_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 awhile 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;" [Footnote:
Gal. iv. 6.] 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 naught 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 faggot
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 yester-even, 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
awhile, 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;" [Footnote: Jer. xvii. 5.] 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 naught
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.