THE
MARVELLOUS ADVENTURES
AND RARE CONCEITS OF
MASTER OWLGLASS.
[Illustration: Folly Governeth the World]
THE
MARVELLOUS ADVENTURES
AND
RARE CONCEITS
OF
Master Tyll Owlglass.
_Newly collected, chronicled and set forth, in our English tongue_,
BY KENNETH R. H. MACKENZIE,
FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.
_And Adorned with many most Diverting and Cunning Devices_,
BY ALFRED CROWQUILL.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
TRÜBNER & CO. 60, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1860.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WERTHEIMER AND CO.
CIRCUS PLACE, FINSBURY CIRCUS.
AM GANZEN RHEINE AUF UND AB
DER MENSCHEN GEDÄCHTNISS IST SEIN GRAB.
WHERE’ER THE WAVE OF RHINE DOTH LAVE.
MAN’S MEMORY IS STILL HIS GRAVE.
_Fischart_, p. 179.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE.
“Wit, an’t be thy will, put me into good fooling! Those wits
that think they have thee do very oft prove fools; and I that
am sure I lack thee, may pass for a wise man: For what says
Quinapalus? Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.”
_Clown in “Twelfth Night,”_ Act I., Scene 5.
Among the folkbooks of the German nation, not one has obtained so
general a circulation as that now presented in an English form. It has
been deemed worthy, as by the Appendix may be perceived, of being
translated into French, Dutch, Danish, Polish, nay, even Hebrew, and
honoured by being reprinted on every kind of paper, good and bad. A
favourite among the young for its amusing and quaint adventures, and a
study among those who strive, by the diligent comparison of different
eras of national literature, to arrive at a due appreciation of national
character, Eulenspiegel, or Owlglass the boor (peasant), possesses a
peculiar value for the old. I well remember how, as a very little child,
I first made the friendship of the lithe though clumsy hero; and to the
present time do not feel that I can say I have lost my interest in the
humourous quips and quiddities of the strolling vagabond. I little
thought, when I then read the German book, that it would be my privilege
to introduce him to other readers in my own language.
The Gil Blas of German mediæval story, there is deep instruction in the
pungent jests and literal ways of the man who held up his mirror for
owls to look in, and each of whose tricks might form the groundwork of a
moral reflection. And for the early times in which it appeared, there
was not a little courage in the author of it. Strange to say, this
person appears to have been a Franciscan friar, Thomas Murner, who, in
other matters, made not a little stir in his own day. He visited this
country, and wrote a book in defence of our good King Hal the Bluff
against that famous monk, Luther; and he received some assistance in a
substantial gift from that monarch. An account of him will be found in
the Appendix; we have here only to deal with the significance of the
book itself.
Like the deep searching work of Rabelais, the book is a satire, not upon
human life only, but upon special and dangerous topics. Very early
editions contain the story of how Eulenspiegel procured an old skull
from a churchyard, and turned the passion for worshipping relics to
profitable account;[1] and the priests and would-be learned men of his
time continually appear in ludicrous, undignified, or humiliating
positions. Rank was not respected, nor was vice in high places passed by
with (so-called) discreet silence. Yet with all the graver objects in
the book, the immediate aim of amusement was never forgotten; and,
letting us into the secrets of peasant life in Germany at an era when
peasants had little to rejoice over, we almost imagine that we can hear
the shouts of laughter with which the blunt outspoken jokes of this sly
clown were received. But Mr. Hallam does justice to a higher
appreciation of this kind of literature among the better classes of the
time.
“They had a literary public, as we may call it,” says this distinguished
writer,[2] “not merely in their courts and universities, but in their
respectable middle class, the burghers of the free cities, and perhaps
in the artizans whom they employed. Their reading was almost always with
a serious end: but no people so successfully cultivated the art of moral
and satirical fable. These in many instances spread with great favour
through Cisalpine Europe. Among the works of this kind, in the fifteenth
century, two deserve mention; the Eulenspiegel, popular afterwards in
England by the name of Howleglass, and a superior and better known
production,[3] the _Narrenschiff_, or Ship of Fools, by Sebastian Brandt
of Strasburg.... It is a metrical satire on the follies of every class,
and may possibly have suggested to Erasmus his _Encomium Moriæ_. But the
idea was not absolutely new; the theatrical company established at Paris
under the name of _Enfans de Sans Souci_, as well as the ancient office
of jester or fool in our courts and castles, implied the same principle
of satirising mankind with ridicule so general, that every man should
feel more pleasure from the humiliation of his neighbours than pain from
his own.... The influence such books of simple fiction and plain moral
would possess over a people, may be judged by the delight they once gave
to children, before we had learnt to vitiate the healthy appetite of
ignorance by premature refinements and stimulating variety.”[4]
Yet with all the repute which the book must have had among the boors and
country louts of what people choose, with doubtful taste or insight, to
call the “dark ages,” Owlglass, if it had not contained within itself
great vitality, might have lain in the obscurity which surrounds many a
contemporary work. Of the three great philosophers then extant, I have
somewhere read a kind of parallel, that Rabelais in his work satirised
fantastically, and with peculiar reference to the more educated and
scholarly readers of his time. Erasmus, on the other part, struck at the
monks with vigorous hand in other fashion; while both Brandt and Murner
took a more popular form in their compositions: yet, while Brandt is now
scarce remembered, Eulenspiegel remains, a striking and applicable book,
setting forth, indeed, in a good light, the truth everywhere, that “the
letter killeth but the spirit giveth life.” In this may be found the
reason of its wonderful popularity in Germany—in this is the secret of
its constant reproduction in so many languages.
