THE WICKED BISHOP
"THE Rhine is the loveliest river in the world. I know it must be,"
said Bertha.
"Of course it is," answered her brother. "I've seen it, and I ought to
know. And father thinks so, too. He says it is not only beautiful, but
it is also bound into the whole history of our country. Think of the
battles that have been fought on its shores, and the great generals who
have crossed it!"
"Yes, and the castles, Hans! Think of the legends father and mother
have told us about the beautiful princesses who have lived in the
castles, and the brave knights who have fought for them! I shall be
perfectly happy if I can ever sail down the Rhine and see the noted
places on its shores."
"The schoolmaster has taught you all about the war with France, hasn't
he, Bertha?"
"Of course. And it really seemed at one time as if France would make us
Germans agree to have the Rhine divide the two countries. Just as if
we would be willing to let the French own one shore of our beautiful
river. I should say not!"
Bertha's cheeks grew rosier than usual at the thought of such a thing.
She talked faster than German children usually do, for they are rather
slow in their speech.
"We do not own all of the river, little sister, as it is. The baby
Rhine sleeps in an icy cradle in the mountains of Switzerland. Then it
makes its way through our country, but before it reaches the sea it
flows through the low lands of Holland."
"I know all that, Hans. But we own the best of the Rhine, anyway. I am
perfectly satisfied."
"I wish I knew all the legends about the river. There are enough of
them to fill many books. Did you ever hear about the Rats' Tower
opposite the town of Bingen, Bertha?"
"What a funny name for a tower! No. Is there a story about it, Hans?"
"Yes, one of the boys was telling it to me yesterday while we were
getting wood in the forest. It is a good story, although my friend said
he wasn't sure it is true."
"What is the story?"
"It is about a very wicked bishop who was a miser. It happened one time
that the harvests were poor and grain was scarce. The cruel bishop
bought all the grain he could get and locked it up. He intended to sell
it for a high price, and in this way to become very rich.
"As the days went by, the food became scarcer and scarcer. The people
began to sicken and die of hunger. They had but one thought: they must
get something to eat for their children and themselves.
"They knew of the stores of grain held by the bishop. They went to him
and begged for some of it, but he paid no attention to their prayers.
Then they demanded that he open the doors of the storehouse and let
them have the grain. It was of no use.
"At last, they gathered together, and said:
"'We will break down the door if you do not give it to us.'
"'Come to-morrow,' answered the bishop. 'Bring your friends with you.
You shall have all the grain you desire.'
"The morrow came. Crowds gathered in front of the granary. The bishop
unlocked the door, saying:
"'Go inside and help yourselves freely.'
"The people rushed in. Then what do you think the cruel bishop did? He
ordered his servants to lock the door and set the place on fire!
"The air was soon filled with the screams of the burning people. But
the bishop only laughed and danced. He said to his servants:
"'Do you hear the rats squeaking inside the granary?'
"The next day came. There were only ashes in place of the great
storehouse. There seemed to be no life about the town, for the people
were all dead.
"Suddenly there was a great scurrying, as a tremendous swarm of rats
came rushing out of the ashes. On they came, more and more of them.
They filled the streets, and even made their way into the palace.
"The wicked bishop was filled with fear. He fled from the place and
hurried away over the fields. But the swarm of rats came rushing after
him. He came to Bingen, where he hoped to be safe within its walls.
Somehow or other, the rats made their way inside.
[Illustration: THE RATS' TOWER.]
"There was now only one hope of safety. The bishop fled to a tower
standing in the middle of the Rhine. But it was of no use! The rats
swam the river and made their way up the sides of the tower. Their
sharp teeth gnawed holes through the doors and windows. They entered in
and came to the room where the bishop was hiding."
"Wicked fellow! They killed and ate him as he deserved, didn't they?"
asked Bertha.
"There wasn't much left of him in a few minutes. But the tower still
stands, and you can see it if you ever go to Bingen, although it is a
crumbling old pile now."
