Next morning, as I walked up and down in the court, seeing that I had many
times asked the constable in vain to lead me to my child (he would not
even tell me where she lay), and for very disquietude I had at last begun
to wander about there; about six o'clock there came a coach from Uzdom,
wherein sat his worship, Master Samuel Pieper, _consul dirigens_, _item_,
the _camerarius_ Gebhard Wenzel, and a _scriba_, whose name, indeed, I
heard, but have forgotten it again; and my daughter forgot it too, albeit
in other things she has an excellent memory, and, indeed, told me most of
what follows, for my old head well-nigh burst, so that I myself could
remember but little. I straightway went up to the coach, and begged that
the worshipful court would suffer me to be present at the trial, seeing
that my daughter was yet in her nonage, but which the Sheriff, who
meanwhile had stepped up to the coach from the terrace, whence he had seen
all, had denied me. But his worship Master Samuel Pieper, who was a little
round man, with a fat paunch, and a beard mingled with grey hanging down
to his middle, reached me his hand, and condoled with me like a Christian
in my trouble: I might come into court in God's name; and he wished with
all his heart that all whereof my daughter was filed might prove to be
foul lies. Nevertheless I had still to wait two hours before their
worships came down the winding stair again. At last towards nine o'clock
I heard the constable moving about the chairs and benches in the
judgment-chamber; and as I conceived that the time was now come, I went in
and sat myself down on a bench. No one, however, was yet there, save the
constable and his young daughter, who was wiping the table, and held a
rosebud between her lips. I was fain to beg her to give it me, so that I
might have it to smell to; and I believe that I should have been carried
dead out of the room that day if I had not had it. God is thus able to
preserve our lives even by means of a poor flower, if so he wills it!
At length their worships came in and sat round the table, whereupon _Dom.
Consul_ motioned the constable to fetch in my child. Meanwhile he asked
the Sheriff whether he had put _Rea_ in chains, and when he said No, he
gave him such a reprimand that it went through my very marrow. But the
Sheriff excused himself, saying that he had not done so from regard to her
quality, but had locked her up in so fast a dungeon that she could not
possibly escape therefrom. Whereupon _Dom. Consul_ answered that much is
possible to the devil, and that they would have to answer for it should
_Rea_ escape. This angered the Sheriff, and he replied that if the devil
could convey her through walls seven feet thick, and through three doors,
he could very easily break her chains too. Whereupon _Dom. Consul_ said
that hereafter he would look at the prison himself; and I think that the
Sheriff had been so kind only because he yet hoped (as, indeed, will
hereafter be shown) to talk over my daughter to let him have his will of
her.
And now the door opened, and my poor child came in with the constable, but
walking backwards, and without her shoes, the which she was forced to
leave without. The fellow had seized her by her long hair, and thus
dragged her up to the table, when first she was to turn round and look
upon her judges. He had a vast deal to say in the matter, and was in every
way a bold and impudent rogue, as will soon be shown. After _Dom. Consul_
had heaved a deep sigh, and gazed at her from head to foot, he first asked
her her name, and how old she was; _item_, if she knew why she was
summoned before them? On the last point she answered that the Sheriff had
already told her father the reason; that she wished not to wrong any one,
but thought that the Sheriff himself had brought upon her the repute of a
witch, in order to gain her to his wicked will. Hereupon she told all his
ways with her, from the very first, and how he would by all means have had
her for his housekeeper; and that when she would not (although he had many
times come himself to her father his house), one day, as he went out of
the door, he had muttered in his beard, "I will have her, despite of all!"
which their servant Claus Neels had heard, as he stood in the stable; and
he had also sought to gain his ends by means of an ungodly woman, one
Lizzie Kolken, who had formerly been in his service; that this woman,
belike, had contrived the spells which they laid to her charge: she
herself knew nothing of witchcraft; _item_, she related what the Sheriff
had done to her the evening before, when she had just come, and when he
for the first time spoke out plainly, thinking that she was then
altogether in his power: nay, more, that he had come to her that very
night again, in her dungeon, and had made her the same offers, saying that
he would set her free if she would let him have his will of her; and that
when she denied him, he had struggled with her, whereupon she had screamed
aloud, and had scratched him across the nose, as might yet be seen,
whereupon he had left her; wherefore she would not acknowledge the Sheriff
as her judge, and trusted in God to save her from the hand of her enemies,
as of old he had saved the chaste Susannah.--
When she now held her peace amid loud sobs, _Dom. Consul_ started up after
he had looked, as we all did, at the Sheriff's nose, and had in truth
espied the scar upon it, and cried out in amaze, "Speak, for God his sake,
speak, what is this that I hear of your lordship?" Whereupon the Sheriff,
without changing colour, answered that although, indeed, he was not called
upon to say anything to their worships, seeing that he was the head of the
court, and that _Rea_, as appeared from numberless _indicia_, was a wicked
witch, and therefore could not bear witness against him or any one else;
he, nevertheless, would speak, so as to give no cause of scandal to the
court; that all the charges brought against him by this person were foul
lies; it was, indeed, true, that he would have hired her for a
housekeeper, whereof he stood greatly in need, seeing that his old Dorothy
was already growing infirm; it was also true that he had yesterday
questioned her in private, hoping to get her to confess by fair means,
whereby her sentence would be softened, inasmuch as he had pity on her
great youth; but that he had not said one naughty word to her, nor had he
been to her in the night; and that it was his little lap-dog, called
Below, which had scratched him, while he played with it that very morning;
that his old Dorothy could bear witness to this, and that the cunning
witch had only made use of this wile to divide the court against itself,
thereby and with the devil's help, to gain her own advantage, inasmuch as
she was a most cunning creature, as the court would soon find out.