The fool in idle hour claims our attentive ear, charms, instructs,
enchains the mind, when the sonorous voice and weighty arguments of the
preacher would have no greater effect than the production of a yawn, or,
at most, a fugitive repentance. The fact of the subjection of the letter
to the spirit must be borne in mind throughout. Mighty times were those
when, by sturdy hands and wise pates, the world was ridding itself of
the rule of monks and literal interpreters of the universe and of the
duties of society. Yet Murner, as has been mentioned, fought against
Luther; nor, indeed, could Rabelais or Erasmus perceive, save somewhat
dimly, whither their words tended. Perhaps, in secret, they saw, in
fitful glimpses, the truth that history proceeds according to
progressive laws of development; and when the monks, who at one time had
done good service, were no longer useful to mankind, they decayed from
inherent fitlessness, and so vanished, overcome by the light of such
lamps as these.
A remarkable feature in the adventures of Owlglass must not be passed
over without notice, viz., the very few allusions anywhere made to the
occult sciences, or to similar subjects. In the story of the invisible
picture there is one slight reference to alchymy; and in that where he
is led forth to the gallows, the multitude regard Owlglass as a
magician, who will rescue himself by the aid of demons. But so real is
the character everywhere, that not even by the many editors has any tale
been introduced connecting the hero with such matters. Yet the absence
of such a colouring displays a greater skill and a deeper purpose in the
author; from the tendency of the age in which it was written, any
mention of occult science would have been excusable, nay, almost
natural. If we remember that the era of its publication was rife with
magicians, astrologers, and alchymists; that Cornelius Agrippa very
shortly afterwards found it necessary to protest against the abuse of
such subjects in his treatise “Of the Uncertainty and Vanity of the
Sciences and Arts,” that Trithemius was then Abbot of the Benedictine
Monastery of Spanheim: all these considerations would have caused no
surprise at the introduction of scenes of enchantment, or, at least, an
employment of them allusively or by implication. But no; true to its
mission of a folk-book, filled with the manners and customs of its time,
Owlglass is thoroughly worldly, and for us, therefore, possesses greater
interest and value.
It may be interesting for a moment to set side by side the jester
exhibited in the pages of Shakspere and the good Master Owlglass.
Historical Owlglass there certainly was at some time of the fourteenth
century, his tomb yet standing at Möllen, as will be seen; but the
pranks of many excellent jesters were all centred in the book telling of
Owlglass; so that he has been overlaid with jokes, not in his own power
to perform. Indeed, in the present edition, from a respect I have for
chronology, I have been obliged to extrude two or three which would have
involved anachronisms. However, they were somewhat dull, and therefore
need not be regretted.
The first English version of Owlglass (as to which see the Appendix, p.
220) having been published early in the sixteenth century, in a “little
dumpy quarto,” by Master William Copland, its fame might, without much
difficulty, have infiltrated the country parts of England; and, if we
regard the clowns of Shakspere, Touchstone, in “As You Like It,” for
example, it might appear that Shakspere had seen this Black Letter of
William Copland: yet, while the humour of Owlglass consists in his
stolid performance of the exact words commanded him, there is clearly a
quite other appreciation of wit in the English writer. It is, in fact,
the polished foil beside the homely cudgel—both effective weapons, but
one of them far more glittering, swift, and murderous. The cudgel may be
warded off by a less skilful hand, the glancing steel hath made a wound,
and been withdrawn in the very flash of its own rapidity. Dogberry and
Verges, Costard perhaps, nay, even Sir Toby Belch, have points of
character more resembling Owlglass than do the clowns of our great poet.
The Fool in King Lear, has some kin to him, but is infinitely wiser.
Indeed, we might perhaps rather class Bardolph, Pistol, and Nym,
humourists in their way, with Master Owlglass than the subtle wits
Shakspere brings upon the stage. Yet has Owlglass an existence beyond
and outside all question of contrast, all opinion of similarity.
Gervinus, in his comprehensive History of German Fiction[5] has well
defined Owlglass to be “the personified quip and crank” (_der
personificirte Schwank_). In fact, he is a Gothic Diogenes set in a
Teutonic frame, living, moving, and having his being in an atmosphere as
peculiarly distinct in its grotesque and massive proportions, as was the
earlier Hellenic age, in its union of elegance and power. No previous
time could have produced such an out-birth, and, with all our modern
tendencies towards humour, fostered by the constant study of our
quainter dramatists, another Owlglass would be a distortion, if not an
impossibility.
That, even in grave England, and with quaint Ben Jonson, Master Owlglass
was a favourite, we may see from two allusions which he makes to him;
one in the “Poetaster,” Act the Third, Scene the Fourth, where Tucca
exclaims: “What, do you laugh, Owlglass?” And again in the “Masque of
the Fortunate Isles,” produced in 1626, Ben Jonson introduces
Howleglass; and Johphiel says to Merefool:—
Or what do you think
Of Howleglass instead of him?
_Merefool._—No him
I have a mind to.
_Johphiel._—O, but Ulen-spiegle,
Were such a name—but you shall have your longing.
And later on, the remark is made:—
Whether you would present him with an Hermes
Or with an Howleglass?
_Skelton._—An Howleglass
To come to pass
On his father’s ass;
There never was,
By day, nor night,
A finer sight,
With feathers upright
In his horned cap,
And crooked shape,
Much like an ape,
With owl on fist.
