not even at daybreak, what timethe Sun rose to irradiate all the lands of his empire as with thevery smile of God.

  But Ulenspiegel, Lamme, and Nele sang out like birds, living fromday to day, having joy to hear of many a funeral pyre put out by thebrave Beggarmen. And Tyl sang five songs, all to the glory of theland of Flanders and to the despite of her enemies.

  And it came to pass that on a day, having taken the towns of Rammeken,Gertruydenberg, and Alckmaer, the Beggarmen returned to Flushing. Andthere in the harbour they beheld a little boat moored. And in theboat was a pretty-looking woman with golden-brown hair, brown eyes,fresh cheeks, rounded arms, and white hands. And all at once thewoman cried out:

  "Lamme! Lamme!" And then again: "Ah, but you must not approach me! Ihave taken a vow before God.... Yet I love you. Ah, my dear husband!"

  Nele said: "It is Calleken Huysbrechts--the fair Calleken!"

  "Even so," answered the woman. "But, alas! the hour of noon hasalready struck for my beauty." And she looked very sorrowful.

  But now Lamme jumped down from the ship into a little skiff, whichwas straightway brought alongside of the boat wherein was his wife.

  "What have you been doing?" he asked her. "What has been happeningto you? Why did you leave me? And why now do you make as though youwould have none of me?"

  Then Calleken told him, in a voice that oftentimes trembled with tears,how that she had entrusted the care of her soul to a monk, one BrotherCornelis Adriaensen, and how he had warned her against her husbandfor that he was a heretic and a consorter with heretics. How also byhis eloquence he had persuaded her that a life of celibacy was mostpleasing unto God and his saints, albeit he oftentimes profaned theholy confessional with many a penance that was most distressful toher modesty. "Nevertheless," she ended, "I swear before God that Iremained ever faithful to you, my husband, for I loved you."

  But Lamme gazed upon her sadly and reproachfully, so that Nele saidto him:

  "If Calleken has been faithful as she says, it behoves her now toleave you in very deed, as a punishment for your unkindness."

  "He knows not how I love him," said Calleken.

  "Is this the truth?" cried Lamme. And then seeing that it was so:"Then come, wife," he cried, "the winter is over!"

  Thereafter, having given and received from all the kiss of peace:"Come now," cried Lamme, "come, wife, with me. For now is the hourof lawful loves!"

  And together they sailed away in their little boat.

  Meanwhile the soldiers, the sailors, and the ship's boys thatstood around, all waved their caps in the air and shouted: "Adieu,brother! Adieu, Lamme! Adieu, brother--brother and friend!"

  And Nele removed with the tip of her sweet finger a tear that hadsettled in the corner of the eye of Ulenspiegel.

  "You are sad, my love?" she asked him.

  "He was good," Tyl said.

  Nele sighed.

  "Ah! This war--will it never end? Must we live for ever thus, in themidst of blood and tears?"

  "Let us seek the Seven," said Ulenspiegel. "The hour of deliveranceis at hand."

  XXXIV

  It was the season of harvest. The air was heavy, the wind warm. Theythat gathered the harvest were able now to reap at their ease, undera free sky and from a free soil, the corn they had sown.

  Frise, Drenthe, Overyssel, Gueldre, Utrecht, Noord Brabant, Noordand Zuid Holland; Walcheren, Noord and Zuid Beveland; Duiveland andSchouwen which together make up Zeeland; the sea-bordering lands to thenorth from Knokke to Helder; the isles of Texel, Vlieland, Ameland,and Schiermonik Oog--all were being delivered from the Spanish yoke,from the Eastern Scheldt to the Oost Ems. And Maurice, the son ofWilliam the Silent, was continuing the war.

  Ulenspiegel and Nele kept still their youthfulness, their strengthand their beauty, for the Love and the Spirit of Flanders never growold. And they lived happily at the Tower of Neere, waiting for thatday when, after so many cruel trials, they would be able to breathethe breath of liberty upon their native land of Belgium.

  Ulenspiegel had asked to be made governor and guardian of theTower. For he had, so he said, the eyes of an eagle and the ears ofa hare, and so he would be able to see at once if the Spaniard everdared to show himself again in the lands that had been delivered fromhis yoke. Then quickly would he sound the wacharm, the alarm-bell aswe call it in our tongue.

  To this request the magistrate consented, and in virtue of the goodservice he had rendered, Ulenspiegel was allowed a florin every day,two pints of beer, a ration of beans, cheese, biscuits, and threepounds of beef weekly.

  And so did Ulenspiegel and Nele live on the Tower together veryhappily, having joy to see in the distance the free isles of Zeeland,and near at hand the woods and castles and fortresses, and the armedships of the Beggarmen that guarded the coast.