Hereupon I plucked up a heart, and declared that all my daughter had said
was true, and that the evening before I myself had heard, through the
door, how his lordship had made offers to her, and would have done
wantonness with her; _item_, that he had already sought to kiss her once
at Coserow; _item_, the troubles which his lordship had formerly brought
upon me in the matter of the first-fruits.
Howbeit the Sheriff presently talked me down, saying, that if I had
slandered him, an innocent man, in church, from the pulpit, as the whole
congregation could bear witness, I should doubtless find it easy to do as
much here, before the court; not to mention that a father could, in no
case, be a witness for his own child.
But _Dom. Consul_ seemed quite confounded, and was silent, and leaned his
head on the table, as in deep thought. Meanwhile the impudent constable
began to finger his beard from under his arm; and _Dom. Consul_ thinking
it was a fly, struck at him with his hand, without even looking up; but
when he felt the constable his hand, he jumped up and asked him what he
wanted? Whereupon the fellow answered, "Oh, only a louse was creeping
there, and I would have caught it."
At such impudence his worship was so exceeding wroth that he struck the
constable on the mouth, and ordered him, on pain of heavy punishment, to
leave the room.
Hereupon he turned to the Sheriff, and cried, angrily, "Why, in the name
of all the ten devils, is it thus your lordship keeps the constable in
order? and truly, in this whole matter, there is something which passes my
understanding." But the Sheriff answered, "Not so; should you not
understand it all when you think upon the eels?"
Hereat _Dom. Consul_ of a sudden turned ghastly pale, and began to
tremble, as it appeared to me, and called the Sheriff aside into another
chamber. I have never been able to learn what that about the eels could
mean.--
Meanwhile _Dominus Camerarius_ Gebhard Wenzel sat biting his pen, and
looking furiously--now at me, and now at my child, but said not a word;
neither did he answer _Scriba_, who often whispered somewhat into his ear,
save by a growl. At length both their worships came back into the chamber
together, and _Dom. Consul_, after he and the Sheriff had seated
themselves, began to reproach my poor child violently, saying that she had
sought to make a disturbance in the worshipful court; that his lordship
had shown him the very dog which had scratched his nose, and that,
moreover, the fact had been sworn to by the old housekeeper.
(Truly _she_ was not likely to betray him, for the old harlot had lived
with him for years, and she had a good big boy by him, as will be seen
hereafter.)
_Item_, he said that so many _indicia_ of her guilt had come to light,
that it was impossible to believe anything she might say; she was
therefore to give glory to God, and openly to confess everything, so as to
soften her punishment; whereby she might perchance, in pity for her youth,
escape with life, etc.
Hereupon he put his spectacles on his nose, and began to cross-question
her, during near four hours, from a paper which he held in his hand. These
were the main articles, as far as we both can remember:
_Quaestio_. Whether she could bewitch?
_Responsio_. No; she knew nothing of witchcraft.
_Q_. Whether she could charm?
_R_. Of that she knew as little.
_Q_. Whether she had ever been on the Blocksberg?
_R_. That was too far off for her; she knew few hills save the
Streckelberg, where she had been very often.
_Q_. What had she done there?
_R_. She had looked out over the sea, or gathered flowers; _item_, at
times carried home an apronful of dry brushwood.
_Q_. Whether she had ever called upon the devil there?
_R_. That had never come into her mind.
_Q_. Whether, then, the devil had appeared to her there, uncalled?
_R_. God defend her from such a thing.
_Q_. So she could not bewitch?
_R_. No.
_Q_. What, then, befell Kit Zuter his spotted cow, that it suddenly died
in her presence?
_R_. She did not know; and that was a strange question.
_Q_. Then it would be as strange a question, why Katie Berow her little
pig had died?
_R_. Assuredly; she wondered what they would lay to her charge.
_Q_. Then she had not bewitched them?
_R_. No; God forbid it.
_Q_. Why, then, if she were innocent, had she promised old Katie another
little pig, when her sow should litter?
_R_. She did that out of kind-heartedness. (And hereupon she began to weep
bitterly, and said she plainly saw that she had to thank old Lizzie Kolken
for all this, inasmuch as she had often threatened her when she would not
fulfil all her greedy desires, for she wanted everything that came in her
way; moreover, that Lizzie had gone all about the village when the cattle
were bewitched, persuading the people that if only a pure maid pulled a
few hairs out of the beasts' tails they would get better. That she pitied
them, and knowing herself to be a maid, went to help them; and indeed, at
first it cured them, but latterly not.)
_Q_. What cattle had she cured?
_R_. Zabel his red cow; _item_, Witthan her pig, and old Lizzie's own cow.