And glass at his wrist.[6]
A most unjustifiable libel, by the way, is committed here, for Owlglass
was always a “proper” gentleman, having no crook-back or ape-like
appearance.[7]
One of the most thoughtful and philosophic writers of our day, Mr.
Carlyle, has a few noteworthy sentences regarding this strange book,
which we shall do well to transfer to these pages:—
“Lastly, in a third class, we find in full play that spirit of broad
drollery, of rough saturnine humour, which the Germans claim as a
special characteristic; among these, we must not omit to mention the
_Schiltbürger_ correspondent to our own _Wise Men of Gotham_; still less
the far-famed _Tyll Eulenspiegel_ (Tyll Owlglass), whose rogueries and
waggeries belong in the fullest sense to this era.
“This last is a true German work; for both the man, Tyll Eulenspiegel,
and the book which is his history, were produced there. Nevertheless,
Tyll’s fame has gone abroad into all lands; thus, the narrative of his
exploits has been published in innumerable editions, even with all
manner of learned glosses, and translated into Latin, English, French,
Dutch, Polish; nay, in several languages, as in his own, an
_Eulenspiegelerei_ and _Espiéglerie_, or dog’s trick, so named after
him, still by consent of lexicographers, keeps his memory alive. We may
say, that to few mortals has it been granted to earn such a place in
universal history as Tyll; for now, after five centuries, when Wallace’s
birth-place is unknown even to the Scots; and the admirable Crichton
still more rapidly is grown a shadow; and Edward Longshanks sleeps
unregarded save by a few antiquarian English, Tyll’s native village is
pointed out with pride to the traveller, and his tombstone, with a
sculptured pun on his name,—namely, an Owl and a Glass,—still stands, or
pretends to stand, at Möllen, near Lübeck, where, since 1350, his once
nimble bones have been at rest. Tyll, in the calling he had chosen,
naturally led a wandering life, as place after place became too hot for
him; by which means he saw into many things with his own eyes; having
been not only over all Westphalia and Saxony, but even in Poland, and as
far as Rome. That in his old days, like other great men, he became an
autobiographer, and in trustful winter evenings, not on paper, but on
air, and to the laughter-lovers of Möllen, composed this work himself,
is purely a hypothesis; certain only that it came forth originally in
the dialect of this region, namely, the _Platt-Deutsch_; and was
therefrom translated, probably about a century afterwards, into its
present High German, as Lessing conjectures, by one Thomas Murner, who,
on other grounds, is not unknown to antiquaries. For the rest, write it
who might, the book is here, ‘abounding,’ as a wise critic remarks, ‘in
inventive humour, in rough merriment, and broad drollery, not without a
keen rugged shrewdness of insight; which properties must have made it
irresistibly captivating to the popular sense; and with all its
fantastic extravagancies, and roguish crotchets, in many points
instructive.’”[8]
Mr. Carlyle then cites one adventure, that of the Easter Play, which has
not been included in the present version; for although it illustrates
well enough the interior of a parson’s household of the fourteenth
century, there is a smack of profanity about it which it is well to
avoid. And, indeed, it is due to the reader of this volume, to inform
him, that our present chronicle differs in one material point from all
former editions. While it has been my object everywhere to tell the
story of Owlglass in a quaint and simple manner, modern good taste
required a special duty at the chronicler’s hands: viz., that of
purification and modification, for it may readily be believed that a
book written _of_ the fourteenth century, _for_ the sixteenth century,
would abound with homely wit, not quite consonant with the ideas of the
nineteenth. Therefore several stories of a somewhat indelicate, and
generally pointless, character have been omitted, and their place
supplied with matter obtained by a collation of several editions in the
German, French, and Flemish languages.
And another aim which I have had in view has been, where good taste and
opportunity admitted, to apply, in a veiled manner, the axioms and quips
of our knight-errant of roguery, to subjects and follies not banished
from our own more polite age. The reader will thus be able to judge in
how far this modern Owlglass differs from its predecessors. In no
instance, however, have I permitted myself to lose sight of the object
in view, which was to give as good a picture of the original as might
be, and that in spirit rather than in letter. This spirit has been so
justly estimated by M. Robin, a clever and dashing French critic, whose
sad death may still be remembered by a few, that, at the risk of adding
too much to this preface, I subjoin an epitome of his remarks:—
“It is quite true,” says he, “that glory is nothing but vanity. I have
seen in the sepulchral silence of libraries, names quite unknown, on the
backs of gigantic volumes, the librarians could tell me nothing of
these, except that they were the authors of these books. I have seen, on
the pavement of ancient churches, pompous epitaphs, and heraldic arms,
and the nails of the peasant’s shoe tread them under foot. Be then in
life a man of learning, knowing every language, be a noble of Spain, a
Knight of the Golden Fleece, Viceroy of Mexico or Peru, say you have the
right of keeping your hat on in the presence of the King, yet it will
scarcely be known that you have lived, while a _vaurien_, a man who had
neither hearth nor home, a practical joker, a drunkard, having the devil
in his purse, living from hand to mouth, sleeping to-day in the streets,
and to-morrow in the bed of his host, whom he never pays, and
understanding too well the buffoonery of life ever to have thought of
glory; as soon as this man is dead, and ignobly buried, he enters at
once into immortality, bequeathing to the people a name which they will
never forget, and, to the Attic language of the moderns, a word of which
they stood much in need. Who can boast of having invented a word? Very
few of the greatest writers can arrogate to themselves this most rare
glory. But to leave one’s name to the most grave and self-sufficient
language in Europe, to force it to say _espiègle_, because one’s name
was Ulenspiegel; and to pass fifty years in practical joking and
laughter; to be able to call oneself the father of the great family of
Mystificators, surely this is no common fate, and doubtless the
contemplator of it will cry out: ‘Where doth Immortality dwell? Poor
author, it was well worth thy pains to wear out thy brain in writing
folios! Unfortunate hidalgo, it was well worth the trouble of being
puffed up with pride at a long name unpronounceable in a breath, that
this name should be forgotten, and that the name of a boorish jester
should be transmitted almost intact to the most distant posterity.”