"Rats' Tower is a good name for it. But I would rather hear about
enchanted princesses and brave knights than wicked old bishops. Tell me
another story, Hans."
"Oh, I can't. Listen! I hear some one coming. Who can it be?"
Hans jumped up and ran to the door, just in time to meet his Uncle
Fritz, who lived in Strasburg.
The children loved him dearly. He was a young man about twenty-one
years old. He came home to this little village in the Black Forest only
about once a year. He had so much to tell and was so kind and cheerful,
every one was glad to see him.
"Uncle Fritz! Uncle Fritz! We are so glad you've come," exclaimed
Bertha, putting her arms around his neck. "And we are going to have
something that you like for dinner."
"I can guess what it is. Sauerkraut and boiled pork. There is no other
sauerkraut in Germany as good as that your mother makes, I do believe.
I'm hungry enough to eat the whole dishful and not leave any for you
children. Now what do you say to my coming? Don't you wish I had
stayed in Strasburg?"
"Oh, no, no, Uncle Fritz. We would rather see you than anybody else,"
cried Hans. "And here comes mother. She will be just as glad as we are."
That evening, after Hans had shown his uncle around the village, and he
had called on his old friends, he settled himself in the chimney-corner
with the children about him.
"Talk to us about Strasburg, Uncle Fritz," begged Gretchen.
"Please tell us about the storks," said Bertha. "Are there great
numbers of the birds in the city, and do they build their nests on the
chimneys?"
"Yes, you can see plenty of storks flying overhead if you will come
back with me," said Uncle Fritz, laughingly. "They seem to know the
people love them. If a stork makes his home about any one's house, it
is a sign of good fortune to the people who live there.
"'It will surely come,' they say to themselves, 'and the storks will
bring it.' Do you wonder the people like the birds so much?"
"I read a story about a mother stork," said Bertha, thoughtfully. "She
had a family of baby birds. They were not big enough to leave their
nest, when a fire broke out in the chimney where it was built. Poor
mother bird! She could have saved herself. But she would not leave
her babies. So she stayed with them and they were all burned to death
together."
"I know the story. That happened right in Strasburg," said her uncle.
"Please tell us about the beautiful cathedral with its tall tower,"
said Hans. "Sometime, uncle, I am going to Strasburg, if I have to
walk there, and then I shall want to spend a whole day in front of the
wonderful clock."
"You'd better have a lunch with you, Hans, and then you will not get
hungry. But really, my dear little nephew, I hope the time will soon
come when you can pay me a long visit. As for the clock, you will have
to stay in front of it all night as well as all day, if you are to see
all it can show you."
"I know about cuckoo-clocks, of course," said Gretchen, "but the little
bird is the only figure that comes out on those. There are ever so many
different figures on the Strasburg clock, aren't there, Uncle Fritz?"
"A great, great many. Angels strike the hours. A different god or
goddess appears for each day in the week. Then, at noon and at
midnight, Jesus and his twelve apostles come out through a door and
march about on a platform.
"You can imagine what the size of the clock must be when I tell you
that the figures are as large as people. When the procession of the
apostles appears, a gilded cock on the top of the tower flaps its
wings and crows.
"I cannot begin to tell you all about it. It is as good as a play, and,
as I told Hans, he would have to stay many hours near it to see all the
sights."
"I should think a strong man would be needed to wind it up," said his
nephew.
"The best part of it is that it does not need to be wound every day,"
replied Uncle Fritz. "They say it will run for years without being
touched. Of course, travellers are coming to Strasburg all the time.
They wish to see the clock, but they also come to see the cathedral
itself. It is a very grand building, and, as you know, the spire is the
tallest one in all Europe.
"Then there is so much beautiful carving! And there are such fine
statues. Oh, children, you must certainly come to Strasburg before
long and see the cathedral of which all Germany is so proud."