  At night they would often mount to the top of the Tower, and therethey would sit together on the flat roof, talking of many a sternbattle and telling many a tale of love, past and to come. And fromtheir Tower they could see the ocean, which, when the weather was hot,furled and unfurled along the shore its shining waves, and threw themupon the island-coasts like wraiths of fire. And among the poldersthe will-o'-the-wisps would come a-dancing. And Nele was afraid ofthem, for she said they were the souls of the poor dead. And true itwas that all those places where they danced had once been fields ofbattle. And the will-o'-the-wisps would oftentimes spring forth fromthe polders, and run a
long the dikes, and then return again to thepolders, as though unwilling to leave the bodies whence they had come.

  One night Nele said to Ulenspiegel:

  "Behold how many spirits there are in Dreiveland, and how highthey fly! Over there by the Isle of Birds they seem to crowd thethickest. Will you come with me there one night, Tyl? We would takewith us the balm that can show us things invisible to mortal eyes."

  But Ulenspiegel answered:

  "If you mean the balm we took when we went to the great Sabbath ofSpring, I have no more faith or confidence in what we saw there thanin any idle dream."

  "It is wrong to deny the power of charms," said Nele. "Come,Ulenspiegel!"

  "Very well," he said.

  The next day Ulenspiegel arranged with the magistrate that one ofthe soldiers who had clear sight and a faithful heart should takehis place at the Tower for that one evening. And away he went withNele towards the Isle of Birds.

  They passed along by many a field and dike, till at last they saw thesea in front of them, and in it were set many little green islands withthe waves coursing in between. And all about the grassy hills, whichsoon began to lose themselves in the sand-dunes, a great quantity ofpeewits were flying high and low, and sea-gulls and sea-swallows. Someof these birds would crowd together on the surface of the sea, andstay there quite still, so that they looked like little white islets;and above them and about flew thousands of their fellows. The verysoil itself was full of their nests, and Ulenspiegel stooped downto pick up one of their eggs which was lying on the road. No soonerhad he done so than a sea-gull came flapping towards him, crying outthe while most dolefully. And in answer to this summons there flewup a hundred other sea-gulls, crying out as if in anguish, hoveringabout the head of Ulenspiegel and over the neighbouring nests. Butthey did not dare to approach him.

  "Ulenspiegel," said Nele, "these birds are asking you to have mercyon their eggs."

  Then she began to tremble, and said:

  "I am afraid. Behold, the sun is setting, the sky is pale, the starsare awakening, it is the hour of the spirits. And look at these ruddyexhalations which rise all about us and seem as it were to trail alongthe ground. Tyl, my beloved, what monster from hell may he be who thusin the mist begins to open his fiery mouth? And look over there towardsPhilipsland. It was there that the murderer king had all those poor mendone to death, not once but twice, and all for the sake of his cruelambition! And there this night the will-o'-the-wisps are dancing. Forthis is the night when the souls of poor men killed in battle leavetheir bodies all cold in purgatory, and come to warm themselves onceagain in the tepid air of earth. This is the hour when you may askanything you will of Christ, He who is Lord of all good wizards."

  "The ashes beat upon my heart," said Ulenspiegel. "Would that He wouldshow me those Seven whose ashes, they say, when thrown to the winds,would make Flanders happy again, and all the world!"

  "O man without faith," said Nele. "By the power of the balm it maybe you will see them."

  "Maybe," said Ulenspiegel, "if some spirit, forsooth, would come downto visit us from that cold star." And he pointed with his finger tothe star Sirius.

  No sooner had he made this gesture than a will-o'-the-wisp thathad been flying round them came and attached itself to his finger,and the more Ulenspiegel tried to shake it off the firmer the littlewisp held on. Nele tried to free Ulenspiegel, but now she also had alittle wisp firm on the tip of her finger, and neither would it let hergo. Ulenspiegel began to flick at the wisp with his free hand, saying:

  "Answer me now, are you the soul of a Beggarman or of a Spaniard? Ifyou are a Beggarman's you may go to Paradise, but if a Spaniard's,return to the hell whence you came."

  Nele said to him:

  "Do not abuse the souls of the dead, even though they be the soulsof murderers!"

  Then, making the little will-o'-the-wisp to dance at the end ofher finger:

  "Wisp," she said, "gentle wisp, come tell me what news do you bringfrom the land of souls? What rule do they live by down there? Do theyeat and drink, having no mouths? For you have none, my sweet! Orwait they, perhaps, till they come to blessed Paradise ere takingupon themselves a human form?"

  "Why waste time in talking to a peevish little flame that has no earsto hear with, no mouth wherewith to answer?" said Ulenspiegel.

  But paying no attention to him, Nele went on:

  "Wisp of mine, answer me now by dancing. For I am going to questionyou thrice. Once in the name of God, once in the name of Our Lady,and once in the name of the Elemental Spirits who are the messengersbetween God and men."

  And this she did, and three times did the elf dance in answer.