The best test of the worth of a book, whether it be several centuries
old, or, as it were, a production of our own day, is the proportion of
times that it has been reproduced or imitated. Singularly enough, while,
in most continental languages, such translations and imitations have
been frequent, in two instances only has this celebrated folk-book
appeared in an English dress; first, as has been already stated, in
Black Letter, in 1528–1530, and again in a modified form in 1720. With a
description of these two editions I will not trouble the reader here, as
in the Appendix at the end an accurate account of them will be found;
and I will merely add, in this place, that of the Black Letter
translation only two copies are known to exist, both in the British
Museum; and that of the second, a copy of which is now in my own
possession, I have only been able to find one other, which is in the
Douce Collection in the Bodleian.
It was originally in contemplation to reprint the scarce Black Letter
edition; but, on a careful examination, I found this an impossibility,
as the contents, for reasons already hinted at, would have shocked good
taste; nor, in point of fact, would that edition have offered so great a
variety as in this volume has been presented; which may be understood
when it is explained, that of all kinds of stories, good and bad, the
Black Letter gives but forty-eight; while in the present chronicle there
are—such questionable adventures being omitted—no less than one hundred
and eleven. Although the idea of such reprint was thus abandoned, there
appeared no reason, however, why the old-fashioned form should not be
adopted in the telling of the tale. For this and any other faults which
the reader may detect I hold myself responsible; and I may mention, that
so careful have I been to imitate the style of the time in which it is
supposed to be written, that I have even followed the confusion between
the use of the “thee” and “thou” and “you” and “ye” common in early
books, especially at the transition era of the Stuarts.
The edition which I have adopted as a guide or clue-line, is the Low
German original of 1519 in the excellent and exhaustive work of Dr.
Lappenberg; and I need not here especially refer to any other, save that
of M. Octave Delepierre, long time a zealous antiquary, who argues for a
Flemish origin for our hero, an origin in which, giving every meed of
praise to that gentleman for the singular ingenuity and complete
localization which his book exhibits, I need scarcely say that I cannot
coincide. Nay, it may even be suspected that he himself is but in jest
with his argument.
I have also to draw the notice of the reader to the Appendices at the
end of this volume, which enter into the bibliographical and other
history of the book, and to mention that I am greatly indebted to the
Rev. Dr. Bandinel, the venerable Librarian of the Bodleian Library at
Oxford, and also to my friends, the Rev. Alfred Hackman, M.A., Precentor
of Christ Church, and the Rev. John S. Sidebotham, M.A., Chaplain of New
College, and Preacher at St. Martin’s, Carfax, Oxford, for much valuable
assistance in searching for Eulenspiegel literature amidst the treasures
contained in that valuable library.
This is all, I think, which need here be said touching the task I have
here completed; for the reader need not be asked to appreciate the
artistic skill of my friend and coadjutor, Mr. Alfred Crowquill. If the
reader does but experience in the perusal of this singular
book—practically the first English edition of it—one tithe of the
pleasure I have had in preparing it, all that was to be accomplished
will have been duly fulfilled.
KENNETH ROBERT HENDERSON MACKENZIE.
35, Bernard Street, Russell Square, W.C.
_October 3, 1859._
-----
Footnote 1:
See Adventure the 36th, p. 63.
Footnote 2:
Introduction to the Literature of Europe, vol. i. p. 235 (Library
ed.); vol. i. p. 240 (Cabinet ed.).
Footnote 3:
Matter of doubt to the present writer whether it be thus superior; in
any case, it would be scarcely so interesting to people now-a-days.
But see the Appendix.
Footnote 4:
Bouterwek, in his “History of German Poetry and Eloquence”
(_Geschichte der deutschen Poesie und Beredsamkeit_), vol. ix. p. 336,
confirms the observations of Hallam, and lends additional testimony to
the popularity of the Eulenspiegel. Adolf Rosen von Kreutzheim, in the
Preface to his poem, the _Esel-König_ (Ass-King), alludes to the
general dispersion of Eulenspiegel, Marcolphus, Katziporo, and other
works, and abuses them in set terms as shameful, mischievous, and
dangerous.
Footnote 5:
History of German Fiction, vol. ii. p. 298.
Footnote 6:
Jonson’s Works, p. 650.
Footnote 7:
An Howleglass is mentioned as being in the library of a Captain Cox.
On which, see the Appendix, p. 221.
Footnote 8:
Carlyle, Miscellaneous Essays, Edition 1857, Vol. II. pp. 287–288.
CONTENTS.
PREFACE.
PAGE
THE INTRODUCTION TOUCHING MASTER TYLL OWLGLASS 1
Adventures.
