Now the passports were countersigned both by the King and the Duke,
and they authorized the bearer to carry any kind of arms at his
convenience. So Ulenspiegel took with him his trusty arquebus as well
as a good supply of cartridges and dry gunpowder. He dressed himself
in a short cloak and a shabby doublet and hose made after the Spanish
fashion, and thus accoutred, with a plumed cap on his head and a sword
at his side, he made his departure from the Prince's army where it
lay at the French frontier, and set out for Maestricht.
The roitelets, those heralds of bad weather, were flying around
the houses seeking asile from the storm, and on the third day snow
fell. Many times during the journey did Ulenspiegel have to show his
safe-conduct. But they always let him pass, and so he came at length
to the confines of Liege. He was plodding along over a level heath,
and a fierce wind was driving the swirling snowflakes against his face,
and in front and on every side the heath stretched out all white under
the snow that fell in eddies, which themselves were whirled about
hither and thither in the squalls of wind. And there were three wolves
that began to follow him. But one of them he killed with a shot from
his arquebus, and the other two flung themselves upon their wounded
comrade, and then made off into the woods, each carrying a piece of
the corpse.
Delivered from this peril, Ulenspiegel peered about him, fearing
lest there might be other bands of wolves in that country, but he
saw nothing except, in the far distance, certain objects that looked
like grey statues moving slowly along in the falling snow. Behind
these again, Ulenspiegel could descry the dark figures of a couple of
soldiers on horseback. To see the better what all this might portend,
Ulenspiegel climbed up into a tree, and there the wind brought to
him a far-off sound of lamentation. "It may be," Ulenspiegel said
to himself, "these people are pilgrims, clad in white habits; for I
can scarcely distinguish their figures against the snow." But after
a little while he saw that they were men running, quite naked, and
that behind them were two German troopers in black uniforms riding
on horses. And they were driving the poor wretches in front of them
with whips. Ulenspiegel took aim with his arquebus. Now he could
distinguish the individual figures of that mournful company--old men
and young men naked, shivering, and quaking with cold, hardly able
to stand some of them, but running all, for fear of the cruel whips
of the two soldiers who, themselves being warmly clad and red with
brandy and good food, took pleasure in lashing the bodies of naked
men to make them run the faster.
Ulenspiegel said: "You shall be avenged, ashes of Claes!" And he killed
one of the soldiers outright with a bullet from his arquebus. The
soldier fell from his horse, and his companion took fright, not knowing
whence the shot had come. But concluding that his assailant must be
hiding somewhere in the wood, he decided to make good his escape,
together with the horse of his dead companion. The man contrived to
get hold of the horse's bridle, but while he himself was dismounting
to plunder the body of the dead, he was hit by a bullet in the neck
and fell to the ground.
As for the naked prisoners, they imagined that some angel from heaven,
who was also forsooth a fine marksman, had descended from the sky
to aid them, and they all fell down upon their knees in the snow. At
this Ulenspiegel descended from his tree, and was at once recognized
by the company who had previously served with him as soldiers in the
armies of the Prince. They said to him:
"O Ulenspiegel, we are come from France, and we were being driven in
this piteous plight to Maestricht, where the Duke is, to be treated
there as rebel prisoners because we cannot pay our ransom, and are
therefore condemned in advance to be tortured, cut into pieces,
or sent to row like caitiffs and criminals in the galleys of the King."
Ulenspiegel gave his opperst-kleed to the oldest of the soldiers,
saying:
"Come with me, my friends. I will accompany you as far as Mezieres;
but first of all let us strip these two dead soldiers and take
possession of their horses." Thereupon the doublets, hose, boots,
head-gear, and body-armour of the soldiers were divided up among the
sick and feeble, and Ulenspiegel said:
"We shall soon be entering the wood, where the air is thicker and
more gentle. You had better run, my brothers."
Suddenly one of the men fell down on the ground, crying: "I am hungry
and cold, and I am going to God to bear witness that the Pope is
Antichrist on earth." And he died, and the others agreed to carry
the body with them that it might be given Christian burial.
While thus proceeding along the road, they met a peasant driving
a cart with a canvas hood. Seeing the men all naked, the peasant
had compassion on them and invited them to ride in his cart. There
they found some hay to lie on, and some empty sacks to cover them
withal. And they were warmed and gave thanks to God. Ulenspiegel
rode beside the cart on one of the two horses that had belonged to
the German troopers, leading the other by the bridle.
At Mezieres they all alighted. Good hot soup and beer and bread
and cheese were handed round, with some meat for the older men
and women. And they were nobly entertained; and they were clothed
and armed again, all at the expense of the commune. And every one
joined in giving thanks and praise to Ulenspiegel, who received it
gladly. Ulenspiegel also sold the horses of the German troopers for
eight-and-forty florins, out of which he distributed thirty florins
among the Frenchmen.
Thereafter he took the road again, and as he walked solitarily along
he said to himself:
"Verily now do I wander through a land of ruin, blood, and
tears. Nevertheless, I find nothing. Those spirits lied to me without
a doubt. For where is Lamme? Where is Nele! Where are the Seven?"
And he heard a voice speaking to him as though in a whisper:
"In death, in ruin, and in tears, seek!"
And he went his way.