_Q_. Why could she afterwards cure them no more?
_R_. She did not know, but thought--albeit she had no wish to fyle any
one--that old Lizzie Kolken, who for many a long year had been in common
repute as a witch, had done it all, and bewitched the cows in her name and
then charmed them back again, as she pleased, only to bring her to
misfortune.
_Q_. Why, then, had old Lizzie bewitched her own cow, _item_, suffered her
own pig to die, if it was she that had made all the disturbance in the
village, and could really charm?
_R_. She did not know; but belike there was some one (and here she looked
at the Sheriff) who paid her double for it all.
_Q_. It was in vain that she sought to shift the guilt from off herself;
had she not bewitched old Paasch his crop, nay, even her own father's, and
caused it to be trodden down by the devil, _item_, conjured all the
caterpillars into her father's orchard?
_R_. The question was almost as monstrous as the deed would have been.
There sat her father, and his worship might ask him whether she ever had
shown herself an undutiful child to him. (Hereupon I would have risen to
speak, but _Dom. Consul_ suffered me not to open my mouth, but went on
with his examination; whereupon I remained silent and downcast.)
_Q_. Whether she did likewise deny that it was through her malice that the
woman Witthan had given birth to a devil's imp, which straight-way started
up and flew out at the window, so that when the midwife sought for it it
had disappeared?
_R_. Truly she did; and indeed she had all the days of her life done good
to the people instead of harm, for during the terrible famine she had
often taken the bread out of her own mouth to share it among the others,
especially the little children. To this the whole parish must needs bear
witness, if they were asked; whereas witches and warlocks always did evil
and no good to men, as our Lord Jesus taught (Matt. xii.), when the
Pharisees blasphemed him, saying that he cast out devils by Beelzebub the
prince of the devils; hence his worship might see whether she could in
truth be a witch.
_Q_. He would soon teach her to talk of blasphemies; he saw that her
tongue was well hung; but she must answer the questions he asked her, and
say nothing more. The question was not _what_ good she had done to the
poor, but _wherewithal_ she had done it; she must now show how she and her
father had of a sudden grown so rich that she could go pranking about in
silken raiment, whereas she used to be so very poor?
Hereupon she looked towards me, and said, "Father, shall I tell?"
Whereupon I answered, "Yes, my child, now thou must openly tell all, even
though we thereby become beggars." She accordingly told how, when our need
was sorest, she had found the amber, and how much we had gotten for it
from the Dutch merchants.
_Q_. What were the names of these merchants?
_R_. Dieterich von Pehnen and Jakob Kiekebusch; but, as we have heard from
a schipper, they since died of the plague at Stettin.
_Q_. Why had we said nothing of such a godsend?
_R_. Out of fear of our enemy the Sheriff, who, as it seemed, had
condemned us to die of hunger, inasmuch as he forbade the parishioners,
under pain of heavy displeasure, to supply us with anything, saying, that
he would send them a better parson.
Hereupon _Dom. Consul_ again looked the Sheriff sharply in the face, who
answered that it was true he had said this, seeing that the parson had
preached at him in the most scandalous manner from the pulpit; but that he
knew very well, at the time, that they were far enough from dying of
hunger.
_Q_. How came so much amber on the Streckelberg? She had best confess at
once that the devil had brought it to her.
_R_. She knew nothing about that. But there was a great vein of amber
there, as she could show to them all that very day; and she had broken out
the amber, and covered the hole well over with fir-twigs, so that none
should find it.
_Q_. When had she gone up the Streckelberg; by day or by night?
_R_. Hereupon she blushed, and for a moment held her peace; but presently
made answer, "Sometimes by day, and sometimes by night."
_Q_. Why did she hesitate? She had better make a full confession of all,
so that her punishment might be less heavy. Had she not there given over
old Seden to Satan, who had carried him off through the air, and left only
a part of his hair and brains sticking to the top of an oak?
_R_. She did not know whether that was his hair and brains at all, nor how
it came there. She went to the tree one morning because she heard a
woodpecker cry so dolefully. _Item_, old Paasch, who also had heard the
cries, came up with his axe in his hand.
_Q_. Whether the woodpecker was not the devil himself, who had carried off
old Seden?
_R_. She did not know: but he must have been dead some time, seeing that
the blood and brains which the lad fetched down out of the tree were quite
dried up.
_Q_. How and when, then, had he come by his death?
_R_. That Almighty God only knew. But Zuter his little girl had said, that
one day, while she gathered nettles for the cows under Seden his hedge,
she heard the goodman threaten his squint-eyed wife that he would tell the
parson that he now knew of a certainty that she had a familiar spirit;
whereupon the goodman had presently disappeared. But that this was a
child's tale, and she would fyle no one on the strength of it.
Hereupon _Dom. Consul_ again looked the Sheriff steadily in the face, and
said, "Old Lizzie Kolken must be brought before us this very day": whereto
the Sheriff made no answer; and he went on to ask,
_Q_. Whether, then, she still maintained that she knew nothing of the
devil?
_R_. She maintained it now, and would maintain it until her life's end.
_Q_. And nevertheless, as had been seen by witnesses, she had been
re-baptized by him in the sea in broad daylight.--Here again she blushed,
and for a moment was silent.