I.—How Tyll Owlglass was born, and was on one day three times
christened 2
II.—How that Owlglass when that he was a child did give a
marvellous answer to a man that asked the way 3
III.—How all the boors did cry out shame upon Owlglass for his
knavery; and how he rode upon a horse behind his father 5
IV.—How Owlglass did learn to dance upon a rope, and did fall
therefrom into the River Saale 6
V.—How Owlglass did move two hundred young people, that they did
give unto him their shoes, with the which he made rare sport upon
his rope 8
VI.—How that Owlglass his mother did move him that he should learn
a handicraft 9
VII.—How Owlglass did deceive a baker at Strasfurt, and gat bread
for his mother 10
VIII.—How Owlglass, with other children, was forced to eat fat
soup, and gat blows likewise 11
IX.—How Owlglass brought it about that the stingy farmer’s poultry
drew for baits 12
X.—How Owlglass was again moved of his mother to depart to a
foreign land, that he might learn a handicraft 13
XI.—How Owlglass crept into a bee-hive; how two thieves came by
night to steal honey; what honey they did steal; and how Owlglass
made it come to pass, that the thieves did fight one with the
other, and did leave the bee-hive standing 14
XII.—How Owlglass for little money did have a singing bird for his
dinner 16
XIII.—How Owlglass did eat the roasted chicken from off the spit 17
XIV.—How Owlglass did publish abroad that he would fly from off
the roof of the town-house at Magdeburg 19
XV.—How Owlglass did cure the sick folks in the hospital at
Nürnberg in one day, and what came thereafter 21
XVI.—How Owlglass bought bread according to the proverb, “To him
that hath bread is bread given” 23
XVII.—How Owlglass became a doctor, and did cure many folk 23
XVIII.—How that Owlglass became a drawer of teeth, and cured all
by a wondrous pill 25
XIX.—How that Owlglass did at Brunswick hire him to a baker, and
did there bake owls and monkeys 26
XX.—How Owlglass did again hire him unto a baker, and how he
bolted meal in the moon’s light 29
XXI.—Telleth of what manner of thinking was Owlglass, and how he
formed his life according unto principles of virtue and goodness 32
XXII.—How that Owlglass did hire him to the Count of Anhalt to
blow the horn on a tower; and when that enemies did approach, then
blew he not, and when that they came not, then blew he 33
XXIII.—How that Owlglass did have golden shoes struck unto his
horse’s feet 37
XXIV.—How that Owlglass did have a great contention before the
King of Poland with two other fools 38
XXV.—How that Owlglass did make confession to a priest, and took
from him a silver box 39
XXVI.—How that Owlglass was forbidden the dukedom of Lunenburg,
and how he did cut open his horse and stand therein 40
XXVII.—How that Owlglass did buy an inheritance in land from a
boor, and how he sate therein in a cart 42
XXVIII.—How that Owlglass painted the forbears of the Landgrave of
Hessen, and told him that an if he were ignobly born, he might not
behold his painting 43
XXIX.—How that Owlglass was for little money well entertained of
two innkeepers 49
XXX.—How that Owlglass did tell his master how he might ’scape
giving pork unto his neighbours 51
XXXI.—How that Owlglass conferred with the rector and masters of
the University of Prague in Bohemia, and how he did make answer
unto their questions, and therein came off most wisely 52
XXXII.—How that Owlglass did on a time mix him up in a marriage
strife, and did soon end it with great renown 54
XXXIII.—How that Owlglass did cause an ass to read certain words
out of a book at the great university of Erfurt 55
XXXIV.—How that Owlglass did kill a hog, and answered for his evil
doings unto the burghmaster 58
XXXV.—How that Owlglass at Nugenstädten, in the land of Thuringia,
did wash the women’s furs 61
XXXVI.—Telleth how that Owlglass journeyed about the land with a
saint’s head, and did beguile many therewith 63
XXXVII.—How that Owlglass did make the town-watch of Nürnberg to
fall into the water which is called the Pegnitz 65
XXXVIII.—How that Owlglass did at Bamberg eat for money 67
XXXIX.—How that Owlglass did make a wager with a Jew about a
horse, and did deceive him 68
XL.—How that Owlglass did have much money for an old hat 70
XLI.—How that Owlglass journeyed unto Rome to see the Pope, and
how his Holiness considered that Owlglass was a heretic 72
XLII.—How that Owlglass without money bought poultry at
Quedlingburg, and for security gave unto the farmer’s wife the
cock 75
XLIII.—How that Owlglass, with a knavish confession, did beguile
the priest of Riesenburg of his horse 76
XLIV.—How that Owlglass did hire him to a smith, and what he did
while with him 80
XLV.—How that Owlglass did cause all the tools, hammers, and tongs
of a smith to be as one mass of iron 83
XLVI.—How that Owlglass did speak a word of truth unto a smith,
his wife, man, and maid, each one before the house 85
XLVII.—How that Owlglass, at Frankfort-on-the-Main, did with guile
delude two Jews of rings 87
XLVIII.—How that Owlglass served a shoemaker, and how that he
inquired of him what shapes he should cut; and the master answered
him, and said: “Great and small, as the herdsman driveth forth to
field.” Therefore cut he oxen, cows, calves, sheep and pigs 88
XLIX.—How that Owlglass bought eggs and had them tightly packed 90
L.—How that Owlglass made a soup for a boor, and put therein
shoemaker’s oil; for that, in his nobility, he thought it good
enow for the boor 91
LI.—This chapter is a special chapter, telling how that a
bootmaker sought to beguile Owlglass by greasing his boots, and
how that Owlglass looked through the window, and brake it 93
LII.—Telleth how that Owlglass at Einbeck became a brewer’s man,
and did seethe a dog which was called Hops 95
LIII.—How that Owlglass hired him to a tailor, and sewed so
secretly that it was not seen of any one 97
LIV.—How that Owlglass caused three tailors to fall from their
board, and then would have persuaded the people that the wind had
blown them down 99
LV.—How that Owlglass assembled all the tailors throughout the
whole land of Saxony, by proclaiming that he would teach them a