  Then Nele said to Ulenspiegel:

  "Take off your clothes, and I will do the same. See, here is thesilver box which holds the balm of vision."

  "Be it as you wish," answered Ulenspiegel.

  When they had undressed and anointed themselves with the balm ofvision, they lay down naked as they were beside one another onthe grass.

  The sea-gulls screamed; the thunder growled and rumbled, and in thedarkness the lightning flashed. Between two clouds the moon scarcelyshowed her crescent's golden horns; and the will-o'-the-wisps departedfrom Nele and Ulenspiegel to go off dancing with their comrades inthe fields.

  Suddenly a great giant hand took hold of Nele and her lover, and threwthem high in air as though they had been a child's playthings. Thenthe giant caught them again, rolled them one on the other and kneadedthem between his hands, and after that he threw them into a pool ofwater that lay between the hills, and last of all he dragged them outagain full of water and water-weeds. And the giant began to sing in avoice so loud that all the sea-gulls of the islands awakened in terror:

  With eyes that squint they would discern, These silly, wandering insect-mortals, The sacred symbols none may learn, Safe guarded now within our portals

  Read then, flea, the mystery high, Read then, louse, the secret vast, Which to earth and air and sky By seven nails is anchored fast!

  And now it was that Ulenspiegel and Nele discerned on the grass andin the air and in the sky, seven tablets of bronze all strangelyluminous. And they were held there by seven flaming nails. And onthe tablets was written:

  From the dung-heap flowers arise, Seven are wicked, but seven are good. Hid in coal the diamond lies, Bad teacher oft makes pupil wise; Seven are bad, but seven are good.

  And the giant walked on, followed by all the will-o'-the-wisps,who were whispering together like grasshoppers, and saying:

  Look at him well--the Master of All, Before him Caesar himself must fall. Pope of Popes, King of Kings, Fashioned of wood he is Lord of All Things.

  Suddenly the lines of the giant's face suffered a change. He seemedthinner, sadder and greater than ever. And in one hand he held asceptre, and in the other a sword. And his name was Pride.

  And throwing Nele and Ulenspiegel to the ground, he said:

  "I am God."

  Then by his side there appeared a ruddy-faced girl, and she was seatedon the back of a goat, and her bosom was bare, her gown half open,and she had a wanton eye; and her name was Luxury. After her therecame an old woman, a Jewess, who was busy all the time, scraping upthe egg-shells of the sea-gulls that lay about on the ground; and hername was Avarice. Then a monk appeared, most greedy and gluttonous,eating chitterlings he was, and cramming himself with sausages andchamping his jaws together without ceasing, like the sow whereonhe rode; and his name was Greed. Thereafter came Idleness, draggingone leg after the other; wan she was and bloated, and she had a dulleye. And Anger came chasing after Idleness with a sharp needle withwhich she pricked her so that she cried aloud, and Idleness grievedand lamented with many tears, and kept falling down on to her knees sotired she was. Last of all came Envy, a thin figure with a head likea viper and teeth like the teeth of a pike. And she kept biting allthe others with those cruel t
eeth of hers--Idleness because she hadtoo much leisure, Anger because she was too lively, Greed because hewas too well fed, Luxury because she was too ruddy, Avarice becauseof the treasure of shells she had amassed, Pride because of his robeof purple and his crown. And the wisps kept dancing all around, andthey spake with many voices like the voices of men, women, and girls,and in the plaintive voices of children, and they groaned, saying:

  "O Pride, father of Ambition, and you, O Anger, that are the sourceof cruelty, you slew us on many a battlefield, and caused our deathin many a prison and many a torture-chamber, that you might keepyour sceptres and your crowns! And you, O Envy, that have destroyedso many useful thoughts while yet in the germ, we are the souls ofthe inventors whom you have persecuted. Avarice, you it is that haveturned the blood of the poor into gold, and we are the souls of yourvictims. O Luxury, you are the friend and the sister of Murder; Nero,Messalina, Philip King of Spain--such are your children, and youbuy virtue and you bribe corruption, and we are the souls of yourdead. And you, O Idleness, and you, Greed, you befoul the world,but the world must be cleansed of you; we are the souls of those whohave perished at your hands."

  And a voice was heard saying:

  From the dung-heap flowers arise, Seven are wicked, but seven are good. Bad teacher oft makes pupil wise. Now longs the wandering louse comprise Both coal and cinder if he could!

  Then spake the wisps:

  "Fire. We are Fire--the avenger of all old tears and all old painswhich the people have suffered; the avenger of all the human gamethat has been hunted for pleasure by the Lords of this land; theavenger of all battles fought to no purpose, of all the blood thathas been spilt in prison, of all the men burned at the stake and thewomen and girls buried alive; the avenger of all the past of bloodand chains. The Fire--that is Us--we are the souls of the dead."