_Q_. Why did she blush again? She should for God his sake think on her
salvation, and confess the truth.
_R_. She had bathed herself in the sea, seeing that the day was very hot;
that was the whole truth.
_Q_. What chaste maiden would ever bathe in the sea? Thou liest; or wilt
thou even yet deny that thou didst bewitch old Paasch his little girl with
a white roll?
_R_. Alas! alas! she loved the child as though it were her own little
sister; not only had she taught her as well as all the other children
without reward, but during the heavy famine she had often taken the bit
from her own mouth to put it into the little child's. How, then, could she
have wished to do her such grievous harm?
_Q_. Wilt thou even yet deny?--Reverend Abraham, how stubborn is your
child! See here, is this no witches' salve, which the constable fetched
out of thy coffer last night? Is this no witches' salve, eh?
_R_. It was a salve for the skin, which would make it soft and white, as
the apothecary at Wolgast had told her, of whom she bought it.
_Q_. Hereupon he shook his head, and went on: How! wilt thou then lastly
deny that on this last Saturday the both July, at twelve o'clock at night,
thou didst on the Streckelberg call upon thy paramour the devil in
dreadful words, whereupon he appeared to thee in the shape of a great
hairy giant, and clipped thee and toyed with thee?
At these words she grew more pale than a corpse, and tottered so that she
was forced to hold by a chair: and I, wretched man, who would readily have
sworn away my life for her, when I saw and heard this, my senses forsook
me, so that I fell down from the bench, and _Dom. Consul_ had to call in
the constable to help me up.
When I had come to myself a little, and the impudent varlet saw our common
consternation, he cried out, grinning at the court the while, 'Is it all
out? is it all out? has she confessed?' Whereupon _Dom. Consul_ again
showed him the door with a sharp rebuke, as might have been expected; and
it is said that this knave played the pimp for the Sheriff, and indeed I
think he would not otherwise have been so bold.
_Summa_: I should well-nigh have perished in my distress, but for the
little rose, which by the help of God's mercy kept me up bravely; and now
the whole court rose and exhorted my poor fainting child, by the living
God, and as she would save her soul, to deny no longer, but in pity to
herself and her father to confess the truth.
[Illustration: The Apparition on the Streckelberg]
Hereupon she heaved a deep sigh, and grew as red as she had been pale
before, insomuch that even her hand upon the chair was like scarlet, and
she did not raise her eyes from the ground.
_R_. She would now then confess the simple truth, as she saw right well
that wicked people had stolen after and watched her at nights. That she
had been to seek for amber on the mountain, and that to drive away fear
she had, as she was wont to do at her work, recited the Latin _carmen_
which her father had made on the illustrious King Gustavus Adolphus: when
young Rüdiger of Nienkerken, who had ofttimes been at her father's house
and talked of love to her, came out of the coppice, and when she cried out
for fear, spoke to her in Latin, and clasped her in his arms. That he wore
a great wolf's-skin coat, so that folks should not know him if they met
him, and tell the lord his father that he had been on the mountain by
night.
At this her confession I fell into sheer despair, and cried in great
wrath, "O thou ungodly and undutiful child, after all, then, thou hast a
paramour! Did not I forbid thee to go up the mountain by night? What didst
thou want on the mountain by night?" and I began to moan and weep and
wring my hands, so that _Dom. Consul_ even had pity on me, and drew near
to comfort me. Meanwhile she herself came towards me, and began to defend
herself, saying, with many tears, that she had gone up the mountain by
night, against my commands, to get so much amber that she might secretly
buy for me, against my birthday, the _Opera Sancti Augustim_, which the
Cantor at Wolgast wanted to sell. That it was not her fault that the young
lord lay in wait for her one night; and that she would swear to me, by the
living God, that nought that was unseemly had happened between them there,
and that she was still a maid.
And herewith the first hearing was at end, for after _Dom. Consul_ had
whispered somewhat into the ear of the Sheriff, he called in the constable
again, and bade him keep good watch over _Rea_; _item_, not to leave her
at large in her dungeon any longer, but to put her in chains. These words
pierced my very heart, and I besought his worship to consider my sacred
office, and my ancient noble birth, and not to do me such dishonour as to
put my daughter in chains. That I would answer for her to the worshipful
court with my own head that she would not escape. Whereupon _Dom. Consul_,
after he had gone to look at the dungeon himself, granted me my request,
and commanded the constable to leave her as she had been hitherto.
_The Nineteenth Chapter_
HOW SATAN, BY THE PERMISSION OF THE MOST RIGHTEOUS GOD, SOUGHT ALTOGETHER
TO RUIN US, AND HOW WE LOST ALL HOPE
The same day, at about three in the afternoon, when I was gone to Conrad
Seep his alehouse to eat something, seeing that it was now nearly two days
since I had tasted aught save my tears, and he had placed before me some
bread and sausage, together with a mug of beer, the constable came into
the room and greeted me from the Sheriff, without, however, so much as
touching his cap, asking whether I would not dine with his lordship; that
his lordship had not remembered till now that I belike was still fasting,
seeing the trial had lasted so long. Hereupon I made answer to the
constable that I already had my dinner before me, as he saw himself, and
desired that his lordship would hold me excused. Hereat the fellow
wondered greatly, and answered; did I not see that his lordship wished me
well, albeit I had preached at him as though he were a Jew? I should think
on my daughter, and be somewhat more ready to do his lordship's will,
whereby peradventure all would yet end well. For his lordship was not such
a rough ass as _Dom. Consul_, and meant well by my child and me, as
beseemed a righteous magistrate.