mighty useful thing, that would get bread both for them and their
children 101
LVI.—How that Owlglass beat wool upon a saint’s day, and that very
high 103
LVII.—How that Owlglass was hired by a furrier, and did sleep
among the skins 105
LVIII.—How that Owlglass on a time at Berlin did make wolves 107
LIX.—How that Owlglass, being servant to a great lord, did fetch
for him wine and beer together in a most delectable manner 109
LX.—How that Owlglass for a tanner prepared leather with stools
and benches, at the good city of Brunswick on the Dam 111
LXI.—How that Owlglass was groom unto a noble lord, and what
knavery he wrought unto his lord’s horse Rosamond 112
LXII.—How that Owlglass beguiled the drawer at the town-house
cellar of Lübeck, and did for a can of wine give him a can of
water 114
LXIII.—How that Owlglass ’scaped hanging by his cunning, and would
have hanged himself for a crown, yet did not 116
LXIV.—How that Owlglass, at Helmstadt, caused a great pocket to be
made 119
LXV.—How that Owlglass, at Erfurt, beguiled a butcher 120
LXVI.—Telleth how that good Master Owlglass again beguiled the
butcher at Erfurt, by pleasing him with a most grateful jingle 122
LXVII.—Touching the faults of the which our noble Master Owlglass
had a few; for he was human, and in all human things is
imperfection 123
LXVIII.—How that Owlglass, at Dresden, became a carpenter, and for
his pains earned little thanks 125
LXIX.—How that Owlglass did hire himself unto the master of a
saw-mill 127
LXX.—How that Owlglass became a maker of spectacles, and perceived
that trade was very bad 129
LXXI.—How that Owlglass of a boor at the fair of Gerau took
leather 132
LXXII.—How that at Hildesheim Owlglass did hire himself unto a
merchant, to be his cook, and what tricks he played unto him 133
LXXIII.—How that at Greifswald good Master Owlglass came unto the
Rector of the University, and proclaimed himself to be a master in
all languages, save in one only, to wit, the Spanish tongue 140
LXXIV.—How that Owlglass did, at Wismar, become a horse-dealer,
and beguiled a merchant 143
LXXV.—How that Owlglass wrought a great knavery upon a pipemaker,
at Lüneburg 145
LXXVI.—How that an old woman mocked the good Master Owlglass when
that at Gerdau he lost his pocket 148
LXXVII.—How that Owlglass gained money by a horse 152
LXXVIII.—How that, at Oltzen, Owlglass did beguile a boor of a
piece of green cloth, and caused him to confess that it was blue 153
LXXIX.—How that Owlglass most strangely gat a potful of money 157
LXXX.—How that Owlglass ran great peril of his neck for receiving
the pot of money, yet gat fifteen shillings instead of a hanging 160
LXXXI.—How that Owlglass told many that he had lost his
money-girdle, and thereby came with good luck unto a warm fire 162
LXXXII.—How that Owlglass did at Bremen of the market-women buy
milk, and cause it to be poured altogether into one tun 163
LXXXIII.—How that Owlglass spake unto twelve blind men, and
persuaded them that he had unto them given twelve shillings, and
how that they spent the money and came evilly off thereafter 164
LXXXIV.—How that in a city of Saxony Owlglass sowed knaves 169
LXXXV.—How that in the good city of Hamburg, Owlglass hired him
unto a barber, and went through the casement unto his service 173
LXXXVI.—How that Owlglass did cause the host of the inn at
Eisleben to be beset with great terror, by showing unto him a
wolf, of the which he professed no fear 175
LXXXVII.—How that Owlglass paid his host with the ring of his
money 180
LXXXVIII.—How that Owlglass, at Lübeck, did escape from a house,
when that the watch would have taken him for his debts 181
LXXXIX.—How that Owlglass, at Stassfurt, of a dog took the skin,
the which he gave unto his hostess for her charges 182
XC.—How that our noble master gave assurance unto the same
hostess, that Owlglass lay upon the wheel 184
XCI.—How that Owlglass caused a Hollander from a plate to take an
apple, the which evilly ended for the eater 185
XCII.—How that Owlglass caused a woman to break in pieces the
whole of her wares, in the market-place at Bremen 187
XCIII.—How that Owlglass sold a horse, the which would not go over
trees 191
XCIV.—How that of a horse-dealer Owlglass bought a horse and only
paid half of the money therefor 192
XCV.—How that in the land of Brunswick Owlglass turned shepherd 193
XCVI.—How that without money Owlglass bought a pair of shoes 195
XCVII.—How that Owlglass sold unto the furriers, at Leipzig, a
live cat, the which was sewed into the skin of a hare; and how
rare sport came thereof 196
XCVIII.—How that Owlglass hired himself unto a boor 197
XCIX.—How that Owlglass gat him to the High School at Paris 199
C.—How Owlglass would fain have been an innkeeper at Rouen, but
was beguiled by a one-eyed man, and again, in turn, cozened him 199
CI.—How, in Berlin, Owlglass was an officer, and collected taxes
of the boors 201
CII.—How that in his latter days Owlglass became a pious monk, and
what came thereof 203
CIII.—How that when at Möllen Owlglass lay sick, his mother came
unto him 206
CIV.—How that when Owlglass was sick unto death, he made
confession of three things, the which it sorely troubled him he
had not done 207
CV.—Saith, how that to a greedy priest Owlglass confessed his
sins, and paid him handsomely for his pains 209
CVI.—How that Owlglass in three parts did divide all that belonged
unto him; and the one part gave he freely unto his friends, and
another thereof humbly to the town council of Möllen, and the
third part unto the priest there 211
CVII.—How that at Möllen Owlglass died, and the swine did cast
down the coffin when that the good priests sang the vigil 212
CVIII.—How that our for ever prized Master Owlglass was buried 213
CIX.—Telleth what stood upon his gravestone 214
CX.—How in after time our most excellent Owlglass was esteemed so
worthy that he was made a holy Saint; and on the day of All Fools
in April do the folk alway keep his memory, as also when they do a
foolish thing, the which maketh him continually esteemed of great
and small 215
CXI.—Reciteth a few grave reflections of this present chronicler 216
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX A.