"Strasburg was for a time the home of our greatest poet," said Bertha.
"I want to go there to see where he lived."
The child was very fond of poetry, even though she was a little country
girl. Her father had a book containing some of Goethe's ballads, and
she loved to lie under the trees in the pleasant summer-time and repeat
some of these poems.
"They are just like music," she would say to herself.
"A marble slab has been set up in the old Fish Market to mark the spot
where Goethe lived," said Uncle Fritz. "They say he loved the grand
cathedral of the city, and it helped him to become a great writer when
he was a young student there. I suppose its beauty awakened his own
beautiful thoughts."
The children became quiet as they thought of their country and the men
who had made her so strong and great,--the poets, and the musicians,
and the brave soldiers who had defended her from her enemies.
Uncle Fritz was the first one to speak.
"I will tell you a story of Strasburg," he said. "It is about something
that happened there a long time ago. You know, the city isn't on the
Rhine itself, but it is on a little stream flowing into the greater
river.
"Well, once upon a time the people of Zurich, in Switzerland, asked the
people of Strasburg to join with them in a bond of friendship. Each
should help the other in times of danger. The people of Strasburg did
not think much of the idea. They said among themselves: 'What good can
the little town of Zurich do us? And, besides, it is too far away.' So
they sent back word that they did not care to make such a bond. They
were scarcely polite in their message, either.
"When they heard the reply, the men of Zurich were quite angry. They
were almost ready to fight. But the youngest one of their councillors
said:
"'We will force them to eat their own words. Indeed, they shall be made
to give us a different answer. And it will come soon, too, if you will
only leave the matter with me.'
"'Do as you please,' said the other councillors. They went back to
their own houses, while the young man hurried home, rushed out into the
kitchen and picked out the largest kettle there.
"'Wife, cook as much oatmeal as this pot will hold,' he commanded.
"The woman wondered what in the world her husband could be thinking of.
But she lost no time in guessing. She ordered her servants to make a
big fire, while she herself stirred and cooked the great kettleful of
oatmeal.
"In the meanwhile, her husband hurried down to the pier, and got his
swiftest boat ready for a trip down the river. Then he gathered the
best rowers in the town.
"'Come with me,' he said to two of them, when everything had been made
ready for a trip. They hastened home with him, as he commanded.
"'Is the oatmeal ready?' he cried, rushing breathless into the kitchen.
"His wife had just finished her work. The men lifted the kettle from
the fire and ran with it to the waiting boat. It was placed in the
stern and the oarsmen sprang to their places.
"'Pull, men! Pull with all the strength you have, and we will go to
Strasburg in time to show those stupid people that, if it should be
necessary, we live near enough to them to give them a hot supper.'
"How the men worked! They rowed as they had never rowed before.
"They passed one village after another. Still they moved onward without
stopping, till they found themselves at the pier of Strasburg.
"The councillor jumped out of the boat, telling two of his men
to follow with the great pot of oatmeal. He led the way to the
council-house, where he burst in with his strange present.
"'I bring you a warm answer to your cold words,' he told the surprised
councillors. He spoke truly, for the pot was still steaming. How amused
they all were!
"'What a clever fellow he is,' they said among themselves. 'Surely we
will agree to make the bond with Zurich, if it holds many men like him.'
"The bond was quickly signed and then, with laughter and good-will, the
councillors gathered around the kettle with spoons and ate every bit of
the oatmeal.
"'It is excellent,' they all cried. And indeed it was still hot enough
to burn the mouths of those who were not careful."
"Good! Good!" cried the children, and they laughed heartily, even
though it was a joke against their own people.
Their father and mother had also listened to the story and enjoyed it
as much as the children.
"Another story, please, dear Uncle Fritz," they begged.
But their father pointed to the clock. "Too late, too late, my dears,"
he said. "If you sit up any longer, your mother will have to call you
more than once in the morning. So, away to your beds, every one of
you."