After I had with some trouble rid myself of this impudent fox, I tried to
eat a bit, but nothing would go down save the beer. I therefore soon sat
and thought again whether I would not lodge with Conrad Seep, so as to be
always near my child; _item_, whether I should not hand over my poor
misguided flock to M. Vigelius, the pastor of Benz, for such time as the
Lord still should prove me. In about an hour I saw through the window how
that an empty coach drove to the castle, and the Sheriff and _Dom. Consul_
straightway stepped thereinto with my child; _item_, the constable climbed
up behind. Hereupon I left everything on the table and ran to the coach,
asking humbly whither they were about to take my poor child; and when I
heard they were going to the Streckelberg to look after the amber, I
begged them to take me also, and to suffer me to sit by my child, for who
could tell how much longer I might yet sit by her! This was granted to me,
and on the way the Sheriff ordered me to take up my abode in the castle
and to dine at his table as often as I pleased, and that he would,
moreover, send my child her meat from his own table. For that he had a
Christian heart, and well knew that we were to forgive our enemies. But I
refused his kindness with humble thanks, as my child did also, seeing we
were not yet so poor that we could not maintain ourselves. As we passed by
the watermill the ungodly varlet there again thrust his head out of a hole
and pulled wry faces at my child; but, dear reader, he got something to
remember it by; for the Sheriff beckoned to the constable to fetch the
fellow out, and after he had reproached him with the tricks he had twice
played my child, the constable had to take the coachman his new whip and
to give him fifty lashes, which, God knows, were not laid on with a
feather. He bellowed like a bull, which, however, no one heard for the
noise of the mill-wheels, and when at last he did as though he could not
stir, we left him lying on the ground and went on our way.
As we drove through Uekeritze a number of people flocked together, but
were quiet enough, save one fellow who, _salvâ veniâ_, mocked at us with
unseemly gestures in the midst of the road when he saw us coming. The
constable had to jump down again, but could not catch him, and the others
would not give him up, but pretended that they had only looked at our
coach and had not marked him. May be this was true! And I am therefore
inclined to think that it was Satan himself who did it to mock at us; for
mark, for God's sake, what happened to us on the Streckelberg! Alas!
through the delusions of the foul fiend, we could not find the spot where
we had dug for the amber. For when we came to where we thought it must be,
a huge hill of sand had been heaped up as by a whirlwind, and the
fir-twigs which my child had covered over it were gone. She was near
falling in a swound when she saw this, and wrung her hands and cried out
with her Saviour, "My God, my God! why hast thou forsaken me!"
Howbeit, the constable and the coachman were ordered to dig, but not one
bit of amber was to be found, even so big as a grain of corn, whereupon
_Dom. Consul_ shook his head and violently upbraided my child. And when I
answered that Satan himself, as it seemed, had filled up the hollow in
order to bring us altogether into his power, the constable was ordered to
fetch a long stake out of the coppice which we might thrust still deeper
into the sand. But no hard _objectum_ was anywhere to be felt,
notwithstanding the Sheriff, _Dom. Consul_, and myself in my anguish did
try everywhere with the stake.
Hereupon my child besought her judges to go with her to Coserow, where she
still had much amber in her coffer which she had found here, and that if
it were the gift of the devil it would all be changed, since it was well
known that all the presents the devil makes to witches straightway turn to
mud and ashes.
But, God be merciful to us, God be merciful to us! when we returned to
Coserow, amid the wonderment of all the village, and my daughter went to
her coffer, the things therein were all tossed about, and the amber gone.
Hereupon she shrieked so loud that it would have softened a stone, and
cried out: "The wicked constable hath done this! when he fetched the salve
out of my coffer, he stole the amber from me, unhappy maid." But the
constable, who stood by, would have torn her hair, and cried out, "Thou
witch, thou damned witch, is it not enough that thou hast belied my lord,
but thou must now belie me too?" But _Dom. Consul_ forbade him, so that he
did not dare lay hands upon her. _Item_, all the money was gone which she
had hoarded up from the amber she had privately sold, and which she
thought already came to about ten florins.
But the gown which she had worn at the arrival of the most illustrious
King Gustavus Adolphus, as well as the golden chain with his effigy which
he had given her, I had locked up, as though it were a relic, in the chest
in the vestry, among the altar and pulpit cloths, and there we found them
still; and when I excused myself therefore, saying that I had thought to
have saved them up for her there against her bridal day, she gazed with
fixed and glazed eyes into the box, and cried out, "Yes, against the day
when I shall be burnt; O Jesu, Jesu, Jesu!" Hereat _Dom. Consul_ shuddered
and said, "See how thou still dost smite thyself with thine own words! For
the sake of God and thy salvation, confess, for if thou knowest thyself to
be innocent, how, then, canst thou think that thou wilt be burnt?" But she
still looked him fixedly in the face, and cried aloud in Latin,
"_Innocentia, quid est innocentia? Ubi libido dominatur, innocentia leve
praesidium est_."