Bibliographical Notes for the Literary History of Eulenspiegel 219
APPENDIX B.
The Historical Eulenspiegel and his Gravestone 240
APPENDIX C.
Of Dr. Thomas Murner, the Author of Eulenspiegel 244
APPENDIX D.
The Verses inserted by William Copland in the English black-letter
Howleglas of 1528 247
APPENDIX E.
The Bakâla Legend of the Valacqs analogous to Owlglass 249
APPENDIX F.
Works akin to the Eulenspiegel Literature 252
[Illustration]
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Cup and Ball (Frontispiece)
Vignette Owlglass (Title)
PAGE
Tyll Owlglass 1
Child Owlglass 4
Beehive borne, _coloured_ 15
Doctor Owlglass, _coloured_ 23
Hot Water Cure 24
Wisdom and Impudence 27
Watchman Owlglass 34
Painter Owlglass 46
Respected Reader 56
Furrier Owlglass 61
Poulterer Owlglass, _coloured_ 75
Blacksmith Owlglass 81
Brewer Owlglass, _coloured_ 96
Ware Wolf! 107
Nimble Owlglass 116
Provident Owlglass 121
Sawyer Owlglass 127
Optical Owlglass 129
Nothing like Leather! 132
A Pleasant Sight 137
Horse-dealer Owlglass 144
A Young Bride 151
A Genial Fellow 175
A Fat Friend 186
Unhorsed 191
Shepherd Owlglass 194
Owlglass selleth Puss, _coloured_ 196
Monk Owlglass 203
Dip not too deep! _coloured_ 208
The Device of the Owl and Glass 214
Put out the Light! 217
The Gravestone 240
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
MERRY ADVENTURES AND JESTS
OF
MASTER OWLGLASS.
The Introduction touching Master Tyll Owlglass.
With what joy and inward content do I not greet ye, my masters, bringing
with me for your sweet delectation and delightful comfort the history,
the which I have most diligently written, and out of many learned and
wise books gathered together, and which indeed telleth of the merry
jests, rare conceits, and subtile cony-catching of that renowned Master
Tyll Owlglass, who in the Brunswick land was born. And i’ faith, ye do
owe me not a little grace and thankfulness for that which I have now
finished,—but an if my pains had been a thousandfold greater than they
have been, I would not have spared myself. This is mine answer unto ye.
And my desire hath been, that ye shall most merrily sit ye round the
fire and laugh until that your sides shall ache, and your inner man be
shaken with the continual reverberation of your delighted spirit. For an
ill heart is such an one that doth never rejoice, but trembleth ever and
anon at the wonders with the which we be encompassed, so do ye now,
without any other speech from me, accept this little book, and therein
read, and ponder well the deeds of this noble master, who from low
estate and boorish condition rose to be the companion of princes and
dukes, and, by his infinitude of rare parts, remaineth well known and
beloved of all men in divers countries and lands all over the fair
domain of Christendom. And now do I bid ye farewell, and leave ye with a
companion less tedious than am I, and in the reading of his life will ye
not lose your labour, that know I well.
The First Adventure.
_How Tyll Owlglass was born and was in one day three times christened._
As verily all creatures must have a beginning of their lives, so that
they may come into this world to abide therein, so also must it be with
the famous Master Owlglass, who lived in Germany many years, and of whom
many notable adventures are told and noised about all over that country.
In the land of Brunswick, in the deep wood named Melme, lieth a village
named Kneitlingen, and there was born the pious child Owlglass. And the
name of his father was Nicolaus, commonly said Claus, Owlglass, and his
mother’s name was Anna Wertbeck. It fortuned, that when the child was
born that they made a great feast, and sent the child to be christened
in the village of Amptlen; hard by the castle of Amptlen, which was
after destroyed by the people of Magdeburg. And when the child was
baptised, he was called Tyll Owlglass. Truly, however, after that the
feast had come to an end, the godfathers and godmothers of the child
having eaten and drunken right lustily (for it was the custom of that
place most heartily to do these things), set forth on their way
homeward, and the sun being hot, they were tired and they minded not
their steps to be careful of them, and so it came to pass, that one of
them carrying the child caught her foot upon a stone and fell into a
ditch, so child and all were quickly covered with mud. But as weeds
cannot so easily come to harm, the child was not hurt, but only thus
christened in the mire.
When they got home, the child was washed clean in hot water. Thus was
Owlglass in one day three times christened, first in the church, then in
the mud of the ditch, and at last in warm water. So is it always shown
with great and famous persons, that, in their infancy, strange and most
wonderful things do foreshow their future greatness.
The Second Adventure.
