While the cart went lumbering along on the top of the dike, with the
pond on one side and the canal on the other, Ulenspiegel sat brooding
on the past and cherishing in his bosom the ashes of Claes. He pondered
deeply upon that vision he had seen, and asked himself if indeed it
were true or false, and if those spirits of Nature had been making mock
of him, or if perchance they had been revealing to him under a figure
those things that must be done if the land of his fathers were to be
restored. In vain did he turn the matter over and over in his mind,
for he could not discover what was meant by those words, the "Seven"
and the "Cincture." He called to mind the late Emperor Charles V,
the present King, the Governess of the Netherlands, the Pope of Rome,
the Grand Inquisitor, and last of all, the General of the Jesuits--six
great persecutors of his country whom most willingly would he have
burned alive had he been able. But he was forced to conclude that
none of these was the personage indicated, for that they were all too
obviously worthy of being burnt, and would be in another place. And
he could only go on repeating to himself those words of the Lord of
the Spring:
When the North
Shall kiss the West,
Then shall be the end of ruin.
Love the Seven,
And the Cincture.
"Alas!" he cried, "in death, in blood, in tears, find the Seven, burn
the Seven, love the Seven! What does it all mean? My poor brain reels,
for who, pray, would ever want to burn that which he loved?"
The cart by this time had progressed a good way along the road, when
all at once a sound was heard of some one stepping along the sand,
and of a voice singing:
Oh, have ye seen him, ye that pass,
The lover I have lost, alas!
Feckless he wandereth, knowing no tie--
Have ye seen him pass by?
As tender lamb the eagle seizeth,
So on my poor heart he feedeth.
Beardless his chin, though to manhood nigh--
Have ye seen him pass by?
If ye find him, ye may tell
Weary with following faints his Nele.
O Tyl, my beloved, hear me, I cry!
Have ye seen him pass by?
Languisheth ever the faithful dove,
Seeking, seeking her fickle love.
So, far more so, languish I--
Have ye seen him pass by?
Ulenspiegel gave Lamme a blow on his great belly, and told him to
hold his breath.
"That," said Lamme, "is a very difficult thing, I fear, for a man of
my corpulence."
But Ulenspiegel, paying no further attention to his companion, hid
himself behind the canvas hood of the cart, and began to sing in the
voice of a man with a bad cold that has drunk well:
In a shaky old cart with age all green,
Your feckless sweetheart I have seen;
And a glutton rides with him, like pig in sty--
I have seen him pass by.
"Tyl," said Lamme, "you have a wry tongue in your cheek this morning!"
But Tyl put his head out of a hole in the hood:
"Nele, don't you know me?" he said.
And Nele, for it was none other than she herself, was filled with fear,
crying and laughing all at the same time, and her cheeks were wet as
she answered him:
"I see you, and I know you, you wretch, you traitor!"
"Nele," said Ulenspiegel, "if you want to give me a beating, you will
find a stick in the cart here. It is heavy enough in all conscience,
and knotted so that it will leave its mark right enough."
"Tyl," said Nele, "are you seeking the Seven?"
"Even so," Tyl told her.
Now Nele carried with her a bag, or satchel, that was so full it
seemed likely to burst. This satchel she offered to Tyl, saying:
"I thought it was unwholesome, Tyl, that a man should go on a journey
without a good fat goose, and a ham, and some Ghent sausages. So take
them, and when you eat of them think of me."
While Ulenspiegel stood gazing at Nele, quite oblivious of the satchel
which she was holding out to him, Lamme poked out his head from
another hole in the hood, and began to address the girl in his turn.
"O girl most wise," he said, "O girl most prudent, if he refuses
such a gift it must be from pure absence of mind. But you had much
better give into my own keeping that goose of yours, that ham, and
those fine sausages. I will take care of them, I promise you!"
"And who," asked Nele of her lover, "who may this red-face be?"
"A victim of the married state," Tyl told her, "that is wasting away
with sorrow, and would soon, in fact, shrink away to nothing, like
an overbaked apple, were it not that he recuperated his strength from
time to time and all the time by taking nourishment."
"Alas, my son," sighed Lamme, "what you say is only too true."
Now it was very hot, and Nele had covered her head with her apron
because of the sun. Ulenspiegel looked upon her, and conceived a
sudden desire to be alone with her. He turned to Lamme, and pointed
to a woman that was walking some way off in a field.
"Do you see that woman?" he said.
"I see her," said Lamme.
"Do you recognize her?"
"Heavens!" cried Lamme, "can it be my wife? In truth she is dressed
like no common country wench!"
"Can you still be doubtful, you old mole?"
"But supposing it were not her after all?" said Lamme.
"You would be none the worse off," Ulenspiegel told him, "for over
there to the left, towards the north, I know a tavern that sells most
excellent bruinbier. We will join you there, and here meanwhile is
some salt ham that will provide an excellent relish to your thirst."
So Lamme got down from the cart, and made off as fast as his legs
would carry him in the direction of the woman in the field.