Hereupon _Dom. Consul_ again shuddered, so that his beard wagged, and
said, "What, dost thou indeed know Latin? Where didst thou learn the
Latin?" And when I answered this question as well as I was able for
sobbing, he shook his head and said, "I never in my life heard of a woman
that knew Latin." Upon this he knelt down before her coffer, and turned
over everything therein, drew it away from the wall, and when he found
nothing he bade us show him her bed, and did the same with that. This, at
length, vexed the Sheriff, who asked him whether they should not drive
back again, seeing that night was coming on. But he answered, "Nay, I must
first have the written paction which Satan has given her"; and he went on
with his search until it was almost dark. But they found nothing at all,
although _Dom. Consul_, together with the constable, passed over no hole
or corner, even in the kitchen and cellar. Hereupon he got up again into
the coach, muttering to himself, and bade my daughter sit so that she
should not look upon him.
And now we once more had the same _spectaculum_ with the accursed old
witch Lizzie Kolken, seeing that she again sat at her door as we drove by,
and began to sing at the top of her voice, "We praise thee, O Lord." But
she screeched like a stuck pig, so that _Dom. Consul_ was amazed thereat,
and when he had heard who she was, he asked the Sheriff whether he would
not that she should be seized by the constable and be tied behind the
coach to run after it, as we had no room for her elsewhere; for that he
had often been told that all old women who had red squinting eyes and
sharp voices were witches, not to mention the suspicious things which
_Rea_ had declared against her. But he answered that he could not do this,
seeing that old Lizzie was a woman in good repute and fearing God as _Dom.
Consul_ might learn for himself; but that, nevertheless, he had had her
summoned for the morrow, together with the other witnesses.
Yea, in truth, an excellently devout and worthy woman!--for scarcely were
we out of the village, when so fearful a storm of thunder, lightning,
wind, and hail burst over our heads, that the corn all around us was
beaten down as with a flail, and the horses before the coach were quite
maddened; however, it did not last long. But my poor child had to bear all
the blame again, inasmuch as _Dom. Consul_ thought that it was not old
Lizzie, which, nevertheless, was as clear as the sun at noonday! but my
poor daughter who brewed the storm;--for, beloved reader, what could it
have profited her, even if she had known the black art? This, however, did
not strike _Dom. Consul_, and Satan, by the permission of the
all-righteous God, was presently to use us still worse; for just as we got
to the Master's Dam, he came flying over us in the shape of a stork, and
dropped a frog so exactly over us that it fell into my daughter her lap:
she gave a shrill scream, but I whispered her to sit still, and that I
would secretly throw the frog away by one leg.
But the constable had seen it, and cried out, "Hey, sirs! hey, look at the
cursed witch! what has the devil just thrown into her lap?" Whereupon the
Sheriff and _Dom. Consul_ looked round and saw the frog, which crawled in
her lap, and the constable after he had blown upon it three times, took it
up and showed it to their lordships. Hereat _Dom. Consul_ began to spew,
and when he had done, he ordered the coachman to stop, got down from the
coach, and said we might drive home, that he felt qualmish, and would go
afoot and see if he got better. But first he privately whispered to the
constable, which, howbeit, we heard right well, that when he got home he
should lay my poor child in chains, but not so as to hurt her much; to
which neither she nor I could answer save by tears and sobs. But the
Sheriff had heard it too, and when his worship was out of sight he began
to stroke my child her cheeks from behind her back, telling her to be
easy, as he also had a word to say in the matter, and that the constable
should not lay her in chains. But that she must leave off being so hard to
him as she had been hitherto, and come and sit on the seat beside him,
that he might privately give her some good advice as to what was to be
done. To this she answered, with many tears, that she wished to sit only
by her father, as she knew not how much longer she might sit by him at
all; and she begged for nothing more save that his lordship would leave
her in peace. But this he would not do, but pinched her back and sides
with his knees; and as she bore with this, seeing that there was no help
for it, he waxed bolder, taking it for a good sign. Meanwhile _Dom.
Consul_ called out close behind us (for being frightened he ran just after
the coach), "Constable, constable, come here quick; here lies a hedgehog
in the midst of the road!" whereupon the constable jumped down from the
coach.
This made the Sheriff still bolder; and at last my child rose up and said,
"Father, let us also go afoot; I can no longer guard myself from him here
behind!" But he pulled her down again by her clothes, and cried out
angrily, "Wait, thou wicked witch, I will help thee to go afoot if thou
art so wilful; thou shalt be chained to the block this very night."
Whereupon she answered, "Do you do that which you cannot help doing; the
righteous God, it is to be hoped, will one day do unto you what He cannot
help doing."