_How that Owlglass when that he was a child did give a marvellous answer
to a man that asked the way._
[Illustration]
Upon a time went the father and mother of Owlglass forth, and left
Owlglass within the house. Then came a man riding by, and he rode his
horse half into the house in the doorway, and asked: “Is there nobody
within?” Then answered the child: “Yea, there is a man and a half, and
the head of a horse.” Then asked the man: “Where is thy father?” and the
child made answer and said: “My father is of ill making worse; and my
mother is gone for scathe or shame.” And the man said to the child: “How
understandest thou that?” And then the child said: “My father is making
of ill worse, for he plougheth the field and maketh great holes, that
men should fall therein when they ride. And my mother is gone to borrow
bread, and when she giveth it again and giveth less it is a shame, and
when she giveth it and giveth more it is scathe.” Then said the man:
“Which is the way to ride?” And the child answered and said: “There
where the geese go.” And then rode the man his way to the geese, and
when he came to the geese they flew into the water; then wist he not
whither to ride, but turned again to the child and said: “The geese be
flown into the water, and thus wot I not what to do nor whither to
ride.” Then answered the child: “Ye must ride where the geese go and not
where they swim.” Then departed the man and rode his way, and marvelled
of the answer of the child. Thus from the mouths of babes cometh forth
wisdom and ready conceit.
The Third Adventure.
_How all the boors did cry out shame upon Owlglass for his knavery; and
how he rode upon a horse behind his father._
Now when Owlglass had come to an age to run about, he began playing
divers tricks and knavish actions among the boys of his village; and he
fought and tumbled about upon the grass, that he looked more like a
monkey than a boy. But when it came to pass that he was four years old,
his malice waxed greater and greater, so that his father was ever being
disputed with by the neighbours, who cried out shame upon Owlglass, as
being so great a knave; and though it happened that his father did scold
him with many words, Owlglass did always excuse himself by knavish
answers. Thereat the father thought he would quickly learn the verity of
these sayings of the neighbours, and at a time when the boors were all
walking in the streets, he did set his son Owlglass behind him on his
horse. Then, also, he commanded Owlglass that he should be most quiet
and silent. What, then, did the pious and good child? He did silently
play tricks and mocked the people, whereon they did most loudly cry out
upon Owlglass: “Fie upon the little malicious knave!”
Now as Owlglass spake never a word in all this time, his father did not
know how it came to pass that the people did cry out so loudly; and
Owlglass complained to him, and said: “Hearest thou, father! Here sit I
silently behind thee upon thy horse and say no word, and yet the people
cry out against me for my knavery.” Then the father sayeth but little,
and taketh Owlglass and setteth him upon the horse in front of him. Then
did Owlglass open his mouth wide, and did stretch forth his tongue, in
mockery of the people. And the people did run forth, crying: “Out upon
the little knave!” Yet did not the father see the knavery, but said:
“Alas for thee, that thou shouldst have been born in an unhappy hour!”
So much did he love Owlglass, that he then departed out of the land of
Brunswick, and he did abide in the land of Magdeburg, hard by the river
Saale.
In a little time thereafter, so sorrowful was he, that he gave up the
ghost, and left his wife and child in great poverty. Thus it is that
great men are often persecuted and smitten with many blows in their own
land, nor do they find good comfort therein! Owlglass, although he knew
not any handicraft, did grow up and wax older in knavery; and when that
he was sixteen years old, did excel in tricks, quips, and quiddities.
The Fourth Adventure.
_How Owlglass did learn to dance upon a rope, and did fall therefrom
into the river Saale._
It hath been said of old time, by the wise and cunning: “When that the
cat is out of the house, then play the mice.” Thus fared it with
Owlglass after that his father was dead. His mother had become old and
full of years, and she could no longer have the mastery over Owlglass,
and he did learn many greatly knavish conceits. And his mother was
sorely troubled of Owlglass, and bore not with his knavery.
Now it fortuned, that the house where Owlglass and his mother did live,
lay hard by the river Saale, and Owlglass did go up into the garret of
the house, and there did learn to dance upon a rope, until that his
mother did find him going to and fro upon the rope, and did so belabour
him with a cudgel, that he fled through the window of the garret on to
the roof, where she could not follow him. And this often came to pass,
until he grew older, and she became weak and of no strength to have
power over him. Then thought he, it was time that he should in open day
render it manifest unto all, how great was his perfection in the art of
dancing upon the rope, and he did stretch the rope across the river
Saale, from one house even unto a house which lay over against them on
the other side. And when that the people beheld such unwonted sport,
they did run together, old and young, in a great crowd, and did marvel
much that Owlglass should go hither and thither in so sure a manner upon
the rope.
Happiness is, however, but for the few, and seldom doth evil fortune
fail to sow sorrowful seeds in the midst of joyous doings; and thus
fortuned it, that the mother of Owlglass did hear the shouting of the
people at the feats of Owlglass, and that she might reprove with heavy
punishment the knavery of her son, she hastened to the place where the
rope was tied, and cut it through with a knife secretly. Then did good
Master Owlglass plump into the water with much mockery and despite; and
all the people did laugh greatly thereat, and Owlglass was vexed, so
that he could speak no word; nor did he fear the bath and the peril of
drowning as much as the jests of the people, who ran after him, blessing
the bath with much outcry. Thus did Master Owlglass come evilly off in
his first undertaking.
The Fifth Adventure.
_How Owlglass did move two hundred young people, that they did give unto
him their shoes, with the which he made rare sport upon his rope._