Meanwhile we had reached the castle, and scarcely were we got out of the
coach, when _Dom. Consul_, who had run till he was all of a sweat, came up
together with the constable, and straightway gave over my child into his
charge, so that I had scarce time to bid her farewell. I was left standing
on the floor below, wringing my hands in the dark, and hearkened whither
they were leading her, inasmuch as I had not the heart to follow, when
_Dom. Consul_, who had stepped into a room with the Sheriff, looked out at
the door again, and called after the constable to bring _Rea_ once more
before them. And when he had done so, and I went into the room with them,
_Dom. Consul_ held a letter in his hand, and, after spitting thrice, he
began thus: "Wilt thou still deny, thou stubborn witch? Hear what the old
knight, Hans von Nienkerken, writes to the court!" Whereupon he read out
to us that his son was so disturbed by the tale the accursed witch had
told of him that he had fallen sick from that very hour, and that he, the
father, was not much better. That his son Rüdiger had indeed at times,
when he went that way, been to see Pastor Schweidler, whom he had first
known upon a journey; but that he swore that he wished he might turn black
if he had ever used any folly or jesting with the cursed devil's whore his
daughter; much less ever been with her by night on the Streckelberg, or
embraced her there.
At this dreadful news we both (I mean my child and I) fell down in a
swound together, seeing that we had rested our last hopes on the young
lord; and I know not what further happened. For when I came to myself, my
host, Conrad Seep, was standing over me, holding a funnel between my
teeth, through which he ladled some warm beer down my throat, and I never
felt more wretched in all my life; insomuch that Master Seep had to
undress me like a little child, and to help me into bed.
_The Twentieth Chapter_
OF THE MALICE OF THE GOVERNOR AND OF OLD LIZZIE:
_ITEM_, OF THE EXAMINATION OF WITNESSES
The next morning my hairs, which till _datum_ had been mingled with grey,
were white as snow, albeit the Lord otherwise blessed me wondrously. For
near daybreak a nightingale flew into the elder-bush beneath my window,
and sang so sweetly that straightway I thought it must be a good angel.
For after I had hearkened a while to it, I was all at once able again to
pray, which since last Sunday I could not do; and the spirit of our Lord
Jesus Christ began to speak within me, "Abba, Father"; and straightway I
was of good cheer, trusting that God would once more be gracious unto me
his wretched child; and when I had given him thanks for such great mercy,
I fell into a refreshing slumber, and slept so long that the blessed sun
stood high in the heavens when I awoke.
And seeing that my heart was still of good cheer, I sat up in my bed, and
sang with a loud voice, "Be not dismayed, thou little flock": whereupon
Master Seep came into the room, thinking I had called him. But he stood
reverently waiting till I had done; and after marvelling at my snow-white
hair, he told me it was already seven; _item_, that half my congregation,
among others my ploughman, Claus Neels, were already assembled in his
house to bear witness that day. When I heard this, I bade mine host
forthwith send Claus to the castle, to ask when the court would open, and
he brought word back that no one knew, seeing that _Dom. Consul_ was
already gone that morning to Mellenthin to see old Nienkerken, and was not
yet come back. This message gave me good courage, and I asked the fellow
whether he also had come to bear witness against my poor child? To which
he answered, "Nay, I know nought save good of her, and I would give the
fellows their due, only--"
These words surprised me, and I vehemently urged him to open his heart to
me. But he began to weep, and at last said that he knew nothing. Alas! he
knew but too much, and could then have saved my poor child if he had
willed. But from fear of the torture he held his peace, as he since owned;
and I will here relate what had befallen him that very morning.
He had set out betimes that morning, so as to be alone with his
sweetheart, who was to go along with him (she is Steffen of Zempin his
daughter, not farmer Steffen, but the lame gouty Steffen), and had got to
Pudgla about five, where he found no one in the ale-house save old Lizzie
Kolken, who straightway hobbled up to the castle; and when his sweetheart
was gone home again, time hung heavy on his hands, and he climbed over the
wall into the castle garden, where he threw himself on his face behind a
hedge to sleep. But before long the Sheriff came with old Lizzie, and
after they had looked all round and seen no one, they went into an arbour
close by him, and conversed as follows:--
_Ille_. Now that they were alone together, what did she want of him?
_Illa_. She came to get the money for the witchcraft she had contrived in
the village.
_Ille_. Of what use had all this witchcraft been to him? My child, so far
from being frightened, defied him more and more; and he doubted whether he
should ever have his will of her.
_Illa_. He should only have patience; when she was laid upon the rack she
would soon learn to be fond.
_Ille_. That might be, but till then she (Lizzie) should get no money.
_Illa_. What! Must she then do his cattle a mischief?
_Ille_. Yes, if she felt chilly, and wanted a burning fagot to warm her
_podex_, she had better. Moreover, he thought that she had bewitched him,
seeing that his desire for the parson's daughter was such as he had never
felt before.
_Illa_. (Laughing.) He had said the same thing some thirty years ago, when
he first came after her.
_Ille_. Ugh! thou old baggage, don't remind me of such things, but see to
it that you get three witnesses, as I told you before, or else methinks
they will rack your old joints for you after all.
_Illa_. She had the three witnesses ready, and would leave the rest to
him. But that if she were racked she would reveal all she knew.
_Ille_. She should hold her ugly tongue, and go to the devil.
_Illa_. So she would, but first she must have her money.
_Ille_. She should have no money till he had had his will of my daughter.
_Illa_. He might at least pay her for her little pig which she herself had
bewitched to death, in order that she might not get into evil repute.
_Ille_. She might choose one when his pigs were driven by, and say she had
paid for it. Hereupon, said my Claus, the pigs were driven by, and one ran
into the garden, the door being open, and as the swineherd followed it,
they parted; but the witch muttered to herself, "Now help, devil, help,
that I may--" but he heard no further.
The cowardly fellow, however, hid all this from me, as I have said above,
and only said, with tears, that he knew nothing. I believed him, and sat
down at the window to see when _Dom. Consul_ should return; and when I saw
him I rose and went to the castle, where the constable, who was already
there with my child, met me before the judgment-chamber. Alas! she looked
more joyful than I had seen her for a long time, and smiled at me with her
sweet little mouth: but when she saw my snow-white hair, she gave a cry,
which made _Dom. Consul_ throw open the door of the judgment-chamber, and
say, "Ha, ha! thou knowest well what news I have brought thee; come in,
thou stubborn devil's brat!" Whereupon we stepped into the chamber to him,
and he lift up his voice and spake to me, after he had sat down with the
Sheriff, who was by.
He said that yestereven, after he had caused me to be carried like one
dead to Master Seep his ale-house, and that my stubborn child had been
brought to life again, he had once more adjured her, to the utmost of his
power, no longer to lie before the face of the living God, but to confess
the truth; whereupon she had borne herself very unruly, and had wrung her
hands and wept and sobbed, and at last answered that the young _nobilis_
never could have said such things, but that his father must have written
them, who hated her, as she had plainly seen when the Swedish king was at
Coserow. That he, _Dom. Consul_, had indeed doubted the truth of this at
the time, but as a just judge had gone that morning right early with the
_scriba_ to Mellenthin, to question the young lord himself.
That I might now see myself what horrible malice was in my daughter. For
that the old knight had led him to his son's bedside, who still lay sick
from vexation, and that he had confirmed all his father had written, and
had cursed the scandalous she-devil (as he called my daughter) for seeking
to rob him of his knightly honour. "What sayest thou now?" he continued;
"wilt thou still deny thy great wickedness? See here the _protocollum_
which the young lord hath signed _manu propriâ_!" But the wretched maid
had meanwhile fallen on the ground again, and the constable had no sooner
seen this than he ran into the kitchen, and came back with a burning
brimstone match, which he was about to hold under her nose.
But I hindered him, and sprinkled her face with water, so that she opened
her eyes, and raised herself up by a table. She then stood a while,
without saying a word or regarding my sorrow. At last she smiled sadly,
and spake thus: That she clearly saw how true was that spoken by the Holy
Ghost, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man"; and that the
faithlessness of the young lord had surely broken her poor heart if the
all-merciful God had not graciously prevented him, and sent her a dream
that night, which she would tell, not hoping to persuade the judges, but
to raise up the white head of her poor father.
"After I had sat and watched all the night," quoth she, "towards morning I
heard a nightingale sing in the castle-garden so sweetly that my eyes
closed, and I slept. Then methought I was a lamb, grazing quietly in my
meadow at Coserow. Suddenly the Sheriff jumped over the hedge and turned
into a wolf, who seized me in his jaws, and ran with me towards the
Streckelberg, where he had his lair. I, poor little lamb, trembled and
bleated in vain, and saw death before my eyes, when he laid me down before
his lair, where lay the she-wolf and her young. But behold a hand, like
the hand of a man, straightway came out of the bushes and touched the
wolves, each one with one finger, and crushed them so that nought was left
of them save a grey powder. Hereupon the hand took me up, and carried me
back to my meadow."
Only think, beloved reader, how I felt when I heard all this, and about
the dear nightingale too, which no one can doubt to have been the servant
of God. I clasped my child with many tears, and told her what had happened
to me, and we both won such courage and confidence as we had never yet
felt, to the wonderment of _Dom. Consul_, as it seemed; but the Sheriff
turned as pale as a sheet when she stepped towards their worships and
said, "And now do with me as you will, the lamb fears not, for she is in
the hands of the Good Shepherd!" Meanwhile _Dom. Camerarius_ came in with
the _scriba_, but was terrified as he chanced to touch my daughter's apron
with the skirts of his coat; and stood and scraped at his coat as a woman
scrapes a fish. At last, after he had spat out thrice, he asked the court
whether it would not begin to examine witnesses, seeing that all the
people had been waiting some time both in the castle and at the ale-house.
Hereunto they agreed, and the constable was ordered to guard my child in
his room, until it should please the court to summon her. I therefore went
with her, but, we had to endure much from the impudent rogue, seeing he
was not ashamed to lay his arm round my child her shoulders and to ask for
a kiss _in meâ presentiâ_. But, before I could get out a word, she tore
herself from him, and said, "Ah, thou wicked knave, must I complain of
thee to the court; hast thou forgotten what thou hast already done to me?"
To which, he answered, laughing, "See, see! how coy"; and still sought to
persuade her to be more willing, and not to forget her own interest; for
that he meant as well by her as his master; she might believe it or not;
with many other scandalous words besides which I have forgot; for I took
my child upon my knees and laid my head on her neck, and we sat and wept.
_The Twenty-first Chapter_